Una bomba superatomica viene lanciata, da una nazione sconociuta, su una piccola città americana dove si cela un centro per le ricerche atomiche. L’esplosione ha per effetto di rompere la continuità del tempo e sbalestrare la piccola città, intatta, in un’epoca dell’avvenire, a milioni di anni nel futuro, in una Terra morente e arida, inabitabile e deserta. La Federazione delle Stelle, che governa tutti i mondi del futuro, interviene per evacuare la popolazione della città su un altro pianeta. Ma la popolazione si ribella, e, con l’aiuto di uno scienziato del futuro, alla Terra morente viene iniettata una potente carica atomica che ha la virtù di riscaldarla nuovamente. Gli ultimi superstiti rimangono quindi sulla Terra rinata e la vita degli abitanti della piccola città può riprendere il suo corso normale, nella eterna storia dell’Universo.

Curt Newton, in quest of a friend lost inside Vulcan, faces the most insidious dangers he has ever known in his entire galactic career!

Von Sonnen geboren, von unvorstellbaren Kräften, Drücken, Temperaturen, atomaren Bedingungen, innerhalb der mächtigen Sonnen. Geboren als Endprodukte einer Evolutionskette, die beinahe so alt war wie das Universum; Gruppierungen von Photonen, die Bewußtsein erlangten, Individualität und Willenskraft. Ihre Körper bestanden aus Energie, nicht aus Materie. Ihre Sinne hatten nichts zu tun mit Gesichtssinn oder Gehörsinn. Ihre Bewegung war ein müheloses Gleiten, so schnell wie die Photonen des Lichts selbst…

The pleasant little American city of Middletown is the first target in an atomic war—but instead of blowing Middletown to smithereens, the super-hydrogen bomb blows it right off the map—to somewhere else! First there is the new thin coldness of the air, the blazing corona and dullness of the sun, the visibility of the stars in high daylight. Then comes the inhabitant’s terrifying discovery that Middletown is a twentieth-century oasis of paved streets and houses in a desolate brown world without trees, without water, apparently without life, in the unimaginably far-distant future.

Hamilton’s novel inspired Robert A. Heinlein’s survivalist novel “Farnham’s Freehold”.

An amazing weird mystery story, packed with thrills, danger and startling events.

Being expelled from an air lock into deep space was the legal method of execution. But it was also the only way a man could qualify for—The Legion Of Lazarus

Helpless, doomed, into the graveyard of space floats the wrecked freighter .

Grim death was the only romance to be found on this world that boasted a thousand moons

ZVAIGŽŅU KARAĻI Edmonds HAMILTONS ĀRZEMJU FANTASTIKAS SĒRIJA I GRĀMATA RĪGA 1993.g. Tulkojusi Aija Bārda, Valdis Čeičs Mākslinieces U. Jākobsones vāka zīmējums (veltīts tēva piemiņai) A Bērziņas datorsalikums Hamiltons E. Hami 326 Zvaigžņu karaļi. /Tulkojusi A.Bārda, V.Čeičs. — R.: Hermess, 1993., 272 lpp. (Ārzemju fantastikas sērija, 1. grāmata) Ar šo pazīstamā amerikāņu rakstnieka — fantasta Edmonda Hamiltona darbu izdevumu pie lasītājiem ceļu sāk jauna fantastikas literatūras sērija. Izdevējfirma "Hermess'' ir gādājusi, lai beidzot arī latviski būtu izlasāms kaut kas no labāko rietumu fantastikas rakstnieku sacerētā. Tagad sevišķi aktuāli skan Alberta Einšteina vārdi, ka krīzes brīžos svarīgāka par zināšanām var būt tikai iztēle. Iztēle, kas spēj aizraut mūs pāri laikiem, un, pārvarot cilvēka prātam tik tikko aptveramus attālumus, izvadāt pa brīnumainajām pasaulēm. Iztēle, kas ne tikai uzbur neredzētus Visuma skatus un izdomā aizvien jaunas briesmas šādos fantāzijas ceļojumos, bet allaž spēj tās laimīgi novērst. Tomēr galvenais laikam ir tas, ka arī šajā fantāzijas lidojumā Kosmosa aizraidošā lieliskuma, cilvēka, kā ari nehumanoīdo būtņu radītās varenās tehnikas vidū cilvēks joprojām paliek cilvēks. Viņa rīcību ietekmē ne tikai dažādi apsvērumi un pienākums, bet ari vājības, jūtas, kaislības. Un tikai tā jau veidojas katra neatkārtojamais liktenis… Mēs ļoti ceram, ka, izlasot mūsu piedāvātās grāmatas, jums būs kļuvusi lielāka gan prāta, gan sirds pieredze. Ka jūsbūsit kļuvuši kaut nedaudz izturīgāki šajā strauji mainīgajā un tagad ari riskantajā dzīvē. © Tulkojums latviešu valodā un vāka zīmējums "Hermess" 1993.g.

...This was the way it always started. First he would see them and the air would thicken. Then the image of them bound. Then came the screaming and the Red Room would appear with the glittering, new meathook waiting just for them. And there in the Red Room he could play for as long as he wanted...

This volume also contains the short ­stories 'The Filmmakers' & 'Writer's Block'.

Review

Graphic and gruesome, Hamilton's novel explores voyeurism, sexual predators, child abuse, murder, torture - things I wasn't expecting in a horror novel from Australia. It's not that they don't have horror novels Down Under. It's just that this one is so lean and mean. Spare Key is actually only 170 pages - there are two short stories, The Filmmakers and Writer's Block included (nasty little stories they are as well). But Spare Key is the eye-opener. Think if Edward Lee had a child who grew up Down Under and you might get the general idea of just how horrifying this book is - sexually explicit and violent with an ending I really didn't see coming. --Fatally Yours, September 16th, 2009

But don't be fooled. Hamilton sets out to shock and disgust, making this material limited to a tailored horror audience. The violent sexual nature of many events throughout these stories may see readers placing Spare Key in the "too nasty" basket. So what realm of disgusting and shocking are we talking here? Probably somewhere between Stephen King's darker moments and Bret Easton Ellis's least shocking, and I'm not surprised to find these two authors on Hamilton's list of influences. --[As if!], July 1st, 2009

R. Frederick Hamilton is a young writer going at it hard and heavy in a competitive market. There's a lot of promise in this, his first book. Mark the name down, Hamilton is going to be a voice to be reckoned with in the coming years. --Scary Minds, January 15th, 2010

Soy la princesa Meredith, heredera del trono de mi país si soy capaz de mantenerme con vida para reclamarlo. Mi primo, el príncipe Cel, está determinado a que no lo consiga. Mientras los dos vivamos, deberemos competir por la corona. El primero de nosotros que tenga descendencia será el que consiga el trono. Así que ahora, los hombres de mi guardia real, temibles guerreros hábiles con las armas y los hechizos, se han convertido en mis amantes, en una placentera carrera para conseguir ser el futuro rey y padre de mi hijo. Además, deben protegerme contra los intentos de asesinato, porque a diferencia de la mayoría de los sidhe, soy humana en parte, y muy mortal.

Puede que me conozcas como Meredith Nic Essus, princesa del reino de las Hadas. O quizás, como Merry Gentry, detective privado de Los Ángeles. Tanto en el Mundo de las Hadas como en el mundo de los mortales, mi vida es objeto de intrigas reales y dramas célebres. Entre los míos, me he enfrentado a enemigos terribles, soportado la traición y maldad de mi familia y cumplido con el deber de engendrar un heredero… todo por el derecho de reclamar el trono. Pero le he dado la espalda a la Corte y a la corona, eligiendo el exilio en el mundo de los humanos… y en brazos de mis amados Frost y Oscuridad.

Puede que haya rechazado la monarquía, pero no puedo abandonar a mi gente. Alguien está matando hadas, lo que tiene desconcertado al Departamento de Policía de Los Ángeles y profundamente trastornados a mis guardias y a mí. Los de mi especie no son fáciles de matar o capturar… al menos, no por mortales. He de llegar al fondo de este espantoso asunto, aunque eso signifique enfrentarme a Gilda, el Hada Madrina, mi rival por la lealtad de las hadas de la ciudad de Los Ángeles.

Pero suceden las cosas más extrañas. Mortales a los que una vez sané usando la magia, de pronto obran milagros, un impactante fenómeno que siembra el caos en las relaciones entre humanos y hadas. Aunque yo soy inocente, soy sospechosa de realizar actividades mágicas ilícitas.

Creía que había dejado atrás la sangre y la política en mi turbulento reino. He soñado con llevar una vida idílica en la soleada ciudad de Los Ángeles al lado de mis amados. Pero ha llegado el momento de despertar y darme cuenta de que el mal no tiene fronteras y de que nadie vive para siempre… ni siquiera si son mágicos.

A serial killer is hunting the Pacific Northwest, murdering victims in a gruesome and spectacular way. The local police suspect "monsters" are involved, and have called in Anita Blake and Edward, US Marshals who really know their monsters, to catch the killer.

But some monsters are very real. The Harlequin have been the bogeymen of the vampire world for more than a thousand years; they are a secret so dark that even to speak their name can earn you a death sentence. Now they are here in America, hunting weretigers, and human police.

The Harlequin serve the Mother of All Darkness, the first vampire. She was supposed to be dead, but only her body was destroyed. Now she needs a new one, and she's decided that Anita Blake's is the body she wants. Edward thinks the serial killings are a trap to lure Anita closer to the most dangerous vampire they've ever hunted. The vampires call Edward "Death," and Anita the "Executioner," but Mommy Darkest is coming to kill one, and possess the other, and she doesn't care how many others have to die along the way.

Let's face it — some bonds are made to be broken.

Here, for the first time ever, are four stories from today's most provocative authors that take the classic idea of the 'faerie tale wedding' and give it a swift kick in the bustle.