Originaltitel: DIMENSION OF MIRACLES

Цивилизация, която съществува зад огледалото… Извънземни, самонастанили се в човешки дом… Кутия с хора, попаднала на планета, населена с богове… Ако сте чели „Недокоснат от човешки ръце“, „Крадец във времето“ или „Задай глупав въпрос“, вероятно ще се досетите, че само въображението на Робърт Шекли може да създаде подобни сюжети. Като всичко, написано от него, последните му разкази отново преобръщат реалността, криволичейки между абсурдното и смешното, магическото и реалното, измислицата и действителността. … предшественикът на Дъглас Адамс, чийто „Пътеводител на галактическия стопаджия“ изглежда като изваден от вселената на Шекли

“Most of Seakirk’s inhabitants were indifferent to the spectacle of corruption in high places and low, the gambling, the gang wars, the teen-age drinking. They were used to the sight of their roads crumbling, their ancient water mains bursting, their power plants breaking down, their decrepit old buildings falling apart, while the bosses built bigger homes, longer swimming pools and warmer stables. People were used to it…” Robert Sheckley, A Ticket To Tranai

First appeared in Galaxy Magazine, 1957/7. A part of Notions: Unlimited collection of science fiction short stories by Robert Sheckley. It was first published in 1960 by Bantam Books

This time the humans are taking the offensive! Stan Myakovsky is a once-famous scientist fallen on hard times. Now he dodges spaceship repo men and dreams of the marketability of his cybernetic ant. Then a woman named Julie Lish walks into his life. She is beautiful, mysterious, and totally amoral. She is also skilled in the arts of thievery and Oriental self-defense. What's more, she has a plan so outrageous there might be one chance in a million to pull it off. Together Stan and Julie become the most unlikely pair of pirates in the universe. With a hijacked spaceship and a crew of hardcase misfits, they’re searching for the ultimate pot of gold at the end of a bloody intergalactic rainbow: royal jelly from an alien hive. The only problem is that the fortune lies on the universe’s most godforsaken planet. And once they get their hands on it, they’ll have to fight their way past the aliens to get off the planet alive

It's well established now that the way you put a question often determines not only the answer you'll get, but the type of answer possible. So ... a mechanical answerer, geared to produce the ultimate revelations in reference to anything you want to know, might have unsuspected limitations

A man looking for psychotherapy is accidentally sold a Martian therapeutic machine — with unexpected consequences. First published in Galaxy 1956/7 The story was published in 1957 by Bantam Books as a part of the Pilgrimage to Earth collection of science fiction short stories by Robert Sheckley

When people talk about getting away from it all, they are usually thinking about our great open spaces out west. But to science fiction writers, that would be practically in the heart of Times Square. When a man of the future wants solitude he picks a slab of rock floating in space four light years east of Andromeda. Here is a gentle little story about a man who sought the solitude of such a location. And who did he take along for company? None other than Charles the Robot

Wie gewinnt man den 1. Preis im Millenium-Wettbewerb der allerübelsten Tat? Der listige Dämon Elbub schickt einen Märchenprinzen auf die Reise zu einer verwunschenen Prinzessin und sorgt für mehr als eine unangenehme Überraschung

Citizen in Space is a collection of science fiction short stories by Robert Sheckley. It was first published in 1955 by Ballantine Books (catalogue number 126). It includes the following stories (magazines in which the stories originally appeared given in parentheses): 1. "The Mountain Without a Name" (1955) 2. "The Accountant" (F&SF 1954/7) 3. "Hunting Problem" (Galaxy 1955/9) 4. "A Thief in Time" (Galaxy 1954/7) 5. "The Luckiest Man in the World" (Fantastic Universe 1955/2; also known as "Fortunate Person") 6. "Hands Off" (Galaxy 1954/4) 7. "Something for Nothing" (Galaxy 1954/6) 8. "A Ticket to Tranai" (Galaxy 1955/10) 9. "The Battle" (If 1954/9) 10. "Skulking Permit" (Galaxy 1954/12) 11. "Citizen in Space" (Playboy 1955/9; also known as "Spy Story") 12. "Ask a Foolish Question" (Science Fiction Stories No. 1, 1953)

Published in Playboy 1969/12 Included into Can You Feel Anything When I Do This? science fiction short stories collection, published in December 1971 by Doubleday

If easy payment plans were to be really efficient, patrons' lifetimes had to be extended!

An anthology of stories Extreme sports. Extreme future. Extreme collection. Science fiction's most expert dreamers envision the computerized, high-risk games of the future in this winning collection. Features Robert Sheckley, Cory Doctorow, Kate Wilhelm, Alastair Reynolds, Vernor Vinge, Jonathan Letham, Gwyneth Jones, William Browning Spencer, Allen Steele, Terry Dowling, and Jason Stoddard

Titel des amerikanischen Originals: Store of Infinity

Compared with a spaceship in distress, going to hell in a handbasket is roomy and slow!

He said he wasn't immortal—but nothing could kill him. Still, if the Earth was to live as a free world, he had to die

Of all the irksome, frustrating, maddening discoveries—was there no way of keeping it discovered?