Maxima Library

A compendium of science fiction stories that combine elements of comedy and horror, including «Silence Please,» «Critical Mass,» and «What Goes Up»

Reach for Tomorrow is a 1956 collection of science fiction short stories by British writer Arthur C. Clarke. All the stories originally appeared in a number of different publications.

There are many ways to recapture the sheer fun that science fiction was back when it wasn’t even a bit respectable and the idea that Arthur C. Clarke would one day be Sir Arthur was more or less inconceivable. One of the best ways is to go back to a classic short story collection like this, with its bitterly ironic title story of archaeology and its misunderstandings—the classic «Breaking Strain» in which two spacemen struggle over supplies that will do for one—and «The Sentinel,» the story that acted as the seed for the late Stanley Kubrick’s collaboration with Clarke, «2001». Clarke always had a more delicate and poetic side, and this collection includes one of his finest stories along this vein, «Second Dawn,» in which telepathically gifted aliens without hands deal with the moral dilemmas of science. Many of the stories address a Space Age that never was—Clarke was assuming that things would happen later than they did, but that more would follow quicker; this in itself gives the book charm as an add-on to its considerable conceptual wit. Few short story collections are SF classics, but this is a major exception.

The plan was simple at first, and then, when we started, I knew that this conspiracy to hijack the Syndicate was the master of all of us. But I was smart... so damned smart, and I knew we could play with murder and not get burned!

New York Times bestselling author Max Allan Collins seamlessly blends fact and fiction to recreate the twentieth century’s most notorious crimes. Now, in this spellbinding tale of suspense, detective Nathan Heller leaves behind the glamour of Hollywood for a wild ride in the Windy City...


Chicago, 1950 — the target of America’s first-ever congressional inquiry into organized crime. Big trouble for anyone who knows where the bodies are buried, and Nate Heller has buried more than a few of them himself. He has no illusions about his civic — he prefers to stay alive and in business, mixing with the likes of starlet Jayne Mansfield and singer Frank Sinatra. But certain high-level gangsters, including Sam Giancana and the Fischetti brothers, aren’t so sure Heller will stay discreet
After all, the private eye’s partner, ex-cop Bill Drury, is cooperating with the feds in a big way. And soon Heller finds himself at the center of a federal squeeze play as Red-baiting senator Joe McCarthy weighs in with his own threats... and a strange hidden agenda When Drury becomes the target of Syndicate assassins, and a troubled showgirl is sadistically victimized, Heller stands up against the mob — not in court, but with his own brand of rough justice.


From the Ferris wheels and roller coasters of Riverview Park to the dark alleys and sleazy strip bars of the Near Northside, Chicago Confidential showcases Max Allan Collins, the “master of true-crime fiction (Publishers Weekly), at his innovative best.

Poul Anderson returns to the world of his acclaimed novel Operation Chaos with the tale of one family’s mission to the moon.

In a war waged against black magic, a werewolf and his witch wife are called upon to neutralize an enemy's ultimate weapon--the world's most powerful demon.

The Cool-Lam combo is beating it out again in a lively, ingenious mystery that will be music to the ears of all A. A. Fair — Erle Stanley Gardner fans...


Take the following ingredients:
• A $100,000 armored truck robbery
• Recovery of $50,000...
• Police accused of hijacking the remaining 50 G’s...
and you have an outraged Sgt. Frank Sellars of the Los Angeles Police who will brook no interference from one Donald Lam or Bertha Cool.
But Donald has a client in search of her “husband” and the dough he took with him — $50,000 or more — a coincidence that has too long an arm.
All Donald hopes is that it is one reach longer than that of the law...

Poul Anderson's stories are classics from the golden age of science fiction and beyond. A master storyteller, Anderson wrote tales ranging from the immediate to the distant future, from Earth to far-flung galaxies, from hard science fiction to fantasy - all the elements stirred and blended as only Anderson could! THE QUEEN OF AIR AND DARKNESS is the second volume of The Collected Works of Poul Anderson and collects his best works from a writing career that spans over 50 years.

A voyage to the South Pacific on a chartered Spanish yacht leads to unexpected adventures.

Fifteen-year old Septimus Quinn is not your everyday hero. He makes his mark aboard HMS Althea in spite of his spectacles, which he always wore when he wanted to think. His keenness for scientific experiments — no matter how successful — gets him in trouble with authority.

The Christmas Wreck (1886) is not a typical Christmas story. Stockton reminds us there's no use being in a hurry for a good wind or for Christmas, they'll both come when they're ready. Old Silas tells his passenger a tale as they are waylaid with slack sails.

В результате произошедшего землетрясения на виду у английского торгового судна появился неизвестный остров…

A solitary British destroyer fights a German U-boat in the remote expanses of the South Atlantic in WW II.
Patrolling at night, alone in a far reach of the Atlantic, the destroyer Hecate's radar picked up a small echo. Was it a fishing boat, hopelessly off course, or a vagary of the instrument itself, erratic in the heavy weather? Or was it a U-boat? Dawn revealed the truth; and the Hecate began a grim pursuit.
The Enemy Below is permeated with the smell of the sea, the tension of warships in action, the prolonged suspense of a duel between two resourceful enemies, so evenly matched that no one could foretell the outcome.

**From the *New York Times* bestselling author of *Dear Edward* comes a poignant and engrossing family story that asks: Can love make a broken person whole?** **" *Hello Beautiful* is exactly that: beautiful, perceptive, wistful. It 's a story of family and friendship, of how the people we are bound to can also set us free. I loved it."-Miranda Cowley Heller, author of *The Paper Palace*** William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him-so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it's as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable: Sylvie, the family's dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all. With the Padavanos, William experiences a…

After being forced to leave HMS *Dolphin* and Jaimy, her true love, Jacky Faber is making a new start at the elite Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls in Boston. But growing up on the streets of London and fighting pirates never prepared Jacky for her toughest battle yet: learning how to be a fine lady. *Everything* she does is wrong. Her embroidery is deplorable, her French is atrocious, and her table manners — disgusting! Then there's the small matter of her blue anchor tattoo. . Despite her best efforts, Jacky can't seem to stay out of trouble long enough to dedicate herself to being ladylike. But what fun would that be, anyway?

This is the story of one ship, from her birth in a small shipyard near Rochester to her death fifty years later in a breaker's yard at Rotherhithe (1782–1836). The ship was called Bellerophon, after the Greek hero who tamed the winged horse Pegasus, but the sailors had some difficulty in pronouncing her name and so she became known throughout the fleet as the 'Billy Ruffian' or 'Billy Ruff'n'. She achieved lasting fame in 1815 when Napoleon surrendered to her captain a few weeks after the battle of Waterloo but she already had a long and distinguished record and had earned the title 'the bravest of the brave'.

Fictionalization of the exploits of SMS EMDEN in WW I.
This German light cruiser cut a swath from China to Africa and back, before finally getting trapped in the Indian Ocean by HMAS SYDNEY.

After decades at seas, pirate legend Jose' Gasparilla is prepared to retire. As he and his crew split their treasure, the promise of one final prize lures the ship back into action. Little do they know that the purported riches are nothing but a trap set by the fledgling U.S. Navy!
With the crew decimated and the treasure scattered, a new leader must rise from the defeat. They'll go on one last adventure through unexplored Florida to the Keys. Can they stay one step ahead of enemies hell-bent on their destruction?
"A gripping tale of pirate adventure off the coast of 19th Century Florida!"
"Brilliantly written and fast-paced with plenty of action, three-dimensional characters, and plot twists galore. Keys natives and land lovers alike will dive headfirst into this daring escape saga."

Josh Chester loves being a Hollywood bad boy, coasting on his good looks, his parties, his parents' wealth, and the occasional modeling gig. But his laid-back lifestyle is about to change. To help out his best friend, Liam, he joins his hit teen TV show, Daylight Falls ... opposite Vanessa Park, the one actor immune to his charms. (Not that he's trying to charm her, of course.) Meanwhile, his drama-queen mother blackmails him into a new family reality TV show, with Josh in the starring role. Now that he's in the spotlight—on everyone's terms but his own—Josh has to decide whether a life as a superstar is the one he really wants.


Vanessa Park has always been certain about her path as an actor, despite her parents' disapproval. But with all her relationships currently in upheaval, she's painfully uncertain about everything else. When she meets her new career handler, Brianna, Van is relieved to have found someone she can rely on, now that her BFF, Ally, is at college across the country. But as feelings unexpectedly evolve beyond friendship, Van's life reaches a whole new level of confusing. And she'll have to choose between the one thing she's always loved ... and the person she never imagined she could.

Payne, twin sister of Vishous, is cut from the same dark, warrior cloth as her brother: A fighter by nature, and a maverick when it comes to the traditional role of Chosen females, there is no place for her on the Far Side… and no role for her on the front lines of the war, either.

When she suffers a paralyzing injury, human surgeon Dr. Manuel Manello is called in to treat her as only he can- and he soon gets sucked into her dangerous, secret world. Although he never before believed in things that go bump in the night- like vampires- he finds himself more than willing to be seduced by the powerful female who marks both his body and his soul.

As the two find so much more than an erotic connection, the human and vampire worlds collide … just as a centuries old score catches up with Payne and puts both her love and her life in deadly jeopardy.

Prepare to enter the dark passionate world of The Black Dagger Brotherhood and get up close and personal with each one of the Brothers…

You’ll find insider information on the Brotherhood, their dossiers, stats and special gifts. You’ll read interviews with your favorite characters, including a heartbreaking one with Tohrment and Wellsie, conducted three weeks before she was killed by lessers. You’ll encounter deleted scenes—accompanied by the whys behind the cuts—in addition to exciting material from the J.R. Ward message boards and the answers to questions posed by readers about the series. You’ll learn what it’s like for J.R. Ward to write each installment of the series, and in a fascinating twist, you’ll read an interview with the author—conducted by the Brothers. For the first time ever, you’ll get an original short story about Zsadist and Bella and see the miracle of their daughter Nalla’s birth and the depth of their love for each other. Also, you’ll get a sneak peek at the much anticipated next book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Revenge’s story.

This is a compendium no Black Dagger Brotherhood fan should miss…and an insider’s guide that will seduce you as powerfully as the sexy band of Brothers and the “ferociously popular” world they live in…

Poul Anderson wrote stories ranging throughout time and space, from the near future to the far future, tales set on Earth, other planets, and galaxies distant… sometimes with a bit of time travel added to the brew. Call me Joe is the first of a multi-volume compendium of Poul Anderson’s best works from a writing career that spans over 50 years and contains 26 stories, including: «Call Me Joe», «Enough Rope», «Starfog», «The Helping Hand», «The Man Who Came Early», «The Sharing of Flesh" (1969 Hugo winner), «Time Patrol», «Tomorrow’s Children», «Wildcat».

In this collection, Ben Bova has compiled fourteen of his favorite short stories. Each story includes an all-new introduction with compelling insight into the narrative.

VOLUME #3 IN A STERLING COLLECTION OF STORIES FROM LEGENDARY HARD SCIENCE FICTION MASTER BEN BOVA.

VOLUME #2 IN A STERLING COLLECTION OF STORIES FROM LEGENDARY HARD SCIENCE FICTION MASTER BEN BOVA.

VOLUME 1 IN A STERLING COLLECTION OF STORIES FROM LEGENDARY HARD SCIENCE FICTION MASTER BEN BOVA.

A volume of eleven stories from the Hugo Award-winning science fiction author that explore inner space, future worlds, and the peculiar lives of robots.

This collection of stories from the Hugo Award–winning science fiction author ranges from alien planets to the more peculiar corners of the American landscape.

This sterling collection of fantastic stories by the multiple Hugo and Nebula Award-winning master showcases some of Simak’s finest short fiction, from his earliest published tales to his later masterworks. In the wry…

Ten thrilling and intriguing tales of space travel, war, and alien encounters from multiple Hugo Award–winning Grand Master of Science Fiction Clifford D. Simak.

R. L. Stine’s story “Roomful of Witnesses” clearly demonstrates that while truth isn’t always stranger than fiction, the strangest fiction always contains a kernel of truth. Based on a real place, this twisted tale could only have been written by R. L. Stine and reveals his wonderfully off-kilter look at the world. Best known for the nearly three hundred million children’s books sold, he has an uncanny ability to write pulse-pounding stories that keep you turning the pages without ever losing that childlike obsession with the gory details. Why do so many kids love everything this man writes? Turn the page and find out.

В книге рассказывается об истории открытия одного из самых обширных архипелагов Арктики. От первого похода помора Саввы Лошкина до плавания вокруг Новой Земли знаменитого полярного путешественника Владимира Александровича Русанова, — таков путь новоземельских изысканий.

Большое внимание уделено исследованиям В. Баренца, Г. В. Поспелова, Ф. П. Литке, П. К. Пахтусова, А. К. Цивольки, доставивших науке первые сведения о фауне и флоре островов, их геологическом строении, климате, промысловых богатствах.

Монография посвящена сравнительно-типологическому рассмотрению генезиса и классических форм средневекового романа Запада и Востока XI—XII вв. Анализируются средневековые формы романа французского, немецкого, византийского, персидского, азербайджанского, грузинского, японского. Выявляются основные этапы развития средневекового романа, национальная специфика отдельных памятников

"England, my England" is a collection of stories by published by D.H. Lawrence in 1922. Most of the stories were written against the backdrop of the World War I.