← Back to discovery

Tom O'Bedlam

Robert Silverberg

1985303 pagesabout 5–7 hours
1985
first published
  • 1985D.I. Fine · 320 pages · ENGISBN 9780917657313
  • 1986Gollancz · 320 pages · ENGISBN 9780575037731
  • 1986Warner Books · 374 pages · ENGISBN 9780446340021
  • 1987Futura · 320 pages · ENGISBN 9780708833728
  • 2001Olmstead Press · 303 pages · ENGISBN 9781587541162
  • 2004GollanczISBN 9780575072176

"I know more than Apollo Fort oft when he lies sleeping I behold the starts at mortal wars And the wounded wekin weeping." --Tom O' Bedlam's song Tom, like the medieval Tom O'Bedlam, can't decipher the meaning of the images plaguing his mind. Much like the wondering and mad Tom of the medieval ballad, the Tom O' Bedlam of 2103 doesn't know what to make of the images that keep cluttering his mind. To preserve the last shred of his sanity and keep these never-ending wonders a secret, he feigns insanity. But then a probe that has traveled over four light years away transmits the very pictures that have been haunting Tom's dreams. In this post-industrial world on the verge of a total collapse, Tom has become humanity's spokesperson to the distant planet that may be his world's salvation.

When and where

ThemesScience

Content notesnot yet assessed

Quotesnone available

How do you feel?