WE CAN BUILD YOU

DAW paperback, first printing, 1972. Cover by John Schoenherr.

"They began as manufacturers of electric mood organs and player pianos. Then they improved the line - they started building exact simulacra of famous men. They thought that people would pay a good price to have anyone they wanted made to order - to talk with, befriend and eventually utilize for any purpose they wanted. 

But they ran into trouble. For one thing an exactly programmed reconstruction of a famous man is going to be obstinate and as character complex as the real man was - and nobody's puppet. 

For another, they got involved with a project for settling the moon with their creations. And finally they got tangled up with their own personal identities."

LORD OF LIGHT

Panther SF paperback, 1977. Cover illustration by Peter Goodfellow.

"SAM NEVER CLAIMED TO BE A GOD. BUT THEN, HE NEVER CLAIMED NOT TO BE... 

The time: long after the death of earth. A band of men on a colony planet have gained control of technology. With it, they have given themselves immortality and godlike powers. And they rule their world as the gods of the Hindu pantheon. Kali, goddess of destruction; Yama, lord of death; Krishna, god of lust - all are opposed by he who was Siddartha, and is now Mahasamatman, Binder of Demons, Lord of Light..."

THE SENTINEL

Granada paperback, 1985. Cover illustration by Chris Foss.

"The author of more than fifty books - with over 15 million copies in print - Arthur C. Clarke is one of the world's most distinguished figure in modern science and science fiction. He is the inventor of the concept of the communications satellite, a past Chairman of the British Interplanetary Society and a member of the Academy of Astronomics. His novel RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA won science fiction's three highest honours: the Hugo, Nebula and John W. Campbell Awards. his two 'Odyssey' novels, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and 2010: ODYSSEY TWO were both major international bestsellers. 

THE SENTINEL is a magnificent collection of Arthur C. Clarke's finest shorter fiction spanning four decades. Included here, along with revealing new introductions, are The Sentinel (the story that inspired 2001), Guardian Angel (the rarely-glimpsed work that gave birth to CHILDHOOD'S END), The Songs of Distant Earth, a brilliant, haunting story of first contact with an alien world, and other outstanding stories of vaulting imagination. 

Stunningly illustrated with ten plates by internationally acclaimed artist Lebbeus Woods, THE SENTINEL will grace the collection of every Arthur C. Clarke reader and every lover of fine science fiction."

Contents:


Rescue Party
Guardian Angel
Breaking Strain
The Sentinel
Jupiter V
Refugee
The Wind From The Sun
A Meeting With Medusa
The Songs Of Distant Earth

NOT OF THIS WORLD

Sphere paperback, reprint, February 1974.

"The 'astronauts' of ancient Japan, Mexico and the Sahara...the mysterious Great Wall of Peru...the legends of Mu and Atlantis...the astronomical clock at Stonehenge...the extra-terrestrial giants described in the Popol Vuh, ancient bible of the Maya Indians. 

NOT OF THIS WORLD is a revolutionary survey of the evidence that a highly advanced technological people from another solar system had contact with our planet in the prehistoric past. The author backs his argument with an impressive array of fact drawn from history, myth and archaeology, and a unique collection of drawings and photographs."

I've always found the notion of ancient astronauts appealing, and there's some fascinating stuff in this book, especially in terms of mythology and legends. True or not, it's nice to ponder 'what if' occasionally. Kolosimo comes off as more informed and genuine than (contemporary?) Erich von Däniken, whose theories seem to centre around the statement 'This looks like X, therefore, it is...' For me, the excerpts from the Popol Vuh in particular, are worth keeping the book, so is the cover actually.

GODS AND SPACEMEN THROUGHOUT HISTORY

Sphere paperback, 1977. Cover artist uncredited.

"From pre-history Flying Saucers in one guise or another have been seen in our skies. Where have they come from? What are they here for? 

As Earthmen land on the Moon, we ask ourselves Has all this happened before? Could Extraterrestrials from the stars have landed on Earth centuries ago? 

Our ancestors believed they were inspired by the Gods, all-powerful visitors from beyond Earth. How much influence have these Space-Gods had on Man's evolution? Can we hope for some guidance from the past for our own sadly troubled times? 

In this revelatory book, W. Raymond Drake examines the role of Extraterrestrials in Man's development and assures us that in times to come Man will again be visited by Gods and Spacemen from other worlds."

ON THE SHORES OF ENDLESS WORLDS

Sphere paperback, 1975. Cover painting by Tony Roberts.

"Now - more than any other time in his history - man has the ability to look back into his origins and, at the same time, look out to the rim of space to...his future? 

Andrew Tomas dares to escape our earthbound views, assimilating biology, archaeology, geology, history and astronomy to make a new assessment of man's destiny in time and space, set in an infinite past and boundless future: on the shores of endless worlds. He finds a continuity between the inorganic and the organic, the human and the 'superman', the legends of the past and the possibilities of the future. Blending knowledge and speculation, liberating the imagination of the reader, Andrew Tomas has produced a book as fascinating as his bestselling WE ARE NOT THE FIRST."

BEYOND THE TIME BARRIER

Sphere paperback, 1974. Cover artist uncredited.

"In his new book the author of We Are Not The First and Atlantis turns his attention to the nature and enigmas of time. Time, he argues, is not an abstraction: yesterday and tomorrow are as real as today. To illustrate his thesis, he quotes a number of temporal anomalies and poses some highly provocative questions. 

Is it true that astronauts in an interstellar rocket will travel straight into the future? How is it that when an empty parking lot was photographed with a special infra-red camera, the developed film showed cars which had been there before, thus photographing the past? 

Did ancient Egyptian sages leave a coded forecast of all future events from 100 BC to 2100 AD? How in modern times have prophets from Nostradamus to Jeane Dixon predicted future events with such uncanny accuracy? 

Can the Time Barrier be broken? Is time television a scientific possibility? These and many other equally fascinating problems are answered in this book, written on that thin borderline which separates science from science fiction, fact from fantasy."

WE ARE NOT THE FIRST

Sphere paperback, 1972. Cover artist uncredited.

"The development of modern science during the course of the past 400 years is merely the rediscovery of ancient knowledge. 

ATOMIC THEORY 

was worked out by Democritus 2500 years before Rutherford. 

PENICILLIN 

was used by the ancient Egyptians 4000 years before Fleming. 

ELECTRIC BATTERIES 

were used by the Babylonians 2000 years before König's cells. 

SPACE TRAVEL 

was described by the prehistoric Chinese 4000 years before the Apollo flights."

SHIPWRECK

Panther SF paperback, 1977. Cover illustration by David Bergen.

"When an atomic explosion destroys a huge expedition ship, Tansis becomes the sole survivor of the human race. A skilled space pilot, he manages to land his scout craft on the nearest planet. The alien world in which he finds himself is not hostile but has no means of supporting human life. Desperate for human contact, Tansis establishes a telepathic relationship with the extraordinary seal-like creatures who live in the planet's oceans. But just as things seem to be going smoothly, the craft computer warns Tansis that he energy supply is running out and he is forced to take drastic measures to safeguard his own survival..."

MINDMIX

Coronet SF paperback, 1973. Cover by Chris Foss.

"He was a man - but they changed him into a guinea pig. 

The world is dying. A disease more terrible than cancer ravages its populace. Scientists struggle when people die in their thousands. There is no known cure. 

Pete Bratton was a simple man. A drifter who let life nudge him from one day to the next. A nowhere man in a world of pre-destination and disease. A man who should have died, but who survived the terror of Virus Y and became a phenomenon. A human guinea pig for eager scientists to store the ideology of a dying civilization by memory transfer. 

But what of the real Pete Bratton strapped of his rights as a few individual and strapped to an operating table for the cause of science? 

And what of his own mind as it slowly dissolves into a jumble of conflicting ideas and personalities?"

THE ROAD TO SCIENCE FICTION #3 FROM HEINLEIN TO HERE

Mentor paperback, 1978. Cover artwork by Paul Stinson.

"Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Fritz Leiber, Arthur C. Clarke, Philip José Farmer, Kurt Vonnegut, Roger Zelazny, Frederick Pohl, Harlan Ellison, Larry Niven, Ursula K. Le Guin.

From the depths of the earth to the farthest stars, from the day before yesterday to the end of time, here are magnificent tales of space and time by 36 masters of science fiction. From Robert A. Heinlein's mind-twisting story of the ultimate paradox to Clifford Simak's vision of "man's" conquest of Jupiter; from Theodore Sturgeon's tale of the day after atomic holocaust to Hal Clement's alternate life form below the earth's surface; from Harlan Ellison's computerized hell to Jjoanna Russ's world of women invaded by men for the first time in centuries... From Analog and Fantasy & Science Fiction through the new wave "revolution" and right up to the present day, The Road To Science Fiction #3 offers a spectacular tour of worlds to come and of those that might have been, complete with humans, aliens and machines to guide us along the way."

Contents:

All You Zombies by Robert A. Heinlein

Reason by Isaac Asimov

Desertion by Clifford D. Simak

Mimsy Were The Borogroves by Lewis Padgett

The Million-Year Picnic by Ray Bradbury

Thunder And Roses by Theodore Sturgeon

That Only A Mother by Judith Merril

Brooklyn Project by William Tenn

Coming Attraction by Fritz Leiber

The Sentinel by Arthur C. Clarke

Sail On! Sail On! by Philip José Farmer

Critical Factor by Hal Clement

Fondly Fahrenheit by Alfred Bester

The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin

The Game Of Rat And Dragon by Cordwainer Smith

Pilgrimage To Earth by Robert Sheckley

Who Can Replace A Man? by Brian Aldiss

Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

The Streets Of Ashkelon by Harry Harrison

The Terminal Beach by J. G. Ballard

Dolphin's Way by Gordon R. Dickson

Slow Tuesday Night by R. A. Lafferty

Day Millon by Frederick Pohl

We Can Remember It For You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick

I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison

Aye, And Gomorrah... by Samuel R. Delany

The Jigsaw Man by Larry Niven

Kyrie by Poul Anderson

Masks by Damon Knight

Stand On Zanzibar (excerpt) by John Brunner

The Big Flash by Norman Spinrad

Sundance by Robert Silverberg

The Left Hand Of Darkness (excerpt) by Ursula K. Le Guin

When It Changed by Joanna Russ

The Engine At Heartspring's Centre by Roger Zelazny

Tricentennial by Joe Haldeman

THE LIVES AND TIMES OF JERRY CORNELIUS

Grafton paperback, 1987. Cover illustration by Tim White.

"WHO - NOT TO SAY WHEN, WHERE, HOW OR WHY - IS JERRY CORNELIUS? 

We'll probably never know. Still, the contents of this book do provide a kind of kaleidoscopic biography of the immortal, ubiquitous assassin who has himself been the target of assassination attempts for his own brother Frank - and of several novels by Michael Moorcock, of course. 

THE LIVES AND TIMES OF JERRY CORNELIUS 

shows the enigmatic superhero about his business in Mandalay, London, the vatican and elsewhere (and elsewhen): they are a sharp, brilliantly witty satire of our times - and of time itself."

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

Arrow paperback, 1984. Cover painting by Peter Elson.

THE BEST OF CORDWAINER SMITH

Ballantine paperback, 1975. Cover art by Darrell Sweet.

"THE UNIVERSE OF CORDWAINER SMITH 

A thousand planets acknowledged one power - the Instrumentality of Mankind. But the Underpeople - created by the Overlords to be their servants - owed fealty only to themselves... 

HERE IN ONE VOLUME ARE THE 12 MOST IMPORTANT STORIES OF THE UNIQUE WRITER WHO FUSED WONDER AND POETRY INTO IMAGINATIVE TALES THAT TRANSCEND BOTH SCIENCE AND FICTION. 

SCANNERS LIVE IN VAIN 

Adam Stone had found the way for men to cross Deep Space alive - a discovery that might kill him! 

THE LADY WHO SAILED THE SOUL 

her name was Helen America, and she voyaged out to the stars - and into a timeless legend of romance... 

ALPHA RALPHA BOULEVARD 

They thought it was a road to a dream that would last forever - but dreams are made to be broken! 

THE BALLAD OF THE LOST C'MELL 

Never was there a girl quite like C'mell. She was not even a human being - but she was all woman! 

A PLANET NAMED SHAYOL 

Hell itself is not much to fear - if the people in it are good to each other! 

AND 7 MORE STUNNING STORIES...BY A MAN WHO DREAMED THE FUTURE."

Contents:


Scanners Live In Vain
The Lady Who Sailed The Soul
The Game Of Rat And Dragon
The Burning Of The Brain
The Crime And The Glory Of Commander Suzdal
Golden The Ship Was-Oh! Oh! Oh!
The Dead Lady Of Clown Town
Under Old Earth
Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons
Alpha Ralpha Boulevard
The Ballad Of Lost C'mell
A Planet Named Shayol

THE BEST OF OMNI SCIENCE FICTION No.1, 1980

The Best Of Omni Science Fiction, No. 1, 1980. Painting by Pierre Lacombe.

"A nonpareil anthology of stories and pictorials. Ten fantastic fiction features by such old pros as Harlan Ellison and Robert Sheckley as well as such newer stars as George R. R. Martin and Orson Scott Card. Great artists contributing to the mind-expanding pictorials include H. R. Giger, Samuel Bak, and Ernst Fuchs. There is also an interview with world-renowned science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke."

Contains Found! by Isaac Asimov, Robots, a pictorial by Harry Harrison featuring text and images excerpted from his book Mechanismo, Count The Clock That Tells The Time by Harlan Ellison, Body Game by Robert Sheckley, Orson Scott Card's Unaccompanied Sonata, Iceback Invasion by Hayford Pierce, No Future In It by Joe Haldeman, Galatea Galante by Alfred Bester, Alien Landscapes, a pictorial featuring text and artwork from the book by Robert Holdstock and Malcolm Edwards, Kinsman by Ben Bova, Space Cities, a pictorial by Harry Harrison featuring more excerpts from the book Mechanismo, Roger Zelazny's Halfjack, Sandkings by George R. R. Martin and Planet Story, a pictorial of paintings from the book by Jim Burns and Harry Harrison.

The Dynometer by Russell Mills, from Harry Harrison's Robots pictorial.

Womandroid by Jennifer Eachus, from Harry Harrison's Robots pictorial.

Painting by Jim Burns, from Harry Harrison's Robots pictorial.

Painting by Jim Burns, from Harry Harrison's Robots pictorial.

Spice Factory by Terry Oakes, from a pictorial showcasing the book Alien Landscapes by
Robert Holdstock and Malcolm Edwards.

Arrakeen by Terry Oakes, from a pictorial showcasing the book Alien Landscapes by
Robert Holdstock and Malcolm Edwards.

Painting by John Schoenherr that accompanied Ben Bova's Kinsman.

Painting by Alan Daniels, from Harry Harrison's Space Cities pictorial.

Painting by Jim Burns, from an excerpt of the book Planet Story by Jim Burns and
Harry Harrison.