To Conquer Chaos
John Brunner
 On the face of the Earth only the Barrenland remained an impenetrable mystery—a blasted radioactive area the size of a small state where no man dared to venture. But Jervis Yanderman was one of the more courageous souls of that future day when men at least were starting to reconstruct the vanquished civilization of the dim past. Jervis knew that the secret of the Barrenland had to be solved. For things from out of this world still emerged from it to terrorize neighboring lands and strange weird visitations haunted those who even approached it.