As the central figure in his own story, Lord Valentine is an engaging hero. Yet since the plot involves his deposition and amnesia, he is essentially, for much of the story, a character without a past. Indeed, Valentine acquires or creates his identity in the process of regaining his memory and kingdom. First he establishes himself as a wandering juggler with the troupe of entertainers led by Zalzan Kavol; later he becomes the seeker after wisdom who is tutored by the lady of the Isle of Sleep; then he becomes Valentine the military leader who gathers forces and leads the assault up Castle Mount; and finally he is Valentine the trickster and political leader, who wins over his enemies by guile and negotiation more often than force. Throughout his epic quest to regain the power and throne of the "coronal" or king, of Majipoor, Valentine displays...