Showing results for "Robert Sheckley" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

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.

A striking collection of classic Robert Sheckley science fiction, featuring “Warm,” “Warrior Race,” and “Watchbird.” This volume brings together sharp imagination, futuristic suspense, and Sheckley’s signature wit in one memorable edition...

A sleek science fiction collection featuring witty, imaginative Robert Sheckley stories including Final Examination, Keep Your Shape, and One Man’s Poison, set against a stunning futuristic world of mystery, satire, and cosmic adventure...

A gripping collection of classic Robert Sheckley science fiction, featuring sharp imagination, futuristic intrigue, and unforgettable twists in “Beside Still Waters,” “Cost of Living,” and “Diplomatic Immunity.” Perfect for readers who enjoy witty, thought-provoking short stories...

A sharp and entertaining collection of Robert Sheckley science fiction stories filled with wit, surprise, and imaginative twists. Featuring “Proof of the Pudding,” “Prospector’s Special,” and “The Hour of Battle,” this volume showcases Sheckley’s talent for blending clever ideas...

Essential Robert Sheckley Short Stories brings together three clever and imaginative science fiction tales by one of the genre’s most inventive writers. Featuring Accept No Substitutes, Ask a Foolish Question, and Bad Medicine, this collection offers sharp ideas, wit, and classic speculative storytelling for fans of vintage sci-fi.

Take a look at a dark, deadly future where the game is hunting and the results are killing - human to human - with status, money, power, and sex as the prizes. The operation runs underground and Frank Blackwell is a new recruit who is destined to change the game and turn it into legitimate popular entertainment for the masses.

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. 

In 2092, the world's ecology is in ruins, drought and famine are widespread and survival is a never-ending challenge. Harold Erdman leaves his dying community with one goal, to make his way to Esmeralda, an island paradise run by the Huntworld Corporation which has turned public murder, among willing competitors, into a thriving and lucrative business. Can he survive the journey and then the many rounds of deadly competition on his way to the Big Payoff.

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.

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.

If a society was created entirely by criminals with no memory of their former world, what would they come up with? It couldn't be crazier than Omega, where the religion is the worship of evil, humans are hunted for fun, status is attained one corpse at a time, and life expectancy is three years...if you're lucky. Omega - a fun place to live, if the plants, animals, weather, or your neighbors don't kill you first.

A Collection of Science Fiction Classic Short Stories.

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.

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.

Dive into the imaginative world of Robert Sheckley with three captivating short stories that showcase his unparalleled creativity. In Watchbird, the intriguing question of whether machines can truly solve human problems is met with a surprising answer—yes! But, of course, there are a few unexpected hiccups along the way. Warrior Race transports you to an alien realm where warriors engage in battles beyond your wildest dreams. Finally, Beside Still Waters offers a poignant glimpse into the life of a man seeking solitude among the stars, accompanied only by his robotic companion. Its a ...

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.

In Status Civilization, Will Barrent awakens with no memories, only to find himself on Omega—a ruthless planet designated for criminals, where the average lifespan barely exceeds three years. Branded as a murderer, he is thrust into the depths of an illicit society as a mere “peon,” the lowest of the low. A mysterious girl hands him a weapon, igniting his journey towards power—a journey fraught with brutal choices. Yet, this path is essential for uncovering the truth behind his imprisonment, a truth that challenges his very identity and forces him to confront the ...

A gripping collection of classic science fiction tales filled with mystery, alien encounters, and interstellar danger. Golden Age Science Fiction Short Stories Vol. 7 brings together unforgettable stories by Murray Leinster and Robert Sheckley, capturing the imagination and wonder of vintage speculative 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.