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.
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.
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.
