Web of the Worlds & Rule Golden

Armchair Fiction presents extra large editions of classic science fiction double novels. The first novel is by sci-fi greats Harry Harrison and Katherine MacLean. “Web of the Worlds” is about an ordinary man swept into an alternate universe. He had always been something of a pampered individual, mild-mannered and physically daunted—his over-zealous mother had seen to that. However, that was before the Unicorn Ring lifted Grant O’Reilly’s life strand and shoved it down among the ghouls, Berl-Cats, space aliens, and other unearthly creatures that he soon found himself surrounded by. Now his utmost challenge was adopting to the new worlds he had been unwillingly thrust into. He must quickly develop the skills of a seasoned barbarian warrior or it would cost him his life. And it was only an untapped inner strength that could lead him back to the world he knew. The second novel is a Damon Knight tale, “Rule Golden.” A man in Des Moines, Iowa kicked his wife when her back was turned. She was taken to the hospital, suffering from a broken coccyx. Amazingly, so was he. In Kansas City, a youth armed with a .22 killed a schoolmate with one shot through the chest, then dropped dead himself. A mystery swept over the slaughterhouses of Chicago as workers began collapsing inexplicably. As one victim put it: “It felt just like I was hit in the head.” In St. Louis, a policeman shot down a fleeing bank robber, then collapsed. The bank robber died; the policeman’s condition was listed as critical. With a nifty little twist of humanity’s golden rule, “Do Unto Others,” Damon Knight once again brings another powerful tale to the table.