The humble, pixelated games of the ‘70s and ‘80s have evolved into the vivid, realistic, and immersive form of entertainment that now rivals all other forms of media for dominance in the consumer marketplace. For many, video games have become the cultural icons around which pop culture revolves.PRESS START TO PLAY is an anthology of stories inspired by video games: stories that attempt to recreate the feel of a video game in prose form; stories that play with the concepts common (or exclusive) to video games; and stories about the creation of video games and/or about the video games—or the gamers—themselves.These stories will appeal to anyone who has interacted with games, from hardcore teenaged fanatics, to men and women who game after their children have gone to bed, to your well-meaning aunt who won’t stop inviting you to join her farm-based Facebook games.At the helm of this project are Daniel H. Wilson—bestselling novelist and expert in artificial intelligence—and John Joseph Adams—bestselling, Hugo Award-nominated editor of more than a dozen science fiction/fantasy anthologies and series editor of Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy (volume one forthcoming from Houghton Mifflin in 2015). Together, they have drawn on their wide-ranging contacts to assemble an incredibly talented group of authors who are eager to attack the topic of video games from startling and fascinating angles.Under the direction of an A.I. specialist and a veteran editor, the anthology will expose readers to a strategically chosen mix of stories that explore novel video game concepts in prose narratives, such as save points, kill screens, gold-farming, respawning, first-person shooters, unlocking achievements, and getting “pwned.” Likewise, each of our authors is an accomplished specialist in areas such as science fiction, fantasy, and techno-thrillers, and many have experience writing for video games professionally.Combining unique viewpoints and exacting realism, this anthology promises to thrill generations of readers, from those who grew up with Atari 2600s to the console and PC gamers of today.

    Martin and Gardner Dozois, with the full cooperation of Jack Vance, his family, and his agents, suggest a Jack Vance tribute anthology called Songs of the Dying Earth, to encourage the best of today's fantasy writers to return to the unique and evocative milieu of The Dying Earth, from which they and so many others have drawn so much inspiration, to create their own brand-new adventures in the world of Jack Vance s greatest novel.Half a century ago, Jack Vance created the world of the Dying Earth, and fantasy has never been the same. Now, for the first time ever, Jack has agreed to open this bizarre and darkly beautiful world to other fantasists, to play in as their very own. To say that other fantasy writers are excited by this prospect is a gross understatement; one has told us that he'd crawl through broken glass for the chance to write for the anthology, another that he'd gladly give up his right arm for the privilege that's the kind of regard in which Jack Vance and The Dying Earth are held by generations of his peers.

    Perchance to Dream contains a selection of Beaumont’s finest stories, including five that he later adapted for Twilight Zone episodes.Beaumont dreamed up fantasies so vast and varied they burst through the walls of whatever box might contain them. Supernatural, horror, noir, science fiction, fantasy, pulp, and more: all were equally at home in his wondrous mind. These are stories where lions stalk the plains, classic cars rove the streets, and spacecraft hover just overhead. Here roam musicians, magicians, vampires, monsters, toreros, extraterrestrials, androids, and perhaps even the Devil himself. With dizzying feats of master storytelling and joyously eccentric humor, Beaumont transformed his nightmares and reveries into impeccably crafted stories that leave themselves indelibly stamped upon the walls of the mind. In Beaumont’s hands, nothing is impossible: it all seems plausible, even likely.

    Dick was a master of science fiction, but he was also a writer whose work transcended genre to examine the nature of reality and what it means to be human. A writer of great complexity and subtle humor, his work belongs on the shelf of great twentieth-century literature, next to Kafka and Vonnegut. Collected here are twenty-one of Dick's most dazzling and resonant stories, which span his entire career and show a world-class writer working at the peak of his powers.In "The Days of Perky Pat," people spend their time playing with dolls who manage to live an idyllic life no longer available to the Earth's real inhabitants. "Adjustment Team" looks at the fate of a man who by mistake has stepped out of his own time. In "Autofac," one community must battle benign machines to take back control of their lives. And in "I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon," we follow the story of one man whose very reality may be nothing more than a nightmare. The collection also includes such classic stories as "The Minority Report," the basis for the Steven Spielberg movie, and "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," the basis for the film Total Recall. Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick is a magnificent distillation of one of American literature's most searching imaginations.» Introduction by Jonathan Lethem1. Beyond Lies the Wub (wikipedia)2. Roog (wikipedia)3. Paycheck (wikipedia, imdb)4. Second Variety (wikipedia, imdb)5. Imposter (wikipedia)6. The King of the Elves (wikipedia, imdb)7. Adjustment Team (wikipedia, imdb)8. Foster, You're Dead! (wikipedia)9. Upon the Dull Earth (wikipedia)10. Autofac (wikipedia)11. The Minority Report (wikipedia, imdb)12. The Days of Perky Pat (wikipedia)13. Precious Artifact14. A Game of Unchance15. We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (wikipedia, imdb)16. Faith of Our Fathers (wikipedia)17. The Electric Ant (wikipedia)18. A Little Something for Us Tempunauts (wikipedia)19. The Exit Door Leads In (wikipedia)20. Rautavaara's Case (wikipedia)21. I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon (wikipedia)

    Works include:The Land That Time Forgot, The People That Time Forgot, Out of Time's Abyss

    Lansdale's largest, most varied collection to date. Weighing in at 488 pages and 150,000 words, these stories, poems, and novellas--supplemented by the author's introduction and by an invaluable set of story notes--move effortlessly from horror, adventure, and suspense to literary pastiche. It is, by any measure, a major addition to an already impressive body of work.The volume opens with 'Torn Away,' in which a small town sheriff encounters a man on the run from his own predatory shadow. The stories that follow come from all points of the narrative compass. In 'Morning, Noon, and Night,' a young boy stumbles across a monstrous, multi-faceted killer from which there is no escape. 'The Bleeding Shadow' is a tale of music, monsters, and deals-with-the devil set in post-WWII Texas. In 'Star Light, Eyes Bright,' an ordinary husband makes a startling discovery, one that leads to an unimaginable act of personal transformation. Elsewhere, the author offers us twisted Christmas stories ('Santa at the Cafe'), tales of a zombie apocalypse ('A Visit with Friends'), and one story--'Christmas with the Dead'--that encompasses both of these elements. Other highlights include a pair of informed, affectionate acts of literary homage. 'Metal Men of Mars' pays tribute to the Martian novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, while in 'Dread Island,' the masterful novella that concludes this collection, the world of Huckleberry Finn merges seamlessly with the worlds of H. P. Lovecraft and Joel Chandler Harris.Sometimes funny, often horrifying, and always compulsively readable, this generous gathering of stories--few of which have previously appeared in book form--constitutes a significant publishing event. Bleeding Shadows is an indispensable, vastly entertaining volume, one that no admirer of Joe R. Lansdale's distinctive brand of fiction can afford to miss.

    It was edited by Harlan Ellison, illustrated by Ed Emshwiller. Like its predecessor, Again, Dangerous Visions and the 46 stories within it received many awards. The Word for World Is Forest, by Ursula K. Le Guin, won a Hugo for Best Novella. When It Changed by Joanna Russ won a Nebula Award for Best Short Story. For a 2nd time, Ellison received a special Hugo for editing the anthology. Again, Dangerous Visions was to be followed by a 3rd anthology, The Last Dangerous Visions. At this point, Ellison has said that it will probably never see the light of day.Introduction: An Assault of New Dreamers by Harlan Ellison The Counterpoint of View by John Heidenry Ching Witch! by Ross Rocklynne The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin For Value Received by Andrew J. Offutt Mathoms from the Time Closet: 1/Robot's Story, 2/Against the Lafayette Escadrille, 3/Loco Parentis by Gene Wolfe Time Travel for Pedestrians by Ray Nelson Christ, Old Student in a New School (poem) by Ray Bradbury King of the Hill by Chad Oliver The 10:00 Report Is Brought to You by... by Edward Bryant The Funeral by Kate Wilhelm Harry the Hare by James B. Hemesath When It Changed by Joanna Russ The Big Space Fuck by Kurt Vonnegut Bounty by T.L. Sherred Still-Life by K.M. O'Donnell (Barry N. Malzberg) Stoned Counsel by H.H. Hollis Monitored Dreams & Strategic Cremations: 1/The Bisquit Position, 2/The Girl with Rapid Eye Movements by Bernard Wolfe With a Finger in My I by David Gerrold In the Barn by Piers Anthony Soundless Evening by Lee Hoffman [█] by Gahan Wilson The Test-Tube Creature, Afterward by Joan Bernott And the Sea Like Mirrors by Gregory Benford Bed Sheets Are White by Evelyn Lief Tissue: At the Fitting Shop & 53rd American Dream by James Sallis Elouise and the Doctors of the Planet Pergamon by Josephine Saxton Chuck Berry, Won't You Please Come Home by Ken McCullough Epiphany for Aliens by David Kerr Eye of the Beholder by Burt K. Filer Moth Race by Richard Hill In re Glover by Leonard Tushnet Zero Gee by Ben Bova A Mouse in the Walls of the Global Village by Dean R. Koontz Getting Along by James Blish & Judith Ann Lawrence Totenbüch by Parra y FiguéredoThings Lost by Thomas M. Disch With the Bentfin Boomer Boys on Little Old New Alabama by Richard A. Lupoff Lamia Mutable by M. John Harrison Last Train to Kankakee by Robin Scott Empire of the Sun by Andrew Weiner Ozymandias by Terry Carr The Milk of Paradise by James Tiptree, Jr.

    - H.P. LovecraftTable of Contents: "The Magic of Atlantis: An Introduction" (Editor)Poseidonis * Editor's Note * "The Muse of Atlantis" (prose poem) * "The Last Incantation" * "The Death of Malygris" * "Tolometh" (poem) * "The Double Shadow" * "A Voyage to Sfanomoë" * "A Vintage from Atlantis" * "Atlantis: a poem" (poem)Lemuria * Editor's Note * In Lemuria (poem) * An Offering to the Moon * The Uncharted Isle * Lemurienne (poem)Ptolemides * Editor's Note * The Epiphany of DeathOther Realms * Editor's Note * In Cocaigne (prose poem) * Symposium of the Gorgon * The Venus of Azombeii * The Isle of Saturn (poem) * The Root of Ampoi * The Invisible City * Amithaine (poem) * The Willow Landscape * The Shadows (prose poem)Cover art by Gervasio Gallardo

    And no story about a young writer struggling to launch his career ever matched its subject matter better than the tale behind Leonard's Western oeuvre.In 1950, fresh out of college -- having written two "pointless" stories, as he describes them -- Leonard decided he needed to pick a market, a big one, which would give him a better chance to be published while he learned to write. In choosing between crime and Westerns, the latter had an irresistible pull -- Leonard loved movies set in the West. As he researched deeper into settings, Arizona in the 1880s captured his imagination: the Spanish influence, the standoffs and shootouts between Apache Indians and the U.S. cavalry ...His first dozen stories sold for 2 cents a word, for $100 each. The rest is history.This first-ever complete collection of Leonard's thirty Western tales will thrill lovers of the genre, his die-hard fans, and everyone in between -- and makes a terrific study of the launch of a phenomenal career.From his very first story ever published -- "The Trail of the Apache" -- through five decades of classic Western tales, The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard demonstrates again and again the superb talent for language and gripping narrative that has made Leonard one of the most acclaimed and influential writers of our time.

    Gathered into one volume by intrepid chrononauts and world-renowned anthologists Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, this book compiles more than a century's worth of literary travels into the past and the future that will serve to reacquaint readers with beloved classics of the time travel genre and introduce them to thrilling contemporary innovations.This marvelous volume includes nearly seventy journeys through time from authors such as Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, William Gibson, Ursula K. Le Guin, George R. R. Martin, Michael Moorcock, H. G. Wells, and Connie Willis, as well as helpful non-fiction articles original to this volume (such as Charles Yu's "Top Ten Tips For Time Travelers").In fact, this book is like a time machine of its very own, covering millions of years of Earth's history from the age of the dinosaurs through to strange and fascinating futures, spanning the ages from the beginning of time to its very end. The Time Traveler's Almanac is the ultimate anthology for the time traveler in your life.

    1979 ACE mass market paperback,2nd impression, no ISBN. Robert Asprin, Lynn Abbey. A fantasy anthology with a twist. All different stories from different authors, all in the same town.

    Most victims die, others experience physical or psychic changes: aces have useful powers, deuces minor maybe entertaining abilities, jokers uglified, disabled, relegated to ghettos.

    Phipps, Rob J. Hayes, Nicholas Eames, Mazarkis Williams, Ben Galley, Michael R. Fletcher, Graham Austin-King, Ed McDonald, Anna Stephens, Anna Smith Spark, RJ Barker, Michael R. Miller, Benedict Patrick, Sue Tingey, Dyrk Ashton, Steven Kelliher, Timandra Whitecastle, Laura M Hughes, J.P. Ashman, M.L. Spencer, Steven Poore, Brandon Draga, D. Thourson Palmer, D.M. Murray, Anne Nicholls, R.B. Watkinson, Charles F Bond, Ulff Lehmann, Thomas R. Gaskin, Zachary Barnes & Nathan Boyce.Foreword by Brian D. AndersonPrint version includes forty black & white interior art pieces.

    Come live the adventure again.

    Free. Like Unfettered before it, the contributing writers of Unbound were allowed to submit the tales they wished fans of genre to read—without the constraints of a shackling theme. The result is magical. Twenty-three all-original stories are sure to captivate you—some will move you to tears while others will keep you turning the pages long into the night. The power of Unbound lies in its variety of tales and the voices behind them. If you are a fan of discovering new writers or reading the works of beloved authors, Unbound is for you. Return to Landover with Terry Brooks. Go to trial with Harry Dresden and Jim Butcher. Enter the Citadel and become remade with Rachel Caine. Survive a plague with John Marco and his robot companion Echo. Be painted among the stars by Mary Robinette Kowal. These tales and the others that comprise the anthology are only bound by how enchanting and enthralling they are. Unbound is filled with spectacularly wonderful stories, each one as diverse as its creator. You will be changed upon finishing it. And that is the point. Like Unfettered before it, the contributing writers of Unbound were allowed to submit the tales they wished fans of genre to read—without the constraints of a theme. It is an anthology filled some spectacularly wonderful stories, each one as diverse as its creator.Here is the Unbound line-up: Terry Brooks (intro) | Kristen Britain | Jim Butcher | Rachel Caine | Harry Connolly | Delilah S. Dawson | David Anthony Durham | Jason M. Hough | Mary Robinette Kowal | Mark Lawrence | John Marco | Tim Marquitz | Seanan McGuire | Peter Orullian | Kat Richardson | Anthony Ryan | Shawn Speakman | Brian Staveley | Michael J. Sullivan | Sam Sykes | Mazarkis Williams“Madwalls” by Rachel Caine“Stories Are Gods” by Peter Orullian“River and Echo” by John Marco“A Dichotomy of Paradigms” by Mary Robinette Kowal“Son of Crimea” by Jason M. Hough“An Unfortunate Influx of Filipians” by Terry Brooks“The Way into Oblivion” by Harry Connolly“Uncharming” by Delilah S. Dawson“A Good Name” by Mark Lawrence“All in a Night’s Work” by David Anthony Durham“Seven Tongues” by Tim Marquitz“Fiber” by Seanan McGuire“The Hall of the Diamond Queen” by Anthony Ryan“The Farmboy Prince” by Brian Staveley“Heart’s Desire” by Kat Richardson“The Game” by Michael J. Sullivan“The Ethical Heresy” by Sam Sykes.“Small Kindnesses” by Joe Abercrombie“The Rat” by Mazarkis Williams“The Siege of Tilpur” by Brian McClellan“Mr. Island” by Kristen Britain“Jury Duty” by Jim Butcher“The Dead’s Revenant” by Shawn Speakman