This volume assembles 12 classic tales by Alan E. Nourse: "Bear Trap" originally appeared in Fantastic Universe, December 1957. "Circus," "The Dark Door," "Image of the Gods," "The Link," "Meeting of the Board," "My Friend Bobby," and "An Ounce of Cure" originally appeared in The Counterfeit Man: More Science Fiction Stories by Alan E. Nourse, published in 1963. "The Coffin Cure" originally appeared in Galaxy, April 1957. "Letter of the Law" originally appeared in If Magazine, January 1954. "The Native Soil" originally appeared in Fantastic Universe, July 1957. "PRoblem" originally appeared in Galaxy, October 1956.

Billy Gimp was a bladerunner . . . one of the shadowy procurers of illegal medical supplies for the rapidly expanding, nightmare world of the medical black market. Doc was a skilled surgeon at a government-operated hospital by day . . . and an underground physician by night, providing health care for the multitudes who could not - or would not - qualify for legal medical assistance. Trapped by Health Control Police, Billy Gimp knew he had to warn Doc that they were closing in on him. But something even more deadly than the law had already mad its first move . . . a new plague that Health Control could not handle!

Bob Benedict is one of the few scientists able to make contact with the invisible, dangerous world of The Thresholders and return - sane! For years he has tried to transport - and receive - matter by transmitting it through the mysterious, parallel Threshold. At first his efforts met only with failure and madness. But now The Thresholders have risen in fury. Somehow Bob Benedict must make one more trip into that land of peril and pacify them before they succeed in hurling his planet - piece by piece - into the oblivion of infinity.

The tenacious Colonel Benedict and his son, Tuck, are sent to Titan, Saturn’s fifth moon, to investigate reports of smuggling. Soon they discover that the less-than-friendly colony is hiding much more than just a smuggler. Together they dig up a scandalous case of interstellar sabotage and what the colonists reverently refer to as “THE BIG SECRET,” which could destroy Earth’s power supply - forever. Can the Colonel and Tuck resolve an age-old dispute between the Titan colonists and Earthly authorities before the clock runs out? Mankinds fate depends on it . . .

Alien Zone II presents some of the exciting new voices in the current debates. It continues to pursue the critical and theoretical issues opened up in the earlier book and energetically explores fresh territory.

"[Malmgren] succeeds in formulating a typology of science fiction that will become a standard reference for some years to come." —Choice " . . . the most intelligently organized and effectively argued general study of SF that I have ever read." —Rob Latham, SFRA Review " . . . required reading for its evenhanded overview of so much of the previous critical/theoretical material devoted to science fiction." —American Book Review Worlds Apart provides a comprehensive theoretical model for science fiction by examining the worlds of science fiction and the discourse which inscribes them. Malmgren identifies the basic science fiction types, including alien encounters, alternate societies and worlds, and fantasy, and examines the role of the reader in concretizing and interpreting these science fiction worlds.