Travelling through strange environments, Voltaire's protagonists are educated, often by surprise, into the complexities and contradictions of their world. Arriving on Earth from the Star Sirius, the gigantic explorer Micromegas discovers a diminutive people with an inflated idea of their own importance in the universe.
A UFO lands in front of a young bachelor on Christmas Eve. An old man and two beautiful young platinum blonde women emerge from it. The old man tells the young one that he has been chosen for a Great Work in the cosmic future. As a token of earnest for his participation, the two women are offered as his Christmas Gifts. He is to be their Lord and they his fully trained, dedicated sex partners and lovers. Will he accept these Gifts?
A CLASSIC NOVEL OF INTERPLANETARY WARFARE! There were nine major planets in the Solar System, and it was within their boundaries that man first set up interplanetary commerce and began trading with the ancient Martian civilization. And then they discovered a tenth planet -- a maverick!
After rescue, revenge was uppermost in Chet Barfield's mind; the hideous, bestial Agvars had to be taught a lesson they'd never forget. His rescuers seemed to disagree, however--until Chet learned his lesson too!
It is rumored that technology might eliminate many useless items from our regulated life of the future--including good, old-fashioned sex. However, let's kibitz for a moment.
On the orders of Argo, the White Goddess, an itinerant poet and his three companions journey to the island of Aptor. Their mission: to seize a jewel from the dark god Hama and bring it back home. With this precious stone Argo may defeat the malign forces gathered against her and the land of Leptor. But, as the group presses deep into the enigmatic heart of Aptor, easy distinctions between good and evil blur, and somehow the task seems less straightforward.
Mr. Hinchcliff looked up, hearing imperfectly. He had been lost in the rapt contemplation of the college cap tied by a string to his portmanteau handles-the outward and visible sign of his newly-gained pedagogic position-in the rapt appreciation of the college cap and the pleasant anticipations it excited. For Mr. Hinchcliff had just matriculated at London University, and was going to be junior assistant at the Holmwood Grammar School-a very enviable position.
In year 2430, terror spreads when assassins strike down Earth's three major leaders at once. Were the treacherous Venusians behind the crime? Yet the leader of Venus Central State falls, too -- then the leader of Mars. Who is the Tarrano mentioned in the desperate warning?
