The Book of Skulls

infobox Book |
name = The Book of Skulls
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Cover of first edition (hardcover)
author = Robert Silverberg
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Fantasy novel
publisher = Charles Scribner's Sons
release_date = 1972
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
pages = 222 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-684-12590-0
preceded_by =
followed_by = "The Book of Skulls" is a fantasy novel by Robert Silverberg, which was first published in 1972. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1972 and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1973.

Plot summary

The story concerns four students who discover a manuscript, "The Book of Skulls", which reveals the existence of a sect, now living in the Arizona desert, whose members can offer immortality to those who complete its initiation rite. To their surprise, they discover that the sect survives, and is willing to accept them as acolytes. But for each group of four who enter the rite, two must die in order for the others to succeed - one by murder, the other by suicide.

Successive chapters are told from the viewpoints of each of the four students, giving the multiple views of the events and of the characters of the four, since each is seen from both his own and each of the other's point of view.

The events of the novel form a journey of self-discovery for each of the viewpoint characters. The nature and true purpose of the "Brotherhood of the Skull" remain mysterious, and the sect is mostly there as a device to focus the intertwined journeys of self-discovery.

"The Book of Skulls" has been republished in SF Masterworks.

Motion Picture

The 2006 paperback printing of the novel claims that the story is "Soon to be made into a major motion picture". While there is speculation on various movie websites, plans for production have seemed to have halted.

External links

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