TY - ABST T1 - "Old Music and the Slave Women" Y1 - 1999 A1 - Ursula K[roeber] Le Guin (1929-2018) ED - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Female author KW - US author AB -

A fifth novella to add to her 1995 Four Ways to Forgiveness. This story is mostly about the continuing struggle for control of the planet Werel.

JF - Far Horizons: All New Tales from the Greatest Worlds of Science Fiction PB - Avon Eos CY - New York N1 -

Rpt. in her The Birthday of the World and Other Stories (New York: HarperCollins, 2002), 153-211. U.K. ed. (London: Gollancz, 2002), 153-211; in The Found and the Lost: The Collected Novellas of Ursula K. Le Guin (New York: Saga Press, 2016), 429-87; and in Hainish Novels & Stories Volume Two. The World for Word Is Forest Stories Five Ways to Forgiveness The Telling. Ed. Brian Attebery (New York: Library of America, 2017), 518-69 with a “Note on the Text” (781) and “Notes (787). 

U5 -

Merril, O, PSt

ER - TY - ABST T1 - Hot Sky At Midnight Y1 - 1994 A1 - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Dystopia concerned with technology and its effects.

PB - Bantam Books CY - New York ER - TY - ABST T1 - "Walden Three" Y1 - 1981 A1 - Michael [Jürgen] Swanwick (b. 1950) ED - Marta Randall (b. 1948) ED - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

The dystopia created on a space habitat circling Earth that came about by the “good intention” of changing people so that they all got along. It is seen through the eyes of a visitor from Earth who hates the place and a man on the satellite whose lover died because the good of everybody took away the one thing she most enjoyed doing.

JF - New Dimensions PB - Timescape/Pocket Books CY - New York VL - 12 N1 -

Rpt. in The Best Science Fiction of the Year #11. Ed. Terry Carr (New York: Timescape/Pocket Books, 1982), 131-54.

U5 -

PSt

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "The Feast of Saint Janis" Y1 - 1980 A1 - Michael [Jürgen] Swanwick (b. 1950) ED - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) ED - Marta Randall (b. 1948) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Dystopia following a world-wide economic collapse following some sort of nuclear accident with the U.S. particularly hard hit and Africa relatively well off because it practiced corporate social responsibility. Genetic damage. Janis is Janis Joplin (1943-70) who is impersonated and, once a year, the impersonator is killed by the crowd.

JF - New Dimensions PB - Pocket Books CY - New York VL - 11 N1 -

Rpt. in Beyond Armageddon: Twenty-One Sermons to the Dead. Walter M. Miller, Jr. and Martin H[arry] Greenberg (New York: Donald I. Fine, 1985), 295-325; and in The Best of Michael Swanwick (Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 2008), 13-41. 

U5 -

MoU-St

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "In the Stocks" Y1 - 1977 A1 - Barry N[athaniel] Malzberg (b. 1939) ED - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Sequel to 1973 Malzberg in which women are sent into the homosexual enclave in attempt to "cure" the homosexuality of the men in the enclave.

JF - New Dimensions Science Fiction PB - Harper & Row CY - New York VL - No. 7 U5 -

Merril, PSt

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "Molly Zero" Y1 - 1977 A1 - Keith [John Kingston] Roberts (1935-2000) ED - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - English author KW - Male author AB -

Authoritarian dystopia in which all children are raised together in single sex groups. One girl revolts, escapes, and experiences life on the outside.

JF - Triax: Three Original Novellas by James Gunn, Keith Roberts, Jack Vance PB - Pinnacle Books CY - Los Angeles, CA N1 -

Expanded into his Molly Zero. London: Victor Gollancz, 1980.

U5 -

Merril, PSt

ER - TY - ABST T1 - Shadrach in the Furnace Y1 - 1976 A1 - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Post-catastrophe authoritarian dystopia with a leader compulsively concerned with immortality. Most of the novel is concerned with the leader's doctor, Mordecai Shadrach, and the decisions he has to make.

PB - Bobbs-Merrill CY - Indianapolis, IN N1 -

Also published in Analog Science Fiction--Science Fact 96.8 - 10 (August - October 1976): 97-162; 88-162; 88-127; 10-74, 76-91, 129-56.

U5 -

MoU-St

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "The Dybbuk Dolls" Y1 - 1975 A1 - Jack [Mayo] Dann (b. 1945) ED - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Dystopia of poverty and anti-Semitism. Most groups live in high-rise ghettos. The dybbuk dolls are alien artifacts that reinforce a person's worst characteristics.

JF - New Dimensions Number 5 PB - Harper & Row CY - New York N1 -

Rpt. in Light Years and Dark; Science Fiction and Fantasy Of and For Our Time. Ed. Michael Bishop (New York: Berkley Books, 1984), 78-92.

U5 -

MoU-St, NN

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "Growing Up in Edge City" Y1 - 1975 A1 - Frederik [George] Pohl [Jr.] (1919-2013) ED - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) ED - Roger [Paul] Elwood (1943-2007) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Dystopia describing a totally enclosed city where every person is constantly monitored. One boy discovers a way outside and people living there. Punished, he ultimately arranges for the destruction of those outside to advance his career.

JF - Epoch PB - Berkley Books CY - New York N1 -

Rpt. in his Pohlstars (New York: Ballantine Books, 1984), 126-39.

U5 -

MoU-St, PSt

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "The New Atlantis" Y1 - 1975 A1 - Ursula K[roeber] Le Guin (1929-2018) ED - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Female author KW - US author AB -

Bureaucratic, authoritarian, and violent dystopia. War is constant; global warming is destroying the planet; the government controls all power sources, which are failing; food and medication are in short supply; marriage and the nuclear family are illegal; women cannot be admitted to medical school; and minor bureaucratic rules are used to keep people in line for fear of being imprisoned.

JF - The New Atlantis and Other Novellas of Science Fiction PB - Hawthorn Books CY - New York N1 -

Rpt. in The Best Science Fiction of the Year #5. Ed. Terry Carr (New York: Ballantine Books, 1976), 165-92; in Dream’s Edge: Science Fiction Stories About the Future of Planet Earth. Ed. Terry Carr (San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books, 1980), 185-205; in her The Compass Rose: Short Stories (New York: Harper & Row, 1982), 12-40. U.K. ed. (London: Victor Gollancz, 1983), 12-40; in The Norton Book of Science Fiction: North American Science Fiction. Ed. Ursula K[roeber] Le Guin and Brian Attebery. Karen Joy Fowler, Consultant (New York: W.W. Norton, 1993), 317-36; and in The Way to the End Times: Classic Tales of the Apocalypse. Ed. Robert Silverberg (New York: Three Rooms Press, 2016), 229-56, with an “Editor’s Introduction” on 228.

U5 -

MoU-St, PSt

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" Y1 - 1973 A1 - [Alice Bradley] [Sheldon] (1915-87) ED - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Female author KW - US author AB -

A eutopia that outlaws any misrepresentation of a product (advertising) is being successfully undermined by corporate interests.

JF - New Dimensions PB - Nelson Doubleday CY - Garden City, NY VL - 3 SN - 978-1-59853-732-1 N1 -

Rpt. New York: Tor, 1989. Tor Double bound with Vonda N[eel] McIntyre (1948-2019). Screwtop [Originally published in The Crystal Ship: Three Original Novellas of Science Fiction. Ed. Robert Silverberg (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1976), 151-208]; in her Her Smoke Rose Up Forever ([Sauk City, WI:] Arkham House, 1990), 44-79; in Cybersex. Ed. Richard Glyn Jones (New York: Carroll & Graf, 1996), 178-213; in The Ultimate Cyberpunk. Ed. Pat Cadigan (New York: ibooks, 2002), 74-120; in The James Tiptree Award Anthology 3. Ed. Karen Joy Fowler, Pat Murphy, Debbie Notkin, and Jeffrey D. Smith (San Francisco, CA: Tachyon Publications, 2007), 151-90; and in The Future is Female! More Classic Science Fiction by Women Volume 2: The 1970s. Ed. Lisa Yaszek (New York: Library of America, 2023), 135-184, with a biographical note on 469-471 and notes on the text on 483-485.

U3 -

James Tiptree, Jr. [pseud.]

U5 -

O, PSt

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "In the Group" Y1 - 1973 A1 - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) ED - Joseph Elder KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Dystopia from the perspective of the protagonist. It is possible to teleport anywhere in the world, but closeness and emotion are considered atavisms. It is only acceptable to love Us, not an individual. In the Group one feels the sensations of a couple having sex and the experiences and responses of those who are experiencing their actions.

JF - Eros in Orbit: A Collection of All New Science-Fiction Stories About Sex PB - Trident Press CY - New York N1 -

Rpt. in Penthouse 4.9 (May 1973): 80-82, 122, 124, 126, 128; in The Shape of Sex to Come. Ed. Douglas Hill (London: Pan Books, 1978), 12-29; in Beyond the Safe Zone: Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg (New York: Donald I. Fine, 1986), 124-36; in The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg. Volume 3: Beyond the Safe Zone (London: HarperCollins, 1994), 146-62; and in The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg. Volume Four: Trips: The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg (Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 2009), 14-28 with an author’s note on 13.

U5 -

L, Merril, PSt

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas (Variations on a Theme by William James)" Y1 - 1973 A1 - Ursula K[roeber] Le Guin (1929-2018) ED - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Female author KW - US author AB -

Flawed eutopia. The suffering of one child is necessary for the existence of a eutopia. See Sarah Pinsker, “The Ones Who Know Where They are Going.” Asimov’s Science Fiction 41.3 & 4 (494 & 495) (March-April 2017): 67-69 for a brief version giving the perspective of the child. Corey Doctorow’s Walkaway. New York: Tor, 2017 is clearly related. P. H. Lee’s “A House by the Sea.” Uncanny A Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy, no. 24 (September 2018). https://uncannymagazine.com/article/a-house-by-the-sea/ is about the lives of the children after they are released from the basement and replaced by another child. Nora K. Jemisin’s,  “The One Who Stay and Fight.” In her How Long ‘Til Black Future Month (New York: Orbit, 2018), 1-13; rpt. Lightspeed Magazine, no. 116 (January 2020). https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-ones-who-stay-and-fight/ reflects the story’s title. Cynthia Gómez’s “The Ones Who Came Back to Heal.” Strange Horizons (July 17, 2023). http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/the-ones-who-come-back-to-heal/ concerns a trans person who had left but returns to try to help the child. A related story that connects the children in Omelas to the refugee crisis is Rene Denfeld, “The Ones Who Don’t Walk Away.” Dispatches from Anarres: Tales in Tribute to Ursula K. Le Guin. Ed. Susan DeFreitas (Portland, OR: Forest Avenue Press, 2021), 112-116. 

JF - New Dimensions PB - Nelson Doubleday CY - Garden City, NY VL - 3 N1 -

Rpt. in her The Wind’s Twelve Quarters: Short Stories (New York: Harper & Row, 1975), 224-31; in Utopian Studies 2.1 & 2 (1992): 1-5; in The Secret History of Science Fiction. Ed. James Patrick Kelly and John [Joseph Vincent] Kessel (San Francisco, CA: Tachyon, 2009), 39-44; without the subtitle in Brave New Worlds. Ed. John Joseph Adams (San Francisco, CA: Night Shade Books, 2011), 33-38; 2nd ed. ed. John Joseph Adams (San Francisco, CA: Night Shade Books, 2012), 33-38; and with the subtitle in her The Real and the Unreal. Selected Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin. Volume Two Outer Space, Inner Lands (Easthampton, MA: Small Beer Press, 2012), 1-7; with the subtitle in the one volume edition The Real and the Unreal: The Selected Short Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin (New York: Saga Press, 2016), 329-36; with the subtitle in Grave Predictions: Tales of Mankind’s Post-Apocalyptic, Dystopian and Disastrous Destiny. Ed. Drew Ford (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2016), 87-94; and without the subtitle in Futures and Fictions. Ed. Henriette Gunkel, Ayesha Hameed, and Simon O’Sullivan (London: Repeater Press, 2017), 379-88.  

U5 -

PSt

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "Caught in the Organ Draft" Y1 - 1972 A1 - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) ED - Roger [Paul] Elwood (1943-2007) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Transplant dystopia in which young, fit people are drafted ("the organ draft") to provide an organ to keep the elderly alive. This can be any organ and may result in death; if not, the person then becomes eligible to receive organs from others for as long as they live.

JF - and walk now gently through the fire and other science fiction stories PB - Chilton Books Co. CY - Philadelphia, PA N1 -

[Science Fiction Book Club ed.] (Philadelphia, PA: Chilton Books Co., 1972), 123-36. Rpt. in The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg. Volume Three: Something Wild is Loose: 1969-72 (Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 2008), 368-80 with an author’s note on 367; and in Brave New Worlds. Ed. John Joseph Adams (San Francisco, CA: Night Shade Books, 2011), 375-84; 2nd ed. as Brave New Worlds: Dystopian Stories. Ed. John Joseph Adams (San Francisco, CA: Night Shade Books, 2012), 375-84. 

U5 -

Merril, PSt

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "Nobody's Home" Y1 - 1972 A1 - Joanna [Ruth] Russ (1937-2011) ED - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Female author KW - US author AB -

Eutopia. The focus of the story is an extended family of eighteen adults living in a future world with a fairly low population. The main technological change is a matter transmitter that allows nearly instantaneous travel to any place on Earth, which means that only some are living together at any one time. The family described values high intelligence, and it is implied that this is the norm. Each person must contribute "tax labor" to the Earth community.

JF - New Dimensions II PB - Doubleday CY - Garden City, NY N1 -

Rpt. in Women of Wonder. Ed. Pamela Sargent (New York: Vintage, 1974), 231-56; illus. Dennis Neal Smith in her The Zanzibar Cat ([Sauk City, WI]: Arkham House, 1983), 52-69; and in Women of Wonder: The Classic Years. Science Fiction by Women from the 1940s to the 1970s. Ed. Pamela Sargent (San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace, 1995), 249-62. 

U5 -

PSt

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "Going" Y1 - 1971 A1 - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Dystopia of population control through voluntary suicide.

JF - Four Futures: Four Original Novellas of Science Fiction PB - Hawthorn Books CY - New York N1 -

Rpt. in The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg. Volume Three: Something Wild is Loose: 1969-72 (Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 2008), 106-55 with an author's note on 105-06.

U5 -

Merril, MoCoS

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "The Second Trip" Y1 - 1971 A1 - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Dystopian background where criminals have their personality wiped out and a new personality implanted.

JF - Amazing Stories VL - 45.2 - 3 N1 -

Rpt. Garden City, NY: Nelson Doubleday, 1971

U5 -

MoU-St

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "The Sliced Crosswise Only-on-Tuesday World" Y1 - 1971 A1 - Philip José Farmer (1918-2009) ED - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Overpopulation dystopia in which each person is assigned to one day and only one day and "sleeps" all the other days. See 1985 Farmer and 2016 Farmer and Adams for works that develop the basic idea.

JF - New Dimensions PB - Doubleday CY - Garden City, NY VL - 1 N1 -

Rpt. in The Best Science Fiction of the Year #1. Ed. Terry Carr (New York: Ballantine Books, 1972), 113-29; in The Grand Adventure: Masterworks of Science Fiction and Fantasy (New York: Berkley Books, 1984), 163-90; in The Classic Philip José Farmer 1964-1973 (New York: Crown, 1984), 130-45; and in The Philip José Farmer Centennial Collection. Ed. Michael Croteau (Np: Meteor House, 2018), 487-503.

U5 -

Merril, MoU-St, PU

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "A Time of Changes" Y1 - 1971 A1 - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Dystopia with an emphasis on group cohesion. Polite language does not include "I". No self-revealing. At birth bond brothers and sisters are chosen and more can be told to them. Sexual freedom except with bond brother or sister. Change brought about by a drug that opened people to each other.

JF - Galaxy Science Fiction VL - 31.4 N1 -

Rpt. Garden City, NY: Nelson Doubleday, 1971

U5 -

DLC

ER - TY - ABST T1 - The World Inside Y1 - 1971 A1 - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Overpopulation dystopia with an emphasis on population growth, with large families living in huge buildings.

PB - Doubleday & Co. CY - Garden City, NY N1 -

Rpt. New York: Tor, 2010 with a new “Preface” by the author (7-12). Part published in Galaxy Science Fiction as "The Throwbacks." 30.4 (August 1970): 26-54; "The World Outside." 30.6 (October/November 1970): 4-50, 192; "We Are Well Organized; An Episode--Urban Monad 116." 31.1 (December 1970): 38-69; and "All the Way Up, All the Way Down." 32.1 (July-August 1971): 140-60. Another part was published as "A Happy Day in 2381." Nova 1: An Anthology of Original Science Fiction Stories. Ed. Harry Harrison (New York: Delacorte Press, 1970), 17-33; rpt. in Earth In Transit: Science Fiction and Contemporary Problems. Ed. Sheila Schwartz (New York: Dell, 1976), 121-35; in A Day in the Life. Ed. Gardner [Raymond] Dozois (New York: Perennial Library, 1972), 100-17; in The City 2000 A.D.: Urban Life Through Science Fiction. Ed. Ralph Clem, Martin Harry Greenberg, and Joseph Olander (Greenwich, CT: Fawcett Crest, 1976), 289-304; in Science Fiction: The Future. Ed. Dick Allen. 2nd ed. (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983), 160-71; and in The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg. Volume Two: To the Dark Star: 1962-69 (Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 2007), 318-32 with an author's note on 317-18.

U5 -

CU-Riv, Merril

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "Black is Beautiful." Y1 - 1970 A1 - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) ED - Harry [Max] Harrison (1925-2012) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Flawed utopia. A future New York with both the city and the suburbs under domes. The city is black except for the white workers and tourists from the suburbs. From the perspective of a disaffected black teenager, the city appears a eutopia when the whites are gone on the weekends, and the city is certainly much better for blacks than at present, but it is shown to still have serious problems.

JF - The Year 2000: An Anthology PB - Doubleday CY - Garden City, NY U5 -

PSt

ER - TY - ABST T1 - The Time-Hoppers Y1 - 1967 A1 - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Overpopulation dystopia.

PB - Doubleday CY - Garden City, NY U5 -

MoU-St, NjP

ER - TY - ABST T1 - To Open the Sky Y1 - 1967 A1 - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Overpopulation dystopia. Mass hysteria, cults, and fads in the third millennium.

PB - Ballantine Books CY - New York N1 -

Rpt. New York: Bantam Books, 1984. Originally published in Galaxy Magazine as "Blue Fire." 23.5 (June 1965): 105-30; "The Warriors of Light." 24.2 (December 1965): 99-134; "Where the Changed Ones Go." [Journal title changed back to] Galaxy Science Fiction 24.3 (February 1966): 83-121; "Lazarus Comes Forth." 24.4 (April 1966): 82-113; and "Open the Sky." 24.5 (June 1966): 165-94.

U5 -

MoU-St

ER - TY - ABST T1 - Time of the Great Freeze Y1 - 1964 A1 - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Young adult climate change dystopia in which, when a thaw begins, people who had been living deep in the ice, search for other communities hoping to reunify them.

PB - Holt, Rinehart and Winston CY - New York U5 -

Merril

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "To See the Invisible Man" Y1 - 1963 A1 - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

1963 Silverberg, Robert (b. 1935). “To See the Invisible Man.” Worlds of Tomorrow 1.1 (April 1963): 153-62. Rpt. in Earth In Transit: Science Fiction and Contemporary Problems. Ed. Sheila Schwartz (New York: Dell, 1976), 53-64; in The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg. Volume 5: Ringing the Changes (London: HarperCollins, 1997), 13-27; and in The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg. Volume Two: To the Dark Star: 1962-69. (Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 2007), 16-27 with an author’s note on 15-16. L, Merril, PSt

A society in which punishment is through public invisibility with a brand on the forehead to identify the person. The story focuses on a man who is sentenced to a during which no one will notice or respond to him.

JF - Worlds of Tomorrow VL - 1.1 N1 -

Rpt. in Earth In Transit: Science Fiction and Contemporary Problems. Ed. Sheila Schwartz (New York: Dell, 1976), 53-64; in The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg. Volume 5: Ringing the Changes (London: HarperCollins, 1997), 13-27; in The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg. Volume Two: To the Dark Star: 1962-69 (Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 2007), 16-27 with an author's note on 15-16; and in Chasing Shadows: Visions of Our Coming Transparent World. Ed. [Glen] David Brin and Stephen W. Potts. Sponsored by The Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination (UCSD) (New York: Tor, 2017), 352-62.

U5 -

DLC, L, Merril

ER - TY - ABST T1 - Invaders from Earth Y1 - 1958 A1 - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Dystopia of capitalism and public relations in which a plan is hatched to destroy a world and its people for profit.

PB - Ace Books CY - New York N1 -

Invaders from Earth was published in a shorter version as "We the Marauders." Science Fiction Quarterly 2 (February 1958): 8-70, which was rpt. in A Pair From Space (New York: Belmont Books, [1965]), 5-86.

U1 -

Published in a shorter version as "We the Marauders." 

U5 -

CSt, Merril, PSt

ER - TY - ABST T1 - Master of Life and Death Y1 - 1957 A1 - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Overpopulation dystopia.

PB - Ace Books CY - New York U5 -

KPT

ER - TY - ABST T1 - "Woman's World" Y1 - 1957 A1 - Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) KW - Male author KW - US author AB -

Dystopia of women dominating men.

JF - Imagination VL - 8.3 (55) U5 -

Merril

ER -