Thrilling Adventures on Other Worlds!
Here is a pair of never-before-reprinted book-length novels from the fabled 1950s science fiction pulp, Other Worlds. Written by Stuart J. Byrne, famed for his "thought-variant stories" featuring original ideas or original takes on standard science fiction ideas, these two long lost classics combine vintage high adventure with solid science (based on his years in the Aerospace industry), and more than a dash of metaphysics. Find out for yourself why Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, said, "I'd stand in line in the rain for one of 'Stu' Byrne's stories."
In the first novel, Shahn arrives on Earth to find it has been infiltrated and is being secretly ruled by "The Metamorphs," vampiric beings who feed on the life forces of intelligent beings. Shahn is one the last survivors of the Narlan, an advanced people with psychic powers, who destroyed their own planet and most of their race to prevent the spread of the Metamorphs to other worlds. For the Narlan themselves are the source of the Metamorphs; ever since a terrible interplanetary cataclysm, every time the Narlan mate physically and psychically the dread Metamorphs arise from the union.
Betrayed from the moment of his arrival by the few Narlan who have landed on Earth, Shahn resolves to destroy the Metamorphs once and for all. His only hope of winning lies in the Narlan woman who has taken the name Lillian—if he can trust her, or control his growing physical and psychic attraction to her. Be prepared for ideas that challenged the limits of the field when the story was first published, and remain daring even today.
Then, in The Naked Goddess, Byrne poses the question: Who will win the spaceman's heart—the Earth woman or the irresistible star goddess? When plain Jerry Fitzgerald and the handsome Bob Kelly went hunting for flame crystals on a distant world, they never expected to encounter Sunn lal, the bewitching star goddess. Next to her, the beautiful Yvonne Mayban seemed as meek and dull as a wallflower! Scorning Yvonne, both men were willing to do anything to possess Sunn-lal, even murder! But the goddess yearned only for Kelly, her handsome but scornful enemy, and laughed at ugly Fitzgerald who truly loved her.
Yet fate has a way of laughing at spacemen. Before their quest for flame crystals is over both men will end up possessing Sunn-lal! One will win the woman of his dreams and untold happiness. The other will win the woman of his nightmares and face a hideous death! But first they must discover the surprising connection between the woman and the goddess...
Here is more thought-provoking, action-packed science fiction from the veteran science fantasy author of the bestselling Star Man series, Last Days of Thronas, and Alpha Trap, as well as Star Quest and other masterworks.