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Dark Stars
vii • Introduction (Dark Stars) • (1969) • Robert Silverberg
1 • Shark Ship • (1958) • C.M. Kornbluth
37 • Polity and Custom of the Camiroi • (1967) • R.A. Lafferty
51 • Coming-of-Age Day • (1965) • A.K. Jorgensson
65 • Heresies of the Huge God • (1966) • Brian W. Aldiss
77 • The Streets of Ashkalon • (1962) • Harry Harrison
94 • The Totally Rich • (1963) • John Brunner
121 • Impostor • (1953) • Philip K. Dick
137 • Road to Nightfall • (1958) • Robert Silverberg
163 • The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World • (1968) • Harlan Ellison
174 • Psychosmosis • (1966) • David I. Masson
186 • The Cage of Sand • (1962) • J.G. Ballard
212 • A Deskful of Girls • (1958) • Fritz Leiber
242 • On the Wall of the Lodge • (1962) • James Blish & Virginia Kidd
275 • Masks • (1968) • Damon Knight
286 • Keepers of the House • (1956) • Lester del Rey
300 • Journey's End • (1957) • Poul Anderson
1 • Shark Ship • (1958) • C.M. Kornbluth
37 • Polity and Custom of the Camiroi • (1967) • R.A. Lafferty
51 • Coming-of-Age Day • (1965) • A.K. Jorgensson
65 • Heresies of the Huge God • (1966) • Brian W. Aldiss
77 • The Streets of Ashkalon • (1962) • Harry Harrison
94 • The Totally Rich • (1963) • John Brunner
121 • Impostor • (1953) • Philip K. Dick
137 • Road to Nightfall • (1958) • Robert Silverberg
163 • The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World • (1968) • Harlan Ellison
174 • Psychosmosis • (1966) • David I. Masson
186 • The Cage of Sand • (1962) • J.G. Ballard
212 • A Deskful of Girls • (1958) • Fritz Leiber
242 • On the Wall of the Lodge • (1962) • James Blish & Virginia Kidd
275 • Masks • (1968) • Damon Knight
286 • Keepers of the House • (1956) • Lester del Rey
300 • Journey's End • (1957) • Poul Anderson
- GenresShort Stories
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
1 person is currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Robert Silverberg
2,367 books1,621 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 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 5, 2020
This is one of Silverberg's best anthologies. He did a good job of balancing his selections of newer and older works, and stories and authors that were well known and somewhat obscure. My favorites were the Harlan Ellison, Damon Knight, Philip K. Dick stories, and particularly the Fritz Leiber. The selections don't always fit the theme, but they were almost all enjoyable. For some reason I always loved the Ron Walotsky cover, too.
April 8, 2015
Short stories from the golden age of sci-fi. In Silverberg's own words......'they run a gamut from grim cassandrafying to wild farce.'
November 30, 2020
In addition to being one of science fiction's best writers, Robert Silverberg is also one of the field's best anthologists. He edited several dozen very good anthologies, both reprint anthologies and original anthologies. Dark Stars is one of this best reprint anthologies. It features a number of very strong stories, with not a bad one in the mix. These include:
"Shark Ship" by C. M. Kornbluth. In a future where a large portion of the population lives on ships, harvesting plankton from the seas and never coming ashore, one ship loses its net -- a death sentence for all on board, forcing them to look on shore for replacement material. The details of the shipboard society are very well done, and the society bleak. The stories only real flaw is the long flashback to the rise of a religious leader on land, which Kornbluth inserts to explain how the land-based society got to where they were. It was really unnecessary (it could have been done in a few sentences), but despite that this is one of Kornbluth's best.
"Journey's End" by Poul Anderson. A lone telepath roams the country, often repelled by the inner thoughts of those around him. He hopes to find the one woman he had caught a mental glimpse of years before, as their trains passed one another. But in the end, this is tragic.
"Heresies of the Huge God" by Brian Aldiss. A huge artifact, possibly natural but big enough to stretch over much of a continent, lands on Earth. It causes devastation, but it also creates a religious cult, which in turn spawns religious wars against heretics.
"Imposter" by Philip K. Dick. This is an early Dick story, in which Earth is at war with aliens. The main character is captured by Earth security, who tells him that he really is a robot that has replaced the real human, a robot with a powerful bomb inside that will go off if it hears a trigger word. The main character doesn't believe this. Here we have an early exploration of what Dick would examine in more detail in later works.
"Road to Nightfall" by Robert Silverberg. This is one of the strongest, and bleakest, after the bomb short stories that I've read. It's set in a post World War III New York, where food supplies have run out and people are resorting to cannibalism. The main character, who does his best to resist this, is presented in great, convincing detail. Powerful, and unforgettable.
And the above are just a few. It also features very good stories by J.G. Ballard, Fritz Leiber, Harry Harrison, Damon Knight, R.A. Lafferty, Harlan Ellison, and others.
"Shark Ship" by C. M. Kornbluth. In a future where a large portion of the population lives on ships, harvesting plankton from the seas and never coming ashore, one ship loses its net -- a death sentence for all on board, forcing them to look on shore for replacement material. The details of the shipboard society are very well done, and the society bleak. The stories only real flaw is the long flashback to the rise of a religious leader on land, which Kornbluth inserts to explain how the land-based society got to where they were. It was really unnecessary (it could have been done in a few sentences), but despite that this is one of Kornbluth's best.
"Journey's End" by Poul Anderson. A lone telepath roams the country, often repelled by the inner thoughts of those around him. He hopes to find the one woman he had caught a mental glimpse of years before, as their trains passed one another. But in the end, this is tragic.
"Heresies of the Huge God" by Brian Aldiss. A huge artifact, possibly natural but big enough to stretch over much of a continent, lands on Earth. It causes devastation, but it also creates a religious cult, which in turn spawns religious wars against heretics.
"Imposter" by Philip K. Dick. This is an early Dick story, in which Earth is at war with aliens. The main character is captured by Earth security, who tells him that he really is a robot that has replaced the real human, a robot with a powerful bomb inside that will go off if it hears a trigger word. The main character doesn't believe this. Here we have an early exploration of what Dick would examine in more detail in later works.
"Road to Nightfall" by Robert Silverberg. This is one of the strongest, and bleakest, after the bomb short stories that I've read. It's set in a post World War III New York, where food supplies have run out and people are resorting to cannibalism. The main character, who does his best to resist this, is presented in great, convincing detail. Powerful, and unforgettable.
And the above are just a few. It also features very good stories by J.G. Ballard, Fritz Leiber, Harry Harrison, Damon Knight, R.A. Lafferty, Harlan Ellison, and others.
Want to read
December 17, 2023"Heresies of the Huge God" by Brian Aldiss. culto a un monolito espacial.
"Impostor" by Philip K. Dick. Clásico
"Road to Nightfall" by Robert Silverberg. tercera guerra mundial y canibalismo.
"Impostor" by Philip K. Dick. Clásico
"Road to Nightfall" by Robert Silverberg. tercera guerra mundial y canibalismo.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews