Born with the Dead (Coronet Books)
Worth buying if: You appreciate Robert Silverberg’s lyrical speculative prose and character-driven science fiction.
Skip it if: You prefer action-heavy SF—Born with the Dead is contemplative and structurally quiet.
Exact edition: Edition shown · ISBN-13 9780340212974. The Amazon link uses this ISBN, so the product page should open to the edition shown here.
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Summary
This 1977 novella-collection centerpiece follows characters confronting the Returned—physically unchanged dead who behave with eerie detachment—as Silverberg blends literary emotion, speculative ethics, and quiet dread across linked stories over 224 pages.
Why this book now
Silverberg’s exploration of mourning, identity, and social adaptation in Born with the Dead feels timely as contemporary debates revisit how communities handle loss and technologic.
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Best for readers who...
Good fit if you want...
- You appreciate Robert Silverberg’s lyrical speculative prose and character-driven science fiction.
- You want a compact, 224-page meditation on the Returned, grief, and ethical ambiguity.
- You prefer action-heavy SF—Born with the Dead is contemplative and structurally quiet.
- You dislike slow-burn emotional focus or speculative premises centered on mourning and social ritual.
- You are specifically hunting for the newest framing rather than a backlist perspective.
Decided it fits?
Exact edition: Edition shown · ISBN-13 9780340212974
Worth buying if: You appreciate Robert Silverberg’s lyrical speculative prose and character-driven science fiction.
Skip it if: You prefer action-heavy SF—Born with the Dead is contemplative and structurally quiet.
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.
Reader guide
Cues to help you decide faster.
Reading commitment
Light Short sit-downs
At 224 pages, this Hodder & Stoughton Coronet edition reads quickly but rewards slow attention to Silverberg’s linked narratives and emotional nuance.
What stands out here
This Coronet/Hodder & Stoughton 1977 edition foregrounds Silverberg’s original novella sequence and the era’s spare, thoughtful SF sensibility.
Best way to approach it
Read slowly, focusing on character reactions and ethical questions about the Returned rather than plot twists; best enjoyed in one or two sittings to preserve its elegiac tone.
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Exact edition: ISBN-13 9780340212974
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.