Book picks similar to
Infinity Hold by Barry B. Longyear
science-fiction
sci-fi
scifi
fiction
The Legacy of Lehr
Katherine Kurtz - 1986
When four large blue cats with psychic powers come aboard an interstellar luxury cruiser, a rash of murders breaks out.
West of Eden
Harry Harrison - 1984
Overnight, the age of dinosaurs ended. The age of mammals had begun.But what if history had happened differently? What if the reptiles had survived to evolve intelligent life?In West of Eden, bestselling author Harry Harrison has created a rich, dramatic saga of a world where the descendents of the dinosaurs struggled with a clan of humans in a battle for survival.Here is the story of Kerrick, a young hunter who grows to manhood among the dinosaurs, escaping at last to rejoin his own kind. His knowledge of their strange customs makes him the humans' leader...and the dinosaurs' greatest enemy.Rivalling Frank Herbert's Dune in the majesty of its scope and conception, West of Eden is a monumental epic of love and savagery, bravery and hope.
This Perfect Day
Ira Levin - 1970
Uniformity is the defining feature; there is only one language and all ethnic groups have been eugenically merged into one race called “The Family.” The world is ruled by a central computer called UniComp that has been programmed to keep every single human on the surface of the earth in check. People are continually drugged by means of regular injections so that they will remain satisfied and cooperative. They are told where to live, when to eat, whom to marry, when to reproduce. Even the basic facts of nature are subject to the UniComp’s will—men do not grow facial hair, women do not develop breasts, and it only rains at night.
The Cat's Pajamas and Other Stories
James K. Morrow - 2004
Other outlandish tales include John Wayne battling cancer using a highly alternative therapy, a gene for integrity being harvested from the brain of an unwilling donor, and the landing of Christopher Columbus in modern-day Manhattan. Included are the Locus and Nebula Award-nominated novelette Auspicious Eggs and several previously unpublished pieces.ContentsIntroduction by Michael Swanwick“Auspicious Eggs”“Come Back, Dr. Sarcophagus”“Director’s Cut”“Fucking Justice”“Isabella of Castile Answers Her Mail”“Martyrs of the Upshot Knothole”“The Cat’s Pajamas”“The Eye That Never Blinks”“The Fate of Nations”“The War of the Worldviews”“The Wisdom of the Skin”“The Zombies of Montrose”
Borders of Infinity
Lois McMaster Bujold - 1989
Contents:Frame story that follows Miles' time on Earth in Brothers in ArmsThe Mountains of Mourning (1989)Labyrinth (1989)The Borders of Infinity (1987)
Quarantine
Greg Egan - 1992
It has people dancing in the streets and leaping off skyscrapers. And it's all because of the impenetrable gray shield that slid into place around the solar system on the night of November 15, 2034.Some see the bubble as the revenge of an insane God. Some see it as justice. Some even see it as protection. But one thing is for certain -- now there is the universe, and the earth. And never the twain shall meet.Or so it seems. Until a bio-enhanced PI named Nick Stavrianos takes on a job for an anonymous client: find a girl named Laura who disappeared from a mental institution by the most direct possible method -- walking through the walls.
The Return of Count Electric & Other Stories
William Browning Spencer - 1993
Collection of short fiction by the author of Résumé with Monsters• The Wedding Photographer in Crisis• Haunted by the Horror King• The Entomologists at Obala• The Return of Count Electric• Graven Images• Pep Talk• Looking Out for Eleanor• Snow• A Child's Christmas in Florida• Best Man• Daughter Doom
Shadowrun: Crimson
Kevin R. Czarnecki - 2015
Thanksgiving, 2075. Shadowrunning vampire-mage Rick “Red” Lang used to make his living hunting dangerous insect spirits and twisted mages, but when he awakens after twelve years of involuntary hibernation, he finds the rest of the world has gotten even stranger. Red begins piecing together what had happened during his lost time—and who put him under in the first place. But as he journeys through the neon-drenched ruins of Chicago and its augmented facades, Red uncovers an even larger plot involving eldritch forces seeking to invade from beyond our reality. He teams up with the few allies he can trust—Pretty, a beautiful ghoul, and Slim, a hacker extraordinaire—as they head into the middle of multiple schemes and power plays surrounding a dangerous new conflict threatening to shatter the uneasy peace into all-consuming chaos.
The Godmakers
Frank Herbert - 1972
His assignment: to detect any signs of latent aggression in this planet’s population.To his astonishment, he finds that his own latent extrasensory powers have suddenly blossomed, and he is invited to join the company of “gods” on this planet.And people place certain expectations on their gods….
The Walls of the Universe
Paul Melko - 2009
Then his doppelgänger appeared, tempted him with a device that let him travel across worlds, and stole his life from him. John soon finds himself caroming through universes, unable to return home—the device is broken. John settles in a new universe to unravel its secrets and fix it.Meanwhile, his doppelgänger tries to exploit the commercial technology he’s stolen from other Earths: the Rubik’s Cube! John’s attempts to lie low in his new universe backfire when he inadvertently introduces pinball. It becomes a huge success. Both actions draw the notice of other, more dangerous travelers, who are exploiting worlds for ominous purposes. Fast-paced and exciting, this is SF adventure at its best from a rising star.
Steampunk (Steampunk, #1)
Jeff VanderMeerJoseph E. Lake - 2008
Blaylock"The Giving Mouth" by Ian R. MacLeod "A Sun in the Attic" by Mary Gentle "The God-Clown is Near" by Jay Lake"The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider Get Down: A Dime Novel" by Joe R. Lansdale"The Selene Gardening Society" by Molly Brown"Seventy-Two Letters" by Ted Chiang"The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance" by Michael Chabon"Victoria" by Paul Di Filippo"Reflected Light" by Rachel E. Pollock"Minutes of the Last Meeting" by Stepan Chapman"Excerpt from the Third and Last Volume of Tribes of the Pacific Coast" by Neal Stephenson"The Steam-Driven Time Machine: A Pop Culture Survey" by Rick Klaw"The Essential Sequential Steampunk: A Modest Survey of the Genre within the Comic Book Medium" by Bill Baker
Marcher
Chris Beckett - 2009
Known as shifters, they materialize from parallel timelines, bringing with them a mysterious drug called slip which breaks down the boundary between what is and what might have been, and offers the desperate and the dispossessed the tantalizing possibility of escape. When a shifter-led gang commits murder in the name of the old Norse pantheon and then uses slip to escape justice, Charles and his girlfriend Jaz decide to cross to another universe themselves in a bid to confront the problem at source and prevent their own society from degenerating into tyranny.But is that Charles' real motive? Or does he have other reasons which even he can't clearly see?
Antinomy
Spider Robinson - 1980
with life life as the prize?PLUS * seven other superb stories * four horrible puns * a trible feghoot * four original songs, with E-Z Play chords * foreword, afterwords, illustrations, and a weapons list9 • Introduction: Welcome to the Antinomy Mine • essay by Spider Robinson13 • Antinomy • (1978) • novelette by Spider Robinson48 • Afterword to "Antinomy" • essay by Spider Robinson51 • Half an Oaf • (1976) • novelette by Spider Robinson79 • Rhythms and 'Rithms • short fiction by Spider Robinson79 • Tidbit: two puns • short story by Spider Robinson80 • The Shamin' of the Shaman • short fiction by Spider Robinson81 • Too Soon We Grow Old • (1978) • short story by Spider Robinson98 • Valkyrie Ride • poem by Spider Robinson98 • Tidbit: two songs • poem by Spider Robinson102 • Feed Me Fire • poem by Spider Robinson105 • When No Man Pursueth • (1974) • novelette by Spider Robinson139 • Tidbit: afterword to "When No Man Pursueth" • essay by Spider Robinson144 • Nobody Likes to Be Lonely • (1975) • novelette by Spider Robinson186 • Tidbit: interleaf • essay by Spider Robinson188 • Satan's Children • (1979) • novella by Spider Robinson229 • Three-Time Winner • short fiction by Spider Robinson229 • Tidbit: a triple Feghoot and a cartoon • short story by Spider Robinson231 • Cartoon: "Sorry, Mr. Griffin: he says he can't see you now." • interior artwork by Spider Robinson232 • Apogee • (1978) • short story by Spider Robinson236 • A Standing Joke • short fiction by Spider Robinson237 • The Snoopy Scientist • short fiction by Spider Robinson238 • Tidbit: two puns (includes some artwork) • short story by Spider Robinson240 • No Renewal • (1977) • short story by Spider Robinson246 • Tidbit: afterword (to "No Renewal"), an illo, and a weapons list • essay by Spider Robinson247 • Through My Eyes- illustration of Mike Callahan • essay by Spider Robinson248 • Silly Weapons Throughout History • (1980) • essay by Spider Robinson251 • Overdose • (1975) • short story by Spider Robinson262 • Perspective • poem by Spider Robinson262 • Tidbit: two more songs • poem by Spider Robinson265 • Mountain Lady • poem by Spider Robinson268 • Tin Ear • (1977) • short story by Spider Robinson277 • Tidbit: foreword to "The Magnificent Conspiracy" • essay by Spider Robinson280 • The Magnificent Conspiracy • (1977) • novelette by Spider Robinson310 • This Time Next Year • poem by Spider Robinson311 • Come to My Bedside • poem by Spider Robinson
Mission of Gravity
Hal Clement - 1954
The title is a play on words, one meaning "the force which pulls" & the other being "extremely serious or important". It was serialized in Astounding Science Fiction, 4–7/53. Its 1st cloth publication was in '54. It was 1st published in paper in '58. Along with the novel itself, many editions (& most recent editions) of the book also include Whirligig World, an essay on creating the planet Mesklin that was published in the 6/53 Astounding. He published two sequels, a '70 novel called Star Light & a '73 short story called Lecture Demonstration. Mission of Gravity was nominated for a Retro Hugo Award for '54.For a profit & adventure Barlennan would sail thousands of miles across uncharted waters, into regions where gravity played strange tricks. He'd dare the perils of strange tribes & stranger creatures--even dicker with those aliens from beyond the skies, though the concept of another world was unknown to the inhabitants of the planet of Mesklin. But in spite of the incredible technology of the strangers & without regard for their enormous size, Barlennan had the notion of turning the deal to an unsuspected advantage for himself--a considerable enterprise for a being very much resembling a 15" caterpillar!
The Space Willies / Six Worlds Yonder
Eric Frank Russell - 1958
But it was also understood that when a really dangerous job had to be done, a scout-pilot was the man to do it.So for John Leeming, a couple of months of dodging death in a one-man ship, zipping in and out of the enemy Combine's rearguard, was just another one of those jobs. And there was no man in the Universe more surprised than Leeming when his heretofore indestructible ship just gave up the ghost smack in the middle of a Combine-held prison planet!It was then that the spirit of the Scout Corps had its chance to shine. With self-confidence as his only weapon, Leeming had only two choices: give in to the enemy and be captured...or quick-talk them into a real case of THE SPACE WILLIE!