Overview
Sci-fi master Robert Silverberg explores science, technology, and society in this collection of opinion and commentaryRobert Silverberg is a classic science fiction writer and observer of the science fiction scene who has written hundreds of commentaries and essays since he began publishing columns in Galileo magazine nearly 20 years ago. His opinions deal not only with science fiction but with current scientific, technological, and social issues; and the impact recent developments in various fields such as genetics, astronomy, biology, and linguistics have on our society. Now he has chosen the liveliest, most thought provoking of his hundreds of commentaries for this collection, which constitutes a vivid, 20-year chronicle of events in both science fiction and the world in general.
Every reader of fantasy literature and science fiction will want to own this collection by one of the genre's masters. In his 40-year career, Silverberg has written dozens of novels and hundreds of short stories. His observations of science and fantasy, and his relationships with virtually all the important writers and editors of our time, make this anthology a collector's item.
Editorials
Keith Call
...[R]uminativechatty essays...[where Silverberg] offers 'as close to a formal autobiography as I'll ever writeI suspect'.... —Books & Culture: A Christian ReviewPublishers Weekly -
In 1978, Silverberg, who's won nine Hugo and Nebula Awards for his science fiction, began contributing essays to the short-lived magazine Galileo. He moved to the long-lived Amazing Stories in 1981, then to Asimov's in 1994 after Amazing's demise and Asimov's death. Here, he collects 88 brief essays from these periods, most harvested from Amazing and Asimov's, plus a handful of introductions written for SF classic reprints and a few pieces from other sources. A few essays include updates. The material is divided into six sections, two on SF specifically, one on writing generally, two about science and public affairs and a final one encompassing autobiographical writings. The pieces on SF are likely to appeal mostly to aficionados. Silverberg, like other critics, sees a steep decline in the average quality of today's SF, which he believes is driven more by media or marketing considerations than by ideas. Perhaps that is why he recently said that his future writings would be mostly fantasy. Readers who enjoyed Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World (1996) will see similar sentiments here, deploring pseudoscience and anti-science diatribes. The pieces on writing and on autobiographical topics will have the widest appeal. Silverberg is more sanguine than his senior, Frederik Pohl, who has written about many of the same topics, and less acerbic than fellow writer/critic Thomas Disch. Though few of the essays develop their points at length, they're well written, often provocative and should find a broad and receptive audience. (Apr.)Keith Call
...[R]uminative, chatty essays...[where Silverberg] offers 'as close to a formal autobiography as I'll ever write, I suspect'....— Books & Culture: A Christian Review
Kirkus Reviews
A collection of magazine columns by a leading science fiction writer.The prolific Silverberg (Starborne, 1996, etc.) can trace his career as a columnist back to his days as a fanzine writer and editor. More recently, he has been the columnist—the keynote speaker, as it were—for such science fiction magazines as Galileo and Amazing Stories. This volume collects the cream of the crop; predictably, many of his columns address science fiction from the point of view of a longtime professional writer. Silverberg's critical comments focus on such matters as the unfortunate dumbing-down of the genre in the wake of Star Wars and Star Trek, which brought in huge numbers of new readers who cared more about slam-bang action than about the play of ideas characteristic of the best science fiction. While there was of course plenty of action-oriented science fiction in the pulp era, Silverberg believes that current publishers have aggressively promoted mindless work at the expense of more thoughtful fiction. Meanwhile, the audience for quality science fiction inevitably grows older, as few newer readers are attracted to today's bland, predictable offerings. Similar concerns mark his columns on genetic engineering and other controversial scientific advances to which the public has responded with what Silverberg sees as baseless and ill-informed hysteria. Silverberg is a perceptive critic and an appreciative reader, and his essays on fellow writers, including Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Phillip Dick, Harlan Ellison, and Jack Vance, offer excellent insights into their work. Perhaps the major shortcoming of these essays is a stylistic flatness; for all his experience, Silverberg lacks the popular touch and unpredictable wit that made Asimov's many magazine columns so delightful.
Sophisticated, well-expressed, and often controversial, these essays are more for Silverberg's longtime fans than for new readers.