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Rating: 
Summary: Silverberg Delivers Again
Review: A very good story of ambition and perceptions. None of the themes are particularly unique, but their particular incarnation and use are powerful. I disagree heartily with one of the previous reviewers who stated that no significant commentary was made on the themes of the book. I think this is only true if you are expecting Lazarus Long to pop out whack you on the head with the author's views. The commentary is very present through the character's views and actions, particularly as defined by social class and generation. It is, to put a finer point on it, implicit not explicit. And it requires, I think, an understanding of the minutia of (fairly) modern class distinction. Manuel's love of the thin, high breasted woman compared to his father's love of full figured, rapacious peasant women is a great point of contrast, one of many that together illuminates a lot about the Manuel-Simeon relationship. Not just that, but all father-son and self-made vs. money-born relationships. Maybe I enjoy Manuel and Simeon simply because they remind me of so many real, relatively affluent families I have known.
The android/creator/god story had a bit more of a conventional SF approach, but was rendered poignantly and painfully. There was a certain lack-of-conclusion, but in this case I find that a positive. To have extended the story much beyond the conclusion would have risked tacking on indeterminate chapters of boring resolution, the sort of stuff that makes you want to throw an otherwise fine book across the room in frustration.
However, I don't think this is nearly Silverberg's best books. Though better than the meandering Nightwings, it is not nearly as good as _Dying Inside_ (Highly recommended. One of the best books ever written) and I don't think quite as good as _Up The Line_, though I'm torn on that.
Rating:
Summary: Silverberg Delivers Again
Review: A very good story of ambition and perceptions. None of the themes are particularly unique, but their particular incarnation and use are powerful. I disagree heartily with one of the previous reviewers who stated that no significant commentary was made on the themes of the book. I think this is only true if you are expecting Lazarus Long to pop out whack you on the head with the author's views. The commentary is very present through the character's views and actions, particularly as defined by social class and generation. It is, to put a finer point on it, implicit not explicit. And it requires, I think, an understanding of the minutia of (fairly) modern class distinction. Manuel's love of the thin, high breasted woman compared to his father's love of full figured, rapacious peasant women is a great point of contrast, one of many that together illuminates a lot about the Manuel-Simeon relationship. Not just that, but all father-son and self-made vs. money-born relationships. Maybe I enjoy Manuel and Simeon simply because they remind me of so many real, relatively affluent families I have known.
The android/creator/god story had a bit more of a conventional SF approach, but was rendered poignantly and painfully. There was a certain lack-of-conclusion, but in this case I find that a positive. To have extended the story much beyond the conclusion would have risked tacking on indeterminate chapters of boring resolution, the sort of stuff that makes you want to throw an otherwise fine book across the room in frustration.
However, I don't think this is nearly Silverberg's best books. Though better than the meandering Nightwings, it is not nearly as good as _Dying Inside_ (Highly recommended. One of the best books ever written) and I don't think quite as good as _Up The Line_, though I'm torn on that.
Rating: 
Summary: One man's idea for communicating with the stars.
Review: A wealthy business man develops plans for a nearly two mile high slender tower, made mostly of glass. It will be designed to allow instant communication with another star, the source of a recently received radio signal. Construction of the tower is accomplished by androids,created for the purpose. They turn out to be a good deal more intelligent than the businessman knows, and secretly they have evolved a religious group, believing their human creator to be their god. Factions soon appear in the android ranks, consisting of believers and non believers. Each tries to convince the other of their viewpoint, with their only evidence the actions of the businessman. Factions also develop in the humans, some believing the androids deserve human rights and others believing they are purely machines. The businesssman is oblivious to the whole matter until a crisis places him quickly in the center. He is revealed to the androids, who react unpredictably. A very interesting book with lots of parallels, but ultimately not as effective as many other Silverberg books of the same time period.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable Meandnering
Review: An enjoyable enough romp, if a little directionless at times. I felt the book was trying to make some form of social commentary on a variety of issues, including:- the effect being utterly driven has on those around us
- the distinction between natural/un-natural/synthetic/organic life
- the need to attach a (perhaps religious) significance to criteria we don't understand. I count three or four main themes throughout the book, but I felt it ended without making significant commentary or statement about any of them.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing look at dealing with overpopulation in future.
Review: Intriguing thought which proposes one way of dealing with overpopulation 2 centuries from now. The book written in the 1970s looks at how society deals with the inevitable overpopulation. Rather than imposing rules on restricting births, the government builds 1000 floor skyscrapers each containing 800,000+ people. The buildings are self-contained units which the exception of food. Since the land is cleared by these huge buildings, food is available, and is farmed by a smaller population of farmers. Moral ethics are questioned in the new society where adultery is no more since everyone shares everyone else. People who rebel "flippos" are incinerated. Well-written with good character development. A possible future.
Rating: 
Summary: UAG UAA UGG
Review: Now this is interesting, Silverberg manages to not only make a comment on the slim distinction between created and born life but also an examination of egomania at the same time. The story is thus: the millionaire Krug has one dream and that's to make contact with a race from another star. When he gets word that signals are being received from another star, he throws all of his resources into creating a giant glass tower in the middle of the Arctic to make contact with the presumed beings. This of course takes a rather determined personality and Krug goes at his goal almost to the exclusion of all else. Silverberg gets you inside the head of this at times obsessed man and you may not sympathize with this man but you certainly get to know him. You also get a view of the effect this has on the others around him, and a view of the world as well, which Krug has gone a long way to shaping. You see, Krug has made the first "androids", living and thinking beings that grow out of tanks and do most of the work on his tower as well as other uses all around the world. The androids wants a better place in society. However they also worship Krug as a god and pay homage to him in secret shrines. So the tension between human and androids and even between other androids flails around the totally oblivious Krug while the tower goes up and up and up. Sound complicated? It can be but the varied tones and the very three dimensional characters add up to a wealth of great moments and an overall plot that's hard to put down. It may not be the most focused book Silverberg ever did and it suffers a bit from the sheer diversity as he tries to tackle a lot of things at once but it all comes out well (for Silverberg at least, the book is great, the characters don't make out as well) and this is definitely a book to be searched for if you can and snatched up whenever you find it. When I first found it about two years ago I could hardly believe my luck and upon reading it now it was money well spent. They just don't make books like this these days. Get it back into print!
Rating:
Summary: UAG UAA UGG
Review: Now this is interesting, Silverberg manages to not only make a comment on the slim distinction between created and born life but also an examination of egomania at the same time. The story is thus: the millionaire Krug has one dream and that's to make contact with a race from another star. When he gets word that signals are being received from another star, he throws all of his resources into creating a giant glass tower in the middle of the Arctic to make contact with the presumed beings. This of course takes a rather determined personality and Krug goes at his goal almost to the exclusion of all else. Silverberg gets you inside the head of this at times obsessed man and you may not sympathize with this man but you certainly get to know him. You also get a view of the effect this has on the others around him, and a view of the world as well, which Krug has gone a long way to shaping. You see, Krug has made the first "androids", living and thinking beings that grow out of tanks and do most of the work on his tower as well as other uses all around the world. The androids wants a better place in society. However they also worship Krug as a god and pay homage to him in secret shrines. So the tension between human and androids and even between other androids flails around the totally oblivious Krug while the tower goes up and up and up. Sound complicated? It can be but the varied tones and the very three dimensional characters add up to a wealth of great moments and an overall plot that's hard to put down. It may not be the most focused book Silverberg ever did and it suffers a bit from the sheer diversity as he tries to tackle a lot of things at once but it all comes out well (for Silverberg at least, the book is great, the characters don't make out as well) and this is definitely a book to be searched for if you can and snatched up whenever you find it. When I first found it about two years ago I could hardly believe my luck and upon reading it now it was money well spent. They just don't make books like this these days. Get it back into print!
Rating:
Summary: Dreams, dreams, shattered
Review: Simeon Krug is the king of the universe. A self-made man, he is the Bill Gates of the era, having built a mega-commercial empire on the backs of his products: "androids", genetically-engineered human slaves. Having amassed incredible wealth, his next major goal is to communicate with aliens living in an uninhabitable world, sending a mysterious signal. This requires building a mile-high tower in the arctic tundra. The androids want civil equality with humans, but are divided on the best means to the goal, political agitation or religious devotion to Krug, their creator. And Krug's son, Manuel, is reluctant to step into his role as heir to his father's empire. Silverberg has created an interesting universe with many fascinating, but uncompelling, characters. Activity builds up to a crescendo, but collapses into an appalling mess. In some ways, he daringly leaves many questions open. (was there any significance to the shift in the aliens' signal?) In many other ways, it just plods along until its conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: Dreams, dreams, shattered
Review: Simeon Krug is the king of the universe. A self-made man, he is the Bill Gates of the era, having built a mega-commercial empire on the backs of his products: "androids", genetically-engineered human slaves. Having amassed incredible wealth, his next major goal is to communicate with aliens living in an uninhabitable world, sending a mysterious signal. This requires building a mile-high tower in the arctic tundra. The androids want civil equality with humans, but are divided on the best means to the goal, political agitation or religious devotion to Krug, their creator. And Krug's son, Manuel, is reluctant to step into his role as heir to his father's empire. Silverberg has created an interesting universe with many fascinating, but uncompelling, characters. Activity builds up to a crescendo, but collapses into an appalling mess. In some ways, he daringly leaves many questions open. (was there any significance to the shift in the aliens' signal?) In many other ways, it just plods along until its conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: Impressive allegory
Review: Simeon Krug, a fantastically wealthy entrepreneur, endeavors to communicate with the stars in this fascinating tale of a man's incredible hubris and the destruction it wreaks on all within his sphere of influence, which includes the entire world. Every one of Krug's actions appears to be motivated by the need for self-aggrandizement, although he would probably be shocked to hear it; this blindness is a fascinating aspect of the character. Krug wants to stretch his presence across this universe, so he is building a mile-high glass tower on the northern tundra that will house a tachyon projector. He needs workers for his project, so he creates androids that are capable of the full range of human emotion and presses them into service. Some reviewers have complained that the story ends on an inconclusive note but, if you read this story, just think about the havoc that Krug has caused through his single-minded attachment to his own grand schemes without adequate thought to their consequences. Robert Silverberg has penned a worthy cautionary tale about the danger of pairing too much power with too much ambition and too little ability or desire to imagine any result but what the great man intends.
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