On the planet of Majipoor, Valentine struggles to reclaim his birthright when he realizes that he is the true Coronal, Lord Valentine, who has been drugged, physically altered, and replaced on the throne

A historical fantasy re-creates the legend of the Sumerian demi-god and king Gilgamesh, slayer of monsters and master of unsurpassed treasures, who searches for the key to immortality. Reprint.

Trouble with water / H. L. Gold --Nothing in the rules / L. Sprague de Camp --Fruit of knowledge / C. L. Moore --Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius / Jorge Luis Borges --Compleat werewolf / Anthony Boucher --Small assassin / Ray Bradbury --Lottery / Shirley Jackson --Our fair city / Robert A. Heinlein --There shall be no darkness / James Blish --Loom of darkness / Jack Vance --Man who sold rope to the gnoles / Margaret St. Clair --Silken-swift / Theodore Sturgeon --Golem / Avram Davidson --Operation afreet / Poul Anderson --That hell-bound train / Robert Bloch --Bazaar of the bizarre / Fritz Leiber --Come lady death / Peter S. Beagle --Drowned giant / J. G. Ballard --Narrow valley / R. A. Lafferty --Faith of our fathers / Philip K. Dick --Ghost of a Model T / Clifford D. Simak --Demoness / Tanith Lee --Jeffty is five / Harlan Ellison --Detective of dreams / Gene Wolfe --Unicorn variations / Roger Zelazny --Basileus / Robert Silverberg --Jaguar Hunter / Lucius Shepard --Buffalo gals, won't you come out tonight / Ursula K. Le Guin --Bears discover fire / Terry Bisson --Tower of Babylon / Ted Chiang.

Humankind's fate is at stake in a futuristic tale of an Earth bordering on ecological catastrophe from which the only escape is genetic adaptation or emigration to satellite cities in space. Reprint.

If the world were all inside of one building, there would be no concept of "outside". Silverberg explores a time worn idea of Science Fiction in his own unique way and makes it fresh again.

The sixth in a series of superb science fiction. The Alpha series of anthologies center on no particular theme except that of literary quality. More of the same, the mixture as before--so Silverberg is tempted to describe this sixth Alpha collection. Not unfair phrases, either, for, like its five predecessors, Alpha Six is a volume of science-fiction stories that have no thematic links, that are held together only by their literary excellence and stimulating science-fictional content. As before, Alpha owes no allegiance to any single literary "school" within the faction-ridden science-fiction cosmos: it hews to a solidly middle-of-the-road line, seeking strong narrative drive and avoiding the excesses of the zap-zap ray-gun school on the one hand and the evanescently precious avant-garde on the other. As always, Silverberg's selection of stories represent the best across a four-dimensional slice of science-fiction publishing.

The second in a series of superb science fiction. The Alpha series of anthologies center on no particular theme except that of literary quality. Two criteria were used in the selecting of these stories—literary merit and importance to the genre. The result is that the variety of subjects is matched only by the richness and diversity of their handling—brilliant, frightening, clever, bizarre, powerful, witty, funny—and several steps in-between. Whatever else these stories may be doing, they all explore the interplay between human beings and the technological society man has created for himself. Good science fiction simultaneously peers into remote realms of space and time and holds a mirror to the contemporary moment; and if the reflection in that mirror is somewhat distorted, so be it. Blame not the messenger for bearing bad tidings. Herewith ten stories which demonstrate the unsettling kinds of insights that science fiction alone can offer. More are on the way. The nine volumes of this series provide an exciting cumulative view of a field in which some of the most vigorous and inventive fiction of our times has been produced. Simply put, here is the best science fiction from the best science fiction writers.

Silverberg, winner of four Hugos and five Nebulas, presents a riveting tale of an epic voyage of survival in a hostile environment. On the watery world of Hydros, humans live on artificial islands and keep an uneasy peace with the native race of amphibians. When a group of humans angers their alien hosts, they are exiled--set adrift on the planet's vast and violent sea.

A collection of columns originally published in various magazines between 1973 and 1997 discusses science fiction, science and society, the profession of writing, and other writers