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Book Review: A Time of Changes by Robert Silverberg

Book cover to A Time of Changes by Robert SilverbergOn the planet Borthan, it is not merely a breach of etiquette to use the pronouns “I” and “me,” but a violation of the Covenant formed by the colonists from Earth who first settled the planet. Further, opening one’s self to vent or share your troubles is only allowed with your assigned bond brother or bond sister or in a private session with a “drainer” (a priest). The Covenant forbids anything resembling self-indulgence or self-aggrandizement. 

Nobleman Kinnall Darival abides by these regulations with the strictest discipline—until an Earthman named Schweiz arrives on Borthan and questions these cultural mores. Kinnall is all too happy to answer, until Schweiz presents him with a drug exported from the jungle continent of Sumara Borthan. Reluctantly, Kinnall takes the drug along with Schweiz and finds himself transformed by the experience and willing to cast off the stifling rules of the Covenant that has kept Borthans socially isolated from one another. 

Kinnall adopts an evangelical mission to spread the drug as far and wide as possible and to usher in a new era of liberation, but he finds himself fighting an uphill battle that puts his life in jeopardy across the entire planet. 

A Time of Changes won the Nebula Award in 1971 and was nominated for the Hugo and Locus awards in 1972. The story is masterfully told from the first person POV of the protagonist Kinnall Darival. Most of the first six chapters are an info dump of introducing the character (the second son of the king of his country) a few adventures and memories from his youth, and the geography of his planet. Once past that, the story moves at a solid pace. Robert Silverberg, one of my favorite writers of his time, does a brilliant job of building this alien world and its culture while also delving into Derival’s interior and exterior struggles against the customs of his society, successfully making his a sympathetic hero. 

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Book Review – TV:2000 edited by Isaac Asimov, Charles G. Waugh, Martin Harry Greenberg

TV:2000 edited by Asimov, Waugh, GreenbergGathering some of the best SF writers of the time including Isaac Asimov, Larry Niven, Theodore Sturgeon, Robert Silverberg, and more, TV:2000 offers prescient tales of television’s effects on society, how it can be used to shape opinion as much as entertain, misinform, disinform, and overwhelm.

As with any anthology, some stories are better than others and a few seem to miss the theme. My favorites included “The Jester” by William Tenn, “The Prize of Peril” by Robert Scheckley, “Mercenary” by Mack Reynolds, “And Madly Teach” by Lloyd Biggle, Jr., and “Interview” by Frank A. Javor.

Blog, Book Reviews

Book Review: The Masks of Time by Robert Silverberg

The Masks of Time by Robert SilverbergOn Christmas Day in 1998, a charismatic being in the form of a nude man materializes from a shimmering electrical field in the middle of Rome. Calling himself Vornan-19, he claims to have traveled back in time 1,000 years to observe the cultures of primitive Earth.

Soon after, the United States government assembles a motley team of five scientists to escort Vornan across the nation, around the globe, even to the moon colonies, all the while studying him in an attempt to determine or debunk his authenticity. Yet, Vornan offers little more than nebulous scraps of information about the future and evades direct questions about the mechanics of time travel, asserting ignorance about all matters scientific and technical.

Rather, Vornan admits to being little more than a bored dilettante from the future seeking to amuse himself by partaking in the sexual customs of “underdeveloped” humans. He reveals only that he hails from a land known as the Centrality and that poverty, starvation, even death have been eliminated, somehow, during the 1,000 years between our time and his.

Among Vornan’s cadre of guardians is Leo Garfield, a middle-aged physicist stymied in his current academic career and in need of a distraction. It is his through Garfield’s point of view that we experience the escapades of Vornan-19, for it is with Garfield that Vornan forms the closest bond.

Vornan’s habitual venery not only extends to the female scientists of the group, but almost any random woman, or man, he happens to encounter in his travels. Despite Garfield’s attempts to keep him in check, Vornan manages to leave chaos and frustration in his wake wherever he goes. Whether that is intentional or a merely the result of being a stranger in a strange land is anyone’s guess.

His popularity in the media rapidly escalates, to the chagrin of a cult known as the Apocalyptists, who believe that the world will end on January 1, 2000. Their public protests and orgies become more fervent as they rail against Vornan, even while he amasses a rabid following of his own. To desperate millions around the world, this prophet from the future brings hope and wisdom. He becomes their new messiah.

Is Vornan-19 merely a simple observer from the future seeking an escape from ennui and indolence, or is he a sham taking advantage of a gullible and “underdeveloped” humanity?

The Masks of Time was published in 1968, during the Vietnam War and a period of violent civil unrest in the United States. People sought hope, equality, peace, but most of all meaning, and many of them looked to various new-age religions and cults to find it. Robert Silverberg deftly adopted all of these elements into the tale of Vornan-19.

While the story opens with the amusing and engaging arrival of Vornan in Rome, the second chapter is loaded down with exposition during Garfield’s initial visit with his friends Jack and Shirley in Arizona. From there, the pacing remains uneven, but the story held my attention to the end.

Blog, Book Reviews

Book Review: The Ends of Time edited by Robert Silverberg

Ends of Time edited by Robert SilverbergThe end is nigh as chronicled in The Ends of Time by seven masters of science fiction including Poul Anderson, John W. Campbell, Arthur C. Clarke, Fritz Leiber, Robert Silverberg (editor), Cordwainer Smith, and Jack Vance.

Most, but not all, of my favorites from this anthology also happen to be the longest tales in the book, including:

“Alpha Ralpha Boulevard” by Cordwainer Smith – Paul and Virginia, members of a reborn human race on a post-apocalyptic Earth, were created only recently, with scant memories of a human society long extinct. To ensure that they are actually in love and not simply programmed to be, Paul and Virginia traverse the treacherous Alpha Ralpha Boulevard in order to put the question to the omniscient machine known as the Abba-dingo.

“Guyal of Sfere” by Jack Vance – To satisfy his voracious hunger, Guyal leaves the safety of his homeland and ventures north, braving several surreal dangers, to find the legendary Museum of Man where all of his questions will be answered by the Curator. Of course, they’ll first need to defeat the hideous demon infesting the museum.

“Epilogue” by Poul Anderson – In the far future, humans return to a long-abandoned Earth only to find that machines have evolved into sentient and fearful robots who have radically transformed the landscape—and are not fond of intruders.

“When the Last Gods Die” by Fritz Leiber – On Earth’s final day, members of the last generation to leave the planet return from space to dissuade the inconsolable Roman gods from terminating their own existence.

Other excellent tales include “The Awakening” by Arthur C. Clarke, “Twilight” by John W. Campbell, “At the End of Days” by Robert Silverberg, and, appropriately, “Last” by Fritz Leiber.

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Book Review: Mind to Mind edited by Robert Silverberg

Mind to Mind edited by Robert SilverbergEdited by the legendary Robert Silverberg, Mind to Mind is an anthology of nine eclectic tales of telepathy—some dark, some hopeful, some humorous. Contributing authors include Isaac Asimov, C.M. Kornbluth, Brian W. Aldiss, James H. Schmitz, James White, Algis Budrys, R.A. Lafferty, Poul Anderson, and Robert Silverberg.

My personal favorites include…

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“Novice” by James H. Schmitz in which a young law student with nascent telepathic abilities finds herself as an emissary between human colonists and the highly intelligent feline natives of the planet Jontarou.

We’re all familiar with Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, the first of which dictates that a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Does that also include emotional harm? Senior management of a robot factory learns the harsh answer to this question when they unwittingly produce a telepathic robot that turns out to be a… “Liar!” by Isaac Asimov.

A telepathic alien inadvertently becomes a stowaway on a cargo ship bound for Earth. Stranded there, it’s innocent and desperate attempts to communicate directly with human minds only serves to cause them frightening nightmares and, in some cases, death.  It isn’t long before hospital officials near the spaceport realize that… “Something Wild is Loose” by Robert Silverberg.

In “The Conspirators” by James White, a spacecraft from Earth passes through a radiation belt on its way to explore a distant planet. As a result, all laboratory animals aboard develop telepathic abilities at varying rates. Upon reading the minds of the human crew, the animals realize their ultimate and terrifying fate once the ship reaches its destination, so they devise an escape plan with the help of the ship’s cat, Felix.

In “The Mindworm” by C.M. Kornbluth, a parasitic telepath feasts on the negative emotions of his victims, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake.

Blog, Book Reviews

Book Review: New Dreams This Morning edited by James Blish

New Dreams This Morning edited by James BlishJames Blish presents a science fiction anthology with a thought-provoking and often contentious theme—the future of the arts. What will become of creativity in the age of automation, or after the apocalypse, or when humanity migrates to other worlds? These topics are addressed by such master storytellers as Isaac Asimov, Harry Harrison, Damon Knight, C.M. Kornbluth, Edgar Pangborn, Robert Silverberg, and James Blish.

Every story in this gathering was excellent and choosing favorites was next to impossible.

In Isaac Asimov’s “Dreaming is a Private Thing,” corporations hire people whose dreams are so opulent and vivid that they can be recorded and sold for public consumption.

In James Blish’s “A Work of Art” resurrects 19th century German composer Richard Strauss in the year 2161. Repulsed by what he considers the regression of music in this modern age, Strauss sets out to compose an opera based on Christopher Fry’s play, Venus Observed. Although his opera is wildly successful, Strauss comes to realize two awful truths about himself… and his fate.

Blish’s second tale, “The Dark Night of the Soul” takes place at an artist’s retreat on the Jovian moon Callisto. However, it does not take long before the residents realize that a conspiracy is afoot, one that could result in the elimination of the arts from human civilization!

Harry Harrison’s “Portrait of the Artist” shows us what happens when the comic book industry succumbs to automation, leaving artists to do little more than touch up after computers stamp imagery onto the page—but what happens when the machines are upgraded and the artist is no longer needed at all?

In Damon Knight’s “The Country of the Kind,” a pariah wreaks havoc after being shunned by everyone in his community simply for being different. Finally, he tries to create art in a peaceful attempt to connect with another soul like this own.

In C.M. Kornbluth’s “With These Hands,” a sculptor and art instructor struggles to survive in a world where machines can be programmed to create sculptures from plastic in a method similar to today’s 3-D printing.

Edgar Pangborn’s novella, “A Master of Babylon” brings us into the post-apocalyptic life of an aging, eccentric musician living as a hermit for over two decades in what remains of New York’s Museum of Human History. When a teenage couple visit him in search of “Old Ones” to bring back to their village, the musician is thrilled to have an audience for his greatest—and final—performance.

In “A Man of Talent,” Robert Silverberg shows us the fate of a poet who, disgusted with the degradation of poetry on Earth, migrates to the farthest and least populated human colony of Rigel Seven. Hoping to live as a recluse, the poet is invited to adopt a unique role in a society where art is taken for granted.