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Alien Archives: Eighteen Stories of Extraterrestrial Encounters
Every day we are discovering new worlds in far-reaching galaxies which may or may not sustain life as we know it. In Alien Archives: Eighteen Stories of Extraterrestrial Encounters, sci-fi Grand Master Robert Silverberg collects his finest short stories and novellas about one of the genre’s most enduring themes. Spanning fifty years of writing from the Science Fiction Grand Master, this collection of alien encounters features new introductions to all fifteen stories, including the Hugo Award-nominated “Schwartz Between the Galaxies” and HBO adapted “Amanda and the Alien.” In these pages lie tales of a young man venturing into the occupied territory of an alien conquered United States to rescue his brother, three visitors from a very strange alien world arriving on Earth and meeting a tragic fate, and a dangerous life-form from a far-off world finding that suburban California holds some beings that are even more dangerous than it is. With Alien Archives, Silverberg puts us in contact with extraterrestrial beings of all shapes, sizes, and personalities—some fearsome, some outlandish, and some just plain fun. The Associated Press says, "Done Silverberg's way, science fiction is a fine art." With sheer force of imagination and incredible storytelling skills, Alien Archives confirms that Silverberg's classic work continues to resonate for readers today.
392 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 29, 2019
23 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
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 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 13, 2019
I love short stories and loved Robert Silverberg’s Alien Archives: Eighteen Stories of Extraterrestrial Encounters. Who doesn’t love aliens? I volunteer my unused computer capacity to SETI @ Home, the distributed computing initiative to process signals from space to see if there is any pattern that indicates intelligent life is out there. I assume there is and that we will never encounter them, but I am happy to read about the alien encounters in science fiction.
Each of the stories is introduced by Silverberg and that is, in many ways, the most fascinating element of the book. Silverberg is a professional, someone who did the work of being a working writer for his lifetime, producing short stories for magazines and anthologies along with his several novels. His introductions explain so much about that professional work, writing a story inspired by a picture, writing another for a magazine and getting it rejected and offering it elsewhere, pulling a short story out of a novel and combining short stories to create a novel. It is a fascinating look behind the curtain.
One of my favorites is “Bride 91” that not only introduces us to an alien creature but a very different concept of marriage. “Alaree” not only gave us a unique alien, but a unique understanding of the individual and the group. In “Sunrise on Mercury” the alien is an unseen presense, a consciousness who tries its best to help, even when it seems unhelpful. “The Silent Colony” frankly blew my mind and I can’t ruin it for you, but that last paragraph is a shocker. “En Route to Earth” cracked me up because of course, if we have interspace travel, we are going to have intergalactic stewards
“The Way to Spook City” seems plausible, I mean if having aliens interested in us is plausible. “Beauty in the Night” is fascinating. The aliens are mostly an unseen presence while the real story is a very common one. “To the Dark Star” is another that tells us more about humanity than aliens. It is not pretty.
I love short stories and enjoy science fiction so of course I found a lot to love in AlienArchives. It took quite a while to read because I would read a story, then read a book, read a story and read another book. I didn’t want the stories to run together in my head by reading one after another.
Silverberg is an economical writer. He doesn’t spend paragraphs setting a scene, he puts you right into the story with the action already moving. He knows you will figure it out. He doesn’t explain unless he has to, for example, the concept of marriage in “Bride 91.” He assumes his readers are smart and an infer and read between the lines. I love that and it makes for dynamic, fascinating short stories from one of the most imaginative people alive.
I received an e-galley of AlienArchives from the publisher through Edelweiss.
Alien Archives at Three Rooms Press
Time and Time Again at Three Rooms Press
Robert Silverberg author site
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpre...
Each of the stories is introduced by Silverberg and that is, in many ways, the most fascinating element of the book. Silverberg is a professional, someone who did the work of being a working writer for his lifetime, producing short stories for magazines and anthologies along with his several novels. His introductions explain so much about that professional work, writing a story inspired by a picture, writing another for a magazine and getting it rejected and offering it elsewhere, pulling a short story out of a novel and combining short stories to create a novel. It is a fascinating look behind the curtain.
One of my favorites is “Bride 91” that not only introduces us to an alien creature but a very different concept of marriage. “Alaree” not only gave us a unique alien, but a unique understanding of the individual and the group. In “Sunrise on Mercury” the alien is an unseen presense, a consciousness who tries its best to help, even when it seems unhelpful. “The Silent Colony” frankly blew my mind and I can’t ruin it for you, but that last paragraph is a shocker. “En Route to Earth” cracked me up because of course, if we have interspace travel, we are going to have intergalactic stewards
“The Way to Spook City” seems plausible, I mean if having aliens interested in us is plausible. “Beauty in the Night” is fascinating. The aliens are mostly an unseen presence while the real story is a very common one. “To the Dark Star” is another that tells us more about humanity than aliens. It is not pretty.
I love short stories and enjoy science fiction so of course I found a lot to love in AlienArchives. It took quite a while to read because I would read a story, then read a book, read a story and read another book. I didn’t want the stories to run together in my head by reading one after another.
Silverberg is an economical writer. He doesn’t spend paragraphs setting a scene, he puts you right into the story with the action already moving. He knows you will figure it out. He doesn’t explain unless he has to, for example, the concept of marriage in “Bride 91.” He assumes his readers are smart and an infer and read between the lines. I love that and it makes for dynamic, fascinating short stories from one of the most imaginative people alive.
I received an e-galley of AlienArchives from the publisher through Edelweiss.
Alien Archives at Three Rooms Press
Time and Time Again at Three Rooms Press
Robert Silverberg author site
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpre...
November 20, 2019
Alien Archives: Eighteen Stories of Extraterrestrial Encounters is a career-spanning collection highlighting some of the best science fiction short stories and novellas from celebrated author Robert Silverberg. With all-new forwards from the author himself, readers are given greater insight into the motivations and process behind each story.
Read more at https://www.geeksofdoom.com/2019/11/1...
Read more at https://www.geeksofdoom.com/2019/11/1...
October 28, 2019
Alien Archives: Eighteen Stories of Extraterrestrial Encounters by Robert Silverberg is a very highly recommended collection of previously published short stories, spanning decades, all featuring extraterrestrials.
Any collection of stories of any type from science fiction Grand Master Robert Silverberg is well worth immediately purchasing. Silverberg "wrote these stories, the oldest one in 1954 and the most recent almost half a century later, with two beliefs held firmly in mind: 1) We are not alone. The universe is full of non-human life-forms. 2) We are never going to encounter any of these alien beings." The great thing about any Silverberg collection is that he writes a new introduction to all the stories documenting when and why they were written and other pertinent facts.
All of these stories are, naturally, well written. It is delightful to see stories published in pulp magazines side by side with more recent stories, documenting, in many ways, the history of science fiction stories. The plots vary greatly and highlight Silverberg's skill and diversity in presenting different characters and scenarios while telling a compelling, engaging story. Some stories, obviously, feel dated because they were written decades earlier, but they are all wildly entertaining.
Contents include: The Silent Colony; En Route to Earth; The Way to Spook City; Amanda and the Alien; One-Way Journey; The Shadow of Wings; Gorgon Planet; Flies; Sundance; Bride; Something Wild is Loose; Schwartz Between the Galaxies; Diana of the Hundred Breasts; Sunrise on Mercury; Alaree; The Soul-Painter and the Shapeshifter; To the Dark Star; Beauty in the Night
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Three Rooms Press.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2019/1...
Any collection of stories of any type from science fiction Grand Master Robert Silverberg is well worth immediately purchasing. Silverberg "wrote these stories, the oldest one in 1954 and the most recent almost half a century later, with two beliefs held firmly in mind: 1) We are not alone. The universe is full of non-human life-forms. 2) We are never going to encounter any of these alien beings." The great thing about any Silverberg collection is that he writes a new introduction to all the stories documenting when and why they were written and other pertinent facts.
All of these stories are, naturally, well written. It is delightful to see stories published in pulp magazines side by side with more recent stories, documenting, in many ways, the history of science fiction stories. The plots vary greatly and highlight Silverberg's skill and diversity in presenting different characters and scenarios while telling a compelling, engaging story. Some stories, obviously, feel dated because they were written decades earlier, but they are all wildly entertaining.
Contents include: The Silent Colony; En Route to Earth; The Way to Spook City; Amanda and the Alien; One-Way Journey; The Shadow of Wings; Gorgon Planet; Flies; Sundance; Bride; Something Wild is Loose; Schwartz Between the Galaxies; Diana of the Hundred Breasts; Sunrise on Mercury; Alaree; The Soul-Painter and the Shapeshifter; To the Dark Star; Beauty in the Night
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Three Rooms Press.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2019/1...
January 7, 2020
I read through the stories in Alien Encounter, and while some were interesting, there just was not enough to hold my interest. I felt as though the author was stretching, sometimes trying to figure out as he was writing, the best way to move the story forward.
Interesting read, but not one of my favorites!
Interesting read, but not one of my favorites!
October 19, 2019
I don't think it's possible to read a bad Silverberg book and this book confirmed my idea.
I loved all of these stories and I found this book interesting and engrossing.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I loved all of these stories and I found this book interesting and engrossing.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
November 30, 2019
Excellent collection of super short stories.
Read
June 21, 2025A favorite of my teenage self. 65 years later, not so much.
February 11, 2020
Not terrible, just very uneven stories. The stories that grabbed me really grabbed me and the ones that didn't very much didn't.
December 17, 2023
18 stories:
The Silent Colony (1954)
En Route to Earth (1957)
The Way to Spook City (1992)
Amanda and the Alien (1983)
One-Way Journey (1957)
Gorgon Planet (1954)
The Shadow of Wings (1963)
Flies (1967)
Sundance (1969)
Bride 91 (1967)
Something Wild Is Loose (1971)
Schwartz Between the Galaxies (1974)
Diana of the Hundred Breasts (1996)
Sunrise on Mercury (1957)
Alaree (1958)
The Soul-Painter and the Shapeshifter (1981)
To the Dark Star (1968)
Beauty in the Night (1997)
The Silent Colony (1954)
En Route to Earth (1957)
The Way to Spook City (1992)
Amanda and the Alien (1983)
One-Way Journey (1957)
Gorgon Planet (1954)
The Shadow of Wings (1963)
Flies (1967)
Sundance (1969)
Bride 91 (1967)
Something Wild Is Loose (1971)
Schwartz Between the Galaxies (1974)
Diana of the Hundred Breasts (1996)
Sunrise on Mercury (1957)
Alaree (1958)
The Soul-Painter and the Shapeshifter (1981)
To the Dark Star (1968)
Beauty in the Night (1997)
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews