The Robert Sheckley Megapack presents 14 short stories and 1 novel by the author Neil Gaiman called "probably the best short-story writer during the '50s to the mid-1960s working in any field." Here are tales of adventure in strange futures, full of the wry wit and piercing characterizations that made Sheckley one of the great writers working in science fiction!"Robert Sheckley: the best short-story writer the field has produced." — Alan Dean Foster"I had no idea the compet...

Edited by the mysterious Rey Bertran, the Science Fiction Archive #1 features some of the greatest science fiction writing of all time. Featuring: The Sentimentalists, by Murray Leinster The Girls from Earth, by Frank Robinson The Death Traps of FX-31, by Sewell Wright Song in a minor key, by C.L. Moore Sentry of the Sky, by Evelyn E. Smith Meeting of the Minds, by Robert Sheckley Junior, by Robert Abernathy Death Wish, by Ned Lang Dead World, by Jack Douglas Cost of Living, by Robert Shec...

Marvin Goodman thinks he has discovered an unknown paradise and buys "A Ticket to Tranai." What starts as Utopia ends up becoming a death trap.The eleven other stories included in this collection are "The Mountain Without a Name," "The Accountant," "Hunting Problem," "A Thief in Time," "The Luckiest Man in the World," "Hands Off," "Something for Nothing," "The Battle," "Skulking Permit," "Citizen in Space," and "Ask a Foolish Question."From the very beginning of his career, R...

The fifth volume in the Science Fiction Megapack series collects 25 tales of high adventure through other worlds and times, including 5 Hugo and Nebula Award-winners and nominees. Featured this time are:AGAPE AMONG THE ROBOTS, by Allen SteeleTHE STARSHIP MECHANIC, by Jay Lake and Ken ScholesPEACEMAKER, by Gardner DozoisOR ALL THE SEAS WITH OYSTERS, by Avram DavidsonGRANDMA, by Carol EmshwillerTHE GIFT BEARER, by Charles L. FontenayI, ROBOT,...

A man wakes up after a fatal car accident—in someone else's body—in this ahead-of-its-time Hugo Award–nominated classic.Thomas Blaine remembered the car accident that killed him—and then he woke up in the hospital. A nurse told him where he was. "You'd call it being in the future." A future where bodies are sold to the highest bidder as new homes for the minds of the rich, who are greedy for more life when their own bodies wear out or are damaged. Suddenly, keeping ...

Will Barrent had no memory of his crime... but he found himself shipped across space to a brutal prison-planet. On Omega, his only chance to advance himself - and stay alive - is to commit an endless series of violent crimes. The average inmate's life expectancy from time of arrival is three years. Can Barrett survive, escape, and return to Earth to clear his name?

All secret agents need to look out for William Nye, now known as Agent X. His recruitment was simple and his legend is brilliant but unearned. Somehow, he thinks he's the best there is, and we all know how pride goeth before a fall. The master of SF hilarity and biting social satire creates a spy world that has gathered praise from the greats of the genre.From the very beginning of his career, Robert Sheckley was recognized by fans, reviewers, and fellow authors as a master storyte...

A treasury of fiction from " one of SF's all-time masters of the humorous or satirical short story" ( Booklist).In "The Cruel Equations," a planetary explorer finds out how lethal it can be when a robot guard has been designed to do too perfect a job.The fifteen other stories in this collection are "Can You Feel Anything When I Do This?", "Cordle to Onion to Carrot," "The Petrified World," "Game: First Schematic," "Doctor Zombie and...

A hapless Earthling must find his way home through a universe of absurdities in this science fiction romp from a Hugo and Nebula Award–nominated master.New York civil servant Thomas Carmody has never been particularly lucky. Imagine his surprise when he discovers he's won the grand prize in an Intergalactic Lottery he had no idea he'd entered.Whisked far away to Galactic Central to claim his award, he has two immediate, equally troubling revelations. Not onl...

"If the Marx Brothers had been literary fantasists, they would have been Robert Sheckley." —Harlan EllisonIn "The Robot Who Looked Like Me," a busy man and a busy woman find a way to carve out time to romance each other—by having look-alike robots made to do the job—who then run away together.The twelve other stories in this collection are "Slaves of Time," "Voices," "A Supplicant in Space," "Sneak Previews," "Zirn Left Unguarded, the Jenghik Palace in Flame...

Anders, a young instructor on the brink of confessing his love to Judy, is suddenly interrupted by a mysterious voice in his mind pleading for help. At first he fears he may be losing his grip on reality, but the voice insists that he can only find it by learning to see "correctly." What begins as a private romantic moment quickly turns uncanny, as Anders discovers that ordinary surroundings can dissolve into distorted patterns, exposing how fragile the familiar order of the world may be. ...

In a near-future rush to cure murder with technology, inventor-manufacturer Charlie Gelsen helps launch the watchbirds: autonomous machines funded by government and industry to stop violence before it happens. At first they seem like a triumph of science, detecting criminal intent through brain waves, glandular reactions, and learning circuits that make them eerily effective hunters of killers. But Gelsen grows increasingly uneasy, fearing that a machine given the power to judge human beha...