Their destinations are preprogrammed. They are easy to operate, but impossible to control. Some came back with discoveries which made their intrepid pilots rich; others returned with their remains barely identifiable. It was the ultimate game of Russian roulette, but in this resource-starved future there was no shortage of desperate volunteers.

Winner of the Hugo, Locus, Nebula and John W. Campbell awards, Gateway begins Pohl’s space operatic Heechee saga. He was hugely influential in SF as an author but also an agent and editor, and his career spanned decades.

‘A masterpiece of the genre’ – Tordotcom
‘Gateway deserves its reputation as a classic’ – Gareth L. Powell
‘One of the best Hugo winners I have read’ – Guardian

Welcome to The Best Of The Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction

‘I know nothing comparable to it except The Lord of the Rings’ Arthur C Clarke

‘It is possible that Dune is even more relevant now than when it was first published’ NEW YORKER

The Duke of Atreides has been manoeuvred by his arch-enemy, Baron Harkonnen, into administering the desert planet of Dune. Although it is almost completely without water, Dune is a planet of fabulous wealth, for it is the only source of a drug prized throughout the Galactic Empire. The Duke and his son, Paul, are expecting treachery, and it duly comes – but from a shockingly unexpected place.

Then Paul succeeds his father, and he becomes a catalyst for the native people of Dune, whose knowledge of the ecology of the planet gives them vast power. They have been waiting for a leader like Paul Atreides, a leader who can harness that force …

DUNE: one of the most brilliant science fiction novels ever written, as engrossing and heart-rending today as it was when it was first published half a century ago.

Joint winner of the HUGO AWARD for best novel, 1966
Winner of the NEBULA AWARD for best novel, 1965

Read the book which inspired the 2021 Denis Villeneuve epic film adaptation, Dune, starring Oscar Isaac, Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya and Josh Brolin.

World War Terminus had left the Earth devastated. Through its ruins, bounty hunter Rick Deckard stalked, in search of the renegade replicants who were his prey. When he wasn’t ‘retiring’ them with his laser weapon,
he dreamed of owning a live animal – the ultimate status symbol in a world all but bereft of animal life.

Then Rick got his chance: the assignment to kill six Nexus-6 targets, for a huge reward. But in Deckard’s world things were never that simple, and his assignment quickly turned into a nightmare kaleidoscope of subterfuge and deceit – and the threat of death for the hunter rather than the hunted …

Readers have been blown away by Philip K. Dick:

‘Now I understand what all the fuss is about. The guy is a visionary . . . Every paragraph launches us forward, demands our attention . . . a classic example of the finest science fiction‘ Goodreads reviewer, ? ? ? ? ?

‘Probably my favourite Philip K. Dick book . . . set in a dystopian Earth much dilapidated after ‘World War Terminus’ . . . I cannot praise this book enough, it really is one of the all-time greats‘ Goodreads reviewer, ? ? ? ? ?

‘A science fiction masterpiece . . . about a post-apocalyptic world seeking resurrection through the rediscovery of empathy. But who is more empathetic – humans or androids? What is the dividing line? The book constantly explores how far human ideas of life, death, religion and love could survive in a dark uncaring world’ Goodreads reviewer, ? ? ? ? ?

‘I thought this was great and original . . . The Earth has become barely habitable due to nuclear winter, radiation and depopulation . . . a really cool story and I think only PKD could have written something of this style. I would recommend this . . . if you liked the Blade Runner movies’ Goodreads reviewer, ? ? ? ? ?