FORGOTTEN BOOKS #189: WE ARE FOR THE DARK By Robert Silverberg


The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg, Volume Seven: We Are for the Dark (Stories from 1987-1990) is the just published tome by Subterranean Press. I feel Silverberg published his best short fiction in the Seventies and Eighties. This volume includes the 1989 Hugo Award winning novelette, “Enter A Soldier. Later: Enter Another.” But there are plenty of other good stories in this collection. The title story, “We Are For the Dark,” is memorable. Subterranean Press plans two more volumes to complete this Silverberg series: Hot Times in Magma City: The Collected Stories Volume 8 (2013) and The Millennium Express: The Collected Stories Volume 9 (2014). Reading the complete Silverberg oeuvre reveals a writer who continued to produce astonishing work for five decades.
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Dead Man’s Eyes
Enter A Soldier. Later: Enter Another
To The Promised Land
Chip Runner
A Sleep And A Forgetting
In Another Country
The Asenion Solution
We Are For The Dark
Lion Time in Timbuctoo
A Tip On A Turtle

10 thoughts on “FORGOTTEN BOOKS #189: WE ARE FOR THE DARK By Robert Silverberg

  1. Scott Cupp

    My copy of this arrived the other day and I have read the introductions and that’s it so far. Just got the first six volumes signed by RS (had them sent to WorldCon and a friend got them signed). I have enjoyed his work for a long time.

    Reply
  2. Richard R.

    I think a lot of people like Silverberg more than I do. The idea of reading 6, or 8 volumes of short stories sounds daunting. Glad you’re enjoying these so much, George.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Working my way through these volumes will take time, Rick. But I read a short story each day so you’d be surprised how fast I can read my way through an author’s collected works.

      Reply
  3. Jeff Meyerson

    I agree with Rick. I haven’t read that much Silverberg but it’s been hit and miss with me.

    I’m reading and enjoying the early Philip K. Dick stories now.

    Reply
  4. Matteo

    Some good stories here and as a huge Silverberg fan I was looking forward to this collection. Unfortunately, there’s nothing that hasn’t seen the light of day before: “Lion Time” has been published as it’s own book and also appears in a collection from 2000 with the same title (Vol. 6) as does “A Tip on a Turtle”; In Another Country was published as a double book with “Vintage Season” by CL Moore; and all the others appeared in a collection entitled “The Secret Sharers (Vol. 1 (Vol. 2 in the UK for some reason)).

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      I admire Silverberg’s long career, Matteo. I started reading him back in the 1960s with his ACE Doubles short novels. Then, after a break, Frederik Pohl lured Silverberg back to writing Science Fiction and Silverberg produced his best work. I only have a few complete set of stories by my favorite SF writers: Silverberg, Sturgeon, Jack Vance, Robert Bloch, and Michael Moorcock.

      Reply

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