A 1959 classic 'hard' science-fiction novel by renowned Cambridge astronomer and cosmologist Fred Hoyle. Tracks the progress of a giant black cloud that comes towards Earth and sits in front of the sun, causing widespread panic and death. A select group of scientists and astronomers - including the dignified Astronomer Royal, the pipe smoking Dr Marlowe and the maverick, eccentric Professor Kingsly - engage in a mad race to understand and communicate with the cloud, battling against trigge...

In addition to being the man who coined the term 'the Big Bang', world-renowned astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle also produced a fine body of science fiction. This omnibus contains three of his SF novels: Ossian's Ride, October the First Is Too Late & Fifth Planet, co-written with his son, Geoffrey Hoyle.Ossian's Ride: The year is 1970. Sealed behind an impenetrable barrier in the south of Ireland, the Industrial Corporation of Eire startles the rest of the worl...

Baffled by the sudden rise of a powerful centre of industrialisation in the south of Ireland, Intelligence in London send a young Cambridge graduate, Thomas Sherwood, to study this phenomenon. He travels as a student, and makes his way to that part of Kerry where Ossian is said to have made his famous ride.

Originally published in 1977 and as second edition in 1979, this book argues that without energy sources on a vast scale our present society cannot survive. According to the author, Fred Hoyle, the technology to tap solar, wind or wave power on a large enough scale just does not exist. He considers nuclear fission to be the only source currently capable of supplying our needs. The author fills in the scientific background necessary to appreciate his arguments in his lucid, direct ...

The Yorkshire Moors below Mickle Fell in August would seem a safe enough place to be, yet it was there that Richard's old schoolfriend, John Sinclair, disappeared for 13 hours. Two days later, while bathing in a mountain stream, Richard noticed that a strawberry birthmark was missing from Sinclair's back.Climbing, music, ancient Greece and the year 5000 AD: all these play a part in Fred Hoyle's far-reaching and witty science fiction book, which teems with arresting ideas. Its centr...

Originally published in 1957, this book offers a challenging intellectual experience to the reader who wishes to understand the broad historical trends that determine the future of humanity on this planet. The book examines natural laws that govern humanity by looking at communities over long periods of time and noting patterns which become evident. The book includes discussions of communism, the crisis in food and population growth, the significance of industrialism and man and his religi...

Returning to the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge after a spell at the nuclear research labs of CERN in Geneva, Professor Isaac Newton is plunged into the centre of a baffling mystery. One of his research students, Mike Howarth, has picked up strange signals on his satellite telemetry equipment, signals that appear to emanate from a passing comet. Not long after he has passed the vital data into Isaac Newton's hands, Howarth is found dead. Soon after that, it becomes clear that some peopl...

Can immortal man ever outwit the airlines? What if dumb animals could be trained to 'appreciate' the communications media of the human world? How does Number 38, Zone 11, respond when he sees a U.F.O? What happens to Slippage City when the Devil decides to think big?These - plus a remarkable sex comedy - are some of the intriguing themes of Element 79, the new Hoyle galaxy that ranges the full scientific spectrum and beyond into the furthest reaches of the imagination. Author Fred ...

In addition to being the man who coined the term 'the Big Bang', world-renowned astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle also produced a fine body of science fiction. The Andromeda Anthology contains the acclaimed duology A for Andromeda and The Andromeda Breakthrough, co-written with John Elliot.The close-knit group of scientists who work at the new radio telescope are shocked to receive a mysterious signal from the heart of the Andromeda galaxy. Working with mathemati...

A new radio telescope picks up from the constellation of Andromeda a complex series of signals which prove to be a programme for a giant computer. After the computer is built it begins to relay information from Andromeda. Scientists find themselves possessing knowledge previously unknown to mankind, knowledge that could threaten the security of human life itself.

Kidnapped by Intel, John Fleming and Andromeda - the artificially constructed human - are brought to Azaran, a small Middle Eastern country, where a duplicate of the machine he designed has been built by Intel. He and Andromeda face many dangers as they try to find the reason for the original message and the means to bring the machine under human control.

The Westminster Disaster is based on the present world shortage of high-grade uranium and the action turns on a Soviet threat to use nuclear blackmail against London.When the British Ambassador to the U.N. seeks to veto a Soviet demand for sanctions against South Africa, the threat becomes a hideous reality.Writing from a position of intimate knowledge of advanced trends in research and science administration, in this novel the Hoyles give vivid expression to their deep fea...