Desperate for a chance to redeem himself, he grasps at any hope for peace. But in the Dark Millennium, the Gods offer nothing but horror.... Listen to it because: It's dark, atmospheric, utterly terrifying and a perfect audio horror experience, compellingly written and thunderingly performed. The story: The wind screams. The dark night is freezing. Vossk, a Vostroyan Firstborn, shrinks into a rock against a howl of memories. Having disgraced himself by deserting his post during a terrifying encounter, Vossk had resigned himself to penal servitude, though he's yearned for the chance to redeem himself. But in the 41st Millennium, such dreams are hollow when a man's reality has been shaken to his core. Found in the shadows of a pitiless cave, Vossk relives his tale to his rescuer. But trauma stalks the weary, and in the face of an even greater horror, it grins at those whose courage has failed them once before....

    Cambias, Greg Egan, Charles Coleman Finlay, James Alan Gardner, Dominic Green, Daryl Gregory, Gwyneth Jones, Ted Kosmatka, Mary Robinette Kowal, Nancy Kress, Jay Lake, Paul McAuley, Ian McDonald, Maureen McHugh, Sarah Monette, Garth Nix, Hannu Rajaniemi, Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, Mary Rosenblum, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Geoff Ryman, Karl Schroeder, Gord Sellar, and Michael Swanwick.Supplementing the stories are the editor’s insightful summation of the year’s events and a lengthy list of honorable mentions, making this book both a valuable resource and the single best place in the universe to find stories that stir the imagination, and the heart.xi • Acknowledgments (The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Sixth Annual Collection) • (2009) • essay by Gardner Dozoisxiii • Summation: 2008 • (2009) • essay by Gardner Dozois1 • Turing's Apples • (2008) • shortstory by Stephen Baxter16 • From Babel's Fall'n Glory We Fled • (2008) • shortstory by Michael Swanwick (aka From Babel's Fall'n Glory We Fled . . .)32 • The Gambler • (2008) • novelette by Paolo Bacigalupi50 • Boojum • [Boojum] • (2008) • shortstory by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette65 • The Six Directions of Space • (2008) • novella by Alastair Reynolds107 • N-Words • (2008) • shortstory by Ted Kosmatka120 • An Eligible Boy • (2008) • novelette by Ian McDonald140 • Shining Armour • (2008) • shortstory by Dominic Green (aka Shining Armor)154 • The Hero • (2008) • novelette by Karl Schroeder172 • Evil Robot Monkey • (2008) • shortstory by Mary Robinette Kowal175 • Five Thrillers • (2008) • novelette by Robert Reed209 • The Sky That Wraps the World Round, Past the Blue and Into the Black • (2008) • shortstory by Jay Lake217 • Incomers • (2008) • shortfiction by Paul J. McAuley233 • Crystal Nights • (2008) • novelette by Greg Egan252 • The Egg Man • (2008) • novelette by Mary Rosenblum270 • His Master's Voice • (2008) • shortstory by Hannu Rajaniemi280 • The Political Prisoner • (2008) • novella by Charles Coleman Finlay327 • Balancing Accounts • (2008) • shortstory by James L. Cambias341 • Special Economics • (2008) • novelette by Maureen F. McHugh362 • Days of Wonder • (2008) • novelette by Geoff Ryman390 • City of the Dead • (2008) • novelette by Paul J. McAuley [as by Paul McAuley ]410 • The Voyage Out • (2007) • shortstory by Gwyneth Jones424 • The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm • (2008) • shortstory by Daryl Gregory439 • G-Men • (2008) • novelette by Kristine Kathryn Rusch466 • The Erdmann Nexus • (2008) • novella by Nancy Kress520 • Old Friends • (2008) • shortstory by Garth Nix526 • The Ray-Gun: A Love Story • (2008) • novelette by James Alan Gardner543 • Lester Young and the Jupiter's Moons' Blues • (2008) • novelette by Gord Sellar568 • Butterfly, Falling At Dawn • (2008) • novelette by Aliette de Bodard585 • The Tear • (2008) • novella by Ian McDonald

    In these labors, there is one friend that they can count on, day in and day out . . . he’s a constant companion in their headsets with the Smack and Crack, Sno Bro, and other music they love, as well offering a seemingly endless stream of friendship and encouragement: the morning DJ on Company Radio Channel D, Robin Whitlake. But, Robin is more than a warm human voice in the endless night, he is a man with a heroic, yet deadly and dangerous secret past that could condemn him to death at any time. Disfigured and aging rapidly, he must work harder and harder to project the youth and vitality that he brings to his broadcasts, all the while wondering when and if his past will catch up with him. On 14 January 2314, it did. A disaster in the mining colony brings the heroic and deadly elements of Robin’s past into sudden collision. Not only must he decide whether to subject himself to possible execution, Robin has to call upon all his professionalism as a broadcaster, the skills he spent decades honing in his former life, and the Morse code abilities of a red-headed, pig-tailed Space Scout named Elaine, in a desperate “Hail Mary” improvisation with thousands of innocent lives hanging in the balance. Good Morning Vendemiatrix is an 8800 word stand-alone novelette set in the “Man of War” universe. Fans of Honsinger’s other work will recognize the setting and be treated to a cameo appearance by a familiar character, while new readers will not find themselves “lost in space.” It is a humorous and exciting piece of shorter fiction written to be enjoyed by all Science Fiction readers.

    Not officially a "Liaden Universe® Adventure", Calamity's Child is SRM Publisher's first chapbook of 2006 and features two Sharon Lee and Steve Miller stories ...one is the off-the-beaten track Liaden Universe® novelette "Sweet Waters," which appeared in magazines in both the UK and the US (3SF and Absolute Magnitude), and the second is "Night at the Opera," a fantasy-mystery first seen in the critcally acclaimed Rosemary Edghill anthology Murder by Magic in October of 2004.

    When Owen Deathstalker, unwilling head of his clan, seeks to avoid the perils of the Empire's warring factions, he unexpectedly finds a price on his head. He flees to Mistworld, where he begins to build an unlikely force to topple the throne. With the help of his crew, Deathstalker takes the first step on a far more dangerous journey to claim the role for which he has been destined since before his birth.

    Ballard has been one of Britain's most celebrated novelists. From the beginning he has been equally admired for his distinctive and highly influential short stories, the first of which - "Prima Belladonna" and "Escapement" - appeared in Science Fantasy and New Worlds in 1956. Now, all of his published stories - including four not previously featured in a collection - have been arranged in the order of original publication, providing an unprecedented opportunity to review the career of one of Britain's greatest writers.A Washington Post Best Book of 2009, Boston Globe Best Book, Los Angeles Times Favorite Book, and San Francisco Chronicle Best Book.Contents:- Prima Belladonna [Vermilion Sands] (1956)- Escapement (1956)- The Concentration City (1957, variant of Build-Up)- Venus Smiles [Vermilion Sands] (1957)- Manhole 69 (1957)- Track 12 (1958)- The Waiting Grounds (1959)- Now: Zero (1959)- The Sound-Sweep (1960)- Zone of Terror (1960)- Chronopolis (1960)- The Voices of Time (1960)- The Last World of Mr. Goddard (1960)- Studio 5, The Stars [Vermilion Sands] (1961)- Deep End (1961)- The Overloaded Man (1961)- Mr F. is Mr F. (1961)- Billennium (1961)- The Gentle Assassin (1961)- The Insane Ones (1962)- The Garden of Time (1962)- The Thousand Dreams of Stellavista [Vermilion Sands] (1962)- Thirteen to Centaurus (1962)- Passport to Eternity (1962)- The Cage of Sand (1962)- The Watch-Towers (1962)- The Singing Statues [Vermilion Sands] (1962)- The Man on the 99th Floor (1962)- The Subliminal Man (1963)- The Reptile Enclosure (1963)- A Question of Re-Entry (1963)- The Time-Tombs (1963)- Now Wakes the Sea (1963)- The Venus Hunters (1963)- End-Game (1963)- Minus One (1963)- The Sudden Afternoon (1963)- The Screen Game [Vermilion Sands] (1963)- Time of Passage (1964)- Prisoner of the Coral Deep (1964)- The Lost Leonardo (1964)- The Terminal Beach (1964)- The Illuminated Man (1964)- The Delta at Sunset (1964)- The Drowned Giant (1964)- The Gioconda of the Twilight Noon (1964)- The Volcano Dances (1964)- The Beach Murders (1966)- The Day of Forever (1966)- The Impossible Man (1966)- Storm-Bird, Storm-Dreamer (1966)- Tomorrow Is a Million Years (1966)- The Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Considered as a Downhill Motor Race (1966)- Cry Hope, Cry Fury! [Vermilion Sands] (1967)- The Recognition (1967)- The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral D [Vermilion Sands] (1967)- Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan (1968)- The Dead Astronaut (1968)- The Comsat Angels (1968)- The Killing Ground (1969)- A Place and a Time to Die (1969)- Say Goodbye to the Wind [Vermilion Sands] (1970)- The Greatest Television Show on Earth (1972)- My Dream of Flying to Wake Island (1974)- The Air Disaster (1975)- Low-Flying Aircraft (1975)- The Life and Death of God (1976)- Notes Towards a Mental Breakdown (1976)- The 60 Minute Zoom (1976)- The Smile (1976)- The Ultimate City (1976)- The Dead Time (1977)- The Index (1977)- The Intensive Care Unit (1977)- Theatre of War (1977)- Having a Wonderful Time (1978)- One Afternoon at Utah Beach (1978)- Zodiac 2000 (1978)- Motel Architecture (1978)- A Host of Furious Fancies (1980)- News from the Sun (1981)- Memories of the Space Age (1982)- Myths of the Near Future (1982)- Report on an Unidentified Space Station (1982)- The Object of the Attack (1984)- Answers to a Questionnaire (1985)- The Man Who Walked on the Moon (1985)- The Secret History of World War 3 (1988)- Love in a Colder Climate (1989)- The Enormous Space (1989)- The Largest Theme Park in the World (1989)- War Fever (1989)- Dream Cargoes (1990)- A Guide to Virtual Death (1992)- The Message from Mars (1992)- Report from an Obscure Planet (1992)

    It was first published in the anthology Far Horizons in 1999.

    We surf future shock every morning when we get out of bed. And with every passing day we are increasingly asked: how do we have to change to live in the future we are faced with? Whether it’s climate change, inundated coastlines and drowned cities; the cramped confines of a tin can hurtling through space to the outer reaches of our Solar System; or the rush of being uploaded into some cyberspace, our minds and bodies are going to have to change and change a lot. Meeting Infinity will be one hundred thousand words of SF filled with action and adventure that attempts to answer the question: how much do we need to change to meet tomorrow and live in the future? The incredible authors contributing tho this collection are: Gregory Benford, James S.A. Corey, Aliette de Bodard, Kameron Hurley, Simon Ings, Madeline Ashby, John Barnes, Gwyneth Jones, Nancy Kress, Yoon Ha Lee, Ian McDonald, Ramez Naam, An Owomoyela, Benjanun Sriduangkaew, Bruce Sterling and  Sean Williams The books of the “Infinity Project” trace an arc: from the present day into the far future, and now from the broad canvas of interstellar space to the most intimate space of all - ourselves.CONTENT"Rates of Change" by James S.A. Corey"Desert Lexicon" by Benjanun Sriduangkaew"Drones" by Simon Ings"Body Politic" by Kameron Hurley"Cocoons" by Nancy Kress"Emergence" by Gwyneth Jones"The Cold Inequalities" by Yoon Ha Lee"Pictures From the Resurrection" by Bruce Sterling"Aspects" by Gregory Benford"Memento Mori" by Madeline Ashby"All the Wrong Places" by Sean Williams"In Blue Lily’s Wake" by Aliette de Bodard"Exile From Extinction" by Ramez Naam"My Last Bringback" by John Barnes"Oustider" by An Owomoyela"The Falls: A Luna Story" by Ian McDonald

    Campbell Jr.Methuselah's Children (Part 1 of 3, Lazarus Long series) / serial by Robert A. Heinlein; interior artwork by H. RogersIn Times to Come / essay by The EditorThe Analytical Laboratory: May 1941 (/ essay by The EditorSpaceship in a Flask / Clifford D. Simak; interior artwork by Frank KramerThe Seesaw (Weapon Shops of Isher series) / by A.E. van Vogt; interior artwork by Charles SchneemanThe Probable Man / Alfred Bester; interior artwork by Frank KramerVermin of the Sky / essay by R.S. RichardsonThe Geometrics of Johnny Day / by Nelson S. Bond; interior artwork by Charles SchneemanWe Also Walk Dogs (Future History series) / Robert A. Heinlein (as by Anson MacDonald]; interior artwork by KollikerMore Than Giant Mirrors Needed / essayBrown / by Frank Belknap Long; interior artwork by Frank KramerBrass Tacks / essay by The EditorLetter / essay by Allan Ingvald BensonLetter / essay by L. Sprague de CampLetter / essay by Harry Warner Jr.

    Originally developed as far back as the 1980's by the Bolo Division of General Motors, these great artillery machines took on awareness in later designs and gradually began to replace man in that most human of endeavors: War.But let Bolo speak for itself. In the action-packed Annals of the Dinochrome Brigade, the ultimate fighting machines tell their own fascinating, far-ranging and ultimately tragic story.Contents:A Short History of the Bolo Fighting Machines (1976)The Night of the Trolls (1963)Courier (1961)Field Test (1976)The Last Command (1967)A Relic of War (1969)Combat Unit (1960)

    The last thing Pandi expected was to run into a ship from the future on the outskirts of Sol system. Even less expected was that the ship would fall apart while she was inside it, the Universe correcting the paradox. The wormhole in the center of the ship beckoned, and Pandi jumped through, forty thousand years into the future. She arrived on a massive station built around a black hole. Once the center of a Galactic Civilization, the station was used to generate wormhole gates linking the Cosmos. The empty station is a memorial to the civilization that once was.One survivor, an immortal being called Watcher, remains, guarding the secrets of the station from those who covet its advanced technology. Watcher, lonely from his self-enforced exile, befriends Pandi. Soon the woman from Alabama discovers that there is more to Watcher than is apparent on the surface. What was Watcher's part in the fall of civilization? The answer to this question will determine whether Pandora Latham survives in this world, or becomes just one more death added to the trillions who went before her.Grand adventure in the tradition of Larry Niven and Poul Anderson, set in a far future in which many struggle for supremacy, and one woman from the past will decide the winner.

    4-chapters in total; only available for e-purchase.First contact: despite our cosmic littleness, the aliens have come to visit. But they have parked their interstellar craft on the outskirts of the solar system, and despite friendly interaction (their English if fluent and idiomatic) they will come no closer. So an Earth ship, the "Leibniz", crewed by the best and the brightest, begins the slow haul towards the Oort cloud, in the hopes that meeting these alien creatures will answer the most profound questions humanity can ask. “Anticopernicus” is not their story, though. It is the story of Ange Mlinko, an ordinary individual working the Earth-Mars trade routes, largely uninterested in the arrival of alien intelligences. And because the focus is on her, it remains to be seen whether this short novel can answer the following questions: why have the aliens come? Why won't they come any closer than the furthest edges of the solar system? What does this have to do with the nature of the mysterious ‘dark energy’ pervading the cosmos? What about the celebrated Fermi Paradox? And most pressingly: could Copernicus have been wrong all along?

    

    And suddenly uncertainty and change had come to the placid paradise that was Thalassa.

    Their objective is classified, marked only by coordinates leading them into a deserted city at the heart of the fighting. From the beginning, everything possible goes wrong. A missile strike rocks the carrier mid-launch, and only a fraction of the unit reaches the surface alive.Outmanned, outgunned, and scattered, with a hard deadline to orbital bombardment looming, it is up to Drop Commander Tyco Hale to rally his troops and reach their objective. But what they find, hidden deep in the tunneled passages under the city, will change everything about what he fights for and what he believes in. With the unit in tatters and loyalties divided, the choice he makes in the dark will seal all of their fates - and much more besides.