A listing of alternate histories tells you all the various ways Hitler has died. A lawyer sues an interplanetary union for dangerous working conditions. And four artificial intelligences explain, in increasingly worrying detail, how they plan not to destroy humanity. Welcome to Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi.These four stories, along with 14 other pieces, have one thing in common: They're short, sharp, and to the point - science fiction in miniature, with none of the stories longer than 2,300 words. But in that short space exist entire universes, absurd situations, and the sort of futuristic humor that propelled Scalzi to a Hugo with his novel Redshirts. Not to mention yogurt taking over the world (as it would).Spanning the years from 1991 to 2016, this collection is a quarter century of Scalzi at his briefest and best and features four never-before-published stories exclusive to this collection: "Morning Announcements at the Lucas Interspecies School for Troubled Youth", "Your Smart Appliances Talk About You Behind Your Back", "Important Holidays on Gronghu", and "The AI Are Absolutely Positively Without a Doubt Not Here to End Humanity, Honest".John Scalzi is the New York Times best-selling author of Old Man's War, Lock In, and Redshirts, among others. His work has won the Hugo and Locus Awards and been nominated for the Nebula and Campbell Awards. He lives in Ohio and online. He enjoys pie.Full cast of narrators includes Oliver Wyman, Dina Pearlman, and Allyson Johnson.

    Now some of the most fertile imaginations in speculative fiction offer bold and breathtaking visions of "what's out there" and "what's next" in the eleventh annual celebration of the very best short SF to appear over the past year.Once again, acclaimed editors and anthologists David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer have compiled an extraordinary collection featuring stunning works from modern masters as well as dazzling gems from brilliant new talents -- tales that carry the reader to the far corners of the galaxy and beyond, into hitherto unexplored regions. Get ready to take glorious flight on a journey to the miraculous.Contentsxi • Introduction (Year's Best SF 11) • (2006) • essay by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer1 • New Hope for the Dead • (2005) • shortstory by David Langford5 • Deus Ex Homine • (2005) • shortstory by Hannu Rajaniemi22 • When the Great Days Came • (2005) • shortstory by Gardner Dozois [as by Gardner R. Dozois ]29 • Second Person, Present Tense • (2005) • novelette by Daryl Gregory54 • Dreadnought • (2005) • shortstory by Justina Robson58 • A Case of Consilience • (2005) • shortstory by Ken MacLeod73 • Toy Planes • (2005) • shortstory by Tobias S. Buckell77 • Mason's Rats • [Mason's Rats] • (1992) • shortstory by Neal Asher (variant of Mason's Rats I)85 • A Modest Proposal • (2005) • shortstory by Vonda N. McIntyre89 • Guadalupe and Hieronymus Bosch • (2005) • shortstory by Rudy Rucker106 • The Forever Kitten • (2005) • shortstory by Peter F. Hamilton111 • City of Reason • [Homesteader/Coordinator Group • 3] • (2005) • novelette by Matthew Jarpe136 • Ivory Tower • (2005) • shortstory by Bruce Sterling140 • Sheila • (2005) • shortstory by Lauren McLaughlin156 • Rats of the System • (2005) • shortstory by Paul J. McAuley [as by Paul McAuley ]176 • I Love Liver: A Romance • (2005) • shortstory by Larissa Lai180 • The Edge of Nowhere • (2005) • novelette by James Patrick Kelly207 • What's Expected of Us • (2005) • shortstory by Ted Chiang211 • Girls and Boys, Come Out to Play • [Darger and Surplus] • (2005) • novelette by Michael Swanwick241 • Lakes of Light • [Xeelee] • (2005) • novelette by Stephen Baxter262 • The Albian Message • (2005) • shortstory by Oliver Morton266 • Bright Red Star • (2005) • shortstory by Bud Sparhawk281 • Third Day Lights • (2005) • novelette by Alaya Dawn Johnson305 • Ram Shift Phase 2 • (2005) • shortstory by Greg Bear310 • On the Brane • (2004) • novelette by Gregory Benford330 • Oxygen Rising • (2005) • novelette by R. Garcia y Robertson377 • And Future King . . . • (2005) • shortstory by Adam Roberts387 • Beyond the Aquila Rift • (2005) • novelette by Alastair Reynolds425 • Angel of Light • (2005) • shortstory by Joe Haldeman435 • Ikiryoh • (2005) • shortstory by Liz Williams448 • I, Robot • (2005) • novelette by Cory Doctorow

    R. Martin441 • Flying Saucer Rock & Roll • (1985) • novelette by Howard Waldrop459 • A Spanish Lesson • (1985) • novelette by Lucius Shepard486 • Roadside Rescue • (1985) • shortstory by Pat Cadigan494 • Paper Dragons • (1985) • novelette by James P. Blaylock510 • Magazine Section • (1985) • shortstory by R. A. Lafferty522 • The War at Home • (1985) • shortstory by Lewis Shiner526 • Rockabye Baby • (1985) • novelette by S. C. Sykes551 • Green Mars • (1985) • novella by Kim Stanley Robinson620 • Honorable Mentions: 1985 • essay by Gardner Dozois

    Clarke, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and many more. Almost 700 pages of great reading! Included are:ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE, by Mike Resnick A BRIEF DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES, by Michael Kurland GRANDPA?, by Edward M. Lerner TO ERR IS INHUMAN, by Marion Zimmer Bradley SARGASSO OF LOST STARSHIPS, by Poul Anderson THE SWORDSMEN OF VARNIS, by Geoffrey Cobbe MOON DOG, by Arthur C. Clarke WHY I LEFT HARRY'S ALL-NIGHT HAMBURGERS, by Lawrence Watt-Evans GALACTIC CHEST, by Clifford D. Simak PROTOTYPE, by John Gregory Betancourt THE DOORSTOP, by Reginald Bretnor THE TIME DISSOLVER, by Jerry Sohl DO UNTO OTHERS, by Damien Broderick KEEP OUT, by Fredric Brown THE CHAPTER ENDS, by Poul Anderson DO UNTO OTHERS, by Mark Clifton THE SERVANT PROBLEM, by Robert F. Young THE SLIZZERS, by Jerome Bixby AND THEN THE TOWN TOOK OFF, by Richard Wilson SPACE OPERA, by Michael R. Collings I AM TOMORROW, by Lester del Rey RIPENESS IS ALL, by Jesse Roarke DAWSON DID IT, by C.J. Henderson STARMAN'S QUEST, by Robert Silverberg THROUGH TIME & SPACE WITH FERDINAND FEGHOOT (94), by Grendel BriartonAnd don't forget to search this ebook store for "Wildside Megapack" to see more entries in this series, covering everything from science fiction and fantasy to mysteries, westerns, ghost stories, author collections--and much, much more!

    1 Flight (Samaria) To be chosen as the lover of an angel is the highest honor in Samaria, but narrator Salome knows the hidden dangers of such a life and tries to warn her niece Sheba.2 Blood (Heart of Gold) As a gold-skinned gulden man, Kerk values race and pride above all, until he meets blue-skinned Jalcie and his decades-past well-missed runaway mother.3 Gold (Summers in Castle Auburn) On the eve of war, royal guard Orlain escorts his beloved Princess Zara, narrator to seductive elvish Alora, that lures her away.4 Flame (Twelve Houses) Roaming Mystic Senneth rescues a town from burning but a rogue fire power forces her into captivity.

    The novella “A Necessary Being” showcases Octavia E. Butler’s ability to create alien yet fully believable “others.” Tahneh’s father was a Hao, one of a dwindling race whose leadership abilities render them so valuable that their members are captured and forced to govern. When her father dies, Tahneh steps into his place, both chief and prisoner, and for twenty years has ruled without ever meeting another of her kind. She bears her loneliness privately until the day that a Hao youth is spotted wandering into her territory. As her warriors sharpen their weapons, Tahneh must choose between imprisoning the newcomer—and living the rest of her life alone. The second story in this volume, “Childfinder,” was commissioned by Harlan Ellison for his legendary (and never-published) anthology The Last Dangerous Visions™. A disaffected telepath connects with a young girl in a desperate attempt to help her harness her growing powers. But in the richly evocative fiction of Octavia E. Butler, mentorship is a rocky path, and every lesson comes at a price. The award-winning author of science fiction classics Parable of the Sower and Kindred bestows these compelling, long lost gems “like the miraculous discovery that the beloved book you’ve read a dozen times has an extra chapter” (Los Angeles Review of Books). Harlan Ellison and Dangerous Visions are registered trademarks of the Kilimanjaro Corporation. All rights reserved.

    This is only the start, and the close of the 21st century will look absolutely nothing like its inception. It has been said that science fiction is an ongoing dialogue about the future, and the front line of that dialogue is the short story. The field has a long history of producing famous anthologies to showcase its distinguished short fiction, but it has been several years since there has been a prestigious all-original science fiction anthology series. Fast Forward is offered in the tradition of Damon Knight’s prestigious and influential anthology series, Orbit, and Frederik Pohl’s landmark Star SF. Fast Forward marks the start of a new hard science fiction anthology series, dedicated to presenting the vanguard of the genre and charting the undiscovered country that is the future. Contributors scheduled for the first volume include:Robert Charles Wilson - YFL-500Justina Robson - The Girl Hero's Mirror Says He's Not the OnePaolo Bacigalupi - Small OfferingsRobyn Hitchcock - They Came From the FutureKage Baker - Plotters and ShootersTony Ballantyne - Aristotle OSElizabeth Bear - The Something-Dreaming GameStephen Baxter - No More StoriesA.M. Dellamonica - Time of the SnakeLarry Niven and Brenda Cooper - The Terror BardLouise Marley - p dolceKen MacLeod - Jesus Christ, ReanimatorMike Resnick and Nancy Kress - Solomon's ChoiceIan McDonald - Sanjeev and RobotwallahPamela Sargent - A Smaller GovernmentMary A. Turzillo - PrideRobyn Hitchcock - I Caught IntelligenceGeorge Zebrowski - SettlementsGene Wolfe - The Hour of the SheepJohn Meaney - Sideways from NowPaul Di Filippo - Wikiworld

    Such a world requires a firm hand and a guiding light. But does it need the Concern: an all-powerful organization with a malevolent presiding genius, pervasive influence and numberless invisible operatives in possession of extraordinary powers?Among those operatives are Temudjin Oh, of mysterious Mongolian origins, an un-killable assassin who journeys between the peaks of Nepal, a version of Victorian London and the dark palaces of Venice under snow; Adrian Cubbish, a restlessly greedy City trader; and a nameless, faceless state-sponsored torturer known only as the Philosopher, who moves between time zones with sinister ease. Then there are those who question the Concern: the bandit queen Mrs. Mulverhill, roaming the worlds recruiting rebels to her side; and Patient 8262, under sedation and feigning madness in a forgotten hospital ward, in hiding from a dirty past.There is a world that needs help; but whether it needs the Concern is a different matter.

    There is no better anthology that captures the birth of science fiction as a literary field. Published in 1973 to honor stories that had come before the institution of the Nebula Awards, The Science Fiction Hall of Fame introduced tens of thousands of young readers to the wonders of science fiction and was a favorite of libraries across the country. This volume contains novellas by: Ray Bradbury, James Blish, Algis Budrys, Theodore Cogswell, E. M. Forster, Frederik Pohl, James H. Schmitz, T. L. Sherred, Wilmar H. Shiras, Clifford D. Simak, and Jack Vance.Contents: Introduction · Ben Bova · in · Call Me Joe · Poul Anderson · nv Astounding Apr ’57 · Who Goes There? [as by Don A. Stuart] · John W. Campbell, Jr. · na Astounding Aug ’38 · Nerves · Lester del Rey · na Astounding Sep ’42 · Universe [Hugh Hoyland] · Robert A. Heinlein · na Astounding May ’41 · The Marching Morons · C. M. Kornbluth · nv Galaxy Apr ’51 · Vintage Season [as by Lawrence O’Donnell] · Henry Kuttner & C. L. Moore · na Astounding Sep ’46 · ...And Then There Were None · Eric Frank Russell · na Astounding Jun ’51 · The Ballad of Lost C’Mell · Cordwainer Smith · nv Galaxy Oct ’62 · Baby Is Three · Theodore Sturgeon · na Galaxy Oct ’52 · The Time Machine [Time Machine] · H. G. Wells · na The New Review Jan, 1895 (+4) · With Folded Hands... [Humanoids] · Jack Williamson · nv Astounding Jul ’47

    Do you love the sound of a peg leg stomping across a quarterdeck? Or maybe you prefer a parrot on your arm, a strong wind at your back? Adventure, treasure, intrigue, humor, romance, danger — and, yes, plunder! Oh, the Devil does love a pirate — and so do readers everywhere! Swashbuckling from the past into the future and space itself, Fast Ships, Black Sails, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, presents an incredibly entertaining volume of original stories guaranteed to make you walk and talk like a pirate.Table of Content"Boojum" by Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette"Castor on Troubled Waters" by Rhys Hughes"I Begyn as I Mean To Go On" by Kage Baker"Avast, Abaft!" by Howard Waldrop"Elegy to Gabrielle, Patron Saint of Healers, Whores, And Righteous Thieves" by Kelly Barnhill"Skillet and Saber" by Justin Howe"The Nymph's Child" by Carrie Vaughn"68° 07' 15"N, 31° 36' 44"W" by Conrad Williams"Ironface" by Michael Moorcock"Pirates Solutions" by Katherine Sparrow"We Sleep on Thousand Waves beneath the Stars" by Brendan Connell"Voyage of the Iguana" by Steve Aylett"Pirates of the Saura Sea" by David Freer & Eric Flint"A Cold Day in Hell" By Paul Batteiger"The Adventures of Captain Black Heart Wentworth" by Rachel Swirsky"Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake" by Naomi Novik"The Whale below" by Jayme Lynn Blaschke"Beyond the Seagate ff the Scholar-Pirate of Sarskoe" by Garth Nix-

    Subsequent stories have won the Asimov's SF Magazine reader poll, a second Nebula Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and the Sidewise Award for alternate history. He won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1992. Story for story, he is the most honored young writer in modern SF.Now, collected here for the first time are all seven of this extraordinary writer's stories so far-plus an eighth story written especially for this volume.What if men built a tower from Earth to Heaven-and broke through to Heaven's other side? What if we discovered that the fundamentals of mathematics were arbitrary and inconsistent? What if there were a science of naming things that calls life into being from inanimate matter? What if exposure to an alien language forever changed our perception of time? What if all the beliefs of fundamentalist Christianity were literally true, and the sight of sinners being swallowed into fiery pits were a routine event on city streets? These are the kinds of outrageous questions posed by the stories of Ted Chiang. Stories of your life . . . and others.

    Fans and critics call their world cyberpunk. Here is the definitive "cyberpunk" short fiction collection.Contents:The Gernsback Continuum (1981) by William GibsonSnake-Eyes (1986) by Tom MaddoxRock On (1984) by Pat CadiganTales of Houdini (1981) by Rudy Rucker400 Boys (1983) by Marc LaidlawSolstice (1985) by James Patrick KellyPetra (1982) by Greg BearTill Human Voices Wake Us (1984) by Lewis ShinerFreezone (1985) by John ShirleyStone Lives (1985) by Paul Di FilippoRed Star, Winter Orbit (1983) by William Gibson and Bruce SterlingMozart in Mirrorshades (1984) by Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner

    So what will future wars be like? And what will cause them: religion, politics, resources, refugees, or advanced weaponry itself? Watson and Whates present a collection of gripping SF stories which explores a daunting gamut of possible future conflicts: nuclear tactics and enhanced soldiery, terrorism and cyberware, intelligent robotic machines and even war with aliens.

    Hartwell's Year's Best series is a collection -- full of humor, drama, style, and surprises -- that never disappoints. Here are just some of the high points in the Sixth Edition. Contents ix • Introduction (Year's Best SF 6) • essay by David G. Hartwell 1 • Reef • (2000) • novelette by Paul J. McAuley 35 • Reality Check • (2000) • shortstory by David Brin 39 • The Millennium Express • (2000) • shortstory by Robert Silverberg 61 • Patient Zero • (2000) • shortstory by Tananarive Due 81 • The Oort Crowd • (2000) • shortstory by Ken MacLeod 85 • The Thing About Benny • (2000) • shortstory by M. Shayne Bell 95 • The Last Supper • (2000) • shortstory by Brian Stableford 113 • Tuberculosis Bacteria Join UN • (2000) • shortstory by Joan Slonczewski 117 • Our Mortal Span • (2000) • shortstory by Howard Waldrop 130 • Different Kinds of Darkness • [Blit] • (2000) • shortstory by David Langford 143 • New Ice Age, or Just Cold Feet? • (2000) • shortfiction by Norman Spinrad 147 • The Devotee • (2000) • novelette by Stephen Dedman 189 • The Marriage of Sky & Sea • (2000) • shortstory by Chris Beckett 210 • In the Days of the Comet • (2000) • shortstory by John M. Ford 214 • The Birthday of the World • (2000) • novelette by Ursula K. Le Guin 248 • Oracle • (2000) • novella by Greg Egan 303 • To Cuddle Amy • (2000) • shortstory by Nancy Kress 308 • Steppenpferd • (2000) • shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss 322 • Sheena 5 • [Manifold] • (2000) • shortstory by Stephen Baxter 343 • The Fire Eggs • (2000) • shortstory by Darrell Schweitzer 358 • The New Horla • (2000) • shortstory by Robert Sheckley 372 • Madame Bovary, C'est Moi • (2000) • shortstory by Dan Simmons 377 • Grandma's Jumpman • (2000) • shortstory by Robert Reed 398 • Bordeaux Mixture • (2000) • shortfiction by Henry Gee [as by Charles Dexter Ward ] 402 • The Dryad's Wedding • (2000) • novelette by Robert Charles Wilson 427 • Built Upon the Sands of Time • (2000) • shortstory by Michael F. Flynn 445 • Seventy-Two Letters • (2000) • novella by Ted Chiang

    From the author of the bestselling 'Night's Dawn' trilogy, a novella and six stories set in the same brilliantly realised universe.