The world's most famous detective is back in a case that brings him to an isolated mansion outside of the small town of Hell, Maine, investigating the murder of a young boy apparently killed by wolves.

    Moreau to Dr. Doom, readers have long been fascinated by insane plans for world domination and the madmen who devise them. Typically, we see these villains through the eyes of good guys. This anthology, however, explores the world of mad scientists and evil geniuses—from their own wonderfully twisted point of view. An all-star roster of bestselling authors—including Diana Gabaldon, Daniel Wilson, Austin Grossman, Naomi Novik, and Seanan McGuire ... twenty-two great storytellers, all told—have produced a fabulous assortment of stories, guaranteed to provide readers with hour after hour of high-octane entertainment born of the most megalomaniacal mayhem imaginable. Everybody loves villains. They’re bad; they always stir the pot; they’re much more fun than the good guys, even if we want to see the good guys win. Their fiendish schemes, maniacal laughter, and limitless ambition are legendary, but what lies behind those crazy eyes and wicked grins? How—and why—do they commit these nefarious deeds? And why are they so set on taking over the world? If you've ever asked yourself any of these questions, you’re in luck: It’s finally time for the madmen’s side of the story.Between each chapter falls a single-page essay by the editor, by way of introduction to the story ahead; they have titles of their own, but all contain spoilers, so are not listed here (they can be found on the Internet Science Fiction Database if desired). All individual works in this anthology are in short story form, with the exception of Diana Gabaldon's 80-page Outlander novella, and unless otherwise noted, were first published within. CONTENTS Foreword - Chris Claremont, The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination: Original Short Fiction for the Modern Evil Genius (p9)01 - Austin Grossman, Professor Incognito Apologizes: An Itemized List (p16)02 - Harry Turtledove, Father of the Groom (p28)03 - Seanan McGuire, Laughter at the Academy: A Field Study in the Genesis of Schizotypal Creative Genius Personality Disorder (SCGPD) (p38)04 - David D. Levine, Letter to the Editor (p52)05 - Jeremiah Tolbert, Instead of a Loving Heart (2004, p59)06 - Daniel H. Wilson, The Executor (p68)07 - Heather Lindsley, The Angel of Death Has a Business Plan (p83)08 - Dave Wolverton (as David Farland), Homo Perfectus (p96)09 - L.A. Banks, Ancient Equations (p108)10 - Alan Dean Foster, Rural Singularity (p123)11 - Genevieve Valentine, Captain Justice Saves the Day (p133)12 - Theodora Goss, The Mad Scientist's Daughter (2010, p142)13 - Diana Gabaldon, The Space Between (2012 Outlander novella, p161)14 - Carrie Vaughn, Harry and Marlowe Meet the Founder of the Aetherian Revolution (p245)15 - Laird Barron, Blood and Stardust (p261)16 - L.E. Modesitt Jr., A More Perfect Union (p276)17 - Naomi Novik, Rocks Fall (p289)18 - Mary Robinette Kowal, We Interrupt This Broadcast (Lady Astronaut short story, p298)19 - Marjorie M. Liu, The Last Dignity of Man (p306)20 - Jeffrey Ford, The Pittsburgh Technology (p328)21 - Grady Hendrix, Mofongo Knows (p341)22 - Ben H. Winters, The Food Taster's Boy (p357)

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

    The word is out that the legendary city of Danvar has been found, and every diver, brigand, and pirate with a sarfer is racing to find it. But out in the dunes there's only one inarguable fact... The sand don't care, and it never did. Dunes Over Danvar is a short story set in New York Times Bestselling Author Hugh Howey's world of SAND, and is written and published with the permission of Hugh Howey.

    In this gripping prequel to Thunder , unsettling secrets change Selah Chavez's life forever in the days before her 18th Born Remembrance.

    The Spires of Denon doesn’t involve Boss or her crew. Instead, this powerful short novel follows Meklos Verr, hired to guard an archeological dig near the mysterious Spires of Denon.

    Monica, a Noble who avoided the implanting and escaped a death sentence at the age of four, is now sixteen and is in hiding. She lives with the slaves inside the walls of the Cantral palace, pretending to be one of them while the slave council plots a way to use her chip-less state to destroy the all-powerful computers that strike down any hint of rebellion.The Nobles hear of Monica’s survival and try to exterminate her before she ruins their upper-class utopia. The rebels send her to find a missing paper bearing instructions on how to shut down the computers that control the chips in Cillineese, a major city-state. The Nobles are alerted to the plan and prepare to seal Cillineese in a giant dome to gas the inhabitants, including Monica.The fate of millions rides on Monica’s shoulders. As the only chip-less person in the world, she must find the paper, destroy the computers, and free Cillineese from the Nobles’ iron fist before they strike with the ultimate punishment—death for everyone inside the city walls.

    until they die! Also featuring the first apperance of Alpha Flight, the return of the Wendigo, the history of Cyclops... and a demon for Christmas!?

    They sent a man farther into the cosmos than anyone has gone before or since. Lost in the stars, he encountered something unknown. Something that…changed him. Long thought lost and erased from the history books, he has suddenly returned, crash-landing in the Australian Outback. The few that have been able to reach him believe him to be a deity – one who turned the scorched desert into a lush oasis. They say he can bend matter, space, and even time to his will. Now the rest of the world’s powers must decide for themselves – will the enigmatic Divinity offer his hand in friendship, or will Earth’s heroes find themselves helpless against the wrath of the divine?Collecting: Divinity 1–4

    

    Or is what they found something more sinister? The Red Skull's greatest plan to destroy Captain America has been in motion and its completion is almost at hand. Will Captain America be lost forever, or will he be Reborn?Collecting: Captain America: Reborn 1-6

    Testing this theory however leaves him stranded 1100 years in the future with no hope of return. What he discovers is a frightening world devoid of all life. Now he must sift through the clues to learn what became of the world he once knew. Much to his surprise, he finds that these clues may lead him to another planet nearly 12 light years away. (from http://www.pixelofink.com/)

    In Teenage Wasteland, the Runaways find a kindred spirit in a daring young stranger and welcome him into their fold. But will this dashing young man help the teenagers defeat their villainous parents... or tear them apart? Plus: who do you send to catch a group of missing, runaway teenage super-heroes? Marvel's original teen runaway crimefighters, Cloak and Dagger, make their first major appearance in years In The Good Die Young, the world as we know it is about to end, and the Runaways are the only hope to prevent it Our fledgling teenage heroes have learned how their parents' criminal organization began, and now they must decide how it should end. As the Runaways' epic battle against their evil parents reaches its shocking conclusion, the team's mole stands revealed, and blood must be shed. Which kids will still be standing when the smoke finally clears? Collects Runaways (Vol.1) #1-18.

    Decades later, the existence of ice beds at the lunar south pole was discovered by NASA’s space probe Clementine and confirmed by the lunar satellite Lunar Prospector. Now, author and Apollo missions historian Shane Johnson explores the fantastic possibilities of what might have transpired, had the more ambitious version of the Apollo program gone forward as originally planned. It is February, 1975. Apollo 19, the last of the manned lunar missions, has successfully landed. Exhilarated and confident, Commander Gary Lucas and Lunar Module pilot Charlie Shepherd set out to explore a vast, mysterious depression at the lunar south pole.There, in the icy darkness–where temperatures reach 334 degrees below zero–the astronauts search for the fragments of crystalline bedrock the scientists back home had hoped for. But when tragedy strikes, the men are driven deeper into the lethal realm, where they find much more than they bargained for, including a strange machine that seemingly transports Lucas back to a pre-flood Earth, and startling evidence that could transform mankind’s perspective on all creation and its Creator– if only the men could miraculously make their way back home to earth to reveal it.

    Working for one is even harder.Evie Tanaka is the put-upon personal assistant to Aveda Jupiter, her childhood best friend and San Francisco's most beloved superheroine. She's great at her job—blending into the background, handling her boss's epic diva tantrums, and getting demon blood out of leather pants.Unfortunately, she's not nearly as together when it comes to running her own life, standing up for herself, or raising her tempestuous teenage sister, Bea.But everything changes when Evie's forced to pose as her glamorous boss for one night, and her darkest secret comes out: she has powers, too. Now it's up to her to contend with murderous cupcakes, nosy gossip bloggers, and supernatural karaoke battles—all while juggling unexpected romance and Aveda's increasingly outrageous demands. And when a larger threat emerges, Evie must finally take charge and become a superheroine in her own right... or see her city fall to a full-on demonic invasion.