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Valley of the Worm

The fifth collection of Robert E. Howard's fantasy work from the legendary pulp magazine Weird Tales (and several of its rivals) features another lineup filled with classic fiction and poetry from Howard's greatest writing years. Included in this volume are four stories with Howard's most famous character, Conan ("Black Colossus," "The Slithering Shadow," "The Pool of the Black One," and "Rogues in the House"), as well as several historical and contemporary fantasies.
Views: 656

The Lost Get-Back Boogie

Iry Paret's done his time -- two years for manslaughter in Louisiana's Angola State Penitentiary. Now the war vet and blues singer is headed to Montana, where he hopes to live clean working on a ranch owned by the father of his prison pal, Buddy Riordan. In prison, Iry tinkered with a song -- "The Lost Get-Back Boogie" -- that never came out quite right. Now, the Riordan family's problems hand him a new kind of trouble, with some tragic consequences. And Iry must get the tune right at last, or pay a fateful price.
Views: 645

1949 The First Israelis

Renowned historian Tom Segev strips away national myths to present a critical and clear-eyed chronicle of the year immediately following Israel's foundation."Required reading for all who want to understand the Arab-Israeli conflict...the best analysis...of the problems of trying to integrate so many people from such diverse cultures into one political body" (The New York Times Book Review). Historian and journalist Tom Segev stirred up controversy in Israel upon the first publication of 1949. It was a landmark book that told a different story of the country's early years, one that wasn't taught in schools or shown in popular culture. Rather than painting the idealized picture of the Israel's founding in 1948, after the wreckage of the Holocaust, Segev reveals gritty underside behind the early years. The new country of Israel faced challenges on all sides. Day-to-day life was severe, marked by austerity and food shortages; Israeli society was...
Views: 637

If Tomorrow Comes

Lovely, idealistic Tracy Whitney is framed into a fifteen year sentence in an escape-proof penitentiary. With dazzling ingenuity she fights back to destroy the untouchable crime lords who put her there. With her intelligence and beauty as her only weapons, Tracy embarks on a series of extraordinary escapades that sweep her across the globe. In an explosive confrontation Tracy meets her equal in irresistible Jeff Stevens, whose past is as colorful as Tracy's.
Views: 637

Humpty Dumpty in Oakland

Set in San Francisco in the late 1950s, Humpty Dumpty in Oakland is a tragicomedy of misunderstandings among used car dealers and real-estate salesmen: the small-time, struggling individuals for whom Philip K.Dick always reserved his greatest sympathy. Jim Fergesson is an elderly garage owner with a heart condition, who is about to retire; Al Miller is a somewhat feckless mechanic who sublets part of Jim's lot and finds his livelihood threatened by the decision to sell; Chris Harman is a record-company owner who for years has relied on Fergesson to maintain his cars. When Harman hears of Fergesson's impending retirement he tips him off to what he says is a cast-iron business proposition: a development in nearby Marin County with an opening for a garage. Al Miller is convinced that Harman is a crook, out to fleece Fergesson of his life's savings. As much as he resents Fergesson he can't bear to see it happen and--denying to himself all the time what he is doing--he sets out to thwart Harman.
Views: 633

Man Of Two Worlds

On the distant planet Dreenor lives the most powerful species in the Galaxy. All of the Universe is the creation of the Dreens, who possess the power of "idmaging", turning their throughts into reality. They can create whole worlds, of which the wild, ungovernable planet Earth is one. But suddenly Earth is a threat, its people on the verge of discovering interstellar travel, and with it, of gaining access to Dreenor itself - a paradox within a paradox, not to be permitted. While the elder Dreens plan Earth's destruction, a youngster, Ryll, embarks on an unauthorised jaunt across space. Forced for survival to merge bodies with an Earther whose mind is as strong as his own, he has to battle for control. And the future of all earthly life lies in the hand of a composite being, half wily, aggressive human, half naive adolescent alien, confused and far from home..
Views: 630

The Compleat Crow

Master of occult arts... ‘He was tall and broad-shouldered, and it was plain to see that in his younger days he had been a handsome man. Now his hair had greyed a little and his eyes, though they were still very bright and observant, bore the imprint of many a year spent exploring – and often, I guessed, discovering – along rarely trodden paths of mysterious and obscure learning.’ Mysterious, obscure learning... To many thousands of readers all over the world Titus Crow is the occult investigator, psychic sleuth and cosmic voyager of Brian Lumley’s novels of the Cthulhu Mythos from The Burrowers Beneath to Elysia. But before the Burrowers and Crow’s Transition, his exploits were chronicled in a series of short stories and novellas previously uncollected in a British edition. Now these stories can be told. From ‘Inception’, which tells of his origins, to ‘The Black Recalled’, a tale of vengeance from beyond the grave, here in one volume, from the bestselling author of the epic Necroscope series, is THE COMPLEAT CROW.
Views: 628

Whirlwind

Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here Presents the story of three weeks in Tehran in February 1979: three weeks of fanaticism, passion, self-sacrifice and heartbreak. Caught between the revolutionaries and the forces of international intrigue is a team of professional pilots. They are ordered to flee to safety with their helicopters.
Views: 623

Robot Dreams

Robot Dreams collects 21 of Isaac Asimov's short stories spanning the body of his fiction from the 1940s to the 1980s----exploring not only the future of technology, but the future of humanity's maturity and growth. From the Bestselling Author of I, Robot   “His name is synonymous with all that is best in science fiction.”—The New York Times   In a career spanning nearly fifty years, Isaac Asimov—science writer, historian, and futurist—accurately predicted how technological breakthroughs would be developed and utilized, years before they became reality. His foresight envisioned calculators, computerized cars, and advances in the field of robotics in such popular books as I, Robot; Robots and Empire; and The Robots of Dawn.   Robot Dreams spans the body of his fiction from the 1940s to the mid-1980s, featuring all of the classic Asimovian themes—from the scientific puzzle and the extraterrestrial thriller to the psychological discourse—presented by the author in an introductory essay.   In addition to the title story (a Locus poll winner, and Hugo and Nebula Award finalist), this collection features several of Asimov’s robot tales. A robopsychologist must outwit a machine determined to stay hidden in “Little Robot Lost;” a woman’s talent for “Light Verse” overshadows her true accomplishments with her robot servants; and “The Last Question” presented to computer after computer over a hundred billion years may remain forever unanswered.   “Classic science fiction . . . includes many of Asimov’s best.”—Chronicle   “The collection gathers 20 of Asimov’s greatest (with Asimov, the word ‘great’ is no mere hyperbole), older short stories, plus one new tale written especially for this book, and an important essay which opens the book.”—Starlog
Views: 621

God Game

Andrew M. Greeley, the phenomenally popular novelist and priest, is best known — and loved — for his understated Catholic morality and compassionate understanding of human foibles. In The God Game, now available in a brand-new trade paperback edition, Father Greeley takes a new and fascinating twist on an old cliche: What if — by using a sophisticated computer game with a healthy dose of heavenly intervention — you really could play God? What if you actually had the power to control other people's lives?This is the dilemma that faces our hero, who quickly finds that being given the kingdom, the power, and the glory is dangerous — but addictive. The troubles of the people he sees flashing on his computer screen are all too real — and his troubles are just beginning. . .At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Views: 620

The Hidden Land

The five cousins are still trapped in the Secret Country, and must play their parts. When the King is poisoned, Ted-Prince Edward-must take the throne, even though he has no idea how to rule a country, battle magic, or inspire followers.  Soon enough he will have to do all three because the Country is on the verge of war with the treacherous Dragon King.
Views: 619

Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls

Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne and Stacey have had some strange adventures since they started the Baby-sitters Club. But nothing's been as spooky as what's going on right now. The baby-sitters have been getting mysterious phone calls when they're out on their jobs. When a phone rings and they pick up, there's no one on the other end of the line. Claudia's sure it's the Phantom Caller, a jewel thief who's been operating in the area. Claudia has always liked reading mysteries, but she doesn't like it when they happen to her. So she and the baby-sitters decide to take action - with some very mixed results!
Views: 615

Tuf Voyaging

From the multiple award-winning, best-selling author of The Song of Ice and Fire series: Haviland Tuf is an honest space-trader who likes cats. So how is it that, in competition with the worst villains the universe has to offer, he's become the proud owner of the last seedship of Earth's legendary Ecological Engineering Corps? Never mind, just be thankful that the most powerful weapon in human space is in good hands-hands which now control cellular material for thousands of outlandish creatures. With his unique equipment, Tuf is set to tackle the problems human settlers have created in colonizing far-flung worlds: hosts of hostile monsters, a population hooked on procreation, a dictator who unleashes plagues to get his own way... and in every case the only thing that stands between the colonists and disaster is Tuf's ingenuity-and his reputation as an honest dealer in a universe of rogues... Tuf Voyaging interior illustrations by Janet Aulisio. Included will be her original eight illustrations, along with 28 newly commissioned ones.
Views: 614

Pickle Puss

It's August, and Emily has big plans at the library. She's going to read lots of books and tack a paper fish next to her name for each one. Then Dawn Bosco says she can read more books than Emily. Not only that, both Emily and Dawn want to keep Pickle Puss, a stray cat thay found. They decide that whoever reads the most books can keep cat. When Emily adds a fish for a book she read along time ago, she has one more fish than Dawn. She knows she's cheating, but she wants to keep the cat. What a pickle she's in. From the Trade Paperback edition.
Views: 611

Continent

Winner of the Whitbread First Novel Prize, the Guardian Fiction Prize and the David Higham Award.
Views: 608