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Sailing to Byzantium
The world's most distinguished author of the literature of the fantastic presents his most extraordinary stories of worlds lost and dreams fulfilled...
In his illustrious forty-five year career as a novelist and author of short fiction, Robert Silverberg has belonged in the company of the best writers of the 20th century. His writing has been compared to Conrad, Huxley, and Orwell.
In this definitive collection Silverberg presents the novellas that have won him multiple Hugo and Nebula Award nominations, including his Nebula Award winning achievement, "Sailing To Byzantium." Here are the virtuoso performances of the third phase of Silverberg's astounding career: the Nebula Award nominee "Homefaring"; the Hugo Award nominee "The Secret Sharer"; "Thomas The Proclaimer" and "We Are For The Dark."
If you are a lover of Silverberg's work or are simply looking for a place to begin a relationship with the literature of science fiction and fantasy, this is the place to start.
Contents:
Sailing to Byzantium (1985)
Homefaring (1983)
Thomas the Proclaimer (1972)
We Are for the Dark (1988)
The Secret Sharer (1987)
419 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2000
About the author
Robert Silverberg
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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.
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 - 30 of 64 reviews
November 8, 2016
Robert Silverberg’s 1985 collection of six award winning novellas ranks high on a list of excellent publications for this Grandmaster of the genre. His mastery of this short medium is akin to Ursula K. LeGuin.
Silverberg’s magnificent title novella, “Sailing to Byzantium” reminded me of his 1966 novel Son of Man (which I did not get or like) but done much better; in both he had an excellent concept, also reminiscent of Poul Anderson’s oddly misunderstood Harvest of Stars.
“Thomas the Proclaimer” is a theologically based account of a futuristic John the Baptist, coming to herald a new age, but told with Silverberg’s quirky charm.
“Born with the Dead” is a Bradburyesque, somewhat disturbing story about a future where a dying person can elect to be “rekindled” and begin again, in a life related to, but distinctly different from the life they lived before.
“Homefaring” is one of his most original stories … hell one of THE most original stories I’ve ever read. Part H.G. Wells, part Philip K. Dick and ALL Silverberg, this is a lobster story, yes a lobster story, that must be read to be believed. Silverberg pulls it off.
“We are for the Dark” is another theologically based story where, Philip K. Dickian like, Silverberg blends elements of organized religion with a far flung space colonization musing.
In Robert Silverberg’s 1970 novel Downward to the Earth, Silverberg pays tribute to Joseph Conrad’s signature novella Heart of Darkness. In “The Secret Sharer” Silverberg reboots Conrad’s short story about a secret relationship between a vessel’s captain and a stowaway.
Silverberg’s magnificent title novella, “Sailing to Byzantium” reminded me of his 1966 novel Son of Man (which I did not get or like) but done much better; in both he had an excellent concept, also reminiscent of Poul Anderson’s oddly misunderstood Harvest of Stars.
“Thomas the Proclaimer” is a theologically based account of a futuristic John the Baptist, coming to herald a new age, but told with Silverberg’s quirky charm.
“Born with the Dead” is a Bradburyesque, somewhat disturbing story about a future where a dying person can elect to be “rekindled” and begin again, in a life related to, but distinctly different from the life they lived before.
“Homefaring” is one of his most original stories … hell one of THE most original stories I’ve ever read. Part H.G. Wells, part Philip K. Dick and ALL Silverberg, this is a lobster story, yes a lobster story, that must be read to be believed. Silverberg pulls it off.
“We are for the Dark” is another theologically based story where, Philip K. Dickian like, Silverberg blends elements of organized religion with a far flung space colonization musing.
In Robert Silverberg’s 1970 novel Downward to the Earth, Silverberg pays tribute to Joseph Conrad’s signature novella Heart of Darkness. In “The Secret Sharer” Silverberg reboots Conrad’s short story about a secret relationship between a vessel’s captain and a stowaway.
October 2, 2020
Robert Silverberg is another prolific sci-fi author that I didn't know about until I read one of his short stories in an anthology. Again, I wonder what I have been missing all these years. Eager to read more of Silverberg's works, I bought Sailing to Byzantium, which includes six of his novellas. All of them were great.
The style of writing is as engaging and competent as Asimov's, but Silverberg's sci-fi isn't as hard as Asimov's and his plots are so out of this world I wonder if he takes drugs!
I'll be reading more of Robert Silverberg's books.
The style of writing is as engaging and competent as Asimov's, but Silverberg's sci-fi isn't as hard as Asimov's and his plots are so out of this world I wonder if he takes drugs!
I'll be reading more of Robert Silverberg's books.
January 5, 2022
This is a classic Silverberg novella which I have been planning to read for a very long time. It’s a sad but beautiful story of a man from 1984 who has been pulled into the world of the fiftieth century—a strange place where people spend their lives sightseeing recreated wonderous cities of the past. He has fallen in love, but the woman he is in love with abandons and hides from him leaving him to determine the problem that has grown between them and find a way to bring hope to two lives in the far future. It’s really a lovely tale.
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If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
June 25, 2018
The title novella, Sailing to Byzantium, is PKD like, question your reality, in concept. Wrapped in a neat little wonder inspiring, beautifully crafted tale by Silverberg. Lovely through and through!
July 22, 2021
It's always an odd feeling when you revisit an old favorite to find it hasn't aged quite as well as you'd like. The fact that I can more clearly see the sexism in this story is interesting; although I do quite like that it has a sort of "male/female" dynamic. It is a story about a pursuer, a man chasing a woman who is afraid of commitment across a fantastical future landscape. I still think it's a romantic story, and likely a personal one, a metaphorical love story more about the realities of marriage than starstruck desire.
One of the reasons I had initially loved this one was the setting. A far future 50th century seemingly gone mad in some way. A set of 5 massive cities, a rotating cast of ancient Rome, futuristic cities, lost worlds, and all time in between. Worlds populated with millions of artificial people play elaborate games and offer endless pleasures. It's a world of plenty so bountiful, life has taken on a sort of pointlessness. And two lovers, feeling lost, negotiate their identity and uncertain futures.
It's sort of simple and perhaps too abstract. The climactic reveal that a woman is afraid of her partner seeing her age feels like a weird choice but I can also appreciate it's chosen for simplicity. It's not quite as clever as I remembered, but there is a sort of naive sweetness to it; a well-meaning husband's love letter, a reminder of the unique experiences of the sexes.
One of the reasons I had initially loved this one was the setting. A far future 50th century seemingly gone mad in some way. A set of 5 massive cities, a rotating cast of ancient Rome, futuristic cities, lost worlds, and all time in between. Worlds populated with millions of artificial people play elaborate games and offer endless pleasures. It's a world of plenty so bountiful, life has taken on a sort of pointlessness. And two lovers, feeling lost, negotiate their identity and uncertain futures.
It's sort of simple and perhaps too abstract. The climactic reveal that a woman is afraid of her partner seeing her age feels like a weird choice but I can also appreciate it's chosen for simplicity. It's not quite as clever as I remembered, but there is a sort of naive sweetness to it; a well-meaning husband's love letter, a reminder of the unique experiences of the sexes.
November 7, 2019
Ovdje su stvarno najjace price od Silverberga, medju kojima meni Plovidba za Bizant i Sa kim dijelis tajne su stvarno vrh. Homefaring je zanimljiva prica o covjeku ciji su um poslali daleko u buducnost u tijelo jastoga (zvuci glupavo, al stvarno je zanimljivo). Thomas i Mi smo za tamu su onako teoloski filozofske price.
June 7, 2024
Nice twist as you think this is another story from Silverberg about time ravel
February 7, 2026
It is a fantastic story that has many parallels to westworld. Balances the line between not giving too many answers but still giving a satisfying ending.
November 3, 2021
Note: I have read just the novella, not the full collection.
Silverberg has been on my list for a while. He has a reputation as a fairly literary fellow, and – or so at least I wondered – he seemed someone who might bring a Jewish sensibility to a sci-fi scene that didn’t seem to have that much of it (Asimov aside).
This one is a modest novella, about a man who mysteriously finds himself in the 50th century, though 50th century after what no one seems to know. In this distant future, “citizens” enjoy themselves by visiting one of the no more than five extant cities of a particular moment. With their advanced technology, they revive a different ancient city every few years – though “years” seem hardly to count in a world where most are essentially immortal – whether it’s New Chicago, Asgard, Mohenjo Daro, or the titular Byzantium.
As becomes gradually clear, they are like the characters in W.B. Yeats’s “Sailing to Byzantium” before they are metamorphosed into the perpetual world of art in its sequel, “Byzantium.” They linger in cities that are works of art themselves, tended to by “temporaries,” effectively the non-player robot characters of their world.
The drama of the story, such as it is, comes when our protagonist discovers that the women he loves is afflicted with a rare condition leaving her mortal. All others will endure, but she has to pluck grey hairs and eventually leaves him for fear of his disliking her as old.
Overall, this seems to me classic silver age sci-fi (and without anything that suggests that Jewish sensibility). It asks a thoughtful question – how will we relate to art in a future when we have met all our bodily needs – and it stages an elaborately imagined world in which to answer it.
I like the premise, but I miss what subsequent generations of writers now take as a necessary component: characters who feel as if they are somehow human. [SPOILER: when we learn that Charles, known often as Char-les, is actually just a replica of his true self – that he is more or less software loaded into this distant future with all his knowledge of our time intact – it’s not a surprise. Instead, it seems to confirm the sense I’ve had of him all along as someone constructed to fit the situation rather than someone with sufficient individuality to drive that story forward.]
In the end, this hews almost too closely to the Yeats’s poem. They head to where they can gather into the “artifice of eternity.” For Yeats, that meant understanding his death as leaving him the disembodied voice of the poems he’d written – and, for all of my long and vexed reading of Yeats, I still find that compelling. Here, for Silverberg, it’s a clever conceit but not ultimately a fulfilling one.
Silverberg has been on my list for a while. He has a reputation as a fairly literary fellow, and – or so at least I wondered – he seemed someone who might bring a Jewish sensibility to a sci-fi scene that didn’t seem to have that much of it (Asimov aside).
This one is a modest novella, about a man who mysteriously finds himself in the 50th century, though 50th century after what no one seems to know. In this distant future, “citizens” enjoy themselves by visiting one of the no more than five extant cities of a particular moment. With their advanced technology, they revive a different ancient city every few years – though “years” seem hardly to count in a world where most are essentially immortal – whether it’s New Chicago, Asgard, Mohenjo Daro, or the titular Byzantium.
As becomes gradually clear, they are like the characters in W.B. Yeats’s “Sailing to Byzantium” before they are metamorphosed into the perpetual world of art in its sequel, “Byzantium.” They linger in cities that are works of art themselves, tended to by “temporaries,” effectively the non-player robot characters of their world.
The drama of the story, such as it is, comes when our protagonist discovers that the women he loves is afflicted with a rare condition leaving her mortal. All others will endure, but she has to pluck grey hairs and eventually leaves him for fear of his disliking her as old.
Overall, this seems to me classic silver age sci-fi (and without anything that suggests that Jewish sensibility). It asks a thoughtful question – how will we relate to art in a future when we have met all our bodily needs – and it stages an elaborately imagined world in which to answer it.
I like the premise, but I miss what subsequent generations of writers now take as a necessary component: characters who feel as if they are somehow human. [SPOILER: when we learn that Charles, known often as Char-les, is actually just a replica of his true self – that he is more or less software loaded into this distant future with all his knowledge of our time intact – it’s not a surprise. Instead, it seems to confirm the sense I’ve had of him all along as someone constructed to fit the situation rather than someone with sufficient individuality to drive that story forward.]
In the end, this hews almost too closely to the Yeats’s poem. They head to where they can gather into the “artifice of eternity.” For Yeats, that meant understanding his death as leaving him the disembodied voice of the poems he’d written – and, for all of my long and vexed reading of Yeats, I still find that compelling. Here, for Silverberg, it’s a clever conceit but not ultimately a fulfilling one.
November 21, 2023
My favorite Silverberg to date. A soulful, melancholic work with a moving ending that really works for me, perhaps because its views on life and on the construction of meaning parallel my own. A well-crafted novella, its component parts thoughtfully balanced and complementary, each plot element is also a development in the protagonist's understanding of time, identity, value, and human happiness. Although this work succumbs to some of the clichés of utopian fiction (e.g., utopian ennui), Silverberg has, in my opinion, made some wise authorial choices, in particular, his choice to showcase imperfect characters uncharacteristic of the utopian society in question, precisely the kinds of characters agreeable to our jaded, cynical, mortal-all-too-mortal gaze.
October 8, 2022
"Sailing to Byzantium" is an odd novella and not one I can say I immensely enjoyed. Sometimes these older sci-fi authors have this strange idea about the future - that if man could live without having to work and provide for themselves, all we would want is leisure. That we would lounge around all day, have feasts and orgies, and never pursue anything with greater meaning or depth. Wells has expressed similar predictions about the future and maybe it's a sign of their era, but I find the notion pretty silly. I didn't particularly like any of the characters presented and the world felt at odds with itself sometimes. It wasn't bad but not particularly good either.
July 6, 2020
A fine short novel set in the 50th C. In essence a love story, something SF generally does not do well or frequently. In Silverberg's hands the relationship between a man displaced from 1980's New York and a woman from the far future is the crux of the novel. The exotic setting makes it fun to read and provides an opportunity for an unexpected, poignant, plot twist. I really enjoyed this book, and it holds up well for a 40 year old genre novel.
Want to Read
October 5, 2021A fun take on the fish-out-of-water time traveler trope.
September 21, 2023
I enjoy sci-fi like this from the 80s. This was a fine example of the period. It was a quick and easy read with enough depth to keep my attention and plenty of ideas to paint an interesting look at the 50th century.
July 12, 2018
I call this one "The Eternal Tourist." Some novellas deserve to be full novels, and Sailing to Byzantium is one of them. Robert Silverberg wrote this cross-genre jewel -- a mix of SF, fantasy, time travel, romance and mystery -- in 1984 and, deservedly, it won the Nebula Award. The real mystery is why it hasn’t been filmed, because it has the makings of a gloriously visual movie, especially in this age of CG effects.
The other mystery is why Silverberg took an immense story which touches on so many subjects, and invested only a novella’s length in it. The plot is simple enough, but the world he explores in a scant 40k words remains arresting over 30 years since the Nebula was awarded.
In the fiftieth century, the world as we know it is gone (no surprise there), and the homogenized descendents of humanity are a comparative handful of functional immortals: physically perfect, they are masters of a magical technology which enables them to live as what one can only term ‘eternal tourists,‘ forever traveling from one fantastic city to another. The rub is this: every city is a recreation of one of history’s great metropolises, raised from dust by legions of machines, permitted to exist for a short time then demolished, no doubt to be cannibalized for the materials to build another. All the great cities of history are being recreated, five at a time (the limit is firmly imposed, no reason given), and the immortal citizens of the fiftieth century simply travel, party, enjoy, socialize, and generally have a great time among the grandeur and the teeming populations of ‘temporaries,’ who appear to be androids whisked into existence to complete the illusion of Alexandria, or Chang-An, or Constantinople itself.
Only a tiny percentage of the human population don’t enjoy the eternal lifestyle. One in a thousand, or perhaps ten thousand, still grow old. After an extended youth, when the aging comes on them, they age rapidly. Such is Gioia, the lovely young thing with whom Charles Phillips falls in love. And Charles himself is the other, and even rarer, anomaly. He’s a ‘visitor’ in the future: synthetic body and mind, machine-designed and built to bring the past to vibrant life for the entertainment (and perhaps the education) of the citizens, who -- by our standards -- often seem callow, and occasionally even moronic.
Charles isn’t the only visitor, but there’s barely a handful like him, constructs drawn from whatever century. Being synthetic, he’s a misfit, greater than the ‘temporaries’ but lesser than the citizens. Gioia is drawn to him as like is drawn to like: she also is a misfit, doomed to age with an incurable genetic condition. When the rapid aging begins she flees, and as Charles literally pursues her around the world, city to city, he discovers what he is. Not a twentieth century man at all; not even a naturally-born human … something more, he decides, not less. Being synthetic, he is as timeless as the physically perfect (and intellectually somewhat dense) citizens; but what of Gioia, who is aging alarmingly. What can be done for her, amid this kaleidoscope of incredible technology?
The prose is stylish and rich and the world building tantalizing. If Sailing to Byzantium were double or triple the length, properly fleshed out and with the panoply of amazing concepts fully explored, it would make a novel today’s reader would deem awesome. At 40k words, it seems oddly abbreviated, in places thin to the point of anorexia. Silverberg has remarked on how the novella is a format he likes a great deal, and he clearly had a fine time here. But the material demanded, and deserved more.
Nebula Award notwithstanding, and as much as I adore Robert Silverberg, I want to give Sailing four stars rather than five, because it surely needed more growth, more investment, just more, to work truly brilliantly. It might have read better in 1984. Current readers -- in this age of hundred-episode sagas on tv and book series running many thousands of pages -- are seldom satisfied when thematic material is underdone. Sailing has a ‘rare’ quality, perfect on the outside but a tad too pink in the middle to suit all tastes. Which isn’t to say I don’t love this story -- I do! But my imagination runs away on flights of creative fantasy, filling in the blanks and building the sumptuous, thick novel I wish Robert Silverberg has written.
The other mystery is why Silverberg took an immense story which touches on so many subjects, and invested only a novella’s length in it. The plot is simple enough, but the world he explores in a scant 40k words remains arresting over 30 years since the Nebula was awarded.
In the fiftieth century, the world as we know it is gone (no surprise there), and the homogenized descendents of humanity are a comparative handful of functional immortals: physically perfect, they are masters of a magical technology which enables them to live as what one can only term ‘eternal tourists,‘ forever traveling from one fantastic city to another. The rub is this: every city is a recreation of one of history’s great metropolises, raised from dust by legions of machines, permitted to exist for a short time then demolished, no doubt to be cannibalized for the materials to build another. All the great cities of history are being recreated, five at a time (the limit is firmly imposed, no reason given), and the immortal citizens of the fiftieth century simply travel, party, enjoy, socialize, and generally have a great time among the grandeur and the teeming populations of ‘temporaries,’ who appear to be androids whisked into existence to complete the illusion of Alexandria, or Chang-An, or Constantinople itself.
Only a tiny percentage of the human population don’t enjoy the eternal lifestyle. One in a thousand, or perhaps ten thousand, still grow old. After an extended youth, when the aging comes on them, they age rapidly. Such is Gioia, the lovely young thing with whom Charles Phillips falls in love. And Charles himself is the other, and even rarer, anomaly. He’s a ‘visitor’ in the future: synthetic body and mind, machine-designed and built to bring the past to vibrant life for the entertainment (and perhaps the education) of the citizens, who -- by our standards -- often seem callow, and occasionally even moronic.
Charles isn’t the only visitor, but there’s barely a handful like him, constructs drawn from whatever century. Being synthetic, he’s a misfit, greater than the ‘temporaries’ but lesser than the citizens. Gioia is drawn to him as like is drawn to like: she also is a misfit, doomed to age with an incurable genetic condition. When the rapid aging begins she flees, and as Charles literally pursues her around the world, city to city, he discovers what he is. Not a twentieth century man at all; not even a naturally-born human … something more, he decides, not less. Being synthetic, he is as timeless as the physically perfect (and intellectually somewhat dense) citizens; but what of Gioia, who is aging alarmingly. What can be done for her, amid this kaleidoscope of incredible technology?
The prose is stylish and rich and the world building tantalizing. If Sailing to Byzantium were double or triple the length, properly fleshed out and with the panoply of amazing concepts fully explored, it would make a novel today’s reader would deem awesome. At 40k words, it seems oddly abbreviated, in places thin to the point of anorexia. Silverberg has remarked on how the novella is a format he likes a great deal, and he clearly had a fine time here. But the material demanded, and deserved more.
Nebula Award notwithstanding, and as much as I adore Robert Silverberg, I want to give Sailing four stars rather than five, because it surely needed more growth, more investment, just more, to work truly brilliantly. It might have read better in 1984. Current readers -- in this age of hundred-episode sagas on tv and book series running many thousands of pages -- are seldom satisfied when thematic material is underdone. Sailing has a ‘rare’ quality, perfect on the outside but a tad too pink in the middle to suit all tastes. Which isn’t to say I don’t love this story -- I do! But my imagination runs away on flights of creative fantasy, filling in the blanks and building the sumptuous, thick novel I wish Robert Silverberg has written.
July 26, 2017
When I was reading about the Pharos (Lighthouse) of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it was mentioned that one of its many representations in modern culture was in Robert Silverberg's sci-fi novella 'Sailing to Byzantium.' Intrigued, I ordered the book at my local library and proceeded to read not just the initial reference, but the other four pieces in the compendium as well. It was nice to get a little bit of background on each story through short intros by the author, as they were written in different sections of his career, but overall I didn't find Sailing to Byzantium to be an outstanding body of work in the science-fiction genre.
I don't think I can pick any one piece as the best in the collection. The title novella is set in an elaborately reconstructed stage of humanity's most glorious conurbations from epochs long past, including Alexandria and its famed lighthouse, but this turns out to be just an illusion implemented by those who have inherited the Earth in an unimaginably distant future. As an unsophisticated love story loses steam towards the end, an amalgam of "temporary", "immortal", "superior" and quasi-real beings is used to implement an ending that is as confusing as it is odd.
'Homefaring' is also set in an unimaginably distant future, this one when humanity doesn't exist any longer and the planet is ruled by ocean-dwelling beings - specifically intelligent lobsters. Since this story line would get pretty weird in a hurry, we find out that the consciousness of a man has been "injected" into the body of one of the lobsters by way of unpredictable time travel discovered in a not so distant future from our present day. Eventually the man is brought back to his appropriate time, but not before he experiences some strange rituals in the lobster world and gets a feel for living in the body of a crustacean. Good exercise in imagination I suppose.
'Thomas the Proclaimer' proposes some interesting scenarios as to how the world would devolve into chaos and darkness when a "miracle" from God, in this case the Earth standing still for a full day, is witnessed by millions. I thought this story over-emphasized the religious aspect of such a physics-defying event, even if the so-called miracle seems to be a result of a prophet who turns out to be a sham.
The last two novellas both deal with advanced interstellar travel, but in different ways. 'We Are of the Dark' starts out as another faith-based narrative, this time around the scientific ability of humanity to discover and implement FTL travel, though it concludes with some pretty wild galaxy cruising a la 2001: A Space Odyssey when Dave Bowman is transformed into the Star Child. Finally, 'The Secret Sharer' is modeled on Joseph Conrad's novella of the same time, though set on a starship traversing the oceans of heaven instead those of Earth. The stowaway takes the form of a disembodied human consciousness (a matrix) who is given shelter into his own body by none other than the captain. It's a pretty intriguing story, and I would pick it as the highlight of the book if I were forced to choose one.
Together, these novellas add to over 400 pages which went pretty slowly, because though the writing is eloquent, all are packed with ideas and interpretations that make them pretty dense. Fans of cerebral science-fiction would appreciate this collection.
I don't think I can pick any one piece as the best in the collection. The title novella is set in an elaborately reconstructed stage of humanity's most glorious conurbations from epochs long past, including Alexandria and its famed lighthouse, but this turns out to be just an illusion implemented by those who have inherited the Earth in an unimaginably distant future. As an unsophisticated love story loses steam towards the end, an amalgam of "temporary", "immortal", "superior" and quasi-real beings is used to implement an ending that is as confusing as it is odd.
'Homefaring' is also set in an unimaginably distant future, this one when humanity doesn't exist any longer and the planet is ruled by ocean-dwelling beings - specifically intelligent lobsters. Since this story line would get pretty weird in a hurry, we find out that the consciousness of a man has been "injected" into the body of one of the lobsters by way of unpredictable time travel discovered in a not so distant future from our present day. Eventually the man is brought back to his appropriate time, but not before he experiences some strange rituals in the lobster world and gets a feel for living in the body of a crustacean. Good exercise in imagination I suppose.
'Thomas the Proclaimer' proposes some interesting scenarios as to how the world would devolve into chaos and darkness when a "miracle" from God, in this case the Earth standing still for a full day, is witnessed by millions. I thought this story over-emphasized the religious aspect of such a physics-defying event, even if the so-called miracle seems to be a result of a prophet who turns out to be a sham.
The last two novellas both deal with advanced interstellar travel, but in different ways. 'We Are of the Dark' starts out as another faith-based narrative, this time around the scientific ability of humanity to discover and implement FTL travel, though it concludes with some pretty wild galaxy cruising a la 2001: A Space Odyssey when Dave Bowman is transformed into the Star Child. Finally, 'The Secret Sharer' is modeled on Joseph Conrad's novella of the same time, though set on a starship traversing the oceans of heaven instead those of Earth. The stowaway takes the form of a disembodied human consciousness (a matrix) who is given shelter into his own body by none other than the captain. It's a pretty intriguing story, and I would pick it as the highlight of the book if I were forced to choose one.
Together, these novellas add to over 400 pages which went pretty slowly, because though the writing is eloquent, all are packed with ideas and interpretations that make them pretty dense. Fans of cerebral science-fiction would appreciate this collection.
March 8, 2021
This short story was began with the wonders of five ancient cities across a world changed by the people of the 25th century. As the story progressed O found myself falling into the mire of confusion that wracked the mind of the main character. The clever writing finds a way to drag you into all the preconceived notions of the 21st century and similarly all the notions that the protagonist feels and assumes, and then put a wall in your face. Slowly walking around said wall you begin to open up to a story that is vibrant and almost terrifying in the reality of its near possibilities in this age we live in today. As the story continues the love that the protagonist feels begins to drive him deeper into finding answers until finally it ends with a hanging happy ending. A man in love has accepted the facts of mortality for the sake of love.
This was a beautiful short story told in a different manner than what I’m typically used to and although I considered only 3stars, in the end the broad creativity of the method this story is told forced me to admire its greater purpose. We are all scared of mortality and this story accurately portrayed the feelings and forces the reader to feel confusion and love, to feel the want to chase what makes you happy no matter the gauntlet before you.
This was a beautiful short story told in a different manner than what I’m typically used to and although I considered only 3stars, in the end the broad creativity of the method this story is told forced me to admire its greater purpose. We are all scared of mortality and this story accurately portrayed the feelings and forces the reader to feel confusion and love, to feel the want to chase what makes you happy no matter the gauntlet before you.
December 2, 2021
I've only read the title novella "Sailing to Byzantium" which is a brilliant update to H.G. Wells's The Time Machine.
A contemporary man (when Silverberg wrote the book in 1984) mysteriously finds himself in the 50th century, inhabited by a small clique of "citizens" very much like Wells's Eloi. Wells's books is referenced obliquely: Silverberg seems to assume most readers will twig the association.
Who the "Morlocks" are in this homage to Wells is never revealed, only that someone called the "planners" constantly build replicas of ancient cities -- only five at a time -- for the Eloi to enjoy as a futuristic Disneyland.
Spoiler alert: this is not a time travel story, but rather about artificial intelligence, as the central character realises he is a "visitor" created by the mysterious planners to entertain the Eloi. I read the Time Machine many years ago, and recall it also had a sad love story, which Silverberg echoes in his novella.
A contemporary man (when Silverberg wrote the book in 1984) mysteriously finds himself in the 50th century, inhabited by a small clique of "citizens" very much like Wells's Eloi. Wells's books is referenced obliquely: Silverberg seems to assume most readers will twig the association.
Who the "Morlocks" are in this homage to Wells is never revealed, only that someone called the "planners" constantly build replicas of ancient cities -- only five at a time -- for the Eloi to enjoy as a futuristic Disneyland.
Spoiler alert: this is not a time travel story, but rather about artificial intelligence, as the central character realises he is a "visitor" created by the mysterious planners to entertain the Eloi. I read the Time Machine many years ago, and recall it also had a sad love story, which Silverberg echoes in his novella.
January 4, 2022
Rather beautiful novella. Typical Silverberg in being somewhere between fantasy and science fiction with highly imaginative visual descriptions throughout. The story is also a romance and deals with big themes like aging and the value of life. The Yeats poem gives the tale its leitmotif. A future civilisation builds ancient cities like Byzantium (and constructs people too) and does so continuously to entertain its immortal populace.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2022
4 to 4.5 stars. "Sailing to Byzantium" by Robert Silverberg includes five novella. What I found most captivating was the range of these stories, each one excellent, but very different. I also enjoyed the brief introductions to each story by the author. If you wanted an introduction to his work, this might be a good place to start.
This is my first encounter with Robert Silverberg, one of the old masters of sci-fi. I'll be on the look-out for more of his work.
This is my first encounter with Robert Silverberg, one of the old masters of sci-fi. I'll be on the look-out for more of his work.
November 23, 2022
A never-good-enough ham-fisted mini space opera. Often clunky writing and poor characterisations. A couple of good ideas - maybe - but a few good ideas is table-stakes for science fiction, so no points for those. The only thing in support of this book is just how bad, as literature, is nearly all other science fiction.
At least it is short.
At least it is short.
October 5, 2022
I feel so old writing this review. Enjoyed the idea of a Future alien race constructing ancient earth cities for pleasure. Enjoyed this was the setting for the emotional development of an 1984 earth man. Hated the way ageing was feared and loathed. Wouldn’t have in 1984.
October 29, 2022
24 The title is of course taken from a famous poem and is so descriptive despite being only 3 words. An interesting concept of the future - only barely
understood by me. Recommended to the normal crew.
understood by me. Recommended to the normal crew.
February 4, 2024
I enjoyed! Silverberg is able to layout a reality that seems so distant but yet I can imagine it. Also enjoyed the big switcharoo near the end. It’s been a long time since I’ve read something by him and this makes me want to read more.
August 21, 2018
One of Silverberg's later works, a novella about the far future, mortality and poetic language.
June 25, 2019
A simple story beautifully told of what might be.
January 3, 2020
Some really excellent stories here, no duds.
December 4, 2020
Rough beginning, but it sticks the landing.
January 13, 2021
Thomas the Proclaimer was very good. The rest did not appeal to me.
February 18, 2021
Timeless artifice
Turns to felicitous truths
So speaks “Yes, Why Not”
Turns to felicitous truths
So speaks “Yes, Why Not”
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