Science Fiction: 101: Exploring the Craft of Science Fiction

Science Fiction 101 from science fiction pillar Robert Silverberg is three interesting things at once. Firstly, it is a reminiscance of some of the history of science fiction with Silverberg, remembering many of the writers that inspired and helped him. The book was originally published thirty or so years ago, and Silverberg is writing about the writers that influenced him from around the 50s with Silverberg becoming prominent winning many SF awards at the end of the 1960s. The book is also an anthology of stories from this period where Silverberg was sometimes an impressionable neophyte. There also are essays following each story, which lets the reader know more about the stories and the writers, and what one can learn from them about writing good science fiction.

Many famous science fiction writers are included, most of which are no longer with us. There are also some stories from The SF Hall of Fame series with Silverberg being here still a guide to the past of science fiction. Some wonderful tales are included, but most are, sadly, dark and foreboding. The book shows that there was experimentation in style and form in this field before many of its post-Baby Boomer readers had been born. The book is likely to take one’s writing craft up some levels.