This book is ostensibly about a theoretical catastrophic geologic event. It turns into a meditation on what it means to be an English person, and at the end, includes a ringing defense of America.

Science fiction is a genre encompassing imaginative works that take place in this world or that of the author’s creation where anything is possible. The only rules are those set forth by the author. The speculative nature of the genre inspires thought and plants seeds that have led to advances in science. The genre can spark an interest in the sciences and is cited as the impetus for the career choice of many scientists. It is a playing field to explore social perspectives, predictions of the future, and engage in adventures unbound into the richness of the human mind.

Out of the dark vastness of the void came a conquering horde, incredible and invincible, with Earth's only weapon—a man from the past! From Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy magazine, October 1956. - Summary by Original Gutenberg text

A pioneering work in the alternate worlds genre, The Heads of Cerberus was serialized in The Thrill Book in 1919 and published as a novel in 1952. A vial of grey dust transports three unwitting time travelers to a totalitarian version of Philadelphia in the year 2118. While certain landmarks stand unchanged, the societal structure is unrecognizable. Superlative adjectives and numbered buttons have replaced names and an oligarchy wield godlike power over the masses. To return home, the trio must win over the Loveliest, outsmart the Cleverest, and survive a deadly competition. - Summary by Christina Fu

A novel with some utopian elements, but primarily dystopian. A French doctor and a German professor both inherit a vast fortune as descendants of a French soldier who married the rich widow of an Indian prince. They both decide to go to America and establish their own "ideal" society. Dr. Sarrasin, the French doctor, is focused on maintaining public health. He builds Ville-France. Professor Schultze, the German scientist, is a bit of a militarist and racist. He builds Stahlstadt and devotes his city to the production of ever more powerful weapons so that he can destroy Sarrasin's city...

Science fiction is a genre encompassing imaginative works that take place in this world or that of the author’s creation where anything is possible. The only rules are those set forth by the author. The speculative nature of the genre inspires thought and plants seeds that have led to advances in science. The genre can spark an interest in the sciences and is cited as the impetus for the career choice of many scientists. It is a playing field to explore social perspectives, predictions of the future, and engage in adventures unbound into the richness of the human mind. - Summary by A. Gramour

These are three of the strangest stories I could find by the very talented Fritz Leiber. And by strange I mean odd, weird, kinda creepy and yet wonderful. Not your normal Science Fiction here but then Leiber had an amazing imagination and these certainly made me stretch mine. - Summary by phil chenevert

'Industrial Revolution': Workers in a distant miner's facility plot emancipation from Earth. The military might have some say in the matter. 'Captive of the Centaurianess': A scientist, a warrior princess and a Martian walk into a bar. And revolutionise space travel. 'What Shall it Profit?' A mysterious, underground research facility is discovered. Does it hold the key to eternal life? Or much deeper consequences? 'The Virgin of Valkarion': In a Rome-like empire, a barbarian encounters a warlord with a scheme to overthrow the empire, and a princess that wants to stop it...

Science fiction is a genre encompassing imaginative works that take place in this world or that of the author’s creation where anything is possible. The only rules are those set forth by the author. The speculative nature of the genre inspires thought and plants seeds that have led to advances in science. The genre can spark an interest in the sciences and is cited as the impetus for the career choice of many scientists. It is a playing field to explore social perspectives, predictions of the future, and engage in adventures unbound into the richness of the human mind. - Summary by Amy Gramour

No one comes back from the Nowhere Journey, whatever they say about some “rotation.” When Kit Temple's drafted, he figures he's leaving his girl, his life, behind forever. But his fellow-draftee, the enigmatic Arkalion, seems to know a lot more than what he's letting on. When Kit follows Arkalion to the end of space and time, he finds out what's really going on in this “Nowhere” and takes on a trial that will decide the fate of Earth itself!

Science fiction is a genre encompassing imaginative works that take place in this world or that of the author’s creation where anything is possible. The only rules are those set forth by the author. The speculative nature of the genre inspires thought and plants seeds that have led to advances in science. The genre can spark an interest in the sciences and is cited as the impetus for the career choice of many scientists. It is a playing field to explore social perspectives, predictions of the future, and engage in adventures unbound into the richness of the human mind. - Summary by Amy Gramour

"Within a year Earth would be a vassal world, with the Sirian invaders triumphant. Only Standish, Earth's Defense Engineer, could halt that last victorious onslaught—and he was helpless, the lone survivor of a prison ship wrecked in uncharted space." - Summary by publishers blurb

‘The Pioneer’ by Irving E. Cox The greatest explorer of them all returns to Earth and finds the world upside down! ‘Flight Perilous’ by Ray C Noll A trip through the Asteroid Belt. They must make it to the other side. But will they? ‘Ask a Foolish Question’ by Robert Sheckley Douglas Adams foreshadowed. ‘The Vegans Were Curious’ by Winston Marks Alien explorers come to Earth to investigate radioactivity. They discover - *cough – something else. ‘The Cosmic Snare’ by Milton Lesser A couple working the great gate of sub-space receive an unwanted guest...

In "Bullet with His Name," two alien beings have come to give gifts to an Earthman. But this is not altruism; it is, rather, a test. "The fate of his race hangs on his reactions to [the gifts]." And one of the aliens mentions that he himself is "a sort of snake." The gifts do not include an apple from the Tree of Knowledge, but they might be just as likely to lead mankind astray. - Summary by Paul Hampton

A collection of short science fiction stories, written by H.G. Wells. - Summary by Krista Zaleski

Science fiction is a genre encompassing imaginative works that take place in this world or that of the author’s creation where anything is possible. The only rules are those set forth by the author. The speculative nature of the genre inspires thought and plants seeds that have led to advances in science. The genre can spark an interest in the sciences and is cited as the impetus for the career choice of many scientists. It is a playing field to explore social perspectives, predictions of the future, and engage in adventures unbound into the richness of the human mind. - Summary by A. Gramour

One of the earliest works of science-fiction . It has space travel , lunar civilization, and aliens, along with more fantasy elements, such as the afterlife and Greek gods. A satire on contemporary tall tales. - Summary by Terry Kroenung

"We cannot tell you what kind of a story this is. We simply cannot present it as we present other stories. It is too tremendous for that. We are very glad—and proud—to share it with you." - Summary by Planet Stories, Summer 1948

A millionaire genius invents a flying armored suit, a la Iron Man. - Summary by Terry Kroenung

A bizarre and exuberant work of pure imagination, Rondah, or, Thirty-Three Years in a Star tells the story of a ragtag group of space explorers who—aided by a shuttle set off by clockwork explosives in the Adirondack mountains—find themselves stranded on alien planet. Their adventures will test the limits of their frayed and tenuous bonds as they seek to colonize the planet, take claim of its resources, and rule over the bizarre alien lifeforms who inhabit it. Utterly strange and bursting at...

Jason Croft has learned the art of astral projection, and feels a calling to the region of Sirius, the Dog Star. Projecting his consciousness there, he encounters Naia. Determined that she is his soul mate, and the sole reason he was drawn there, he determines to win her love. Occupying a host body , Jason sets out to win the heart and hand of Naia by "inventing" technological advancements based on his knowledge from earth, and offering them to the rulers of her kingdom.

Science fiction is a genre encompassing imaginative works that take place in this world or that of the author’s creation where anything is possible. The only rules are those set forth by the author. The speculative nature of the genre inspires thought and plants seeds that have led to advances in science. The genre can spark an interest in the sciences and is cited as the impetus for the career choice of many scientists. It is a playing field to explore social perspectives, predictions of the future, and engage in adventures unbound into the richness of the human mind. - Summary by A. Gramour

QRM-Interplanetary is one of eleven science fiction novelettes by George O. Smith published in Astounding Science Fiction magazine between 1942 and 1945. It was re-released in the anthology Venus Equilateral with nine other Smith stories in 1949. - Summary by sjmarky

Shannon's Imperial Circus was a jinxed space-carny leased for a mysterious tour of the inner worlds. It made a one-night pitch on a Venusian swamp-town—to find that death stalked it from the jungle in a tiny ball of flame.

Nemo's first memory is of waking up on a self-contained world on a meteor in the rings of Saturn. Soon he meets Nona, and together they explore their world. New discoveries, hidden wonders, and an entire civilization are tucked away on the little meteor. Originally published as a serial in Science and Invention magazine, from January to September 1924.

Maurice Renard's little known but delightfully bizarre tale of mad science run amok owes much to H. G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau while also forging its own path by taking Wells' plot as a starting point and pushing it to ridiculous extremes. When a young man named Nicholas goes to visit his beloved scientist uncle Dr. Lerne in a remote French chateau, he is immediately put on his guard by his uncle's strange behavior, the mysterious Germans who now work with his uncle in a secret laboratory on the premises, on the strange noises he hears in the night...

Science fiction is a genre encompassing imaginative works that take place in this world or that of the author’s creation where anything is possible. The only rules are those set forth by the author. The speculative nature of the genre inspires thought and plants seeds that have led to advances in science. The genre can spark an interest in the sciences and is cited as the impetus for the career choice of many scientists. It is a playing field to explore social perspectives, predictions of the future, and engage in adventures unbound into the richness of the human mind. - Summary by A. Gramour

While Mary Shelley will most likely always be known for her enduring classic of mad science Frankenstein, this collection intends to show the sheer breath and quality of her writing beyond the creation for which she is most known. Many of these stories are told in an atmospheric gothic fiction vein, full of eerie old castles, strange revelations and family secrets. But we also have stories of the supernatural and even science fiction to contend with. Shelley was a true literary master and should be recognized for her contributions to literature beyond her most famous work. - Summary by Ben Tucker

Murray Leinster does not disappoint with this gem of a story. The dust is deadly. It is slowly drifting down over the North American continent. Not ordinary dust, this dust is highly radioactive and silently deadly. Only one person sees too clearly that the USA is doomed and everyone in it unless this horrible, silent, death brining 'dust' can be stopped. And he, Doctor David Murfree, the only person to see the danger, cannot get permission from his superior to take leave from his civil servant job so that he can find the only man in America who might know what is causing this dust and perhaps even fix it. . - Summary by phil chenevert

Émile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian, more widely known by their joint nom de plume Erckmann-Chatrian, were in their time more recognized and known locally for their militaristic historical fiction. But of perhaps a more long-lasting influence was their strange and fantastical stories of the macabre where one imagines they were influenced by fellow weird writer E. T. A. Hoffmann of whom many of their stories strikes a similar feel. Noted horror authors such as M. R. James and H. P. Lovecraft have at times professed to have been fans of their work as well...

The Skylark of Valeron is the third volume in the classic Skylark trilogy by E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith. DuQuesne has survived to become Master of the Earth, ruling with an iron hand because the heroes, the Seatons and the Cranes must run for their lives into the fourth dimension from pure intellectual beings who can dematerialize them on a whim — from which dimension none have ever returned. If you have ever wondered what it like to exist in an extra dimensioned world 'Doc' Smith tells us here in graphic and exciting detail. This 'book' was published in seven installments in Astounding Stories from 1934 to 1935. - Summary by phil chenevert

This sequel to "Palos of the Dog Star Pack" continues to follow Jason Croft on his adventures on Palos. Having abandoned his earthly body, Jason's astral projection has taken up residence in a man of Palos. Due to his extraordinary knowledge and skills, the high priest has declared Jason the voice of God. Which places his plans for marrying Naia - the entire reason for his being there - in jeopardy. - Summary by Krista Zaleski