Alaree
- Form
- Short story
- Year
- 1958
Publication history
- 1958: Saturn March 1958, Magazine
- 1959: New Worlds July 1959, Magazine as Malnutrition
- 1966: Earthmen and Strangers, Meredith Hard cover book
- 1975: Sunrise on Mercury, Thomas Nelson Hard cover book
- 1977: Earthmen and Strangers, Manor Mass market paperback, 240 pp.
- 1983: Sunrise on Mercury, Gollancz Mass market paperback
- 1986: Sunrise on Mercury, Pan Mass market paperback, 176 pp.
- 1996: The Road to Nightfall (The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg Volume 4), HarperCollins UK Trade paperback, 347 pp.
- 2002: Le Chemin de la nuit: Nouvelles au fil du temps, tome 1, 1953-1970, Flammarion Trade paperback, 727 pp., in French
Blurb
(None on file)
Comments
An ship from Earth lands on Spica IV for repairs. As they work, a small green humanoid approaches their ship. By means of thought-converter helmets, they communicate with him, and learn that he considers himself as we. The crew's commander incautiously teaches him the meaning of individuality during their short dialogue, and then goes back to his business. The little alien grows fond of the crew and comes to visit them every day, and then, as take-off day arrives, he bids them to let him join them on board, because he claims that the other Alaree are about to kill him, since he knows now what individuality is. The crew hesitate, but eventually let him come. During the voyage, Alaree begins to feel the loneliness of being only one and not we anymore. He begins to eat a lot, an action that will lead to the end of his suffering.
Other resources
(None on file)