Series: Penguin Science Fiction

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is a seminal work of dystopian fiction that has sparked imaginations and influenced numerous twentieth-century authors. Set in the distant future, the novel unfolds in OneState, a monolithic glass city where life is governed by logic and reason. Every aspect of existence is regulated by the omnipotent Benefactor, who ensures that citizens live without personal freedom,...

A brilliant science-fiction satire from one of the best writers of the twentieth century. Dr Felix Hoenikker—a father of the atomic bomb—has another creation. Far more dangerous than that which levelled Hiroshima is ice-nine, a chemical that could freeze the world's oceans solid. The search for Hoenikker leads first to his three children, each in possession of the chemical, and...

The definitive collection of stories from one of the most influential science fiction writers ever, and a pioneer of Black speculative fiction. Samuel R. Delany is widely considered to be one of the greatest science fiction writers of the twentieth century, and a pioneer of Black and Queer genre fiction. Driftglass, the definitive collection of Delany's science fiction stories, displays...

A classic of intergalactic, metaphysical science fiction and one of Philip Pullman's favourite books. After journeying across the stars, a man from Earth finds himself lost among the scarlet deserts, black cliffs, and semi-sentient oceans of Tormance, a world lit by the star Arcturus. Pulled northward by the sound of drums, and undergoing strange physical transformations, the Earthman's adventures with...

A seminal work of science fiction—an unnerving vision of the consequences of unchecked overpopulation. The planet's population has exploded. The 35 million inhabitants of New York City run their TVs off pedal power, riot for water, trample for lentil 'steaks', and sweat beneath a sweltering sun. Amid it all, a city cop tries to catch a gangster's killer and vie...

A fantastically unique work of science fiction that has fascinated generations of readers with its clever blend of social satire and mathematical theory. A work that still poses provocative questions about perception and reality, Flatland is a brilliant parody of Victorian society where all existence is limited to length and breadth—its inhabitants unable even to imagine a third dimension. The...

Classic science-fiction tales from the twentieth century's master of the weird. In the deep glens of Massachusetts, in the wild hills of Vermont, and in Australia's sandy wastes, unfathomable things lurk. Things that shine with an unnatural light, that speak and buzz strangely in the night, that prowl in the mind. Things not of our Earth. Widely considered to be...

A collection of brilliant short stories from one of America's greatest ever science fiction writers. Often considered to be Robert Sheckley's best short story collection, Untouched By Human Hands displays all of the author's signature surreal humour and eye for the unreal. Featuring human space exploration from the perspective of appalled aliens, darkly comic dystopias, and wry fables of technological...

A mind-expanding space opera from one of Germany's most acclaimed science-fiction writers. In the dusty wastes of a far-flung planet, strange artisans toil. Like their fathers before them, they tie intricate knots out of the hair of their wives and daughters, slowly forming carpets. Delicate and unique, each carpet requires an entire lifetime of work—and all will be sold to...

A much-loved classic from a giant of European science fiction. Stanislaw Lem is perhaps the most original and influential European science fiction writer of the twentieth century. His ornate, phantasmagorical writing probes the furthest reaches of the universe while remaining deeply and particularly human. The Cyberiad, one of Lem's most beloved works, follows the exploits of Trurl and Klapaucius—two ingenious...

A surreal work of science fiction from one of Japan's most brilliant novelists. In anticipation of a coming nuclear apocalypse, Mole has converted a huge underground quarry into an ark. While searching for his crew, he falls for the tricks of a wily insect dealer and his friends. In the surreal drama that ensues, the ark is invaded by first...

The dazzling debut collection from one of the greatest female science fiction writers ever. James Tiptree Jr, the pen name of Alice Bradley Sheldon, is widely considered to be one of the most influential American genre writers ever, and a pioneer of feminist science fiction. Ten Thousand Light-Years From Home, her brilliant debut collection, displays all her trademark humour, intensity...

The first English-language publication of one of the greatest Polish science fiction novels of all time. Is BER-66 a human or a machine? As he navigates the corridors and locked rooms of a strange bunker, he must solve the mysteries of murderous doppelgängers, a slow-motion city on the verge of destruction, and ultimately, the all-powerful Mechanism itself... Considered to be...

A darkly funny satire from the most acclaimed and popular Russian science-fiction writers. Astrophysicist Dmitri Malianov is on the precipice of a major discovery - a Nobel Prize-worthy breakthrough. Yet, home alone in his Leningrad apartment, his work is beginning to be stymied. Strange and improbable distractions are mounting around him - and he is not alone. Across the city,...

An outrageous adventure across the stars from the master of witty science fiction. Announced in a thunderclap out of another day's tedium, hapless New Yorker Tom Carmody learns that he is the winner of the Intergalactic Sweepstake. Accepting with a shrug, he is whipped across the universe to collect his prize. The catch? There's no way home. Enlisting the help...

A wildly imaginative short story collection from one of the greatest female science fiction writers ever. Daring, energetic, and struck through with linguistic inventiveness, Warm Worlds and Otherwise is one of the most influential short story collections in all of science fiction, and one of the principal achievements of James Tiptree Jr - the pen name of Alice Bradley Sheldon....

A biting science fiction satire of American racism, and one of the first works of Afrofuturism. It's New Year's Day in 1933 in New York City and Max Disher, a young black man, has just heard the news: a mysterious doctor has discovered a strange process that can turn black skin white—a new way to 'solve the American race problem'....

A dreamlike, frozen dystopia from one of the twentieth century's most unique writers. No one knows why the ice has come, and no one can stop it. Every day it creeps further across the earth, covering the land in snow and freezing everything in its path. Through this bleached, devastated world, one man pursues the silver-haired girl he loves, as...

Science fiction meets magical realism in this brilliant novel from one of Latin America's best-loved science-fiction writers. In the cafes and bars of Rosario, Argentina, there are sure to be many tall tales told. But none, perhaps, quite as spectacular as those recounted by Trafalgar Medrano. With a coffeepot and a pack of cigarettes to hand, he will nonchalantly tell...