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Collision Course
The crew of the XV-ftl was looking forward to shore leave, vacation and a chance to see their families. But once they brought back the news that they had discovered aliens, they were doomed to another journey--one that could decide between peaceful coexistence or interstellar war!
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1961
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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 - 21 of 21 reviews
May 7, 2025
In his introduction to the 1977 Ace edition, Silverberg discloses that he wrote Collision Course in 1958 with the idea of selling it to John W. Campbell as a two-part serial for Astounding. (That was a few years prior to the name changing to Analog.) It's a nicely plotted and paced first-contact novel set in the 26th century, when the development of instantaneous matter transmission has speeded mankind's expansion into the galaxy. It's a more cerebral work than much of the blood-and-thunder space operas of the time, and Campbell rejected it because it asks the question as to whether or not mankind -should- colonize the galaxy. Campbell had no doubts as to our colonial right and manifest destiny. Silverberg sold the story to Paul W. Fairman for Amazing Stories, and it appeared in the July 1959 issue; by then, Cele Goldsmith was the editor. He expanded it somewhat and sold it Avalon, who printed a hardbound version with a nice Ed Emshwiller cover, and then Ace purchased the paperback rights and released it in 1961 (with a different nice Ed Emshwiller cover; Emshwiller was prolific and did a lot of Silverberg's early titles) as one of their Double volumes. It was backed by an excellent Leigh Brackett novel, The Nemesis from Terra, which had a cover by Ed Valigursky which is notable because it doesn't have a rampaging robot. In 1977, Ace re-released quite a few of Silverberg's early titles in uniform editions with introductions and Don Ivan Punchatz covers. It's a quick, fun story, with an unexpected ending. Just when you think the two races are going to fight it out, he throws a spanner into the works. Hard to believe he wrote it just a couple of weeks!
April 17, 2018
I’ve been on a bit of a Robert Silverberg kick in recent months and have generally enjoyed them. This novel is no exception. First published in 1961, this novel takes place in the 26th century after planet Earth (Terra) has developed instantaneous transport via “transmats” making colonization of additional planets much easier. Now, during Terra’s expansion into the galaxy, they’ve encountered an alien race which appears to be very closely matched to human evolution and level of technology and whom also happens to be in the midst of expanding into the galaxy.
This is essentially a first contact novel but also examines the nature of human-kind’s perceptions of their own place in the universe. What appears to be a friendly alien race turns out to be rather bossy and ultimately a third, extremely powerful alien race intercedes and forces the two “child” races to negotiate an equal solution and avoid armed conflict.
Unlike many “classic-era” science fiction stories, Silverberg tends to write very approachable stories rather than utilizing obtuse and overly-scientific prose. He does, however, convey an excellent competence in the nature of the science he uses, especially space travel and the reader comes away with a feeling that it is all entirely plausible. The overall novel was fun to read although the ending seemed a little bit like Silverberg wasn’t sure where to take it. It does conclude, but the major characters are left fundamentally changed but with no comments on what that would mean for them.
This is essentially a first contact novel but also examines the nature of human-kind’s perceptions of their own place in the universe. What appears to be a friendly alien race turns out to be rather bossy and ultimately a third, extremely powerful alien race intercedes and forces the two “child” races to negotiate an equal solution and avoid armed conflict.
Unlike many “classic-era” science fiction stories, Silverberg tends to write very approachable stories rather than utilizing obtuse and overly-scientific prose. He does, however, convey an excellent competence in the nature of the science he uses, especially space travel and the reader comes away with a feeling that it is all entirely plausible. The overall novel was fun to read although the ending seemed a little bit like Silverberg wasn’t sure where to take it. It does conclude, but the major characters are left fundamentally changed but with no comments on what that would mean for them.
June 20, 2017
Collision Course is an alien encounter novel published during the height of the Cold War. Many such novels in those days featured aliens as a superior and terrifying threat, much as the Soviet Bloc was perceived in that era. In the preface to Collision Course, Silverberg talks about one famous science-fiction editor who absolutely refused to publish any stories where humans (specifically, Terran humans) are not eventually and clearly superior to the alien invaders so popular in the era. Indeed, the preface to the novel indicates that the novel was written specifically for this opinionated editor but rejected on the basis that the Terrans in Collision Course are not necessarily superior.
In Collision Course, the conflict of the story begins with the smug, confident, an assumed superior Terran civilization encounters another alien civilization in the course of exploration and expansion. I suppose it is something of a spoiler to indicate that they are not quite as superior as they believe. But what happens if Terrans encounter more advanced civilizations? What if the civilizations are equal? What if the civilizations are greater? And if the civilizations are lesser, does intergalactic humanity get to bowl over autochthonous civilizations in much the same way European colonists and Anglo-Americans killed and displaced the Native Americans? Would “Manifest Destiny” be as ugly in later centuries as it was in the 19th?
Grandmaster Robert Silverberg explains his thinking on this in the preface, but it was his take on religion and faith that most surprised me. He is part of a generation of science-fiction writers that seemed to turn its back on religion. Yet, his insights are surprisingly dead-on. He recognizes the “refining” portion of Job’s experience in the Bible and he defends a “Neopuritan” when his shipmates automatically assume that he will impose his ethic against gambling on said shipmates. “Do I actively interfere with your behavior? I live by my own example—but I’ve never maintained that you should do the same.” (p. 78) At another point, after the Neopuritan had gone through a personal crisis, another character starts to understand, “Faith and resignation aren’t the same thing.” (p. 122) At another point, an advanced life-form mocks the Terrans with a warning that could well be heeded by pure materialists or retro-nationalists, today: “You pitiful little creatures, so arrogantly deciding for yourselves what may and what may not be called real.” (p. 125)
My favorite line in the novel may be when one of the Terran characters considers the Catch-22 in which his tension between alien force and Terran expectations have placed him. He felt as ridiculous as “…an ancient Roman defying a fusion bomb by shouting at it, ‘Civis Romanus sum!’ Hands off! I am a Roman citizen.” (p. 133) I think that if we haven’t had at least a few transcendental experiences where we felt as overmatched as that Roman citizen and the bomb, we really haven’t experienced all we should out of life. Regardless, I’m placing Collision Course on that imaginary syllabus for a “Religion in Science-Fiction” course—right along with another surprising novel I read recently. If you’re not interested in the metaphysical, Collision Course is probably not for you. For me, it was almost profound.
In Collision Course, the conflict of the story begins with the smug, confident, an assumed superior Terran civilization encounters another alien civilization in the course of exploration and expansion. I suppose it is something of a spoiler to indicate that they are not quite as superior as they believe. But what happens if Terrans encounter more advanced civilizations? What if the civilizations are equal? What if the civilizations are greater? And if the civilizations are lesser, does intergalactic humanity get to bowl over autochthonous civilizations in much the same way European colonists and Anglo-Americans killed and displaced the Native Americans? Would “Manifest Destiny” be as ugly in later centuries as it was in the 19th?
Grandmaster Robert Silverberg explains his thinking on this in the preface, but it was his take on religion and faith that most surprised me. He is part of a generation of science-fiction writers that seemed to turn its back on religion. Yet, his insights are surprisingly dead-on. He recognizes the “refining” portion of Job’s experience in the Bible and he defends a “Neopuritan” when his shipmates automatically assume that he will impose his ethic against gambling on said shipmates. “Do I actively interfere with your behavior? I live by my own example—but I’ve never maintained that you should do the same.” (p. 78) At another point, after the Neopuritan had gone through a personal crisis, another character starts to understand, “Faith and resignation aren’t the same thing.” (p. 122) At another point, an advanced life-form mocks the Terrans with a warning that could well be heeded by pure materialists or retro-nationalists, today: “You pitiful little creatures, so arrogantly deciding for yourselves what may and what may not be called real.” (p. 125)
My favorite line in the novel may be when one of the Terran characters considers the Catch-22 in which his tension between alien force and Terran expectations have placed him. He felt as ridiculous as “…an ancient Roman defying a fusion bomb by shouting at it, ‘Civis Romanus sum!’ Hands off! I am a Roman citizen.” (p. 133) I think that if we haven’t had at least a few transcendental experiences where we felt as overmatched as that Roman citizen and the bomb, we really haven’t experienced all we should out of life. Regardless, I’m placing Collision Course on that imaginary syllabus for a “Religion in Science-Fiction” course—right along with another surprising novel I read recently. If you’re not interested in the metaphysical, Collision Course is probably not for you. For me, it was almost profound.
June 9, 2012
Earth has expanded to the stars, colonizing planets left and right and traveling via "transmat" teleportation. However, someone has to first reach a planet "the slow way" via spaceship to set up the transmat device. When a faster than light ship is invented, the Technarch is excited that now even other galaxies are within reach. Unfortunately, the first test run encounters a race of aliens who are also colonizing outward, with the expanding spheres on a collision course for each other. A group of diplomats is sent to negotiate a treaty with the aliens with extremely unexpected results. What they find will challenge the firmly held idea of Earth's manifest destiny.
Big ideas are crammed into this short novel with much being made of the pride and arrogance of men, the cossetted and coddled elite who think a 17 hour journey of thousands of light years is interminably long, and how even the most rational and intelligent men can be led to prayer in a helpless situation. Silverberg has created characters mostly to advance these views: The Skeptic, The Diplomat, The Power Player, The Warmonger, The Religious Nut, etc. but you can't fault him for it since they do their jobs so well. The technology is somewhat taken for granted, and not unforseeable, given this was written in 1958. Today, it is much harder to believe these traveling devices will be forthcoming. That makes me sad, but it is pleasing to remember a time when we thought the stars would soon be forthcoming.
Big ideas are crammed into this short novel with much being made of the pride and arrogance of men, the cossetted and coddled elite who think a 17 hour journey of thousands of light years is interminably long, and how even the most rational and intelligent men can be led to prayer in a helpless situation. Silverberg has created characters mostly to advance these views: The Skeptic, The Diplomat, The Power Player, The Warmonger, The Religious Nut, etc. but you can't fault him for it since they do their jobs so well. The technology is somewhat taken for granted, and not unforseeable, given this was written in 1958. Today, it is much harder to believe these traveling devices will be forthcoming. That makes me sad, but it is pleasing to remember a time when we thought the stars would soon be forthcoming.
May 30, 2018
I liked : the background story of Minner Burris.
I disliked : very low level of science in this fiction. Unrealistic behavior of the protagonists. No thrill in the story line. The cheap ending.
I disliked : very low level of science in this fiction. Unrealistic behavior of the protagonists. No thrill in the story line. The cheap ending.
October 22, 2020
In the far future, Earth has begun to colonize planets outside our solar system. Scientists have perfected a transmat (teleportation) device to beam people and objects across space instantly. Each world participates in a single representative umbrella government. The only limiting factor to how fast we can populate the uninhabited universe is that new transmat devices have to be transported to unexplored planets in space ships that can approach but never exceed the speed of light.
But when scientists begin testing the new Daviot-Leeson Drive which will open up no-space (hyperspace), they discover another alien species, the Norglans, already aggressively colonizing the Milky Way. These aliens are humanoid in appearance and seem to possess technology roughly equivalent to human.
Human and Norglan civilizations are on a collision course towards war. Both species have their hearts set on ruling the universe. A team is dispatched to negotiate a treaty to divvy up space between them…
Of the seven novels Silverberg wrote in 1958 (eight if you count the novella "We, the Marauders" which eventually found its way into a double novel from Belmont Books), this was Silverberg's most mature effort, even if it did not work quite as well on the whole as Invaders from Earth or Shadow on the Stars. He wrote this one for John Campbell at Astounding magazine, which was one of the top markets for sci-fi that year. Campbell eventually rejected it because the story did not conform to his belief that humanity is the most advanced life form in the cosmos.
Silverberg peppers this story with more meaningful themes and deeper characters than normal. A few examples:
- Head negotiator Dr. Bernard Martin wrestles with existential doubts about how much of history is free will vs. illusion of choice. When his team encounters a third older race in the universe, this theme is echoed in surprising ways.
- Linguist Dr. Thomas Havid belongs to a sect of Neopuritans that is scoffed at by his fellow scientists, but the author treats his religious beliefs with an understanding not common for science fiction in this era.
- Norman Dominici has struggled for ten years to come to grips with the loss of his wife in a freak transmat accident. The scenes in which he has to confront his grief mark a growing maturity in Silverberg's works.
The climax of the story in which both Earth and Norgla are confronted with a mostly benevolent race of aliens powerful enough to subjugate them is also a marked transition from earlier pro-imperialism stories such as The Dawning Light, "Frontier Planet", and "Judas Valley".
In his introduction to the 1976 reprint Silverberg claimed this was his "ninth or tenth book". It was actually his 14th, but at that time he had not yet publicly acknowledged two novels under the pseudonym David Osborne or his first erotica novel Love Nest under the name Loren Beauchamp. Also, Starman's Quest had already been written back in 1956 but would not see publication until 1959.
This proved to be one of Silverberg's more enduring novels from his early period. It has had at least seven printings in English and is currently in print in the UK from Gollancz Publishers as part of their Gateway Essentials imprint.
But when scientists begin testing the new Daviot-Leeson Drive which will open up no-space (hyperspace), they discover another alien species, the Norglans, already aggressively colonizing the Milky Way. These aliens are humanoid in appearance and seem to possess technology roughly equivalent to human.
Human and Norglan civilizations are on a collision course towards war. Both species have their hearts set on ruling the universe. A team is dispatched to negotiate a treaty to divvy up space between them…
Of the seven novels Silverberg wrote in 1958 (eight if you count the novella "We, the Marauders" which eventually found its way into a double novel from Belmont Books), this was Silverberg's most mature effort, even if it did not work quite as well on the whole as Invaders from Earth or Shadow on the Stars. He wrote this one for John Campbell at Astounding magazine, which was one of the top markets for sci-fi that year. Campbell eventually rejected it because the story did not conform to his belief that humanity is the most advanced life form in the cosmos.
Silverberg peppers this story with more meaningful themes and deeper characters than normal. A few examples:
- Head negotiator Dr. Bernard Martin wrestles with existential doubts about how much of history is free will vs. illusion of choice. When his team encounters a third older race in the universe, this theme is echoed in surprising ways.
- Linguist Dr. Thomas Havid belongs to a sect of Neopuritans that is scoffed at by his fellow scientists, but the author treats his religious beliefs with an understanding not common for science fiction in this era.
- Norman Dominici has struggled for ten years to come to grips with the loss of his wife in a freak transmat accident. The scenes in which he has to confront his grief mark a growing maturity in Silverberg's works.
The climax of the story in which both Earth and Norgla are confronted with a mostly benevolent race of aliens powerful enough to subjugate them is also a marked transition from earlier pro-imperialism stories such as The Dawning Light, "Frontier Planet", and "Judas Valley".
In his introduction to the 1976 reprint Silverberg claimed this was his "ninth or tenth book". It was actually his 14th, but at that time he had not yet publicly acknowledged two novels under the pseudonym David Osborne or his first erotica novel Love Nest under the name Loren Beauchamp. Also, Starman's Quest had already been written back in 1956 but would not see publication until 1959.
This proved to be one of Silverberg's more enduring novels from his early period. It has had at least seven printings in English and is currently in print in the UK from Gollancz Publishers as part of their Gateway Essentials imprint.
December 4, 2020
Si legge bene, ma è piuttosto ingenuo e poco credibili gli extraterrestri.
December 17, 2016
Robert Silverberg is one of the SF greats whose work I never got into. Which is not to say he is not a talented writer or that I have not enjoyed things he has written (The Face of the Waters is fantastic.) I simply did not expect much when I read Collision Course, a short novel written in 1958-and I got pretty much what I expected. Collision Course is a first contact novel, and it does try to be different-what happens when humanity runs into an alien race that is not just their equal but their superior? (We know what happens when we meet "inferior" races we take their land and put them on reservations-till we want that land too.) Silverberg is very careful to people his novel with individuals of various races-but not once in Collision Course is a woman featured except in flashback, and there are no women in positions of authority. Apparently it is a boys only universe. And Collision Course is not a very exceptional book. It is arguably unfair to judge this book by today's standards but I think even by yesterday's standards it was pretty lame.
September 20, 2020
Very good science fiction novel starting with first contact by an Earth empire that's already settled many planets, with a similar alien galactic empire. Emissaries try to negotiate a treaty but on the way back they're lost--their FTL drive sends them to another galaxy. It's sort of episodic, with another plot development in the other galaxy. Reminded me of a couple Star Trek episodes (they also had transmats, like Star Trek's transporters), though it was written a few years earlier than that show; I really wouldn't be surprised if some of Star Trek's writer's had read this novel.
The only flaw I found was in how fast the emissaries were sent after first contact with no preparations whatsoever -- literally the next day.
The only flaw I found was in how fast the emissaries were sent after first contact with no preparations whatsoever -- literally the next day.
February 27, 2024
Reading sci-fi from the 1960s can be strange. On the one hand, so many ideas of exploration, social commentary, and discovery are there and fun to see. It’s interesting to see how ideas have passed through books, TV, movies, and culture broadly in the intervening 60 years. However, the ultimate cultural lens of the 60’s remains, and so you have odd juxtapositions of exploration and discovery with rather unimaginative ideas of race/color, manifest destiny, etc.
Silverberg here plays with the idea of manifest destiny by drawing humans in contact with a similar species of alien that hold the same belief. The manifestations of xenophobia that our protagonists have presents primarily as color-based racism (referring the aliens by their color, “bluefaces” “greenfaces”) which made me cringe. The stratification of color-based division in the aliens (Norglans) and the presentation of what the colors mean is *deeply* rooted in color-based race systems in the United States, which feels a bit unimaginative. One could say that this is a commentary on our historical race system - but there is no thoughtful commentary to be had. If anything, the author vaguely reinforces old tropes and stereotypes by having the characters remark on the apparent physical differences of the aliens and remark on specialized breeding to purpose. Now, perhaps this is well and good for this alien society — but writing in the 1960s, it felt a little trite.
Additionally, there is a similarity to the other ‘old’ sci-fi I read last year - The Star Fox, by Paol Anderson. That is, a book about Manly Men doing Manly Things. Manly Learned Men (the sociologist), Manly Religious Men (the linguist), Manly Pilot/Military Stand In Men (the pilots), Manly Diplomats (the diplomat), Manly Rulers (the technarch). There isn’t much difference between the characters - they are Manly Men with Big Hands, all standing “a little over six feet tall” with “rock-hard” faces. There are, in fact, no women at all in this book. Only two women are ever mentioned, the two ex-wives of our main character, the Sociologist. Women get a passing glance at existence when our characters appear stranded and one bloke says “it wouldn’t be so bad with some women, but 9 men?”
As a point of order, our Sociologist practices some pretty surface level sociology. Clearly, he has taken a 1960’s era appropriate sociology undergraduate course. I don’t think he’s done much more.
The actual prose is good, certainly nothing to complain about; dated a bit. The plot is simplistic and is “resolved” if it can be called such by a deux ex machina the size of the Andromeda galaxy. The climax results in all of the Manly Men engaging in some Manly Moping until the book comes to a close, with the Manliest of Men doing his Manly Best to hold back a sob in front of our protagonist. God forbid a man shed tears, though it must be said they could be shed for better reasons.
Silverberg here plays with the idea of manifest destiny by drawing humans in contact with a similar species of alien that hold the same belief. The manifestations of xenophobia that our protagonists have presents primarily as color-based racism (referring the aliens by their color, “bluefaces” “greenfaces”) which made me cringe. The stratification of color-based division in the aliens (Norglans) and the presentation of what the colors mean is *deeply* rooted in color-based race systems in the United States, which feels a bit unimaginative. One could say that this is a commentary on our historical race system - but there is no thoughtful commentary to be had. If anything, the author vaguely reinforces old tropes and stereotypes by having the characters remark on the apparent physical differences of the aliens and remark on specialized breeding to purpose. Now, perhaps this is well and good for this alien society — but writing in the 1960s, it felt a little trite.
Additionally, there is a similarity to the other ‘old’ sci-fi I read last year - The Star Fox, by Paol Anderson. That is, a book about Manly Men doing Manly Things. Manly Learned Men (the sociologist), Manly Religious Men (the linguist), Manly Pilot/Military Stand In Men (the pilots), Manly Diplomats (the diplomat), Manly Rulers (the technarch). There isn’t much difference between the characters - they are Manly Men with Big Hands, all standing “a little over six feet tall” with “rock-hard” faces. There are, in fact, no women at all in this book. Only two women are ever mentioned, the two ex-wives of our main character, the Sociologist. Women get a passing glance at existence when our characters appear stranded and one bloke says “it wouldn’t be so bad with some women, but 9 men?”
As a point of order, our Sociologist practices some pretty surface level sociology. Clearly, he has taken a 1960’s era appropriate sociology undergraduate course. I don’t think he’s done much more.
The actual prose is good, certainly nothing to complain about; dated a bit. The plot is simplistic and is “resolved” if it can be called such by a deux ex machina the size of the Andromeda galaxy. The climax results in all of the Manly Men engaging in some Manly Moping until the book comes to a close, with the Manliest of Men doing his Manly Best to hold back a sob in front of our protagonist. God forbid a man shed tears, though it must be said they could be shed for better reasons.
October 1, 2023
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3424586.html
Collision Course:
It’s early but very competent Silverberg, a new wrinkle on the Cosmic Duel theme where humanity and one group of aliens are competing for control of our galaxy and a godlike force intervenes to force a settlement. Particularly entertaining in that the humans in Team Earth don’t get on with each other at all. Needless to say, no women characters appear except in flashbacks.
Nemesis from Terra:
Fairly standard but well executed pulp planetary romance / space opera, with desert Mars, swampy Venus and our hero overcoming evil Earth industrialists and perhaps a bit of commentary on colonialism as well.
Collision Course:
It’s early but very competent Silverberg, a new wrinkle on the Cosmic Duel theme where humanity and one group of aliens are competing for control of our galaxy and a godlike force intervenes to force a settlement. Particularly entertaining in that the humans in Team Earth don’t get on with each other at all. Needless to say, no women characters appear except in flashbacks.
Nemesis from Terra:
Fairly standard but well executed pulp planetary romance / space opera, with desert Mars, swampy Venus and our hero overcoming evil Earth industrialists and perhaps a bit of commentary on colonialism as well.
February 29, 2024
Robert Silverberg says this book was early in his career. It is rather juvenile and simplistic. It tells the story of first contact with an alien race. Things go from worse to worser(?) when a third party enters the story. I don't like to give any clues to a story, so that's all I got. It was an interesting tale but a lot of the particulars are pretty far out there. Even considering the original publish date of 1961 the science is a really big stretch. So is the social climate of that earth. A fast read, entertaining if you tolerate the science.
August 12, 2021
I really enjoyed reading this. It was a little difficult to start but after a few chapters i got much more into it.
August 30, 2021
didnt expect it to go that way at all but it was awesome and super thrilling
October 1, 2023
I love silverberg but this wasn't his best. It's one of his older books. It's still good though. It wasn't long and I'm not sorry I read it.
December 18, 2023
Better than expected.
August 17, 2024
My full review of Collision Course can be found by clicking the following link: https://discover.hubpages.com/literat...
September 14, 2012
Collision Course is a captivating short (under 200 pages) novel by Robert Silverberg. According to Silverberg’s introduction in the book, it was written in November 1958 and was first published in Amazing Stories, which at the time published short novels complete in one issue. In 1961, Ace Books published a paperback edition, which is the edition I have had on my book shelves for many years waiting to be read. In the year 2780 Earthlings had just developed a faster-than-light space vessel that had carried humans out of our solar system for the first time. The crew of that successful voyage of over ninety-eight hundred light-years discovered aliens for the first time. In addition, these aliens were colonizing planets, just as Earthlings planned to do. The Archonate, which consists of thirteen men who rule Earth and her network of dependent worlds, sends a team of envoys to negotiate a treaty defining which planets the Earth could colonize and which planets the aliens (Norglans) could colonize. Unfortunately, those negotiations do not go well for Earth, and it appears that a war between Earth and Norglan is inevitable. However, on their way back to Earth, the envoys discover that there is more to worry about then the unique and threatening Norglans. In addition, both the governments of Earth and Norglan are revealed to be unrighteous. However, each of the characters in the human team of negotiators and their flight crew are presented in a very personal and interesting way as they struggle with each other and with the aliens. I respected them, and even liked them. I was totally surprised by how much I liked this novel. I should have read it long ago, and I especially recommend it for any science fiction fan.
December 24, 2011
Early Silverberg. Read it as a teenager and again in my 20s and lapped it up both times. Makes me wish he'd stuck with sci fi. One of the best humans-and-aliens books I've ever read. If you can find it, buy it.
October 1, 2009
Early Silverberg. Good story
October 24, 2012
Ace Double Novel F123
Grade D+
Grade D+
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews