Beneath dense gray clouds through which no sun shone lay a forgotten planet. It was a nightmare world of grotesque and terrifying animal-plant life. Gigantic beetles, spiders, bugs and ants filled the putrid, musty earth-ready to kill and devour anything in sight. There were men amidst this horror-men who cringed and ran from the ravening monsters and huddled in the mushroom forests at night. Burl was one of these creatures. But one day inspiration hit Burl. He would find a weapon-he would fight back. And with this idea the first step was taken in man’s most desperate flight for freedom in this most horrible of all worlds. But it was only a first step.

The Fourth Science Fiction Megapack selects 25 more modern and classic science fiction stories, by talented authors new and old. Included in this volume: Mary A. Turzillo, E.C. Tubb, Murray Leinster, Theodore Sturgeon, Philip K. Dick, Katherine MacLean, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Jason Andrew, Larry Hodges, Carmelo Rafala, Ray Cluley, Henry Kuttner, Cynthia Ward, George H. Scithers, John Gregory Betancourt, James C. Stewart, Milton Lesser, John Russell Fearn, Marissa Lingen, Donald A. Wollheim, James K. Moran, Harry Harrison, Edgar Pangborn, Isaac Asimov, and Ayn Rand.

They were broadcasts from nowhere – sinister emanations flooding in from space – smashing any receiver that picked them up. What possible defence could Earth devise against science such as this?

Protagonist Bran Hoddan wants nothing more for himself than to be free of the taint of criminal activity that has long besmirched his clan. His plans for his future include a steady job and a fulfilling marriage. However, unforeseen circumstances have intervened, and suddenly Hoddan finds himself being pursued by a brutal group of primitive people. In desperation, he turns to his native trade – piracy – to free himself.

“I don’t know how I’m going to say it so you’ll understand, but time is just as much a dimension as length and breadth.” He frowned. He wanted to talk about Wells’s Time Machine but he knew that’d be no use – these folks didn’t read that sort of thing. “If the earth had settled down, we’d have been lower. If it had settled to one side, we’d have been moved one way or another, but as it’s settled back in the Fourth Dimension, we’re going back in time.” “Then –”

“We’re in a runaway skyscraper, bound for some time back before the discovery of America!”

There was no life on the asteroid, but the miles of rock-hewn corridors through which the earth party wandered left no doubt about the purpose of the asteroid. It was a mighty fortress, stocked with weapons of destruction beyond man’s power to understand. And yet there was no life here, nor had there been for untold centuries. What race had built this stronghold? What unimaginable power were they defending against? Why was it abandoned? There was no answer, all was dead.

But–not quite all. For in a room above the tomb-like fortress a powerful transmitter beamed its birdlike, fluting sounds toward earth. Near it, on a huge star-map of the universe, with light-years measured by inches, ten tiny red sparks were moving, crawling inexorably toward the center.

Moving, at many times the speed of light, with the acquired mass of suns … moving, on a course that would pass through the solar system. The unknown aliens would not even see our sun explode from the force of their passing, would not even notice the tiny speck called Earth as it died….

Artificial intelligence in 100 stories.

To ready us for the inevitable, here are 100 of the best short stories ever written--most of them by humans--about robots and artificial minds. Read them while you can, learn from them, and make your preparations... From 1837 through to the present day, from Charles Dickens to Cory Doctorow, this collection contains the most diverse collection of robots ever assembled. Anthropomorphic robots, invertebrate AIs, thuggish metal lumps and wisps of manufactured intelligence so delicate if you blinked you might miss them. The literature of robots and artificial intelligence is so wildly diverse, in both tone and intent, that our stories form six thematic collections.

It's Alive! is about inventors and their creations.

Following the Money drops robots into the day-to-day business of living.

Owners and Servants considers the human potentials and pitfalls of owning and...

ЖУРНАЛ ФАНТАСТИКИ И ФУТУРОЛОГИИСодержание:Сергей Казменко. МНЕ ЗДЕСЬ НЕ НРАВИТСЯ!Павел Волков. ОДИН И ДРУГИЕ.Герберт Уэллс. СТАДО ОСЛОВ.Роджер Желязны. ПОСЛЕДНЯЯ ИЗ ДИКИХ.Владимир Губарев. В КРАЮ «ДИКИХ ГУСЕЙ».Мюррей Лейнстер. ПЛАНЕТА НЕВЕДОМЫХ ДЕРЕВЬЕВ.Владимир Шмагин. ПИТОМНИК.Наталия Сафронова. СЛОН ИЗ МУХИ ПОКА НЕ НУЖЕН.Грег Бир. БЕССМЕРТИЕ. Роман.Леонид Лесков. ЖИТЬ ВЕЧНО? ЭТО ИНЖЕНЕРНАЯ ПРОБЛЕМА!

ЖУРНАЛ ФАНТАСТИКИ И ФУТУРОЛОГИИСодержание:Уильям Гибсон. ДЖОННИ-МНЕМОНИКСергей Чередниченко. НЕУДАЧНАЯ КОМАНДИРОВКАГарри Тартлдав. В НИЗИНЕ, повестьГарри Тартлдав. PEAЛЬНОСТЬ ВЫМЫСЛАМюррей Лейнстер. КОСМИЧЕСКИЙ БЕГЛЕЦВладимир Рогачев. ВО ЗЛO ИЛИ ВО БЛАГО?Леонид Кудрявцев. ВАЛЬХАЛЛАКирилл Королев. ЗДРАВСТВУЙТЕ, ТОВАРИЩ МОНТЕСУМА!Аллен Стил. СМЕРТЬ КАПИТАНА ФЬЮЧЕРАСИСТЕМА КООРДИНАТ

Фантастика из первого выпуска художественно-географической книги «На суше и на море».

Фантастика из сборника «На суше и на море» — 1964.

Сборник беллетристики, напечатанной за все годы в журнале «Химия и жизнь». В компиляции представлены, по возможности, полные версии произведений, опубликованных в журнале по большей части в сокращённом виде.Все журнальные комментарии, предваряющие либо резюмирующие произведения сборника, приведены целиком.