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Quality Classics

We specialize in creating hard to find, high quality, classic books optimized for the Kindle.

Sick of spelling errors, weird characters, or a lack of pictures in illustrated books? Well we know how you feel. We always have the highest quality books.All of our books are formatted and reviewed by an actual human for the Kindle, and always 99 cents.

To find more of our books search "quality classics" in Amazon. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Optimism in the face of disaster
Most of Raymond F. Jones' work examines the social role of science workers facing opposition from the darker impulses of Humanity in the form of mystics, politicians, looters, and the ignorant in general. The Year When Stardust Fell is one of my earliest science fiction reads and I admit prejudice in favor of its nostalgia-provoking optimism for the potential of science.

The story opens with introduction of a typical 1950's small town. Ken Maddox faces the paradoxical failure of metal components in a variety of machines soon after the Earth passes through the tail of a comet. As the failures become widespread industrial life around the world comes to a literal grinding halt. Ken and his scientist father struggle to communicate with other scientists via radio while researching the cause and a cure for the metal failure, while fighting to help their community optimize resources. Opposition comes in the form of wandering mobs from the food-starved cities and self-promoting ego cases, seeking followers for their own glory.

The Year Stardust Fell is a dark tale. The only light comes from rational people working together for mutual benefit. The realistically portrayed consequences of the comet's effect and the town's survival efforts against the breakdown of society are unusual for young adult work from this time period. The story manages to reflect the optimism of America to challenges, typical of pre-Vietnam/Watergate literature. Highly recommended.

A great entry into Science Fiction!
This was probably the first science fiction novel that I ever read, and I still have the original library hardcover edition that I acquired long ago.I have read this book multiple times, and it is simply a great science fiction novel.This is a clean family book as far as language and mature themes (although it does contain some battle scenes with gunfire and killings) which is good for young people to get started in science fiction.If I remember correctly, I first read this in fourth or fifth grade, and I enjoyed it immensely.Even though young people can read this book, it is still a very good story for adults, and I recommend it to everyone.

Excellent Young Adult Work
A unique take on the classic end of civilization tale.

Cometary dust contaminates the atmosphere and begins a catalytic breakdown of the surface tension of various metals, welding everything shut.This is a scientific mystery of finding out why machines are suddenly seizing up in increasing numbers, and how to slow or prevent it.

As it becomes worse, we have a great return to the Dark Ages scenario, with people resorting to clubs and spears (since modern weapons are becoming non-functional).This reaches a crescendo in an attack on College Hill--the home of a small country college whose physics department is working feverishly to find a solution.The local town in its foresight has (mostly) agreed to provide the scientists and students with the resources, food and medical gear they need to keep alive in a world without plumbing, and with rampant anthrax and plague.How does one do physics research with equipment failing as fast as one can use it, a mob at the gates (with torches no less) and with only medieval living conditions?

And if a solution is found, will it be something that can be implemented in time to prevent total collapse and a return to the Stone Age from which civilization won't recover? ... Read more

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This Halcyon Classics ebook contains seven novels and short stories by Raymond F. Jones.Jones (1915-1994) was a popular pulp science fiction writer of the 1940s-1970s, best known for his 1952 novel, THIS ISLAND EARTH, which was adapted into the 1955 film of the same name.

Includes an active table of contents for easy navigation.

The Year When Stardust Fell
Human Error
Cubs of the Wolf
The Great Gray Plague
The Memory of Mars
The Colonists
The Unlearned
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This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages. Blackboard Drawing is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Frederick Whitney is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Frederick Whitney then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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The Great Gray Plague is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Raymond F. Jones is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Raymond F. Jones then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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Excerpt:

The copper-yellow glow of the comet seemed to have brought the whole world to a grinding halt. Airplanes, trains, generators and heavy machinery were immobilized. Finally man was left with only a few primitive tools. In the resulting chaos parts of Mayfield were burned and looted by hunger-crazed mobs that stole and killed as they advanced.

Here is science fiction at its thrilling best. A startling and thought-provoking book that shows how human nature might react to catastrophe.

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Memory; Imagery (Psychology); Nuclear warfare/ Psychological aspects; Memory; Nuclear warfare; Peace; Archetype (Psychology); Hiroshima-shi (Japan); Psychology / General; History / Military / Nuclear Warfare; History / Military / Nuclear Warfare; Political Science / Peace; Psychology / Cognitive Psychology; Self-Help / Personal Growth / Memory Improvement; ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Science fiction ... Read more

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Also known as "Man of Two Worlds." Ketan journeyed to the great Edge in answer to the message: "If any of you live, come through to us. Save us. Bring weapons!" ... Read more

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Introduces radar, what it is, how it works, and how it is used. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Kindness of Strangers
_Son of the Stars_ (1952) by Raymond F. Jones was one of 36 juveniles published by Winston in the 1950s. It was common practice for Winston to have their authors write factual forewards or afterwards to their novels. Presumably the notion was that these would help to make them "respectable" to parents and librarians, though I suspect that most librarians didn't need that kind of trickery.

Richard Marsten's _Danger: Dinosaurs!_ (1953) had an essay on an imaginary time-slip and history. Chad Oliver's _Mists of Dawn_ (1952) had a detailed introduction to anthropology. Lester del Rey, in _Marooned on Mars_ (1952), discussed the history of the "Martian canals" in astronomy and speculated about the possibility of life on Mars. Jack Vance's _Vandals of the Void_ (1953) predicted that we would enter a future age of piracy. Philip Latham explained how he used some out-of-date astronomy as a basis for creating fictional life in _Missing Men of Saturn_ (1953).

Raymond F. Jones's essay was a tribute to the "back-yard scientists of America" (v):

A ten-year-old boy in Texas begins the search by producing rotten-egg gas with his Christmas chemistry set. At sixteen, he has a well-equipped basement laboratory. A girl in Oregon is astonished at the wonder of her first glimpse through a microscope in junior high. When she enters college, she takes her laboratory with her-- a box containing her own microscope and a few hundred slides. (v)

This topic is one that seems to run through much of Jones's writing. Like Hal Clement, Jones likes to write about scientists-- both professional and amateur-- who engage in the great game of experimentation and observation. At one point, the alien boy Clonar (who knows how to build a transmitter that can communicate over light-years) touches the hero's short-wave radio and says, "It must be-- fun, anyway" (52). Clonar is being polite, but he is also telling the truth. Science _is_ fun. It's not so much the level of technology that your culture may have that counts. It's how well you play the game. Ultimately, it is decided that Earth must learn to make her own way-- both scientifically and morally.

Why morally? Because Clonar is an alien who crash lands on Earth. He is dependent upon the kindness of strangers. He gets it from some people-- the backyard inventer hero, his girlfriend, a crusty country doctor, and an intelligent collie. But often, he does not. The hero's mother is frightened of him. He is arrested by the military. Some of the military (like Colonel Middleton) are unimaginative and paranoid. Others (like General Gillispie) are more intelligent but overly ambitious. The hero's father is tolerant of Clonar, but he has a tendency to believe what those in authority tell him is the truth. Earth people have potential and basic goodness, but they still have a long way to go.

If it is at all possible, get the first edition with the original cover by Alex Schomberg. It depicts a fleet of flying saucers gracefully sailing from a planet with a reddish sandy desert and a blue ocean toward Earth hanging prominently in the sky. But I have sometimes wondered... What is the planet in the foreground? Not the Moon. Not with an ocean. But a planet such as Venus or Mars wouldn't show the Earth as prominently in the sky. Mars wouldn't be likely to have an ocean. Given the scientific knowledge of the day, Venus might have an ocean. But it would also have been cloud-shrouded, hiding any view of outer space. Clonar's world is in another galaxy. So what is the world in the forground? Well, never mind. It's still a spectacular cover. ... Read more

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This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages. Manners of the Age is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Horace Brown Fyfe is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Horace Brown Fyfe then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / Science Fiction / Adventure; ... Read more

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When the food and water sources of the first colony on the moon are destroyed, three teenagers try to find ways of assuring the colony's survival. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A fine science fiction novel
Published in 1970, Moonbase One chronicles the adventures of several young colonists on the lunar surface. It was written for the juvenile market but can be just as easily enjoyed by adults as well. Jones was an effectivewriter of sf who was able to convey often complex scientific ideas withauthority and sufficent verve to hold the reader captivated. Thisenthralling tale makes for highly enjoyable and relaxing reading and isworth searching out, as are any of his other novels; This Island Earth, etal. ... Read more

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Classic Sci-Fi
Cybernetic Brain is probably the first SCI-FI book I ever read.In the early 60's computers were just being thought of and the public saw them as something futuristic.Jones weaves a timeless story that somehow foresaw the ways computers would become a part of our everyday life.What was fantasy then is near reality now with the advances in "mind controlled" mechanisms.It's a fun read that is still relevant today.A must for any true SCI-Fi fan. ... Read more