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The Robert Silverberg Science Fiction MEGAPACK®
Robert Silverberg needs little introduction to anyone at all familiar with the history of the science fiction field. Fan. Author. Editor. Creative force. He has been an integral part of the field for longer than most of his readers have been alive. Earlier this year, he kindly agreed to put together a MEGAPACK® of his short stories, so here, then, is a selection of early works by one of the all-time greats. Included
ALAREE
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
BLAZE OF GLORY
DELIVERY GUARANTEED
THE DESSICATOR
THE HAPPY UNFORTUNATE
THE HUNTED HEROES
THE IRON STAR
THE ISOLATIONISTS
THE LONELY ONE
THE MAN WHO CAME BACK
NEUTRAL PLANET
OZYMANDIAS
THE PAIN PEDDLERS
THE PLEASURE OF THEIR COMPANY
POINT OF FOCUS
POSTMARK GANYMEDE
PRIME COMMANDMENT
THE SONGS OF SUMMER
SPACEROGUE
THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN
THE WOMAN YOU WANTED
VALLEY BEYOND TIME
WE KNOW WHO WE ARE
ALAREE
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
BLAZE OF GLORY
DELIVERY GUARANTEED
THE DESSICATOR
THE HAPPY UNFORTUNATE
THE HUNTED HEROES
THE IRON STAR
THE ISOLATIONISTS
THE LONELY ONE
THE MAN WHO CAME BACK
NEUTRAL PLANET
OZYMANDIAS
THE PAIN PEDDLERS
THE PLEASURE OF THEIR COMPANY
POINT OF FOCUS
POSTMARK GANYMEDE
PRIME COMMANDMENT
THE SONGS OF SUMMER
SPACEROGUE
THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN
THE WOMAN YOU WANTED
VALLEY BEYOND TIME
WE KNOW WHO WE ARE
354 pages, Paperback
Published July 7, 2016
337 people are currently reading
183 people want to read
About the author
Robert Silverberg
2,344 books1,605 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 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 27, 2018
Silverberg's an author I've come across often, but not in much depth, so having a good go at this was most enjoyable. Some of the stories were quite good, but I think most of them really suffer for being short stories; you feel that were you able to read more you might get further. I often have that feeling about shorts, so not a critique of Silverberg himself.
May 21, 2017
Sci Fi from the late 50's , featuring mostly male heterosexual protagonists and all involving alien cultures and creatures in many forms. The last story was from 1970 and more speculative post apocalyptic fiction.
September 21, 2022
This is the most classic of classic science fiction stories that I have ever classiced. Most of the stories predate Star Trek, and it shows.
these are my standouts
Alaree (1958): A small vessel lands on an uncharted planet for repairs. The crew meets an alien life form and establishes a dialog, though the automated translator isn’t perfect. Their communication with the life form has strange effects. Seems the humans have introduced a bizarre concept to it: individuality. The story stands as a question of what effect mankind has on other life forms, and if man’s influence is something that needs to be spread or quarantined. Hard to discuss without spoilers, but this is a very thought-provoking opener.
_____
The Iron Star (1988): Captain ___ of the IBM/Toshiba hyperspace vessel Ben-wah Maru is on a mission to retrieve matter from a neutron star. The plan is risky but brilliant and potentially profitable for this corporate-sponsored mission against their rivals, the Exxon/Hyundai combine.
Problem is there are so many delays. First his ship found the ruins of an alien civilization and they had to spend precious time and resources documenting what they discovered. And now there’s an alien vessel in orbit on the other side of the neutron star.
It is First Contact with alien life. Luckily, corporate policy has guidelines in place for how to deal with this, which our Captain knows and follows. He doesn’t do anything without consulting the Board of Directors.
Here’s the interesting part: the Captain regards the whole affair as a nuisance, an unwelcome distraction from their profitable mission for the company. Well, that’s different. The most monumental moment in human history, meeting intelligent extraterrestrial life for the first time, and the Captain (his name is not revealed) doesn’t want to be bothered by it.
So despite its potential impact on corporate profit, and with the Board of Directors divided and unable to make a decision about what the best course of action is (spare me the platitudes about how government is inept but business is efficient—a meeting’s a meeting), the Captain essentially casts the tie-breaking vote and elects to respond to the alien vessel’s attempts at communication not because he’s curious but because retreat would mean loss of profit and could lead the other vessel straight to Earth.
The aliens lead the way, devising an automated translation algorithm and proposing a method to make remote visual contact possible. The humans—well, the Captain doesn’t want to proceed or reach out at all. His crew is interested, but not our narrator. He has a mission to think of.
Once in a dialogue, the Captain regards the aliens with extreme suspicion. No sense of wonder. No curiosity. Just cautiously guarding the details of their mission and the location of Earth and parsing every word the aliens say to determine if revealing this detail could be used against Humanity, or if this gesture could make mankind appear weak in the eyes of these people. It’s as un-captain-like as I can imagine, but it is in line with authority figures and spaceship captains of the 1950s, from what I remember of movies from that time: macho, militaristic, authoritative, uncompromising, seemingly in charge but completely devoted to following the orders of High Command to the exclusion of everything else.
And then the aliens say something that convinces the captain to do something so incredibly abhorrent I gasped in a café. The aliens (thematic spoilers ahead)
It’s a really shitty thing to do, and it seems readers are meant to agree with his conclusion as the only possible, nay, righteous solution, but there were other ways to interpret what the aliens say, and so-o-o-o-o-o many other ways to handle the situation. Perhaps this is what happens when capitalism is in charge of space travel: corporations don’t send out explorers, rather they send corporate hitmen who think of nothing but the profitability of the mission and look for any excuse to see it through. Our captain seemed to consider the investigation of the ruins of an alien civilization a waste of time and they need to focus on what’s good for the shareholders. He does just that—first opportunity to ditch First Contact with alien life and proceed with profit-motive, he takes it, even if it means justifying murder. That deserves deeper analysis.
This story engaged me, and it is unforgettable, but for all the wrong reasons. It should be a novel if only to see more of whatever this corporate-run space program has yielded. If this is what it pushes people to do with First Contact, imagine what a cutthroat hellhole Earth must have become.
_____
The Isolationists (1958): A representative for the United Federation of... Capitalism lands on an uncharted planet to pitch to the locals all the benefits of joining this cooperative group of planets. But the locals don’t want to be assimilated into the free market. This won’t do. In the narrator’s own words: “He had run up across this sort of insularity and intransigence before, and he had special persuasive techniques to overcome it. Earth was geared to an infinitely expanding economy; it needed an infinitely expanding market as well, and with such conditions prevailing it was imperative that all possible avenues of trade be opened.” Our narrator simply must win these people over to capitalism or his boss will have a word with him. Like, how dare the locals want to keep their self-sufficient way of life and resist all the things the free market has to offer. Our salesman even asks what would happen if Earth drew them into this Federation by force. Um, why is he bringing this up? Why is this a talking point when pitching entry into an interplanetary capitalist federation? It’s not framed as a threat, but I think it clearly is, and it does not go over so well with the locals. This doesn’t sound like a great future for Earth, and I don’t get the feeling Earth’s ways are being submitted for our scrutiny à la The Twilight Zone, but the story is in line with American ideals of the 1950s, which makes it very insightful. I’m tempted to interpret it as this future Earth is made the fool by a race of primitive aliens, but in light of other stories in the collection, I think the United Federation of Earth Capitalism Dedicated to Destroying Your Way Of Life For The Good Of The Economy is meant to be understood as the good ending for Earth and the future looks bright as humanity overcomes these pesky isolationist species.
The Man Who Came Back (1961): A man fell in love at age 25, but when she left him for another man, he decided he had nothing left to live for except to leave for one of Earth’s extra-planetary colonies. There he is required to work and farm and try to build a successful colony. But he also meets an extraterrestrial being who teaches him how to project his will onto other things. Sure enough, all his love’s marriages back on Earth end in divorce, and he is able to buy himself passage back home 18 years after he left. When he meets his love again, he projects his alien-taught willpower onto her, despite not having spoken to her in nearly 20 years and they are both clearly different people so... so... why does he still want her? I was hoping for a twist at the end, that the alien was projecting its will onto our main character and it wanted him to return with a wife for some other purpose, but that’s not what happens. Our protagonist simply makes the woman desire him, and the story ends with them returning to the colony planet, happily married. Is the point really just to get the woman of his dreams by projecting his will onto her? That’s... really bad.
Neutral Planet (1957): Captain Harskin of the starship Peccable is on a mission to Fasolt to persuade the reptilian natives to join the alliance of Human-controlled planets. But Earth’s rivals, an ursine species named the Rigelians, are also in orbit and trying to do the same thing. Outright war with the Rigelians is impossible, so the war is now fought on paper—ok, just imagine Captain Kirk squaring off with the Klingons over trade negotiations with some primitive world. The dialogue follows the same beats as Star Trek, and these bear-like aliens are clearly the Russians, and the humans are the United States negotiating alliances with other nations against the Soviet Union, as if that’s how the US gained allies, by negotiating with “primitive cultures” rather than overthrowing democratically-elected governments. Anyway, the reptiles don’t want to talk, and they turn hostile, somehow inflicting casualties with spears while the humans have ray-guns. Shipmaster Harskin then has an insight: Trying to be as objective as possible by ignoring the Cold War parallels, the story’s internal logic makes no sense. There must be other ways to handle the situation, but as a Cold War allegory it must have resonated with Americans in the 1950s.
Ozymandias (1958): An expedition to a dead planet reveals the ruins of a civilization. The military men in charge of this landing are only interested in resources mankind can use to build more weapons against the United States’ enemies back on Earth. This is a waste of time until the archaeologists on the crew find a living record of what happened here. The scientists are interested in the history, the concepts, the life that once lived here. The military men are more interested in the history of the weapons these people made. Weapons which obviously ended their civilization and could be useful back on Earth against their enemies. Uh oh. This is an unsettling story and a breath of fresh air from the hyper-capitalist tales: an anti-military take on space exploration. This one poses the reality that what mankind finds on other planets is a constant. How it’s used is a variable. Choose the crew wisely.
The Pain Peddlers (1963): In the distant future (sometime around the year 2003), televised surgeries are all the rage. People want to see pain. They want to see blood and guts and violence. They want to experience agony, as the new television systems allows direct stimulation of nerves, and TV executives pay people to undergo surgery without anesthesia or automated doctors. Everything has become exploited for entertainment. Another breath of fresh air from the hyper-capitalist takes on space travel.
The Pleasure of Their Company (1970): The ruler of a small planet escapes a coup with programmed cubes of his family (as well as numerous literary and historical figures) to keep him company during the long trip to another planet in exile. The programmed computer personalities keep him company, but they do not help his guilt. It probably went far in 1970, when computers were incapable of such things, which makes this story prophetic and wholesome.
Point of Focus (1958): It’s so weird to read terms like “warp-drive” and “Federation” in a story from the 50s. Sometimes I must deliberately remember Star Trek did not invent these concepts or these terms. Anyway, Emissary Holis Bork lands on an alien world with the express purpose to bring it into the Federation, a vast union of more than 400 planets spread out over 35 light-years. But there’s one hitch in this mission: humans have landed here. Humans, the only species who refused to join the Federation. The rest of the story is a lecture toSoviet Russia the Federation that it’s not right to assimilate other planets and force them to conform to the Federation’s ways; that the United States humanity stands for and celebrates differences between cultures so long as the people have light-colored skin and never stand in the way of American business interests and craves uniqueness. Oh yeah, it’s another Cold War allegory. Funny how the “Federation” is only evil when Humanity is not in control of it; once mankind is the “federation” we are all for converting other cultures to capitalism. humanity’s superior ways and everyone who is outside it is now the enemy.
The Songs of Summer (1957): a man from 20th century earth is suddenly transported to the 35th century. His first thought is to rebuild civilization. To do that, he must get the primitive post-nuclear war humans to obey his will. Seems future humanity is not uncivilized, and they do not like the 20th century ideas this man has brought with him, such as violence to coerce obedience—the concepts of obedience and authority are completely alien to this future civilization—all to build houses and factories to make things because this man from the past sees it as an opportunity to become emperor. Humanity in the 35th century has risen to a new level our visitor from the past cannot understand. It took a nuclear war, and the brushing-aside of everything in civilization, to allow for this. The man from the 20th century cannot be allowed to pollute the future. The best story in the collection. It’s weird, it’s thoughtful, it’s speculative, it touches on some profound ideas, and it has nothing to do with the cold war.
Spacerouge (1958): A nobleman’s family was murdered, so he vows revenge on the monarch who ordered the slaying. But to get access to this man, he must shed his lineage and become a rouge. Seems a little absurd that some nobleman is able to navigate the world with ease, able to do any occupation. Really tired of noblemen portrayed as the Übermensch. Royalty is used to being waited on hand and foot, which makes them fussy and ignorant—they’re lucky if they know how to open a door all by themselves (the queen is dead. Long live King Charles III). It’s laughable to think this guy somehow knows everything and can outdo anyone at their own occupation, despite having done none of these occupations himself. Still, the world it creates is kinda cool. Gilded Age with spaceships.
We Know Who We Are (1970): There people of Shining City know who they are and what they want to be. Why should they be anything else? The Machine of Knowing kills, so why does the visitor want to go inside? The dialogue is either heavily stylized or just plain bad, but it kinda works for this surreal post-civilization future. The ending saves the story: apparently one doesn’t have to use the machine to become insane.
~~~
Most of the stories are dubious in their message and morality. Squished between them, gasping for air, are some gems, but as a whole I did not enjoy this collection, or the author. What strikes me most about these stories is the macho-capitalistic message. If mankind ever does go to the stars, I hope it’s not as a quest for money, and I hope by then the mindless pursuit of money is not considered moral. At least Silverberg isn’t pro-military.
these are my standouts
Alaree (1958): A small vessel lands on an uncharted planet for repairs. The crew meets an alien life form and establishes a dialog, though the automated translator isn’t perfect. Their communication with the life form has strange effects. Seems the humans have introduced a bizarre concept to it: individuality. The story stands as a question of what effect mankind has on other life forms, and if man’s influence is something that needs to be spread or quarantined. Hard to discuss without spoilers, but this is a very thought-provoking opener.
_____
The Iron Star (1988): Captain ___ of the IBM/Toshiba hyperspace vessel Ben-wah Maru is on a mission to retrieve matter from a neutron star. The plan is risky but brilliant and potentially profitable for this corporate-sponsored mission against their rivals, the Exxon/Hyundai combine.
Problem is there are so many delays. First his ship found the ruins of an alien civilization and they had to spend precious time and resources documenting what they discovered. And now there’s an alien vessel in orbit on the other side of the neutron star.
It is First Contact with alien life. Luckily, corporate policy has guidelines in place for how to deal with this, which our Captain knows and follows. He doesn’t do anything without consulting the Board of Directors.
Here’s the interesting part: the Captain regards the whole affair as a nuisance, an unwelcome distraction from their profitable mission for the company. Well, that’s different. The most monumental moment in human history, meeting intelligent extraterrestrial life for the first time, and the Captain (his name is not revealed) doesn’t want to be bothered by it.
This was going to win me a place in the history of space exploration, sure: Chief Executive Officer of the first expedition from Earth ever to encounter intelligent extraterrestrial life. Terrific. But that wasn’t what IBM/Toshiba had hired me to do. And I’m more interested in completing assignments than in making history. You don’t get paid for making history.
So despite its potential impact on corporate profit, and with the Board of Directors divided and unable to make a decision about what the best course of action is (spare me the platitudes about how government is inept but business is efficient—a meeting’s a meeting), the Captain essentially casts the tie-breaking vote and elects to respond to the alien vessel’s attempts at communication not because he’s curious but because retreat would mean loss of profit and could lead the other vessel straight to Earth.
The aliens lead the way, devising an automated translation algorithm and proposing a method to make remote visual contact possible. The humans—well, the Captain doesn’t want to proceed or reach out at all. His crew is interested, but not our narrator. He has a mission to think of.
Once in a dialogue, the Captain regards the aliens with extreme suspicion. No sense of wonder. No curiosity. Just cautiously guarding the details of their mission and the location of Earth and parsing every word the aliens say to determine if revealing this detail could be used against Humanity, or if this gesture could make mankind appear weak in the eyes of these people. It’s as un-captain-like as I can imagine, but it is in line with authority figures and spaceship captains of the 1950s, from what I remember of movies from that time: macho, militaristic, authoritative, uncompromising, seemingly in charge but completely devoted to following the orders of High Command to the exclusion of everything else.
And then the aliens say something that convinces the captain to do something so incredibly abhorrent I gasped in a café. The aliens (thematic spoilers ahead)
It’s a really shitty thing to do, and it seems readers are meant to agree with his conclusion as the only possible, nay, righteous solution, but there were other ways to interpret what the aliens say, and so-o-o-o-o-o many other ways to handle the situation. Perhaps this is what happens when capitalism is in charge of space travel: corporations don’t send out explorers, rather they send corporate hitmen who think of nothing but the profitability of the mission and look for any excuse to see it through. Our captain seemed to consider the investigation of the ruins of an alien civilization a waste of time and they need to focus on what’s good for the shareholders. He does just that—first opportunity to ditch First Contact with alien life and proceed with profit-motive, he takes it, even if it means justifying murder. That deserves deeper analysis.
This story engaged me, and it is unforgettable, but for all the wrong reasons. It should be a novel if only to see more of whatever this corporate-run space program has yielded. If this is what it pushes people to do with First Contact, imagine what a cutthroat hellhole Earth must have become.
_____
The Isolationists (1958): A representative for the United Federation of... Capitalism lands on an uncharted planet to pitch to the locals all the benefits of joining this cooperative group of planets. But the locals don’t want to be assimilated into the free market. This won’t do. In the narrator’s own words: “He had run up across this sort of insularity and intransigence before, and he had special persuasive techniques to overcome it. Earth was geared to an infinitely expanding economy; it needed an infinitely expanding market as well, and with such conditions prevailing it was imperative that all possible avenues of trade be opened.” Our narrator simply must win these people over to capitalism or his boss will have a word with him. Like, how dare the locals want to keep their self-sufficient way of life and resist all the things the free market has to offer. Our salesman even asks what would happen if Earth drew them into this Federation by force. Um, why is he bringing this up? Why is this a talking point when pitching entry into an interplanetary capitalist federation? It’s not framed as a threat, but I think it clearly is, and it does not go over so well with the locals. This doesn’t sound like a great future for Earth, and I don’t get the feeling Earth’s ways are being submitted for our scrutiny à la The Twilight Zone, but the story is in line with American ideals of the 1950s, which makes it very insightful. I’m tempted to interpret it as this future Earth is made the fool by a race of primitive aliens, but in light of other stories in the collection, I think the United Federation of Earth Capitalism Dedicated to Destroying Your Way Of Life For The Good Of The Economy is meant to be understood as the good ending for Earth and the future looks bright as humanity overcomes these pesky isolationist species.
The Man Who Came Back (1961): A man fell in love at age 25, but when she left him for another man, he decided he had nothing left to live for except to leave for one of Earth’s extra-planetary colonies. There he is required to work and farm and try to build a successful colony. But he also meets an extraterrestrial being who teaches him how to project his will onto other things. Sure enough, all his love’s marriages back on Earth end in divorce, and he is able to buy himself passage back home 18 years after he left. When he meets his love again, he projects his alien-taught willpower onto her, despite not having spoken to her in nearly 20 years and they are both clearly different people so... so... why does he still want her? I was hoping for a twist at the end, that the alien was projecting its will onto our main character and it wanted him to return with a wife for some other purpose, but that’s not what happens. Our protagonist simply makes the woman desire him, and the story ends with them returning to the colony planet, happily married. Is the point really just to get the woman of his dreams by projecting his will onto her? That’s... really bad.
Neutral Planet (1957): Captain Harskin of the starship Peccable is on a mission to Fasolt to persuade the reptilian natives to join the alliance of Human-controlled planets. But Earth’s rivals, an ursine species named the Rigelians, are also in orbit and trying to do the same thing. Outright war with the Rigelians is impossible, so the war is now fought on paper—ok, just imagine Captain Kirk squaring off with the Klingons over trade negotiations with some primitive world. The dialogue follows the same beats as Star Trek, and these bear-like aliens are clearly the Russians, and the humans are the United States negotiating alliances with other nations against the Soviet Union, as if that’s how the US gained allies, by negotiating with “primitive cultures” rather than overthrowing democratically-elected governments. Anyway, the reptiles don’t want to talk, and they turn hostile, somehow inflicting casualties with spears while the humans have ray-guns. Shipmaster Harskin then has an insight: Trying to be as objective as possible by ignoring the Cold War parallels, the story’s internal logic makes no sense. There must be other ways to handle the situation, but as a Cold War allegory it must have resonated with Americans in the 1950s.
Ozymandias (1958): An expedition to a dead planet reveals the ruins of a civilization. The military men in charge of this landing are only interested in resources mankind can use to build more weapons against the United States’ enemies back on Earth. This is a waste of time until the archaeologists on the crew find a living record of what happened here. The scientists are interested in the history, the concepts, the life that once lived here. The military men are more interested in the history of the weapons these people made. Weapons which obviously ended their civilization and could be useful back on Earth against their enemies. Uh oh. This is an unsettling story and a breath of fresh air from the hyper-capitalist tales: an anti-military take on space exploration. This one poses the reality that what mankind finds on other planets is a constant. How it’s used is a variable. Choose the crew wisely.
The Pain Peddlers (1963): In the distant future (sometime around the year 2003), televised surgeries are all the rage. People want to see pain. They want to see blood and guts and violence. They want to experience agony, as the new television systems allows direct stimulation of nerves, and TV executives pay people to undergo surgery without anesthesia or automated doctors. Everything has become exploited for entertainment. Another breath of fresh air from the hyper-capitalist takes on space travel.
The Pleasure of Their Company (1970): The ruler of a small planet escapes a coup with programmed cubes of his family (as well as numerous literary and historical figures) to keep him company during the long trip to another planet in exile. The programmed computer personalities keep him company, but they do not help his guilt. It probably went far in 1970, when computers were incapable of such things, which makes this story prophetic and wholesome.
Point of Focus (1958): It’s so weird to read terms like “warp-drive” and “Federation” in a story from the 50s. Sometimes I must deliberately remember Star Trek did not invent these concepts or these terms. Anyway, Emissary Holis Bork lands on an alien world with the express purpose to bring it into the Federation, a vast union of more than 400 planets spread out over 35 light-years. But there’s one hitch in this mission: humans have landed here. Humans, the only species who refused to join the Federation. The rest of the story is a lecture to
The Songs of Summer (1957): a man from 20th century earth is suddenly transported to the 35th century. His first thought is to rebuild civilization. To do that, he must get the primitive post-nuclear war humans to obey his will. Seems future humanity is not uncivilized, and they do not like the 20th century ideas this man has brought with him, such as violence to coerce obedience—the concepts of obedience and authority are completely alien to this future civilization—all to build houses and factories to make things because this man from the past sees it as an opportunity to become emperor. Humanity in the 35th century has risen to a new level our visitor from the past cannot understand. It took a nuclear war, and the brushing-aside of everything in civilization, to allow for this. The man from the 20th century cannot be allowed to pollute the future. The best story in the collection. It’s weird, it’s thoughtful, it’s speculative, it touches on some profound ideas, and it has nothing to do with the cold war.
Spacerouge (1958): A nobleman’s family was murdered, so he vows revenge on the monarch who ordered the slaying. But to get access to this man, he must shed his lineage and become a rouge. Seems a little absurd that some nobleman is able to navigate the world with ease, able to do any occupation. Really tired of noblemen portrayed as the Übermensch. Royalty is used to being waited on hand and foot, which makes them fussy and ignorant—they’re lucky if they know how to open a door all by themselves (the queen is dead. Long live King Charles III). It’s laughable to think this guy somehow knows everything and can outdo anyone at their own occupation, despite having done none of these occupations himself. Still, the world it creates is kinda cool. Gilded Age with spaceships.
We Know Who We Are (1970): There people of Shining City know who they are and what they want to be. Why should they be anything else? The Machine of Knowing kills, so why does the visitor want to go inside? The dialogue is either heavily stylized or just plain bad, but it kinda works for this surreal post-civilization future. The ending saves the story: apparently one doesn’t have to use the machine to become insane.
~~~
Most of the stories are dubious in their message and morality. Squished between them, gasping for air, are some gems, but as a whole I did not enjoy this collection, or the author. What strikes me most about these stories is the macho-capitalistic message. If mankind ever does go to the stars, I hope it’s not as a quest for money, and I hope by then the mindless pursuit of money is not considered moral. At least Silverberg isn’t pro-military.
August 15, 2019
This 2016 short story collection is an odd assortment. Many were written in the earliest part of Silverberg's career in the 1950's. Some are currently in print in various "best of" retrospectives. Some were included in one or more Silverberg collections over the years, but those volumes passed out of print decades ago. Two have never before been collected into any book form. Some are public domain.
I'd say there are better overall collections in print, but if you are a Silverberg fan, this one contains some difficult to find gems. My favorite stories are "Ozymandias", "Spacerogue", "There Was an Old Woman" and "Valley Beyond Time".
Here are my individual story reviews:
ALAREE-- Astronauts encounter an alien who is part of a group consciousness, but prolonged exposure to humans teaches it individualism, with tragic results.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER--A showman signing aliens for a trip to earth is outfoxed by another con man from earth in this fun, light-hearted story. (This story is part of the public domain in the United States.)
BLAZE OF GLORY--A hot-headed communications officer sacrifices himself to save his ship, but is it heroism or murder?
DELIVERY GUARANTEED-- A space ferry is hired to transport museum relics from Venus to Ganymede. The author wrote this story on spec based on a piece of magazine cover art. He turned a really cheesy painting into a light, fun, engaging space opera.
THE DESSICATOR-- A Martian inventor tries to sell his patented dehydration machine in the wet climes of Earth. A breezy, funny filler story for the pulp magazine market.
THE HAPPY UNFORTUNATE--A Spacer on leave to his home planet wants find out what it is like to live as an Earther. This story is more interesting if you have already read Silverberg's novel Starman's Quest. The future worlds are similar, except in this version spacers have been genetically modified into a different species than earthmen. (Never before collected in book form. It is part of the public domain in the United States.)
THE HUNTED HEROES-- Two uranium hunters on Mars realize they are being chased through the wasteland by a psychopath. An early, rough effort. (Never before collected in book form. It is part of the public domain in the United States.)
THE IRON STAR--While investigating a neutron star and black hole in close proximity to each other, a corporate-minded captain makes first contact with an alien race. This 1988 story is "harder" sci-fi and represents the work of an older, more mature writer than the rest of this collection. Nominated for a Locus Award in 1988.
THE ISOLATIONISTS--An ambassador from Earth makes first contact with a telepathic race that controls all life forms on their planet and wants nothing to do with the Terran Confederation. This was an interesting premise but the story on the whole was a tad boring.
THE LONELY ONE--In the far future, most of humanity has fled to the stars to settle new planets, but one hundred people are left on our frozen, dying earth. They are the prisoners of a lonely planet that will not let them leave.
THE MAN WHO CAME BACK--John Burkhardt sets off a media sensation when he becomes the first person ever to return to earth from one of the colony planets. He carries a remarkable tale of how he struggled for fifteen years to secure his freedom in order to win back the woman he loves. This is a brief story with a twist ending. What makes it so memorable are the almost throwaway details that have gone on to become significant sci-fi tropes in literature and film--governments using indentured servitude to exploit the treasures of the galaxy, a society obsessed with using medicine to stay forever young, and a powerful alien that possesses the collective wisdom of a dying race. (This story has been anthologized a few times but never before included in a Silverberg collection.)
NEUTRAL PLANET--Two starship captains on opposing sides of a war arrive at a neutral planet, each wanting to convince the natives to sign an economic treaty. The plot of this 1957 short story is so similar to the famous 1967 Star Trek episode "Friday's Child" that it could not possibly be a coincidence, but Silverberg did not receive a writing credit from the show.
OZYMANDIAS--Archaeologists find a robot with the stored knowledge of a civilization that died out a million years ago. Highly engaging. Makes use of the author's love of archaeology and lost civilizations.
THE PAIN PEDDLERS-- In 2008, unscrupulous television networks broadcast feeds of medical patients being operated on without anesthetics. This visceral, punchy story anticipates the rise of virtual reality technology.
THE PLEASURE OF THEIR COMPANY--A deposed president flees his planet rather than face probable execution in a military coup. He has no time to rescue his family and friends, but he takes their personality cubes which allows him to interact with their computer simulations. However, on the long space voyage, he gradually begins to suspect they are only telling him what he wants to hear. This story has a strong premise but dissipates near the end.
POINT OF FOCUS--An emissary from a galactic Federation offers membership to an alien race that does not conform to the same oxygen-carbon pattern of all other known life forms. Emissaries from Earth try to dissuade them from joining because they fear the federation will try to stamp out their uniqueness. This story stands out from a lot of 1950's sci-fi because it recognizes the value of diversity over conformity, but I found it too similar to "Neutral Planet".
POSTMARK GANYMEDE-- A postal worker on his route from Earth to the moons of Jupiter battles pirates and giant ice worms to make sure his mail gets delivered. A pleasant, old-fashioned adventure tale. (This story has been anthologized once before but never included in a Silverberg collection. It is part of the public domain in the United States.)
PRIME COMMANDMENT--Pilgrims arrive at a supposedly uninhabited world where they can practice their religion in peace. When they find another group of zealots have already crash-landed, tensions escalate quickly into violence. A dark story with a Book of Joshua worldview.
THE SONGS OF SUMMER-- A time traveler from New York, 1956, accidentally winds up in the 35th century, where he tries to bring back modern civilization to an agrarian society. Includes many now-familiar s/f tropes such as telepathy, group-mind or hive intelligence, and the idea we could be living inside a world of our own imagination. This was the author's first attempt at using multiple narrators and points of view within a single story.
SPACEROGUE--The son of a nobleman vows revenge after the king kills his family and burns his village. He alters his appearance, reinvents himself as a smuggler, and begins a long campaign to rise among the courtiers in order to get face to face with his sworn enemy. There are a few missteps in this story, but it still displays the author's talent for world-building and maintaining suspense.
THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN-- A woman raises 31 identical twins in a social experiment with a dark result. This story is more sophisticated than it sounds. The author was decades ahead of his time in describing in vitro fertilization, a topic he would also later address in his novel Thorns.
THE WOMAN YOU WANTED--In this lighthearted fable, a destitute poet signs up for an eight-year exploratory space flight. The program engineers try to design a female android companion to match his ideal vision of a mate, but he soon realizes the perfect woman for him is actually a close friend that he never noticed romantically before. (Never before collected in book form.)
VALLEY BEYOND TIME--Nine strangers are transported by an alien being--The Watcher--into an idyllic valley they cannot leave. They do not need to eat or sleep. Their wounds heal, they grow younger, and they rise from the dead if killed. There is love but no sex. It is, in short, the Christian version of Heaven--and it is a hellish place to live. An enthralling novella with theological undertones.
WE KNOW WHO WE ARE-- A free-spirited, worldly-wise woman arrives to an ancient city where no one travels and everyone's needs are instantly met through technology. She tempts one citizen to venture into the forbidden Knowing Machine, which she believes can provide physical pleasure and omniscience. This fable seems to closely parallel the story of the Garden of Eden.
I'd say there are better overall collections in print, but if you are a Silverberg fan, this one contains some difficult to find gems. My favorite stories are "Ozymandias", "Spacerogue", "There Was an Old Woman" and "Valley Beyond Time".
Here are my individual story reviews:
ALAREE-- Astronauts encounter an alien who is part of a group consciousness, but prolonged exposure to humans teaches it individualism, with tragic results.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER--A showman signing aliens for a trip to earth is outfoxed by another con man from earth in this fun, light-hearted story. (This story is part of the public domain in the United States.)
BLAZE OF GLORY--A hot-headed communications officer sacrifices himself to save his ship, but is it heroism or murder?
DELIVERY GUARANTEED-- A space ferry is hired to transport museum relics from Venus to Ganymede. The author wrote this story on spec based on a piece of magazine cover art. He turned a really cheesy painting into a light, fun, engaging space opera.
THE DESSICATOR-- A Martian inventor tries to sell his patented dehydration machine in the wet climes of Earth. A breezy, funny filler story for the pulp magazine market.
THE HAPPY UNFORTUNATE--A Spacer on leave to his home planet wants find out what it is like to live as an Earther. This story is more interesting if you have already read Silverberg's novel Starman's Quest. The future worlds are similar, except in this version spacers have been genetically modified into a different species than earthmen. (Never before collected in book form. It is part of the public domain in the United States.)
THE HUNTED HEROES-- Two uranium hunters on Mars realize they are being chased through the wasteland by a psychopath. An early, rough effort. (Never before collected in book form. It is part of the public domain in the United States.)
THE IRON STAR--While investigating a neutron star and black hole in close proximity to each other, a corporate-minded captain makes first contact with an alien race. This 1988 story is "harder" sci-fi and represents the work of an older, more mature writer than the rest of this collection. Nominated for a Locus Award in 1988.
THE ISOLATIONISTS--An ambassador from Earth makes first contact with a telepathic race that controls all life forms on their planet and wants nothing to do with the Terran Confederation. This was an interesting premise but the story on the whole was a tad boring.
THE LONELY ONE--In the far future, most of humanity has fled to the stars to settle new planets, but one hundred people are left on our frozen, dying earth. They are the prisoners of a lonely planet that will not let them leave.
THE MAN WHO CAME BACK--John Burkhardt sets off a media sensation when he becomes the first person ever to return to earth from one of the colony planets. He carries a remarkable tale of how he struggled for fifteen years to secure his freedom in order to win back the woman he loves. This is a brief story with a twist ending. What makes it so memorable are the almost throwaway details that have gone on to become significant sci-fi tropes in literature and film--governments using indentured servitude to exploit the treasures of the galaxy, a society obsessed with using medicine to stay forever young, and a powerful alien that possesses the collective wisdom of a dying race. (This story has been anthologized a few times but never before included in a Silverberg collection.)
NEUTRAL PLANET--Two starship captains on opposing sides of a war arrive at a neutral planet, each wanting to convince the natives to sign an economic treaty. The plot of this 1957 short story is so similar to the famous 1967 Star Trek episode "Friday's Child" that it could not possibly be a coincidence, but Silverberg did not receive a writing credit from the show.
OZYMANDIAS--Archaeologists find a robot with the stored knowledge of a civilization that died out a million years ago. Highly engaging. Makes use of the author's love of archaeology and lost civilizations.
THE PAIN PEDDLERS-- In 2008, unscrupulous television networks broadcast feeds of medical patients being operated on without anesthetics. This visceral, punchy story anticipates the rise of virtual reality technology.
THE PLEASURE OF THEIR COMPANY--A deposed president flees his planet rather than face probable execution in a military coup. He has no time to rescue his family and friends, but he takes their personality cubes which allows him to interact with their computer simulations. However, on the long space voyage, he gradually begins to suspect they are only telling him what he wants to hear. This story has a strong premise but dissipates near the end.
POINT OF FOCUS--An emissary from a galactic Federation offers membership to an alien race that does not conform to the same oxygen-carbon pattern of all other known life forms. Emissaries from Earth try to dissuade them from joining because they fear the federation will try to stamp out their uniqueness. This story stands out from a lot of 1950's sci-fi because it recognizes the value of diversity over conformity, but I found it too similar to "Neutral Planet".
POSTMARK GANYMEDE-- A postal worker on his route from Earth to the moons of Jupiter battles pirates and giant ice worms to make sure his mail gets delivered. A pleasant, old-fashioned adventure tale. (This story has been anthologized once before but never included in a Silverberg collection. It is part of the public domain in the United States.)
PRIME COMMANDMENT--Pilgrims arrive at a supposedly uninhabited world where they can practice their religion in peace. When they find another group of zealots have already crash-landed, tensions escalate quickly into violence. A dark story with a Book of Joshua worldview.
THE SONGS OF SUMMER-- A time traveler from New York, 1956, accidentally winds up in the 35th century, where he tries to bring back modern civilization to an agrarian society. Includes many now-familiar s/f tropes such as telepathy, group-mind or hive intelligence, and the idea we could be living inside a world of our own imagination. This was the author's first attempt at using multiple narrators and points of view within a single story.
SPACEROGUE--The son of a nobleman vows revenge after the king kills his family and burns his village. He alters his appearance, reinvents himself as a smuggler, and begins a long campaign to rise among the courtiers in order to get face to face with his sworn enemy. There are a few missteps in this story, but it still displays the author's talent for world-building and maintaining suspense.
THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN-- A woman raises 31 identical twins in a social experiment with a dark result. This story is more sophisticated than it sounds. The author was decades ahead of his time in describing in vitro fertilization, a topic he would also later address in his novel Thorns.
THE WOMAN YOU WANTED--In this lighthearted fable, a destitute poet signs up for an eight-year exploratory space flight. The program engineers try to design a female android companion to match his ideal vision of a mate, but he soon realizes the perfect woman for him is actually a close friend that he never noticed romantically before. (Never before collected in book form.)
VALLEY BEYOND TIME--Nine strangers are transported by an alien being--The Watcher--into an idyllic valley they cannot leave. They do not need to eat or sleep. Their wounds heal, they grow younger, and they rise from the dead if killed. There is love but no sex. It is, in short, the Christian version of Heaven--and it is a hellish place to live. An enthralling novella with theological undertones.
WE KNOW WHO WE ARE-- A free-spirited, worldly-wise woman arrives to an ancient city where no one travels and everyone's needs are instantly met through technology. She tempts one citizen to venture into the forbidden Knowing Machine, which she believes can provide physical pleasure and omniscience. This fable seems to closely parallel the story of the Garden of Eden.
April 25, 2024
The Robert Silverberg Science Fiction
MEGAPACK® 2016 23 stories
(* = read it somewhere before..)
Average about 4 stars…
ALAREE (pub. 1958)
A stricken ship arrives on a distant planet to make repairs and the crew encounter a cute little alien. But humanities individual nature conflicts with its alien sensibilities. 4 stars.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER (1958)
A rather unscrupulous owner of an alien zoo/circus masquerading as a scientific institution is recruiting aliens to exhibit on an exoplanet. He almost meets his match when a man requests employment as an alien by claiming to be from an undiscovered planet of humanoids. 3 stars.
BLAZE OF GLORY (1957)
A highly skilled communications officer, with severe anger management issues, ends up physically assaulting a Yoda-like alien, for peeking at his spaceships comms equipment. His xenophobia is perhaps justified given the
sacrifice he has to endure to save his crew mates on the return journey. 3 stars.
DELIVERY GUARANTEED (1959)
A hilarious story about a space ferry operator who is required to ship a log cabin from Mars to a museum on Ganymede. (The log cabin was briefly a rebel stronghold in the jungles of Venus and of great cultural significance for the Venusian nationalists). The attractive young lady museum curator accompanying the cabin instantly dispels the pilots grumps but the stowaway poses a problem. If only our current fanatical nationalist leaders could be so easily
ejected or at least unelected. 5 stars.
THE DESSICATOR (1956)
An eccentric Martian inventor and his long suffering promoter travel to earth to sell their product. 3 stars.
THE HAPPY UNFORTUNATE * (1957)
A Spacer returns to Earth and deals with the beautiful petite Earthers, who evoke feelings of jealousy and envy. He ironically aspires to be accepted by them despite his gorilla like subspecies origin and morbid fear of being pug-ugly. He counts his chickens as the Earthers dream of becoming Spacers. 3.5 stars.
THE HUNTED HEROES (1956)
A nerdy couple scour Martian surface for the radioactive deposits that Earth needs to power us into the bright new atomic age. A resentful, misguided man seeks retribution for the loss of his legs, threatens to harm them. But they straighten him out, fixed him up wi a pair of dem newfangled robot legs and a nice new friendly personality I reckon. Hmmn. 4 star.
THE IRON STAR (1988)
A busy day for the fantastically overconfident neutron star sample extraction team, especially with a pesky BH bobbing about. The fact that your orbit now contains a first contact alien ship peeping from behind the Neutron star just fab!
Time for some frontier justice. 4 stars.
THE ISOLATIONISTS (1958)
I found myself in absolute agreement with the exo-planets alien inhabitants. They simply wish to reject having to have any contact with a bunch of humanoid space colonists, who aim for infinite growth by assuming ownership of infinite resources. 4 stars.
THE LONELY ONE (1956)
The dying Earth makes a really poor show of attempting to inflict retribution on the last few Handfuls of Earthmen to fall under Her Gracious influence. The Spirit of Gaia, or whatever it is, singularly and tragically fails to hold a decent grudge against humanity. A missed opportunity,
4 stars.
THE MAN WHO CAME BACK (1961)
A rather creepy and vengeful man returns, after 18 years, back to Earth from his solitary life as a miner on planet IX. His stated purpose to marry his ex - who is whut now ...an influencer! Oh dear, stop, aw shame. 5 stars.
NEUTRAL PLANET (1957)
Through dint of devious diplomacy the hero aquires the treaty that will bring democratic consumerism to these charming lizard people, simultaneously protecting them from our alien enemies. Fun. Perhaps there's rather a tad too much dedication from the captain, 4 stars.
OZYMANDIAS * (1958)
An ancient advanced alien civilization leaves behind a robotic museum guide who is not prime directive compliant. 4 stars.
THE PAIN PEDDLERS (1963)
A rather extreme form of reality tv for sadists. An employee fails to get any sympathy when he finds himself starring in the very show he used to produce. 3 stars.
THE PLEASURE OF THEIR COMPANY (1970)
A leader narrowly escapes with his life, in his spaceship, from a planetary wide military junta. He's alone with only a collection of the downloaded personalities of his wife, family and the greatest minds from history and fiction. They tell him that he's not a coward for fleeing. 3 stars.
POINT OF FOCUS (1958)
A highly strung yet traditional shrimpy alien Emissary is charged with assimilating a toxic planet (with intelligent chlorine breathers) for the glory of his galactic wide Federation. He is dissatisfied to find the Terrans already have an outpost and aim to thwart him. 3 stars.
POSTMARK GANYMEDE (1957) *
A spiffing tale of true grit and stubborn determination required by a proper postie.
4 stars.
PRIME COMMANDMENT (1958)
An ode to the odious, aka religion. Excellent illustration of the problem of pedantry, (possibly all caused by Einstein and the two different spacetime trajectories the colonists used).
5 stars.
THE SONGS OF SUMMER (1957)
Excellent story about a man from the 20th C dropped into the far future, well after the bombs, where the indigenous peace loving people Sing. But he's attempting to recreate the entire apocalyptic edifice of capitalism, oblivious to their culture without a hint of the compassion that they show him. 5 stars.
SPACEROGUE (1958)
A simple tale of revenge, pure and self-destructive and how our protagonist having lost all compassion and humanity has to patiently plan his comeback. 4 stars.
THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN (1958)
A salutatory story examining a mad scientist and human clones plus the old nature nuture dichotomy. 3 stars.
THE WOMAN YOU WANTED (1958)
Rube signs on for space exploration, just needs an android mate and he's all set.
#
Ahem.. yes, well...
we can still dream can we not?
"What's that my love?"
Um, apparently not any more...
"Sorry my wee dumb...pling!
I dunno, what's gonna be nipped off that hasn't worked right since 2008 ?"
Oh.. ....GOTO #.
4 stars.
VALLEY BEYOND TIME (1957)
A highly original story of a mine owner whisked out of a dreary hyperspace commute and plopped unceremoniously into a confusing madcap adventure somewhere, definitely, else!
5 stars.
WE KNOW WHO WE ARE (1970)
Interesting short about an inhabitant of a post apocalyptic City. His fears of an ancient hi-tech oracle and attraction to the strange girl from afar who encourages him to use the oracle prove decisive. 5 stars.
MEGAPACK® 2016 23 stories
(* = read it somewhere before..)
Average about 4 stars…
ALAREE (pub. 1958)
A stricken ship arrives on a distant planet to make repairs and the crew encounter a cute little alien. But humanities individual nature conflicts with its alien sensibilities. 4 stars.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER (1958)
A rather unscrupulous owner of an alien zoo/circus masquerading as a scientific institution is recruiting aliens to exhibit on an exoplanet. He almost meets his match when a man requests employment as an alien by claiming to be from an undiscovered planet of humanoids. 3 stars.
BLAZE OF GLORY (1957)
A highly skilled communications officer, with severe anger management issues, ends up physically assaulting a Yoda-like alien, for peeking at his spaceships comms equipment. His xenophobia is perhaps justified given the
sacrifice he has to endure to save his crew mates on the return journey. 3 stars.
DELIVERY GUARANTEED (1959)
A hilarious story about a space ferry operator who is required to ship a log cabin from Mars to a museum on Ganymede. (The log cabin was briefly a rebel stronghold in the jungles of Venus and of great cultural significance for the Venusian nationalists). The attractive young lady museum curator accompanying the cabin instantly dispels the pilots grumps but the stowaway poses a problem. If only our current fanatical nationalist leaders could be so easily
ejected or at least unelected. 5 stars.
THE DESSICATOR (1956)
An eccentric Martian inventor and his long suffering promoter travel to earth to sell their product. 3 stars.
THE HAPPY UNFORTUNATE * (1957)
A Spacer returns to Earth and deals with the beautiful petite Earthers, who evoke feelings of jealousy and envy. He ironically aspires to be accepted by them despite his gorilla like subspecies origin and morbid fear of being pug-ugly. He counts his chickens as the Earthers dream of becoming Spacers. 3.5 stars.
THE HUNTED HEROES (1956)
A nerdy couple scour Martian surface for the radioactive deposits that Earth needs to power us into the bright new atomic age. A resentful, misguided man seeks retribution for the loss of his legs, threatens to harm them. But they straighten him out, fixed him up wi a pair of dem newfangled robot legs and a nice new friendly personality I reckon. Hmmn. 4 star.
THE IRON STAR (1988)
A busy day for the fantastically overconfident neutron star sample extraction team, especially with a pesky BH bobbing about. The fact that your orbit now contains a first contact alien ship peeping from behind the Neutron star just fab!
Time for some frontier justice. 4 stars.
THE ISOLATIONISTS (1958)
I found myself in absolute agreement with the exo-planets alien inhabitants. They simply wish to reject having to have any contact with a bunch of humanoid space colonists, who aim for infinite growth by assuming ownership of infinite resources. 4 stars.
THE LONELY ONE (1956)
The dying Earth makes a really poor show of attempting to inflict retribution on the last few Handfuls of Earthmen to fall under Her Gracious influence. The Spirit of Gaia, or whatever it is, singularly and tragically fails to hold a decent grudge against humanity. A missed opportunity,
4 stars.
THE MAN WHO CAME BACK (1961)
A rather creepy and vengeful man returns, after 18 years, back to Earth from his solitary life as a miner on planet IX. His stated purpose to marry his ex - who is whut now ...an influencer! Oh dear, stop, aw shame. 5 stars.
NEUTRAL PLANET (1957)
Through dint of devious diplomacy the hero aquires the treaty that will bring democratic consumerism to these charming lizard people, simultaneously protecting them from our alien enemies. Fun. Perhaps there's rather a tad too much dedication from the captain, 4 stars.
OZYMANDIAS * (1958)
An ancient advanced alien civilization leaves behind a robotic museum guide who is not prime directive compliant. 4 stars.
THE PAIN PEDDLERS (1963)
A rather extreme form of reality tv for sadists. An employee fails to get any sympathy when he finds himself starring in the very show he used to produce. 3 stars.
THE PLEASURE OF THEIR COMPANY (1970)
A leader narrowly escapes with his life, in his spaceship, from a planetary wide military junta. He's alone with only a collection of the downloaded personalities of his wife, family and the greatest minds from history and fiction. They tell him that he's not a coward for fleeing. 3 stars.
POINT OF FOCUS (1958)
A highly strung yet traditional shrimpy alien Emissary is charged with assimilating a toxic planet (with intelligent chlorine breathers) for the glory of his galactic wide Federation. He is dissatisfied to find the Terrans already have an outpost and aim to thwart him. 3 stars.
POSTMARK GANYMEDE (1957) *
A spiffing tale of true grit and stubborn determination required by a proper postie.
4 stars.
PRIME COMMANDMENT (1958)
An ode to the odious, aka religion. Excellent illustration of the problem of pedantry, (possibly all caused by Einstein and the two different spacetime trajectories the colonists used).
5 stars.
THE SONGS OF SUMMER (1957)
Excellent story about a man from the 20th C dropped into the far future, well after the bombs, where the indigenous peace loving people Sing. But he's attempting to recreate the entire apocalyptic edifice of capitalism, oblivious to their culture without a hint of the compassion that they show him. 5 stars.
SPACEROGUE (1958)
A simple tale of revenge, pure and self-destructive and how our protagonist having lost all compassion and humanity has to patiently plan his comeback. 4 stars.
THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN (1958)
A salutatory story examining a mad scientist and human clones plus the old nature nuture dichotomy. 3 stars.
THE WOMAN YOU WANTED (1958)
Rube signs on for space exploration, just needs an android mate and he's all set.
#
Ahem.. yes, well...
we can still dream can we not?
"What's that my love?"
Um, apparently not any more...
"Sorry my wee dumb...pling!
I dunno, what's gonna be nipped off that hasn't worked right since 2008 ?"
Oh.. ....GOTO #.
4 stars.
VALLEY BEYOND TIME (1957)
A highly original story of a mine owner whisked out of a dreary hyperspace commute and plopped unceremoniously into a confusing madcap adventure somewhere, definitely, else!
5 stars.
WE KNOW WHO WE ARE (1970)
Interesting short about an inhabitant of a post apocalyptic City. His fears of an ancient hi-tech oracle and attraction to the strange girl from afar who encourages him to use the oracle prove decisive. 5 stars.
May 12, 2018
A good collection of short stories by a single author, written between the mid-1950s (mostly) up to the early 1970s (rare). The stories are mostly well-sized (some a bit longish) and entertaining. Not too much philosophical depth, as I can tell by the few highlights that I used. But good enough entertaining for otherwise boring train rides to work.
April 5, 2021
Many fun stories, some good ones some less so. If you like scifi from this era you will enjoy it.
The stories generally don't feel dated, except where the Terran Navy General meets an ambassador of an alien race in an artificial biome keeping out the native chloride based atmosphere and offers them a cigarette.
The stories generally don't feel dated, except where the Terran Navy General meets an ambassador of an alien race in an artificial biome keeping out the native chloride based atmosphere and offers them a cigarette.
July 15, 2025
„Желязната звезда“ – чудесен сборник с ретро фантастика: https://knigolandia.info/jelyaznata-z...
Смелото издателство за ретро фантастика „Протон“ определено ме изненада със сборника „Желязната звезда“ от обичания Робърт Силвърбърг, познат у нас може би най-вече с поредицата „Маджипур“. Не бях добре запознат с неговото научнофантастично творчество, но ако съдя дори само по този сборник, изпуснал съм много – в него се съдържат истинско пиршество от смели идеи, забавни герои, деликатен и искрящ от жизненост хумор, вяра в бъдещето на човечеството и отгласи от средата на XX век, когато тези разкази са писани и издавани по списанията. Част от историите са гарнирани и с характерни за жанра от онова време илюстрации, съчетаващи наивност и умерена доза сексуалност.
Издателство Протон
https://knigolandia.info/jelyaznata-z...
Смелото издателство за ретро фантастика „Протон“ определено ме изненада със сборника „Желязната звезда“ от обичания Робърт Силвърбърг, познат у нас може би най-вече с поредицата „Маджипур“. Не бях добре запознат с неговото научнофантастично творчество, но ако съдя дори само по този сборник, изпуснал съм много – в него се съдържат истинско пиршество от смели идеи, забавни герои, деликатен и искрящ от жизненост хумор, вяра в бъдещето на човечеството и отгласи от средата на XX век, когато тези разкази са писани и издавани по списанията. Част от историите са гарнирани и с характерни за жанра от онова време илюстрации, съчетаващи наивност и умерена доза сексуалност.
Издателство Протон
https://knigolandia.info/jelyaznata-z...
April 4, 2018
Just science fiction as it should be. Interesting, thought provoking and entertaining
Very well written for its time and an easy read. Kept you wanting to read the next stories. Entertaining and it made me want to read more
Very well written for its time and an easy read. Kept you wanting to read the next stories. Entertaining and it made me want to read more
October 26, 2022
Didn't finish. The stories I read were primarily from the early part of Silverberg's career -when he was a competent hack, writing pulp-filler in the 50s. I'm 70, and no longer have patience for classics that aren't *classic*.
February 1, 2023
Tries to be Brdbury?
Not what i would call pure sci fi. Stories border on fantasy. Not what i would call pure fantasy . The megapack, as usual provides good value and there should be something to please .
Not what i would call pure sci fi. Stories border on fantasy. Not what i would call pure fantasy . The megapack, as usual provides good value and there should be something to please .
May 24, 2017
A good read
A nice assortment of his early works some ok, some very good. 1 or 2 I would rather not of read... But still enjoyable.
A nice assortment of his early works some ok, some very good. 1 or 2 I would rather not of read... But still enjoyable.
July 7, 2018
Good read, good older stories
A good afternoon/evening read of older Sci-fi stories. Several were very interesting and worth the read, others seem to stop abruptly
A good afternoon/evening read of older Sci-fi stories. Several were very interesting and worth the read, others seem to stop abruptly
March 2, 2019
Silverberg has always been one of my favs. Mostly great stories - a few not so much.
February 1, 2021
Good, classic sci-fi!
February 23, 2025
blast from the golden era
So nice to read such classic stuff, and see how the author hoped things would evolve. Would Silverberg be disappointed by how little progress we’ve made?
So nice to read such classic stuff, and see how the author hoped things would evolve. Would Silverberg be disappointed by how little progress we’ve made?
December 11, 2023
24 stories:
Alaree (1958) (New Worlds 1959/7)
Birds of a Feather (1958) (Galaxy 1958/11)
Blaze of Glory (1957) (Galaxy 1957/8)
Delivery Guaranteed (1959) (SF Stories 1959/2)
The Dessicator (1956) (SF Stories 1956/5)
The Happy Unfortunate (1957) (Amazing 1957/12)
The Hunted Heroes (1956) (Amazing 1956/9)
The Iron Star (1987)
The Isolationists (1958) (SF Stories 1958/11)
The Lonely One (1956) (SF Stories 1956/7)
The Man Who Came Back (1961) (New Worlds 1961/2)
Neutral Planet (1957) (SF Stories 1957/7)
Ozymandias (1958) (Infinity 1958/11)
The Pain Peddlers (1963) (Galaxy 1963/8)
The Pleasure of Their Company (1970)
Point of Focus (1958) (Astounding 1958/8)
Postmark Ganymede (1957) (Amazing 1957/9)
Prime Commandment (1958) (SF Stories 1958/1)
The Songs of Summer (1956) (SF Stories 1956/7)
Spacerogue (1958) (Infinity 1958/11)
There Was an Old Woman (1958) (Infinity 1958/11)
The Woman You Wanted (1958) (Future SF 1958/4)
Valley Beyond Time (1957) (SF Adventures 1957/12)
We Know Who We Are (1970)
Alaree (1958) (New Worlds 1959/7)
Birds of a Feather (1958) (Galaxy 1958/11)
Blaze of Glory (1957) (Galaxy 1957/8)
Delivery Guaranteed (1959) (SF Stories 1959/2)
The Dessicator (1956) (SF Stories 1956/5)
The Happy Unfortunate (1957) (Amazing 1957/12)
The Hunted Heroes (1956) (Amazing 1956/9)
The Iron Star (1987)
The Isolationists (1958) (SF Stories 1958/11)
The Lonely One (1956) (SF Stories 1956/7)
The Man Who Came Back (1961) (New Worlds 1961/2)
Neutral Planet (1957) (SF Stories 1957/7)
Ozymandias (1958) (Infinity 1958/11)
The Pain Peddlers (1963) (Galaxy 1963/8)
The Pleasure of Their Company (1970)
Point of Focus (1958) (Astounding 1958/8)
Postmark Ganymede (1957) (Amazing 1957/9)
Prime Commandment (1958) (SF Stories 1958/1)
The Songs of Summer (1956) (SF Stories 1956/7)
Spacerogue (1958) (Infinity 1958/11)
There Was an Old Woman (1958) (Infinity 1958/11)
The Woman You Wanted (1958) (Future SF 1958/4)
Valley Beyond Time (1957) (SF Adventures 1957/12)
We Know Who We Are (1970)
December 10, 2016
Sci-fi mastery.
I gave a 4 star rating for a stellar novel!
After being away from the genre for some time, I decided it was time for a comeback, with Bob Silverberg no less, so, bring it on!!
I gave a 4 star rating for a stellar novel!
After being away from the genre for some time, I decided it was time for a comeback, with Bob Silverberg no less, so, bring it on!!
August 14, 2016
great stuff - much better than formulaic short stories that are popular with anthology editors of today.
September 6, 2016
Good classical stuff
From the age of imagination not copy of technology. Where the future was not about a collapse of society but an exploration of potential good or bad.
From the age of imagination not copy of technology. Where the future was not about a collapse of society but an exploration of potential good or bad.
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