A Fire upon the Deep is the big, breakout book that fulfills the promise of Vinge's career to date: a gripping tale of galactic war told on a cosmic scale.Thousands of years hence, many races inhabit a universe where a mind's potential is determined by its location in space, from superintelligent entities in the Transcend, to the limited minds of the Unthinking Depths, where only simple creatures and technology can function. Nobody knows what strange force partitioned space into these "regions of thought," but when the warring Straumli realm use an ancient Transcendent artifact as a weapon, they unwittingly unleash an awesome power that destroys thousands of worlds and enslaves all natural and artificial intelligence.Fleeing the threat, a family of scientists, including two children, are taken captive by the Tines, an alien race with a harsh medieval culture, and used as pawns in a ruthless power struggle. A rescue mission, not entirely composed of humans, must rescue the children-and a secret that may save the rest of interstellar civilization.

    In this novel, Crane is forced to resume the high-stakes game of a lifetime--and wager it all.

    Each story contains the common elements of the gothic tale--a warped sense of time, a claustrophobic setting, a link to archaic modes of thought, and the impression of a descent into disintegration. Yet taken together, they reveal the progression of the genre from stories of feudal villains amid crumbling ruins to a greater level of sophistication in which writers brought the gothic tale out of its medieval setting, and placed it in the contemporary world. Bringing together the work of such writers as Eudora Welty, Thomas Hardy, Edgar Allan Poe, William Faulkner, Arthur Conan Doyle, Joyce Carol Oates, and Jorge Luis Borges, The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales presents a wide array of the sinister and unsettling for all lovers of ghost stories, fantasy, and horror.

    Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that's striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about infocalypse. Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous… you'll recognize it immediately.

    For her instructors in the twenty-first century, it meant painstaking calculations and careful monitoring of the rendezvous location where Kivrin would be received.But a crisis strangely linking past and future strands Kivrin in a bygone age as her fellows try desperately to rescue her. In a time of superstition and fear, Kivrin--barely of age herself--finds she has become an unlikely angel of hope during one of history's darkest hours.Connie Willis draws upon her understanding of the universalities of human nature to explore the ageless issues of evil, suffering, and the indomitable will of the human spirit.

    In The Beginning, God's creation of the world is viewed from the angels' perspective. Man, the crowning glory, rules Creation in full fellowship with his Creator—until he succumbs to the fallen Angel of Light, and the Door is closed. Enthralling and fast-paced, this book can introduce non-Christians to the God of Creation and the purpose for living while offering believers a richer dimension to their faith.

    The tales are organized chronologically to give readers a sense of how the genre's range, vitality, and literary quality have evolved over time. Each tale offers a unique vision, an altered reality, a universe all its own. Readers can sample H.G. Well's 1903 story The Land Ironclads (which predicted the stalemate of trench warfare and the invention of the tank), Jack Williamson's The Metal Man, a rarely anthologized gem written in 1928, Clifford D. Simak's 1940s classic, Desertion, set on "the howling maelstrom that was Jupiter", Frederik Pohl's 1955 The Tunnel Under the World (with its gripping first line, "On the morning of June 15th, Guy Burckhardt woke up screaming out of a dream"), right up to the current crop of writers, such as cyberpunk's Bruce Sterling and William Gibson, whose 1982 story Burning Chrome foreshadows the idea of virtual reality, and David Brin's Piecework, written in 1990. In addition, Shippey provides an informative introduction, examining the history of the genre, its major themes, and its literary techniques.

    

    Enemies band together to attack the Renshai, the mightiest, most hated and feared of all warrior races. One Renshai escapes, determined to keep the memory of his people alive and to claim his vengeance on the slayers of his race.

    McHugh established herself as one of the decade's best science fiction writers. In its pages, we enter a post-revolution America, moving from the hyper-urbanized eastern seaboard to the Arctic bleakness of Baffin Island; from the new Imperial City to an agricultural commune on Mars. The overlapping lives of cyber-kite fliers, lonely colonists, illicit neural-pressball players, and organic engineers blend into a powerful, taut story of a young man's journey of discovery. This is a macroscopic world of microscopic intensity, one of the most brilliant visions of modern SF.

    When Eric Banyon's flute playing accidentally frees elven noble Korendil from a magical prison, he suddenly finds himself caught up in a desperate fight against an evil elf lord who plans to conquer all of California.

    Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed2. The Golden Apples of the Sun3. The Dragon4. Marionettes Inc.5. The Toynbee Convector 6. I, Rocket

    In this first complete edition of Leonora Carrington’s short stories, written throughout her life from her early years in Surrealist Paris to her late period in Dirty War-era Mexico City, the world is by turns subversive, funny, sly, wise and disarming.

    Geiss is the most dedicated fourth-grade teacher imaginable. She goes to extraordinary lengths to make sure her students are presented with every opportunity—showing them slides from her summer vacations during Geography, reading to them from the classics of children’s literature after lunch, and providing them with the kinds of learning rewards that they will truly respond to—bite-sized nuggets of human flesh. Because Ms. Geiss’ students are pint-sized zombies, and the main tool of her peculiar version of the teaching trade is her trusty Remington .30-06 rifle. Ms. Geiss is firm but fair, and keeps a disciplined classroom. She has far more trouble from the adults shambling through what’s left of town than she does from her students, though a well-bulldozed killing field and the gasoline-filled moat encircling the school usually keeps the worst of the undead marauders at bay. But even the hardest working educators let their guard down sometimes, and after the Tribulations, just one mistake can mean school’s out forever. Bestselling, acclaimed author Dan Simmons’ story “This Year’s Class Picture” is a zombie tale that could itself be described as best in class, honored by the Stoker, Sturgeon, and World Fantasy Awards.

    With a unique combination of foresight and perspective, Dozois continues to collect outstanding work by newcomers and established authors alike, reflecting the present state of the genre while suggesting its future directions. With the editor's annual summary of the year in the field, and his appendix of recommended reading, this book is indispensable for anyone interested in contemporary science fiction.Contents: *Summation: 1991 (1992) • essay by Gardner Dozois *Beggars in Spain [Sleepless] (1991) / novella by Nancy Kress *Living Will (1991) / novelette by Alexander Jablokov *A Just and Lasting Peace (1991) / short story by Lois Tilton *Skinner's Room [Bridge Trilogy] (1990) / short story by William Gibson *Prayers on the Wind (1991) / novella by Walter Jon Williams *Blood Sisters (1991) / short story by Greg Egan *The Dark (1991) / short story by Karen Joy Fowler *Marnie (1991) / novelette by Ian R. MacLeod *A Tip on a Turtle (1991) / novelette by Robert Silverberg *Ubermensch! (1991) / short story by Kim Newman *Dispatches from the Revolution (1991) / novelette by Pat Cadigan *Pipes (1991) / short story by Robert Reed *Matter's End (1991) / novelette by Gregory Benford *A History of the Twentieth Century, with Illustrations (1991) / novelette by Kim Stanley Robinson *Gene Wars (1991) / short story by Paul J. McAuley *The Gallery of His Dreams (1991) / novella by Kristine Kathryn Rusch *A Walk in the Sun (1991) / short story by Geoffrey A. Landis *Fragments of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria (1991) / novelette by Ian McDonald *Angels in Love (1991) / short story by Kathe Koja *Eyewall (1991) / novelette by Rick Shelley *Pogrom [Home Front] (1991) / short story by James Patrick Kelly *The Moat (1991) / short story by Greg Egan *Voices (1991) / short story by Jack Dann *FOAM (1991) / novelette by Brian W. Aldiss *Jack (1991) / novella by Connie Willis *La Macchina [The Holy Machine] (1991) / short story by Chris Beckett *One Perfect Morning, with Jackals [Kirinyaga • 1] (1991) / short story by Mike Resnick *Desert Rain (1991) / novella by Pat Murphy, Mark L. Van Name *Honorable Mentions: 1991 (1992) • essay by Gardner DozoisAlso published titled: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Ninth Annual CollectionAlso published titled: The Giant Book of Fantastic SF.

    WORLD TO WORLD ~ A lady strays from a garden path and enters a different realm. A castle harbors a secret cabinet and a golden key. A king wages dynastic war for control of three kingdoms. Thus, a saga that rivals the wondrous worlds of Middle Earth, Dune, and the hitchhiker's galaxy, sweeps us into a fabulous cosmos of pure imagination. Here, villains plotting to take control of an alternate world and a mysterious, magical woman seeking her destiny are catalysts. They ignite a splendid pageantry of battles and quests, poisonous love and triumphant passion, doomed loyalties and unsurpassed courage in this "lost" classic by one of the fathers of modern fantasy.~ THE ZIMIAMVIAN TRILOGY ~ Each of the books in this unique trilogy is an epic complete in itself. Read together, they form one of the greatest imagined worlds in fantasy literature. This new Dell edition contains recently discovered fragments of The Mezentian Gate, printed here for the first time, along with illuminating notes by E. R. Eddison scholar Paul Edmund Thomas, making this the most complete edition of Zimiamvia ever published.

    Over the Edge Features: Freeform Character Creation: Define your character the way you want to, without the limits of skill lists, random rolls, and artificial limitations. The rules favor character development over mechanics. Open Setting: Anything goes on the chaotic island of Al Amarja. If it troubles your dreams, if it scares you, if you hope it isn't true, it's waiting for you Over the Edge. Players can never be sure what they're up against, who is on their side, and why. Focus on the Story: Easy, open-ended mechanics allow you to spend more time developing your character and your plots, instead of crunching numbers. The GM's chapters include numerous story ideas and plenty advice for better gamemastering. Easy To Get Started: Three beginning adventures introduce the GM and players to the wild world of Al Amarja and make the first sessions easy to run. New in the Second Edition: The mother of all charts: what each Al Amarjan conspiracy thinks of all the other ones. Updated references include all supplements published before this edition. Plus Improved layout and graphic appearance.

    Presents some of the masterpieces of children's literature, including Mother Goose verses, fairy tales, works by London, Ruskin, Carroll, Twain, Stevenson, Baum, Grahame, Montgomery, Dickens, and more.

    From submarine cables to fiber optics to neutrino and tachyon (faster than light) communications, he traces the global changes these innovations left or will leave in their wake.

    Far away in glittering Sacramente, the elite artisans of the Eloim live in isolation, hiding their true non-human nature from the public who adore their culture, art and philosophy. But all is not well for the Eloim, who are succumbing to a a disease called "The Fear", bringing death and despair among their ranks for the first time. And no soulscaper is able to help them.Eloim actress Gimel and her brother Beth decide they need a child, a soulscaper young enough they can be trained to cope with their alien psyches--and they have chosen Rayojinni.

    Heinlein and his vision, containing many new and uncollected works by the Grand Master of science fiction, including two major novellas: Destination Moon, which was made into the famous George Pal film, and Tenderfoot in Space. There are contributions from such luminaries as Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Silverberg, Spider Robinson, and Gordon R. Dickson, as well as an introduction by Virginia Heinlein.Heinlein was the pre-eminent science fiction writer of the twentieth century. Requiem reveals the story of Heinlein's passion for space exploration-his glory and his dream.

    The Washington Post has called Gene Wolfe "the finest writer the science fiction world has yet produced." This volume joins together two of his rarest and most sought after works--Gene Wolfe's Book of Days and The Castle of the Otter--and add thirty-nine short essays collected here for the first time, to fashion a rich and engrossing architecture of wonder.

    Morlan, Robert Silverberg, Michael Swanwick, Jane Yolen and many others. Supplementing the stories are the editors' invaluable overviews of the year in fantastic fiction, Edward Bryant's witty roundup of the year's fantasy films, and a long list of Honorable Mentions —all of which adds up to an invaluable reference source, and a font of fabulous reading.Table of ContentsThe beautiful uncut hair of graves -- David Morrell In carnation -- Nancy Springer The somewhere doors -- Fred Chappell Poe at the end -- (poem) / -- R.H.W. Dillard Angels in love -- Kathe Koja Vivian -- Midori Snyder True love -- K.W. Jeter The second most beautiful woman in the world -- A.R. Morlan The swordsman whose name was not death -- Ellen Kushner The ragthorn -- Robert Holdstock and Garry Kilworth The smell -- Patrick McGrath The tenth scholar -- Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem Fisher death -- (poem) / -- Jessica Amanda Salmonson Walk in sable -- (poem) / -- Jessica Amanda Salmonson The cut man -- Norman Partridge The kind men like -- Karl Edward Wagner The coon suit -- Terry Bisson Queen Christina and the windsurfer -- Alison Fell Chui Chai -- S.P. Somtow Mama gone -- Jane Yolen Peter -- Pat Murphy Our lady of the harbour -- Charles de Lint The visitor's book -- Stephen Gallagher At the end of the day -- Steve Rasnic Tem The monster -- Nina Katerli Hummers -- Lisa Mason Santa's way -- James Powell Call home -- Dennis Etchison The Braille Encyclopedia -- Grant Morrison The poisoned story -- Rosario Ferre Blood -- Janice Galloway Dogstar man -- Nancy Willard Persistence of memory -- Joanne Greenberg You'll never eat lunch on this continent again -- Adam Gopnik The glamour -- Thomas Ligotti The peony lantern -- Kara Dalkey To be a hero -- (poem) / -- Nancy Springer The same in any language -- Ramsey Campbell Teratisms -- Kathe Koja The life of a poet -- Kobo Abe The witch of Wilton Falls -- Gloria Ericson Home by the sea -- Pat Cadigan Pish, posh, said hieronymus bosch -- (poem) / -- Nancy Willard The ash of memory, the dust of desire -- Poppy Z. Brite The pavilion of frozen women -- S.P. Somtow Moon songs --Carol Emshwiller The afternoon of June 8, 1991 -- Ian Frazier Gwydion and the dragon -- C.J. Cherryh A story must be held -- (poem) / -- Jane Yolen The Ogre's wife -- Pierrette Fleutiaux.

    Buried in the world of his own imagination, painter Anthony Shriek finds his dormant emotions awakened by the arrival of a bizarre and alluring woman whose presence turns his paintings into gateways to another world.

    Collects a story from each of the "pulp" fiction magazines available from the 1920s to the 1950s, guaranteed to chill and thrill--if they don't make ill--all but the most bloodless readers.

    Then, in another world, a desperate rite of magic sends a summoning, and in a whirling nightmare of hawkflight Eleanor is borne out of her indulgent unhappiness, and into another place.On a wind-lashed coast of endless twilight the Cavers, worshippers of the Moon Goddess Astret, exist in an endless present where none can be born and none can die. Creativity is dead, relationships barren. The Cavers must despair or fight, defying the Sun God Lycias whose High priest Lefevre maintains the Stasis from Peraldonia, an ocean away and basking in ageless pleasure under the relentless brilliance of the summer skies.The rite had been the Cavers' last chance to deal the Stasis a fatal blow; all they achieved was Eleanor who, disoriented and dismayed, wants no part of their problems. But the Moon Goddess will not be denied, and Eleanor sets reluctant foot on her own fated path. A path that will lead her on a dangerous journey southward, beset by the evils of Lefevre's imagining and by the Sun God's tempting deceptions. With her go the driven, tempestuous Caver Lukas Marling, the Peraldonian Phinian Blythe, who has lost everything at Lefevre's hands, and the magnificent, unknowable Arrarat, the sentient hawks who are the Cavers' only allies in their struggle to end the Stasis. But at the end it is to Eleanor, the outsider, that the final, heart-rending agony of choice will fall.

    Annotations are lengthy, detailed, and evaluative, often comparing works to other similar titles. Approximately 160 of the 700 annotations are new to this edition; 50-100 others have been extensively revised. Fan publications, serials, periodicals with reference value and nongenre materials of interest to science fiction researchers are reviewed in addition to such standard tools as bibliographies, encyclopedias, dictionaries, directories, and indexes. Major online resources and printed guides to the Internet have been added on a selective basis. The book also features core collection lists for academic, public, and personal research libraries. Aimed at librarians in academic and large public libraries.

    For centuries, writers have struggled to achieve the sublime through these tales, at times creating works of enduring interest. Horror novels have become one of the major bestselling forms of fiction in recent years, and Hollywood has given us a huge and varied supply of popular films, which has created an audience in the millions for horror. But throughout history, many of the finest achievements in horror have been in short fiction. From these masterpieces have been selected the contents of Foundations of Fear. This anthology presents an international selection of the strongest work by writers such as Clive Barker, H.P. Lovecraft, and Arthur Machen, who have been identified as category horror writers, and by writers such as Carlos Fuentes, Gerald Durrell, and Daphne Du Maurier, whose literary reputations transcend category. For horror in literature cuts across all category boundaries. Thus the reader will find in this volume domestic horror stories by Thomas Hardy, Violet Hunt and Mary Wilkins Freeman; and stories by Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick, masters of science fiction. The Introduction to Foundations of Fear takes particular note of women writers, who have made important contributions to the development of the horrific in literature; in addition to those already mentioned the collection includes works by Madeline Yale Wynne, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Gertrude Atherton, and others. Foundations of Fear challenges the notion that the supernatural in fiction has in modern times been supplanted by the psychological, the idea that horror is dead. Horror is one of the dominant literary modes of our time, a vigorous and living body of literature that continues to thrill us with the mystery and wonder of the unknown. Contents 1 • Introduction (Foundations of Fear) • (1992) • essay by David G. Hartwell 12 • Don't Look Now • (1966) • novella by Daphne du Maurier 41 • They • (1941) • shortstory by Robert A. Heinlein 52 • At the Mountains of Madness • [Cthulhu Mythos] • (1936) • novel by H. P. Lovecraft 115 • The Little Room • (1895) • shortstory by Madeline Yale Wynne 124 • The Shadowy Street • (1965) • novelette by Jean Ray (aka La ruelle ténébreuse 1932 ) 145 • Passengers • (1968) • shortstory by Robert Silverberg 154 • The Moonstone Mass • (1868) • shortstory by Harriet Prescott Spofford 163 • The Blue Rose • [Blue Rose] • (1985) • novella by Peter Straub (aka Blue Rose) 197 • Sandkings • (1979) • novelette by George R. R. Martin 223 • The Great God Pan • (1894) • novella by Arthur Machen 256 • Aura • (1965) • novelette by Carlos Fuentes 276 • Barbara, of the House of Grebe • (1890) • novelette by Thomas Hardy 295 • Torturing Mr. Amberwell • (1985) • novelette by Thomas M. Disch 317 • The Prayer • (1895) • novelette by Violet Hunt 334 • Who Goes There? • (1938) • novella by John W. Campbell, Jr. [as by John W. Campbell ] 370 • . . . and my fear is great • (1953) • novella by Theodore Sturgeon (aka . . . And My Fear Is Great . . .) 409 • When Darkness Loves Us • (1985) • novelette by Elizabeth Engstrom 439 • We Purchased People • (1974) • shortstory by Frederik Pohl 449 • The Striding Place • (1896) • shortstory by Gertrude Atherton 454 • In the Hills, the Cities • (1984) • novelette by Clive Barker 474 • Faith of Our Fathers • (1967) • novelette by Philip K. Dick 495 • The Bell in the Fog • (1905) • novelette by Gertrude Atherton 509 • The Sand-Man • (1816) • novelette by E. T. A. Hoffmann (aka Der Sandmann) 530 • Bloodchild • (1984) • novelette by Octavia E. Butler [as by Octavia Butler ] 543 • Duel • (1971) • novelette by Richard Matheson 558 • Longtooth • (1970) • novelette by Edgar Pangborn 580 • Luella Miller • (1902) • shortstory by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman [as by Mary Wilkins Freeman ] 589 • The Entrance • (1979) • novelette by Gerald Durrell 619 • The Lurking Duck • (1992) • shortfiction by Scott Baker 649 • Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story • (1985) • novelette by Thomas Ligotti

    Fifteen stories dealing with boundaries between the sexes, facsimile humans, dreams of the dead, nightmares, and marriage in the future.Stories include: A Mother's Heart; Bits and Pieces; Dead Television; Other Room; Skin Deep; Lizard Lust; Colonization of Edwin Beal; Spirit Cabinet; Jamie's Grave; Riding the Nightmare; Heart's Desire; The Wound; Husbands; A Birthday.

    It has people dancing in the streets and leaping off skyscrapers. And it's all because of the impenetrable gray shield that slid into place around the solar system on the night of November 15, 2034.Some see the bubble as the revenge of an insane God. Some see it as justice. Some even see it as protection. But one thing is for certain -- now there is the universe, and the earth. And never the twain shall meet.Or so it seems. Until a bio-enhanced PI named Nick Stavrianos takes on a job for an anonymous client: find a girl named Laura who disappeared from a mental institution by the most direct possible method -- walking through the walls.