Richard M. Powers Libri

Two Soviet science fiction novels by the Strugatsky brothers. Introduction by Theodore Sturgeon.

Ballantine Books, 1959. Paperback, 1st printing with cover code #325K. Collection of stories from a science fiction Grand Master! “The Haunted Corpse” (1957); “The Middle of Nowhere” (1955); “The Gentle Venusian” (1958); “The Day of the Boomer Dukes” (1956); “Survival Kit” (1957); “The Knights of Arthur” (1958); “To See Another Mountain” (1959).

Dr. Zebadiah John Carter, Dr. Dejah Thoris Burroughs (Deety to her friends), Deety's brainiac father, Jake, and her "Aunt" Hilda are running off to Reno for a quickie double wedding when a car bomb narrowly misses killing them all. But, what makes this bantering bunch so special isn't money or politics or jealous exes but the one-of-a-kind machine Jake has built in his basement. Jake has made an awesome quantum breakthrough-a simple invention that allows access to all the universes-and a race of blue-skinned, green-blooded bad guys are determined to grab the gadget for themselves. Plugging the world-skipper into Gay Deceiver, Zeb's trusty flying coupe, the lusty foursome set off on a rollicking roller coaster ride to other space-time continuums, determined to evade and destroy the Black Hats who want them vaporized. And that's when the fun really begins....

Here are three of the best—each dealing with a different aspect of communication with creatures so alien to mankind that the first thing to do is throw speech out the window! What happens next is strictly up to the ingenuity of writers like Mr. Clement, who visualizes a lively time for mankind among his counterparts from other planets. Assumption Unjustified (1946) Technical Error (1944) Impediment (1942)