In a grim authoritarian future, Interrogator Conway Kroll performs his duty with cold certainty, greeting three accused traitors and defending torture as a necessary function of the State. Florence Horniman refuses to confess and is subjected to the merciless Inquisitor, while Chester Wengrove eventually breaks, is declared "exonerated," and then sent to quarantine in a cruel parody of mercy. The machinery of punishment is orderly, bureaucratic, and absolute, turning pain into policy. But ...

On the blood-red world of Markin, Colonel John Devall wears the stern mask of a Terran commander, though he is really an anthropologist struggling to balance science, diplomacy, and authority. His routine of careful administration is shattered when his nephew, Second Lieutenant Leonards, returns from a botanical expedition with a deadly problem: a native has been killed in what appears to be self-defense. But the death is only the beginning. The Markins reveal that the real offense is sacr...

On the bleak, wind-scoured surface of Mars, Ron and Val trudge across the desert after their sandcat breaks down, searching for uranium to keep Earth's industries alive. Exhausted and increasingly bitter, Val begins to question their mission, their pay, and even the choice that brought them to this hostile world. Yet beneath the hardship and resentment lies something steadier: a married team driven not by glory, but by loyalty, stubborn love, and the small comforts they have built together...

On the desert world of Carthule, First Priest Marik wrestles with a faith shaken by the revelation that humanity is not alone in the universe. When he spots a lone Earthman wandering the sands, he sends his young acolyte Kenra Sarg to bring the stranger under the protection of the sacred Guest Rite, a law of hospitality so absolute it overrides all other obligations. The rescued visitor is small, talkative, and eager to depart, but Marik senses unease beneath his gratitude. That unease bec...

The Grand Master details his development as a writer and shares thirteen favorite sci-fi stories from his youth and what they taught him about writing.Every writer must start somewhere. Robert Silverberg was once simply a young man learning the art and craft of writing before he found success. But how did he get from there to winning four Hugo Awards, three Locus Awards, and six Nebula Awards, as well as being named a Grand Master of science fiction?In ...

Paul Hendriks thinks he has won a place at the event of the century when he secures two costly engraved invitations to Ultrarama, a secretive new form of entertainment so coveted that crowds line up for days to see it. His skeptical wife is less impressed, but Hendriks is dazzled by the promise of a spectacle "more real than life itself" and by the prestige of being among the first to witness it. Inside the vast Ultrarama Theater, the luxury is overwhelming: a futuristic foyer, striking us...

Barr Herndon is the kind of man who can turn a slave auction into a personal reckoning. In the crowded markets of Borlaam, he outbids a wealthy noble for a suffering proteus, then shocks the onlookers by shooting the shape-shifting creature and sending it into the harbor—an act of ruthless mercy that reveals both his hard edge and the buried anger beneath it. That same boldness draws the attention of Bollar Benjin, a sly jeweler who offers him a place in a secret starstone-smuggling syndic...

Hal Preston, a proud former Space Patrolman, is dumped into the Postal Service and sent on what feels like a humiliating backwater assignment: carrying mail to distant Ganymede. Bitter at the downgrade, he boards a mail ship escorted by two old Patrol comrades, only to learn that this new job is every bit as dangerous as the old one. Before the run is over, pirate ships strike in the asteroid belt, and his friends pay a deadly price to keep the mail moving. When Preston finally reaches Gan...

Rick Mason, a Solar System intelligence agent, is descending toward the hostile planet Mordarga when a desperate telepathic plea from his partner, Klon Darra, turns a routine reconnaissance mission into a race against time. Klon has been seized by the Mordargans and faces torture in the main palace, forcing Mason to abandon caution and mount an immediate rescue in a world where mental contact may be his only lifeline. Landing in a hidden valley, Mason begins the treacherous journey to Mord...

A remarkable collection, Robots through the Ages includes stories from some of the best writers of science fiction, both old and new.This anthology, with an introduction by Robert Silverberg, offers a sweeping survey of robots as depicted throughout literature. Since the Iliad—in which we are shown golden statues built by Hephaestus “with minds and wisdoms”—humans have been fascinated by the idea of artificial life. From the Argonautica t...

The first three novels in the acclaimed sci-fi fantasy series from the award-winning author: "An imaginative fusion of action, sorcery, and science fiction" ( The New York Times Book Review).In the first three books of the Majipoor Cycle, Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author Robert Silverberg delivered a vast and vividly imagined world full of epic adventure, court intrigue, and high drama.In Lord Valentine's Castle, an amnesiac wanderer r...

When you think of Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Robert Silverberg, you most probably think, "Master of Science Fiction". Or, perhaps, considering his 1980 novel Lord Valentine's Castle and the other books and stories in the author's "Majipoor" series, you may consider him a "Master of Fantasy".However, it is probably highly unlikely that most people would ever consider Bob to be a "Master of Horror".And yet, there was a time—in the late 1950s—when Robert Silverberg ...