E. C. Tubb

Manton's World: a Classic Science Fiction Novel / Galactic Destiny: a Classic Science Fiction Tale (Wildside Double #29) E. C. Tubb

In the tradition of the Ace Doubles (flip one book over to read the other side), here's the twenty-ninth Wildside Double: MANTON'S WORLD: A CLASSIC SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL, by John Russell Fearn. Randle Manton has brought the Earth back from the brink of nuclear disaster, painstakingly rebuilding a nearly destroyed civilization, even reaching out to space. But now he's told that the clouds covering the world will soon unleash upon the reeling planet yet another disaster: a great flood that will cover most of the Earth's surface. Despite his wealth, despite his great power, Manton knows that he'll only be able to save a fraction of humanity. Can mankind rebuild and survive yet a third time? GALACTIC DESTINY: A CLASSIC SCIENCE FICTION TALE, by E. C. Tubb. In the far future, humanity has split into two groups: Folk and People. The Folk man the star ships, spending their entire lives in space. The People dwell on planets, only using the ships for travel between the worlds. A freak accident in No-Space causes a ship to drop out of faster-than-light mode into normal space, to be stranded between the stars. The Captain is able to jury-rig the damaged engines, but only to shift half of the ship's mass back into No-Space to continue the journey. After throwing out all nonessential structures, cargo, and fitments, both passengers and crew alike come to realize more mass--some of the humans themselves--must be ejected into space so that the rest may survive. But how to chose who lives or dies? And then a murderer strikes.... A chilling psychological tale of crime and passion.