It begins with a walk in the bazaar, but soon grows into a tale unlike any other told in the caliph's empire. It's a story that includes not just buried treasure and a band of thieves, but also men haunted by their past and others trapped by their future; it includes not just a beloved wife and a veiled seductress, but also long journeys taken by caravan and even longer ones taken with a single step. Above all, it's a story about recognizing the will of Allah and accepting it, no matter what form it takes.

    Dick is now seen as a uniquely visionary figure, a writer who, in editor Jonathan Lethem’s words, “wielded a sardonic yet heartbroken acuity about the plight of being alive in the twentieth century, one that makes him a lonely hero to the readers who cherish him.”This Library of America volume brings together four of Dick’s most original novels. The Man in the High Castle (1962), which won the Hugo Award, describes an alternate world in which Japan and Germany have won World War II and America is divided into separate occupation zones. The dizzying The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1965) posits a future in which competing hallucinogens proffer different brands of virtual reality, and an interplanetary drug tycoon can transform himself into a godlike figure transcending even physical death.Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968), about a bounty hunter in search of escaped androids in a postapocalyptic society where status is measured by the possession of live animals and religious life is focused on a television personality, was the basis for the movie Blade Runner. Ubik (1969), with its future world of psychic espionage agents and cryonically frozen patients inhabiting an illusory “half-life,” pursues Dick’s theme of simulated realities and false perceptions to ever more disturbing conclusions, as time collapses on itself and characters stranded in past eras search desperately for the elusive, constantly shape-shifting panacea Ubik. As with most of Dick’s novels, no plot summary can suggest the mesmerizing and constantly surprising texture of these astonishing books.Posing the questions “What is human?” and “What is real?” in a multitude of fascinating ways, Dick produced works—fantastic and weird, yet developed with precise logic, marked by wild humor and soaring flights of religious speculation—that are startlingly prescient imaginative anticipations of 21st-century quandaries.

    . .Created especially with younger readers in mind, this book will use simple words and basic sentence structure to introduce the characters of the story.

    This groundbreaking series chronicles the compelling first contact between humans and multiple alien races, and is noted for its unique viewpoint: that of the alien protagonists.

    Born in California during the twilight years of a weary millennium, nine year old Joby Peterson dreams of blazing like a bonfire against the gathering darkness of his times, like a knight of the Round Table. Instead, he is subjected to a life of crippling self-doubt and relentless mediocrity inflicted by an enemy he did nothing to earn and cannot begin to comprehend. Though imperiled themselves, the angels are forbidden to intervene. Left to struggle with their own loyalties and the question of obedience, they watch Lucifer work virtually unhindered to turn Joby's heart of gold into ash and stone while God sits by, seemingly unconcerned.  And so when he is grown to manhood, Joby's once luminous love of life seems altogether lost, and Lucifer's victory assured. What hope remains lies hidden in the beauty, warmth, and innocence of a forgotten seaside village whose odd inhabitants seem to defy the modern world's most inflexible assumptions, and in the hearts of Joby's long lost youthful love and her emotionally wounded son. But the ravenous forces of destruction that follow Joby into this concealed paradise plan to use these same things to bring him and his world to ruin. As the final struggle unfolds, one question occupies every mind in heaven and in hell. Which will prove stronger, love or rage? The Book of Joby is an instant classic of contemporary fantasy.

    This book collects sixteen wondrous stories of fantasy, science fiction, horror and things in between from the imagination of award-winning fictionist Dean Francis Alfar.

    Winner of the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy and Edgar awards, his acclaimed first book The Dying Earth and its sequels helped shape the face of modern heroic fantasy for generations of readers—and writers! In more than sixty novels, he has done more than any other author to define science fantasy and its preeminent form: the planetary adventure.Born in San Francisco in 1916, Vance wrote much of what you'll find between these covers both abroad and at home in the hills above Oakland, either while serving in the merchant marine or traveling the world with his wife Norma, all the while pursuing his great love of fine cuisine and traditional jazz.Now, at last, the very best of Vance's mid-length and shorter work has been collected in a single landmark volume. With a Preface by Vance himself and a foreword by long-time Vance reader George R.R. Martin, it stands as the capstone to a splendid career and makes the perfect introduction to a very special writer.Table of ContentsPreface, Jack VanceJack Vance: An Appreciation, George R.R. MartinIntroduction: Fruit from the Tree of LifeThe Dragon MastersLiane the WayfarerSail 25The Gift of GabThe Miracle WorkersGuyal of SfereNoiseThe Kokod WarriorsThe OverworldThe Men ReturnThe Sorcerer PharesmThe New PrimeThe SecretThe Moon MothThe Bagful of DreamsThe MitrMorreionThe Last CastleBiographical Sketch & Other Facts, Jack Vance

    Now, the land suffers under the tyranny of King Imre, whose savage oppression of the human population weighs heavily on Camber’s heart—a heart that is about to be shattered by a tragic loss that will lead him to confront the usurpers whose dark magic haunts the realm.  Saint Camber: The yoke of tyranny has finally been lifted in Gwynedd, but Camber’s job remains unfinished. The dangerous remnants of a conquered enemy still mass at the borders, and the new ruler is desperately unhappy wearing the crown. With the stability of a fragile kingdom at stake, its greatest champion must make the ultimate sacrifice: Camber of Culdi must cease to exist.  Camber the Heretic: The king’s heir is a mere boy of twelve, and the malevolent regents who will rule until young Alroy comes of age are determined to eliminate all Deryni. Suddenly, the future of Gwynedd hangs in the balance, and Camber—once adored as a saint, but now reviled as a heretic—must find a way to protect his people before everything and everyone he loves is destroyed in the all-consuming flames of intolerance and hate.   Filled with mysticism and magic, these sagas reminds us that “Kurtz’s love of history lets her do things with her characters and their world that no non-historian could hope to do” (Chicago Sun-Times).

    Along with a wandering dog-soldier, she is swept up on a mission for the elven nation of Anu'tintavel in its war against a powerful sorcerer. With the help of a pair of female elves, a scout and a warrior, the frightened, bookish girl discovers new talents and confidence that make her a key player in the elves conflict.

    They want to revolutionize space travel. Schlock just wants to hurt people and break things. This 240-page volume takes the reader back to the very start of Schlock Mercenary, and then some. It opens with nine pages of all-new strips telling the story of how Schlock came to enlist, and then forges onward chronologically from the very first strip. It also includes concept sketches, commentary, excellent guest art, deck plans for the Kitesfear. If you've been waiting to devour this Schlock Mercenary from the very beginning, the wait is over: grab your big spoon and dig into the Tub of Happiness.

    He lets them know who's a good pick, and who may be a personality time bomb just waiting for a catalyst to set it off.WOLF- For one traveler, the last thing in the world he wants to hear is the howl of a wolf on the prowl.SPLASHING CONTEST-A master bully is introduced to true, total revenge by two of his victims.SACRED COW-Gordo Gordon is an idiot savant who makes an astounding discovery with the help of his guardian.THE GREAT SNIPE HUNT- Nature abhors a vacuum. Evolution will inevitably fill it, if it hasn't already...........IOWA TYPHOON-The lightning makes you do things, but that's okay, you'll soon forget your sins ...RED MAN-"No man suffers injustice without learning, vaguely but surely, what justice is." - Isaac RosenfeldrEARTHCORE II: MT. FITZROY INTRODUCTION-Scott gives an advance preview of Earthcore II from the Podcast Media Expo.

    The eight stories, reprinted for the first time in this collection delve further into the history and exploits of the Company and its operatives, including Mendoza, Lewis, and Alec. The book opens with the novella, "To the Land Beyond the Sunset," starring Lewis and Mendoza, and involving a strange tribe in Bolivia whose members claim to be gods. Their ability to grow a small tropical paradise in the middle of the desert certainly seems godlike, and it's Mendoza's job to figure what their secret is."Standing in His Light" features Van Drouten, and her role in the career of the artist Jan Vermeer. The story illustrates how, with a little help from the Company, lost masterpieces can be found (or created) easily. Other stories include "Welcome to Olympus, Mr. Hearst," which opens up intriguing questions about The Company, and the original novelette, "Hellfire at Twilight," which concludes the volume and tells of Lewis infiltrating the famous Hellfire Club in the England of the 18th century. This book is a compelling read for every Baker fan, and essential for Company addicts

    Separated by much more than a river, one side is an unfinished technological marvel populated by mega-skyscrapers where the wealthy live, work, and play. The other is a forsaken wasteland where order is strictly maintained by a rogue group of cleric soldiers known as the street preachers. But this dichotomy is about to change. Slowly, quietly, clandestine forces are working to undermine the small piece of redemption the street preachers have brought to their concrete flocks. In the face of watching their second chance crumble to dust, some will fight to stop it. Others will kill to make it happen.A bold experiment in podcast fiction, The Failed Cities Monologues are told from the shifting perspectives of the characters who inhabit this world, twisted noir archetypes and cyberpunk warriors. Their lives and their stories are linked together by conspiracy, fate... and blood.

    Levine * Paul J. McAuley * Mary Rosenblum * Daryl Gregory * Jack Skillingstead * Paolo Bacigalupi * Greg Egan * Elizabeth Bear * Sarah Monette * Ken MacLeod * Stephen Baxter * Carolyn Ives Gilman * John Barnes * A.M. DellamonicaSupplementing the stories are the editor's insightful summation of the year's events and a list of honorable mentions, making this book a valuable resource in addition to serving as the single best place in the universe to find stories that stir the imagination and the heart. Contentsxiii • Summation: 2006 • (2007) • essay by Gardner Dozois1 • I, Row-Boat • (2006) • novelette by Cory Doctorow28 • Julian: A Christmas Story • (2006) • novella by Robert Charles Wilson66 • Tin Marsh • (2006) • novelette by Michael Swanwick81 • The Djinn's Wife • [India 2047] • (2006) • novelette by Ian McDonald112 • The House Beyond Your Sky • (2006) • shortstory by Benjamin Rosenbaum121 • Where the Golden Apples Grow • (2006) • novella by Kage Baker164 • Kin • (2006) • shortstory by Bruce McAllister172 • Signal to Noise • (2006) • novelette by Alastair Reynolds204 • The Big Ice • (2006) • shortstory by Jay Lake and Ruth Nestvold221 • Bow Shock • (2006) • novelette by Gregory Benford251 • In the River • (2006) • shortstory by Justin Stanchfield266 • Incarnation Day • (2006) • novella by Walter Jon Williams295 • Far As You Can Go • (2006) • shortstory by Greg van Eekhout305 • Good Mountain • (2005) • novella by Robert Reed350 • I Hold My Father's Paws • (2006) • shortstory by David D. Levine360 • Dead Men Walking • (2006) • novelette by Paul J. McAuley374 • Home Movies • (2006) • novelette by Mary Rosenblum395 • Damascus • (2006) • novelette by Daryl Gregory418 • Life on the Preservation • (2006) • shortstory by Jack Skillingstead431 • Yellow Card Man • [The Windup Universe] • (2006) • novelette by Paolo Bacigalupi457 • Riding the Crocodile • (2005) • novella by Greg Egan492 • The Ile of Dogges • (2006) • shortstory by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette499 • The Highway Men • (2006) • novelette by Ken MacLeod524 • The Pacific Mystery • (2006) • shortstory by Stephen Baxter540 • Okanoggan Falls • (2006) • novelette by Carolyn Ives Gilman566 • Every Hole Is Outlined • (2006) • novelette by John Barnes589 • The Town on Blighted Sea • (2006) • shortstory by A. M. Dellamonica606 • Nightingale • [Revelation Space] • (2006) • novella by Alastair Reynolds653 • Honorable Mentions: 2006 • (2007) • essay by Gardner Dozois

    . . . Humorous, gently eerie drawings on almost every page add to the fun." — SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

    This story was originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction magazine in March 2007. It is available in The Best of Elizabeth Bear.

    Mysticism, heroism, cruelty, and compassion thread through these multifaceted tales — which range from the origins of the Manhattan Project to a culinary object-lesson, from 1950s corruption to a slight glitch in Creation. Collected here for the first time and including an excerpt from her breakout first novel The Green Glass Sea, and an introduction from Neil Gaiman, these stories are timeless and delightful, chilling and beautiful.

    Paul Wilson's fiction from the FREAK SHOW anthology. The events here take place a year after the Oddity Emporium's encounter with Repairman Jack in ALL THE RAGE, with an extra ten-thousand words of new characters and new subplots that weave the story into the Adversary Cycle.Description:"It will be a long trip, brothers and sisters," Oz said as he walked among the members of his troupe. "Long in distance and in days."And perhaps it is good that we make a full circuit of this country - better yet if we could make a circuit of the globe - for it will allow us a chance to see it and remember it as it was - if we care to."He let his gaze range over them as he allowed the words to sink in.All the important ones were here. The special ones, the ones like him. Three-eyed Carmella sat with melon-headed Leshane Burns, flashing sidelong glances at George Swenson who sat alone; the bovine Clementine also sat alone, but not necessarily by choice; woody-skinned Bramble sat near green-skinned Haman who appeared to be staring at the closed tent flap while the eyeless Gerald Gaines stared at nothing yet saw everything; Delta Reid coiled around her chair as Janusch waved his stalked eyes. Others sat scattered about. The troupe had no unity yet. They were not yet a team. But by the end of this tour they would be. They'd be family. The troupe. The freak show. People with green skin, white skin, furry skin, reptile hide, no eyes, extra eyes, no digits, extra digits, people with visions, with no vision, with one face, with two faces. A gathering to give many a towner nightmares for life. But to Oz they were beautiful. Because they were kin. Brother and sister were not forms of address he took lightly. Truly kin. For they shared a common parent, a third parent that had left an indelible imprint on their genes.The Otherness. Each had been touched by the Otherness.And so begins a hunt . . . for the pieces of a Device, a Contraption, a Thing-a-ma-jig. Call it what you will, it has power . . . it straddles the worlds - the one we know and another we cannot see.

    It also scrutinizes Frank Herbert’s science fiction world by asking questions such as Is the ecology of Dune realistic? Is it theoretically possible to get information from the future? Could humans really evolve as Herbert suggests? and Which of Herbert’s inventions have already come to life? This companion to the Dune series is a must-have for any fan who wants to revisit this science fiction world and explore it even further.

    In West Africa in 2070, after fifteen-year-old "shadow speaker" Ejii witnesses her father's beheading, she embarks on a dangerous journey across the Sahara to find Jaa, her father's killer, and upon finding her, she also discovers a greater purpose to her life and to the mystical powers she possesses.

    Mother of three, Sarah Glen, loses her life under unusual circumstances when her car is forced from the road in what appears to be a random act of road rage.What follows is a breathtaking story of adventure and excitement as Sarah explores the limitless wonder of her new home, Paradise.The Throne Room, New Jerusalem, departed loved ones, all these and more are unveiled in this thought provoking tale.While Sarah's remaining family and friends struggle to come to terms with the passing of the popular mom, angels, good and evil, fight for supremacy in the age-old battle between the kingdoms of darkness and light.

    The title character of THE REVISIONIST conducts covert surveillance on a city whose inhabitants are subject to uncanny transformations as a result of catastrophic weather, political corruption, invasive technologies and environmental degradation. Hired to spin, or "revise," the facts, the revisionist's perceptions in turn become detached and distorted--inevitably unreliable yet all the same, revealing. This civil scientist of a narrator sardonically observes a distressed landscape inhabited by mutant children, a seeing-eye dog, a centenarian with iguanas and constellations beneath her dress, brooding frigate birds, insurance love clones, a terrorist curator, a private investigator, and a little girl who's discovered the world's largest conch. "THE REVISIONIST is at once a beautifully simple fable and a wonderfully lyrical apocalyptic tale"--Brian Evenson.

    GrantIntroduction by Dan Chaon

    . . and murder isn’t the worst that can happen.Omnibus edition of Pashazade, Effendi, Felaheen

    Although thought to be 800 years old, there are some who claim he is older yet...5,200 years older, in fact, because for the History Monks, time is a resource to manipulate, and they do... Lu-Tze, a bald, yellow-toothed little man with a wispy beard, has a faintly amiable grin, as if constantly waiting for something amusing to happen, and a handy epithet for every occasion. In his life, Lu-Tze has done everything, and his past deeds are legend amongst the History Monks. He is a follower of The Way of Mrs Marietta Cosmopilite. He also grows Bonsai mountains. LU-TZE'S YEARBOOK OF ENLIGHTMENT (including The Way of Mrs Cosmopilite) is the ideal companion for those seeking truth and harmony and, well, the meaning to life - though he doesn't guarantee it will be the right meaning...

    The opening story, "Strings," takes us to a world that tightly controls musical expression and values faithfulness to the canon above all else. By contrast, in the title novella, "Dangerous Space," we see the full power of music unleashed to sexually enthralling as well as risky effect; original to the volume, this tale features Mars, the intriguing narrator of "And Salome Danced" (short-listed for the Tiptree Award), on tour with an indie rock band on the verge of breaking out. Closing the volume, the moving, edgy "Alien Jane" (a finalist for the Nebula Award and adapted for the SciFi Channel's Welcome to Paradox series) delves into the importance of pain for the human organism and finds hope in the most unlikely of places.

    Salamanca streaks across decades and spaces, tracking the stormy relationship between polymorphous-perverse Gaudencio Rivera, whose passions ignite prodigious feats of writing and wandering, and Palawena beauty Jacinta Cordova, whose perfection transmutes walls into glass and adoration into art.Tracing the arc of an imperfect marriage sundered by acts of nature (not least human) and sutured by acts of will (not least nonhuman), and vividly peopled by a multigenerational and multinational cast of kith and kin, this work of imagination takes the reader on a magical excursion into Philippine life and history while setting new standards for the Filipino novel along the way.

    Kiernan surprised her readers with, Frog Toes and Tentacles, a small-form hardcover of ?darkly weird erotica.? Now Kiernan follows that sold-out volume with a second collection of her unique brand of erotica, Tales from the Woeful Platypus. Like its predecessor, this book will be illustrated by acclaimed artist Vince Locke (The Sandman, Batman, A History of Violence, Deadworld, etc.), and also like the first volume, it is unlikely ever to be reprinted.

    In Eros Rising by Ally Blue, Scott and Keegan have both been hurt by love. Can they overcome their painful pasts and build a future with each other? There's nothing better than a cup of coffee and your one true love. Gray's in for the surprise of his life when he gets not two, but three for one in Cafe Noctem by Willa Okati. When werewolves Devlin and Laine meet in With Love by J.L. Langley, it's instant attraction. However, the pack Alpha is determined to take Laine for himself. Can Devlin protect his new found mate and keep them both alive? Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic language, violence and hot nekkid man-love.

    Collecting rare and unknown tales as well as notable early triumphs,A Pleasure to Burn offers an unparalleled window into Bradbury’s creative process, and a unique glimpse at the evolution of one of the greatest works of 20th century American literature. Absolutely essential for fans of Bradbury books like Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked This Way Comes,The Illustrated Man, and The Martian Chronicles—and for readers of William Golding, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, and other titans of speculative fiction—A Pleasure to Burn illuminates the unusual hidden corners of Bradbury’s expansive imagination, revealing a creative force as vivid and powerful as the hottest burning flame.

    The title story, "Hart & Boot," was chosen by Michael Chabon for inclusion in The Best American Short Stories: 2005.Contents:Hart & Boot (2004)Life in Stone (2004)Cup and Table (2006)In a Glass Casket (2004)Terrible Ones (2004)Romanticore (2003)Living with the Harpy (2003)Komodo (2007)Bottom Feeding (2005)The Tyrant in Love (2007)Impossible Dreams (2006)Lachrymose and the Golden Egg (2005)Dream Engine (2006)

    In the year of our One 3075 Tundra has been at peace for 400 years. There is no racism, poverty or war. Karla is a young, Indigo woman working as a successful healer. Yet she is tormented by lucid and erotic dreams. Dreams in which she is Immortal. Two men emerge from these phantasms: the first a Copper Shape shifter and the other a demon more dead than alive. But when this creature appears in her apartment Karla realizes that they share a lust that may one day consume her. His will unlock a mystery. Joseph always dreamt of becoming an artist, a warrior...and a shape shifter. Now he's dreaming of a sorceress who commands that he leave his homeland. Together they will journey to the end of time. To a nightmarish world of revolution and magic. But will they save Tundra or perish in it's destruction?

    Yet the show has lived on through syndication, global distribution, DVD release, and merchandising, as well as in the memories of its devoted viewers. Buffy stands out from much entertainment television by offering sharp, provocative commentaries on gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and youth. Yet it has also been central to changing trends in television production and reception. As a flagship show for two U.S. “netlets”—the WB and UPN—Buffy helped usher in the “post-network” era, and as the inspiration for an active fan base, it helped drive the proliferation of Web-based fan engagement.In Undead TV, media studies scholars tackle the Buffy phenomenon and its many afterlives in popular culture, the television industry, the Internet, and academic criticism. Contributors engage with critical issues such as stardom, gender identity, spectatorship, fandom, and intertextuality. Collectively, they reveal how a vampire television series set in a sunny California suburb managed to provide some of the most biting social commentaries on the air while exposing the darker side of American life. By offering detailed engagements with Sarah Michelle Gellar’s celebrity image, science-fiction fanzines, international and “youth” audiences, Buffy tie-in books, and Angel’s body, Undead TV shows how this prime-time drama became a prominent marker of industrial, social, and cultural change.Contributors. Ian Calcutt, Cynthia Fuchs, Amelie Hastie, Annette Hill, Mary Celeste Kearney, Elana Levine, Allison McCracken, Jason Middleton, Susan Murray, Lisa Parks

    With Scorpio shut down, Kevin Jarrat and Jerry Stone are on furlough, headed for a resort in Rethan's tropics. But when the clipper detours to the halfway station of Sheckley for repairs, the vacation dissolves into unexpected, unpredictable hazard. Stone is fascinated to see the 'gas can with lights' where Jarrat spent his youth, but the tour turns deadly when they run into Scorpio escapees who recognize Jarrat, and the NARC captains find themselves on a flight right into Hades. Cut off from the carrier, backup and weapons, they're surviving on their wits; furough looks like an impossible fantasy. A Pocket-size NARC page-turner, falling between SCORPIO and APHELION, from the award-winning author of Scorpio, Hellgate and Fortunes of War.

    Delilah Dirk, English-Greek heroine and master of forty-seven different sword-fighting techniques, has been captured breaking into the palace in Constantinople. Her goal: to "repatriate" several of His Majesty’s prized ancient scrolls. But how will she accomplish that from the dungeon? And what does her arrival mean for mild-mannered, dutiful and loquacious Captain Selim?

    Calamity, born Chastity, has renamed herself in a way she feels is most fitting. She's a 50-something grandmother whose mother disappeared when she was a teenager and whose father has just passed away as she begins menopause. With this physical change of life comes a return of a special power for finding lost things, something she hasn't been able to do since childhood. A little tingling in the hands then a massive hotflash, and suddenly objects, even whole buildings, lost to her since childhood begin showing up around Calamity. One of the lost things Calamity recovers is a small boy who washes up on the shore outside her house after a rainstorm. She takes this bruised but cheerful 3-year-old under her wing and grows attached to him, a process that awakens all the old memories, frustrations and mysteries around her own mother and father. She'll learn that this young boy's family is the most unusual group she's ever encountered--and they want their son back.

    Le Fanu's Ghostly Tales, Volume 4 is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.Contains the titles: Ghost Stories of Chapelizod The Drunkard’s Dream The Ghost and the Bonesetter The Mysterious Lodger

    She writes about bitterness, cruelty and compulsion with brutal acuity and tenderness. She has created a timeless collection in which Greek mythology, superstition and the religious and cultural experience of the Jewish diaspora in America collide. In these stories, we see Ozick defining herself and her literary territory. This is a dazzling collection of short stories by an internationally celebrated novelist.

    This short story was originally published in Joe Hill's collection 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS.Eddie Carroll is sick to death of editing the collection America's Best New Horror, sick of reading through second-rate stories in order to find the few "best new." But one afternoon he stumbles across a new story so remarkable that he soon embarks on a quixotic quest to find its author - a quest he may not live to regret.

    And now it's nearly Christmas, and the commission assigned to establish communications is at their wits' end. They've resorted to taking the aliens to Broncos games, lighting displays, and shopping malls, in the hope they'll respond to something!And they do, but in a way nobody ever expected, and Meg, the commission, and an overworked choir director find themselves suddenly caught up in an intergalactic mess involving Christmas carols, scented candles, seventh-grade girls, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Meg's Aunt Judith, Victoria's Secret, and Handel's Messiah.Multiple Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author Connie Willis may be most famous for her books To Say Nothing of the Dog, Doomsday Book, Inside Job, D.A., and The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories, but she's also a huge fan of the holidays and their accompanying frivolity and nonsense, and has written a marvelous array of Christmas stories, including Miracle and Other Christmas Stories, "Just Like the Ones We Used to Know" (made into the CBS movie Snow Wonder), "deck.halls@boughs/holly", and now the hilarious "All Seated on the Ground."

    He has also directed a number of short films that have appeared on HBO, MTV, Comedy Central, Showtime, and the BBC.

    The book leads the writer from the pitfalls and clichés of a first story to selling and promoting a novel, and the writing life beyond. Topics in this guide range from the history of SF to alien creation, world building, space travel, and future medicine ­ a perfect reference and writing guide for someone wishing to write science fiction. The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction is written by established professionals, contributors from other DMP guides, and up-and-coming talents: Jeanne Allen Bud Sparhawk Piers Anthony Michele Acker Milena Benini Bob Nailor Orson Scott Card Michael McRae Ian Irvine Tina Morgan Wil McCarthy Darin Park Simon Rose Kim Richards ...and introducing Carol Hightshoe

    Two hundred years after the events chronicled in Deathstalker Destiny, it is a Golden Age for the Human Empire. The Empire is at peace with all the worlds in its domain, embracing clones, espers, aliens and former bitter enemies. Lewis Deathstalker is a remote descendant of the legendary Owen and foremost among the Paragons, an elite force of noble warriors in service to a benevolent constitutional monarchy. Douglas Campbell, grandson of Robert and Constance and a noted Paragon in his own right, has misgivings about his upcoming coronation. But before he becomes king, the Paragons of the Empire's home world of Logres must deal with a brutal psychic attack from the ELFs, a fanatical splinter group of espers bent on overthrowing the human regime. And as the new King, Douglas will make a fateful decision, unwittingly spawning an enemy more dangerous than any he's ever known.

    On the pages within are five interlinked tales that, when pieced together, paint a panorama of apathy, greed, and manipulation. We follow the self-inflicted plight of working class families and their efforts to step on others in the race to get ahead. We watch the petty wars of Nobel laureates. We become immersed in the minds of those caught in an ankle-biters rebellion. We are drawn into the intrigues and incompetence of those pulling the strings at the highest level of government. And, ultimately, we wonder: why? Here the absurdity of the mundane expands exponentially creating a tidal wave that sweeps reason away. For those who enjoy satire, bizarro literature, or a good old-fashioned slap to the senses, Discouraging at Best offers extra helpings of each.

    Stories by a variety of authors -- some old favourites, some new -- set during the events of the television series give the authentic feel of a newly discovered 'missing season' of Star Trek: The Next Generation.Contributors include Christopher L. Bennett, Greg Cox, Keith R. A. DeCandido, Bob Ingersoll & Thomas F. Zahler, David A. McIntee, Scott Pearson, Michael Schuster & Steve Mollmann, Susan Shwartz, Amy Sisson, James Swallow, Geoff Trowbridge, Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore, Richard C. White.

    As a matter of fact, ol' Finhead is in love and set to get hitched-until tragedy strikes on his wedding day. But is everything as it seems? Find out in the storyline many consider a highlight of Erik Larsen's continuing run on Savage Dragon.

    This title presents 14 speculative tales, all mingled with a generous sprinkling of erotic storytelling and all centred on strong lesbian protagonists.

    Enter the world of Danny Blue and you enter one where few things are exactly as they seem and yet everything is filled with powerful meaning and significance. "Coping with the death of his girlfriend would probably be a lot easier for Danny Blue if superstar musicians, strange cults, and a certain ghost could just leave him to his pain. The only problem is that none of them will. The fact that he seems to be changing from an ordinary human into something very different doesn't help very much either." --from PUBLICATION NOTES

    So that's a couple of Daniel and Taylish stories, and one Sunny and Irish story. Arrested Kisses is the reason it's a mature themed book, but Cigarette Smoke is hurt comfort. I put them all together so that they can share a cover and be more easily avaliable to those who like print books. And really, all three together are cheaper than buying them each one at at time :). So it's good for all of us. If you like yaoi, I think you'll like these stories!Thank you for looking at this book. I hope you'll give it a try!Nix

    Timmel Duchamp has assembled a collage of diverse materials to document the thirtieth anniversary of WisCon, which was a grand reunion of most of the convention's previous Guests of Honor. These include the transcript of Samuel R. Delany's interview of Joanna Russ, several essays reflecting on the diverse aspects of the convention, as well as papers presented in the academic track, panel notes and transcripts, an original short story by Rosaleen Love, and Eileen Gunn's snappy series of Q&A with numerous WisCon attendees, among them Ursula K. Le Guin, Julie Phillips, Ted Chiang, Carol Emshwiller, and Suzy McKee Charnas.* Introduction by L. Timmel Duchamp* “The WisCon Questions: A Coven of People Who Attended WisCon 30 Answer Random Personal Questions Posed by * Eileen Gunn” (interspersed throughout)* Q&A--Julie Philips* “Wonder Woman: Lesbian or Dyke? Paradise Island as a Woman’s Community” by Trina Robbins* Q&A—Suzy Charnas* “Welcome Back to the Beginning” by Rachel Swirsky* “Feminist Think Tanks”—panel transcript notes by Liz Henry* “A Think Tank Thing for Feminists” by Rosaleen Love* Q&A: Carol Emshwiller* Q&A Mark Rich* Q&A Ellen Klages* “Lord of the Monsters” by Andrea Hairston* Q&A Ted Chiang* Q&A Ursula K. Le Guin* Q&A Liz Henry* “The Feminist Romance Panel: Notes” by Micole Sudberg* “Is Reading Feminist SF a Theory-Building Activity?”—panel transcript notes by Laura Quilter* Q&A Lisa Tuttle* “Piercy’s Gendered Cyborgs: Hope, Threats, and Blurred Boundaries” by Linda Wight* Q&A Diantha Day Sprouse* “Uncomfortable Politics in Feminist Writing”—panel transcript notes by Laura Quilter* “The Cultural Appropriation Panel: Notes” by Yoon Ha Lee* “Researching WisCon Stories: Revisionist History or Re-visioning the Past with the Future in Mind” by Joan Haran* Q&A K. Tempest Bradford* Q&A Spike Parsons* “Who Wants a Revolution? Will a Reform Do?”—panel transcript notes by Liz Henry* “We Aren’t Civilized Yet: Reflections from the WisCon 30 Panel on Women Warriors” by Nancy Jane Moore* “‘A Man Is Like A Nut’: Gender and Magic in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Later Earthsea Novels” by Sylvia Kelso* The Legendary Joanna Russ Interviewed by Samuel R. Delany* Q&A Jeanne Gomoll* “A 40 Year-old Con-virgin Goes to WisCon” by Stephen Gold* “Sympathy and Power: L. Timmel Duchamp Asks Samuel R. Delany a Question”* “Dry Eyes” by Nisi Shawl* “No Man’s Land,” an original story by Rosaleen Love

    Witches and warlocks, fairy rings and gothic tales, this work presents some of the best short stories and poetry published in this genre.

    From tennis matches with Death to chess games with Oberon, from free throws with the Fairy Court to surfing with werewolves, every sport imaginable (and a few unimaginable) exist within this speculative city of games. 42 authors, veterans and rookies alike, have contributed flash fiction and poetry that will take you from pong with a dust mote at the beginning of the world to sailboarding through the stars at the universe's edge. Contributors include: Paul Abbamondi, Marge Simon, Robert Frazier, E. C. Myers, C. A. Gardner, James S. Dorr, Todd Wheeler, Deborah P Kolodji, Jude-Marie Green, Marcie Lynn Tentchoff, Samantha Henderson, Roger Dutcher, Amanda M. Hayes, Ruth Berman, Lawrence Schimel, Larry Hodges, G. O. Clark, Jennifer Crow, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Rob Rosen, Andrew C. Ferguson, and 21 more.

    

    Morgan arrived on the scene. He unleashed Takeshi Kovacs–private eye, soldier of fortune, and all-purpose antihero–into the body-swapping, hard-boiled, urban jungle of tomorrow in Altered Carbon, Broken Angels, and Woken Furies, winning the Philip K. Dick Award in the process. In Market Forces, he launched corporate gladiator Chris Faulkner into the brave new business of war-for-profit. Now, in Thirteen, Morgan radically reshapes and recharges science fiction yet again, with a new and unforgettable hero in Carl Marsalis: hybrid, hired gun, and a man without a country . . . or a planet.Marsalis is one of a new breed. Literally. Genetically engineered by the U.S. government to embody the naked aggression and primal survival skills that centuries of civilization have erased from humankind, Thirteens were intended to be the ultimate military fighting force. The project was scuttled, however, when a fearful public branded the supersoldiers dangerous mutants, dooming the Thirteens to forced exile on Earth’s distant, desolate Mars colony. But Marsalis found a way to slip back–and into a lucrative living as a bounty hunter and hit man before a police sting landed him in prison–a fate worse than Mars, and much more dangerous.Luckily, his “enhanced” life also seems to be a charmed one. A new chance at freedom beckons, courtesy of the government. All Marsalis has to do is use his superior skills to bring in another fugitive. But this one is no common criminal. He’s another Thirteen–one who’s already shanghaied a space shuttle, butchered its crew, and left a trail of bodies in his wake on a bloody cross-country spree. And like his pursuer, he was bred to fight to the death. Still, there’s no question Marsalis will take the job. Though it will draw him deep into violence, treachery, corruption, and painful confrontation with himself, anything is better than remaining a prisoner. The real question is: can he remain sane–and alive–long enough to succeed?2007 1st Ed Del Rey 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

    In the 22nd century, humanity was the master of its domain. Governments were redundant as corporations took over resource management. At the center was the Sorensen Conglomerate, spread out beneath its great dome on the planet Mars. Under Sorensen's leadership, it seemed Utopia was at hand-for those who could afford it. But there was a darker side to the new gilded age-though the company saw to its workers' needs, it expected absolute submission. Minimalism in the caverns contrasted with the grandeur of the soaring towers. For those few workers not lulled into submission, the disparity stoked the fires of revolution. For Noah Sorensen, son of the richest man in the solar system, the escalating conflict came into stark relief as he assumed his place in the company and learned of unimagined worlds, right beneath his feet. Would he learn enough in time to save humanity before its prosperity would cause its own destruction?