In the tradition of the old "Ace Doubles" (flip one book over to read the second title)--here is the sixth Wildside Double. ALIEN STARSWARM, by Robert Sheckley Salvatore commands the battleship Endymion. He's seen his share of battles and fought them bravely, too. So he doesn't hesitate when beautiful Princess Hatari pleads for his help. She wants to regain her throne, but it may be more than Salvatore can accomplish, for the deadly race known as the Balderdash has taken over the planet Melchior--and now, even his own men have turned against him! HUMAN'S BURDEN, by Damien Broderick and Rory Barnes Poor Jack Wong is a clueless cadet at the Unified Space Academy when his pod is stranded on a planet of disgusting aliens. All he wants to do, other than escape, is to fulfill his proud duty to advance Earth Culture's Primary Heuristic: "Wherever possible, find the weak spot in an alien civilization and interfere as much as possible for the benefit of humanity." It's the Human's Burden! But everything comes unstuck, made worse by his irritating Machiavellian AI. And that's just the start of Jack's troubles in space and time....

“If the Marx Brothers had been literary fantasists, they would have been Robert Sheckley.” —Harlan Ellison 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. The twelve other stories in this collection are “Slaves of Time,” “Voices,” “A Supplicant in Space,” “Sneak Previews,” “Zirn Left Unguarded, the Jenghik Palace in Flames, John Westerly Dead,” “Welcome to the Standard Nightmare,” “The Never-Ending Western Movie,” “What Is Life?”, “I See a Man Sitting on a Chair, and the Chair Is Biting His Leg,” “Is That What People Do?”, “Silversmith Wishes,” and “End City.” From the very beginning of his career, Robert Sheckley was recognized by fans, reviewers, and fellow authors as a master storyteller and the wittiest satirist working in the science fiction field. Open Road is proud to republish his acclaimed body of work, with nearly thirty volumes of full-length fiction and short story collections. Rediscover, or discover for the first time, a master of science fiction who, according to the New York Times, was “a precursor to Douglas Adams.”

Presents a series of short science-fiction stories that tells of encounters between humans and the intelligent, self-aware death machines known as the Berserkers.

"The Status Civilization" by Robert Sheckley. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

A revised edition of Anna Komnene's Alexiad, to replace our existing 1969 edition. This is the first European narrative history written by a woman - an account of the reign of a Byzantine emperor through the eyes and words of his daughter which offers an unparalleled view of the Byzantine world in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

The only links between the far-flung space colonies were the Medical Services spaceships. When these lonely travelers paid a call, they were always given a royal welcome. So why did the landing grid on Marix III try to destroy Med Serviceman Calhoun's ship?

Long before William Shakespeare, tales were told of the Dane Ameleth whose noble father was murdered by the uncle who swiftly weds new widow Gerutha. Must Ameleth repay this crime by killing his uncle? The White Abacus dares to reconfigure the best known version of the classic tale, Shakespeare's Hamlet, to create a futuristic revenge drama with an entirely different outcome. Telmah is an inventive genius. Ophelia is no sobbing suicide but rather the impressive Warrior Rose, who shockingly revises the fate of her lover. In this exotic future history, the galaxy is open to anyone who passes through a hex gate, whether hu (augmented human) or ai (artificial mind). Telmah's close friend is the ai Ratio, newly embodied to the Real. Like all members of his asteroid tribe, Telmah is forbidden to use the hex transport system, since that would doom his rebirth. Out of this agonizing dilemma comes a feverish pursuit of truth and duty, love and near-madness, in an endlessly startling future where nothing turns out the way you expect.

Three complete novels, one of them a Hugo Award finalist, with a number of short stories.

Crompton Divided was also published in the United Kingdom under the title The AlchemicalMarriage ofAlistair Crompton. Alistair 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 two were implanted in other bodies on other planets. His obsession to reunite himself leads to disturbing discoveries about the underpinnings of the society he lives in, personal conflicts, a vastly destructive war, and a shocking ultimate revelation. The master of SF madness operates at the top of his form. From the very beginning of his career, Robert Sheckley was recognized by fans, reviewers, and fellow authors as a master storyteller and the wittiest satirist working in the science fiction field. Open Road is proud to republish his acclaimed body of work, with nearly thirty volumes of full-length fiction and short story collections. Rediscover, or discover for the first time, a master of science fiction who, according to the New York Times, was “a precursor to Douglas Adams.” “In case anyone has managed to miss this singular author’s seminal influence on the world of imaginative literature, my best advice is to throw oneself in the way of Crompton Divided and give oneself up to wonderful madness.” —Harlan Ellison