Synopses & Reviews
One of the most prolific, honored, and widely read science fiction writers, Robert Silverberg has forged a professional career that began in the 1950s and has flourished in succeeding decades. After first gaining fame for his magazine fiction, Silverberg embraced the ideals and methods of literary science fiction in the late 1960s and crafted a number of novels marked by symbolism and irony. After a period of silence in the 1970s, he resumed his career. Despite the appeal of his novels, Silverberg's achievement still eludes easy assessment. This book offers a broad study of Silverberg's growth as a writer, following his career from his early apprenticeship period to his later, fully mature books. Examining not only his work but also the literary contexts that shaped him, Chapman captures well Silverberg's development as a writer.
Review
...highly recommended for SF collections and for large US fiction collections.Choice
Review
A very detailed scholarly examination of the work of Robert Silverberg.Science Fiction Chronicle
Review
It will be a rewarding experience, for not only do we learn about Silverberg's writings, but also about other authors of the time and how Silverberg relates to, compares with, or differs from them. It is an enlightening portrait of the milieu as well as a find study of Silverberg.SFRA Review
Synopsis
Studies the evolution of Robert Silverberg's writings from the 1950s to the present.
Synopsis
One of the most prolific, honored, and widely read science fiction writers, Robert Silverberg has forged a professional career that began in the 1950s and has flourished in succeeding decades. From the very beginning, he was perceived as a promising and potentially brilliant author, and he has persisted long enough to win more Hugo and Nebula Awards than any other writer. After first gaining fame for his magazine fiction, he embraced the ideals and methods of literary science fiction in the late 1960s and crafted a number of novels marked by symbolism and irony. After a period of silence in the 1970s, he resumed his career and has attracted growing amounts of critical attention. This book offers a broad study of Silverberg's growth as a writer and illuminates a career that still eludes easy assessment. Chapman not only explores Silverberg's works, but also illuminates the many factors that shaped the evolution of his works. What emerges is a complete picture of Silverberg and his craft.
An introductory chapter overviews Silverberg's career and provides some biographical information. The chapters that follow look at various phases in his development. These include an apprenticeship period, a journeyman period, a climactic period of mastery, and a second period of mature work, following a hiatus in the 1970s. Included are discussions of such works as Revolt on Alpha C, Thorns, The Book of Skulls, Shadrach in the Furnace, and Lord Valentine's Castle. The volume gives special attention to the larger literary contexts of Silverberg's writings and to the forces that influenced him.
Synopsis
Studies the evolution of Robert Silverberg's writings from the 1950s to the present.
About the Author
EDGAR L. CHAPMAN is Professor of English at Bradley University.
Table of Contents
Preface
Silverberg: The Man and His Work
The Early Silverberg: An Apprentice Professional, 1954-1960
The Growth of a Journeyman, 1961-1968
Searching for Jerusalem: Authentic and Spurious Quests for Transcendence, 1969-1974
Riding the New Wave toward Post-Modernism: Short Fiction, 1969-1974
Trial by the Furnace: The Labyrinths of Society and History, 1969-1976
A Return to Romance: The Sorceries of Majipoor
The Mature Novelist from Lord of Darkness to the Alien Years: Reinventing the Past and Returning to Science Fiction Tradition
Works Consulted