Heinlein was such a one--his books are concise yet never rushed, richly plotted, never bloated. His '50s juveniles were among his best work. Here are 3: Tunnel in the Sky, Time for the Stars & Citizen of the Galaxy.Tunnel in the Sky: Just a test, but something went wrong. As part of a final exam, Rod Walker's Advanced Survival class was dropped thru a teleportation gate to an unknown location. A standard 10-day field exercise became an indefinite life-or-death struggle. Stranded beyond contact with Earth, divested of all luxuries & laws, they were forced to forge a future of their own--a future where sometimes not even the fittest survive.Time for the Stars: The ship Lewis & Clark sought worlds for overpopulated Earth to colonize. Twins Tom & Pat Bartlett participated. Scientists had discovered thoughts travel faster than light & the twins were telepathic. Pat remained on Earth, growing old, while Tom made a 70-year voyage. As the pioneer torchship discovered seemingly habitable new planets at Tau Ceti & Deneb Kaitos, messages Tom sent back spoke of disaster.Citizen of the Galaxy: Thorby had been taken from his parents & sold into slavery while young. His life had been under cruel masters on planets across the Terran Hegemony. His new owner was different. With the beggar, he found kindness & hope, not just for safety but for freedom. Baslim the Cripple was more than he seemed. He taught him a message that would take him to the stars. Thorby's true identity would stay secret thru his adventures with an odd society of traders, until service as a Terran Hegemony Guardsman brought him to his lost homeworld & destiny.

    But beneath the freckles and red hair--not to mention dirt--are a pair of wide green eyes that awaken previously unknown feelings. And before she knows it, she finds herself buying the strange small boy named Flinx.Just another mouth to feed, say Mother Mastiff's second thoughts, but she stops resenting her inexplicable purchase when she witnesses Flinx's psychic influence on the customers of her rattletrap gift-shop. She even lets him keep Pip, the brightly hued--and deadly--Alaspinian mini-drag Flinx finds...and with whom he bonds as if they were of one mind. For as time goes by, Mother Mastiff comes to love the boy as her own, nurturing him, teaching him everything she knows--and hoping he'll survive into adulthood.That may prove more dicey than she'd care to admit. By the age of sixteen, Flinx is as lithe, quick and quiet as any jungle cat--traits that make him a superb thief and con-artist. But far more deadly than his affinity for the Commonwealth underworld is his unknown history, a past destined to rear its head in terrifying ways, sending him on a wild journey in search of his true self.In For Love of Mother-Not, the renegade group of scientists responsible for Flinx's psychic gifts scheme to get him back--by holding hostage the only person he ever truly care for: Mother Mastiff. In The Tar-Aiym Krang, Flinx must find an ancient otherworldly device that could hold the key to his true nature--or become the deadliest weapon in the Commonwealth. And in Orphan Star, Flinx comes closer than ever to learning about his biological parents--and a family tie to power that can either strengthen or destroy them.

    . . . This is certainly classic science fiction–the idea is truly the hero.” –Asimov’s Science Fiction MagazineWhen leaving Earth, the crew of the spaceship Discipline was prepared for a routine assignment. Dispatched by the all-powerful State on a mission of interstellar exploration and colonization, Discipline was aided (and secretly spied upon) by Sharls Davis Kendy, an emotionless computer intelligence programmed to monitor the loyalty and obedience of the crew. But what they weren’t prepared for was the smoke ring–an immense gaseous envelope that had formed around a neutron star directly in their path. The Smoke Ring was home to a variety of plant and animal life-forms evolved to thrive in conditions of continual free-fall. When Discipline encountered it, something went wrong. The crew abandoned ship and fled to the unlikely space oasis.Five hundred years later, the descendants of the Discipline crew living on the Smoke Ring no longer remember their origins. Earth is more myth than memory, and no recollection of the State remains. But Kendy remembers. And just outside the Smoke Ring, Discipline waits patiently to make contact with its wayward children.

    Who guides our fate? And can we ever hope to wrest control for ourselves? In this novella, "The Loom of Thessaly" , classical mythology merges with impudent modern spirit into a science fiction legend that speculates upon the nature of reality.

    A new world rises--one of unshackled AIs, indestructible starships, ethereal quantum spaces & potent new weapons--& the race is on to determine who will control its future.When faced with its greatest challenge, will humanity rise to triumph or fall to ruin?*SIDESPACEHumanity is saved. But its troubles are just beginning.To achieve their extraordinary triumph over the Metigen armada, humanity put aside its myriad of conflicts & united against a common foe intent on annihilating civilization. In victory, unparalleled peace & prosperity are theirs for the taking--if they can keep hold of them.When the secrets behind the Metigens' defeat escape the shadows, the people who won the war find their lives in danger. Facing anti-synthetic terrorists who want them dead, power-hungry politicians who want them chained, & a rapidly dwindling number of people they can trust, the Prevos--individuals & AIs sharing a single body--must take their fate into their own hands.51 Portals. 51 Universes.Intent on learning the purpose behind the Metigens' elaborate multiverse network, Alex Solovy, Caleb Marano & Valkyrie embark on a gripping journey through the network's portals, each one leading to a universe not their own. In a mosaic of spaces inhabited by fantastical aliens & worlds both beautiful & deadly, they will be forced to question everything they thought they knew, including the nature of life itself.*DISSONANCEKnow this: you need not be afraid. They own the fear. They fear us because they believe we are powerful, and they are correct to do so.The technology behind Project Noetica is on the loose. Prevos are spreading across the galaxy. Now two opposing but inexorably related forces threaten to plunge the galaxy into chaos. The Order of the True Sentients believes Prevos are monsters who endanger humanity,& it intends to destroy them by any means necessary. Underworld despot Olivia Montegreu, now a radically enhanced Prevo, is its doomsday warnings made flesh.As society splinters from within & the Earth Alliance falls to reactionaries, a formidable new player emerges on the galactic stage, one not afraid to do whatever it takes to protect all sentient life--human, Artificial and Prevo.The Metigen surged forward to engulf her in light. I see you, Alexis Solovy.Killers & saviors. Deceivers & protectors. Destroyers & creators. Could the Metigens truly be all these things? The search for answers leads Alex and Caleb to the most shocking revelation of all--the true face of the enemy.*ABYSMIn the quest to be the masters of their own fate, will humanity rise to become liberators or follow the path of their ancestors into darkness?Alex Solovy & Caleb Marano risked everything to learn the hidden purpose behind the Metigens' multiverse portal network, but nothing prepared them for the answer. Humans are a genetic recreation of the Anaden, the dictators & overlords of the master universe. Aurora is a recreation of their origins created by the Metigens in a desperate gambit to understand their enemy & find a way to defeat them.Aurora's future hangs in the balance as the Earth Alliance goes to war with itself over the right of synthetics and Prevos--human/AI hybrids--to exist. Terrorists sow chaos in a wave of bombings and assassinations. The next evolution of the human species will not be so easily defeated, but they must move quickly to win the day, because the true enemy is closing in faster than anyone realizes.

    Handsome, successful and fabulously wealthy Peter Cory had always assumed he'd make his own good fortune--until a strangely beautiful woman from a distant world revealed the truth.

    Subterranean Press bundles together all of their John Scalzi titles into one easy-to-buy special this November:How I Proposed To My Wife: An Alien Sex StoryAn ElectionJudge Sn Goes GolfingQuestions for a SoldierThe Sagan DiaryThe Tale of the WickedThe God EnginesYou're Not fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to the Coffee Shop

    When Owen Deathstalker, unwilling head of his clan, seeks to avoid the perils of the Empire's warring factions, he unexpectedly finds a price on his head. He flees to Mistworld, where he begins to build an unlikely force to topple the throne. With the help of his crew, Deathstalker takes the first step on a far more dangerous journey to claim the role for which he has been destined since before his birth.

    Robert Sheckley says it's like that tiny pebble that sends ripples to the edge of the lake.And since Sheckley figures absolutely anything can happen, the possible futures he envisions romp buoyantly all the way from wretched to raucous.If you balk and boggle at some of these predictions, think of it this way: The future won't just happen - it will sneak up on you a little at a time!Contents:The Prize of Peril • (1958) • shortstoryThe Humours • (1958) • novella (aka Join Now)Triplication • (1960) • essayThe Minimum Man • (1958) • noveletteIf the Red Slayer • (1959) • shortstoryThe Store of the Worlds • (1959) • shortstoryThe Gun Without a Bang • (1958) • shortstoryThe Deaths of Ben Baxter • (1957) • novelette

    There was only one small hardback print run of his first novel, never reprinted, and used copies are rare, costing upwards of $500. Until now! ReAnimus Press is pleased to announce the ebook publication of THE STAR CONQUERORS!To Explore New Worlds... and Resistance is Futile... all found their home here first with Star Watch Captain Geoffrey Knowland in what some say is a virtual blueprint for Star Trek.

    Soon they will rip the Codomminium apart—and Earth will die.In the face of that inevitability the fate of humanity lies with the Colony Worlds—a few of which are equipped for more than barest survival. Thrown upon their own resources, their futures seem as limited as their pasts. They—and humanity—have one hope: that somehow, someone will have both the vision and the strength to grasp the tattered remnants of civilization and weld them into a single galaxy-spanning society.

    Reissue.

    One small band of People took refuge in an underground cocoon where they and their descendants waited for the time of ice to end. Now their long winter is over. Prophecy and circumstance urge the tribe out into the half-forgotten world beyond their safe cocoon. Led by their chieftain Koshmar, the tribe journeys to the city of Vengiboneeza, where the prophecy of the gods says they are to rule. On their way the tribe discovers the dangers and wonders of life in the New Springtime. In the face of new temptations and peril, Koshmar and her lover, the priestess Torlyri, struggle to keep the People united and fulfill the prophecy. For soon they will be beset by other trials, as other beings seek to fulfill their own prophecies.Robert Silverberg provides an introduction exclusive to this Bison Books edition.

    In Sargasso of Space, the Solar Queen free traders win exclusive rights to trade with the planet Limbo, but the crew arrives to find most of the planet’s surface charred, with little signs of life. They find a valley with life, but others may still lurk. Worse yet, a strange force threatens to cripple the Queen. They must solve the planet’s mysteries if they hope to escape not only with tradable goods, but their lives.First of the "Solar Queen" adventures, originally published under the pseudonym "Andrew North." This is the second ace edition.

    "Doc" Smith and John W. Campbell, Jr. to modern interpretations by Jay Lake, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Tim Sullivan, and more! Included are:BREATH’S DUTY, by Sharon Lee and Steve MillerSPAWN OF JUPITER, by E. C. TubbKILLER ADVICE, by Kristine Kathryn RuschTHE WORLD WITH A THOUSAND MOONS by Edmond HamiltonTHE SKYLARK OF SPACE, by E.E. “Doc” SmithDEADLINE IN SPACE, by John Russell FearnPLANETESIMAL DAWN, by Tim SullivanTHE WEIGHT OF HISTORY, THE LIGHTNESS OF THE FUTURE, by Jay LakeBIG PILL, by Raymond Z. GallunWHERE ARE YOU, MR. BIGGS?, by Nelson S. BondTHE SKY TRAP, by Frank Belknap LongCHANGE OF COMMAND, by Jean LorrahTULAN, by C.C. MacAppTHE BLACK STAR PASSES, by John W. Campbell, Jr.THE GALAXY PRIMES, by E.E. “Doc” SmithTARRANO THE CONQUEROR, by Ray CummingsTHE SARGASSO OF SPACE, by Edmond HamiltonSALVAGE IN SPACE, by Jack WilliamsonTHE ULTIMATE WEAPON, by John W. Campbell, Jr.INVADERS FROM THE OUTER SUNS, by Frank Belknap Long, Jr.