Like two giants the old enemies faced each other across the reaches of the galaxy - the Terran Empire and the Ythrian Domain. Terra was a Leviathan, encroaching ever further among the stars, promising peace and prosperity - but at the price of freedom. Ythri was smaller, but an empire in its own right, peopled by birdlike beings with a civilisation and intellect that easily matched Terra's own. And between the adversaries lay Avalon. One single planet, inhabited by human and Ythri alike. Both sides wanted to claim Avalon, by persuasion or by force, for it was a key world that could turn the tide of the war. But Avalon had developed a unique culture, a powerful blend of human and Ythrian thought. And Avalon had ideas of its own....
Four explorers from different backgrounds are marooned in space—and must unite to escape their floating prison—in this novel by a Nebula Award winner. In the twenty-third century, when humankind has spread itself throughout the cosmos, with many intergalactic colonies teetering on the brink of open revolt against the hated ruling Protectorate, a team of four is transported by a miraculous technology onto the deep-space vessel Southern Cross. Hailing from vastly different backgrounds, philosophies, and worlds, Ryerson, Nakamura, Sverdlov, and Maclaren have been entrusted to explore a long-dead star located light-years beyond where humanity has previously traveled. But venturing too close to the target proves disastrous when the black sun’s magnetic field permanently obliterates their only means of returning home. Suddenly, four strangers, two hailing from a privileged Earth and two from oppressed galactic colonies, must put aside their differences and work together to somehow find a way out of an impossible situation before time runs out, or die together at the farthest edge of a cold and merciless universe. A remarkably thoughtful and profoundly moving novel of survival in the darkest reaches of outer space, The Enemy Stars is a work of great power and insight by multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner Poul Anderson, one of the legendary greats of golden-age science fiction.
In the year of grace 1345, as Sir Roger Baron de Tourneville is gathering an army to join King Edward III in the war against France, a most astonishing event occurs: a huge silver ship descends through the sky and lands in a pasture beside the little village of Ansby in North East Lincolnshire. The Wersgorix, whose scouting ship it is, are quite expert at taking conquering planets, and having determined from orbit that this one is suitable, they initiate standard procedure. Their ship carries guided missiles and nuclear weaponry - but they have long since lost the art (and weapons) of hand-to-hand fighting. And this time it's no mere primitives the Wersgorix seek to enslave - they've launched their invasion against Englishmen! In the end, only one alien is left alive - and Sir Roger's grand vision is born. He intends for the creature to fly the ship first to France to aid his King, then on to the Holy Land to vanquish the infidel. And then . . . ?
A New York Times Notable Book and Hugo and Nebula Award Finalist: This epic chronicle of ten immortals over the course of history “succeeds admirably” (The New York Times). The immortals are ten individuals born in antiquity from various cultures. Immune to disease, able to heal themselves from injuries, they will never die of old age—although they can fall victim to catastrophic wounds. They have walked among mortals for millennia, traveling across the world, trying to understand their special gifts while searching for one another in the hope of finding some meaning in a life that may go on forever. Following their individual stories over the course of human history and beyond into a richly imagined future, “one of science fiction’s most revered writers” (USA Today) weaves a broad tapestry that is “ambitious in scope, meticulous in detail, polished in style” (Library Journal).
In this classic science fiction adventure, a fiery doomsday threatens an alien world—and the human colonists who have made it their home. Firetime is coming to Ishtar. This once-in-a-millennium event occurs when one of the planet’s three suns encroaches on Ishtar’s surface, to disastrous effect. The nightmare rapidly approaching, barbaric tribes have declared war on their more civilized brethren in hopes of avoiding a natural extermination. Standing between the opposing forces are the colonists who settled on Ishtar after abandoning their home planet, Earth. But in this time of chaos and destruction, there is little the humans can do to aid their Ishtarian allies in the desperate fight for survival. The Terran powers, engaged in their own terrible conflict with a hostile alien race, will offer no help to the endangered planet. With a fiery doomsday on the way, the humans can do nothing but watch and wait—and pray for a miracle that will forestall the inevitable apocalypse. A stunning work of speculative invention from one of the all-time masters of science fiction and fantasy, Poul Anderson’s classic Fire Time is a richly imagined tale of war, alien contact, and environmental catastrophe that brilliantly questions the concepts of right and wrong, good and evil, and heroism and villainy.
This Hugo Award finalist, “justifiably regarded as a classic” (SFReviews.net), is the tale of an epic space voyage where time dilation goes horribly wrong. Aboard the spacecraft Leonora Christine, fifty crewmembers, half men and half women, have embarked on a journey of discovery like no other to a planet thirty light-years away. Since their ship is not capable of traveling faster than light, the crew will be subject to the effects of time dilation and relativity. They will age five years on board the ship before reaching their destination, but thirty-three years will pass on Earth. Experienced scientists and researchers, they have come to terms with the time conditions of their space travel. Until . . . the Leonora Christine passes through an uncharted nebula, which damages the engine, making it impossible to decelerate the ship on the second half of their trip. To survive, the crewmembers have no choice but to bypass their destination and continue to accelerate toward the speed of light. But how will they keep hope alive and maintain order as they hurtle deeper into space with time passing more and more rapidly, and their ultimate fate unknown? With its combination of mind-blowing hard science and compelling human drama, Tau Zero is “the ultimate hard science novel” (Mike Resnick).
A time traveler stumbles upon a horrific plot to alter the future in this adventure from “one of science fiction’s most revered writers” (USA Today). Born with a strange genetic mutation, Jack Havig can travel backward and forward in time at will. His unique gift enables him to visit ancient Rome, the Byzantine Empire, and the Wild West. He’s even seen the far future, when the ecology-minded Maurai Federation dominates a world nearly obliterated by nuclear war. Jack undertakes these voyages with one objective in mind: to find others who share his remarkable abilities. In the shadow of the Crucifixion, Jack finally achieves his goal. But a terrible darkness clouds his admission into the secretive, time-traveling organization called Eyrie when the group’s true intentions become clear. For Eyrie’s plans include an unthinkable genocide designed to irrevocably alter the destiny of humankind—and Jack is the only one who can stop it. But he won’t be able to do it alone. The prolific and remarkable Poul Anderson dazzles once again with a humanistic science fiction adventure that races across the boundaries of time. Lightning-paced and marvelously inventive, There Will Be Time is an unforgettable journey through the ages from one of the greats of twentieth-century science fiction. This ebook includes the bonus stories “Progress” and “Windmill.”
Nebula and World Fantasy Award Finalist: A fantastic tale of intrigue, love, war, magic, and swashbuckling adventure set in an alternate universe where fairies mingle freely with Englishmen and all of Shakespeare’s fictional characters are real Welcome to an alternate civil-war-torn seventeenth-century England—a world where Hamlet once brooded and Othello jealously raged. Here faeries and sprites gambol in English woods, railroads race across the landscape while manned balloons float above the countryside, and the most respected historian of all is one William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon. The year is 1644, and the war between the Roundheads and the Cavaliers rages. When Rupert, nephew of King Charles I, is taken captive by Cromwell’s troops and imprisoned in a Puritan home, he is immediately smitten with the beautiful Jennifer Alayne, his captor’s niece. Escaping with the help of his newfound beloved and the loyal trooper Will Fairweather, Rupert leads Jennifer deep into the forest, where the faerie folk who dwell there have a vested interest in the outcome of the great and bloody conflict. Though the lovers must soon part—with the prince undertaking a dangerous mission for his magical benefactors that could turn the tide of war—Rupert and his lady love will be forever joined by the rings presented to them by King Oberon and Queen Titania. And despite the strange, twisting pathways and turbulent seas they are destined to encounter, they will always be able to find each other again . . . as long as their love remains true. Nominated for the World Fantasy Award and winner of the Mythopoeic Award, Poul Anderson’s A Midsummer Tempest is a titanic achievement—a delightful alternate-history fantasy that brings the fictional worlds of Shakespeare’s plays to breathtaking life with style, wit, and unparalleled imagination.
The first emissary from interstellar space has been in orbit for three years and still no one knows how to comminicate with it or why it had come to Earth from Sigma Draconis. But then Skip Wayburn, an otherwise ordinary "byworlder" (a person who has opted out of life in mainstream society) suddenly knows why the ship had come and what it wanted. But how will he make anyone take him seriously?
