Comments on: Robert Silverberg

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 13 May 2011 16:06:45 +0000

I was a fan since “Flies” the first Silverberg I read. It was a brilliant mixture of science fiction & horror. Always loved his dead serious tone that would suddenly shift into hilarious sardonic comedy, then back again, And he has one of the best SF minds since Wells. Though I’ve pretty much stopped reading SF in the last few years, I want to thank Mr. Silverberg for all the great memories & his complete craftsmanship, and also thank you, Fred, for nurturing & encouraging that talent in his transition from “pulp” writer to serious wordsmith.

By: Frederik Pohl

Frederik Pohl — Sun, 08 May 2011 22:13:54 +0000

I suspect Agbob hurts his sales some simply because he's too prolific, and I think I have some of that problem myself. If you don't allow a new book to build up an audience, the next book cuts its sales off by coming out too soon. He has a different theory, though, or he had once when we were talking about that problem some years ago. At that time he had just made the mistake of writing and publishing a book of limited commercial appeal not for money but for love; it sold relatively poorly, and that cut into his next book's sales because when the dealers decide how many copies of a new Silverberg (or Pohl, or Benford) to order the number they pick is the number they sold of your last book. Bob had in fact -- very unlike himself -- just published a for-love book, and his sales on the few plummeted accordingly. But, really, it's a mystery. fred

By: Gregory Benford

Gregory Benford — Fri, 06 May 2011 19:20:11 +0000

Agberg is a fine writer, and I’ve always wondered why he’s not more broadly known, and sells better, than many writers his inferior.
Any thoughts, Fred?

By: Kat

Kat — Wed, 04 May 2011 03:27:01 +0000

I remember to this day my first Silverberg: ‘Across a Billion Years’. I read it when I was 9 or 10; I’m almost 40 years past that now and do good to remember what I did last weekend.

By: Michael Habif

Michael Habif — Wed, 04 May 2011 01:17:56 +0000

Robert Silverberg is by far my favorite writer of all time. Please write a million posts about him.

By: Robert Nowall

Robert Nowall — Tue, 03 May 2011 21:43:50 +0000

Silverberg is one of those writers whose work, when it does cross my view, remains worth a look. So few SF writers, so little in the SF magazines, does for me these days.

(Did I mention I bought “All the Lives He Lead” last week, but haven’t gotten around to reading it yet?)