Search Results for: masterworks

This is the story of the world after it ended . . .
Five thousand years after the apocalyptic event known as The Death, Per Hiero Desteen – priest, telepath, assassin – has been working to find ancient information to save his people.
The Brotherhood of the Unclean, a roving band of feral raiders, stage an unprecedented attack. They manage to nullify Hiero’s telepathic powers, and leave him vulnerable and alone in the wasteland that once was North America.
Now he has to not only survive, but strike back and stop the Brotherhood before they can wipe the vestiges of civilisation from the face of the Earth . . . forever.
The sequel to the beloved novel Hiero’s Journey, The Unforsaken Hiero takes us back into a world that has been irrevocably changed by the hubris of mankind, and the new races that rose to live in it.

1981. A different Britain. When Norman Forrester of the Defence Ministry’s Experimental Institute effects a successful fertilisation of a female gorilla with human sperm, an infant is born. Gordon, known as Gor, is his son in two senses. But Gor’s parentage must remain a secret. He has no legal existence as an individual because his existence has never been divulged to the government data bank. In more than one way, Gor is a ‘non-person’.

Operated on so that he is capable of speech, Gor grows through boyhood and adolescence into a strong, intelligent youth. When he discovers his true identity, he is devastated by his outcast destiny. But is there the possibility of a home amongst some of the exiles from a computer-dominated class-oriented society? And if Gor can find them, will they accept him?

Maureen Duffy’s novel offers both an enthralling, fast-moving narrative and a vivid parable of the individual’s struggle to win acceptance from his fellows and to overcome the forces that seek to destroy human individuality in any age.

The world ended. People survived.

Per Hiero Desteen was a priest, a telepath-and a highly trained killer.

Five thousand years after the apocalyptic event known only as The Death, Hiero is tasked with finding the secrets of the old world, which could protect his civilisation from massing enemies.

The planet is not the same as it used to be. Mutations have changed the way humans and animals live together, the holocaust known as The Death. The Brotherhood of the Unclean wants to wipe out all traces of surviving human society, allowing anarchy to rule the wasteland that once was North America.


Hiero’s journey takes him into the heart of the Brotherhood’s territory. The danger is great if he is caught . . . but even the smallest chance that humanity could be saved is worth the risk.

The book that reinvented Space Opera – from the Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning author of The Terror, which is now a chilling TV show.

It is the 29th century and the universe of the Human Hegemony is under threat. Invasion by the warlike Ousters looms, and the mysterious schemes of the secessionist AI TechnoCore bring chaos ever closer.

On the eve of disaster, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set fourth on a final voyage to the legendary Time Tombs on Hyperion, home to the Shrike, a lethal creature, part god and part killing machine, whose powers transcend the limits of time and space. The pilgrims have resolved to die before discovering anything less than the secrets of the universe itself.

Readers are hooked on Hyperion:

‘One of the best epic, old mythology, and literature inspired, mindblowing, amazingly ingeniously written space operas‘ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘The scope of imagination, wordplay, and critical analysis of humankind is astounding . . . this is a story-driven narrative, and the stories that we’re given are well worth the entry into a brave, new, unfamiliar world‘ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘Hyperion has that indescribable, almost lovecraftian terror, dread and brooding present throughout’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘Combine the artful poetry of John Keats with a science fiction retelling of the Canterbury Tales . . . what you have is Hyperion. A masterpiece of literature‘ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘A science fiction classic . . . If you count yourself an sf fan you need to read this. If you just want to read a damn good book this is also for you‘ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

From the far reaches of space to the hidden corners of Earth, from aliens to wizards and everything in between . . .

One of the most influential SFF writers of modern times, Roger Zelazny wrote across a wide range of subgenres and themes, experimenting with form and story with mastery. He won many awards throughout his lifetime, including six Hugo awards, three Nebula awards and two Locus awards. He has inspired many of today’s great SFF authors.

This new collection contains a selection of his short stories and novellas which span the depth and breadth of the human imagination.

‘Zelazny has always had one of the most inventive imaginations in the genre’ Kirkus Reviews
‘Paragon of the storytelling art’ Robert Silverberg
‘Zelazny’s authority never falters, and nor does the charisma of his voice’ Locus

Welcome to the Best of the Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction


When Edward Prendick is shipwrecked on a tropical island, he is surprised to find he has company in the form of Dr Moreau.

Driven out of Britain in disgrace, Dr Moreau has decided to explore his science in peace and isolation.

It isn’t long before Prendick discovers the horrors it involves . . .

Considered widely to be one of the fathers of science fiction, H.G. Wells’ story of a mad scientist pushing the boundaries of humanity sits alongside Frankenstein and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in the annals of British classics. The novel has been adapted multiple times, and is referenced in many different media.


‘The most important of all nineteenth-century sf writers in the UK and in America’ – The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
‘Short, cold, economic and totally unrelenting. An utterly terrifying book’ – China Miéville
‘One of our bravest and most stimulating writers’ – Telegraph

Welcome to the Best of the Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction



When Winston Niles Rumfoord flies his spaceship into a chrono-synclastic infundibulum he is converted into pure energy and only materializes when his waveforms intercept Earth or some other planet. As a result, he only gets home to Newport, Rhode Island, once every fifty-nine days and then only for an hour.


But at least, as a consolation, he now knows everything that has ever happened and everything that ever will be. He knows, for instance, that his wife is going to Mars to mate with Malachi Constant, the richest man in the world. He also knows that on Titan – one of Saturn’s moons – is an alien from the planet Tralfamadore, who has been waiting 200,000 years for a spare part for his grounded spacecraft . . .

A finalist for the 1960 Hugo Award, The Sirens of Titan was Vonnegut’s second novel. It received wide acclaim, and played with ideas of free will and predestination, themes he continued to explore in his later works. In 2015, he was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.


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‘The Sirens of Titan is marvellous. It’s so funny it made me want to cry’ – Infinity Plus
‘A classic, ripe with wit and eloquence and a cascade of inventiveness’ – Brian Aldiss
‘His best book . . . He dares not only to ask the ultimate question about the meaning of life, but to answer it’ – Esquire

Welcome to the Best of the Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction

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What does it mean to be human when you’re part of the machine?

Synners are synthesizers – not machines, but people. They take images from the brains of performers, and turn them into a form which can be packaged, sold and consumed. They don’t use the net, they are the net.
Everything is automated. Everything is synthetic.
But when the technology starts to fail, the terrifying question remains: what is a human?

Winner of the 1992 Arthur C. Clarke Award, Synners was Pat Cadigan’s early stories, and cemented her place in the core of the cyberpunk movement, and has even inspired academic works. Lauded for her complex characters and plots, and seen as a stalwart of feminist SF, Cadigan has gone on to win another Clarke and a Hugo for subsequent works.
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‘Racingly told, linguistically acute, simultaneously pell-mell and precise in its detailing’ – The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
‘Ambitious, brilliantly executed . . . Cadigan is a major talent’ – William Gibson
‘Pat Cadigan is the undisputed Queen of Cyberpunk’ – The Fantasy Hive

Ned Henry is a time-travelling historian who specialises in the mid-20th century – currently engaged in researching the bombed-out Coventry Cathedral. He’s also made so many drops into the past that he’s suffering from a dangerously advanced case of ‘time-lag’.

Unfortunately for Ned, an emergency dash to Victorian England is required and he’s the only available historian. But Ned’s time-lag is so bad that he’s not sure what the errand is – which is bad news since, if he fails, history could unravel around him…

Welcome to the Best of the Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction

Arthur Dent thought his day was going badly when someone tried to demolish his house.


Then someone demolished his planet.


Rescued by his friend Ford – who is not a human from Guilford, but an alien from somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse – Arthur is flung into an adventure among the stars. He will face aliens, robots, world-builders, and that girl he quite fancied who turned him down at a party one time. All in the name of research for the greatest book in the galaxy.



He just has to remember not to panic.

Part of the multi-media phenomenon The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is beloved the world over. Douglas Adams’ ‘trilogy in five parts’ originated as a radio show, developed into a book series, and has since spawned a TV series, a film, additional sequels and expanded radio series, a famously impossible video game, and a number of stage shows. It was a Sunday Times bestseller, and ranked fourth in a 2003 BBC poll to find the Nation’s Best-Loved Book.


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‘Douglas Adams’s inspired melding of hippy-trail guidebook and sci-fi comedy turned its novelisations into a publishing phenomenon’ – Guardian


‘In a sense that only time can test, it could be said that the Hitchhiker’s Guide has become folklore’ – The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction


‘Douglas was a genius, and that’s not actually a word I toss around very lightly or use very much’ – Neil Gaiman

Welcome to the Best of the Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction




Mill Valley, Marin County, California.



Dr Miles Bennell has lived there all his life. But one day Miles sees a patient who claims her Uncle isn’t himself. He’s a different person, despite being identical in every way except one: he is only pretending to have emotions.
Miles dismisses this as delusions and refers her to a psychiatrist.
Then he finds the pods. Giant seed pods, filled with a strange, grey substance. A strange grey substance that can slowly, slowly, become a perfect replica of a person.


But what has happened to the people being replicated?

Adapted for screen multiple times, The Body Snatchers is the origin of the phrase ‘pod people’, and a staple of pulp science fiction. Read by many as an allegory for the Cold War, or McCarthyism, it perfectly encapsulates the paranoia that comes with not knowing who around you can be trusted.


‘A good story, to be read and savoured’ – Stephen King
‘Will chill you straight to the marrow’ – Galaxy Science Fiction
‘Intensely readable and unpredictably ingenious’ – The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

The Strugatsky brothers’ poignant and introspective novel of first contact that inspired the classic film

Stalker

Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of those strange misfits who are compelled by some unknown force to venture illegally into the Zone and, in spite of the extreme danger, collect the mysterious artefacts that the alien visitors left scattered around. His life is dominated by the Zone and the thriving black market in the alien products. Even the nature of his daughter has been determined by the Zone. And it is for her that Red makes his last, tragic foray into the hazardous and hostile depths.

Readers can’t stop thinking about Roadside Picnic:

‘A story of a horrific yet fascinating place, a story of an ordinary and unlikable man just trying to get by, a philosophical interlude on humanity and its significance or lack thereof, of greed and wonder, and the fever dream of the soul scream. It still speaks to me‘ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘Such an intriguing setting for me, such an unusual take on alien interaction‘ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘It is a thought-provoking, hard-to-put down masterpiece, most probably the best introduction to Soviet science fiction. A must read for any sci-fi fan’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘A fantastic and creative exploration of what first contact might be like’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘The tone of the book is akin to that of some noir works, dark, gritty, getting darker and grittier as the tale wears on . . . Like many great books, the meaning of the ending is left up to the reader’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘A beautifully depressive and wonderfully atmospheric science fiction novel about life on Earth after an alien “Visitation” that leaves humans with more questions than answers . . . Once I started reading it today, I couldn’t stop. The story captured my heart and held my attention’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘This is the sort of book that you read and then immediately feel the need to lend it to someone you know so that they can experience and enjoy it themselves . . . I was truly astonished-by both the poignancy and the deceptive(?) simplicity of this relatively short novel’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Welcome to the Best of the Masterworks: A selection of the finest in science fiction

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Black-cloaked Sarah Canary is the ugliest woman Chin Ah Kin could ever imagine. But after she wanders into a railway camp in the Washington territories in 1873, Chin is ordered by his uncle to escort her away. Far away.
What should be simple journey quickly escalates beyond Chin’s control, into a series of adventures and misadventures that are at once hilarious, deeply moving, and downright terrifying. Who – or what – is the mysterious Sarah Canary? And why can’t Chin leave her, even for his own good?

Co-founder of the James Tiptree Jr. Award, Karen Joy Fowler is a multi-award-winning novelist. Her accolades include three World Fantasy Awards and two Nebula awards. Sarah Canary was her debut novel in 1991, and it was nominated for the Nebula, Locus and James Tiptree Jr. awards, winning the California Book Award Silver Medal.
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‘A picaresque romp that takes a good, long look into the human heart, this is a stunning debut’ – Publishers Weekly
‘The characters and the theme shine’ – LA Times
‘Powerfully imagined . . . Here is a work that manages to be at the same time (and often in the same sentence) dark and deep and fun’ – The Washington Post Book World

The multi-award-winning SF masterpiece from one of the greatest SF writers of all time

Rama is a vast alien spacecraft that enters the Solar System. A perfect cylinder some fifty kilometres long, spinning rapidly, racing through space, Rama is a technological marvel, a mysterious and deeply enigmatic alien artefact.

It is Mankind’s first visitor from the stars and must be investigated …

Winner of the HUGO AWARD for best novel, 1974
Winner of the NEBULA AWARD for best novel, 1973
Winner of the JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD for best novel, 1974
Winner of the BSFA AWARD for best novel, 1973

The year is 2110. Humankind is entering a new golden age.

But when an amateur astronomer points his telescope at just the right corner of the night sky, he sees disaster hurtling toward Earth: a chunk of rock that could annihilate civilization.

While a few fanatics welcome the apocalyptic destruction as a sign from God, the greatest scientific minds of Earth desperately search for a way to avoid the inevitable. On board the starship Goliath, Captain Robert Singh and his crew must race against time to redirect the meteor from its deadly collision course.

Suddenly they find themselves on the most important mission in human history – a mission whose success may require the ultimate sacrifice.

Colonists from the entire solar system converge on the mother planet for the 2276 celebrations.

Among the influx of humanity is Duncan Makenzie, scientist-administrator from the underground colony of Titan, one of the outer moons of Saturn. Makenzie is not just on Earth for the celebrations, though; he has a delicate mission to perform – for his world, his family and himself . . .

The Road can go Anywhere.

The Road can go Anywhen.

Almost.

Red Dorakeen has been on the Road for a very long time. For all of time, in fact. It stretches infinitely into the future and past, with exits that take him wherever, or whenever, he wants to go.

But he can’t find the place he wants to be.

He’s not the only one who can travel the Road, and as people join and leave, they can alter the past, or the future, to suit their whims. Exits close off, become overgrown, and working out what to change back to return to old timelines could take, well . . . forever.


Fortunately, Red has all the time he could ever need.


Roadmarks is a fantastically mind-bending novel from one of SFF’s most influential authors. It weaves together linear and non-linear narratives in a compelling tale full of mystery and magic.

What could be more innocuous than grass? Or more idyllic than a world covered with a wind-whipped ocean of verdant plains?

But the planet Grass conceals horrifying secrets within its endless pastures.

And as an incurable plague attacks all inhabited planets but this one, the prairie-like Grass begins to reveal these secrets – and nothing will ever be the same again …

Considered to be among one of Sheri S. Tepper’s best works, Grass was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus awards. It explores ideas of colonisation, class and sits as part of a rich culture of feminist SF. In 2015, Tepper received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.

‘A splendid achievement, one of the most satisfying science fiction novels I have read in years’ – New York Times
‘One of science fiction’s premier world-builders’ – The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
‘Tepper delves into the nature of truth and religion . . . in her compelling story’ – Publishers Weekly


Welcome to The Best Of The Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction

Nine hundred thousand years ago, something wiped out the Amarantin.

For the humans now settling the Amarantin homeworld, it’s of little more than academic interest, even after the discovery of a long-hidden, almost perfect city and a colossal statue of a winged Amarantin.

For brilliant, ruthless scientist Dan Sylveste, it’s more than merely intellectual curiosity – and he will stop at nothing to get at the truth. Even if it costs him everything.

But the Amarantin were wiped out for a reason, and that danger is closer and greater than even Syveste imagines . . .

The original novel in the epic series, Revelation Space was nominated for both the BSFA and Arthur C. Clarke awards. Reynolds’ PhD in astronomy and experience with the ESA means that his space operas present hard science spins on intergalactic adventures and have impacted SF for years.

‘The stories in the Revelation Space universe are packed with mind-expanding ideas . . . all of which keeps you coming back for more gripping excitement’ – Kirkus
‘Reynolds’s vision of a future dominated by artificial intelligence trembles with the ultimate cold of the dark between the stars’ – Publishers Weekly
‘Along with Iain M Banks, Reynolds is perhaps the most successful British Space Opera author of his generation’ – Encyclopedia of Science Fiction


Welcome to The Best Of The Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction

Thomas Jerome Newton is an extraterrestrial from the planet Anthea, which has been devastated by a series of nuclear wars, and whose inhabitants are twice as intelligent as human beings.

When he lands on Earth – in Kentucky, disguised as a human – it’s with the intention of saving his own people from extinction. Newton patents some very advanced Anthean technology, which he uses to amass a fortune. He begins to build a spaceship to help the last 300 Antheans migrate to Earth.

Meanwhile, Nathan Bryce, a chemistry professor in Iowa, is intrigued by some of the new products Newton’s company brings to the market, and already suspects Newton of being an alien.

As Bryce and the FBI close in, Newton finds his own clarity and sense of purpose diminishing.

Inspiring adaptations starring David Bowie and Chiwetel Ejiofor, The Man Who Fell To Earth brought Walter Tevis wide recognition and critical acclaim. It was nominated for the Hugo award, and the 1976 film was nominated for the Nebula, Saturn and Hugo awards.

‘Beautiful science fiction’ – New York Times
‘This is one of the finest science fiction novels of its period’ – J.R. Dunn
‘Tevis writes . . . with power and poetry and tension’ – Washington Post

Welcome to The Best Of The Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction

Private William Mandella is a reluctant hero in an interstellar war against an unknowable and unconquerable alien enemy.

But his greatest test will be when he returns home.

Relativity means that for every few months’ tour of duty centuries have passed on Earth, isolating the combatants ever more from the world for whose future they are fighting.

The Earth he knew is dead. The one he returns to . . . unrecognisable.

Winner of the Nebula, Locus and Hugo awards, The Forever War was the first title selected for the SF Masterworks series when it launched in 1999. Inspired by Haldeman’s experience in the Vietnam War, it has been seen as a critical work of anti-war SF.

‘This is an enraged and enraging classic that deserves a place alongside Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter as an expression of the pain caused by Vietnam’- Guardian
‘The book is near perfect’- infinity plus
‘This book is not only one of the best military science fiction books ever written, but is one of the finest works of modern American literature’ – Tordotcom


Welcome to The Best Of The Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction

A world of peaceful aliens conquered by bloodthirsty yumens, their existence is irrevocably altered. Forced into servitude, the Athsheans find themselves at the mercy of their brutal masters.

Desperation causes the Athsheans to retaliate against their captors, abandoning their strictures against violence. In defending their lives, they endanger the very foundations of their society. Every blow against the invaders is a blow to the core of Athsheans’ culture.

And once the killing starts, there is no turning back.

Winner of the 1973 Hugo award for Best Novella, and nominated for many others, The Word for World is Forest is part of Le Guin’s ‘Hainish Cycle’. It explores a future history of Earth and pacifistic ideals in its depictions of violence, colonialism and resistance.

‘A simple story that, like most things Le Guin wrote, packs a powerful emotional and critical punch’- Tordotcom
‘Deeply moving and shocking by turns’- Suzanne Reid
‘Le Guin writes in quiet, straightforward sentences about people who feel they are being torn apart by massive forces in society . . . and who fight courageously to remain whole’ – The New York Times Book Review


Welcome to The Best Of The Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction

Wealth … or death. Those were the choices Gateway offered. Humans had discovered this artificial spaceport, full of working interstellar ships left behind by the mysterious, vanished Heechee.

Their destinations are preprogrammed. They are easy to operate, but impossible to control. Some came back with discoveries which made their intrepid pilots rich; others returned with their remains barely identifiable. It was the ultimate game of Russian roulette, but in this resource-starved future there was no shortage of desperate volunteers.

Winner of the Hugo, Locus, Nebula and John W. Campbell awards, Gateway begins Pohl’s space operatic Heechee saga. He was hugely influential in SF as an author but also an agent and editor, and his career spanned decades.

‘A masterpiece of the genre’ – Tordotcom
‘Gateway deserves its reputation as a classic’ – Gareth L. Powell
‘One of the best Hugo winners I have read’ – Guardian


Welcome to The Best Of The Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction

Henry Dorsett Case is a low-level hustler, former hack and ‘console cowboy’ who crashed and burned. His nerves were damaged and thus cut off from the digital matrix, he slouches through life.

Until he meets Molly, an augmented ‘razorgirl’, who offers him a deal on behalf of a shadowy man called Armitage. His nerves repaired and matrix access restored, in exchange for a single job. But it’s not so simple – unless he completes the job, sacs of poison will explode inside him and cripple him again.

And the job? That might be impossible.

The first novel to win the Hugo, Nebula and Philip K. Dick Awards, Neuromancer has become a seminal part of SF history, coining the term ‘cyberspace’ and lighting a fuse on the Cyberpunk movement. Part thriller, part warning, it is one of the 20th century’s most potent visions of the future.

‘A ground-breaking success’ – Empire
‘Gibson is better than almost anybody at noticing what’s genuinely interesting about the world’ – Ned Beauman
‘Neuromancer is a book of exquisitely observed detail’ – Eileen Gunn


Welcome to The Best Of The Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction