Book picks similar to
The Best of John Sladek by John Sladek


science-fiction
short-stories
fiction
humorous

Agent of Vega


James H. Schmitz - 1960
    "Especially when she's given one of your ultimate space ships.""I can vouch for her," the Galactic Co-ordinator said casually."But supposing another people--like the Daya-Bals--came into possession of one of our ultimate ships. They could duplicate it.""Don't worry--our Agents are psychologically incapable of giving away secrets that could cause us harm.""I know," the Scientist said. "That's why I was surprised to discover that there are two other Daya-Bals secretly aboard our Agent's ship!" (From the back cover)

The Venus Hunters


J.G. Ballard - 1980
    Ballard. The Venus Hunters. London: Gollancz, 1986. First hardcover edition, first printing. Octavo. 142 pages.

All the Sounds of Fear


Harlan Ellison - 1973
    Contents:Introduction: The Song of the Soul (1971) essayI Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (1967)The Discarded (1959)Deeper Than the Darkness (1957)Blind Lightning (1956)All the Sounds of Fear (1962)The Silver Corridor (1956)"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman (1965)Bright Eyes (1965)

The Robert Silverberg Science Fiction MEGAPACK®


Robert Silverberg - 2016
    Fan. Author. Editor. Creative force. He has been an integral part of the field for longer than most of his readers have been alive. Earlier this year, he kindly agreed to put together a MEGAPACK® of his short stories, so here, then, is a selection of early works by one of the all-time greats. Included are:ALAREEBIRDS OF A FEATHERBLAZE OF GLORYDELIVERY GUARANTEEDTHE DESSICATORTHE HAPPY UNFORTUNATETHE HUNTED HEROESTHE IRON STARTHE ISOLATIONISTSTHE LONELY ONETHE MAN WHO CAME BACKNEUTRAL PLANETOZYMANDIASTHE PAIN PEDDLERSTHE PLEASURE OF THEIR COMPANYPOINT OF FOCUSPOSTMARK GANYMEDEPRIME COMMANDMENTTHE SONGS OF SUMMERSPACEROGUETHERE WAS AN OLD WOMANTHE WOMAN YOU WANTEDVALLEY BEYOND TIMEWE KNOW WHO WE AREIf you enjoy this ebook, don't forget to search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see more of the 300+ volumes in this series, covering adventure, historical fiction, mysteries, westerns, ghost stories, science fiction -- and much, much more![Version 1.4]

11 Science Fiction Stories


Philip K. Dick - 2010
    SpaceshipPiper in the Woods

Young Zaphod Plays It Safe


Douglas Adams - 1986
    It doesn't appear as a standalone work, but is included with several collections. The story is a prequel to the events in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and has the young Zaphod Beeblebrox working as a salvage ship operator. He guides some bureaucrats to a crashed spaceship which may be leaking some hazardous materials. The bureaucrats are determined to "make it safe". The comic asides in the story include some of the time travel paradoxes which are a common running theme in Adams' SF work, and plenty of material about lobsters

Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales


Ray Bradbury - 2003
    In this landmark volume, America's preeminent storyteller offers us one hundred treasures from a lifetime of words and ideas. The stories within these pages were chosen by Bradbury himself, and span a career that blossomed in the pulp magazines of the early 1940s and continues to flourish in the new millennium. Here are representatives of the legendary author's finest works of short fiction, including many that have not been republished for decades, all forever fresh and vital, evocative and immensely entertaining.

The Lights in the Sky Are Stars


Fredric Brown - 1953
    I'm one of the guys who fought and bled and worked to get to Mars. I figure what I gave up in those early years bought me the right to pilot the next big jump.I've lied and stolen for that right. I'd have killed, too, but I didn't have to. Instead, I let a woman give her life so I could have my chance, my door to space.You think I'd stop at anything, now?I'll be on that rocket, blasting away on America's biggest adventure, the hop out into the stars themselves....Only Fred Brown could have written this deeply moving science-fiction novel about one man's epic, life-long struggle to open mankind's pathway to the stars...'

Retief Unbound


Keith Laumer - 1979
    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.

At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror


H.P. Lovecraft - 1981
    The Barren, windswept interior of the Antarctic plateau was lifeless--or so the expedition from Miskatonic University thought. Then they found the strange fossils of unheard-of creatures...and the carved stones tens of millions of years old...and, finally, the mind-blasting terror of the City of the Old Ones. Three additional strange tales, written as only H.P. Lovecraft can write, are also included in this macabre collection of the strange and the weird.Table of Contents:At the Mountains of Madness • [Cthulhu Mythos] • (1936) • novel by H. P. Lovecraft The Dreams in the Witch-House • [Cthulhu Mythos] • (1933) • novelette by H. P. Lovecraft The Shunned House • (1928) • novelette by H. P. Lovecraft The Statement of Randolph Carter • [Randolph Carter] • (1920) • shortstory by H. P. Lovecraft

Rude Astronauts


Allen M. Steele - 1993
    In Steele’s universe, the stars are cold, space is big, and it’s the normal people who make things interesting.

The Conan Chronicles 2


Robert Jordan - 1999
    An omnibus edition of the last three Conan novels by Robert Jordan, author of the bestselling Wheel of Time series

Father to the Stars


Philip José Farmer - 1981
    Contents:· The Night of Light · na F&SF Jun ’57 · A Few Miles · nv F&SF Oct ’60 · Prometheus · na F&SF Mar ’61 · Father · na F&SF Jul ’55 · Attitudes · nv F&SF Oct ’53

Case and the Dreamer and Other Stories


Theodore Sturgeon - 1962
    Contents:Case and the Dreamer (1973)If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister? (1967)When You Care, When You Love (1962)

Old Venus


George R.R. MartinLavie Tidhar - 2015
    Here, that steamy, swampy jungle world with strange creatures lurking amidst the dripping vegetation is explored in sixteen all-new stories collected by bestselling author George R. R. Martin and editor Gardner Dozois.