'To that flash of semi-vision can be traced a full half of the horror which has ever since haunted us'An expedition to Antarctica goes horribly wrong as a group of explorers stumbles upon some mysterious ancient ruins, with devastating consequences.
Stanislaw Lem's set of short stories, written over a period of twenty years, all feature the adventures of space traveller Ijon Tichy and recount him spinning in time-warps, spying on robots, encountering bizarre civilizations and creatures in space and being hopelessly lost in a forest of supernovae.
'Tiptree's narratives of alien worlds and alienation make up one of science fiction's most vivid and influential bodies of work' The New York TimesThis landmark collection of short stories shows the feminist pioneer James Tiptree Jr.
'Unquestionably one of the brightest-burning talents in the constellation of science fiction' The New York TimesWritten under the pseudonym James Tiptree Jr.
'One of Japan's most venerated writers' David MitchellIn this unnerving fable from one of Japan's greatest novelists, a recluse known as 'Mole' retreats to a vast underground bunker, only to find that strange guests, booby traps and a giant toilet may prove even greater obstacles than nuclear disaster.
The book that influenced writers from Carl Sagan to Stephen Hawking, Flatland is set in a two-dimensional world where life exists only in lines and shapes - until one of its inhabitants, 'A.
'That black figure, with its eyes of fire, struck down through all my adult thoughts and feelings, and for a moment the forgotten horrors of childhood came back to my mind'Adrift in a dinghy, Edward Prendick, the single survivor from the good ship Lady Vain, is rescued by a vessel carrying a profoundly unusual cargo - a menagerie of savage animals.
One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World'The Penguin English Library Edition of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley'Never did I behold a vision so horrible as his face, of such loathsome, yet appalling hideousness'A twisted, upside-down creation myth, Mary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale lays bare the dark side of science, and the horror within us all.
Dark, desolate and fantastical, The Purple Cloud was a pioneer in the genre of apocalyptic novels, and the first great science fiction work of the twentieth century.
Edward Venn-Thomas lives in the twentieth century but has been mysteriously transported to the future, and the apparently idyllic society of New Create, where there is no hunger, no war and no dissatisfaction.
Following the development of massive airships, na ve Londoner Bert Smallways becomes accidentally involved in a German plot to invade America by air and reduce New York to rubble.
One of the greatest of all horror writers, Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) also composed pioneering tales that seized upon the scientific developments of an era marked by staggering change.
When Dr Philip Raven, an intellectual working for the League of Nations, dies in 1930 he leaves behind a powerful legacy - an unpublished 'dream book'.
Adrift in a dinghy, Edward Prendick, the single survivor from the good ship Lady Vain, is rescued by a vessel carrying a profoundly unusual cargo - a menagerie of savage animals.
When penniless businessman Mr Bedford retreats to the Kent coast to write a play, he meets by chance the brilliant Dr Cavor, an absent-minded scientist on the brink of developing a material that blocks gravity.
FROM THE CLASSIC SCI-FI WRITER AND AUTHOR OF THE CHRYSTALIDS AND THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDSNow a modern reimagining starring Keeley Hawes and Max Beesley available to watch on Sky.
FROM THE RENOWNED CLASSIC SCI-FI WRITER AND AUTHOR OF THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS AND THE CHRYSTALIDS'Ingenious' Evening StandardFrancis Saxover and Diana Brackley, two scientists investigating a rare lichen, discover it has a remarkable property: it retards the aging process.
THE MOST FAMOUS CATASTROPHE NOVEL OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 'When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.
Flamboyant, theatrical and ambitious, Margaret Cavendish was one of the seventeenth century's most striking figures: a woman who ventured into the male spheres of politics, science, philosophy and literature.
A charming, mind-bending and anarchic book of imagined civilizations'Most cosmic civilizations long for things, in the depths of their souls, they would never openly admit to.
La inmensa fortuna de una princesa india fallecida (la Begun) acaba repartida entre dos parientes lejanos cuyos respectivos caracteres y aspiraciones no podrian ser mas dispares.
