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Valley Beyond Time
Six humans and three aliens find themselves mysteriously transported to an enclosed valley, the playthings of a powerful entity called the Watcher. They find the life of an aquarium fish is not to their liking and seek escape... The characterization is adequate, if not deep, and it's a decent read. Fairly distant future setting with many inhabited planets, hyperspace travel, at least three alien races, and instantaneous (though expensive) communication across interstellar distances.
223 pages, paperback
First published January 1, 1957
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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 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 18, 2023
Here are a few early novellas and stories from sci-fi luminary (and personal favorite of mine; Sailing to Byzantium touched me deeply the first time I read it, some twenty years ago), Robert Silverberg, each one pulpy enough to chew. The four tales presented in Valley Beyond Time represent a period in Silverberg's career just before the author's much-discussed quantum leap in literary quality, when he was still churning out reams of formula SF flop for the second and third-tier pulps. I enjoyed the stories well enough, though their now-hackneyed plots and cutout characters left me a little cold. I doubt that I will return to them ever again.
December 24, 2020
This collection was published in 1973, although the stories contained within were each written between 1956-58. This marks the only appearance of “The Wages of Death” in book form. The title story is my favorite, one of Silverberg's best from his early period.
"Valley Beyond Time" (1957)
Nine strangers are transported by an alien being--The Watcher--into an idyllic valley they cannot leave. They do not need to eat or sleep. Their wounds heal, they grow younger, and they rise from the dead if killed. There is love but no sex. It is, in short, the Christian version of Heaven--and it is a hellish place to live. An enthralling novella with theological undertones.
"The Flame and the Hammer" (1957)
There is a legend on the planet Dykran of a mythical weapon called the Hammer which will one day be used by the planets of the Aldryne system to overthrow the galactic Empire. When his father is killed by the Proconsul's interrogators, a young priest Ras Duyain flees to Dykran with dreams of finding the weapon and starting a universal revolt.
This story has several flaws. There are too many characters with odd names that have little to do in the story. It proves preposterously easy to coordinate and stage an interplanetary war. There are too many head-scratching coincidences to count. Plus, how many times can sci-fi writers recount the fall of the Roman Empire in space?
"The Wages of Death" (1958)
After Separatists take over the government, ten Loyalists must flee their home world. These men--artists, academics, and pacifists--hire a mercenary to shepherd them through the two thousand mile journey to safety, but their suspicions against him deepen the farther they go. This story is marked by strong characterization although the ending feels somewhat abrupt.
"Spacerogue" (1958)
The son of a nobleman vows revenge after the king kills his family and burns his village. He alters his appearance, reinvents himself as a smuggler, and begins a long campaign to rise among the courtiers in order to get face to face with his sworn enemy. There are a few missteps in this story, but it still displays the author's talent for world-building and maintaining suspense.
"Valley Beyond Time" (1957)
Nine strangers are transported by an alien being--The Watcher--into an idyllic valley they cannot leave. They do not need to eat or sleep. Their wounds heal, they grow younger, and they rise from the dead if killed. There is love but no sex. It is, in short, the Christian version of Heaven--and it is a hellish place to live. An enthralling novella with theological undertones.
"The Flame and the Hammer" (1957)
There is a legend on the planet Dykran of a mythical weapon called the Hammer which will one day be used by the planets of the Aldryne system to overthrow the galactic Empire. When his father is killed by the Proconsul's interrogators, a young priest Ras Duyain flees to Dykran with dreams of finding the weapon and starting a universal revolt.
This story has several flaws. There are too many characters with odd names that have little to do in the story. It proves preposterously easy to coordinate and stage an interplanetary war. There are too many head-scratching coincidences to count. Plus, how many times can sci-fi writers recount the fall of the Roman Empire in space?
"The Wages of Death" (1958)
After Separatists take over the government, ten Loyalists must flee their home world. These men--artists, academics, and pacifists--hire a mercenary to shepherd them through the two thousand mile journey to safety, but their suspicions against him deepen the farther they go. This story is marked by strong characterization although the ending feels somewhat abrupt.
"Spacerogue" (1958)
The son of a nobleman vows revenge after the king kills his family and burns his village. He alters his appearance, reinvents himself as a smuggler, and begins a long campaign to rise among the courtiers in order to get face to face with his sworn enemy. There are a few missteps in this story, but it still displays the author's talent for world-building and maintaining suspense.
September 14, 2017
Ehh. Early Silverberg, stories were kind of... shallow? He got better.
April 30, 2023
Valley Beyond Time - 4/5 - Pretty good. I've read a few other stories recently that had a similar vibe and those often felt like they had a little more depth to them. Silverberg, by his own admission in the introduction, had a very basic adventure style in this early career collection. Doesn't mean this is bad, just lacked a little something to make it great
The Flame and the Hammer - 3/5 - Rather basic empire vs rebels story. It is by no means a bad story but not anything you need to seek out
The Wages of Death - 3/5 - A story of survival as a group of men are led by a mercenary thousands of miles to their planetary escape. It's pretty fun but the group does enough dumb stuff in service of the plot that it brings the story down a bit
Spacerogue - Revenge story in space. Has the vibes of The Stars, My Destination but is not nearly on that level. It's enjoyable enough as a short story adventure
Spacerogue - 3/5 -
The Flame and the Hammer - 3/5 - Rather basic empire vs rebels story. It is by no means a bad story but not anything you need to seek out
The Wages of Death - 3/5 - A story of survival as a group of men are led by a mercenary thousands of miles to their planetary escape. It's pretty fun but the group does enough dumb stuff in service of the plot that it brings the story down a bit
Spacerogue - Revenge story in space. Has the vibes of The Stars, My Destination but is not nearly on that level. It's enjoyable enough as a short story adventure
Spacerogue - 3/5 -
August 2, 2009
A collection of Silverberg's short fiction. I definitely like his novels better, and especially his fantasy novels. These stories didn't really stand out in my mind.
May 10, 2023
4.5 stars
April 8, 2015
Valley Beyond Time (1972) 214 pages by Robert Silverberg. Stories written in 1957 and '58.
Valley Beyond Time. The style reminded me of Simak. Nine strangers thrown together on an idyllic world. Six humans and three different aliens. The Watcher had put them there. McKay didn't want to leave because he had been old and feeble and was now rejuvenated.
The Flame and the Hammer. A Galactic empire ruled by Devron XIV is on the verge of rebellion and hears of the legendary Hammer of Aldrynne which is prophesied to overthrow the empire. We don't know if the hammer is mythical or real. Possibly the uprisings will succeed with just the inspiration of the hammer.
The Wages of Death. The planet of Maynard has come under the control of the Separatists to the point where being a Loyalist is now punishable by death. Tom Macintyre and nine other Loyalists can escape on a merchant ship to Haxley but only if they traverse 2000 miles to the city of Dillard. The ten are too pacifistic and sheltered to be able to make it to Dillard. So they hire a mercenary to guide them.
Spacerogue. Barr Herndon's family was killed by Krellig. He managed to escape off planet, change his appearance and return. Now he seeks a way to find revenge on Krellig.
The stories are good and have held up well. The plots may be a little thin and in the title story we never do find out why the Watcher sent them to the Valley. Still the stories were entertaining and have characters with some depth.
Valley Beyond Time. The style reminded me of Simak. Nine strangers thrown together on an idyllic world. Six humans and three different aliens. The Watcher had put them there. McKay didn't want to leave because he had been old and feeble and was now rejuvenated.
The Flame and the Hammer. A Galactic empire ruled by Devron XIV is on the verge of rebellion and hears of the legendary Hammer of Aldrynne which is prophesied to overthrow the empire. We don't know if the hammer is mythical or real. Possibly the uprisings will succeed with just the inspiration of the hammer.
The Wages of Death. The planet of Maynard has come under the control of the Separatists to the point where being a Loyalist is now punishable by death. Tom Macintyre and nine other Loyalists can escape on a merchant ship to Haxley but only if they traverse 2000 miles to the city of Dillard. The ten are too pacifistic and sheltered to be able to make it to Dillard. So they hire a mercenary to guide them.
Spacerogue. Barr Herndon's family was killed by Krellig. He managed to escape off planet, change his appearance and return. Now he seeks a way to find revenge on Krellig.
The stories are good and have held up well. The plots may be a little thin and in the title story we never do find out why the Watcher sent them to the Valley. Still the stories were entertaining and have characters with some depth.
February 25, 2024
4 novellas:
Valley Beyond Time (1957)
The Flame and the Hammer (1957)
The Wages of Death (1958)
Spacerogue (1958)
Valley Beyond Time (1957)
The Flame and the Hammer (1957)
The Wages of Death (1958)
Spacerogue (1958)
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews