Collier nucleus fantasy & science fiction

From back cover of Ace paperback May 1987: Image Helliconia -- a world at the end of a reign that has lasted nearly two thousand years. The glorious civilization that blossomed during spring and summer has faded, and the dismal wasteland of winter is rapidly destroying the human race. For it is the chill end of the Great Year, the 2500 year cycle in which each season gives way to a new oppressor. And now, as winter approaches and the numbers of mankind dwindle, the barbaric phagors prepare to seize their chance to rule again. And they will succeed. Unless mankind can be united to stop them.

From the back cover: Imagine a world a thousand light years from Earth, where each season lasts for generations, and each generation knows only one season. Where twin suns warm the icy winds of the Sibornal, the forests blaze and kingdoms turn into ashes... once every 2500 years. Where it is summer again on Helliconia.

Gerald Howson had twisted legs and spine. His face was so ugly even his mother didn't want to look at him. But his telepathic talent was the stongest ever found. Many telepaths created a world of imagination and locked themselves into it until dying of hunger and thirst. Others used the gift to heal victims of psychological trauma. Howson tried the first when just coming into his talent. Then he was successful as a healer, but that did not bring the respect and acceptance he craved. Howson's third choice made him a whole man. John Brunner was a Hugo Award winner, and this book was a Hugo Award finalist for best novel of the year. 'Nuf said.

GATHER, DARKNESS! is a science-fiction classic. It tells the story of Armon Jarles, a man on the edge, living amidst the disputes of two rival powers at large in the world. 360 years after a nuclear holocaust ravaged mankind, throwing society back into the dark ages, the world is fraught with chaos and superstition. The new rulers over the masses of humanity are the techno-priests of the Great God, endowed with scientific knowledge lost to the rest of humanity. Jarles, originally of peasant descent, rises to become a priest of the Great God. He knows the gospel propagated by the priests to be a fraud, based on illusion and trickery. Even more offensive to him is the paucity of true believers among the priesthood. One day he rebels against his priestly training and attempts to incite the peasants to rise up and demand freedom, but they are not ready. Jarles is not the only dissenter trying to sabotage and expose the false theocracy of the priesthood—witchcraft is slowly gaining strength and support among the populace. Although Jarles is unaware, his rebellion against the power of the priests is about to throw him headlong into the middle of the greatest holy war the world has ever seen.

Set in 1899 in South Africa, as the rumblings of dissent and racial resentment began to erupt into a savage war between Boer and Briton, so three young men found their lives drawn together. Matthew Paget, son of an archdeacon, was turbulent, rebellious, and longing for excitement. Will Marriott, his cousin, was an officer who believed in England's greatness and the glory of battle. Hendon Bashford was an upstart social climber, a swindler and a cheat. as the passage of war unfolded, so the lives of these three young men, and the women they loved, moved towards a tumultuous climax.

Atom war had destroyed the world...History and records had been lost; the few war-shocked people who were left could not even recall what had started the atomic destruction. But even these desperate circumstances could not change the basic nature of man. Out of the still-smoking ruins came one who was stronger and more ruthless than most. And from his plans to rule the universe grew the seeds of the last great war of all-the one that would -- finally and forever -- wipe man off the face of Earth.

The year is 2203, and the ruler of the universe is chosen according to the random laws of a strange game under the control of Quizmaster Verrick. But when Ted Bentley, a research technician recently dismissed from his job, signs on to work for Verrick, he has no idea that Leon Cartwright is about to become the new Quizmaster. Nor does he know that he's about to play an integral part in the plot to assassinate Cartwright so that Verrick can resume leadership of a universe that is not nearly as random as it appears. Winner of both the Hugo and John W. Campbell awards for best novel, widely regarded as the premiere science fiction writer of his day, and the object of cult-like adoration from his legions of fans, Philip K. Dick has come to be seen in a literary light that defies classification in much the same way as Borges and Calvino. With breathtaking insight, he utilizes vividly unfamiliar worlds to evoke the hauntingly and hilariously familiar in our society and ourselves. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Significantly different text than the Collier 1991 edition. Collier edition = 309 pages vs. Avon "Complete and Unabridged" edition with 220 pages.