Robert Silverberg – författare

"Who was your father?" the mutant asked Dale Kesley. And try as he might, Kesley could not remember; his past was an utter blank. But he knew one thing - the answer to his life''s riddle lay in Antarctica, the once-frozen continent, now an earthly paradise surrounded by an impenetrable barrier.But how to get there? The only means of transportation were the spindly six-legged mutant horses. And it was suicide for Kesley to travel on the American continents. Two immortal dictators had set king-size rewards for his capture - dead or alive! But somewhere in the two continents there was someone who would help him, someone he had to find. The future of the world depended on his success.(First published 1956)

Hour by hour, the computers produce the names of those to die. Simple. Neat. Ruthless.In a world where human feelings seem frozen, one spirit flares with defiance and hope . . . while two powerful brothers fight their old blood feud to a brutal climax.And hurtling through space . . . a lost explorer desperately tries to reach earth with word of a new paradise for man beyond the stars . . .(First published 1957)

The crew of the XV-ftl was looking forward to shore leave, vacation, and a chance to see their families after a month in space. But once they brought back the news that they had discovered aliens, they were doomed to another, and longer, journey.Accompanying them on the return were several technical experts, who seemed to be more interested in squabbling with each other than meeting the first alien race in the history of humankind. But face to face with the blue humanoid Norglans, everyone began to realise just how important these first meetings could be - for they could make the difference between peaceful coexistence in space and interstellar war!(First published 1958)

How do you justify genocide?Kennedy had a job to do. It was as simple as that. He was paid to do a job, and he did it.His job was to convince the Earth''s population that a hapless race of sapient creatures living peacefully on a distant planet must be destroyed as a menace to the Earth.(First published 1958)

It had been five hundred years since the distant Terran Colony of Corwin had communicated with Earth. But now Corwin was threatened by the indomitable warriors of Klodni and the peaceful planet desperately needed help. Baird Ewing was the ambassador chosen by his people to find that help and save Corwin from destruction.But Earth had changed . . .Ewing found a decadent world of worthless pleasure-seekers devoid of hope and incapable of help. The only remaining vestige of the old world on Earth was to be found in the College of Abstract Science. It was Ewing''s last hope. If he failed it was the end of the line for him, Corwin - and the galaxy.First published in 1958.

Originally published in 1958, under the pseudonym David Osborne.Dr. Jeffrey Brewster, assistant professor of psycho-sociology at Columbia University, had been six weeks old when the first crude satellites were flung into space back in 1957. During his childhood there had been Moon rockets and the space stations - then the joint American-Russian-manned expedition to the Moon in 1965, right after the collapse of the Soviet dictatorship. Mars and Venus had been reached as he grew up and a permanent base was established on the Moon in 1973. Now the day''s papers reported that an expedition was ready to leave for Callisto, moon of Jupiter. But Dr. Brewster had a class to make and he was late.That was when the telephone rang and Mari, his wife, said, "Long distance from Washington." The caller was Colonel Chasin of Unsecfor - United Nations Security Force, the global and international army that policed the world in these days of relative peace and harmony...

The Lexman Spacedrive gave man the stars - but at a fantastic price. Interstellar exploration, colonisation, and trade became things of reality. The benefits to Earth were enormous but, because of the Fitzgerald Contraction, a man who shipped out to space could never live a normal life on Earth again. Travelling at speeds close to that of light, spacemen lived at an accelerated pace. A nine-year trip to Alpha Centauri and back seemed to take only six weeks to men on a spaceship. When they returned, their friends and relatives had aged enormously in comparison, old customs had changed, even the language was different. Alan was a spacer, just like his whole family - until, suddenly and without intending to, he in turn jumped ship and remained on Earth. There were times he regretted that. Earth was a bewildering and utterly hostile place. To stay alive, he had to play a ruthless game - and he couldn''t even find anyone to tell him the rules. . . .First published in 1958.

It was in wide-eyed horror that Roy Gardner heard the news from the Chief of Security. In just sixty-seven years the Earth would be totally destroyed by the planet Lurion.That data had been compiled by the invincible computer. With unwavering faith in the machine, humans had only one thing to do - destroy Lurion first.And the man to do the job was Gardner. If he did it successfully the blood of billions would be on his hands; if he fouled up he would be the worst traitor in Terrestrial history. And not even he knew which course he would pursue when he finally learned that even the all-wise machine had not known all the right answers.First published in 1959.

Are the Old Martians really a lost race - just withered mummies lying in dark caves? Or are they still alive - somewhere on the red planet?Sally and Jim must find out. They must help their father discover if the Old Martians exist. His life work as a scientist is at stake!But it''s not easy. They are only visitors to the Mars colony in this year 2017. And no one really wants them there.

The computer had chosen them - a small cross-section of humanity to serve Mankind''s Destiny. Out of seven billion people on Earth mechanical chance had selected them as involuntary colonists on an unknown planet. In seven days they would be on their way, on a sink-or-swim mission to a lonely world beyond the limits of the Solar System.It was a summons each had privately dreaded, yet always been prepared for. But no one had prepared them for the vicious attacks of sinister aliens . . .

When a nervous scientist from Beller Laboratories approached James Harker, asking him to introduce a new scientific discovery to the world, Harker had his own reasons for agreeing. The discovery was a reanimation process - bringing the recently dead back to life. But Harker hadn''t anticipated treachery within the ranks of the scientists working on the process, nor on the consternation and mounting hysteria when the news broke. James Harker faced the most demanding task of his life - and he didn''t know if he would live to see the results.(First published 1962)