Best of
Science-Fiction

1981

Foundation / Foundation and Empire / Second Foundation / The Stars, Like Dust / The Naked Sun / I, Robot


Isaac Asimov - 1981
    . .The Stars, Like DustA masterpiece of suspense and drama: Biron Farrill sets out on a dangerous quest through the galaxies to find "Rebellion World" and its key to man's future peace.The Naked SunEarth's very existence is at stake when a murder takes place on power-hungry Solaria.  One of the greatest detective stories in the science fiction canon.I, RobotThe classic vision of a future where robots are so sophisticated that mankind is threatened with redundancy. Stories include: Robbie, Runaround, Reason, Catch That Rabbit, Liar!, Little Lost Robot, Escape!, Evidence, and The Evitable Conflict.

Sandkings


George R.R. Martin - 1981
    Now, in search of some new pets to satisfy his cruel pursuit of amusement, Simon finds a new shop in the city where he is intrigued by a new lifeform he has never heard of before... a collection of multi-colored sandkings. The curator explains that the insect-like animals, no larger than Simon's fingernails, are not insects, but animals with a highly-evolved hive intelligence capable of staging wars between the different colors, and even religion - in the form of worship of their owner. The curator's warning to Simon about the regularity of their feeding, unfortunately, was not taken seriously...Contents:- The Way of Cross and Dragon (1979)- Bitterblooms (1977)- In the House of the Worm (1976)- Fast-Friend (1976)- The Stone City (1977)- Starlady (1976)- Sandkings (1979)Cover illustration by Michael Whelan

After Man: A Zoology of the Future


Dougal Dixon - 1981
    Looking 50 million years into the future, this text explores the possible development or extinction of the animal world through the eyes of the time-traveller.

The Many-Coloured Land


Julian May - 1981
    Each sought his own brand of happiness. But none could have guessed what awaited them. Not even in a million years....

Schrödinger's Cat Trilogy


Robert Anton Wilson - 1981
    It's a wise and wacky look at our recent past seen through a fun-house mirror...it's a satire on our violent, inexplicable, wonderful world...and it's a mind trip inward to expose our deepest hopes and fears.The missing plutonium a terrorist group turns into nuclear devices, the Mad Fishmonger, the future America called Unistat, our hero Benny "Eggs" Benedict, and the Invisible Hand are real but beyond the Black Hole, out of space, out of time—in the universe next door.

The Worlds of Anne McCaffrey - Restoree, Decision at Doona, and The Ship Who Sang


Anne McCaffrey - 1981
    

The Giants Novels


James P. Hogan - 1981
    Hogan:INHERIT THE STARSThe skeletal remains of a human body are found on the moon. His corpse is 50,000 years old, and nobody knows who he was, how he got there, or what killed him. THE GENTLE GIANTS OF GANYMEDEA long-ago wrecked ship of alien giants is discovered by Earth's scientists on a frozen satellite of Jupiter. Then, spinning out of the vastness of space, a ship of the same strange, humanoid giants has returned....GIANTS' STARHumans finally thought they comprehended their place in the universe...until Earth found itself in the middle of a power struggle between a benevolent alien empire and a cunning race of upstart humans who hated Earth!

Heritage and Exile


Marion Zimmer Bradley - 1981
    This is the complex and compelling tale of the early life of Regis Hastur, Darkover’s greatest monarch. But Heritage also spins the terrifying and heartbreaking story of those who sought to control the deadly Sharra Matrix and tells how Lew Alton met and lost his greatest love, Marjorie Scott. This is the unforgettable showdown between those Darkovan lords who would bargain away their world for the glories of Terran science and those who would preserve the special matrix powers that are at once the prize and the burden of the Darkover.Sharra’s Exile: The most dangerous magical implement on all of Darkover was the infamous, legendary Sharra Matrix. Embodying the image of a chained woman wreathed in flames, it was the last remaining weapon of the Age of Chaos—an era of uncontrolled laran warfare which had almost destroyed all life on Darkover. The Sharra Matrix has been exiled offworld to one of the far-flung planets of the Terran Empire, in the protective custody of one who had suffered gravely from its use: Comyn Lord Lew Alton. But when Lew was called back to Darkover to contend for his rights, he had no choice but to bring this dangerous matrix back with him, and once Sharra Matrix was back, her flaming image spread far and wide, setting in motion events which would change the lands, the seven Domains, and the entire future of Darkover.

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume III: The Nebula Winners


Arthur C. Clarke - 1981
    Clarke2 • "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman • (1965) • shortstory by Harlan Ellison15 • The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth • (1965) • novelette by Roger Zelazny49 • The Saliva Tree • (1965) • novella by Brian W. Aldiss122 • He Who Shapes • (1965) • novella by Roger Zelazny216 • The Secret Place • (1966) • shortstory by Richard McKenna232 • Call Him Lord • (1966) • novelette by Gordon R. Dickson254 • The Last Castle • (1966) • novella by Jack Vance318 • Aye, and Gomorrah. . . • (1967) • shortstory by Samuel R. Delany329 • Gonna Roll the Bones • (1967) • novelette by Fritz Leiber352 • Behold the Man • (1966) • novella by Michael Moorcock406 • The Planners • (1968) • shortstory by Kate Wilhelm422 • Mother to the World • (1968) • novelette by Richard Wilson461 • Dragonrider • (1967) • novella by Anne McCaffrey580 • Passengers • (1968) • shortstory by Robert Silverberg593 • Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones • (1968) • novelette by Samuel R. Delany632 • A Boy and His Dog • [Vic and Blood • 2] • (1969) • novella by Harlan Ellison

The Incal, Vol. 1


Alejandro Jodorowsky - 1981
    

Star Trek Compendium Rev/Ed


Allan Asherman - 1981
    Photos and index.

The Silver Metal Lover


Tanith Lee - 1981
    In this unforgettably poignant novel, Lee has created a classic tale--a beautiful, tragic, erotic, and ultimately triumphant love story of the future.For sixteen-year-old Jane, life is a mystery she despairs of ever mastering. She and her friends are the idle, pampered children of the privileged class, living in luxury on an Earth remade by natural disaster. Until Jane's life is changed forever by a chance encounter with a robot minstrel with auburn hair and silver skin, whose songs ignite in her a desperate and inexplicable passion.Jane is certain that Silver is more than just a machine built to please. And she will give up everything to prove it. So she escapes into the city's violent, decaying slums to embrace a love bordering on madness. Or is it something more? Has Jane glimpsed in Silver something no one else has dared to see--not even the robot or his creators? A love so perfect it must be destroyed, for no human could ever compete?

Canopus in Argos: Archives


Doris Lessing - 1981
    Even as it gives an epic account of the struggles between Canopus and its rivals over the fate of the universe, 'Canopus in Argos' comments, with Lessing's characteristic insight and eloquence, on human history and our prospects for the future.

The Thing


Alan Dean Foster - 1981
    Campbell, Jr.

The Saga Of Pliocene Exile


Julian May - 1981
    ContentsMany-colored landGolden torc

Masks of the Illuminati


Robert Anton Wilson - 1981
    With what he now knows, there will be no turning back. Even if he wants to. Not after he is trained as an initiate and knows of their perverted lusts—and their murders. Not even when growing terror sends him, trembling through Europe, trying to stop the unstoppable.Neither the unknown physics professor, Albert Einstein, nor the wild and obscure lrishman, James Joyce, and certainly not Sir John, can grapple with Aleister Crowley and his ancient, terrible order.An international order of beings so horrifying that it defies human imagination—almost....An order based in hell and determined to rule the world with evil—forever.For once you have looked them fullin the face, there is no turning away from the...MASKS OF THE ILLUMINATI

Sword of the Lamb


M.K. Wren - 1981
    Unrecognized by the Elite, the ruling class, an undercurrent of rebellion is surging through the enslaved Bond class. It’s a threat that could bring down all of civilization, creating a third Dark Age.Lord Alexand, first born of the House of DeKoven Woolf, stands to inherit a vast industrial empire along with a seat on the Directorate, the Concord’s ruling body. But he sees the writing on the wall and realizes that if the Bonds explode into total rebellion, there will be nothing to inherit, and the toll in human suffering will be beyond calculation. He makes a terrible choice then: He chooses to “die” and join the Society of the Phoenix, a clandestine organization whose existence is known to only a few Directorate Lords, who consider membership treason and punishable by death.

Mission


Patrick Tilley - 1981
    A living, breathing, three-dimensional figure with a disconcertingly casual manner. Leo Resnick, a smart young Manhattan lawyer, and his girlfriend, Dr Miriam Maxwell, are confronted with this very reality. Leo's record of his encounter with The Man is fast-paced and thoughtful at the same time. Here Tilley showcases his ability to explore vast themes whilst creating a page-turning level of excitement. If you've ever looked up at the stars and wondered what it all means, this is the book you've been waiting for.

Out of the Everywhere, and Other Extraordinary Visions


James Tiptree Jr. - 1981
    Collection of science fiction stories, two of which are original. STORIES: Angel Fix (1974); Beaver Tears (1976); Your Faces, O My Sisters! Your Faces Filled of Light! (1976); The Screwfly Solution (1977); Time-Sharing Angel (1977); We Who Stole the Dream (1978); Slow Music (1980); A Source of Innocent Merriment (1980); Out of the Everywhere; With Delicate Mad Hands.

Way-farer


Dennis Schmidt - 1981
    But Way-farer is more than that: it is a novel that may well change the way you view reality itself.According to every reading it was a paradise planet—a warm and fecund world far more desirable than the teeming, polluted warrens of the planet-city that Earth had become. Yet when the last of the one-way transports had landed its cargo of Pilgrims, the men of Earth were to learn of a danger that no machine could detect, and against which no machine could defend them—the Mushin, mental entities that stimulate and amplify the dark streak of violence that lies near the core of every human being.Seven generations would pass before a descendant of the scattered remnant of the original colonists would be ready to face the power of the Mushin. But first he would have to learn to wield the weapon that is no weapon—and that only where there is no Will, is there a Way…His name is Jerome. This is his story. He is the WAY-FARER.

The Complete Paratime


H. Beam Piper - 1981
    Beam Piper, the creator of the Terrohuman Future History and the bestselling Fuzzy novels, come the parallel worlds of Paratime—collected for the first time in one volume.Infinite worlds allowed for infinite evil—unless the doorway to those worlds was most carefully guarded. The Paratime Police are an elite force of men and women charged with defending a million unsuspecting Earths from their more developed—and more ruthless—neighbors in parallel continua. From the original Paratime, which introduced the unceasing struggles of the time-traveling heroes, to Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, the last Paratime story of a state trooper’s conquest of an alternate Earth...The Complete Paratime is a grand science fiction experience.

Mind-Call


Wilanne Schneider Belden - 1981
    Making her way in her sailboat with her cat and an abandoned infant she had mysteriously been drawn to, she found another call pulling her in a particular direction. The place was a hidden fortress; the caller was a madman with mental powers like Tallie's own.One by one, children followed the summons to the fortress, but they were far from being the slaves their "captor" believed them. Tallie and her new friends must learn to use their strange powers to defend themselves against the evils within the fortress and the ones approaching from outside.

The Nomad of Time


Michael Moorcock - 1981
    

But We Are Not of Earth


Jean E. Karl - 1981
    Four students from Meniscus F on a mission to the far-away Sector 22 delight in the habitable but uninhabited planet they discover until they realize their pod mentor has plans he has not shared with them.

The Green Futures of Tycho


William Sleator - 1981
    Soon he is jumping back and forth in time, mostly to play tricks on his bossy older brothers and sister. But every time he uses the device, he notices that things are different when he gets back—and the futures he visits are getting darker and scarier. Then Tycho comes face-to-face with the most terrible thing of all: his grown-up self. Can Tycho prevent the terrible future he sees from coming true?

The Traveller Book


Marc W. Miller - 1981
    Details the rules of a science fiction role-playing game based on the adventures of fictional characters in outer space.

Caverns


Kevin O'Donnell Jr. - 1981
    O'Donnell. As the title implies, the focus is on a character named McGill Feighan. In this first book, the origin of McGill and the start of his adventerous life is revealed. "Caverns" is at first a light-hearted read, but you soon find yourself drawn into the life of the hero, his triumphs and despair. McGill is a "flinger", a person who can teleport anything (himself, other people, things) anywhere that he's been before. But even for a flinger, he does not lead a normal life due to unusual events in his life, when he was a newborn. Much of the story revolves around McGill's growing-up and learning to deal with his powers, as well as the assortment of people and aliens that take an interest in his life (both good and bad).

Bound in Time


D.F. Jones - 1981
     Bound in Time. Dr. Mark Elver can only stare at the man sitting across from him. Joe Heimblatt has just proposed the impossible – time travel. However, after viewing the successful tests and experiments, Mark is strangely tempted by the possibility. Recently diagnosed with a heart condition that reduces his life expectancy to a couple years, he agrees to be the first human guinea pig and jump more than 400 years into the future. The future can only be an improvement. New technology may mean a way to save his life. Or if not, at least he gets to travel and experience something new before he leaves. After arriving, Mark finds the future to be a strange and dangerous place. He encounters primitive children among sophisticated technology. The dangers of the future Earth haven’t even begun to reveal themselves… After being whisked into space by a strange people, he discovers a rather soporific society living, self-contained, on a space station. Upon learning that Joe has followed him into the future, Mark follows in his steps and makes his way to the people living on the Moon. Though Mark hated how the station was run, he quickly discovers that life on the Moon is dangerous; trading no leadership for a dictatorship was not beneficial. Will he be able to return to Earth? In Bound in Time, Mark learns about human nature, survival and passion in a brilliantly prophetic and timeless journey. This suspenseful story gives readers a gut-wrenching look at a possible future and what happens when humanity pushes too far. Praise for D. F. Jones’ Colossus: ‘Full marks for this technological horror story. A combination of cybernetics and suspense that adds up to real SF’ – Sunday Citizen ‘A whip-cracker…’ - Chicago Tribune 'It chilled my blood' - The Yorkshire Post 'Horrifying instalment of the man vs. machine competition' - New York Times Dennis Feltham Jones was a British Science Fiction author; he was a Naval Commander in World War II, and lived in Cornwall until his death in 1981. His writings dealt with the ongoing battle – both physical and philosophical – between man and machine. He is perhaps most famous for his Colossus series, which was translated to the big screen in 1970 for the film Colossus: The Forbin Project, which was well received by critics, and was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1971. Venture Press is a science fiction and fantasy imprint of Endeavour Press, the UK’s leading independent digital publisher. We are committed to the discovery and rediscovery of immensely talented authors in the SFF genre, and continue to push boundaries in search of great literature. Join us as we venture across universes and unknown landscapes – past, present and future. Sign up to our newsletter: http://bit.ly/1LUVI4n Follow us on Twitter @venture_press Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1NnFow7

The Song of Phaid the Gambler


Mick Farren - 1981
    International.If you know the CIA are bugging the line and charging you for their time.If you know the cat is watching you and reporting back to Control.If you know that paranoids are the only people who really know what is happening.If you hold these truths to be self-evident, then let The Song of Phaid the Gambler into your life and know that you are not alone.

Rashanyn Dark


William Tedford - 1981
    Little thought could be spared for what would become of survivors left behind while the voyagers slept their sleep of death, unchanging over eons.And now, less than a billion years before Andromeda and the Galaxy of Man are fated to pass through one other like wraiths in the night, the first sub-light transports are reaching Andromeda. Awaiting them as their cargo awaken are wonders and terrors beyond imagining. Few would survive without a helping hand.Chayn Jahil, born upon a derelict ark and rescued by a mysterious being beyond human ken, is joined by Villimy Dy, scion of a diminutive blue-skinned race with reflexes and intellect almost too quick to follow. Together they must struggle not only to survive, but to find and understand humanity's multitudinous offspring, starting anew at the far edge of time and space.

The Ozark Trilogy


Suzette Haden Elgin - 1981
    Twelve Fair Kingdoms, The Grand Jubilee, And Then There’ll Be Fireworks—the books that comprise the trilogy—chronicle life on the planet Ozark and its Confederation of Continents, which are appropriately named Arkansaw, Oklahomah, Mizzurah, Tinaseeh, Kintucky, and Marktwain. However, the story told here involves much more than a mere transplant of Ozark culture and heritage onto a new planet. While this new Ozark culture maintains and even intensifies many of the “real” Ozark traditions and customs (for instance, “Grannys” hold significant, stabilizing social roles and are important sources of wisdom), the planet Ozark combines many new, fantastical elements with traditional ways. Mules on Ozark fly, and the wise “Grannys” also work magic.The protagonist of The Ozark Trilogy, Responsible of Brightwater, appears at the center of Ozark society, a society she must save from evil magic, civil war, and, ultimately, alien invasion. As Responsible travels from continent to continent in an attempt to discover and squelch the evil magic and calm the civil unrest, we are witness to many dangerous and sometimes comical adventures along the way, including a spectacular flying Mule crash and a magic duel with a Granny gone bad.Elgin has created a fantastic world infused with the folk traditions, social and familial hierarchies, and traditional dialect of the Ozarks. While parallels might be drawn between, for example, the break-up of the Confederacy of Continents on planet Ozark and the American Civil War, Elgin comments on aspects of Ozark history and tradition in a non didactic way. The trilogy, with its strong heroine and witty engagement of tradition, is a classic of Ozark literature.

The City in the Stars


Victor Appleton - 1981
    Despite attempts to sabotage his newly-invented fusion drive spacecraft, a young scientist investigates the sinister, eminent head of the space colony who is hiding serious flaws in his own new craft.

Spacebread


Steve Senn - 1981
    Spacebread, a large white cat known throughout the galaxy as an adventuress and a scoundrel, uncovers a plot to dominate the planet Ralph when she goes in search of her stolen belt buckle.

Hinterlands


William Gibson - 1981
    

Follow the Drum


Andre Norton - 1981
    

Thought Probes: Philosophy Through Science Fiction Literature


Fred D. Miller Jr. - 1981
    

Flesh/Lord Tyger


Philip José Farmer - 1981
    But Earth had become a new world. Where science and technology had reigned, now there were agricultural and tribal warfare. And mankind worshipped the Goddess and was content. They named Stagg "Sunhero" and performed the secret rites. Endowed with the virility of a nation, and with foot-high antlers throbbing on his head, he set out on an orgiastic cross-country jaunt. He was the Sunhero, king of the Earth and all its willing women. But how long he would hold his throne, only the Goddess could say...Lord TygerMy Mother is an ape. My Father is God. I come from the land of ghosts. So sings Ras Tyger, Philip Jose Farmer's monumental incarnation of a modern-day Jungle Lord. Savage, heroic, and beautiful, he is master of the world. And he rules his kingdom with sex, savagery, and sublime innocence. Until one day, with the landing of the great whirling "birds," the insane reality of his existence begins to unfold...and plunges him into an incredible quest for the truth which cannot end until he comes face to face - with God.

Future War and Weapons


Neil Ardley - 1981
    Discusses sophisticated weaponry which is likely to be used in future wars, and the resulting ultimate danger posed to humankind and life in general.

Summer of the Green Star


Robert C. Lee - 1981
    As their summer friendship deepens, David begins to suspect that Adrienne and her family are different until finally, at summer's end, his full understanding of just how extraordinary they are, forces him to make a very difficult decision.

The Tera Beyond


Malcolm MacCloud - 1981
    

Dark Stars and Other Illuminations


Thomas F. Monteleone - 1981
    

Other Stories and ... The Attack of the Giant Baby


Kit Reed - 1981
    Winter --The vine --Winston --The food farm --Songs of war --Pilots of the purple twilight --The thing at Wedgerley --Gran --Death of a monster --Cynosure --Across the bar --Empty nest --In behalf of the product --The attack of the giant baby --The wandering gentile --Moon.

Heartbeeps


John Hill - 1981
    Val was designed for total politeness, Aqua was the ultimate seductive hostess. Together they were the finest America could produce, until something went wrong and they did the two things robots were programmed NOT to do. First, they fell in love. Then they built a baby...

The Transgalactic Guide to Solar System M-17


Jeff Rovin - 1981
    Where to go and what to see - Accommodations on 5 Fabulous Planets & Their Satellites. Welcome to Solar System M-17. Lying nearly ten billion light years away from our own solar system, M-17 consists of five planets and seven natural satellites. Here is the only official guide, served up with the care and quality that have become synonymous with the Transgalactic name. Your guidebook provides you with everything you need to know: where to go, what to do and how to get there. Concise histories are provided for each civilization, basic working vocabularies of each planet are included in dictionary format, and all accommodations have been carefully rated. Your travels through hyper-dimensional space will begin on the Transgalactic Star Cruiser, which is equipped with holograph libraries, casinos, special sex facilities, a four-star cuisine, and services to meet every need of creaturely comfort. But the planet themselves are the real stars. DIS - home of Tukkadis, fierce beasts adapted to endure fire-storms, and the bristling Alladis, whose phosphorescent excrement has lent a charming pastel tone to the planet's surface. MORANA - the Kashpagus' oozing planet. Here, you'll tour on foot and on the marvel of Moranses locomotion, the aoo. ARGOS - the planet to barbarian to bear, home of the Brutes and the good-natured trolls. URIEL - communication is entirely by odor on this decidedly pungent planet. VIRTUS - it isn't called the scholar's retreat for nothing. While touring all the don't miss sights described in this guide, Jeff Rovin has written several books, including "From the Land Beyond, Beyond" and "The Fantasy Almanac."

La mente alien


Philip K. Dick - 1981
    "Five minutes." "Okay," he said, and struggled out of his deep sleep. He had five minutes to adjust the course of his ship; something had gone wrong with the auto-control system. An error on his part? Not likely; he never made errors. Jason Bedford make errors? Hardly.

Three More Novels of the Future


H.G. Wells - 1981
    MoreauA Story of Days to ComeThe First Men in the Moon

Neptune's Cauldron


Michael G. Coney - 1981
    Pursued by the interplanetary police for a crime he did not commit, space traveller Tyg is forced down on the planet Storm, where he finds a revolution brewing among the Tadda against King Caiman, the planet's tyrannical ruler.He must prove his innocence of the crime with which he is charged, as he fights for survival beneath the Storm's seething oceans, where the very existence of the Tadda is threatened by the deadly undersea volcano known as NEPTUNE'S CAULDRON

And Not Make Dreams Your Master


Stephen Goldin - 1981
    Wayne Corrigan and his colleagues at Dramatic Dreams can broadcast dreams directly into your mind as you sleep for the ultimate in personal adventure.But when a mysterious malfunction occurs, Wayne is called on to enter a Dream started by another Dreamer. Once inside, he finds a situation run wild and people enslaved by the original Dreamer--a genius bent on self-destruction.Now, tens of thousands of people--including the woman Wayne loves--are in danger of dying or going insane unless he can find some way to wrest control of the Dream away from a madman.

The Man Who Loved Morlocks: A Sequel to The Time Machine as Narrated by the Time Traveller


David J. Lake - 1981
    

Ignis, the Central Fire


Didier de Chousy - 1981
    It also contains fanciful digressions into biological engineering, Utopian city planning, the possibility of brain control by means of electrical stimulation and the potential exhaustion of fossil fuels. Proving again that science fiction writers are harbingers of the future, it features the first depiction of the revolt of machines-steam-powered non-humanoid robots-that have become intelligent, all penned at a time before the automobile was even invented! Brian Stableford has been a professional writer since 1965. He has published more than 60 science fiction and fantasy novels, as well as several authoritative non-fiction books.