History of silicene.- Silicon versus carbon; likes and dislikes.- Atomic structure and stability of silicene.- Electronic structure of silicene.- Various functionals and beyond DFT.- Experimental realization on substrates.- Atomic and electronic structure of 3x3 silicene on 4x4 Ag (111).- Emergence of mysterious v3xv3 structures; towards multilayer growth.- Dumbbell structure and growth kinetics.- Silicites; layered allotropes of silicon.