The Golden Age Of Science Fiction Novel Chapters
List of most recent chapters published for the The Golden Age Of Science Fiction novel. A total of 1755 chapters have been translated and the release date of the last chapter is Apr 02, 2024
Latest Release: Chapter 1 : The Golden Age of Science Fiction.An Anthology of 50 Short Stories.by Various.VOL I.A ST
The Golden Age of Science Fiction.An Anthology of 50 Short Stories.by Various.VOL I.A STRANGE Ma.n.u.sCRIPT FOUND IN A COPPER CYLINDER.
By James De Mille CHAPTER I.THE FINDING OF THE COPPER CYLINDER.It occurred as far back as February 15, 1850. It happene
- 901 "I'm sorry, sir," apologized the manager, "Government orders, you know." And he hung up.Something in that soft voice brought to me an inkling of the truth. An icy hand gripped my heart as I heard a knock at the door. With palsied
- 902 "Who lived in 'em?" asked Hull."Don't know. Who'd want to live so high up it'd take a full morning to climb there? Unless it was magic. I don't hold much with magic, but they do say the Old People knew how to fly.&q
- 903 A voice sounded at his side. "Hull! Big Hull Tarvis.h.!.+ Are you too proud to notice humble folk?"It was Vail Ormiston, her violet eyes whimsical below her smooth copper hair. He flushed; he was not used to the ways of these valley girls, who f
- 904 For a moment the group halted. Hull seized a yet unheated sword from someone, and turned back. "Come on!" he bellowed. "Come on! We'll have a fight of this yet!"Behind him he heard the trample of feet. The beams flicked out again,
- 905 There was a curious expression in the face of the conqueror. "Well," he said almost gently, "it was not my intention to torture you, but merely to have you killed for your treason. It may be that you will soon wish that my orders had been l
- 906 "Not I, Hull," she murmured. "I never blame a man who weakens because of me--there have been many. Men as strong as you, Hull, and some that the world still calls great." She turned toward her own chamber. "Come in here," she
- 907 "You can't!"She smiled, then in altered tones, "Do you love me, Hull?""Love you? I hate--" He broke off suddenly."Do you hate me, Hull?" she asked gently."No," he groaned at last. "No, I don'
- 908 She led them into the lower room that had been the Master's. There she sat idly in a deep chair of ancient craftsmans.h.i.+p, lit a black cigarette at the lamp, and thrust her slim legs carelessly before her, gazing at Hull. But he, staring through t
- 909 "Taboo," Malloa kept whispering. "Him plenty bunyip!""Hope there is," the white man grunted. "I'd hate to go back to Jameson and the others at Macquarie without at least one little bunyip, or anyway a ghost of a fai
- 910 She stared without comprehension, and he varied his symbolism. "Your home, then?" he pantomimed the act of sleeping.The result was the same, simply a troubled look from her glorious eyes."Now what the devil!" he muttered. "You hav
- 911 Lilith, weaponless save for stones and her wooden knife, simply huddled at his side as they backed slowly toward the beach. Their progress was maddeningly slow, and Carver began to note apprehensively that the shadows were stretching toward the east, as i
- 912 He struck it a sharp rap, then recoiled in surprise at the effect of his blow, for the entire egg instantly shattered with a tinkling crash like the bursting of a huge gla.s.s bubble. So complete was the disintegration of the egg and the skeleton within i
- 913 The drugged drinks acted with startling rapidity. Scarcely a minute pa.s.sed before the rodents' eyes clouded dully, their jaws dropped slackly open, and their bodies stiffened in almost complete rigidity.The bonds were quickly stripped from the two
- 914 "Well, sir--""Never mind now. You may have encountered oxygen or hydrogen-rich atmosphere--melted your compressor blades. Try an air start on straight rocket. I want that s.h.i.+p back, Brandon. Repeat, I want that s.h.i.+p back!""
- 915 "I have something to tell you," said Brandon grinning, "about the quantum jump."THE END.DOUBLE TAKE.By Richard Wilson Paul Asher, 27, men's furnis.h.i.+ngs buyer, leaned back and let the cloth band be fastened across his chest, ju
- 916 He closed it behind him and blinked at the huge instrument panel which filled almost the entire room.One of the instruments was a color vision screen, tuned in to a room in which there was a mahogany desk, at which was seated a man in uniform. Behind him
- 917 And this is the man who is Kyle the First, Ruler of Terra at the age of thirty-seven! I wonder what he is like now....January 1, 1 New San Francisco There is no longer any need to wonder. Surprisingly few heads have rolled, but apparently Jonesy chooses t
- 918 "Carlos Inverness and party," announced the guard from the doorway.Inverness nodded to me in friendly fas.h.i.+on and indicated his two companions."Commander Hanson," he said, "permit me to present G.o.dar Tipene and Cleve Brady,
- 919 Correy was the last to arrive in the navigating room, and when he came in his eyes were dancing."I've just transferred Tipene to another stateroom, sir," he said. "A specially equipped stateroom.""You what?""If you&
- 920 "Well," said Correy grimly, "we'll soon find out. Ready to start back, sir?"I turned to Tipene, who was staring at the packed ma.s.s of Aranians, who choked the tunnel in both directions."Tell them to make way," I comman
- 921 He paused for a moment, frowning thoughtfully as though dreading to begin. I waited silently, and at last he spoke again."There is a world"--and he named a name which I shall not repeat, the name of the Forgotten Planet--"that is a festerin
- 922 "I shall need you here.""But, sir, they are very excited and angry; I have been watching them from the observation ports. And there is a vast crowd of them around the s.h.i.+p.""I had expected that. I thank you for your concern, b
- 923 Froth! Green, billowing froth that grew and boiled and spread unceasingly. In places it reached high into the air, and it moved with an eager, inner life that was somehow terrible and revolting. I moved the range hand back, and the view seemed to drop awa
- 924 "Shut up, everybody!" the boss called aloud. "Listen."There was no sound in the clearing, save for the crackle of the fire. For a long time Dikar heard no sound except the crackle of the flames behind him, the tiny noises from the wood
- 925 : THE GUN ON THE ROOF."Who's there?" Dikar cried again, and then the shadows were coming out into the light, and they were Jimlane and Billthomas."Marilee told us you wanted us," Jimlane said. "We waited till everyone was asl
- 926 "You climbed down a rope of vines!" Marilee's hand went to the flowery circlet that covered her breast. "You might have been killed, Dikar!"Dikar nodded. "Yes, I might have been killed, an' I didn't care much whethe
- 927 The pain within Dikar was as if someone had plunged an arrow into his vitals, was twisting it-- Dikar saw a form, crawling out on a thick bough. It was screened by the leaves at first, then Dikar saw black hair, a thick-lipped face. Tomball! Peering out o
- 928 Dikar put Marilee down on the bed, and Martha Dawson was beside the bed. Her hand took hold of Marilee's wrist and she seemed to be listening for something, and then she smiled and said, "Her pulse is strong." She put her hand on Marilee�
- 929 He had drawn taut now, staring at her and fear had come suddenly into his eyes. "Go ask her," Martha said. "She is the one to tell you what I mean, though I had to tell her, myself, this morning. You children," she said, and there was
- 930 Golden Age of Science Fiction.Vol IX.by Various.INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.By Poul Anderson Ever think how deadly a thing it is if a machine has amnesia-- or how easily it can be arranged...."Well, yes," Amspaugh admitted, "it was a unique war
- 931 "They talked about how the government had been pouring billions and billions of dollars into s.p.a.ce, while overpopulation produced crying needs in America's back yard," Chung said. "We know that much, even in the Belt. We know the ap
- 932 Hulse nailed Blades with a glance. "Good day, sir," he clipped. "I have had to report a regrettable accident which will require you to evacuate the Station. Temporarily, I hope.""Huh?""As I told Mr. Chung and Miss Page,
- 933 Janichevski stared at the big red-haired man for a long while. Suddenly he stiffened. "O.K. On that account, and no other, I'll go along with you."Blades wobbled on his feet, near collapse with relief. "Good man!" he croaked."
- 934 Chung stirred. "Wait a bit," he said. "We have one of your people aboard, Lieutenant Ziska. Can you send a gig for her?""She didn't collaborate with us," Blades added. "You can see the evidence of her loyalty, all o
- 935 "Give me a hand!" gasped the officer. "I can't handle 'im without usin' my club and I don't wanna do that. The poor fella don't know what he's a-doin'."Bentley quickly sprang to the patrolman's a
- 936 The long table which ran down the strange room's center was covered with retorts, test tubes, Bunsen burners--all of the stock-in-trade of the scientist who spends most of his time at research work. The man who bent over the table was well past middl
- 937 Tyler nodded and quickly spoke into the telephone on the table at his elbow.The telephone reminded Bentley of Ellen Estabrook.When Tyler had finished issuing pointed instructions Bentley called the residence of the Estabrooks in Astoria, Long Island.Carl
- 938 "But why the transplantation at all, even if the man is mad? He reasons logically. Only his premises are unthinkable ... and he builds successful ghastly experiments on top of them....""He claims he wishes to build a race of supermen,"
- 939 "Tyler," snapped Bentley, "have everybody fall back beyond earshot."Tyler issued the orders. Bentley shouted, "Quickly, quickly!" knowing he had little time.Then, with Tyler beside him, he knelt beside the ape."I know yo
- 940 Next at Bentley's suggestion--and he talked quickly and eagerly to keep his mind off the ordeal he knew he was facing--Tyler got the curator of the Bronx Zoo out of bed and asked him to wait upon Doctor Tyler immediately.At four o'clock Doctor J
- 941 Suddenly Bentley noticed that a solitary man was watching him curiously, a dawning amazement in his face. Bentley roused himself and saw that he was standing against the mesh, fingers hooked into it above his head, his weight on his left leg, his right fo
- 942 Barter could as easily have had them change places, since he a.s.sumed control of either at will, or could have controlled a score simultaneously. But that would have required additional thought stimulus, and he wished to conserve his mental energies for
- 943 The empty skull-pan of the ape awaited the brain of Keller.Bentley could feel the sweat burst forth on him in every pore as he tried to throw off his awful inertia, to go to the aid of Keller. If Barter should see the perspiration on his cheeks....Bentley
- 944 Kendall cast a glance over his detector-instruments. The radio network was undisturbed, the magnetic and electric fields recognized only the slight disturbances occasioned by the planet itself. There was nothing, noth-- Five hundred miles away, a gigantic
- 945 One hundred thousand miles apart, the twin worlds Sthor and Asthor rotated about their common center of gravity, eternally facing each other. Ten million miles from their common center of gravity, Teelan rotated in a vast orbit.Sthor and Asthor were cappe
- 946 "Dougla.s.s--ah, you're through. Get on the trail of MacBride, and get him and his crew to work making half a dozen smaller things like this. Tell 'em they can leave off the tungsten s.h.i.+eld. I want different metals in the receiver of ea
- 947 "No. Nearly four centuries old--twentieth century physics. I'll have to try some other line of attack, I guess, but that did seem so darned right. It just sounded right. Something ought to happen--and it just keeps saying 'nothing more exce
- 948 Finally, a brief test-attack was made, with an entire fleet of one hundred s.h.i.+ps. They drew almost into position, faster than light, faster than the signaling warnings could send their messages. In position, all those great s.h.i.+ps strained and heav
- 949 The Mirans were experts at camouflage. Deenmor Station, realizing the menace, immediately rayed the "projector." They tore up a great deal of harmless rock with their huge UV rays. But the bomb device continued to throw one bomb each five second
- 950 Kendall made a change. For the first time there came the staccato bark of the material engine under strain, as it fas.h.i.+oned the terrific fields of "Uncertainty of the Ultimate Degree." Abruptly they leapt out, invisible till they entered a m
- 951 A little later Ethel came out into the moonlight and shut the trailer door behind her. She looked rumpled and beaten, her hair straggling damply on her shoulders and her eyes puffed and red from crying. The gin she'd had hadn't helped any either
- 952 "You can take your d.a.m.ned whole wheat and stuff it--" I started. Then I shrugged and dropped it. There were enough feuds going on aboard the cranky old Wahoo! "Seen Jenny this morning, Phil?"He studied me insolently. "She told
- 953 Pietro and I exchanged glances, but I guess we weren't surprised. Among intelligent people on a s.h.i.+p of that size, secrets wouldn't keep. They'd all put bits together and got part of the answer. Pietro shrugged, and half stood up to mak
- 954 "Canaries," Muller said. He frowned, though he must have known of them. It was traditional to keep them in the engine-room, though the reason behind it had long since been lost. "Better kill them, Mr. Wilc.o.x."Wilc.o.x jerked, and his
- 955 Muller had walked forward. Now his fist lashed out, and Grundy crumpled. He lay still for a second, then got to his feet unsteadily. Jenny screamed, but Muller moved steadily back to his former place without looking at the mate. Grundy hesitated, fumbled
- 956 THE DEMI-URGE.By Thomas M. Disch From DIRA IV To Central Colonial Board There is intelligent life on Earth. After millennia of lifelessness, intelligence flourishes here with an extravagance of energy that has been a constant amazement to all the members
- 957 "Go on," I said at last; "I am all attention."CHAPTER II.The Gravity Projectile Hermann Anderwelt had probably suffered many disappointments and waited long for a hearing. Now he seemed to feel that his opportunity had come, for he con
- 958 "That one which finds a way to visit the others first," he answered, with a touch of pride."But there may be a tinge of personal conceit in that idea," I suggested."Possibly a mere tinge, but the essence of it is apparent truth,&q
- 959 While the doctor was saying this, he had been busy making tests of his apparatus. He now called me to see his buoyancy gauge, which was a half-spherical ma.s.s of steel weighing just ten pounds. It was pierced with a hole at right angles to its plane surf
- 960 "That is disappointing," he answered, "for we are only eight thousand miles from home; but our velocity is still constantly increasing.""I would like to buy things here and sell them at the surface," I exclaimed."You wou
- 961 "Then there is not the slightest doubt that we see the Lower Andes," he said. "These last you mention are scattered just as you say along the border between Chili and Argentina, and the group of three are near Valparaiso, the peak of Aconca
- 962 CHAPTER I.Why Mars gives a Red Light Our telescope was now pointed exactly at Mars, and we were observing every feature as we approached him. Compared with the illuminated crescent of the Earth, which we had studied when we were observing the Andes, our p
- 963 A torrent of the shafts fell all about us, and many pelted against our s.h.i.+elds. Those which struck the soft earth of the bank sank into it and stuck there, but those which struck our steel were s.h.i.+vered and broken."Sit still and let them shoo
- 964 "We come from a star, O Zaphnath, where men desire many things and are never satisfied. But of all the things thou offerest us, we wish not one. We make no peace unless these old men be left alive. We do not know this country or its people, wherefore
- 965 "Yes; and it struck me as peculiar at the time that he said of 'G.o.d's' not of 'the G.o.ds','" I reflected. "Evidently he thinks there is but one G.o.d. The whole matter is altogether peculiar.""Here
- 966 Late in the spring the toiling cattle left the thres.h.i.+ng-floors, and traversed the fields in long procession, two and two, lashed together by a bar across the horns instead of a yoke, and dragging heavy stone ploughs slowly after them to prepare the s
- 967 "Bear up!" I heard the doctor's voice begin, "one minute more and we----" Then there was a violent coughing, a door slammed, and the voice was barely heard--afar off--as through a wall. Had they escaped, then, to another room? I h
- 968 "Carry it to a vote."They slipped their hands under the table edge before their respective seats, and each man ran his fingers over two b.u.t.tons concealed there, before him, chose between the yes and the no b.u.t.ton and pushed one, the choice
- 969 The telephone rang."Four thirty, Mr. Carter," said the voice of the night clerk in the receiver.It was time to catch the five thirty Moon s.h.i.+p. He splashed cold water on his face and the back of his neck until he was awake, took a hot shower
- 970 That night, in the s.p.a.cehands end of the city, they ate the dinner that he usually had with Mona at a nightclub, or alone looking for a good pickup in an expensive c.o.c.ktail lounge. It was in the s.h.i.+pping area around the docks, at the opposite en
- 971 Pierce's clear voice said the standard words over the murmur and shuffle of feet. "No unfairness having been observed, when called to give testimony you can then say that he shot in self-defense and under duress."A low wail of sirens was he
- 972 It was during dinner on the Moon that he and Pierce loosened up for the first time since the ambush. Pierce had been comparatively silent since the chess game on the trip back and Bryce too, whether in sympathy with him or in a naturally parallel mood, ha
- 973 He didn't want it.There was a numbness where there should have been emotion, and all he could feel for his loss was the resignation and the faint bitter humor permitted him by Pierce's smile. Watching that smile he s.h.i.+fted the heavy little g
- 974 The branch quivered resentfully under him."Careful, there!" whooshed the eerie voice. "It took me all summer to grow those!"Kolin could feel the skin crawling along his backbone."Who are you?" he gasped.The answering sigh of
- 975 Potential.Definition: Potential; that which has a possibility of coming into existence.No, more than that. That which has a-- * * * * *He jerked his mind away suddenly from the thoughts which had crowded into his forebrain.What were the chances that the f
- 976 "What's the matter with it, then?" asked Major Grodski, eying the fruit with sleepy curiosity.Dr. Pilar gave the thing a wry look and put it back in the specimen bag. "Except for the fact that it has killed every one of our test specim
- 977 Broderick MacNeil lay in his bed and felt pleasantly ill. He treasured each one of his various symptoms; each pain and ache was just right. He hadn't been so comfortable in years. It really felt fine to have all those doctors fussing over him. They g
- 978 I stopped."Yes?" my uncle prompted softly."It was in New Orleans. I woke up one night and there was something in my room, very close to me. I had a gun -- a special sort of gun -- under my pillow. When I reached for it the -- call it a dog
- 979 "It is difficult, difficult," Medea said. "Help me, Edeyrn. Lord Matholch."The fires died. Around us was not the moonlit wilderness of the Limberlost, but empty grayness, a featureless grayness that stretched to infinity. Not even star
- 980 "Yes.""A -- shape-changer?""No," Edeyrn said, and the thin body under the robe seemed to shake a little. "No, I cannot change my shape, Lord Ganelon. You do not remember my -- my powers?""I do not.""Y
- 981 I knew him. Or I knew him for what he was. I had seen dodging, furtive, green-clad figures like his before, and an anger already familiar surged over me at the very sight of him.Enemy, upstart! One of the many who had dared work their magic upon the great
- 982 Through the near-darkness her eyes glowed.Faintly, and from far away, I heard a thin, trumpeting call. It was repeated.Then silence -- and a whispering that rose to a rhythmic thudding of shod hoofs.Past us moved a figure, a helot guardsman, unmasked, uns
- 983 "Well, Aries?" I said.Her lips quivered."It can't be. I know, but Lorryn is right. You know that; we can take no risks. To have the devil Ganelon back, after all that's happened, would be disastrous."Devil, I thought. The dev
- 984 Rock-still, boulder-huge, she stood across the fire from me. Her voice deepened."I sent you into the Earth-World. I brought your double, Edward Bond, here. He helped us, and -- Aries loved him, after a while. Even Lorryn, who does not trust many, gre
- 985 I had forgotten nothing I had ever known about Earth. And by applying logic to the Dark World, I understood things I had always before taken for granted.The mutations gave the key. There are depths in the human mind forever unplumbed, potentialities for p
- 986 The red moon was far down the sky when I came back to Lorryn, still crouching beside the castle wall and half mad with impatience. There was an eager stir among the unseen soldiers as I came running down the road, a forward surge as if they had waited to
- 987 "And that was --?""The end of the Coven," Ghast Rhymi said. "If you lived. I foresaw the arms of Llyr reaching into the Dark World, and Matholch lying dead in a shadowed place, and doom upon Edeyrn and Medea. For time is fluid, Ga
- 988 "Nor is it the work of one man," Lorryn said doubtfully. "With us to aid you, victory will fly at your elbow.""I know the weapon against Llyr," I said. "One man can wield it. But keep the guardsmen back, and the Covenant
- 989 Matholch lay motionless now. Beyond his body Medea was rising to her feet, her dark hair disordered. Facing me stood Lorryn, a stone man, only his eyes alive in his set, white face.He was staring at Edeyrn, whose sleek dark head I saw. Her back was toward
- 990 Even in the pain of my broken rib, I laughed then. Freydis had overreached herself at last! In smothering Ganelon under Edward Bond's memories in the Earth World, she had given me the means to vanquish him now! He was mine, to finish when I chose, an
- 991 The outside of Dillon looked remarkably like something made out of foam-rubber. Coburn touched it, insanely.He heard his own voice saying flatly: "It's a sort of suit. A suit that looks like Dillon. He was in it. Something was! Something is play
- 992 Coburn muttered bitterly: "They were set to destroy themselves if they got into other hands than Dillon's. We haven't a bit of proof that he wasn't a human being. Not a shred of proof!"He suddenly felt a sick rage, as if he had be
- 993 IV.He came to in a hospital room, with a nurse and two doctors and an elaborate oxygen-administering apparatus. The apparatus was wheeled out. The nurse followed. The two doctors hurried after her. The American colonel of the airport was standing by the b
- 994 "We can skip your technical information, Mr. Coburn," he said with ironic courtesy, "unless you've something new to offer."Coburn shook his head. He seethed."For the record," said the skipper, "I repeat that it is o
- 995 The Greek general pointedly said nothing. Coburn caught his meaning. The fleet, firing point-blank, had not destroyed its target. The s.h.i.+p last night had seemed to fall into a cloud bank and explode. But n.o.body had seen it blow up. Maybe it hadn
- 996 Janice pressed closer to him and whispered in his ear: "I made friends with that girl who pa.s.sed for Helena. I like her. She says we'll be invited to make a trip to their planet. They can do something about the gravity. And she says she's
- 997 "I don't know yet. McCready says that the gauge is dropping pretty rapidly. I'm going to go out and see what I can do.""Can't I go, Doctor? I'm a good deal lighter than you are.""You're not as strong or as
- 998 "Thanks. But, er--haven't you considered what your position here will be if you aid us to escape? Saranoff doesn't deal kindly with traitors, I fancy."The girl spat on the floor."That swine!" she hissed, "I would like to
- 999 "It's a clear bracket," said McCready. "Now watch the gun. I'll give them a salvo."From the side of the Denver came a cloud of black smoke as all of her turret guns fired in unison. The aim was perfect. For a few moments all
- 1000 He met Jake Miles coming up the steps. Jake looked pale, too pale."Morning," Phillip said weakly. "Nice day. Looks like the sun might come through.""Yeah," said Jake. "Nice day. You--uh--feel all right this morning?"