Free summaries
Science-Fiction & Fantasy — page 5
446 public-domain science-fiction & fantasy books, summarised. Page 5 of 10.
Galactic Ghost
Walter Kubilius
The phantom ship of the void is not a legend but a mirror, catching those who drift too long in the abyss. For the lost, the promise of rescue is the final, cruelest trick of the stars.
Gramp
Charles V. De Vet
This poignant science fiction story explores the fragile boundary between a child’s innocent trust and the manipulative corruption of an adult he idolizes. It captures the heavy cost of being different in a world that fears the unknown.
War No. 81-Q
Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger
In a future where war has been reduced to a regulated, bloodless spectacle, two nations compete for a global monopoly. The outcome hinges on a single, inexperienced pilot commanding remote-controlled aerial machines.
Disturbing Sun
Robert S. (Robert Shirley) Richardson
A medical doctor and a radio astronomer trace human waves of irrational rage and depression directly to mysterious, invisible emissions from the sun.
Gone Fishing
James H. Schmitz
A con man expects a simple payday when he blackmails a reclusive scientist, but he finds himself the captive of a cosmic experiment instead. Marooned for five years on a remote, alien world, he must survive both the solitude and the transformation of his own character.
Gods of the jungle
Nelson S. Bond
A stray crash in the wartime skies of Burma drops two American pilots into an ancient, time-bending sanctuary where modern friction meets prehistoric empire.
Oneness
James H. Schmitz
A captured interstellar missionary uses a mysterious mental philosophy to force a rigid totalitarian Earth government into negotiations.
The Beginning
Henry Hasse
The discovery of a tool is a miracle that promises liberation, yet it carries the seeds of an inevitable, recurring disaster. This story tracks the dawn of human invention and the darkness that follows when ingenuity outpaces wisdom.
Cubs of the Wolf
Raymond F. Jones
Can a handful of pacifist servants tame a galaxy of ruthless pirates using only the weapon of love?
Gourmet
Allen Kim Lang
Aboard a cramped spaceship bound for Mars, the crew's daily survival depends entirely on recycled algae and the bitter psychological war between an exacting captain and his tormented cook.
Grandma's lie soap
Robert Abernathy
A potent homemade soap strips away the comfort of deception, forcing an entire civilization to speak absolute truth with terrifying global consequences.
They Also Serve
Donald E. Westlake
An alien base commander on the Moon waits impatiently as humanity edges toward nuclear self-destruction, desperate to claim Earth’s resulting radioactive fallout for his own species' expansion.
The Fool
David Mason
HOOK A well-meaning Earthman attempts to reform a violent, alien culture through love and education, only to find himself deified by the very people who murdered him.
The man who knew everything
Randall Garrett
HOOK A freak accident with a secret military invention turns a forgetful nobody into the world’s most dangerous repository of classified information.
A Bad Day for Vermin
Keith Laumer
A peaceful first contact with extraterrestrial life turns into a sudden, violent confrontation, forcing a small-town community to grapple with the legal and moral definition of a person. This sharp, satirical narrative examines how prejudice and institutional order shape our reactions to the unknown.
A Great Day for the Irish
Alice L. (Alice Lightner) Hopf
A professional entomologist must reconcile her rigid adherence to planetary quarantine regulations with a charming, rule-breaking gardener when a mysterious blight threatens the survival of a burgeoning space colony.
The magnificent profession
Theodore L. Thomas
In the high-stakes, surreal corridors of the Patent Office, a young lawyer discovers that securing a patent for a revolutionary machine is far more dangerous than the invention itself.
The Second Voice
Mann Rubin
An acclaimed ventriloquist agrees to lend his unique performance range to a military scientific test, only to discover that broadcasting into deep space carries consequences no one anticipated.
Adolescents Only
Cox, Irving E., Jr.
A frustrated schoolteacher discovers a crashed alien vessel, only to find his rowdy students have accidentally ingested the secrets of a dying civilization, triggering a global crisis of gold and chaos.
Cultural Exchange
Jesse F. (Jesse Franklin) Bone
HOOK When a routine survey mission to a beautiful, uncharted planet turns into a psychological invasion, a space captain must fight a silent war for his mind and his ship.
Definition
Damon Knight
When a mysterious alien force arrives to convert the galaxy to a philosophy of absolute peace, two humans must outwit an idea that is far more dangerous than any weapon.
On the Fourth Planet
Jesse F. (Jesse Franklin) Bone
This story depicts a desperate, slow-moving world where survival is a matter of inches and energy efficiency. It is a taut, imaginative exploration of what happens when a scavenger species encounters a relic of a lost, high-technology age.
So They Baked a Cake
Winston K. (Winston Kinney) Marks
A misanthropic journalist joins the crew of the first starship, only to discover that the cold vacuum of space holds a reunion more personal—and absurd—than he ever anticipated.
The color of space
Charles R. Tanner
A scientist kidnapped by a geopolitical rival finds himself aboard a vessel hurtling toward Venus, where he must outsmart a captor using elaborate illusions to steal his life’s work.
The cybernetic kid
John Jakes
The story of a seven-year-old math prodigy finding unlikely liberation through the schemes of two small-time hucksters, this science-fiction tale explores the friction between rigid academic expectation and the chaotic, necessary freedom of childhood. It captures a mid-century vision of the future—complete with…
The Slizzers
Jerome Bixby
Alien parasites live among humanity undetected, harvesting human vitality during moments of peak joy.
Wheels Within
Charles V. De Vet
The mind is a labyrinth, but perhaps the walls are not as solid as they seem. This story follows a man whose waking life crumbles under the weight of a persistent, impossible memory of a city he has never visited.
Doorstep
Keith Laumer
A military commander, desperate for career advancement, confronts a mysterious alien object that lands on Earth. His inability to perceive anything beyond a threat leads to a catastrophic misunderstanding with permanent consequences.
Sign of Life
Dave Dryfoos
The death-winds of Venus scream as a stranded astronaut faces his final hours. In the wreckage of his ship, he encounters bizarre, rhythmic creatures and attempts a desperate, silent communication to preserve his mission’s legacy.
Summer Guests
James H. Schmitz
A sudden, miraculous arrival interrupts a bored salesman’s humdrum vacation, but the wonder of a close encounter with visitors from another dimension quickly curdles into a desperate, silent battle for survival.
The Happy Clown
Alice Eleanor Jones
In a society where absolute conformity is synonymous with happiness, a young man struggles to hide his individuality from a system that views dissent as a disease. This story follows his desperate attempt to remain himself before the machinery of perfection ultimately claims him.
Blood lands
Alfred Coppel
A lone starman confronts the horrific truth about a lost colony, where a desperate, regressed human population has traded its humanity to survive. The planet Kana is not merely a home; it is a predator.
Game preserve
Rog Phillips
A bright, observant boy trapped in a world of intellectual decay desperately seeks connection with the mysterious "game wardens" who hunt his kind for sport.
Revolt of the Devil Star
Ross Rocklynne
The path to understanding the universe, and perhaps life itself, lies not in the stars, but in the dark, rebellious impulses of one’s own mind. Death, it seems, is merely the final, defiant choice.
The Freelancer
Robert Zacks
In a dystopian future where common idioms are legally protected intellectual property, a struggling freelancer monitors the speech of his fellow citizens to turn their clichés into his own financial survival.
A Matter of Taste
Stecher, L. J., Jr.
The cosmos holds dangers that transcend mere physical threats, and sometimes the most sophisticated insurance policy requires a truly unorthodox adjuster to settle the claim. A lone operative arrives on a hostile, ice-bound planet to resolve a dispute between a desperate human mining expedition and an alien race…
Handyman
Frank Banta
Trapped on a desolate, war-torn Earth, a convict and a robotic craftsman engage in a repetitive cycle of destruction and repair that mirrors the futility of their abandoned existence.
Star of Rebirth
Bernard Wall
This brief, evocative science fiction narrative explores the intersection of myth, survival, and the profound loneliness of being human in a cold, indifferent universe. It is a story of faith tested to the breaking point and the unexpected, transformative nature of discovery.
The Carnivore
Katherine MacLean
In the aftermath of humanity’s self-inflicted extinction, a sole survivor awakens to find her world inherited by terrified, peace-loving aliens. She soon discovers that their offer of salvation is merely a mask for a final, calculated containment.
A Spaceship Named McGuire
Randall Garrett
A pilot is hired to protect a headstrong heiress and solve the sabotage of a robotic spaceship, only to discover the ship has a mind—and a very specific, stubborn personality—of its own.
Hanging by a Thread
Randall Garrett
HOOK A simple, overlooked mechanical flaw leaves a cargo ship drifting in the void. Five survivors face a desperate race against physics to fix their only beacon before their air runs out.
Explorers into infinity
Ray Cummings
A group of inventors unlocks the secrets of time and space, launching a daring voyage into the unfathomable reach of the cosmic infinite to rescue a girl trapped in a terrifying, alien dimension.
Try to remember!
Frank Herbert
When an alien vessel lands and threatens Earth with destruction, humanity’s best minds realize that survival depends on transcending the limitations of human speech.
Young Man from Elsewhen
Sylvia Jacobs
A weary, elderly man on a train journey strikes an unlikely deal with a mysterious traveler, trading his crumbling health for two weeks of youthful vitality. This is a story about the weight of time and the desperate hunger for a final, vibrant act of living.
Young man with a trumpet
Frank Belknap Long
After humanity vanishes from the Earth, the remaining animals attempt to reclaim the cultural legacy of their creators. This fable explores the nature of art, genius, and the persistence of beauty in a world left behind.
The Answer
H. Beam Piper
The haunting shadow of a long-past nuclear catastrophe finds a mirror in a modern scientific experiment, forcing two aging physicists to confront the terrifying possibility that humanity destroyed itself over a natural phenomenon.
The Untouchable
Stephen A. Kallis
An inventor's gift becomes an unreachable paradox when a device that slips through solid matter accidentally turns itself permanently beyond human physical touch.
Cargo to Callisto
Jerome Bixby
When vicious alien criminals escape captivity on Mars by possessing human bodies, a mild-mannered regional buyer discovers a bizarre mental block that makes him their ultimate target.