A baker‘s dozen of futuristic and space travel tales await you in this audiobook of short stories, originally published in the science fiction magazine, IF (1960–61). These stories are both a sign of their times and a testament to the imaginative powers of writers in the era between Sputnik and Neil Armstrong’s steps on the moon. Death and Taxes are inevitable, of course, but you’ll also find a (Mind)snake, and maybe even a Garden of Eden within.
The authors represented are Albert Teichner, Charles Minor Blackford, Charles V. De Vet, Christopher Anvil, H.A. Hartzell, H.B.Fyfe, Jack Sharkey, Lester Del Rey, R. A. Lafferty, Sylvia Jacobs, and William W. Stuart.
Vaughan Roberts and his two companions had been trapped on a crime-ridden, chaotic planet until they bamboozled the population with a gigantic hoax-which brought them to the attention of the Interstellar Patrol, who were looking for a few good con men, capable of ingenious improvisation and adept at playing dirty tricks on the bad guys. The new recruits acquitted themselves admirably, so they naturally were given more tough nuts to crack, including:
- Flummoxing an alien empire which has taken a number of human prisoners as reconnaissance for an invasion.
- Stopping a plan by not-so-good Samaritans who are pretending to cure a planetary plague-which they introduced to the planet-with a 'miracle' drug which creates an addiction to the same drug . . .
- Not only rescuing some Patrol personnel taken hostage by fanatics, but convincing other fanatics throughout the galaxy that the consequences of threatening anyone in the Patrol are too terrible even to think about . . .
- Making sure that the rightful heir to a planet's throne escapes from captivity and overthrows the usurper. This time there's a complication: Roberts may be falling for the ruler's beautiful sister . . .
- And much more . . .
War is a serious business-or is it? Christopher Anvil turns his sardonic sense of humor loose on the subject and considers what might happen if:
● Someone devised a computer war game so realistic and addictive that the people in charge of battle on both sides didn't have time or inclination to start a real war.
● Another device gave every homeowner the power to block off his property from any inxursion, even by nuclear weapons.
● A secret organization pulls the plug on an impending war by causing the commanders on both sides to be unable even to think of any of the words they need to order their forces into action.
And, in a full-length novel, The Steel, the Mist and the Blazing Sun, the devastation after the World War III has not put an end to war-not as long as men survive who still want to conquer and dominate; nor as long as others will fight, not just to survive, but to defend freedom.
Science and technology have made our lives easier, cured diseases, with achievements that an earlier age would have considered impossible. But once in a while, the law of unintended consequences breaks loose. Christopher Anvil considers the two faces of technological innovation: Sometimes the result is a literal life-saver; but at other times a breakthrough may not break quite the way it was supposed to.
A new wonder drug has the unexpected side effect of making people happy. Not a problem-everybody should want to be happy, right? But should people be happy all of the time? Suppose being happy required you never to disappoint anyone, no matter what they're requesting . . .
Then there was the energy source for every home that would free the country from its dependence on foreign oil-except that the prototype was rushed into production a bit too fast.
Back on the bright side, another device not only couldn't possibly work by every known law of science, but didn't have any obvious uses. Then alien invaders landed and suddenly the crackpot device was the world's only hope.
Humans-there's no understanding them, and no dealing with them either. Or even their planet. Pity the poor aliens, whose shape-changing ability should let them take over the planet Earth before the humans even know they're there-if it weren't for all that omnipresent pollution.
Or consider another set of invaders, from a planet where the weather is always mild and the changing of the seasons is hardly noticeable. They land in force and their weapons are more powerful than those of the primitive humans-but they've never before had to deal with below-zero temperatures, flash floods or tornadoes-not to mention volcanoes.
Then there were the aliens who noticed how belligerent humans were, and gave them the 'gift' of TV-like devices which would show anything anywhere on Earth, which was sure to lead to war. Imagine how surprised the aliens were when the humans took the gadgets apart, improved them, and started spying on everything the aliens were up to, all over the galaxy. Humans don't make sense, they don't fight fair, and they're making aliens throughout interstellar space think seriously about pulling up stakes and moving to another galaxy!
Humans on the space frontiers may have enough problems with befuddled bureaucrats, rules that don't fit the realities of very dangerous situations, and general rear-echelon incompetence without bringing in unfriendly aliens, but it's that kind of universe. On the other hand, as master satirist Christopher Anvil makes clear, the aliens are anything but omnipotent and have plenty of problems of their own.
Here for the first time the stories and short novels of the war with the Outs are collected into a novel-length chronicle. The Outs had mental powers they could use to make humans see illusions and convince them to change sides. Obviously, they were unbeatable-until some troublesome humans found their Achille's heel.
These and other stories of human/alien conflict fill this large volume by the master of wryly sardonic science fiction adventure.
A FEW GOOD CON MEN . . .
The starship crew was stuck on a planet where the well-meaning schemes of ivory tower social engineers had created a nightmare of battling gangs. So they pretended to be the 'Royal Legions' from a distant star kingdom in hot pursuit of an unspeakably evil and nearly all-powerful villain who was hiding somewhere on the planet.
Things went even better than they had hoped, and the planet was rapidly becoming civilized . . . and then the real Royal Flagship showed up. They thought they were doomed, but instead the new arrivals (who also weren't quite what they claimed to be) thought the crew had shown just the sort of initiative and ingenuity that the Interstellar Patrol was looking for. So they were inducted into the Patrol.
And that was just the beginning . . .
A new collection of stories by the master of humorous science fiction adventure, including the full-length novel The Day the Machines Stopped-and what happens, not just to civilization, but to humanity and its chances of survival when all the machines stop working at once?
A man is captured by aliens who are investigating the Earth as a possible target for colonization. The aliens have science and technology far in advance of humans-but, unfortunately for them, they have never developed the human art of bluffing.
For the first time in book form, Anvil's stories of Richard Verner, who is called in to solve apparently insoluble problems, such as explaining why experimental missiles keep failing for no apparent reason, or locating a kidnapped judge, or even solving an inexplicable murder that's interrupting his vacation.
And much more, in a generous volume of sardonically humorous science fiction.
After peacefully and complacently expanding for centuries, the Centran Empire comes face to face with their first major obstacle, the stubborn and warlike inhabitants of Earth, and decides to use Earth warriors to pacify difficult planets throughout the galaxy, but they soon discover a new problem-the humans could end up running the Central Empire itself.
