The Martians


Kim Stanley Robinson - 1999
    As the planet is transformed from an unexplored and forbidding terrain to a troubled image of a re-created Earth, we meet the First Hundred explorers—men and women who are bound together by Earth’s tenuous toehold on Mars. Presenting unforgettable stories of hope and disappointment, of fierce physical and psychological struggles, The Martians is an epic chronicle of a planet that represents one of humanity’s most glorious possibilities.The Martians is a unique collection of previously unpublished fiction, a fascinating addition to Robinson’s oeuvre, and a must for all lovers of the red planet.

Tales of Known Space: The Universe of Larry Niven


Larry Niven - 1975
    Ranging from the 20th Century to the 31st, these interconnected stories trace Man's expansion and colonization throughout the galaxy...Becalmed in hellHowie's spaceship had a malfunction...but it might be only psychosomatic!Wait it outHe was trapped on Pluto...and all his assets were frozen!The borderland of SolForward possessed the ultimate weapon...but no one would ever see it!The jigsaw manThe organ banks want you...now!Cloak of anarchyThey were free to be anything but violent...but that wasn't enough!-- plus eight other great stories in Niven's spectacular cycle of the future...and, special for this volume, a complete Niven bibliography and a detailed chronology of all his Known Space stories!Timeline for Known SpaceMy Universe and Welcome To It!Coldest Place, TheBecalmed in HellWait it OutEye of an OctopusHow the Heroes DieThe Jigsaw ManAt the Bottom of a HoleThe DeceiversCloak of AnarchyWarriors, TheThe Borderland of SolThere is a TideSafe at Any SpeedAfterthoughtsBibliography: The Worlds of Larry Niven

Project Mastodon


Clifford D. Simak - 1955
    Can anything go wrong?..Originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction, March 1955 (see first edition).

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929-1964


Robert SilverbergFritz Leiber - 1970
    Selected by a vote of the membership of the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA), these 26 reprints represent the best, most important, and most influential stories and authors in the field. The contributors are a Who's Who of classic SF, with every Golden Age giant included: Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, John W. Campbell, Robert A. Heinlein, Fritz Leiber, Cordwainer Smith, Theodore Sturgeon, and Roger Zelazny. Other contributors are less well known outside the core SF readership. Three of the contributors are famous for one story--but what stories!--Tom Godwin's pivotal hard-SF tale, "The Cold Equations"; Jerome Bixby's "It's a Good Life" (made only more infamous by the chilling Twilight Zone adaptation); and Daniel Keyes's "Flowers for Algernon" (brought to mainstream fame by the movie adaptation, Charly). The collection has some minor but frustrating flaws. There are no contributor biographies, which is bad enough when the author is a giant; but it's especially sad for contributors who have become unjustly obscure. Each story's original publication date is in small print at the bottom of the first page. And neither this fine print nor the copyright page identifies the magazines in which the stories first appeared. Prefaced by editor Robert Silverberg's introduction, which describes SFWA and details the selection process, The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume One, 1929-1964 is a wonderful book for the budding SF fan. Experienced SF readers should compare the table of contents to their library before making a purchase decision. Fans who contemplate giving this book to non-SF readers should bear in mind that, while several of the collected stories can measure up to classic mainstream literary stories, the less literarily-acceptable stories are weighted toward the front of the collection; adult mainstream-literature fans may not get very far into The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume One, 1929-1964. --Cynthia Ward· Introduction · Robert Silverberg · in · A Martian Odyssey [Tweel] · Stanley G. Weinbaum · nv Wonder Stories Jul ’34 · Twilight [as by Don A. Stuart; Dying Earth] · John W. Campbell, Jr. · ss Astounding Nov ’34 · Helen O’Loy · Lester del Rey · ss Astounding Dec ’38 · The Roads Must Roll · Robert A. Heinlein · nv Astounding Jun ’40 · Microcosmic God · Theodore Sturgeon · nv Astounding Apr ’41 · Nightfall · Isaac Asimov · nv Astounding Sep ’41 · The Weapon Shop [Isher] · A. E. van Vogt · nv Astounding Dec ’42 · Mimsy Were the Borogoves · Lewis Padgett · nv Astounding Feb ’43 · Huddling Place [City (Websters)] · Clifford D. Simak · ss Astounding Jul ’44 · Arena · Fredric Brown · nv Astounding Jun ’44 · First Contact · Murray Leinster · nv Astounding May ’45 · That Only a Mother · Judith Merril · ss Astounding Jun ’48 · Scanners Live in Vain · Cordwainer Smith · nv Fantasy Book #6 ’50 · Mars Is Heaven! · Ray Bradbury · ss Planet Stories Fll ’48 · The Little Black Bag · C. M. Kornbluth · nv Astounding Jul ’50 · Born of Man and Woman · Richard Matheson · vi F&SF Sum ’50 · Coming Attraction · Fritz Leiber · ss Galaxy Nov ’50 · The Quest for Saint Aquin · Anthony Boucher · ss New Tales of Space and Time, ed. Raymond J. Healy, Holt, 1951; F&SF Jan ’59 · Surface Tension [Lavon] · James Blish · nv Galaxy Aug ’52 · The Nine Billion Names of God · Arthur C. Clarke · ss Star Science Fiction Stories #1, ed. Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1953 · It’s a Good Life · Jerome Bixby · ss Star Science Fiction Stories #2, ed. Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1953 · The Cold Equations · Tom Godwin · nv Astounding Aug ’54 · Fondly Fahrenheit · Alfred Bester · nv F&SF Aug ’54 · The Country of the Kind · Damon Knight · ss F&SF Feb ’56 · Flowers for Algernon · Daniel Keyes · nv F&SF Apr ’59 · A Rose for Ecclesiastes · Roger Zelazny · nv F&SF Nov ’63

The Thing in the Attic


James Blish - 1954
    In their exile on the ground they have to adapt to vastly different circumstances, fight monsters resembling dinosaurs, and finally happen upon the godly giants, whose existence they had questioned.

The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories


Allan KasterCraig DeLancey - 2017
    In “Vortex,” by Gregory Benford, astronauts find a once thriving microbial lifeform that carpets the caves of Mars dying off. A code monkey tracks down the vain creator of a pernicious software virus that people jack cerebrally in “RedKing,” by Craig DeLancey. In “Number Nine Moon,” by Alex Irvine, illicit scavengers on Mars are on a rescue mission to save themselves after one of their team members dies. A young girl’s thirst for vengeance becomes a struggle for survival when she is swallowed by a gigantic sea creature on an alien planet in “Of the Beast in the Belly,” by C.W. Johnson. In “The Seventh Gamer,” by Gwyneth Jones, a writer immerses herself into a MMORPG community to search for characters being played by real aliens from other worlds. A woman armed with a rifle stalks a herd of cloned wooly mammoths in British Columbia in “Chasing Ivory,” by Ted Kosmatka. In “Fieldwork,” by Shariann Lewitt, a volcanologist struggles with her research on Europa where both her mother and grandmother suffered dire consequences. A daughter pays homage to her mother with mega-engineering projects to deal with climate change over eons in “Seven Birthdays,” by Ken Liu. In “The Visitor from Taured,” by Ian R. MacLeod, a cosmologist in the near future is obsessed with proving his theory of multiverses. The citizens of a small town on a “Jackaroo” planet object to a corporation placing a radio telescope near local alien artifacts in “Something Happened Here, But We’re Not Quite Sure What It Was,” by Paul McAuley. And finally, in “Sixteen Questions for Kamala Chatterjee,” by Alastair Reynolds, a graduate student defends her dissertation on a solar anomaly that threatens humanity.

The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World


Harlan Ellison - 1968
    There is no night where it waits. Only the riddle of which terrible dream will set it loose. It beheaded mercy to take possession of that place. It feasts on darkness from the minds of men. No one has ever seen its eyeless face. When it sleeps we know a few moments of peace. But when it breathes again we go down in fire and mate with jackals. It knows our fear. It has our number. It waited for our coming and it will abide long after we have become congealed smoke. It has never heard music, and shows its fangs when we panic. It is the beast of our savage past, hungering today, and waiting patiently for the mortal meal of all our golden tomorrows. It lies waiting."--Harlan Ellison15 stories by Harlan EllisonContents "Introduction: The Waves in Rio" "The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World" "Along the Scenic Route" "Phoenix" "Asleep: With Still Hands" "Santa Claus vs. S.P.I.D.E.R." "Try a Dull Knife" "The Pitll Pawob Division" "The Place With No Name" "White on White" "Run for the Stars" "Are You Listening?" "S.R.O." "Worlds to Kill" "Shattered Like a Glass Goblin" "A Boy and His Dog"

The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith


Cordwainer Smith - 1993
    When you realize that the 33 stories are ordered chronologically, you begin to grasp the scale of Cordwainer Smith's creation. Regimes, technologies, planets, moralities, religions, histories all rise and fall through his millennia.These are futuristic tales told as myth, as legend, as a history of a distant and decayed past. Written in an unadorned voice reminiscent of James Tiptree Jr., Smith's visions are dark and pessimistic, clearly a contrast from the mood of SF in his time; in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s it was still thought that science would cure the ills of humanity. In Smith's tales, space travel takes a horrendous toll on those who pilot the ships through the void. After reaching perfection, the lack of strife stifles humanity to a point of decay and stagnation; the Instrumentality of Mankind arises in order to stir things up. Many stories describe moral dilemmas involving the humanity of the Underpeople, beings evolved from animals into humanlike forms.Stories not to be missed in this collection include "Scanners Live in Vain", "The Dead Lady of Clown Town", "Under Old Earth", "The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal", "Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons", and the truly disturbing "A Planet Called Shayol". Serious SF fans should not pass up the chance to experience Cordwainer Smith's complex, distinctive vision of the far future.--Bonnie BoumanContents:- Introduction by John J. Pierce- Editor’s Introduction by James A. Mann• Stories of the Instrumentality of Mankind- No, No, Not Rogov! (1959)- War No. 81-Q (rewritten version) - Mark Elf (1957)- The Queen of the Afternoon (1978)- Letter to Editor, Fantasy Book (March 9, 1948)- Scanners Live in Vain (1950)- The Lady Who Sailed The Soul (1960)- When the People Fell (1959)- Think Blue, Count Two (1963)- The Colonel Came Back from Nothing-at-All (1979)- The Game of Rat and Dragon (1955)- The Burning of the Brain (1958)- From Gustible’s Planet (1962)- Himself in Anachron- The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal (1964)- Golden the Ship Was — Oh! Oh! Oh! (1959)- The Dead Lady of Clown Town (1964)- Under Old Earth (1966)- Drunkboat (1963)- Mother Hitton’s Littul Kittons (1961)- Alpha Ralpha Boulevard (1961)- The Ballad of Lost C’Mell (1962)- A Planet Named Shayol (1961)- On the Gem Planet [Casher O'Neill] (1963)- On the Storm Planet [Casher O'Neill] (1965)- On the Sand Planet [Casher O'Neill] (1965)- Three to a Given Star [Casher O'Neill] (1965)- Down to a Sunless Sea (1975)• Other Stories- War No. 81-Q (original version) (1928)- Western Science Is So Wonderful (1958)- Nancy (1959)- The Fife of Bodidharma (1959)- Angerhelm (1959)- The Good Friends (1963)Cover art by Jack Gaughan

Is That What People Do? Short Stories


Robert Sheckley - 1984
    

To Hold Up the Sky


Liu Cixin - 2020
    From Cixin Liu, the New York Times bestselling author of The Three-Body Problem, To Hold Up the Sky is a breathtaking collection of imaginative science fiction.Stories included are:The Village TeacherThe Time Migration2018-04-01Fire In The EarthContractionMirrorOde To JoyFull Spectrum Barrage JammingSea of DreamsCloud of PoemsThe Thinker

The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories


Connie Willis - 1985
    The stories cover the entire spectrum, from sad to sparkling to terrifying, from classics to hard-to-find treasures with everything in between -- orangutans, Egypt, earthworms, roast goose, college professors, mothers-in-law, aliens, secret codes, Secret Santas, tube stations, choir practice, the post office, the green light on Daisy's dock, weddings, divorces, death, and assorted plagues, from scarlet fever to "It's a Wonderful Life." And a dog.Famous for her "sure-hand plotting, unforgettable characters, and top-notch writing," Willis has been called, "the most relentlessly delightful science fiction writer alive," and there are numerous examples here. Among them, Willis's most famous stories -- the Hugo- and Nebula-Award-winning "Fire Watch" and "Even the Queen" and "The Last of the Winnebagos" -- along with undiscovered gems like Willis's heartfelt homage to Jack Williamson, "Nonstop to Portales." Her magical Christmas stories are here, too, from "Newsletter" to "Just Like the Ones We Used to Know..." which last year was made into the TV movie, Snow Wonder, starring Mary Tyler Moore.We've collected stories from throughout Willis's career, from early ones like "Cash Crop" and "Daisy, in the Sun," right up to her newest stories, including the wonderful "The Winds of Marble Arch." There's literally something for everyone here. If you're a diehard Willis fan, you'll be delighted with hard-to-find treasures like the until-now uncollected, "The Soul Selects Her Own Society..." If you've never read Connie Willis, this is your chance to discover "A Letter from the Clearys" and, well, "Chance." To say nothing of, "At the Rialto," the funniest story ever written about quantum physicists. And Willis's chilling, "All My Darling Daughters."And...oh, there are too many great stories here to list and pleasures galore. So enjoy! --subterraneanpress.com

Revolt in 2100


Robert A. Heinlein - 1953
    But nothing endures forever. The smoldering embers of liberty have burst into flame again. It is time for a new beginning.Contents:· The Innocent Eye: An Introduction by Henry Kuttner· If This Goes On - originally published in Astounding Science Fiction February 1940· Coventry - originally published in Astounding Science Fiction July 1940 · Misfit - originally published in Astounding Science Fiction November 1939 · Concerning Stories Never Written: Postscript by Robert A. Heinlein

Burning Chrome


William Gibson - 1986
    Johnny Mnemonic (1981)The Gernsback Continuum (1981)Fragments of a Hologram Rose (1977)The Belonging Kind (1981) with John ShirleyHinterlands (1981)Red Star, Winter Orbit (1983) with Bruce SterlingNew Rose Hotel (1984)The Winter Market (1985)Dogfight (1985) with Michael SwanwickBurning Chrome (1982)

Thor's Hammer


Reginald Bretnor - 1979
    Heinlein• Defending the Third Industrial Revolution • by G. Harry Stine• Interior artwork by David Egge• Old Woman by the Road • (1978) • by Gregory Benford• Encased in the Amber of Eternity • poem by Robert Frazier• Moon Rocks • (1973) • by Tom Purdom• Lasers, Grasers, and Marxists • (1976) • by Jerry Pournelle• Fixed Price War • (1978) • by Charles Sheffield• Marius • (1957) • by Poul Anderson• Weapons in Future Warfare • essay by Roger A. Beaumont and R. Snowden Ficks• Scenario for the Fall of Night • by Roger A. Beaumont• The Spell of War • [Lord Darcy] • (1978) • by Randall Garrett• Military Vehicles: Into the Third Millennium • essay by Dean Ing• Interior artwork by Stephen Fabian• The Man in the Gray Weapons Suit • by Paul J. Nahin• Just an Old-Fashioned War Story • (1977) • by Michael G. Coney• The Private War of Private Jacob • (1974) • by Joe Haldeman• One Foot in the Grave: Medicine in Future Warfare • essay by Alan E. Nourse• Shark • (1973) • by Edward Bryant• Training • by David Langford• Final Muster • (1961) • by Rick Rubin

Wild Cards


George R.R. MartinBrian Bolland - 1986
    Most victims die, others experience physical or psychic changes: aces have useful powers, deuces minor maybe entertaining abilities, jokers uglified, disabled, relegated to ghettos.