CONTAINS NEVER-REPRINTED HUGO NOMINEE NOVELETTE! This first-ever collection of novelettes by 1950s pulp master Stanley Mullen's science fiction contains his 1959 Hugo nominee, "Space to Swing a Cat." It also contains a rare treat for all aficionados of science fantasy: five novelettes sharing the same background or "future history." Common elements in these stories are the planet Venus, seen as a dustbowl caused by an ancient atomic war, with life surviving mostly in the Tihar Forest. This mysterious abode became a rich breeding ground for all sorts of mutations due to its strong radioactivity. Other common elements include such creatures as Wrigglers from Callisto, Venusian swamp slugs and grull-cats, seven-limbed bat-noses from Mercury, iceworms from Neptune, the deadly windharps of Mars, the amiable moondogs from Titan, along with nympthons, gamma-men, space angels, and other outré alien life-forms Mullen specialized in creating. Strong women were another of Mullen's specialties, and you will be enthralled by Marta, who dared rad-storms and grull-cats, Darbor, who called most men "fools" and was right, Kial Nasron, who would take any risk to save her sister from the horrors of the Tihar Forest, even if it meant her life, and others. To add to reader enjoyment, the original magazine blurbs for each of these stories are included.