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Downward to the Earth cover art

Downward to the Earth

By: Robert Silverberg
Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
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Summary

A lone man must make a journey across a once-colonized alien planet abandoned by mankind when it was discovered that the species there were actually sentient.

Gundersen returns to Holman’s World seeking atonement for his harsh years as colonial governor. But now this lush, exotic planet of mystery is called by its ancient name of Belzagor, and it belongs once again to its native alien races, the nildoror and the sulidoror. Drawn by its spell, Gundersen begins a harrowing pilgrimage to its mist-shrouded north to witness a strange ritual rebirth that will alter him forever.

This is one of Silverberg’s most intense novels and draws heavily on Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. It puts listeners at the heart of the experience and forces them to ask what they would do in the same circumstances.

©1969 Robert Silverberg (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Blends mysticism, world-building, and literary references in an inventive mix…This is perhaps SF’s finest tribute to Joseph Conrad, both in its keen moral sense and its portrayal of a vividly realized alien forest.” ( Time Out)

What listeners say about Downward to the Earth

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Strangely rewarding

Whacky 60s sci-fi in an alien world of dancing green pachyderms, with heavy psychedelic overtones and literary reference to Conrad and the story of Christ... sounds cheesily unreadable, right? But in fact it's a fascinating story, beautifully written and engaging, not afraid to explore big questions (including colonialism here on Earth), and doing so with subtlety. Very well narrated, creatively capturing the way in which an other intelligence might speak. Intriguing listen, recommended.

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5 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Beautiful, yet somewhat ~incomplete~

By deciding to listen to this particular audio book, I embarked on a journey of a, sort of, revisiting my childhood's most impressionable and memorable sci-fi/fantasy author.

The journey was pleasant and, more often than not, immersive enough.

However, disregarding the risk of repeating myself, it felt somewhat incomplete.

Another "downwards dragging" feature of this book, in my personal opinion, was the slight overdoing with the religiously infused subtexts and subplots.

Although, it felt like an attempt to tread an ultra thin, barely detectable, line between the realms of religion and spirituality or, perhaps, even mysticism.

I don't mind the latter two, but I'm strongly opposed to the former one.
That was the most deciding aspect which led me to slice off a star.

Other than that, it's an easy to recommend sci-fi adventure treat for the lovers of this kind.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful

I loved this. Written and performed beautifully. A Sci-Fi with no war, no power struggle and peaceful aliens. Enlightening and powerful.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Unexpected SciFi | Soulful Mash Up

I love Bronson Pinchot's bass. I love his emotional acting. I love his pacing and the way he sets a mood. I cannot get enough of his accent work and how articulate he is. Yet, none of those loves were the standout performance here? It was when BP removed inflection and tone to convey an aliens' speech patterns. This was in no way monotonous or flat - it was a soulful, zen performance that was brilliantly conceived!! The narrator understood the story being told and, as always, l loved it all the more.

Gunderson navigated a mysterious, strange world and l enjoyed the syfy focus on the flora and fauna. There were also big themes (culture, spirituality, colonialism) and imaginative set pieces - this is a considered narrative. What will stay with me a while though is the depiction of a grown man's yearning for atonement and redemption. When the author stuck that landing, DTTE shifted from the Plus Catalogue to My Library.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Downward to the Earth

Thought provoking plot and ideas. A man's pilgrimage for atonement for his part in the colonization of an alien planet. Excellent world building. While I found the topic of alien culture and spirituality interesting from a psychological perspective, I didn't enjoy the magical aspects. I can suspend disbelief only so far - the rebirth process just seemed completely implausible even taking into account that this is an alien planet.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant

I wasn't sure what this was going to be about but that's part of the appeal, luckily it was very good and I enjoyed it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Soul's journey of discovery

Such a pleasure, hard to stop listening.
Performance was impeccable, resounded with the characters. Story was unforgettable

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A strange and intriguing world that has it’s own priorities.

This is a brilliant SF story, from Robert Silverberg, that doesn’t involve any of the usual tropes that the genre conveys. As such it was a genuine change of pace and an original plot (or at least one that I’ve not come across before) that kept me listening and intrigued throughout. The ‘event’ was well signalled but not the nature of it, which turned out to be a twist of sorts. This is a story with a brilliant idea behind it, and that’s what I really like! This is not space opera at all, no nasty attacks on Earth, in fact, no fighting at all, to speak of.
This is a story about a return, both to a receding empire and to old friends. Also, as is often the case about returning, you see things that you didn’t notice before. Are you older and wiser, or just more observant? Or has everything changed?
Branson Pinchot reads the story well. It’s told from one person’s viewpoint, so there’s no need to have different voices for each character. All the plot takes place on the one planet, and the inhabitants there are explained carefully and respectfully, and those rules aren’t broken. So the world building is concise and believable, the characteristics of the differing ‘races’ explained slowly and carefully without putting huge demands on the listener’s memory. Some of the humans meet strange fates that wouldn’t normally apply, but might be expected in a foreign environment. This environment is always there, a living entity that can’t be forgotten, even if some of the old ‘occupiers’ have been.
If you enjoy stories built around ideas not fights, alien settings that are convincing and hold together through the plot, and aliens who think and have a culture that isn’t about conquering other civilisations but living in co-existence, then this book is for you. It is a strange place that will intrigue and enthrall you. I’m looking for my next Silverberg novel now.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Odd but good

A really interesting science fiction idea, We follow a man named Gunderson as he returns to an alien planet where he once lived for a decade, before the planet was rightfully returned to its indigenous population.

The main indigenous population (if you can call them that) look much like elephants and that is where the problems started. Upon seeing these creatures, and other weird and wonderful ‘animals’ when they arrived on this planet mankind assumed they were unintelligent and so saw fit to take over their planet.

There are obvious parallels with wildlife habitats on earth that we have taken over and destroyed because the inhabitants are merely ‘dumb’ animals, our supposed inferiors, and so in looking at the relationship between humans and aliens in this book comparisons between us and animals and even different races of people here on earth can be made. Why do we consider ourselves better, and are we? This book asks the question what it means to be human, or to have a soul. It is in fact quite spiritual.

Aside from the deep questions of souls and humanity this is a fantastical tale albeit told in quite a somber serious way.

The story gets weirder as you go along with some wonderful descriptions of exotic wildlife and the plant itself. I really had no idea how it would end, being set on another planet the options really are endless, and the author really lets his imagination fly, not in ridiculous ways, but imaginative and sometimes a little horrific too. It was nice to just listen (this was an audible ‘read’) and not worry about where it was taking me, it meant it had very little chance of being predictable too when the only limit is the author's vivid imagination.

Overall a really well written and well told story which can make you think but also just be a good work of science fiction in its own right too.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Stunning

My first Silverberg and several levels above what I was expecting. A beautifully written book that can’t help but make you think. If you’re looking for Stars Wars though, best to avoid.

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