Start reading Tower Of Glass (Gollancz SF collector's edition) on your Kindle in under a minute. Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

 
 
 

Try it free

Sample the beginning of this book for free

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

Read books on your computer or other mobile devices with our FREE Kindle Reading Apps.
Tower Of Glass (Gollancz SF collector's edition)
 
 
Share your own customer images

Tower Of Glass (Gollancz SF collector's edition) [Kindle Edition]

Robert Silverberg (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews) |
Kindle Price: £4.99 includes VAT* & free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
Unlike print books, digital books are subject to VAT.
This price was set by the publisher

Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition £4.99   -- --
Hardcover --   -- --
Paperback --   -- --

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Product Description

Product Description

Simeon Krug's obsession is to see a tower built, on kilometre high, that will reach out to answer the voice from space. The Androids are his tools; superb, man-like creations of Man. The Androids take Krug for their God, and seek to become one with flesh-and-blood mankind through his wisdom. But Krug is not God - and it takes a God to control the terrible emotions Krug has stirred . . .

About the Author

Robert Silverberg was born in 1935 and educated at Columbia University. He sold his first story at the age of nineteen and has been a professional writer since the age of twenty-one. He is widely recognized as one of the most imaginative and versatile writers of science fiction. Among his many books are Thorns, Nightwings, Dying Inside, The Stochastic Man, The Book of Skulls and Lord Valentine's Castle .

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 378 KB
  • Print Length: 207 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0684105446
  • Publisher: Gateway (29 Sep 2011)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B005K8FX8Q
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #107,702 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

    •  Would you like to give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Robert Silverberg
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Robert Silverberg Page

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

› Explore similar items

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

Customer Reviews

3 star
0
2 star
0
1 star
0
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Top-notch SF 7 April 2001
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
One of the tests of great SF is, can it be read over and over again, and still be enjoyed? In the case of Tower of Glass, the answer is yes! Bob Silverberg's powers of invention are at a peak in this book, set about 300 years in the future. Simeon Krug, a mega-tycoon of that time, has an obsession to prove that humankind is not alone in the universe. When he discovers signals from deep space, he sets about building a mighty tower of glass, containing the technology to reply to the signals. His workers are synthetic humans (androids) who he drives on furiously, like a ruthless slavemaster. What he does not realise is that the androids believe he is God! Tension builds and builds as the androids, with some human allies, plot to force Krug to grant them equality with flesh-and-blood humanity. The story moves towards a pivotal moment of truth and a breathtaking ending! Glorious entertainment.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Simeon Krug, wealthy magnate of the future, is so obsessed with a sequence of numbers being transmitted from a planetary nebula three hundred light years away that he develops a race of androids in order to build a tower fifteen hundred metres high in order to send a response to the alien signal.
The androids, unbeknown to Krug, have developed their own society which is attempting to achieve Android Equality rights in two fundamentally different ways. The Android Equality Party is a visible politically active movement which campaigns for a change in legislation from the current situation in which androids are considered ‘property’ while others see their salvation in a religion centred around the figure of Krug ‘The Creator’.
This short but complex novel is – to a certain extent – exploring areas Philip K Dick had already explored in the preceding decade to better effect. Indeed, the novel seems influenced by Dick stylistically, particularly in Silverberg’s choice of names for his characters.
There is also something tragically Shakespearean about Tower of Glass. The unfolding of the drama is measured by the increasing height of the tower, which is in direct relation to the increase in Krug’s maniacal obsession with the project. Krug himself, although not a wicked man, becomes increasingly irrational and blind to the social developments within the race of androids which he created.
Well worth checking out.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Just great 22 Aug 2011
By Behan
Format:Paperback
This is the book that lost out when Larry Niven won a Hugo and a Nebula for Ringworld (S.F. Masterworks), possibly the worst Hugo-winning novel I've read (while I'm griping, A Case Of Conscience (S.F. Masterworks) isn't all it's cracked up to be, either). The worst part about being beaten by the most over-rated Hugo winner of all time? Well, both books open with a character hopping through a teleporter across the earth, but Silverberg GOT THE TIME ZONE CHANGES RIGHT and didn't have to do a second edition with the high school math corrected.

So while Ringworld is full of leery nudity, Thundercats and dopey tripods and no plot of any real worth, Tower of Glass opts instead for story and characterisation. It's an operatic tragedy with timeless themes about the relationship of master and slave and the siren call of destiny; it's probably the defining Silverberg book. Although plainly inspired by the civil rights struggles in 20th century America, the book still feels fresh, because it's about division of society and the disconnection of the super-rich from everyday reality. The writing is bold and leaps out of the page with unbridled enthusiasm. Silverberg reportedly complains that the book was butchered by its editor, and while, with retrospect, this is perhaps detectable in the pacing, I wouldn't say my enjoyment was harmed.

Ignore my whining about how grievously this was pipped for an award and just buy the book. If you like classic sci-fi, this is a great mix of the Golden Age and the New Wave, it's the quintessential Silverberg novel (as you'll see from my reviews, I should know: I've read a whole lot of them) and it's just a brilliant piece of escapist fun. Enjoy. ...And if you see Larry Niven, punch him in the chest.

OK, don't do that.
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject









i.e., each title must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. GB Privacy Statement Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. GB Delivery Information Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. GB Returns & Exchanges