Frederik Pohl

Thomas Wills is a claims adjuster. That doesn't sound like much, but the insurance company he works for rules the world with an Iron fist. Thomas Wills believes he is working for the greatest company in the history of mankind. But when he meets Rena dell'Angela he learns that everything is not as it seems. His company enforces complete compilation to their rules with a deep freeze vault that anyone who violates their rules is imprisoned in.

Halsey's Planet is in decline, and when a generation ship arrives, having failed to contact six other planets, Ross is sent to discover the state of the interstellar colonies. He is given a ship which can make the trip from colony to colony almost instantaneously. The technology used in the ship has been kept secret because it could give rise to interstellar war if one colony decided to conquer others. However, the isolated populations are also affected by genetic drift resulting in a decline in their societies.

Virtual Nightmare, first published as "The Tunnel Under The World" in 1955, is a science fiction short novel that explores the theme of simulated reality and the simulation hypothesis.The Simulation Hypothesis proposes that reality is in fact a simulation (most likely a computer simulation). Some versions rely on the development of a simulated reality, a proposed technology that would seem realistic enough to convince its inhabitants. The hypothesis has been a central plot device of many science fiction stories and films.The novel follows the life of Guy Burckhardt who wake up from a terrible nightmares in his house in Tylerton on June 15. Guy dismisses the dream and goes to work as usual, the downtown offices of Contro Chemicals, which operates a highly automated and robot-staffed petrochemicals plant.But something is not right; he is surrounded everywhere by loud and all-pervasive advertising jingles for everything from cigarettes to freezers. Guy Burckhardt begins to question the nature of his reality when strange events occur to him and it becomes apparent that there are many things about his world, and indeed his life, that do not hold up to close scrutiny.The novel has been adapted for several media including "Virtual Nightmare", a made-for-TV horror film produced in 2000, and appeared in a 1956 radio broadcast episode of X Minus One. It was also produced by the BBC as a 1966 series 2 episode of the anthology series Out of the Unknown.The novel inspired the screen script of the "Special Service" episode of The Twilight Zone and the development of the spec script of the 1998 American satirical comedy-drama film The Truman Show. It also offered inspiration for the 1999 virtual reality movie The Thirteenth Floor and the classic cyberpunk movie The Matrix.This print edition contains other Fredrik Pohl's short stories from that era, including Simulacra (The Day Of The Boomer Dukes), Pythias, Survival Kit, The Hated and The Knights of Arthur.

"What is real? How do you define 'real'? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain." Morpheus Tunnel under the World is one of the first examples of the cyberpunk science fiction genre. First published in 1955, the story has been adapted for several media including "Virtual Nightmare", a made-for-TV horror film produced in 2000. The novel deals with the concept of simulated reality, the hypothesis that reality could be simulated--for example by computer simulation--to a degree indistinguishable from "true" reality. It could contain conscious minds which may or may not be fully aware that they are living inside a simulation. The novel has inspired many science fiction and screenplay writers appearing among others in a 1956 radio adaptation broadcast as an episode of X Minus One, was produced by the BBC as a 1966 series 2 episode of the anthology series Out of the Unknown and formed the basis for the Italian surrealist film, Il tunnel sotto il mondo (1969). The novel has also inspired the screen script of the "Special Service" episode of The Twilight Zone and the development of the spec script of the 1998 American satirical comedy-drama film The Truman Show.

Chernobyl: The very name conjures the catastrophe that the world feared could happen someday at a nuclear power plant. On April 26, 1986, a power surge caused the core of one of the reactors to explode, spewing a cloud of radioactive steam into the air. More than four thousand people died, as many as a half-million suffered potentially cancer-causing exposure, and the city around the plant became a toxic wasteland in which nothing could live. Before the disaster at the Chernobyl plant, nuclear catastrophe had been only a fear, a threat. But when the Chernobyl plant was destroyed, those fears were suddenly all too real.Frederik Pohl's novel about this disaster was written months after the tragic events. He had the cooperation of many people inside the USSR with access to technical information and first-person accounts of the events of what is still the most tragic nuclear event in human history and only one of two level-7 nuclear accidents, along with the Fukushima disaster of 2011. This is fiction, but it is the most riveting, realistic account of what happened that has ever been written. It is also a cautionary tale that reminds us of the dangers of nuclear power plants and the terrible devastation they can unleash. Including a new Afterword by the author, this is an important book.

A cynical and compelling tale of politics, exploitation and colonisation on another planet. Introduction by Lisa Tuttle.