For this newest collection of the finest short form SF to appear in print over the preceding year, acclaimed editors and anthologists David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer have gathered remarkable works that reflect a new sensibility. Courageous and diverse stories from some of the finest authors in the field grace this amazing volume -- adventures and discoveries, parables and warnings, carrying those eager to fly to far ends of a vast, ever-shifting universe of alien worlds, strange cultures, and mind-bending technologies. Tomorrow has never been as spellbinding, terrifying, or transforming as it is here, today, in these extraordinary pages. Hang on! * Amnesty • (2003) • shortstory by Octavia E. Butler * Birth Days • (2003) • shortstory by Geoff Ryman * The Waters of Meribah • (2003) • shortstory by Tony Ballantyne * EJ-ES • (2003) • novelette by Nancy Kress * Four Short Novels • (2003) • shortstory by Joe Haldeman * Rogue Farm • (2003) • shortstory by Charles Stross * The Violet’s Embryos • (2003) • shortstory by Angélica Gorodischer * Coyote at the End of History • (2003) • shortstory by Michael Swanwick * In Fading Suns and Dying Moons • (2003) • novelette by John Varley * Castaway • (2003) • shortstory by Gene Wolfe * The Hydrogen Wall • (2003) • novelette by Gregory Benford * The Day We Went Through the Transition • (2003) • shortstory by Pedro Jorge Romero and Ricard de la Casa * Nimby and the Dimension Hoppers • (2003) • shortstory by Cory Doctorow * Night of Time • (2003) • shortstory by Robert Reed * A Night on the Barbary Coast • (2003) • shortstory by Kage Baker * Annuity Clinic • (2003) • shortstory by Nigel Brown * The Madwoman of Shuttlefield • (2003) • novelette by Allen M. Steele * Bread and Bombs • (2003) • shortstory by M. Rickert * The Great Game • (2003) • shortstory by Stephen Baxter * The Albertine Notes • (2003) • shortstory by Rick Moody

    When a celebrated science fiction writer takes to space on his first trip to Mars, he's sure to be in for some heckling from the spaceship crew. But Martin Gibson, man about space, takes it all in his stride. That is, until he lands on the red planet. Once there the intrepid author causes one problem after another as he stumbles upon Mars's most carefully hidden secrets and threatens the future of an entire planet!

    But even bigger things were at stake: Full-scale war would attract the attentions of the deadly Denebian aliens, who were slowly advancing towards Earth.Only David Raven - and a few others like him - knew about the Denebians. But Raven had powers no human or mutant had every[sic] dreamed of, and he was looking out for humanity...[From Back cover][Front Page]Pawn to KingThe notion of a supertelepathic superlevitator was patently absurd - but the opposition would swallow the absurdity when it came along in the guise of a self-evident fact. There would be considerable boosting of blood pressure in the hidden Venusian hierarchy when they learned that the first act of Earth's new chess piece was to abolish a natural law.The thought gratified him. To date he had achieved nothing spectacular by the standards of the day and age. That was good because it was highly undesirable to be too spectacular. But at least he'd created considerable uneasiness in the ranks of the formerly overconfident enemy. Indeed, if they had bolted this multitalent mutant notion and speculated on the dire possibility of still more formidable types yet to come, they would have every reason to feel afraid.It was a pity they could not be told the truth.

    Many of the field's finest practitioners are represented here, along with stories from promising newcomers, including:William Barton * Rob Chilson * Tony Daniel * Cory Doctorow * Jim Grimsley * Gwyneth Jones * Chris Lawson * Ian McDonald * Robert Reed * William Browning Spencer * Allen Steele * Michael Swanwick * Howard Waldrop * Cherry Wilder * Liz Williams A useful list of honorable mentions and Dozois's insightful summation of the year in sf round out this anthology, making it indispensable for anyone interested in SF today.Contents xi • Summation: 1998 • essay by Gardner Dozois1 • Oceanic • (1998) • novella by Greg Egan37 • Approaching Perimelasma • (1998) • novelette by Geoffrey A. Landis56 • Craphound • (1998) • shortstory by Cory Doctorow72 • Jedella Ghost • (1998) • shortstory by Tanith Lee87 • Taklamakan • [Chattanooga] • (1998) • novelette by Bruce Sterling118 • The Island of the Immortals • (1998) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le Guin126 • Sea Change, with Monsters • (1998) • novella by Paul J. McAuley161 • Divided by Infinity • (1998) • novelette by Robert Charles Wilson181 • US • (1998) • shortstory by Howard Waldrop191 • The Days of Solomon Gursky • (1998) • novella by Ian McDonald234 • The Cuckoo's Boys • (1998) • novella by Robert Reed277 • The Halfway House at the Heart of Darkness • (1998) • shortstory by William Browning Spencer289 • The Very Pulse of the Machine • (1998) • novelette by Michael Swanwick304 • Story of Your Life • (1998) • novella by Ted Chiang339 • Voivodoi • (1998) • shortstory by Liz Williams349 • Saddlepoint: Roughneck • [Saddle Point • 4] • (1998) • novella by Stephen Baxter393 • This Side of Independence • (1998) • shortstory by Rob Chilson404 • Unborn Again • (1998) • shortstory by Chris Lawson416 • Grist • (1998) • novella by Tony Daniel462 • La Cenerentola • (1998) • shortstory by Gwyneth Jones476 • Down in the Dark • (1998) • novelette by William Barton510 • Free in Asveroth • (1998) • shortstory by Jim Grimsley524 • The Dancing Floor • (1998) • novelette by Cherry Wilder544 • The Summer Isles • (1998) • novella by Ian R. MacLeod603 • Honorable Mentions: 1998 • essay by Gardner Dozois

    Teresa became addicted to extraterrestrial dreaming jewels because they made her remember. Together this unlikely pair become involved in an international smuggling plot that threatens to destroy them and their budding love for one another.

    Master of Space and Time combines high physics and high jinks, blurring the line between science and magic. From a voyage to a mirror-image world where sluglike parasites make slaves of humanity, to trees and bushes that grow fries and pork chops, to a rain of fish, author Rudy Rucker—two-time winner of the Philip K. Dick Award—takes readers on the ultimate joyride. But once the gluons at the core of Harry's creation run out ... disaster looms for Harry and his friends.

    A TV thrill show where the corpses are real. And a shuddering descent into laughter.Tales by the grand master of science fiction.

    Reprint. NYT. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 90-47772

    A close correspondent and collaborator with H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, Smith was widely celebrated as a master by his contemporaries. Back in print for the first time since 1971, Lost Worlds brings together twenty-three of Smith's classic stories, all of which were originally published in Weird Tales. Rather than center his works on heroes, Smith created fantastical worlds around which he built cycles of stories. Included here are tales from the realms of Averoigne, Zothique, Hyperborea, and others. Told in lush poetic prose, these haunting stories bring to life dark, dreamlike realms full of gothic monsters and mortals. Jeff VanderMeer provides an introduction for this Bison Books edition.

    Would you start kicking some ass? Of course you would!This is the story of Human superiority in the galaxy, a gritty, realistic profile of a young Navy SEAL who doesn't like aliens very much -- and he makes them pay for disrupting his happy life back on Earth!

    As the pandemic draws nearer to Britain shelters are hastily constructed, but when the death toll rises and the populace finds themselves sacrificed for the sake of the elite, the cry for revolution rings out amidst the sirens. Charles Eric Maine's subversive novel shows that even the heroes may succumb to brutality as humanity descends into a desperate scramble for survival. Charles Eric Maine was the pseudonym of David McIlwain (1921-1981), a prolific writer of science fiction novels in the 1950s and 1960s. Maine was renowned for fast-paced thriller plotlines, which explored the unintended consequences of scientific progress.

    This book includes the following stories:The Colour Out of SpaceThe Picture in the HouseThe Call of CthulhuCool AirThe Whisper in DarknessThe Terrible Old ManThe Shadow Out of Time

    When two of the most dangerous inmates take a twisted interest in Siggy, she becomes caught in a potential war between two races -- a war that only a forgotten secret from her past can prevent...

    Never have such signs attended the coming of age of a witchdame princess. And never have the dark forces mustered against an Earthly being as they do now...For Elizabeth is of woodwitch blood as well, and before the final battle, she will enter the ancient flames of the banished mysteries of the Heartwood, into the secret wisdom of the Goddess herself...

    Keith Roberts depicts the fortunes, passions and failings of his characters against this background of a fragile and superstitious society. As the fanatical Ultras embark on a religious campaign of destruction, the Realm starts to disintegrate — fast.