Robert Sheckley

Joenes es un joven inocente que se ha criado en la Polinesia, y cuya experiencia del mundo proviene de la amplia biblioteca de sus padres fallecidos. Al perder su empleo, decide salir de su isla para conocer la patria de sus antepasados, los Estados Unidos de comienzos del siglo XXI. Lo que sigue es una disparatada secuencia de encuentros con los mas variopintos estamentos e individuos de la paranoica sociedad americana. Desde un primer encontronazo con la policia que lo conduce ante un comite del Senado, Joenes pasa por la fiscalia general, un sanatorio mental, la universidad, un experimento utopico y la increible aventura del Octagono, hasta que es elegido como representante diplomatico para una mision en Rusia que puede detener la guerra inminente... o provocarla.Robert Sheckley, probablemente el autor de ciencia-ficcion mas reconocido por su capacidad humoristica, llego a la cima de su carrera con esta satira demoledora que no ha perdido un apice de su fuerza. Complementa el volumen la coleccion La tienda de los mundos, inedita en español."Probablemente el mejor autor de relatos, en cualquier genero, entre los años cincuenta y mediados de los sesenta."Neil Gaiman"[Los viajes de Joenes es]su libro mas divertido, con ese afilado humor que ha distinguido su obra. (...) Joenes vive una serie de aventuras inverosimiles, colmadas de personajes excentricos y de historias dentro de historias."David Pringle, Ciencia ficcion: las 100 mejores novelas"Sheckley es especialmente bueno cuando explora la colision de realidades alternativas, y la exasperacion de los infelices que intentan domar las fuerzas del caos con el insignificante instrumento de la razon."Michael Faber, The Guardian

This volume contains eleven stories not previously collected together and not included in any of the other classic Sheckley compendiums published by Open Road.In "Sarkanger, Gregor and Arnold of the AAA Ace Interplanetary Decontamination Corporation take on an extermination job on Sarkan. Things get surprisingly complicated when the target vermin start arguing about who should be wiped out.The ten other stories in this collection are "At the Conference of the Birds, "The Destruction of Atlantis, "Dial-a-Death, "Divine Intervention, "Love Song from the Stars, "Message from Hell, "The Necessary Thing, "Robotvendor Rex, "There Will Be No War after This One, and "Wormworld.From the very beginning of his career, Robert Sheckley was recognized by fans, reviewers, and fellow authors as a master storyteller and the wittiest satirist working in the science fiction field. Open Road is proud to republish his acclaimed body of work, with nearly thirty volumes of full-length fiction and short story collections. Rediscover, or discover for the first time, a master of science fiction who, according to theNew York Times, was "a precursor to Douglas Adams.

Will Barrent awakes without memories just before being deposited on Omega, a planet for criminals where the average life expectancy is 3 years. Hes listed as a murderer and released into the illicit society as a peon the lowest class imaginable. A mysterious girl gives him a weapon that starts him on his path to status, a path that requires constant brutality. But it must be borne if our hero is to discover the reason for his imprisonment; A reason that pits him against himself, and involves the sardonically similar but devoutly different creeds of Omega and Earth. - The Status Civilization was first published as Omega! in the August and September 1960 issues of Amazing Science Fiction Stories Magazine. (Summary by Gregg Margarite)

Illustrator: Scattergood

Illustrator: Ed Emshwiller

Illustrator: Ed Emshwiller

Illustrator: Weiss

Illustrator: Dick Francis

Illustrator: Ashman

Illustrator: Virgil Finlay

Illustrator: Ed Emshwiller

Illustrator: Emsh

Illustrator: Vidmer