The Secret Sharer
- Form
- Novella
- Year
- 1987
Publication history
- 1987: Asimov's September 1987, Magazine
- 1988: The Secret Sharer, Underwood Hard cover book, 107 pp.
- 1988: The Secret Sharer, , 107 pp.
- 1989: Compagnons secrets, Denol Mass market paperback, 352 pp., in French as La compagnon secrte
- 1990: Purjehdus Bysanttiin, Oy Mass market paperback, in Finnish as Salainen seuralainen
- 1992: Secret Sharers (The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg Volume 1), Bantam Trade paperback, 546 pp.
- 1992: Secret Sharers (The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg Volume 1), Bantam Hard cover book, 546 pp.
- 1993: The Secret Sharer (The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg Volume 2), Grafton Trade paperback, 395 pp.
- 1999: Compagnons secrets, Denol Mass market paperback, 346 pp., in French as La compagnon secrte
- 2000: Fictionwise, Fictionwise On-line
- 2000: Sailing to Byzantium, Blackstone Audio Audio CD
- 2000: Sailing to Byzantium, iBooks Trade paperback
- 2003: Voile vers Byzance: Nouvelles au fil du temps, tome 3, 1981-1987, Flammarion Trade paperback, 768 pp., in French as La compagne secrte
Blurb
(None on file)
Comments
This fascinating story was nominated for Nebula Award for best novella, 1987. It was written as a sort of tribute to the classic Joseph Conrad story of the same name, since Silverberg had already covered Conrad's other famous novella, Heart of Darkness, with Downward to the Earth. Conrad's tale of a ship captain who befriends a mysterious stowaway is translated into a far future where the technology appears magical, and interstellar trade is accomplished on gigantic needle-shaped ships seemingly made of light. Silverberg's vivid imagination is much in evidence here, as the Sword of Orion is like nothing I've encountered in any other science fiction story. On every page, clever details are woven into the prose, but the story really concentrates on the characters. The Captain (who is strangely enough the least experienced member of the crew), and the stowaway
are tangible entities in the midst of an environment so unreal it's hard to describe. Certainly one of highlights of Silverberg's post-retirement work, though I know some readers find it hard to get a grip on.
Other resources
(None on file)