Science Fiction - a sampling of key writers
Explore a curated list of must-read science fiction books from key writers in the genre. Discover classic and modern sci-fi masterpieces that define the field.
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Lest Darkness Fall
by Lyon Sprague De Camp
In "Lest Darkness Fall," twentieth-century academic Martin Padway travels through time to prevent the fall of the Roman Empire, while in "To Bring the Light," Herosilla must forge the birth of Roman civilization.
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Operation Chaos
by Poul Anderson
In a war waged against Black Magic, the fact that Steve is a werewolf and his wife is a highly skilled witch is not unusual. But their adventures prove very unusual, even for their world, when they are given the task of neutralizing an enemy's ultimate weapon--the world's most powerful demon.
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The Complete Paratime
by H. Beam Piper
From H. Beam Piper, the creator of the Terrohuman Future History and the bestselling Fuzzy novels, come the parallel worlds of Paratime—collected for the first time in one volume. Infinite worlds allowed for infinite evil—unless the doorway to those worlds was most carefully guarded. The Paratime Police are an elite force of men and women charged with defending a million unsuspecting Earths from their more developed—and more ruthless—neighbors in parallel continua. From the original Paratime, which introduced the unceasing struggles of the time-traveling heroes, to Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, the last Paratime story of a state trooper’s conquest of an alternate Earth...The Complete Paratime is a grand science fiction experience.
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Complete Fuzzy
by H. Beam Piper
More than three decades ago, H. Beam Piper's bestselling science fiction novel Little Fuzzy captivated readers everywhere. Now, all three of Piper's delightful books are available for the first time in one volume: Little Fuzzy, Fuzzy Sapiens and Fuzzies And Other People.
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Expanded Universe
by Robert Anson Heinlein
"The Wit and Wisdom of Robert A. Heinlein, author of multiple New York Times best sellers, on subjects ranging from Crime and Punishment to the Love life of the American Teenager; from Nuclear Power to the Pragmatics of Patriotism; from Prophecy to Destiny; from Geopolitics to Post-Holocaust America; from the Nature of Courage to the Nature of Reality; it's all here and it's all great - straight from the mind of the finest science fiction writer of them all."--BOOK JACKET.
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The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke
by Arthur C. Clarke
Introduces readers to the author's shorter works, spanning his entire writing career, including "The Nine Billion Names of God," "Nemesis," "The Sentinel," and "The Songs of Distant Earth."
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Isaac Asimov: The Complete Stories, Volume 1
by Isaac Asimov
An enthralling collection of short stories from the award-winning science fiction writer of I, Robot and The Foundation, Isaac Asimov. Originally published in various magazines, this volume includes some of Asimov’s self-described personal favorite short stories, including “Franchise” and “The Last Question.” It also includes “Nightfall,” a story about a planet that only experiences night once every 2,049 years, which the Science Fiction Writers of America has voted as the best science fiction story ever written. The many fans of Isaac Asimov’s work won’t want to miss this wonderful collection of short fiction from the sci fi master.
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Retief!
by Keith Laumer
This novel and collection of stories have previously appeared in parts in "Envoy to New Worlds, Galactic Diplomat, " and "Retief's War." Exploring the origins of the Corps Diplomatique, the background of Retief is told for the first time.
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The Stars My Destination
by Alfred Bester
In this pulse-quickening novel, Alfred Bester imagines a future in which people "jaunte" a thousand miles with a single thought, where the rich barricade themselves in labyrinths and protect themselves with radioactive hit men--and where an inarticulate outcast is the most valuable and dangerous man alive.
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The Essential Hal Clement: Variations on a theme by Sir Isaac Newton : the Mesklin stories
by Hal Clement
Vol. 2: More than most authors, Clement labors in the traditional fields of hard science fiction, developing knotty, challenging puzzles for his characters to meet and overcome with scientific rationality and common sense. His protagonists are beings of many persuasions, often alien, using their knowledge and intelligence to solve problems, whether escaping from captivity, analyzing apparently incomprehensible situations, or simply doing business. At opening up new perspectives, Clement is masterful.
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The Callahan Chronicals
by Spider Robinson
The first three books in the legendary Callahan's Crosstime Saloon series.
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Triplanetary
by Edward Elmer Smith
From the atomic age in Atlantis to the far-flung future, here is a story of interstellar war with Earth as the prize for the victor. The elder race of our galaxy, the Arisians, using advanced mental science, has foreseen the invasion of our universe by the evil Eddorians. The Arisians begin a breeding program on every world that can produce intelligent life, the goal to produce super warriors who can repel the Eddorians. Triplanetary is the early history of that breeding program on Earth, illustrated with the lives of several warriors and soldiers. It ends with the discovery of the interstellar space drive, formation of the Galactic Patrol, and the first Lens-an Arisian device that provides its wearer with mind-reading and telepathic abilities-given to the first Lensman on Earth.
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The Martian Chronicles
by Ray Bradbury
For use in schools and libraries only. The tranquility of Mars is disrupted by the earthmen who have come to conquer space, colonize the planet, and escape a doomed Earth.
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The Space Merchants
by Frederik Pohl
Mitchell Courtenay, an advertising copywriter of the future is assigned to sway public support for the American colonization of Venus
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Hoka Hoka Hoka
by Poul Anderson
Alexander Jones, a representative of the Interbeing League for the teddy-bear-like Hoka species, finds his assignment challenging when the human-emulating Hokas are unable to discern Earth fact from fiction.
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Lost Dorsai
by Gordon R. Dickson
There are many legends on the planet of the Dorsai, the breeding ground for heroes. Here are two of them. Lost Dorsai: The New Dorsai Companion contains the Hugo Award winning novella, Lost Dorsai, and Dickson's classic short story "Warrior." Plus, the New Dorsai Companion contains, for the first time ever, an all new Concordance of the Childe Cycle--a roadmap of Dickson's massive and brilliant creation. The Concordance will let you know not only in which books or stories a person or place is mentioned, but will give you a brief history or biography that explains their significance in the Cycle. It's a Who's Who of the future--and no science fiction reader should be without it.
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Elements of Fiction Writing - Characters & Viewpoint
by Orson Scott Card
Vivid and memorable characters aren't born: they have to be made. &break;&break;This book is a set of tools: literary crowbars, chisels, mallets, pliers and tongs. Use them to pry, chip, yank and sift good characters out of the place where they live in your memory, your imagination and your soul. &break;&break;Award-winning author Orson Scott Card explains in depth the techniques of inventing, developing and presenting characters, plus handling viewpoint in novels and short stories. With specific examples, he spells out your narrative options–the choices you'll make in creating fictional people so "real" that readers will feel they know them like members of their own families. &break;&break;You'll learn how to: &break; draw the characters from a variety of sources, including a story's basic idea, real life–even a character's social circumstances&break; make characters show who they are by the things they do and say, and by their individual "style"&break; develop characters readers will love–or love to hate&break; distinguish among major characters, minor characters and walk-ons, and develop each one appropriately&break; choose the most effective viewpoint to reveal the characters and move the storytelling&break; decide how deeply you should explore your characters' thoughts, emotions and attitudes
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The Man in the High Castle
by Philip K. Dick
It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. the few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some 20 years earlier the United States lost a war--and is now occupied jointly by Nazi Germany and Japan. This harrowing, Hugo Award-winning novel is the work that established Philip K. Dick as an innovator in science fiction while breaking the barrier between science fiction and the serious novel of ideas. In it Dick offers a haunting vision of history as a nightmare from which it may just be possible to awake.
