The Dreaming Jewels (Gollancz Collectors' Editions) - Softcover

Horty Bluett is eight when he runs away from home. He¿d been cruelly punished: Junky, the ugly old toy with the jewel-like eyes, the only thing that really belonged to him, had been deliberately smashed. And that hurt even more than having three fingers accidentally severed. Horty finds a new home among the freaks of a travelling carnival, protected by the beautiful midget, Zena. For Zena knows the truth about Junky and the jewels. She knows that Horty is one of the ¿jewel people¿, and she knows what others would do to him if they found out that the jewels are living, thinking alien crystals from outer space.

Theodore Sturgeon (1918-1985) was born Edward Hamilton Waldo in New York City. He later adopted his stepfather's surname and took on a new first name. While still a teenager he went to sea for three years. He began publishing sf in 1939 but stopped producing it after a few years and went abroad. He began writing again in 1946 and, in the next fifteen years, produced almost all of the work for which he is famous. He is one of sf's great short-story writers and his acclaimed novels include More than Human, the winner of the International Fantasy Award for 1954, The Cosmic Rape and Venus Plus X.