This text uses place names to describe some of these meanings.

    You can call him the Songbird – but only once. He's after Santiago.Virtue Mackenzie: Freelance reporter. She never gives up. She wants an interview... with Santiago.The Swagman: He collects art – at gun point. He wants a few pieces currently in the hands of Santiago.Santiago: Bandit, murderer, known to all, seen by none... has he killed a thousand men? Has he saved a dozen worlds? His legend is as large as the Rim itself, his trail as elusive as a wisp of starlight in the empty realms of space. The reward for him is the largest in history.Santiago: Do you dare chase him?

    Brion Brandd used this gift to win the Twenties, an annual physical and mental competition among the best and smartest people on Anvhar. But scarcely able to enjoy his victory, Brandd is swept off to the hellish planet Dis where he must use his heightened sense of empathy to help avert a global nuclear holocaust by negotiating with the blockading fleet, traversing the Disan underworld, and cracking the mystery of the savagely ruthless magter.

    But the land atop the mountaintop, taken over by two Englishmen, Brummitt and Hooper Voth, is undergoing frightening changes.Strange and evil rumblings begin to happen around the mountain—man-like creatures prowling around, mysterious voices reciting evil incantations that terrorize Luke and Creed Forshay who live at the foot of the mountain. Then a wandering minstrel, known only as John, learns that the Yoths are Old World druids who are hell-bent on reawakening the pre-Indian spirits that sleep at the summit of Wolter Mountain. Armed with his own arsenal of personal powers, John and an Indian medicine man must fight their way through the druids' sorcerous defenses to rescue their friends from certain death at the hands of the blood sacrificing priests.A tale of mysticism and terror featuring Wellman's famous wandering hero.

    Its name: BIZARRO. For years, readers have been asking for a category of fiction dedicated to the weird, crazy, cult side of storytelling that has become a staple in the film industry (with directors such as David Lynch, Takashi Miike, Tim Burton, and Lloyd Kaufman) but has been largely ignored in the literary world, until now. The Bizarro Starter Kit features short novels and story collections by ten of the leading authors in the bizarro genre: D. Harlan Wilson, Carlton Mellick III, Jeremy Robert Johnson, Kevin L Donihe, Gina Ranalli, Andre Duza, VIncent W. Sakowski, Steve Beard, John Edward Lawson, and Bruce Taylor.

    My experiences, observations, and/or studies have led me to believe the following:* Racism has done more to promote non-justice than any other socio-material system known to have been produced or supported by the people of the known universe.* No major problem that exists between the people of the known universe can be eliminated, until Racism is eliminate

    Surely in an age such as ours when Terra's Sphere of Influence is once again surrounded by Alien Peril in all its sundry guises, it is desirable - nay, vital! - that our people be aware that, contrary to the official records of the Corps, it was not by the questionable efforts of such worthies as Ambassadors Nitworth and Spradley that Mankind held its own in the terrible arena between the stars, but by the courage, skill and daring of such men as Jame Retief! This collection has six Retief stories to tickle your funny-bone. Retief is in prime form, taking on dangerous aliens and his own bosses in the Corps Diplomatique.Contents: Protocol [Retief] (1962) / short story by Keith Laumer (variant of The Yillian Way) Sealed Orders [Retief] (1962) / short story by Keith Laumer (variant of Retief of the Red-Tape Mountain) Aide Memoire [Retief] (1962) / short story by Keith Laumer Policy [Retief] (1962) / novelette by Keith Laumer (variant of The Madman from Earth) Palace Revolution [Retief] (1961) / novelette by Keith Laumer (variant of Gambler's World) Retief's Ransom [Retief • 6] (1971) / novel by Keith Laumer.

    He kidnaps a girl, Hasnitah, for a dark ritual. And the only person who can stop him is a nuclear scientist, Prof Zack.

    But if the people are to be freed, the mismatched trio of steadfast rebels must look into the face of terror and choose between love and life.

    Destructive hail storms and earthquakes, food shortages, and significantly rising sea levels are becoming the new norm. But there is a plan to save the human race. A plan Reyanne unknowingly helped to formulate. Without warning, she is whisked off on a mission to travel through a wormhole in space to a planet scientists hope will sustain human life. The mission seems simple enough but there are more unknowns than her team can possibly prepare for. The fate of the world is in their hands…will they be enough to save it?

    Contents:· Being · nv If Aug ’54 · Pattern for Survival · vi F&SF May ’55 · Steel · nv F&SF May ’56 · The Test · ss F&SF Nov ’54 · Clothes Make the Man · ss Worlds Beyond Feb ’51 · Blood Son [“Drink My Red Blood”] · ss Imagination Apr ’51 · Trespass [“Mother by Protest”] · nv Fantastic Sep/Oct ’53 · When Day Is Dun · ss Fantastic Universe May ’54 · The Curious Child · ss Fantastic Jun ’54 · The Funeral · ss F&SF Apr ’55 · The Last Day · ss Amazing Apr/May ’53 · Little Girl Lost · ss Amazing Oct/Nov ’53 · The Doll That Does Everything · ss Fantastic Universe Dec ’54

    Where was everybody? It was almost as if humankind, when separated by cosmic distances from Mother Earth, could not survive.

    Before joining the ranks of the unemployed, however, he's approached by a representative of billionaire geneticist Dr. Edwina Sabacthani, who makes him an offer no starving ethicist could refuse. Born and bred on Isla de Sangre, a private island off the Florida coast, Edwina's beautiful and intelligent adolescent daughter, Londa, has recently survived a freak accident that destroyed both her memory and her sense of right and wrong. Londa's soul, in short, is an empty vessel—and it will be Mason's job to fill it. Exploring his new surroundings, our hero encounters a lush Eden abounding in bizarre animals and strange vegetation engineered by Edwina and her misanthropic collaborator, Dr. Vincent Charnock. And Londa, though totally lacking a conscience, proves a vivacious young woman who quickly captivates her new teacher as he attempts to recalibrate her moral compass with the help of Western civilization's greatest ethical thinkers, living and dead. But there's trouble in this tropical paradise. Mason soon learns that he isn't the only private tutor on Isla de Sangre, nor is Londa the only child in residence whose conscience is a blank slate. How many daughters does Edwina Sabacthani really have, and how did she bring them into being? Undaunted by these mysteries, Mason continues to instruct Londa, hoping that she can lead a normal life when she eventually ventures forth into human society. His apprentice, however, has a different agenda. Her head crammed with lofty ideals, her heart brimming with fearsome benevolence, and her bank account filled to bursting, Londa undertakes to remake our fallen world in her own image by any and all means necessary.

    The park’s general manager is convinced that Rick was destined to greet Fengxian customers, dressed as none other than Ricky Rouse. This original graphic novel is a relentless action comedy, a satire of US–China relations, a parody of Western entertainment, and a curious look at China—a country that, once we look past its often outrageous copyright infringements, is a culture ripe with innovation and a unique, courageous spirit.“I loved Ricky Rouse Has a Gun, a comic filled with deaths and yet full of life." Alejandro Jodorowsky“A story as thrilling as it is bizarre … a true original" Bianca Bosker, The Huffington Post

    We all know Santa Claus: fat, jolly, omniscient, swift. Lives in a nice home in the Arctic, with the missus and a pack of elves.Well, forget what you know. Santa Claus is from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, as it turns out, and he's not as fat as he used to be. Here's something else you didn't know: he's been dabbling in some futuristic technology, and has found myriad ways to make his job possible. How can Santa know who's been naughty and nice? Simple: implant listening devices into your ornaments. How can he make it to every house Christmas Eve? That's nothing a little cloning and some wormholes can't solve. And he has plenty of other tactics: quantum entanglement, organ replacement, drug-induced hibernation, and unmanned aerial vehicles, to name just a few.In this fantastically illustrated, affectionate, and hilarious book, Gregory Mone uses science and technology to overturn the assumption that Santa can't be real. Drawing on the work of accomplished scientists and researchers, Mone gives us a whole new portrait of this remarkable man and the miracles he makes happen every year. With imaginative artwork and an eye-catching package, this book makes an outstanding Christmas gift for just about anyone.