John Brunner – författare

Ed Carter, a New York reporter on his way to his home town in Omaha for a short vacation, saw the missile in the last moments in its journey back to earth. A sweller on the brink, like all of us, he had no doubt about what it was; Oh God, he thought, this is it. The blast of the impact flung him some distance, and when he regained consciousness, his first reaction was one of surprised to find himself still alive, and not, it seemed, even badly hurt. Presumably the missile had been directed at the big Air Force base nearby, and should have destroyed everything and everyone within a radius of miles. Could it have failed to explode?Carter sees the remains of part of the missile in an adjacent field and hobbles over to it. A minute or two later several Air Force officers arrive. They examine the remains, and find the burned-up body of a pilot. In other worlds, the missile was not Russia''s first shot in the Third World War, but a failure to launch a man into space. But Carter knows that the Distant Early Warning line will have reported the missile; that the senior Air Force officers, in accordance with plan, will have taken to the air - in the country''s interest, their lives must, of course, be preserved if possible; that by now the retaliatory American bombers will have passed the point of no recall; and that the Third World War has begun. Not so, Colonel Ben Goldwater tells him: "I called the bombers back."Goldwater, the man who had been left in command, has saved the world - for at least a little longer. So he becomes a world hero? Not a bit of it. On the contrary: a nightmare looms ahead both for him and for Ed Carter, and the reader watches it all with growing fury...

Because of a twist in the structure of Time, three strangers were brought unexpectedly together: Red Hawkins of California, Chantal Vareze of London and a man from the 41st Century. Their meeting seemed an impossible prank of a universe gone mad - but it turned out to be quite otherwise. For it seemed there was a war going on throughout space and time. A war fought by men of different epochs, on planets of different cultures, but for a cause that all could acknowledge - the very continued existence of creation itself. And the coming together of these three very unlikely people - a modern man, a lovely girl and a futurian soldier - was to prove the master stroke of a super-science strategy that had already brought humanity to the THRESHOLD OF ETERNITY.

The inhabited galaxy was caught in the crushing vice of a struggle for power. The political titans of the planets of mankind were making their bids for supremacy. The contestants: Cornice, man of strange powers, authority in the spheres of the intellect; and Bassett, man of money-power, financial and business wizard. As the association of human worlds drew near the teetering edge of internal revolutions; one of these men would be in a position to triumph. The only thing that neither side could foresee was that there were Others hovering among the stars, loo ling for new worlds to conquer!(First published 1959)

AWAKEN, TERROR!When the first expedition descended to the bottom of the Atlantic in a perfected high-pressure diving bell, their speculation ran wild as to the wonders they would encounter in that unknown sea-bottom world.But their wildest dreams did not prepare them for uncovering first, the stones of an ancient civilization, and second, the monstrous body of an inhuman creature that had been sealed beneath the waters for countless eons.Then, at the height of their excitement, elation turned to horror. For they had brought back an abomination so old that the memory of it had been lost to man''s remotest ancestors. Shops were disappearing, men and women were becoming enslaved by invisible whips of mental mastery, and it began to look as if it might be beyond the powers even of modern science to stop something that had so successfully defied time and space.

A cold war among the stars was growing hotter by the minute. As Pag and Cathrodyne struggled for domination, a hot war threatened which would rend and annihilate whole planetary systems. The two master races would have consumed one another long ago, but for one single factor:Waystation. It was a stupendous synthetic world, famed throughout this galaxy. For Waystation was controlled by a neutral people, and until the greater powers could seize this strategic wonder planet and ferret out its secrets, they were doomed to fretful inactivity.But as a Cathrodyne vessel drew near to Waystation, the all-important balance of power stood in sudden peril. The ship in itself was routine. But on board was a stranger, a man of undiscovered race, who spoke too little, and, it appeared, knew too much...

When Ivan Wright stepped out of his mountain cabin, rifle in hand, to investigate the sound of a strange helicopter, he stepped right into the middle of a galactic crisis. For the crew of that odd aircraft were not men such as he''d ever seen before - and when he tried to oppose them, he found himself hurled uncontrollably into oblivion. He awoke to find himself considered as a kidnapped barbarian from a backward planet in a galaxy of advanced civilizations - yet one who somehow held in his own hands the key to all their futures!

''One citizen of your planet shall go to the capital of the Federation of Worlds. He shall live there for thirty days. If your representative can survive and demonstrate his ability to exist in a civilized society with creatures whose outward appearance and manner of thinking differ from his own, you will pass the test. You will be permitted to send your starships to other planets of the galaxy.''If he fails the test, if prejudice, fear, intolerance or stupidity trip him up, then you world will be sealed of from the stars for ever!''This was the ultimatum from space. The task before the world then was - who shall go? What man or woman could be found to take this frightening test for the whole of humanity and be certain not to fail?(First published 1961)

Allyn Vage was once a beautiful woman, but due to an accident - which may have been a murder attempt - she was now a hopeless cripple, burned and disfigured and without the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. When they brought her to Jome Knard, that noted physician had no choice but to employ a certain apparently miraculous device, incomprehensible even to him, to keep her immobile body alive and to restore and regulate her sensory perception. This strange machine had been imported from a seemingly primitive people on the world of Akkilmar. They had allowed it to be exported, but there was something about it they couldn''t - or wouldn''t - explain. Little did either the doctor or his patient realize that between them they had now become the lever that could topple a world!(First publshed 1961)

The man in black picked up something which had been leaning beside him. A ring perhaps two feet wide . . . yet when the man in black laid it down on the floor it was as large as he was tall.The light went out. A bluish glow now emanated from the ring, revealing Bryda''s face ghastly gray as she leaned forward, and Yarco''s also, set and serious, and the conjurer''s impassive.And within the ring, where moments before there had been the bare planks of the floor, a shape that moved, and opened eyes glowing like coals, and spoke.''What world is this?'' the awful voice inquired.(First published 1962)

The Acre was the only part of an entire world where Earthmen were allowed to live as they pleased and as they were accustomed. For elsewhere on Quallavarra, humanity was forced into servitude by the Vorra, THE SUPER BARBARIANS, who has somehow managed to conquer space.But within the Acre, the underling Terrestrials had cooked up a neat method of keeping teir conquerors from stamping them out altogether. They had uncovered a diabolical Earth secret the Vorra couldn''t abide - and yet couldn''t do without.

A daring novel of mankind''s strange and startling destiny. . .Here is a novel to equal Arthur C. Clarke''s great work, Childhood''s End. It tells with frightening clarity of a desperately stricken Earth - wracked by overpopulation and plagued by famine and despair. It tells, too, of a new breed of men and women - twenty-first century lotus eaters caught up in a mysterious euphoria which will ultimately threaten all life on this planet: the drug-induced world of ''happy dreams''. Do these ''happy dreamers'' herald the end of the human race - or the next extraordinary step in the evolution of Man?First published in 1963.

MUST THE UNIVERSE DIE WITH THEM?The Starfolk, arrogant masters of vast stretches of the cosmos beyond the Earth''s sphere of influence, were determined to complete the extermination of the mind-reading mutants of Regnier''s planet.But to the mutants themselves, the terror of the Starfolk was nothing compared to the greater dread that gripped their spirits - the obsession that the universe itself was doomed. This obsession ripped into their minds, overwhelmed them, and plunged them into horrifying hysteria.The message of room reached the ears of the Starfolk themselves, forcing the to a fateful decision. They would allow an Earthman, archeologist Philip Gascon, to visit Regnier in an attempt to unravel its secrets. What he found would either contain the key to the ultimate destiny of the universe - or the date of the doomsday.

''How short a time a century really is . . .'' The speaker was Immortal Karmesin, and he had lived a thousand years. He stood, a gigantic figure against the rush of time, a permanently open channel for the infants of the galaxy to explore the deep past.He was anathema to the Phoenixes, for their creed was that of birth in death, of regeneration in destruction. And he knew that he - one man - had to unravel the Phoenix mystery, or live to watch it bring fiery death to all the planets of man . . .(First published 1963)

In the long twilight if a galactic empire, the old king is dying. He has little choice but to name his callow young son as heir and his wanton daughter as regent. It seems the long decline is destined to continue. But everything is changed by the appearance of a rival claimant: a long-lost princess, accompanied only by a loyal champion and a mysterious advisor. Will her arrival herald a bright new dawn for the empire? Or drive a once-proud civilisation to the brink of war . . . ?

The barrenland lay on the face of the world like a sore, nearly round, more than three hundred miles in circumference. It had been there so long that it was endured, as were the twisted monsters that wandered out of the barrenland and killed. Conrad, living on the edge, had visions of a time when the barrenland was a rich region full of powerful, magical people-people who travelled to other worlds. He was ruled by a burning need to know what none could tell him: the explanation of the mysterious visions which had plagued him all his life. Then he met Jervis Yanderman, a soldier who knew of these visions. Yanderman was convinced there was an island in the barrenland where people still clung to life. And Yanderman knew that a man had come out of it . . . within living memory!First published in 1964.

Howson was a runt. Twisted, ugly, crippled. The kind of guy people just didn''t want to know. But when he took a deep breath, braced himself and projected his thoughts thousands of miles into space, they were all over him. Howson''s telepathic powers were like nothing they''d ever known before . . . and he became the greatest curative telepathist in the world. But when they put him to work chasing people''s nightmares deep down inside their minds, could they be expected to cope with what the runt found in there? More importantly, could Howson?First published in 1964.

Whether or not he had wanted to turn back at the last minute, he couldn''t have - the wave of dirty, hungry people carried him helplessly along in their fervour reach the temple. Like dope addicts, he told himself, they don''t even care about themselves, only about the thing that is inside the temple! He remembered the day ten years ago when his older brother had been made a Warden of Asconel, a prosperous and happy planet, and he and his other brothers had left in the interests of their people. Now they returned to a world where a fanatical cult had usurped the Warden''s chair, and men and women were offering themselves up as human sacrifices to Belizuek - whoever or whatever that being from beyond the galaxy was . . .I''ll find out, he told himself grimly, when I enter these doors . . .(First published 1965)

''We won''t be landing anywhere just yet'', Waters said to the other passengers on the spaceship Fulmar. ''I was pretty mystified by this story of mechanical breakdown, so I''ve been checking up.'' He hefted his little box. ''I''ve spent the past half hour successfully tapping your subspace circuits, Captain, so I know the truth and I propose to share it with everyone. We''re not to land. We''re to orbit in space, indefinitely.''Beloved Sister Dorcas''s screams pierced the quiet.''You see,'' Waters continued, holding up his hand for silence, ''this is being done on the direct orders of Master Brand . . . you don''t know the name?'' He glanced inquiringly around. ''No? Well, he happens to be one of the powers of Earth, and there is nobody in the galaxy to overrule him.''(First published 1965)

When racial hatred turns to murderous menace . . . First a rocket ship loses its engines on take-off and is destroyed. On board - an important extra-terrestrial visitor. Next someone slams into the sealed vehicle used for transporting aliens around in the lethal atmosphere of Earth. Then the vital controlled environment for the Tau Cetian delegation is sabotaged. Oxygen leaks in, and the aliens are half burnt alive. Even if it means brutal murder, The Stars Are For Man League is determined to shatter the harmony between Earth and civilizations on other planets - and to keep mankind supreme among the alien life forms. Only one man can stop them - a man who unknowingly nurses a viper in his bosom . . .First published in 1965.

By the twenty-first century the world was drowning in its own population. A solution had to be found quickly - and it was, in ''gravi-power''. Wonderful, unending source of power - only the scientists knew that its use was reducing the Earth''s distance from the sun at a dangerous rate. But if another planet''s gravi-power could harnessed . . . An expedition was launched to Mars, known to be uninhabited - except that a woman was wandering around its surface who claimed she had come from another galaxy to warn Earth of a terrible menace, and there was a huge poly-hedron of metal emanting a force very much like that of gravipower. Someone else had discovered it! A thousand years ago, or now? Friend, or enemy?(First published 1965)

The Corps Galactica, the Galaxy''s police force, had pledged itself to a policy of non-interference with the backward Zarathustra Refugee Planets. Langenschmidt, the Corps chief on the planet Cyclops, was content with this ruling. After all, if the refugee planets could form their own civilizations from scratch, logically they would come up with cultures suited to their own needs.However, when the case of Justin Kolb came to his attention, Langenschmidt was forced to rethink the problem. Kolb''s accident with the wolfshark revealed to the Corps'' medicos the leg-graft that had been performed on him. It was a perfect match - only its gene-pattern wasn''t Cyclopean, and limb-grafting wasn''t practised on Cyclops.Where had the leg come from, who had been the unknown repairmen, and wasn''t this something that might be violating galactic law?(First published 1965)

Ciudad de Vados was the pride of Latin America - a gleaming city of the future where only ten years before there had been barren rock and wasteland. But Vados had problems. When Boyd Hakluyt was called in, his brief seemed simple: reroute the traffic to drive out the shanty towns that disfigured the city. It was an easy job - until Hakluyt found himself unwillingly involved in a web of deadly political rivalries. Then came the first murder . . . Hakluyt started getting answers to questions he hadn''t asked. Too many people got too interested in him. And the pattern that started emerging was sinister, terrifying - and almost unbelievable . . .First published in 1965.

When mankind colonized the stars, they travelled out from Earth in two directions - to Centaurus and its Southern Hemisphere neighbours and to Ursa Major and the constellations around Polaris. And strange to say the humans who settled on those various worlds began to develop into two differing antagonistic types.For Ray Mallin, born under the surface of Mars in the sparse colony of Earth''s inhospitable old neighbour, neither the anarchic ''bears'' nor the autocratic ''Centaurs'' commanded his loyalty. So when secret agents of both galactic groupings suddenly focus their unwelcome attention on his most recent star-piloting mission, he knew only that something of vast significance was up - and that he unknowingly was the key to it.

The time was the unguessably remote past - or perhaps the distant future. Throughout the universe, Chaos ruled. Scientific laws of cause and effect held no force; men could not know from one day to the next what to expect from their labours, and even hope seemed foolish.In this universe there was one man to whom had been entrusted the task of bringing reason and order out of Chaos. He was a quiet man dressed in black who carried a staff made of light, and wherever he went the powers of Chaos swirled around him, buffeted him, tested him. He fought them, and little by little he drove them back.But the Traveller in Black himself belonged to the anti-science universe. If he succeeded in his task of changing the order of the cosmos, could he continue to live?(First published 1971)

Kynance Foy was young, beautiful, intelligent an highly trained in both qua-space physics and business law when she left Earth to seek her fortune in the interstellar outworlds. But she found that the further she got from Earth, the tougher became the competition from the environment-hardened populations of these young worlds . . . and by the time she reached the planet Nefertiti, she was facing poverty. Then, unexpectedly, a wonderful opportunity opened up for her: the job of Planetary Supervisor of the fabulously wealthy world called Zygra, where exotic pelts costing a million credits each were grown. The salary was huge, and at the end of the year''s tour of duty she would be transported free of charge back to Earth, where she would be a very wealthy young woman. There had to be a catch to it, she thought as she signed the contract. And, of course, there was.(First published 1966)