It was just a smooth round metal ball, less than a metre in diameter. Although it was still hot from its journey through the huge nothingness of space, it looked quite harmless. But what was it, exactly? A meteor, perhaps - just one of those pieces of rock from outer space that occasionally fall down on to the planet Earth. But meteors don't usually make strange hissing sounds .In this collection of four of his famous science-fiction stories, John Wyndham creates visions of the future that make us think carefully about the way we live now.

這顆球只是個直徑小於一公尺的圓滑金屬球。僅管它在浩瀚無際的宇宙旅行時溫度會升高，它看起來毫無殺傷力。但它到底是什麼？或許是一顆隕石，來自外太空的一片岩石碎片，有時可能會掉到地球。然而，隕石不常發出奇怪的嘶嘶聲。本書由John Wyndham寫作，收錄4個他最有名的科幻故事，以未來視角讓讀者深思現在人們的生活模式。