What do you think?
Rate this book
Stepsons of Terra
Alternate Cover Edition can be found here.
From back cover: For 500 years the distant Terran colony of Corwin had no communication with Earth. But now the invincible war-horde of the Klodni was on the march and the long-forgotten planet desperately needed Earth's help. Baird Ewing was appointed ambassador, sent to get that help.
But Earth ... Earth had degenerated into a decadent world of worthless pleasure seekers, and would never be able to give the aid that would save Corwin. Earth had nothing to offer, and Ewing had so little time -- the answer was right under his nose if he would only look ....
From back cover: For 500 years the distant Terran colony of Corwin had no communication with Earth. But now the invincible war-horde of the Klodni was on the march and the long-forgotten planet desperately needed Earth's help. Baird Ewing was appointed ambassador, sent to get that help.
But Earth ... Earth had degenerated into a decadent world of worthless pleasure seekers, and would never be able to give the aid that would save Corwin. Earth had nothing to offer, and Ewing had so little time -- the answer was right under his nose if he would only look ....
174 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
2 people are currently reading
204 people want to read
About the author
Robert Silverberg
2,343 books1,601 followersThere are many authors in the database with this name.
Robert Silverberg is a highly celebrated American science fiction author and editor known for his prolific output and literary range. Over a career spanning decades, he has won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards and was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2004. Inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1999, Silverberg is recognized for both his immense productivity and his contributions to the genre's evolution.
Born in Brooklyn, he began writing in his teens and won his first Hugo Award in 1956 as the best new writer. Throughout the 1950s, he produced vast amounts of fiction, often under pseudonyms, and was known for writing up to a million words a year. When the market declined, he diversified into other genres, including historical nonfiction and erotica.
Silverberg’s return to science fiction in the 1960s marked a shift toward deeper psychological and literary themes, contributing significantly to the New Wave movement. Acclaimed works from this period include Downward to the Earth, Dying Inside, Nightwings, and The World Inside. In the 1980s, he launched the Majipoor series with Lord Valentine’s Castle, creating one of the most imaginative planetary settings in science fiction.
Though he announced his retirement from writing in the mid-1970s, Silverberg returned with renewed vigor and continued to publish acclaimed fiction into the 1990s. He received further recognition with the Nebula-winning Sailing to Byzantium and the Hugo-winning Gilgamesh in the Outback.
Silverberg has also played a significant role as an editor and anthologist, shaping science fiction literature through both his own work and his influence on others. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, author Karen Haber.
Robert Silverberg is a highly celebrated American science fiction author and editor known for his prolific output and literary range. Over a career spanning decades, he has won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards and was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2004. Inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1999, Silverberg is recognized for both his immense productivity and his contributions to the genre's evolution.
Born in Brooklyn, he began writing in his teens and won his first Hugo Award in 1956 as the best new writer. Throughout the 1950s, he produced vast amounts of fiction, often under pseudonyms, and was known for writing up to a million words a year. When the market declined, he diversified into other genres, including historical nonfiction and erotica.
Silverberg’s return to science fiction in the 1960s marked a shift toward deeper psychological and literary themes, contributing significantly to the New Wave movement. Acclaimed works from this period include Downward to the Earth, Dying Inside, Nightwings, and The World Inside. In the 1980s, he launched the Majipoor series with Lord Valentine’s Castle, creating one of the most imaginative planetary settings in science fiction.
Though he announced his retirement from writing in the mid-1970s, Silverberg returned with renewed vigor and continued to publish acclaimed fiction into the 1990s. He received further recognition with the Nebula-winning Sailing to Byzantium and the Hugo-winning Gilgamesh in the Outback.
Silverberg has also played a significant role as an editor and anthologist, shaping science fiction literature through both his own work and his influence on others. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, author Karen Haber.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 6, 2025
Stepsons of Terra first appeared in the April 1958 issue of Science Fiction Adventures magazine under the title Shadow on the Stars with a terrific, very colorful Ed Emshwiller cover. It was released in book form later that year as half of an Ace Double with a different Ed Emshwiller cover, and with a novel by Lan Wright (A Man Called Destiny) on the flip side. The copy I have is from Ace's stand-alone release in 1977, when they released a number of early Silverberg titles in uniform editions, with an introduction from the author and a strangely pastel pink Don Ivan Punchatz cover. It's a nice time travel puzzle mixed with an alien invasion space opera theme and has two chapters numbered twenty which struck me as cosmically creative at the time. I also liked the "unstoppable armada" of "seven hundred seventy-five dreadnaughts." That's just the right number, isn't it? It's early Silverberg written at his most prolific stage, but it's a rousing romp. His introduction is quite entertaining, and I agree with his assessment that the story reminiscent of A.E. van Vogt. This one is my favorite of his very early novels, I believe.
June 14, 2016
'They owed Mother Earth No Allegiance!
The first Corwinite in 500 years to visit Earth, Baird Ewing had been delegated by the desperate planetary colonists to seek the Mother Planet's help against a destructive horde which would soon gall upon the planet Corwin.
But Earth... Earth had changed into a decadent, moldering world which could not even avoid her own destruction at the hands of the neighboring Sirians... much less help the distant and long-forgotten colony.
Earth had nothing to offer... except... maybe the secret of time travel!'
Blurb from the 1958 D-311 Ace Doubles paperback edition
The colony planet Corwin is under threat of invasion from the alien Klodni and Baird Ewing volunteers to return to the Mother Planet - with whom the colonists have had no contact in five hundred years - to beg for military aid.
Ewing discovers however that Earth had become a decadent world peopled by apathetic natives and no ships or armies to defend themselves.
His presence on Earth, despite this, has been noted. An academic researcher named Myreck contacts Ewing and asks if he will come to his College to give a talk about his colony world. He is also approached by citizens of the Sirius colony, the oldest of the Earth planetary colonies who are very suspicious of his presence and do not believe his claims of a non-human threat to human worlds.
The Sirians, who appear to exist in large numbers on Earth, are in the process of taking Earth over as a Sirian protectorate. They suspect Ewing of being a spy from the other colonies who may be plotting to move against them.
On his visit to Myreck's college the scientists take Ewing on a tour of their laboratory which includes some working time travel equipment, although it is not until later in the novel that the significance of this comes into play.
It is worth noting that other Ace Doubles deal with issues of Humanity turning pacifist or at least non-military and suffering the consequences. (High, Bulmer). Although the subject is explored in different ways there seems to be a general sense of animosity toward the concept of a pacifist society. Silverberg does not outrightly condemn the concept but he certainly gives the impression that the males of Earth are listless and somewhat effeminate.
One has to consider whether these views of anti-pacifism (quite overtly hostile in the case of Bulmer) were a reaction to world events and changes in the social make-up of the time. The Korean War had only ended a few years before and the Vietnam War was ongoing. It's difficult to say without further research if the issue of protests against war was a topic that authors consciously introduced in oblique ways into novels of the day.
After Ewing is drugged, kidnapped and interrogated by the Sirian Security Services, the pace steps up and Silverberg, to his credit, delivers up a pretty decent time paradox tale at the end of which Ewing realises how he can defeat the Klodni invasion and return to Earth to help throw off the yolk of the Sirian invaders.
It's always interesting looking at early Silverberg novels. By this time he had already published three earlier novels for Ace and many short stories for various outlets. 'Stepsons of Terra' is certainly above the mean quality level for an Ace Double but does not give any hint of the high quality of writing he was later to produce.
The first Corwinite in 500 years to visit Earth, Baird Ewing had been delegated by the desperate planetary colonists to seek the Mother Planet's help against a destructive horde which would soon gall upon the planet Corwin.
But Earth... Earth had changed into a decadent, moldering world which could not even avoid her own destruction at the hands of the neighboring Sirians... much less help the distant and long-forgotten colony.
Earth had nothing to offer... except... maybe the secret of time travel!'
Blurb from the 1958 D-311 Ace Doubles paperback edition
The colony planet Corwin is under threat of invasion from the alien Klodni and Baird Ewing volunteers to return to the Mother Planet - with whom the colonists have had no contact in five hundred years - to beg for military aid.
Ewing discovers however that Earth had become a decadent world peopled by apathetic natives and no ships or armies to defend themselves.
His presence on Earth, despite this, has been noted. An academic researcher named Myreck contacts Ewing and asks if he will come to his College to give a talk about his colony world. He is also approached by citizens of the Sirius colony, the oldest of the Earth planetary colonies who are very suspicious of his presence and do not believe his claims of a non-human threat to human worlds.
The Sirians, who appear to exist in large numbers on Earth, are in the process of taking Earth over as a Sirian protectorate. They suspect Ewing of being a spy from the other colonies who may be plotting to move against them.
On his visit to Myreck's college the scientists take Ewing on a tour of their laboratory which includes some working time travel equipment, although it is not until later in the novel that the significance of this comes into play.
It is worth noting that other Ace Doubles deal with issues of Humanity turning pacifist or at least non-military and suffering the consequences. (High, Bulmer). Although the subject is explored in different ways there seems to be a general sense of animosity toward the concept of a pacifist society. Silverberg does not outrightly condemn the concept but he certainly gives the impression that the males of Earth are listless and somewhat effeminate.
One has to consider whether these views of anti-pacifism (quite overtly hostile in the case of Bulmer) were a reaction to world events and changes in the social make-up of the time. The Korean War had only ended a few years before and the Vietnam War was ongoing. It's difficult to say without further research if the issue of protests against war was a topic that authors consciously introduced in oblique ways into novels of the day.
After Ewing is drugged, kidnapped and interrogated by the Sirian Security Services, the pace steps up and Silverberg, to his credit, delivers up a pretty decent time paradox tale at the end of which Ewing realises how he can defeat the Klodni invasion and return to Earth to help throw off the yolk of the Sirian invaders.
It's always interesting looking at early Silverberg novels. By this time he had already published three earlier novels for Ace and many short stories for various outlets. 'Stepsons of Terra' is certainly above the mean quality level for an Ace Double but does not give any hint of the high quality of writing he was later to produce.
June 8, 2018
Stepsons of Terra, by Robert Silverberg: Ace, 174 pages.
According to the introduction of this book by Silverberg, Stepsons of Terra was his 6th published novel, written in October of 1957. Silverberg indicated that he’d had plenty of shorter stuff published before this work, though, as well as the five other novels. The original title of the book was Shadow on the Stars, and it appeared in the April 1958 issue of Science Fiction Adventures, edited at the time by Larry T. Shaw, who requested a novel from Silverberg. Later that year it was picked up by Donald Wollheim for his Ace Doubles book line, where it appeared opposite of a book by British author Lan Wright.
In his introduction to “Stepsons,” which contains a wealth of good information, Silverberg says he’d written plenty of shorter “melodramas” for Science Fiction Adventures under various pseudonyms. By melodramas he means “blood-and-thunder,” and “blazing ray-guns” written “strictly for fun.” As is often the case when Silverberg talks about writing SF, he takes—at least to me—a slightly disparaging tone about the more pulpish aspects of the genre. This never fails to irritate me. Personally, his more pulpish tales are by far my favorites among his work. These include two that I read as a kid called Conquerors from the Darkness and Time of the Great Freeze.
As for Stepsons of Terra, Silverberg writes that since it was going to appear under his own name, he: “was a trifle less flamboyant about making use of the pulp-magazine clichés beloved by the magazine’s readers. There would be no hissing villains and basilisk-eyed princess in this one, no desperate duels with dagger and mace, no feudal overloads swaggering about the stars. Rather, I would write a straightforward science fiction novel strongly plotted but not unduly weighted toward breathless adventure.”
So, what was the result? In my opinion? Well, it was good but I think it would have been better with more of those pulp elements. It’s definitely a tale of intrigue rather than action and adventure. The adventure is certainly not “breathless.” Relatively little actually happens in the story, although the writing is good and the characters hold your attention. Too, Silverberg certainly does avoid the cliché descriptions of women often found in tales of the pulp era. And the epic space battle in the book is about as anti-climactic as you can get—certainly not cliché though.
According to Silverberg, the book was very well received by the readers of Science Fiction Adventures and the next issue of the magazine was full of “letters of praise.” I’m sure it was, and I did enjoy the book. Not my favorite of his, though. I guess I’d have to say: give me more pulp.
According to the introduction of this book by Silverberg, Stepsons of Terra was his 6th published novel, written in October of 1957. Silverberg indicated that he’d had plenty of shorter stuff published before this work, though, as well as the five other novels. The original title of the book was Shadow on the Stars, and it appeared in the April 1958 issue of Science Fiction Adventures, edited at the time by Larry T. Shaw, who requested a novel from Silverberg. Later that year it was picked up by Donald Wollheim for his Ace Doubles book line, where it appeared opposite of a book by British author Lan Wright.
In his introduction to “Stepsons,” which contains a wealth of good information, Silverberg says he’d written plenty of shorter “melodramas” for Science Fiction Adventures under various pseudonyms. By melodramas he means “blood-and-thunder,” and “blazing ray-guns” written “strictly for fun.” As is often the case when Silverberg talks about writing SF, he takes—at least to me—a slightly disparaging tone about the more pulpish aspects of the genre. This never fails to irritate me. Personally, his more pulpish tales are by far my favorites among his work. These include two that I read as a kid called Conquerors from the Darkness and Time of the Great Freeze.
As for Stepsons of Terra, Silverberg writes that since it was going to appear under his own name, he: “was a trifle less flamboyant about making use of the pulp-magazine clichés beloved by the magazine’s readers. There would be no hissing villains and basilisk-eyed princess in this one, no desperate duels with dagger and mace, no feudal overloads swaggering about the stars. Rather, I would write a straightforward science fiction novel strongly plotted but not unduly weighted toward breathless adventure.”
So, what was the result? In my opinion? Well, it was good but I think it would have been better with more of those pulp elements. It’s definitely a tale of intrigue rather than action and adventure. The adventure is certainly not “breathless.” Relatively little actually happens in the story, although the writing is good and the characters hold your attention. Too, Silverberg certainly does avoid the cliché descriptions of women often found in tales of the pulp era. And the epic space battle in the book is about as anti-climactic as you can get—certainly not cliché though.
According to Silverberg, the book was very well received by the readers of Science Fiction Adventures and the next issue of the magazine was full of “letters of praise.” I’m sure it was, and I did enjoy the book. Not my favorite of his, though. I guess I’d have to say: give me more pulp.
August 28, 2012
This is the second of Silverberg's 1950's novels that I have read. Like The Seed of Earth, it was republished in the 1970''s with an introduction by Silverberg. Stepsons, however, is more of a novel than Seeds. It was at least written as a novel, whereas the other is a short story expanded into a novel-like fiction with the addition of some backstory that made it long enough to serve as one half of an Ace double. Stepsons first book publication was also as an Ace Double, so it is very short. As it should be. It's brevity makes the story of one human colonist's return trip to Earth both entertaining and well paced with reversals and surprises. Maybe had I read the blurbs before I read the book, I would have known it was going to involve time manipulations, but as it happens I blundered along with no idea where the story could possibly be going.
Silverberg, in his introduction, is quite pleased with how well the twenty year old novel held up in the 1970's. Forty years later I would have to say the who thing is pretty rudimentary, but entertaining for the couple of hours it takes to read it.
Silverberg, in his introduction, is quite pleased with how well the twenty year old novel held up in the 1970's. Forty years later I would have to say the who thing is pretty rudimentary, but entertaining for the couple of hours it takes to read it.
March 20, 2024
The forgotten colony sends a one man ship to old Earth, to ask for help against invaders from Andromeda. But the people of Earth have their own problems.
This is Silverberg's 6th novel. For a prolific writer like he was, this is an early work. And for that it is solid. It has a believable hero, an unforseeable plot and a satisfying story arc.
There is not much depth and the end was only so-so. But you could already see that he had above average talent.
This is Silverberg's 6th novel. For a prolific writer like he was, this is an early work. And for that it is solid. It has a believable hero, an unforseeable plot and a satisfying story arc.
There is not much depth and the end was only so-so. But you could already see that he had above average talent.
June 5, 2013
I read it in a different language, so maybe the translation was off or I missed something, but I didn't get one thing: If Ewing originally died in the torture chamber, then how did he go back in time the very first time to save himself? A dead person cannot travel in time!
December 20, 2007
read 04.16.84
July 17, 2014
It's good but it's not great. Enjoyable enough but not something to get over-excited about. An average effort (and an early one) from a great author.
April 24, 2022
This is a story that could have been developed in alternate directions. (I guess it has, in the Multiverse.)
June 14, 2020
Baird Ewing arrives on Earth seeking assistance for his home world of Corwin, which is threatened by an alien invasion. Unfortunately, he finds that over the last thousand years, the Mother World has evolved into a pacifist, effete culture centered around the arts and sciences. It has no military and no weapons. Not only can it not defend Corwin, it is itself in danger of imminent subjugation to the militant colony of Sirius IV.
Ewing is kidnapped by Sirians and then rescued in a bizarre manner, which eventually leads him to deduce that Earth has a functioning time machine. He must travel to the past to save himself (just as he was saved by a future version of himself). Time travel only works in one direction. Since he cannot accelerate back to his point of departure (he can only progress “through forward time at a rate of one second per second”), this creates multiple Ewings in the past.
Suffice to say, causality paradoxes and temporal hijinks ensue, which eventually resolve themselves into creative solutions to help both Earth and Corwin.
This is a fun early treatment of time travel. Despite the pulp-adventure tone, Silverberg actually provides a fairly sophisticated set of rules around temporal displacement.
The novel was expanded from a 1957 short story of the same name. It was expanded to book length in 1958 for Ace. It first appeared with the title Stepsons of Terra. All post-2000 editions have restored the author’s preferred title.
Ewing is kidnapped by Sirians and then rescued in a bizarre manner, which eventually leads him to deduce that Earth has a functioning time machine. He must travel to the past to save himself (just as he was saved by a future version of himself). Time travel only works in one direction. Since he cannot accelerate back to his point of departure (he can only progress “through forward time at a rate of one second per second”), this creates multiple Ewings in the past.
Suffice to say, causality paradoxes and temporal hijinks ensue, which eventually resolve themselves into creative solutions to help both Earth and Corwin.
This is a fun early treatment of time travel. Despite the pulp-adventure tone, Silverberg actually provides a fairly sophisticated set of rules around temporal displacement.
The novel was expanded from a 1957 short story of the same name. It was expanded to book length in 1958 for Ace. It first appeared with the title Stepsons of Terra. All post-2000 editions have restored the author’s preferred title.
Read
October 31, 2024این کتاب رو با نام فارسی "فرزندان ناتنی زمین" و با ترجمه محمدحسين عباس پور خوندم
داستان به این ترتیب است که پانصد سال است که مهاجرنشین دورافتاده کوروین در انزوا از سیاره مادر رها شدهاست. اما خطر مهاجمان کلودنی آنها را مجبور میکند تا با ارسال یک سفینه و یک مرد در سفری یکساله از زمین تقاضای کمک کنند…
داستان به این ترتیب است که پانصد سال است که مهاجرنشین دورافتاده کوروین در انزوا از سیاره مادر رها شدهاست. اما خطر مهاجمان کلودنی آنها را مجبور میکند تا با ارسال یک سفینه و یک مرد در سفری یکساله از زمین تقاضای کمک کنند…
July 24, 2017
One of the best books that I read when I was a teenager.
In Persian: یک کتاب خوب در ژانر علمی تخیلی که الهامبخش دوران نوجوانی من بود، ترجمه فارسی آن هم اگرچه چنگی به دل نمی زند ولی برای آن دوره ایران مورد قبول بود و پیشنهاد می کنم بخوانید
In Persian: یک کتاب خوب در ژانر علمی تخیلی که الهامبخش دوران نوجوانی من بود، ترجمه فارسی آن هم اگرچه چنگی به دل نمی زند ولی برای آن دوره ایران مورد قبول بود و پیشنهاد می کنم بخوانید
October 9, 2025
Even young Silverberg in his pulp era is well worth reading. This took me about two and a half hours in a single day and there’s something to be said for such an efficient little story as this.
January 7, 2020
Es ist lange her, daß am Rand der Galaxis irdische Kolonien gegründet wurden. Aber sie haben alle den Kontakt mit ihrem Mutterplaneten, der Erde, verloren. Schuld daran sind allein die gewaltigen interstellaren Entfernungen. Corwin ist eine dieser Kolonien – auf ihr nimmt dieser Roman seinen Anfang. Der junge Baird Ewing soll auf die lange Reise zur Erde geschickt werden, um Hilfe gegen die räuberischen Horden extragalaktischer Intelligenzen, die Corwin bedrohen, anzufordern. Doch Baird soll auf der Erde eine unangenehme Überraschung erleben. Die Terraner, alt und müde geworden, bedürfen selbst dringend der Hilfe; gegen einen Feind, der Freundschaft mit Haß vergeltet und Koordinierung mit Machthunger. Baird Ewing ahnt nicht, daß er in das Spiel der Macht bereits eingeplant ist, noch ehe er den Fuß auf Terra gesetzt hat.
Krieg gegen Ausserirdische, die Erde als Spielball ihrer Kolonien, eine Zeitreise um diese Probleme zu lösen.
Interessanter Roman von Robert Silverberg, aber nicht wirklich etwas Aussergewöhnliches.
Krieg gegen Ausserirdische, die Erde als Spielball ihrer Kolonien, eine Zeitreise um diese Probleme zu lösen.
Interessanter Roman von Robert Silverberg, aber nicht wirklich etwas Aussergewöhnliches.
April 21, 2012
Read, not remembered
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews