Bob Shaw Libri

Il tema dello scienziato pazzo che perviene in cantina a una straordinaria invenzione è di quelli che gli scrittori di fantascienza non toccano più nemmeno con le molle da almeno trent'anni. E fanno male, perché nella fantascienza, come nella letteratura in genere, tutto è sempre raccontabile, con le dovute varianti, modifiche, migliorie. Lo scienziato di questo romanzo non è pazzo e non è nemmeno un genio. Il suo laboratorio non è in cantina ma in uno stabilimento di media grandezza. La sua invenzione arriva dopo lunghe ricerche volte in tutt'altra direzione, e viene brevettata e venduta per tutt'altri scopi. Poi, una serie di inspiegabili incidenti mette in allarme una grande casa automobilistica: tutte le macchine coinvolte erano di un certo modello, tutte stavano eseguendo una svolta a sinistra, tutte montavano un certo tipo di parabrezza. Soltanto a questo punto, quella che sembrava una modesta novità tecnologica diventa una scoperta sensazionale le cui applicazioni, buone e cattive, trasformano in pochi anni il mondo e arricchiscono la fs di una memorabile trovata. Copertina di Karel Thole

Twenty-four years have passed since Toller Maraquine led the population of Land to the sister planet of Overland. Somehow, those left behind have become immune to the deadly pterthacosis which caused the exodus, and their voracious ruler now lays claim to Overland. Grudgingly put in charge of his planet's defence, Toller designs a front-line force of spaceships and satellites made of wood, which will engage the enemy fleet in the cold vastness of space, before the invaders can set food upon Overland. As the war proceeds, a far more deadly, alien menace makes itself known, which will threaten the entire existence of Overland.

The author's fourth collection of science fiction short stories. The title story tells of a dying child and his miraculous new toy. The other 14 include a fantasy novella about the last days of magic and a tale in which the possibility of an infinite variety of worlds is considered.

‘THE ENTIRE HEAD HAD BEEN STRIPPED OF SKIN. CREATING A NIGHTMARISH SCULPTURE IN GELLED BLOOD…’ The hideous apparition that confronted him almost defied description. It was the beginning of a horrific ordeal that would cause him to question his own sanity… A member of a telepathic research project, Redpath believes the cause to be side-effects from the experimental drugs he is taking - but then stranger things begin to happen. He wakes to find himself in America… he drawn to a local house occupied by a bizarre group of people which events are really happening? SLOWLY AN EXPLANATION EMERGES MORE TERRIFYING THAN ANYTHING HE COULD HAVE IMAGINED…

Cover artist: A. Pedro Ironically, for Gilbert Snook who considered himself the human equivalent of a neutrino, a particle able to travel through the Earth without disturbing any other particle it all started with the panic that followed the sighting of the anti neutrino planet as it approached Earth. Earth was unaffected but Snook ended up in a small African Republic teaching English to diamond miners. Then the miners started seeing ghosts and Snook found himself at the centre of a bizarre and far reaching scientific discovery and in the middle of some very dirty political infighting.

Also published as Ground Zero Man.Hutchman was an ordinary man, doing his job, devising rocketry guidance systems. Life held its satisfactions and its frustrations. He had no spectacular ambitions. Then one day, Hutchman discovered that he could destroy the world--or save it, and destroy himself. There was no other way. But the masters of the earth didn't want it saved Hutchman's way. They wanted Hutchman destroyed along with his doomsday device. And so the chase was on. Hutchman had succeeded in one thing, at least--he had brought about unity among the world's powers. They all wanted him dead!