This image is the cover for the book Science Fiction: 101

Science Fiction: 101

The Grand Master details his development as a writer and shares thirteen favorite sci-fi stories from his youth and what they taught him about writing.

Every writer must start somewhere. Robert Silverberg was once simply a young man learning the art and craft of writing before he found success. But how did he get from there to winning four Hugo Awards, three Locus Awards, and six Nebula Awards, as well as being named a Grand Master of science fiction?

In Science Fiction 101, the prolific author looks back to his roots in the genre to answer that question. With thought-provoking essays, Silverberg details the inspiration, lessons, strategies, and skills he gained from thirteen groundbreaking science fiction stories from the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s—all included in this volume. It’s an entertaining and enlightening read, perfect for those interested in sci-fi history and the craft of writing.

Featuring thirteen classic stories from Brian W. Aldiss, Alfred Bester, James Blish, Philip K. Dick, Damon Knight, Cyril M. Kornbluth, Henry Kuttner, C. L. Moore, Frederik Pohl, Bob Shaw, Robert Sheckley, Cordwainer Smith, and Jack Vance.

Previously published as Robert Silverberg’s Worlds of Wonder

Praise for Science Fiction 101

“An excellent introduction to the most important roots of modern SF.” —The Washington Post

“Offers encouragement and sound counsel . . . Anyone interested in writing science fiction and fantasy will profit from this book.” —San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle

“A virtual primer on the writing of science fiction . . . a fascinating portrait of a young man becoming a writer . . . Finally, we have the 13 stories, almost all of which are classics in the field, wonderful to reread and in some cases to encounter for the first time.” —Publishers Weekly

“A unique and successful work.” —Los Angeles Times

Robert Silverberg

Robert Silverberg (b. 1935) sold his first science fiction stories to the lower-grade pulps in the mid-fifties, moved swiftly to the three prestigious magazines (Astounding, Galaxy and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction) and as his style deepened and themes expanded in through the next reached the first rank of science fiction writers. He is regarded as the greatest living writer of science fiction, an SFWA Grandmaster, ex-President (in the 1960’s) of that organization, winner of five Nebulas, four Hugos and many other domestic and foreign awards. Among his famous novels are Dying Inside, The Book of Skulls, Downward to the Earth, A Time of Changes; his novella Born with the Dead (1974) is perhaps the finest work of that length published within the genre. Shifting to a predominating fantasy in the late 1970’s (Lord Valentine’s Castle and the attendant Majipoor Series), Silverberg continued to write science fiction and won a Nebula in 1986 for the novella Sailing to Byzantium, and Hugos for the novelettes Gilgamesh in the Outback and Enter a Soldier: Later, Enter Another. He was editor of the long-running original anthology series New Dimensions and of important reprint anthologies such as The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Alpha, and The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction. 

Robert Silverberg