Another ROBERT SILVERBERG MASTERPIECE + January Science Fiction Reviews Wrap-Up

[@danieldelvalle5004]

I'm beginning to focus on just a few key SF writers to reread and enjoy. Silverberg is one of them. Great video as always.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

This is exactly what I'm returning to currently: I've long trusted my instincts forged in my first ten years of buying/reading SF and with trusted critical works in hand, I've long managed to pick out what is best for me. Only when I've doubted the sureness of my past success in finding the material I enjoy the most - 'just in case' - have I strayed, with a few notable exceptions. SO at the moment, I'm on a Tom DIsch re-exploration.

[@danieldelvalle5004]

@@outlawbookselleroriginalI understand where you're coming from. I also have a keen fondness for Stanislaw Lem and the Strugatsky brothers. Reading them back in the 80s fired up my sense of wonder from the usual "Golden Age" stuff. I especially found Lem so new and fresh at the time. I still reread him and the Strugatskys a lot. As a matter of fact I introduced my youngest son and one of his friends to SF with Roadside Picnic and Hard to Be a God. My son's friend was so impressed by HTBAG that he spent almost a day with me discussing it.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@danieldelvalle5004 'Hard to be a GOd' is my favourite of theirs - in some ways, not their most ambitious, but I feel it's the most successful in achieving a strong message.

[@StrayGator]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal I'll be looking forward to a video on Tom Disch, because I don't really know where to begin with him!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@StrayGator -Hold fire for a couple of weeks, I'm currently re-engaging with Disch now (loved his stuff for decades but haven't read him for a good ten years or so and I'm loving rediscovering the great man. I'll do a Disch roundup that covers where to start - I have a definite opinion on this!

[@chriswright9096]

Thanks for that interesting video. Like you, I read many Silverberg novels when young (13 to 15 in my case). I very much enjoyed them, and I certainly knew I was in the presence of greatness. In the last year, at the age of 56, I've been reading them again and find myself much more tuned to the nuances, literary style and cleverness in the writing. Currently on The Book of Skulls, having read through A Time of Changes, Downward to The Earth and Dying Inside. I would hugely recommend any of them! Do as I did and find a second hand bookstore! Save a tree!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Well, I'd say it's only right that a creator is honoured by being paid for their work, so I personally feel readers should buy new copies where they can so Bob earns some money. However, I can't disagree with you about how re-reading his work pays dividends- he grows in my estimation constantly, I must say.

[@tomlabooks3263]

LOVE Tower of Glass. But to be honest, I love everything by Silverberg, including “Son of Man”, which nobody liked. So I’m definitely biased. Great video 👍🏻

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yeah, he's a lovable guy LOL. I like 'Son of Man' too, though it's a divisive one - interestingly, higher up another poster asks for opinions on 'Nightwings', which I find less typical of BS than 'SOM'. I think Bob was just having fun with 'SOM'....which leads me to the question "HAve you ever read 'A Voyage to Arcturus' by David Lindsay?'. You may like this if you love SOM.

[@tomlabooks3263]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal I have not. Thanks for the suggestion! I’m going to find a copy.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@tomlabooks3263 -It's a much older book, but full of very vivid and strange moments which might have influenced SOM- and it's a famous book in its own right, in all the reference works.

[@lasnico_7]

it's quite funny that you talk about Robert Silverberg the very same day I looked for some books to read anytime in the future and came across Capricorn games, which also interests me on a personal level.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Well, Bob's stories are usually very good too!

[@Bookpilled]

Read Tower of Glass in the earliest stages of my SF romance, should probably circle back to it. Never drew the Dick comparison, very interesting. I don't think I've heard you opine on Dhalgren, curious what you think of it.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Hi Matt, good to see you here as ever. As you heard here, I read it a long time ago and it's worth revisiting, especially in comparison to the PKD, given that they cover so much of the same ground - and lots of different ground - in diverging ways. 'Dhalgren'? Maybe later this year, as I'm currently revsiting a lot of my old faves - as I re-read 'Jewels of Aptor' recently, I am up for more SRD so it'll come. I'm on a Tom Disch thing at the moment, which I'm loving. I have a load of stuff I've not read, but I can see I'm going to be revisiting lots of the really good stuff this year and reviewing it. Keep on keeping on, my man!

[@keithdixon6595]

Just came to the channel having been lured by Bookpilled ... glad to see you. I had that same copy of Tower of Glass back in the day, though I'd completely forgotten what the book was about. Dying Inside is one of my all-time favourite books, though funnily enough I only read it the once. I also loved Dick and, like you, read Electric Sheep yearly for 5 or 6 years in my late teens. If you're reading Disch (another favourite) have you found a copy of Camp Concentration? To me, this was the height of his craft - intelligent, funny, great characterisation and the twist ending to end them all. I wrote a student dissertation on this, Ballard's Drowned World and an Aldiss (which one, I can't now remember). The late 60s and early- to mid-70s was a great time to be buying and reading SF ! I'm now living in France and reading mostly on an ebook reader (not currently the Kindle), though today I did go out to a local Brit-run charity shop with the intention of buying some real SF paperbacks. (I've been reading American crime for a long time). Came back with 6 SF books, though one of them was Fantasy, which I don't like as a rule but Bookpilled really likes Jack Vance ... we'll see. I'll bury myself in some of your videos now!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Welcome aboard Keith. As a veteran SF reader for fifty years and a bookseller for 39, very little is new to me now, so I read Disch for the first time decades ago- 'The Genocides'- was my first strike and I'm about to re-read -and 'Camp Concentration' was the second of his I read (this was early-mid 80s). I do like US Crime myself (again, reading it for decades) though in the last decade or so, I've been more enamoured of Italian crime fiction. That copy of TOG was the same edition I read originally too.

[@zamiadams4343]

Another great video, I just ordered "Tower of Glass" cheers Stephen!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Let me know how you get on with it.

[@allanlloyd3676]

Quick comment about Ian Watson. I agree with a lot that you say about the ideas overwhelming his novels. I've been having a bit of a return to his work recently and I'm surprised how many of his novels I start and enjoy but don't finish. For me the answer is his short stories. I own some beautiful Panther, Granada, Grafton editions of his collections, and have been dipping into them and they are brilliant. I've read Slow Birds, The Coming of Vertumnus, Very Slow Time Machine, Salvage Rites and several of his more recent stories, and I think the discipline of the short form really suits him. He has themes that he keeps returning to, (Nazis crop up a lot) and some of his alternate futures are just mind-blowing. I did read Chekhov's Journey, which I have owned for ages and didn't start because I thought it was about the Star Trek character, which says more about me than about Watson. It is a brilliant book about alternate Russian history based on a real journey undertaken by the actual Chekhov and I loved it. Looking forward to your chat with Adam Roberts.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Hi Allan, good to hear from you. I agree. I'm very fond of 'The Very Slow Time Machine' as a collection of his- that was the first one I read and I have copies of other collections too (I'm trying to get Gollancz firsts in tip-top condition but there aren't many out there). I think your comment re the discipline of the form is spot on. I've read quite a number of his novels and have had this experience many times over- this was the first I'd read for years and it's put me off reading another for a good while now. though he's clearly very talented. A true one-off!

[@allanlloyd3676]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal Thinking about it, he has a lot in common with Adam Roberts. Both are very intelligent writers sometimes put down for being too clever. Both write interesting characters who are often not likable. And both mostly resist the temptation of series books, which might make them more commercially successful.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@allanlloyd3676 Agreed.

[@gregtopping6702]

Stopped the video and ordered the book. Love your channel!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

I hope you resumed afterwards! I cover some other books too. Hope you enjoy 'TOG', let us all know here.

[@ExpatRiot79]

nice video. I really enjoy your channel. You always mention something I'm vaguely familiar with and a bunch of stuff I want to read. It's so refreshing to see the wealth of stuff that has been written compared to the mountain of crap I see being talked about on other channels. Any way, thank you.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Avoiding the 'mountain of crap' is one of my things. There is an awful lot of poor skiffy being praised on KZbin, largely by inexperienced readers who don't yet have the history, context and critical acumen to truly judge books- KZbin is a great democratiser, but it's like the whole 'DIY Punk Aesthetic' theory of "anyone can do it". Well, it's a nice theory, but when you listen to Punk Rock from back in the day, many of the DIYers couldn't!

[@waltera13]

Savory and satisfying. Saturated with content. A personal brush with your impressions of books - a nice look inside of "Tower of Glass" - So much to say, but it's better that YOU said. . . Sure, we could do with more of these, especially one book at a time.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Hi Walter- I am thinking more this way now. I found the re-read of TOG so satisfying that I may do more one-off reviews as time goes on. Thanks as always for your attention and support!

[@StrayGator]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal I agree, you have the knowledge, eloquence, and consistent delivery, to pull off the off the cuff delivery rather than having to rely on heavy editing.

[@waltera13]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal it seems a more sustainable model than book hauls. . .

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@StrayGator -Thanks Chris. When there's a jump cut, it's usually because in my over-enthusiasm I've mispronounced something or coughed. I think what you like comes from my years of doing this kind of thing in work every day and hundreds of times in the pub with friends!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@waltera13 Yes, plus the book hauls will reduce seriously this year- though I'm planning more dealer visits that will result in some. But I'm re-focusing on my core authors, filling gaps, completing runs - mostly hardcovers- and in some cases, upgrading paperbacks for spines. But I am having a clearout too- I have a dozen paperbacks in one bag already for a friend. Plus I need the space...

[@PurplePixieEater]

I liked SON OF MAN. Very different from any other SF I read. fun fact about Philip K. Dick and Robert Silverberg - Dick made it known on Hour 25 that he never read anything by Silverberg he liked but I had this OVERWHELMING impression that he just didn't like Silverberg because Silverberg was rich (living in a mansion he bought before he was 30) and Dick was impoverished and it was actually much less about the quality of Silverberg's work. Dick also didn't like Harlan Ellison's stuff (though he liked Ellison personally). Ironically, Silverberg (a close friend of Ellison's) didn't like most of Ellison's corpus but Ellison considered Silverberg one of the best SF writers of all time and generally loved his books.

[@j.j.5731]

I picked up a Gollancz 2000 edition of Tower of Glass in a thrift shop a week ago. Just finished reading it and all I can say is, wow! First time reading anything by Silverberg, he is brilliant. It has really stuck with me and you are so right when you said he packed so many ideas in 205 pages.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yes, his work between 66 and 74 is astonishing. Lots of other Silverbob videos here, there is a playlist, check it out

[@victorrodley9099]

Late Again,sorry,but I don't seem to be getting notification these day's. A few Comments:- 1) Love Silverberg,a Time of Changes and Downward to Earth are great. Tower of Glass and Book of Skulls are on my TBR pile. 2)Delany's Aye and Gomorrah is one of the finest Short story collections I have ever read.Mindblowing! 3) I find reading Ian Watson to be exhilerating,full of conceptual synthesis and fusion of ideas,with a pinch of higher consciesness and transformation,applied librally. His early novels are magnificent. Thanks as always Stephen for an excellent video.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Cheers Victor!

[@chrisw6164]

Shadrach in the Furnace by Silverberg is one I read recently. I had a similar reaction that he could have made a lot more out of the world in which it takes place, but he didn’t. The paperback clocks in at 252 pages, but one of today’s writers might make it into a 1500 page trilogy.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Absolutely, Chris. Funnily enough, that was the last novel of his key period. He didn't write another novel for four years and returned with a big, big book that got a huge advance and despite its extraterrestrial setting, is a Fantasy, as it has magic in it- 'Lord Valentine's Castle', which spawned several sequels and was a betstseller. He deliberately moved away from the intense, shadowy work of 67-76 due to the fact that despite major critical acclaim, the books didn't garner awards and were too serious for many readers. This is a great shame, as although he's written good books since, he's never returned to the blistering fire of those years. He's also been rueful about the fact that despite doing this, he's NEVER had the huge sales he feels he deserves, while Herbert, Asimov and Heinlein did- and he's a better writer than all combined, I'd say.

[@markkavanagh7377]

Ever thought about doing a book club? It would be fascinating to hear your interpretation of a book, and your ability to put it in the context of its influences and inspiration.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

I haven't really considered the readalong thing, as I've run actually physical bookclubs in and outside my work and I'm kind of over them. But I'll do a poll here one day and see what people think. Glad you're enjoying the channel.

[@yelisieimurai]

I need to read that book, and “book of sculls. I love A time of changes , I also think that is one of the best of Silverberg. And I wanted to mention Hawksbill Station, I enjoyed that book very much. Very interesting video as always , thank you!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yes, 'Hawksbill Station' is superb example of an expansion/revision from an earlier story- I re-read the original in December, actually, while I was re-examining some of the best of his stories in my copy of 'The Best of Robert SIlverberg'. I think it's pretty straight ahead compared to the material that was wholly new in the 68-74 period, but very enjoyable. I think all his work in that era is essential, major or comparatively minor.

[@felixskivor4487]

Excellent!!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Thanks Felix!

[@unstopitable]

Interesting into labor and PKD's work. As you point out, SF needs more of this (work, the working class). Also, a lot of Silverberg's main protagonists seem to be these virile, manly types, but also suffer from some kind of woundedness (is that a real word?), but usually in relation to the feminine. In other words, they reach a point where they can go no further, on their own, and seek out some embodiment of the feminine. In this regard, I find that there's a lot of lovemaking going on, but most of it is spiritual/emotional, for the sake of healing. I've really grown to appreciate Silverberg. Even his "crud," his dross, beats out most of everything being published today. His passing will mark the end of an era, no doubt.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Very much so- some contemporary-minded people are overly concerned with his 'depiction of women' but of course as you sense, what he is REALLY depicting is wounded men and how sensuality, love and sex is an element of their woundedness and transcendence. Why should a man not write from a male perspective? After all, hardly anyone ever picks on -for example - Elizabeth Gilbert's selfish abandonment of her husband and personal indulgence in seeking something beyond (in my view simply her visceral pleasure) - as a poor 'depiction of men' by a female writer. Somehow, that is ok. Not in my world! As you say, when Bob goes, we will lose something very, very important.

[@RominaJones]

I was unfamiliar with this book, and you’ve completely sold me on it.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Let me know how you get on with it.

[@karstencollins6966]

It's funny I see this video the day after I bought "Tower of Glass" along with "Son of Man" on a whim at a bookstore. I have heard many good things about Silverberg, despite having never read any of his work yet. Looks like I'm in for a treat!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

You certainly are! Do check out my other Silverberg videos here,k there'll be more to come as I'm re-reading him a lot currently.

[@paulm8253]

Looking forward to hear you and Adam discuss purgatory mount. I enjoyed it very much but I wasn't too sure how meat of the story 'United States of Amnesia' fitted with the bookended sections on the discovery of purgatory Mount. I can see themes of religion, equality and struggling against oppressors etc but just struggled to fully reconcile the whole thing,think I'm missing something?

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

I'd say go back and re-read the last few chapters, from the denouement of the middle section with Otty and the closing part, here you'll find an explanation of how events at the end of the middle section lead to the future of the frame narrative. I can't be too specific here without presenting spoilers that could ruin it for others, but I'd say this: with a writer like Adam, go slow and 'close read'. He infodumps it, but not explosively, though it is clear in the text in one sentence.

[@paulm8253]

@outlawbookselleroriginal I will do that actually, maybe it went over my head! I did find the last 20 pages of 'This This' very exposition heavy but it didn't ruin my enjoyment. Adam seems to have a core thought provoking idea he wants to present but he wraps it in an engaging narrative with a strong prose. Of current SF writers he has to be right up there surely?

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@paulm8253 Yes, he is one of only six living SF writers I buy automatically every time on publication of a new book.

[@paulm8253]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal automatic author buys sounds like a good upcoming video for the outlaw 😃

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@paulm8253 -Well, if you watch the backlist on the channel, especially my Top 10s, Top 5s etc you'll soon work them out, but they are Christopher Priest, M John Harrison, William Gibson, Dave Hutchinson, Adam Roberts and Chris Beckett. Sadly, a lot of the authors I really rate have passed on, so my automatic buy finger is less busy than it was. You can't replace genius.

[@conradledebuhr1765]

A couple notes on these reviews... I read Jewels of Aptor last summer in its original Ace Double presentation since I found it in the wild and liked it. Liked the writing and the narrative. Like, but not love, and I'm keeping an eye out for any I find in the wild - I would've read more by now if I'd had better luck. Also read my first Bob Shaw this week. I'm limiting myself to what I can find at library sales and the occasional used bookshop and kept a lookout for him mostly because of your glowing praise, so my first Shaw was Medusa's Children. I really liked the first quarter of it, thought the writing and world and characters were very well done, but it took some weird turns and I wasn't a big fan of the end. It was good, looking forward to reading some of his less minor novels.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

I like 'Medusa's Children', but it is not one of his very best-though I enjoyed it first time. The upcoming video will point you in the tip-top direction.

[@conradledebuhr1765]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal Fantastic, glad to hear it. Enjoyed seeing a monthly 'wrap-up' too, thanks for the entertainment and education!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@conradledebuhr1765 I usually call it a 'Recent Reads' which I prefer, but I thought I'd have a laugh with the standard youtube terminology this time.

[@leakybootpress9699]

I did a double take when I thought you said you regard Dick as a literary writer, so I rewound a bit, and you did say that. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of PKD's work and I've read all the fiction which has been published, plus the Collected Letters and a number of books about him, but literary? No way! I turn to Sick for his ideas and his obsessions, but never for a literary fix. Silverberg though, at his best, is a literary writer, and I agree with you that his work from the late sixties to mid-seventies is literary, strong, compelling and should survive him by a long time.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Well, I can understand where you're coming from -I've read everything too apart from one of the volumes of Selected Letters I missed out on- and I would rejoinder that in his best moments, what Dick produced was Literature: 'The Man in the High Castle' makes a case for this, without even invoking other titles. Certainly his ambition and insights are literary too, so we'll have to disagree I'm afraid James! Completely agree re the Bobster though. Good to hear from you as always.

[@leakybootpress9699]

​@outlawbookselleroriginal I agree that PKD could occasionally commit the sin of literature, but he was inconsistent. Usually his prose was readable, in a rough and ready way, and usually his charactees lacked depth. Silverberg, on the other hand, was a literary repeat offender during his personal golden age. I respect your opinions, Steve, but we can't agree on everything. If we were in a pub we could have an interesting debate on this topic.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@leakybootpress9699 I agree PKD was inconsistent- wildly so! Shame we can;t have that drink, wrong side of the country and all that!

[@JohnG225]

To my shame I've never read any Silverberg. I've had Tower of Glass on my shelf for years (and have been buying up his SF Masterworks initially prompted by Moid's enthusiasm). I'm between books right now and was thinking of reading some PKD, but at the same time I wanted I was in the mood for something like DADOES...so maybe Tower of Glass it is.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

You'll find its a good entry point for Silverberg and as I say an interesting one to compare to Androids. I've read tons of Bob's work over the years- apart from a few juveniles I've read all the SF up to and including 'Lord Valentine's Castle' at which point he goes into a different period. I met him in 1987, amazing writer, so important. Several more BS videos here, there is a playlist of them actually.

[@JohnG225]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal I've watched a few already :) Oddly enough he's an author I've been aware of since I was 10 (I'm a couple of weeks off 52), but just never got round to reading him. I'm playing catch up.I went through a very long period (about 20 years) where I mostly read popular science books so catching up on all the sci-fi I missed from the age of 15.

[@sylvanyoung6610]

Watson is a challenge , I read " Miracle Visitor " . About UFOs, is the truth out there or is it stranger than fiction...the truth within ? Its a book of ideas .At times it comes across more like a thesis . He reminds me a bit of Michael Bishop. Except he goes on and on . He is a clever chap 😊 .Delany has a way with words " Nuff said " Another challenge . Ok off my soap box. Thank you Steve.Bye.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Hey Sylvan - I read 'Miracle Visitors' a very long time ago, am going to revisit it sometime. Of course, he wrote a novel with Michael Bishop, who does have similar ideas but seems to come from a different place with characters, I think (though early Bishop is very like Watson in many ways, those spiky pure SF books). Delany? Well yes!

[@MuteProtest]

Still haven't read any Silverberg, but I have Nightwings and Stochastic Man. Planning on reading one soon, which would you recommend grabbing first?

[@AlvaroZinos]

Not to hijack this thread or speak on behalf of anyone else, at all, but I'm very well-versed with Silverberg's work specifically and from those two I'd definitely recommend NIGHTWINGS as a first step. Remains a personal favorite :-) (One small caveat for expectations; it's not technically a novel).

[@MuteProtest]

@@AlvaroZinos thanks!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Alvaro is probably in the majority here, since 'Nightwings' is so acclaimed, but I personally tack against the wind of critical consensus on this one - it's beautiful and poetic, but reads with the tincture of Fantasy and I don't feel it's typical of his work (nothing wrong with that, but that's my feeling). In his key period of 1968-1974, I feel there are far better books - 'The Book of Skulls', 'Downward to the Earth', 'A Time of Changes' , 'The Man In The Maze' and 'Dying Inside' are his key books in this period I think. 'Stochastic Man' is fine and more typical of the end of this period, but not one of the best, despite its' many fine qualities. 'Nightwings' will not give you the feel of his signature work, I feel, so if you read it and whatever you get out of it, don't expect the same from other books.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yes, it's very acclaimed and beautiful, but it's never done much for me compared to other books I cite. I've read pretty much all of Silverberg's SF from the beginning (with a couple of juvenile exceptions and some shorts) and alongside 'Thorns', it's always struck me as his most overrated book, but different strokes as they say. Good to have another serious Bob fan on board here, thanks!

[@MuteProtest]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal thank you so much! Definitely keeping an eye out for more of his books too, now i know more of what to look for

[@guyriddihough]

Downward to Earth ... it is not very good. How could this ever be compared to The Heart of Darkness? What am I missing? What does Chris Priest think of this book?

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

I'm not sure what CP thinks of it, we've barely ever discussed Silverberg. Completely disagree re 'Downward..', I think it's very good indeed and the critical consensus comes down on its side, though I wouldn't rate it as highly as 'The Book of Skulls', 'Dying Inside' or 'A Time of Changes'. It's the spiritual nature of the journey and the jungle setting which to many makes it seem like 'Heart of Darkness' -except in reverse as the protagonist emerges from "the horror" into redemption, I'd say.

[@markkavanagh7377]

first!!,First!!, FIRST!!!!!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Well Mark, we know where you stand, good for you, my man. I don't normally rank books that way, but TOG at 6 is an approximate, really. I enjoyed re-reading it so much, as I hope you can tell.

[@markkavanagh7377]

I'm reading A Time of Changes now, very vivid and involving.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@markkavanagh7377 That one blew me away and I feel it's severely underrated despite its award-winning status at the time. The parallels between the events of the story and the psychedelic culture of the times are clear and impassioned, I found and it's become strangely relevant in another sense today in the fussing around personal pronouns, as Daniel- at least I think it was him, another subscriber here, pointed out a while ago. Its recent reissue in the UK as a Gollancz Masterwork- for the first time in decades - has reasserted its primacy in Bob's sterling ouevre. A video about it will follow here before too long.