5 h 22 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 22 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What good is reaching the stars if the journey separates you from the people you love?
Sixteen-year-old Alan Donnell grows up aboard an interstellar trading ship. For him, life among the stars is ordinary. But time passes differently for travellers and people on Earth. When his twin brother, Steve, chooses to stay behind, that difference becomes more than a scientific puzzle: it threatens their shared life.
In Robert Silverberg’s Starman’s Quest, Alan seeks a way beyond this painful divide. His search brings him to Earth, where planetary society and shipboard life have different habits, loyalties, and expectations. The possibility of another form of travel gives him a goal: finding a way to cross space without losing so much to time.
What you’ll discover
- A brother left behind Steve’s choice gives the vast problem of time a close, human face.
- Time with a cost Explore a scientific puzzle through the relationships that unequal ageing puts at risk.
- Two ways of living Follow Alan between Earth and starship communities, each with its own loyalties and expectations.
- A search for connection The quest for different space travel holds out hope for keeping people together.
- Growing beyond the ship Join a young traveller as he questions the only life he knows.
Who will love it
You will love this if you enjoy classic space adventure, clever ideas about time, stories of brothers, and a young hero finding his way through a tricky city.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Time slows on starships but not on Earth
- The ship feels like a cage
- The Enclave is a ghetto starmen built themselves
- The Earther city treats a starman as a stranger
- Max Hawkes offers help and keeps a plan
- A gambling game teaches Alan how Earth works
- Alan finds Steve and chooses a different road
- Hawkes asks for a price, and the story asks what freedom costs
Who’s who
- Alan DonnellA red-haired seventeen-year-old starman who wants to find his twin brother and uncover the lost hyperspace drive of James Hudson Cavour.
- Steve DonnellAlan's twin, who jumped ship for freedom and now lives on Earth nine years older, in debt and tired.
- RatA small, sharp-tongued talking creature from Bellatrix VII who rides on Alan's shoulder and says what he thinks.
- Captain Mark DonnellThe stern captain of the Valhalla and father of the twins, who hides his pain over Steve behind duty.
- Max HawkesA brilliant, smiling Class A gambler on Free Status who guides Alan through Earth, with plans of his own.
- Kevin QuantrellA young starman from the ship Encounter who talks of escaping the Enclave but loses his nerve at the bridge.
- Judy CollierThe Chief Signal Officer's teasing young daughter, who follows Alan around the ship and brings him news.
- John ByngA former starman and dreamdust addict who becomes one of Hawkes's circle and a warning to Alan.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
Starman's Quest
by Robert Silverberg · 1958
A seventeen-year-old starman steps off his ship into a city where nine years have passed in six weeks.
Easy read5–10 hours to readItaliano
Excellent
- Read or listen
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
What happens when you leave your twin brother for six weeks and he comes back nine years older? That is the problem facing Alan Donnell on his seventeenth birthday, as the starship Valhalla drops toward Earth.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Time slows on starships but not on Earth
The book opens with a rule of physics that shapes every page. Near the speed of light, time aboard a ship shrinks. The Valhalla can fly to Alpha Centauri and back in six weeks of ship time, while nine years pass on Earth.
A short prologue explains that the Lexman Spacedrive opened the stars but could never beat light. A greater discovery would have been the Cavour Hyperdrive. James Hudson Cavour was a bitter loner who claimed to be building a hyperspace engine. He sent a cryptic final message and was never heard from again.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 8 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1958
- Language
- Italiano
- Level
- Easy read
Cite this edition
Silverberg, Robert. Starman's Quest. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/starman-s-quest.
Silverberg, R. (2026). Starman's quest. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/starman-s-quest (Original work published 1958)
Silverberg, Robert. Starman's Quest. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/starman-s-quest.
@book{silverberg2026starmans,
author = {Silverberg, Robert},
title = {Starman's Quest},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/starman-s-quest},
note = {First published 1958}
}
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Starman's Quest
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Starman's Quest about?
It tells of Alan Donnell, a seventeen-year-old starman whose twin brother Steve jumped ship and aged nine years on Earth. Alan crosses into the Earther city to find him and to follow clues to Cavour's lost hyperspace drive.
What is the Fitzgerald Contraction?
It is the book's name for time slowing aboard ships traveling near the speed of light. A starship crew may live six weeks during a voyage that takes nine years by Earth's calendar, which separates starmen from Earthers.
Who is James Hudson Cavour?
Cavour is an inventor from the year 2570 who claimed he could build a faster than light hyperspace drive. He sent a cryptic last message and vanished. Alan has read his book, The Cavour Theory, many times.
The author
Robert Silverberg
1935–? · American science fiction writer
Robert Silverberg is an American science fiction writer and editor born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1935. He graduated from Columbia University in 1956. His novel Starman’s Quest appeared in 1958. He also wrote Nightwings and Dying Inside. He moved from New York to California in 1972.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
