This image is the cover for the book People Trap

People Trap

A collection of witty science fiction including a Nebula Award–nominated story.

In “Diplomatic Immunity,” what happens when an alien ambassador arrives, telling the residents of Earth that they will be joining a galactic union whether they like it or not—and the ambassador is unkillable?

The thirteen other stories in this collection are “The People Trap,” “The Victim from Space,” “Shall We Have a Little Talk?”, “Restricted Area,” “The Odor of Thought,” “The Necessary Thing,” “Redfern’s Labyrinth,” “Proof of the Pudding,” “The Laxian Key,” “The Last Weapon,” “Fishing Season,” “Dreamworld,” and “Ghost V.”

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 the New York Times, was “a precursor to Douglas Adams.”

Robert Sheckley

Robert Sheckley was one of the funniest writers in the history of science fiction. He did screwball comedy, broad satire, and farce. He could also be deadly serious, but he was always entertaining and always had something pointed to say about our world using the skewed versions of reality he created in his fiction. Starting in the early 1950s, he was an amazingly prolific short story writer, with a lot of his stories appearing in Galaxy Magazine. He launched his novel-writing career with Immortality, Inc., which he followed up with a sequence of excellent books: The Status Civilization, Journey Beyond Tomorrow, and Mindswap. He continued to produce novels and short stories in abundance until his death in 2005.

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