Science Fiction Fan Site

And these stories will not only tell you something about outer space, but about the nature of human beings. What do you think we might do when we venture to the stars? See what you think when you've read "The Cage," "Status Extinct," "Intelligent Life Elsewhere," and "Thoughts That Kill." You may hope that humans don't conquer the stars until we're ready to. You'll find some of the best writers of space stories here. Douglas Hill has written many adventure novels including the Huntsman trilogy—The Huntsman, Warriors of the Wasteland, and Alien Citadel—and the Last Legionary series, which began with Galactic War¬lord. Douglas Hill has not only provided a story for the anthology but has kindly written an introduction. John Christopher wrote the Tripods trilogy about the invasion of Earth—The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead, and The Pool of Fire—as well as the connected novel When the Tripods Came. Here he pro¬vides us with a scientific puzzle set on the moon. Arthur C. Clarke must be the best known science fiction writer in the world. Have you ever seen the film 2001: A Space Odyssey? That was based on a story by Clarke. He's written lots of excellent space travel stories, such as the one included here, which considers the perils facing you on a walk in the dark on an alien world. Nicholas Fisk is probably best known for his Starstormers series, which runs Starstormers, Sunburst, Catfang, Evil Eye, and Volcano, but he's written a lot more besides—try and find his bumper volume Extraterrestrial Tales. I'm sure many of you will know the books by Piers Anthony, especially his Xanth series of fantasy novels. If you haven't read these yet, you've a long way to go, as there's at least fourteen books in the series and still counting. His short stories are less well known, but I've found a rare early story that brings us into contact with one of the strangest and most alien of life forms I've ever known. There are two stories about the adventures of the crew of the starship Falcon by Stephen Baxter, whose recent novels, The Time Ships and Flux, have made him one of our most exciting new writers. Voyaging into space is similar to the time five hun¬dred years ago when Columbus set sail for Cathay and found the New World, or Magellan's ships first cir¬cumnavigated the globe. We are at the verge of some of our greatest adventures. Just what is out there? If you want to know more about space, I've provided a special section at the end of the book that will tell you more about our planets and the stars. The next time you stand under the night sky and look up at the infinity of space you can wonder all the more.