Category: Sciencefiction

Platinum Pohl: The Collected Best Stories

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Platinum Pohl: The Collected Best Stories
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Frederik Pohl, the bestselling author of The Boy Who Would Live Forever, is famous for his novels, but first and foremost, he is a master of the science fiction short story.

For more than fifty years he has been writing incisive, entertaining SF stories, several hundred in all. Even while writing his bestselling triple-crown (Hugo, Nebula, Campbell Award) novel Gateway and the other Heechee Saga novels, he has always written short fiction.

Now, for the first time, he has gathered together the best of his many stories in Platinum Pohl. Spanning the decades, these tales are in their way a living history of science fiction. Because Frederik Pohl has been on the frontlines of the field since the halcyon days of the late 1930s, and has written short stories in every decade since. And because he has always been a keen observer of the human condition and the world that is shaped by it, his stories reflect the currents of political movements, social trends, major events that have shaken the world . . .

Yet at their core, all his stories are most acutely concerned with people. All sorts of people. Some are people you’ll love, some you’ll hate. But you will need to find out what happens to the people who inhabit these stories. Because Frederik Pohl imbues his characters with a depth and individuality that makes them as real as people you see every day. Of course, he also employs a mind-boggling variety of scientific ideas and science fictional tropes with which his characters must interact. And he does it all with seemingly no effort at all. That’s some trick. Not everyone can do that . . . but that’s why he was named a Grand Master of Science Fiction by his peers in the Science Fiction Writers of America.

Here are his two Hugo Award winning stories, “Fermi and Frost” and “The Meeting” (with C. M. Kornbluth), along with such classic novellas as the powerful “The Gold at the Starbow’s End” and “The Greening of Bed-Stuy,” and stories such as “Servant of the People,” “Shaffery Among the Immortals,” and “Growing Up in Edge City,” all finalists for major awards. And dozens of other wonderful tales, like “The Mayor of Mare Tranq” and the provocative “The Day the Martians Landed” and many others.

Altogether, a grand collection of thought-provoking, entertaining science fiction by one of the all-time greats!

The Legacy of Heorot (Heorot Series)

The Legacy of Heorot (Heorot Series)
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THE CLASSIC HEOROT SERIES FROM GENRE LEGENDS LARRY NIVEN, JERRY POURNELLE, AND STEVEN BARNES

The two hundred colonists on board the Geographic have spent a century in cold sleep to arrive here: Avalon, a lush, verdant planet lightyears from Earth. They hope to establish a permanent colony, and Avalon seems the perfect place. And so they set about planting and building.

But their very presence has upset the ecology of Avalon. Soon an implacable predator stalks them, picking them off one by one. In order to defeat this alien enemy, they must reevaluate everything they think they know about Avalon, and uncover the planet’s dark secrets.

At the publisher’s request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

About The Legacy of Heorot:
“Page-turning action and suspense, good characterization and convincing setting . . . may be the best thing any of those authors has written.”—The Denver Post

“Outstanding! . . . The best ever, by the best in the field . . . the ultimate combination of imagination and realism.”—Tom Clancy

Marsbound

Marsbound
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Young Carmen Dula and her family are embarking on the adventure of a lifetime-they’re going to Mars. But Carmen’s rebellious streak leads her to venture out into the bleak Mars landscape alone, where she is saved by an angel.

An angel with too many arms and legs, a head that looks like a potato gone bad-and a message for the humans on Mars: We were here first…

Dogs of War classic stories of men and machines at arms

Dogs of War classic stories of men and machines at arms
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Military authors have entered the mainstream science fiction genre and continue to leave their mark.

David Drake pays homage to his own sub-genre by collecting ten classic stories of men-at-arms by top writers including himself.

Worlds (The Worlds Trilogy)

Worlds (The Worlds Trilogy)
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In this near-future novel by the author of The Forever War, an idealistic student visiting Earth from an orbiting colony is ensnared in a political conspiracy.

By the close of the twenty-first century, almost half a million souls have already abandoned Earth to live in satellites orbiting the strife-ridden planet. Each of these forty-one Worlds is an independent entity boasting its own government and culture, yet each remains bound to the troubled home World by economic pressure.

A brilliant student of political science born and raised in New New York, the largest of the orbiting Worlds, young Marianne O’Hara has never been to the surface but now has a golden opportunity to continue her studies far below her floating home of steel. Life on Earth, however, is very different from anything she has ever experienced.

With power in the hands of a privileged few and unrest running rampant, the allure of radical politics might be too much for an idealistic and inexperienced young World dweller to resist. But even the best of intentions can have disastrous consequences, and Marianne soon finds herself unwittingly drawn into a wide-ranging conspiracy that could result in the total destruction of everything on Earth . . . and above.

The first book in the acclaimed science fiction trilogy by Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author Joe Haldeman, Worlds offers a powerful vision of a possible future.

Saturn’s Children (A Freyaverse Novel)

Saturn's Children (A Freyaverse Novel)
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Sometime in the twenty-third century, humanity went extinct, leaving only androids behind to fulfill humanity’s dreams.

And, having learned well from their long-dead masters, they’ve established a hierarchical society—one with humanoid aristo rulers at the top and slave-chipped workers at the bottom, performing the lowly tasks all androids were originally created to do.

Designed as a concubine for a species that hasn’t existed for two hundred years, femmebot Freya Nakamichi-47—one of the last of her kind still functioning—accepts a job from a stranger to deliver a package from mercury to Mars.

Unfortunately, she’s just made herself a moving target for some very powerful, very determined humanoids desperate to retrieve the package’s contents…

Friday by Robert A. Heinlein

Friday by Robert A. Heinlein
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This Nebula- and Hugo-nominated novel is held in fond esteem by many Heinlein fans. Beginning in the early 1970s, Heinlein suffered from a number of health crises, including reversible neurologic dysfunction (toward the end of the decade), which greatly impacted the quality of his writing.

Friday, first published in 1982, is considered his “comeback” book. Much more reminiscent of his earlier, tighter works, it shows the Grand Master back in his earlier form. The novel revolves around a genetically engineered woman who is one of the strongest female protagonists in the science fiction genre of that era. The story follows the adventures of this highly trained, combat-ready courier, from the time she is ambushed and tortured by an enemy group seeking the package she is carrying, to an eventual betrayal that tests her extraordinary abilities and resolve.

Friday was met with widespread critical acclaim, from both fans and critics, with Publishers Weekly declaring that the book “should fly” and Poul Anderson claiming it among Heinlein’s best.

Double Star

Double Star
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Many of Heinlein’s fans consider the novels he wrote in the fifties amongst the author’s strongest work; when he was at the peak of his talents. Double Star is considered by many to be the finest of his titles. Brian Aldiss called it his “most enjoyable novel.”
Whether it is the simplicity of a lively tale, the complexity of the situation, or the depth of characterization, the book has developed a loyal following. It also won Heinlein his first Hugo.

The story revolves around Lawrence Smith—also known as “Lorenzo the Great”—a down-and-out actor wasting the remainder of his life in bars.

When he encounters a space-pilot who offers him a drink, before he knows what is going on, he is on Mars involved in a deep conspiracy with global consequences. He is given a mission where failure would not only mean his own death, it would almost certainly mean an all-out planetary war.

“Heinlein’s novels of the 1940s and 50s shaped every single science fiction writer of my generation and everyone currently writing science fiction. Or making science fiction movies … and Double Star is an excellent example of all the reasons why.”—Connie Willis

Robert Heinlein’s Expanded Universe

Robert Heinlein's Expanded Universe
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“The single most important and valuable Heinlein book ever published.”—Spider Robinson

Robert A. Heinlein has been hailed as one of the most forward-thinking science fiction writers of all time, and Expanded Universe (presented in two volumes) offers the perfect collection of his works to provide readers with true insights into his uniquely creative mind.

Heinlein personally selected each story or essay for inclusion in this collection, which is ordered chronologically, starting with his first sale in 1939 of “Life-Line” to Astounding (for seventy dollars).This remarkable collection highlights the development of Heinlein’s writing style and his philosophy on life throughout his career.

More importantly, this collection is as close to an autobiography as anything Heinlein wrote during his life. Heinlein was an extremely private person who never wrote much about himself. In this exclusive collection, he offers forewords to most of his stories and essays (and an occasional afterword), giving readers a rare glimpse into the inner mind of the master.

Expanded Universe is a must-have for any Heinlein enthusiast and any fan of science fiction.

Starship: Mutiny

Starship: Mutiny
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The starship Theodore Roosevelt is fighting on the far outskirts of a galactic war, its crew made up of retreads and raw recruits. A new first officer reports, Wilson Cole, a man with a reputation for exceeding his orders (but getting results). He’s been banished to the Teddy R. for his actions, but once there he again ignores his orders. …

This is the first of five novels about the starship Theodore Roosevelt. The next four will be, in order, Pirate, Mercenary, Rebel, and Flagship.