Free summaries
Science-Fiction & Fantasy — page 6
398 public-domain science-fiction & fantasy books, summarised. Page 6 of 9.
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.
Catalysis
Poul Anderson
On a freezing, desolate outpost of Triton, a sudden and mysterious drop in temperature threatens a community of isolated scientists with a silent, frozen death.
Crack of doom
Stephen Marlowe
An ordinary suburban morning turns surreal as an average man discovers the human race has been quietly replaced by something vastly superior—and utterly heartless.
Escape From Pluto
William Oberfield
Exiled to the freezing wastes of Pluto by the triumphant Planetary Combine, former Martian dictator Marcius Kemble receives a ship from the planet's hidden inhabitants—only to discover too late that Plutonian technology is built from substances that melt in the warmth of the inner solar system.
Keep Out
Fredric Brown
Humanity bioengineers a new generation of children to inherit Mars, only to discover that adapting their bodies also redefines their loyalties.
The Recruit
Bryce Walton
A rebellious sixteen-year-old receives his draft call to become an executioner in a society that licenses teenagers to hunt down and eliminate its undesirables.
Not a Creature Was Stirring
Dean Evans
The end of the world arrives on a quiet, dusty Nevada afternoon, catching a lone gold miner entirely by surprise. He steps out of his mine to find the sky turned a sickly, purplish-gray and the rest of humanity rendered utterly, frozenly still.
Brown John's Body
Winston K. (Winston Kinney) Marks
The ultimate predator finds himself trapped in his own fortress, left to the mercy of the only creature he ever bothered to understand.
The Faces Outside
Bruce McAllister
An aquarium serves as a crucible for a stolen human couple, whose emerging psychic power inadvertently dismantles a galactic empire.
The Wheel is Death
Roger D. Aycock
The cycle of progress is a trap, a dangerous illusion that promises comfort but delivers only total annihilation. To preserve humanity, its survivors must permanently abandon the restless intellect that birthed the machine.
Hero From Yesterday
Randall Garrett
A peaceful, conflict-free future society desperate to stop a ruthless tyrant plucks a ruthless killer from the twentieth century to commit cold-blooded murder.
Slaves of Mercury
Nathan Schachner
A lone survivor returns to a transformed planet only to find his home bound in alien chains.
The Back of Our Heads
Stephen Barr
Traveling through time and consciousness, an immortal emissary of a vast collective hive-mind observes human history, becoming entangled in the recurring cycles of civilization, conflict, and the fragile bonds of mortal life.
The giant world
Ray Cummings
When a message cylinder drops from the sky, an ordinary postal worker joins an urgent rescue mission into a universe nestled inside a single atom.
Unspecialist
Murray F. Yaco
Two elite space patrol officers are saddled with a thoroughly unspecialized, spacesick passenger on a mundane freight run, only to stumble upon a hidden alien armada that threatens human civilization.
Never meet again
Algis Budrys
A weary scientist escapes a totalitarian regime, only to find himself trapped in a different, equally suffocating reality where his own genius becomes a weapon for his captors.
The Green Door
Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman
A forbidden door hidden in a quiet farmhouse opens directly into the perils of early colonial New England, curing a restless child of her discontent.
Vital Ingredient
Charles V. De Vet
This story follows three interstellar observers who encounter a primitive native on a low-gravity planet. In an attempt to correct a physical injury they accidentally inflicted, they inadvertently doom the creature they intended to save.
Let There Be Light
H. B. (Horace Bowne) Fyfe
The future belongs to those who adapt, but for the remnants of humanity, progress is no longer a goal—it is merely a resource to be harvested.
The Engineer
Frederik Pohl
The deep-sea oil industry faces an existential threat as a subatlantic drilling station begins to collapse under the pressure of the ocean floor, while the man in charge chooses to ignore the reality of the disaster.
The Man Who Made the World
Richard Matheson
A lonely, unremarkable man claims he has authored the entire universe in a fit of boredom. His encounter with a skeptical doctor leads to a reality-shattering conclusion that challenges the nature of existence itself.
Nobody saw the ship
Murray Leinster
A solitary extraterrestrial visitor arrives on Earth to harvest a rare, life-saving hormone, only to be thwarted by the planet’s most overlooked inhabitants: insects and a humble shepherd’s dog.
The Frogs of Mars
Roger D. Aycock
The experience of the unknown often hides in plain sight, masquerading as a local nuisance until the reality of an impossible world finally forces its way through the screen.
The Outbreak of Peace
H. B. (Horace Bowne) Fyfe
Space Marshal Wilbur Hennings prepares for a high-stakes diplomatic conference, where the true conflict lies not in the battlefield, but in the meticulously orchestrated theater of peace.
Where the Phph Pebbles Go
Miriam Allen De Ford
A civilization of masters realizes their beloved pastime has been accidentally broadcasting evidence of their existence to the cosmos, forcing them to weaponize their own game to protect their status quo.
Escape Mechanism
Charles E. Fritch
In this psychological science fiction story, a lonely woman living in a futuristic, sterile society discovers that her carefully constructed reality is a fragile shield against a traumatic, repressed history.
Homecoming Horde
Robert Silverberg
In this claustrophobic piece of mid-century science fiction, a solitary man obsessed with his radio discovers the terrifying reach of an alien invasion. As his connections across the globe vanish, he learns that survival is not just a matter of locking the door, but of facing an incomprehensible end.
Short Snorter
Charles Einstein
An extraterrestrial visitor finds sanctuary in a quiet hotel, proving that Earth’s inhabitants are far more interested in the currency of another world than the reality of his arrival.
The giftie gien
Malcolm Jameson
A boastful, self-important sales manager finds that in the afterlife, his reputation is not what he imagined. He is forced to confront the collective, unflattering reality of how others truly perceived him.
The Good Work
Theodore L. Thomas
In a world of 350 billion people, a man struggles to maintain his sense of purpose. When he finally secures government employment, he finds that his role is more ironic than he ever imagined.
Thirty Degrees Cattywonkus
James Bell
When a mysterious, flickering door appears in their new home, a young couple finds themselves caught in a bureaucratic nightmare bridging two dimensions.
Security
Ernest M. Kenyon
A brilliant scientist trapped in a high-security facility discovers that the only way to survive the crushing weight of state censorship is to encode his life’s work into the language of an unrelated field.
Warrior Race
Robert Sheckley
A stranded pair of travelers discovers that the most terrifying army in the galaxy is one that fights by destroying itself. To survive, they must navigate a culture where surrender is a sin and suicide is the ultimate act of war.
Instant of Decision
Randall Garrett
HOOK A secret agent discovers a device containing the terrifying history of his own civilization, forcing him to confront the possibility that his entire world is merely a meticulously staged historical reenactment.
Final exam
Merwin, Sam, Jr.
A political leader’s quiet life is upended when alien visitors arrive, revealing that his most trusted confidants are not of this world. This story marks the beginning of humanity’s final examination.
Jackie sees a star
Marion Zimmer Bradley
A young boy’s vivid, persistent imaginary friend becomes a global sensation when his detailed cosmic predictions manifest as a real-world astronomical event. The story explores the friction between childhood wonder, parental skepticism, and the cold scrutiny of the scientific community.
Killer
James E. Gunn
A man flees his past only to find himself trapped in a paradise that reflects his own fractured psyche. This haunting tale examines the destructive power of projection and the thin line between love and lethal obsession.
The Anglers of Arz
Roger D. Aycock
The crew of the Marco Four lands on the lush, moonless planet of Arz, only to find themselves unwitting participants in a bizarre, daily ritual of predation that defies their initial scientific assumptions.