Earth for Inspiration
Earth for Inspiration
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Earth for Inspiration by Clifford D Simak
From tales of alien invasions and intergalactic war to visions of dystopian tomorrows, an astonishing collection from one of literary science fiction's all-time greats, Hugo Award winner Clifford D. Simak. The twentieth century's so-called golden age of science fiction produced many great writers--including Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, and Robert Heinlein--yet none is greater than Clifford D. Simak, named Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America. His bold visions of and ingenious speculations about humankind's future, always enriched with empathy and a deep understanding of human strengths, foibles, and failings, have stood the test of time, remaining powerful, affecting, and relevant. This sterling collection of fantastic stories by the multiple Hugo and Nebula Award-winning master showcases some of Simak's finest short fiction, from his earliest published tales to his later masterworks. In the wry and wonderful title story, a science fiction writer of the far future returns to a nearly abandoned Earth in search of inspiration--and finds that the dying planet holds more wonder than he bargained for. The interdimensional invasion Simak imagines in Hellhounds of the Cosmos displays a conceptual ingenuity not typically seen in speculative fiction prior to World War II. And other tales in this marvelous compendium offer a wide range of wonders, from the surrender terms dictated by a cute and cuddly alien enemy and a get-rich-quick real-estate scam originating from another galaxy to the truth behind a series of strange disappearances on Jupiter and an explosion of ladybugs in a salesman's suburban home--an infestation quite possibly not of this Earth. Whether he's rocketing us to another galaxy, leading us through the otherworldly shadows of small-town America, or preparing us for a Wild West shootout, every literary outing with Simak is an excursion to remember.
Simak, Clifford D.: - Clifford Donald Simak (1904 - 1988) was an American science fiction writer. He was honored by fans with three Hugo Awards and by colleagues with one Nebula Award. The Science Fiction Writers of America made him its third SFWA Grand Master and the Horror Writers Association made him one of three inaugural winners of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement. Simak became interested in science fiction after reading the works of H. G. Wells as a child. His first contribution to the literature was The World of the Red Sun, published by Hugo Gernsback in the December 1931 issue of Wonder Stories. Within a year he placed three more stories in Gernsback's pulp magazines and one in Astounding Stories, then edited by Harry Bates. But his only science fiction publication between 1932 and 1938 was The Creator (Marvel Tales #4, March-April 1935), a story with religious implications, which was then rare in the genre. Once John W. Campbell, at the helm of Astounding from October 1937, began redefining the field, Simak returned and was a regular contributor to Astounding Science Fiction (as it was renamed in 1938) throughout the Golden Age of Science Fiction (1938-1950). At first, as in the 1939 serial novel Cosmic Engineers, he wrote in the tradition of the earlier super science subgenre that E. E. Doc Smith perfected, but he soon developed his own style, which is usually described as gentle and pastoral. During this period, Simak also published a number of war and western stories in pulp magazines. His best-known book may be City, a fix-up novel based on short stories with a common theme of mankind's eventual exodus from Earth. Simak continued to produce award-nominated novels throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Aided by a friend, he continued writing and publishing science fiction and later, fantasy into his 80s. He believed that science fiction was not rooted in scientific fact, but was responsible for the failure of the genre to be taken seriously and stated his aim was to make the genre a part of what he called realistic fiction.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781504073929 |
| ISBN 10 | 1504073924 |
| Title | Earth for Inspiration |
| Author | Clifford D Simak |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Open Road Media |
| Year published | 2022-02-08 |
| Number of pages | 344 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |