Twelve classic tales of the unknown from the Hugo and Nebula
Award-winning author of Way Station.
Clifford D. Simak had a sublime ability to evoke a lost way of life. He
spent his youth in rural Wisconsin, a landscape filled with mysterious
hollows, cliffs, dark forests, and the Wisconsin River flowing in its
deep-cut valley. As Simak wandered the countryside and the ridges, he
peopled them with imaginary characters who later came to life in his
stories. One such individual is Johnny, the orphaned farm boy of "The
Contraption," who stumbles upon a wrecked starship and receives a
priceless gift from its owners. Another is the old prospector Eli, whose
surprising discoveries on Mercury get him killed in "Spaceship in a
Flask." In "Huddling Place," a man with paralyzing agoraphobia is the
only one who can save the life of a dear friend on Mars--if he can bear
to make the trip. And in the title story, aliens slowly take over Earth
while humans leave it behind and head for the Homestead Planets.
Each story includes an introduction by David W. Wixon, literary executor
of the Clifford D. Simak estate and editor of this book.