Anders, a young instructor on the brink of confessing his love to Judy, is suddenly interrupted by a mysterious voice in his mind pleading for help. At first he fears he may be losing his grip on reality, but the voice insists that he can only find it by learning to see "correctly." What begins as a private romantic moment quickly turns uncanny, as Anders discovers that ordinary surroundings can dissolve into distorted patterns, exposing how fragile the familiar order of the world may be. ...

In a near-future rush to cure murder with technology, inventor-manufacturer Charlie Gelsen helps launch the watchbirds: autonomous machines funded by government and industry to stop violence before it happens. At first they seem like a triumph of science, detecting criminal intent through brain waves, glandular reactions, and learning circuits that make them eerily effective hunters of killers. But Gelsen grows increasingly uneasy, fearing that a machine given the power to judge human beha...

Pid, a dutiful Grom pilot, leads a mission to invade a seemingly peaceful green planet that has already swallowed twenty previous expeditions. In a society ruled by rigid caste and "shape-discipline," he expects obedience, not wonder—but the world below offers something far more dangerous than resistance: freedom. Sent to deliver a Displacer device to a guarded human reactor, Pid and his crew land under camouflage, lose their ship by design, and discover that survival depends on blending i...

An ordinary king finds himself on an extraordinary quest in this intergalactic soap opera by the acclaimed sci-fi author and "precursor to Douglas Adams" ( The New York Times).Dramocles, an ordinary king on an ordinary planet, finds himself thrust into an adventure that combines soap opera, Greek tragedy, and Shakespearean drama as he unwillingly—and disastrously—seeks to fulfill his destiny. Unfortunately, that destiny is only revealed to him piece by pie...

A treasury of fiction from " one of SF's all-time masters of the humorous or satirical short story" ( Booklist).In "The Cruel Equations," a planetary explorer finds out how lethal it can be when a robot guard has been designed to do too perfect a job.The fifteen other stories in this collection are "Can You Feel Anything When I Do This?", "Cordle to Onion to Carrot," "The Petrified World," "Game: First Schematic," "Doctor Zombie and...

In "The Prize of Peril," everyone lives on . . . because when someone is about to die, the emergency squad is always there to bring that person back—whether he or she wants it or not.The seven other stories in this collection are "The Humours," "Triplication," "The Minimum Man," "If the Red Slayer," "The Store of the Worlds," "The Gun Without a Bang," and "The Deaths of Ben Baxter."From the very beginning of his career, Robert Sheckley was recognized by fans, reviewers, and f...

Marvin Goodman thinks he has discovered an unknown paradise and buys "A Ticket to Tranai." What starts as Utopia ends up becoming a death trap.The eleven other stories included in this collection are "The Mountain Without a Name," "The Accountant," "Hunting Problem," "A Thief in Time," "The Luckiest Man in the World," "Hands Off," "Something for Nothing," "The Battle," "Skulking Permit," "Citizen in Space," and "Ask a Foolish Question."From the very beginning of his career, R...

A collection of witty science fiction including a Nebula Award–nominated story.In "Diplomatic Immunity," what happens when an alien ambassador arrives, telling the residents of Earth that they will be joining a galactic union whether they like it or not—and the ambassador is unkillable?The thirteen other stories in this collection are "The People Trap," "The Victim from Space," "Shall We Have a Little Talk?", "Restricted Area," "The Odor of Thought," "The Nec...

Edited by the mysterious Rey Bertran, the Science Fiction Archive #1 features some of the greatest science fiction writing of all time. Featuring: The Sentimentalists, by Murray Leinster The Girls from Earth, by Frank Robinson The Death Traps of FX-31, by Sewell Wright Song in a minor key, by C.L. Moore Sentry of the Sky, by Evelyn E. Smith Meeting of the Minds, by Robert Sheckley Junior, by Robert Abernathy Death Wish, by Ned Lang Dead World, by Jack Douglas Cost of Living, by Robert Shec...

A hapless Earthling must find his way home through a universe of absurdities in this science fiction romp from a Hugo and Nebula Award–nominated master.New York civil servant Thomas Carmody has never been particularly lucky. Imagine his surprise when he discovers he's won the grand prize in an Intergalactic Lottery he had no idea he'd entered.Whisked far away to Galactic Central to claim his award, he has two immediate, equally troubling revelations. Not onl...

In "The Status Civilization," the protagonist, Will Barrent, finds himself in a bizarre and oppressive society known as Omega. Barrent has been wrongly convicted of a crime and sentenced to life imprisonment on Omega, a planet where the entire population consists of prisoners.The novel follows Barrent's attempts to navigate the harsh and unforgiving environment of Omega while seeking to prove his innocence and escape from the planet. As he interacts with other inmates and uncovers the trut...

The story follows the adventures of a human diplomat named Elliott West, who is assigned to negotiate with an alien race known as the Melf. The Melf are a peculiar species with a unique culture and customs, and their planet is notorious for its strict adherence to diplomatic immunity laws. As West navigates the complexities of interstellar diplomacy, he discovers that the concept of diplomatic immunity on the Melf planet is taken to extreme and absurd lengths.Sheckley's story explores them...