Showing results by author "Robert Sheckley" in All Categories

Want to be immortal? You can be in AD 2110. Just go to the Hereafter Insurance Corporation and hook yourself up to the Machine. There’s nothing to fear. That is, if it happens to be working right, and if nobody slips another mind into your body when you’re not looking, and if you’re not on a poltergeist hatelist.

Dimension of Miracles is a satirical science fiction novel first published by Dell in 1968. It's about Tom Carmody, a New Yorker who, thanks to a computer error, wins the main prize in the Intergalactic Sweepstakes. Tom claims his prize before the error is discovered and is allowed to keep it. However, since Tom is a human from Earth without galactic status and no space traveling experience, he has no homing instinct that can guide him back to Earth once his odyssey begins - and the galactic lottery organizers cannot transport him home.

Untouched by Human Hands consists of 13 stories of beings who dwell on the strange borders of reality. Some of these stories tell of people you know or of events that might happen - but haven't yet. Some will take you to the furthermost reaches of the sky and to planets whose names are unknown this side of Arcturus. And some - perhaps the richest and most memorable of these stories - open into the interior of strange minds to reveal the reflection of ourselves.

Journey beyond the edge of imagination with The Best Classic Science Fiction Short Stories, a powerful collection that brings together some of the most visionary minds in speculative fiction. Featuring unforgettable works by Frank Herbert, Philip K. Dick, Stanley G. Weinbaum, Robert Sheckley, and E. E. Smith, this anthology captures the bold ideas, cosmic wonder, and thought-provoking storytelling that defined the golden age of science fiction.

Explore eerie frontiers, alien worlds, and imaginative futures in Golden Age Science Fiction Short Stories Vol. 4. This classic collection features inventive tales by Philip K. Dick, Robert Sheckley, and Stanley G. Weinbaum, perfect for fans of vintage sci-fi adventure and timeless speculative fiction.

Step into the visionary worlds that defined a genre. *Golden Age Science Fiction Short Stories Anthology* brings together unforgettable tales from Isaac Asimov, Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick, Ray Bradbury, E. E. Smith, and Robert Sheckley—masters who shaped modern science fiction with bold ideas, cosmic adventure, and thought-provoking storytelling. From distant planets and advanced civilizations to sharp social commentary and mind-bending twists, this collection captures the imagination, innovation, and timeless wonder of classic sci-fi at its very best.

Interstellar travel to alien worlds is too expensive for Marvin, a college student in need of a good vacation. And so he signs up for what he can afford: a mind swap, in which his consciousness is swapped into the body of an alien life-form. Unfortunately, Marvin finds himself in the body of an interstellar criminal—a body that he has to vacate, fast.

Step into the golden age of imagination with A Vintage Science Fiction Short Stories Collection, a masterfully curated anthology featuring some of the most influential voices in classic science fiction. This timeless volume brings together visionary storytelling from Frank Herbert, Philip K. Dick, Fredric Brown, E. E. Smith, John W. Campbell Jr., Murray Leinster, Robert Sheckley, Stanley G. Weinbaum, and William Tenn—authors who helped shape modern speculative fiction.

In "The Robot Who Looked Like Me," a busy man and a busy woman find a way to carve out time to romance each other—by having look-alike robots made to do the job—who then run away together. 

It's the 21st Century and the ugliness of war no longer exists, except on a very personal level. Nowadays, people like Marcello Polletti, seller of Roman sunsets, and Caroline Meredith, lithe, beautiful, blonde, and backed by corporate sponsors and the Roy Bell Dancers, hunt, chase, and kill each other for sport and for the entertainment of the masses - until something oddly like personal human feelings pops up to confuse the players and up the stakes...as each of them seeks to kill their 10th victim and rise in the ranks of the hunters.

All secret agents need to look out for William Nye, now known as Agent X. His recruitment was simple and his legend is brilliant but un-earned. Somehow, he thinks he's the best there is and we all know how pride goeth before a fall. The master of SF hilarity and biting social satire creates a spy world that has gathered praise from the greats of the genre.

Ready for a story? Here's a selection of some of the finest science fiction shorts of recent years, including stories from Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, William Gibson, Robert Sheckley, Terry Bisson, Avram Davidson, and Philip K. Dick.

Step into the golden era of imagination with Essential Golden Age Science Fiction Short Stories, a powerful collection of visionary tales from the masters who defined modern sci-fi. Featuring unforgettable stories by Ray Bradbury, Frank Herbert, John W. Campbell Jr., Robert Sheckley, Murray Leinster, and E. E. Smith, this anthology captures the bold ideas, cosmic wonder, and speculative brilliance that shaped an entire genre.

Incredible Science Fiction: Amazing Tales from the 50's and Beyond, Volume Two collates a collection of some of the very best science-fiction stories published in the '50s together. All these stories (with the exception of The Anatomy of Fear) are now in the public domain and were original published in various science-fiction magazines that were very popular in the 1950s. This is a lovingly curated collection of some of the very best stories published during this time. This collection includes a further story from the Hugo Award-nominated Rog Phillips.

Step beyond the stars and into the boundless imagination of the genre’s greatest visionaries with The Masters of Science Fiction Short Stories—a powerful collection of timeless tales from the pioneers who shaped modern science fiction.

On a distant planet, a marooned man is joyous to see a ship landing. But what does the crew make of him? Based on a story by Robert Sheckley, this episode of X Minus One originally aired on September 26, 1957.

When two space travelers encounter a planet of proud warriors with a bizarre concept of honor, diplomacy takes an unexpected turn. Sheckley's signature wit and social commentary shine in this clever exploration of alien values and human folly.

The Journey of Joenes, also published as Journey Beyond Tomorrow, tells the tale of a picaresque journey through an imagined future taken by a naive and innocent man unprepared for the wonders and oddities he encounters. Sheckley examines the present through the distorting lens of a future wonderfully skewed from and yet darkly, hilariously, similar to our own world.

Twenty-four of the greatest science fiction stories of all time in this fourth sci-fi short story collection, including works by Jerry Dunham, Emmett Dowell, James Causey, Gordon Randall Garrett, James A. Cox, Phyllis Sterling Smith, Richard A. Sternbach, Robert Sheckley, E. G. Von Wald, Keith Laumer, Jerome Bixby, Frederik Pohl, Roger Dee, Arnold Marmore, James H. Schmitz, Lester del Rey, Cordwainer Smith, Ray Bradbury, and Philip K. Dick.

Alastair Crompton skilled nosologist at Psychosmell, Inc. sniffs out something he's been missing his whole life - his other selves. His disturbed psyche was divided into three parts and the other parts were implanted in other bodies on other planets. His obsession to re-unite himself leads to disturbing discovers about the underpinnings of the society he lives in, personal conflicts, a vastly destructive war and a shocking ultimate revelation.