Triplicity

Triplicity is a bonanza volume that brings together a trio of ingenious full-length novels: Echo Round His Bones. The invention of the matter transmitter had given the U.S. an edge in a Cold War that was on the verge of becoming hot. The Soviet Union's nuclear installations on the moon abruptly ceased to be a threat, since the U.S. Army had transmitted its arsenal to Mars, and could deploy those weapons anywhere instantaneously. Captain Hansard was aware of the strategy, but knowing the military bureaucracy as he did, he never expected to get involved firsthand. He was oblivious to the fact that transmission produced a peculiar and unpleasant side effect. But on that score, he wised up fast. The Genocides. Anderson, a farmer, called them simply "the Plants." They were all identical--600 feet tall at maturity, with smooth green trunks and huge leaves. Their spores had entered Earth's atmosphere seven years earlier, and within days the entire world was covered with a rich green carpet of seedlings. But the Plants were destroyers, using up the planet's soil and water, and giveing nothing in return. Anderson refused to yield to the bizarre invasion. Placing his faith in God, he resolved to beat the Plants at their own game. And sure enough, although small towns and big cities succumbed, Anderson and his clan continued to survive. The Puppies of Terra. The Masters arrived in the late 20th century--godlike entities who regarded humans as mere pets to be pampered and played with. Most men and women flocked to the kennels eagerly, because the "leash" by which the Masters controlled their pets gave pleasures and abilities that undomesticated humans could never hope for. But not everyone was content with the situation, and gradually the dissenters and rebels began to band together to fight for their freedom . . . .