Earth's Other Shadow

by Robert Silverberg

Something Wild Is Loose 71 novelette by Silverberg
To See the Invisible Man 63 story by Silverberg
Ishmael in Love 70 story by Silverberg
How It Was When the Past Went Away 69 novella by Silverberg
To the Dark Star 68 story by Silverberg
The Fangs of the Trees 68 novelette by Silverberg
Hidden Talent 57 novelette by Silverberg
The Song the Zombie Sang 70 story by Harlan Ellison & Silverberg
Flies 67 story by Silverberg

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Short Story Collection, Science Fiction Fantasy

208 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

There 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.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good, if somewhat somber in tone, collection of nine stories by Silverberg. The oldest is Hidden Talent, from a 1957 issue of If, and the most recent is Something Wild is Loose, from a 1971 anthology that Silverberg edited himself, Mind to Mind. (Curiously, it's the only original story in that book.) Flies originally appeared in Harlan Ellison's iconic Dangerous Visions, and also included is a story he wrote in collaboration with Ellison, The Song the Zombie Sang, which, improbably, was first printed in an issue of Cosmopolitan in 1970. My favorites were How It Was When the Past Went Away (from an original anthology called Three from Tomorrow, also possibly edited by Silverberg in 1969), To See the Invisible Man (from a 1963 issue of Worlds of Tomorrow), and To the Dark Star (from another original anthology, The Farthest Reaches edited by Joseph Elder in 1968.) My only complaint was that I'd read almost all of the stories in other earlier Silverberg collections. This one has a very cool Paul Lehr cover that shows his usual rounded cityscape, but this time in a wineglass.

[Alien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recht gute Collection von Stories des Altmeisters.
Enhalten sind:
Der verliebte Delphin (Ishmael in Love / 1970)
Als die Vergangenheit verschwand (How it was when the past went away / 1969)
Verborgenes Talent (Hidden Talent/1957)
Ein Toter spielt Cembalo (The Song the Zombie Sang / 1970)
Fliegen (Flies / 1967)

Alle sind etwas morbid oder beunruhigend.
Am besten gefallen hat mir die erste, eine tragikkomische Story über einen intelligenten Delphin, der sich in eine Menschenfrau verliebt hat.

Ich würde 3.5/5 Sterne vergeben.

Von der Originalausgabe "Earth's other Shadow" fehlen leider:
Something Wild Is Loose (1971), To See the Invisible Man (1963), To the Dark Star (1968), The Fangs of the Trees (1968)

[Matt Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, really, but not really outstanding as a collection.

A set of workmanlike or better stories, these all seem to be linked by common themes of loneliness or loss. Whether lighthearted (ie, "Something Wild is Loose") or more grim ("The Song the Zombie Sang"), there's an ache at the center of each. Silverberg has always been good at evoking that.

[Jüri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silverberg on hea, aga see kogumik on selline suvaline. Hea selles mõttes, et annab üsna kena ülevaate Robert Silverbergi loomingu erinevatest tahkudest... halb seepärast, et sekka on sattunud ka juhuslikku kraami.
Inglise keeles ja esmatutvuseks autoriga oli hea. Eesti tõlke vajalikkus on vaieldav, sest oleks saanud kokku panna või valida tõlkimiseks ka märksa parema valiku.
Ma oman nii eestikeelset, kui ka punasekaanelist ingliskeelset köidet ning omal ajal laenutasin/lugesin hoopis seda mustakaanelist ingliskeelset. Kõiki neid tekste olen ma ka vene keeles lugenud.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The latest in the pile of scifi my husband started me on. This is a collection of short stories and took just a day to get through - very 60s descriptions and scenarios. A romp through planets and situations - good fun.

[Sidney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I happened upon this short story collection at a used bookstore near me and was presently surprised by this random find! Some stories were certainly better than others, but the good stories were REALLY good and quite ahead of their time. I don’t entirely care for the depiction and treatment of women in some of the stories, but outside of that I found it to be a fairly enjoyable read.

[Xabi1990 · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10. Media de los 30 libros leídos del autor : 6/10

Leí mucho a Silverberg de chaval. Junto a joyas como "Tiempo de mutantes" o "El hombre en el laberinto" (o incluso la saga e Majipur) tiene libros normalitos o malos-malos. Este es de los normalitos.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

9 stories:

Something Wild Is Loose (1971)
To See the Invisible Man (1963)
Ishmael in Love (1970)
How It Was When the Past Went Away (1969)
To the Dark Star (1968)
The Fangs of the Trees (1968)
Hidden Talent (1957)
The Song the Zombie Sang (1970) • with Harlan Ellison
Flies (1967)

[Chuu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book not knowing it was a collection of short stories. They were too low-commitment dystopian for my taste. Some of them worked and some of them did not pique my interest as much

[Michael Hanscom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know Silverberg's name more as an editor than an author; I believe this is the first time I've read his work. Really enjoyed it, too. Just a short anthology of nine stories, but not a bad one in the bunch, and most of them have an interesting understated humor (and sometimes horror) that I really liked.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection consists of nine science fiction short stories by Robert Silverberg, one coauthored with Harlan Ellison.