Beginning with his very first sale, "Gorgon Planet," Hugo and Nebula award–winner Silverberg (A Time of Changes)
collects 24 stories from the prolific first five years of his career (1953–1958), each piece with a lively headnote about its genesis, magazine venue and editor. While learning his craft and churning out copy to pay the rent, Silverberg imitated the styles of well-known writers, with such stories as "The Songs of Summer," which borrows the technique of multiple viewpoints from William Faulkner to tell a first contact tale, and "The Silent Colony," which seeks to replicate Robert Sheckley's clarity. Silverberg also wrote stories to match cover art, a literary exercise that resulted in "Why?" and in the often-anthologized "Sunrise on Mercury." Though none of his best-known or award-winning stories are included, these selections, which Silverberg deems the best of his early era, illustrate his apprenticeship and presage the Grand Master he has become. (Nov.)
