Barrington Bayley SF Gateway Omnibus

Barrington Bayley SF Gateway Omnibus
Author: Barrington J. Bayley
Publisher: Gateway
Total Pages: 502
Release: 2014-03-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1473201942

Although largely, and unjustly, neglected by a modern audience, Bayley was a hugely influential figure to some of the greats of British SF, such as Michael Moorcock and M. John Harrison. He is perhaps best-known for THE FALL OF CHRONOPOLIS, which is collected in this omnibus, alongside THE SOUL OF THE ROBOT and the extraordinary story collection THE KNIGHTS OF THE LIMITS. THE FALL OF CHRONOPOLIS: The mighty ships of the Third Time Fleet relentlessly patrolled the Chronotic Empire's 1,000-year frontier, blotting out an error of history here or there before swooping back to challenge other time-travelling civilisations far into the future. Captain Mond Aton had been proud to serve in such a fleet. But now, falsely convicted of cowardice and dereliction of duty, he has been given the cruellest of sentences: to be sent unprotected into time as a lone messenger between the cruising timeships. After such an inconceivable experience in the endless voids there is only one option left to him. To be allowed to die. THE SOUL OF THE ROBOT: Jasperodus, a robot, sets out to prove he is the equal of any human being. His furturistic adventures as warrior, tyrant, renegade and statesman eventually lead him back home to the two human beings who created him. Question: Does he have a soul? THE KNIGHTS OF THE LIMITS: Nine brilliant stories of infinite space and alien consciousness, suffused with a sense of wonder...

The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Second Annual Collection

The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Second Annual Collection
Author: Gardner Dozois
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Total Pages: 704
Release: 2015-07-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1466870486

In the new millennium, what secrets lay beyond the far reaches of the universe? What mysteries belie the truths we once held to be self evident? The world of science fiction has long been a porthole into the realities of tomorrow, blurring the line between life and art. Now, in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Second Annual Collection the very best SF authors explore ideas of a new world. This venerable collection brings together award winning authors and masters of the field such as Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, Damien Broderick, Elizabeth Bear, Paul McAuley and John Barnes. And with an extensive recommended reading guide and a summation of the year in science fiction, this annual compilation has become the definitive must-read anthology for all science fiction fans and readers interested in breaking into the genre.

The Fall of Chronopolis

The Fall of Chronopolis
Author: Barrington J. Bayley
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 152
Release: 2011-09-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0575102063

The mighty ships of the Third Time Fleet relentlessly patrolled the Chronotic Empire's thousand-year frontier, blotting out an error of history here or there before swooping back to challenge other time-travelling civilisations far into the future. Captain Mond Aton had been proud to serve in such a fleet. But now, falsely convicted of cowardice and dereliction of duty, he had been given the cruellest of sentences: to be sent unprotected into time as a lone messenger between the cruising timeships. After such an inconceivable experience in the endless voids there was only one option left to him. To be allowed to die.

The Inhabited Island

The Inhabited Island
Author: Arkady Strugatsky
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Total Pages: 363
Release: 2020-02-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1613736002

When Maxim Kammerer, a young space explorer from twenty-second-century Earth, crash-lands on an uncharted world, he thinks of himself as a latter-day Robinson Crusoe. Eager to establish first contact with the planet's humanlike inhabitants, he finds himself increasingly entangled in their primitive way of life. After his experiences in their nightmarish military, criminal justice, and mental health systems, Maxim begins to realize that his sojourn on this radioactive and war-scarred world will not be a walk in the park. The Inhabited Island is one of the Strugatsky brothers' most popular and acclaimed novels, yet the only previous English-language edition (Prisoners of Power) was based on a version heavily censored by Soviet authorities. Now, in a sparkling new edition by award-winning translator Andrew Bromfield, this land-mark novel can be newly appreciated by both longtime Strugatsky fans and new explorers of the Russian science fiction masters' astonishingly rich body of work.

The Judas Rose

The Judas Rose
Author: Suzette Haden Elgin
Publisher: Feminist Press at CUNY
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2019-07-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1936932652

In this dystopian science fiction classic set in a world where women have no rights, the patriarchy sends a covert female agent to take down the resistance. In the second entry of the Native Tongue trilogy, the time has come for Láadan—the secret language created to resist an oppressive patriarchy—to empower womankind worldwide. To expand the language’s reach, female linguists translate the Bible into Láadan, and a group of Roman Catholic nuns are tasked to spread the language. But when outraged priests detect their sabotage, they send a double agent to infiltrate and destroy the movement from the inside… Originally published in the 1980s, the Native Tongue trilogy is a classic dystopian tale: a testament to the power of language and women's collective action. “This angry feminist text is also an exemplary experiment in speculative fiction, deftly and implacably pursuing both a scientific hypothesis and an ideological hypothesis through all their social, moral, and emotional implications.”—Ursula K. Le Guin “Less well known than The Handmaid's Tale but just as apocalyptic in their vision…Native Tongue along with its sequel The Judas Rose . . . record female tribulations in a world where…women have no public rights at all. Elgin's heroines do, however, have one set of weapons—words of their own.”—Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, New York Times Book Review “A pioneering feminist experiment.”—Literary Hub “A welcome reminder of the feminist legacies of science fiction…Explores the power of speech, agency, and subversion in a work that is as gripping, troubling, and meaningful today as it has ever been.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

The Garments of Caean

The Garments of Caean
Author: Barrington J. Bayley
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2011-09-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0575102098

THE GARMENTS OF CAEAN are forbidden in the Ziode Cluster, their qualities little understood. So when Peder Forbath finds the legendary Frachonard suit on a wrecked Caeanic freighter, he immediately tries it on. To his delight he finds that the garment endows him with undreamed-of powers. But is Peder wearing the suit - or is the suit wearing him?

Icons of Horror and the Supernatural

Icons of Horror and the Supernatural
Author: S. T. Joshi
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 819
Release: 2006-12-30
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 031308100X

Horror and the supernatural have fascinated people for centuries, and many of the most central figures appear over and over again. These figures have gained iconic status and continue to hold sway over popular culture and the modern imagination. This book offers extended entries on 24 of the most enduring and significant figures of horror and the supernatural, including The Sea Creature, The Witch, The Alien, The Vampire, The Werewolf, The Sorcerer, The Ghost, The Siren, The Mummy, The Devil, and The Zombie. Each entry is written by a leading authority on the subject and discusses the topic's essential features and lasting influence, from the classical epics of Homer to the novels of Stephen King. Entries cite sources for further reading, and the Encyclopedia closes with a selected, general bibliography. Entries include illustrations, sidebars of interesting information, and excerpts from key texts. Horror and the supernatural have fascinated people for centuries, with many of the most central figures appearing over and over again across time and cultures. These figures have starred in the world's most widely read literary works, most popular films, and most captivating television series. Because of their popularity and influence, they have attained iconic status and a special place in the popular imagination. This book overviews 24 of the most significant icons of horror and the supernatural.

Collision with Chronos

Collision with Chronos
Author: Barrington J. Bayley
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 151
Release: 2013-07-25
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0575102055

The alien ruins that dotted Earth's landscape were an enigma. Archaeologist Rond Heshke dismissed as a ridiculous hoax the photographic evidence which suggested that the ruins disobeyed the laws of time. The Titanium Legions believed that the ruins had been left behind by an invading force from space, which had been repelled in a past age and whose imminent return was feared. It was not until the Titanium scientists perfected their time machines that the truth began to emerge piece by piece: that the builders of the ruins belonged not to the stars but to Earth's own future, and that the dreaded confrontation was indeed shortly due - not with aliens, but in a form more horrifying, more calamitous, than anything imaginable... For Earth was to be the victim of an extraordinary cosmic accident. Time itself was about to collide! Mankind's leaders became even more fanatical, pressing on with new plans, determined at all costs to survive...

The Soul of the Robot

The Soul of the Robot
Author: Barrington J. Bayley
Publisher: Gateway
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2011-11-14
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0575102071

He was unique. Alone in a world that did not understand him, he tested the super powers of his mind and body. More than a machine, but less than a man, he searched restlessly for the truth. Before his quest was done, he had died and been reborn, had fought his way from a grim dungeon to a royal throne. Jasperodus, the only super-robot to have been granted consciousness, must decide whether to share his soul-possessing secrets with the other robots or to betray them to save mankind.

The Zen Gun

The Zen Gun
Author: Barrington J. Bayley
Publisher: Gateway
Total Pages: 138
Release: 2013-07-25
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0575102144

Pout, the chimera, half-man, half-ape, was incorporated into one of the plants or vice versa. He was jammed into a squatting position, while the stems, entering at his buttocks, merged with his legs, his arms and his torso, emerging at knees, elbows, and through his abdomen and thorax. A large, yellow-petalled flower seemed to frame his face. It was his face that rivetted Ikematsu's attention, while the chimera squirmed in dumb distress, glaring with huge piteous eyes. For in that face, set into it as if set in pudding, was the zen gun. The gun was his face, or a part of it. The barrel pointed straight out in place of a nose... the stock merged with and disappeared into Pout's pendulous mouth. Ikematsu leaned toward the chimera. "How you loved your toy! Now it is truly yours!"