PDF Books in Space Opera Fiction
The Last Plunge
by Samuel J. SackettWhen you are only about ninety degrees from absolute zero, it is not hot, despite the fact that the sun is shining down on you twenty-four hours a day. The answer to this riddle is that you are on Uranus, in the arctic circle, where the sun is a bright star almost directly overhead. And what are you doing on Uranus? You need the money.Nils Borgmann..
The Pioneer
by Irving E. CoxThe old ship wheezed and clattered into the landing slot. Greg was an expert pilot, but skill was no substitute for outdated equipment. He unstrapped the safety webbing and eased himself out of the cabin, cluttered with its worn and scarred electronic gadgetry. With the handcrank he opened the airlock. Rusting metal screamed as the panel slid back ..
Gunnison's Bonanza
by Dick PurcellGunnison had certainly done his part. He was shrewd, daring, ruthless, if the need arose. He was clever and tireless, ever seeking out coups and strikes. But his coups never quite came off. And someone always beat him to the strikes. Once on Pluto he arrived at a diamond field well in advance of the pack but the Johnny-come-latelies walked away wit..
Secret of the Martians
by Paul W. FairmanMalloy's eyes brooded. "The thing started as a result of privileges and stupidity, the way most things of this sort do. As you know, Mars is the only planet in the Federation without representation because the Martians refused to represent themselves. They wanted no part of the alliance." Malloy glanced up quickly. "How's your knowledge of the Mart..
The Man Who Saved the Earth
by Austin HallWe read of the days when the powers of radium were yet unknown. It is told us that burns were produced by incautiously carrying a tube of radium salts in the pocket. And here in this story we are told of a different power, opalescence, due to another element. It can destroy mountains, excavate cavities of immeasurable depths and kill human beings a..
The First
by Edward W. LudwigThe city was enchanted. It was a colossal music box blaring forth a thousand chants of victory. It was a rainbow torn down from the sky and poured over the earth. It was a magic nursery through which eager-eyed children swarmed to behold a sparkling new toy.Three spacemen, three conquerors-to-be, sat stiffly in the back seat of a blue-bannered conv..
King of the Hill
by James BlishThat, as we reconstructed it afterwards, is how the SV-1 affair began. It was pure luck, I suppose, that Gascoigne sent his message direct to us. Civilian Intelligence Group is rarely called into an emergency when the emergency is just being born. Usually Washington tries to do the bailing job first. Then, when Washington discovers that the boat is..
Glow Worm
by Harlan EllisonThe men who knew no other answer stayed and fought. They were the ones who fathered the Attilas, the Genghis Khans, the Hitlers. They were the ones who pushed the buttons and launched the missiles that chased each other across the skies, fell like downed birds, exploded, blasted, cratered, chewed-out and carved-out the face of the planet. They were..