Two classic novels and a short story collection from the legendary Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author in one volume. This volume from an icon of the Golden Age of science fiction includes: City: In this International Fantasy Award–winning novel, millennia have passed since humankind abandoned Earth, leaving their most loyal animal companions alone. Granted the power of speech centuries earlier, the intelligent, pacifist dogs are the last keepers of human history. With the aid of Jenkins, an ageless service robot, the dogs live in harmony and peace. But now they’re threatened by the reawakened remnants of a warlike race called “Man.” A Heritage of Stars: More than a thousand years have passed since humankind intentionally destroyed its treacherous technology. The scant knowledge that has survived is kept in monastery-like “universities” where Tom Cushing learns of the legendary “Place of Going to the Stars.” On an amazing trek across what was once America, Tom and a band of misfits seek the source of the myth, only to discover an astonishing revelation at the end of their journey. Grotto of the Dancing Deer: Ten tales of wonder, danger, and the future, including the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning “Grotto of the Dancing Deer,” in which a man carrying an ancient secret finally speaks up, unable to bear any longer the loneliness he has experienced for millennia; “Over the River,” where children from an embattled future are sent back for safekeeping to their ancestors in the peaceful past; “Day of Truce,” about the inhabitants of a suburban subdivision who must barricade themselves against bands of roving attackers who invade when the gates open wide one day every year; and seven more stories from a master of speculative fiction.

Nothing defines a life more clearly, than its use of power. As more details about the Novacula are revealed, the picture of the conflict and its antagonists comes into focus. Crim and Denek's actions are placed into context, suddenly framing them with astonishing consequences as the two troopers continue to apply their own peculiar reasoning to survive in a world beyond their knowledge.The PA is a humourous short story about the world post-apocalypse (PA). It is 1182 words.

Samantha Montgomery of Academy City 676 always dreamed of life outside of school. Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for. A rogue weapons manufacturer, a ruthless killer, and a schoolgirl converge as a weapon so advanced it defies the laws of physics is a mere breath away from being unleashed on the world. Now it’s up to Sam and some unexpected allies to keep it out of the wrong hands.Set in our world in the near future, Harmonics: Rise of the Magician follows the life of Samantha Montgomery of Academy City 676, a normal primary education girl, and the actions of MESA, a defense contractor responsible for the world's most advanced weaponry. Elsewhere in other parts of the world, the super governments of United Western Collective and the Jade Empire follow the exploits and dealings of the world's most notorious assassin, a man known only as "The Magician". Some consider him a myth, others think of him as a legend, while others still believe he's the world's most brutal slayer of men. Still all look on in awe at any mention of the Magician. With the supposed ability to manipulate his surroundings at will, the world has seen the actions of this man whose purpose and identity remains hidden. They all look for him. The government, the fans, the law enforcement agencies search the world over for him without really knowing how truly dangerous he is...They're about to find out. A school in siege, a weapon so advanced it defies the law of physics, an assassin out for blood, and Samantha caught in the middle. When reality as you know it ceases to be, can you live with the reality yet to come? Join Sam as she discovers for herself how dangerous life outside of school really is.

Mass market paperback by Dell/Laurel Leaf, 1974. Edited by Robert Silverberg with introduction. Three sci-fi novellas: 'And Us, Too, I Guess' by George Effinger; 'Chains of the Sea' by Gardner R. Dozois; 'The Shrine of Sebastian' by Gordon Eklund.

A failed engineer saves the life of an old friend and plots to steal her world changing technology."Hal’s head told him that Mr. N’s theory was a lot of roaring nonsense. The man was a father worried about his daughter and therefore ready to believe any idiotic scrim his mind wove, so long as it consoled him. Jenny was sick, but it wasn’t from vicious radiation from the fifty-fifty."Twenty years after he last saw her, Hal encounters his high school crush stumbling down a frozen stretch or rural Indiana highway. Disoriented and wearing nothing but a t-shirt in falling snow, Jenny is headed toward the 50/50... a massive scientific experiment buried deep beneath the Great Plains. Hal holds vigil over her in the hospital, but his motives soon turn darker. Jenny lays unconscious and Hal digs into her past. He discovers that she was on the verge of a scientific breakthrough that would change the broken world in which they live. Once a promising young engineer, Hal now finds himself unemployed, disillusioned and mentally unstable. He once coveted an unobtainable woman. Now he covets her life's work, an achievement that is no less out of Hal's reach. He considers stealing Jenny's discovery and claiming it as his own, bringing upon himself destructive forces that he never before imagined.

The Future, America is a irradiated wasteland where, on its East Coast, lies Mega City - one vast, violent metropolis whose citizens live in perpetual fear. Imposing order on this urban chaos are the Judges - judge, jury and executioners rolled into one.Foremost among them is Dredd who is given a mission to road-rest a rookie Judge - the powerful psychic Cassandra Anderson.In the course of this training day, the two Judges head for a seemingly routine homicide in the notorious Peach Trees mega-block - a 200-story vertical slum run by the pitiless Ma-Ma clan.When the judges attempt to arrest one of Ma-Ma's chief henchmen, Ma-Ma shuts down the entire building and orders her clan to hunt the Judges down.The Judges are now caught in a vicious and relentless fight for survival.

It's not what you've done that counts it's what you remember.... If you could sell your conscience, could you get away with murder? Hap Thompson works the gray area between truth and lies. He works for REMtemp, taking on other people's memories. It's illegal, but usually harmless. Maybe a petty criminal wants to pass a lie detector test. Or an unfaithful spouse wants to enjoy a guiltless affair. All Hap has to do is carry the memories for a couple of hours. It's easy money. Until a beautiful young woman who committed murder leaves her memory with Hap and won't take it back. Now Hap is on the run: from the LAPD, from six angels of death in gray suits and sunglasses, and from the best hit man in the business his ex-wife. Even worse, people all around Hap are disappearing in a strange white light. His only hope is to negotiate with a guy who may be much more than he seems, so he can stay alive long enough to discover who is and who isn't...

A short SciFi story about a battle in outer space.Lestari is a fighter pilot trying frantically to protect the people he loves. But not everything is as it seems and soon forces beyond his control will force him to make a choice.Jimmy Peters has a heart of gold, but an IQ of only 51. He lives by himself in a one-room flat, works, eats at a diner down the street, attends church when he remembers, and lives to go to the zoo on Saturday. Satisfied with his lot in life, because he knows nothing any different, he only asks God for one thing—a chance to live outside the city where he can see animals all the time, but he is afraid God doesn’t have time for him. Then one day a longhaired, unshaven man in rumpled clothes meets him on a bus and changes his life forever.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time #2Sarah Hargreaves is walking through the emerging dawn streets after another night’s work, when she is bundled into the back of a van by six figures dressed in black. They have one question:‘What really happened at the Halloween Party three weeks ago?’Wrong Place, Wrong Time #2Sarah Hargreaves is walking through the emerging dawn streets after another night’s work, when she is bundled into the back of a van by six figures dressed in black. She is taken to an underground location, where she is interviewed by a smartly dressed woman and a man from a secret organisation. They have one question:‘What really happened at the Halloween Party three weeks ago?’Sarah is forced to retell the terrifying truth. She is an experienced member of Dark Watch, an organisation set up to eliminate the threat from the creatures of the night. On the hunt for a vampire cell, she and her new boyfriend get an invitation to a Halloween Party – the Vampire Special. She suspects that humans will be lulled to their deaths. What happens at the party surprises even her. Who is her new boyfriend?#2 In the series Wrong Place, Wrong TimeOther stories in the series#1 Hero's BreakAt the height of Christmas shopping in the downtown plaza, two superheroes create havoc as they unleash their powers. Bolt and Accel, tear apart the plaza as they smash cars, shops and restaurants to rumble and ruin in their desire to destroy their rival in love for Psy, a female superhero. The happy Christmas spirit is replaced with ultra violence, chaos and fear.The General flies in to stop them with the rest of the superhero unit of Flame, Amazon and Psy.But they are too late. Bolt's and Accel's actions, through an incidental event, have unleashed an unstoppable terrifying power.#3 Wedding AnniversaryHiding in time a superhero, Subject Zero, enjoys the delights of the wild west; the women, the drink and the fighting. After another night of fun Zero is alerted to the presence of another time traveller who has sought him out across time and space. The traveller is his wife he hasn’t seen for fifty years. She has come to remind him it's their Wedding Anniversary. They discuss old times together and make plans for a reconciliation in the future.Zero is happy, until a massive time disturbance breaks the peace and Zero and wife are forced to reveal their true powers to the inhabitants of the wild west town.

Carried by the dark, winding waterways of Merovingen, the yearly fever spreads, wreaking havoc with the plots and counter-plot of even the greatest Houses, laying low the likes of such key players in the games of power as Thomas Mondragon himself. And as the fever-fed canal city is brough to the brink of war, and panicked by the threat of the alien sharrh's imminent return, those who prowl both the high ways and the waters below, from Jones to Raj, from Black Cal to Rif, must take up the challenge to keep Merovingen safe from devastating internal treachery... In Angel with the Sword, Hugo Award-winning author C.J. Cherryh introduced readers to Merovingen. Once again, she has assembled a series of closely linked tales by herself and other top writers such as Lynn Abbey and Janet and Chris Morris that continue the wonder of Merovingen.

At the instigation of her con-artist father, Deza masquerades as a witch who can control the water supply of the desert planet of Mahali, in order to deceive its rulers and become rich, but the deception backfires.

This is a love story about a guy that has never in his life been able to do anything quite right. Now the girl of his dreams has gotten him involved in a war with the giant aliens. If it means being able to spend more time with her, then he's OK with that. But how do you fight a war against an enemy that is so much more powerful than you that they don't even know about the war?Shot...Bleeding...Barely conscious...She's dying!A stranger arrives on the Donovan ranch just one breath away from dead. Matt Donovan does not hesitate to help, despite her unkown past. Will the man who shot her come riding down the trail after her, shattering peaceful Glenpark, Colorado?When Cristeen wakes, she can remember nothing of her past. Only one thought haunts her day and night: trust no one.Matt fears Cristeen's fierce independence will lead to tragedy. Can he help Cristeen see the need to trust the Lord before it is too late? Can Cristeen overcome her belief that loving can only bring heartache?Then a madman bent on revenge tracks her down. Matt cannot rescue Cristeen this time. Only the Lord can save her now--if she has enough faith to trust.

Transmutation is transgender/transsexual/intersex sci-fi: A 20,000-year-old alien from outer space evolves her dog into a human and gives a machine to humanity that can rejuvenate with any kind of body desired. Sex/gender variance becomes common. Closets and bigotry disappear, but not before religion is confronted. When other aliens reveal themselves, their influence on humanity is also revealed.What would happen to people and society in general if a machine were revealed that could rejuvenate everyone in seconds—with any body of their choosing? A spectrum of intersex and gender diversity? The end to closets and bigotry? War? Chaos? How would we manage material resources? What about overpopulation?What would happen if that machine were presented by an alien from outer space, who evolved her dog into a human being, whose people have been here on the earth for 100,000 years? How has humanity been influenced? How could that affect religions? Social organization? How would human thought process mature if we lived for thousands of years?Transmutation is a Sci-Fi novel, satire, commentary on sex, gender and intersex-related social issues, which brings trans life to every person on earth. A fast read, it moves through tragedy, desperation, and excitement, to fun and humor, ending on a very positive note. Lori Faraday is 20,000 years old and has been living as a human on Earth for 12,000 years. She came from an advanced culture. In pain from losing yet another loved-one, she breaks with her code of ethics to give a technology to the world that allows people to rejuvenate for health and longevity, to transmute into a new, young-adult body of individual choosing—retaining the original brain (with health improvements) so the person is not a copy—curing all physical ailments and extending life indefinitely. Transmutation spans the solar system including the United States, the Middle East, Russia, Indonesia, and the White House on planet Earth, and also to various locations in outer space—dealing rapidly with a number of issues:Life and Death: Chapter 1 is desperate. Lori’s husband is dying. She fights for his life, unable to help.Change of Sex or Gender: Chapters 11-34. There are several characters who change physical sex or gender—in fact, it turns out, when a new one is available, a lot of people choose it.Reparative Therapy: Chapter 31. Scenes make it clear, the importance of saving helpless children from misguided attempts to “fix” gender issues in children. With conversion therapy and from a thousand other sources, children are denied needed, relevant health care and get the message their gender needs are demeaned, and that is not tolerated in this social evolution. Matter of fact— Well, you’ll see....On and on for more.

After many delays and last-minute setbacks, the first colony ship leaves planet Earth for a distant star. Join the crew as they discover all is not as it seems...Originally published in Andromeda Spaceways #3After many delays and last-minute setbacks, the first colony ship leaves planet Earth for a distant star.Join the crew as they discover all is not as it seems...Originally published in Andromeda Spaceways #3"... pure science fiction and, just between ourselves, an entirely evil tale, suggesting a far more likely approach to Earth colonizing the universe than I have seen in a long time." Australian Spec Fic in Focus

Jester has arrived on Sasha’s world on the eve of the Bliss, a madness that is both overwhelming and necessary for the survival of her people. But Jester is ignorant of not only the Bliss, but also to the meaning of the one word that binds Sasha's people together. If Sasha can't make him understand, it could mean the end of her life.When Jester came to Sasha’s world, their lives changed forever.Jester belongs to one of the many colonies of humanity that spread across the galaxy eons ago. His people merely wish to reach out to Sasha’s people in friendship as fellow descendants of humanity.But Jester has arrived on Sasha’s world on the eve of the Bliss, a madness that is both overwhelming and necessary for the survival of her people. The changes she experiences, changes they experience every two years, draw her to Jester in ways that both excite and terrify her. For Jester is ignorant of not only the Bliss, but also to the meaning of the one word that binds Sasha's people together, a word they always thought was a part of humanity wherever they may be.As Sasha shows Jester how the descendants of humanity live on her world, she feels a gnawing in her soul. If she can teach him the meaning of the word, she’ll know a happiness she has not felt in years. If not, it could mean the end of her life.Season of Bliss is a science fiction romance short novel.