Barrington J. Bayley SF Gateway Omnibus — Barrington J. Bayley

An introduction to a hugely influential figure to some of the greats of British SF, perhaps best-known for The Fall of Chronopolis

The Soul of the Robot: Jasperodus, a robot, sets out to prove he is the equal of any human being. His futuristic adventures as warrior, tyrant, renegade, and statesman eventually lead him back home to the two human beings who created him. Does he have a soul? The Knights of the Limits: Nine brilliant stories of infinite space and alien consciousness, suffused with a sense of wonder. The Fall of Chronopolis: The mighty ships of the Third Time Fleet relentlessly patrolled the Chronotic Empire's 1,000-year frontier, blotting out an error of history here or there before swooping back to challenge other time-traveling civilizations far into the future. Captain Mond Aton had been proud to serve in such a fleet. But now, falsely convicted of cowardice and dereliction of duty, he has been given the cruelest of sentences: to be sent unprotected into time as a lone messenger between the cruising timeships. After such an inconceivable experience in the endless voids there is only one option left to him -- to be allowed to die.