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City (Paperback)
Clifford D. Simak; Introduction by David W. Wixon
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This award-winning science fiction classic explores a far-future
world inhabited by intelligent canines who pass down the tales of
their human forefathers. Thousands of years have passed since
humankind abandoned the city--first for the countryside, then for
the stars, and ultimately for oblivion--leaving their most loyal
animal companions alone on Earth. Granted the power of speech
centuries earlier by the revered Bruce Webster, the intelligent,
pacifist dogs are the last keepers of human history, raising their
pups with bedtime stories, passed down through generations, of the
lost "websters" who gave them so much but will never return. With
the aid of Jenkins, an ageless service robot, the dogs live in a
world of harmony and peace. But they now face serious threats from
their own and other dimensions, perhaps the most dangerous of all
being the reawakened remnants of a warlike race called "Man." In
the Golden Age of Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein, Clifford D.
Simak's writing blazed as brightly as anyone's in the science
fiction firmament. Winner of the International Fantasy Award, City
is a magnificent literary metropolis filled with an astonishing
array of interlinked stories and structures--at once dystopian,
transcendent, compassionate, and visionary.
Tales of the unknown in which a fix-it man crosses into another
dimension-and more Hiram Taine is a handyman who can fix anything.
When he isn't fiddling with his tools, he is roaming through the
woods with his dog, Towser, as he has done for as long as he can
remember. He likes things that he can understand. But when a new
ceiling appears in his basement-a ceiling that appears to have the
ability to repair television sets so they're better than before-he
knows he has come up against a mystery that no man can solve.
Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novelette, "The Big Front Yard"
is a powerful story about what happens when an ordinary man finds
reality coming apart around him. Along with the other stories in
this collection, it is some of the most lyrical science fiction
ever published. Each story includes an introduction by David W.
Wixon, literary executor of the Clifford D. Simak estate and editor
of this book.
Tales of science fiction and adventure from the Hugo Award-winning
author of Way Station and City. The long and prolific career of
Clifford D. Simak cemented him as one of the formative voices of
the science fiction and fantasy genre. The third writer to be named
a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, his
literary legacy stands alongside those of Robert A. Heinlein and
Ray Bradbury. This striking collection of nine tales showcases
Simak's ability to take the everyday and turn it into something
truly compelling, taking readers on a long journey in a very short
time. In "Dusty Zebra," Joe discovers a portal that allows him to
exchange everyday objects with an entity he can neither see nor
hear, and soon learns that one man's treasure may be another
dimension's trash. In "Retrograde Evolution," an interplanetary
trading vessel tries to figure out how to deal with a remote
society that has suddenly decided to become far less civilized. And
in "Project Mastodon," an unusual ambassador from an unheard-of
country offers amazing opportunities in a place the modern world
can never compete with: the past. Simak's mastery of the short form
is on display in these and six other stories. Each story includes
an introduction by David W. Wixon, literary executor of the
Clifford D. Simak estate and editor of this book.
Ten stories of wonder and imagination by an author named Grand
Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
 In the collection’s title story, Frederick Gray is
closing in on seventy and has outlived his usefulness as a
professor of law. He has no family; his best friend, fellow faculty
member Ben Lovell, has recently died. Before Gray moves into a
retirement home, he takes a final canoe trip to a favorite fishing
spot he and Lovell had visited many times, only to find that
someone has built a house on the remote riverside. When an accident
leaves Gray stranded and in pain, he returns to the shelter seeking
aid and instead finds a new reason for living. Â Nine
additional tales showcase Clifford D. Simak’s talent for spinning
stories that allow us to glimpse the possibilities of life beyond
Earth as well as expand our wisdom of what it means to be human.
 Each story includes an introduction by David W. Wixon,
literary executor of the Clifford D. Simak estate and editor of
this book.
Twelve classic tales of the unknown from the Hugo and Nebula
Award–winning author of Way Station. Clifford D. Simak had
a sublime ability to evoke a lost way of life. He spent his youth
in rural Wisconsin, a landscape filled with mysterious hollows,
cliffs, dark forests, and the Wisconsin River flowing in its
deep-cut valley. As Simak wandered the countryside and the ridges,
he peopled them with imaginary characters who later came to life in
his stories. One such individual is Johnny, the orphaned farm boy
of “The Contraption,” who stumbles upon a wrecked starship and
receives a priceless gift from its owners. Another is the old
prospector Eli, whose surprising discoveries on Mercury get him
killed in “Spaceship in a Flask.” In “Huddling Place,” a
man with paralyzing agoraphobia is the only one who can save the
life of a dear friend on Mars—if he can bear to make the trip.
And in the title story, aliens slowly take over Earth while humans
leave it behind and head for the Homestead Planets. Â Each
story includes an introduction by David W. Wixon, literary executor
of the Clifford D. Simak estate and editor of this book.
Ten thrilling and intriguing tales of space travel, war, and alien
encounters from the multiple Hugo Award–winning Grand Master of
Science Fiction.  From Frank Herbert’s Dune to Isaac
Asimov’s Foundation series to Philip K. Dick’s stories of
bizarre visions of a dystopian future, the latter half of the
twentieth century produced some of the finest examples of
speculative fiction ever published. Yet no science fiction author
was more highly regarded than Grand Master Clifford D. Simak,
winner of numerous honors, including the Hugo and Nebula Awards and
a Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement. Â This
magnificent compendium of stories, written during science
fiction’s golden age, highlights Simak at his very best,
combining ingenious concepts with his trademark humanism and
exploring strange visitations, remarkable technologies, and
humankind’s destiny in the possible worlds of tomorrow. Whether
it’s an irascible old man’s discovery of a very unusual skunk
that puts him at odds with the US Air Force, a county agent’s
strange bond with the sentient alien flora he discovers growing in
his garden, the problems a small town faces when its children
mature too rapidly thanks to babysitters from another galaxy, or
the gift a lonely farmer receives in exchange for aiding a dying
visitor from another world, the events detailed in Simak’s
poignant and beautiful tales will thrill, shock, amuse, and
astonish in equal measure.  One of the genre’s premier
literary artists, Simak explores time travel and time engines;
examines the rituals and superstitions of galactic travelers who
have long forgotten their ultimate purpose; and even takes
fascinating detours through World War II and the wild American West
in a wondrous anthology that no science fiction fan should be
without.
Tales of nostalgia and loss in a world overrun by technology Hank
is walking home from the bar when the Model T pulls alongside him.
It’s been decades since he saw a car this old, and the sound of
it takes him right back to his twenties. The door is open, and when
he climbs in, the car takes off—without a driver. Before he knows
what’s happened, Hank is right back at Big Spring Pavilion, where
he spent his youth drinking bootleg whiskey and chasing pretty
girls. He will find the past is not quite as he remembered it, but
still a lovely place to go for a drive. Â This collection
includes some of the finest short fiction Clifford Simak ever
wrote, including “City,” the story that became the basis for
his beloved novel of the same name. In the history of science
fiction, no author has ever better understood that the Great Plains
and the cosmos are closer together than we think. Â Each
story includes an introduction by David W. Wixon, literary executor
of the Clifford D. Simak estate and editor of this book.
A mind-opening collection of short science fiction from one of the
genre's most revered Grand Masters. Legendary author Robert A.
Heinlein proclaimed, "To read science fiction is to read Simak. A
reader who does not like Simak stories does not like science
fiction at all." The remarkably talented Clifford D. Simak was able
to ground his vast imagination in reality, and then introduce
readers to fantastical worlds and concepts they could instantly and
completely dig into, comprehend, and enjoy. In the title story, a
man's newfound ability to walk in the past allows him to dwell
among dinosaurs, saber-toothed tigers . . . and something even more
timeless. In "Construction Shack," the first manned expedition to
Pluto reveals that no matter how advanced aliens may be, even they
don't always get everything right. And in "Univac 2200," the thin
line between humans creating technology and humans becoming
technology is about to be crossed-and there may be no going back.
Each story includes an introduction by David W. Wixon, literary
executor of the Clifford D. Simak estate and editor of this ebook.
Strange, poignant tales of life in outer space and on tomorrow’s
Earth from the multiple Hugo Award–winning Grand Master of
Science Fiction. Virtually every major author from science
fiction’s fabled golden age—including Poul Anderson, Isaac
Asimov, and Robert A. Heinlein—agreed that Clifford D. Simak was
one of the greatest among them. Named Grand Master by the Science
Fiction Writers of America, the award-winning author created
enduring visions of future worlds, perilous space explorations, and
weird alien encounters as rich in emotion and humanity as they are
in ingenious invention. This is an essential collection of short
fiction from the remarkable mind and heart of a true giant of
twentieth-century speculative fiction, featuring powerful examples
of literary science fiction at its very best. Â Beginning
with the unforgettable title story—a wry and chilling horror tale
about cloning and alien invasion that inspired the classic teleplay
“The Duplicate Man” from the television series The Outer
Limits—Simak propels the reader on a breathtaking journey across
the galaxies and into the future. He then enthralls us with the
strange chronicle of twin siblings, one tied to the Earth, the
other drawn to the stars; imaginings of a volatile reunion of two
former enemies who must join forces on Jupiter’s moon or face
extinction; and the story of a house in the middle of nowhere that
serves as a gateway back to prehistoric times. Â With his
wondrous tales of a journalist’s miraculous discovery of fairies
and sprites in the world, a census three centuries in the making
that uncovers an unknown leap forward in human evolution, and the
nightmare realities of future elder care, Simak demonstrates once
again that he is not only one of the greatest science fiction
writers of the twentieth century, but also one of the greatest of
all time.
Ten tales of wonder, danger, and the future—including the Hugo
and Nebula Award–winning title story—from the science fiction
Grand Master. This volume contains ten stellar short stories by
Clifford D. Simak, “the most underrated great science fiction
writer alive” (Theodore Sturgeon). In “Grotto of the Dancing
Deer,” a man carrying an ancient secret finally speaks up, unable
to bear any longer the loneliness he has experienced for millennia.
In “Over the River,” which Simak wrote in memory of his beloved
grandmother Ellen, children from an embattled future are sent back
for safekeeping to their ancestors in the peaceful past. And in
“Day of Truce,” the inhabitants of a suburban subdivision must
barricade themselves against bands of roving attackers. On only one
day each year do the gates open wide . . .  Each story
includes an introduction by David W. Wixon, literary executor of
the Clifford D. Simak estate and editor of this book.
From tales of alien invasions and intergalactic war to visions of
dystopian tomorrows, an astonishing collection from one of literary
science fiction’s all-time greats, Hugo Award winner Clifford D.
Simak. The twentieth century’s so-called golden age of science
fiction produced many great writers—including Isaac Asimov, Ray
Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, and Robert Heinlein—yet none is
greater than Clifford D. Simak, named Grand Master by the Science
Fiction Writers of America. His bold visions of and ingenious
speculations about humankind’s future, always enriched with
empathy and a deep understanding of human strengths, foibles, and
failings, have stood the test of time, remaining powerful,
affecting, and relevant. Â This sterling collection of
fantastic stories by the multiple Hugo and Nebula Award– winning
master showcases some of Simak’s finest short fiction, from his
earliest published tales to his later masterworks. In the wry and
wonderful title story, a science fiction writer of the far future
returns to a nearly abandoned Earth in search of inspiration—and
finds that the dying planet holds more wonder than he bargained
for. The interdimensional invasion Simak imagines in “Hellhounds
of the Cosmos” displays a conceptual ingenuity not typically seen
in speculative fiction prior to World War II. And other tales in
this marvelous compendium offer a wide range of wonders, from the
surrender terms dictated by a cute and cuddly alien enemy and a
get-rich-quick real-estate scam originating from another galaxy to
the truth behind a series of strange disappearances on Jupiter and
an explosion of ladybugs in a salesman’s suburban home—an
infestation quite possibly not of this Earth. Â Whether
he’s rocketing us to another galaxy, leading us through the
otherworldly shadows of small-town America, or preparing us for a
Wild West shootout, every literary outing with Simak is an
excursion to remember.
Nine tales of imagination and wonder from one of the formative
voices of science fiction and fantasy, the author of Way Station
and City. Â Named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction
Writers of America, Clifford D. Simak was a preeminent voice during
the decades that established sci-fi as a genre to be reckoned with.
Held in the same esteem as fellow luminaries Isaac Asimov, Robert
A. Heinlein, and Ray Bradbury, his novels continue to enthrall
today’s readers. And his short fiction is still as gripping and
surprising now as when it first entertained an entire generation of
fans. Â The title story is just one example of this. Cheviot
Sherwood doesn’t believe in miracles. They never seem to pay off.
So when he’s marooned on a planet with no plan for escape and no
working radio, he takes it in stride and prepares for a long stay
gathering food, making shelter, and collecting all the diamonds the
world has to offer. But when a ship like none he’s ever
encountered lands, he sees his salvation—and an opportunity to
take the priceless craft for himself. Unfortunately, his
“rescuer” has the same idea . . .  This
volume also includes the celebrated short works “Eternity
Lost,” “Shotgun Cure,” and “Paradise,” among others.
 Each story includes an introduction by David W. Wixon,
literary executor of the Clifford D. Simak estate and editor of
this ebook. Â Â
From the Nebula Award-winning author of Way Station: Ten
stories-including one never before published-of mystery and
imagination in a world that cannot be. People work; folk play. That
is how it has been in this country for as long as Sam can remember.
He is happy, and he understands that this is the way it should be.
People are bigger than folk. They are stronger. They do not need
food or water. They do not need the warmth of a fire. All they need
are jobs to do and a blacksmith to fix them when they break. The
people work so the folk can drink their moonshine, fish a little,
and throw horseshoes. But once Sam starts to wonder why the world
is like this, his life will never be the same. Along with the other
stories in this collection, "I Am Crying All Inside" is a compact
marvel-a picture of an impossible reality that is not so different
from our own. Also included in this volume is the newly published
"I Had No Head and My Eyes Were Floating Way Up in the Air,"
originally written for Harlan Ellison's The Last Dangerous Visions.
(TM) Each story includes an introduction by David W. Wixon,
literary executor of the Clifford D. Simak estate and editor of
this book.
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