Secret Sharers

The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg #2

by Robert Silverberg

Twenty-four stories are included in this ambitious collection of Silverberg's work, each with an introduction by the author recollecting the time and place in which they were conceived. Winner of five Nebula Awards and four Hugos, Silverberg is one of the undisputed masters of science fiction.

Contents:
1. A Sleep and a Forgetting
2. Against Babylon
3. Amanda and the Alien
4. Basileus
5. Chip Runner
6. Dancers in the Time-Flux
7. Enter a Soldier. Later: Enter Another [Time Gate]
8. Gate of Horn, Gate of Ivory
9. Hannibal's Elephants
10. Hardware
11. Homefaring
12. House of Bones
13. Multiples
14. Sailing to Byzantium
15. Snake and Ocean, Ocean and Snake (variant of The Affair)
16. Sunrise on Pluto
17. Symbiont
18. The Asenion Solution
19. The Dead Man's Eyes
20. The Iron Star
21. The Pardoner's Tale
22. The Secret Sharer
23. To the Promised Land [Roma Eterna]
24. Tourist Trade

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fiction, Speculative Fiction

568 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1992

About the author

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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.

Reviews

[Stuart Berman · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I read through this compendium of Silverberg's short stories, I can't help but think this is all so obsolete with the modern audience. The stories are generally dated but give us a glimpse of American history and concerns. One of the aspects I really appreciate about this work is how Silverberg describes the context in which he wrote the stories, how the business and craft of writing worked and his relationships with the other titans of the Sci-Fi genre. I have tried to find the next volume in the series and this is the next one in the series:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of stories with very similar ideas (lots of scientists beaming themselves into the past/future) and this crushing obsession with mortality and suicide and escaping from one's own life. Kind of a tough slog to get through.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

24 stories:

Homefaring (1983)
Basileus (1983)
Dancers in the Time-Flux (1983)
Gate of Horn, Gate of Ivory (1984)
Amanda and the Alien (1983)
Snake and Ocean, Ocean and Snake (1984)
Tourist Trade (1984)
Multiples (1983)
Against Babylon (1986)
Symbiont (1985)
Sailing to Byzantium (1985)
Sunrise on Pluto (1985)
Hardware (1987)
Hannibal's Elephants (1988)
The Pardoner's Tale (1987)
The Iron Star (1987)
The Secret Sharer (1987)
House of Bones (1988)
The Dead Man's Eyes (1988)
Chip Runner (1989)
To the Promised Land (1989)
The Asenion Solution (1989)
A Sleep and a Forgetting (1989)
Enter a Soldier. Later: Enter Another (1989)

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me awhile to warm up to this collection. My tastes tend to go straight from New Wave to William Gibson, so a bunch of pop sci-fi stories (several even written for Playboy) from the 1980's was a bit of a reach. But Silverberg is a slick writer and all of the stories are entertaining, many are imaginative, and a few are excellent.

[Frank Taranto · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of shorts by a master storyteller. Contaains my favorite of his works: Sundance.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. Silverberg is amazing.