Prospero’s Isle

"Clothes Make People (Kleider machen Leute)" by Gottfried Keller (1874) - one of the most famous German-language stories now available in English
This famous story by the Swiss writer Gottfried Keller (1819-1890) was first published in 1874 in the second volume of his collection of stories (...)
This famous story by the Swiss writer Gottfried Keller (1819-1890) was first published in 1874 in the second volume of his collection of stories The People of Seldwyla about the mores and adventures of the people of the mythical but (...)
This famous story by the Swiss writer Gottfried Keller (1819-1890) was first published in 1874 in the second volume of his collection of stories The People of Seldwyla about the mores and adventures of the people of the mythical but somehow very typical Swiss town of that name. It recounts (...)

"The Weapon Shops of Isher" (1949) - a major golden-age novella by A. E. van Vogt never before republished!
This long, well-developed novella, revisiting the saga of the mysterious "Weapon Shops" organization that acts as a check-and balance on the (...)
This long, well-developed novella, revisiting the saga of the mysterious "Weapon Shops" organization that acts as a check-and balance on the powers of the world-dominant Isher dynasty some 7000 years in the future, was first (...)
This long, well-developed novella, revisiting the saga of the mysterious "Weapon Shops" organization that acts as a check-and balance on the powers of the world-dominant Isher dynasty some 7000 years in the future, was first published as the cover story of the February 1949 issue of Thrilling (...)

"The Weapon Shop" (1942) by A. E. van Vogt
One of van Vogt’s iconic stories, this theme of a mysterious "Weapon Shop" organization, subtly fighting to oppose by advanced technological, (...)
One of van Vogt’s iconic stories, this theme of a mysterious "Weapon Shop" organization, subtly fighting to oppose by advanced technological, ideological and organisational means the overreaching tyranny of a populist-style family (...)
One of van Vogt’s iconic stories, this theme of a mysterious "Weapon Shop" organization, subtly fighting to oppose by advanced technological, ideological and organisational means the overreaching tyranny of a populist-style family dictatorship, provided the central theme to a number of works by (...)

The funniest golden-age s-f story: "The Proud Robot" (1943) by Henry Kuttner (Lewis Padgett)
We just loved this lively and often frankly hilarious account of how a very gifted (when under the influence of the demon Drink) scientist (...)
We just loved this lively and often frankly hilarious account of how a very gifted (when under the influence of the demon Drink) scientist struggles to come to grips with the wackiness of his almost-perfect robot - which he had just (...)
We just loved this lively and often frankly hilarious account of how a very gifted (when under the influence of the demon Drink) scientist struggles to come to grips with the wackiness of his almost-perfect robot - which he had just created with quite extraordinary powers, for a purpose which (...)

"Away and Beyond" - A. E. van Vogt’s other great 1952 anthology (the complete text)
This outstanding collection of nine of van Vogt’s best golden-age science-fiction stories was published in 1952, as a sort of companion volume to (...)
This outstanding collection of nine of van Vogt’s best golden-age science-fiction stories was published in 1952, as a sort of companion volume to Destination Universe, his first short-story anthology published earlier that same year. (...)
This outstanding collection of nine of van Vogt’s best golden-age science-fiction stories was published in 1952, as a sort of companion volume to Destination Universe, his first short-story anthology published earlier that same year. Curiously, almost all editions of Away and Beyond printed (...)

"Destination Universe!" - the full text of A. E. van Vogt’s superb first anthology of his science-fiction short stories (1952)
With the original magazine texts, artwork and covers of each story. ---- TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION by A. E. van Vogt. 1. Far Centaurus (...)
With the original magazine texts, artwork and covers of each story. ---- TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION by A. E. van Vogt. 1. Far Centaurus (1944) Getting to Centaurus on a spaceship can take a long time indeed, and when you get (...)
With the original magazine texts, artwork and covers of each story. ---- TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION by A. E. van Vogt. 1. Far Centaurus (1944) Getting to Centaurus on a spaceship can take a long time indeed, and when you get there, there will be surprises! (7,700 words). 2. The (...)

The complete short stories and novelettes of Jack London - synopses, comments and ratings
Jack London (1876-1916) wrote an almost incredible number of short stories and novelettes (199) before his premature death at the age of 40, as (...)
Jack London (1876-1916) wrote an almost incredible number of short stories and novelettes (199) before his premature death at the age of 40, as well as novels (13), novellas (5) and a considerable number of essays, plays, poems, and (...)
Jack London (1876-1916) wrote an almost incredible number of short stories and novelettes (199) before his premature death at the age of 40, as well as novels (13), novellas (5) and a considerable number of essays, plays, poems, and articles. [1] The sheer volume of his output and the wide (...)

"The Monster" (1948) - A. E. van Vogt’s best short story (the full text)
This golden-age story, first published in the August 1948 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, was considered by its author to be one of his best (...)
This golden-age story, first published in the August 1948 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, was considered by its author to be one of his best - an opinion we heartily concur with. It was later republished in some anthologies as (...)
This golden-age story, first published in the August 1948 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, was considered by its author to be one of his best - an opinion we heartily concur with. It was later republished in some anthologies as Resurrection, but it appeared in van Vogt’s first anthology of (...)

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