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Tales of science fiction and adventure from the Hugo Award-winning author of Way Station and City. The long and prolific career of Clifford D. Simak cemented him as one of the formative voices of the science fiction and fantasy genre. The third writer to be named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, his literary legacy stands alongside those of Robert A. Heinlein and Ray Bradbury. This striking collection of nine tales showcases Simak's ability to take the everyday and turn it into something truly compelling, taking readers on a long journey in a very short time.

Nine tales of imagination and wonder from one of the formative voices of science fiction and fantasy, the author of Way Station and City. Named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, Clifford D. Simak was a preeminent voice during the decades that established sci-fi as a genre to be reckoned with. Held in the same esteem as fellow luminaries Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and Ray Bradbury, his novels continue to enthrall today's readers. And his short fiction is still as gripping and surprising now as when it first entertained an entire generation of fans.

This saga of parallel universes from a Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author "may be the best constructed hard SF epic yet" (The Washington Post). One of the world's preeminent New York Times-bestselling authors of hard science fiction mesmerizes readers with a mind-expanding, three-volume masterwork about the creation of an alternate universe that breaks down all barriers of time and space, and its consequences for future and past generations.

New writings on our fear of-and fascination with-the "other" from Joyce Carol Oates, Peter Straub, Kelly Link, Jeffrey Ford, and more.Alien is a powerful and flexible word. Aliens are "other." Aliens are the stuff of science fiction and fantasy. Aliens are traditional literary figures that cause us to see ourselves anew.

Two young boys find some very unusual new pets in this short story from a Grand Master of Science Fiction. Tagging along while his astronomer father visits an industrialist at his vast estate, young Slim is lucky enough to make fast friends with the industrialist's son, Red, who has recently caught some very strange animals on the property. The animals seem intelligent enough, and Red recruits Slim to help him train the odd creatures to do circus tricks.

Hugo Award Finalist: A mystery at the heart of a desert planet and its ruling class must be solved in this thrilling tale from a Grand Master of Science Fiction. Brion Brandd has just triumphed in the planetary contest called the "Twenties, "a series of physical and mental trials meant to push contestants to their limits. But before he can fully recover from these tests, he's recruited by former Twenties champion Ihjel for a mission of utmost importance.

A gifted gambler fights to survive on a hostile planet in this classic novel from the creator of science fiction antihero the Stainless Steel Rat. The gravity is twice that of Earth. The weather is an unpredictable maelstrom. All species of life, both plant and animal, monstrous and microscopic, are lethal. And the environment is drenched with radioactivity. This is planet Pyrrus, where telepathically gifted gambler Jason dinAlt has ended up after scamming a government casino out of a fortune.

The groundbreaking novella that gave rise to science fiction's original space hero, Buck Rogers. In 1927, World War I veteran Anthony Rogers is working for the American Radioactive Gas Corporation investigating strange phenomena in an abandoned coal mine when suddenly there's a cave-in. Trapped in the mine and surrounded by radioactive gas, Rogers falls into a state of suspended animation...'or nearly five hundred years.

There's a heavy price to pay for the manipulation of nature in this novel from the revered author of The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine. It begins as a boon for mankind-the creation of the substance Herakleophorbia IV. When fed to farm animals, it causes them to grow to enormous size. But when it is accidentally allowed to enter the local food chain, the consequences prove monstrous: Human children exposed to it grow into giants, reaching forty feet in height. At first, these giants are tolerated. Then, as they mature, they are scorned.

Two classic science fiction stories about a California family fleeing a nuclear holocaust, written in an era when a dystopian future seemed inevitable. An atomic bomb has struck Los Angeles, and the streets are filled with cars fleeing the city. But Mr. Jimmon knows that things will be different for his family. He has meticulously prepared for such an event, and now that it has arrived, he carries out his plan almost gleefully. The Jimmons get in their station wagon, filled with supplies, and head for the predetermined base. From the backseat, his children are complaining.