The sf Grandmaster's follow up to the career retrospective Phases of the Moon is a glance back to the earliest days of his career. Included with pulp stories not reprinted in decades will be more of the commentary that made Phases so much more than just a collection.
"I have to confess, right up front here, that you will not find a great deal in the way of poetic vision in these stories, or singing prose, or deep insight into character. Nor are these stories that will tell you much that is new to you about the human condition. These are stories in what is now pretty much a lost tradition in science fiction, the simple and unselfconsciously fast-paced adventure story of the pulp-magazine era. They are stories from the dawn of my career, which began in the closing years of that era, and are straightforward tales of action, in the main, that were written partly for fun and partly for money."
--Robert Silverberg, from the Introduction
Table of Contents:
Yokel with Portfolio (1955)
Long Live the Kejwa (1956)
Guardian of the Crystal Gate (1956)
Choke Chain (1956)
Citadel of Darkness (1957)
Cosmic Kill (1957)
New Year's Eve--2000 A.D. (1957)
The Android Kill (1957)
The Hunters of Cutwold (1957)
Come into My Brain (1958)
Castaways of Space (1958)
Exiled from Earth (1958)
Second Start (1959)
Mournful Montster (1959)
Vampires from Outer Space (1959)
The Insidious Invaders (1959)
From Publishers Weekly (starred review):
"SFWA Grand Master Silverberg (Phases of the Moon) delivers 16 deliciously slam-bang short stories from early in his career, along with engaging commentary including autobiographical insights, glimpses into his creative process and a mini-history of SF's flaming pulp youth...These are stories that he and his readers can justifiably look back on with affection, if not total admiration."
From Booklist:
"Silverberg delivers exactly as promised in this collection of high-speed romps from the beginning of his career that he suggests affords a kind of archaeological experience...The classic tropes of pulp sf are all on view and just as rewarding as they were meant to be when Silverberg first exploited them."
- artists_list:
- Bob Eggleton
- authors_list:
- Robert Silverberg
- book_case:
- None
- book_edition:
- ebook
- book_length:
- 338 pages
- book_type:
- Collection
- country_of_manufacturer:
- United States
- isbn:
- 978-1-59606-364-8
- is_subpress:
- Yes
- manufacturer:
- Subterranean Press
- print_status:
- In Print
- year:
- 2016
- badge:
- eBook Edition
