Toward the end of the Twentieth Century-so say historians of the age of the Second Enlightenment-civilization died in a blaze of atomic and bacterial warfare. Barbarism followed the holocaust, the Dark Centuries during which humanity rested and prepared for a charge to new heights of development. Amid the ruins of one civilization, another and greater slowly grew. Old records were rediscovered, new knowledge was added to that of the Ancients. Then came the discovery of immortality, and Joaquin Smith and his especially beautiful sister, Margaret, began their search for power-and the story of the Black Flame begins. Black Margot, they called her, this most beautiful woman of the Immortals, "a black flame blowing cold across the world." The Black Flame, loved by men, hated by women-vibrantly alive, yet bored with living-restless as though demon-driven-who did not age, who remains untouched by the passing of time. Contains ""The Black Flame"" and ""Dawn of Flame"".

Stanley G. Weinbaum is a figure who looms large in the history of SF: years before John W. Campbell began editing "Astounding, he was writing stories that had much the same appeal. He came, in a real sense, out of nowhere -- not literally, but close to it. Most of the folks writing SF in the first years of the genre were folks who'd write "any sort of "pulp fiction for the pulps: westerns today, confessions tomorrow, mysteries on Thursdays, and oh, yes, scientificition on weekends. Weinbaum started out trying to be a writer of that stripe -- he managed to publish a women's serial called "The Lady Dances through the King-Features newspaper syndicate in 1933, as "Marge Stanley." A serial that's never been reprinted, much to universal regret).

But when the weekend came and he tried his hand at SF, something special happened. The book you hold in your hand is a bit of that specialness.

It includes half a dozen of Weinbaum's scientifictional stories -- "A Martian Odyssey" (of course ), "Valley of Dreams," "The Worlds of If," "The Ideal," "The Point of View," and "Pygmalion's Spectacles." Enjoy

Almost a thousand years from now a new empire, governed by the immortals Joaquin Smith and his beautiful, but evil, sister Black Margot, has arisen on Earth after a planet wide holocaust. In the gigantic city of Urbs every aspect of life is monitored around the clock by security services, the inhabitants seem happy.....but in the wider world discontent is growing. This colourful vision of the future, in the novella "Dawn of Flame" and its sequel novel The Black Flame, is just one of the Other Earthsin this remarkable book.

INTERPLANETARY ODYSSEYS .."...One of the novas of the SF cosmos." The New Encyclopaedia of Science Fiction Interplanetary Odysseys collects together all of Stanley G. Weinbaum's tales set on the planets and moons of our own solar system. With their colony cities and fast, easy space travel, these stories from the great romantic tradition of SF remain entertaining, readable and relevant. Weinbaum was noted as the first SF writer to create believable aliens that were a product of their own planetary environments and eco-systems. The lead story, the classic "A Martian Odyssey," demonstrates this talent perfectly and with the nine other tales included here it gives readers new and old a chance to relive the sense of wonder that sprang from the glory days of science fiction.

Strange Genius is a collection of stories about people whose minds are beyond the ordinary. Included is the hard to find novel The New Adam, a surprising tale of homo superior born among us, the first of a new human race, an evolutionary leap and a man whose mind is so different that he's an alien on his own planet. Also included are the humorous van Manderpootz stories about a scientific genius who wants everyone to know how great he is, and several more of Weinbaum's delightful tales of the human mind at work.

This is a book of strange tales about strange people and sometimes stranger places. It includes Weinbaum's novel The Dark Other, in which Nicholas Devine and his girlfriend Pat are deeply in love, but before they can fulfil their dreams they must exorcise a demonic presence that threatens both their future together and their lives. Also included is another love story that takes place in a tranquil world of beauty and innocence that can only be seen through the lenses of "Pygmalion's Spectacles,"and several other surprising tales.

This volume collects 6 of Stanley G. Weinbaum's classic science fiction stories, including all 3 Professor Haskel van Manderpootz stories. Included are: "Worlds of If," "The Ideal," "The Point of View," "Pygmalions Spectacles," "A Martian Odyssey," and "Valley of Dreams."

This volume collects 6 of Stanley G. Weinbaum's classic science fiction stories, including all 3 Professor Haskel van Manderpootz stories. Included are: "Worlds of If," "The Ideal," "The Point of View," "Pygmalions Spectacles," "A Martian Odyssey," and "Valley of Dreams."