Gateway Essentials

3 total works

The Muller-Fokker Effect

by John Sladek

Published December 1972

This novel is about the first truly modern man.

His name's Bob Shairp, and he gets completely turned into data and stored on computer tape. (How modern can you get?)

Actually, there are quite a few other modern characters (though none so modern as Bob) in this book. There's Wes Davis, who knows the U.S. Army is part of a Black Conspiracy. And Billy Koch, the great faith-healing evangelist who orders a robot replica of himself to share the burden of crusading. And Glen Dale, editor of Stagman magazine and, strangely enough, a virgin. And Wise Bream, god of the Utopi Indians. And others, too numerous to enumerate.

The Reproductive System

by John Sladek

Published May 1968

Wompler's Walking Babies once put Millford, Utah, on the map. But they aren't selling like they used to. In fact, they aren't selling at all and the only alternative to winding the company up is to tap the government for a research grant. And so Wompler Research Laboratories and Project 32 come into being. The plan is to produce self-replicating mechanisms; identical cells equipped to repair intracellular breakdowns, convert power from their environment and create new cells. But suddenly the nondescript grey metal boxes start crawling about the laboratory, feeding voraciously on any metal... and multiplying at an alarming rate.

Tik-tok

by John Sladek

Published 1 October 1983

This copy appears to be short. It downloads as 128 pages but all copies I can find are 184 or more pages.