HEAD TRIP, Part 1 of 6It's the Merc with two mouths! Deadpool travels to the Savage Land to retrieve the severed-but-still-hungry head of the Marvel Zombies Deadpool! Now, Deadpool must dodge Hydra operatives, dinosaurs, and zombie cavemen as he attempts to take his not-so-precious cargo back where it came from: the Marvel Zombies Universe.

    There are 12 pieces in all here, ranging from those first published in places like Interzone and Pulphouse to a two-page poem taken from the pages of Asimov's. Although many readers may be familiar with Hand's longer works, such as Glimmering or Waking the Moon, here she shows that she's a master of short fiction as well. Her stylish prose and keen insights make for some wonderful stories. --Craig E. EnglerContents:Last Summer at Mars Hill (1994)The Erl-King (1993)Justice (1993)Dionysus Dendrites (1993) poemThe Have-Nots (1992)In the Month of Athyr (1992)Engels Unaware (1992)The Bacchae (1991)Snow on Sugar Mountain (1991)On the Town Route (1989)The Boy in the Tree (1989)Prince of Flowers (1988)

    This star-studded follow-up to the acclaimed "Firebirds" contains riveting, original stories by some of today's masters of science fiction and fantasy, including Fancesca Lia Block, Alan Dean Foster, Diana Wynne Jones, and Tanith Lee.

    Now he offers us a superb quintet of novellas -- five dazzling masterworks of speculative fiction, including "Orphans of the Helix," his award-winning return to the Hyperion Universe -- that demonstrates the unique mastery, breathtaking invention, and flawless craftsmanship of one of contemporary fiction's true greats.Human colonists seeking something other than godhood encounter their long-lost "cousins"...and an ancient scourge.A devastated man in suicide's embrace is caught up in a bizarre cat-and-mouse game with a young woman possessing a world-ending power.The distant descendants of a once-oppressed people learn a chilling lesson about the persistence of the past.A terrifying ascent up the frigid, snow-swept slopes of K2 shatters preconceptions and reveals the true natures of four climbers, one of whom is not human.At the intersection of a grand past and a threadbare present, an aging American in Russia confronts his own mortality as he glimpses a wondrous future.

    The whole world is a nerd.''Are you mad because other people like Star Wars? Are you mad because people like me like Star Wars?' 'Maybe.' If you broke Elena's heart, Star Wars would spill out. So when she decides to queue outside her local cinema to see the new movie, she's expecting a celebration with crowds of people who love Han, Luke and Leia just as much as she does. What she's not expecting is to be last in a line of only three people; to have to pee into a collectible Star Wars soda cup behind a dumpster or to meet that unlikely someone who just might truly understand the way she feels. Kindred Spirits is an engaging short story by Rainbow Rowell, author of the bestselling Eleanor & Park, Fangirl and Carry On, and is part of a handful of selected short reads specially produced for World Book Day.

    Become entranced with the basic struggle of good vs. evil as you travel to a galaxy far, far away.

    Well, immediately after Amaranthe talks Sicarius, former assassin and all-around non-altruistic type, into the mission. She wants an imperial pardon, and what better way to attract the emperor’s favor than by looking after the empire’s interests?What seems like a straightforward mission develops a hitch when the spies flee to Darkcrest Isle, a forbidding chunk of land reputed to be haunted. Amaranthe isn’t quick to believe in tales of malevolent spirits, so she’s startled when the ever-pragmatic and unflappable Sicarius shows reluctance at setting foot on the island. Only when it may be too late to escape does Amaranthe come to understand why.The Assassin’s Curse is a 12,000-word short story.

    Unfortunately, she’s going to find out that’s not quite enough…

    For those who already know these tales, the poignant introduction is a window on the creator's mind. Reflecting back after 14 years, Barker writes: I look at these pieces and I don't think the man who wrote them is alive in me anymore.... We are all our own graveyards I believe; we squat amongst the tombs of the people we were. If we're healthy, every day is a celebration, a Day of the Dead, in which we give thanks for the lives that we lived; and if we are neurotic we brood and mourn and wish that the past was still present. Reading these stories over, I feel a little of both. Some of the simple energies that made these words flow through my pen--that made the phrases felicitous and the ideas sing--have gone. I lost their maker a long time ago. These enthusiastic tales are not ashamed of visceral horror, of blood splashing freely across the page: "The Midnight Meat Train," a grisly subway tale that surprises you with one twist after another; "The Yattering and Jack," about a hilarious demon who possesses a Christmas turkey; "In the Hills, the Cities," an unusual example of an original horror premise; "Dread," a harrowing non-supernatural tale about being forced to realize your worst nightmare; "Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament," about a woman who kills men with her mind. Some of the tales are more successful than others, but all are distinguished by strikingly beautiful images of evil and destruction. No horror library is complete without them. --Fiona Webster

    Well, perhaps not that kindly.

    This dawn, Khalid would mark the loss of the seventy-second girl, Shahrzad al-Khayzuran. Khalid didn’t know how many more of these dawns he could take. And there was something about this latest girl that piqued his interest. Not only had she volunteered to marry him, but at their wedding ceremony, she had seemed not the least bit afraid. In fact, what he had seen in her eyes was nothing short of pure hatred. She was about to lose her life. Why wasn’t she afraid? Why did she hate him so? He had never before gone to his wife’s chambers before her death at dawn. Tonight would be different.The ebook is a free purchase via one of the online stores.

     Featuring new fiction by Fran Wilde, Natalia Theodoridou, Senaa Ahmad, Delilah S. Dawson, Marissa Lingen, and Inda Lauryn. Reprinted fiction by Ellen Kushner, essays by Linda D. Addison, Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, Alec Nevala-Lee, and Keidra Chaney, poetry by Cassandra Khaw, Sonya Taaffe, Hal Y. Zhang, and Jennifer Crow, interviews with Natalia Theodoridou and Marissa Lingen by Caroline M. Yoachim, a cover by Julie Dillon, and an editorial by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas.Contents:The Uncanny Valley / essay by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian ThomasA Catalog of Storms / short story by Fran WildePoems Written While / short story by Natalia TheodoridouNothing to Fear, Nothing to Fear / short story by Senaa AhmadThe Willows / short story by Delilah S. DawsonThe Thing, with Feathers / short story by Marissa LingenDustdaughter / short story by Inda LaurynThe Duke of Riverside (The World of Riverside) / novelette by Ellen KushnerSafe Havens—WFC Award 2018 Ceremony Toastmaster Speech / essay by Linda D. AddisonHow to Make a Paper Crane / essay by Elsa Sjunneson-HenryThe Most Powerful Force / essay by Alec Nevala-LeeWhat It Feels Like for a Fangirl in the Age of Late Capitalism / essay by Keidra ChaneyA Letter from One Woman to Another / poem by Cassandra KhawThe Watchword / poem by Sonya TaaffeSteeped in Stars / poem by Hal Y. ZhangRed Berries / poem by Jennifer CrowInterview: Natalia Theodoridou / interview of Natalia Theodoridou by Caroline M. YoachimInterview: Marissa Lingen / interview of Marissa Lingen by Caroline M. Yoachim

    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.

    In the "I am not a Serial Killer" trilogy, the young sociopath John Cleaver killed three of them to protect his family, but he has no idea what horrors he's stirred up.Elijah Sexton was a god of the ancient world. Now he drives a hearse in a Midwest town and keeps his head down. He avoids the world as much as he can, drinking dead memories while his own mind drifts slowly toward oblivion. But when the memories he drains reveal the presence of another fallen god, Elijah is drawn back into a war between humans and monsters--a war that threatens the woman he doesn't dare to love."Next of Kin" is the introduction to an all-new John Cleaver trilogy, beginning in 2015 with "The Devil's Only Friend."

    The mission comes with a warning: a graveyard world awaits him. But so do those left behind—hopeless and unbeautiful wastes of humanity who should have died out eons ago. After all this time, there’s no telling how they’ve devolved. Steel yourself, soldier. Get in. Get out. And try not to stare.N. K. Jemisin’s Emergency Skin is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.