The Songs of Summer

by Robert Silverberg

This new collection of stories from one of today's most acclaimed of SF masters, ranges from broad comedy to high tragedy.

Contents (with original publication date):

• Introduction by Robert Silverberg • (1978)
• The Songs of Summer • (1956)
• To Be Continued • (1956)
• Double Dare • (1956)
• A Man of Talent • (1966)
• Dark Companion • (1961)
• Halfway House • (1966)
• By the Seawall • (1967)
• The King of the Golden River • (1967)
• Bride 91 • (1967)
• We Know Who We Are • (1970)
• The Pleasure of Their Company • (1970)

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

173 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

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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.

Reviews

[Neil Fulwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrific collection of taut, focused stories from the Golden Age of sci-fi. Stories that still seem to provoke and inspire. John Lancaster’s flawed novel ‘The Wall’ owes a debt of honour to ‘By the seawall’, while a Russell T. Davies script for a recent ‘Doctor Who’ episode comes off like a dumbed-down rewrite of ‘The pleasure of their company’, the last and cleverest story in the volume. I’ll leave it to the discerning reader to pick up on contemporary culture’s borrowings from some of the other tales.

[Adam Dawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 / 5 for 'The Songs Of Summer' by Robert Silverberg

Well, this was a very pleasant surprise. Recently, I've been enjoying reading some sci-fi short story collections from the prominent authors of the Golden Age (1920s-1950s) and the New Wave (1950s-1980s), and despite having a few Silverberg books on my TR list, I've not read any of his works before.

This book honestly amazed me! In the introduction, Silverberg discusses how the stories within were all written between 1955 and 1969, and they appear in the book in chronological publishing order. You could easily believe some of these stories were written last week! They feel so modern, conceptually AND in writing style.

I have always felt that there wouldn't be many other authors that could equal Stephen King in terms of the short story format - I've read a fair few horror and sci-fi short story collections, and in my own humble opinion, I had believed King was alone in his complete mastery of the short story format. I was wrong.

Robert Silverberg, again, just in my own opinion, is equal too, if not slightly better, than King, in writing short stories. Every single one of these 11 stories was absolutely wonderful. Some more sci-fi than others, some more humorous than others, some more serious than others, but they were all wonderful. Silverberg introduces new concepts, some quite complex, in a quick and easy manner. He has a wonderful knack for setting the scene without the reader really realising that it's happenning. His dialogue is excellent, as is his characterisation and exposition - especially when you consider that these stories are all reasonably short. Some of the stories possess an immense feeling of weight, of gravity, whilst others feel like swift, punchy adventures, but ALL were utterly riveting and even quite moving.

My personal favourites were; Songs Of Summer, Dark Companion, By The Seawall and Bride 91, but all of the stories were excellent. I do not have a single negative for this book - I loved it. Robert Silverberg might just be my new favourite short story author, and possibly the best short story author I have read. I'm sure I will get to his novels too, at some point, but I've just ordered two more of his SS collections off eBay, and I can't wait to read them.

I was ridiculously late to the Silverberg party, and I'm delighted to discover he is an exceptionally talented author - I highly recommend anyone, who hasn't read Silverberg yet, to buy this book.

5 / 5

[Özgür Tacer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overall effect and feeling that this compilation would arouse in readers would be much greater in its own times, but unfortunately time had worn them off as years passed. Robert Silverberg was a skilled storyteller for its own time, even for some time ahead. His "human touch" on science fiction was paralleled only by few, like Ray Bradbury and Clifford Simak. Many of his stories in this compilation dwells on the frailties of being human, especially on various aspects like power, pride, envy, fear and love. I found few of the stories below average and none as masterpiece, but most of them are solid, thougtful and beautifully written. It is also a good example for first steps of "new wave" science-fiction storytelling. A worth reading-collecting for all SF fans.

[Özgür Tacer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overall effect and feeling that this compilation would arouse in readers would be much greater in its own times, but unfortunately time had worn them off as years passed. Robert Silverberg was a skilled storyteller for its own time, even for some time ahead. His "human touch" on science fiction was paralleled only by few, like Ray Bradbury and Clifford Simak. Many of his stories in this compilation dwells on the frailties of being human, especially on various aspects like power, pride, envy, fear and love. I found few of the stories below average and none as masterpiece, but most of them are solid, thougtful and beautifully written. It is also a good example for first steps of "new wave" science-fiction storytelling. A worth reading-collecting for all SF fans. (less)

[Ari Pérez · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐ The Songs of Summer
⭐⭐⭐ To Be Continued
⭐⭐⭐ Double Dare
⭐⭐⭐ A Man of Talent
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Dark Companion
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Halfway House
⭐⭐⭐ By the Seawall
⭐⭐ The King of the Golden River
⭐⭐ Bride 91
⭐⭐ We Know Who We Are
⭐⭐⭐ The Pleasure of Their Company

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

11 stories:

The Songs of Summer (1956)
To Be Continued (1956)
Double Dare (1956)
A Man of Talent (1966)
Dark Companion (1961)
Halfway House (1966)
By the Seawall (1967)
The King of the Golden River (1967)
Bride 91 (1967)
We Know Who We Are (1970)
The Pleasure of Their Company (1970)

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good collection of tales ranging the early period of Silverberg's career (arranged in chronological order from 1956 to 1969) and are all of quite a high standard. This was surprising considering what I have heard said about his early work (that he was little more than a hack in the early days). This edition also includes a short but interesting introduction by the author himself.

The stories cover a broad range of themes with a general tendancy towards softer SF, particularly in the latter stories. "To be continued" is about a near immortal person who hides his longevity from everyone to avoid persecution but desperately seeks a mate now that his two thousand year adolesence has finally passed. "By the Seawall" explores what might happen to our psyche when we are cut off from the sea by huge sea walls after they have become infested with viscious sea monsters. "Bride 91" was a hilarious look at the future of marriage where terms are strictly limited to six months at a time and inter species coupling has become all the rage.

Reading this has definitely put me in mind to look out for more short stories by this author.