Best of
Science-Fiction-Fantasy

1976

The Harper Hall of Pern


Anne McCaffrey - 1976
    Omnibus of DragonSong, DragonSinger, and DragonDrums

The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories


Isaac Asimov - 1976
    But when Andrew started to develop special talents which exceeded the confines of his allotted positronic pathways, he abandoned his domestic duties in favour of more intellectual pursuits. As time passed, Andrew acquired knowledge, feelings and ambitions way beyond anything ever experienced by any other mechanical men. And he found himself launched on to a career which would bring him fame fortune — and danger. For a robot who wants to be human must also be prepared to die...In the Bicentennial Man, Isaac Asimov returns to his first and most enduring love — robotics. The result is a brilliant book of first-class entertainment and mind-spinning ideas which confirm Asimov's supreme status as Grand Master of science fiction.Content"Feminine Intuition" (1969)"Waterclap" (1970) "That Thou Art Mindful of Him" (1974)"Stranger in Paradise" (1974)"The Life and Times of Multivac" (1975)"The Winnowing" (1976)"The Bicentennial Man" (1976)"Marching In" (1976) "Old-Fashioned" (1976)"The Tercentenary Incident" (1976)"Birth of a Notion" (1976)Cover Illustration: Don Dixon

Oath of the Renunciates


Marion Zimmer Bradley - 1976
    Sworn to loyalty only to their sisterhood and rejecting the domination of men, they declare their independence by their manlike attire and close-cropped hair, and maintain it with the fighting talents by which many of them earn their livelihood as mercenaries. Of all Darkovan women, only Amazons can travel and act entirely as they please.It is therefore logical for Terran agent Magdalen Lorne to choose to disguise herself as an Amazon when she undertakes a dangerous mission to rescue her fellow agent--and former husband--Peter from the hands of the vicious Sain Scarp bandits. Though Terrans are officially restricted to their small outpost by the mistrustful Comyn rulers, Darkovan-born Madga has often ventured into Darkovan society to gather intelligence and anthropological data. She speaks like a native and often feels more Darkovan than Terran.As she braves the bandit-haunted and winter-torn mountain passes on the way to the Sain Scarp stronghold, Magda is also heading for an unexpected encounter with a band of Amazons led by the beautiful Jaelle. Once one of the high-born Comyn, Jaelle is now a determined Renunciate. And when Jaelle and Magda find themselves joined together by danger and adventure, the two women forge a bond of love and understanding that calls into question all their loyalties...and may also mold new and closer links between their different worlds.A 2-in-1 volume including The Shattered Chain and Thendara House.

Long After Midnight


Ray Bradbury - 1976
    - Mark V • (1976)Getting Through Sunday Somehow (1962)Have I Got a Chocolate Bar for You! (1973)Interval in Sunlight (1954)Long After Midnight (1963)One Timeless Spring (1946)Punishment Without Crime (1950)The Better Part of Wisdom (1976)The Blue Bottle (1950)The Burning Man(1975)The Messiah (1973)The Miracles of Jamie (1946)The October Game (1948)The Parrot Who Met Papa(1972)The Pumpernickel (1951)The Utterly Perfect Murder (1971)The Wish (1973)

The Wild Swans


Amy Ehrlich - 1976
    When eleven princes are changed by an evil spell into wild swans, it is up to their sister, Elise, to knit them shirts of nettles, and remain silent while doing so, in order to break the spell.

The Book of Robert E. Howard


Robert E. Howard - 1976
    Here is some of Howard's best work.Contents:"Introduction" by Glenn Lord"Pigeons From Hell" "Recompense" (poem)"The Pit of the Serpent" "Empire" (poem)"Etchings in Ivory" (prose poems)"Proem" "Flaming Marble""Skulls and Orchids""Medallions in the Moon""The Gods That Men Forget""Bloodstones and Ebony" "Thor's Son" (poem)"Cimmeria" (poem)"A Sonnet of Good Cheer" (poem)"Red Blades of Black Cathay""The Dust Dance" (poem)"The Bar by the Side of the Road" (poem)"Knife, Bullet and Noose""The Gold and the Grey" (poem)"Gents on the Lynch" "A Song Out of Midian" (poem)"She Devil""The Day That I Die" (poem)"The Voice of El-Lil""Black Wind Blowing" "The Curse of the Golden Skull""Black Talons" Notes

Overdrawn at the Memory Bank


John Varley - 1976
    Short story, also included in The John Varley Reader

Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction


Neil Barron - 1976
    Renowned experts in the field have contributed to this new edition, providing authoritative historical and contemporary coverage of the best in science fiction. Users will find succinct, critical discussions of more than 1,400 SF novels, story collections, and anthologies. In addition, there is a comprehensive survey of the secondary literature-books and other resources that discuss fantastic literature, film, and illustration-plus chapters on teaching SF and a directory of libraries containing significant collections of science fiction. Titles appropriate for or appealing to teens are noted, as are award-winning titles and titles of literary merit. Author, title, and theme indexes provide additional points of access. An essential tool for collection development, research, and reference, this book also supports readers' advisory work. Young adult and adult. Grades 9 and up.

The Last Celt: A Bio-Bibliography of Robert E. Howard


Glenn Lord - 1976
    Hoffmann Price "Foreword" by Glenn Lord Autobiography "The Wandering Years" "An Autobiography" "A Touch of Trivia" "Letter: Robert E. Howard to Farnsworth Wright" "On Reading - And Writing" Biography "Facts of Biography" "A Biographical Sketch of Robert E. Howard" by Alvin Earl Perry Letter to Alvin Earl Perry, ca. early 1935, "The first character I ever created . . ." (excerpt only) "Robert Ervin Howard: A Memoriam" by H.P. Lovecraft "Lone Star Fictioneer" by Glenn Lord "A Memory of R.E. Howard" by E. Hoffmann Price "The Last Celt" by Harold Preece Bibliography "The Bibliography" by Glenn Lord Books Fiction Verse Articles Letters Index by Periodicals Translations Unpublished Fiction Unpublished Verse Unpublished Articles Series Index Lost Manuscripts Unborn Books Comics Television Adaptations The Junto About the Author Miscellanea "The Hand of Nergal" "The Battle That Ended the Century" by H.P. Lovecraft "Pictures in the Fire" "The Hall of the Dead" The Robert E. Howard Memorial Collection "Iron Shadows in the Moon" (first page of original typescript) Letters "The Golden Caliph" "R.E.H., as Mythical Dane" Cartoon from the Junto "Map of the Hyborian Age" A Robert E. Howard Photograph Album A Gent From Bear Creek Magazine Covers Obituaries

The Turning Place: Stories of a Future Past


Jean E. Karl - 1976
    Nine short stories reveal various aspects of future life on Earth and other planets.

From the Legend of Biel


Mary Staton - 1976
    They find a hauntingly beautiful planet, MC6, capable of supporting human life. But the planet does not surrender its secrets. Fighting time, the team desperately explores clusters of strange geometric structures scattered around MC6, slowly discovering traces of an advanced civilization. Then the head of the Probe teams finds a key, turns it and is sucked screaming into a black hole where he encounters an intelligence radically different from any other encountered before or since.