A team of scientists are sent to Mercury aboard the Albireo to find out why it's developing an atmosphere. A series of events force the scientists out of their ship and onto the surface of Mercury, where only their courage and intelligence can keep them alive. Clement paints a tense and completely believable image of Mercury. He was simply one of the best hard science fiction writers the field ever produced.

Hal Clement, one of the all-time greats of science fiction, was defining hard science fiction before such distinctions were even being thought of. He once described his approach to writing: "[T]he rules must be quite simple. They are; for the reader of a science-fiction story, they consist of finding as many as possible of the author's statements or implications which conflict with the facts as science currently understands them. For the author, the rule is to make as few such slips as he ...

The story centers on an alien species living on a distant planet, where the environmental conditions are drastically different from those on Earth. The plot follows a human astronaut who arrives on the planet and encounters the alien inhabitants. The unique physiology and culture of the aliens challenge the astronaut's understanding of communication and interaction.As the astronaut navigates this unfamiliar world, he realizes that the aliens perceive and interpret their environment—and eac...

"The Green World" is set on a distant planet, characterized by its rich and vibrant green landscape. The story follows a group of human explorers or scientists who are sent to investigate this strange and alien environment. The planet’s ecosystem is highly complex and, at first glance, seems lush and hospitable, but the explorers soon discover that it presents unexpected dangers and challenges.As they delve deeper into the mysteries of the planet, the characters encounter various forms of ...

From "a tremendous force in science fiction," a collection set on the high-gravity planet of Mesklin, and an essay by the author on Mesklin's creation ( Poul Anderson, Hugo and Nebula award-winning author of The Broken Sword).Discover MESKLIN—Gravity: 3g at the equator, 700g at the polesHal Clement is a Grand Master of SF, and the one most associated with the subgenre of hard SF. From his classic stories in Astounding magazi...

Mesklin is a vast, inhospitable, disc-shaped planet, so cold that its oceans are liquid methane and its snows are frozen ammonia. It is a world spinning dizzyingly, a world where gravity can be a crushing 700 times greater than Earth's, a world too hostile for human explorers.But the planet holds secrets of inestimable value, and an unmanned probe that has crashed close to one of its poles must be recovered. Only the Mesklinites, the small creatures so bizarrely adapted to their ha...

"Hot Planet" is a science fiction novel set on a planet with extreme environmental conditions. The story takes place on a world with a scorching hot climate, where the inhabitants face numerous challenges due to the harsh environment.The plot follows a group of characters as they navigate the difficulties of living on a planet with such severe conditions. They must deal with issues like intense heat, limited resources, and the adaptations required to survive. The novel combines adventure w...

With degrees in astronomy, chemistry and education, it should come as no surprise that Harry Clement Stubbs - better known to SF readers as Hal Clement - produced some of the field's most compelling, scientifically literate work.This omnibus contains the clever alien-planet-with-a-twist novel ICEWORLD; the ground-breaking CYCLE OF FIRE*,* with its 40-year-long seasons; and CLOSE TO CRITICAL, from his celebrated Mesklin sequence.

Shrouded in eternal gloom by its own thick atmosphere, Tenebra was a hostile planet: a place of crushing gravity, 370-degree temperatures, a constantly shifting crust and giant drifting raindrops. Uncompromising - yet there was life, intelligent life on Tenebra. For more than twenty years, Earth scientists had studied the natives from an orbiting laboratory... and had even found a way to train and educate a few of them.

A scientist's excursion to a treacherous ocean planet leads to more dangers than just pirates in this adventure by a Science Fiction Grand Master."Clement skillfully weaves together challenging science, a unique familial society, and an encounter with a "lost" city in a narrative that allows the reader to puzzle out Mike's questions along with him." — BooklistHal Clement, the dean of hard science fiction, has writt...

Hal Clement was a renowned science-fiction writer.In this collection, you'll find the following stories :AttitudeHot PlanetThe Green WorldThis collection of three short stories has the same length as a full novel, and will please every lover of science-fiction classics.

The planet was an enigma—and its solution was death!