Bøger af James Gunn

Second in the Transcendental trilogy... [Note: ignore "scots" edition, is regular English. Amazon bug.] Riley and Asha, having found powers that set them above human limitations, have been flung to separate, unknown planets among a possibility of billions.They know that together they can change the galaxy to be so much better, but to do so they face the impossible-finding each other.

What is the price of immortality? For nomad Marshall Cartwright, the price is knowing that he will never grow old. That he will never contract a disease, an infection, or even a cold. That because he will never die, he must surrender the right to live. For Dr. Russell Pearce, the price is eternal suspicion. He appreciates what synthesizing the elixir vitae from the Immortal's genetic makeup could mean for humankind. He also fears what will happen should Cartwright's miraculous blood fall into the wrong hands. For the wealthy and powerful, no price is too great. Immortality is now a fact rather than a dream. But the only way to achieve it is to own it exclusively. And that means hunting down and caging the elusive Cartwright, or one of his offspring. The Immortals is James Gunn's masterpiece about a human fountain of youth, made into a TV movie and TV series. All-new material accompanies this updated edition, including an introduction from renowned science-fiction writer Greg Bear, a preface from Gunn himself, and "Elixir," Gunn's new short story that introduced Dr. Pearce to another Immortal.

The first book in the Transcendental Machine trilogy... Riley, a veteran of interstellar war, is one of many beings from many different worlds aboard a ship on a pilgrimage that spans the galaxy. However, he is not journeying to achieve transcendence, a vague mystical concept that has drawn everyone else on the ship to this journey into the unknown at the far edge of the galaxy. His mission is to find and kill the prophet who is reputed to help others transcend. While their ship speeds through space, the voyage is marred by violence and betrayal, making it clear that some of the ship's passengers are not the spiritual seekers they claim to be. Like the pilgrims in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, a number of those on the starship share their unique stories. But as tensions rise, Riley realizes that the ship is less like the Canterbury Tales and more like a harrowing, deadly ship of fools. When he becomes friendly with a mysterious passenger named Asha, he thinks she's someone he can trust. However, like so many others on the ship, Asha is more than she appears. Uncovering her secrets could be the key to Riley's personal quest, or make him question everything he thought he knew about Transcendentalism and his mission to stop it. James Gunn's TRANSCENDENTAL is a space adventure filled with excitement and intrigue that explores the nature of what unifies all beings. A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of 2013 "Jim Gunn doesn't publish a new novel very often, but when he does it's a whopper. Transcendental is his best yet, and in it he demonstrates his possession of one of the most finely developed skills at world-building (and at aliens-creating to populate those worlds) in science fiction today. Read it!"-Frederik Pohl, bestselling author of Gateway "James Gunn, after a long, stellar career in science fiction, is a master of the narrative art-as he shows in this Chaucerian pilgrimage through the galactic future."-Robert Silverberg, bestselling author of Lord Valentine's Castle "equals or tops his earlier landmark, earning, I think, a permanent rank in the extended canon of our genre. It is wise, exciting, clever, surprising, hip and au courant (or perhaps timeless is a better word). Its technical craftsmanship is subtle and awe-inspiring."-Paul di Filippo, Locus

The Transcendental Machine trilogy in one volume! Like many trilogies, the Transcendental trilogy may best be viewed as one continuous story-so here they are! Riley, a veteran of interstellar war, is one of many beings from many different worlds aboard a ship on a pilgrimage that spans the galaxy. However, he is not journeying to achieve transcendence, a vague mystical concept that has drawn everyone else on the ship to this journey into the unknown at the far edge of the galaxy. His mission is to find and kill the prophet who is reputed to help others transcend. While their ship speeds through space, the voyage is marred by violence and betrayal, making it clear that some of the ship's passengers are not the spiritual seekers they claim to be. Like the pilgrims in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, a number of those on the starship share their unique stories. But as tensions rise, Riley realizes that the ship is less like the Canterbury Tales and more like a harrowing, deadly ship of fools. When he becomes friendly with a mysterious passenger named Asha, he thinks she's someone he can trust. However, like so many others on the ship, Asha is more than she appears. Uncovering her secrets could be the key to Riley's personal quest, or make him question everything he thought he knew about Transcendentalism and his mission to stop it. James Gunn's Transcendental Machine trilogy is a space adventure filled with excitement and intrigue that explores the nature of what unifies all beings. TRANSCENDENTAL is a Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book "Jim Gunn doesn't publish a new novel very often, but when he does it's a whopper. Transcendental is his best yet, and in it he demonstrates his possession of one of the most finely developed skills at world-building (and at aliens-creating to populate those worlds) in science fiction today. Read it!"-Frederik Pohl, bestselling author of Gateway "James Gunn, after a long, stellar career in science fiction, is a master of the narrative art-as he shows in this Chaucerian pilgrimage through the galactic future."-Robert Silverberg, bestselling author of Lord Valentine's Castle "equals or tops his earlier landmark, earning, I think, a permanent rank in the extended canon of our genre. It is wise, exciting, clever, surprising, hip and au courant (or perhaps timeless is a better word). Its technical craftsmanship is subtle and awe-inspiring."-Paul di Filippo, Locus

SFWA Grand Master James Gunn's This Fortress World takes place in the far future of our galaxy, when countless civilizations have risen and fallen, leaving only their marvelous scientific achievements as legacy to those worlds which have now fallen into a new Dark Age. On the planet Brancusi, William Dane, an acolyte monk in the all-powerful Church, comes into possession of a crystal pebble dropped in the offering plate, a stolen treasure believed to hold untold secrets of mankind's past. There are powerful men who will stop at nothing, including murder, to recover this ancient artifact. Ignorant of the outside world, who can Dane find to help, and who should be trusted with the pebble's secrets?

Three short novels about space, happiness, and immortality. Science fiction hungers to see the infinite, from the infinitesimally small to the edges of the universe, and from the beginning of things to their final end. In three powerful short novels James Gunn writes of strange dreams and how they end. These stories are the work of a master of science fiction."Space Is A Lonely Place" concerns man's long-held dream of travelling to another world. "The Joy Ride" is about ultimate happiness and the nature of reality. And "The Immortal" considers whether man is ready to pay the price of immortality. The three pieces, all of them serious by intention, are told with the verve, excitement, and flashes of humor characteristic of James Gunn's fiction.All three stories stand alone, but also continue and conclude the dreams begun in Some Dreams are Nightmares.

Science Fiction is illuminated by world class scholars and fiction writers, who introduce the history, concepts and contexts necessary to understanding the genre. Their groundbreaking approach provides insights into today's SF world and makes learning how to read Science Fiction an exciting collaborative process for teachers and students.

Johnson is plagued by his absence of memory and the strange dreams of horrific futures that he somehow knows will become reality if he does not act. He was born in a hopeless future and is doomed to travel in the past and repair humanity's problems before they can happen. Unfortunately every time he returns to the abyss outside of time he loses all memory of what just occurred. The only information Johnson has of his existence is a one-page letter written to himself, reminding him of his duties. Over and over, he must follow his nightmares and repair the damages done by those in the past. Time is in a perpetual state of turmoil for Johnson, but he lives in a future free of damage. His duty is to erase all possibility of the predicted Crisis!

Sign on as mankind conquers the last frontier, the final challenge to human ingenuity. Here is a novel of danger, despair, and pleasure as men and women begin to populate the first... Station in Space.

Wow, the third millennium is off to a great start, the world didn't end; time to take a break and relax. Well, not exactly. You thought you were safe? Think again! Something much, MUCH, MUCH worse is ahead. The new millennium will bring nothing but disaster and destruction. As six unique people rush feverishly to resolve catastrophes both personal and otherwise, they cannot ignore the loudly ticking clock that will bring THE END OF THE WORLD. And this time its no psychic premonition; it's more real than you've ever dreamed. The Millennium Blues offers an engrossing drama about mass panic observed with a dispassionate eye and reported in careful, poetic prose. It is a novel not just for today but for years-and millennia-to come.

Fiction is simply dreams written out. Science fiction consists of the hopes and dreams and fears (for some dreams are nightmares) of a technically based society.-John W. CampbellThese stories share a common concept: man has dreamed for centuries about space flight, about happiness, about immortality. If only I could fly to the moon, he has told himself, if only I could find true happiness, if only I could live forever ... then I would be like a god. These stories, however, explore these dreams to the fullest... including the unforeseen consequences. The power of man to dream and make his dreams come true is unlimited, but each step forward must be paid for, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and some dreams are nightmares...

An object that shouldn't be there passed within a hundred yards of the space station.No one deduced from the waving of the tall grass and the frightened chatter of birds the shape of the tiger moving silently through the jungle clearing.Tiger!You passed silently through the night, and we blundered upon you. You were fear, awe, hatred, and opportunity. You were knowledge; you were the shape of the unknown. We stopped; we reacted. And our awareness of your existence changed our lives.It began at 2141 on June 14...

Unseen by an apathetic society, a stupendous battle is being waged between good and evil. In the center of an unassuming town, gathered in a nondescript hotel, are the most powerful forces of time eternal: the thirteen black covens. On All Hallow's Eve they unite to summon the Black Magician, the darkest and deadliest being of all time. They are a rag-tag group of misfits: an inexperienced but lovely witch, an ancient sorcerer obsessed with math, and a private detective who can't seem to solve a case, but they are humanity's only hope. The world is unaware of the battle, but it will suffer the ultimate consequence if the war is won by the black evil. Can a group of social rejects save the world? Or will humanity plunge forever into the abyss?

The next exciting book as part of the James Gunn Library project, by agreement with the SFWA GrandMaster to republish all his books from one publisher--plus new ones!Scientist John Wilson cannot deny the accusations coming from the beautiful blonde girl with the burning eyes, nor can he refuse her offer. But in accepting her proposal, John must forgo his first love, science, and resign himself to the will of a higher power-magic. Now the door to his past has slammed shut with terrifying finality, and his future holds a horror that no rational mind can fathom. Will The Burning separate John from the comfort of the reality he loves so dearly or will it open doors in his mind that had been locked... until she arrived?

In the future when high tech rules supreme and computers do all the work, humans spend their lives enjoying drug-induced fantasies. Only a handful live and work in the traditional sense, managing the few affairs that still need attention. At the center of this system is the Mnemonist, the man who directs everything that happens. But now he has reached an advanced age and must carefully choose a dreamer capable of taking over his crucial position.

Grand Master of science fiction James Gunn explores the infinite possibilities of the unknown world in his collection of short stories, Future Imperfect. From planets where social status is based on poverty to a human zoo that serves as a refrigerator for a bloodthirsty monster, James Gunn tests the limit of human imagination.Step inside, and feel free to browse. This Venusian factory in Jersey manufactures only the finest women on the market. Each woman is flawless in her beauty and poise, but there is one malfunction that may prove deadly for the future of this company and the owner of the lovely lass. Enjoy this tale and more, in this collection of alternate realities.

An enthralling collection of SFWA Grandmaster James Gunn's later stories, showing the master at work on stories spanning spectrum of SF from retirement communities to time travel, fixing the past, pitching quantum leap before it existed, responses to The Bicentennial Man and The Diamond Lens. Includes: IntroductionThe Old FolksThe VoicesFaultGuiltChild of the SunThe North WindAmong the Beautiful Bright ChildrenThe FuturistMan of PartsThe Gingerbread ManThe Day the Magic Came BackThe Lens of TimeThe End-of-the-World BallThe Giftie

Josh, an Earthman returning from a rugged colony on Venus, finds the pursuit of happiness and pleasure has become the domineering philosophy on Earth. Is it all good, or an enslaved society that needs to be freed?

"WE SUMMON THEE, PRINCE, RULER OF DARKNESS, LORD OF EVIL: YOUR WORSHIPERS SUMMON THEE TO RECEIVE OUR SACRIFICE..." SFWA Grandmaster James Gunn applies the principles of science and science fiction to the realm of the unholy with the Witching Hour, three novelettes of satanic scenery and devilish deceit.Not every witch intended to be one; there's more going on with beer than you might imagine; and there's devilish doings at the magicians conference.Mischief abounds. Demons, death and disbelief will haunt you at every corner. Macabre rituals of darkness will creep up your spine until your fragile mind tingles with fear.

Third in the Transcendental Machine series...Riley and Asha must save the Federation from an unknown invader.Planets at the edge of the Federation have fallen silent. The arrogant Federation bureaucracy grudgingly send Riley and Asha to investigate. They join forces with a planetary A.I., a paranoid Federation watchdog, and a member of a splinter group who vows to destroy the A.I. No one trusts anyone or their motives.They need to find common ground and the answer in order to confront an enemy even more ancient and powerful than the Transcendentals.

An exciting collection of SFWA Grandmaster James Gunn's never before published stories. Includes: INTRODUCTION SANE ASYLUM JUDGMENT DAY BROKEN RECORD THE BLACK MARBLE THE WHIP JACKPOT FOR JULIE THE MAN WITH ONE TALENT THE BIG ONE PEST HOUSEFrom the introduction: "This [book] is not about the stories I sold. Rather it is about the stories I didn't sell. It takes a bit of courage to present them here in this volume ... because they have about them the aura of failure. They weren't good enough. Even now, though, I'm not sure why. When I was writing them I couldn't tell the difference between the ones that sold and the ones that didn't. I wrote them all the same.I don't make these stories available as object lessons in what not to do, although students of writing might analyze them, if they wish, for reasons why they were less successful than my others. Rather I think it would be good to give these stories a chance. They are only nine out of ninety-two, most of them among my earliest. It would feel good to have all my fiction out where people could see and judge it, not just those pieces that editors liked well enough to publish. These stories give me a feeling of something unfinished, of something I once loved and forgot for a while but now have rediscovered.Here are [nine] stories ... Take them for what they are. If you find something to like about them, I will be pleased. If you find them flawed, perhaps you can learn from their mistakes.

A space opera in ten parts... An expanded version of the pilgrims' tales in the first book in the Transcendental Machine trilogy... PILGRIMS is a set of related stories about how the pilgrims in TRANSCENDENTAL gathered at Terminal waiting for the beginning of their epic journey. They were published sequentially in ASIMOV'S, and include an essay on "Space Opera and the Quest for Transcendence" and conclude with an essay on the post-human. Riley, a veteran of interstellar war, is one of many beings from many different worlds aboard a ship on a pilgrimage that spans the galaxy. However, he is not journeying to achieve transcendence, a vague mystical concept that has drawn everyone else on the ship to this journey into the unknown at the far edge of the galaxy. His mission is to find and kill the prophet who is reputed to help others transcend. While their ship speeds through space, the voyage is marred by violence and betrayal, making it clear that some of the ship's passengers are not the spiritual seekers they claim to be. PILGRIMS TO TRANSCENDENCE expands on the unique back stories of the pilgrims. Praise for TRANSCENDENCE James Gunn's TRANSCENDENTAL is a space adventure filled with excitement and intrigue that explores the nature of what unifies all beings. TRANSCENDENCE was a Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of 2013 "Jim Gunn doesn't publish a new novel very often, but when he does it's a whopper. Transcendental is his best yet, and in it he demonstrates his possession of one of the most finely developed skills at world-building (and at aliens-creating to populate those worlds) in science fiction today. Read it!"-Frederik Pohl, bestselling author of Gateway "James Gunn, after a long, stellar career in science fiction, is a master of the narrative art-as he shows in this Chaucerian pilgrimage through the galactic future."-Robert Silverberg, bestselling author of Lord Valentine's Castle "equals or tops his earlier landmark, earning, I think, a permanent rank in the extended canon of our genre. It is wise, exciting, clever, surprising, hip and au courant (or perhaps timeless is a better word). Its technical craftsmanship is subtle and awe-inspiring."-Paul di Filippo, Locus

In the near future, on America's campuses, professors hawk their courses, dozens of political groups compete in violence and computer-dating means having sex with a computer. It may not be all grind, but isn't it fun and games - as one senior finds out when he kidnaps his favorite professor - and kills him for his knowledge. You are looking at the college of tomorrow where yesterday's radicals are the Establishment. And tomorrow's students invent the ultimate revolution.

The age-old question about alien existence and human contact is explored in a new way in this collection of six novellas, previously anthologized in Analog magazine. When disillusioned aerospace engineer Adrian Mast buys a book at a remainder sale, the last things he expects to find in its appendix are alien spacecraft designs. With the help of the bookstore owner, Adrian tracks down the author*only to find him in a mental institution anguishing over the intentions of the aliens who sent the designs to him. By bluffing a bureaucrat intent on thwarting their progress, the two friends continue their quest for the stars and go ahead with the spacecraft designs. Having successfully launched their ship 15 years later, the questions that remain are What were the intentions of the aliens? Is mankind ready to face what's out there?

A classic of science fiction, this book predicted and inspired the creation of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)--the organization dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life. A tale of contact with alien life hailed by leaders of SETI organizations and today's leading science fiction authors as hugely influential, the story appeals to both science fiction readers and the hundreds of thousands of members of various SETI organizations.

For organisations looking at Knowledge Management, it is no longer a question of `should we?' It is now, a question of `how should we?' As the global market becomes increasingly more competitive, and budgets get tighter, many organisations are treading very carefully with their investments.

Written by one of the leading authorities on writing, publishing and teaching science fiction, The Science of Science Fiction Writing offers the opportunity to share in the knowledge James Gunn has acquired over the past forty years. He reflects on the fiction-writing process and how to teach it, and the ideas he has shared with his students about how to do it effectively and how to get it published afterwards.The first section discusses why people read fiction, the parts of the short story, the strategy of the science fiction author, scene as the smallest dramatic unit, how to speak well in print, suspense in fiction, how to say the right thing, and how to give constructive criticism. The second section takes a more philosophical approach. Here, Gunn elaborates on the origins of science fiction, its definition, the worldview of science fiction, and the characters that appear in science fiction novels. The third section highlights well-known sci-fi authors: H.G. Wells, Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Henry Kuttner, C.L. Moore, and others, and the impact they have had on the development and progression of science fiction.

In the mid-1980s, Easton Press began publishing a series of leather-bound collector editions called ';Masterpieces of Science Fiction' and ';Masterpieces of Fantasy,' which featured some of the most important works in these genres. James Gunn was commissioned to write introductions to these works, which allowed him to pay tribute to many authors who inspired and influenced his own work. In Paratexts: Introductions to Science Fiction and Fantasy, Gunn has collected the most significant essays produced for the Easton series, along with prefaces he wrote for reprints of his own novels. Cited here are some of the most significant works of 19th and 20th century science fiction and fantasy, such as The Island of Dr. Moreau, 1984, Stranger in a Strange Land, A Clockwork Orange, Speaker for the Dead, The Postman, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe, The Dead Zone, The Mists of Avalon, Dragon's Eye, Nine Princes in Amber, Blue Mars, The Last Unicorn, and The Lord of the Rings.Drawing upon Gunn's lifetime of work in the field, these introductions include analyses of the individual works and the fields in which they were written. Gunn also briefly discusses each novel's significance in the science fiction canon. Collected here for the first time, these prefaces and introductions provide readers with insight into more than seventy novels, making Paratexts a must-read for science fiction and fantasy aficionados.