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Sunrise on Mercury, and other science fiction stories
Book by Silverberg, Robert
175 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1975
About the author
Robert Silverberg
2,410 books1,669 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 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 22, 2025
This is a collection of eight stories by Silverberg that was aimed at what was called at the time the juvenile market. (Now it would be YA.) Two of them were first published under the pseudonym Calvin M. Knox, and all of them are from the 1950s except the last story, After the Myths Went Home (one of my favorites), which is from a 1969 issue of F & SF. It's interesting that all eight are from different sources; one each from Science Fiction Stories, Astounding SF, Galaxy, Infinity, Saturn, Fantastic Universe, F & SF, and one from Pohl's Star original anthology series. They're good stories, age appropriate, though some are a bit dated what with expanded awareness of colonialism and such. I thought they were thoughtful and thought-provoking and fun!
October 15, 2023
Two different publications under the "Sunrise on Mercury" title here, with only 4 common stores ...
the 1975 first publication with this title, 8 stories:
Sunrise on Mercury (1957)
Hi Diddle Diddle! (1959)
Birds of a Feather (1958)
There Was an Old Woman (1958)
Alaree (1958)
The Macauley Circuit (1956)
Company Store (1959)
After the Myths Went Home (1969)
the 1983 & 1986 publications with this title, 13 stories:
Sunrise on Mercury (1957)
Why? (1957)
There Was an Old Woman (1958)
Alaree (1958)
Going Down Smooth (1968)
The Man Who Never Forgot (1958)
World of a Thousand Colors (1957)
The Day the Founder Died (1974)
The Artifact Business (1957)
The Silent Colony (1954)
The Four (1958)
Precedent (1957)
After the Myths Went Home (1969)
the 1975 first publication with this title, 8 stories:
Sunrise on Mercury (1957)
Hi Diddle Diddle! (1959)
Birds of a Feather (1958)
There Was an Old Woman (1958)
Alaree (1958)
The Macauley Circuit (1956)
Company Store (1959)
After the Myths Went Home (1969)
the 1983 & 1986 publications with this title, 13 stories:
Sunrise on Mercury (1957)
Why? (1957)
There Was an Old Woman (1958)
Alaree (1958)
Going Down Smooth (1968)
The Man Who Never Forgot (1958)
World of a Thousand Colors (1957)
The Day the Founder Died (1974)
The Artifact Business (1957)
The Silent Colony (1954)
The Four (1958)
Precedent (1957)
After the Myths Went Home (1969)
Read
November 20, 2013Love Silverberg. This is an easy to read collection of thought provokers. It's sci-fi from the 50's and 60's and it retains that world weary ennui with a naive hopefulness in human nature that typifies that vintage. Some stories have sat with me since last time I read this, such as There Was An Old Woman and The Four (sad snowflakes). A perfect collection if golden age sci-fi floats your boat.
August 1, 2026
Sunrise on Mercury is Robert Silverberg's sixteenth short story collection. These were all written between 1956-1969. (This is a review of the original 1975 edition. Subsequent editions of this collection released in 1983 and later feature a significantly different lineup of stories.)
"Sunrise on Mercury" (1957) -- A scientific expedition lands too close to the sunside of Mercury and must race against time and an unknown alien presence to save themselves. Reminded me of some of the best Asimov man-versus-nature adventure stories.
"Hi Diddle Diddle!" (1959) --Hydroponics technician Al Mason occasionally gets up to shenanigans on Lunar Base Three. Tired of synthetic milk and meat, he devises plans to build an artificial cow that can process paper waste (cellulose like that found in grass) into milk. He siphons hundreds of man-hours and tens of thousands of dollars away from legitimate experiments, but if it pays off, he might just save the base from drastic budget cuts.
(When I reviewed "The Calibrated Alligator", I remarked that its lead character could have carried a series of novelettes. Silverberg himself informed me about the existence of this original Al Mason story.)
"Birds of a Feather" (1958) -- The showman Corrigan is signing up aliens to be exhibits in his zoo, until he is outfoxed by another con man. Ildwar Gorb appears to be an Earthman but claims to come from a sister race that evolved to look exactly like us. What he really wants is to unionize Corrigan's employees and stage a corporate takeover.
"There Was an Old Woman--" (1958) -- A woman raises thirty-one identical children 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.
"Alaree" (1958) -- Astronauts encounter an alien who is part of a group consciousness, but prolonged exposure to humans teaches it individualism, with tragic results.
"The Macauley Circuit" (1956) -- A engineer invents a music synthesizer that can compose music without need of humans. Silverberg was probably not the first sci-fi author to postulate whether technology can create art, but he was an early adopter of the theme. This story came out a few years before Lloyd Biggle Jr.'s better known "The Tunesmith". Silverberg deserves recognition for how accurate his prediction of synthesizer technology has matched the reality of AI-generated music in the 2020's.
"Company Store" (1959) -- A planetary surveyor is caught between his employer, who insists he only purchase goods from them at exorbitant prices, and a robot salesman, who keeps introducing dangers into the environment in an attempt to sell him solutions. "When you poison a man in order to sell him the antidote, you don't boast about it afterward to the victim!"
After the Myths Went Home (1969) -- 10,000 years in the future, humans reanimate the heroes of myth and legend and reincorporate them into modern society. This is a fun story and a reminder that no matter how sophisticated society becomes, we will never outgrow our need for role models and visionaries.
4 stars
"Sunrise on Mercury" (1957) -- A scientific expedition lands too close to the sunside of Mercury and must race against time and an unknown alien presence to save themselves. Reminded me of some of the best Asimov man-versus-nature adventure stories.
"Hi Diddle Diddle!" (1959) --Hydroponics technician Al Mason occasionally gets up to shenanigans on Lunar Base Three. Tired of synthetic milk and meat, he devises plans to build an artificial cow that can process paper waste (cellulose like that found in grass) into milk. He siphons hundreds of man-hours and tens of thousands of dollars away from legitimate experiments, but if it pays off, he might just save the base from drastic budget cuts.
(When I reviewed "The Calibrated Alligator", I remarked that its lead character could have carried a series of novelettes. Silverberg himself informed me about the existence of this original Al Mason story.)
"Birds of a Feather" (1958) -- The showman Corrigan is signing up aliens to be exhibits in his zoo, until he is outfoxed by another con man. Ildwar Gorb appears to be an Earthman but claims to come from a sister race that evolved to look exactly like us. What he really wants is to unionize Corrigan's employees and stage a corporate takeover.
"There Was an Old Woman--" (1958) -- A woman raises thirty-one identical children 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.
"Alaree" (1958) -- Astronauts encounter an alien who is part of a group consciousness, but prolonged exposure to humans teaches it individualism, with tragic results.
"The Macauley Circuit" (1956) -- A engineer invents a music synthesizer that can compose music without need of humans. Silverberg was probably not the first sci-fi author to postulate whether technology can create art, but he was an early adopter of the theme. This story came out a few years before Lloyd Biggle Jr.'s better known "The Tunesmith". Silverberg deserves recognition for how accurate his prediction of synthesizer technology has matched the reality of AI-generated music in the 2020's.
"Company Store" (1959) -- A planetary surveyor is caught between his employer, who insists he only purchase goods from them at exorbitant prices, and a robot salesman, who keeps introducing dangers into the environment in an attempt to sell him solutions. "When you poison a man in order to sell him the antidote, you don't boast about it afterward to the victim!"
After the Myths Went Home (1969) -- 10,000 years in the future, humans reanimate the heroes of myth and legend and reincorporate them into modern society. This is a fun story and a reminder that no matter how sophisticated society becomes, we will never outgrow our need for role models and visionaries.
4 stars
May 23, 2021
Silverberg's a master. As varied as the stories are here, and the concepts examined, they never fail to be both accessible and entertaining. The colonialism of Precedent rankles a bit, but this is, after all, over sixty years old now. A cracker of a collection.
August 9, 2020
A good selection of stories from one of the Names of the golden era of science fiction. One or two of the stories seem a little run-of-the-mill, but the majority are very good.
December 26, 2012
Silverberg's best are definitely his oldest.
His writing skills might get better as time progresses, but unfortunately his output doesn't.
This collection of 50s and 60s short stories highlight that.
His writing skills might get better as time progresses, but unfortunately his output doesn't.
This collection of 50s and 60s short stories highlight that.
Read
July 30, 2011Forgot how much I enjoyed Silverberg. This copy has very yellow pages - it hasn't seen the light of day for many years.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews