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In this volume: Bicentennial Man: Andrew was one of Earth's first house robot domestic servants—smoothly designed and functional. But when Andrew started to develop special talents which exceeded the confines of his allotted positronic pathways, he abandoned his domestic duties in favour of more intellectual pursuits. As time passed, Andrew acquired knowledge, feelings and ambitions way beyond anything ever experienced by any other mechanical men. And he found himself launched on to a career which would bring him fame fortune - and danger. For a robot who wants to be human must also be prepared to die... The Prime of Life; Waterclap; That Thou Art Mindful of Him; Stranger in Paradise; The Life and Times of Multivac; The Winnowing; Marching In; Old Fashioned; The Tercentenary Incident; Birth of a Notion. Cover shows the late Robin Williams in his role of Andrew in the film of the same name. -
A feast for sci-fi fans of the 'Old Masters'. In this volume: Foundation (Foundation I): For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying, and only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future - to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save mankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the Galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for a future generations. He calls his sanctuary The Foundation. Foundation And Empire (Foundation II): Led by its founding father Hari Seldon, and utilising science and technology, the Foundation survived the greed and barbarism of its neighboring warrior-planets. Now cleverness and courage may not be enough. For the Empire - the mightiest force in the Galaxy - is even more dangerous in its death throes. Even worse, a mysterious entity called the Mule has appeared with powers beyond anything humanly conceivable. Who - or what - is the Mule? And how is humanity to defend itself against this invulnerable avatar of annihilation? Second Foundation (Foundation III): The Foundation lies in ruins - destroyed by a mutant mind bent on humanity’s annihilation. But it’s rumored that there’s a Second Foundation hidden somewhere at the end of the Galaxy, established as insurance to preserve the knowledge of mankind. Now a desperate race has begun between the survivors of the First Foundation and an alien entity to find this last flicker of humanity’s shining past - and future hope. Yet the key to it all might be a fourteen-year-old girl burdened with a terrible secret. Is she the Foundation’s savior - or its deadliest enemy? The Stars, Like Dust (Galactic Empire I): Biron Farrell was young and naïve, but he was growing up fast. A radiation bomb planted in his dorm room changed him from an innocent student at the University of Earth to a marked man, fleeing desperately from an unknown assassin. He soon discovers that, many light-years away, his father, the highly respected Rancher of Widemos, has been murdered. Stunned, grief-stricken, and outraged, Biron is determined to uncover the reasons behind his father’s death, and becomes entangled in an intricate saga of rebellion, political intrigue and espionage. The Naked Sun (Robot II): A millennium into the future, two advancements have altered the course of human history: the colonisation of the Galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain. On the beautiful Outer World planet of Solaria, a handful of human colonists lead a hermit-like existence, their every need attended to by their faithful robot servants. To this strange planet comes Detective Elijah Baley, sent from the streets of New York with his positronic partner, the robot R. Daneel Olivaw, to solve an incredible murder that has rocked Solaria to its foundations. The victim had been so reclusive that he appeared to his associates only through holographic projection. Yet someone had gotten close enough to bludgeon him to death while robots looked on. Now Baley and Olivaw are faced with two clear impossibilities: Either the Solarian was killed by one of his robots - unthinkable under the laws of Robotics - or he was killed by the woman who loved him so much that she never came into his presence... I, Robot (Robot I): A robot must not harm a human being; a robot must obey human orders; and a robot must protect its own existence - as long as that protection does not conflict with rules one and two. With these Three Laws of Robotics, humanity embarked on a bold new era of evolution that would open up enormous possibilities - and unforeseen risks. For the scientists who invented the earliest robots weren't content that their creations should remain programmed helpers, companions, and semi-sentient worker-machines. And soon the robots themselves, aware of their own intelligence, power and humanity, aren't either. As humans and robots struggle to survive together - and sometimes against each other - in earth and in space, the future of both hangs in the balance. Here human men and women confront robots gone mad, telepathic robots, robot politicians and vast robotic intelligences that may already secretly control the world. And both are asking the same question: What is human? And is humanity obsolete? DVD: Will Smith; Alan Tudyk: preloved; very good condition; region 4 -
Comrade Pyotr Shapirov has a secret of vital importance to world science but the only man with the skill to extract it from his comatose brain is American scientist Albert Morrison. Natalya Boranova, sent by Russian high command to get Morriosn's help will stop at nothing to ensure his co-operation. But there is one major problem -the necessity for human miniaturisation. Wrenched from a routine conference and transported to a vast underground Soviet City dedicated to scientific experiment, Morrison is shrunk to a microscopic fraction of normal size and p0laced in a specially designed 'submarine' to be injected into Shapirov's veins to travel deep into the uncharted regions of the brain - and with only twelve hours to complete his task, Morrison must find the origins of human thought. Cover art by Chris Foss. -
Book IV of Foundation. (Chronological order.) The Foundation hurtles into conflict with the decadent, decrepit First Empire. In this struggle for power amid the chaos of the stars, man stands at the threshold of a new, enlightened life which could easily be put aside for the old forces of barbarism.Cover art by Chris Foss. -
Foundation: Isaac Asimov
$9.00Book I of Foundation. For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future - to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save mankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire - both scientists and scholars - and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the Galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for a future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation. But soon the fledgling Foundation finds itself at the mercy of corrupt warlords rising in the wake of the receding Empire. Mankind's last best hope is faced with an agonizing choice: submit to the barbarians and be overrun - or fight them and be destroyed. Cover art by Fred Gambino. -
Book IV of Foundation. The costly and bitter war between the two Foundations has finally come to an end. The scientists of the First Foundation have proved victorious; and now they return to Hari Seldon’s long-established plan to build a new Empire on the ruins of the old. But rumors persist that the Second Foundation is not destroyed after all - and that its still-defiant survivors are preparing their revenge. Two exiled citizens of the Foundation set out in search of the mythical planet Earth and and proof that the Second Foundation still exists. Meanwhile, someone - or something - outside both Foundations seems to be orchestrating events to suit its own ominous purpose. Soon representatives of both the First and Second Foundations will find themselves racing toward a final, shocking destiny at the very end of the universe. Cover art by Tim White. -
A round dozen of Asimov's choice fantasy authors. In this volume: The Candidate, Henry Slesar: A man receives numerous persistent requests for a meeting from a group called the Society For United Action - what can they possibly want? The Christmas Shadrach, Frank R. Stockton: Can a chunk of iron ore make you fall in love? The Snow Women, Fritz Leiber: The magic of the Snow Women must be overcome if Fafhrd is to win the lovely Vlana; Invisible Boy, Ray Bradbury: an elderly lady, possibly a witch, claims she can make Charlie invisible...The Hero Who Returned, Gerald W. Page; Toads Of Grimmerdale, Andre Norton: From the Witch World...Hertha, a noblewoman who is cast out into drifts of ice-crusted snow by her brother, seeks revenge. A Literary Death, Martin H. Greenberg: A chronicle of a death foretold... Satan and Sam Shay, Robert Arthur: Satan challenges Sam Shay to a betting contest - who will win? Lot 249, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Abercrombie Smith, Oxford athlete, notices his Egyptologist friend's mummy keeps disappearing and reappearing and always coincidental with mysterious murders...The Witch Is Dead, Edward D. Hoch: Simon Ark, perhaps the original ghostbuster, takes an interest in a mysterious fortune-teller and some weird events at a girls’ college. I Know What You Need, Stephen King: Popular, pretty college-girl Elizabeth finds she is inexplicably attracted to Ed, a loner, who always knows just what she needs, anytime, anywhere - but Elizabeth's room mate is suspicious enough to do some research on Ed...The Miracle Workers, Jack Vance: The Jinxmen can help Lord Faide win his battles against humans, but the First Folk must be fought with different means. Cover art by Julek Heller -
Edited by Martin Greenberg. In the Milky Way Galaxy of 1000 years hence, six vastly different star-faring races co-exist under a precarious, volatile truce, threatened by the most recent addition to the galactic community - Man. This volume comprises the following stories: They Hide, We Seek, Robert Silverberg; The Diplomacy Guild, David Brin; Myryx, Robert Sheckley; The Burning Sky, Poul Anderson and Island of the Gods, Harry Turtledove. Cover art by Tim White. -
This is Asimov's final collection of his fantasy stories that were not published previously. In this volume: To Your Health; The Critic on the Hearth; It's a Job; Baby, Its Cold Outside; The Time Traveler; Wine Is a Mocker; The Mad Scientist; The Fable of the Three Princes; March Against the Foe; Northwestward; Prince Delightful and the Flameless Dragon. Also included are his thoughts on the genre of fantasy itself. Here are the fascinating musings of a wide ranging intelligence, discussing everything from Tolkien to Spielberg, from Unicorns to King Arthur, from the difference between maidens and damsels to the speed of Seven League Boots...scientifically calculated, of course!