A handful of men and women struggle to survive in the dark aftermath of a devastating war fought decades ago, battling disease, hunger, fear and brutality. Gordon Krantz is one such man, an itinerant story-teller. After being robbed of his few goods, he takes the jacket and bag of a long-dead postal worker and in the next village he visits, finds that the old uniform still has power as a symbol of hope, for the return of an age long gone. Unwilling to disillusion the villagers, he accepts their letters to loved ones who may or may not still live, and in doing so creates his greatest tale - that of an America on the road to recovery. His deception takes on a reality of its own as others come to join him, supported by the strength of a vision he himself only half-believed. Cover art variant by Tom Hallman.
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The Postman: David Brin
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To win the right to a name, he fought without weapons in the deadly arena of Nggongga only to be cheated of his prize. Branded a criminal, he sought refuge with the Benefactors, a mysterious interplanetary fellowship and from them he would at last learn the truth of his heritage. As Blacklantern, he was born again - and the Galaxy became his arena for vengeance. His purpose took him to the end of the Cosmos, to seek out and finally face a terrifying and relentless evil that threatened countless worlds. Cover art by Peter Elson. -
A selection of shorts from the author of the epic Dune series. Old Rambling House: Ted and Martha Graham are proud of their mobile home but feel they'd like something more permanent. Ted, an accountant, can work anywhere...Then their advertisement is answered - very rapidly - with an offer that seems a little too good to be true... Murder Will In: William Bailey is dying...except he's not William Bailey. For the last 200 years Tegas, a psychic, personality-hijacking parasite has been running William's consciousness and body. Because Tegas loves the emotions experienced by a murderer. He's been hopping from murdered to murderer. But what happens when there's no murderer to hop to? The Priests Of Psi: Lewis Orne, operator for the Investigation and Adjustment Agency, is a hard, logical man who has prevented countless wars from happening. So why does the religious Priest Planet, Amel, recruit him to be one of their disciples? Try to Remember! Earth must interpret a message from an alien visit - or be eradicated. Mindfield: Priests and priestesses run a future world populated exclusively by adults. Using a psi-machine that cleanses adults of 'adultness' and which effectively returns them as children, things begin to go awry when a couple rebel and an elderly man returns remembering with far too much. Cover art by Tim White. -
Family d'Alembert series. What is happening on the obscure planet Purity, peopled only by religious introverts? Formerly happy to turn their backs on the rest of the Empire, the Puritans are preparing to fight a holy war, inspired by the aggressive zeal of evangelist Tresa Clunard. The Family d'Alembert must spring into action again, to maintain interstellar peace. Cover art by Chris Foss. -
Book II of The New Springtime. Years have passed since the Chronicler Hresh led the People from the lost city of Vengiboneeza to found a new home. For beautiful Nialli Apuilana, his daughter, they have been years of disquiet and confusion, haunted by the memories of the dreaded hjjks, the insect men who destroyed her childhood. Now the hjjks have come again, threatening apocalyptic war - and only Nialli, the seeds of hjjk wisdom planted in her long ago, can guide the tribes to peace. Cover art by Kevin Tweddell. https://cosmiccauldronbooks.com.au/p/at-winters-end-robert-silverberg/ -
Book IV of Legion Of Space. Decades after the murderous assaults on the civilized worlds by the Medusae and the Cometeers - worlds protected by the Legion of Space - the Hawkshead Nebula is a new setting of conflict and intrigue. Jil Gyrel is a lonely girl on a dismal planet at the edge of that nebula. Her life is changed forever when her father's long-missing spaceship reappears. The only survivor is her father's best friend Shon Macharn. Macharn's sudden marriage to Jil's mother sends Jil on a course of events that ends with all civilization at stake. For AKKA - the cosmos' ultimate weapon - has been stolen by mysterious agents, and the horrors from within the Hawkshead Nebula have rendered the Legion of Space powerless. Jil encounters the wonders of the galaxy and leads a motley crew against the terrors of the Nebula in an effort to find her father and recover the secret of AKKA. -
Book II of Rhada. High in the mountains of the planet Vyka, battle rages for control of the Dynasty. Kier, Warleader of Rhada, has sided with the rebellious Galacton, King of the Universe, in a conflict where only the victors will survive. Entrusted with the honour of the beautiful Ariane, sister of the Galacton, Kier is faced with a two-fold impossibility. He must overcome the treacherous maneuverings of the Empress-Consort Marlana. Then he must destroy Tallan, a cyborg that exists solely to create a race of man machines with himself as ruler. A dangerous struggle that must be won by the Rebel if Vyka and the Universe are to remain free. Cover art by Kevin Eugene Johnson. -
Robot 0.2. Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics have since been programmed into real computers the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and used as the outline for a legal robotic charter. The Rest of The Robots...are not simple unthinking machines victimised by frightened men: Robot Tony is the first robot designed to perform domestic duties by the US Robots and Mechanical Men Corporation. Is it Tony's fault that the lady of the house where he's field tested falls in love with him? The Rest of the Robots...are positronic with brains of platinum-iridium. Independent. Precision eng8i9neered. Sensible. Rational... Robot Al was intended for shipment to a mining outfit on the moon. Instead, he's loose in the mountains of Virginia...building from scraps of junk his very own, very dangerous disintegrator. Robot Lenny answers workaday questions in baby-talk. So why is Dr Susan Calvin, the world's top robopsychologist, fascinated by this messed up specimen of an industrial robot? The Rest of the Robots...Asimov's final, classic terrifying picture of robotic developments in the future...Cover art by Dennis Rolfe. -
Book II of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Facing annihilation at the hands of the warlike Vogons is a curious time to have a craving for tea. It could only happen to the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his comrades-in-arms as they hurtle across space in a ship powered by pure improbability - and desperately in search of a place to eat. The gang's all here: Ford Prefect, a longtime friend and expert contributor to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; Zaphod Beeblebrox, the three-armed, two-headed ex-president of the galaxy; Tricia McMillan, a fellow Earth refugee who's gone native and changed her name to Trillian; and Marvin, the moody android who suffers nothing and no one very gladly. Their destination? The ultimate hot spot for an evening of apocalyptic entertainment and fine dining, where the food literally speaks for itself. If you've done six impossible things this morning, then why not round it off with breakfast, lunch or dinner at Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe? With your host, Max Quordlepleen! Cover art by Chris Moore.
