SOURCE: “The Stellar Parallels: Robert Silverberg, Larry Niven, and Arthur C. Clarke,” in Extrapolation, Vol. 21, No. 4, Winter, 1980, pp. 348-60.

In the following essay, Nedelkovich compares and contrasts the literary and scientific aspects of “To the Dark Star” with those of Clarke's “The Star” and Niven's “Neutron Star.”

Three excellent science-fiction stories, closely similar, are discussed here in order to show their striking resemblances and parallels and also the characteristic and meaningful differences between them. They are: Arthur C. Clarke's justly famous “The Star,”¹ probably written in 1955, and winner of the 1956 Hugo award; Larry Niven's “Neutron Star,”² an excellent work—in fact, one of his best—probably written in 1965; and Robert Silverberg's “To the Dark Star,”³ probably written in 1968, when Silverberg had about fifteen years of professional writing experience behind him. Permit me to attempt an analysis and a personal appreciation of the three works.

Consider the titles. Clarke's...