Seven previously published pieces pertaining to the science fiction of American author Jack Vance, and his voyages around the world. Topics include the curious linkages between some of Vance's novels into a sort of "Future History;" an examination of a Vancean "hard sf" novel; a look at his various globe-trotting excursions and what he wrote while out on each one; and further delvings into the methods he employed to create such memorable fiction.
Far in the future, the craftsmen of the distant planet Halma create goods which are the wonder of the galaxy. But they know little of this. Their society is harshly regimented, its religion austere and unforgiving, and primitive - to maintain standards, even the most basic use of automation is punishable by death. When Amiante, a wood-carver, is executed for processing old documents with a camera, his son Ghyl rebels, and decides to bring down the system. To do so, he must first interpret the story of Emphyrio, an ancient hero of Halman legend. All Jack Vance titles in the SF Gateway use the author's preferred texts, as restored for the Vance Integral Edition (VIE), an extensive project masterminded by an international online community of Vance's admirers. In general, we also use the VIE titles, and have adopted the arrangement of short story collections to eliminate overlaps.
A dictionary-style guide to the science fiction worlds of Jack Vance. A souvenir of the worlds you have visited in the past! A planning guide for your next excursion off world! A handy survival manual for unexpected occasions! A reference work on the science fiction of award-winning Grand Master Jack Vance! A handbook!
"Vampires exist. They call themselves "the Moon-Chosen". The U.S. government and the United Nations governing council have kept the secret, desperately hiding it from the general population. The last thing they want is for the bloodsuckers to go war. Klaw Cavanaugh is a vampire and sometime assassin masquerading among human society. He owes an uneasy allegiance to Nero Serranova, a vampire prince with a bloody plan to unite the warring Gather-families of Gen Nocturna under one banner. Serranova's plan includes shredding the secret truce between humans and vampires, detailed in an unpublicized document known as "The Raptor Protocols". Dismayed, Cavanaugh enlists the aid of fellow vampire Lucraysha Radcleff, herself haunted by a past she is driven to atone for, and rogue intelligence agent Jordan Pride, an operative of the Urban Crimes Crisis Control Force's "Freak Show" unit, which covertly handles vampire crime. Josiah Kreed, a policeman within the rival Demonic community, has Klaw and associates under surveillance with orders to terminate them if their investigation threatens the power of the Demonics. Klaw knows Serranova's diabolical plot that can only end in disaster for his species. He rebels, recruiting the other adventurers. Reluctantly, they join forces to bring Serranova to justice."
Beginning with The Golden Age, continuing with The Phoenix Exultant and now concluding in The Golden Transcendence, John C. Wright's grand space opera is a SF adventure saga in the tradition of A. E. van Vogt and Roger Zelazny. It is an astounding story of super-science, a thrilling wonder story that recaptures the excitements of SF's golden agewriters in the suspenseful and passionate tale of a lone rebel unhappy in utopia. The end of the Millennium is imminent, when all minds, human, posthuman, cybernetic, sophotechnic, will be temporarily merged into one solar-system-spanning supermind called the Transcendence. This is not only the fulfillment of a thousand years of dreams, it is a day of doom, when the universal mind will pass judgment on all the races of humanity and transhumanity. The mighty ship Phoenix Exultant is at last in the hands of her master; Phaethon the Exile is at her helm. But the terrible truth has been revealed: he is being hunted by the agents from a long-lost dead star, the eerie and deadly Lords of the Silent Oecumene, whose super-technology plumbs depths even the all-knowing Earthmind cannot fathom. Humanity will be helpless during the Golden Transcendence. Phaethon's enemies plan to use the opportunity to destroy the population of the Inner System, man and machine alike. To do this, they must take control of Phaethon's beloved starship and turn her unparalleled power to warlike uses. Phaethon's memories are incomplete - but he knows a spy for the Silent Ones is already aboard. And when the all-encompassing Mind of the Golden Transcendence wakes - who will it condemn? Which future will it chose? Are Phaethon's dreams of star-flight about to revolutionize the Golden Age into an age even more glorious than gold, or will they kindle the first open war fought across the immensity of interstellar space? At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Celebrate classic novels of the New Wave era of sci-fi with this second collectable science fiction anthology from Library of America. Presenting 4 underrated science fiction classics from a tumultuous time in American history—including works by iconic Black author Samuel R. Delany and feminist Joanna Russ. In R. A. Lafferty’s utterly idiosyncratic and uncategorizable Past Master (1968), Renaissance philosopher Thomas More is summoned to Golden Astrobe in the year 2535: Can he save the planet’s troubled utopia from its soulless technological perfection and ensure the survival of the faith? Joanna Russ introduces one of SF’s first and most engaging female adventurers in her taut and edgy debut novel Picnic on Paradise (1968): the tough, sardonic, unforgettable Alyx, an ancient Phoenician mercenary teleported into the future to serve as guide and bodyguard for a band of stranded space tourists. The first African American writer to make a name for himself in the genre, Samuel R. Delany was hailed as “the best science-fiction writer in the world” on the basis of Nova (1968), a white-hot, fast-paced, protocyberpunk interstellar adventure featuring a misfit crew on a high-stakes quest. Stumbling on a mysterious ancient text among his father’s belongings, the son of a master woodcarver uncovers the key to revolutionary change in Jack Vance’s Emphyrio (1969), a marvel of craftsmanship and visionary world-building set on remote, feudal, theocratic Halma.
From the SF Gateway, the most comprehensive digital library of classic science fiction and fantasy titles ever assembled, comes an ideal sample introduction to the fantastic work of Jack Vance, one of the field's most beloved authors. Highly acclaimed, Jack Vance has won and been nominated for the HUGO, NEBULA and WORLD FANTASY AWARDs among many others, and in 1997 was named a Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master. This omnibus contains the novels BIG PLANET, which revolutionised the planetary romance, THE BLUE WORLD, and the collection, THE DRAGON MASTERS AND OTHER STORIES, the title story of which won the HUGO AWARD FOR SHORT FICTION.
This unique and comprehensive volume looks at the study of literature and religion from a contemporary critical perspective. Including discussion of global literature and world religions, this Companion looks at: Key moments in the story of religion and literary studies from Matthew Arnold through to the impact of 9/11 A variety of theoretical approaches to the study of religion and literature Different ways that religion and literature are connected from overtly religious writing, to subtle religious readings Analysis of key sacred texts and the way they have been studied, re-written, and questioned by literature Political implications of work on religion and literature Thoroughly introduced and contextualised, this volume is an engaging introduction to this huge and complex field.
