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Earthman's Burden by Poul Anderson
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Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology
Bruce SterlingJames Patrick Kelly - 1986
Fans and critics call their world cyberpunk. Here is the definitive "cyberpunk" short fiction collection.Contents:The Gernsback Continuum (1981) by William GibsonSnake-Eyes (1986) by Tom MaddoxRock On (1984) by Pat CadiganTales of Houdini (1981) by Rudy Rucker400 Boys (1983) by Marc LaidlawSolstice (1985) by James Patrick KellyPetra (1982) by Greg BearTill Human Voices Wake Us (1984) by Lewis ShinerFreezone (1985) by John ShirleyStone Lives (1985) by Paul Di FilippoRed Star, Winter Orbit (1983) by William Gibson and Bruce SterlingMozart in Mirrorshades (1984) by Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner
Distant Stars
Samuel R. Delany - 1981
Delany --Prismatica / illustrated by John Pierard --Corona / illustrated by John Collier --Empire star / illustrated by John Jude Palencar --Time considered as a helix of semi-precious stones / illustrated by Jeanette Adams --Omegahelm / illustrated by John Coffey --Ruins / illustrated by John Pound --We, in some strange power's employ, move on a rigorous line / illustrated by Michael Sorkin.
Northwest of Earth: The Complete Northwest Smith
C.L. Moore - 1982
In her first story, 'Shambleu', Moore revealed a vast imagination, beautifully descriptive prose, and a throbbing sensuality rarely matched by her male counterparts. It also marked the first appearance of Northwest Smith, the quick-drawing outlaw of the spaceways who would become a science fiction archetype. Here, for the first time ever, all thirteen of Northwest Smith's adventures have been compiled into one rowdy thrill-ride, as sure to inspire readers today as it was seventy years ago.In a time when women were marginalized in genre fiction, Catherine Moore stepped forward and opened the door for generations of female science fiction and fantasy authors. Earning praise from contemporaries like H.P. Lovecraft and Fritz Leiber as well as modern authors from Greg Bear to Michael Moorcock, C.L. Moore remains a giant in the genre, and the stories in this compilation comprise an essential addition to any science fiction library.
Emperor Mollusk versus The Sinister Brain
A. Lee Martinez - 2012
Destroyer of Worlds. Conqueror of Other Worlds. Mad Genius. Ex-Warlord of Earth.Not bad for a guy without a spine.But what's a villain to do after he's done . . . everything. With no new ambitions, he's happy to pitch in and solve the energy crisis or repel alien invaders should the need arise, but if he had his way, he'd prefer to be left alone to explore the boundaries of dangerous science. Just as a hobby, of course.Retirement isn't easy though. If the boredom doesn't get him, there's always the Venusians. Or the Saturnites. Or the Mercurials. Or . . . well, you get the idea. If that wasn't bad enough, there's also the assassins of a legendary death cult and an up-and-coming megalomaniac (as brilliant as he is bodiless) who have marked Emperor for their own nefarious purposes. But Mollusk isn't about to let the Earth slip out of his own tentacles and into the less capable clutches of another. So it's time to dust off the old death ray and come out of retirement. Except this time, he's not out to rule the world. He's out to save it from the peril of THE SINISTER BRAIN!
Year's Best SF
David G. HartwellWilliam Barton - 1996
Here are stories that go beyond space and time.Contentsix • Introduction: Science Fiction is Alive and Well • (1996) • essay by David G. Hartwell1 • Think Like a Dinosaur • (1995) • novelette by James Patrick Kelly29 • Wonders of the Invisible World • (1995) • shortstory by Patricia A. McKillip45 • Hot Times in Magma City • (1995) • novella by Robert Silverberg111 • Gossamer • [Xeelee] • (1995) • shortstory by Stephen Baxter135 • A Worm in the Well • (1995) • novelette by Gregory Benford169 • Downloading Midnight • (1995) • novelette by William Browning Spencer203 • For White Hill • (1995) • novella by Joe Haldeman261 • In Saturn Time • (1995) • shortstory by William Barton283 • Coming of Age in Karhide • [Hainish] • (1995) • novelette by Ursula K. Le Guin309 • The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker • (1995) • shortstory by Roger Zelazny321 • Evolution • (1995) • novelette by Nancy Kress353 • The Day the Aliens Came • (1995) • shortstory by Robert Sheckley369 • Microbe • [Elysium Cycle] • (1995) • shortstory by Joan Slonczewski387 • The Ziggurat • (1995) • novella by Gene Wolfe
Schismatrix Plus
Bruce Sterling - 1996
For the first time in one volume: every word Bruce Sterling has ever written on the Shapers-Mechanists Universe.In the last decade, Sterling has emerged a pioneer of crucial, cutting-edge science fiction. Now Ace Books is proud to offer Sterling's stunning world of the Schismatrix--where Shaper revolutionaries struggle against aristocratic Mechanists for ultimate control of man's destiny. This volume includes the classic full-length novel, Schismatrix, plus thousands of words of mind-bending short fiction.
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume II A
Ben BovaH.G. Wells - 1973
There is no better anthology that captures the birth of science fiction as a literary field. Published in 1973 to honor stories that had come before the institution of the Nebula Awards, The Science Fiction Hall of Fame introduced tens of thousands of young readers to the wonders of science fiction and was a favorite of libraries across the country. This volume contains novellas by: Ray Bradbury, James Blish, Algis Budrys, Theodore Cogswell, E. M. Forster, Frederik Pohl, James H. Schmitz, T. L. Sherred, Wilmar H. Shiras, Clifford D. Simak, and Jack Vance.Contents: Introduction · Ben Bova · in · Call Me Joe · Poul Anderson · nv Astounding Apr ’57 · Who Goes There? [as by Don A. Stuart] · John W. Campbell, Jr. · na Astounding Aug ’38 · Nerves · Lester del Rey · na Astounding Sep ’42 · Universe [Hugh Hoyland] · Robert A. Heinlein · na Astounding May ’41 · The Marching Morons · C. M. Kornbluth · nv Galaxy Apr ’51 · Vintage Season [as by Lawrence O’Donnell] · Henry Kuttner & C. L. Moore · na Astounding Sep ’46 · ...And Then There Were None · Eric Frank Russell · na Astounding Jun ’51 · The Ballad of Lost C’Mell · Cordwainer Smith · nv Galaxy Oct ’62 · Baby Is Three · Theodore Sturgeon · na Galaxy Oct ’52 · The Time Machine [Time Machine] · H. G. Wells · na The New Review Jan, 1895 (+4) · With Folded Hands... [Humanoids] · Jack Williamson · nv Astounding Jul ’47
Fuzzy Dice
Paul Di Filippo - 2003
Visited one morning by a dimension-hopping artificial intelligence named Hans, Paul is given the ability to jump instantly to any world he can envision. But without truly knowing himself, Paul soon discovers that framing a wish that gets the expected results is not as easy as it first appears. From the depths of the Big Bang to a world where hippies rule; from a land of Amazons to one where life is a video-game; from a society where cooperation means everything to one where individual chaos rules-across these bizarre dimensions and many others, Paul races in the search for happiness, love, wealth, status... and the answer to the Ontological Pickle. Acquiring comrades and enemies along the way, our feckless alternaut reaches a cul-de-sac from which the only exit is death. And then his adventures really begin....
The Deep
John Crowley - 1975
In this world the Protectors own the land and are constantly feuding with the Just, who wish to return the land to the Folk. The Protectors, however, are divided within themselves, the Reds against the Blacks, as bitterly opposed to each other as united they are opposed to the Just. After a typical skirmish between the Reds and Blacks, two Endwives, whose job it is to come after battles to nurse the wounded and bury the dead, find a strange being, a Visitor from the sky, nameless, sexless, with a purpose to fulfill unknown even to himself. It is the Visitor who one day will make the unthinkable journey to the Outward -- to the very margin of the Deep.
A Spectre Is Haunting Texas
Fritz Leiber - 1968
Tomost of the inhabitants of post-World Warr III he looks outlandish, even sinister, To their women, he looks attractive. earth looks equally odd to Scully. Hormone treatment has turned Texans into giants and their Mex slaves into unhappy dwarfs.To the Mexes, Scully is a Sign, a Talisman, a Leader. To Scully the Mexes are a Cause, The time is ripe for revolution...
Salvation
Peter F. Hamilton - 2018
A new technology of linked jump gates has rendered most forms of transporation--including starships--virtually obsolete. Every place on earth, every distant planet mankind has settled, is now merely a step away from any other. And all seems wonderful...until a crashed alien spaceship is found on a newly-located world 89 light years from Earth, harboring seventeen human victims. And of the high-powered team dispatched to investigate the mystery, one is an alien spy...Bursting with tension and big ideas, this standalone series highlights the inventiveness of an author at the top of his game, as the interweaving story lines tell us not only how humanity arrived at this moment, but also the far-future consequences that spin off from it.
The Immortals
James E. Gunn - 1962
That he will never contract a disease, an infection, or even a cold. That because he will never die, he must surrender the right to live.For Dr. Russell Pearce, the price is eternal suspicion. He appreciates what synthesizing the elixir vitae from the Immortal’s genetic makeup could mean for humankind. He also fears what will happen should Cartwright’s miraculous blood fall into the wrong hands.For the wealthy and powerful, no price is too great. Immortality is now a fact rather than a dream. But the only way to achieve it is to own it exclusively. And that means hunting down and caging the elusive Cartwright, or one of his offspring.
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.
The World Menders
Lloyd Biggle Jr. - 1971
Few of them are aware that their prosperous civilization is totally dependent upon the olz, a race of slaves owned by their god-emperor. The olz till the fields and work the forests and mines, and their reward is starvation and the vicious, caustic stroke of the zrilm whip.
Doorways in the Sand
Roger Zelazny - 1976
Humanity is not alone in the cosmos. The aliens have given a precious relic to the people of Earth: star-stone. But the harmony of the galaxy is endangered when they discover that the star-stone has disappeared. Likeable Fred Cassidy is an eternal undergraduate. All he thinks he knows about the star-stone is that it came to Earth in an interplanetary trade for the Mona Lisa and the British Crown jewels. When Fred is accused of stealing the cosmic artefact, he is pursued from Australia to Greenwich Village and beyond, by telepathic psychologists, extra-terrestrial hoodlums and galactic police in disguise. Follow him on his adventures as he enters multiple realities, flipping in and out of alien perspectives, through doorways in the sand.