Book picks similar to
Night Walk by Bob Shaw


science-fiction
sci-fi
sf
fiction

The Lovers


Philip José Farmer - 1961
    but then, hidden in ancient ruins built by humanoids long vanished from the planet, he found Jeanette, a not-quite-human fugitive.For a Believer like Yarrow, unconsecrated contact with any female was forbidden - and love for an alien was unthinkable. But to Yarrow, in every way that counted, Jeanette was warmly and bountifully human.So Yarrow sought the aid of the amiably tolerant Wogglebugs to keep his harboring of Jeanette a secret - and at the same time concealed from his alien allies Earth's farreaching plans for them and their unexploited planet.Yet there was one secret Yarrow did not know and could not imagine... the very special nature and needs of the woman he loved!

The Anome


Jack Vance - 1971
    A land where men and women are marked for life. Where they are bound to irrevocable destinies by the proclamations of the Faceless Man-an unseen power which terrorises and controls the world.Durdane is a place where defiance is punished with death. But this kingdom of myriad mystery and incalculable peril is now threatened by a menace from without-the dreaded Rogushkoi. And only one youth, Gastel Etzwane, dares to challenge the unchallengeable, the power of the Faceless Man, in an extraordinary struggle for mastery and for the survival of Durdane...

The Space Merchants


Frederik Pohl - 1952
    Now Schoken Associates, one of the big players, has a new challenge for star copywriter Mitch Courtenay. Volunteers are needed to colonise Venus. It's a hellhole, and nobody who knew anything about it would dream of signing up. But by the time Mitch has finished, they will be queuing to get on board the spaceships.Biographical NotesPohl and Kornbluth started writing together as early as 1940, although both authors produced a wide variety of stories separately, under their own names and pseudonyms.Each wrote sections, starting where the other left off, and through long experience they developed an almost telepathic awareness of each other's intentions.

Paradox Lost


Fredric Brown - 1973
    Paperback 1st printing. Stories from a science fiction master. Includes an introduction from Brown’s wife, and these stories: Paradox Lost (1943); Puppet Show (1962); The Last Train (1950); It Didn't Happen (1963); Knock (1948); Obedience (1950); Ten Percenter (1963); Aelurophobe (1962); Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (1965, with Carl Onspaugh); Nothing Sirius (1944); The New One (1942); Double Standard (1963); Something Green (1951).

Deus Irae


Philip K. Dick - 1976
    The Servants of Wrath have deified Carlton Lufteufel and re-christened him the Deus Irae. In the small community of Charlottesville, Utah, Tibor McMasters, born without arms or legs, has, through an array of prostheses, established a far-reaching reputation as an inspired painter. When the new church commissions a grand mural depicting the Deus Irae, it falls upon Tibor to make a treacherous journey to find the man, to find the god, and capture his terrible visage for posterity.

Shadrach in the Furnace


Robert Silverberg - 1976
    The world lies ravaged by biological warfare, its population decimated by a ferocious genetically-transmitted disease known as the organ rot. And presiding over the ruins is a ninety-three-year-old tyrant, preserved in a state of youth by a series of organ transplants: the self-styled Genghis Mao. Shadrach Mordecai, Genghis Mao's trusted personal physician, was a vital cog in the great machine devoted to keeping the ruler alive: linked to him by a network of electronic implants, Shadrach was able to detect and diagnose the first signs of malfunction in his lord and master. But close as he was to the aging dictator, Shadrach could not have known that events would soon plunge him into a desperate struggle - a struggle in which a paragon of idealism faced the very incarnation of evil.

Highway of Eternity


Clifford D. Simak - 1986
    Corcoran and Boone's powerful extrasensory abilities lead them to an advanced transportation system through time and back to the bucolic 18th-century English countryside. There, they discover a family from the distant future that is hiding from the Immortals - an alien race that, many centuries on, is seducing human subjects with the promise of immortality. But the cost of life eternal is the corporeal self, and there is no place in the aliens' future for anyone unwilling to exist as mind alone.Now that the Evans family's sanctuary has been breached, escape is the only answer - for Tom Boone and Jay Corcoran as well - and the only way out is forward...far forward. But racing through space and time can be a hazardous occupation, especially with monstrous beasts, killer robots, and Immortal body destroyers waiting at every juncture.

The Dramaturges of Yan


John Brunner - 1972
    Here the colonists lived a peaceful, almost idyllic life, amid ancient and secret relics, co-existing with their strange and compatible neighbours. The arrival of Gregory Chart, the greatest dramatist ever, whose productions were played out in the skies, and whose actors were also the audience, could only disrupt and destroy once the Yanfolk were aroused from their dreaming indifference . . . (First published 1972)

Tuf Voyaging


George R.R. Martin - 1986
    So how is it that, in competition with the worst villains the universe has to offer, he's become the proud owner of the last seedship of Earth's legendary Ecological Engineering Corps? Never mind, just be thankful that the most powerful weapon in human space is in good hands-hands which now control cellular material for thousands of outlandish creatures. With his unique equipment, Tuf is set to tackle the problems human settlers have created in colonizing far-flung worlds: hosts of hostile monsters, a population hooked on procreation, a dictator who unleashes plagues to get his own way...and in every case the only thing that stands between the colonists and disaster is Tuf's ingenuity - and his reputation as an honest dealer in a universe of rogues...Tuf Voyaging features interior illustrations by Janet Aulisio. Included in it will be her original eight illustrations, along with 28 newly commissioned ones.

Mission of Gravity


Hal Clement - 1954
    The title is a play on words, one meaning "the force which pulls" & the other being "extremely serious or important". It was serialized in Astounding Science Fiction, 4–7/53. Its 1st cloth publication was in '54. It was 1st published in paper in '58. Along with the novel itself, many editions (& most recent editions) of the book also include Whirligig World, an essay on creating the planet Mesklin that was published in the 6/53 Astounding. He published two sequels, a '70 novel called Star Light & a '73 short story called Lecture Demonstration. Mission of Gravity was nominated for a Retro Hugo Award for '54.For a profit & adventure Barlennan would sail thousands of miles across uncharted waters, into regions where gravity played strange tricks. He'd dare the perils of strange tribes & stranger creatures--even dicker with those aliens from beyond the skies, though the concept of another world was unknown to the inhabitants of the planet of Mesklin. But in spite of the incredible technology of the strangers & without regard for their enormous size, Barlennan had the notion of turning the deal to an unsuspected advantage for himself--a considerable enterprise for a being very much resembling a 15" caterpillar!

The Silkie


A.E. van Vogt - 1969
    van Vogt. For The Silkie was a being that could move through space, water, or on land with equal ease, could think like a computer, communicate etherically, and change form to suit changing circumstances.But were the Silkies all that was claimed for them? Were they truly man,s own creations as heirs and helpers—or were they "ringers" from some unknown outer-space world of some anti-humanity conspiracy?The Silkies themselves did not know. . . and that's what makes thus action-packed utterly unusual novel great. It's Van Vogt's first new novel in man years.

Jack of Eagles


James Blish - 1952
    Only recently, Danny was an average New York copywriter, until he suddenly found he had ESP. His knowledge of the future is astonishing, and the rest of Danny's powers are just beginning. But someone has plans for Danny: a mysterious group of sinister men bent on world domination. They'll stop at nothing until they capture Danny . . . or destroy him. For only Danny Caiden has the power to sabotage their diabolical tyranny. Through no fault of his own, he has found himself at the centre of a shattering psychic struggle for the future of humanity. In the final battle, Danny must master all of his powers, or sacrifice himself - and all mankind - to satanic slavery forever.

The Shrinking Man


Richard Matheson - 1956
    The radioactivity acts as a catalyst for the bug spray, causing his body to shrink at a rate of approximately 1/7 of an inch per day. A few weeks later, Carey can no longer deny the truth: not only is he losing weight, he is also shorter than he was and deduces, to his dismay, that his body will continue to shrink.

The Sinful Ones


Fritz Leiber - 1950
    But one day he met a beautiful, frightened girl who didn't quite belong in this world. And something began. Irrevocably. Something that diverted him forever from his path, shook the sleepy dust from his eyes and brought him to a startling confrontation with the furthest limits of life, death - and an alien, terrifying danger... the Sinful Ones.

The Humanoids


Jack Williamson - 1948
    Only a hidden group of rebels can stem the humanoid tide...if it's not already too late.Fist published in Astounding Science Fiction during the magazine's heyday, The Humanoids--sceince fiction grand master Jack Williamson's finest novel--has endured for fifty years as a classic on the theme of natural versus artificial life.Also included in this edition is the prelude novelette, "With Folded Hands," which was chosen for the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.