P - Novels

• M: Science Fiction Adventures, August 1957 (as This World Must Die! by Ivar Jorgenson)
• PB: Ace (Double D-407 with We Claim These Stars! by Poul Anderson), 1959, 131 pages

From the inside blurb:

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.

• HB: Holt Rinehart & Winston, 1967, 125 pages

From the cover blurb:

Earthman Roy Crawford is framed for murder on the planet Velliran. He has two choices. He must escape from the planet within three days or go to prison for life.

But the only space ship that is leaving the planet within three days belongs to the Exploration Corps. This is a group of scientists which investigates new planets. They are about to leave for World Seven on the Star System Z-16. With help from his friends, the dazed Crawford finds himself in the ship. The scientists, of course, think he is one of them.

But World Seven is no escape for Roy. It is a "planet of death." The team of scientists find themselves in a world where even the trees are killers. And one killer is on the space ship--the real murderer who framed Crawford!

• PB: Ace, 1959 (Double D-358 with Recruit for Andromeda by Milton Lesser)

Inside cover blurb:

The humanoid worlds of the galaxy were alarmed! Somehow, somewhere, the mind-destroying hypnojewels were being trafficked in.

An uneasy Earth, newcomer to the ranks of the civilized planets, sent Lloyd Catton to the Interworld Crime Commission on Morilar to investigate. Although the Commission had made little progress until then, after his arrival things started to happen fast.

For it didn't take Catton long to realize that the hypnojewels were but the thin edge of a murderous wedge that was calculated to shove the Earth back again into the helpless isolation of a world returned to savagery.

• HB: Doubleday, 1993
• PB: Bantam Spectra, 1994, 290 pages, ISBN 0-553-56121-9

From the cover blurb:

In the twenty-first century the creation of the positronic brain leads to the development of robot laborers and revolutionizes life on Earth. But to the Martin family, their household robot NDR-113 is more than a mechanical servant. "Andrew" has become a trusted friend, a confidant, a member of the family. For through some unknown manufacturing glitch, Andrew has been blessed with a capacity for love and a drive toward self-awareness and development that are almost...human.

But almost is not enough. Andrew's dream is to become fully human. Facing human prejudice, the laws of robotics, and his own mechanical limitations, Andrew will use science and law in his terrifying choice: to make his dream a reality, he must pay the ultimate price.

My younger brother called me one night and said, "Go the bookstore right now and buy this book." Well, I waited until the next day and I was well pleased. The book is one of the best I've read and I read a lot... The story is well written and in a way quite humbling. It's a must-read for any Silverberg fan and also for anyone that enjoys Data from Star Trek:TNG. The main character could be Data's forefather as it were.

Disney has made a movie called Bicentennial Man based partly on this book, with Robin Williams in the title role.

• HB: Walker, 1987, 200 pages
• PB: Bantam Spectra 1989, 210 pages, ISBN 0-553-28001-5

From the cover blurb:

Identical twins Sean and Eric Gabrielson -- one a paleontologist, the other a physicist -- have been selected as mankind's first time travelers. Together they set out from Time Zero, 2016, in opposite directions--one toward the past to see dinosaurs walk the earth; the other towards the future to learn the secrets of the gods. Somewhere beyond the eons and the ages they will reach Time Ultimate--and the secret that has eluded mankind since time began.

The story is told in alternating chapters, some of which are quite brief, which is my only complaint about the book--it's just too darn short! So many interesting things are only hinted at, both in the future and the past, and it ends just when it's getting really good. But still a good read.