A Time of Changes is a 1971 science fiction novel by American writer Robert Silverberg. It won the Nebula Award for that year, and was also nominated for the 1972 Hugo and Locus Awards. Plot introduction The novel is set in a culture where the first person singular is forbidden, and words such as I or me are treated as obscenities or social errors. A powerful new drug enables protagonist Kinnall Darival to attain telepathic contact with others, and this sharing brings him the courage to lead a revolution against his repressive culture. The novel is presented in the style of an autobiography, written by Kinnall while he awaits impending capture and imprisonment for his cultural crimes. The theme of I being a forbidden word is shared with Ayn Rand's 1938 novella "Anthem". However, Silverberg stated that he did not know of Rand's book until after his own was published, and that his aim in depicting such a society was completely different from hers. Plot summary Life in Velada Borthan is ruled by the Covenant, of which the most conspicuous trait is the denial of the self. Referring to oneself in the first person is forbidden. A selfbarer is someone who exposes his soul to others and as a result is ostracized. The protagonist of the story is Kinnall Darival, a prince of the province of Salla, tormented by existential doubts and by his forbidden passion for his bondsister, Halum. (Bond siblings are an important institution of this society; though not biologically related, the incest taboo among them is as strong as among actual siblings). After his brother Stirron becomes Prime Septarch of Salla, Kinnall exiles himself to the neighboring province of Glin to avoid a direct clash with him. Following a more than cold reception in Glin, his monetary savings are sequestered by the Grand Treasurer of Salla, and he is declared an illegal alien, leaving him as a penniless fugitive. He finds a nice man who employs him for a year in a logging camp, but he is eventually recognized as the fugitive prince by a woman from Salla. On the road again, Kinnall takes shelter in Klaek, a miserable village in Glin, with a family of peasants. Longing for news from the "real world", Kinnall goes to Biumar and is engaged as a seaman on a merchant boat headed to the province of Manneran. Once there, he