Bug Jack Barron

In the face of an alien threat, Russia and a xenophobic US must work together to save humanity in “one of the better science fiction novels of the year” (Library Journal). In a near future where a paranoid America has sealed itself off from the rest of the world by a vast and complicated defense system, a young Russian scientist infiltrates all defenses to tell an almost unbelievable and truly terrifying story. At the outer reaches of the solar system, near Pluto, has been detected a superior form of intelligent life, far smarter than man and in possession of technology that makes it immune to attack from human weaponry and strong enough to easily destroy planet Earth. Can humans set aside their differences and mutual fears to work together and defeat a common enemy? For each generation, there is a writer meant to bend the rules of what we know. Hugo Award winner (Best Novel, Stand on Zanzibar) and British science fiction master John Brunner remains one of the most influential and respected authors of all time, and now many of his classic works are being reintroduced. For readers familiar with his vision, it is a chance to reexamine his thoughtful worlds and words, while for new readers, Brunner’s work proves itself the very definition of timeless.

The Great Tyrant rules the solar system with absolute terror. Only one man dares to fight back. The time is the 24th century. Humankind populates the entire solar system from icy Pluto to boiling Mercury. Great domed cities, humming factories, hordes of workers, all feed the power of the dictatorship that controls all life. Only a small group among the cowed population dares rebel in a struggle that pits democracy against tyranny. But there is a third force at work as well. A mysterious band of assassins whose final solution to the problem of humanity's fate is as terrifying as it is irresistible - one of them is known as the AGENT OF CHAOS.

Norman Spinrad's 1972 alternate history, gives us both a metafictional what-if novel and a cutting satire of one of the 20th century's most evil regimes . . . In 1919, a young Austrian artist by the name of Adolf Hitler immigrated to the United States to become an illustrator for the pulp magazines and, eventually, a Hugo Award-winning SF author. This volume contains his greatest work, Lord of the Swastika: an epic post-apocalyptic tale of genetic 'trueman' Feric Jagger and his quest to purify the bloodline of humanity by ruthlessly slaughtering races of the genetically impure - a quest Norman Spinrad expertly skewers through ironic imagery and over-the-top rhetoric. Spinrad hoped to expose some unpalatable truths about much of SF and Fantasy literature and its uncomfortable relationship with fascist ideologies - an aim that was not always apparent to neo-fascist readers. In order to make his aims clear to the hard-of-understanding, Spinrad added an imaginary critical analysis by a fictional literary scholar, Homer Whipple, of New York University.

Norman Spinrad describes the writing of his famous BUG JACK BARRON novel by answering three questions: "how did I come to write Bug Jack Barron? what urged me to do it? how do I hope to continue writing SF while bugging editors?" He goes on to explain the behind-the-scenes that went on with the book, which was banned in the UK. Originally one third of the booklet called "Experiment Perilous" with other contributions by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Alfred Bester, this "making of" offers great insights into the famed New Worlds era of science fiction as well as the publishing process, making it a must read for all readers and writers of science fiction.About the AuthorNorman Spinrad is the author of over twenty novels, including the acclaimed BUG JACK BARRON.He is a multiple nominee for both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for science fiction achievement, an American Book Award Nominee writer, and winner of the Prix Apollo. He has written scripts for Star Trek and produced two feature films. He has also published over 60 short stories collected in half a dozen volumes, and his novels and stories have been published in over a dozen languages.He has been President of Science Fiction Writers of America, Inc. (SFWA) three times. He is a tireless campaigner for authors' rights and is the creator of the "model contract" now in use by several writers' organizations. He's been a literary agent, President of World SF, briefly a radio phone show host, has appeared as a vocal artist on three albums, and occassionally performs live. He is a long time literary critic, sometime film critic, perpetual political analyst, and sometime songwriter.He grew up in New York, has lived in Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, and Paris, and travelled widely in Europe and rather less so in Latin America, Asia, and Oceania.

Updates Lentz's previous work (which Library journal said was producers, screenwriters, cinematographers, special effects technicians, make-up artists, art directors. III: film index. IV: TV series index. V: alternate title index. Science fiction writer Spinrad presents 13 essays, some previously published, examining particular works in the genre, aspects of the industry, and how they influence each other. Topics include critical standards, the visual expression in comic books and movies, modes of content, politics, and profiles of individual authors. No bibliography. Paper edition (unseen), $14.95. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR