Downward to the Earth

By: Robert Silverberg

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's 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)

More of a shout-out to Heart of Darkness.

I enjoyed the story and narration once I got past the feeling that the narrator reminded me of John Wayne (or Joker in Full Metal Jacket imitating John Wayne).

Without giving spoilers, I had a hunch early on that the ending would be what it was. I was right but still enjoyed the listen.

Disappointing story

Maybe I had expectations, or maybe it's is not my favourite type of sci-fi, but this book disappointed me.
The story is mostly of boring parts and sometimes it's get interesting, but not enough and for short periods.

Good listen

it was a very well narrated story. enjoyable and kind of thought provoking at the end

Blasphemolicious Entertainment

This book has a pretty unique storyline and interesting characters including some that are exceptionally alien. It's not the 1st science fiction book I would recommend, but it's likely to come up in conversation. If we do ever encounter alien life forms, the ideas explored in this book could help people avoid the mistakes of the colonial era. I have to admit that I would avoid recommending this to my Christian friends; for us, no one can say I am the resurrection and the life except Christ himself. For my atheist friends however, this book might even give Christ's words a little more luster.

A fantastic adaptation of Heart of darkness

What did you love best about Downward to the Earth?

I read it a second time just recently and it was just as good as the first. It's a exciting and compelling adaptation of heart of darkness. A redemption novel with compelling creatures and a distinctive world. So far, this is the only Robert Silverberg book I've really liked. I'm going to read another but Up The Line wasn't all that interesting to me. This book has more wisdom to it than most and best of all it has a good ending, something separate from most science fiction. Something very compelling. I won't say more!

Have you listened to any of Bronson Pinchot’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I thought the audio performance was great. Didn't think of it too much, he did a good job of pulling me into the story rather than thinking about the performance.

Any additional comments?

My only complaint is that the story line is kind of a now classic hollywood tail of white man comes to feel bad about imperialism and his role in it. A thing the character should feel but the narrative is still on the greatness of the guy, his personal learnings, not of the charecters effected by the company and imperialism. But, that complaint is a nuanced one and criticizing silverberg on that seems a little unfair. he did not grow up in a hyper aware time.

Bronson Pinchot is a Fantastic audiobook performer 10 out of 10!

The story was good, love Robert Silverberg. The performance by Pinchot made it even better, he is Really good at this!

Love this book

I have never encountered SciFi like this. I felt as though I was inside one of the Heinlein side stories. It's a must read.

A rare really good book from 50 years ago . . . 😱

A completely different novel with good character development with a thorough story revealing in its poignancy. I recommend it . . 😱
————————————————————————————————————————
5 stars is great (I rarely give this rating).
4 stars is good (given only to interesting and well-written books).
3 stars is OK (the usual listen I encounter on Audible).
2 stars is poor (and not worth the credit or the listen).
1 star is awful (and to be diss'ed and shunned and spread as thus through out the Audible Universe)!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 😱

Great story

A wonderful story with excellent world building. You are taken to another world. one very different but strangely familiar. worth another listen through in a couple months.

A Fascinating World

Downward to the Earth is a superb science fiction novel! For some reason, I hadn't read Silverberg before this year, despite decades of reading science fiction. I've recently begun to discover the joys of his work. He writes beautifully and this is a thoughtful book, full of symbolism, darkness, light and discovery. The world-building is excellent and Gunderson, the protagonist, is a well-developed, interesting (and introspective) character. This is the kind of book that made science fiction my favorite genre. What a joy to discover it!