Mankind’s first contact with extraterrestrial life led to an incredible revelation. Their last may lead them to extinction. Twenty years have passed since the mysterious Near-Earth Object nicknamed Keanu appeared in the night sky and transported humans from all over Earth into its interior. There they discovered that Keanu was a long-range spaceship—and they were not alone. They joined forces with the aliens called the Architects, who had come from a distant galaxy to seek help in fighting the vicious Reivers. And they defeated them. Or so they thought. For when Keanu reestablished contact with Earth, they learned that the Reivers have taken over the planet, placing most of the population under their dominion. But mankind’s last hope may yet be hidden inside the NEO. And if the men and women still in Keanu cannot find it, humanity will be finished. And the galaxy will be next.

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.

An "intelligent and entertaining" tale. (Kirkus Reviews): Priya is thrilled when she's recruited to serve in the spaceborne military. But she's soon forced to volunteer for a dangerous mission - and finds her life at stake... "For nail-biting science fiction thrillers, look no further than one of Rothman's stories" (New York Times bestselling author Larry Correia). ------ Aliens exist... and, as it turns out, most of them are fairly harmless. It's the humans you need to watch out for. Priya Radcliffe wasn't even born yet when the first set of terrorists struck. She was seventeen when they struck again, but this time her parents paid the ultimate price. That was seven years ago, and since then, the United Nations finally agreed to field its first spaceborne military. Serving aboard one of the first true starships had been a dream of hers. All of her years of education and training had been geared for entering the service. However, just before Priya's graduation, she's approached by an officer from a military branch she'd never heard of and given a choice: volunteer for a risky mission to an outpost she knows nothing about or be excluded from serving. She had no choice.

What may we become? How will we endure? The future is a daunting realm, filled with real and imagined perils. So enter it prepared! Here are vivid tales about possible tomorrows, from the keen eye and colorful pen of David Brin, a modern master of speculative fiction. Visit a chillingly plausible tomorrow, when prisoners may be sent to asteroidal gulags. Or might prisons vanish and felons roam, seeing only what society allows? Suppose, amid lavish success, we gain the superpower to fly! Will we even appreciate it… or will we find new reasons to complain? In "Mars Opposition," you'll experience an alien invasion like no other, confronting humanity with a stark and terrible choice… followed by several more tales of conquest from beyond, each of them wildly different. On the other hand, might fantastically potent new beings emerge out of ourselves, as revealed in "Chrysalis”? Featuring guest appearances by Gregory Benford, Jules Verne, and Galileo, this adventure takes you beyond the very singularity in “Stones of Significance,” pondering what could happen after humans are like gods. And “Reality Check” asks one of you readers – just one of you – to wake up! Tomorrow awaits. We can face it and prevail. So long as our stance is brave INSISTENCE OF VISION.

The essential companion to one of the most celebrated science fiction series of all time. Beginning with the novel Sundiver , David Brin introduced one of the most inventive, thought-provoking, and richly-imagined universes in all of science fiction. Now, Brin collaborates with acclaimed artist Kevyn Lenagh to present the definitive guide to the societies, technology, and species of his epic, award-winning series. Written as a handbook for Terran field agents, Contacting Aliens offers a detailed and comprehensive look at Uplift 's many alien races--from the friendly Tymbrimi to the warlike Tandu, the wise Kanten to the reptilian Soro, and the bureaucratic Hoon to the manipulative Thennanin. Readers will discover fascinating information about their physiology, psychology, and history; their clans and alliances; and their shifting attitudes toward Earth and its representatives. The volume also includes a history of Earth's contact with the Civilization of Five Galaxies, a look at its institutions, languages, and customs, plus a timeline of momentous events going back three billion years. Contacting Aliens is an essential reference work for Uplift fans, filled with never-before-seen illustrations that reveal the keys to the ambitious vision and bold speculation of the Uplift universe.

Despite his lack of physical stature, the five-foot-tall John Dee was a towering figure in Renaissance Europe: to royalty, enemy to the vicious de Medici clan -- and confidant of Dyckson, a member of the alien race known as the Roc. Ancient and wise, the Roc have come to Earth to observe the evolution of humanity, not to interfere. But during the course of his studies, Dyckson has come to call Dee friend. When the de Medicis arrest Dee in Venice, Dyckson chooses to save his friend from prison and leave him in suspended animation until the year 2099. The "philosopher of Albion" wakes in a confusing future where humanity is on the brink of developing the ultimate weapon -- a weapon that will mean the destruction of the human race! The only thing that can prevent Armageddon is a genius from the past -- but can even the great John Dee save humanity from itself?

From Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Robert Silverberg comes, To Open The Sky. The Atom was their God-but there was something stronger... At the beginning of the 22nd century, Earth colonies were established on Mars and Venus. But the ultimate dream - to travel to the stars - was still an impossibility. Cults, fads, madnesses of various kinds swept the population. The maddest--and so far the most permanent--were the Vorst worshipers, the atom adorers, the believers in immortality through technology. Yet there were the Harmonists, who believed that technology could never do it. And the hatred between the two factions was too deep to be reconciled - until a conflict on Venus between a Vorster priest and his Harmonist opponent resulted in unexpected developments.

Rare Book

An exciting science fiction adventure from William Shatner—famous for his role as Captain Kirk on Star Trek —about the intrepid, eighty-year-old FBI deputy director Samuel Lord and his quest to stop the Chinese from using a weapon that (unknown to them) could destroy Earth. In the year 2050, the United States sends the FBI to govern its space station, the Empyrean. Under the command of former fighter pilot and FBI field agent Samuel Lord, the space-based “Zero-G” men are in charge of investigating terrorism, crime, corruption, and espionage beyond the Earth’s atmosphere and of keeping an eye on the rival Chinese and Russian stations. During the Zero-G team’s first days in space, a mysterious and beautiful scientist, Dr. May, shows up to the Empyrean claiming that important research has been stolen from her lab on the moon. Her arrival suspiciously coincides with timing of a tsunami that destroys part of the coast of Japan, and her unusual behavior makes Director Lord think that Dr. May might know more about the disaster than she’s letting on. Meanwhile, the Chinese space station has gone mysteriously silent. In this “tightly paced blend of police procedural, military SF, and space opera, set in an intriguing near-future world” ( Publishers Weekly ), Director Lord must connect the dots to discover who or what has caused the tsunami as well as subsequent disasters, and how Dr. May and the Chinese might be involved.

2014 Reprint of 1950 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. "Ralph 124C 41+" by Hugo Gernsback is an early science fiction novel, written as a twelve-part serial in "Modern Electrics" magazine beginning in April 1911. It was compiled into novel/book form in 1925. It is considered one of the most influential science fiction stories of all time. The title itself is a play on words, ( 1 2 4 C 4 1 + ) meaning "One to foresee for one another". Some successful predictions from this novel include television (and channel surfing), remote-control power transmission, the video phone, transcontinental air service, solar energy in practical use, sound movies, synthetic milk and foods, artificial cloth, voiceprinting, tape recorders, and spaceflight. It also contains "...the first accurate description of radar, complete with diagram..." according to Arthur C. Clarke in his "non-genre" novel "Glide Path." (1963)

Known to millions as "Star Trek's" Captain Kirk, actor-director and bestselling author William Shatner returns to the stunning future world he created in "TekWar." Ex-cop Jake Cardigan is back. A synthetic plague is sweeping the city. And a top drug-control agent is brutally murdered by a reprogrammed human "zombie, " deadlier than an android assassin. For Jake, all roads lead to one fatal circle - the heart of a vast computerized drug ring, the masters of a savage and powerful underworld...the lair of the TekLords.

"Star Trek" 's Captain Kirk is back, with another fast-paced adventure for the future's greatest private detective, Jake Cardigan. Best known for his role as Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship "Enterprise," William Shatner has created a whole new career for himself as a suspense novelist--and his bestselling Tek series has been hailed by "The Wall Street Journal" for novels "as tough and scrappy as Captain Kirk." Walt Bascom is head of the Cosmos Detective Agency, and therefore is Jake Cardigan's boss. As Tek Kill opens, Walt is having a bad morning: five police officers broke into his house, threw him out of bed, and arrested him for murder. The video security system at the home of wealthy entrepreneur Dwight Grossman clearly shows Bascom shooting Grossman in the back. And telephone records show that Grossman had been making threatening phone calls to a former girlfriend--a woman now involved with Bascom. Despite what looks like an open-and-shut case against Bascom, Jake and his partner Sid Gomez must find a way to clear the boss's good name--and find the real killer. They have allies: Jake's son, Dan, is friendly with Grossman's sister, Susan. And Susan Grossman has been having flashes of telepathy, including visions of her brother's murder that does not feature Walt Bascom. She's frightened, but she's prepared to testify in court about what she believes. Unfortunately, Susan Grossman is a user of the deadly drug Tek. The choice facing the police is obvious: they can believe what they see with their own eyes on videotape, or they can believe a known drug user who claims to have telepathic visions. Jake and Sid can see that they have a lot of work ahead if they're going toget the boss out of jail and back to the office. And the person who went to such trouble to make Walt Bascom look like a murderer is hardly likely to sit back and let them do their jobs without making an effort to put them off the trail--a deadly effort.

Young Jim Endicott has but one dream-- to attend the Solis Space Academy, the gateway to the stars and the far-flung civilization known as the Confederation. But unbeknownst to Jim, he has a secret encoded in his DNA. A secret that threatens an empire.

"Older fans will admire [Burstein's] dedication to remembering and honoring the past." -Publisher's Weekly The award-nominated stories in this collection will bring memories of the future flooding back. Two new stories and all-new afterwords enliven the past with a touch of the present and that which is yet to come. You don't need a collection of antique spaceships or a carefully calibrated time machine to share the memories of the final Holocaust survivor. You don't have to jump through the gate between universes in search of a lost friend. All you have to do is open your eyes. You'll remember the future. The future remembers you.

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 to the medieval Jewish legend of the Golem and Ambrose Bierce's tale of a chess-playing robot, the idea of what robots are--and who creates them--can be drastically different. This book collects a broad selection of short stories from celebrated authors such as Philip K. Dick, Seanan McGuire, Roger Zelazny, Connie Willis, and many more. Robots through the Ages not only celebrates the history of robots and the genre of science fiction, but the dauntless nature of human ingenuity.

This story, "To See the Invisible Man," written in June of 1962, marks the beginning of my real career as a science-fiction writer, I think. The 1953-58 stories collected in To Be Continued, the first of this series of volumes, are respectable professional work, some better than others but all of them at least minimally acceptable--but most of them could have been written by just about anyone. Aside from a few particularly ambitious items, they were designed to slip unobtrusively into the magazines of their time, efficiently providing me with regular paychecks. But now, by freeing me from the need to calculate my way around the risk of rejection, Fred Pohl allowed--indeed, required--me to reach as deep into my literary resources as I was capable of doing. I knew that unless I gave him my very best, the wonderful guaranteed-sale deal I had with him would vanish as quickly as it had appeared. Therefore I would reach deeper and deeper, in the years ahead, until I had moved so far away from my youthful career as a hack writer that latecomers would find it hard to believe that I had been emotionally capable of writing all that junk, let alone willing to do it. In "To See the Invisible Man" the distinctive Silverberg fictional voice is on display for just about the first time. --Robert Silverberg

A multinational games company recruit Tom, a smart, streetwise Dublin teenager, to get a team together and come to San Francisco to immerse themselves in a massive fantasy world, to eliminate an AI dragon that has gone rogue and is preventing the release of the game.

The Hugo Award-winning author of The Delirium Brief reveals the secrets of The Laundry Files in an adventure of Lovecraftian horror and espionage hi-jinks... As a newly appointed junior manager within the Laundry—the clandestine organization responsible for protecting Britain against supernatural threats—Bob Howard is expected to show some initiative to help the agency battle the forces of darkness. But shining a light on what’s best left in the shadows is the last thing Bob wants to do—especially when those shadows hide an occult parasite spreading a deadly virus. Traders employed by a merchant bank in London are showing signs of infection—an array of unusual symptoms such as super-strength and -speed, an uncanny talent for mind control, an extreme allergic reaction to sunlight, and an unquenchable thirst for blood. While his department is tangled up in bureaucratic red tape (and Buffy reruns) debating how to stop the rash of vampirism, Bob digs deeper into the bank’s history—only to uncover a blood-curdling conspiracy between men and monsters...

Computational demonologist Bob Howard is taking a much-needed break from the field to catch up on his filing in the Laundry archives when a top secret dossier known as the Fuller Memorandum vanishes—along with his boss, who the agency’s executives believe stole the file. Determined to discover exactly what the memorandum contained (and perhaps clear his boss), Bob runs afoul of Russian agents, ancient demons, and the apostles if a hideous faith who have plans to raise a very unpleasant undead entity known as the Eater of Souls. Now Bob must use all of his skills to learn the secret of the Fuller Memorandum in order to save the world—and avoid becoming an item on the Eater of Souls’s dinner menu…

For outstanding heroism in the field (despite himself), computational demonologist Bob Howard is on the fast track for promotion to management within the Laundry, the supersecret British government agency tasked with defending the realm from occult threats. Assigned to External Assets, Bob discovers the company (unofficially) employs freelance agents to deal with sensitive situations that may embarrass Queen and Country. So when Ray Schiller—an American televangelist with the uncanny ability to miraculously heal the ill—becomes uncomfortably close to the Prime Minister, External Assets dispatches the brilliant, beautiful, and entirely unpredictable Persephone Hazard to infiltrate the Golden Promise Ministries and discover why the preacher is so interested in British politics. And it’s Bob’s job to make sure Persephone doesn’t cause an international incident. But it’s a supernatural incident that Bob needs to worry about—a global threat even the Laundry may be unable to clean up…