Planet of Exile & Brain Twister

Armchair Fiction presents extra-large editions of classic science fiction double novels with original illustrations. The first novel is “Planet of Exile” by one of sci-fi’s most heralded authors, Edmond Hamilton. What had become of the Earth Farrow had known? He had emerged from a concrete vault in the side of an open hill, then stumbled his way down in the mud and rain, not knowing who or where he was. Then he remembered…he was Kenneth Farrow and he had volunteered for Operation Groundhog, a government test study of the effects of a new revolutionary hibernation gas. This new gas—Hanawalt’s gas—was supposed to be the survival solution for the U.S. population in the event of atomic war. Farrow had agreed to go under the gas for six months—more than enough time to test its effects and potency. But when he awoke it had been far, far more than a mere six months. The Earth he once knew no longer existed. Gone were the proud cities and teeming millions. Now he found only widespread desolation…and fear. The second novel is “Brain Twister” and was originally written by "Mark Phillips," a pseudonym for two well-known science fiction writers: Randall Garrett and Laurence M. Janifer. Their joint pen-name, derived from their middle names (Philip and Mark), was coined soon after their original meeting at a sci-fi convention. The plotline of “Brain Twister” is a fantastic one, having to do with a spy who has the incredible ability to read minds. A shorter version of “Brain Twister” had been published in John W. Campbell’s Astounding Science Fiction in late 1959 under the title, “That Sweet Little Old Lady.” It garnered a Hugo nomination for best novel in 1960.