by Isaac Asimov
First published 1984
This anthology presents seventeen tales where competition takes deadly new forms. George R. R. Martin's runners race toward distant stars. Tom Sullivan reimagines the Olympics with Disney's famous mouse. Bob Shaw's fighters battle in dreams that kill. Jack Vance sends warriors to face the Kokod in mortal combat. Norman Spinrad transforms baseball into something unrecognizable. Robert Sheckley traps people in games they cannot escape. Alan Dean Foster asks why speed limits exist in a world gone mad. L. Sprague de Camp finds loopholes in the rulebook that change everything. Arthur C. Clarke harnesses solar wind for the ultimate race. The stories span from 1939 to 1982, showing how competitive spirit evolves across time and space. Athletes emerge from laboratories instead of training camps. Contests determine which worlds live or die. Highway driving becomes a survival sport where only the skilled and fortunate see sunset. These futures twist familiar games into alien forms, where victory and defeat carry consequences beyond trophies or medals.
Genres: short-stories, science-fiction, sports
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: deadly-games, twisted-traditions
Period: 1939, 1982
356 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Roc