Science fiction-roman.

Science fiction-roman.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle rocked the science fiction world with The Mote in God's Eye. Sentient, capable, and even charming, the "Moties" nevertheless proved to be enemies of humankind-not by intent, but by dint of biology. With a fresh point of view, deep continuity, and page-turning plot twists, Pournelle brings a new generation of Moties to life for a new generation of readers. Outies introduces new characters, adds depth to beloved old ones, creates a rich, imaginable world, and stands the very notion of "first contact" on its head by questioning what it means to be an alien and an outsider.

By the winner of the Hugo, the Nebula, and the World Fantasy Life Achievement Awards, this latest volume finds Theodore Sturgeon in fine form as he gains recognition for the first time as a literary short story writer. Written between 1957 and 1960, when Sturgeon and his family lived in both America and Grenada, finally settling in Woodstock, New York, these stories reflect his increasing preference for psychology over ray guns. Stories such as "The Man Who Told Lies," "A Touch of Strange," and "It Opens the Sky" show influences as diverse as William Faulkner and John Dos Passos. Always in touch with the zeitgeist, Sturgeon takes on the Russian Sputnik launches of 1957 with "The Man Who Lost the Sea," switching the scene to Mars and injecting his trademark mordancy and vivid wordplay into the proceedings. These mature stories also don't stint on the scares, as "The Graveyard Reader"—one of Boris Karloff's favorite stories—shows. Acclaimed novelist Jonathan Lethem's foreword neatly summarizes Sturgeon's considerable achievement here.

Set in the world of Larry Niven's popular The Magic Goes Away, The Burning City transports readers to an enchanted ancient city bearing a provocative resemblance to our own modern society. Here Yagen-Atep, the volatile and voracious god of fire, alternately protects and destroys the city's denizens. In Tep's Town, nothing can burn indoors and no fire can start -- except when the Burning comes upon the city. Then the people, possessed by Yagen-Atep, set their own town ablaze in a riotous orgy of destruction that often comes without warning. Whandall Placehold has lived with the Burning all his life. Fighting his way to adulthood in the mean-but-magical streets of the city's most blighted neighborhoods, Whandall dreams of escaping the god's wrath to find a new and better life. But his best hope for freedom may lie with Morth of Atlantis, the enigmatic sorcerer who killed his father!

With their discovery by the CoDominium Imperial Navy ending their own one-thousand-year isolation, Prince Samual's World will become a lowly administrated colony, unless the monarch can discover the secrets of space technology