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The First Science Fiction MEGAPACK®

Hours of great reading await, with tales from some of the 20th century's most renowned science fiction authors, Here are 25 science fiction stories (plus a bonus short-short): UNKNOWN THINGS, by Reginald Bretnor CAPTIVES OF THE FLAME, by Samuel R. Delany EXPEDITER, by Mack Reynolds ONE-SHOT, by James Blish SHIPWRECK IN THE SKY, by Eando Binder ZEN, by Jerome Bixby LANCELOT BIGGS COOKS A PIRATE, by Nelson Bond SENTIMENT, INC., by Poul Anderson THE ISSAHAR ARTIFACTS, by J. F. Bone THE NEXT LOGICAL STEP, by Ben Bova YEAR OF THE BIG THAW, by Marion Zimmer Bradley EARTHMEN BEARING GIFTS, by Fredric Brown HAPPY ENDING, by Fredric Brown and Mack Reynolds LIGHTER THAN YOU THINK, by Nelson Bond RIYA'S FOUNDLING, by Algis Budrys ACCIDENTAL DEATH, by Peter Baily AND ALL THE EARTH A GRAVE, by C. C. MacApp DEAD RINGER, by Lester del Rey THE CRYSTAL CRYPT, by Philip K. Dick THE JUPITER WEAPON, by Charles L. Fontenay THE MAN WHO HATED MARS, by Randall Garrett NAVY DAY, by Harry Harrison THE JUDAS VALLEY, by Robert Silverberg & Randall Garrett NATIVE SON, by T. D. Hamm JUBILEE, by Richard A. Lupoff FINAL CALL, by John Gregory Betancourt And don't forget to check out all the other volumes in the Megapack series! Search on «Wildside Megapack» in this ebook store to see the complete list…covering more science fiction volumes, plus adventure stories, military, fantasy, ghost stories, westerns, and much more!

Prelude to Eternity

Brian Stableford

In an alternate England in which Cromwell's revolution succeeded, Michael Laurel attends a 19th-century party to witness the demonstration of the first time machine. But Michael comes to realize that the entire future of the world might be at stake–and the past as well–if the machine malfunctions. How can he, a mere artist, possibly make a difference to the ultimate fate of the universe? A grand adventure in the style of A. E. van Vogt and Thomas Love Peacock.

Valencies

Damien Broderick

In the year 4004 AD, the entire universe of habitable worlds has been filled with human beings, thanks to an ancient teleport network and unlimited growth. Humans live on more than a hundred quadrillion terraformed planets, all woven into a bureaucratic and restrictive Empire. VALENCIES tracks a frustrated group of libertarian anarchists on the marginal planet Victoria. Kael, son of three gay doctors, and Theri, daughter of a man and woman bound by maniacal doctrinal tenets, are a young couple in a cosmos of complacent immortals. Ben and Anla the clone rage and passionately make up in a cycle of dominance and submission as old as history or myth. And slipping like a mad trickster between the four is Catsize, former commander, terrible poet crazed by two millennia of thwarted revolutions, hilarious prankster, an instigator of mischief and healer of souls. VALENCIES tells with pathos and humor a richly detailed portrait of the struggle against an Empire that's prepared to obliterate an entire world. Brian W. Aldiss said about this book: «One of the most playful SF novels of recent years.»

A Case for Brutus Lloyd

John Russell Fearn

Dr. Brutus Lloyd is no more than four feet ten inches tall, an amazingly gnome-like man. He's not a dwarf, simply vest-pocket size. His head has a brow like a baby cliff, capped by a tuft of jet-black hair that curled down the immense forehead. His face, though overbalanced by the brow, is powerful for all its smallness. The most surprising thing about him is his deep bass voice. A brilliant scientist and criminologist, his unorthodox methods in combating criminals sometimes causes consternation to Inspector Branson of the New York City Police. Branson never quite knows how to take his extraordinary scientific ideas–but he knows better than to ignore them, because they were invariably right! Four classic scientific mystery tales from the era of the pulp magazines.

The Randall Garrett MEGAPACK®

Randall Garrett

"The Randall Garrett Megapack" (and its companion volume, «The Second Randall Garrett Megapack») together encompass 42 classic-era science fiction tales by Randall Garrett. Readers interested in works by the author of the Lord Darcy and the Queen's Own F.B.I. series will find much of interest here! [Note that we omit one story–an early magazine version of a novel included in the second volume–as unnecessary.] "The Randall Garrett Megapack" – focusing primarily on shorter words –collects 25 stories from the pages of Astounding Science Fiction Stories, Analog, and Amazing Stories. Included are: BELLY LAUGH HEIST JOB ON THIZAR THE MAN WHO HATED MARS THE JUDAS VALLEY THE PENAL CLUSTER DESPOILERS OF THE GOLDEN EMPIRE CUM GRANO SALIS BUT, I DON’T THINK DEAD GIVEAWAY …OR YOUR MONEY BACK THE DESTROYERS IN CASE OF FIRE THE MEASURE OF A MAN DAMNED IF YOU DON’T BY PROXY THE HIGHEST TREASON A SPACESHIP NAMED McGUIRE HANGING BY A THREAD FIFTY PER CENT PROPHET HAIL TO THE CHIEF THE BRAMBLE BUSH …AFTER A FEW WORDS… ANCHORITE ANYTHING YOU CAN DO THE UNNECESSARY MAN If you like this volume, you will definitely want to add «The Second Randall Garrett Megapack» too. (Available on this ebook store.) And don't forget to search for «Wildside Megapack» in this store to see the whole series, ranging from science fiction and fantasy to westerns, mysteries, ghost stories – and much, much more!

Triangle of Power

John Russell Fearn

To the peoples of Earth, it had seemed the perfect marriage when Violet Ray Brant–better known as The Golden Amazon–and Abna of Atlantis were wed in Westminster Abbey. But it was nothing of the kind, and before long Abna found himself betrayed and marooned on a satellite of Jupiter, while the Amazon's spaceship had been sent hurtling far beyond the solar system in reprisal. Taking advantage of the absence of Earth's greatest protectors, master scientist Sefner Quorne, another survivor of the Atlanteans, steps in and takes hypnotic control of the planet using ten disembodied brains linked together in a gigantic computer. The human race seems doomed to eternal scientific slavery…unless the TRIANGLE OF POWER can somehow be re-established! Another gripping SF adventure from the pulp era.

Here and Now

John Russell Fearn

At the height of a thunderstorm, Chris Danvers, amateur TV broadcaster, witnesses on his screen the vision of a gorgeously beautiful woman–a woman who doesn't speak English or any known foreign language. When he manages to reach her again, he makes an extraordinary discovery: Marvia inhabits a completely different plane of existence. She also possesses a marvelous singing voice spanning seven octaves. When Chris tries to exploit her talents, he finds himself prosecuted as a charlatan. And then the girl herself takes a hand… A science fiction rediscovery, published in book form for the very first time.

Building New Worlds, 1946-1959

Damien Broderick

Building New Worlds is a history of a pivotal decades-long episode in the birth and growth of today's science fiction. Enthralling and amusing, it's written with affection and wit. This is no dry, modishly theorized academic analysis. Nor is it a rah-rah celebration of the «Good Old Days.» Here is a candid and astute reader's response to a magazine that, by today's standards, was often comically bad–but was also immensely important in its time, and improved, like the Little Engine (or maybe Starship) That Could. New Worlds is best remembered today as the fountainhead of the New Wave of audacious experimental SF in the second half of the 1960s, under editor Michael Moorcock. But these first pioneering issues, from 1946-59, were edited by the magazine’s founder, John «Ted» Carnell (1912-72). Carnell was a pillar of the old-style UK SF establishment, but gamely supportive of innovators–most famously, of the brilliant J. G. Ballard, Brian W. Aldiss, and John Brunner, whose early work he nurtured. The story of how New Worlds got started, survived, and got better is essential to the history of the genres of the fantastic in the UK–and indeed, the world. And huge fun to read. Watch for the companion volumes, New Worlds: Before the New Wave, and Strange Highways, dealing with New World's companion magazine, Science Fantasy.

Galactic Destiny

E. C. Tubb

In the far future, humanity has split into two groups: Folk and People. The Folk man the star ships, spending their entire lives in space. The People dwell on planets, only using the ships for travel between the worlds. A freak accident in No-Space causes a ship to drop out of faster-than-light mode into normal space, to be stranded between the stars. The Captain is able to jury-rig the damaged engines, but only to shift half of the ship’s mass back into No-Space to continue the journey. After throwing out all nonessential structures, cargo, and fitments, both passengers and crew alike come to realize more mass–some of the humans themselves–must be ejected into space so that the rest may survive. But how to chose who lives or dies? And then a murderer strikes.... A chilling psychological tale of crime and passion.

Dreamspy

Jacqueline Lichtenberg

In THOSE OF MY BLOOD, humans exploring a galactic spacecraft that had crashed on Earth's moon wakened an alien, a luren, who desperately tried to prevent the contamination of human culture with galactic technology–by lying to Earth's vampires. DREAMSPY reveals the truth behind those lies, presenting the story of Elias, a musician kidnapped from Earth into a tangle of galactic espionage, amidst a galactic war over the destruction of the fabric of space. When Kyllikki, a powerful telepath, rescues Elias from his captors amidst a space battle, they must run for their lives across enemy territory aided by Zuchmul, a distant relative of the luren who'd died on the Earth's moon. Can Elias admit his love for a woman who could enslave his soul–even if the fate of Earth depends on it? Another marvelous tale of intrigue, romance, and «magic» set in the Earth's future!