Black Star Rising

" The most consistently able writer science fiction has yet produced. " -- Kingsley Amis " [Pohl's] tales are known for their gritty, straightforward style and for their insightful ideas about our political, social and ecological future. " -- Publishers Weekly. Star of Wonder, Gatekeeper of the Galaxy He's Mr. Science Fiction. He's done it all from founding pulp pioneer to book editor of the best of the best to best-selling author himself...Frederik Pohl has done it all. Lifelong friend to the likes of Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke -- and just about every science fiction writer of note during the genre's Golden Age and beyond. And THEN came the 1970s to the present, when Pohl proved he'd just begun to create science fiction and a torrent of amazing stories poured forth. If you take your SF with a sense of wonder. With sparkling wit. With a bit of social satire that doesn't for a moment feel heavy-handed or one-sided, you'll find Pohl is a bountiful font. Okay -- he's more like a Niagara Falls of Wonder, to tell the truth. So much -- and all of it of such quality -- that it seemed almost impossible to sample, much less collect. We've done it. Here is Volume I of two compelling volumes of the best of Frederik Pohl. Here you'll find the "Heechee" saga -- the novels and stories of the super-advance technology of the Heechee and what humanity did to itself and the universe when it discovered this portal to the stars. These are stories abounding in mind-blowing ideas: say you escape a black hole into which your lover falls. And yet she is still alive -- still young -- on the event horizon, even as you live out your life and attempt to rescue her. Stories peopled with every-man heroes faced with a universe that does not necessarily have the survival and prosperity of the common man at the base of its design. Yes, these are the "Gateway" and "Heechee" tales that garnered Pohl every major award in the field. But we're just getting started. Also in Volume I are Jem, Black Star Rising, Drunkard's Walk -- novels of sparkling wit that are both fascinating explorations of alien and futuristic human culture and subtle commentary on the excess, charlatanism, and general wackiness of our own contemporary times. But the books have a serious side as well. Pohl's classic Jem, for instance, explores a planet where the collectivist, individualist and "middle way" types have a chance to really duke it out in a frontier setting. And you'll get some darker glimpses through the looking glass, as well, with chilling SF standards such as The Demon in the Skull (what if, in a monstrous experiment, a voice in your head turned you into a killing machine while you were forced to look on helplessly?). And we top off Volume I with a look into the mind of the author himself. Yep, we've included The Way the Future Was, Pohl's amazing memoir of his early years -- years that would encompass two or three career's worth of accomplishment and incredible friends for a mere mortal. You'll experience the explosion that was science fiction in its early, gusher days. Here you'll meet the founders of science fiction as a story-telling medium. First meetings among the legends. The creation of fandom with the Futurians. Pohl was there, and in on it all. He even instigated a good part of it! Here's the skinny on Volume I: Heechee Rendezvous The Gateway Trip Annals of the Heechee Starburst Black Star Rising Jem Drunkard's Walk The Demon in the Skull The Best of Frederik Pohl The Way the Future Was A massive Pohl compilation of wonder. No shipping costs. No dead tree crumble. Big thought. Huge adventure. Massively wonder-inducing ideas. And, of course, all presented in the reader-friendly, unencrypted formats Webscriptions is known for. For the next two months, Volume I of the Best of Frederick Pohl will go for $40. Then the e-volume dissolves and we offer the individual e-book titles for $5 each. Frederik Pohl. Galactic Gatekeeper. SF Cornerstone and Grandmaster. Legend of legends. Builder-of-worlds. Give yourself the journey of several lifetimes, with ideas and adventure spanning from Pohl to Pohl! The scene: The United States after World War III, after the communist reign, after the revolution which tossed out the commissars. It is a new world, brighter, faster, richer than before, but obviously no better. Worse, in fact. A world where intrigue, mystery and violence appear to be the normal order of life. Joel Abner, agent of the Federal Bureau of Security, disguised as a commercial traveler, arrives from the Moon, carrying an incredibly valuable spool of microfilm. He becomes Captain Gilead, explorer and lecturer - but the transformation fails to deceive those who wish to relieve him of the film - and they close in. Thus begins one of the most gripping and exciting stories ever written by Robert A. Heinlein. And it is only one of four long stories which make up "Assignment in Eternity". There is "Elsewhen", a rare Heinlein excursion into time travel. This fascinating theme is handled with typical Heinlein novelty. Then there is "Lost Legacy", a full length science novel dealing with the powers of the human mind. Telepathy, teleportation and other powers - these are the lost legacy of the human race. "The door of the mind is open, yet have a care where ye tread." Eternally sealed is a secret vault in the brain, the No Man's Land which three people dare to explore - to find themselves battling with a hostile world, almost - but not quite - alone. Heinlein has never written a more unusual or more absorbing story. Finally, there is "Jerry Was a Man", the story of an anthropoid who was more than an ape. A new Heinlein book is an Event for the many thousands of readers who enjoy really good Science Fiction - and we know you will agree that "Assignment in Eternity" ranks with this talented writer's best work. Classic novellas and short stories from the Dean of Science Fiction, Robert A. Heinlein. Masterful speculation on what makes us human - and the problems, opportunities, and adventures humans must face in order to win a super human future. Gulf - in which the greatest superspy of them all is revealed as the leader of a league of supermen and women who can't decide on quite what to do with the rest of us. The prequel to Heinlein's later New York Times best seller, Friday. Lost Legacy - in which it is proved that we are all members of that league of the superhuman-or would be, if we but had eyes to see. Plus two great short stories - two of the master's finest: one on the nature of being, the other on what it means to be a Man. The second story, Jerry Was a Man, was adapted for the TV series Masters of Science Fiction, and is now available on DVD Speculates on what makes us human - and problems, opportunities, and adventures humans must face in order to win a superhuman future. This title is a prequel to the author's "New York Times" bestseller, "Friday", and "Lost Legacy", and two short stories including "Jerry Was a Man", which was adapted for the TV series "Masters of Science Fiction".