From the vaults of The SF Gateway, the most comprehensive digital library of classic SFF titles ever assembled, comes an ideal introduction to the work of the award-winning Bob Shaw. Best known for his extraordinary novel of 'slow glass', Other Days, Other Eyes, Bob Shaw was a fan favourite at conventions for his hysterical 'serious scientific talks'. This omnibus contains three of his finest works: Orbitsville, A Wreath of Stars and The Ragged Astronauts

SFERA ORBITALE (1975) In fuga dalla vendetta di Elizabeth Lindstrom, sovrana della Terra, per la morte del figlio, il comandante Vance Garamond lascia il sistema solare. E si imbatte in una struttura aliena che potrebbe essere la nuova casa dei terrestri, un evento capace di cambiare il destino della razza umana. Apparso a puntate su «Galaxy Science Fiction» nell'estate del 1974, Orbitsville ha vinto il premio BSFA come miglior romanzo nel 1975.

RITORNO A ORBITSVILLE (1983) Dalla scoperta di Orbitsville, un mondo artificiale alieno di immensa grandezza, sono passati duecento anni. La maggior parte dei terrestri vi si è trasferita, trovando negli spazi ospitali di quel guscio cavo che racchiude il proprio sole tutto ciò che serve per vivere e prosperare. Ma quando Gary Dallen approda su Orbitsville scopre che gli antichi problemi che c'erano sulla Terra non si sono affatto estinti con il viaggio nello spazio. Dopo un brutale omicid...

I COSTRUTTORI DI ORBITSVILLE (1990) Orbitsville è uno straordinario artefatto alieno ben conosciuto dagli appassionati di fantascienza: un'immensa sfera artificiale in grado di ospitare miliardi di persone, su cui i terrestri hanno trovato rifugio per ovviare ai problemi di sovrappopolazione. Ma qualcuno, in questo terzo romanzo di una trilogia senza respiro, lo ha spostato in un universo alternativo, insieme a tutti i suoi nuovi abitanti...

Shrouded by its shell of drifting lunar fragments, the planet Mnemosyne is a refuge for creative artists and poets, a place isolated from the desperate, losing struggle of the humans against the Syccans.But then COMsac, theFederation's High Command, come to Mnemosyne, and suddenly the planet is more a military colony than a place for artists.For Mack Taverner, the dilemma is stark: either go along with the brutal military visitation or join the hopeless resitance and become...

Racing from the certain vengeance of Earth's tyrant ruler, space captain Vance Garamond flees the Solar System.And discovers the almost unimaginably vast spherical structure soon to become famous as 'Orbitsville' - a new home for Earth's huddled masses.Behind Garamond comes Earth's space fleet...Winner of the BSFA Award for best novel, 1975

Shot at by aliens, eaten up by monsters, frozen up, burned up and shipped all over the galaxy¿ war was one game Private Peace didn't want to play. So why had he joined the Space Legion?Warren Peace had joined the Space Legion to forget - exactly what, he hadn't the faintest idea. But he was sure about one thing - however horrific the crime he'd once committed, the memory of it could hardly be more unbearable than life in the lunatic Space Legion. Private Peace knew he'd got to get ...

For 'refusing to co-operate' the Emm Luther Special Police took out Earth agent Sam Tallon's eyes and imprisoned him on a dark and eerie swamp from which nobody ever escaped.But then Tallon invented a way of seeing - ludicrous, agonizing, yet still a way to make escape possible. He 'saw' through the eyes of a bird. A dog, a woman guard and, later, even saw himself through the eyes of his enraged Lutheran pursuers. Madness and death were his constant companions as he schemed and fou...

"One of the most entertaining ... science fiction authors of the 20th Century" - Alan Brown, Reactor Magazine"I read this when it was first published and have greatly enjoyed re-reading it" - Amazon Reviewer, 5 stars"A superb novel" - Amazon Reviewer, 5 starsLand and Overland are twin worlds, barely a few thousand miles apart. On Land, humanity faces a threat to its very survival - an airborne species, the ...

Thornton's Planet is an anti-neutrino planet detected on its approach to Earth. It can be seen only through the newly developed magniluct lenses and its arrival causes a wave of panic.When its course carries it past the earth, interest in Thornton's Planet wanes.Then comes news from the African state of Barandi. Miners wearing magniluct lenses have seen ghosts in the mine passages. The visit of Thornton's Planet has had effects on Earth further-ranging than anyone could hav...

A brilliant collection of original stories.A predatory alien accidentally teleported to Earth.A mad scientist and his imprisoned ghost.A space traveller returns to face an accusation of murder.

Warren Peace joined the Space Legion to forget - and forget what it was he wanted to forget. In his quest to find out who he'd been he got turned into an Oscar by a symbiotic alien parasite.Oscars are invulnerable superbeings, immune to everything and with no need for air, food or drink, let alone sex and drugs and rock'n'roll. Marooned on an airless planet with a whole bunch of them, Warren is bored witless.Then a chance encounter with a lump of pryktonite turns h...