WEDNESDAY’S FORGOTTEN BOOKS #82: NIGHTWINGS By Robert Silverberg and THE LAST CASTLE By Jack Vance (TOR Double #15)


Tor Doubles are a series of science fiction books published by Tor Books between 1988 and 1991, mostly in tête-bêche  (two covers) format. The Tor Doubles series was inspired by the Ace Doubles, published between 1952 and 1973. Tor published 36 books in their Doubles series. For my money, one of the best of the bunch is #15: Nightwings by Robert Silverberg and The Last Castle by Jack Vance.

Nightwings won the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 1969. It’s a story of an alien invasion and its aftermath. Nightwings is the first in a trilogy of novellas, the next two being “Perris Way” (1968) and “To Jorslem” (1969). These three works were later collected into a single fixup in three sections, also titled Nightwings. According to Silverberg’s introductions, the changes required to turn the three shorter works into a novel were relatively minor.

Jack Vance’s The Last Castle is one of my favorite stories. It won the 1966 Nebula Award for Best Novella and the 1967 Hugo Award for Best Novelette. It is about a future civilization of wealthy nobles who live in high-tech castles, which are maintained by an enslaved alien race, the Meks. After centuries of slavery, the Meks revolt, destroying the castles and slaughtering their elite inhabitants, until only one castle is left. This predicts what will happen eventually where injustice and inequality are unaddressed.

Along with two prize winning stories, Tor Double #15 features two excellent covers: Brian Waugh did the cover for The Last Castle and Mark J. Ferrari did the cover for Nightwings. These fine collections of SF and fantasy stories are still available online at reasonable prices. Highly recommended! GRADE: A (for both)

TOR DOUBLE SERIES:

#First bookSecond bookPublication dateISBN
1Arthur C. Clarke
A Meeting with Medusa
Kim Stanley Robinson
Green Mars
October 19880-8125-3362-3
2Greg Bear
Hardfought
Timothy Zahn
Cascade Point
November 19880-8125-5971-1
3Robert Silverberg
Born With The Dead
Brian W. Aldiss
The Saliva Tree
December 19880-8125-5952-5
4John Varley
Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo
Samuel R. Delany
The Star Pit
January 19890-8125-5956-8
5Poul Anderson
No Truce With Kings
Fritz Leiber
Ship of Shadows
February 19890-8125-5958-4
6Barry B. Longyear
Enemy Mine
John Kessel
Another Orphan
March 19890-8125-5963-0
7Vonda N. McIntyre
Screwtop
James Tiptree, Jr.
The Girl Who Was Plugged In
April 19890-8125-4554-0
8Leigh Brackett
The Nemesis From Terra
Edmond Hamilton
Battle for the Stars
May 19890-8125-5960-6
9Isaac Asimov
The Ugly Little Boy
Theodore Sturgeon
The [Widget], the [Wadget], and Boff
June 19890-8125-5966-5
10Robert Silverberg
Sailing to Byzantium
Gene Wolfe
Seven American Nights
July 19890-8125-5924-X
11James Tiptree, Jr.
Houston, Houston, Do You Read?
Joanna Russ
Souls
August 19890-8125-5962-2
12Roger Zelazny
He Who Shapes
Kate Wilhelm
The Infinity Box
September 19890-8125-5879-0
13Kim Stanley Robinson
The Blind Geometer
Ursula K. Le Guin
The New Atlantis
October 19890-8125-0010-5
14Poul Anderson
The Saturn Game
Gregory Benford and Paul A. Carter
Iceborn
November 19890-8125-0277-9
15Jack Vance
The Last Castle
Robert Silverberg
Nightwings
December 19890-8125-0194-2
16James Tiptree, Jr.
The Color of Neanderthal Eyes
Michael Bishop
And Strange At Ecbatan The Trees
January 19900-8125-5964-9
17L. Sprague de Camp
Divide and Rule
Leigh Brackett
The Sword of Rhiannon
February 19900-8125-0362-7
18C.L. Moore
Vintage Season
Robert Silverberg
In Another Country[note 1]
February 19900-8125-0193-4
19Fritz Leiber
Ill Met in Lankhmar
Charles de Lint
The Fair in Emain Macha
March 19900-8125-0821-1
20L. Sprague de Camp
The Wheels of If
Harry Turtledove
The Pugnacious Peacemaker [note 1]
April 19900-8125-0202-7
21Roger Zelazny
Home is the Hangman
Samuel R. Delany
We, In Some Strange Power’s Employ,
Move On A Rigorous Line
May 19900-8125-0983-8
22Leigh Brackett
The Jewel of Bas
Karen Haber
Thieves’ Carnival [note 1]
June 19900-8125-0272-8
23Norman Spinrad
Riding The Torch
Joan D. Vinge
The Tin Soldier
July 19900-8125-0551-4
24Roger Zelazny
The Graveyard Heart
Walter Jon Williams
Elegy For Angels And Dogs [note 1]
August 19900-8125-0275-2
25John M. Ford
Fugue State
Gene Wolfe
The Death of Doctor Island
September 19900-8125-0813-0
26John Varley
Press Enter■
Robert Silverberg
Hawksbill Station
October 19900-8125-5948-7
27Orson Scott Card
Eye For Eye
Lloyd Biggle, Jr.
The Tunesmith [note 2]
November 19900-8125-0854-8
28Kim Stanley Robinson
A Short Sharp Shock
Jack Vance
The Dragon Masters
December 19900-8125-0895-5
29Ian Watson
Nanoware Time
John Varley
The Persistence of Vision
January 19910-8125-5940-1
30Poul Anderson
The Longest Voyage
Steve Popkes
Slow Lightning
March 19910-8125-1170-0
31Gordon R. Dickson
Naked To The Stars
Gordon R. Dickson
The Alien Way
February 19910-8125-0396-1
32Harlan Ellison
Run For The Stars
Jack Dann and Jack C. Haldeman II
Echoes of Thunder
April 19910-8125-1180-8
33Mike Resnick
Bwana
Mike Resnick
Bully
May 19910-8125-1246-4
34Damon Knight
Rule Golden
Damon Knight
Double Meaning
June 19910-8125-1294-4
35Dean Ing
Silent Thunder
Robert A. Heinlein
Universe
July 19910-8125-0265-5
36Fritz Leiber
Conjure Wife
Fritz Leiber
Our Lady Of Darkness
August 19910-8125-1296-0

At least one more in the series was prepared but never published: Esther Friesner‘s Yesterday We Saw Mermaids paired with Lawrence Watt-Evans‘s The Final Folly of Captain Dancy would have been series number 37.

20 thoughts on “WEDNESDAY’S FORGOTTEN BOOKS #82: NIGHTWINGS By Robert Silverberg and THE LAST CASTLE By Jack Vance (TOR Double #15)

  1. Steve A Oerkfitz

    Excellent stories. I’m both a Jack Vance and Robert Silverberg fan. I’ve read probably 75% of the stories in the series. I believe the novella length is probably the best length for SF stories..

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Steve, I totally agree with you on the novella length being best suited for SF stories. I’m thinking about rereading the TOR Doubles series from start to finish. But first, I have to wrap up my review of THE BEST FROM FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION series. Only 6 more volumes to go!

      Reply
  2. Jerry House

    It’s impossible to pick a “best” from this series; I keep wavering between twenty-five choices. Luckily the reader does not have to pick a “best;” all one needs is to pick up a volume at random and enjoy. That said, how can you lose with both Vance AND Silverberg?

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Jerry, exactly! Both Vance and Silverberg are well represented by THE LAST CASTLE and NIGHTWINGS. I grew up reading ACE Doubles so when TOR Doubles appeared, I was totally onboard. By and large, I thought the 36 volumes were well done and offer plenty of great stories!

      Reply
  3. Jeff Meyerson

    Of course, I’ve read the Silverberg and much of his other short fiction. I agree on the novella length too. I should look for the Vance, which I haven’t read.

    Reply
      1. Todd Mason

        Typically bad product of director/writer Rod Lurie. (I went to high school with him, and his tv and films are pretty much what I’d expect of him.)

  4. Todd Mason

    Yes, this is one of the best of a good set, and as Jerry notes, there are all kinds of others that also are.

    FWIW, the Fritz Leiber double-volume that officially ended the series wasn’t published in dos-à-dos format…and is preferred as a package to the later Tor packaging of the two novels as DARK LADIES. (Really, Tor?) Also, a triple volume of Leiber’s three horror novels, including YOU’RE ALL ALONE, perhaps in the recorrected THE SINFUL ONES text but preferably with Leiber’s original title, would be a good thing for some small press to issue eventually.

    And as this series was at least as much inspired by the Dell “Binary Star” novella/short novel twofers, a combined consideration of those wouldn’t be out of the question!

    Meanwhile, the ideal form for any fiction is whatever length the story requires. There are plenty of masterworks at all lengths, and no lack of weak novellas in sf as well as other forms.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Todd, I had forgotten about DELL’S BINARY STARS series. I might just do some FFBs on them:
      No. 1. FRITZ LEIBER Destiny Times Three (c.1973) bound with NORMAN SPINRAD Riding the Torch (cover by George Tsui with interior illustrations by Freff; c.1974; August 1978; 1st DELL printing; Dell code number 11090)

      Listed as “Two Great Novellas in a Single Volume.” James R. Frenkel is credited [but only in the introductions] as the series editor.
      Note that for each of these “double” volumes, there is an “Afterwords” essay by the other author in the book. For example, the Fritz Leiber story has an “Afterwords” essay penned by Norman Spinrad, and vice versa.
      Information concerning the interior illustration artist Freff (aka Connor Freff Cochran) can be found at: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?11513

      No. 2. GORDON EKLUND The Twilight River (c.1973) bound with F. PAUL WILSON The Tery (cover by George Tsui with interior illustrations by Stephen Fabian; February 1979, 1st DELL printing)

      No. 3. RON GOULART Dr. Scofflaw bound with ISIDORE HAIBLUM Outerworld (cover by George Tsui with interior illustrations by James Odbert; August 1979, 1st DELL printing)

      This is a true first paperback edition for both of these stories as copyright publication for both is 1979.
      No. 4. JOAN D. VINGE Legacy (c.1976, 1977, 1978, 1980) bound with STEVEN G. SPRUILL The Janus Equation (cover by George Tsui with interior illustrations by Jack Gaughan; February 1980; 1st DELL printing; Dell code number 10821)

      No. 5. GEORGE R. R. MARTIN Nightflyers (c.1980) bound with VERNOR VINGE True Names (cover by George Tsui with interior illustrations by Jack Gaughan; February 1981, 1st DELL printing)

      Reply
  5. wolf

    Of course I’ve bought and read most of these books, somehow the works from those old days were more interesting for me (ok, I’m an old man too).
    And the authors – really the greatest!

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Wolf, I agree. There are some great writers and stories in the TOR Doubles series. Of course, I grew up reading ACE Doubles and they have a special place in my heart!

      Reply
  6. tracybham

    The two that you are featuring here sound very good. I don’t think I have read anything by Vance.

    I definitely think that focusing on science fiction in novella length would work well for me. I will have to add that to my list for the book sale (coming in September).

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Tracy, Jack Vance will take you to some exotic places. His stories in THE DYING EARTH brought him to prominence. Since you like mysteries, you might enjoy Jack Vance’s The Many Worlds of Magnus Ridolph which feature investigations by Magnus Rudolph who might remind you of Hercule Poirot in the Future.

      Reply
      1. wolf

        For someone who grew up on Asimov etc Jack Vance was totally extraordinary and unexpected!
        I have to thank some fan who got a translation of the Demon Princes series – wow!

      2. george Post author

        Wolf, it took Jack Vance 20 years to complete THE DEMON PRINCES series. Each book and each villain are unique!

      3. Jerry House

        Tracy, Vance also published several well-respected mystery novels, including two reginal mysteries featuring rural policeman Joe Bain ( an outline for a third, unfinished and previously unpublished Joe Bain novel was been released included in a 2013 omnibus edition of the first two books) , three paperback original stand-alone novels by “Ellery Queen” (Vance originally refused to acknowledge these due to excessive and unwarranted editorial revisions; Vance’s original version have now been published), the Edgar Award-winning THE MAN IN THE CAGE, and the criminally now-forgotten thriller BAD RONALD, among them. I urge caution, Tracy, because once you fall down into the Jack Vance rabbit-hole (whether for science fiction, fantasy, or mystery) you may not want to get out.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *