Here is a novel to equal Arthur Clarke's Childhood's End. It tells with frightening clarity of a desperately stricken earth-wracked by overpopulation and plagued by famine and despair. It tells, too, of a new breed of men and women--21st century lotus eaters caught up in a mysterious euphoria which will ultimately threaten all life on this planet; the drug-induced world of "happy dreams." Do these "happy dreamers" herald the end of the human species--or the next extraordinary step in the evolution of humanity?

    More than 300,000 listeners tune in to this offering weekly to hear spellbinding tales read aloud by an assortment of terrific actors. By turns funny, moving, romantic, and surreal, each of the tales on this magical lineup is filled with unexpected twists and turns. Stephen Colbert performs Ray Bradbury’s tale about a room that can take one anywhere in the world—sometimes with dangerous consequences. From a romance between a mermaid and an imp to a wonderful ghost story about a trinket with terrible powers, this eclectic collection also features narratives by W. W. Jacobs, Andrew Lam, Saki, and T. C. Boyle as well as performances by John Lithgow, James Naughton, Daniel Gerroll, and René Auberjonois.01 Andrew Lam's "The Palmist", performed by James Naughton02 Ray Bradbury's "The Veldt", performed by Stephen Colbert03 W. W. Jacobs' "The Monkey's Paw", performed by John Lithgow04 Saki's "The Occasional Garden", performed by Daniel Gerroll05 Donald Barthelme's "The Balloon", performed by Maria Tucci06 Kevin Brockmeier's "The Year of Silence", performed by Anthony Rapp07 Jonathan Safran Foer's "The Sixth Borough", performed by Jerry Zaks08 Aimee Bender's "Drunken Mimi", performed by Bernadette Quigley09 Haruki Murakami's "The Little Green Monster", performed by Dana Ivey10 T. C. Boyle's "Swept Away", performed by René Auberjonois

    Here are fantasy stunners as THE SHIPS OF DARKNESS, here are the unclassifiable "specials" such as THE ULTRA MAN, THE REPLICATORS, and THE CATAAAAA. And more!THE FAR-OUT WORLDS OF A.E. VAN VOGT is a far-out event in science-fiction writing.Contents7 • The Replicators • (1965) • novelette by A. E. van Vogt28 • The First Martian • (1951) • shortstory by A. E. van Vogt42 • The Purpose • (1945) • novelette by A. E. van Vogt82 • The Earth Killers • (1949) • novelette by A. E. van Vogt110 • The Cataaaaa • (1947) • shortstory by A. E. van Vogt124 • Automaton • (1950) • shortstory by A. E. van Vogt135 • Itself! • (1963) • shortstory by A. E. van Vogt138 • Process • (1950) • shortstory by A. E. van Vogt143 • Not the First • (1941) • shortstory by A. E. van Vogt157 • Fulfilment • (1964) • novelette by A. E. van Vogt (variant of Fulfillment 1951)182 • Ship of Darkness • (1948) • shortstory by A. E. van Vogt198 • The Ultra Man • (1966) • novelette by A. E. van Vogt

    After sleeping for thousands of years the last survivor of a lost civilization returns to life to reveal secrets of the earth's core never imagined.

    Is it not so? Either to dream that what you seek is yours, or else to dream that what you hate is conquered. You drink to escape reality, and the irony is that even reality is a dream.'

    The eyes of a dozen television cameras watched him and the subether bore throughout the universe a dozen pictures of what he was doing. He straightened and nodded to Dwar Reyn, then moved to a position beside the switch that would complete the contact when he threw it. The switch that would connect, all at once, all of the monster computing machines of all the populated planets in the universe -- ninety-six billion planets -- into the supercircuit that would connect them all into one supercalculator, one cybernetics machine that would combine all the knowledge of all the galaxies."

    Bierce's book The Devil's Dictionary was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration.

    Now and then he moved a little to quiet the protest of cramped muscles and stagnant blood, but most of the time he was as motionless as the heap of rags he resembled. Not once did he hear or see a Bohas agent, or, for that matter, anyone. The predawn darkness had hidden his panting flight from the transie jungle, his dodging across backyards while whistles shrilled and voices shouted, and his crawling on hands and knees down an alley into the high grass and bushes which fringed a hidden garden. For a while his heart had knocked so loudly that he had been sure he would not be able to hear his pursuers if they did get close. It seemed inevitable that they would track him down. A buddy had told him that a new camp had just been built at a place only three hours drive away from the town. This meant that Bohas would be thick as hornets in the neighborhood.

    He can’t wait to get back in the sky where he belongs. But fate has other plans.He strays into a stuffy college library and happens on Mary Rice, a spirited bluestocking who takes his breath away.TWO LOVERS FROM DIFFERENT WORLDSBefore long, the spark between them deepens into true love. But their time together can’t last forever. All too soon, Bill is torn from Mary’s side and back to the battlefield.Then the unthinkable happens. Bill’s plane is shot down and Bill himself is missing presumed dead.It’s Mary’s worst nightmare come true, but she won’t give up on her sweetheart now she’s found him.

    when there hasn't been any first survivor to be an expert! When no one has ever gotten back to explain what happened....

    Now their long battle is nearing its climax—and the final battleground is an uncontrolled experimental power plant that threatens the Earth itself! * Night of Delusions: A detective is hired by men claiming to be government agents and given an assignment that may lead to his being hailed as the savior of the nation—or executed for treason. His mysterious clients also give him devices to use in the assignment, devices which seem to be far beyond anything of which human technology is capable. And as he doggedly pursues the case, he finds that the very fabric of reality seems to be changing around him, even to the point that he himself seems never to have existed! * Plus three short novels of equally stunning concepts and breathtaking action.

    Tom even married a superhero, the Perfectionist. But at their wedding, the Perfectionist was hypnotized (by ex-boyfriend Hypno, of course) to believe that Tom is invisible. Nothing he does can make her see him. Six months later, she's sure that Tom has abandoned her.So she's moving to Vancouver. She'll use her superpower to make Vancouver perfect and leave all the heartbreak in Toronto. With no idea Tom's beside her, she boards an airplane in Toronto. Tom has until the wheels touch the ground in Vancouver to convince her he's visible, or he loses her forever.

    We find traces of man-like things--but, suddenly, man appears, far too much developed to be the "next step" in a well-linked chain of evolutionary evidence. Perhaps something like the events of this story furnishes the answer to the riddle.

    From the firedrakes of Mercury to the ice-crawlers of Pluto, he'd slain them all. But his trophy-room lacked one item; and now Riordan swore he'd bag the forbidden game that roamed the red deserts . . . a Martian!The night whispered the message. Over the many miles of loneliness it was borne, carried on the wind, rustled by the half-sentient lichens and the dwarfed trees, murmured from one to another of the little creatures that huddled under crags, in caves, by shadowy dunes. In no words, but in a dim pulsing of dread which echoed through Kreega's brain, the warning ran --"They are hunting again. They are hunting me."

    But what if something lay dormant in the dust, waiting to be found? In 2028, Mark Noble is conducting a survey of a moon crater. The entity secretly grabs a ride back to Moonbase on Mark’s buggy. Once in the habitat, it begins to infect the crew. They find themselves in a frightening, helter-skelter adventure with only two possible outcomes: losing or saving the Earth. Moonscape is the latest hard science fiction story from Tony Harmsworth, a First Contact specialist who writes in the style of the old masters. If you like fast-paced adventure, fraught with the additional dangers found in space, then Tony’s latest tale has been written especially for you. Buy the page-turning horror/SF world of Moonscape today!