Results for "Robert Sheckley" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

Explore the rise of artificial intelligence and the dangers of advanced technology in Robot Revolt: Classic Tales of Artificial Intelligence. Featuring Watchbird, The Machine That Saved the World, and Defense Mech, this classic science fiction collection brings together unforgettable stories by...

Untouched by Human Hands consists of 13 stories of beings who dwell on the strange borders of reality. Some of these stories tell of people you know or of events that might happen - but haven't yet. Some will take you to the furthermost reaches of the sky and to planets whose names are unknown this side of Arcturus. And some - perhaps the richest and most memorable of these stories - open into the interior of strange minds to reveal the reflection of ourselves.

Want to be immortal? You can be in AD 2110. Just go to the Hereafter Insurance Corporation and hook yourself up to the Machine. There’s nothing to fear. That is, if it happens to be working right, and if nobody slips another mind into your body when you’re not looking, and if you’re not on a poltergeist hatelist.

A classic science fiction collection by Robert Sheckley featuring Diplomatic Immunity, Bad Medicine, and Proof of the Pudding. Discover clever alien encounters, bizarre schemes, futuristic satire, and imaginative twists from one of science fiction’s most distinctive storytellers...

A thrilling collection of classic science fiction from Robert Sheckley, exploring futuristic warfare, hostile worlds, alien threats, and the darker possibilities of human conflict. Featuring Warm, The Hour of Battle, Accept No Substitutes, and more imaginative tales from one of science...

In Status Civilization, Will Barrent awakens with no memories, only to find himself on Omega—a ruthless planet designated for criminals, where the average lifespan barely exceeds three years. Branded as a murderer, he is thrust into the depths of an illicit society as a mere “peon,” the lowest of the low. A mysterious girl hands him a weapon, igniting his journey towards power—a journey fraught with brutal choices. Yet, this path is essential for uncovering the truth behind his imprisonment, a truth that challenges his very identity and forces him to confront the ...

A sharp collection of Robert Sheckley’s classic satirical science fiction, blending clever humor, strange futures, social commentary, and imaginative twists. Featuring Ask a Foolish Question, Keep Your Shape, and Cost of Living, this volume showcases Sheckley’s witty, inventive take on...

Dimension of Miracles is a satirical science fiction novel first published by Dell in 1968. It's about Tom Carmody, a New Yorker who, thanks to a computer error, wins the main prize in the Intergalactic Sweepstakes. Tom claims his prize before the error is discovered and is allowed to keep it. However, since Tom is a human from Earth without galactic status and no space traveling experience, he has no homing instinct that can guide him back to Earth once his odyssey begins - and the galactic lottery organizers cannot transport him home.

A striking collection of classic Robert Sheckley science fiction, featuring “Warm,” “Warrior Race,” and “Watchbird.” This volume brings together sharp imagination, futuristic suspense, and Sheckley’s signature wit in one memorable edition...

One Man’s Poison by Robert Sheckley is a witty and suspenseful science fiction short story from the early 1950s that explores alien life and survival with a darkly comedic twist.

A sharp and entertaining collection of Robert Sheckley science fiction stories filled with wit, surprise, and imaginative twists. Featuring “Proof of the Pudding,” “Prospector’s Special,” and “The Hour of Battle,” this volume showcases Sheckley’s talent for blending clever ideas...

In "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. 

A Collection of Science Fiction Classic Short Stories.

A sleek science fiction collection featuring witty, imaginative Robert Sheckley stories including Final Examination, Keep Your Shape, and One Man’s Poison, set against a stunning futuristic world of mystery, satire, and cosmic adventure...

A gripping collection of classic Robert Sheckley science fiction, featuring sharp imagination, futuristic intrigue, and unforgettable twists in “Beside Still Waters,” “Cost of Living,” and “Diplomatic Immunity.” Perfect for readers who enjoy witty, thought-provoking short stories...

Essential Robert Sheckley Short Stories brings together three clever and imaginative science fiction tales by one of the genre’s most inventive writers. Featuring Accept No Substitutes, Ask a Foolish Question, and Bad Medicine, this collection offers sharp ideas, wit, and classic speculative storytelling for fans of vintage sci-fi.

The Leech was waiting for food. For millennia it had been drifting, without consciousness, across the vast emptiness of space. A planet claimed it, with other stellar debris, and the leech fell, still dead—seeming within its tough spore case. One speck of dust among many, fell to the Earth. Nourishment soaked in, permeating the spore case. It grew—and began to feed.

If a society was created entirely by criminals with no memory of their former world, what would they come up with? It couldn't be crazier than Omega, where the religion is the worship of evil, humans are hunted for fun, status is attained one corpse at a time, and life expectancy is three years...if you're lucky. Omega - a fun place to live, if the plants, animals, weather, or your neighbors don't kill you first.

The first love song in the world, as composed by a pig in the Garden of Eden. The Devil, alarmed when his hobby of writing romantic fiction begins to upstage his day job. Hearts kept in Tupperware boxes, small countries that vanish from the European mainland overnight, and a kidnapper who gets more than he bargained for when his victim associates him with George Clooney. It could only be Robert Shearman's Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical.

Man was leaving Earth. Man--but not woman. Light-years from Earth were little worlds without women - and men were not happy about it. Since real women could not go to them, scientists on Earth developed substitutes. Android females were developed, the surrogates, and shipped to the colonies. Everything seemed to go well - for a while. Ralph Garvey is about to find that the package containing the promise of extreme sexual delight is not quite what he had expected.