New Releases by John Brunner

A thought-provoking novel of a sentient spaceship’s voyages, from the Hugo Award–winning author of Stand on Zanzibar. "One of the most important science fiction authors. Brunner held a mirror up to reflect our foibles because he wanted to save us from ourselves." —SF Site Among six hundred thousand stars visited by man, sixty thousand have planets hospitable to life, six thousand have developed life and six hundred have been settled, or seeded, with humanity. A vast vessel, known simply as Ship, travels an endless route, checking in with all the settled planets, observing, offering help where it can as some flourish, some falter but all change and evolve. Unexpectedly, Ship has developed feelings and intelligence and it struggles with human-like emotions as it sees the many ways that man can evolve or devolve when left to his own devices with the one eternal constant--change.

A down-on-his-luck actor finds himself directed toward self-sabotage in this science fiction thriller from the award-winning author of Stand on Zanzibar. In The Productions of Time, Murray Douglas has beaten his alcohol addiction, needs a new acting job and can''t be choosy. Then he ends up in an isolated country estate with every move being recorded by what appear to be alien instruments, every deviant desire and weakness constantly prodded and encouraged and self-destruction the order of the day, every day. What is the goal of the production? Who (or what) will ever see the show? Will he (or anyone) survive the ordeal? The show must go on . . . “One of the most important science fiction authors. Brunner held a mirror up to reflect our foibles because he wanted to save us from ourselves.” —SF Site

One journey. Six stories. Mind-blowing fantasy from the Hugo Award winner, “one of the most important science fiction authors” (SF Site). In The Compleat Traveller in Black, six linked tales, comprising one of Brunner’s rare ventures into fantasy, relate the legend of a man with many names, who travels the world with a staff made of light and performs his eternal duty by bringing order to a world filled with chaos. What he dispenses is always asked for but not always welcomed by the recipients. And the world becomes, step by slow step, a better place for those who remain. For each generation, there is a writer meant to bend the rules of what we know. Hugo Award winner (Best Novel, Stand on Zanzibar) and British science fiction master John Brunner remains one of the most influential and respected authors of all time, and now many of his classic works are being reintroduced. For readers familiar with his vision, this is a chance to reexamine his thoughtful worlds and words, while for new readers, Brunner’s work proves itself the very definition of timeless.

Telepathic children hold the fate of humanity in their hands in this “compulsively readable novel” from the Hugo Award–winning author of Stand on Zanzibar (The Washington Post). In Children of the Thunder, Brunner creates another near-contemporary vision of a world gone awry and proposes a peculiarly disturbing and frightening solution. Starting separately, a small number of very smart and uniquely talented children, none more than fourteen years old, create lucrative designer drugs, kill a Marine commando in unarmed combat, run a sex-ring of chilling depravity. None of them are even punished for their crimes. Combine powers of mental control and irresistible suggestion with creative and completely amoral intelligence and you have the recipe for a super-race of world-savers—or for the subjugation of all humanity to a new form of collective evil. “One of the most important science fiction authors. Brunner held a mirror up to reflect our foibles because he wanted to save us from ourselves.” —SF Site

A mutant species from the sea unleashes a tide of terror in this horror thriller from “one of the most important science fiction authors” (SF Site). In Double, Double, a random collection of strangers converges on a seaside town, not knowing one another and having nothing in common. A mystery from the sea, a shape-shifter, begins to take over the people and produce oddly behaving duplicates of them. A combination of scientific knowledge and a little luck may be all that stands between mankind and an alien invasion. For each generation, there is a writer meant to bend the rules of what we know. Hugo Award winner (Best Novel, Stand on Zanzibar) and British science fiction master John Brunner remains one of the most influential and respected authors of all time, and now many of his classic works are being reintroduced. For readers familiar with his vision, this is a chance to reexamine his thoughtful worlds and words, while for new readers, Brunner’s work proves itself the very definition of timeless.

A cold war among the stars was growing hotter by the minute. As Pag and Cathrodyne struggled for domination, a hot war threatened which would rend and annihilate whole planetary systems. The two master races would have consumed one another long ago, but for one single factor: Waystation. It was a stupendous synthetic world, famed throughout this galaxy. For Waystation was controlled by a neutral people, and until the greater powers could seize this strategic wonder planet and ferret out its secrets, they were doomed to fretful inactivity. But as a Cathrodyne vessel drew near to Waystation, the all-important balance of power stood in sudden peril. The ship in itself was routine. But on board was a stranger, a man of undiscovered race, who spoke too little, and, it appeared, knew too much...

MUST THE UNIVERSE DIE WITH THEM? The Starfolk, arrogant masters of vast stretches of the cosmos beyond the Earth''s sphere of influence, were determined to complete the extermination of the mind-reading mutants of Regnier''s planet. But to the mutants themselves, the terror of the Starfolk was nothing compared to the greater dread that gripped their spirits - the obsession that the universe itself was doomed. This obsession ripped into their minds, overwhelmed them, and plunged them into horrifying hysteria. The message of room reached the ears of the Starfolk themselves, forcing the to a fateful decision. They would allow an Earthman, archeologist Philip Gascon, to visit Regnier in an attempt to unravel its secrets. What he found would either contain the key to the ultimate destiny of the universe - or the date of the doomsday.

When Ivan Wright stepped out of his mountain cabin, rifle in hand, to investigate the sound of a strange helicopter, he stepped right into the middle of a galactic crisis. For the crew of that odd aircraft were not men such as he''d ever seen before - and when he tried to oppose them, he found himself hurled uncontrollably into oblivion. He awoke to find himself considered as a kidnapped barbarian from a backward planet in a galaxy of advanced civilizations - yet one who somehow held in his own hands the key to all their futures!

Tileman could make our fantasies come true - create reality from your dreams - for a very high fee. Catering to the desires of London''s most powerful - and decadent - figures, Tileman had top-level connections to guarantee him protection and influence. But he had killed Laird Walker''s best friend - and Walker, the dead man''s sister, and a bizarre nightclub entertainer began a private war on Tileman...a war whose final battle was unimaginable horror.

Are there aliens among us? Are the chariots of the gods returning? If so - are they for us or against us? John Brunner, award-winning author and science fiction writer extraordinary, takes the questions now on everyone''s mind, and gives one possible answer in this startling novel. Here is an edge-of-the-seat story of the man who discovers that the vanguard of the aliens are indeed amongst us - and that the human species has but a few hours left before our time runs out. It''s a science fiction thriller you won''t be able to put down.

When suddenly all the fissionable material on Earth was exploded, Earthmen had their first notice of the aliens'' arrival. And by the time the panic, death and chaos had been sorted out, reports were coming in about mysterious cities scattered across the face of the planet - huge areas of flickering light and awesome free energy, disorienting to human senses and impregnable to attack. The question was: were they alien bases . . . or something else?

War hero, jet-setter, gourmet - Godwin Harpinshield was all of those and more; his life was a game played among the Beautiful People whose fame, wealth and power set them above the law, and beyond the laws of nature. Because of a simple bargain that all the Beautiful People made, Godwin''s every desire was his for the asking. Seduced by luxury, Godwin never doubted his fortune, never wondered about his mysterious patrons. Then the game turned ugly. Suddenly, the ante was raised and the game was real. The stakes were his future, his sanity and, possibly, his very soul. All Godwin Harpinshield had to discover was: What were the rules of the game? And who - or what - were the other players?

First there was the end. After weeks of running from pursuers, Gene and Stacy finally found refuge on an isolated island. But around them the island changed - and so did they. Each time they awoke from sleep, they lived a different life in a different time. And the farther back they went, the more they lost their anchor to their own world. When at last they were found, the people they had become no longer recognised their pursuers. And that was the beginning.

ANNOUNCING THE TOURIST EXPERIENCE THAT IS THE TALK OF THE GALAXY! MEET: The Cryogenic resurrectee Rinpoche Gibbs. He''s not surprised to awaken in the twenty-fourth century, cured of cancer. He is, however, very surprised by everything else... The incredibly beautiful Nixy Anangaranga-Jones, who may or may not be haunted by ghosts, but to whom the unexpected always happens... The Yelignese Chief Bureaucrat - the Esteemed Thingitude in charge of restoring Earth who can''t quite grasp what human history is all about... Spotch from the planet Trigon, whose trip to Earth really did cost an arm and a leg... The amazing Cardinal Numbernine and Her Wiliness Pope Joan II - religion may be gone, but the church will endure forever... The adolescent Sherlock Holmes and his Biker Street Irregulars...

CODE NAME POSTER The first practical matter transmitter was a success, or so everyone thought. In spite of paranoid security restrictions, Justin Williams and Cinnamon Wright, co-inventors of the device, counted on it to revolutionise civilisation and gain them an honoured place in history. But the first long-distance field test with a human being - a diplomatic courier carrying a vital message - somehow misfired when the courier killed himself on arrival at his destination. To prove his faith in his invention - and to escape charges of sabotage - Justin had himself "posted" thousands of miles. He came through unchanged. It was the world that was somehow different...

Te dirán que la totalidad de la raza humana cabría en la isla de Wight, que tiene 381 kilómetros cuadrados de superficie. Naturalmente, no se podrían mover, sólo estar firmes. ¿Cierto? Quizá en 1918. Ahora necesitaríamos la isla de Man, de 572 km2. Para 2010 algo más grande, algo como Zanzíbar, de 1658 km2. En 2010 hay más de 7 mil millones de personas atestando el mundo. Un mundo de la Base Lunar Cero, de ordenadores inteligentes y de alucinógenos comercializados en masa. Un mundo en el que un hombre tranquilo puede ser convertido en una máquina humana programada para matar.

He was the most dangerous fugitive alive, but he didn''t exist! Nickie Haflinger had lived a score of lifetimes . . . but technically he didn''t exist. He was a fugitive from Tarnover, the high-powered government think tank that had educated him. First he had broken his identity code - then he escaped. Now he had to find a way to restore sanity and personal freedom to the computerised masses and to save a world tottering on the brink of disaster. He didn''t care how he did it . . . but the government did. That''s when his Tarnover teachers got him back in their labs . . . and Nickie Haflinger was set up for a whole new education! First published in 1975.

If the past is tampered with, the present might be totally transformed. So the whole fabric of reality depends on the watchful efforts of the Society of Time. Don Miguel Navarro is a junior officer in this force dedicated to defending the Spanish Empire and the mother church from the results of meddling in history by time-travellers. But he begins to wonder just how dedicated the Society really is when he has to deal with a case of corruption involving fellow officers . . . After he has to rescue the entire court from death at the hands of Amazon warriors brought through time, his greatest trial becomes unavoidable. Facing a threat to the most vulnerable event in his world''s history, can the young Don prevent catastrophe? Or will the glorious triumph of the Spanish Armada never have occurred? (First published 1969)

He was ''The Visitor'' . . . in a society revolutionised and troubled by a transportation device that let you walk through a door and be anywhere in the world - instantly. He was ''The Visitor'' . . . at a time when unauthorised travel had caused the violent deaths of countless millions and the survivors were quaking in fear. He was ''The Visitor'' . . . in a world where the invasion of privacy was the ultimate crime and where his obsession with visiting places where he had no right to be led him on a perilous adventure towards his own destruction.

''One citizen of your planet shall go to the capital of the Federation of Worlds. He shall live there for thirty days. If your representative can survive and demonstrate his ability to exist in a civilized society with creatures whose outward appearance and manner of thinking differ from his own, you will pass the test. You will be permitted to send your starships to other planets of the galaxy. ''If he fails the test, if prejudice, fear, intolerance or stupidity trip him up, then you world will be sealed of from the stars for ever!'' This was the ultimatum from space. The task before the world then was - who shall go? What man or woman could be found to take this frightening test for the whole of humanity and be certain not to fail? (First published 1961)

When racial hatred turns to murderous menace . . . First a rocket ship loses its engines on take-off and is destroyed. On board - an important extra-terrestrial visitor. Next someone slams into the sealed vehicle used for transporting aliens around in the lethal atmosphere of Earth. Then the vital controlled environment for the Tau Cetian delegation is sabotaged. Oxygen leaks in, and the aliens are half burnt alive. Even if it means brutal murder, The Stars Are For Man League is determined to shatter the harmony between Earth and civilizations on other planets - and to keep mankind supreme among the alien life forms. Only one man can stop them - a man who unknowingly nurses a viper in his bosom . . . First published in 1965.

When mankind colonized the stars, they travelled out from Earth in two directions - to Centaurus and its Southern Hemisphere neighbours and to Ursa Major and the constellations around Polaris. And strange to say the humans who settled on those various worlds began to develop into two differing antagonistic types. For Ray Mallin, born under the surface of Mars in the sparse colony of Earth''s inhospitable old neighbour, neither the anarchic ''bears'' nor the autocratic ''Centaurs'' commanded his loyalty. So when secret agents of both galactic groupings suddenly focus their unwelcome attention on his most recent star-piloting mission, he knew only that something of vast significance was up - and that he unknowingly was the key to it.

A revised version of THE ASTRONAUTS MUST NOT LAND (1963). It isn''t every day that the impossible happens. But when it does, and you''re a witness, you have to start looking for answers. The authorities won''t talk. So you decide to find out for yourself. That''s what Drummond did. And when he found out. it changed the universe!

The interstellar Bridge System was the greatest invention in the long history of cosmic humanity. Spread through dozens of planets, men and their societies had drifted apart in isolation until the Bridge came to link together humanity''s multifold worlds . . . and had affirmed once more that all men were brothers and sisters under the skin. But the far away world of Azreal was the exception, the one dissident world that refused the Bridge. It became the task of two agents, a man and a woman, to bring Azreal back into manshape unity, to ferret out the hidden reasons for the stubborn refusal. The problem, with its perils and high risks, was to involve more than just secrets, for Manshape is John Brunner novel that deals with the very fabric of civilization . . .

A stardropper got its name from the belief that the user was eavesdropping on the stars. But that was only a guess . . . nobody really knew what the instrument did. The instrument itself made no sense scientifically. A conventional earpiece, an amplifier, a power source - all attached to a small vacuum box, an alnico magnet, and a calibrated ''tuner''. What you got from all this was some very extraordinary noises and the conviction that you were listening to beings from space and could almost understand what you were hearing. What brought Special Agent Dan Cross into the stardropper problem was the carefully censored news that users of the instrument had begun to disappear. They popped out of existence suddenly - and the world''s leaders began to suspect that somehow the fad had lit the fuse on a bomb that would either destroy the world or change it forever. (First published 1972)

Once the city of Carrig stood supreme on this planet that had been settled by space refugees in the distant, forgotten past. From every corner of this primitive lost world caravans came to trade - and to view the great King-Hunt, the gruesome test by which the people of Carrig chose their rulers. Then from space came new arrivals. And with them came their invincible death guns and their ruthless, all-powerful tyranny. Now there would be no King-Hunt in Carrig, or hope for the planet-unless a fool-hardy high-born named Saikmar and a beautiful Earthling space-spy named Maddalena, could do the impossible . . . (First published 1969)

The Acre was the only part of an entire world where Earthmen were allowed to live as they pleased and as they were accustomed. For elsewhere on Quallavarra, humanity was forced into servitude by the Vorra, THE SUPER BARBARIANS, who has somehow managed to conquer space. But within the Acre, the underling Terrestrials had cooked up a neat method of keeping teir conquerors from stamping them out altogether. They had uncovered a diabolical Earth secret the Vorra couldn''t abide - and yet couldn''t do without.

She appeared in our world naked, defenceless, unable to say a word anyone could understand. Her origin was at first simply a puzzle, then a scientific enigma, and finally a series of terrifying surmises that her most fascinated investigator was afraid to probe. But probe he must, for somehow he knew that this strange girl was a key to the kind of information science had sought for centuries. But the more he uncovered from the depths of her mind, the deeper became the quicksand into which his own was sinking. (First published 1967)

Kynance Foy was young, beautiful, intelligent an highly trained in both qua-space physics and business law when she left Earth to seek her fortune in the interstellar outworlds. But she found that the further she got from Earth, the tougher became the competition from the environment-hardened populations of these young worlds . . . and by the time she reached the planet Nefertiti, she was facing poverty. Then, unexpectedly, a wonderful opportunity opened up for her: the job of Planetary Supervisor of the fabulously wealthy world called Zygra, where exotic pelts costing a million credits each were grown. The salary was huge, and at the end of the year''s tour of duty she would be transported free of charge back to Earth, where she would be a very wealthy young woman. There had to be a catch to it, she thought as she signed the contract. And, of course, there was. (First published 1966)

The Corps Galactica, the Galaxy''s police force, had pledged itself to a policy of non-interference with the backward Zarathustra Refugee Planets. Langenschmidt, the Corps chief on the planet Cyclops, was content with this ruling. After all, if the refugee planets could form their own civilizations from scratch, logically they would come up with cultures suited to their own needs. However, when the case of Justin Kolb came to his attention, Langenschmidt was forced to rethink the problem. Kolb''s accident with the wolfshark revealed to the Corps'' medicos the leg-graft that had been performed on him. It was a perfect match - only its gene-pattern wasn''t Cyclopean, and limb-grafting wasn''t practised on Cyclops. Where had the leg come from, who had been the unknown repairmen, and wasn''t this something that might be violating galactic law? (First published 1965)