S.F. Masterworks – serie

In this profound ecological fable, a mysterious plague has destroyed the vast majority of the human race. Isherwood Williams, one of the few survivors, returns from a wilderness field trip to discover that civilization has vanished during his absence.Eventually he returns to San Francisco and encounters a female survivor who becomes his wife. Around them and their children a small community develops, living like their pioneer ancestors, but rebuilding civilization is beyond their resources, and gradually they return to a simpler way of life.A poignant novel about finding a new normal after the upheaval of a global crisis.

An extraordinary epic, set a million years in the future, in the time of a dying sun, when our present culture is no longer even a memory. Severian, a torturer's apprentice, is exiled from his guild after falling in love with one of his prisoners. Ordered to the distant city of Thrax, armed with his ancient executioner's sword, Terminus Est, Severian must make his way across the perilous, ruined landscape of this far-future Urth. But is his finding of the mystical gem, the Claw of the Conciliator, merely an accident, or does Fate have a grander plans for Severian the torturer . . . ?This edition contains the first two volumes of this four volume novel, The Shadow of the Torturer and The Claw of the Conciliator.

World War Terminus devastated the Earth. Through its ruins, bounty hunter Rick Deckard searches for the renegade replicants he is sent to 'retire', while he dreams of owning a live animal - the ultimate status symbol in a world all but bereft of natural life.The opportunity of a lifetime: kill six Nexus-6 targets, for a huge reward. But in Deckard's world things aren't that simple, and his assignment turns into a nightmare kaleidoscope of subterfuge and deceit - and the hunter becomes the hunted . . . Voted in a Locus poll as one of the 100 pre-1990 SF Novels, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep spawned two blockbuster movies. Philip K. Dick won multiple awards for his works, examining human identity, psychology, conspiracy and paranoia, challenging the idea of objective truth in a manner that remains relevant today.'A masterclass in sci-fi wonderment' - Empire'One of the most original practitioners writing any kind of fiction' - The Sunday TimesWelcome to The Best Of The Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction

What The Lord of the Rings is to fantasy, Dune is to science fiction. Presenting one of the most influential works of all time, which has inspired countless other stories for more than half a century, this is an awe-inspiring world, and a story of truly epic scope.'An astonishing science fiction phenomenon' WASHINGTON POST'I know nothing comparable to it except The Lord of the Rings' Arthur C Clarke'It is possible that Dune is even more relevant now than when it was first published' NEW YORKERPaul Atreides, son of Duke Leto Atreides, and all of his family have been sent to the planet Arrakis, having been outmanoeuvred by their arch-enemy Baron Harkonnen.Arrakis - also known as Dune - is an arid place, but a planet of fabulous wealth, the only source of a drug prized throughout the Galactic Empire: Spice.What will happen next will change everything. There are secrets on Dune, known only to the planet's native people, the Fremen. They have been waiting for their moment to make their move.Paul will be brought into the path by terrible events beyond his control. But Paul himself is important. He is the child of destiny, a child of prophecy, and within him is the power to bring the Empire to its knees.Joint winner of the HUGO AWARD for best novel, 1966Winner of the NEBULA AWARD for best novel, 1965Read the book which inspired the Academy Award-winning and jaw-dropping cinematic events Dune: Part One (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024). A science fiction spectacular like no other, this is a deeply climate conscious novel, and a compelling family saga for the ages.

Charlie Gordon, IQ 68, is a floor sweeper and the gentle butt of everyone's jokes - until an experiment in the enhancement of human intelligence turns him into a genius.But then Algernon, the mouse whose triumphal experimental transformation preceded his, fades and dies, and Charlie has to face the possibility that his salvation was only temporary.Winner of the 1960 Hugo Award for Best Short Story, and subsequently expanded into a Hugo-nominated novel, Flowers for Algernon earned Daniel Keyes the honour of SFWA Author Emeritus in 2000 for his contribution to Science Fiction and Fantasy.'Heartbreaking and beautiful. Required reading, as far as I am concerned' - Wil Wheaton'A masterpiece of poignant brilliance . . . heartbreaking, and utterly, completely brilliant' - The Guardian'Excellent . . . extremely moving' - The Encyclopedia of Science FictionWelcome to The Best Of The Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction

One of the very best must-read novels of all time - with a new introduction by Roddy Doyle'A well told tale signifying a good deal; one to be read again and again' THE TIMES'The book I wish I had written ... It's so far away from my own imagination, I'd love to sit at my desk one day and discover that I could think and write like Ursula Le Guin' Roddy Doyle'Le Guin is a writer of phenomenal power' OBSERVERThe Principle of Simultaneity is a scientific breakthrough which will revolutionize interstellar civilization by making possible instantaneous communication. It is the life work of Shevek, a brilliant physicist from the arid anarchist world of Anarres.But Shevek's work is being stifled by jealous colleagues, so he travels to Anarres's sister-planet Urras, hoping to find more liberty and tolerance there. But he soon finds himself being used as a pawn in a deadly political game.

Welcome to the Best of the Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fictionArthur Dent thought his day was going badly when someone tried to demolish his house.Then someone demolished his planet.Rescued by his friend Ford - who is not a human from Guilford, but an alien from somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse - Arthur is flung into an adventure among the stars. He will face aliens, robots, world-builders, and that girl he quite fancied who turned him down at a party one time. All in the name of research for the greatest book in the galaxy. He just has to remember not to panic.Part of the multi-media phenomenon The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is beloved the world over. Douglas Adams' 'trilogy in five parts' originated as a radio show, developed into a book series, and has since spawned a TV series, a film, additional sequels and expanded radio series, a famously impossible video game, and a number of stage shows. It was a Sunday Times bestseller, and ranked fourth in a 2003 BBC poll to find the Nation's Best-Loved Book.-'Douglas Adams's inspired melding of hippy-trail guidebook and sci-fi comedy turned its novelisations into a publishing phenomenon' - Guardian'In a sense that only time can test, it could be said that the Hitchhiker's Guide has become folklore' - The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'Douglas was a genius, and that's not actually a word I toss around very lightly or use very much' - Neil Gaiman

An extraordinary epic, set a million years in the future, in the time of a dying sun, when our present culture is no longer even a memory. The torturer's apprentice, Severian, exiled from his guild after falling in love with one of his prisoners, is now the Lictor of Thrax, a city far distant from his home. But it is not long before Severian must flee this city, too, and journey again into the world. Embattled by friends and enemies alike, pursued by monstrous creatures, the one-time torturer's apprentice must overcome hitherto unimagined perils, as he moves closer to fulfilling his ultimate destiny.This edition contains the concluding two volumes of this four-volume novel, The Sword of the Lictor and The Citadel of the Autarch.

The multi-award-winning SF masterpiece from one of the greatest SF writers of all timeRama is a vast alien spacecraft that enters the Solar System. A perfect cylinder some fifty kilometres long, spinning rapidly, racing through space, Rama is a technological marvel, a mysterious and deeply enigmatic alien artefact.It is Mankind's first visitor from the stars and must be investigated ...Winner of the HUGO AWARD for best novel, 1974Winner of the NEBULA AWARD for best novel, 1973Winner of the JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD for best novel, 1974Winner of the BSFA AWARD for best novel, 1973

The book that reinvented Space Opera - from the Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning author of The Terror, which is now a chilling TV show.It is the 29th century and the universe of the Human Hegemony is under threat. Invasion by the warlike Ousters looms, and the mysterious schemes of the secessionist AI TechnoCore bring chaos ever closer.On the eve of disaster, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set fourth on a final voyage to the legendary Time Tombs on Hyperion, home to the Shrike, a lethal creature, part god and part killing machine, whose powers transcend the limits of time and space. The pilgrims have resolved to die before discovering anything less than the secrets of the universe itself.Readers are hooked on Hyperion:'One of the best epic, old mythology, and literature inspired, mindblowing, amazingly ingeniously written space operas' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'The scope of imagination, wordplay, and critical analysis of humankind is astounding . . . this is a story-driven narrative, and the stories that we're given are well worth the entry into a brave, new, unfamiliar world' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Hyperion has that indescribable, almost lovecraftian terror, dread and brooding present throughout' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Combine the artful poetry of John Keats with a science fiction retelling of the Canterbury Tales . . . what you have is Hyperion. A masterpiece of literature' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'A science fiction classic . . . If you count yourself an sf fan you need to read this. If you just want to read a damn good book this is also for you' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Welcome to the Best of the Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fictionWhen Winston Niles Rumfoord flies his spaceship into a chrono-synclastic infundibulum he is converted into pure energy and only materializes when his waveforms intercept Earth or some other planet. As a result, he only gets home to Newport, Rhode Island, once every fifty-nine days and then only for an hour.But at least, as a consolation, he now knows everything that has ever happened and everything that ever will be. He knows, for instance, that his wife is going to Mars to mate with Malachi Constant, the richest man in the world. He also knows that on Titan - one of Saturn's moons - is an alien from the planet Tralfamadore, who has been waiting 200,000 years for a spare part for his grounded spacecraft . . .A finalist for the 1960 Hugo Award, The Sirens of Titan was Vonnegut's second novel. It received wide acclaim, and played with ideas of free will and predestination, themes he continued to explore in his later works. In 2015, he was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.-'The Sirens of Titan is marvellous. It's so funny it made me want to cry' - Infinity Plus'A classic, ripe with wit and eloquence and a cascade of inventiveness' - Brian Aldiss 'His best book . . . He dares not only to ask the ultimate question about the meaning of life, but to answer it' - Esquire

The Strugatsky brothers' poignant and introspective novel of first contact that inspired the classic film StalkerRed Schuhart is a stalker, one of those strange misfits who are compelled by some unknown force to venture illegally into the Zone and, in spite of the extreme danger, collect the mysterious artefacts that the alien visitors left scattered around. His life is dominated by the Zone and the thriving black market in the alien products. Even the nature of his daughter has been determined by the Zone. And it is for her that Red makes his last, tragic foray into the hazardous and hostile depths.Readers can't stop thinking about Roadside Picnic:'A story of a horrific yet fascinating place, a story of an ordinary and unlikable man just trying to get by, a philosophical interlude on humanity and its significance or lack thereof, of greed and wonder, and the fever dream of the soul scream. It still speaks to me' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Such an intriguing setting for me, such an unusual take on alien interaction' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'It is a thought-provoking, hard-to-put down masterpiece, most probably the best introduction to Soviet science fiction. A must read for any sci-fi fan' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'A fantastic and creative exploration of what first contact might be like' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'The tone of the book is akin to that of some noir works, dark, gritty, getting darker and grittier as the tale wears on . . . Like many great books, the meaning of the ending is left up to the reader' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'A beautifully depressive and wonderfully atmospheric science fiction novel about life on Earth after an alien "Visitation" that leaves humans with more questions than answers . . . Once I started reading it today, I couldn't stop. The story captured my heart and held my attention' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'This is the sort of book that you read and then immediately feel the need to lend it to someone you know so that they can experience and enjoy it themselves . . . I was truly astonished-by both the poignancy and the deceptive(?) simplicity of this relatively short novel' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

The critically acclaimed and bestselling sequel to HYPERION, from the Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning author of The Terror, which is now a chilling TV show.The mysterious Time Tombs are opening and the Shrike that has risen from them may well control the fate of all mankind. The Ousters are laying seige to the Hegemony of Man and the AIs we created have turned against us to build the Ultimate Intelligence; God. The God of Machines. His genesis could mean annihilation for man.Something is drawing the hegemony, the Ousters, the AIs, the entire universe to the Shrike.

A brilliant sci-fi novel from one of the last century's most influential pop culture figuresSubstance D - otherwise known as Death - is the most dangerous drug ever to find its way on to the black market. It destroys the links between the brain's two hemispheres, leading first to disorentation and then to complete and irreversible brain damage. Bob Arctor, undercover narcotics agent, is trying to find a lead to the source of supply, but to pass as an addict he must become a user, and soon, without knowing what is happening to him, he is as dependent as any of the addicts he is monitoring.

The science fiction masterpiece behind the cult classic films Bladerunner and Bladerunner 2049.World War Terminus had left the Earth devastated. Through its ruins, bounty hunter Rick Deckard stalked, in search of the renegade replicants who were his prey. When he wasn't 'retiring' them with his laser weapon,he dreamed of owning a live animal - the ultimate status symbol in a world all but bereft of animal life.Then Rick got his chance: the assignment to kill six Nexus-6 targets, for a huge reward. But in Deckard's world things were never that simple, and his assignment quickly turned into a nightmare kaleidoscope of subterfuge and deceit - and the threat of death for the hunter rather than the hunted ...Readers have been blown away by Philip K. Dick:'Now I understand what all the fuss is about. The guy is a visionary . . . Every paragraph launches us forward, demands our attention . . . a classic example of the finest science fiction' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Probably my favourite Philip K. Dick book . . . set in a dystopian Earth much dilapidated after 'World War Terminus' . . . I cannot praise this book enough, it really is one of the all-time greats' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'A science fiction masterpiece . . . about a post-apocalyptic world seeking resurrection through the rediscovery of empathy. But who is more empathetic - humans or androids? What is the dividing line? The book constantly explores how far human ideas of life, death, religion and love could survive in a dark uncaring world' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'I thought this was great and original . . . The Earth has become barely habitable due to nuclear winter, radiation and depopulation . . . a really cool story and I think only PKD could have written something of this style. I would recommend this . . . if you liked the Blade Runner movies' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

"An awesomely fluent and versatile prose stylist" - INDEPENDENT"Amazing achievement ... Harrison pulls off the almost impossible feat of seamlessly blending hard sci-fi, cyberpunk, noir crime ... while doing what all the best literature does" - Goodreads ReviewerSet in the unique world, first featured in the award-winning Light, here is a story of love, murder, and intergalactic noir on the razors edge of the imagination, as envisioned by the incomparable M. John Harrison.In a neighbourhood of underground clubs, body-modification chop shops, adolescent contract killers, and sexy streetwalking Monas, you'll find the Saudade Event - a zone of strange geography, twisted physics, and frightening psychic onslaughts.Vic Serotonin is a travel agent, arranging illegal travel to and from Saudade. His latest client wants a tour and she is a woman as unpredictable as the site itself, and maybe just as dangerous. Coincidentally, a troubling new class of semi-biological artefacts start finding their way out of the site, transforming the real world in unsettling ways. Pursued by a detective intent on collaring him for his illegal tours, and hunted by a gangster convinced that the travel agent has infected him with a rogue artefact, Vic must make one final trip as the universe around him rapidly veers toward viral chaos

This is science fiction on the grandest of scales - a cast of thousands set across hundreds of years and in the farthest reaches of Human Space. A prequel to his earlier novel A Fire Upon the Deep, this new novel is epic in scope and a thoroughly riveting read.A Deepness In the Sky is the story of Pham Nuwen, a small cog in the interstellar trading fleet of the Queng Ho. Both they and the Emergents are orbiting Arachna, a dormant planet which will shortly wake up when its On/Off star relights after decades of darkness. Both groups hope to exploit the coming age of technology and commerce on Arachna. But while the Queng Ho seek only to trade aggressively, the Emergents plans are far more sinister, amounting to little short of genocide . . .

In the year 2100, the invention of the Electron Pump - an apparently inexhaustible supply of free energy - has enabled humanity to devote its time and energies to more than the struggle for survival, finally breaking free of the Earth. But the Electron Pump works by exchanging materials with a parallel universe, and such unbalancing of the cosmos has consequences. Humans and aliens alike must race to prevent a vast nuclear explosion in the heart of the Sun - and the vaporisation of the Earth exactly eight minutes later ...

Grand Master Ursula K. LeGuin has been recognised for almost fifty years as one of the most important writers in the SF field - and is likewise feted beyond the confines of the genre. The Wind's Twelve Quarters was her first collection and it brings together some of finest short fiction, including the Hugo Award-winning 'The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas', the Nebula Award-winning 'The Day Before the Revolution', and the Hugo-nominated 'Winter's King', which gave readers their first glimpse of the world later made famous in her Hugo- and Nebula-winning masterpiece The Left Hand of Darkness.

Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth ... but he is not alone. Every other man, woman and child on the planet has become a vampire, and they are hungry for Neville's blood.By day he is the hunter, stalking the undead through the ruins of civilisation. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn.How long can one man survive like this?Winner of the Bram Stoker Prize for Vampire Novel of the Century, I Am Legend is a stunning blend of science fiction and horror.'The most clever and riveting vampire novel since Dracula' - Dean Koontz'Books like I Am Legend were an inspiration to me' - Stephen King'It is, by turns, scary, thrilling, tragic, witty and - ultimately - uplifting' - James LovegroveWelcome to The Best Of The Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction

'The historians can't seem to settle whether to call this one 'The Third Space War' (or the fourth), or whether 'The First Interstellar War' fits it better. We just call it 'The Bug War'. Everything up to then and still later were 'incidents', 'patrols' or 'police actions'. However, you are just as dead if you buy the farm in an 'incident' as you are if you buy it in a declared war.'5,000 years in the future, humanity faces total extermination. Our one defence: highly-trained soldiers who scour the metal-strewn blackness of space to hunt down a terrifying enemy: an insect life-form known only as 'Bugs.'This is the story of trooper Johnny Rico, from his idealistic enlistment in the infantry of the future through his rigorous training to the command of his own platoon. And his destiny is a war that will span the galaxy.

Anton is an undercover operative from future Earth, who travels to an alien world whose culture has not progressed beyond the Middle Ages. Although in possession of far more advanced knowledge than the society around him, he is forbidden to interfere with the natural progress of history. His place is to observe rather than interfere - but can he remain aloof in the face of so much cruelty and injustice ...?

In a world drowning in data and information and choking on novelty and innovation, Nickie Haflinger - a most dangerous fugitive who doesn't even appear to exist - provides a window onto a global society falling apart in all directions, with madness run amok and personal freedom surrendered to computers and bureaucrats. Caught and about to be re-programmed, can he escape once again, defy the government and turn the tide of organizational destruction?

The multi-award-winning SF masterpiece from one of the greatest SF writers of all timeRama is a vast alien spacecraft that enters the Solar System. A perfect cylinder some fifty kilometres long, spinning rapidly, racing through space, Rama is a technological marvel, a mysterious and deeply enigmatic alien artefact.It is Mankind's first visitor from the stars and must be investigated ...Winner of the HUGO AWARD for best novel, 1974Winner of the NEBULA AWARD for best novel, 1973Winner of the JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD for best novel, 1974Winner of the BSFA AWARD for best novel, 1973

A literary masterpiece from one of the great writers of our time: 'Ursula Le Guin is a chemist of the heart' David Mitchell'Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new' Two people, until recently strangers, find themselves on a long, tortuous and dangerous journey across the ice. One is an outcast, forced to leave his beloved homeland; the other is fleeing from a different kind of persecution. What they have in common is curiosity, about others and themselves, and an almost unshakeable belief that the world can be a better place. As they journey for over 800 miles, across the harshest, most inhospitable landscape, they discover the true meaning of friendship, and of love.

One of the very best science fiction novels of all time. An intelligent and thought provoking allegory for the Vietnam War.Private William Mandella is a reluctant hero in an interstellar war against an unknowable and unconquerable alien enemy. But his greatest test will be when he returns home. Relativity means that for every few months' tour of duty centuries have passed on Earth, isolating the combatants ever more from the world for whose future they are fighting.Readers can't stop thinking about The Forever War:'More than just a book about a futuristic war, Haldeman describes a society built around the codependency of the industrial military complex and with a fluid dynamic socio-economic culture that is fascinating to watch unfold' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'A hugely important story from a very human angle . . . It will come as no surprise that this was written as a reaction to America's war in Vietnam' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Catch-22 is often cited as one of the great books about the futility and inherent paradoxes of war. I think this is easily its equal' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'This book is a masterpiece, both as a straight-up science fiction story, but also as an allegory for the horrors and hopelessness of war' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'This is military-flavoured bootcamp-to-war Science Fiction in its finest form, as refreshing and thought provoking as it no doubt was when it was released in 1974 . . . a landmark classic of Science Fiction' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Haldeman's story touched on a number of different themes (the horrors of war and those of personal traumatic injury, loneliness, alienation, loss, cultural indoctrination, and societal change over time) . . . a really good sci-fi classic' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

"A tour de force" - New York Times Book Review"Ambitious, finely detailed and compulsively readable" - Locus"It is a book that feels fundamentally true; it is a book to live in" - Washington PostFor Kivrin Engle, preparing an on-site study of one of the deadliest eras in humanity's history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing a bullet-proof backstory. For her instructors in the twenty-first century, it meant painstaking calculations and careful monitoring of the rendezvous location where Kivrin would be received.But a crisis strangely linking past and future strands Kivrin in a bygone age as her fellows try desperately to rescue her. In a time of superstition and fear, Kivrin finds she has become an unlikely angel of hope during one of history's darkest hours.Winner of both the 1993 Hugo and Nebula Best Novel awards, this is a science fiction classic.Read what everyone is saying about Doomsday Book:'By the time I finished the book, I had the feeling I also spent time living with these medieval men, women and children. The novel is that powerful' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'I can't stop thinking about Doomsday Book. I can't get the images out of my head. I can't get the train of thought out of my head. I can't stop my throat from tightening or my jaw from clenching' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'I was fascinated by CW's take on time travel and the mirroring of the plague in the future with the past's Black Death, but moreover, the characters snuck up on me and tore my soul apart' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'A lovely and heart-wrenching story, highly recommended. It's much more about the characters than the hard science. Kivrin's - and the villagers' - bravery in the face of death and tragedy hit me right in the heart' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'This is the mostest bestest time travel novel ever written . . . Connie Willis is just too bloody good' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'The strengths of this novel are its attention to Historical details, the engaging and believable characters suitable to an era and the dark but hopeful tones and themes of the story' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'I read this book for the first time about six years ago and barely survived it, I was so involved in everything that was happening. Connie Willis is an amazing writer' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

World War Terminus had left the Earth devastated. Through its ruins, bounty hunter Rick Deckard stalked, in search of the renegade replicants who were his prey. When he wasn't 'retiring' them with his laser weapon,he dreamed of owning a live animal - the ultimate status symbol in a world all but bereft of animal life.Then Rick got his chance: the assignment to kill six Nexus-6 targets, for a huge reward. But in Deckard's world things were never that simple, and his assignment quickly turned into a nightmare kaleidoscope of subterfuge and deceit - and the threat of death for the hunter rather than the hunted ...

A world of peaceful aliens conquered by bloodthirsty yumens, their existence is irrevocably altered. Forced into servitude, the Athsheans find themselves at the mercy of their brutal masters.Desperation causes the Athsheans to retaliate against their captors, abandoning their strictures against violence. In defending their lives, they endanger the very foundations of their society. Every blow against the invaders is a blow to the core of Athsheans' culture. And once the killing starts, there is no turning back.Winner of the 1973 Hugo award for Best Novella, and nominated for many others, The Word for World is Forest is part of Le Guin's 'Hainish Cycle'. It explores a future history of Earth and pacifistic ideals in its depictions of violence, colonialism and resistance.'A simple story that, like most things Le Guin wrote, packs a powerful emotional and critical punch'- Tordotcom'Deeply moving and shocking by turns'- Suzanne Reid'Le Guin writes in quiet, straightforward sentences about people who feel they are being torn apart by massive forces in society . . . and who fight courageously to remain whole' - The New York Times Book ReviewWelcome to The Best Of The Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction