With the release of Robert Silverberg’s ebooks yesterday, we would like to take a look at his legacy, as well as that of one of his best-known works, Nightwings.
Silverberg’s long career covers a range of genres and is colored by a number of awards. Although he is most recognized for his science fiction, he has shown off his writing skills with a number of well-regarded historical nonfiction and erotic novels, too. In 2004, Silverberg was honored with the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award, presented to only one living science-fiction or fantasy writer per year. In receiving this high accolade, Silverberg joined the ranks of great writers such as Ray Bradbury, James Gunn, and Gene Wolfe.
Part of Silverberg’s legacy is his Nightwings trilogy, which began as three separate novellas and was later combined into one novel, also titled Nightwings. After his home burned down in 1968, Nightwings was the first work he wrote; it was an escape from the stress resulting from the tragedy.
The novel revolves around a future in which humans are divided into job-specific guilds. Some of the guilds opt to genetically alter their human forms in order to be more efficient in their jobs. Because humanity is under the constant threat of alien invasion, one of the guilds, Watchers, has their mental capabilities altered in order to be able to watch the distant skies. But when one Watcher gets distracted, his lack of attention allows the aliens to advance on Earth, threatening its future.
The Earth in Nightwings is far from the one we know, including different but similar names for some of the world’s most famous cities: Roum (Rome), Perris (Paris), and Jorslem (Jerusalem). North America is known as The Lost Continent.
The series is not only a popular success; it is critically acclaimed. The original first novella won a Hugo Award and was nominated for a Nebula Award. In 1985, DC Comics adapted the novel into a graphic novel.
To learn more about Robert Silverberg, Nightwings, and the rest of his novels, visit his author page here.