Cover art by Jack Gaughan
"Memory" (first title A World Called Maanerek) is a science fiction novelette by American writer Poul Anderson, first published in the July 1957 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction magazine.
"Memory" (first title A World Called Maanerek) is a science fiction novelette by American writer Poul Anderson, first published in the July 1957 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction magazine.
In a far future, people are distributed over numerous planets, many of which have lost contact with Earth's civilisation. On a far ring planet, known as World Called Maanerek by its inhabitants, only a weak memory of Earth has survived, and technology has declined to preindustrial. Maanerek is coveted by a highly developed civilization because it is situated at a location of strategical value.
As the story opens, the protagonist Torrek jumps down onto a large bird with a wing spread of nine meters, kills it and lands with it in the sea, to prove himself worthy of marrying Sonna, a girl of the local tribe.
Torrek and Sonna are seized in invisible bonds and abducted in a spaceship. It is revealed that Torrek was a member of the same military unit of the abductors. In a neurological experiment, he has been sent to Maanerek with his memory emptied, for the sake of infiltrating the natives so that they willingly cooperate. The natives have accepted him as a somewhat strange, but friendly fellow.
With his memory restored, Torrek begins talking as if no time had passed, sharing all the biased views of his military comrades about the natives. He now considers himself the officer Korul Wanen again, and reproaches his leaders for having sent him to the planet, because he could have died there.
They bring him to the girl, hoping to obtain information from her that will make it easier to eradicate her people; but Wanen still feels a strong sympathy towards her. To change that, he is commanded to rape and to kill her. Wanen finds confederates and frees Sonna forcefully. He steals a spaceship and flees, leaving his earlier "civilised" companions behind him, in a fireball.
Though his memory of having been Torrek is gone, Wanen's loyalty is now with the inhabitants of the planet, whom he would help to develop technologically and be better prepared for any new incursion by his former compatriots.
Many competing groups try, each in its own way, to reunite the disparate planets of the former Empire.
Memory was first published in the Science Fiction magazine Galaxy. [1] It was published together with six other narrations by Anderson in the collection Beyond the Beyond, in 1969.
Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote fantasy novels, historical novels, and short stories. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.
Time for the Stars is a juvenile science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, published by Scribner's in 1956 as one of the Heinlein juveniles. The basic plot line is derived from a 1911 thought experiment in special relativity, commonly called the twin paradox, proposed by French physicist Paul Langevin.
Gordon Rupert Dickson was a Canadian-American science fiction writer. He was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2000.
Robots and Empire is a science fiction novel by the American author Isaac Asimov, published by Doubleday Books in 1985. It is part of Asimov's Robot series, which consists of many short stories and five novels.
The Naked Sun is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, the second in his Robot series. Like its predecessor, The Caves of Steel, this is a whodunit story. It was first published in book form in 1957 after being serialized in Astounding Science Fiction between October and December 1956.
The Stars, Like Dust is a 1951 science fiction mystery book by American writer Isaac Asimov.
The High Crusade is a science fiction novel by American writer Poul Anderson, about the consequences of an extraterrestrial scoutship landing in Medieval England. Poul Anderson described the novel as "one of the most popular things I've ever done, going through many book editions in several languages."
Time and Stars is a collection of science fiction short stories by Poul Anderson, published in 1964.
Star King is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack Vance, the first in his Demon Princes series. It tells the story of a young man, Kirth Gersen, who sets out to track down and revenge himself upon the first of the Demon Princes, the five arch-criminals who massacred or enslaved nearly all the inhabitants of his colony world when he was a child.
The Palace of Love (1967) is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack Vance, the third in his Demon Princes series. It is about a wealthy man, Kirth Gersen, who is obsessed with seeking vengeance on the remaining Demon Princes who killed his family many years ago. To get access to the elusive and secretive Viole Falushe, one of the Demon Princes, Gersen poses as a journalist and wrangles a rare invitation to Falushe's hedonistic Palace of Love.
"Eutopia" is a short story by American writer Poul Anderson, originally appeared in Harlan Ellison's 1967 science fiction anthology Dangerous Visions. It later appeared in Anderson's 1981 collection The Dark Between the Stars and the showcase The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century (2001).
Question and Answer is a science fiction novel by American writer Poul Anderson. It originally appeared in the June and July 1954 issues of magazine Astounding Science Fiction, and was later reprinted in 1956 as part of Ace Double D-199 under the title Planet of No Return, and again as a stand-alone Ace novel in February 1978 under the original title.
"Sunjammer" is a science fiction short story by British writer Arthur C. Clarke, originally published in the March 1964 issue of Boys' Life,. The story has also been published under the title "The Wind from the Sun" in Clarke's 1972 collection of short stories with this title. It depicts a yacht race between solar sail spacecraft.
Brain Wave is a science fiction novel by American writer Poul Anderson, first published in serial form in Space Science Fiction in 1953, and then as a novel in 1954. Anderson had said that he could consider it one of his top five books. This is one of many science fiction works written at this time on the theme of heightened intelligence.
"The Sharing of Flesh" is a science fiction novelette by American writer Poul Anderson. Originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction, it won a 1968 Hugo Award for Best Novelette and was nominated for a 1969 Nebula Award. The story has appeared in the collections The Night Face & Other Stories (1979), The Dark Between the Stars (1981), Winners (1981), and The Long Night (1983).
Eugenia Geneva "Jean" Sutton was an American science fiction author.
The Seed of Earth is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert Silverberg, originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction in June 1962, and expanded as an Ace Double in 1962. The novel takes place in the near future, and tells the story of a group of individuals, selected randomly by a government-sponsored lottery, who are forced to leave Earth and establish a colony on a distant world. Once there, four of the colonists are abducted by the planet's native inhabitants, and must put aside their differences and work together in order to survive.
Beyond the Barrier is a science fiction novel by American writer Damon Knight. The novel tells the story of a physics professor in 1980 who begins to doubt that he is a human being. He imagines that he may have been sent from another world to rescue Earth; or perhaps to destroy it. Solving the mystery takes him far into the future.
The Enemy Stars, is a science fiction novel by American writer Poul Anderson, published in 1959 by J.B Lippincott in the US and by Longmans in Canada. Originally published in Astounding Science Fiction under the title We Have Fed Our Sea__, it was a nominee for the 1959 Hugo Award for Best Novel. The original title refers to a line in a poem by Rudyard Kipling.
Flight to Forever is a science fiction novella by American writer Poul Anderson, first published in serial form in Super Science Stories in November 1950, and then published again in paperback in 1955. This is one of many science fiction works written during the 1950s that involved time travel.