Most Popular Books by Theodore Sturgeon

Six misfits, one powerful entity. An award-winning novel about belonging by “one of the greatest writers of science fiction and fantasy who ever lived” (Stephen King). Individually, they are a seemingly simpleminded young man living in the woods who can read the thoughts of others, a runaway girl with telekinetic powers, twin girls who can barely speak but can teleport across great distances, and an infant with a mind like a supercomputer. Together, they are the Gestalt—a single extraordinary being comprised of remarkable parts—although an essential piece may be missing . . . But are they the next stage in human development or harbingers of the end of civilization? The answer may come when they are joined by Gerry. Powerfully telepathic, he lacks a moral compass—and his hatred of the world that has rejected him could prove catastrophic. Winner of the International Fantasy Award and considered Theodore Sturgeon’s masterpiece, More Than Human is a genre-bending wonder that explores themes of responsibility and morality, individuality, and belonging. Moving and suspenseful, lyrical and provocative, the novel was one of the first to elevate science fiction into the realm of literature, and inspired musicians and artists, including the Grateful Dead and Crosby, Stills and Nash. From the Nebula Award–winning author of Godbody, The Dreaming Jewels, and other great works of science fiction, this is an unforgettable reading experience and a must for anyone who enjoys Ramsey Campbell, Robert Silverberg, or Philip José Farmer. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Theodore Sturgeon including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the University of Kansas’s Kenneth Spencer Research Library and the author’s estate, among other sources.

Written between 1955 and 1957, the 15 stories in And Now the News ... include five previously uncollected stories along with five well-known works, two cowritten with genre legend Robert Heinlein. Spanning his most creative period, these tales show why Sturgeon won every science fiction award given.

Sci-fi master Theodore Sturgeon wrote stories with power and freshness, and in telling them created a broader understanding of humanity—a legacy for readers and writers to mine for generations. Along with the title story, the collection includes stories written between 1953 and 1955, Sturgeon''s greatest period, with such favorites as "Bulkhead," "The Golden Helix," and "To Here and the Easel."

Volume III features stories written between 1941 and 1946, for John W. Campbell''s magazines Astounding and Unknown. Sturgeon is regarded as the finest science fiction and fantasy writer of the century, and this series gathers out-of-print stories in chronological order with extensive notes.

One of the Horror Writers Association’s Top 40 Horror Books of All Time—the story of a troubled soldier and his bizarre, violent obsession with vampirism. At the height of an unnamed war, a soldier is confined for striking an officer. Referred to as George Smith in official papers and records, the prisoner comes under the observation of Army psychiatrist Philip Outerbridge, who asks the young man to put his story down on paper. The result is a shocking tale of abuse, violence, and twisted love, a personal history as dark and troubling as any the doctor has ever encountered. Believing the patient to be dangerously psychotic, Dr. Outerbridge must dig deeper into his psyche. And when the truth about the strange case of George Smith is fully revealed, the results will be devastating. Told through letters, transcripts, and case studies, Some of Your Blood is an extraordinary, poignant yet terrifying, genre-defying novel. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Theodore Sturgeon including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the University of Kansas’s Kenneth Spencer Research Library and the author’s estate, among other sources.

By the winner of the Hugo, the Nebula, and the World Fantasy Life Achievement Awards, this latest volume finds Theodore Sturgeon in fine form as he gains recognition for the first time as a literary short story writer. Written between 1957 and 1960, when Sturgeon and his family lived in both America and Grenada, finally settling in Woodstock, New York, these stories reflect his increasing preference for psychology over ray guns. Stories such as "The Man Who Told Lies," "A Touch of Strange," and "It Opens the Sky" show influences as diverse as William Faulkner and John Dos Passos. Always in touch with the zeitgeist, Sturgeon takes on the Russian Sputnik launches of 1957 with "The Man Who Lost the Sea," switching the scene to Mars and injecting his trademark mordancy and vivid wordplay into the proceedings. These mature stories also don''t stint on the scares, as "The Graveyard Reader"—one of Boris Karloff''s favorite stories—shows. Acclaimed novelist Jonathan Lethem''s foreword neatly summarizes Sturgeon''s considerable achievement here.

Baby Is Three is the sixth volume in the series devoted to the complete works of one of science fiction''s titans. Like others in the series, this one includes extensive notes and background information on each story by editor Paul Williams. The early 1950s, during which this material was written, was the beginning of Sturgeon''s greatest creative period. The title story for this collection was later expanded into the International Fantasy Award winning novel More Than Human. Sturgeon''s whimsical, sardonic sense of humor lifts his work out of the mundane realm of genre science fiction. This wide-ranging collection shows precisely why he has been cited as a primary influence by authors as varied as Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, and Carl Sagan.

The second of a planned 10 volumes that will reprint all Sturgeon''s short fiction covers his prolific output during 1940 and 1941, after which he suffered five years of writer''s block. Showcasing Sturgeon''s early penchant for fantasy, the first six selections include whimsical ghost stories, such as "Cargo," in which a World War II munitions freighter is commandeered by invisible, peace-loving fairies. With the publication of his enduring SF classic, "Microcosmic God," Sturgeon finally found his voice, combining literate, sharp-edged prose with fascinating speculative science while recounting the power struggle between a brilliant scientist, who creates his own miniature race of gadget makers, and his greedy banker. Voice found or not, every one of the stories here is readable and entertaining today because of Sturgeon''s singular gifts for clever turns of phrase and compelling narrative. As Samuel R. Delaney emphasizes in an insightful introduction, Sturgeon was the single most influential SF writer from the 1940s through the 1960s.

Wondrous, horrifying, achingly human: The best short stories by “one of the greatest writers of science fiction and fantasy who ever lived” (Stephen King). One of science fiction’s most beloved trailblazers, Hugo and Nebula–Award winning author Theodore Sturgeon wrote novels and short fiction that inspired and amazed readers and critics alike. In Selected Stories, thirteen of Sturgeon’s very best tales have been gathered into one collection: Here are stories of love and darkness, transcendence and obsession, alien contact and human interaction. In the devastating wake of a nuclear holocaust, an actress performs her swan song before a small audience of survivors. A machine is possessed and intent upon destruction. Humankind’s place in the vast cosmos is explored, as is the strange humanity of evil. In the author’s acclaimed story “The Man Who Lost the Sea,” a life is reconstructed in bizarre shattered fragments. And in “Slow Sculpture,” Sturgeon’s award-winning classic, a breast cancer patient surrenders to a healer’s most unorthodox methods. Lyrical, often witty, frequently provocative, and always surprising, Selected Stories covers a wide range of human and inhuman emotion and experience, deftly traversing the borders between science fiction, dark fantasy, and horror. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Theodore Sturgeon including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the University of Kansas’s Kenneth Spencer Research Library and the author’s estate, among other sources.

A desperate boy escapes his abusive home by joining a carnival and is drawn into a dark conspiracy in this tale by “a master storyteller” (Kurt Vonnegut). Though only eight years old, little Horton “Horty” Bluett has known a lifetime of sadness. Tormented and abused by his adoptive family, he’s had enough—and with a beloved broken toy he calls “Junky” as his sole companion, the desperate little boy runs away to join a carnival. There, among the fortune tellers, fire-eaters, sideshow freaks, and assorted “strange people,” Horty hopes to find acceptance and, at long last, a real home. But disgraced doctor Pierre “Maneater” Monetre’s traveling show is no ordinary entertainment, and its performers are not what they appear to be. The Maneater has sinister plans for the world that go far beyond fleecing unsuspecting rubes and other easy marks—a dark and terrible scheme that requires unleashing the extraterrestrial power of the dreaming jewels, and the unwitting assistance of a young boy who may be far more remarkable than he’s ever imagined. The full-length debut by Theodore Sturgeon, a legendary writer who won Nebula and Hugo Awards and authored such classics as More Than Human, this journey into a circus of shadows is “an intensely written and very moving novel of love and retribution” (The Washington Star). This ebook features an illustrated biography of Theodore Sturgeon including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the University of Kansas’s Kenneth Spencer Research Library and the author’s estate, among other sources.

I was fourteen then. I was sitting in the car waiting for Dad to come out of the hospital. . . She was hanging out of a window on the second floor of a near ell of the hospital. Her hair was dank and stringy, her eyes had mud in them, and her teeth were beautiful. She was naked, at least to the waist. She was saying "Mister!" and she was saying it to me. The Perfect Host is a dark and chilling story of madness and possession. Theodore Sturgeon was one of the most influential genre authors of his time and this surprising story will show you why.

Thunder and Roses is the fourth volume in The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon. Included in Thunder and Roses are 15 stories, with major works like "Maturity," "The Professor''s Teddy Bear," "A Way Home," and the title story, in addition to two works never published before.

Theodore Sturgeon was a model for his friend Kurt Vonnegut’s legendary character Kilgore Trout, and his work was an acknowledged influence on important younger writers from Harlan Ellison and Robert Silverberg to Stephen King and Octavia Butler. His work has long been deeply appreciated for its sardonic sensibility, dazzling wordplay, conceptual brilliance, memorable characters, and unsparing treatment of social issues such as sex, war, and marginalized members of society. Sturgeon also authored several episodes of the original Star Trek TV series and originated the Vulcan phrase “Live long and prosper.” This twelfth volume of North Atlantic’s ambitious series reprinting his complete short stories includes classic works such as the award-winning title story, which won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 1971, as well as “Case and the Dreamer,” a well-crafted tale of an encounter with a trans-spatial being that is also a meditation on love, and “The [Widget], the [Wadget], and Boff,” a creative exploration of the human ability to achieve self-realization in response to crisis. The book includes a new Foreword, an illuminating section of Story Notes, and a comprehensive index for the entire series.

From Hugo and Nebula winner Theodore Sturgeon comes a seeming utopia: a world with only one gender and no poverty, pollution, or war—but at what cost? Charlie Johns has been snatched from his home on Earth and delivered to the strange future world of Ledom. Here, violence is a vague and improbable notion. Technology has triumphed over hunger, overpopulation, pollution, and even time and space. But there is a change Charlie finds even more shocking: Gender is a thing of the past. Gone are the tensions between male and female. Gone is the human preoccupation with sex. As Charlie explores Ledom and its people, he finds his engrained human precepts are profane in this new world. But then why are his hosts so eager for his approval? Something isn’t right about Ledom’s ideal existence. And when cracks begin to appear in its flawless facade, Charlie must unearth the city’s terrible secrets . . . before it’s too late. Theodore Sturgeon’s visionary tale is literary science fiction at its most brazen and inventive. A scathing critique of American puritanism that unabashedly explores questions of sexuality and gender, it remains as relevant, insightful, provocative, and troubling as when it first appeared in print. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Theodore Sturgeon including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the University of Kansas’s Kenneth Spencer Research Library and the author’s estate, among other sources.

The arrival of a mysterious savior transforms a small town in this provocative parable from “a master storyteller certain to fascinate” (Kurt Vonnegut). Everything changes when Godbody comes to town. He appears out of nowhere, enigmatic and breathtaking, to touch the lives of a chosen few. To them he offers a vision of what life could be—spreading his message of love, generosity, sensuosness, and freedom—and before long he has erased their sadness and opened their hearts. Still, there are those in town who, corrupt and powerful, are threatened by what Godbody brings, and for this reason he must pay the ultimate price. But before his preordained end, Godbody will accomplish something truly miraculous. The final book of Theodore Sturgeon’s fabled career, published posthumously, Godbody is a powerful, moving, thought provoking, and sweetly erotic tale of love, truth, and otherworldly second comings that, once read, will never be forgotten. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Theodore Sturgeon including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the University of Kansas’s Kenneth Spencer Research Library and the author’s estate, among other sources.

A collection of the early works of Theodore Sturgeon, acclaimed Grand Master of Science Fiction—featuring forewords by Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke Although Theodore Sturgeon''s reach was limited to the lengths of the short story and novelette, his influence was strongly felt by even the most original science fiction stylists—including Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, and Gene Wolfe. Written from 1937 to 1940, the stories here showcase Sturgeon''s masterful knack for clever, O. Henry-ish plot twists, sparkling character development, and almost archetypal, “Why didn''t I think of that?” story ideas. Early Sturgeon masterpieces include “It,” a story about the violence done by a creature spontaneously born from garbage and mud, and “Helix the Cat,” about an inventor''s bizarre encounter with a disembodied soul and the cat that saves it. Featuring more than forty stories, The Ultimate Egoist is a timelessly entertaining tour through the early career and unique genius of this legend of science fiction.

Jeremy Jedd stood in the igneous dust of the spaceport margin, staring into the sky and shading his eyes with his arm. Occasionally he checked the time by his ristkron, shaking it to make sure it was wound, craning back toward the hunched Customs House and the great clock. The sign there announced placidly that the Pinnacle had reported, was overdue, and would discharge passengers at Gate Three.

A Nebula Award–winning author reinvents the alien invasion novel with this story of a malevolent, galaxy-consuming hive mind—and its surprising human hosts. Drunk, angry, abusive, and pathetic, Dan Gurlick exists at the very lowest level of human civilization, sleeping in junkyard cars and scrounging through garbage cans for his dinner. But his last rotting meal contains something unexpected: a spore that originated from a galaxy many light-years away. First, Dan eats the spore, then, the spore eats Dan; and the homeless alcoholic becomes a host for the Medusa. An insatiable alien hive mind, the Medusa has already consumed the life forms of a billion planets. Now, it hungers for the dominant species of Earth. But to do so, it must somehow unite the planet’s intelligent creatures into a single shared consciousness: an assignment the miserable wretch Dan may prove surprisingly capable of carrying out. To Marry Medusa is suspenseful, inventive, and surprisingly compassionate; a vibrant and unforgettable exploration of what it means to be more—or less—than human. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Theodore Sturgeon including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the University of Kansas’s Kenneth Spencer Research Library and the author’s estate, among other sources.

Kurt Vonnegut cites Theodore Sturgeon as the inspiration for his character Kilgore Trout. This volume includes 12 stories from 1953, considered Sturgeon''s golden era. Among them are such favorites as the title story, "The Silken-Swift," "A Way of Thinking," "The Dark Room," "The Clinic," and "The World Well Lost," a story very ahead of its time in advocating gay rights.

This book contains ten major stories by the master of science fiction, fantasy, and horror written during the 1960s. The controversial “If All Men We re Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister?” shows the author’s technique of “ask the next question” used in a way that shatters social conventions. “When You Care, When You Love” offers a prescient vision of the marriage of deep obsessive love and genetic manipulation, written long before actual cloning techniques existed. “Runesmith” constitutes a rare example of Sturgeon collaborating with a legendary colleague, Harlan Ellison. Included also are two other rarities: two detective stories and a Western that showcase Sturgeon’s knack for characterization and action outside his usual genre. “Take Care of Joey” has been read as an allusion to the complex personal relationship between Sturgeon and Ellison, while “It Was Nothing, Really!” hilariously skewers the mores of the military-industrial complex. As always, these stories demonstrate not only Sturgeon’s brilliant wordplay but also his timeliness, with “Brown-shoes” and “The Nail and the Oracle” standing out as powerful commentaries on the use and abuse of power that might have been written yesterday.

DIVThe novel that began as a radio hoax, Theodore Sturgeon’s I, Libertine is a hilarious erotic romp through the royal boudoirs of eighteenth-century London/divDIV Inspired by a notorious radio hoax in the mid-1950s, popular radio host and prankster Jean Shepherd exhorted his faithful listeners to approach their local booksellers the next morning and request copies of the historical novel I, Libertine by Frederick R. Ewing—a book that had never been written, by an author who had never been alive. The hoax was so successful that I, Libertine became the talk of the town, even earning the unique distinction of being banned by the Archdiocese of Boston, despite the fact that it didn’t yet exist. Now there was nothing left to do but write the thing . . . and fantasy and science fiction legend Theodore Sturgeon was called in to work his magic./divDIV /divDIVOriginally written pseudonymously, Sturgeon’s I, Libertine is a glorious tale of close shaves, daring escapes, and wildly licentious behavior. It covers the bawdy misdeeds of Captain Lance Courtenay as he carelessly romps through the royal court and the bedchambers of London’s finest ladies. Chock-full of wicked wit and Sturgeon’s trademark twists and turns, it is a hilarious, picaresque adventure that Ewing himself would certainly have been proud to call his own, if he had existed./divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an illustrated biography of Theodore Sturgeon including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the University of Kansas’s Kenneth Spencer Research Library and the author’s estate, among other sources./div

Welcome to "Amazing Tales Volume 154", a captivating anthology that explores themes of justice, innovation, and survival in extraordinary circumstances. Each story invites you to journey through intriguing landscapes and pivotal moments where human resilience is tested. In "The Sky Was Full of Ships" by Theodore Sturgeon, we follow Gordon Kemp, a man from the city caught in the harsh desert courtroom of Switchpath, Arizona. Here, dirt-farmers and prospectors become judges and jurors, as Kemp''s life hangs in the balance. With the ominous threat of the gas chamber looming, Kemp narrates a gripping tale of mystery surrounding the death of Alessandro Sykes. Transitioning to the red planet, "Memory" by Theodore Sturgeon presents Jeremy Jedd, a business visionary facing a dire crisis on Mars. As he waits at the spaceport for the overdue Pinnacle, a letter reveals a rival''s impending technological advancement that could dismantle his life''s work. Jedd''s story is a tense race against time and innovation where the stakes are sky-high. Finally, "Righteous Plague" by Robert Abernathy thrusts us into a world where a lethal virus indiscriminately decimates populations. Amid the chaos, a group of prisoners confronts their bleak destiny under the cold gaze of masked soldiers. This haunting narrative explores themes of societal collapse and the thin veneer of civilization when faced with a relentless plague. Each of these stories in "Amazing Tales Volume 154" unravels a unique tapestry of human experience, drawing readers into worlds where the unexpected becomes reality.

A collection of "poems through history inspired by objects--earthly and celestial--reflecting the time in which each poet lived"--Amazon.com