{"product_id":"the-thing-in-the-stone-and-other-stories-9781504073943","title":"The Thing in the Stone: And Other Stories","description":"\u003cb\u003eA mind-opening collection of short science fiction from one of the genre's most revered Grand Masters.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Legendary author Robert A. Heinlein proclaimed, \"To read science fiction is to read Simak. A reader who does not like Simak stories does not like science fiction at all.\" The remarkably talented Clifford D. Simak was able to ground his vast imagination in reality, and then introduce readers to fantastical worlds and concepts they could instantly and completely dig into, comprehend, and enjoy. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In the title story, a man's newfound ability to walk in the past allows him to dwell among dinosaurs, saber-toothed tigers . . . and something even more timeless. In \"Construction Shack,\" the first manned expedition to Pluto reveals that no matter how advanced aliens may be, even they don't always get everything right. And in \"Univac 2200,\" the thin line between humans creating technology and humans becoming technology is about to be crossed--and there may be no going back. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eEach story includes an introduction by David W. Wixon, literary executor of the Clifford D. Simak estate and editor of this ebook.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDAVID W. WIXON was a close friend of Clifford D. Simak's. As Simak's health declined, Wixon, already familiar with science fiction publishing, began more and more to handle such things as his friend's business correspondence and contract matters. Named literary executor of the estate after Simak's death, Wixon began a long-term project to secure the rights to all of Simak's stories and find a way to make them available to readers who, given the fifty-five-year span of Simak's writing career, might never have gotten the chance to enjoy all of his short fiction. Along the way, Wixon also read the author's surviving journals and rejected manuscripts, which made him uniquely able to provide Simak's readers with interesting and thought-provoking commentary that sheds new light on the work and thought of a great writer.\u003cbr\u003eDuring his fifty-five-year career, CLIFFORD D. SIMAK produced some of the most iconic science fiction stories ever written. Born in 1904 on a farm in southwestern Wisconsin, Simak got a job at a small-town newspaper in 1929 and eventually became news editor of the \u003ci\u003eMinneapolis Star-Tribune, \u003c\/i\u003e writing fiction in his spare time. \u003cbr\u003e Simak was best known for the book \u003ci\u003eCity\u003c\/i\u003e, a reaction to the horrors of World War II, and for his novel \u003ci\u003eWay Station. \u003c\/i\u003eIn 1953 \u003ci\u003eCity\u003c\/i\u003e was awarded the International Fantasy Award, and in following years, Simak won three Hugo Awards and a Nebula Award. In 1977 he became the third Grand Master of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and before his death in 1988, he was named one of three inaugural winners of the Horror Writers Association's Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Open Road Integrated Media LLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50521049366802,"sku":"9781504073943","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_165aba04-1f64-4f6b-b0f8-1dd3d6b268e1.jpg?v=1731097757","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-thing-in-the-stone-and-other-stories-9781504073943","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}