Best of
Science-Fiction

1968

2001: A Space Odyssey


Arthur C. Clarke - 1968
    On the Moon, an enigma is uncovered.So great are the implications of this discovery that for the first time men are sent out deep into our solar system.But long before their destination is reached, things begin to go horribly, inexplicably wrong...One of the greatest-selling science fiction novels of our time, this classic book will grip you to the very end.

Planet of Adventure


Jack Vance - 1968
    Reith must find a way off planet to warn the Earth of Tschai's deadly existence.Against a backdrop of baroque cities and haunted wastelands, sumptuous palaces and riotous inns, Reith will encounter deadly wastrels and murderous aliens, dastardly villains and conniving scoundrels.And always the random beauty in need of rescue...

Welcome to the Monkey House


Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - 1968
    Originally printed in publications as diverse as The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and The Atlantic Monthly, these superb stories share Vonnegut’s audacious sense of humor and extraordinary range of creative vision.Alternative cover edition here

The Time Machine/The Invisible Man


H.G. Wells - 1968
    G. Wells, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholarsBiographies of the authorsChronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural eventsFootnotes and endnotesSelective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the workComments by other famous authorsStudy questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectationsBibliographies for further readingIndices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works. The Time Machine, H. G. Wells’s first novel, is a tale of Darwinian evolution taken to its extreme. Its hero, a young scientist, travels 800,000 years into the future and discovers a dying earth populated by two strange humanoid species: the brutal Morlocks and the gentle but nearly helpless Eloi.The Invisible Man mixes chilling terror, suspense, and acute psychological understanding into a tale of an equally adventurous scientist who discovers the formula for invisibility—a secret that drives him mad.Immensely popular during his lifetime, H. G. Wells, along with Jules Verne, is credited with inventing science fiction. This new volume offers two of Wells’s best-loved and most critically acclaimed “scientific romances.” In each, the author grounds his fantastical imagination in scientific fact and conjecture while lacing his narrative with vibrant action, not merely to tell a “ripping yarn,” but to offer a biting critique on the world around him. “The strength of Mr. Wells,” wrote Arnold Bennett, “lies in the fact that he is not only a scientist, but a most talented student of character, especially quaint character. He will not only ingeniously describe for you a scientific miracle, but he will set down that miracle in the midst of a country village, sketching with excellent humour the inn-landlady, the blacksmith, the chemist’s apprentice, the doctor, and all the other persons whom the miracle affects.” Alfred Mac Adam teaches literature at Barnard College-Columbia University. He is a translator and art critic.

More Tales of Pirx the Pilot


Stanisław Lem - 1968
    Translated by Louis Iribarne, assisted by Magdalena Majcherczyk and Michael Kandel. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?


Philip K. Dick - 1968
    Deckard's assignment--find them and then..."retire" them. Trouble was, the androids all looked exactly like humans, and they didn't want to be found!

Dragonflight


Anne McCaffrey - 1968
    For most of her life she has survived by serving those who betrayed her father and took over his lands. Now the time has come for Lessa to shed her disguise—and take back her stolen birthright. But everything changes when she meets a queen dragon. The bond they share will be deep and last forever. It will protect them when, for the first time in centuries, Lessa’s world is threatened by Thread, an evil substance that falls like rain and destroys everything it touches. Dragons and their Riders once protected the planet from Thread, but there are very few of them left these days. Now brave Lessa must risk her life, and the life of her beloved dragon, to save her beautiful world. . . .

His Master's Voice


Stanisław Lem - 1968
    A neutrino message of extraterrestrial origin has been received and the scientists, under the surveillance of the Pentagon, labor on His Master's Voice, the secret program set up to decipher the transmission. Among them is Peter Hogarth, an eminent mathematician. When the project reaches a stalemate, Hogarth pursues clandestine research into the classified TX Effect--another secret breakthrough. But when he discovers, to his horror, that the TX Effect could lead to the construction of a fission bomb, Hogarth decides such knowledge must not be allowed to fall into the hands of the military.

The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World


Harlan Ellison - 1968
    There is no night where it waits. Only the riddle of which terrible dream will set it loose. It beheaded mercy to take possession of that place. It feasts on darkness from the minds of men. No one has ever seen its eyeless face. When it sleeps we know a few moments of peace. But when it breathes again we go down in fire and mate with jackals. It knows our fear. It has our number. It waited for our coming and it will abide long after we have become congealed smoke. It has never heard music, and shows its fangs when we panic. It is the beast of our savage past, hungering today, and waiting patiently for the mortal meal of all our golden tomorrows. It lies waiting."--Harlan Ellison15 stories by Harlan EllisonContents "Introduction: The Waves in Rio" "The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World" "Along the Scenic Route" "Phoenix" "Asleep: With Still Hands" "Santa Claus vs. S.P.I.D.E.R." "Try a Dull Knife" "The Pitll Pawob Division" "The Place With No Name" "White on White" "Run for the Stars" "Are You Listening?" "S.R.O." "Worlds to Kill" "Shattered Like a Glass Goblin" "A Boy and His Dog"

All the Myriad Ways


Larry Niven - 1968
    Includes: All the Myriad Ways (1968); Passerby (1969); For a Foggy Night (1968); Wait It Out [Known Space] (1968); The Jigsaw Man [Known Space] (1967); Not Long Before the End (1969); Unfinished Story No. 1 (1970); Unfinished Story No. 2 (1971); Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex (essay, 1969); Exercise in Speculation: The Theory and Practice of Teleportation (essay, 1969); The Theory and Practice of Time Travel (essay, 1971) Inconstant Moon (1971); What Can You Say About Chocolate Covered Manhole Covers? (1971); Becalmed in Hell [Known Space] (1965).

The Lion of Comarre & Other Stories


Arthur C. ClarkeJuliet Mills - 1968
    Clarke is one of the greatest science fiction writers of the century, and surely the most celebrated science fiction author alive. He is -- with H. G. Wells, Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein -- one of the writers who define the genre. Now, at the dawn of the year 2001, Sir Arthur C. Clarke has cooperated in the preparation of a massive definitive edition of his collected shorter works, which will be made available on audio in four chronological volumes, followed by a 30 cassette gift set, the most ambitious science fiction audio project in history. Brief introductions place each story in the context of Clarke's career. Fantastic Audio has acquired exclusive audio rights to this collection. From early stories like "Rescue Party" and "The Lion of Comarre," to classics like "The Star," "Earthlight," "The Nine Billion Names of God," and "The Sentinel" (kernel of the later novel, and movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey), all the way to later works like "A Meeting With Medusa" and "The Hammer of God," this immense volume encapsulates one of the great SF careers of all time.

Star Man's Son, 2250 A.D


Andre Norton - 1968
    He did not know what drove him to explore the empty lands to the north, where the great skeleton ruins of the old civilization rusted away in the wreckage of mankind's hopes.But he could not resist the urging that led him through danger and adventure, to the place where he faced the menace of the Star Men.Two centuries after an atomic war on earth, a silver-haired mutant sets out on a dangerous search for a lost city of the ruined civilization.

We the Underpeople


Cordwainer Smith - 1968
    Underpeople are slave humanoids bred from animals. Planet Norstrilia is the only source of drug stroon that makes man immortal, where Rod McBan is a boy, yet owns Earth. On Earth, he joins C'Mell and the Underpeople to bring back freedom.

Love Ain't Nothing But Sex Misspelled


Harlan Ellison - 1968
    Vintage paperback

Search for the Star Stones


Andre Norton - 1968
    With his companion Eet, a strange feline mutant with phenomenal mental powers, he soon discovered that the stone in the ring was actually a Zero Stone—an alien device left behind by an ancient vanished race—and it was the key to powers beyond human imagination.              Murdoc and Eet had to solve the secret of the Zero Stone, and very quickly, because very greedy and dangerous people wanted that ring, and wouldn’t hesitate at a second murder to obtain it. Publisher’s Note: Search for the Star Stones was originally published in parts as The Zero Stone and its sequel Uncharted Stars. This is the first time both novels have appeared in one volume.

The Goblin Reservation


Clifford D. Simak - 1968
    En route to an interplanetary research mission, a scientist is abducted by a strange, shadowy race of aliens and taken to a previously uncharted planet, a storehouse of information that would be invaluable--even to an Earth so advanced that time travel allows goblins, dinosaurs, even Shakespeare to coexist.

New Celebrations: The Adventures Of Anthony Villiers


Alexei Panshin - 1968
    It came first.It may, however, be something of a precursor. A space-operatic comedy of manners and meditation on life, a cheerful noir thriller, NEW CELEBRATIONS comprises the first three, and so far only, novels about the enigmatic Anthony Villiers, a young man who trails both a mysterious past and a six-foot furred toad companion whose papers are not in order. From a space-station gambling resort, to a nice camping venue in a nature reserve, to the masquerade on Delbalso where arboreal peels grunt like clockwork, Villiers tours many odd social circles of the interstellar Nashuite Empire. Hounded by want of cash, by assassins and, worse, bureaucrats, he remains polite, has fun, and makes an impression. Meet him and see."STAR WELL [the first book of NEW CELEBRATIONS] is a wise, delightful, and well-turned book; and it is something I have never seen in science fiction before. It is the first of a series of novels that examines the proposition that the world is composed of small communities of mutual interest. When the pith of that statement is bared as astutely as it is in this novel, it does not matter which 'small community' you belong to: Star Well hits." --Samuel R. Delany, from the Introduction"I strongly recommend you introduce yourself to Anthony Villiers . . . It's all glorious, ridiculous, tongue-in-cheek parody of almost anything you can think of . . . Get it!" --ANALOG

The Zero Stone


Andre Norton - 1968
    Murdoc Jern, gem trader, finds that possession of the stone has led him to the center of a web of intrigue and murder.With his companion Eet, an inscrutable feline mutant with phenomenal ESP powers, he is hunted through space, coming finally to a long forgotten planet inhabited by apelike "sniffers." There, facing the predatory sniffers, the antagonistic Patrol and the laser-guns of the Thieves' Guild, Murdoc must seek the source of the Zero Stone and bargain for his right to pursue his destiny as a free man.

Invader on My Back


Philip E. High - 1968
    Only one man, unknowingly, holds the key to the state in which society finds itself - a man named Craig. Craig, however, is an outcast, a pariah, feared by organised crime and despised by the police who, despite themselves, are compelled to use him. This is the tale of how Craig fights back - against forces unknown - and of his attempts to reinstate himself into a society that has rejected him.

Encounter Near Venus


Leonard Wibberley - 1968
    Four children are delighted when their supposedly dull uncle turns out to be a space swinger who treats them to an interplanetary journey.

The Avon Fantasy Reader


George ErnsbergerThorp McCluskey - 1968
    Howard, Avon Fantasy Reader 18, ed. Wollheim, Avon, '52 "Black Thirst" (Northwest Smith), C.L. Moore, Weird Tales 4/34 "A Victim of Higher Space" (John Silence), Algernon Blackwood, The Occult Review 12/14 "The Sapphire Siren" (aka "The Sapphire Goddess"), Nictzin Dyalhis, Weird Tales 2/34 "The Voice in the Night", William Hope Hodgson, Blue Book 11/07 "The Crawling Horror", Thorp McClusky, Weird Tales 11/36 "The Kelpie", Manly Wade Wellman, Weird Tales 7/36

Alice: Some Incidents in the Life of a Little Girl of the Twenty-First Century, Recorded by Her Father on the Eve of Her First Day in School


Kirill Bulychev - 1968
    Six stories about Alice, a five-year-old living in the twenty-first century, and her adventures with interplanetary visitors and strange animals.

Star Well


Alexei Panshin - 1968
    Due to its location, it is a minor hub of commerce within the Sashuite Empire, and though it is equipped with elegant dining rooms and casinos, luxury suites and expensive shops, Wu and Fabricant's GUIDEBOOK claims that Star Well is a dull place to visit and that travellers should avoid layovers if they can. But Wu and Fabricant had not been shown the secret basements, nor told the nature of the things stored there--if they had been, they might still have advised against layovers, but not because Star Well was dull. When our hero Anthony Villiers and his Traggish friend Torve arrive on the scene, it soon becomes evident that the truth must out: that Star Well has reached the end of an era...(thurb).

Crown of Infinity


John M. Faucette - 1968
    Dated, but I still enjoy it on occasion.

The Stars And Under A Selection Of Science Fiction


Edmund Crispin - 1968
    

Science Fiction by Gaslight: A History and Anthology of Science Fiction in the Popular Magazines, 1891-1911 (Classics of Science Fiction)


Sam MoskowitzDon Mark Lemon - 1968
    Vivian & G. J. Bennett · ss Everybody’s Magazine Sep ’09 · Finis · Frank Lillie Pollock · ss Argosy Jun ’06 · An Express of the Future · Jules Verne · ss The Strand Jan, 1895 · The Ray of Displacement · Harriet Prescott Spofford · nv Metropolitan Magazine Oct ’03 · Congealing the Ice Trust · H. G. Bishop · vi Broadway Magazine Dec ’07 · Lord Beden’s Motor · J. B. Harris-Burland · ss The Strand Dec ’01 · The Death-Trap · George Daulton · ss Pearson’s Magazine (US) Mar ’08 · The Air Serpent · Will A. Page · ss The Red Book Magazine Apr ’11 · The Monster of Lake LaMetrie · Wardon Allan Curtis · ss Pearson’s Magazine Sep, 1899 · The Voice in the Night · William Hope Hodgson · ss Blue Book Nov ’07 · The Land Ironclads · H. G. Wells · nv The Strand Dec ’03 · The Dam · Hugh S. Johnson · ss The Red Book Magazine Apr ’11 · Submarined · Walter Wood · ss Pearson’s Magazine (US) Feb ’05 · The Purple Terror · Fred M. White · ss The Strand Sep, 1899 · Professor Jonkin’s Cannibal Plant [Professor Jonkin] · Howard R. Garis · ss Argosy Aug ’05 · An Experiment in Gyro-Hats · Ellis Parker Butler · ss Hampton’s Jun ’10 · The Hybrid Hyperborean Ant · Roy L. McCardell · ss Hampton’s Dec ’10 · Where the Air Quivered · L. T. Meade & Robert Eustace · nv The Strand Dec, 1898 · In re State vs. Forbes · Warren Earle · ss The Black Cat Jul ’06 · Old Doctor Rutherford · D. F. Hannigan · ss The Ludgate Magazine Sep, 1891 · Itself · Edgar Mayhew Bacon · ss The Black Cat May ’07 · Citizen 504 · Charles H. Palmer · ss Argosy Dec, 1896 · The Mansion of Forgetfulness · Don Mark Lemon · ss The Black Cat Apr ’07

Invader On My Back / Destination: Saturn (Ace H 85)


Philip E. High - 1968
    It was later issued in the U.K. as a hardcover by Robert Hale (1968) and the British SFBC (1969). "Destination: Saturn" is a reprint of an Avalon hardcover (1967). "David Grinnell" is a pseudonym of then-Ace Books editor Donald A. Wollheim.

Starwolf


Edmond Hamilton - 1968
    But he was also a Terran, adopted into the Starwolf clan as a child, and soon found his alien blood a liability that forced him to flee for his life.

Journey of the Oceanauts


Louis Wolfe - 1968
    They encounter the unexpected, the unknown, the unbelievable.The Oceanauts plunge deep into the mysteries of Inner Sapce - on the most vital mission of all time: to find a final refuge for mankind!

The Prism / Crown of Infinity (Ace Double, H-51)


Emil Petaja - 1968
    Faucette's Crown of Infinity details a galactic conflict between the human Star Kings and a Master race from another galaxy bent on destroying all other life forms. Petaja's The Prism tells the story of a dystopic society in which the highest "gold" caste has developed a "livideo" system through which they can experience vicariously the lives of genetically engineered humans bred to exist in fantastic environments for the viewing pleasure of the upper-caste citizens.

De komst van de chaos / Invasie uit de dimensies


Keith Laumer - 1968
    Bevat twee romans:De komst van de chaos (Assignment in nowhere, 1968)Invasie uit de dimensies (The other side of time, 1965)

Histoires mystérieuses 2


Isaac Asimov - 1968