Women of Genre Fiction Search

The Nebula Awards are voted on, and presented, by active members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. The Grand Master Award is given to a living author for a lifetime's achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy.

Frederik Pohl, an eminent figure in science fiction, has been authorized by the SFWA to edit an anthology in three big volumes featuring substantial selections of the work of all the first fifteen Grand Masters. These are the seminal writers of the modern SF field, whose works are of dominant importance and influence. This series of collections is a permanent record of greatness in SF.

Volume Three, presenting the last five writers to receive the Grand Master award, features the fiction of Lester Del Rey, Frederik Pohl, Damon Knight, A. E. Van Vogt, Jack Vance.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Frederik Pohl
• Lester del Rey 1915-1993 - essay by Frederik Pohl
• Recommended Reading by Lester del Rey - essay by uncredited
• The Faithful - (1938) - short story by Lester del Rey
• The Pipes of Pan - (1940) - short story by Lester del Rey
• The Coppersmith - (1939) - short story by Lester del Rey
• For I Am a Jealous People! - (1954) - novella by Lester del Rey
• Frederik Pohl b. 1919 - essay by Elizabeth Anne Hull
• Recommended Reading by Frederik Pohl - essay by uncredited
• Let the Ants Try - (1949) - short story by Frederik Pohl
• The Tunnel Under the World - (1955) - novelette by Frederik Pohl
• Day Million - (1966) - short story by Frederik Pohl
• The Gold at the Starbow's End - (1972) - novella by Frederik Pohl
• Damon Knight - essay by Frederik Pohl
• Recommended Reading by Damon Knight - essay by uncredited
• The Handler - (1960) - short story by Damon Knight
• Dio - (1957) - novelette by Damon Knight
• Not With a Bang - (1950) - short story by Damon Knight
• I See You - (1976) - short story by Damon Knight
• Masks - (1968) - short story by Damon Knight
• A. E. van Vogt 1912-2000 - essay by Frederik Pohl
• Recommended Reading by A. E. van Vogt - essay by uncredited
• Black Destroyer - (1939) - novelette by A. E. van Vogt
• Far Centaurus - (1944) - short story by A. E. van Vogt
• Vault of the Beast - (1940) - novelette by A. E. van Vogt
• Dear Pen Pal - (1949) - short story by A. E. van Vogt
• Jack Vance b. 1916 - essay by Frederik Pohl
• Recommended Reading by Jack Vance - essay by uncredited
• Sail 25 - (1962) - novella by Jack Vance
• Ullward's Retreat - (1958) - novelette by Jack Vance
• The Miracle Workers - (1958) - novella by Jack Vance

Over 4,000 miles in length, intended to sustain a pressure of 1,000 atmospheres while accommodating cargo and passengers traveling in excess of 1,000 miles per hour, the Transatlantic Tunnel is the greatest engineering feat in the history of the British Empire, a project worthy of Her Majesty's Empire in this the eighth decade of the twentieth century.

If the project is a success, the credit will belong to Captain Augustus Washington, the most brilliant engineer of our age. It is Washington's greatest hope that his success will at last erase the family shame inspired by that other Washington, George, traitor to his King, who was hanged by Lord Cornwallis more than two centuries ago.

This non-fiction volume collects the following 14 essays by scientists about the future of science and technology:

The conquest of senescence, by R. W. Prehoda.

People freezing: the establishment thaws, by R. C. W. Ettinger.

What are tachyons, and what could we do with them? By G. Feinberg.

Inside-out worlds, by D. M. Cole and D. W. Cox.

Requirements for communications to a naive recipient, by A. G. Wilson and T. J. Gordon.

Search for artificial stellar sources of infrared radiation, by F. J. Dyson.

Psychology in the year 2000, by G. Murphy.

Do plants feel emotions? by T. Bacon and R. Kirkpatrick.

Anomalous prediction of quantum processes by some human subjects, by H. Schmidt.

Long delayed echoes of radio transmissions, by O. G. Villard, Jr., C. R. Graf, and J. M. Lomasney.

The life and death of Project Camelot, by I. L. Horowitz.

The jousting at Camelot -- or social technology encounters the shield of the social structure, by T. R. Vallance.

Ovshinsky: promoter or persecuted genius? By P. M. Boffey.

The strange case of polywater, by M. Sinclair.

Table of Contents:

• 9 - Foreword (Apeman, Spaceman) - essay by Carleton S. Coon
• 11 - Introduction (Apeman, Spaceman) - essay by Harry Harrison and Leon E. Stover
• 18 - Neanderthal - poem by Marijane Allen
• 19 - Throwback - novelette by L. Sprague de Camp
• 42 - Apology for Man's Physique - essay by Earnest A. Hooton
• 45 - The Renegade - short story by Lester del Rey
• 62 - Eltonian Pyramid - essay by Ralph W. Dexter
• 63 - Goldfish Bowl - novelette by Robert A. Heinlein
• 97 - The Second-Class Citizen - short story by Damon Knight
• 105 - Culture - short story by Jerry Shelton
• 126 - The Man of the Year Million - short story by H. G. Wells
• 132 - 1,000,000 A.D. - poem by Anonymous
• 133 - In the Beginning - short story by Morton Klass
• 149 - The Future of the Races of Man - essay by Carleton S. Coon
• 158 - The Evolution Man - short story by Roy Lewis
• 163 - The Kon-Tiki Myth - essay by Robert C. Suggs
• 172 - A Medal for Horatius - short story by Brig. Gen. William C. Hall
• 178 - Omnilingual - [Federation - 1] - novelette by H. Beam Piper
• 222 - For Those Who Follow After - short story by Dean McLaughlin
• 238 - A Preliminary Investigation of an Early Man Site in the Delaware River Valley - short fiction by Timothy J. O'Leary and Charles W. Ward
• 248 - Body Ritual Among the Nacirema - short story by Horace Miner
• 255 - The Wait - short story by Kit Reed
• 272 - Everybodyovskyism in Cat City - short story by Lao Shaw
• 275 - The Nine Billion Names of God - short story by Arthur C. Clarke
• 283 - Cartoon: Peanuts (Apeman, Spaceman) - interior artwork by Charles M. Schulz
• 285 - The Captives - novelette by Julian Chain
• 309 - Men in Space - essay by Harold D. Lasswell
• 316 - Of Course - short story by Chad Oliver
• 330 - Afterword (Apeman, Spaceman) - essay by Leon E. Stover
• 382 - References Cited (Apeman, Spaceman) - essay by uncredited

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: The Father of Science Fiction - (1973) - essay by Isaac Asimov
• Lodestar - (1973) - novelette by Poul Anderson
• Thiotimoline to the Stars - (1973) - shortstory by Isaac Asimov
• Something Up There Likes Me - (1973) - shortstory by Alfred Bester
• Lecture Demonstration - (1973) - shortstory by Hal Clement
• Early Bird - (1973) - shortstory by Theodore R. Cogswell and Theodore L. Thomas
• The Emperor's Fan - (1973) - novelette by L. Sprague de Camp
• Brothers - (1973) - novella by Gordon R. Dickson
• The Mothballed Spaceship - (1973) - shortstory by Harry Harrison
• Black Sheep Astray - (1973) - novelette by Mack Reynolds
• Epilog - (1973) - shortstory by Clifford D. Simak
• Interlude - (1973) - novelette by George O. Smith
• Helix the Cat - (1973) - novelette by Theodore Sturgeon
• Probability Zero! The Population Implosion - (1973) - shortstory by Theodore R. Cogswell
• Afterword - (1973) - essay by Harry Harrison

Nebula Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in Worlds of If, January 1970. The story can also be found in the anthologies New Worlds of Fantasy #2 (1970), edited by Terry Carr and Nebula Award Stories Six (1971), edited by Clifford D. Simak. It is included in the collections The Best of Harry Harrison (1976) and 50 in 50 (2001).

Twenty-one-year-old Chimal wants desperately to escape his native valley, home to an ancient Aztec civilization sealed off from the outside world. The valley is ruled by priests who enforce despotic laws and perpetuate a life of fear. Chimal escapes and discovers that his world is in fact a vast space ship on a journey from Earth to Proxima Centauri.

Recollections of one of the grand masters of science fiction, on his storied career as a celebrated author and on his relationships with other luminaries in the field. This memoir is filled with all the humor and irreverence Harry Harrison's readers have come to expect from the New York Times bestselling author of the uproarious Stainless Steel Rat series. This also includes black and white photos spanning his sixty-year career.

The personal histories of science fiction writers: Alfred Bester, Damon Knight, Frederik Pohl, Robert Silverberg, Harry Harrison, Brian W Aldiss.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1975) - essay by Brian W. Aldiss
• Sounding Brass, Tinkling Cymbal - (1975) - essay by Robert Silverberg
• My Affair With Science Fiction - (1974) - essay by Alfred Bester
• The Beginning of the Affair - (1975) - essay by Harry Harrison
• Knight Piece - (1975) - essay by Damon Knight
• Ragged Claws - (1975) - essay by Frederik Pohl
• Magic and Bare Boards - (1974) - essay by Brian W. Aldiss
• How We Work - (1975) - essay by Robert Silverberg
• How We Work - (1975) - essay by Alfred Bester
• How We Work - (1975) - essay by Harry Harrison
• How We Work - (1975) - essay by Damon Knight
• How We Work - (1975) - essay by Frederik Pohl
• How We Work - (1975) - essay by Brian W. Aldiss
• Selected Bibliographies: Robert Silverberg
• Selected Bibliographies: Alfred Bester
• Selected Bibliographies: Harry Harrison
• Selected Bibliographies: Damon Knight
• Selected Bibliographies: Frederik Pohl
• Selected Bibliographies: Brian W. Aldiss

Top Israeli scientist, Arnie Klein, "defects" to Denmark in order to protect his discovery, the secret of simple, economic space travel by use of the "Daleth effect". He wishes to develop the idea without it falling into the hands of the military, since it also has potential as a weapon. But he is forced to reveal his secret to the world when the Daleth effect unit is fitted to a submarine which is sent into space to rescue two stranded Soviet cosmonauts.

Klein and his friends are then subjected to all kinds of international pressure from people wanting the secret.

Contains:

• One Step from Earth
• Pressure
• No War or Battle's Sound
• Wife to the Lord
• Waiting Place
• The Life Preservers
• From Fanatiscism or for Reward
• Heavy Duty
• A Tale of the Ending

The largest spaceship ever made is hurtling overhead, falling. Six people are trapped inside with no escape. If it strikes the Earth it will explode with the force of an atomic bomb; what can be done?

The mighty 2,000-tonne Prometheus is the largest piece of space hardware ever launched - a joint Soviet-American project to harness solar energy before the power resources of the world run out. But politically and technically the project is doomed, and the nerve-racking predicament of the crew of six shrinks to nothing beside the horrifying destruction which threatens hundreds of thousands of people if no way can be found to move the satellite from it's ever-decreasing orbit towards Earth...

The spaceship Johannes Kepler is travelling the routine 92-day trip between Lunar Station and Mars when it is hit by a meteorite. The Captain and all senior crew members were holding a meeting and were killed by the impact. The only officers left are First Engineer Holtz, who refuses to leave the engine room and Lieutenant Donald Chase, a young doctor in his first post.

Chase finds himself in charge of a badly damaged ship, with a crew trained simply to obey orders, and over 100 passengers on the brink of panic. The novel follows his attempts to improvise solutions to problems which arise as they nurse the ship on towards Mars.

Ason: Prince of an ancient house, intent on restoring the keystone of his father's power, braves the limits of the land-rimmed sea to sail North, through the cold fog, to the icy island where, with heroic effort, the key to victory may be found.

Inteb: Former envoy of the Pharoah, reluctant voyager to the forbidden island of Yerni, armed only with his arcane knowledge and his loyalty to Ason.

Naikeri: Pround daughter of the Albi, she has never known a warrior like Ason, nor a world like the one she helps him build-a world that will center on one of the greatest monuments of all time...

STONEHENGE

The exciting saga of the creation of a legend!

Trapped in the confines of their fragile lifeship, a tiny band of aliens and humans faces the awesome challenge of survival after the mysterious explosion of a giant spaceship.

Giles Steel, a member of Earth's master race, assumes responsibility for erupting tempers, the dwindling food supply... and the saboteur whose ugly work has already begun!

A human trader living on a planet of innocent aliens with no religion is joined by a missionary determined to convert them to Christianity.

This short story originally appeared in New Worlds Science Fiction, #122 September 1962, and was reprinted in Lightspeed, September 2012. It has been reprinted many times. It can be found in the anthologies:

• Dark Stars (1969), edited by Robert Silverberg
• The Road to Science Fiction 3: From Heinlein to Here (1979), edited by James Gunn
• The Great SF Stories 24 (1962) (1992), edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Isaac Asimov
• Nebula Awards Showcase 2010, edited by Bill Fawcett

The story can be found in the collections Two Tales and Eight Tomorrows (1965), The Best of Harry Harrison (1976), Stainless Steel Visions (1993) and 50 in 50 (2001).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Why pay for costumes, scenery, props or actors when the most brilliant drama of all time is unfolding before your very eyes, in vivid color--in 1050 A.D.?

Join the film crew of that stupendous motion picture saga VIKING COLUMBUS as they journey back in time to capture history in the making.

Brian Delaney is a 24-year-old mathematics prodigy, a young genius on the edge of an incredible Al breakthrough when gunmen attack his lab and leave him for dead. Miraculously, he lives.

Painstakingly, scientists reconstruct his brain with the very nerve reprogramming techniques and computer-human connections that Brian himself helped invent. Even so, he has no memory of the past ten years.

His challenge now is to regain his past and rediscover the scientific knowledge he lost before his enemies dare to strike again.

A 'Hopeful' Science Fiction anthology co-edited by Harry Harrison and Bruce McAllister notable for the inclusion of the early Charles Stross story 'SEAQ and Destroy' which has not been collected elsewhere.

Harry Harrison's startling visions of the future reveal not only his abilities as a storyteller but also his deep concern for Man and his place in the cosmos.

Table of Contents:

• 7 - The Streets of Ashkelon
• 23 - Portrait of the Artist
• 33 - Rescue Operation
• 49 - Captain Bedlam
• 60 - Final Encounter
• 82 - Unto My Manifold Dooms
• 98 - The Pliable Animal
• 122 - Captain Honario Harpplayer, R. N.
• 133 - According to His Abilities
• 148 - I Always Do What Teddy Says

Contents:

• 7 - A Word from the (Human) Author... - essay by Harry Harrison
• 13 - Simulated Trainer - (1958) - short story by Harry Harrison (variant of Trainee for Mars)
• 31 - The Velvet Glove - (1956) - short story by Harry Harrison
• 53 - Arm of the Law - (1958) - short story by Harry Harrison
• 73 - The Robot Who Wanted to Know - (1958) - short story by Harry Harrison
• 83 - I See You - (1959) - novelette by Harry Harrison (variant of Robot Justice)
• 107 - The Repairman - (1958) - short story by Harry Harrison
• 123 - Survival Planet - (1961) - short story by Harry Harrison
• 139 - War with the Robots - (1962) - short story by Harry Harrison

The world is crowded. Far too crowded. Its starving billions live on lentils, soya beans, and -if they're lucky-the odd starving rat.

In a New York City groaning under the burden of 35 million inhabitants, detective Andy Rusch is engaged in a desperate and lonely hunt for a killer everyone has forgotten. For even in a world such as this, a policeman can find himself utterly alone....

Acclaimed on its original publication in 1966, Make Room! Make Room! was adapted into the movie Soylent Green in 1973, starring Charlton Heston along with Edward G. Robinson in his last role.

Table of Contents:

• Credo - essay by James Blish
• Introduction (Best SF: 1967) - essay by Harry Harrison
• Hawksbill Station - (1967) - novella by Robert Silverberg
• Ultimate Construction - (1967) - shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
• 1937 A.D.! - (1967) - shortstory by John Sladek
• Fifteen Miles - (1967) - shortstory by Ben Bova
• Blackmail - (1967) - shortstory by Fred Hoyle
• The Vine - (1967) - shortstory by Kit Reed
• Interview With a Lemming - (1941) - shortstory by James Thurber
• The Wreck of the Ship John B. - (1967) - novelette by Frank M. Robinson
• The Left-Hand Way - (1967) - shortstory by A. Bertram Chandler
• The Forest of Zil - (1967) - shortstory by Kris Neville
• The Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Considered as a Downhill Motor Race - (1966) - shortstory by J. G. Ballard
• Answering Service - (1967) - shortstory by Fritz Leiber
• The Last Command - (1967) - shortstory by Keith Laumer
• Mirror of Ice - (1967) - shortstory by Gary Wright
• Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes - (1967) - novelette by Harlan Ellison
• Knights of the Paper Spaceship: A Retrospective Glance at Science Fiction - essay by Brian W. Aldiss

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1969) - essay by Harry Harrison
• Budget Planet - (1968) - shortstory by Robert Sheckley
• Appointment on Prila - (1968) - shortstory by Bob Shaw
• Lost Ground - (1966) - novelette by David I. Masson
• The Rime of the Ancient SF Author, or Conventions and Recollections - (1968) - poem by John R. Pierce
• The Annex - (1968) - shortstory by John D. MacDonald
• Segregationist - (1967) - shortstory by Isaac Asimov
• Final War - (1968) - novelette by Barry N. Malzberg
• 2001: A Space Odyssey - (1968) - essay by Lester del Rey
• 2001: A Space Odyssey - (1968) - essay by Samuel R. Delany
• 2001: A Space Odyssey - (1968) - essay by Ed Emshwiller
• 2001: A Space Odyssey - (1969) - essay by Leon E. Stover
• Golden Acres - (1967) - novelette by Kit Reed
• Criminal in Utopia - (1968) - novelette by Mack Reynolds
• One Station of the Way - (1968) - shortstory by Fritz Leiber
• Sweet Dreams, Melissa - (1968) - shortstory by Stephen Goldin
• To the Dark Star - (1968) - shortstory by Robert Silverberg
• Like Young - (1960) - shortstory by Theodore Sturgeon
• Afterword: The House That Jules Built - (1969) - essay by Brian W. Aldiss

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1970) - essay by Harry Harrison
• The Muse - (1968) - shortstory by Anthony Burgess
• Working in the Spaceship Yards - (1969) - shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
• The Schematic Man - (1969) - shortstory by Frederik Pohl
• The Snows Are Melted, the Snows Are Gone - (1969) - shortstory by James Tiptree, Jr.
• Hospital of Transplanted Hearts - (1969) - poem by D. M. Thomas
• Eco-Catastrophe! - (1969) - shortstory by Paul R. Ehrlich
• The Castle on the Crag - (1969) - shortstory by Pg Wyal
• Nine Lives - (1969) - novelette by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Progression of the Species - (1967) - poem by Brian W. Aldiss
• Report Back - (1969) - poem by John Cotton (poet)
• The Killing Ground - (1969) - shortstory by J. G. Ballard
• The Dannold Cheque - (1969) - shortstory by Ken W. Purdy
• Womb to Tomb - (1969) - shortstory by Joseph Wesley
• Like Father - (1969) - shortstory by Jon Hartridge
• The Electric Ant - (1969) - shortstory by Philip K. Dick
• The Man Inside - (1969) - shortstory by Bruce McAllister
• Now Hear the Word of the Lord - (1969) - shortstory by Algis Budrys
• Afterword - An Awful Lot of Copy - (1970) - essay by Brian W. Aldiss

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Harry Harrison
• Gone Fishin' - (1970) - shortstory by Robin Scott Wilson
• The Ugupu Bird - (1959) - shortstory by Slawomir Mrozek
• Black Is Beautiful - (1970) - shortstory by Robert Silverberg
• The Lost Face - (1964) - novelette by Josef Nesvadba
• Gorman - (1969) - shortstory by Jerry Farber
• Mary and Joe - (1962) - shortstory by Naomi Mitchison
• Oil-Mad Bug-Eyed Monsters - (1970) - shortstory by Hayden Howard
• A Pedestrian Accident - (1969) - shortstory by Robert Coover
• The Asian Shore - (1970) - novelette by Thomas M. Disch
• Traffic Problem - (1970) - shortstory by Bill Earls
• Erem - (1963) - shortstory by Gleb Anfilov (trans. of ???? 1962)
• Car Sinister - (1970) - shortstory by Gene Wolfe
• "Franz Kafka" by Jorge Luís Borges - (1970) - shortstory by Alvin Greenberg
• Pacem Est - (1970) - shortstory by Kris Neville and Barry N. Malzberg
• The Day Equality Broke Out - shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1972) - essay by Harry Harrison
• Doctor Zombie and His Furry Little Friends - (1971) - shortstory by Robert Sheckley
• Conquest - (1971) - shortstory by Barry N. Malzberg
• Gehenna - (1971) - shortstory by Barry N. Malzberg
• A Meeting With Medusa - (1971) - novelette by Arthur C. Clarke
• The Genius - (1971) - shortstory by Donald Barthelme
• Angouleme - (1971) - shortstory by Thomas M. Disch
• If "Hair" Were Revived in 2016 - (1971) - shortstory by Arnold M. Auerbach
• Statistician's Day - (1970) - shortstory by James Blish
• The Science Fiction Horror Movie Pocket Computer - (1971) - shortstory by Gahan Wilson
• The Hunter at His Ease - (1970) - shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
• The Cohen Dog Exclusion Act - (1971) - shortstory by Steven Schrader
• Gauntlet - (1972) - shortstory by Richard E. Peck
• Report - (1971) - poem by Kingsley Amis
• Fisherman - (1971) - poem by Lawrence Sail
• The Ideal Police State - (1971) - poem by Charles Baxter
• The Pagan Rabbi - (1966) - novelette by Cynthia Ozick
• An Uneven Evening - (1971) - shortstory by Steve Herbst
• Ornithanthropus - (1971) - shortstory by B. Alan Burhoe
• No Direction Home - (1971) - shortstory by Norman Spinrad
• Afterword: A Day in the Life-Style of... - essay by Brian W. Aldiss

THE MOST EXCITING FICTION OF OUR TIME! -- The most dynamic fiction of out time, science fiction is also the fastest-expanding, both in readership and in the range of authors who employ it. The established masters - mostly Americans, a few Englishmen -- continue to show the way. The established outlets -- American s-f magazines mostly, some original anthologies -- continue to provide most of its nurture. But faithful reading of a handful of American publications is no longer sufficient to keep up with the most exciting work being done.

Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss have established this series as definitive in the field by looking much further afield. This year's selection is built around the established sources, but includes also a brilliant take by the Brazillian Andre Carneiro; and astonishing and delightful story by a young Ghanaian, Victor Sabah; and other unexpected pleasures.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1973) - essay by Harry Harrison
• In the Matter of the Assassin Merefirs - (1972) - shortstory by Ken W. Purdy
• As for Our Fatal Continuity... - (1972) - shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
• The Old Folks - (1972) - shortstory by James E. Gunn
• From Sea to Shining Sea - (1972) - shortstory by Jonathan Ela
• Weihnachtabend - (1972) - novelette by Keith Roberts
• Cartoon: "Invisibility Competition" - (1973) - interior artwork by Y. Aratovsky
• Cartoon: no caption - (1973) - interior artwork by O. Tesler
• Cartoon: "Grin and Bear It" - (1973) - interior artwork by Lichty
• Cartoon: no caption - (1973) - interior artwork by William Rotsler
• The Years - (1972) - shortstory by Robert F. Young
• Darkness - (1972) - shortstory by André Carneiro
• Cymbal Player - (1972) - poem by Lawrence Sail
• Report from the Planet Proteus - (1972) - poem by Lawrence Sail
• Columbus on St. Domenica - (1972) - poem by John Cotton (poet)
• After Death - (1972) - poem by Patricia Beer
• Faex Delenda Est - (1972) - poem by Theodore R. Cogswell
• Words of Warning - (1972) - shortstory by Alex Hamilton
• Out, Wit! - (1972) - shortstory by Howard L. Myers
• An Imaginary Journey to the Moon - (1972) - shortstory by Victor Sabah
• The Head and the Hand - (1972) - shortstory by Christopher Priest
• Hero - (1972) - novella by Joe Haldeman
• Afterword: The Year of the Big Spring Clean - (1973) - essay by Brian W. Aldiss

The definitive "Year's Best" selection featuring works by Thomas M. Disch, Robert Sheckley, Kingsley Amis, Joesf Nesvadba, R. A. Lafferty, and other American and international masters. Edited by Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss. With stories from the traditional science fiction sources - magazines and orignal anthologies - and from international SF and literary periodicals, Harrison and Aldiss have produced their biggest and best annual selection ever.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1974) - essay by Harry Harrison
• Roller Ball Murder - (1973) - shortstory by William Harrison
• Mason's Life - (1972) - shortstory by Kingsley Amis
• Welcome to the Standard Nightmare - (1973) - shortstory by Robert Sheckley
• Serpent Burning on an Altar - (1973) - shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
• We Are Very Happy Here - (1973) - novelette by Joe Haldeman
• The Birds - (1973) - shortstory by Thomas M. Disch
• The Wind and the Rain - (1973) - shortstory by Robert Silverberg
• Ten Years Ago ... - (1972) - shortstory by Max Beerbohm
• Parthen - (1973) - shortstory by R. A. Lafferty
• The Man Who Collected the First of September 1973 - (1973) - shortstory by Tor Åge Bringsvaerd
• Captain Nemo's Last Adventure - (1973) - novelette by Josef Nesvadba
• La Befana - (1973) - shortstory by Gene Wolfe
• A Curse - (1972) - poem by W. H. Auden
• Auto-Apotheosis - (1972) - poem by Anthony Haden-Guest
• Two Poems - (1973) - poem by William John Watkins
• Sport - (1973) - poem by Steven Utley
• The Window in Dante's Hell - (1973) - shortstory by Michael Bishop
• Sister Francetta and Pig Baby - (1973) - shortstory by Kenneth Bernard
• Escape - (1973) - shortstory by Ilya Varshavsky
• Early Bird - (1973) - shortstory by Theodore R. Cogswell and Theodore L. Thomas
• Afterword: The Wizard and the Plumber - (1974) - essay by Brian W. Aldiss

Table of Contents:

• Editorial - (1975) - essay by Harry Harrison
• After King Kong Fell - (1973) - shortstory by Philip José Farmer
• When Petals Fall - (1973) - novelette by Sydney J. Van Scyoc
• Paleontology: An Experimental Science - (1974) - shortstory by Robert R. Olsen
• The Women Men Don't See - (1973) - novelette by James Tiptree, Jr.
• Listen with Big Brother - (1974) - shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
• The Rise of Airstrip One - (1974) - shortstory by Clive James
• Owing to Circumstances Beyond Our Control 1984 Has Been Unavoidably Detained... - (1974) - shortstory by Alan Coren
• Lost and Found - (1974) - shortstory by Thomas Baum
• The Four-Hour Fugue - (1974) - shortstory by Alfred Bester
• The Scream - (1974) - novelette by Kate Wilhelm
• The Gahan Wilson Horror Movie Pocket Computer - (1974) - essay by Gahan Wilson
• The Executioner's Beautiful Daughter - (1974) - shortstory by Angela Carter
• After Weightlessness - (1974) - poem by Lawrence Sail
• A Picture by Klee - (1974) - poem by Lawrence Sail
• Science Fiction Story - (1973) - poem by Duane Ackerson
• DNA - (1974) - poem by Duane Ackerson
• Eyes of a Woman-from a Portrait by Picasso - (1975) - poem by Lisa Conesa
• Songs of War - (1974) - novelette by Kit Reed
• Time Deer - (1974) - shortstory by Craig Strete
• A Typical Day - (1974) - shortstory by Doris Piserchia
• Programmed Love Story - (1974) - shortstory by Ian Watson
• Afterword: The Galaxy Begins at Home - (1975) - essay by Brian W. Aldiss

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Harry Harrison
• A Scraping at the Bones - (1975) - shortstory by Algis Budrys
• Changelings - (1975) - shortstory by Lisa Tuttle
• The Santa Claus Compromise - (1974) - shortstory by Thomas M. Disch
• A Galaxy Called Rome - (1975) - novelette by Barry N. Malzberg
• A Twelvemonth - (1975) - poem by Peter Redgrove
• The Custodians - (1975) - novelette by Richard Cowper
• The Linguist - (1975) - shortstory by Stephen Robinett
• Settling the World - (1975) - shortstory by M. John Harrison
• The Chaste Planet - (1975) - shortstory by John Updike
• End Game - (1975) - novelette by Joe Haldeman
• The Lop-Eared Cat that Devoured Philadelphia - (1975) - poem by Louis Phillips
• A Dead Singer - (1974) - novelette by Michael Moorcock
• Afterword: Science Fiction on the Titanic - (1976) - essay by Brian W. Aldiss

It was the highest honor to defend the Empire against the dreaded Chingers, an enemy race of seven-foot-tall lizards. But Bill, a Technical Fertilizer Operator from a planet of farmers, wasn't interested in honor-he was only interested in two things: his chosen career, and the shapely curves of Inga-Maria Calyphigia. Then a recruiting robot shanghaied him with knockout drops, and he came to in deep space, aboard the Empire warship Christine Keeler. And from there, things got even worse.

A sequel to the author's "Bill, the Galactic Hero", published over 20 years ago, this book is the first of a new series of novels featuring Bill. With two right arms, an artificial foot, and a set of surgically-implanted tusks, Bill sets out to find the source of Chinger-controlled metal dragons.

Bill, the galactic hero, is sent on a suicide mission to a planet from which no one has ever returned. En-route, he must cope with the likes of Captain Dirk of the starship Gumption. Harry Harrison's previous books include "Bill, the Galactic Hero", while Robert Sheckley's include "Mindswap".

Bill's in trouble again. A hideous outer-space infection has transformed one of his feet into a satyr's hoof; he has two right hands; the nurses at the hospital where he lies recovering from his last escapade are steel robots. But soon he's off again in search of science fiction's greatest cliches.

When Bill is assigned as an MP on a prison ship, the crew revolts against the captain and brings vampires on board in an attempt to maroon the skipper…

Bill is the perfect starship trooper: big, strong and completely brainwashed. He'll also do almost anything to save his neck. Now he's been sent to Barworld, home planet of the finest beverages in the universe. But can Bill survive an entire planet of blondes, booze and bathtubs of champagne?

Also published as Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Ten Thousand Bars.

Recruited by Captain Kadaffi (a.k.a., Captain Cadaver) for a suicide mission to the planet Eyerack, Bill, a big, strong, and completely brainwashed galactic hero must complete the mission or die trying.

72 hours in Hell! Dis was a harsh, inhospitable, dangerous place and the Magter made it worse. They might have been human once -- but they were something else now. The Magter had only one desire -- to kill everything, themselves, their planet, the universe if they could. Brion Brandd was sent in at the eleventh hour. His mission was to save Dis, but it looked as though he was going to preside over its annihilation.

WORLD-SAVING IS HARD WORK. Brion Brandd learned that in Planet of the Damned. Now, in this stunning sequel, he's going to learn that even when it comes to world-saving some jobs are easier than others--because the Planet of the Damned was a piece of candy compared to what's waiting for him on Planet of No Return.

The planet was called Pyrrus...a strange place where all the beasts, plants and natural elements were designed for one specific purpose: to destroy man.

The settlers there were supermen...twice as strong as ordinary men and with milli-second reflexes. They had to be. For their business was murder...

It was up to Jason dinAlt, interplanetary gambler, to discover why Pyrrus had become so hostile during man's brief habitation...

The planet was unknown... a savagely, primitive place where every man had to kill every other man - or live as a slave.

The inhabitants lived in the early bronze age one minutes, in the the early machines age the next. Technology had degenerated into a number of mysteries jealously guarded by separate brotherhoods.

But Jason din Alt was a gambler. He realized that if he was ever going to get a winning hand in the game, the brotherhoods would need a shuffle....

The planet was called Felicity. The name was a joke... except for those compelled to settle there. Inhabiting it were beings bred for thousands of years for a single purpose: to attack and kill.

Jason knew this. But he also knew the planet on which he lived was moving towards certain disaster. And Felicity was the only spot in the universe where he and his companions could survive. He thought he had worked out a perfect plan. But what awaited him on Felicity went far beyond his wildest imagining....

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1967) - essay by Brian W. Aldiss and Harry Harrison
• The Secret Place - (1966) - short story by Richard McKenna
• Light of Other Days - (1966) - short story by Bob Shaw
• Who Needs Insurance? - (1966) - novelette by Robin Scott Wilson
• Among the Hairy Earthmen - (1966) - short story by R. A. Lafferty
• The Last Castle - (1966) - novella by Jack Vance
• Day Million - (1966) - short story by Frederik Pohl
• When I Was Miss Dow - (1966) - short story by Sonya Dorman
• Call Him Lord - (1966) - novelette by Gordon R. Dickson
• In the Imagicon - (1966) - short story by George H. Smith
• We Can Remember It for You Wholesale - (1966) - novelette by Philip K. Dick
• Man in His Time - (1965) - short story by Brian W. Aldiss
• Afterword: The Year in Science Fiction - (1967) - essay by Brian W. Aldiss and Harry Harrison
• Nebula Awards 1966 and Roll of Honor - (1967) - essay by uncredited

15 bold new departures by the greatest masters and fastest rising stars of science ficiton.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1970) - essay by Harry Harrison
• The Big Connection - (1970) - shortstory by Robin Scott Wilson
• A Happy Day in 2381 - (1970) - shortstory by Robert Silverberg
• Terminus Est - (1970) - shortstory by Barry N. Malzberg
• Hexamnion - (1970) - shortstory by Chan Davis
• And This Did Dante Do - (1967) - poem by Ray Bradbury
• The Higher Things - (1970) - shortstory by John R. Pierce
• Swastika! - (1970) - shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
• The HORARS of War - (1970) - shortstory by Gene Wolfe
• Love Story in Three Acts - (1970) - shortstory by David Gerrold
• Jean Duprès - (1970) - novelette by Gordon R. Dickson
• In the Pocket - (1970) - shortstory by K. M. O'Donnell
• Mary and Joe - (1962) - shortstory by Naomi Mitchison
• Faces & Hands - (1970) - novelette by James Sallis
• The Winner - (1970) - shortstory by Donald E. Westlake
• The Whole Truth - (1970) - shortstory by Piers Anthony

Table of Contents:

• The Poet in the Hologram in the Middle of Prime Time - (1972) - shortstory by Edward Bryant
• Introduction - (1972) - essay by Harry Harrison
• Zirn Left Unguarded, the Jenghik Palace in Flames, Jon Westerley Dead - (1972) - shortstory by Robert Sheckley
• "East Wind, West Wind" - (1972) - novelette by Frank M. Robinson
• The Sumerian Oath - (1972) - shortstory by Philip José Farmer
• Now+n Now-n - (1972) - novelette by Robert Silverberg
• Two Odysseys Into the Center - (1972) - shortstory by Barry N. Malzberg
• Darkness - (1972) - shortstory by André Carneiro (trans. of A Escuridão 1963)
• On the Wheel - (1972) - shortstory by Damon Knight
• Miss Omega Raven - (1972) - shortstory by Naomi Mitchison
• The Poet in the Hologram in the Middle of Prime Time - (1972) - shortstory by Edward Bryant
• The Old Folks - (1972) - shortstory by James E. Gunn
• The Steam-Driven Boy - (1972) - shortstory by John Sladek
• I Tell You, It's True - (1972) - novelette by Poul Anderson
• And I Have Come Upon This Place by Lost Ways - (1972) - novelette by James Tiptree, Jr.
• The Ergot Show - (1972) - shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Harry Harrison
• Welcome to the Standard Nightmare - shortstory by Robert Sheckley
• The Expensive Delicate Ship - shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
• Dreaming and Conversions: Two Rules by Which to Live - shortstory by Barry N. Malzberg
• Breakout in Ecol 2 - shortstory by David R. Bunch
• The Cold War... Continued - novelette by Mack Reynolds
• The Factory - shortstory by Naomi Mitchison
• The Defensive Bomber - shortstory by Hank Dempsey
• Endorsement, Personal - shortstory by Dean McLaughlin
• The National Pastime - novelette by Norman Spinrad
• The Ultimate End - shortstory by Dick Glass
• Pity the Poor Outdated Man - shortstory by Philip Shofner
• The Exhibition - shortstory by Scott Edelstein
• Sketches Among the Ruins of My Mind - novelette by Philip José Farmer

Table of Contents:

• The Monsters of Ingratitude IV - shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
• Songs of War - novelette by Kit Reed
• Protective Temporal Strike - shortstory by Gerard E. Giannattasio
• Making It All the Way into the Future on Gaxton Falls of the Red Planet - shortstory by Barry N. Malzberg
• Slaves of Time - novelette by Robert Sheckley
• Singular - shortstory by Bill Garnett
• Too Long at the Fair - shortstory by Edward Wellen
• Not a Petal Falls - shortstory by Richard Bireley
• My Affair With Science Fiction - essay by Alfred Bester
• Out of the Waters - shortstory by Naomi Mitchison
• Side View of a Circle - shortstory by Michael Addobati
• Beyond the Cleft - novelette by Tom Reamy
• Our Lady of the Endless Sky - shortstory by Jeff Duntemann
• Afterword - essay by Harry Harrison

Table of Contents:

• Harry Harrison: The Man Who Walked Home - (1976) - essay by Barry N. Malzberg
• The Streets of Ashkelon - (1962) - shortstory
• Captain Honario Harpplayer, R.N. - (1963) - shortstory
• Rescue Operation - (1964) - shortstory
• At Last, the True Story of Frankenstein - (1965) - shortstory
• I Always Do What Teddy Says - (1965) - shortstory
• Portrait of the Artist - (1964) - shortstory
• Not Me, Not Amos Cabot! - (1964) - shortstory
• Mute Milton - (1966) - shortstory
• A Criminal Act - (1966) - shortstory
• Waiting Place - (1968) - shortstory
• If - (1969) - shortstory
• I Have My Vigil - (1968) - shortstory
• From Fanaticism, or for Reward - (1969) - shortstory
• By the Falls - (1970) - shortstory
• The Ever-Branching Tree - (1970) - shortstory
• Brave Newer World - (1971) - novelette
• Roommates - (1971) - novelette
• The Mothballed Spaceship - (1973) - shortstory
• An Honest Day's Work - (1973) - shortstory
• Space Rats of the C.C.C. - (1974) - shortstory

On November 8, 1861, a U.S. navy warship stopped a British packet and seized two Confederate emissaries on their way to England to seek backing for their cause. England responded with rage, calling for a war of vengeance. The looming crisis was defused by the peace-minded Prince Albert. But imagine how Albert's absence during this critical moment might have changed everything. For lacking Albert's calm voice of reason, Britain now seizes the opportunity to attack and conquer a crippled, war-torn America.

Ulysses S. Grant is poised for an attack that could smash open the South's defenses. In Washington, Abraham Lincoln sees a first glimmer of hope that this bloody war might soon end. But then disaster strikes: English troops have invaded from Canada. With most of the Northern troops withdrawn to fight the new enemy, General William Tecumseh Sherman and his weakened army stand alone against the Confederates. Can a divided, bloodied America defeat England, or will the United States cease to exist for all time?

In the midst of Civil War, a stunned North and South join forces to combat a sudden attack of British troops. Though the Americans are victorious, three years later a new threat emerges. Her Majesty’s Army is massing for a possible attack through Texas. Into the gauntlet Lincoln sends his chosen angel of death, General Ulysses S. Grant—while his top soldiers, including Robert E. Lee and William Tecumseh Sherman, plan the most daring naval invasion ever launched: an assault on British soil itself.

Stars and Stripes in Peril is the new masterwork from one of the world’s most provocative authors. Venturing beyond a fascinating question of what if? Harry Harrison brilliantly examines the people and passions that make up nations both great and small—and shows how technology and politics had the power to shape history’s first great World War . . . half a century before it began . . .

In England, Irish-born citizens are being herded into prison camps. On the high seas, a furious British Navy is seizing American cargo ships bound for Europe. And on the Thames, a new weapon of unparalleled destructive force is sailing toward an impregnable city–spearheaded by a daring act of espionage. For U.S. president Abraham Lincoln, Britain's Queen Victoria, Lord Palmerston, and a loyal opposition, a day of reckoning is at hand... and so is history's most astounding battle.

Harry Harrison's series of alternate history, based on the U.S. Civil War, stands as a provocative work of imagination, drama, and brilliant historical insight. Now in the thrilling finale, Harrisontells a stunning, action-packed story of America's rapidly growing military might being locked, loaded, and aimed at the heart of England itself.

For the two countries that share a language and a heritage, the conflict began at the dawn of the U.S. Civil War. Just as America was about to tear itself to pieces, Britain itself committed an act of war by seizing a U.S. packet ship. In retaliation, the Confederate States rejoined the Union and took up arms against England. Repulsing a British invasion, and defeating her majesty's army first in Canada, then in Mexico, then in Ireland, American pride and power swelled. Britain, like a wounded lion, howled in shame and anger. Now, Queen Victoria's empire is more dangerous than ever before, turning against the Irish on her own soil, flexing her naval might, and all but forcing a weary President Lincoln to authorize the next step in a headlong journey toward war.

A tale of daring and strategy, Stars and Stripes Triumphant explores how arrogance turns superpowers into victims, how regional conflicts can explode into world wars, and how the personalities of a few men and women can change the course of history itself–for better or for worse.

Kerrick, a young Tanu hunter captured and raised by the Yilane, cold-blooded, intelligent reptiles, escapes and struggles to unite all human clans against the Yilane threat.

Harry Harrison, an acknowledged master of imaginative fiction, broke new ground with "West of Eden." He brought to vivid life the world as it might have been, where dinosaurs survived, where their intelligent descendants challenged humans for mastery of Earth, where a young hunter named Kerrick grew among the dinosaurs and rose to become their most feared enemy.

Now, the awesome saga continues in "Winter in Eden..."

A new ice age threatens Earth. Facing extinction, the dinosaurs must employ their mastery of biology to swiftly reconquer human territory. Desperately, Kerrick launches an arduous quest to rally a final defense for humankind. With his beloved wife and young son, he heads north to the land of the whale hunters, east into the enemy's stronghold, and south to a fateful reckoning with destiny.

Not since "Dune" has there been a work of such majestic scope and conception -- a monumental epic of passion, courage, and triumph.

The rousing conclusion of an epic trilogy! In WEST OF EDEN and WINTER IN EDEN, master novelist Harry Harrison broke new ground with his most ambitious project ever. He brought to vivid life the world as it might have been, where dinosaurs survived, where their intelligent descendants, the Yilane, challenged humans for mastery of the Earth, and where the human Kerrick, a young hunter of the Tanu tribe, grew among the dinosaurs and rose to become their most feared enemy. Now, in RETURN TO EDEN, Harrison brings the epic trilogy to a stunning conclusion. After Kerrick rescues his people from the warlike Yilane, they find a safe haven on an island and there begin to rebuild their shattered lives. But with fierce predators stalking the forests, how long can these unarmed human outeasts hope to survive? And, of course, Kerrick cannot forget Vainte, his implacable Yilane enemy. She's been cast out from her kind, under sentence of death, but how long will her banishment last? For her strange attraction to Kerrick has turned into a halred even more powerful than her instinets - an obsession that compels her to hunt down Kerrick and kill him.

865 A.D. Warring kings rule over the British Isles, but the Church rules over the kings, threatening all who oppose them with damnation. Only the dreaded Vikings of Scandinavia do not fear the priests.

Shef, the bastard son of a Norse raider and a captive English lady, is torn by divided loyalties and driven by strange visions that seem to come from Odin himself. A smith and warrior, he alone dares to imagine new weapons and tactics with which to carve out a kingdom--and launch an all-out war between....The Hammer and the Cross.

A craftsman, visionary, and warrior, Shef has risen from slavery to become king of a mighty Viking nation. But his growing kingdom menaces all of Europe, and he has made many powerful enemies.

Chief among his enemies are the Knights of the Lance, a fanatical order of soldiers sworn to bring Shef down, no matter what the cost. To defeat Shef, they will go to extraordinary lengths to find the sacred spear of Christ--and resurrect the Holy Roman Empire.

Driven by dreams, Shef battles to change the course of history, but even the gods themselves may be plotting against him....

Driven by prophetic dreams, the Viking warrior Shef as become the One King, the undisputed ruler of the North. Now he must face the reborn power of the Holy Roman Empire.

Rome threatens Shef's fearsome Viking navy with a new invention of unparalleled destruction: Greek fire. Unable to defend his fleet against this awesome weapon, Shef travels East in search of new wisdom. His quest leads him to the lavish court of the Muslim Caliph and, ultimately, to the secret hiding place of the Holy Grail.

In the vastness of space, the crimes just get bigger and Slippery Jim diGriz, the Stainless Steel Rat, is the biggest criminal of them all. He can con humans, aliens and any number of robots time after time. Jim is so slippery that all the inter-galactic cops can do is make him one of their own.

The second adventure of slippery Jim diGriz the Robin Hood of the far future, robbing the rich to give to the even richer...himself.

The villainous He has travelled back in time to mankind's distant past on the legendary planet Earth (or 'Dirt') of 1984, where he is altering events so that people who opposed him in the Rat's present cease to exist, Angelina amongst them. Using the Helix, a time-travel device invented by the Special Corps' Professor Coypu, diGriz travels to 1984 America, and then to Napoleonic France where tanks and aircraft are helping bring about Napoleon's victory.

After saving the world, diGriz is called on to save the universe. Liberating his two, now teenage, twin' sons from a military boarding school and penitentiary, diGriz sets out to free his wife, who has been arrested by the tax men. But the family is soon fighting an enemy of a different sort, when the humans-only galaxy of the League is invaded by all manner of hideous aliens. The Rat, disguised in the most hideous combination of alien physical features, is sent into the centre of the aliens' stronghold, where he finds himself the object of desire among the aliens. His task is to stop the aliens, who plan to wipe out every human in the universe.

The Stainless Steel rat is back! Slippery Jim diGriz, the future's most lovable, laughable, larcenous conman tumed counterspy, retums for yet another high-tension mission.

This time the Special Corps has given the Rat a daring assignment - liberate a backward tourist planet from the clutches of an aging dictator. With his lovely but lethal wife, Angelina, and his two stalwart sons, James and Bolivar, diGriz pits ballots against bullets in the fight for freedom. He's vowed to restore truth, justice, and democracy to the world of Parisio-Aqui, if he has to lie, cheat, and steal to do it.

A Rat by any other name...

Young Jim diGriz has but one ambition in life - to become a master criminal, perhaps the greatest that little Bit O'Heaven has ever seen. So that he can learn the ropes, he has to mix with the right people - or rather the wrong people. And for this kind of on-the-job training the best place to meet the worst villains is in prison. But even for a customer as slippery as Jim, getting behind bars is'nt easy.

So Jim does a bank job, very badly, with the avowed intention of getting himself knicked...

In a galaxy where civilization covers every world with steel and ferroconcrete, only a very special man can break all the rules and still stay free. A man who moves through the rafters of society like a rat. A Stainless Steel Rat . . . .

And when the galaxy goes to war, it needs special men. That's when The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted. The 25th century's most dangerous outlaw is back--and this time it means war! Slippery Jim diGriz, better known as the Stainless Steel Rat, is seeking revenge for the murder of his mentor-in-crime, the fabled archcriminal known as The Bishop. His trail leads to Nevenkebla and the iron-fisted dictator General Zennor--the kind of man who'd sell his own mother into slavery just to see the expression on her face.

Now in the uniform of a Nevenkeblan soldier, Jim discovers Zennor's vile plan to enslave a defenseless planet. Only a man with a Special code of honor--only a Stainless Steel Rat--can save the world from the invading horde.

Cutting a deal with the authorities to escape a death sentence, Slippery Jim deGriz prepares to retrieve a missing alien artifact from the Liokukae, a planet that serves as a dumping ground for the Galactic League's misfits.

Brand new adventure of slippery Jim DiGriz, the SF superhero the TLS compared to James Bond and Flash Gordon and the Daily Telegraph, called the Monty Python of the spaceways.

While our anti-hero is taking it easy on the resort planet Lussouso, his wife Angelina and her cavorting pals are at the temple ofEternal Truth, being bamboozled into believing that at last they can buy their way into heaven. When Angelina asks 1 pertinent question too many, Slippery Jim suddenly finds himself without a wife.

Within the Temple of Eternal Truth lie the doors to Heaven and Hell - to find Angelina, Jim and his twin sons will have to break down those doors and explore the worlds behind them. In outer space, the devil makes work for idle hands.

Slippery Jim DiGriz. The galaxy's greatest thief and con artist: the Stainless Steel Rat. For novel upon novel, Jim DiGriz has outfoxed the forces of conventionality, cutting a stylish swathe through dozens of star systems.

Now, Slippery Jim and his beautiful wife Angelina find themselves becalmed on a painfully boring backwater planet, with nothing to do but practice their skills at computer crime.

Then they meet a billionaire who claims to be 40,000 years old--who offers them millions of credits to investigate a string of unsolved interstellar bank robberies. Robberies which, it turns out, always happen when the circus is nearby. . . .

In a sense, The Stainless Steel Rat has always been a high-wire performer. Now, as he infiltrates the world of the galactic big top, he's taking the role to extremes . . . and drawing the attention of more dangerous ringmasters and strongmen than he ever expected.

Will this be his final show? Has Slippery Jim finally leapt for his last trapeze? Naaah.

After a ten-year absence, the return of one of the most enduring series characters in modern SF

James Bolivar "Slippery Jim" DiGriz, Special Corps agent, master con man, interstellar criminal (retired), is living high on the hog on the planet of Moolaplenty when a long-lost cousin and a shipful of swine arrive to drain his bank account and send him and his lovely wife, Angelina, wandering the stars on the wildest journey since Gulliver's Travels.

In this darkly satiric work, Harry Harrison bring his most famous character out of retirement for a grand tour of the galaxy. The Stainless Steel Rat rides again: a cocktail in his hand, a smile on his lips, and larceny in his heart, in search of adventure, gravitons, and a way to get rid of the pigs.

Homeworld introduces us to Jan Kulozik, an upper-class engineer who has taken his privileges for granted. While vacationing at a luxurious resort in the Middle East, he nearly drowns in a sailboat accident, but an illegal Israeli submarine saves him. Kulozik's rescuers make him unwillingly recognize the suffering of most of the planet's inhabitants, and the Israelis reveal the existence of an underground movement, which is struggling to topple society's current balance of power. Jan must choose between the comfort and safety of his former life and the dangers towards which his conscience is urging him.

In Wheelworld, Jan has been banished from Earth, exiled to the inflexible tribal society of Halvmork, which helps supply Earth's agricultural needs. Unhappy with his lot, Jan is nonetheless resigned, until the crucial cargo ships fail to arrive from Earth. Then, Halvmork's only hope for survival is Jan's organization of a daring, grueling mass exodus against incredible odds...

In Starworld, Jan returns to Earth and finds himself caught between the underground and Earth's government. The Earth colonies have rebelled, and Earth is desperately struggling to retain its tyrannical hold over them. Jan is caught in a series of fast-paced espionage and counter-espionage episodes. His goal, to destroy the vestiges of power among what were once Earth's reigning elite. And he is the one person who can save the planet.