Search Worlds Without End

Table of Contents:

• Preface - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Black Holes and Cosmic Censors - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• He Fell Into a Dark Hole - (1973) - novelette by Jerry Pournelle
• The Hole Man - (1974) - shortstory by Larry Niven
• Fuzzy Black Holes Have No Hair - (1975) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Kyrie - (1968) - shortstory by Poul Anderson
• Killing Vector - (1978) - shortstory by Charles Sheffield
• The Borderland of Sol - (1975) - novelette by Larry Niven
• Pluto Is Black! - (1962) - essay by Robert L. Forward
• Fountain of Force - (1972) - shortstory by George Zebrowski and Grant Carrington
• Papa Schimmelhorn's Yang - novelette by Reginald Bretnor
• Gloria - shortstory by Gail Kimberly
• Singularity - (1978) - novella by Mildred Downey Broxon
• Cygnus X-1 - poem by Peter Dillingham
• The Salesman Who Fell From Grace With the Universe - poem by Peter Dillingham
• The Nothing Spot - (1978) - shortstory by Dian Girard
• For the Lady of a Physicist - poem by Michael Bishop
• The Venging - (1975) - novelette by Greg Bear
• In the Beginning... - essay by Jerry Pournelle

Hugo Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, July 1974. The story is included in the collections High Justice (1977) and Exile--and Glory (2008).

Read the full story for free at the Baen website.

As the world reels under the sudden onslaught of the new ice age, the lunatic fringe of the environmental movement controls the U.S. government. Abandoned by Earth, the space colonies must replenish their air supply by scoopships diving into the atmosphere -- but Alex and Gordon's ship was hit by a missile, sending them tumbling out of the sky to be hunted by authorities who want them dead or alive. . . . But wait! There is one pro-tech group left on Earth: science fiction fandom! How they get our guys from the permafrost to orbit in twenty incredibly difficult stages -- and why they bother -- is the story of two very "Fallen Angels."

They first appear as a series of dots on astronomical plates, heading from Saturn directly toward Earth. Since the ringed planet carries no life, scientists deduce the mysterious ship to be a visitor from another star.

The world's frantic efforts to signal the aliens go unanswered. The first contact is hostile: the invaders blast a Soviet space station, seize the survivors, and then destroy every dam and installation on Earth with a hail of asteriods.

Now the conquerors are descending on the American heartland, demanding servile surrender--or death for all humans.

Ben Bova, Frederik Pohl, Jerry Pournelle, and Charles Sheffield share a collection of original stories and essays that speculate on what the world will be like fifty years from now and discuss the sociological and technological implications of their expectations.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Charles Sheffield
• 2042: A Cautiously Pessimistic View - (1991) - essay by Ben Bova
• Thy Kingdom Come - (1993) - novella by Ben Bova
• A Visit to Belinda - essay by Frederik Pohl
• What Dreams Remain - novella by Frederik Pohl
• Report on Planet Earth - essay by Charles Sheffield
• The Price of Civilization - (1992) - novelette by Charles Sheffield
• Democracy in America in the Year 2042 - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Higher Education - novella by Jerry Pournelle and Charles Sheffield

Hugo Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, March 1973. The story can also be found in the anthologies Black Holes and Other Marvels (1977), edited by Jerry Pournell and Warrior (There Will Be War 5, 1986), edited by John F. Carr and Jerry Pournelle.

The year is 3013. The Imperial Navy has invaded Prince Samual's world...

After years of civil war, the superior weaponry of the CoDominium Empire has brought peace and unity to the Samualans---at the cost of their liberty. Their last bid for freedom is to create a space program proving themselves worthy of statehood. But the knowledge to build a starship is extinct.

Colonel Nathan MacKinnie, soldier of fortune, leads a daring raid to steal these secrets from the primitive planet of Makassar, where the key to space technology is jealously guarded by Temple priests....

Monumental devastation will sweep across the globe if the newly-discovered Hamner-Brown comet collides with the one major obstacle in its path: Earth.

For millionaire Tim Hamner, the comet is a ticket to immortality. For filmmaker Harvey Randall, it's a shot to redeem a flagging career. And for astronauts John Baker and Rick Delanty, it's a second chance for glory in outer space.

But for a world gripped by comet fever, fascination quickly turns to fear. And only those who survive the impact will know the even greater terror, when rich and poor, politicians and killers, turn to each other or against each other--and the remnants of humanity grow savage to battle for what little remains...

In the near future, Los Angeles is an all but uninhabitable war zone, racked by crime, violence, pollution and poverty. But above the blighted city, a Utopia has arisen: Todos Santos, a thousand-foot high single-structured city, designed to use state-of-the-art technology to create a completely human-friendly environment, offering its dwellers everything they could want in exchange for their oath of allegiance and their constant surveillance.

But there are those who want to see the utopia destroyed, whose answer to tomorrow's best and brightest hope is mindless violence.

And they have just entered Todos Santos. . . .

The book that defines state-of-the-art science fiction.

Table of Contents:

• Preface - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• 1984, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and Other SF Novels, Signs, and Portents - essay by Algis Budrys
• New Rose Hotel - (1984) - shortstory by William Gibson
• Me and My Shadow - (1984) - shortstory by Mike Resnick
• Hard Science in the Real World - essay by Gregory Benford
• Me/Days - (1984) - shortstory by Gregory Benford
• Silicon Muse - (1984) - shortstory by Hilbert Schenck
• The Dominus Demonstration - (1984) - novelette by Charles Sheffield
• The Crystal Spheres - (1984) - shortstory by David Brin
• The Strange Journey: 1984 - essay by James E. Gunn
• A Day in the Life of a Classics Professor - (1984) - shortstory by Stan Dryer
• The Picture Man - (1984) - shortstory by John Dalmas
• The Weigher - (1984) - novella by Eric Vinicoff and Marcia Martin
• Demon Lover - (1984) - novelette by M. Sargent Mackay
• Tourist Trade - (1984) - novelette by Robert Silverberg
• 1984: The Fifty-Candle Blowout - essay by Michael Glyer

Hugo Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Galaxy, July 1975. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Best from Galaxy, Volume IV (1976), edited by James Baen, and Life Among the Asteroids (1992), edited by Jerry Pournelle and John F. Carr. It is included in the collections High Justice (1977) and Exile--and Glory (2008).

Garrett Pittston is a member of a Baltimore street gang when he is arrested and sentenced as an involuntary colonist. He must learn to live in the harsh conditions of Mars, and learn the customs of the Mars RimRat culture. He finds himself at the center of the Independence movement although he had never intended to join. Now he must prove himself to be a Marsman.

Contains:

• The Mercenary
• West of Honor

Hugo Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, July 1972. The story can also be found in the anthology War and Peace: Possible Futures from Analog (1983) edited by Stanley Schmidt. It was incorporated in the fixup novel The Mercenary (1977).

Military SF fans of the Falkenberg legion saga will need to be in fighting trim to lug home The Prince, by Jerry Pournelle and S.M. Sterling. This hefty compendium includes the four novels Falkenberg's Legion, Prince of Mercenaries, Go Tell the Spartans and Prince of Sparta.

The seeds of contradiction that lay at the heart of the Soviet-American alliance are bearing their final fruit. Soon they will rip the Codomminium apart - and Earth will die.

In the face of that inevitability the fate of humanity lies with the Colony Worlds - a few of which are equipped for more than barest survival. Thrown upon their own resources, their futures seem as limited as their pasts. They - and humanity - have one hope: that somehow, someone will have both the vision and the strength to grasp the tattered remnants of civilization and weld them into a single galaxy-spanning society.

John Christian Falkenberg, a young captain in the CoDominium marines, leads his troops to the planet Arrarat, where there's a violent rebellion.

A fixup of The Mercenary, Peace with Honor and Sword and Sceptre.

The oldest children of the settlers on Avalon are now in their late teens and want independence from their parents and guardians. They especially don't want parents around for an initiation ceremony, held on Black Ship Island, for the younger children just reaching their teens. But when previously unknown creatures make their deadly appearance, things go horribly wrong...

A novella set before the events that unfold in BEOWULF'S CHILDREN.

Bestselling science-fiction superstars Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle combine their talents with those of rising young author Steven Barnes in an extraordinary adventure of humankind's first outpost in the farthest reaches of space.

This powerhouse trio of science fiction greats united to further explore the island paradise of Camelot from their classic novel, Legacy of Herorot. A new generation is growing up on the island paradise of Camelot, ignorant of the Great Grendel Wars fought when their parents and grandparents first arrived on Earth. Setting out for the mainland, this group of young rebels feels ready to fight any grendels that get in their way. On Avalon, however, there are monsters which dwarf the ones their parents fought, and as the group will soon learn, monsters also dwell in the human heart.

Avalon was thriving. The cold sleep colonists from Earth had settled on a verdant, livable world. The fast and cunning predators humans named "grendels" were under control, and the mainland outposts well established. Avalon's new mainland hydroelectric power station was nearly complete, and when on-line would compensate for the nuclear power systems lost in the Grendel Wars. Humans would have power, and with power came the ability to make all the necessities for life. They would survive.

They would not survive as a spacefaring people.

What they were losing faster than they knew was the ability to get to space. But unbeknownst to the planet-bound humans, something was moving out there in the stars, decelerating at a rate impossible for a natural object. And its destination was Avalon. The most probable origin was Earth's Solar System.

Contained in this volume are stories about interstellar barbarians, spacefaring civilizations, and peacekeeping, accompanied by essays and poems about military policy, space warfare, and advancing empires.

Contents:

• Introduction: Empire - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• In Clouds of Glory - (1955) - novelette by Algis Budrys
• The Star Plunderer - [Technic History] - (1952) - novelette by Poul Anderson
• Tribesman, Barbarian and Citizen - [Editorial (Analog)] - (1961) - essay by John W. Campbell, Jr.
• The Barbarians Within - (1965) - essay by John W. Campbell, Jr.
• Hymn of Breaking Strain - (1935) - poem by Rudyard Kipling
• The Miracle of Government - (1957) - essay by James Burnham
• To a Different Drum - novelette by Reginald Bretnor
• The Whirligig of Time - (1974) - short story by Vernor Vinge
• Nightmare, with Angels - (1935) - poem by Stephen Vincent Bené
• The Aristocrat - (1949) - novelette by Chan Davis
• The Sons of Martha - (1907) - poem by Rudyard Kipling
• Mail Supremacy - [Chap Foey Rider - 1] - (1975) - short story by Hayford Peirce
• Herbig-Haro - [Roxalani - 2] - (1984) - novelette by Harry Turtledove
• Fighting Philosopher - [The Philosophical Corps] - (1954) - novelette by Everett B. Cole
• The Voodoo Sciences: Part One: The Gamblers - (1982) - essay by Jerry Pournelle (variant of The Gamblers)
• The Voodoo Sciences: Part Two: The Voodoo Sciences - (1982) - essay Jerry Pournelle (variant of The Voodoo Sciences)
• Pax Galactica - (1952) - novelette by Ralph Williams
• The Proper Study of Mankind - [New Beginnings] - (1980) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• An Afterword on the Future (The Proper Study of Mankind) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Finger Trouble - novelette by Edward P. Hughes
• Yellow Rain - (1983) - essay by Adrian Berry
• Space Wars - (1983) - essay by Adrian Berry
• That Share of Glory - (1952) - novelette by C. M. Kornbluth
• The Stars at War - essay by Jerry Pournelle

Contained in this volume are stories and articles with space colonies, dictators, ambassadors, utopias, colleges of the future, cults, alien invaders, and interstellar politics.

Contents:

• Republic and Empire - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Outward Bound - (1964) - novelette by Norman Spinrad
• In the Realm of the Heart, in the World of the Knife - (1985) - short story by Wayne Wightman
• Litany for Dictatorships - (1935) - poem by Stephen Vincent Benét^?
• Doing Well While Doing Good - [Chap Foey Rider - 2] - (1975) - short story by Hayford Peirce
• The Last Department - (1886) - poem by Rudyard Kipling
• Constitution - [Editorial (Analog)] - (1961) - essay by John W. Campbell, Jr. (variant of Constitution for Utopia)
• Minor Ingredient - (1956) - short story by Eric Frank Russell
• The Turning Wheel - (1954) - novelette by Philip K. Dick
• Reactionary Utopias - (1986) - essay by Gregory Benford
• These Shall Not Be Lost - [The Philosophical Corps] - (1953) - novelette by Everett B. Cole
• Data vs. Evidence in the Voodoo Sciences - [The Alternate View] - (1983) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Nicaragua: A Speech to My Former Comrades on the Left - (1986) - essay by David Horowitz
• The Gods of the Copybook Headings - (1911) - poem by Rudyard Kipling
• Custom Fitting - (1976) - novelette by James White
• Conquest by Default - (1968) - novelette by Vernor Vinge
• The Skills of Xanadu - (1956) - novelette by Theodore Sturgeon
• Into the Sunset - (1986) - short story by D. C. Poyer
• Shipwright - [Courtship Rite Universe] - (1978) - novelette by Donald Kingsbury
• Empire and Republic: Crisis and Future - essay by Jerry Pournelle

Empires do not grow old gracefully. As the edifice of ancient government succumbs to entropy, as civil war reigns, the result is indeed "interesting times," the times of interstellar Huns locked in mortal combat with Imperial storm troopers.

Contents:

• The Crash of Empires - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Pebble Among the Stars - (1976) - novelette by Gregory Benford (variant of Seascape)
• The Claw and the Clock - [Federation of Humanity] - (1971) - novelette by Christopher Anvil
• The Only Thing We Learn - (1949) - short story by C. M. Kornbluth
• Remembering Vietnam - (1987) - essay by H. J. Kaplan
• Blessed Are the Meek - (1955) - short story by G. C. Edmondson
• Limiting Factor - (1954) - short story by Theodore R. Cogswell
• Triage - (1976) - short story by William Walling
• Hyperdemocracy - [Editorial (Astounding)] - (1958) - essay by John W. Campbell, Jr.
• Chain Reaction - (1957) - novelette by Algis Budrys
• Earthman's Burden - (1954) - short story by Morton Klass
• Blood Bank - (1952) - novella by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
• Here, There Be Witches - [The Philosophical Corps] - (1970) - novelette by Everett B. Cole
• The Buzz of Joy - [Tower to the Sky] - (1989) - short story by Phillip C. Jennings
• Second Contact - (1988) - novella by W. R. Thompson
• The Quest - (1896) - poem by Rudyard Kipling

After being thrown out the window of his luxury apartment, science fiction writer Allen Carpentier wakes to find himself at the gates of hell. Feeling he's landed in a great opportunity for a book, he attempts to follow Dante's road map. Determined to meet Satan himself, Carpentier treks through the Nine Layers of Hell led by Benito Mussolini, and encounters countless mental and physical tortures. As he struggles to escape, he's taken through new, puzzling, and outlandish versions of sin--recast for the present day.

Allan Carpenter escaped from hell once but remained haunted by what he saw and endured.

He has now returned, on a mission to liberate those souls unfairly tortured and confined.

Partnering with the legendary poet and suicide, Sylvia Plath, Carpenter is a modern-day Christ who intends to harrow hell and free the damned.

But now that he's returned to this Dantesque Inferno, can he ever again leave?

In Janissaries, the leader is a United States Army officer from the Cold War period, Captain Rick Galloway, who along with his platoon-sized unit of soldiers primarily from the U.S. are abducted from a CIA-run operation against Cubans in the fictional tropical African country of Sainte-Marie by a flying saucer. The beings abducting them present themselves as rescuers from a hopeless situation where Galloway's unit is about to be overrun by Cubans in a night assault, the aftermath of which is expected to be the deaths of all. Afterwards, the human soldiers have the option of serving the aliens in a special situation involving a more primitive planet on which there are humans living in medieval conditions. The soldiers are expected to be able to use their superior weapons and tactics to conquer part of the planet.

The adventure begun in Janissaries continues in Clan and Crown.

For the first few years, Rick Galloway and his band of mercenaries were doing well just to survive. They'd been swept off a hilltop in Africa by a flying saucer and deposited on an alien world where the other inhabitants were human -- but from various and unfriendly periods of history, all collected by flying saucer raids. Rick has faced facts: this place is going to be home, permanently. To create a safe society for themselves and the families they are gradually building, they need to do more than just survive; they must convince the others that a unified, peaceful society is better than a collection of warring tribes. Force would not be Rick's chosen method of persuasion, but on a planet where the other dominant culture is one brought straight from ancient Rome, force may be the only way.

The adventure begun in "Janissaries" continues.

Kidnapped from Earth as they were about to die in battle, Rick Galloway and his band of mercenaries, like the other human slaves on the planet Tran, will not be missed. Subjects of the Shalnuksi slave masters, they are forced to harvest the priceless drug surinomaz. Now, even as slaves, Earth's transplanted warriors are locked in battle against each other. But an epoch is ending. As the Demon Star sweeps toward its devastating apex, the slave masters flee the planet to await its annihilation in safety. Soon all life on the planet will cease, leaving it ripe for repopulation.

When Rick Luban's high school prank to impress his buddies gets him thrown out of school, a long-suffering teacher recommends he apply for a job with a mining company in space. So begins an exciting adventure, the kind that one day will be open to many young men and women.

Living with his Uncle Mike at Starswarm Station on a planet called Paradise, Kip's best friend is Gwen who answers questions and seems to know everything. But Gwen is an implant in Kip's head, connected to an Artificial Intelligence at the planet's central computer, and Kip learns some secrets that put not only his and his Uncle Mike's lives in danger, but also threaten the existence of the aliens called centaurs and the starswarms, mysterious but highly intelligent organisms living in lakes and streams.

Contains:

• A Matter of Sovereignty
• Power to the People
• Enforcer
• High Justice
• Extreme Prejudice
• Consort
• Tinker

The fastest way to get ahead in Kzin society is to cut through the endless challenges and duels to the death--and take on your father. But Chuut-Riit, Planetary Governor of occupied planet Wunderland, is teaching his kits a new way--the way of the humans. And the humans don't like it, at all. Expanded from parts of Man-Kzin Wars II and Man-Kzin Wars III.

Two complete novels of the top-selling Man-Kzin Wars in one hugh volume: The Children's Hour by Jerry Pournelle and S.M. Stirling: As the war rages on between the mighty felinoid warriors from the planet Kzin and the wimpy leaf-eating monkey-boys from Earth, one Kzin commander has decided to learn from the monkeys and cooperate to conquer. But the humans know how to get the rivals of an enemy to cooperate, too. Cathouse by Dean Ing: In another corner of the galaxy, Carroll Locklear is stranded on a planet with a group of prehistoric Kzinti. To survive, he must find common cause, if not with the males, then with the females of that antiques species...

Table of Contents:

• Cathouse - (1988) - novella by Dean Ing
• Briar Patch - (1989) - novella by Dean Ing
• The Children's Hour - (1991) - novel by Jerry Pournelle and S. M. Stirling

Born and bred to hunting, they had never encountered a species they couldn't treat as prey - until they met the canny pseudo-pacifists from Planet Earth. They nearly overwhelmed humanity on first contact, but fast as you can say "Ghengis Khan" or "Alexander the Great" the seemingly harmless monkey boys were all over the pussycats like ugly on an ape, with space fleets and strategic thinking that left the Warrior Race quite dazzled.

But that was then and this is now.

The pain of lost battles has faded and the Kzinti are back, spoiling for a fight, Larry Niven's Known Space is again aflame with war.

Contents:

• vii - Introduction (The Man-Kzin Wars II) - essay by Larry Niven
• 3 - Briar Patch - [Man-Kzin Wars] - novella by Dean Ing
• 136 - The Children's Hour - [Man-Kzin Wars] - novella by Jerry Pournelle and S. M. Stirling

After losing three significant battles to the humans, the Kzin begin to wonder if their combative diplomatic style is working and decide to reevaluate their strategy.

Contents:

• 7 - In the Hall of the Mountain King - [Man-Kzin Wars] - novel by Jerry Pournelle and S. M. Stirling
• 205 - Hey Diddle Diddle - [Man-Kzin Wars] - novella by Thomas T. Thomas

Table of Contents:

• Introduction (Nebula Award Stories 16) - (1982) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Grotto of the Dancing Deer - (1980) - shortstory by Clifford D. Simak
• Why Is There So Little Science in Literature? - (1982) - essay by Gregory Benford
• Ginungagap - (1980) - novelette by Michael Swanwick
• Unicorn Tapestry - (1980) - novella by Suzy McKee Charnas
• 1980: Whatever Weirdness Lingers - (1982) - essay by Michael Glyer
• Rautavaara's Case - (1980) - shortstory by Philip K. Dick
• 1980: The Year in Fantastic Films - (1982) - essay by Bill Warren
• The Ugly Chickens - (1980) - novelette by Howard Waldrop
• What Did 1980 Mean? - (1982) - essay by Algis Budrys
• Secrets of the Heart - (1980) - shortstory by Charles L. Grant
• Appendixes - (1982) - essay by uncredited

Three of the apes escaped the destruction of the world by using a time travel device. They go back to before the world exploded, back to the human controled world. They land in the Pacific Ocean and are taken to the nearest Zoo, in Los Angeles, where they immediately become the centre of a violent controversy which results in their deaths. This happens after they inadvertently let their keepers know they can talk, but not before the female has given birth to a baby ape -- in hiding, since the American government wants to abort the ape child.

Table of Contents:

• Preface - (1979) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• The Endless Frontier - (1979) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Editor's Introduction to: Spirals - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Spirals - (1979) - novella by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
• Editor's Afterword to: Spirals - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Editor's Introduction to: Coming of Age in Henson's Tube - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Coming of Age in Henson's Tube - (1977) - shortstory by William John Watkins
• Editor's Introduction to: Tricentennial - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Tricentennial - (1976) - shortstory by Joe Haldeman
• Editor's Introduction to: No Home-Like Place - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• No Home-Like Place - shortstory by Dian Girard
• Editor's Introduction to: Bind Your Sons to Exile - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Bind Your Sons to Exile - (1976) - novelette by Jerry Pournelle
• Editor's Introduction to: To Catch a Falling Star - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• To Catch a Falling Star - (1979) - essay by Brian O'Leary
• Editor's Introduction to: To Bring in the Steel - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• To Bring in the Steel - (1978) - novelette by Donald Kingsbury
• Editor's Introduction to: The L-5 Society - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• The L-5 Society - (1979) - essay by Robert A. Heinlein
• Editor's Introduction to: House - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• House - (1979) - poem by Peter Dillingham
• Editor's Introduction to: Home on Lagrange - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Home on Lagrange - (1978) - poem by Bill Higgins (I) and Barry Gehm
• Editor's Introduction to: The Gambling Hell and the Sinful Girl - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• The Gambling Hell and the Sinful Girl - (1975) - shortstory by Katherine MacLean
• Editor's Introduction to: Dark Sanctuary - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Dark Sanctuary - (1979) - shortstory by Gregory Benford
• Editor's Introduction to: Cable Cars in the Sky - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Cable Cars in the Sky - (1978) - essay by Hans Moravec
• Editor's Afterword to: Cable Cars in the Sky - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Editor's Introduction to: Transition Team - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Transition Team - (1978) - novelette by Charles Sheffield
• Editor's Introduction to: Bigger Than Worlds - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Bigger Than Worlds - (1974) - essay by Larry Niven

Table of Contents:

• The Insurmountable Opportunity - (1980) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Author's Note - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Editor's Introduction to: The Moon Goddess and the Son by Donald Kingsbury - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• The Moon Goddess and the Son - (1979) - novella by Donald Kingsbury
• Editor's Introduction to: Space and the Longevity of Man by Stefan T. Possony and Jerry Pournelle - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Space and the Longevity of Man - (1981) - essay by Stefan T. Possony and Jerry Pournelle
• Editor's Introduction to: Down & Out on Ellfive Prime by Dean Ing - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Down & Out on Ellfive Prime - (1979) - novelette by Dean Ing
• Editor's Introduction to: The Study Syndrome by Jerry Pournelle - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• The Study Syndrome - (1980) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Editor's Introduction to: Three Poems by Helene Knox - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Inner Space - (1979) - poem by Helene Knox
• Elegy - (1979) - poem by Helene Knox
• NASA - (1979) - poem by Helene Knox
• Editor's Introduction to: Our Lady of the Sauropods by Robert Silverberg - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Our Lady of the Sauropods - (1980) - shortstory by Robert Silverberg
• Editor's Introduction to: Two Poems by Steven Rasnic Tem - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Lighting the Colony - (1980) - poem by Steve Rasnic Tem
• Seeding the Last Freedom - (1980) - poem by Steve Rasnic Tem
• Editor's Introduction to: How to Build a Beanstalk by Charles Sheffield - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• How to Build a Beanstalk - (1979) - essay by Charles Sheffield
• Editor's Introduction to: Sky Stalk by Charles Sheffield - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Sky Stalk - novelette by Charles Sheffield (variant of Skystalk 1979)
• Editor's Introduction to: Invisible Encounter by Dian Girard - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Invisible Encounter - shortstory by Dian Girard
• How to Become a Space Colonist - (1979) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Editor's Introduction to: Bellerophon by Kevin Christensen - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Bellerophon - (1980) - novella by Kevin Christensen
• Editor's Introduction to: The High-Lifter Trilogy by Robert Frazier - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• The High-Lifter Trilogy - poem by Robert Frazier
• Editor's Introduction to: Designing a Dyson Sphere by Jack Williamson - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Designing a Dyson Sphere - (1976) - essay by Jack Williamson
• Editor's Introduction to: Conservation of Mass by Karl T. Pflock - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Conservation of Mass - (1981) - shortstory by Karl T. Pflock
• Editor's Introduction to: The Quiet by George Florance-Guthridge - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• The Quiet - (1981) - shortstory by George Guthridge
• Editor's Introduction to: Psi-Rec: Of Anabasis and Bivouac, the Swarmcantor by Peter Dillingham - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Psi-Rec: Of Anabasis and Bivouac, the Swarmcantor - poem by Peter Dillingham
• Editor's Introduction to: Our Many Roads to the Stars by Poul Anderson - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Our Many Roads to the Stars - (1975) - essay by Poul Anderson
• Editor's Introduction to: Exploring Infrastellar Space by Dr. Robert L. Forward - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Exploring Infrastellar Space - (1977) - essay by Robert L. Forward
• Editor's Introduction to: Shapes of Things to Come by John F. Carr - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Shapes of Things to Come - shortstory by John F. Carr
• Editor's Introduction to: The Endless Frontier and the Thinking Machine by Hans P. Moravec - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• The Endless Frontier and the Thinking Machine - (1978) - essay by Hans Moravec
• Editor's Introduction to: Songs of a Spacefarer by Judith R. Conly - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Songs of a Spacefarer - poem by Judith R. Conly
• Editor's Introduction to: Redeemer by Gregory Benford - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Redeemer - (1979) - shortstory by Gregory Benford
• Dear Mr. President - (1980) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Afterword - essay by Jerry Pournelle

Someday in the near future, our pioneer spirit will take us to the stars. But how will be organize our colonies? What unforeseen dangers will we face? And who will be chosen to go? Now today's masters of science fiction offer some startling possibilities...

ROBERT A. HEINLEIN investigates the mystery of a lead coffin, launched from a radioactive moon base.
ROBERT SILVERBERG welcomes a newcomer without eyes to a new world where the blind lead the blind.
JERRY POURNELLE launches Earth politics into space... along with Earth greed and corruption.
NORMAN SPINRAD explores science-fact-and-fiction, from classis Robert A. Heinlein to cyberpunk William Gibson.

Table of Contents:

• The Endless Frontier - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Consort - (1975) - shortstory by Jerry Pournelle
• The Free Agent - (1981) - novelette by Michael Cassutt
• What Are These Lagrange Points, Anyway? - essay by Doug Beason
• The Christmas Count - (1991) - shortstory by Henry Melton
• The Lagrange League Stationary Habitats - poem by William John Watkins
• When Silver Plums Fall - (1989) - poem by Bruce Boston
• High Flight - (1955) - poem by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
• Lifeguard - (1987) - novelette by Doug Beason
• New Worlds in Space - essay by Norman Spinrad
• The Software Plague - (1985) - novelette by John Park
• Blindsight - (1986) - novelette by Robert Silverberg
• Access to Space: SSX - essay by Jim Ransom
• Ghost Town - (1983) - novelette by Chad Oliver
• Poppa Was a Catcher - (1987) - novella by Steven Gould
• In Appreciation: Robert A. Heinlein - (1988) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• The Long Watch - (1949) - shortstory by Robert A. Heinlein

A collection of fact and fiction surrounding space exploration features a work by Poul Anderson, Jerry Pournelle's look at pioneer know-how in space, Charles Sheffield's tale of a space battle between the young and old, and more.

Table of Contents:

• Foreword: The Endless Frontier - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Life Among the Asteroids - (1975) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Tinker - (1975) - novelette by Jerry Pournelle
• Tool Dresser's Law - (1989) - novelette by Jack Clemons
• The Grand Tour - (1987) - shortstory by Charles Sheffield
• Industrial Revolution - (1963) - novella by Poul Anderson
• Those Pesky Belters and Their Torchships - (1974) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Traveling Salesman - shortstory by Peter L. Manly
• Teddy Bug and the Hot Purple Snowball - (1986) - novelette by Phillip C. Jennings
• Stealing a Zero-G Cow - novelette by Brooks Peck
• Asteroids: The Better Resource - essay by Eric Drexler
• Iceslinger - novelette by John Hegenberger
• Ginungagap - (1980) - novelette by Michael Swanwick
• Afterword: Nunc Dimittis - essay by Jerry Pournelle

In the year 3016, the Second Empire of Man spans hundreds of star systems, thanks to the faster-than-light Alderson Drive. No other intelligent beings have ever been encountered, not until a light sail probe enters a human system carrying a dead alien. The probe is traced to the Mote, an isolated star in a thick dust cloud, and an expedition is dispatched.

In the Mote the humans find an ancient civilization--at least one million years old--that has always been bottled up in their cloistered solar system for lack of a star drive. The Moties are welcoming and kind, yet rather evasive about certain aspects of their society. It seems the Moties have a dark problem, one they've been unable to solve in over a million years.

Robert Heinlein called it "possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read." The San Francisco Chronicle declared that "as science fiction, The Mote in God's Eye is one of the most important novels ever published." Now Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, award winning authors of such bestsellers as Footfall and The Legacy of Heorot, return us to the Mote, and to the universe of Kevin Renner and Horace Bury, of Rod Blaine and Sally Fowler.

There, 25 years have passed since humanity quarantined the mysterious aliens known as Moties within the confines of their own solar system. They have spent a quarter century analyzing and agonizing over the deadly threat posed by the only aliens mankind has ever encountered-- a race divided into distinct biological forms, each serving a different function. Master, Mediator, Engineer. Warrior. Each supremely adapted to its task, yet doomed by millions of years of evolution to an inescapable fate. For the Moties must breed-- or die. And now the fragile wall separating them and the galaxy beyond is beginning to crumble.

In the beginning spears were "high-tech", and the most that one weapon could accomplish at one time was one death. But millennia passed and techniques improved. By the time of the Romans a lucky bolt might impale a file of infantry. By the dreadful 20th century the very existence of the race - we still were earth-bound, then - was at risk. But somehow, even though the weapons grew ever more terrible, that risk was averted and humanity gained first the planets and then the stars. And still the weapons grew, until the very universe has cause to fear the wrath of Man...

Table of Contents:

• Preface - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Reflex - (1982) - shortstory by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
• Spanish Man's Grave - (1947) - shortstory by James Warner Bellah
• Marius - (1957) - shortstory by Poul Anderson
• The Soviet Strategic Threat From Space - (1981) - essay by The Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy
• Ender's Game - (1977) - novelette by Orson Scott Card
• A Death in Realtime - (1981) - shortstory by Richard S. McEnroe
• Overdose - (1975) - shortstory by Spider Robinson
• Saul's Death - poem by Joe Haldeman
• The Good News of High Frontier - (1982) - essay by Robert A. Heinlein
• Project High Frontier - (1982) - essay by Daniel O. Graham
• City-Killer - poem by Jonathan V. Post
• Ground Zero - poem by Jonathan V. Post
• Diasporah - shortstory by W. R. Yates
• His Truth Goes Marching On - (1975) - novelette by Jerry Pournelle
• THOR: Orbital Weapon System - (1981) - essay by The Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy
• The Defenders - (1953) - novelette by Philip K. Dick
• Unlimited Warfare - (1974) - shortstory by Hayford Peirce
• The Battle - (1954) - shortstory by Robert Sheckley
• Mercenaries and Military Virtue - (1979) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• Ranks of Bronze - (1975) - shortstory by David Drake
• I Am Nothing - (1952) - shortstory by Eric Frank Russell
• Call Him Lord - (1966) - novelette by Gordon R. Dickson
• Quiet Village - (1970) - novelette by David McDaniel
• The Strategy of Technology - (1982) - essay by Jerry Pournelle
• The Widow's Party - (1892) - poem by Rudyard Kipling