New Arrivals, Old Encounters

Twelve exciting science fiction stories by the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author of the Helliconia trilogy, Hothouse, and Non-Stop.

“Aldiss offers up tales of humanity’s possible futures, in visions ranging from apocalyptic to comic. . . . Quite stunning. . . . Overall, the book demonstrates Aldiss had more range as a storyteller than many of the field’s popular practitioners at the time.” —Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Reviews

There is much to be learned through travel. In New Arrivals, Old Encounters,Science Fiction Grand Master Brian W. Aldiss takes readers on adventures to fantastical new worlds. Here are twelve tales that provide stunning vantage points from which to view the shadowy realms of human nature . . .

An idyllic planet is visited by humans who play terrible music in the title story. A time traveler forges a friendship with an ancient Chinese poet in “The Small Stones of Tu Fu.” “Amen and Out” tells of a machine-dominated world where everyone prays to talking shrines, and an acid head’s immortal ancestor reveals some troubling truths. A tourist becomes involved with the Tahitian underworld when his family leaves him behind and the bureaucracy won’t allow him to leave in “A Spot of Konfrontation.” The crew of Earth’s first interstellar mission returns home after 120 years away to find a world radically different from when they left in “Three Ways.”

With humor and imagination, Aldiss leads readers from Earth to the stars and back again on a riveting journey that shows what makes mankind tick.

“The wit is often brilliant, the sense of humor is usually informed by a zest for living and a nice awareness of the distance between man’s intellectual reach and his emotional grasp.” —Robert Nye, The Guardian