The Instrumentality of Mankind

The Instrumentality of Mankind
Author: Cordwainer Smith
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2011-09-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0575108630

Fourteen classic Smith stories, set in his star-spanning future universe of scanners, planoforming ships and the Underpeople. Here is the account of the strange origin of the Vomact family and its role in founding the Instrumentality, of how one man's love broke the secret of Space-Three, of what happens to people too long between the stars - even of a shape-changing Martian with a passion for gadgets - in a collection that presents some of the strongest work of an unforgettable writer.

The Rediscovery of Man

The Rediscovery of Man
Author: Cordwainer Smith
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2012-11-30
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0575108614

Welcome to the strangest, most distinctive future ever imagined by a science fiction writer. An interstellar empire ruled by the mysterious Lords of the Instrumentality, whose access to the drug stroon, from the planet Norstrilia, confers on them virtual immortality. A world in which wealthy and leisured humanity is served by the underpeople, genetically engineered animals turned into the semblance of people. A world in which the great ships which sail between the stars are eventually supplanted by the mysterious, instantaneous technique of planoforming. A world of wonder and myth, and extraordinary imagination.

When the People Fell

When the People Fell
Author: Cordwainer Smith
Publisher: Baen
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012-08-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781451638295

Massive collection of visionary science fiction set in a future of advanced superscience of epic scope by a legendary SF master: part two of the collected works of Cordwainer Smith begun with We the Underpeople. A sweeping saga of the centuries to come, from the new dark age that followed a global war, to the new civilization that arose from the ashes to colonize the stars. At first, the colonists use ships with gigantic sails, cruising on the waves of starlight, their captains having to become something part human and part machine; then later moving by planoforming ships which travel faster than light, but must defend themselves against the malevolent, mind-devouring creatures lurking in the dark between the stars. Then came the reign of the all-powerful Lords of the Instrumentality, who ruled Earth and its colony worlds with ruthless benevolence, suffocating the human spirit for millennia—until the time of the Rediscovery of Man, when the strange, lost concept of freedom was reborn....An extraordinary vision of a future unique in science fiction, praised by readers, critics, and major writers in the field.

Norstrilia

Norstrilia
Author: Cordwainer Smith
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2011-09-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0575108622

When his ultra-logical computer tells him that to survive he must become the richest man in the universe, Rod McBan the hundred and fifty-first thought he had a good plan. A telepathic cripple, rejected by many of his people, owner of the Station of Doom, the safety of wealth would keep him safe. In one crowded, unbelievable night he achieved the impossible, became the richest boy in the galaxy. But Rod McBan will soon discover that money brings trouble. A galaxy of people and other beings - out to rob him, use him or kill him!

Best of Cordwainer Smith

Best of Cordwainer Smith
Author: Cordwainer Smith
Publisher: Phoenix Pick
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2017-04-26
Genre:
ISBN: 9781649730558

"No one ever wrote like Smith, with his special blend of intense myth-making and rich invention "--Publishers Weekly Cordwainer Smith was one of the original visionaries to think of humanity in terms of thousands of years in the future,

We the Underpeople

We the Underpeople
Author: Cordwainer Smith
Publisher: Baen
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2008-07-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781416555674

In a far-flung future, planoforming ships knit together a galaxy ruled from Earth by the ruthless benevolence of the mysterious Lords of the Instrumentality, who presided over a utopia without death, danger—or freedom. The Underpeople, humanlike beings created from animals to do the work of utopia, had no rights, and could be disposed of at the whim of a human. But they had become more humanlike than their creators, and their leader, the cat woman C’Mell, had a plan for gaining their freedom—which made her much too dangerous a person to be permitted to live. Elsewhere in the galaxy, the planet Norstrilia had power of its own, for it was the only source of stroon, the drug which arrested aging and made humans immortal. Its inhabitants were wealthy beyond comprehension, and one of them, a boy named Rod McBan, with the help of his computer, had manipulated the galactic economy until he completely owned the planet Earth—which made him much too dangerous a person to be permitted to live. But when Rod came to Earth and joined forces with C’Mell and the Underpeople, the petrified utopia of the Instrumentality began to crack and fall apart as freedom was reborn in the galaxy. . . .

Quest of the Three Worlds

Quest of the Three Worlds
Author: Cordwainer Smith
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 159
Release: 2011-09-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0575108649

The Gem Planet, the Storm Planet, the Sand Planet . . . one of these three marvel worlds held the secret Casher O'Neill sought. Casher had wandered the inhabited galaxy seeking justice, seeking the cosmic power that would enable him to return to his home world and overthrow its usurper. But in the search he found much more than he had sought, for there were things more incredible among the stars than he had dreamed of.

The Game of Rat and Dragon

The Game of Rat and Dragon
Author: Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Total Pages: 28
Release: 2020-09-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 146558370X

Under Old Earth

Under Old Earth
Author: Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger
Publisher: Good Press
Total Pages: 57
Release: 2021-08-31
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

Linebarger plunges us instantly into his fantasy reality, far in the future, when life as we know it is all but forgotten. He introduces us to three characters around whom the story will unfold: the gambler Sun-Boy; a girl, Santuna; Lord Sto Obin, who knew what was going to happen but did nothing to prevent it.

The Planet Buyer

The Planet Buyer
Author: Cordwainer Smith
Publisher: Sphere
Total Pages: 168
Release: 1964
Genre: English fiction
ISBN:

A boy considered to be defective may be executed to avoid overpopulation on his planet. He uses an ancient computer to come up with a plan to become wealthy, then uses the wealth to buy planet Earth.