This is an early reviewers review in exchange for a free copy of the book.

The book sets itself up well with an interesting premise: humankind on this world is living only at the sufferance of the native life, and all people are trapped on the island either as prisoners or willing migrants, but without any infrastructure for spaceport, rockets, etc. to leave. The titular Face of the Waters is a semi-mythical island which a crew of humans goes in search of.

I can see why it is considered a sci-fi classic. The connection of the native life and world cycle on the planet is interesting, which gives us a mental moment to consider the 'alien' point of view. It rubbed me the wrong way, however, largely because of how it mirrors the Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Even as it claims it isn't explicitly in the text). I also found the ending unsatisfying, but that may be a measure of personal preference rather than a question of whether or not the book is well written or 'good.'

In a far distant future, the Earth has been destroyed and humans live in exile on many worlds across the galaxy. But on one world, Hydros, they share the limited habitable space - drifting artificial islands on a planetary sea - with intelligent indigenous aliens. On one island, Sorve, the aliens want the humans off it because of a transgression one man has made which led to the deaths of two other aliens. The humans of Sorve, some seventy or so, cannot leave the planet, as the aliens have never allowed the construction of a spaceport. Humans who come to Hydros do so in the full knowledge that it's a one-way trip. So the group of humans - now doubly exiled - leave in a flotilla of seven ships to seek refuge on another distant island. But the leader of the fleet, whose fault this all is, has different ideas.

As I recollect, when this book was first published in 1991, it represented a return to science fiction by Silverberg after a break of some years producing his Lord Valentine series of fantasy novels. Opinions varied at the time; John Brunner, in a review in Foundation, said that he found little that was new in this book. And indeed, an experienced reader of sf will have seen much of this before. But I doubt that it was Silverberg's aim to write a maritime sf adventure. Rather, we see the voyage through the eyes of Valben Lawler, the island's human doctor; and the novel is a character study of Lawler, his shipmates, and his perspective on the human position on Hydros and in the galaxy, the perils of the voyage, and the motivations of the different people involved.

Hydros is a world not blessed with natural resources except for the harvest of the sea; but that harvest fights back. The plants and creatures that the humans have to live on are either hostile or poisonous. I found the descriptions of the sea creatures reminiscent of Harry Harrison's Deathworld novels, though there turns out to be a good reason for the hostility. I did find myself stumbling over some aspects of the world-building; Earth artefacts are rare objects, and yet we see Lawler using medical instruments which (apart from a locally-originated stethoscope) are little different from those an Earth-bound doctor would use; yet we are told throughout that Hydros is short of natural resources and has almost no metals. Early on, we are shown people dressing in various processed forms of seaweed and algae, yet I doubt that it would be so easy to make pens, paper and filing systems out of these materials.

Yet this is incidental, because the voyage is an exercise in self-discovery, as so many of the best voyages are. Lawler gradually changes his views about the world, his fellow crew, his exile from a world he has never known and his place in the limited society of the ships. It is this which is the meat of the book and it is well done. The conclusion of the plot is telegraphed some way out; how much of a cop-out the reader finds it will depend on what they were expecting from the book in the first place.

The Face of the Waters has recently (2021) been reissued and the book has attracted some attention because some of its attitudes towards race, sex and gender are definitely of their time, if not slightly earlier. Hemingway comes to mind quite a bit. And reissuing a thirty-year-old novel is always going to have its pitfalls in this day and age; quite why this book has been selected for this honour when other, possibly better, books haven't is another mystery of the publishing business. Readers will have to decide for themselves how much of a problem this is. ( )

Catorce son los seres humanos que a bordo del Reina de Hydros navegan por los peligrosos mares de un planeta acuático perdido en el espacio. Descendientes de los antiguos colonos terrestres, detestados por los aborígenes anfibios a causa de su voracidad y violencia, han sido desterrados por éstos. El suyo es un viaje a ninguna parte. Excepto que se considere alguna parte a un lugar envuelto en mitos y raros misterios, denominado La Faz de las Aguas.

First off, I got a copy of this book through librarything.com in return for an unbiased review.

Secondly, I didn't realize until I was getting ready to write this review that this is a reissue of a book originally published in 1991. I was an avid reader of Silverberg in the late 1960s and early 1970s but lost interest in him sometime after that.

The story takes place on a planet called Hydros, which is, as you might guess, a world covered in water. The original inhabitants, called Gillies, are an amphibious race who mostly live on artificial islands that circle around the world on ocean currents. Many of the islands have small populations of humans who live there through the sufferance of the Gillies. They are not really welcome. Some of the humans are descendants of penal colonies and some have come of their own free will. Once on Hydros however, you can never leave. There's no place for a spaceport so no way back into space. It's a hardscrabble existence for the humans. Earth is a distant dream, long ago destroyed in an unknown (or at least unelaborated) catastrophe.

The main character is Lawler, the doctor to the 78 strong human population of the island of Sorve. When the most powerful human on Sorve, Delegard, does something the Gillies consider beyond the pale, they throw the humans off the island. Delegard owns several ships and the humans board them and leave. All this is mostly backstory to the bulk of the book, the sea wanderings of the humans.

Here's where I started losing interest. They sail along meeting all sorts of troubles. Hunger, thirst, storms, sea monsters, each one more horrifying that the last, mutiny, jealously (the man to woman ratio is seriously skewed), and just plain boredom. This went on for way too long.

They finally reach their destination and the payoff was not good enough for me. I'm not going to spoil it for you.

It wasn't a bad book, and I didn't hate it. it just didn't do much for me. ( )

The Face of the Waters by Robert Silverberg is a highly recommended. This review is for the re-release of the classic science fiction novel originally published 10/1/91.

After the destruction of Earth, a surviving groups of humans are living are living on other planets. Hydros is a world covered in oceans and has a few artificial islands. When a human commits an offense against a group of intelligent aquatic mammals, the human population of the island Sorve are forced into exile. The group is on six ships and they are searching for new home while navigating oceans full of hostile intelligent creatures as well as bad weather.

Silverberg excels at creating worlds and this gift is in full display here. The world building is what makes The Face of the Waters worth reading and I'm sure it is why it is being re-released. The intelligent creatures he imagines and populate Hydro with is incredible, as are the artificial islands humans populate.

The epic is told through the point-of-view of Valben Lawler, the doctor, who is addicted to drugs trying to treat his own problems, but he is a moral character. Delegard, who is disagreeable as a character still portrays some redeeming human characteristics. The Face of the Waters clearly explores what it means to be human and in a community in contrast to what it is to be alien.

There are several plot elements that date the novel to be clearly written in 1991. There is a mystery embedded in the novel and the ending is satisfying, but, as a fan, Silverberg has written better. 3.5 rounded up
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Three Rooms Press.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2022/10/the-face-of-waters.html ( )