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Recalled to Life
Ace Books, 1977. Mass market paperback. This edition includes a preface by the author explaining the revisions from the original book publication.
238 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
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186 people want to read
About the author
Robert Silverberg
2,347 books1,606 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.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 17, 2024
This work is an excellent novel for readers who like politics and morality in fiction. Heaven knows they won’t read De Anima anymore, so this might be a substitute point of departure. Anyway, this is my first Silverberg read, and though it is not a five-star novel, it has shown me that Silverberg is an intriguing author.
February 3, 2015
True to his word, after announcing his retirement from the science fiction field in 1959, future Grand Master Robert Silverberg's formerly prodigious output fell off precipitously. Although he’d released some 16 sci-fi novels from the period 1954 – '59, not to mention almost 250 (!) sci-fi short stories, AFTER 1959 and until his major return in 1967, his sci-fi production was sporadic at best. In 1960, Silverberg only released one sci-fi book, "Lost Race of Mars" (a so-called "juvenile"), and in 1961, not a single full-length affair; only two short stories. In 1962, however, in a slight return to form, Silverberg released "Recalled to Life" and "The Seed of Earth." The year 1962 was hardly an idle one for Silverberg, however; besides those two novels, he also released one sci-fi short story, 32 "adult" novels (with such titillating titles as "Lust Cat," "Lust Cult," "Lust for Two" and "Lust Lord") and seven works of nonfiction, including his popular "Lost Cities and Vanished Civilizations." I had not previously read any of Silverberg's work from this early to mid-'60s "in-between period," and so was very happy (and fortunate) to get my hands on a 1967 Lancer edition of "Recalled to Life" (cover price: 50 cents), which lists the copyright date of this 1962 book release as...1958; I believe the work actually first appeared in 1958 in the digest-size magazine "Infinity Science Fiction." Anyway, a recent perusal of the book has demonstrated to this reader what I'd long suspected; that even in "retirement," Silverberg's writing skills were undiminished. As it turns out, "Recalled to Life" is yet another finely crafted, thoughtful and imaginative piece of work (although whether it is, as the blurb on the Lancer front cover maintains, the author's "greatest science-fiction novel" is highly questionable).
In "Recalled to Life," the reader makes the acquaintance of 43-year-old former mayor of NYC and former governor of New York State, James Harker, now in private practice at a law firm in Manhattan. Harker's world is turned upside down when a representative from the Beller Research Laboratories in the fictitious town of Litchfield, NJ asks for his legal services and PR know-how. Beller Labs has, remarkably, come up with a revolutionary process of reanimating the recently deceased; unknown to the public, the technicians there have discovered a means of reviving a dead body, with the provisos that the body has been dead for only 36 hours or so and has suffered no major organ damage. But how to break this astonishing news to the world? That will be family man Harker's new challenge. Harker accepts the assignment, anticipating the general public's elation and acclaim, but both he and his Beller associates are dumbfounded when this new gift of reanimation is denounced by the public, organized religion, various government factions, and the press. "Recalled to Life" details the process whereby Harker endeavors to convince the different groups of what a boon to mankind the Beller process might be. And ultimately, to make his case, Harker opts for a most risky gambit indeed....
Silverberg has been quoted as saying that his Nebula-winning 1974 novella "Born With the Dead" is a sequel of sorts to "Recalled to Life," and who am I to contradict him? The novella did deal with "rekindled" human beings, the "Deads," who lived apart from the "Warms" in their so-called "Cold Towns." But the novella is set in the year 1993, while the '62 novel is set in the spring and summer of 2033, when a process of resuscitating the dead has just been discovered. So although the novella may be a sequel in spirit, it is certainly not one in actuality. Silverberg fills his '62 novel with interesting subplots and well-drawn characters (mainly scientists and politicos), and adds color via zesty sci-fi touches; for example, the cigarette ignition capsules, the window opaquers, the "gravshaft" elevators, the "puritron stations" for handling NYC's air pollution, the crosstown monorails, and the mention of settlements on both the moon and on Mars. He predicts the legalization of abortions in the U.S., although says that this came about in "the late twentieth century" rather than the actual date of 1973. Another prediction that Silverberg only gets half right: He tells us that both the U.S. and Russia landed on the moon in the early '60s, whereas, of course, the U.S. didn't accomplish that feat--and did so alone--till 1969. For all its sci-fi trappings and flabbergasting central conceit, parts of the book still come off as inevitably dated: Characters use mimeograph machines (!), "Idlewild" is referred to (it became JFK International Airport in 1963), and so is the "Manchester Guardian" (the newspaper had already become just "The Guardian" in 1959). Strangely enough, the usually impeccable Silverberg even makes a flub as regards dates (May 14, 2033 will be a Saturday, not a Tuesday), and though his grammar and word selection are also typically faultless, in the course of this book, he even proves guilty of a repetitive phrase ("grizzled close-cropped hair turning gray").
Still, for all its very slight faults, "Recalled to Life" remains a wonderful read, and its story is a fast-moving one, with many surprising plot twists. As might be expected, Silverberg has thought through many of the ramifications of the reanimation process, and the myriad legal, religious and ethical questions that it might pose. For example, if a person were to stipulate in his will that he did not wish to be reanimated later on, could he be construed as a suicide if his cadaver turned out to be an appropriate reanimation subject? Harker himself makes for a likable central character, and what he ultimately attempts, in order to bring about public acceptance of reanimation, is quite touching. The book concludes marvelously, and could easily have led to a genuine sequel had its author so chosen. A compact affair at under 150 pages, this is yet another compulsively readable page-turner from Mr. Silverberg, whose major phase as a sci-fi writer would not commence for another five years. Though devoid of humor, the book yet sports one priceless line. When Harker is asked by the current New York State governor if he is serious about this new scientific process of awakening the dead, what does Harker reply? "Dead serious."
(This review originally appeared on the FanLit website, an excellent destination for all fans of Robert Silverberg: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ )
In "Recalled to Life," the reader makes the acquaintance of 43-year-old former mayor of NYC and former governor of New York State, James Harker, now in private practice at a law firm in Manhattan. Harker's world is turned upside down when a representative from the Beller Research Laboratories in the fictitious town of Litchfield, NJ asks for his legal services and PR know-how. Beller Labs has, remarkably, come up with a revolutionary process of reanimating the recently deceased; unknown to the public, the technicians there have discovered a means of reviving a dead body, with the provisos that the body has been dead for only 36 hours or so and has suffered no major organ damage. But how to break this astonishing news to the world? That will be family man Harker's new challenge. Harker accepts the assignment, anticipating the general public's elation and acclaim, but both he and his Beller associates are dumbfounded when this new gift of reanimation is denounced by the public, organized religion, various government factions, and the press. "Recalled to Life" details the process whereby Harker endeavors to convince the different groups of what a boon to mankind the Beller process might be. And ultimately, to make his case, Harker opts for a most risky gambit indeed....
Silverberg has been quoted as saying that his Nebula-winning 1974 novella "Born With the Dead" is a sequel of sorts to "Recalled to Life," and who am I to contradict him? The novella did deal with "rekindled" human beings, the "Deads," who lived apart from the "Warms" in their so-called "Cold Towns." But the novella is set in the year 1993, while the '62 novel is set in the spring and summer of 2033, when a process of resuscitating the dead has just been discovered. So although the novella may be a sequel in spirit, it is certainly not one in actuality. Silverberg fills his '62 novel with interesting subplots and well-drawn characters (mainly scientists and politicos), and adds color via zesty sci-fi touches; for example, the cigarette ignition capsules, the window opaquers, the "gravshaft" elevators, the "puritron stations" for handling NYC's air pollution, the crosstown monorails, and the mention of settlements on both the moon and on Mars. He predicts the legalization of abortions in the U.S., although says that this came about in "the late twentieth century" rather than the actual date of 1973. Another prediction that Silverberg only gets half right: He tells us that both the U.S. and Russia landed on the moon in the early '60s, whereas, of course, the U.S. didn't accomplish that feat--and did so alone--till 1969. For all its sci-fi trappings and flabbergasting central conceit, parts of the book still come off as inevitably dated: Characters use mimeograph machines (!), "Idlewild" is referred to (it became JFK International Airport in 1963), and so is the "Manchester Guardian" (the newspaper had already become just "The Guardian" in 1959). Strangely enough, the usually impeccable Silverberg even makes a flub as regards dates (May 14, 2033 will be a Saturday, not a Tuesday), and though his grammar and word selection are also typically faultless, in the course of this book, he even proves guilty of a repetitive phrase ("grizzled close-cropped hair turning gray").
Still, for all its very slight faults, "Recalled to Life" remains a wonderful read, and its story is a fast-moving one, with many surprising plot twists. As might be expected, Silverberg has thought through many of the ramifications of the reanimation process, and the myriad legal, religious and ethical questions that it might pose. For example, if a person were to stipulate in his will that he did not wish to be reanimated later on, could he be construed as a suicide if his cadaver turned out to be an appropriate reanimation subject? Harker himself makes for a likable central character, and what he ultimately attempts, in order to bring about public acceptance of reanimation, is quite touching. The book concludes marvelously, and could easily have led to a genuine sequel had its author so chosen. A compact affair at under 150 pages, this is yet another compulsively readable page-turner from Mr. Silverberg, whose major phase as a sci-fi writer would not commence for another five years. Though devoid of humor, the book yet sports one priceless line. When Harker is asked by the current New York State governor if he is serious about this new scientific process of awakening the dead, what does Harker reply? "Dead serious."
(This review originally appeared on the FanLit website, an excellent destination for all fans of Robert Silverberg: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ )
May 8, 2025
Recalled to Life was written late in 1957 and was serialized in a science fiction digest magazine edited by Larry T. Shaw, Infinity, June - August of 1958. Lancer did a couple of paperback editions of it before they went out of business in the 1960s, and then Silverberg rewrote and added quite a bit to it in 1971, and Doubleday re-issued it with a hardbound edition in 1972. The paperback edition of the revised version didn't come out until 1977, when Ace made it part of their uniform series of early Silverberg books with an introduction and a cover by Don Ivan Punchatz. In the introduction, Silverberg lists a number of publishers who rejected the initial novel, saying it was overly philosophic, religious, political, depressing, etc., etc., with too little action, all concerns which it seems to me he may have made worse rather than fixing in his expanded version. The book examines the same questions that he explored in his excellent novella Born with the Dead, which he describes as a virtual sequel to this story. It's not bad, but not one I'd recommend except to hard-core Silverberg fans.
April 18, 2021
"Death is the most important word in the language, right after birth. What comes in between is immaterial; everybody goes through his days remembering that all his life is just preparation for the moment of his death. You've changed all that. Did you expect the world to take it calmly?"
James Harker accepts a job to serve as legal representative and public relations spokesman for Beller Research Labs, which has invented a revolutionary new technique to bring people back to life within 24 hours of death, provided their organs are intact and undamaged…
When unscrupulous employees leak news of this breakthrough before the process can be perfected, Harker finds himself navigating religious, political, and cultural backlash at all levels of society. His clients only want to make the world a better place, but what is the cost of eliminating death? And what is the consequence when the process fails, when it revives the body but not the brain?...
This novel represents Robert Silverberg's most ambitious theme up to this point early in his career. Here he riffs on immortality and the Frankenstein legend. He attempts to showcase the gamut of political, ethical, cultural, and religious implications of this new technology.
While I read the story, I often thought to myself, "Surely society would embrace life-extending resurrecting technology and work out its ethics later", but I am not so sure. Our primal myths have always betrayed an innate fear of things that return from the grave (zombies, vampires, ghosts, ghouls, banshees, mummies) even as the beauty of Christ's resurrection story has inspired millions.
Silverberg's milieu presages modern medical ethics debates. He predicts doctors can be charged with murder for failing to reanimate a patient. He predicts widespread use of DNR orders.
He also mentions other troublesome aspects of the technology even though the story does not directly address them: a ruling class of wealthy people could reanimate repeatedly while the poor remained condemned to die; families sometimes do not want quarrelsome dead relatives back; etc.
I enjoyed the story, but I was often distracted by the elements Silverberg got wrong:
• Barely any consideration of medical peer reviews, ethics panels, or FDA trial processes. A group of mad scientists cannot just obtain fresh cadavers and reanimate them willy-nilly without consequences
• The scientific aspects of reanimation presented here are wonky. It reads just like standard CPR with extra injections of hormones and electroshock. It is not clear how this would reverse brain and tissue damage in a corpse.
• An extraneous subplot about a dying astronaut with greedy children adds subtext but never really goes anywhere
"This was a new era--an era in which the darkest fact of existence, death, no longer loomed high over man."
Silverberg once referred to his 1974 novella "Born With the Dead" as virtually a sequel to this novel. I am looking forward to reading that one…
This novel was originally serialized in 1958 in Infinity magazine across its June-August issues . It was released as a paperback in 1962 and received at least five different English language reprints over the next fifteen years. Silverberg revised the text for Doubleday in 1971, stating in a new introduction: "I looked through the text and found it full of youthful flaws and blemishes. So I have treated my younger self's novel as a first draft and have reworked it, in a sense collaborating with myself across a decade and a half."
My version (which is the only version currently in print in the United States) is the original text from the 1958, 1962, and 1967 editions.
James Harker accepts a job to serve as legal representative and public relations spokesman for Beller Research Labs, which has invented a revolutionary new technique to bring people back to life within 24 hours of death, provided their organs are intact and undamaged…
When unscrupulous employees leak news of this breakthrough before the process can be perfected, Harker finds himself navigating religious, political, and cultural backlash at all levels of society. His clients only want to make the world a better place, but what is the cost of eliminating death? And what is the consequence when the process fails, when it revives the body but not the brain?...
This novel represents Robert Silverberg's most ambitious theme up to this point early in his career. Here he riffs on immortality and the Frankenstein legend. He attempts to showcase the gamut of political, ethical, cultural, and religious implications of this new technology.
While I read the story, I often thought to myself, "Surely society would embrace life-extending resurrecting technology and work out its ethics later", but I am not so sure. Our primal myths have always betrayed an innate fear of things that return from the grave (zombies, vampires, ghosts, ghouls, banshees, mummies) even as the beauty of Christ's resurrection story has inspired millions.
Silverberg's milieu presages modern medical ethics debates. He predicts doctors can be charged with murder for failing to reanimate a patient. He predicts widespread use of DNR orders.
He also mentions other troublesome aspects of the technology even though the story does not directly address them: a ruling class of wealthy people could reanimate repeatedly while the poor remained condemned to die; families sometimes do not want quarrelsome dead relatives back; etc.
I enjoyed the story, but I was often distracted by the elements Silverberg got wrong:
• Barely any consideration of medical peer reviews, ethics panels, or FDA trial processes. A group of mad scientists cannot just obtain fresh cadavers and reanimate them willy-nilly without consequences
• The scientific aspects of reanimation presented here are wonky. It reads just like standard CPR with extra injections of hormones and electroshock. It is not clear how this would reverse brain and tissue damage in a corpse.
• An extraneous subplot about a dying astronaut with greedy children adds subtext but never really goes anywhere
"This was a new era--an era in which the darkest fact of existence, death, no longer loomed high over man."
Silverberg once referred to his 1974 novella "Born With the Dead" as virtually a sequel to this novel. I am looking forward to reading that one…
This novel was originally serialized in 1958 in Infinity magazine across its June-August issues . It was released as a paperback in 1962 and received at least five different English language reprints over the next fifteen years. Silverberg revised the text for Doubleday in 1971, stating in a new introduction: "I looked through the text and found it full of youthful flaws and blemishes. So I have treated my younger self's novel as a first draft and have reworked it, in a sense collaborating with myself across a decade and a half."
My version (which is the only version currently in print in the United States) is the original text from the 1958, 1962, and 1967 editions.
April 14, 2025
La mar de entretenido y ME LO COMÍ. Escrito en los '50 pero publicado con actualización en los '70, la historia transcurre en 2033 y es muy interesante, porque los avances que se imagina (cohetes ultra rápidos) no son lo que suceden (las personas siguen sin tener celular y básicamente se mandan notas escritas). Me gustó que el autor no se volviera loco con las décadas por adelante, en el sentido de que no esperaba que fueramos todavía tan evolucionados en genera. La gente, las ciudades y la sociedad siguen siendo bastante parecidos a lo de hoy, que también es parecido a los '50-'70.
La trama tiene que ver con doctores que descubren una manera de resucitar a las personas que llevan menos de un día muertas y toda la parte moral que conlleva. Es súper interesante y súper filosófico, como la mayoría de los libros buenos de ciencia ficción. A veces se pone un poco tedioso con tanta descripción política (el protagonista es un ex gobernador) pero sentí que también aprendí sobre un montón de esos temas. En el gremio, el cómo y el cuándo lo son todo. Uno ve lo que hacen y se pone pillín pillina.
Original, agridulce, divertido, loco, tierno, aunque lleno de partes oscuras que JAMÁS se arreglaron... me gustó mucho.
Un viaje, Robert Silverberg. El último libro que leí suyo "El mundo interior", también me encantó, aunque ese era mucho más distópico, futurista y, por qué no decirlo, agridulce.
La trama tiene que ver con doctores que descubren una manera de resucitar a las personas que llevan menos de un día muertas y toda la parte moral que conlleva. Es súper interesante y súper filosófico, como la mayoría de los libros buenos de ciencia ficción. A veces se pone un poco tedioso con tanta descripción política (el protagonista es un ex gobernador) pero sentí que también aprendí sobre un montón de esos temas. En el gremio, el cómo y el cuándo lo son todo. Uno ve lo que hacen y se pone pillín pillina.
Original, agridulce, divertido, loco, tierno, aunque lleno de partes oscuras que JAMÁS se arreglaron... me gustó mucho.
Un viaje, Robert Silverberg. El último libro que leí suyo "El mundo interior", también me encantó, aunque ese era mucho más distópico, futurista y, por qué no decirlo, agridulce.
October 14, 2021
First off, this book is worth reading. Maybe not to seek out, but if you come across it in an omnibus, cheap on Kindle, or in a stack of sci-fi paperbacks like I did, get it and read it. It's a strong 3.5 and solid Silverberg. This is a sort of disclaimer, because the complaining starts now.
This novel was written in 1958 and is set in 2033. But you won't find much in the way of advanced science in this sci-fi novel. There are plenty of telephone operators plugging lines into switchboards, piles of handwritten letters sent and received, important men demanding a typewriter so he can send a press release, and long taxi rides that cost a whole ten dollars. I'm not sure why this novel had to be set 75 years into the future. There's a peculiar reorganizing of the American political parties as part of the plot, replacing both democrats and republicans, but that change took place in the 1990s in book-time.
The decisions regarding the cover blurb "Robert Silverberg's Greatest Science-Fiction Novel" and the plot synopsis which spoils most of the book is baffling. It's not his greatest novel (not even in 1958) and the ending is literally spoiled by the back cover text.
There is a scientific process which can return a person to life if used within 24 hours of death, provided the body itself is intact organically. This process was recently discovered and gets announced to the public; prematurely, it turns out. Our protagonist Harker has recently lost his re-election bid for governor of NY and is now a private attorney and P.R. man for this project.
Harker is not the most likeable of characters and has his own motivations. If you're looking for a hero with all the answers, Harker is not your man. I think he was well-drawn and made a few decisions that required the reader to read between the lines.
The story deals with how the public might react to a machine that can bring people back to life. Silverberg does a good job of hitting multiple angles for and against the idea.
Unfortunately, I think this novel is too short for the story it wants to tell. This entire plot could be condensed into an Outer Limits hour. One thing the book fails to do is give the reader any real sense of what the people might be like after resurrection. Oddly, there is not one conversation with a recipient of the process.
I think the skeleton of an excellent book is here, and I liked it just fine as-is. What I would like to see is Michael Crichton strapped into the reclamation machine to take a crack at this story. This is very much in the Crichton vein, decades before his heyday.
This is decent Silverberg, and his fans will not be disappointed.
This novel was written in 1958 and is set in 2033. But you won't find much in the way of advanced science in this sci-fi novel. There are plenty of telephone operators plugging lines into switchboards, piles of handwritten letters sent and received, important men demanding a typewriter so he can send a press release, and long taxi rides that cost a whole ten dollars. I'm not sure why this novel had to be set 75 years into the future. There's a peculiar reorganizing of the American political parties as part of the plot, replacing both democrats and republicans, but that change took place in the 1990s in book-time.
The decisions regarding the cover blurb "Robert Silverberg's Greatest Science-Fiction Novel" and the plot synopsis which spoils most of the book is baffling. It's not his greatest novel (not even in 1958) and the ending is literally spoiled by the back cover text.
There is a scientific process which can return a person to life if used within 24 hours of death, provided the body itself is intact organically. This process was recently discovered and gets announced to the public; prematurely, it turns out. Our protagonist Harker has recently lost his re-election bid for governor of NY and is now a private attorney and P.R. man for this project.
Harker is not the most likeable of characters and has his own motivations. If you're looking for a hero with all the answers, Harker is not your man. I think he was well-drawn and made a few decisions that required the reader to read between the lines.
The story deals with how the public might react to a machine that can bring people back to life. Silverberg does a good job of hitting multiple angles for and against the idea.
Unfortunately, I think this novel is too short for the story it wants to tell. This entire plot could be condensed into an Outer Limits hour. One thing the book fails to do is give the reader any real sense of what the people might be like after resurrection. Oddly, there is not one conversation with a recipient of the process.
I think the skeleton of an excellent book is here, and I liked it just fine as-is. What I would like to see is Michael Crichton strapped into the reclamation machine to take a crack at this story. This is very much in the Crichton vein, decades before his heyday.
This is decent Silverberg, and his fans will not be disappointed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2017
I always enjoy reading Silverberg's science fiction and this novel was no exception. The premise of the story was that science had found a way to restore life after someone dies assuming there is no serious damage to vital organs. For example, a death from drowning or asphyxiation could be restored by this process. But what are the implications of this...both politically and religiously. If the body dies, does the soul leave the body and would it return after life has been restored? This novel was originally written in 1957 and was then revised and updated by Silverberg in 1971. The story takes place in 2033 where the political system has been revamped from the Democratic and Republican parties to the American-conservatives and National-liberals. Of course the conservatives were vehemently against the reanimation process while the liberals were for the most part for it. Silverberg compared this to fights for other medical breakthroughs including vaccination, anesthesia, blood transfusions, public-health clinics, and mental-health programs which many felt were violations of man's God-given right to suffer! And then there were also the fights for and against abortion. The protagonist of the story was ex-New York governor, James Harker, who as a practicing attorney agreed to represent the reanimation firm, Beller Laboratories. Harker has a fight on his hand convincing the government and the public of the benefits of the process and in the end takes a rather drastic step to prove his points. The novel reminded me a lot of the political squabbles that occur today...especially during the heated presidential race of 2016. Overall, a rather thought-provoking novel from Silverberg.
December 6, 2016
I rarely read SF. Even though I try to be dynamic with my imagination, I've always desired to stand on solid ground with both of my feet firmly on it. This was, however, one of the few times (now actually not as few as I would wish) I actually allowed myself to be drawn by the cover of the novel.
I liked it.
I liked it because I don't mind SF that's still rooted on relatively believable technological developments. This novel deals with scientific resurrection, and deftly addresses the ramifications behind it: the wielders of this ability certainly have godlike powers on their hands, because they have the ability to choose who lives and who dies. The novel starts with a group of scientists finally being able to resurrect a dead man back to life. Harker, the protagonist, is their legal counsel. Despite a lot of hitches ranging from treacherous employees to a conservative senator, not to mention the public outcry against resurrection, he endures by an act that alludes to one of the most important miracles of Christian faith. It's a very smooth and fast read, with well-placed twists throughout the short novel.
I'd probably be with the conservatives in relation to the novel. I think man's life has an end because it was intended by God. Who am I to judge, however?
I liked it.
I liked it because I don't mind SF that's still rooted on relatively believable technological developments. This novel deals with scientific resurrection, and deftly addresses the ramifications behind it: the wielders of this ability certainly have godlike powers on their hands, because they have the ability to choose who lives and who dies. The novel starts with a group of scientists finally being able to resurrect a dead man back to life. Harker, the protagonist, is their legal counsel. Despite a lot of hitches ranging from treacherous employees to a conservative senator, not to mention the public outcry against resurrection, he endures by an act that alludes to one of the most important miracles of Christian faith. It's a very smooth and fast read, with well-placed twists throughout the short novel.
I'd probably be with the conservatives in relation to the novel. I think man's life has an end because it was intended by God. Who am I to judge, however?
February 9, 2019
The premise of this book: a process for bringing the recently dead back to life is discovered. (Only if dead within the last 48 hours, without massive trauma to the body.) Essentially, this is a contemplation on how the USA would react to such a discovery.
I found this dry, didactic and a little hard to get through. I think it's because I found the characters also dry, didactic and a little hard to relate to. The range of arguments for against the process are all done well and convincingly, they just feel a little academic.
Strange. I've read quite a few of Mr Silverberg's other works and count two as favourites: "Downward to the Earth" and "Dying Inside", especially the latter. Perhaps it's because I read those two when younger and so they had a greater impact. Or perhaps "Recalled to Life" just isn't one of his best.
I found this dry, didactic and a little hard to get through. I think it's because I found the characters also dry, didactic and a little hard to relate to. The range of arguments for against the process are all done well and convincingly, they just feel a little academic.
Strange. I've read quite a few of Mr Silverberg's other works and count two as favourites: "Downward to the Earth" and "Dying Inside", especially the latter. Perhaps it's because I read those two when younger and so they had a greater impact. Or perhaps "Recalled to Life" just isn't one of his best.
October 17, 2025
I thought this would be akin to H.P. Lovecraft's 'Reanimator', focusing on the process of reanimation itself and the 'mad scientists doing something mad' kind of story, but I was wrong, and I am glad. This book focuses on the social and ethical problems surrounding the idea of reanimation. The book is written in 1958 and set in 2033 and yet, I believe the author captured pretty well how this scientific breakthrough would play out in the modern world. It is a discussion of ethical, social and religious implications of reanimating the dead. The church outright banning it, then slowly finding loopholes to make it work with its dogma, the politicians swinging their opinions with the will of the people, the people being scared of consequences of such a process, the philosophers of the world discussing ethical implications, I think it is very well depicted. This may indeed be how it would play out if such a process was revealed today.
I appreciate the process itself not being too detailed and complicated. It gives us the idea that the process works and a vague idea how it works and that is enough in this case. However, I do find it amusing that the process seems to be based, at least somewhat, on the cardiopulmonary bypass machine, which would have been in its infancy at the point when this was written.
Solid read.
I appreciate the process itself not being too detailed and complicated. It gives us the idea that the process works and a vague idea how it works and that is enough in this case. However, I do find it amusing that the process seems to be based, at least somewhat, on the cardiopulmonary bypass machine, which would have been in its infancy at the point when this was written.
Solid read.
July 13, 2023
A solid short novel of ideas with a spice of political manipulation. I enjoyed reading it and thinking about the implications along with Silverberg's exploration. But I felt a lot of points were glossed over or not explored at all.
There's something about the ending I really wish I could change:
There's something about the ending I really wish I could change:
January 12, 2024
Found this one on Project Gutenberg, oddly. I read it when, I think, I was 14, based on the cover. Of course one's tastes and judgement changes in 55+ years, but for the most part this one held up well. Former New York governor is asked to work for a company that has developed a means of bringing people back from the dead. Silverberg hand waves well about the technical issues and makes it somewhat believable (but not really), and concentrates well on the legal and political issues. I remember the the climactic scene affected me quite a bit at 14, but of course it didn't now, where I think it could have. This edition was taken from an sf magazine, so I wonder if that climactic stuff wasn't changed for the paperback edition. At any rate, it's a breezy book, and the climax may affect others differently than it did me this time around.
March 20, 2018
I read Recalled To Life over 40 years ago and could not remember anything about it although I have had the urge to re-read it recently. It is the story of a group of scientists who discover a way to bring back to life people who have been dead for a day. The main character is an ex-politcian and lawyer who takes on the job as frontman for the group. He has to make his way through the legal and politiccal minefield the process brings up. I found him to be at best driven and worst corrupt. I didn't like him much which rather put a damper on the take.
Overall I am grad I re-read it, but it may be another 40 years before I read it again.
Overall I am grad I re-read it, but it may be another 40 years before I read it again.
June 29, 2017
I love to read how science fiction writers envisioned technology in the future, an especially when it comes to flight and communication. While those two things weren't even secondary to the core of this book, I found it fascinating that we all travel by rocket and still use Xerox to get out press releases. Twitter seems so much messier though. A good read altogether, and an interesting look at what it means to live and die. Some aspects were cool in that the author foreshadowed DNR orders and the intense debate concerning the right to die. All around a great book.
June 16, 2022
**** 4.1 STARS ****
A short science-fiction novel about the moral ethics of what it means to be reanimated. Will the church decree, that to be reanimated is to be without soul? What will be the repercussions if the process fails?
This is a fantastic early book by Robert Silverberg. The pace and the way the subject matter is portrayed feels very much like a play. There is a lot of dialogue on offer here, and it feels quite modern, given the fact that it was released in the early sixties.
Will you be 'Recalled to Life', or will you be a born again .
A short science-fiction novel about the moral ethics of what it means to be reanimated. Will the church decree, that to be reanimated is to be without soul? What will be the repercussions if the process fails?
This is a fantastic early book by Robert Silverberg. The pace and the way the subject matter is portrayed feels very much like a play. There is a lot of dialogue on offer here, and it feels quite modern, given the fact that it was released in the early sixties.
Will you be 'Recalled to Life', or will you be a born again .
June 5, 2022
Interesting take on medical advances and the controversy of what constitutes death. Lawyer and former Governer Harker is approached by a lab to be their legal counsel as they prepare to announce a breakthrough. The revelation divides the press, and Harker is prepared to go to any length to secure approval. This novel is written in the 50s, and set in 2024, so it interesting to see both the accuracies and inaccuracies in how his world has developed.
December 30, 2024
Ear read 2024 (5.75hrs)
8/10 scary to think about what could happen if doctors could have a way to stop needless deaths, and yet be held back by bureaucracy and misguided paranoia. Robert carries a lot of the angles on the subject and though i didn’t like what the blundering doctors did to get to the ending, i found it well rounded out. Paul Lawley-Jones narrated well for the audiobook. I liked his character voices and phone-call effects :)
8/10 scary to think about what could happen if doctors could have a way to stop needless deaths, and yet be held back by bureaucracy and misguided paranoia. Robert carries a lot of the angles on the subject and though i didn’t like what the blundering doctors did to get to the ending, i found it well rounded out. Paul Lawley-Jones narrated well for the audiobook. I liked his character voices and phone-call effects :)
May 10, 2025
Another excellent tale from an author who was extremely prolific from the mid 60s to mid 70s without losing quality or running out of ideas, although this one, as a rewrite of a piece he wrote in the 50s, might give that impression at first sight. Hard SF rather than fantasy: technology from this vision of the 2020s from 50 years ago marginally expands the opportunities doctors have to prolong some lives which proves controversial.
January 6, 2020
Reluctantly finished this one because Silverberg is my fav author of all time.
Story-telling was lame in this one. Not half as exciting as others I've read (e.g. Dying Inside, Downward to the Earth - to which I gave 5 stars). Ah well, they all can't be this bad.
Bogged down in politics, arguments and commentary. Not enough action or relatable characters. No meat in this sandwich.
Story-telling was lame in this one. Not half as exciting as others I've read (e.g. Dying Inside, Downward to the Earth - to which I gave 5 stars). Ah well, they all can't be this bad.
Bogged down in politics, arguments and commentary. Not enough action or relatable characters. No meat in this sandwich.
March 19, 2024
Average near future med-sci-fi. A couple of clunky items going on here - usually when a murder is committed (by one on the “good guy” side), one usually must atone for it. However, lots of good things and observations going on here as far as, for instance, how the media is utilized to gain one’s aims.
Far from “Robert Silverberg’s Greatest science-fiction Novel” as printed on the cover.
Far from “Robert Silverberg’s Greatest science-fiction Novel” as printed on the cover.
October 14, 2024
what if science resurrect dead?! does it create zombies? This story analyses possible cases, the outcome and consequences.
July 18, 2025
A most interesting and odd tale. I thoroughly enjoyed the Librivox narration by Mark Nelson.
November 8, 2025
scifi book, quite weak in theme and write up.
August 29, 2012
Recalled to Life saw magazine publication in 1958, just towards the end of the time that Silverberg was cranking out SF adventures at the rate of 1000's of words per day. This novel, however, has a more thoughtful tone than other work I have read from that period. Although it is still thinly written and spotty with underdeveloped situations, the novel has characters with interesting, complex motivations along with a plot about the public reception of new medical technology that still resonates today.
Resurrecting the recently deceased sounds like one of those plot elements along the line of brain transplants. It is completely implausible and you know there are going to be complications. Silverberg makes his novel work by focusing on just the few days before and the immediate months following the revelation of the procedure to the public. We do not have to read through chapters of background and failed experiments. Take it on faith that in a somewhat grimy laboratory in New Jersey, a group of medical specialists have used money provided by a creepy oil tycoon to perfect the resurrection of the dead. Silverberg choses as a protagonist James Harker, a politician who has fallen from grace with his party and decides to sign onto the Beller Lab group as legal counsel and PR man. They are going to need him. You expect scientists in these novels to be nerdy, but this crowd has not only traitors in their midsts but prove to be surprisingly OK when it come to committing capital crimes.
Recalled to Life is a short and entertaining period piece.
Resurrecting the recently deceased sounds like one of those plot elements along the line of brain transplants. It is completely implausible and you know there are going to be complications. Silverberg makes his novel work by focusing on just the few days before and the immediate months following the revelation of the procedure to the public. We do not have to read through chapters of background and failed experiments. Take it on faith that in a somewhat grimy laboratory in New Jersey, a group of medical specialists have used money provided by a creepy oil tycoon to perfect the resurrection of the dead. Silverberg choses as a protagonist James Harker, a politician who has fallen from grace with his party and decides to sign onto the Beller Lab group as legal counsel and PR man. They are going to need him. You expect scientists in these novels to be nerdy, but this crowd has not only traitors in their midsts but prove to be surprisingly OK when it come to committing capital crimes.
Recalled to Life is a short and entertaining period piece.
June 16, 2024
Written when Silverberg was just 23 years old, this shows a remarkable maturity, at least in certain areas. Less so when it comes parenthood and the death of a child, as ex New York Governor James Harker seems largely untroubled by that fact; and Harker's 'meek' wife barely features. It left me feeling somewhat unsatisfied; this near-future, Frankenstein-esque story at times feels like I was working in the office of a politician or lawyer, and exploring the excellent idea of a process to reanimate the recently dead, from only that perspective. The scenes in which a dog and small boy are recalled to life are among the most effective, and uncomfortable, but the human side isn't explored that much, which left me somewhat cold. There are some odd developments, too; [SPOILER] Harker becomes involved in the cover-up to a kidnapping and manslaughter, though that is in keeping thematically. Could've been so much more.
April 17, 2016
A little less hard science fiction and a little more politics/social theory. This is a rather apt novel to read in a major election year. It really, really highlights the bizarre, fickle, and petty motivations and machinations of politics.
The science fiction side of things is eerie and interesting, but very realist. I really appreciated Silverberg's reasonable inclusion of the Roman Catholic Church. Silverberg's overall approach was reasonable and that makes the ludicrous nature of the "public masses" more distasteful.
For those who like a strong dose of politics and morality in their science fiction.
The science fiction side of things is eerie and interesting, but very realist. I really appreciated Silverberg's reasonable inclusion of the Roman Catholic Church. Silverberg's overall approach was reasonable and that makes the ludicrous nature of the "public masses" more distasteful.
For those who like a strong dose of politics and morality in their science fiction.
July 28, 2016
It certainly has the fusty old smell of the 50s (yes, I know it was published early 60s). Grade B SF, no one goes too deep, everyone says what they want in the first piece of dialogue, things move too swiftly to form any attachments.
April 5, 2012
Dated as it explores the challenges to society of reviving the dead at the cusp of the new technologies such as heart transplants, but a well crafted story.
Read
February 1, 20164 stars from Sandy: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
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