Sailing to Byzantium by Silverberg

This is my first Robert Silverberg story. I heard many praises of Silverberg from other Booktubers and friends online so I was excited to try him out. I found his novella, "Sailing to Byzantium" on Kindle Unlimited. I picked this story because I was also a fan of William Butler Yeats and his poem of the same name. I was interested to see how the poem connected with the novella. 

"Sailing to Byzantium" was first published in the magazine, Azimov's Science Fiction in 1985. It won the Nebula Award for best novella in 1986. It is about immortality and identity and finding purpose in a post scarcity world. 

The story takes place in the 50th century. The Earth is barren except for 5 cities that act as more like theme parks. The five cities change their themes and settings constantly and the humans go from place to place in their replicated cities. In 2024, these types of cities would be called the Disney World version of the cities. The cities become places like Roman Era Alexandria, Egypt, Xi'an Dynasty China, or Timbuktu. The cities will then change into other cities, like a theme park. A coming attraction that everyone is looking forward to is Byzantium.  They speak about it to one another as they travel.  The citizens are the immortal humans who no longer have to work, get sick, or worry about death. They travel from city to city being perpetually entertained. There are holographic beings who act as NPC's to make the cities feel more real. Robots do most of the hard labor. 

Charles Phillips from 1984 New York City finds himself in this world. He is our exposition character detailing his observations of the 50th Century humans and of the cities they visit. At the same time, he is trying to uncover how he came to the future and his purpose of being there. He falls in love with his companion and wonders if they can have a happy relationship in this world. Is she hiding a secret? Will they make it to Byzantium together? 

"Sailing to Byzantium" was beautifully written full of rich description and philosophical reflection. I was immersed in this paradisical world and could easily imagine it. I felt like I was traveling along with Charles and his group of 50th century friends. The book asks questions about how one would find meaning in a life with no sorrow or trials. The writing is slow paced to allow the reader to think about these questions and wonder if this world really is perfect. Why do the citizens of the 50th century have to keep moving from city to city without really having a home? Who is in charge of this world? Is anything real? A lot of questions are left to the reader to explore and it works with this story.

I was expecting a boring drama but it ended up being a deep engaging story about life's purpose in a world where nothing seems authenti. It reminded me of people today who travel from city center to city center without ever getting to know anything about the country. They get their selfie, go to the same designer stores you can find in any city, eat at the restaurant that everyone recommends online, and move on to the next city. Their lives become about experiences. I wonder if part of the story was about how fake and consumerist life is today. 

Where it was first published 

I recommend this story to anyone, not just science fiction fans. The story flows and takes you on a journey of discovery and love while asking meaningful questions about life. It is a work of literary art. I also recommend reading the poem "Sailing to Byzantium"by Yeats, a poem Silverberg quotes and references. 

"Sailing to Byzantium" gets an A for excellent.