"Engrossing characters in a marvelous adventure." -- C. Brown,
Locus Magazine
*****
"The amazing and exotic adventures of the most beautiful courtesan
in tomorrow's universe." -- Frederik Pohl
*****
"The best single example of prostitution used in fantasy is Janet
Morris' Silistra series... Estri's character is most like that of
Ishtar who describes herself as "'a prostitute compassionate am I'"
because she "symbolizes the creative submission to the demands of
instinct, to the chaos of nature ...the free woman, as opposed to
the domesticated woman". Linking Estri with these lunar and water
symbols is not difficult because of the moon's eternal virginity
(the strength of integrity) links with her changeability (the
prostitute's switching of lovers). [...] Morris strengthens the
moon imagery by having Estri as a well-keepress because wells,
fountains, and the moon as the orb which controls water have long
been associated with fertility, [...] In a sense, she is like the
moon because she is apparently eternal, never waxing or waning
except in her pursuit of the quest; she is the prototypical
wanderer like the moon and Ishtar. She is the eternal night symbol
of the moon in opposition to the Day-Keepers [...] At her majority
(her three hundredth birthday), she is given a silver-cubed
hologram letter from her mother, containing a videotape of her
conception by the savage bronzed barbarian god from another world.
[...] If Estri's mother then acts as a bawd, willing her lineage as
Well-Keepress to her daughter, then Estri's great-grandmother
Astria as foundress of the Well becomes a further mother-bawd
figure when she offers her prophetic advice in her letter: "Guard
Astria for you may lose it, and more. Beware of one who is not as
he seems. Stray not in the port city of Baniev ...look well about
you, for your father's daughter's brother seeks you". Having no
brother that she knows of does not stay Estri from undertaking the
heroic quest of finding her father." - Anne K. Kaler, The Picara:
From Hera to Fantasy Heroine
*****
"[...] today I thought I'd look at one of the most successful
fantasy debuts of all time, a series that became a huge
international hit with its first release, launching the career of
one of the most prolific fantasy writers of the late 20th Century:
Janet Morris' The Silistra Quartet.
The Silistra Quartet began with Janet's first novel, High Couch of
Silistra [...] from Bantam Books in 1977 [, ] the far-future tale
of the colony planet of Silistra, still recovering from an ancient
war that left the planet scarred and much of the population
infertile. With a dangerously low birth-rate, it's not long before
the human colonists of Silistra develop a new social order, with a
hierarchy based on fertility and sexual prowess.
"All told, there were four volumes in what came to be known as The
Silistra Quartet [...].
"High Couch of Silistra (1977) [...] The Golden Sword (1977) Wind
from the Abyss (1978) The Carnelian Throne (1979)
-- John O'Neill in Black Gate Adventures in Fantasy Literature
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