Science fiction-noveller.

Book by Bloch, Robert

"No mortal can write this well." - Harlan Ellison "Kersh has a strange, perverted sense of genius. And how he can write." - Virginia Kirkus "Gerald Kersh had a wild imagination matched by a vivid, near-hallucinatory style. Many of his concepts are so original that they blur the distinction between fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and horror, but the cumulative impact of his short stories is horrific in the extreme." - Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural An expedition in South America uncovers a terrifying race of men without bones who literally suck the life out of their prey. A man in 20th century London makes a horrifying discovery about a monster found off the coast of Brighton in 1745. A sea captain goes ashore on a deserted island and finds what seem to be the bones of a previously unknown species of monster, only to learn that the bones tell a much more tragic tale than he could ever have imagined. A war correspondent, none other than Kersh himself, is sailing to America when he meets a strange man who claims to be 438 years old. These are the plots of just a few of the weird tales you will find in this book. Gerald Kersh (1911-1968) was a brilliant and inventive writer acclaimed in his time for his gritty novels of London life and his often bizarre short fiction, but he has unfortunately become neglected since his death. This volume includes an introduction by award-winning science fiction author Harlan Ellison, who also selected the eleven stories that appear in this collection and which represent the very best of Kersh's short fiction. Includes: "The Queen of Pig Island," "Frozen Beauty," "The Brighton Monster," "Men Without Bones," "Busto Is a Ghost, Too Mean to Give Us a Fright ," "The Ape and the Mystery," "The King Who Collected Clocks," "Bone for Debunkers," "A Lucky Day for the Boar," "Voices in the Dust of Annan," "Whatever Happened to Corporal Cuckoo?"

"In the mid 21st Century the United States is a sleeping giant, lost in dreams of faded glory. But in one field we still reign supreme: entertainment, which in this future means computer simulations. That's why it is in America that the final computer breakthrough is achieved, the simulation of genius thinking, feeling personalities from history: Elizabeth I, Ghengis Khan, Pizarro, Socrates, Moses and Joan of Arc. You can see them all in action, with and against each other, in a world they never made--but just might remake closer to their silicon hearts' desire."--Pg. [4] of cover.

Before his untimely death in 1987, Alfred Bester had established himself as one of the world's greatest science fiction writers. body of work that will be continued to be enjoyed by generations of readers for all time. range of his genius: - The never before printed, complete 3,000 word prologue of his classic novel THE DEMOLISHED MAN - The extraordinary classic scienc-fiction tale, HELL IS FOREVER - Bester's shocking pre-cyberpunk stories, such as THE FOUR HOUR FUGE Included in this special edition are Bester's writings on such noted celebrities as Woody Allen, Rex Stout, and Isaac Asimov.

If you write science fiction, you'll like Science Fiction 101's witty, thought-provoking essays, revealing the secrets, the craft and the art of science fiction. If you read science fiction, you'll enjoy the thirteen classic works of modern science fiction included in Science Fiction 101. These works include wondrous stories by Alfred Bester, Philip. K. Dick, Jack Vance, Frederick Pohl and many others.

Fifty stories for fifty years! A collection-and celebration-of the work of Harry Harrison From his first sale in 1950 on, Harry Harrison has been one of the science fiction world's creative dynamos, working in every subgenre of the field, always bursting with provocative ideas. Parodic one moment, serious the next, Harrison has been called by Brian Aldiss "one of the few authors capable of carrying the old vigor of earlier days forward into a new epoch." On the occasion of his fiftieth anniversary as a professional writer, Harrison has gathered together fifty of his best stories-one for each year-along with substantial notes and introductory material. 50 in 50 is at once a memoir, a compendium of an engaging body of work, and a look at the history of science fiction in the second half of the 20th century.

The Beatrix Gates is a colorful mix of science fiction, magic realism, memoir, and myth exploring themes of spirituality and transformation. Courage and cowardice contend in a literary odyssey unlike any other. Written especially for this volume, "Trans Central Station" is Pollacks personal and political take on the transgender experience then and now, and tomorrow? "Burning Beard" is a fiercely revisionist Bible tale of plague and prophecy told through a postmodern prose of many colors. "The Woman Who Didnt Come Back" is about just what it says. And there is of course PM Press usual and unusual Outspoken Interview. --Publisher

Walter Mosley's talent knows no bounds. Stepping Stone and Love Machine are but two of six fragments in the Crosstown to Oblivion short novels in which Mosley entertainingly explores life's cosmic questions. From life's meaning to the nature of good and evil, these tales take us on speculative journeys beyond the reality we have come to know. In each tale someone in our world today is given insight into these long pondered mysteries. But how would the world really receive the answers? Stepping Stone : Truman Pope has spent his whole life watching the world go by--and waiting for something he can't quite put into words. A gentle, unassuming soul, he has worked in the mailroom of a large corporation for decades without making waves, until the day he spots a mysterious woman in yellow. A woman nobody else can see. Soon Truman's quiet life begins to turn upside-down. An old lover surfaces from his past even as he finds his job in jeopardy. Strange visions haunt his days and nights, until he begins to doubt his sanity. Is he losing his mind, or is he on the brink of a startling revelation that will change his life forever--and transform the nature of humanity? Love Machine : The Datascriber was supposed to merely allow individuals to share sensory experiences via a neurological link, but its true potential is even more revolutionary. The brainchild of an eccentric, possibly deranged scientist, the "Love Machine" can merge individual psyches and memories into a collective Co-Mind that transcends race, gender, species . . . and even death itself. Tricked into joining the Co-Mind, as part of a master plan to take over the world, Lois Kim struggles to adapt to her new reality and abilities. Is there any way back to the life that was stolen from her, or is she destined to lead humanity into a strange new era, despite the opposition of forces both human and otherwise?

Contents: Introduction, essay by Donald F. Theall; Prologue, essay by Judith Merril. Stories: Survival Ship; Wish Upon a Star; Exile from Space; Connection Completed; The Shrine of Temptation; Peeping Tom; The Lady Was a Tramp; Auction Pit; So Proudly We Hail; The Deep Down Dragon; Whoever You Are; Death Is the Penalty; The Lonely. Epilogue, essay by Judith Merril.

In The Planet Killers , the Security Computers of Earth Central determine that the frontier world of Lurion will launch an all-out attack on Earth in 67 years, sending Agent Roy Gardner to the rough-and-tumble planet to ensure that doesn't happen -- even if it means blowing Lurion to interstellar dust! In The Plot Against Earth , agent Lloyd Catton must work with skeptical, suspicious alien agents to bust a hypnojewel racket, unveiling a multi-planet conspiracy threatening the Earth itself! In One of Our Asteroids is Missing , independent miner John Storm discovers an impossible asteroid rich with fabulously valuable metals and minerals, only to find his claim stolen, along with all computer records indicating that he had ever existed! Never before reprinted since their original appearances and with a new introduction by the author, these three novels of science fiction adventure blaze back onto the scene, revealing early masterworks of one of the genre's most gifted and celebrated storytellers!