Speculative fiction

Barnstaple, a burnt out journalist, decides to go on holiday and leave the rat race behind.

In Paradise Lost Milton tells the story of the fall of man, which encompasses a battle that rages across Heaven between God and Satan.

There wasn't a woman left on earth.

It was, Kirk thought, like standing in a gully, watching a boulder teeter precariously above you.

Old Thaddeus McIlvaine discovered a dark star and took it for his own.

The world of the new race was peaceful, comfortable, lovely-and completely static.

It was getting so a person couldn't sleep nights anymore.

Sextus Rollo Forsyte had his trouble with the bottle, but nothing out of a bottle ever produced such a hotel as the Mahoney-Plaza: only 260 rooms .

A young man and a young woman alone on the first over-the-moon ship.

Once upon a time life was perfection.

Strumming a harp while floating on a white cloud might be Paradise for some people, but it would bore others stiff.

Benson did his best to keep his colony from going native, but what can you do when the Natives have a rare human intelligence and know all about the facts of life?

For all his perfection and magnificence he was but a baby with a new found freedom in a strange and baffling world .

This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job-it was murder!

The creatures on the little planet were real bafflers.

"e;It is rather unusual,"e; Magnan said, "e;to assign an officer of your rank to courier duty, but this is an unusual mission.

History was repeating itself; there were moats and nobles in Pennsylvania and vassals in Manhattan and the barbarian hordes were overrunning the land.

All Earth needed was a good stiff dose of common sense, but its rulers preferred to depend on the highly fallible computers instead.

Blue Boy's rating was high and his fans were loyal to the death-anyone's death!

Mary might have learned a more ladylike trade, but one thing is certain: she had a shining faith in that space guy from Earth.

What would you do if your best robots-children of your own brain-walked up and said "e;We want union scale"e;?

Poor Henry was an unhappy husband whose wife had a habit of using bad cliches.

The fleet came in at four o'clock.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you .

For the most part, Godwin's stories-however grim the situation-are really about triumph in the face of adversity.

The little house pet from Venus didn't like New York, so New York had to change.

Who, but the imaginative young, shall inherit the stars?

Worlds of If' was a three-time winner of the Hugo Award for best science fiction magazine.

The man is rare who will give his life for what is merely the lesser of two evils.

The weird, invisible insect depopulated an entire planet.

Poor Riuku!

"e;Rig ship for the snowbank orbit!

Naturally human work was more creative, more inspiring, more important than robot drudgery.

Bryce Carter could afford a smug smile.

The line between noble dreams and madness is thin, and loneliness can push men past it .

Julith clasped the star-man's arm with one hand, while her other arm gripped his waist.

Naturally an undertaker will get the last word.

If this story has a moral, it is: "e;Leave well enough alone.

The Emperor must be getting old, they thought, to deal so mercifully with the upstart Jursan Rebels-which was quite true.

In order to make Izaak Walton's sport complete, there must be an angler, a fish, and some bait.

Wilbur Murphy sought romance, excitement, and an impossible Horseman of Space.

"e;You wanted out?

The starways' Lone Watcher had expected some odd developments in his singular, nerve-fraught job on the asteroid.

If you ever get to drinking beer in your favorite saloon and meet a scared little guy who wants to buy you the joint, supply you with fur coats and dolls and run you for Congress-listen well!

No conceivable force could penetrate Terri's shield.

For every weapon there was a defense, but not against the deadliest weapon-man himself!

The Masters had ruled all space with an unconquerable iron fist.

Everything was aimed at satisfying the whims of women.

"e;What kind of university do they have on D'Land?

You're all alone in a deserted city.