Dive into a world of intrigue and power with The Overlord's Thumb by Robert Silverberg, a masterful blend of science fiction and suspense that will captivate your imagination.In this gripping tale, Silverberg introduces readers to a future where humanity has expanded its reach across the stars, and interstellar politics are as treacherous as ever. The story unfolds in a universe dominated by powerful overlords, where control and manipulation shape the fate...

Guilt is in the eye of the beholder in this futuristic crime story from the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author of Lord Valentine's Castle.A lot of women were wearing Marianne's face that season, which made it hard for Loren Frazier to forget that he killed his world-famous wife's lover. The world wouldn't forget it either; the image of his murderous impulse was caught forever in his victim's brain—an eyeflash picture readily recovered by law enforcement....

In his Introduction, Robert Silverberg writes: "I started [this story] in classic pulp mode, opening with my protagonist’s name, showing that he was in big trouble, and providing a setting: “Laird Hammill raced frantically through the cold night of Denerix, largest world of the Shanador system. He was somewhere on a dark, vast plain outside the city of Lombrosa, and a half mile behind him lay the useless hulk of his burned-out landcar.” The story continues that way, slam and bang and biff ...

Embark on a thought-provoking journey through the complex tapestry of the future with Age of Anxiety by Robert Silverberg. This masterful work of speculative fiction delves into a future shaped by both technological advancement and profound existential questions.In Age of Anxiety, Silverberg crafts a world where humanity faces the consequences of its own progress. Set in a future where societal structures and individual lives are deeply intertwine...

For three years, people on Earth have been subject to the will of the "Passengers"—intangible beings who usurp human bodies temporarily and without warning, and do nothing but play and cause havoc. People being "ridden" are ignored by others, and when they are freed, the experience, by social convention, is ignored by all. When the Passenger leaves the host body, the person is left with no memories of his time being ridden."Passengers" was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Shor...

The Long Winter is over.The People of the New Springtime must go out and reclaim their world.For generations the survivors of the cataclysm have sheltered in cocoons buried in the earth and waited for the gods to grow tired of hurling down death-stars onto a frozen world. Now it is time for Koshmar and the boy-chronicler, Hresh, and the rest of Koshmar's tribe to emerge into the sun. A strange and savage landscape awaits them, where rat-wolves, bloodbirds and soulless hjjk-...

On his seventeenth birthday, Larry faces the most important choice of his life: remain in the drugged comfort of childhood or step into the uncertain demands of adulthood. In a future society where children are raised on an "unworry" drug that erases fear and responsibility, his robonurse presents three capsules that will decide whether he stays in blissful dependence or begins the irreversible path to maturity. As his father welcomes him into the "Age of Anxiety," Larry is thrust toward a...

Science fiction is often celebrated for its technological speculation, political satire, or fast-paced adventure, but its truest power lies in its capacity for the visionary. Edited by Robert Silverberg, this anthology gathers eight extraordinary stories that bypass ordinary plot formulas to open the walls of the universe, placing the reader in direct communion with the vastness of the cosmos.Moving beyond standard pulp adventure, these selections focus on the mystical, the psyched...

Robert Silverberg needs little introduction to anyone at all familiar with the history of the science fiction field. Fan. Author. Editor. Creative force. He has been an integral part of the field for longer than most of his readers have been alive. Earlier this year, he kindly agreed to put together a MEGAPACK® of his short stories, so here, then, is a selection of early works by one of the all-time greats. Included are:ALAREEBIRDS OF A FEATHERBLAZE OF GLORYDELI...

Come to Majipoor, the magnificent, exotic planet of LORD VALENTINE'S CASTLE. Come with Hissune, favourite of Lord Valentine, as he probes the deepest secrets of Majipoor's long past in the depths of the great Labyrinth.Join Hissune as he becomes one with its many peoples - dukes and generals, thieves and murderers, Ghayrogs and Metamorphs - and discovers wonder, terror, longing and love, and learns the wisdom that will shape his destiny.(First published 1982)

Set in an immense world teeming with alien races and fantastic, almost magical, machinery, Valentine, an itinerant juggler, wakes up one morning with only a vague and troubled idea of who he is. He gradually discovers, through dreams and portents, that he is in fact his namesake: Lord Valentine, the Coronal, his body and throne stolen by a usurper.Across the giant world of Majipoor, Valentine sets out on a quest to win back his throne - and discover which of his enemies has the pow...

Old Earth has reached its Third Cycle, a tired planet basking in the faded glories of a lost civilisation. Long ago it had been great - but the pride and greed of its rulers had brought about a terrible downfall.And now Earth was threatened. Far out in space an alien race waited. Once they had been the victims of a crime perpetrated by the human race - now they were ready to return as conquerors. As a Watcher, Tomis had spent his life searching the skies for signs of the impending ...