Even today, machines that mimic human thinking surround us. As the intellectual feats of computing machines grow more and more astounding, will there be a day when their apparent intelligence approaches, or even surpasses, that of human beings? And what if these machines then become conscious, self-aware?In this latest title in the acclaimed Future Chronicles series of speculative fiction anthologies, thirteen authors confront the question of the Singularity: that point of time when A.I. becomes more than simply a human construct. From machine awareness to omniscience, these original short stories explore that territory where human intelligence comes face-to-face with what is either its greatest hope, or its greatest threat.The A.I. Chronicles features stories by bestselling author David Simpson (the Post-Human series), Prix Aurora winner Julie Czerneda (In the Company of Others), plus eleven more of today's top authors in speculative and science fiction.

    Some call it the ultimate frontier. Humans are the verge of breaking its bonds with Earth and reaching other planets, other worlds, other galaxies. And when we do, will we go forth in peace? Or take with us our conflicts, our battles, our wars? In this latest title in the acclaimed 'Future Chronicles' series of speculative fiction anthologies, twelve authors take us on that incredible journey with adventurers, colonists, and space marines as they push the boundaries against the unknown, against alien empires, and themselves. "The Galaxy Chronicles" features stories by USA Today and Amazon bestselling authors Nick Webb (Constitution), Raymond L. Weil (The Lost Fleet), Jasper T. Scott (Dark Space), plus nine more of today's top authors in speculative and science fiction.

    Androids. Artificial Intelligence. Scientists predict that the "singularity" -- the moment when mankind designs the first greater-than-human intelligence -- is nearly within our grasp. Believe it or not, truly sentient machines may be a reality within as little as 20 years. Will these "post-human" intelligences be our friends? Our servants? Our rivals? What will we learn from them? What will they learn from us? Will we allow them to lead their own lives? Will they have basic human rights? Will we? Science and society will be forced to address these questions sooner than you think. But science fiction is addressing these questions today. In THE ROBOT CHRONICLES, thirteen of today's top sci-fi writers explore the approaching collision of humanity and technology.

    From the creator of the #1 bestselling Future Chronicles anthology series comes a collection that turns the world you know upside down.In Alt.History 102 - the follow-up to the bestselling Alt.History 101 - twelve top speculative fiction authors re-imagine the world - as one where a beautiful actress becomes a spy for the Allied forces, as one where the Internet is tightly held only by an elite few, as one where the Native American population is resistant to European diseases - and nine other compelling stories charting the histories of our world.Enter worlds so much like our own, yet so different - where everything you know... is history.

    They are more than a memory from an age of wizards and heroes. These winged, fire-breathing beasts soar through the traditions of many lands, and through our dreams. In their many guises – Western or Eastern, reptile or lizard or serpent, wyvern, hydra, basilisk – dragons embody everything that we humans call magic. In this volume of the acclaimed ‘Future Chronicles’ anthology series, twelve authors invite you to journey to very different worlds – lands of fire and fury, of legend and lore – but all worlds where dragons roam unshackled from myth, freed from the imagination, and real. “The Dragon Chronicles” features stories by bestselling authors Elle Casey (War of the Fae), David Adams (Ren of Atikala), K.J. Colt (Klawdia), Terah Edun (Courtlight), and Daniel Arenson (Dragonlore) plus seven more of today's most visionary authors in fantasy and speculative fiction.Ten Things You Should Know About Dragons (Elle Casey)If you’re going to train to be a Dragon Rider, you need to know the basics, and Ishmail Windwalker is the guy to teach them to you. In fact, he’s the only one left to teach anything to anyone about Dragons, being the last of a dying breed. Join him as he gives a seminar about Dragons and their partners and keepers, the Dragon Riders. Of Sand and Starlight (Daniel Arenson)Erry is a dock rat, an orphan, living on the boardwalk of a crumbling town, rummaging through trash for food. She's hurt, haunted, and the sea keeps calling her to sleep forever in its depths. Erry can also turn into a dragon. Her magic is ancient, the magic that lets her people grow scales, breathe fire, and rise as dragons. Yet her power is outlawed. A cruel emperor rules her land, and only his soldiers may use the magic. Erry must choose: her freedom on the boardwalk, hungry and hurt…or servitude with a tyrant, as a dragon. Tasty Dragon Meat (K.J. Colt)Dragon meat. It's for dinner. In the town of Bolopsy lives a humble butcher, Nogdo, who's quietly making a fortune selling dragon meat. But when the town’s children start growing black dragon scales, Nogdo is horrified. The source of his new fortune is cursed. He wipes dragon meat off the menu and hopes the problem goes away on its own. It doesn't. Now his youngest son is growing scales. Poor Nogdo seeks guidance from the Dark Magician. But the quest involves retrieving two dragon eggs...from a very angry dragon mother, and father, and a horde of barbarians. Transparency (Alex Albrinck)Damir, a fire dragon, must protect the underworld from invasion by the ice dragons. He’s worked to dismantle a growing complacency among his kind, and counter growing movements claiming that the ice dragon threat and the surface are both outdated myths. Damir’s dream: to lead his people to the surface and reclaim the land that’s rightfully theirs. But when a personal scandal erupts, Damir must confront the unthinkable: that the greatest threat to his invasion plans comes not from the mortal enemies flying above, but from those he trusts above all others. Sacrifice (David Adams)Before the Godsdeath we had power. Dragons commanded the arcane and the divine equally. We could have raised our stillborn eggs to life. Such things were not unusual for our kind, especially not those who had magic or motivation. I had both. It’s Time to Change (Terah Edun)Since he was little, Vedaris knew that to be a dragon he needed to be able to shape shift. But what happens when you’re born a freak? Without the ability to turn and the natural magic of his dragon race, Vedaris is more than just a desperate outcast…he’s in mortal danger. Dragon Play (Ted Cross)All their lives the group of young Vikings had heard of their clan’s past glories, but all they have known is the terror of being relegated to living within the shadow of a dragon’s mountain. When the chieftain’s daughter finds an ancient scroll showing a hidden back entrance to the dragon’s lair, she and her three friends decide to sneak in and retrieve the lost talisman that held the luck of their clan. A Diversion in Time (Nina Croft)At last there is peace in the Universe. But some people just aren’t interested in peace, so once the dust has settled, the crew of the Blood Hunter set off in search of a little excitement. They are heading back to Earth and going back in time. Along for the ride are a couple of stowaways: Angel, a young werewolf in search of adventure, and Kronus, an ancient dragon, seeking to regain the power his people once wielded. But when things don’t go entirely as planned, can the two overcome their differences and help each other find what they are looking for? The Book of Safkhet (Kim Wells)The nature of history, of the origins of civilization, and our own human story, may be changed forever by the discovery of an ancient scroll that tells the story of a doomsday device that threatens civilization as we know it. The Dragons, empathic interstellar navigators of uncertain origin, may be able to save some. But where will the survivors go?  Grey (Chris Pourteau)When Amanda stumbles into a cave, she discovers it’s the lair of an old dragon, the last of his kind. Not yet old enough to know she should fear the creature, Amanda is quickly won over by his kindness toward her. Over time, the human and the dragon—whose respective races are age-old enemies, prey and predator—become fast friends. When an army of savages known as The Bane threatens her village, Amanda’s people decide to flee. She seeks help from her old friend, but the dragon refuses her. When The Bane attack, what will become of Amanda and the friendship she feels has been betrayed by her ancient, erstwhile friend? The Storymaster (Vincent Trigili)The era of dragons has passed but is not forgotten. There will be at least this one last ride, one last battle, before the masters of the domain of air fade into history and become legend.  Judgment (Monica Enderle Pierce)Consequences are dire when vigilantes falsely accuse Peregrine Long of murder and horse theft. But guns and hanging aren’t the scariest things a cowboy can face in the town of Bonesteel. A dragon’s opinion and appetite are even harder to reckon with, especially for men who have trouble telling the truth.

    Humanity has long imagined what it would be like to be able to create a time machine, what we might see if we could travel into the future, or be transported to the distant past. And what if it were possible to travel into our own, more recent past? Would we be able to change our present, or are we prisoners of predestination? Is fate what we make of it? In this latest title in the acclaimed 'Future Chronicles' series of speculative fiction anthologies, fourteen authors confront the question of time travel and its consequences, exploring a landscape where past, present and future all become imaginable destinations. "The Time Travel Chronicles" features stories by science fiction grandmaster Robert J. Sawyer (Calculating God), Amazon bestselling author Rysa Walker (the Chronos series), Best American Science Fiction notable Samuel Peralta (Faith), plus eleven more of today's top authors in speculative and science fiction.

    The end of the world as we know it. Some say it will end in fire, some say in ice. Some say it will end with a bang, some with a whimper. In this title in the acclaimed Future Chronicles series of speculative fiction anthologies created by award-winning author Samuel Peralta, fifteen authors confront the Apocalypse, the end of days, the undiscovered country from which no traveler returns. The Doomsday Chronicles features stories by Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy award-winning and bestselling authors Ken Liu (the Dandelion Dynasty series), Seanan McGuire (the InCryptid series), plus thirteen more of today's top authors in speculative and science fiction.

     In this volume of the acclaimed ‘Future Chronicles’ anthology series, twelve authors imagine that uninterrupted journey, confronting not just how, but what it means when human life can continue indefinitely, invulnerable, immortal. “The Immortality Chronicles” features stories by award-winning scientist and author E.E. Giorgi (Chimeras), Amazon bestselling author Will Swardstrom (Contact Window) and ten more of today's most visionary authors in science and speculative fiction.

     Its companion series – Alt.Chronicles, The Illustrated Chronicles and Chronicle Worlds – are similarly ground-breaking in their coverage of less mainstream tropes such as alternative history and shared universes. Created by award-winning author Samuel Peralta, and edited by some of the most-respected editors in the genre, each volume brings together work from visionary new voices and from the grandmasters of modern science fiction and fantasy. This Future Chronicles Special Edition volume is a compendium of stories selected from the Chronicles’ standalone titles, and includes five new stories, never before published, from some of today’s best writers in speculative fiction.

    Just a far-fetched bit of science fiction “hocus pocus.” But is it? With today’s giant leaps forward in technology and biotechnology, with people constantly surrounded by sophisticated yet invisible communication networks, and with a rapidly increasing understanding of the brain’s inner workings . . . is it so hard to imagine that we might be able to develop direct mind-to-mind communication? Or might it not be the case that evolution alone, in the right circumstances—if not on this planet, then on others—could give rise to creatures with telepathic abilities? This collection of fourteen stories explores the ramifications of a future where telepathy is real. From that first glorious moment of discovery, to the subsequent jealousies and class divisions, to the dangers of weaponization and the blessings of medical miracles, The Telepath Chronicles promises to take you inside the creative minds of some of today’s top science fiction authors.

    From Samuel Peralta, creator of the #1 bestselling Future Chronicles anthology series, comes a new speculative anthology series that turns the world you know upside down.In Alt.History 101, thirteen top speculative fiction authors re-imagine the world - as one where the inventor of the smallpox vaccine died before he'd created it, as one where the women's suffragist movement failed to win the right to vote, as one where the death penalty exists but where all forms of capital punishment are ruled inhumane - and ten other compelling stories charting the histories of these worlds.Enter worlds so much like our own, yet so different - where everything you know... is history.

    Among the most monstrous creations of our imaginations, the zombie terrifies with its capacity to pursue its prey unrelentingly, to run it down, exhaust it to surrender.In this title in the acclaimed Future Chronicles series of speculative fiction anthologies, fourteen authors confront that nightmare, that horrific mirror of ourselves turned base, soulless, and hungry.

    Discover Tails of Dystopia.-----Proceeds from this volume of The Future Chronicles help support the charity Pets for Vets, which rescues and re-trains shelter animals and matches them with military veterans in need of a companion animal.

    For the first time in one volume: every word Bruce Sterling has ever written on the Shapers-Mechanists Universe.In the last decade, Sterling has emerged a pioneer of crucial, cutting-edge science fiction. Now Ace Books is proud to offer Sterling's stunning world of the Schismatrix--where Shaper revolutionaries struggle against aristocratic Mechanists for ultimate control of man's destiny. This volume includes the classic full-length novel, Schismatrix, plus thousands of words of mind-bending short fiction.

    R. Martin; John W. Campbell Award winning author Seanan McGuire; New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Laxmi Hariharan; plus ten more of today's top authors in speculative and science fiction.