Stronger. Better. Faster. We will rebuild you.CONTENTSIntroduction by Neil ClarkeCome From Away by Madeline AshbyNo Place to Dream, but a Place to Die by Elizabeth BearMarried by Helena BellA Cold Heart by Tobias S. BuckellHoneycomb Girls by Erin CashierWhat I’ve Seen With Your Eyes by Jason K. ChapmanWizard, Cabalist, Ascendant by Seth DickinsonSeventh Sight by Greg EganNegative Space by Amanda ForrestMercury in Retrograde by Erin HoffmanTongtong’s Summer by Xia JiaGod Decay by Rich LarsonAlways the Harvest by Yoon Ha LeeThe Regular by Ken LiuCoastlines of the Stars by Alex Dally MacFarlaneFusion by Greg MellorMemories and Wire by Mari NessOil of Angles by Chen QiufanThe Sarcophagus by Robert ReedSynecdoche Oracles by Benjanun SriduangkaewTender by Rachel SwirskyThe Cumulative Effects of Light Over Time by E. Catherine ToblerSmall Medicine by Genevieve ValentineCollateral by Peter WattsTaking the Ghost by A.C. WiseMusée de l’Âme Seule by E. Lily YuAbout the AuthorsAbout the EditorCover art by Julie Dillon

    . . A fighter leads his band of virtual warriors, thieves, and wizards across a deadly computer-generated landscape . . . A company outsources grief for profit, their tagline: "Don't feel like having a bad day? Let someone else have it for you."

    In The Other Half of the Sky, editor Athena Andreadis offers readers heroes who happen to be women, doing whatever they would do in universes where they’re fully human.

    3) • (1968) • essay by Roger Zelazny 9 • The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral D • [Vermilion Sands] • (1967) • shortstory by J. G. Ballard 27 • Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes • (1967) • novelette by Harlan Ellison 49 • Mirror of Ice • (1967) • shortstory by Gary Wright 60 • Aye, and Gomorrah • (1967) • shortstory by Samuel R. Delany (aka Aye, and Gomorrah . . .) 71 • Gonna Roll the Bones • (1967) • novelette by Fritz Leiber 95 • Behold the Man • (1966) • novella by Michael Moorcock 146 • Weyr Search • [Dragonriders of Pern] • (1967) • novella by Anne McCaffrey 204 • Afterword (Nebula Award Stories No. 3) • (1968) • essay by Roger Zelazny 206 • Nebula Awards 1967 • essay by uncredited 206 • Roll of Honour (Nebula Award Stories No. 3) • essay by uncredited 206 • 1966 Nebula Awards • essay by uncredited 207 • 1965 Nebula Awards • essay by uncredited

    These stories explore everything from artificial intelligence to parallel universes to video games, and each story is accompanied by an author’s note exploring the background and genesis of each story.   Howey’s incisive mind makes Machine Learning: New and Collected Stories a compulsively readable and thought-provoking selection of short works—from a modern master at the top of his game.

    Now he offers us a superb quintet of novellas -- five dazzling masterworks of speculative fiction, including "Orphans of the Helix," his award-winning return to the Hyperion Universe -- that demonstrates the unique mastery, breathtaking invention, and flawless craftsmanship of one of contemporary fiction's true greats.Human colonists seeking something other than godhood encounter their long-lost "cousins"...and an ancient scourge.A devastated man in suicide's embrace is caught up in a bizarre cat-and-mouse game with a young woman possessing a world-ending power.The distant descendants of a once-oppressed people learn a chilling lesson about the persistence of the past.A terrifying ascent up the frigid, snow-swept slopes of K2 shatters preconceptions and reveals the true natures of four climbers, one of whom is not human.At the intersection of a grand past and a threadbare present, an aging American in Russia confronts his own mortality as he glimpses a wondrous future.

    On the deadly island of Patji, where predators can sense the thoughts of their prey, a lone trapper discovers that the island is not the only thing out to kill him.Mary Robinette Kowal’s “A Fire in the Heavens” is a powerful tale of a refugee seeking to the near-mythical homeland her oppressed people left centuries ago. When Katin discovers the role the “eternal moon” occupies in the Center Kingdom, and the nature of the society under its constant light, she may find enemies and friends in unexpected places.Dan Wells’s “I.E.Demon” features an Afghanistan field test of a piece of technology that is supposed to handle improvised explosive devices. Or so the engineers have told the EOD team that will be testing it; exactly what it does and how it does it are need-to-know, and the grunts don’t need to know. Until suddenly the need arises.Howard Tayler’s “An Honest Death” stars the security team for the CEO of a biotech firm about to release the cure for old age. When an intruder appears and then vanishes from the CEO’s office, the bodyguards must discover why he is lying to them about his reason for pressing the panic button.For years the hosts of Writing Excuses have been offering tips on brainstorming, drafting, workshopping, and revision, and now they offer an exhaustive look at the entire process. Not only does Shadows Beneath have four beautifully illustrated fantastic works of fiction, but it also includes transcripts of brainstorming and workshopping sessions, early drafts of the stories, essays about the stories’ creation, and details of all the edits made between the first and final drafts.Come for the stories by award-winning authors; stay for the peek behind the creative curtain.

    "Anda's Game" is a spin on the bizarre new phenomenon of "cyber sweatshops," in which people are paid very low wages to play online games all day in order to generate in-game wealth, which can be converted into actual money. Another tale tells of the heroic exploits of "sysadmins" — systems administrators — as they defend the cyber-world, and hence the world at large, from worms and bioweapons. And yes, there is a story about zombies, too.

    R. Martin441 • Flying Saucer Rock & Roll • (1985) • novelette by Howard Waldrop459 • A Spanish Lesson • (1985) • novelette by Lucius Shepard486 • Roadside Rescue • (1985) • shortstory by Pat Cadigan494 • Paper Dragons • (1985) • novelette by James P. Blaylock510 • Magazine Section • (1985) • shortstory by R. A. Lafferty522 • The War at Home • (1985) • shortstory by Lewis Shiner526 • Rockabye Baby • (1985) • novelette by S. C. Sykes551 • Green Mars • (1985) • novella by Kim Stanley Robinson620 • Honorable Mentions: 1985 • essay by Gardner Dozois

    Valente, John Scalzi, Jo Walton, Charles Stross, Elizabeth Bear, and Peter Watts, and the stories selected include winners and nominees of all of the science fiction field's major awards.One of Publishers Weekly's Best Science Fiction Books of 2013

    Valente, and many others. Selecting the best fiction from Asimov's, F&SF, Strange Horizons, Subterranean, Tor.com, and other top venues, The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy is your guide to magical realms and worlds beyond tomorrow.

    Here in one monumental volume are all 21 of the stories, novellas and novels making up Heinlein's famous Future History—the rich, imaginative architecture of Man's destiny that many consider his greatest and most prophetic work.Contents:* Introduction - Damon Knight* Life-Line* The Roads Must Roll* Blowups Happen* The Man Who Sold the Moon* Delilah and the Space-Rigger* Space Jockey* Requiem* The Long Watch* Gentleman, Be Seated* The Black Pits of Luna* "It's Great to Be Back!"* "—We Also Walk Dogs"* Searchlight* Ordeal in Space* The Green Hills of Earth* Logic of Empire* The Menace from Earth* "If This Goes On—"* Coventry* Misfit* Methuselah's Children

    With this in mind, noted anthologist Jonathan Strahan (who is also the reviews editor of Locus magazine) asked sixteen of today's most inventive, compelling writers to look past the horizon of the present day. Neil Gaiman (Anansi Boys), Kelly Link (Magic for Beginners), Garth Nix (the Abhorsen Trilogy), Scott Westerfeld (Uglies; Pretties; Specials) and their colleagues have crafted a dazzling range of stories. Whether on spaceships, in suburbia, or in simulated gaming worlds, whether about cloning, battle tactics, or corporate politics, the stories of The Starry Rift will give every reader something to consider. This original anthology is crucial reading for those who want to see where the future (and the future of science fiction) is headed.CONTENT"Ass-Hat Magic Spider" by by Scott Westerfeld"Cheats" by Ann Halam"Orange" by Neil Gaiman"The Surfer" by Kelly Link"Repair Kit" by Stephen Baxter"The Dismantled Invention of Fate" by Jeffrey Ford"Anda's Game" By Corey Doctorow"Sundiver Day" by Kathleen Ann Goonan"The Dust Assassin" by Ian McDonald"The Star Surgeon's Apprentice" by Alastair Reynolds"An Honest Day's Work" By Margo Lanigan"Lost Continent" by Greg Egan"Incomers" by Paul McAuley"Post--Ironic Stress Syndrome" by Tricia Sullivan"Infestation" by Garth Nix"Pinocchio" by Walter Jon Williams

    Best friends Anna and Corry share one last morning on Earth. A solitary woman inherits a penny arcade haunted by a beautiful stranger. A prep-school student requires more than luck when playing dice with a faerie. Ladies who lunch—dividing one last bite of dessert—delve into new dimensions of quantum politeness. At summer camp, a young girl discovers the heartbreak of forbidden love.Whether on a habitat on Mars or in a boardinghouse in London, discover Ellen Klages’ wicked, wondrous adventures full of cheeky wit, empathy, and courage.

    This year's magnificent harvest--gathered, as always, by acclaimed award-winning editors and anthologists David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer--offers glimpses of worlds and tomorrows that would have been inconceivable just a few years ago. Brilliant, bold, unusual, and soaring flights into the hitherto unforeseen yet increasingly possible future, Year's Best SF 15 offers truly breathtaking stories by some of speculative fiction's brightest lights, includingStephen BaxterNancy KressAlastair ReynoldsGeoff RymanBruce SterlingPeter WattsRobert Charles WilsonGene Wolfeand others.Contents xiii • Introduction (Year's Best SF 15) • essay by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer 1 • Infinities • (2008) • novelette by Vandana Singh 35 • This Peaceable Land; or, The Unbearable Vision of Harriet Beecher Stowe • (2009) • novelette by Robert Charles Wilson 65 • The Unstrung Zither • (2009) • novelette by Yoon Ha Lee 91 • Black Swan • (2009) • novelette by Bruce Sterling 119 • Exegesis • (2009) • shortstory by Nancy Kress 125 • Erosion • (2009) • shortstory by Ian Creasey 141 • Collision • (2009) • shortstory by Gwyneth Jones 155 • Donovan Sent Us • (2009) • shortstory by Gene Wolfe 173 • The Calculus Plague • (2009) • shortstory by Marissa Lingen [as by Marissa K. Lingen ] 181 • The Island • (2009) • novelette by Peter Watts 222 • One of Our Bastards Is Missing • (2009) • novelette by Paul Cornell 251 • Lady of the White-Spired City • (2009) • shortstory by Sarah L. Edwards 271 • The Highway Code • (2009) • novelette by Brian Stableford 292 • On the Destruction of Copenhagen by the War-Machines of the Merfolk • (2009) • shortstory by Peter M. Ball 299 • The Fixation • (2009) • shortstory by Alastair Reynolds 318 • In Their Garden • (2009) • shortstory by Brenda Cooper 328 • Blocked • (2009) • shortstory by Geoff Ryman 349 • The Last Apostle • (2009) • shortstory by Michael Cassutt 373 • Another Life • (2009) • novelette by Charles Oberndorf 407 • The Consciousness Problem • (2009) • shortstory by Mary Robinette Kowal 427 • Tempest 43 • (2009) • novelette by Stephen Baxter 447 • Bespoke • (2009) • shortstory by Genevieve Valentine 457 • Attitude Adjustment • (2009) • shortstory by Eric James Stone 470 • Edison's Frankenstein • (2009) • novelette by Chris Roberson