Now, in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirtieth Annual Collection the very best SF authors explore ideas of a new world through their short stories. This venerable collection brings together award winning authors and masters of the field such as Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, Damien Broderick, Elizabeth Bear, Paul McAuley and John Barnes. And with an extensive recommended reading guide and a summation of the year in science fiction, this annual compilation has become the definitive must-read anthology for all science fiction fans and readers interested in breaking into the genre.The multiple Locus Award-winning annual compilation of the year's best science fiction stories

    But first they'll have to overcome some very unusual residents of the hills and valleys. One is David Drake's unforgettable creation, Old Nathan the Wizard. He doesn't claim much for his magical powers, but they're real enough for what they are-and besides, he hasn't forgotten how to use his long flintlock rifle. Enter the gritty, realistic world of Old Nathan, a backwoodsman who talks to animals and says he'll face the Devil himself-and who in the end will have to face the Devil in very fact. A century later, very different interlopers, from criminals to snooping college professors, are poking around the hills, up to no good. But a very unusual family, the Hogbens, are likely to cause more trouble than unwelcome visitors can handle, as Henry Kuttner relates. They're a family of mutants, with very unusual powers, and city folk who cause trouble are likely to suddenly find unbelievable-and unpleasant-things happening to them. But not all of the trouble is caused by humans, as the Slade family find out when Eric Flint and Ryk E. Spoor relate how a Kentucky family finds itself caught in the middle of a struggle between battling groups of the creatures who live deep underground and are the basis from the old legends of gnomes. The Slades have to make sure that the right gnomes win-or an earthquake will wipe out everyone in at least four states. Magic, mutants, and mountain folk add up to an unusual volume, with adventure ranging from the grim and eerie to the wildly comic.

    The 32 tales of science fiction and fantasy assembled in this massive volume include: ARENAEXPERIMENTKEEP OUTHAPPY ENDINGHALL OF MIRRORSEARTHMEN BEARING GIFTSIMAGINEIT DIDN'T HAPPENRECESSIONALEINE KLEINE NACHTMUSIKPUPPET SHOWNIGHTMARE IN YELLOWJAYCEEPI IN THE SKYANSWERTHE GEEZENSTACKSKNOCKREBOUNDTHE STAR MOUSEABOMINABLELETTER TO A PHOENIXNOT YET THE ENDARMAGEDDONOF TIME AND EUSTACE WEAVERRECONCILIATIONNOTHING SIRIUSPATTERNTHE YEHUDI PRINCIPLECOME AND GO MADSENTRYETAOIN SHRDLUTHE ENDNOW AVAILABLE: The Second Fredric Brown Megapack! (Search this ebook store for the companion volume, with another great set of Fredric Brown tales!)And don't forget to search this ebook store for ʺWildside Press Megapackʺ to see more entries in this great series (including "The Second Fredric Brown Megapack"), covering classic authors and subjects like mysteries, science fiction, westerns, ghost stories -- and much, much more!

    Our choices determine which outcome will follow, and therefore all possibilities that could happen do happen across countless alternate realities. In these divergent realms, known history is bent, like white light through a prism -- broken into a boundless spectrum of what-might-have-beens. But in those myriad universes, what might have been...is what actually happened.A LESS PERFECT UNION: More than a hundred yeas after the Terra Prime movement achieved its dream of an isolated Earth, humanity is once again at a fork in the river of history...and the path it follows may ultimately be determined by the voice of a single individual: the sole surviving crewmember of the first Starship Enterprise.PLACES OF EXILE: Midway through Voyager's journey across the galaxy, Captain Kathryn Janeway and Commander Chakotay must choose whether to brave a deadly war zone or abandon their quest for home. But an attack by Species 8472 cripples the ship, and the stranded crew must make new choices that will reshape their destinies...and that of the Delta Quadrant itself.SEEDS OF DISSENT: Khan victorious! Almost four centuries after conquering their world, genetically enhanced humans dominate a ruthless interstellar empire. But the warship Defiance, under its augmented commander, Princeps Julian Bashir, makes a discovery that could shake the pillars of his proud civilization: an ancient sleeper ship from Earth named the Botany Bay.