Another fresh outlaw bookseller video. I love the off-the-cuff things. Beautiful! Thanks so much for this lovely stuff. So many indie bookstores are closing down. I remember a day one could find half a dozen used book shops on the same street.
I'll never forget cracking open the manual for a Genesis/Mega Drive game called Starflight. There were about 40 pages of flavour text written by Robert Silverberg to get you in the right mindset to play the game. It was awesome, and I've been curious about him ever since. This video is as good a reason as any to track down some of his books.
I read Project Pedulum earlier this year and really enjoyed it. It doesn't really read like a children's book. I didn't even realize it was considered one until you mentioned it here
Same. I thought this book had a very Clarke flavor. If Clarke had decided to write something that wasn’t based on hard science, he might write an adventure like Project Pendulum.
Silverberg is such a powerhouse. In terms of output to quality ratio, I'm just in awe of him. I really enjoyed Nightwings. It's stuck with me. I think you could be onto something about the "surrender" thing. Thanks, Outlaw. Cheers.
I think I am and I've been thinking about how there is surrender in some early books, where characters find redemption through acceptance of change, as in 'Dying Inside'. Wealth is a key theme with Silveberg too, especially in the best early novels.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I agree; however, I find that (especially Dying Inside, even Nightwings, and others) the role of the feminine (both healing of woundedness and the lack or misuse of the feminine) seems important; it crops up again and again. Also, I wonder what his age was during this surrender phase. I know he couldn't have been that old when he wrote Nightwings, but he's preoccupied already with growing old (reversing the process). I also like how in Nightwings he doesn't want to possess the Flyer; but he does love her. Anyway, would be interesting to see what you come up with. Anyway, sorry for rambling. Cheers.
You've really identified the key to what separates the great SF writers from the good; the ability to produce multiple one-offs. Great point, and couldn't agree more. I saw a few flashes of the master bookseller's craft in your comments on cover art and livery and ending them with "I'm sure you'll agree". It made me want to buy every one of them! Also, I've just noticed your number of subscribers is moving nicely in the 10K direction. It shan't be long now before you see that milestone, I'm sure of it. Your thumbnail "a new theme?" I assumed referred to your "surrender" comment but it could apply to The Occupier music segment in the introduction as well. Really liked it. Great content, quality, production and presentation as ever, OB! Cheers.
Cheers Rick. We are going closer to 10k subs now, but quite frankly views are not increasing at the same rate and it's that metric that counts. I'm still working very hard to get the same number of views every month and if I veer away from SF clickbait, views crash. So we'll see, I guess- I am hoping for greater visibility at 10k, but that will come at the end of this year. Glad you liked the music- it's an old piece but I've not used it for ages. Thanks as always for your unfailing support.
Just counted up my silverberg collection after watching another terrific episode .I have 40 of his books so far haven’t quite read them all yet but most . There always seems to be more of his work to acquire , the hardbacks you showed are beautiful and I don’t have those yet so will be interested to see what you make of them. Silverberg usually equals gold 👍🏻
It is a shame that Codex Books hasn't worked out. I visited once last year and picked up China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh and The Space Merchants by Pohl and Kornbluth - both great.
Yes, it is a shame, but as I said, I don't think the owner marketed the shop very well. The windows were poor and in terms of stock, despite having a good sized unit, there was a lack of diversity. The reality is that if you run a specialist bookshop now, you need a few strings to your bow. He should have gone with other genre niches too, including Crime for example, as Crime is always the biggest selling genre and he has plenty of space. There has always been a lack of SF novels published as mainstream fiction on his shelves too and there's a lot of publishing activity there. The nonbook product is limited too and he could have cleaned up with more toys- I understand why he may not have wanted to go this way, but these days you can't get away with just books unless you're in exactly the right location and really know your stuff.
I gotta get on it with Silverberg. I read TOM O'BEDLAM in high school and DYING INSIDE a couple times but not much else. Have a couple sitting around I gotta get to them
Finishing my 4th Silverberg book this month and he is up there on my list of writers who I certainly love/hate. I have about 20 more to go on my bookshelf but might have to take a break and rinse my palate
Hi Steve and thanks for another great video. Off-the -cuff seems to suit you. :) I have problems thinking thematically, recurrent or not. I usually only see them in retrospect, which is I suppose what happened to you with your suggestion. Recently, I've only read two Silverberg novels, Lord Valentine's Castle and Those Who Watch. I have plans for LVC, so I'll have to generalise from a sample of one (always a good idea), I'd like to suggest isolation as a theme. In Those Who Watch we have three isolations, by grief, by disappointment and by precociousness. Vague memories, almost mere impressions suggest Dying Inside, Thorns, The Man in the Maze and Downward to the Earth. I bet you could do better. Thanks again.
Good thoughts. It's years since I've read 'Those Who Watch' but I recall enjoying it. Silvberg is emotionally wide, I think, he allows for everything, I just see emphasis in certain areas and I feel they reflect his experience and aspirations.
I just finished my first Silverberg Downward to Earth. Wow it's an instant favourite. I am keen to read another by him, could you recommend me one that will blow my mind like Downward to Earth. Many thanks. P.S you have the best SciFi channel on RUclips
Thanks very much! Look through my backlist of videos- or search 'robert silverberg outlaw bookseller' on YT and you'll find reviews of 'Man in the Maze', 'The Book of Skulls', 'Dying Inside' and some early titles. In my members area there's a review of 'A Time of Changes'. All of these are must reads.
"Millenium" was the illustrated YA series of books produced by Walker in the US. Hutchison did the UK versions, nothing to do with the UK imprint. 10 books in total including Zelazny, Kurtz, Gerrold, etc. It was an interesting experiment
Yes, I'm clear on the non-relationship between Hutchinson and Millennium UK, for as I've work in bookselling for forty years my knowledge of publisher corporate relationships is in depth, I was just musing on the re-use of the word. But thanks for the information on Walker US.
Your videos on Silverberg have gotten me interested in reading him. Where are good places to start? The two titles from the '67 to '76 run that I've been able to find at my local used book store are The Second Trip and Shadrach in the Furnace. Neither seems like a good point of entry: a book on which opinion is divided and a title from the end of the run. Or am I wrong? I'm a literature professor who has read widely and has varied tastes. I'm not looking for a point of entry that meets any particular set of expectations, since I have none. What I am looking for is something indicative of Silverberg as a whole -- or at least the Silverberg of the '67 to '76 run.
There are a number of Silverberg videos on the channel- there is a playlist entitled 'Robert Silverberg' and in them all I tend to mention the four-six books I feel are key. All of them are from that period.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Thanks, Steve! I love the channel and your books, all of which I'm happy to say are in my university's library. You play a very positive educational role. I'll order a couple of titles from your four-six recommendations to get started with Silverberg and then circle back to The Second Trip and Shadrach after that.
It's actually an old one, but not used it for ages! If you look back to my videos from December 2022, you'll see a 14 minute one of The Occupier live in a pub local to us both.
Just recently discovered your channel and subscribed. Really enjoying your insights into SF! I'm just beginning my Robert Silverberg journey, and I'm currently reading "At Winter's End." I'm curious if you've read that one, and what your thoughts are? I know it's not necessarily his top-rated book, but the plot really intrigued me and I'm enjoying it immensely so far.
Not read it yet. I tended to almost completely ignore his books after 'Lord Valentine's Castle' for decades with the exception of a few novellas. But over the next year I'll be reading up a lot more of the later work. The mid period -late 1960s to mid 1970s- is peerless.
Can I recommend a volume? "Traveller of Worlds" by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro. It is a book-length interview with Silverberg, in his old age. I found it very interesting.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Nice. Now that you mention it I realize I watched that video and then forgot I did. But then, I forget what I did yesterday...
Rookie is or at least *was* Jargon more than slang. "Greenhorn" was a British sailing term that became an American sailing term AND a term that moved into the old west, but why American Police Jargon moved into the popular sphere I cannot say. I mean, I *could* venture a guess that American Media Saturation is an overwhelming force in the Anglophonic world, but I'd just be frontin'
If you think about it, Silverberg had a lot to surrender to, beginning with the indifference of publishers to his more ambitious work, then his increasing age and tied to that his declining power as a writer... in other words, the inevitable cycle of life. He fought these things for as long as he could, but eventually they overwhelm us all. He's about ninety years old now, as you know. If you haven't read it, Roma Eterna is, I think, one of the best of his later novels.
that's too bad about the bookstore. how i wish there was a bookstore like that near me! i certainly would have given them some business. what a shame your offer of help was not taken up! i've been keeping an eye out for the majipoor books but haven't had much success btw, i'm also looking for copies of your bloomsbury books without much success. i'll keep trying as always, cheers
'100 Must Read Books For Men' and '100 Must Read Science Fiction Novels' are still in print, on amazon. If you buy secondhand, that does nothing for me, sadly. I get around 18p per book as it is and every sale counts. Living authors with in-print books need sales of new books- not that I want to harangue you about this, but it's something easily forgotten.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal amazon only has electronic copies and i really wanted a physical copy. it seems they are harder to find here in america. i will do what i can to get you that 18p!
For once I actually have the cool vintage Penguin paperback you showed! Codex looked too clean & corporate to survive, but I tried to offer supportive and positive comments to Jason. I feel badly about it; I want people running independent, themed bookstores to thrive, but you walk into a place like that and you wonder why someone would bother to shop in person instead of online. It's like walking into a bookstore in a video game. The only time I've seen places like that succeed is when they have a LOT of Customer engagement and outreach: signings, readings, movie ticket events, school programs, after school programs, support of charity events. . . I was hoping when you showed that video that he had something up his sleeve; perhaps an MBA and a cunning business plan beyond my experience. Still, not rejoicing. BTW what is that intriguing native sculpture in the opening?
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I'm sure the emotional weight of those cyclopean stones were too much for for your intellect to hold for any great period of time and the nightmares that their memory would bring would be unbearable. Best that your mind chose to forget. . .
Read the shorter Hawksbill Station not too long ago. I think I like it more than the novel length story. I don't think I needed Barrett's backstory the novel goes into. The novella hit harder without it. imho.
I have read Thebes of the Hundred Gates quite a number of times since I first encountered it in my local county library, and currently have a recent reprint on a shelf nearby. I took the story to be a cynical take on how those of means, and power, can easily be lead to irrevocably upending other people's lives simply to maintain what they have, and the ways in which they justify it to themselves. Him being independently wealthy, as you put it, he would have encountered this mindset fairly regularly. I get that Silverberg doesn't seem as present in any of the characters, as he was at the time of writing very much not a rookie, and most definitely does not agree with the other two. There does seem to be resignation to his perspective, though, since he doesn't posit a way to combat what he sees as an ill in the world.
Nice video. I didn't care much for Lord Valentine's Castle, but that's just my dislike for fantasy. I'm sorry to say but Starborne is a terrible novel, to much style, not much content. For me it's what that Bob Shaw novel was for you, inside Silverberg corpus. I agree that his best period was from late 60s to mid 70s but he did some great stuff later, Alien Years and Roma Eterna are great books. Concernig Delany, I've just binged 3 Body Problem tv series, excellent by the way, and there is one minor character there who is always seen reading Dhalgren. Talking about coincidence.
Love the opening: Monolithic.
Gorgeous books!
I'm glad you felt suddenly inspired. That's always a good sign.
Another fresh outlaw bookseller video.
I love the off-the-cuff things. Beautiful!
Thanks so much for this lovely stuff.
So many indie bookstores are closing down. I remember a day one could find half a dozen used book shops on the same street.
I'll never forget cracking open the manual for a Genesis/Mega Drive game called Starflight. There were about 40 pages of flavour text written by Robert Silverberg to get you in the right mindset to play the game. It was awesome, and I've been curious about him ever since. This video is as good a reason as any to track down some of his books.
I read Project Pedulum earlier this year and really enjoyed it.
It doesn't really read like a children's book. I didn't even realize it was considered one until you mentioned it here
Same. I thought this book had a very Clarke flavor. If Clarke had decided to write something that wasn’t based on hard science, he might write an adventure like Project Pendulum.
Superb video as always. I could fill a notebook with all the authors and books you show, not to mention the wealth of information.
Silverberg is such a powerhouse. In terms of output to quality ratio, I'm just in awe of him. I really enjoyed Nightwings. It's stuck with me. I think you could be onto something about the "surrender" thing. Thanks, Outlaw. Cheers.
I think I am and I've been thinking about how there is surrender in some early books, where characters find redemption through acceptance of change, as in 'Dying Inside'. Wealth is a key theme with Silveberg too, especially in the best early novels.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I agree; however, I find that (especially Dying Inside, even Nightwings, and others) the role of the feminine (both healing of woundedness and the lack or misuse of the feminine) seems important; it crops up again and again. Also, I wonder what his age was during this surrender phase. I know he couldn't have been that old when he wrote Nightwings, but he's preoccupied already with growing old (reversing the process). I also like how in Nightwings he doesn't want to possess the Flyer; but he does love her. Anyway, would be interesting to see what you come up with. Anyway, sorry for rambling. Cheers.
@@unstopitable No, don't apologise, that was very insightful, has made me want to re-read 'Nightwings'.
That’s my favourite thumbnail now! I’m definitely curious about later Silverberg. I’m working my way through his collected short stories now.
Wait until you see the next thumbnail....it's my response to the typical booktube thumbnail, as you'll get straight away!
Looking forward to reading more Silverberg. Great video, as always!
Thanks mate!
You've really identified the key to what separates the great SF writers from the good; the ability to produce multiple one-offs. Great point, and couldn't agree more. I saw a few flashes of the master bookseller's craft in your comments on cover art and livery and ending them with "I'm sure you'll agree". It made me want to buy every one of them! Also, I've just noticed your number of subscribers is moving nicely in the 10K direction. It shan't be long now before you see that milestone, I'm sure of it. Your thumbnail "a new theme?" I assumed referred to your "surrender" comment but it could apply to The Occupier music segment in the introduction as well. Really liked it. Great content, quality, production and presentation as ever, OB! Cheers.
Cheers Rick. We are going closer to 10k subs now, but quite frankly views are not increasing at the same rate and it's that metric that counts. I'm still working very hard to get the same number of views every month and if I veer away from SF clickbait, views crash. So we'll see, I guess- I am hoping for greater visibility at 10k, but that will come at the end of this year.
Glad you liked the music- it's an old piece but I've not used it for ages. Thanks as always for your unfailing support.
Just counted up my silverberg collection after watching another terrific episode .I have 40 of his books so far haven’t quite read them all yet but most . There always seems to be more of his work to acquire , the hardbacks you showed are beautiful and I don’t have those yet so will be interested to see what you make of them. Silverberg usually equals gold 👍🏻
I have at least twenty I haven't read, I'd say. He worked it.
It is a shame that Codex Books hasn't worked out. I visited once last year and picked up China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh and The Space Merchants by Pohl and Kornbluth - both great.
Yes, it is a shame, but as I said, I don't think the owner marketed the shop very well. The windows were poor and in terms of stock, despite having a good sized unit, there was a lack of diversity. The reality is that if you run a specialist bookshop now, you need a few strings to your bow. He should have gone with other genre niches too, including Crime for example, as Crime is always the biggest selling genre and he has plenty of space. There has always been a lack of SF novels published as mainstream fiction on his shelves too and there's a lot of publishing activity there. The nonbook product is limited too and he could have cleaned up with more toys- I understand why he may not have wanted to go this way, but these days you can't get away with just books unless you're in exactly the right location and really know your stuff.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Tru
I gotta get on it with Silverberg. I read TOM O'BEDLAM in high school and DYING INSIDE a couple times but not much else. Have a couple sitting around I gotta get to them
Downward to the Earth is one most beautiful books I’ve ever read
I’m always thinking: what’s my next Silverberg. Maybe Thorns since you mentioned it as “savage” alongside The Second Trip, which I liked a lot.
If you enjoyed 'The Second Trip', you should go for 'Thorns' next, without doubt.
Hi Stephen I really enjoy the music featured in your videos ( The Occupier) Sounds atmospheric !
Yes, I've not used that piece for a while.
Very interesting. I must admit, I gave up on SIlverberg after Lord Valentine's Castle and always wondered when I'd been missing.
That was his 'damn it, I'm gonna write a crowd pleaser' moment.
Finishing my 4th Silverberg book this month and he is up there on my list of writers who I certainly love/hate. I have about 20 more to go on my bookshelf but might have to take a break and rinse my palate
Hi Steve and thanks for another great video. Off-the -cuff seems to suit you. :)
I have problems thinking thematically, recurrent or not. I usually only see them in retrospect, which is I suppose what happened to you with your suggestion.
Recently, I've only read two Silverberg novels, Lord Valentine's Castle and Those Who Watch. I have plans for LVC, so I'll have to generalise from a sample of one (always a good idea), I'd like to suggest isolation as a theme. In Those Who Watch we have three isolations, by grief, by disappointment and by precociousness. Vague memories, almost mere impressions suggest Dying Inside, Thorns, The Man in the Maze and Downward to the Earth. I bet you could do better.
Thanks again.
Good thoughts. It's years since I've read 'Those Who Watch' but I recall enjoying it. Silvberg is emotionally wide, I think, he allows for everything, I just see emphasis in certain areas and I feel they reflect his experience and aspirations.
Thanks Steve
Thanks Greg, super-thanks always a big help here!
I just finished my first Silverberg Downward to Earth. Wow it's an instant favourite. I am keen to read another by him, could you recommend me one that will blow my mind like Downward to Earth. Many thanks.
P.S you have the best SciFi channel on RUclips
Thanks very much! Look through my backlist of videos- or search 'robert silverberg outlaw bookseller' on YT and you'll find reviews of 'Man in the Maze', 'The Book of Skulls', 'Dying Inside' and some early titles. In my members area there's a review of 'A Time of Changes'. All of these are must reads.
Speaking of Robert Silverberg. One of the scariest short stories I have ever read, "Back From The Grave". Don't read it alone!
"Millenium" was the illustrated YA series of books produced by Walker in the US. Hutchison did the UK versions, nothing to do with the UK imprint. 10 books in total including Zelazny, Kurtz, Gerrold, etc. It was an interesting experiment
Yes, I'm clear on the non-relationship between Hutchinson and Millennium UK, for as I've work in bookselling for forty years my knowledge of publisher corporate relationships is in depth, I was just musing on the re-use of the word. But thanks for the information on Walker US.
Another good vid. Love the walking bookseller as well!
Re: the theme of surrender, I certainly think it's there in his Nightfall - his "collaboration" with Isaac Asimov.
Yes, that's a late one as well of course.
Curious to know how you feel about Starborne after you've read it.
I have a paperback of The Ceres Solution. Granada 1983.
Your videos on Silverberg have gotten me interested in reading him. Where are good places to start? The two titles from the '67 to '76 run that I've been able to find at my local used book store are The Second Trip and Shadrach in the Furnace. Neither seems like a good point of entry: a book on which opinion is divided and a title from the end of the run. Or am I wrong? I'm a literature professor who has read widely and has varied tastes. I'm not looking for a point of entry that meets any particular set of expectations, since I have none. What I am looking for is something indicative of Silverberg as a whole -- or at least the Silverberg of the '67 to '76 run.
There are a number of Silverberg videos on the channel- there is a playlist entitled 'Robert Silverberg' and in them all I tend to mention the four-six books I feel are key. All of them are from that period.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Thanks, Steve! I love the channel and your books, all of which I'm happy to say are in my university's library. You play a very positive educational role. I'll order a couple of titles from your four-six recommendations to get started with Silverberg and then circle back to The Second Trip and Shadrach after that.
@@johnmurphy9385Downward to the Earth is a beautiful and special book
I've only read Man in the Maze of his which I liked, what is the next early Silverberg book I should read of that era?
Watch the other Silverberg videos on the channel for some ideas-there is a Robert Silverberg playlist.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Thank you. I will. Great channel by the way. Glad I stumbled onto it.
@@LeopoldNZDownward to the Earth
New song is rad!
The Occupier rules.
Can't wait to read more Silverberg, have only read Downward to the Earth and The Book of Skulls.
It's actually an old one, but not used it for ages! If you look back to my videos from December 2022, you'll see a 14 minute one of The Occupier live in a pub local to us both.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal sweet! Checking it out right now.
Just recently discovered your channel and subscribed. Really enjoying your insights into SF! I'm just beginning my Robert Silverberg journey, and I'm currently reading "At Winter's End." I'm curious if you've read that one, and what your thoughts are? I know it's not necessarily his top-rated book, but the plot really intrigued me and I'm enjoying it immensely so far.
Not read it yet. I tended to almost completely ignore his books after 'Lord Valentine's Castle' for decades with the exception of a few novellas. But over the next year I'll be reading up a lot more of the later work. The mid period -late 1960s to mid 1970s- is peerless.
P.S. - Greatest Thumbnail!
Wait till you see the next one: I decided it was time to parody Booktube in it, as you'll see...
Can I recommend a volume? "Traveller of Worlds" by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro. It is a book-length interview with Silverberg, in his old age. I found it very interesting.
Read it, have shown it on the channel. Alvaro and I have exchanged emails.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Nice. Now that you mention it I realize I watched that video and then forgot I did. But then, I forget what I did yesterday...
@@AdrianESabau ...same here!
I never realized that rookie is an American term. What is the British equivalent?
I would say 'novice'.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Ha ha, you know, we have "novice" as well. . .
Rookie is or at least *was* Jargon more than slang. "Greenhorn" was a British sailing term that became an American sailing term AND a term that moved into the old west, but why American Police Jargon moved into the popular sphere I cannot say. I mean, I *could* venture a guess that American Media Saturation is an overwhelming force in the Anglophonic world, but I'd just be frontin'
@@salty-walt Thanks Walt- jargon is correct, I'd say.
If you think about it, Silverberg had a lot to surrender to, beginning with the indifference of publishers to his more ambitious work, then his increasing age and tied to that his declining power as a writer... in other words, the inevitable cycle of life. He fought these things for as long as he could, but eventually they overwhelm us all. He's about ninety years old now, as you know.
If you haven't read it, Roma Eterna is, I think, one of the best of his later novels.
I have it, but not a hardcover- it's on my mop-up list. Thanks Jim.
that's too bad about the bookstore. how i wish there was a bookstore like that near me! i certainly would have given them some business. what a shame your offer of help was not taken up!
i've been keeping an eye out for the majipoor books but haven't had much success
btw, i'm also looking for copies of your bloomsbury books without much success. i'll keep trying
as always, cheers
'100 Must Read Books For Men' and '100 Must Read Science Fiction Novels' are still in print, on amazon. If you buy secondhand, that does nothing for me, sadly. I get around 18p per book as it is and every sale counts. Living authors with in-print books need sales of new books- not that I want to harangue you about this, but it's something easily forgotten.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal amazon only has electronic copies and i really wanted a physical copy. it seems they are harder to find here in america. i will do what i can to get you that 18p!
@@athoszubiaur2144 Just checked, '100 Must Read SF' is there in hard copy on sale now, my friend. Thanks.
For once I actually have the cool vintage Penguin paperback you showed!
Codex looked too clean & corporate to survive, but I tried to offer supportive and positive comments to Jason.
I feel badly about it;
I want people running independent, themed bookstores to thrive, but you walk into a place like that and you wonder why someone would bother to shop in person instead of online. It's like walking into a bookstore in a video game. The only time I've seen places like that succeed is when they have a LOT of Customer engagement and outreach: signings, readings, movie ticket events, school programs, after school programs, support of charity events. . .
I was hoping when you showed that video that he had something up his sleeve; perhaps an MBA and a cunning business plan beyond my experience.
Still, not rejoicing.
BTW what is that intriguing native sculpture in the opening?
On the final point, I can't remember...
Re Codex, see my reply to andyjohnson above. It really IS a shame, I would have loved to see him succeed.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Absolutely!
(re: Codex)
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I'm sure the emotional weight of those cyclopean stones were too much for for your intellect to hold for any great period of time and the nightmares that their memory would bring would be unbearable. Best that your mind chose to forget. . .
Read the shorter Hawksbill Station not too long ago. I think I like it more than the novel length story. I don't think I needed Barrett's backstory the novel goes into. The novella hit harder without it. imho.
This is the general consensus on the variants.
Hot sky at midnight is enjoyable. Probably the only later period Silverberg that I have liked. Face of the waters didn’t do it for me
I have read Thebes of the Hundred Gates quite a number of times since I first encountered it in my local county library, and currently have a recent reprint on a shelf nearby. I took the story to be a cynical take on how those of means, and power, can easily be lead to irrevocably upending other people's lives simply to maintain what they have, and the ways in which they justify it to themselves. Him being independently wealthy, as you put it, he would have encountered this mindset fairly regularly. I get that Silverberg doesn't seem as present in any of the characters, as he was at the time of writing very much not a rookie, and most definitely does not agree with the other two. There does seem to be resignation to his perspective, though, since he doesn't posit a way to combat what he sees as an ill in the world.
Yes, that's a very astute reading, thank you.
Nice video. I didn't care much for Lord Valentine's Castle, but that's just my dislike for fantasy. I'm sorry to say but Starborne is a terrible novel, to much style, not much content. For me it's what that Bob Shaw novel was for you, inside Silverberg corpus. I agree that his best period was from late 60s to mid 70s but he did some great stuff later, Alien Years and Roma Eterna are great books.
Concernig Delany, I've just binged 3 Body Problem tv series, excellent by the way, and there is one minor character there who is always seen reading Dhalgren.
Talking about coincidence.
I noticed that too. But what a difference between Delany and Liu, no comparison. There is supposedly a Netflix series of 'Nova' in the making though.