WESTLAKE A SCIENCE FICTION WRITER? Everyone knows him as the mystery writer who published books like The Hook (2000), Bad News 2001, and Put a Lid on It (2002) under his own name, Donald E. Westlake, and of course that he was also Richard Stark and a number of other favorite authors. But a science fiction writer? -- Really? -- You bet he was, early on in his career. (He even wrote one SF novel -- Anarchaos, in 1966, as "Curt Clark.") He also wrote quite a bit of short SF, like this weird little SF mystery that first graced the pages of Amazing in 1963.

    Billionaire genius Byron Gaines is accused of murdering his wife and her lover, but he swears he didn't do it. This couldn't have come at a worse moment: he is so close to a breakthrough in his research. He's about to invent a device that will change the world forever. The irony is, if only he had a little more time, he'd be able to make his legal problems disappear--along with himself. Travel to the near future with unforgettable characters and evocative depictions of imminent technologies. See how society could evolve in both utopian and dystopian ways.

    BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: The Dead Town. PRODIGAL SON:Every city has its secrets. But none as terrible as this. He is Deucalion, a tattooed man of mysterious origin, a sleight-of-reality artist who has traveled the centuries with a secret worse than death. He arrives in New Orleans as a serial killer stalks the streets, a killer who carefully selects his victims for the humanity that is missing in himself. Deucalion’s path will lead him to cool, tough police detective Carson O’Connor and her devoted partner, Michael Maddison, who are tracking the slayer but will soon discover signs of something far more terrifying: an entire race of killers who are much more–and less–than human and, deadliest of all, their deranged, near-immortal maker: Victor Helios–once known as Frankenstein. CITY OF NIGHT: They are stronger, heal better, and think faster than any humans ever created–and they must be destroyed. Not even Victor Helios–once Frankenstein–can stop the engineered killers he’s set loose on a reign of terror through modern-day New Orleans. Only the one-time “monster” Deucalion and his all-too-human partners, Detectives Carson O’Connor and Michael Maddison, stand in their way. But as the three race to uncover the true dimensions of an age-old conspiracy, they will discover that Victor’s new, improved models have infiltrated every level of the city’s society . . . and far beyond. DEAD AND ALIVE:As a devastating hurricane approaches, as the benighted creations of Victor Helios begin to spin out of control, as New Orleans descends into chaos and the future of humanity hangs in the balance, the only hope rests with Victor’s first, failed attempt to build the perfect human. Deucalion’s centuries-old history began as the original manifestation of a soulless vision–and it is fated to end in the ultimate confrontation between a damned creature and his mad creator. But first they must face a monstrosity not even Victor’s malignant mind could have conceived–an indestructible entity that steps out of humankind’s collective nightmare with powers, and a purpose, beyond imagining. LOST SOULS:The war against humanity has begun. In the dead hours of the night, a stranger enters the home of the mayor of Rainbow Falls, Montana. The stranger is in the vanguard of a wave of intruders who will invade other homes . . . offices . . . every local institution, assuming the identities and the lives of those they have been engineered to replace. Before the sun rises, the town will be under full assault, the opening objective in the new Victor Frankenstein’s trajectory of ultimate destruction. Deucalion—Victor’s first, haunted creation—saw his maker die in New Orleans two years earlier. Yet an unshakable intuition tells him that Victor lives—and is at work again. Within hours Deucalion will come together with his old allies, detectives Carson O’Connor and Michael Maddison, Victor’s engineered wife, Erika Five, and her companion Jocko to confront new peril. Others will gather around them. But this time Victor has a mysterious, powerful new backer, and he and his army are more formidable, their means and intentions infinitely more deadly, than ever before.

    Others send it straight to hell... Grab all four books in the thrilling CYBER SEED QUADRILOGY for one low price, in this great value 1200-page sci-fi box set! When Kurt Jacobs imagines the ultimate gadget — one capable of replacing phones, credit cards, keys and TVs — the idea consumes his every waking moment. When the Sycamore corporation buys into Kurt's creation and The Seed becomes a reality, his every dream comes true. Power like this has never existed. The launch of The Seed, a powerful microchip implant that turns each user's palm into a fully functioning trackpad and effectively turns them into walking computers, breaks all sales records. Alongside the augmented reality UltraLenses which act as the system's display, it immediately renders all handheld devices obsolete. But amid all of the awe and optimism, there is far more going on behind the curtain than Kurt or anyone else could ever have predicted... Cyber Seed Quadrilogy imaginatively chronicles The Seed's colossal impact on a society unprepared to handle it, from the high hopes of launch day to the breakneck descent into corporate dystopia. Remarkable apps and groundbreaking features that make life easier and more enjoyable... unprecedented surveillance and privacy abuses in a world where your eyes can no longer be trusted... both sides of a timely story unfold in this 1200-page complete series box set. And Kurt Jacobs, the guilt-wracked genius responsible for it all, may well be the only man who can do anything to put things right... This box set contains all four books in the CYBER SEED QUADRILOGY, previously published individually as: 1) Sycamore 2) Sycamore 2 3) Sycamore X (10-story collection) 4) Sycamore XL (12-story collection) Imaginative new technologies, devious conspiracies, and a whole lot of action-packed drama... dive in to the thrilling CYBER SEED QUADRILOGY today! (From the author of the blockbuster international bestseller, Not Alone)

    Humanity is involved in a limited war with the alien Klethos, where gladitorial combat decides the fate of worlds, but that doesn’t affect the common Marine or sailor. His career has been training hard but never seeing actual combat. All of that changes when a new enemy invades the galaxy, one that threatens both humanity and Klethos. Mankind hasn’t fought an all-out war in centuries, but they’re about to. McKeever is assigned to a special task force with the mission to find out what makes this new enemy tick, and, if possible, stop them in their tracks before humanity is eliminated like so much insignificant vermin.

    They don't believe in romantic happy endings.Farfalla Corrado is a globetrotting Italian witch, trained in Brazilian voodoo. Farfalla can tell real fortunes, see real ghosts and speak real curses. Farfalla doesn't just know the future – she can feel in in the dark, twisted depths of her heart.Gavin Tremaine is a high-tech Seattle venture capitalist. He can forecast the future, spot its trends, and invest in its business models. Gavin has a big future ahead of him – unfortunately, Gavin knows what that big future holds for the little people.When their worlds collide, history itself begins to crumble. They already know how this love story is bound to end – and it's not what the other expects.ABOUT THE AUTHORBruce Sterling lives in Austin, Turin and also Belgrade. He is married to the Serbian feminist and novelist Jasmina Tesanovic.He is an American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which helped define the cyberpunk genre.His nonfiction works include The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier; Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next Fifty Years; and Shaping Things.

    One day, Colonel Fred Johnson will be hailed as a hero to the system. One day, he will meet a desperate man in possession of a stolen spaceship and a deadly secret and extend a hand of friendship. But long before he became the leader of the Outer Planets Alliance, Fred Johnson had a very different name. The Butcher of Anderson Station. This is his story.Word Count: ~9,000 words

    While exploring the pre-technological world Midgarth, one of four dozen pocket universes created within a series of vast, orbital matrioshka computer arrays, Aristide uncovers a fiendish plot threatening to set off a nightmare scenario, perhaps even bringing about the ultimate Existential Crisis: the end of civilization itself. Traveling the pocket universes with his wormhole-edged sword Tecmesssa in hand and talking cat Bitsy, avatar of the planet-sized computer Endora, at his side, Aristide must find a way to save the multiverse from subversion, sabotage, and certain destruction.Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

    Dickson's future history of humankind and its ultimate destiny. Now one of its central novels return to print in a two-volume corrected edition.In The Final Encyclopedia the human race is split into three Splinter cultures: the Friendlies, fanatic in their faith; the truth-seeking Exotics; and the warrior Dorsai. But now humanity is threatened by the power-hungry Others, whose triumph would end all human progress.Raised to a destiny as humanity's champion, Hal Mayne must journey deep within his soul to gather the strength he needs to face his ultimate opponent: Bleys Ahrens, the shadowy, powerful leader of the Others. On Hal's success depends nothing less than the future of the human race...A towering landmark of future history, The Final Encyclopedia is a novel every SF fan needs to own.

    Human and Arkari. Archaeologists with a story about an ancient derelict starship that few believe and a captain’s log that tells of an ancient genocidal war that no-one has ever heard of. But if no-one believes their story, then why are the authorities so keen to suppress it? Captain Michelle Chen of the Commonwealth Navy. Brave, cunning, merciless. Dangerous even. However she may be just the person her superiors have been looking for to start a war.Steven Harris. Secret agent with a conscience, who defied orders, ignored the chain of command and let his morals get in the way of his career.Quickchild. An AI of unknown origin and staggering power that does not know who it truly is.As the colonies of the human Commonwealth stand on the brink of war with the fanatic legions of the alien K’Soth Empire, these five individuals are drawn to the backward, arid planet of Maranos that stands between the two civilisations. As relations between human and alien deteriorate, Maranos is about to give up its ancient, terrifying secrets.

    Includes The Amplified, The Dissenters, and The Restrainers.

    The age of star formation is long past. Yet there is life here, feeding off the energies of the stellar remnants, and there is mind, a tremendous galaxy-spanning intelligence each of whose thoughts lasts a hundred thousand years. And this mind cradles memories of a long-gone age when a more compact universe was full of light... The 27th century: Proxima Centauri, an undistinguished red dwarf star, is the nearest star to our sun. How would it be to live on such a world?

    Two brothers at war.With advanced weaponry and impenetrable armor, the Crusaders smash aside anything that stands in their way. Led by Kaneda Kusanagi, they have only one mission: to destroy Matriarch, the last thinking machine, and free the people of Jupiter from her tyranny.Whether they like it or not.Standing in their way are the Dragons, led by Kaneda’s estranged brother Ryu. With super-human reflexes and invisible battle suits, the Dragons are masters of infiltration and sabotage. Loyal only to Matriarch, they will stop at nothing to protect their way of life.The two brothers are set to collide in a battle that will shake the great powers of the solar system and force both men to question what they believe in.

    

    During it's impressive run it published many of Science Fiction's top writers. Collected here in this massive six hundred-plus page anthology are all of the most important stories that were published during its distinguished run. Included here are: 'Second Variety' by Philip K. Dick; 'Youth' by Isaac Asimov; 'To Each His Star' by Bryce Walton; 'Security' by Poul Anderson; 'Divinity' by William Morrison; 'The Hour of Battle' by Robert Sheckley; 'Instant of Decision' by Randall Garrett; 'Let 'em Breathe Space!' By Lester Del Rey; 'The Ultroom Error' by Jerry Sohl; 'Infinite Intruder' by Alan E. Nourse; 'Collectivum' by Mike Lewis; 'The Adventurer' by C. M. Kornbluth; 'Decision' by Frank M. Robinson; 'Pursuit' by Lester del Rey; 'Exile' by H. B. Fyfe; 'Stop Look and Dig' by George O. Smith; 'The Worshippers' by Damon Knight; 'The Hunters' by William Morrison; 'The Ego Machine' by Henry Kuttner; 'The Variable Man' by Philip K. Dick; and 'Ullr Uprising' by H. Beam Piper.