Isaac Asimov's Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction

Dan Simmons

Cycles - essay by uncredited Chalice of Death - novella by Robert Silverberg Orphan of the Void - novelette by Lloyd Biggle, Jr. (variant of The Man Who Wasn't Home 1960) Down to the Worlds of Men - novelette by Alexei Panshin Governance - essay by uncredited Ministry of Disturbance - novelette by H. Beam Piper Blind Alley - short story by Isaac Asimov A Planet Named Shayol - novelette by Cordwainer Smith Concerns - essay by uncredited Diabologic - short story by Eric Frank Russell Fighting Philosopher - novelette by Everett B. Cole [as by E. B. Cole] Honorable Enemies - novelette by Poul Anderson

Arthur C. Clarke

Introduction: Competition! - essay by Isaac Asimov Run to Starlight - novelette by George R. R. Martin The Mickey Mouse Olympics - short story by Tom Sullivan Dream Fighter - short story by Bob Shaw The Kokod Warriors - novelette by Jack Vance Getting Through University - novelette by Piers Anthony For the Sake of Grace - novelette by Suzette Haden Elgin The National Pastime - novelette by Norman Spinrad A Day for Dying - short story by Charles Nuetzel The People Trap - short story by Robert Sheckley Why Johnny Can't Speed - short story by Alan Dean Foster Nothing in the Rules - novelette by L. Sprague de Camp The Olympians - short story by Mike Resnick The Wind from the Sun - novelette by Arthur C. Clarke Prose Bowl - novelette by Barry N. Malzberg and Bill Pronzini From Downtown at the Buzzer - novelette by George Alec Effinger A Glint of Gold - short story by Simon Hawke [as by Nicholas V. Yermakov] The Survivor - novelette by Walter F. Moudy

Dan Simmons

"Introduction: Super" (Isaac Asimov) "Angel, Dark Angel" (Roger Zelazny) "Worlds to Kill" (Harlan Ellison) "In the Bone" (Gordon R. Dickson) "What Rough Beast?" (Damon Knight) "Death by Ecstasy" (Larry Niven) "Un-Man" (Poul Anderson) "Muse" (Dean R. Koontz) "Resurrection" (A. E. van Vogt) "Pseudopath" (Philip E. High) "After the Myths Went Home" (Robert Silverberg) "Before the Talent Dies" (Henry Slesar) "Brood World Barbarian" (Perry A. Chapdelaine)

Dan Simmons

H. G. Wells, in his 1906 In the Days of the Comet uses the vapors of a comet to trigger a deep and lasting change in humanity's perspective on themselves and the world. In the build-up to a great war, poor student William Leadford struggles against the harsh conditions the lower-class live under. He also falls in love with a middle-class girl named Nettie. But when he discovers that Nettie has eloped with a man of upper-class standing, William struggles with the betrayal, and in the disorder of his own mind decides to buy a revolver and kill them both. All through this a large comet lights the night sky with a green glow, bright enough that the street lamps are left unlit.

Dan Simmons

Young Robot boy TIM-21 and his companions struggle to stay alive in a universe where all androids have been outlawed and bounty hunters lurk on every planet. Written by award-winning creator, Jeff Lemire, Descender is a rip-roaring and heart-felt cosmic odyssey. Lemire pits humanity against machine, and world against world, to create a sprawling epic.

Dan Simmons

From back cover Tor paperback February 2003: *Hominids* examines two unique species of people. *We* are one of those species; the other is the Neanderthals of a parallel world where *they* became the dominant intelligence. The Neanderthal civilization has reached heights of culture and science comparable to our own, but with radically different history, society and philosophy. Ponter Boddit, a Neanderthal physicist, accidentally pierces the barrier between worlds and is transferred to our universe. Almost immediately recognized as a Neanderthal, but only much later as a scientist, he is quarantined and studied, alone and bewildered, a stranger in a strange land. But Ponter is also befriended -- by a doctor and a physicist who share his questing intelligence, and especially by Canadian geneticist Mary Vaughan, a woman with whom he develops a special rapport. Ponter's partner, Adikor Huld, finds himself with a messy lab, a missing body, suspicious people all around and an explosive murder trial. How can he possibly prove his innocence when he has no idea what actually happened to Ponter?

Timothy Zahn

Truck Driver - short story by Rob Chilson [as by Robert Chilson] Hermes to the Ages - novelette by Frederick D. Gottfried Pushbutton War - short story by Joseph P. Martino The Last Shuttle - short story by Isaac Asimov The Getaway Special - short story by Jerry Oltion Between a Rock and a High Place - novella by Timothy Zahn To Grab Power - short story by Hayden Howard Coming of Age in Henson's Tube - short story by William John Watkins [as by William Jon Watkins] Deborah's Children - short story by Grant Callin [as by Grant D. Callin] The Book of Baraboo - novella by Barry B. Longyear The Speckled Gantry - short story by Joseph Green and Patrice Milton The Nanny - novelette by Thomas Wylde Hitchhiker - short story by Sheila Finch Dead Ringer - novella by Edward Wellen

Rick Riordan

After a year spent trying to prevent a catastropic war among the Greek gods, Percy Jackson finds his seventh-grade school year unnervingly quiet. His biggest problem is dealing with his new friend, Tyson--a six-foot-three, mentally challenged homeless kid who follows Percy everywhere, making it hard for Percy to have any "normal" friends. But things don't stay quiet for long. Percy soon discovers there is trouble at Camp Half-Blood: The magical borders which protect Half-Blood Hill have been poisoned by a mysterious enemy, and the only safe haven for demigods is on the verge of being overrun by mythological monsters. To save the camp, Percy needs the help of his best friend, Grover, who has been taken prisoner by the Cyclops Polyphemus on an island somewhere in the Sea of Monsters--the dangerous waters Greek heroes have sailed for millenia--only today, the Sea of Monsters goes by a new name...the Bermuda Triangle. Now Percy and his friends--Grover, Annabeth, and Tyson--must retrieve the Golden Fleece from the Island of the Cyclopes by the end of the summer or Camp Half-Blood will be destroyed. But first, Percy will learn a stunning new secret about his family--one that makes him question whether being claimed as Poseidon's son is an honor or simply a cruel joke.

Dan Simmons

Jake, an average suburban kid, is confronted one night by a creature from space who teaches him how to morph into the forms of other creatures. This fantastic, unpredictable, edge-of-your-seat series can best be described as an "X-Files" for kids--plus a whole lot more! Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias, and Marco are the Animorphs--five kids who can change into any animal they touch. The bottom of each page is animated with "flip-book" images, so as kids flip pages, drawings of each character "morph" into animals.