"Scanners Live in Vain" is an incredible science fiction set in the distant future, when traveling to space has become routine. However, to resist the unexplained pain of space, humans are converted into "scanners," so they don't have any senses except the ability to see and hear. This short work showcases Cordwainer Smith's vision of the future and its authorities.

Fourteen classic Smith stories, set in his star-spanning future universe of scanners, planoforming ships and the Underpeople. Here is the account of the strange origin of the Vomact family and its role in founding the Instrumentality, of how one man's love broke the secret of Space-Three, of what happens to people too long between the stars - even of a shape-changing Martian with a passion for gadgets - in a collection that presents some of the strongest work of an unforgettable writer.

Massive collection of visionary science fiction set in a future of advanced superscience of epic scope by a legendary SF master: part two of the collected works of Cordwainer Smith begun with We the Underpeople. A sweeping saga of the centuries to come, from the new dark age that followed a global war, to the new civilization that arose from the ashes to colonize the stars. At first, the colonists use ships with gigantic sails, cruising on the waves of starlight, their captains having to become something part human and part machine; then later moving by planoforming ships which travel faster than light, but must defend themselves against the malevolent, mind-devouring creatures lurking in the dark between the stars. Then came the reign of the all-powerful Lords of the Instrumentality, who ruled Earth and its colony worlds with ruthless benevolence, suffocating the human spirit for millennia—until the time of the Rediscovery of Man, when the strange, lost concept of freedom was reborn....An extraordinary vision of a future unique in science fiction, praised by readers, critics, and major writers in the field.

Welcome to the strangest, most distinctive future ever imagined by a science fiction writer. An interstellar empire ruled by the mysterious Lords of the Instrumentality, whose access to the drug stroon, from the planet Norstrilia, confers on them virtual immortality. A world in which wealthy and leisured humanity is served by the underpeople, genetically engineered animals turned into the semblance of people. A world in which the great ships which sail between the stars are eventually supplanted by the mysterious, instantaneous technique of planoforming. A world of wonder and myth, and extraordinary imagination.

When his ultra-logical computer tells him that to survive he must become the richest man in the universe, Rod McBan the hundred and fifty-first thought he had a good plan. A telepathic cripple, rejected by many of his people, owner of the Station of Doom, the safety of wealth would keep him safe. In one crowded, unbelievable night he achieved the impossible, became the richest boy in the galaxy. But Rod McBan will soon discover that money brings trouble. A galaxy of people and other beings - out to rob him, use him or kill him!

This volume collects three of Cordwainer Smith's finest tales: "Scanners Live in Vain," "The Game of Rat and Dragon," and "Mark Elf." Cordwainer Smith was the pseudonym used by Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger (1913-1966) for his science fiction works. Linebarger was a noted East Asia scholar and expert in psychological warfare. Linebarger also employed the literary pseudonyms "Carmichael Smith" (for his political thriller Atomsk), "Anthony Bearden" (for his poetry) and "Felix C. Forrest" (for the novels Ria and Carola). "Scanners Live in Vain" was Linebarger's first published SF story as an adult (his short story "War No. 81-Q," which he wrote at age 15 was published in his high school magazine), and the first appearance of the Cordwainer Smith pen name. It was written in 1945, and had been rejected by a number of magazines before its acceptance and publication in Fantasy Book in 1950. It was in that obscure magazine that it was noticed by SF writer Frederik Pohl who, impressed with the story's powerful imagery and style, subsequently re-published it in 1952 in the more widely read anthology Beyond the End of Time.

The mysteries and marvels of the science fiction world are brought to life in this compilation of stories representing the work of major authors in this field.

"No one ever wrote like Smith, with his special blend of intense myth-making and rich invention "--Publishers Weekly Cordwainer Smith was one of the original visionaries to think of humanity in terms of thousands of years in the future,

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The Dead Lady of Clown Town" by Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.