Odd Interlude #2


Dean Koontz - 2012
     THERE'S ROOM AT THE INN. BUT YOU MIGHT NOT GET OUT. Nestled on a lonely stretch along the Pacific coast, quaint roadside outpost Harmony Corner offers everything a weary traveler needs--a cozy diner, a handy service station, a cluster of motel rooms . . . and the Harmony family homestead presiding over it all. But when Odd Thomas and company stop to spend the night, they discover that there's more to this secluded haven than meets the eye--and that between life and death, there is something more frightening than either. Includes a preview of the next thrilling novel in Dean Koontz's acclaimed Odd Thomas series: "Odd Apocalypse" "Koontz gives his character wit, good humor, a familiarity with the dark side of humanity--and moral outrage.""--USA Today" "The nice young fry cook with the occult powers is Koontz's most likable creation . . . candid, upright, amusing and sometimes withering."--"The New York Times" "Suspense, tension, and surprising plot twists . . . Characters and the search for meaning, exquisitely crafted, are the soul of his work. . . . One of the master storytellers of this or any age."--"The Tampa Tribune"

The Silver Spike


Glen Cook - 1989
    Defeated by the Lady and cast from this world, all that was left of him was a foul trace of lingering evil. But the graveyard that was once the Barrowland contains more secrets than dead. All who would possess the power of the Dominator are drawn to the spike. A foolhardy band of thieves is the first to reach it, and a rapacious and malign spirit is unleashed on an unwary world. The forces gather, sides are drawn, and mortal men can only die as the Dark Lords battle for domination.

Everflame


Dylan Lee Peters - 2012
    Over time, humans lost their connection with a world they had been created to protect, they forgot the ways of their ancient creators, and accepted the Tyrant’s lies as truths from the mouth of a god.  Now, deep in the forests that surround Gray Mountain, two bears find a small child that is abandoned and left for dead. The bears name him Evercloud, raise him as a member of their kingdom, and teach the boy of the Ancients, all underneath the light of the Everflame, the flame that burns atop Gray Mountain as a monument to the integrity and spirit of the bears.  As Evercloud grows, rumors reach the bear kingdom of the Ancients’ return, and now the young man must leave his home to find them and help save the world he holds dear.  Will Evercloud lose himself in the darkness of the Great Tyrant’s lies, or will he have the courage to judge his own heart, the strength to master the darkness, and the faith to follow his purpose until it burns within his heart like the Everflame?

The Practice Effect


David Brin - 1984
    Dennis Nuel is a physicist who, during his research, develops a machine that allows him to explore alternate realities, each of which sport some very strange scientific properties.

Fallen Angels


Larry Niven - 1991
    Having been shot down over the North Dakota glacier, two Space Habs astronauts find themselves paralyzed by the Earth's gravity and at the center of a ruthless manhunt by the United States government.

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 Right to Arm Bears


Gordon R. Dickson - 2000
    Therefore making friends with the Dilbians and establishing a human presence there is of the utmost importance, which may be a problem, since the bearlike Dilbians stand some nine feet tall, and have a high regard for physical prowess. They're not impressed by human technology, either. A real man, er, bear doesn't need machines to do his work for him.But Dilbians "are" impressed by sharp thinking, and some have expressed a grudging admiration for the logical (and usually sneaky) mental maneuvers that the human "shorties" have used to get themselves out of desperate jams. Just maybe that old human craftiness will win over the Dilbians to the human side. If not, we lose a nexus, and the Dilbians will learn just how unbearable Hemnoids can be....

Wizard of the Winds


Allan Cole - 1997
    The key to his destiny would be Safar Timura, a youth with an awesome gift for sorcery, whose visions foretold Iraj's rise to power. And in those visions, Safar stood at Iraj's side, his soul-blasting spells enabling his friend to attain his dreams. But Safar had other visions with darker portents, and his spellbound knowledge raised secrets better left buried. The road the two men followed would be rich in titles and fortunes, but it would also be rich in death and disaster, in intrigue - and in unforgivable betrayal...

The World Turned Upside Down


David DrakeJohn W. Campbell Jr. - 2005
    Clarke (Astounding Science Fiction May'46)2 Menace from Earth by Robert A. Heinlein (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction Aug'57)3 Code Three by Rick Raphael (Analog Feb'63)4 Hunting Problem by Robert Sheckley (Galaxy Sep'55)5 Black Destroyer by A. E. Van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction July'39)6 Pail of Air by Fritz Leiber (Galaxy Dec'51)7 Thy Rocks and Rills by Robert Ernest Gilbert (If Sep'53)8 Gun for Dinosaur by L. Sprague de Camp (Galaxy Mar'56)9 Goblin Night by James H. Schmitz (Analog Apr'65)10 Only Thing We Learn by C. M. Kornbluth (Startling Stories July'49)11 Trigger Tide by Wyman Guin (as Norman Menascoe Astounding Science Fiction Oct'50)12 Aliens by Murray Leinster (Astounding Science Fiction Aug'59)13 All the Way Back by Michael Shaara (Astounding Science Fiction July'52)14 Last Command by Keith Laumer (Analog Jan'67)15 Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell (as Don A. Stuart Astounding Science Fiction Aug'38)16 Quietus by Ross Rocklynne (Astounding Science Fiction Sep'40)17 Answer by Frederic Brown (Angels and Spaceships 1954)18 Last Question by Isaac Asimov (Isaac Asimov: The Complete .. #1 1956)19 Cold Equations by Tom Godwin (Astounding Science Fiction Aug'54)20 Shambleau by C. L. Moore (Wierd Tales Nov'33)21 Turning Point by Poul Anderson (If May'53)22 Heavy Planet by Lee Gregor (Astounding Science Fiction Aug'39)23 Omnilingual by H. Beam Piper (Astounding Science Fiction Feb'57)24 Gentle Earth by Christopher Anvil (Astounding Science Fiction Nov'57)25 Environment by Chester S. Geier (Astounding Science Fiction May'44)26 Liane the Wayfarer by Jack Vance (The Dying Earth 1950)27 Spawn by P. Schuyler Miller (Wierd Tales Aug'39)28 St. Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson 29 Thunder and Roses by Theodore Sturgeon (Astounding Science Fiction Nov'47)

City of Dreams & Nightmare


Ian Whates - 2010
    The ancient city of Thaiburley is a vast, multi-tiered metropolis, where the poor live in the City Below and demons are said to dwell in the Upper Heights.Having witnessed a murder in a part of the city he should never have been in, Tom, a lowly street-nick, has to run for his life through the City Below, Thaiburley’s unsavoury basement world. Accused of committing the murder himself, he is pursued by sky-borne assassins, Kite Guards, and agents of a darker force intent on destabilising the whole city. His only ally is Kat, a renegade like him, but she proves to have secrets of her own...Source: back cover

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

A Blink of the Screen: Collected Shorter Fiction


Terry Pratchett - 2012
    Here for the first time are his short stories and other short form fiction collected into one volume. A Blink of the Screen charts the course of Pratchett's long writing career: from his schooldays through to his first writing job on the Bucks Free Press,; to the origins of his debut novel, The Carpet People; and on again to the dizzy mastery of the phenomenally successful Discworld series.Here are characters both familiar and yet to be discovered; abandoned worlds and others still expanding; adventure, chickens, death, disco and, actually, some quite disturbing ideas about Christmas,all of it shot through with his inimitable brand of humour.With an introduction by Booker Prize-winning author A.S. Byatt, illustrations by the late Josh Kirby and drawings by the author himself, this is a book to treasure.

The Kinshield Legacy


K.C. May - 2005
    The kingdom is in ruins, with only warrant knights to keep the peace. But then, the gems in the tablet, one by one, disappear. Warrant knight Gavin Kinshield is a man of many secrets. He's the one deciphering the runes in the tablet. Unless he can find a suitable replacement, he'll be Thendylath's next king. All he really wants is the letter written by his ancestor Ronor Kinshield, champion to King Arek, confessing the truth of how the king perished.Daia Saberheart, warrior of the Viragon Sisterhood, wants to find the future king and help him claim his rightful place. Blacksmith Risan Stronghammer wants to reward him with a powerful weapon.And the sorcerer Brodas Ravenkind wants to capture him, steal his secret and claim the throne for himself.But when Gavin finally tracks down Ronor's letter, he gets far more than he's bargained for, for the truth of King Arek's demise is far darker than he ever imagined.________________________________

Miles, Mutants, and Microbes


Lois McMaster Bujold - 1986
    Leo Graf was just your typical efficient engineer: mind your own business and do the job. But all that changed on his assignment to the Cay Habitat, where children had been bio-engineered to have four arms (and no legs) to function in zero gravity. Now that they’re no longer needed, a heartless mega corporation is getting rid of them before they eat into the profit margin. Leo Graf adopted 1000 quaddies—now he had to teach them to be free. “Labyrinth”—When Miles Vorkosigan is captured while on a secret mission to a lawless world, his only hope of escape is an unlikely pair of allies: a quaddie and a teenage werewolf. Diplomatic Immunity— Miles Vorkosigan and his wife were heading home for the births of their first children, but a major diplomatic disaster is looming at Graf Station, colonized by the descendants of the original quaddies, and duty calls. Unfortunately, diplomatic immunity doesn’t carry over to immunity from a very nasty biological weapon. The downside of being a troubleshooter comes when trouble starts shooting back. . . .

Doc Sidhe


Aaron Allston - 1995
    While looking for Gaby, he interrupts a bizarre trio as they are kidnapping her, and he is hurled into another, very weird, universe. His only hope is Doc Sidhe, this Art Deco universe's greatest champion of justice.