In the tradition of the old “Ace Double” two-in-one novels (flip one over to read the second title)–here is the seventeenth Wildside Double. A LLULL IN THE COMPASS: A Science Fiction Novel, by W. C. Bamberger. The world is running down. People are mysteriously disappearing, leaving behind only small stains of glycerin. Overhead, mysterious objects are appearing just beyond our atmosphere, and deliberately burning themselves to dust as they fall toward earth. Some say our machines are absorbing us, some say aliens have come here to commit suicide. A small band of wanderers spins the wheels of a Llull Machine, trying to make their way safely through a collapsing world, and trying at the same time to solve the mysteries and save themselves–and an unexpected next generation ACADEMENTIA: A Future Dystopia, by Robert Reginald. In the not-so-distant future, America has been subjugated by the fanatical followers of Dr. Theo Fell, who have instituted a fascist religious regime that stifles all dissent and monitors all expression. But all regimes have their breaking points, both personally and generally, and the Fellian States of America are no exception. The nameless narrator of this terrifying tale descends into paranoia and despair even as he rises rapidly through the academic ranks of the California Saints University system. One by one, his enemies are mysteriously overcome, until all that’s left is facing the ultimate–the final–challenge: confronting Dr. Fell himself
