Search Worlds Without End

...And Then There Were None is a novella by Eric Frank Russell. It originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, June 1951.

Hugo Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, May 1955 and was reprinted on Sci Fiction, September 15, 2004. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Hugo Winners, Volume 1: (1955-61) (1963), edited by Isaac Asimov, Men of War (1984) edited by Jerry Pournelle, and The Great SF Stories 17 (1955) (1988), edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg. It is included in the collections Far Stars (1961), The Best of Eric Frank Russell (1978) and Major Ingredients: The Selected Short Stories of Eric Frank Russell (2000).

Contents:

• 9 - First Person Singular - (1950) - novelette
• 55 - The Witness - (1951) - novelette
• 79 - Last Blast - (1952) - novelette
• 129 - Homo Saps - (1941) - short story
• 141 - The Timid Tiger - (1947) - short story
• 163 - A Little Oil - (1952) - novelette
• 185 - Rainbow's End - (1951) - short story
• 205 - The Undecided - (1949) - novelette
• 237 - Second Genesis - (1952) - short story

When a strange starship appears mysteriously on a distant alien world, bearing only a single human and his bee-like extraterrestrial companion, the powerful warlord of that world laughs at the stranger's preposterous demand: End an all-out war with an interstellar rival, or face devastating consequences. But James Lawson, emissary from an intergalactic federation of advanced race, means every word he says, and has the power to back them up--whatever the cost.

Seventeen Spaceships Lost...

If science fiction is prophetic, here is one of the most freightening prophecies of all time. DREADFUL SANCTUARY is an overwhelmingly powerful novel of man's fight to conquer space -- and space's fight to resist that conquest.

Seventeen rockets had been built. Seventeen rockets had exploded. And the last one was the worst tragedy of all -- because this rocket was manned. What would happen to the eighteenth?

There was an invisable menace in space. Man had to lean what it was and how to defeat it. He also had to answer the most difficult riddle inaginable: How do you know you're sane?

This volume contains five novels (Wasp, Sinister Barrier, Sentinels from Space, Next of Kin, and Call Him Dead, a.k.a. Three to Conquer) plus some short fiction (including “Legwork,” “Mechanical Mice,” and “Mana”). Introduction by Jack L. Chalker. Dustjacket art by Bob Eggleton.

Table of Contents:

• Legwork - (1956) - novelette
• Diabologic - (1955) - short story
• Allamagoosa - (1955) - short story
• The Waitabits - (1955) - novelette
• The Timeless Ones - (1952) - short story
• P.S. - (1953) - short story

This novelette originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, April 1956. The story can also be found in the anthology 5 Unearthly Visions (1965), edited by Groff Conklin. It is included in the collections Far Stars (1961) and Entities: The Selected Novels of Eric Frank Russell (2001).

Table of Contents:

• Editor's Introduction - (2000) - essay by Rick Katze
• Eric Frank Russell - (2000) - essay by Jack L. Chalker
• Allamagoosa - (1955)
• And Then There Were None - (1951)
• The Army Comes to Venus - (1959)
• Basic Right - (1958)
• Dear Devil - (1950)
• Diabologic - (1955)
• Fast Falls the Eventide - (1952)
• Hobbyist - (1947)
• Homo Saps - (1941)
• I Am Nothing - (1952)
• Into Your Tent I'll Creep - (1957)
• Jay Score - (1941)
• Last Blast - (1952)
• Late Night Final - (1948)
• A Little Oil - (1952)
• Meeting on Kangsham (1965)
• Metamorphosite - (1946)
• Minor Ingredient - (1956)
• Now Inhale - (1959)
• Nuisance Value - (1957)
• Panic Button - (1959)
• Plus X - (1956)
• Study in Still Life - (1959)
• Tieline - (1955)
• The Timid Tiger - (1947)
• Top Secret - (1956)
• The Ultimate Invader - (1954)
• The Undecided - (1949)
• U-Turn - (1950)
• The Waitabits - (1955)
• The Man Who (Almost) Never Was - (2000) - essay by Mike Resnick

Somewhere a Voice is a collection of Russell's works.

Contents:

• 1 - Eric Frank Russell Writes (Somewhere a Voice) - essay
• 7 - Somewhere a Voice - (1953) - novelette
• 7 - Somewhere a Voice - interior artwork by Frank Kelly Freas
• 59 - U-Turn - (1950) - shortstory
• 59 - U-Turn - interior artwork by Frank Kelly Freas
• 73 - Seat of Oblivion - (1941) - novelette
• 73 - Seat of Oblivion - interior artwork by Frank Kelly Freas
• 97 - Tieline - (1955) - shortstory
• 97 - Tieline - interior artwork by Frank Kelly Freas
• 106 - Displaced Person - (1948) - shortstory
• 106 - Displaced Person - interior artwork by Frank Kelly Freas
• 110 - Dear Devil - (1950) - novelette
• 110 - Dear Devil - interior artwork by Frank Kelly Freas
• 151 - I Am Nothing - (1952) - shortstory
• 151 - I Am Nothing - interior artwork by Frank Kelly Freas

THREE TO CONQUER (Previously published as CALL HIM DEAD): It's the day-after-tomorrow in the USA. Wade Harper is a telepath, as far as he knows the only one in existence. He has managed to keep his paranormal abilities concealed, sure in the knowledge that his beloved government will try anything, including vivisection, to attempt to learn the source of his power. Until a chance encounter reveals to Harper that alien beings have invaded Earth --- and no one else on the planet can possibly detect them! Can he battle the menace without giving up his treasured secrecy?

The war has raged for nearly a year and Earth desperately needs an edge to overcome the Sirian Empire's huge advantage in personnel and equipment. That's where James Mowry comes in. Intensively trained, his appearance surgically altered, Mowry secretly lands on one of the Empire's planets. His mission: to sap morale, cause mayhem, tie up resources, and wage a one-man war on a planet of 80 million--in short, to be like the wasp buzzing around a car to distract the driver...and causing him to crash.

Sentinels from Space

A peril-packed novel by the acclaimed author of Men, Martians and Machines, the story involves an attack on Earth by both Venus and Mars -- and features sabotage squads with the ability to read thoughts, start fires by merely pointing a finger, and change their appearance to match anyone's. And now interplanetary agent David Raven is asked to outwit them all and restore peace.

The Ultimate Invader and Other Science-Fiction

Contents:

• The Ultimate Invader - (1954) - novella by Eric Frank Russell (variant of Design for Great-Day 1953)
• Alien Envoy - (1944) - novelette by Malcolm Jameson
• Malignant Marauder - novelette by Murray Leinster (variant of Dead City 1946)
• The Temporal Transgressor - novelette by Frank Belknap Long (variant of Bridgehead 1944)

Table of Contents:

• The Symbiote of Hooton - essay by Alan Dean Foster
• Mana - (1937) - shortstory
• Jay Score - (1941) - shortstory
• Homo Saps - (1941) - shortstory
• Metamorphosite - (1946) - novella
• Hobbyist - (1947) - novelette
• Late Night Final - (1948) - novelette
• Dear Devil - (1950) - novelette
• Fast Falls the Eventide - (1952) - shortstory
• I Am Nothing - (1952) - shortstory
• Weak Spot - (1954) - shortstory
• Allamagoosa - (1955) - shortstory
• Into Your Tent I'll Creep - (1957) - shortstory
• Study in Still Life - (1959) - novelette

Six Worlds Yonder

Stories in this collection:

• The Waitabits
• Tieline
• Top Secret
• Nothing New
• Into Your Tent I'll Creep
• Diabologic

The Space Willies

An Earthman's tongue is his deadliest weapon

There was a common understanding in the Space Navy that scout-pilots were a breed apart--cocksure, reckless, and slightly nuts. But it was also understood that when a really dangerous job had to be done, a scout-pilot was the man to do it.

So for John Leeming, a couple of months of dodging death in a one-man ship, zipping in and out of the enemy Combine's rearguard, was just another one of those jobs. And there was no man in the Universe more surprised than Leeming when his heretofore indestructible ship just gave up the ghost smack in the middle of a Combine-held prison planet!

It was then that the spirit of the Scout Corps had its chance to shine. With self-confidence as his only weapon, Leeming had only two choices: give in to the enemy and be captured...or quick-talk them into a real case of THE SPACE WILLIES!

Three to Conquer

It's the day-after-tomorrow in the USA. Wade Harper is a telepath, as far as he knows the only one in existence. He has managed to keep his paranormal abilities concealed, sure in the knowledge that his beloved government will try anything, including vivisection, to attempt to learn the source of his power. Until a chance encounter reveals to Harper that alien beings have invaded Earth --- and no one else on the planet can possibly detect them! Can he battle the menace without giving up his treasured secrecy?

Doomsday Eve

Williams' apocalyptic future is an Earth which has been at war for half-a-century, with just enough use of atomics to destroy cities and industries, but not enough to wipe out the planet--yet.

Stories are circulating in North America about strange people who seem to have even stranger abilites. Naturally the war government wants to find these people, if they exist, and conscript them. With manpower at a premium, a single intelligence agent, Kurt Zen, is sent to run down the rumors. To his astonishment, he discovers that every one of the far-fetched rumors was true, and that this band of "new people" represents normal humanity's only prayer for survival!

Contents:

• Jay Score
• Mechanistria
• Symbiotica
• Mesmerica

The novel concerns a future where the human race is owned and operated by the invisible Vitons, parasites that feed on human pain and anguish. The Vitons are only visible when humans come into contact with a certain combination of chemicals. After several people use the combination of chemicals painted on the skin and die, the person investigating the suspicious deaths is puzzled by the victims apparently insane actions.

He had no friends, only respect, but the terrible test of the Sun proved him a friend to have!

Originally appeared in Astounding Science-Fiction, May 1941 available on Internet Archives.

This short story appears in the following collections:

• Men, Martians and Machines, by Eric Frank Russell (1953)
• The Best of Eric Frank Russell, Eric Frank Russell (1978)
• Major Ingredients: The Selected Short Stories of Eric Frank Russell, by Eric Frank Russell (2000)

The explorers were equipped for strange and menacing animals. But not for the highly moral--if bloodthirsty--things of that world!

This short story appears in the collection, Men, Martians and Machines, by Eric Frank Russell (1953)

Originally appeared in Astounding Science-Fiction, January 1942 available free on Internet Archives.

The explorers had run into the machine civilization gone mad on Mechanistria, but this planet seemed safe. Not a machine anywhere, just jungles. And with their weapons, they didn't have to fear anything --

This short story appears in the collections:

• Men, Martians and Machines, by Eric Frank Russell (1953)
• The Great Science Fiction Stories Volume 5 1943, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg (1981)
• Adventures in Time and Space, edited by Raymond J. Healy, J. Francis McComas (1978)

This novelette originally appeared in Astounding Science-Fiction, October 1943 available free on Internet Archives.

In less than a century, 50 percent of the human race fled the aged and autocratic Terra, settling wherever they could establish a world of their own choosing. The following centuries result in hundreds of independent new civilizations--too independent for an ambitious Terran government out to conquer an empire.

A peril-packed novel by the acclaimed author of Men, Martians and Machines, the story involves an attack on Earth by both Venus and Mars -- and features sabotage squads with the ability to read thoughts, start fires by merely pointing a finger, and change their appearance to match anyone's. And now interplanetary agent David Raven is asked to outwit them all and restore peace.