Best of
Science-Fiction

1978

The Faded Sun Trilogy


C.J. Cherryh - 1978
    For aeons this golden-skinned, golden-eyed race had provided the universe mercenary soldiers of almost unimaginable ability. But now the mri have faced an enemy unlike any other - an enemy whose only way of war is widespread destruction. These "humans" are mass fighters, creatures of the herd, and the mri have been slaughtered like animals.Now, in the aftermath of war, the mri face extinction. It will be up to three individuals to save whatever remains of this devastated race: a warrior - one of the last survivors of his kind; a priestess of this honorable people; and a lone human - a man sworn to aid the enemy of his own kind. Can they retrace the galaxy-wide path of this nomadic race back through millennia to reclaim the ancient world which first gave them life?

Shatterday


Harlan Ellison - 1978
    In these and other thought-provoking stories, legendary author Harlan Ellison dissects the primal fears and inherent frailties common to all people and gives voice to the thoughts and feelings human beings bury deep within their souls. Unflinching and unapologetic, Ellison depicts men and women in all their ugliness and beauty, and humanity in all its fury and glory. Stories include “Introduction: Mortal Dreads,” “Jeffty Is Five,” “How’s the Night Life on Cissalda?,” “Flop Sweat,” “Would You Do it For a Penny?” (written in collaboration with Haskell Barkin), “The Man Who Was Heavily Into Revenge,” “Shoppe Keeper,” “All the Lies That Are My Life,” “Django,” “Count the Clock That Tells the Time,” “In the Fourth Year of the War,” “Alive and Well on a Friendless Voyage,” “All the Birds Come Home to Roost,” “Opium,” “The Other Eye of Polyphemus,” “The Executioner of the Malformed Children,” and “Shatterday.”

The Best Short Stories of J. G. Ballard


J.G. Ballard - 1978
    His tales of the human psyche and its relationship to nature and technology, as viewed through a strong microscope, were eerily prescient and now provide greater perspective on our computer-dominated culture. Ballard's voice and vision have long served as a font of inspiration for today's cyber-punks, the authors and futurist who brought the information age into the mainstream.

Strange Wine


Harlan Ellison - 1978
    D'arque Angel, who deals her patients doses of death...Contents:· Introduction: Revealed at Last! What Killed the Dinosaurs! And You Don’t Look So Terrific Yourself · in · Croatoan · ss F&SF May ’75 · Working with the Little People · ss F&SF Jul ’77 · Killing Bernstein · ss Mystery Monthly Jun ’76 · Mom · nv Silver Foxes Aug ’76 · In Fear of K · ss Vertex Jun ’75 · Hitler Painted Roses · ss Penthouse Apr ’77 · The Wine Has Been Left Open Too Long and the Memory Has Gone Flat · ss Universe 6, ed. Terry Carr, Doubleday, 1976 · From A to Z, In the Chocolate Alphabet · ss F&SF Oct ’76 · Lonely Women Are the Vessels of Time · ss MidAmeriCon Program Book, Kansas City, MO., 1976 · Emissary from Hamelin · ss 2076: The American Tricentennial, ed. Edward Bryant, Pyramid, 1977 · The New York Review of Bird [original version] · nv * · Seeing · nv Andromeda 1, ed. Peter Weston, London: Futura, 1976 · The Boulevard of Broken Dreams · vi Los Angeles Review #1 ’75 · Strange Wine · ss Amazing Jun ’76 · The Diagnosis of Dr. D’arqueAngel [“Doctor D’arqueAngel”] · ss Viva Jan ’77

The Notebooks of Lazarus Long


Robert A. Heinlein - 1978
    Heinlein, author of numerous New York Times best sellers. He starred in Heinlein's most popular novels, including Methuselah's Children, Time Enough For Love, The Number Of The Beast, To Sail Beyond The Sunset and others. The oldest living member of the human race due to his unique genes, Long has been a pioneer on eight planets, survived wars and lynch mobs, and explored most of the galaxy. His adventures have given him a breadth of experience distilled through the irony of an immortal viewpoint. But there is nothing pompous about Long's reflections on the human condition. As the noted editor and critic David G. Hartwell has observed, "Lazarus' comments are acute, lively and intelligent." And here they are, compiled in one beautifully designed trade paperback, filled with illuminations and illustrations by renowned Science Fiction artist Stephen Hickman, for the delight of the millions of Heinlein fans around the world.

The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds


H.G. Wells - 1978
    The scientist who discovers how to transform himself in The Invisible Man (1897) will also discover, too late, that he has become unmoored from society and from his own sanity. The War of the Worlds (1898)—the seminal masterpiece of alien invasion adapted by Orson Welles for his notorious 1938 radio drama, and subsequently by several filmmakers—imagines a fierce race of Martians who devastate Earth and feed on their human victims while their voracious vegetation, the red weed, spreads over the ruined planet.Here are three classic science fiction novels that, more than a century after their original publication, show no sign of losing their grip on readers’ imaginations.

The Far Arena


Richard Ben Sapir - 1978
    It chronicles the adventures of Eugeni, a Roman gladiator from Domitian's period, who, due to an unlikely series of events, is frozen in ice for 1900 years before being found by the Houghton Oil Company on a prospecting mission in the N. Atlantic. Lew McCardle is a geologist working for Houghton. While running a test drill, the machine accidentally uncovers a frozen body. Lew is given charge. He immediately calls his friend Semyon Petrovitch, a Soviet scientist. Petrovitch, who specializes in cryonics takes the body to be revived, explaining that it's easier to treat such a case as alive until it's proven life cannot be restored. The blood is pumped from it & various treatments are administered until, amazingly, it comes back to life. It spends the next 15 days in a deep sleep, muttering to itself. The mutterings are recorded, but no-one can figure out the language. Finally, Lew McCardle, who has eight years of Latin, sends for a Catholic nun, who joins him & Petrovitch on their quest to sort out the mysteries of the body.

How To Build A Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later


Philip K. Dick - 1978
    Dick: Selected Literary and Philosophical Writings (1995).

21st Century Foss


Chris Foss - 1978
    Internationally renowned Science Fiction illustrator Chris Foss' first major monograph featuring his incredibly visionary creations which have graced scores of book covers, both genre and otherwise, and influenced movies such as Dune, Star Wars and Aliens among numerous others.

The Collector's Book of Science Fiction by H.G. Wells


H.G. Wells - 1978
    Wells' most famous science fiction exactly as it appeared in illustrated popular magazines at the turn of the century.Presented here in their entirety - with all the original illustrations by leading artists of the day - are novels such as The War of the Worlds, The First Men in the Moon, and When the Sleeper Wakes; nearly two dozen short stories, including the well known The Country of the Blind, The Empire of the Ants, The Valley of the Spiders, and The Man Who Could Work Miracles; and as a bonus, the five unusual Stories of the Stone Age (science fiction not of the future but of the past).The Collector's Book of Science Fiction by H.G. Wells makes it possible to recapture the authentic flavor of the these thrilling stories - some not seen even by collectors for decades.

Handbook for Space Pioneers: A Manual of the Galactic Association (Earth Branch)


L. Stephen Wolfe - 1978
    

The Way the Future Was: A Memoir


Frederik Pohl - 1978
    . .* What Isaac Asimov was like at 19.* The truth behind the great World SF Convention War of 1939.* How a teenager became a mover and shaker in the bizarre world of the pulp magazines.* The strange mating rites of the sf community.* How to represent most of the best sf writers and go broke.* The dreams of new worlds and universes behind a body of completely original writing that has enlarged the horizons of three generations of readers . . . and netted the writers ½¢ to 3¢ a word.From the moment he attended the first meeting of the Brooklyn chapter of the Science Fiction League, Fred Pohl was hooked. He and his friends founded and disbanded fan clubs with dizzying speed, then organized the fabled Futurians. At 19, he became editor of Astonishing Stories and Super Science Stories, and, except for the war and a brief fling in the advertising business, has been almost totally involved in science fiction ever since.As an agent, he created the market for hardcover sf; as editor of Galaxy in the 60s, he shaped the field for most of a decade; his Star Science Fiction series pioneered the concept of original anthologies; and along with all that he produced a number of truly outstanding works of sf, including: The Space Merchants (with Cyril Kornbluth) and, most recently Man Plus and Gateway, voted the Best Novels of 1976 and 1977, respectively.It's been a long road, from the scruffy Ivory Tower where the Futurians denned to a time when much that was science fiction is now reality—and Fred Pohl retraces it with candor, wit, and abiding love.

The Flights of Icarus


Donald Lehmkuhl - 1978
    Divided into several sections, the scenes are effectively 'categorised' into appropriate sections with a two-page piece of text at the start of the section, written by Lehmkuhl. The sections are (roughly described): 1 - Dinosaurs, Reptiles and Fantastic Creatures, 2 - Legends and Heroes, 3 - Nature and Cityscapes, 4 - Nowhere..., 5 - Time, 6 - Space, 7 - The Ultimate Moment (various scenes). The images are of a very high quality with a number by the editors themselves, Martyn and Roger Dean. The book repeats some of the images as seen in the other TTA books but displays them in their original format, whereas the TTA books had 'clipped' versions. There is a small amount of text about each contributing artist and which scenes they provided for the book, with their original title.

Tomorrow and Beyond: Masterpieces of Science Fiction Art


Ian Summers - 1978
    

The Masters of Solitude


Marvin Kaye - 1978
    And I am alone. His parents came from two very different worlds. And Singer was an outcast. a misfit who belonged to neither world... a master of solitude.". The City stood alone beyond the forest. Through the Self-Gate, annihilator of the unwary, none could gain entry alive, and none came out.

Kesrith


C.J. Cherryh - 1978
    It is the story of two mighty species fighting for a galaxy, humanity driving out from Earth, and the enigmatic regul struggling to hold their stars with mri mercenaries. It is a story of diplomacy and warfare, of conspiracy and betrayal, and of three flesh-and-blood people who found themselves thrown together in a life-and-death alliance.This is the 1st DAW paperback printing.Cover Artist: Gino D'Achille

Adventures in Tomorrow


Robert A. Heinlein - 1978
    He has to get it into working order, and into outer space.

The Knights of the Limits


Barrington J. Bayley - 1978
    They demonstrate that Bayley possesses an extraordinarily fertile imagination, and a talent for combining the absurd and the abstruse with a dramatic flourish. He is a writer who delights in novel ideas and their exploration, a lover of bizarre juxtapositions. The range of his literary strategies extends from carefree space opera to stylishly satirical mock-intellectualism. Though his melodramas are magnificently surreal, he is perhaps at his best when he is at his most casual, affecting an earnest attitude of scrupulous reportage which throws his inventions into sharper relief. His powers of characterization are limited and his dialogue is frequently weak, but in the kind of fiction which he writes these faults are almost inconsequential, and they do not detract from the force and entertainment value of his fiction.--Brian Stableford

Battlestar Galactica


Roger McKenzie - 1978
    "So a rag-tag fleet of surviving craft — pleasure ships, freighters, moving vans, and the only remaining battlestar, Galactica, began seeking the remnants of human life and charting a course to an almost forgotten outpost of that life form — a world called…Earth!"Here is the thrilling deepspace adventure and special added features:A full-color comics masterpiece, exclusive interviews, illustrations by top Marvel artists, and more —

The Science Fiction Stories Of Walter M. Miller, Jr


Walter M. Miller Jr. - 1978
    Miller, Jr.Crucifixus Etiam • (1953) • shortstory by Walter M. Miller, Jr.Dumb Waiter • (1952) • novelette by Walter M. Miller, Jr.Blood Bank • (1952) • novella by Walter M. Miller, Jr.The Big Hunger • (1952) • shortstory by Walter M. Miller, Jr.Conditionally Human • (1952) • novelette by Walter M. Miller, Jr.Dark Benediction • (1951) • novella by Walter M. Miller, Jr.I, Dreamer • (1953) • shortstory by Walter M. Miller, Jr.The Will • (1954) • shortstory by Walter M. Miller, Jr.You Triflin' Skunk! • (1955) • shortstory by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (variant of The Triflin' Man)Command Performance • (1952) • novelette by Walter M. Miller, Jr.Big Joe and the Nth Generation • (1952) • shortstory by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (variant of It Takes a Thief)Introduction (The Science Fiction Stories of Walter M. Miller, Jr.) • (1976) • essay by David N. Samuelson [as by David Samuelson ]

The Book of Ebon Bindings


M.A.R. Barker - 1978
    

The City Beyond the Gates


N. Roy Clifton - 1978
    What lies beyond The Fence?Why do living things wither and die on the other side?When Janey-Ann decides to find out, she enters a strange world where nature has been replaced by machinery and everyone is under the eye of the all-powerful Kemarch - a world where she must risk unknown danger when she encourages the Green Boy to escape with her back to the land of the Trees...

The Far Ends of Time and Earth


Isaac Asimov - 1978
    Volume 1. The Collected Fiction of Isaac Asimov. Hardcover with dust jacket. Book Club Edition.

The Other Place


Nancy L. Robison - 1978
    Following her mother's death, Elena and her father relocate in a remote valley that brings tranquility and happiness to her father and loneliness and a sense of foreboding to Elena.

Before the Golden Age, Book 3


Isaac Asimov - 1978
    Weinbaum;* Proxima Centauri / Murray Leinster;* The Accursed Galaxy / Edmond Hamilton;Part Seven: 1936 by Isaac Asimov* He Who Shrank / Henry Hasse;* The Human Pets of Mars / Leslie F. Stone;* The Brain Stealers of Mars / John W. Campbell;* Devolution / Edmond Hamilton;* Big Game / Isaac Asimov [Written 11/18/41];Part Eight: 1937 by Isaac Asimov* Other Eyes Watching / John W. Campbell, Jr.;* Minus Planet / John D. Clark, Ph.D.;* Past, Present and Future / Nat Schachner;Part Nine: 1938 by Isaac Asimov* The Men and the Mirror / Ross Rocklynne.Originally 26 stories published in one hardcover volume.Each of these classics has an introduction by Dr. Asimov. "In an unusual 'autobiographical' science fiction anthology, Asimov has assembled all of his favorite stories that he read as a boy, that helped lead him to become a scientist and sf author...The slam-bang action is still enjoyable." - Library Journal

Once Around the Sun


D.G. Finlay - 1978
    

The Space Odysseys of Arthur C. Clarke


George Edgar Slusser - 1978
    A comprehensive survey of Clarke's science fiction.

The Best of Trek: From the Magazine for Star Trek Fans


Walter Irwin - 1978
    

Star Wars Annual No1


Stan Lee - 1978
    

The Riverworld Series: To Your Scattered Bodies Go; The Fabulous Riverboat; The Dark Design


Philip José Farmer - 1978
    

A Quest for Orion


Rosemary Harris - 1978
    

OMNI Magazine October 1978


Ben Bova - 1978
    Chartrand, IIILife: Endangered Species / essay by Dr. Bernard DixonUFO Update: The Science Conflict / essay by James ObergThe Arts: Books/Film/TV (Omni, October 1978) / essay by James DelsonReview: The High Frontier by Gerard K. O'Neill / review by Robert Anton WilsonReview: Space Colonies by Stewart Brand / review by Robert Anton WilsonReview: Colonies in Space by T. A. Heppenheimer / review by Robert Anton WilsonReview: The Third Industrial Revolution by G. Harry Stine / review by Robert Anton WilsonReview: Optimism One by F. M. Esfandiary / review by Robert Anton WilsonReview: Upwingers by F. M. Esfandiary / review by Robert Anton WilsonReview: Telespheres by F. M. Esfandiary / review by Robert Anton WilsonReview: Consequences of Growth by Gerald Feinberg / review by Robert Anton WilsonReview: The Hunger of Eve by Barbara Marx Hubbard / review by Robert Anton WilsonReview: Exo-Psychology by Dr. Timothy Leary / review by Robert Anton WilsonReview: Colony by Ben Bova / review by Robert Anton WilsonContinuum / essaySome of Us May Never Die / essay by Kathleen Stein; interior artwork by Rudolf HausnerValley of the Kilns / short story by James B. Hall; interior artwork by Bob VenosaListening for Life / essay by Alton BlakesleeInvisible Stripes / short story by Ron GoulartInvisible Stripes ; interior artwork by Ernst FuchsRoman Vishniac / essay by Francene Sabin; interior artwork by Roman VishniacNobel Prize / essay by William K. StuckeyThe Turin Shroud / essay by Barbara J. CullitonTime Warp / novelette by Theodore Sturgeon; interior artwork by Cliff McReynoldsInterview: Freeman Dyson / interview of Freeman Dyson by Monte DavisRobots (Excerpt from Mechanismo) • (1978) / essay by Harry HarrisonFound! / short story by Isaac Asimov; interior artwork by H. R. GigerZen / essay by Thomas Hoover; interior artwork by De Es SchwertbergerFuture Drugs / essay by Gene Bylinsky; interior artwork by Mati Klarwein (as Abdul Mati Klarwein)Explorations: The Last Eclipse / essay by Joseph RaoStars / essay by Patrick MooreGames / essay by Scot MorrisThe Delphic Poll / essay by Dr. Christopher Evans

Speaking of Science Fiction: The Paul Walker Interviews


Paul Walker - 1978
    

Gamma World 1st Edition [Boxed Set]


James M. Ward - 1978
    On a quest for survival and in search of a better future, the players adventure across the land, enduring hardships and encountering dangerous obstacles and mysterious foes - never knowing quite what to expect. The result is a game which can go in many directions, but which will be challenging and fascinating no matter what the outcome.The GAMMA WORLD Set includes all the basics needed to set up your own "world": game booklet (packed with terrible mutants, as well as guidelines for creating additional ones of your own), a large campaign map (designed to be easily modified by individual gamemasters), and a full set of polyhedra dice. The only other things necessary are a good imagination and a spirit of adventure! The GAMMA WORLD rules are also suitable for use with the ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS rules.The GAMMA WORLD challenge awaits you - are you ready?

Index to science fiction anthologies and collections (A Reference publication in science fiction)


William G. Contento - 1978
    

The Checklist of Science-Fiction and Supernatural Fiction


E.F. Bleiler - 1978
    

Antigrav


Nicholas Fisk - 1978
    But on the beach lay a small red pebble which had remarkable powers. And soon the three children who had gone along for a holiday found themselves trying desperately to keep the pebble out of enemy hands.