Showing results by author "Mack Reynolds" in All Categories

Ten classic science fiction stories.

Status Quo is a sharp satirical sci-fi story that explores the absurdity of a society obsessed with status and superficiality. Government agent Larry Woolford thinks he has everything figured out—until he stumbles upon a secret conspiracy threatening the very foundations of civilization. Can he stop the rebels before they overthrow the system, or is change inevitable? A witty and thought-provoking classic of speculative fiction.

4 Science Fiction Stories by Mack Reynolds

Prescott stood to make a young fortune if he could capture a Martian zloor - dead or alive! Was there a catch to it? Only for the hunter!

Maw Coy climbed the fence down at the end of the south pasture and started up the side of the creek, carrying her bundle over her shoulder and puffing slightly at her exertion. She forded the creek there at the place where Hank's old coon dog, Jigger, was killed by the boar three years ago during the hunting season. Jumping from rock to rock across the creek made her puff even harder; Maw Coy wasn't as young as she once was.

Unfortunately, there was only one thing he could bring back from the wonderful future… and though he didn't want to…nevertheless he did...

Some writers of science fiction turn out to be reasonably accurate prognosticators of the future. In Mack Reynolds’ Mercenary, the elite 1 percent control the wealth of the nation and thus the nation. War as we know it has been eliminated, and disputes between nations, unions, and corporations are settled on a battlefield by mercenary soldiers with pre-1900 weapons. These battles are televised, and the combatants become heroes, not unlike NFL players. Meet Joe Mauser, one of the best of the best; a tactician and gun for hire.

One can't be too cautious about the people one meets in Tangier. They're all weirdies of one kind or another. Me? Oh, I'm A Stranger Here Myself!

A gun is an interesting weapon; it can be hired, of course, and naturally doesn't care who hires it. Something much the same can be said of the gunman, too....

Island One, the U.S.'s first space colony and symbol of an American renaissance, is in trouble. Low morale, shoddy workmanship, unexplained malfunctions, and avoidable accidents have become a way of life, and nobody seems to know why. Is it the Russians? Home-grown anti-technologists? Arabs afraid of cheap solar power from space - or something even more sinister?

On a future Earth wracked by strife and shortages, Roy Cos buys into a lifetime of ease through the Deathwish Policy, but his privileged status makes him a target for killers hired by the elite Worldgov.

It's a crooked road to world peace...but it works. Warfare between nations has been banned. Taking its place are the Corporate Wars - full-scale battles between mercenary armies hired by large corporations, ostensibly to settle trade disputes. But the wars are also free entertainment for the masses. In a world where most jobs have been taken over by automation, free tranquilizers have to be issued to the vast lower class to keep them subdued.