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Alpha 2
From the roster of science fiction's best-ten top names-old masters and new:
Call Me Joe by Poul Anderson
Goodbye Amanda Jean by Wilma Shore
A Man Of The Renaissance by Wyman Guin
Wall Of Crystal, Eye Of Night by Algis Budrys
Faith Of Our Fathers by Philip K. Dick
That Share Of Glory by C.M. Kornbluth
The Men Return by Jack Vance
The Voices Of Time by J.G. Ballard
The Burning Of The Brain by Cordwainer Smith
The Shaker Revival by Gerald Jonas
Call Me Joe by Poul Anderson
Goodbye Amanda Jean by Wilma Shore
A Man Of The Renaissance by Wyman Guin
Wall Of Crystal, Eye Of Night by Algis Budrys
Faith Of Our Fathers by Philip K. Dick
That Share Of Glory by C.M. Kornbluth
The Men Return by Jack Vance
The Voices Of Time by J.G. Ballard
The Burning Of The Brain by Cordwainer Smith
The Shaker Revival by Gerald Jonas
310 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
2 people are currently reading
43 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 28, 2020
In the Alpha series of anthologies Silverberg collected stories of speculative fiction that he felt were of superior literary merit and that were worthy of more recognition in the field than they had so far gathered. In this second volume his selection spanned a fifteen year period and the writers included old pros as well as new writers (remember the book appeared in 1971), as well as authors that were quite well known as well as more obscure names. This one includes my favorite Poul Anderson story, Call Me Joe, as well as memorable works by Philip K. Dick, Jack Vance, C.M. Kornbluth, and Cordwainer Smith. My favorite was The Shaker Revival by Gerald Jonas, which I found very moving.
February 25, 2015
In the 1970s Robert Silverberg edited a series of short stories and Alpha 2 (1971) is the second in this series which collects a roster of science fiction's best fiction from old masters and then new writers. Alpha 2 includes such well-known names as Poul Anderson, J. G. Ballard, Philip K. Dick, C. M. Kornbluth, Cordwainer Smith, and Jack Vance. Less recognizable--to me, at any rate--are Algis Budrys, Wyman Guin, Gerald Jonas, and Wilma Shore, although I'm quite sure I've read Shore's "Good-bye Amanda Jean" before. It seems to me a story suitable to a collection under the Hitchcock name, but I cannot find evidence that this is where I found it first. An interesting collection with the usual amount of terrific stories mixed with the not-so-great. ★★★
A brief look at the stories:
"Call Me Joe" by Poul Anderson. Given the incredibly harsh conditions on Jupiter, if humans are ever to investigate the planet it will have to be by proxy. But robotic equipment just doesn't give the same interpretations that a human visitor might. Anderson comes up with an ingenious way in which humanity could experience Jupiter "first hand" and an interesting twist on what might happen if our proxy developed a mind of his own...
"Goodbye Amanda Jean" by Wilma Shore: This is a very creepy tale. No explanations given--we don't know if other animals have gone extinct and that drives the rather unusual hunting season described in the story. But we can only hope that the story is not in any way prophetic.
"A Man of the Renaissance" by Wyman Guin: A story of a "superman" who is so sure of his knowledge and vision for his world that he is willing to give up everything, even the woman he loves to make certain that vision becomes reality.
"Wall of Crystal, Eye of Night" by Algis Budrys: A man arranges to have sole control of the ultimate entertainment system--no matter who he has to step on to get it. But then his competition does him one better.
"Faith of Our Fathers" by Philip K. Dick: PKD tells us a little bedtime nightmare about the dictatorship that takes over the earth....but isn't quite the dictatorship that it seems. But then nothing in this story is....
"That Share of Glory" by C. M. Kornbluth: A young novice in a monastery-like training ground for interstellar translators finally earns his place on board a trading ship...but soon learns that his testing isn't over. Will he pass?
"The Men Return" by Jack Vance: Vance weaves a tale of the Earth whose universal orbit takes it into space where the physical laws that man and beast have been subject to no longer apply...what might that Earth look like? And who is the master of the Earth then?
"The Voices of Time" by J. G. Ballard: This one, I'm afraid, makes no sense to me. It's like a dream involving time and the main character seems to be running out of time and sleep...but goes into a coma or goes to meet the voices in the stream of time. Or something. And there's a guy following him around who never sleeps. And...yeah. [I told you it makes no sense.]
"The Burning of the Brain" by Cordwainer Smith: What if ship captains controlled their ships with their brains? And what if the proper coordinates for travelling from here to there got lost? What would the captain have to do to get his ship safely back where it belongs? This is that story.
"The Shaker Revival" by Gerald Jonas: The young people (younger than 30, that is) host a revolution by reviving the tenants of the Shakers with modifications suitable to a response to the 70s-ish era of rampant consumerism. The New Shakers adopt a creed of "No war. No money. No hate. No sex" (The 4 Noes) and the story relates the reaction of the feebies (the parents and the establishment) to revolution.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
A brief look at the stories:
"Call Me Joe" by Poul Anderson. Given the incredibly harsh conditions on Jupiter, if humans are ever to investigate the planet it will have to be by proxy. But robotic equipment just doesn't give the same interpretations that a human visitor might. Anderson comes up with an ingenious way in which humanity could experience Jupiter "first hand" and an interesting twist on what might happen if our proxy developed a mind of his own...
"Goodbye Amanda Jean" by Wilma Shore: This is a very creepy tale. No explanations given--we don't know if other animals have gone extinct and that drives the rather unusual hunting season described in the story. But we can only hope that the story is not in any way prophetic.
"A Man of the Renaissance" by Wyman Guin: A story of a "superman" who is so sure of his knowledge and vision for his world that he is willing to give up everything, even the woman he loves to make certain that vision becomes reality.
"Wall of Crystal, Eye of Night" by Algis Budrys: A man arranges to have sole control of the ultimate entertainment system--no matter who he has to step on to get it. But then his competition does him one better.
"Faith of Our Fathers" by Philip K. Dick: PKD tells us a little bedtime nightmare about the dictatorship that takes over the earth....but isn't quite the dictatorship that it seems. But then nothing in this story is....
"That Share of Glory" by C. M. Kornbluth: A young novice in a monastery-like training ground for interstellar translators finally earns his place on board a trading ship...but soon learns that his testing isn't over. Will he pass?
"The Men Return" by Jack Vance: Vance weaves a tale of the Earth whose universal orbit takes it into space where the physical laws that man and beast have been subject to no longer apply...what might that Earth look like? And who is the master of the Earth then?
"The Voices of Time" by J. G. Ballard: This one, I'm afraid, makes no sense to me. It's like a dream involving time and the main character seems to be running out of time and sleep...but goes into a coma or goes to meet the voices in the stream of time. Or something. And there's a guy following him around who never sleeps. And...yeah. [I told you it makes no sense.]
"The Burning of the Brain" by Cordwainer Smith: What if ship captains controlled their ships with their brains? And what if the proper coordinates for travelling from here to there got lost? What would the captain have to do to get his ship safely back where it belongs? This is that story.
"The Shaker Revival" by Gerald Jonas: The young people (younger than 30, that is) host a revolution by reviving the tenants of the Shakers with modifications suitable to a response to the 70s-ish era of rampant consumerism. The New Shakers adopt a creed of "No war. No money. No hate. No sex" (The 4 Noes) and the story relates the reaction of the feebies (the parents and the establishment) to revolution.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
June 10, 2023
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Wall Of Crystal, Eye Of Night ALGIS BUDRYS
⭐⭐ That Share Of Glory C. M. KORNBLUTH
⭐⭐ The Burning Of The Brain CORDWAINER SMITH
⭐⭐⭐ The Shaker Revival GERALD JONAS
⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Voices Of Time J. G. BALLARD
⭐⭐⭐ The Men Return JACK VANCE
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Faith Of Our Fathers PHILIP K. DICK
⭐⭐⭐ Call Me Joe POUL ANDERSON
⭐⭐⭐ Goodbye Amanda Jean WILMA SHORE
⭐⭐⭐ A Man Of The Renaissance WYMAN GUIN
January 23, 2021
Each volume of Robert Silverberg's Alpha series features a selection of stories that Silverberg considers good, literary science fiction. There is no theme: just good stories. I read Alpha 1 not long ago, and I just read Alpha 2.
For me, it was again a mix of stories I'd read before (some multiple times) and one's I hadn't. And again it was a mix of authors whose work I know well -- Cordwainer Smith, Poul Anderson, Jack Vance -- and ones I know little of (Wyman Guin, Wilma Shore). Overall, it's another strong anthology.
Poul Anderson's "Call Me Joe" is the story of a man who becomes disabled and volunteers to have his consciousness transmitted into an artificial being on the surface of Jupiter. As time progresses, he becomes more and more at home in the artificial body, and less and less wants to return to his own. If this sounds familiar, it's because the basics of the movie Avatar are much like it. James Cameron really should have a sent a check to the Anderson estate. And unlike Avatar, which is visually stunning and is entertaining but is hampered by cliches, "Call Me Joe" remains fresh and compelling.
"Faith of Our Fathers" by Philip K. Dick is set in a world where the North Vietnamese and the communist block nations have won the war. The main character is a bureaucrat in the Ministry of Cultural Artifacts, where among other things he must detect writings that aren't politically correct. But he's given an anti-hallucinogen before he sees the glorious Leader, who perhaps isn't what he appears to be. Is he human? Alien? A robot? Something else? Are people perceiving the reality they think they are in only because they are being constantly fed hallucinogen's. Like many Dick works, this story explores the nature of reality. The ending isn't quite satisfying, but overall this is a strong story.
"The Burning of the Brain" is part of Cordwainer Smith's Instrumentality of Mankind series. When an interstellar ship is lost in the void, a Go-Captain must sacrifice his own sanity to get everyone home. It's told in Smith's unique style: nobody wrote quite like him. And like almost all of his fiction, it's engrossing and hard to forget.
I wasn't familiar with Wyman Guin, but his "A Man of the Renaissance" is a memorable story of a multi-talented genius in a world of floating islands. He is trying to bring about a revolution, to install a leader on his home island who will agree to tie together (literally) three islands, for safety and economic development. While Guin's prose is in now way Vancian, his world, his societies, and some of the situations would be at home in one of Jack Vance's novels. It's a good story exploring character, politics, and the morality behind some political actions.
The volume also features good stories by Jack Vance, J.G. Ballard, C.M. Kornbluth, Algis Budrys, and others.
Well worth reading.
For me, it was again a mix of stories I'd read before (some multiple times) and one's I hadn't. And again it was a mix of authors whose work I know well -- Cordwainer Smith, Poul Anderson, Jack Vance -- and ones I know little of (Wyman Guin, Wilma Shore). Overall, it's another strong anthology.
Poul Anderson's "Call Me Joe" is the story of a man who becomes disabled and volunteers to have his consciousness transmitted into an artificial being on the surface of Jupiter. As time progresses, he becomes more and more at home in the artificial body, and less and less wants to return to his own. If this sounds familiar, it's because the basics of the movie Avatar are much like it. James Cameron really should have a sent a check to the Anderson estate. And unlike Avatar, which is visually stunning and is entertaining but is hampered by cliches, "Call Me Joe" remains fresh and compelling.
"Faith of Our Fathers" by Philip K. Dick is set in a world where the North Vietnamese and the communist block nations have won the war. The main character is a bureaucrat in the Ministry of Cultural Artifacts, where among other things he must detect writings that aren't politically correct. But he's given an anti-hallucinogen before he sees the glorious Leader, who perhaps isn't what he appears to be. Is he human? Alien? A robot? Something else? Are people perceiving the reality they think they are in only because they are being constantly fed hallucinogen's. Like many Dick works, this story explores the nature of reality. The ending isn't quite satisfying, but overall this is a strong story.
"The Burning of the Brain" is part of Cordwainer Smith's Instrumentality of Mankind series. When an interstellar ship is lost in the void, a Go-Captain must sacrifice his own sanity to get everyone home. It's told in Smith's unique style: nobody wrote quite like him. And like almost all of his fiction, it's engrossing and hard to forget.
I wasn't familiar with Wyman Guin, but his "A Man of the Renaissance" is a memorable story of a multi-talented genius in a world of floating islands. He is trying to bring about a revolution, to install a leader on his home island who will agree to tie together (literally) three islands, for safety and economic development. While Guin's prose is in now way Vancian, his world, his societies, and some of the situations would be at home in one of Jack Vance's novels. It's a good story exploring character, politics, and the morality behind some political actions.
The volume also features good stories by Jack Vance, J.G. Ballard, C.M. Kornbluth, Algis Budrys, and others.
Well worth reading.
August 13, 2023
Another excellent collection of science fiction stories from editor Robert Silverberg.
December 20, 2022
*** Call Me Joe (1957) • Poul Anderson
* Goodbye Amanda Jean (1970) • Wilma Shore
***** A Man of the Renaissance (1964) • Wyman Guin
**** Wall of Crystal, Eye of Night (1961) • Algis Budrys
**** Faith of Our Fathers (1967) • Philip K. Dick
**** That Share of Glory (1952) • C. M. Kornbluth
**** The Men Return (1957) • Jack Vance
*** The Voices of Time (1960) • J. G. Ballard
**** The Burning of the Brain (1958) • Cordwainer Smith
** The Shaker Revival (1970) • Gerald Jonas
* Goodbye Amanda Jean (1970) • Wilma Shore
***** A Man of the Renaissance (1964) • Wyman Guin
**** Wall of Crystal, Eye of Night (1961) • Algis Budrys
**** Faith of Our Fathers (1967) • Philip K. Dick
**** That Share of Glory (1952) • C. M. Kornbluth
**** The Men Return (1957) • Jack Vance
*** The Voices of Time (1960) • J. G. Ballard
**** The Burning of the Brain (1958) • Cordwainer Smith
** The Shaker Revival (1970) • Gerald Jonas
September 26, 2013
One of the finest collections of short stories!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews