Richard McKenna

In the biggest, fastest spaceship ever designed by Swift Enterprises, Tom Jr. plans to make a grand tour of the planets in the solar system. But a group of criminal scientist's bent on conquering the universe is out to steal Tom's magnificent Cosmotron Express and destroy the young scientist and Swift Enterprises. Determined to foil the fiendish plot, Tom and his pal Bud Barclay locate the enemy's fortress laboratory but are captured. The boys make a daring escape, only to be faced with an even more grim challenge in their next encounter with the enemy. Pursued on their phenomenal interplanetary journey, they become the targets of VIPER's frightening weapon, the enormous Orb. How Tom, using his revolutionary device the Spider Crab, thwarts the feared, vicious leader of VIPER and his evil followers climaxes this gripping story of scientific combat.

Literary theorist Georg Lukacs complains in his seminal work, The Historical Novel, that the works of imaginative literature too often use history as a mere backdrop, a way for an author to decorate the story and characters. Lukas singles out Sir Walter Scott, English author of such works as Ivanhoe and the Waverly novels, as a notable exception. According to Lukas, Scott's novels document, with painstaking verisimilitude, the character of the historical period in which the action is taking place, and, as a result, treat history as more than just mere scenery. One feels that Lukacs might make a similar exception for Richard McKenna, whose award-winning 1962 novel, The Sand Pebbles, has often been compared to Scott's classic novels. Set aboard an American gunship patrolling the Yangtze river on the eve of revolution in China, The Sand Pebbles is rich in detail drawn from McKenna's meticulous research as well as his firsthand experiences of China as a member of the U.S. Navy. As a spirit of nationalism inspired by Chiang Kai-shek's leadership begins to sweep through China, the river gunship San Pablo is ordered to patrol the region and protect U.S. citizens. The crew of the ship is soon drawn into an international conflict as the Chinese Nationalists begin trying to expel the "foreign devils" from their shores. The conflict will not only illustrate the divide between east and west but also provoke a divide among the members of the crew itself. What The Sand Pebbles also has in common with the truly great historical novels of the past is that its wealth of regional and historical detail is never allowed to overwhelm the story or the characters. The protagonist of McKenna's novel is Jake Holman, a machinist aboard the San Pablo who has joined the Navy in order to avoid jail time. Fiercely independent, Jake remains something of a loner aboard the San Pablo, uncomfortable with Naval protocol and discipline. It is his rebellious spirit that animates much of McKenna's novel. His independent-mindedness chafes against military hierarchy, and helps ensure that he does not share his shipmates' disdain for the Chinese. Instead, he is fascinated with the culture and the people that surround him and develops emotional bonds that will prove difficult to manage when circumstances turn tumultuous and more dire. The perspective of The Sand Pebbles is therefore both panoramic and personal. Like Lawrence of Arabia, the great tension explored here is between the individual and the vast matrix of social and historical forces within which he finds himself. The Sand Pebbles was also made into a 1966 movie of the same name starring Steve McQueen.

"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman - short story by Harlan Ellison The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth - novelette by Roger Zelazny The Saliva Tree - novella by Brian W. Aldiss He Who Shapes - novella by Roger Zelazny The Secret Place - short story by Richard McKenna Call Him Lord - novelette by Gordon R. Dickson The Last Castle - novella by Jack Vance Aye, and Gomorrah ... - short story by Samuel R. Delany Gonna Roll the Bones - novelette by Fritz Leiber Behold the Man - novella by Michael Moorcock The Planners - short story by Kate Wilhelm Mother to the World - novelette by Richard Wilson Dragonrider - novella by Anne McCaffrey Passengers - short story by Robert Silverberg Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones - novelette by Samuel R. Delany A Boy and His Dog - novella by Harlan Ellison

Imagine (excerpt from The Listeners) - short fiction by James E. Gunn Genesis 1: 1-19 (excerpt) - from the Bible The First One-Hundredth Second (excerpt from The First Three Minutes) - essay by Steven Weinberg Project Genesis - short story by Stanisław Lem (trans. of Podróż osiemnasta) [as by Stanislaw Lem] The Creator - novelette by Clifford D. Simak Exposures - short story by Gregory Benford The Crucial Asymmetry - essay by Isaac Asimov The Living Galaxy - short story by Laurence Manning Non-Isotropic - short story by Brian W. Aldiss The Song of Creation - poem from Hindu Rg-Veda Kindergarten - short story by James E. Gunn The Seesaw - short story by A. E. van Vogt Heathen God - short story by George Zebrowski The Sun's Family (excerpt from Broca's Brain) - essay by Carl Sagan Genesis 1:20-25 (excerpt) - from the Bible Experiment (excerpt: chapter 38 of 2001: A Space Odyssey) - short fiction by Arthur C. Clarke Seeds of the Dusk - novelette by Raymond Z. Gallun The Threat of Creationism - essay by Isaac Asimov The Cosmic Connection - essay by Carl Sagan Genesis 1:26-31 and Genesis 2:1-25 (excerpt) - from the Bible First Person Singular - novelette by Eric Frank Russell The Grisly Folk - essay by H. G. Wells Transfusion - novelette by Chad Oliver The Doctor - short story by Theodore L. Thomas The Ugly Little Boy - novelette by Isaac Asimov (variant of Lastborn) Mine Own Ways - short story by Richard McKenna A Letter from God - short story by Ian Watson

What are the green glowing bubble creatures that the young scientist-inventor encounters in the depths of the Pacific Ocean? How do they rescue Tom and his pal Bud Barclay from an attack by the fish men? Tom's electrifying adventures begin deep in the Mariana Trench where he has based his newest invention, the Dyna-4 Capsule, in a hunt for rare metals. A super submarine, the craft has been especially designed for deep-sea research and exploration. On orders from Washington, Tom takes time out from his own project to recover5 a stolen vial containing a highly destructive explosive. The top-secret mission turns into a danger-filled whale chase in the Dyna-4 and leads to a showdown with Tom's ruthless foes.

Mariana - short story by Fritz Leiber The Day the Icicle Works Closed - novelette by Frederik Pohl The Fellow Who Married the Maxill Girl - novelette by Ward Moore Mine Own Ways - short story by Richard McKenna Make Mine Homogenized - novelette by Rick Raphael The Lady Who Sailed the Soul - novelette by Genevieve Linebarger and Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger [as by Cordwainer Smith] I Remember Babylon - short story by Arthur C. Clarke Chief - short story by Henry Slesar Mind Partner - novelette by Christopher Anvil The Handler - short story by Damon Knight The Voices of Time - novelette by J. G. Ballard

The Longest Voyage - essay by Isaac Asimov The Burning of the Brain - short story by Cordwainer Smith Home the Hard Way - novelette by Richard McKenna Potential - short story by Robert Sheckley Bill for Delivery - short story by Christopher Anvil Story of a Curse - short story by Doris Pitkin Buck The Oceans Are Wide - novella by Frank M. Robinson Far Centaurus - short story by A. E. van Vogt The Ship Who Sang - novelette by Anne McCaffrey Avoidance Situation - novelette by James McConnell Chance Encounter - short story by A. Bertram Chandler Allamagoosa - short story by Eric Frank Russell Founding Father - short story by Isaac Asimov Wings Out of Shadow - novelette by Fred Saberhagen