Silverberg's World of a Thousand Colors contained stories published from 1957-1971 and although there is a tendency to twilight-zone endings, it really is an excellent collection. A few notable of the 19 included: "Something Wild is Loose" is about an alien that can only communicate with humans telepathically while we sleep, but unfortunately we experience this as horrible nightmares- would make an excellent RPG scenario. "Going Down Smooth" is a clever description of a psychiatric computer that develops insanity, very slick. "The Outbreeders" and "Prime Commandment" appealed to my need to read stories about ships that crashed on planets and managed to survive somehow. "To the Dark Star" is tight and intense and unforgettable. "The Fangs of Trees" was very interesting, but seemed incomplete. The last story "How It Was When the Past Went Away" wasn't my favourite, but I loved the description of credit. To quote: "The states and the federal government had tossed out the bankruptcy laws in 1995, after the so-called credit epidemic of the 1980's when for a while it was actually fashionable to go irretrievably into debt and throw yourself on the mercy of the courts." This was published in 1969 which boggles my mind. ( )

This collection of short stories, written between the late fifties and early seventies, has held up quite well. For the most part, they are set in the far distant future and explore questions of alien civilizations and space travel. Only two stories, written in 1959 and 1969 and taking place in 1989 and 2003 respectively contain technology that we now know was not in existence at those times. However, it is rather easy to suspend disbelief and treat the stories as if they take place in a future not too distant from now.
I did not dislike any of the tales in this collection, but I did not absolutely LOVE any of them either. They were all decent, but now, after I’ve finished, I find it rather difficult to remember them individually. Overall, not a waste of time, but not something I would recommend to anyone who isn’t a fan of science fiction in general and Robert Silverberg in particular. ( )

Silverberg's World of a Thousand Colors contained stories published from 1957-1971 and although there is a tendency to twilight-zone endings, it really is an excellent collection. A few notable of the 19 included: "Something Wild is Loose" is about an alien that can only communicate with humans telepathically while we sleep, but unfortunately we experience this as horrible nightmares- would make an excellent RPG scenario. "Going Down Smooth" is a clever description of a psychiatric computer that develops insanity, very slick. "The Outbreeders" and "Prime Commandment" appealed to my need to read stories about ships that crashed on planets and managed to survive somehow. "To the Dark Star" is tight and intense and unforgettable. "The Fangs of Trees" was very interesting, but seemed incomplete. The last story "How It Was When the Past Went Away" wasn't my favourite, but I loved the description of credit. To quote: "The states and the federal government had tossed out the bankruptcy laws in 1995, after the so-called credit epidemic of the 1980's when for a while it was actually fashionable to go irretrievably into debt and throw yourself on the mercy of the courts." This was published in 1969 which boggles my mind. ( )