User:DoctorWho42/The Cube Root of Uncertainty
| Author | Robert Silverberg |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Anthony Sini |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Macmillan Publishing |
Publication date | 25 May 1970 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 239 |
| OCLC | 67672 |
The Cube Root of Uncertainty is a collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Robert Silverberg, published in hardcover by Macmillan in 25 May 1970 and issued in paperback by Collier Books in 1971. No further editions have been issued.
Background[edit]
At the time, Collier-Macmillan published a series of retrospective single-author collections.[1] The Cube Root of Uncertainty was released 25 May 1970.[2] The stories were written between 1954 and 1968.[3][4] Prior to its paperback publication, stories had appeared in previous collections as Dimension 13 (1969), Moonferns and Starsongs (1971), Needle in a Timestack (1966), and To Worlds Beyond (1965).[1][3]
Contents[edit]
- Introduction (1970)
- "Passengers" (1968)
- "Double Dare" (1956)
- "The Sixth Palace" (1965)
- "Translation Error" (1959)
- "The Shadow of Wings" (1963)
- "Absolutely Inflexible" (1956)
- "The Iron Chancellor" (1958)
- "Mugwump Four" (1959)
- "To the Dark Star" (1968)
- "Neighbor" (1964)
- "Halfway House" (1966)
- "Sundance" (1969)
"Passengers" won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story and was nominated for the Hugo Award.[5][6]
Reception[edit]
In 1971, SF Commentary's Barry Gillam noted "not a bad collection."[3] Son of the WSFA Journal's James Newton praised The Cube Root of Uncertainty with "certain to enthrall serious lovers of science fiction."[7] The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction's Joanna Russ opined "New Silverberg is something else: a highly colored, gloomy, melodramatic, morally allegorical writer who luxuriates in lush description and has a real love of calamity" but added "needs some time to get out of his system all the sophomoric dark doom that most of us—far less technically expert—dealt with during our apprenticeships."[8] In 1972, Vector's John Bowles said "The collection also demonstrates his progression from a fairly naive, light-hearted writer to the happy pessimist he now is; nevertheless, one cannot help but feel that the majority of these stories are neither nightmare views of our uncertain future nor signposts along Silverberg's road of development: they're just a group of sf stories, some good, some not so good."[1]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Bowles, John (Spring 1972). "Books" (PDF). Vector (magazine). Stoke-on-Trent: British Science Fiction Association. p. 23. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
- ^ Clareson, Thomas (1983). Robert Silverberg: A Primary and Secondary Bibliography. Boston, MA: G. K. Hall & Co. p. 32.
- ^ a b c Gillam, Barry (April 1971). "Criticanto" (PDF). SF Commentary. Melbourne: Bruce Gillespie. p. 13. Retrieved 2022-06-05. Cite error: The named reference "Gillam 1971" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Gillam, Barry (March 1977). "Spectrum of Silverberg" (PDF). SF Commentary. Melbourne: Bruce Gillespie. p. 19. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
- ^ Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections
- ^ Locus Index to SF Awards Archived 2013-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Newton, James (July 1971). "S. F. Parade: Book Reviews". Son of the WSFA Journal. Wheaton, Maryland: Washington Science Fiction Association. p. 2.
- ^ Joanna Russ (April 1971). "Books". The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Cornwall, Connecticut: Mercury Press, Inc. p. 67. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
External links[edit]
- DoctorWho42/The Cube Root of Uncertainty title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Category:1970 short story collections
Category:Science fiction short story collections
Category:Short story collections by Robert Silverberg