What do you think?
Rate this book
New Dimensions #3
New Dimensions 3
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin
Down There by Damon Knight
How Shall We Conquer? by David R. Bunch
They Live on Levels by Terry Carr
The Girl Who Was Plugged In by James Tiptree
Days of Grass, Days of Straw by R.A. Lafferty
Notes Leading Down to the Conquest by Barry N. Malzberg
At the Bran Foundry by Robin Scott Wilson
Tell Me All About Yourself by F.M. Busby
Three Comedians by Gordon Van Gelder
The Last Day of July by Gardner Dozois
Down There by Damon Knight
How Shall We Conquer? by David R. Bunch
They Live on Levels by Terry Carr
The Girl Who Was Plugged In by James Tiptree
Days of Grass, Days of Straw by R.A. Lafferty
Notes Leading Down to the Conquest by Barry N. Malzberg
At the Bran Foundry by Robin Scott Wilson
Tell Me All About Yourself by F.M. Busby
Three Comedians by Gordon Van Gelder
The Last Day of July by Gardner Dozois
183 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
129 people want to read
About the author
Robert Silverberg
2,363 books1,607 followersThere are many authors in the database with this name.
Robert Silverberg is a highly celebrated American science fiction author and editor known for his prolific output and literary range. Over a career spanning decades, he has won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards and was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2004. Inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1999, Silverberg is recognized for both his immense productivity and his contributions to the genre's evolution.
Born in Brooklyn, he began writing in his teens and won his first Hugo Award in 1956 as the best new writer. Throughout the 1950s, he produced vast amounts of fiction, often under pseudonyms, and was known for writing up to a million words a year. When the market declined, he diversified into other genres, including historical nonfiction and erotica.
Silverberg’s return to science fiction in the 1960s marked a shift toward deeper psychological and literary themes, contributing significantly to the New Wave movement. Acclaimed works from this period include Downward to the Earth, Dying Inside, Nightwings, and The World Inside. In the 1980s, he launched the Majipoor series with Lord Valentine’s Castle, creating one of the most imaginative planetary settings in science fiction.
Though he announced his retirement from writing in the mid-1970s, Silverberg returned with renewed vigor and continued to publish acclaimed fiction into the 1990s. He received further recognition with the Nebula-winning Sailing to Byzantium and the Hugo-winning Gilgamesh in the Outback.
Silverberg has also played a significant role as an editor and anthologist, shaping science fiction literature through both his own work and his influence on others. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, author Karen Haber.
Robert Silverberg is a highly celebrated American science fiction author and editor known for his prolific output and literary range. Over a career spanning decades, he has won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards and was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2004. Inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1999, Silverberg is recognized for both his immense productivity and his contributions to the genre's evolution.
Born in Brooklyn, he began writing in his teens and won his first Hugo Award in 1956 as the best new writer. Throughout the 1950s, he produced vast amounts of fiction, often under pseudonyms, and was known for writing up to a million words a year. When the market declined, he diversified into other genres, including historical nonfiction and erotica.
Silverberg’s return to science fiction in the 1960s marked a shift toward deeper psychological and literary themes, contributing significantly to the New Wave movement. Acclaimed works from this period include Downward to the Earth, Dying Inside, Nightwings, and The World Inside. In the 1980s, he launched the Majipoor series with Lord Valentine’s Castle, creating one of the most imaginative planetary settings in science fiction.
Though he announced his retirement from writing in the mid-1970s, Silverberg returned with renewed vigor and continued to publish acclaimed fiction into the 1990s. He received further recognition with the Nebula-winning Sailing to Byzantium and the Hugo-winning Gilgamesh in the Outback.
Silverberg has also played a significant role as an editor and anthologist, shaping science fiction literature through both his own work and his influence on others. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, author Karen Haber.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 17, 2020
This is third volume of the fine anthology series of original science fiction stories that Silverberg edited for many years. He leaned towards newer writers and more experimental New Wave styles in this one (but remember it was 1973), rather than more established authors or traditional themes. It includes good stories by Gardner R. Dozois, Barry N. Malzberg, R.A. Lafferty, Ursula K. LeGuin, Terry Carr, and several others. My favorite is At the Bran Factory by George Alec Effinger-- I'm not sure why, I don't think I really understood it, but I liked it.
December 13, 2025
This is a really difficult anthology to review, since there is such a wide swing in story quality. There are absolute classics such as the stories from LeGuin, Effinger and Eklund. Then there are really disappointing head-scratchers such as Lafferty's and Carr's.
Overall, I think it's worth reading if you're heavily into sci-fi, are a fan of Robert Silverberg, or want to know what speculative fiction was like at the time.
The original cover for the paperback had an illustration based on Tiptree's story, which is one you'll either love or hate. Guess which camp I'm in? For some reason, this story (along with LeGuin's) can be found in many other sci-fi anthologies.
Selections:
* "Introduction" by Our Editor. This isn't an introduction for readers. It's addressed to writers trying to submit work to Silverberg. He lists what he wants, and what he doesn't. Quaint that he refers to each anthology as "issues."
* "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" by Ursula K. LeGuin. Inspired by Henry James, this is arguably LeGuin's best piece of writing ever. She talks to the reader as she's writing about the happiest city ever -- and why they're so damn happy. But it's the ones who choose to leave get the title spotlight. Also includes a beautiful description of Omelas' horses.
* "Down There" by Damon Knight. Set in 2012, it hasn't happened yet, AI notwithstanding. And both pipe smoking and magazines have practically disappeared. Have to wonder if the byline "R. A. Norbert" is a nod and a wink to R. A. Lafferty. There's not much of a story here, which makes you wonder if being an editor made his writing skills rusty.
* "How Shall We Conquer?" By Wallace MacFarlane. This is a very difficult story about aliens landing in front of the UN building, selecting an obscure official and demanding an Earth family spending six months with them. It's hard sci-fi, has diverse human characters, but is surprisingly emotionless. It's very sad that soda fountains never made it past the 1970s.
* "They Live on Levels" by Terry Carr. A very pretentious and ultimately baffling mess. Silverberg's introduction seems to be for a different story entirely ... but sadly isn't.
* "The Girl Who Wasn't Plugged In" by James Tiptree, Jr./Alice Hastings Bradley/etc. When this was published, it was unknown that JT Jr was a woman. I read this soon after Harlan Ellison's "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" and can't help but notice their similarities. This is muddled, with future-hip slang, an unfathomable narrator that might be the author herself, and a protagonist named Philadelphia in Carbondale, PA, the brain behind a beautiful living doll named Delphi. The bit at the end about time-traveling to Nixon's second term really added nothing to an already difficult story.
* "Days of Grass, Days of Straw" by R. A. Lafferty. Reading Lafferty in an anthology is like when you're forced to watch a bad sitcom because someone in your family is a fan. I'm part Native American, so I thought the "Indian World" was majorly offensive. Yes, I know it's all a joke, but Jesus.
* "Notes Leading Down to the Conquest" by Barry N. Salzburg. Some fiction that's purposefully fuzzy at the edges can work if it's in the hands of a capable writer like Salzburg. This is the prospectus report about the first man to scoot down to Jupiter.
* "At the Bran Foundry" by George Alec Effinger. I am never eating raisin bran ever again.
* "Tell Me All About Yourself" by F. M. Busby. This is Busby's first published story. It reads a lot like a long-lost first version of the Tom Petty video for "Mary Jane's Last Dance."
* "Three Comedians" by Gordon Eklund. The title is meant ironically. This is a difficult but dazzling story about the existence (or not) of gods and devils. There is a highly intelligent alien species that resemble walruses.
* "The Last Day of July" by Gardiner R. Dozois. Before he got a "real job" being an anthology editor, Dozois was a sci-fi and horror writer. No idea what genre this fits in. There are a lot of beautiful descriptions here, but not much of a plot. I think it's about a man's final mental breakdown, but I could be wrong.
Overall, I think it's worth reading if you're heavily into sci-fi, are a fan of Robert Silverberg, or want to know what speculative fiction was like at the time.
The original cover for the paperback had an illustration based on Tiptree's story, which is one you'll either love or hate. Guess which camp I'm in? For some reason, this story (along with LeGuin's) can be found in many other sci-fi anthologies.
Selections:
* "Introduction" by Our Editor. This isn't an introduction for readers. It's addressed to writers trying to submit work to Silverberg. He lists what he wants, and what he doesn't. Quaint that he refers to each anthology as "issues."
* "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" by Ursula K. LeGuin. Inspired by Henry James, this is arguably LeGuin's best piece of writing ever. She talks to the reader as she's writing about the happiest city ever -- and why they're so damn happy. But it's the ones who choose to leave get the title spotlight. Also includes a beautiful description of Omelas' horses.
* "Down There" by Damon Knight. Set in 2012, it hasn't happened yet, AI notwithstanding. And both pipe smoking and magazines have practically disappeared. Have to wonder if the byline "R. A. Norbert" is a nod and a wink to R. A. Lafferty. There's not much of a story here, which makes you wonder if being an editor made his writing skills rusty.
* "How Shall We Conquer?" By Wallace MacFarlane. This is a very difficult story about aliens landing in front of the UN building, selecting an obscure official and demanding an Earth family spending six months with them. It's hard sci-fi, has diverse human characters, but is surprisingly emotionless. It's very sad that soda fountains never made it past the 1970s.
* "They Live on Levels" by Terry Carr. A very pretentious and ultimately baffling mess. Silverberg's introduction seems to be for a different story entirely ... but sadly isn't.
* "The Girl Who Wasn't Plugged In" by James Tiptree, Jr./Alice Hastings Bradley/etc. When this was published, it was unknown that JT Jr was a woman. I read this soon after Harlan Ellison's "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" and can't help but notice their similarities. This is muddled, with future-hip slang, an unfathomable narrator that might be the author herself, and a protagonist named Philadelphia in Carbondale, PA, the brain behind a beautiful living doll named Delphi. The bit at the end about time-traveling to Nixon's second term really added nothing to an already difficult story.
* "Days of Grass, Days of Straw" by R. A. Lafferty. Reading Lafferty in an anthology is like when you're forced to watch a bad sitcom because someone in your family is a fan. I'm part Native American, so I thought the "Indian World" was majorly offensive. Yes, I know it's all a joke, but Jesus.
* "Notes Leading Down to the Conquest" by Barry N. Salzburg. Some fiction that's purposefully fuzzy at the edges can work if it's in the hands of a capable writer like Salzburg. This is the prospectus report about the first man to scoot down to Jupiter.
* "At the Bran Foundry" by George Alec Effinger. I am never eating raisin bran ever again.
* "Tell Me All About Yourself" by F. M. Busby. This is Busby's first published story. It reads a lot like a long-lost first version of the Tom Petty video for "Mary Jane's Last Dance."
* "Three Comedians" by Gordon Eklund. The title is meant ironically. This is a difficult but dazzling story about the existence (or not) of gods and devils. There is a highly intelligent alien species that resemble walruses.
* "The Last Day of July" by Gardiner R. Dozois. Before he got a "real job" being an anthology editor, Dozois was a sci-fi and horror writer. No idea what genre this fits in. There are a lot of beautiful descriptions here, but not much of a plot. I think it's about a man's final mental breakdown, but I could be wrong.
January 23, 2020
4/5 (collated rating: Good)
For an anthology, bound to contain a filler story or two, this one is spectacular. Robert Silverberg’s New Dimensions 3 (1973) lives up to his claim to contain “stories that demonstrate vigorous and original ways [often experimental] of approaching the body of ideas, images, and concepts that is science fiction” yet do not sacrifice “emotional vitality, or clarity of insight.” Ursula K. Le Guin, with her rumination on utopias, and James T. Tipree, Jr.’s proto-cyberpunk tale of commercialism and performing gender, deliver some of their best work.
The New Dimensions series of original SF is now [...]
For the complete review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
For an anthology, bound to contain a filler story or two, this one is spectacular. Robert Silverberg’s New Dimensions 3 (1973) lives up to his claim to contain “stories that demonstrate vigorous and original ways [often experimental] of approaching the body of ideas, images, and concepts that is science fiction” yet do not sacrifice “emotional vitality, or clarity of insight.” Ursula K. Le Guin, with her rumination on utopias, and James T. Tipree, Jr.’s proto-cyberpunk tale of commercialism and performing gender, deliver some of their best work.
The New Dimensions series of original SF is now [...]
For the complete review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
February 5, 2019
This was certainly an interesting one. Definitely a bit of a time capsule as we get to read Silverberg's introductions to stories.
Most interesting to me is how he talks about the 'elusive' Tiptree. There seems to be some really cool history there which I'd kind of forgotten about, but am now inspired to perhaps read more about. (it's also fascinating the 'girl who . . .' titles date back to the 70's with Tiptrees 'the girl who was plugged in')
Leguin's 'The ones who walk away from Omelas' was the reason I picked up this anthology in the first place and it deserves all of the hype it has received. Leguin has a casual hilarity to some of her prose that I don't think I've ever noticed before. It was really refreshing.
I also really enjoyed Terry Carr's 'They Live on Levels' and R.A. Lafferty's 'Days of Grass, Days of straw' was particularly good. I think I'll be looking up more of Lafferty's work when I can.
Unfortunately, the rest seemed pretty self indulgent, with stories that felt as if they went on and on without really coming to a point, or a satisfying conclusion. Not that all endings have to be satisfying but many of these read as if the author simply got bored and decided to end it.
But would still recommend reading this, if only for the ones I mentioned.
Most interesting to me is how he talks about the 'elusive' Tiptree. There seems to be some really cool history there which I'd kind of forgotten about, but am now inspired to perhaps read more about. (it's also fascinating the 'girl who . . .' titles date back to the 70's with Tiptrees 'the girl who was plugged in')
Leguin's 'The ones who walk away from Omelas' was the reason I picked up this anthology in the first place and it deserves all of the hype it has received. Leguin has a casual hilarity to some of her prose that I don't think I've ever noticed before. It was really refreshing.
I also really enjoyed Terry Carr's 'They Live on Levels' and R.A. Lafferty's 'Days of Grass, Days of straw' was particularly good. I think I'll be looking up more of Lafferty's work when I can.
Unfortunately, the rest seemed pretty self indulgent, with stories that felt as if they went on and on without really coming to a point, or a satisfying conclusion. Not that all endings have to be satisfying but many of these read as if the author simply got bored and decided to end it.
But would still recommend reading this, if only for the ones I mentioned.
May 27, 2022
This anthology is a feast of thought provoking fiction: thirteen mind bending tales of science fiction and fantasy from authors at the peak of their art including two Hugo award winners. “The girl who was plugged in” by James Tiptree, Jr was awarded the 1974 Hugo Award for best science fiction novella, and “The Ones who walk away from by Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin was awarded the 1974 Hugo Award for best short story. But that’s not all there are tales of alienation, theological wonderings, outright absurdity, and social criticism hiding behind the veil of the fantastic.
Read
February 26, 20144/11/11: "Down There" by Damon Knight
4/13/11: "Notes Leading Down to the Conquest" by Barry N. Malzberg
4/14/11: "Tell Me All About Yourself" by F.M. Busby
1/6/12: "The Last Day of July" by Gardner Dozois
4/13/11: "Notes Leading Down to the Conquest" by Barry N. Malzberg
4/14/11: "Tell Me All About Yourself" by F.M. Busby
1/6/12: "The Last Day of July" by Gardner Dozois
September 27, 2011
This was read during the 1982/83 winter school break. I particularly liked the Ursula K. Le Guin piece.
October 15, 2009
Some very good stories edited by one of the best.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews