New Worlds Science Fiction No. 30

About this issue

This issue features the three-part serial "Prisoner in the Skull" by Charles Dye, a science fiction mystery in which protagonist Alister Conrad awakens in a forest with amnesia. Finding an identity card, he learns he lives in Manhattan and works for Sleep-Tanks, Inc. Conrad makes his way across the future-envisioned New York—a decentralized cityscape dominated by skyscraper terraces for the wealthy, with genetically defective and mentally ill populations in lower levels below heliojet landing platforms. He discovers a wound on his skull and attempts to contact his wife by television from a lower-district bar, but she reacts with shock before the connection breaks. The issue also contains four short stories: "Reconnaissance" by P.W. Cutler, "Trojan Hearse" by Dan Morgan and John Kippax, "Hitch-Hikers" by Gregory Francis, and "The Robbers" by E.C. Tubb, plus a science article on energy by John Newman. Includes editorial announcements of upcoming Nova Novels paperback editions.