Book picks similar to
Ossian's Ride by Fred Hoyle
science-fiction
sci-fi
fiction
scifi
Icerigger
Alan Dean Foster - 1974
. . a sophisticated traveler between many worlds. But he had certainly never thought of himself as a hero.Skua September, on the other hand, never thought of himself as anything else.A matched pair, if ever there was one!When the two of them were suddenly stranded on a deadly frozen world, Ethan Fortune incredibly found himself cast in the role of Leader.And he didn't find that at all amusing . . .
A Maze of Death
Philip K. Dick - 1970
Thirteen of them were transferred by the usual authorities. One got there by praying. But once they arrived on that treacherous planet, whose very atmosphere seemed to induce paranoia and psychosis, the newcomers tound that even prayer was useless. For on Delmak-O, God is either absent or intent on destroying His creations. At once a wrenching metaphysical thriller and an ingenious meditation on the nature of divinity, A Maze of Death is Philip K. Dick at his most dizzyingly provocative.
Machineries of Joy
Ray Bradbury - 1964
The Machineries of Joy • (1962)The One Who Waits • (1949) Tyrannosaurus Rex • (1962) The Vacation • (1963)The Drummer Boy of Shiloh • (1960)Boys! Raise Giant Mushrooms in Your Cellar! • (1962)Almost the End of the World • (1957)Perhaps We Are Going Away • (1962) And the Sailor, Home from the Sea • (1960) El Dia de Muerte • (1947)The Illustrated Woman • (1961)Some Live Like Lazarus • (1960) A Miracle of Rare Device • (1961)And So Died Riabouchinska • (1953)The Beggar on O'Connell Bridge • (1961) Death and the Maiden • (1960)A Flight of Ravens • (1952)The Best of All Possible Worlds • (1960) The Lifework of Juan Diaz • (1963)To the Chicago Abyss • (1963)The Anthem Sprinters • (1963)
Eye among the blind
Robert Holdstock - 1976
And only one world seems to offer hope of sanctuary - Ree'hdworld, home of the only other intelligent beings in the universe. But Ree'hdworld is not as safe as it seems. For something has been happening to the natives - both the friendly Ree'hd and their more primitive kinsmen, the Rundii. And only three people stand any chance of discovering and surviving the danger that the humans of Ree'hdworld will soon face: Kristina, an Earthwoman who is slowly "going Ree'hd"; Maguire, a blind man who should have died centuries ago and who, living, has seen all the secrets of the universe; and Zeitman, a brilliant scientist who holds the key to salvation on Ree'hdworld in his mind - if only he can discover it in time...
Sight of Proteus
Charles Sheffield - 1978
But Form Change has its darker aspects, ranging from unautorized experimentation on human subjects to a threat to the very essence of humanity - a SIGHT OF PROTEUS.Sheffield has written a thrilling novel of pursuit and unveiling in a world where the froms of humanity are practically boundless - until one man breaks an unbreakable law; until an alien force looses itself upon the world - and a planet that exploded sixteen million years ago delivers its final legacy...
Berserker
Fred Saberhagen - 1967
The sole legacy of that war was the weapon that ended it: the death machines, the BERSERKERS. Guided by self-aware computers more intelligent than any human, these world-sized battlecraft carved a swath of death through the galaxy--until they arrived at the outskirts of the fledgling Empire of Man.These are the stories of the frail creatures who must meet this monstrous and implacable enemy--and who, by fighting it to a standstill, become the saviors of all living things.
Trader to the Stars
Poul Anderson - 1964
A starwide empire was difficult to run, but the old man was wily and the resources of the Solar Spice & Liquors Company were vast. But sometimes even a conquered world can get just a little out of hand.In his Magnificent Future History of Mankind's second great age Poul Anderson has conjured up a universe too immense for even the human race to despoil. Across this grand expanse of space roams the Polesotechnic League, a band of merchant princes from every inhabited planet, in search of adventure and riches beyond the wildest dreams of our earthbound time!Contents:Hiding Place (1961)Territory (1962)The Master Key (1964)
The Ultimax Man
Keith Laumer - 1978
Once in command of his new abilities, Dammy promptly commandeers Xorialle's ship & sets out to track down the "Galactic Concensus" in the neighborhood of Deneb. The closer he gets, the more bewildering his discoveries about the origin of the whole adventure--the most curious pieces of the puzzle being a mild-mannered, bee-like creature by the name of Floss & a telepathic protohominid called Sport. Laumer, who can develop a science-fiction idea with some ingenuity (Bolo, 1976), never finds the right tone or style for this one; most events coast along in a fog of adolescent facetiousness that doesn't match the overall ambitions of the plot.--Kirkus
Starshine
Theodore Sturgeon - 1966
From the daring of "The World Well Lost" to the tense adventure of "The Pod and the Barrier" and the brisk fantastic humor of "Derm Fool," these are Sturgeon classics -- stories you can't forget and shouldn't miss.
Wine of the Dreamers
John D. MacDonald - 1951
A story of world conflict that is bound to grip you.
Queen of Angels
Greg Bear - 1990
"One is ultimately awed... it may be the most ambitious novel I've ever read." -- Washington Post Book World
The Master of the World (Extraordinary Voyages, #53)
Jules Verne - 1904
Sometimes I even ask myself if all this has really happened, if its pictures dwell in truth in my memory, and not merely in my imagination. In my position as head inspector in the federal police department at Washington, urged on moreover by the desire, which has always been very strong in me, to investigate and understand everything which is mysterious, I naturally became much interested in these remarkable occurrences. And as I have been employed by the government in various important affairs and secret missions since I was a mere lad, it also happened very naturally that the head of my department placed In my charge this astonishing investigation, wherein I found myself wrestling with so many impenetrable mysteries.
The Coming of the Terrans
Leigh Brackett - 1967
When the Terrans came, they found a world of dead sea-bottoms, lost civilizations, and secretive tribes bitterly resenting the intrusion of the Terrans on the fading glory of an ancient planet. The Earthmen looked down upon the crumbling ruins of a brilliant culture, and laughed at the stories of invincible gods and forgotten magic lingering in the forbidden cities of Jekkara, Barrakesh, Valkis ...But the dangers were real--and only a few renegade Earth-born adventurers who had adopted the Martian way of life could understand the planet-wide disaster that was building up.
Star Well
Alexei Panshin - 1968
Due to its location, it is a minor hub of commerce within the Sashuite Empire, and though it is equipped with elegant dining rooms and casinos, luxury suites and expensive shops, Wu and Fabricant's GUIDEBOOK claims that Star Well is a dull place to visit and that travellers should avoid layovers if they can. But Wu and Fabricant had not been shown the secret basements, nor told the nature of the things stored there--if they had been, they might still have advised against layovers, but not because Star Well was dull. When our hero Anthony Villiers and his Traggish friend Torve arrive on the scene, it soon becomes evident that the truth must out: that Star Well has reached the end of an era...(thurb).
Dying of the Light
George R.R. Martin - 1977
But Worlorn isn’t the world Dirk imagined, and Gwen Delvano is no longer the woman he once knew. She is bound to another man, and to a dying planet that is trapped in twilight. Gwen needs Dirk’s protection, and he will do anything to keep her safe, even if it means challenging the barbaric man who has claimed her. But an impenetrable veil of secrecy surrounds them all, and it’s becoming impossible for Dirk to distinguish between his allies and his enemies. In this dangerous triangle, one is hurtling toward escape, another toward revenge, and the last toward a brutal, untimely demise.