Barrington J. Bayley Libri

Su Caean, il raggruppamento di mondi che occupa la sezione della spirale galattica nota come Braccio di Tzist, gli abiti non sono soltanto un ornamento ma una filosofia, un modo di vita, anzi il modo di vita. Ben diversa è la situazione nel vicino Ammasso di Ziode: i pianeti dell'Ammasso non comprendono la filosofia caeanica e la disapprovano. I vestiti caeanici sono proibiti ed è illegale ogni traffico o contatto con il vicino braccio della spirale, strane voci si mormorano sui poteri misteriosi degli addobbi caeanici, poteri che è meglio lasciare nel buio enigmatico in cui sono avvolti. Peder Forbarth, vestiarista di Ziode, ed il suo compare Rialto Mast decidono tuttavia di depredare un mercantile caeanico pieno di vestiti precipitato sul lontano pianeta Kyre. E quando Peder, irrompendo nell'astronave, si trova di fronte addirittura il leggendario abito di Frachonard, il più grande sarto di Caean, non sa resistere e lo indossa, trasferendone su di sé l'intrinseco ed inimmaginabile potenziale, un potenziale che cambierà tutta la sua vita. Perché gli abiti non solo vestono l'uomo, ma ne diventano parte integrante e ne mutano radicalmente il carattere!...

Nine stories drawn eclectically from an astonishingly wide range of sources: from analytical philosophy, mathematics, physics, biology, and psychology. They demonstrate that Bayley possesses an extraordinarily fertile imagination, and a talent for combining the absurd and the abstruse with a dramatic flourish. He is a writer who delights in novel ideas and their exploration, a lover of bizarre juxtapositions. The range of his literary strategies extends from carefree space opera to stylishly satirical mock-intellectualism. Though his melodramas are magnificently surreal, he is perhaps at his best when he is at his most casual, affecting an earnest attitude of scrupulous reportage which throws his inventions into sharper relief. His powers of characterization are limited and his dialogue is frequently weak, but in the kind of fiction which he writes these faults are almost inconsequential, and they do not detract from the force and entertainment value of his fiction.--Brian Stableford

Cheyne Scarne risks everything to infiltrate the Grand Wheel, the ultimate Syndicate governing all illegal activities across human-controlled planets. His journey delves into the dangerous underworld of crime, where loyalty and betrayal intertwine. As he navigates this treacherous landscape, Scarne's life hangs in the balance, revealing the high stakes of ambition and the dark allure of power within a vast criminal empire.

Set against a backdrop of interstellar exploration, Karl Krabbe and Boris Bouche are profit-driven partners who operate outside the law. Their crew includes Roncie Northrop, a bondman nuclear engineer who is disillusioned and has previously attempted to escape their exploitative grasp. The dynamics of power, control, and desperation unfold as their reckless pursuits lead them deeper into danger.

In a bizarre world governed by the twin gods Ormazd and Ahriman, Histrina, a child of Ormazd, is captured by malevolent forces and thrust into a realm of terror. There, she encounters Laedo, a man who is lost and far from his own home. Together, they navigate the challenges posed by their surroundings and the influence of the gods, exploring themes of good versus evil and the struggle for survival in a hostile environment.

Accidental exposure to a form of natural radiation had caused scientist Jason Hyde's eyes to turn colourless and emit blue rays which gave him the power to see through solid objects and to read the thoughts of human beings. Hyde has dedicated his life to investigating strange phenomena and protecting the world from all manner of abnormal threats!

The novel about: the absolutely ultimate weapon that can ever exist...The sub-human who found it and tried to use it...The beasts who manned humanity's last star fleet...The widening rim in the space-time continuum...The brief cosmic empire of the pigs...The theory of gravitaitational recession...The super-samurai who served the zen-gunner...The colonial girl who defied the galactic empire...And many more "nova" ideas from the author of whom Michael Moorcock said, "There is no one else to match him."

Ohne Kindheit tritt Jasperodus von einem Tag zum anderen voll in das Leben eines Erwachsenen ein: Jasperodus ist ein Roboter. Er hat keine Lust, bei jenem Ehepaar zu bleiben, das ihn erschaffen hat, und zieht hinaus in die wilde weite Welt. Jasperodus, der sich als Mensch fühlt, ist allen anderen Robotern überlegen, wird von Menschen jedoch als tumbe Maschine, als Ding ohne Gefühle angesehen, mit dem nach Belieben zu verfahren ist. Aber Jasperodus zeigt es ihnen allen. Seine abenteuerliche Karriere führt vom Sklaven im Königreich Gordona zum General und Staatsmann, schließlich zum Führer einer Roboterrevolution. Wie abenteuerlich die Stationen seines Lebens auch sind: Im Grunde forscht er stets nur einem einzigen Mysterium nach - der Frage, ob er, der Roboter Jasperodus, eine Seele hat...

Während Prinz Peredan, der rechtmäßige Herrscher des Interstellaren Imperiums, die entscheidende Schlacht gegen den Thronräuber Maxim vorbereitet, dringt eine rätselhafte Lebensform in die Galaxis ein: der Fleck, eine planetenverschlingende interkosmische Entität, die Tod und Vernichtung heraufbeschwört, wo immer sie auftaucht. König Maxim, der allem Anschein nach dem Wahnsinn verfallen ist, sieht in der Existenz des Flecks eine Möglichkeit, sich nicht nur Peredans Rebellen, sondern auch all jener Kräfte zu entledigen, die innerhalb des Reiches gegen ihn opponieren. Er setzt den jungen Herzog Jundrak von Sann ohne dessen Wissen in einem kosmischen Intrigenspiel ohnegleichen ein... Aber keine der streitenden Parteien hat mit dem geheimnisvollen Castor Krakho gerechnet... Barrington J. Bayley, vor allem bekannt durch seine originellen SF-Kurzgeschichten, legt mit diesem Buch eine Space Opera vor, die bewußt im Stil der 30er Jahre geschrieben wurde: eine Chronik jener Epoche, in der Männer noch Männer waren und in der strahlende Helden, finstere Schurken, tödliche Gefahren, knisternde Strahler und überlichtschnelle Raumschiffe das Bild beherrschten.