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Alpha 4
Includes:
Casablanca by Thomas M. Disch
Dio by Damon Knight
Eastward ho! by William Tenn
Judas danced by Brian W. Aldiss
Angel's egg by Edgar Pangborn
In his image by Terry Carr
All pieces of a river shore by R.A. Lafferty
We all die naked by James Blish
Carcinoma angels by Norman Spinrod
Mother by Philip Jose Farmer
5,271,009 by Alfred Bester
Casablanca by Thomas M. Disch
Dio by Damon Knight
Eastward ho! by William Tenn
Judas danced by Brian W. Aldiss
Angel's egg by Edgar Pangborn
In his image by Terry Carr
All pieces of a river shore by R.A. Lafferty
We all die naked by James Blish
Carcinoma angels by Norman Spinrod
Mother by Philip Jose Farmer
5,271,009 by Alfred Bester
279 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
2 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Robert Silverberg
2,215 books1,584 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 5, 2020
The Alpha series of anthologies was Silverberg's effort to recognize and collect short works of science fiction that he felt were of outstanding literary merit that were not well known in the field. In this fourth volume he went with a roster of more recent writers and included a higher number of humorous stories. Among my favorites are Mother by Philip Jose Farmer, 5,271,009 by Alfred Bester, Angel's Egg by Edgar Pangborn, and Casablanca by Thomas M. Disch. My pick for the best in the book is Carcinoma Angels by Norman Spinrad. I never though I'd chuckle through a story about cancer, but I was wrong.
January 31, 2021
I'm continuing with my reading of Robert Silverberg's Alpha series of anthologies. Alpha 4 is another strong entry in the series, with great stories by Edgar Pangborn, Thomas Disch, Damon Knight, R.A. Lafferty, James Blish, Philip Jose Farmer, and others.
"Angel's Egg" by Edgar Pangborn is perhaps the strongest story in the book. A man finds a strange blue transparent glowing egg in a hen's nest. The egg hatches a small creature that looks like an angel that can talk to him telepathically. This is a remarkable, memorable first contact story.
When I reviewed Alpha 3, I said that the Phil Farmer story was the weakest in the book: OK, a fun read, but a lesser story that the others in the volume. "Mother," the Farmer story in Alpha 4, is much better. It's one of his most famous stories. A young man who is heavily dependent on his mother crashes with her on an alien planet. He is grabbed and pulled into a large egg like structure, which turns out to be a living being. This being, this mother, provides food, warmth, and safety for her children and for the young man she's captured. It's all Farmer at his most Freudian.
"Casablanca" by Thomas Disch is a chilling story of two Americans who are vacationing in Casablanca when a nuclear war breaks out. They are isolated and scared, and things are not made better by the fact that both have aspects of "the ugly American."
"Dio" by Damon Knight is set on a future Earth when everyone is immortal and most spend their time idly. It looks at what happens when one of them becomes mortal and has only a limited time left to live.
"We All Die Naked" by James Blish is a story about James Blish that is about climate change, written in 1969, before that was really a focus for anyone. In Blish's story, the final collapse comes faster that it's happening for us, and he also focuses on other issues like waste management and pollution. But it's a bleak look at the future.
I don't think there are any weak stories in this one. Well worth reading.
"Angel's Egg" by Edgar Pangborn is perhaps the strongest story in the book. A man finds a strange blue transparent glowing egg in a hen's nest. The egg hatches a small creature that looks like an angel that can talk to him telepathically. This is a remarkable, memorable first contact story.
When I reviewed Alpha 3, I said that the Phil Farmer story was the weakest in the book: OK, a fun read, but a lesser story that the others in the volume. "Mother," the Farmer story in Alpha 4, is much better. It's one of his most famous stories. A young man who is heavily dependent on his mother crashes with her on an alien planet. He is grabbed and pulled into a large egg like structure, which turns out to be a living being. This being, this mother, provides food, warmth, and safety for her children and for the young man she's captured. It's all Farmer at his most Freudian.
"Casablanca" by Thomas Disch is a chilling story of two Americans who are vacationing in Casablanca when a nuclear war breaks out. They are isolated and scared, and things are not made better by the fact that both have aspects of "the ugly American."
"Dio" by Damon Knight is set on a future Earth when everyone is immortal and most spend their time idly. It looks at what happens when one of them becomes mortal and has only a limited time left to live.
"We All Die Naked" by James Blish is a story about James Blish that is about climate change, written in 1969, before that was really a focus for anyone. In Blish's story, the final collapse comes faster that it's happening for us, and he also focuses on other issues like waste management and pollution. But it's a bleak look at the future.
I don't think there are any weak stories in this one. Well worth reading.
December 4, 2023
I read this mostly because its cover was reused as the cover for Blood Incantation's Hidden History of the Human Race which is one of my favorite albums. I assumed this reference was purposeful and expected a very good hidden gem sci fi novel. Alas this short story collection was only sub par compared to others I've read. The standout was "Mother" by Phillip Jose Farmer (who is great!). That was a good story.
I enjoyed the book but wouldn't recommend it.
I enjoyed the book but wouldn't recommend it.
December 23, 2022
** Casablanca (1967) • Thomas M. Disch
**** Dio (1957) • Damon Knight
*** Eastward Ho! (1958) • William Tenn
*** Judas Danced (1958) • Brian W. Aldiss
*** Angel's Egg (1951) • Edgar Pangborn
**** In His Image (1971) • Terry Carr
***** All Pieces of a River Shore (1970) • R. A. Lafferty
* We All Die Naked (1969) • James Blish
** Carcinoma Angels (1967) • Norman Spinrad
** Mother (1953) • Philip José Farmer
**** 5,271,009 (1954) • Alfred Bester
Notes: guess I'm in a forgiving mood today since I am giving the Disch and the Farmer, which are both distasteful, more than one star ... the Knight is an excellent representative of the far future humans can't help but feel some angst about the immortality they've developed for themselves genre ... the Tenn is a better than average representative of the formulaic alternative American history genre ... the Aldiss is a much better than average representative of the religious time travel genre, inventive and weird ... the Carr is a short and excellent representative of the robots will have supplanted us humans future genre ... Silverberg calls Pangborn's first story "rich and tender" but I find his angel/faery/alien pastoral too sedate ... the Lafferty is just excellent, even by his high standards (never heard Lafferty better described than what Silverberg has to say in his intro: "It has justly been said of Lafferty that he writes like a stoned Mark Twain. Indeed he works within the great 19th century American tradition of romantic exaggeration and robust whackiness") ... the Blish eco-disaster is a bloated unfocused slog ... the Spinrad, well, it's a shame to read a story that begins entertainingly but devolves to the end ... not sure Bester ever wrote a story that was less than four stars ...
**** Dio (1957) • Damon Knight
*** Eastward Ho! (1958) • William Tenn
*** Judas Danced (1958) • Brian W. Aldiss
*** Angel's Egg (1951) • Edgar Pangborn
**** In His Image (1971) • Terry Carr
***** All Pieces of a River Shore (1970) • R. A. Lafferty
* We All Die Naked (1969) • James Blish
** Carcinoma Angels (1967) • Norman Spinrad
** Mother (1953) • Philip José Farmer
**** 5,271,009 (1954) • Alfred Bester
Notes: guess I'm in a forgiving mood today since I am giving the Disch and the Farmer, which are both distasteful, more than one star ... the Knight is an excellent representative of the far future humans can't help but feel some angst about the immortality they've developed for themselves genre ... the Tenn is a better than average representative of the formulaic alternative American history genre ... the Aldiss is a much better than average representative of the religious time travel genre, inventive and weird ... the Carr is a short and excellent representative of the robots will have supplanted us humans future genre ... Silverberg calls Pangborn's first story "rich and tender" but I find his angel/faery/alien pastoral too sedate ... the Lafferty is just excellent, even by his high standards (never heard Lafferty better described than what Silverberg has to say in his intro: "It has justly been said of Lafferty that he writes like a stoned Mark Twain. Indeed he works within the great 19th century American tradition of romantic exaggeration and robust whackiness") ... the Blish eco-disaster is a bloated unfocused slog ... the Spinrad, well, it's a shame to read a story that begins entertainingly but devolves to the end ... not sure Bester ever wrote a story that was less than four stars ...
August 3, 2023
nothing especially bad but nothing really stands out, good stuff from spinrad, blish, and lafferty, admittedly a little disappointed with what disch and farmer offered
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews