Sailing to Byzantium/Seven American Nights (Tor Double)

By Gene Wolfe and Robert Silverberg

Book Overview

First Tor Printing, 1989. Tor Double #10. Near Fine condition. Rubs to the spine tips. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812500792
• ISBN13: 9780812500790
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Two of sci-fi's notable novellas

You can find "Sailing to Byzantium" as a stand-alone book in print, which is terrific, as it is a shame that this double Tor book is now out of print. "Sailing to Byzantium" is a must-read by Silverberg, one of science fiction's premier authors. He excels in the novella genre, and the writing in "Byzantium" is nothing short of exquisite. Silverberg creates an entire future society, yet reveals each fact with perfect timing, dropping them into place as precisely as a safecracker dropping tumblers into the lock of a safe. If you want to read a near-perfect short work of fiction, this is it. Turn this book upside down and Gene Wolfe's celebrated "Seven American Nights" is on the other side. The story unfolds with a diary of an Iranian visitor to the ruins of a future United States. The diary tells a story of an adventure in a land of mutants and ruined treasure for the taking. But is the writer reliable in what he tells us? The uncertainty of the information is skillfully crafted and teases the reader almost unbearably along each of the seven nights. Both these stories are top-notch examples of short fiction writing, and masterpieces of science fiction. If you find a copy of this, snap it up.