Book picks similar to
Facets by Walter Jon Williams
science-fiction
sf
sci-fi
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Vermilion Sands
J.G. Ballard - 1971
But now it languishes in uneasy decay, populated only by forgotten movie stars, solitary impresarios and artistic and literary failures, a place where love and lust pall before the stronger pull of evil.Contents:· The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral D [Vermillion Sands] · ss F&SF Dec ’67 · Prima Belladonna [Vermillion Sands] · ss Science-Fantasy #20 ’56 · The Screen Game [Vermillion Sands] · nv Fantastic Oct ’63 · The Singing Statues [Vermillion Sands] · ss Fantastic Jul ’62 · Cry Hope, Cry Fury! [Vermillion Sands] · ss F&SF Oct ’67 · Venus Smiles [“Mobile”; Vermillion Sands] · ss Science-Fantasy #23 ’57 · Say Goodbye to the Wind [Vermillion Sands] · ss Fantastic Aug ’70 · Studio 5, The Stars [Vermillion Sands] · nv Science-Fantasy #45 ’61 · The Thousand Dreams of Stellavista [Vermillion Sands] · nv Amazing Mar ’62
Subterranean Scalzi Super Bundle
John Scalzi - 2012
Subterranean Press bundles together all of their John Scalzi titles into one easy-to-buy special this November:How I Proposed To My Wife: An Alien Sex StoryAn ElectionJudge Sn Goes GolfingQuestions for a SoldierThe Sagan DiaryThe Tale of the WickedThe God EnginesYou're Not fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to the Coffee Shop
Killing Gravity
Corey J. White - 2017
She escaped the MEPHISTO lab where she was raised as a psychic supersoldier, which left her with terrifying capabilities, a fierce sense of independence, a deficit of trust and an experimental pet named Seven. She’s spent her life on the run, but the boogeymen from her past are catching up with her. An encounter with a bounty hunter has left her hanging helpless in a dying spaceship, dependent on the mercy of strangers.Penned in on all sides, Mariam chases rumors to find the one who sold her out. To discover the truth and defeat her pursuers, she’ll have to stare into the abyss and find the secrets of her past, her future, and her terrifying potential.
Get Off the Unicorn
Anne McCaffrey - 1977
A wonderful writer, as well as successful and beloved by fans across the world, Anne McCaffrey has created an exciting collection of telepaths, secret gifts, dangerous missions, dragonriders, and more.Contents:Lady in the Tower.--A Meeting of Minds.--Daughter.--Dull Drums.--Changeling.--Weather on Welladay.--The Thorns of Barevi.--Horse From a Different Sea.--Great Canine Chorus.--Finder's Keeper.--A Proper Santa Claus.--The Smallest Dragonboy.--Apple.--Honeymoon.
The Hidden Girl and Other Stories
Ken Liu - 2020
This collection includes a selection of his science fiction and fantasy stories from the last five years — sixteen of his best — plus a new novelette.In addition to these seventeen selections, The Hidden Girl and Other Stories also features an excerpt from the forthcoming book three in the Dandelion Dynasty series, "The Veiled Throne".Contents:- Ghost Days (2013)- Maxwell's Demon (2012)- The Reborn (2014)- Thoughts and Prayers (2019)- Byzantine Empathy (2018)- The Gods Will Not Be Chained (2014)- Staying Behind (2011)- Real Artists (2011)- The Gods Will Not Be Slain (2014)- Altogether Elsewhere, Vast Herds of Reindeer (2011)- The Gods Have Not Died in Vain (2015)- Memories of My Mother (2012)- Dispatches from the Cradle: The Hermit - Forty-Eight Hours in the Sea of Massachusetts (2016)- Grey Rabbit, Crimson Mare, Coal Leopard (2020)- A Chase Beyond the Storms: An excerpt from "The Veiled Throne", Book 3 of the Dandelion Dynasty- The Hidden Girl (2017)- Seven Birthdays (2016)- The Message (2012)- Cutting (2012)
A Place So Foreign and Eight More
Cory Doctorow - 2000
In the title tale, narrator James 14 returns home with Mama to 1898 village when his father Les, time-traveller Ambassador to aliens, vanishes from 1975 jet-pack city. When the "mothaship" takes the anointed few into the brave new world, those left behind are angry. "0wnz0red" asks - what happens when hackers hack the human body? 1 Craphound 2 A place so foreign 3 All day sucker 4 To market, to market 5 Return to Pleasure Island 6 Shadow of the mothaship 7 Home again, home again 8 The super man and the bugout 9 Ownz0red
Burning Chrome
William Gibson - 1986
Johnny Mnemonic (1981)The Gernsback Continuum (1981)Fragments of a Hologram Rose (1977)The Belonging Kind (1981) with John ShirleyHinterlands (1981)Red Star, Winter Orbit (1983) with Bruce SterlingNew Rose Hotel (1984)The Winter Market (1985)Dogfight (1985) with Michael SwanwickBurning Chrome (1982)
A Second Chance at Eden
Peter F. Hamilton - 1998
From the author of the bestselling 'Night's Dawn' trilogy, a novella and six stories set in the same brilliantly realised universe.
Beyond the Rift
Peter Watts - 1994
The beauty and peril of technology and the passion and penalties of conviction merge in narratives that are by turns dark, satiric, and introspective. Among these bold storylines: a seemingly humanized monster from John Carpenter’s The Thing reveals the true villains in an Antarctic showdown; an artificial intelligence shields a biologically enhanced prodigy from her overwhelmed parents; a deep-sea diver discovers her true nature lies not within the confines of her mission but in the depths of her psyche; a court psychologist analyzes a psychotic graduate student who has learned to reprogram reality itself; and a father tries to hold his broken family together in the wake of an ongoing assault by sentient rainstorms. Gorgeously saturnine and exceptionally powerful, these collected fictions are both intensely thought-provoking and impossible to forget.Contents"The Things""The Island" "The Second Coming of Jasmine Fitzgerald""A Word for Heathens""Home""The Eyes of God" "Flesh Made Word""Nimbus""Mayfly" (with Derryl Murphy) "Ambassador""Hillcrest vs. Velikovsky""Repeating the Past""A Niche""Outtro: En Route to Dystopia with the Angry Optimist"
50 Short Science Fiction Tales
Isaac AsimovPeter Grainger - 1963
You meet a souvenir hunter in the Thirtieth Century and a schoolgirl who tries to cope with the teaching methods of the Twenty-second Century. You share the terror of an astronaut in a “haunted” space suit and the dilemma of a wife whose husband knows a common chemical formula for destroying the earth. In short, you feel the impact, the originality, and the uncanny atmosphere created by these science fiction experts not once—but 50 times.Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales have been selected for their concise writing, and for punch lines that leave the reader “surprised, shocked, and delighted at the final sentence.” According to the editors, another important aspect of this literary form is “evocation of a background differing from our own.” Consequently, though some of the stories are just a page long, the reading experience is always excitingly unique.Ballade of an artificial satellite / Paul Anderson --Fun they had / Isaac Astimov --Men are differenct / Alan Bloch --Ambassadors / Anthoy Boucher --Weapon / Fredric Brown --Random sample / T.P. Caravan --Oscar / Cleve Cartmill --Mist / Peter Cartur --Teething ring / James Causey --Haunted space suit / Arthur C. Clarke --Stair Trick / Mildred Clingerman --Unwelcome tenant / Roger Dee --Mathematicians / Arthur Feldman --Third level / Jack Finney --Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! / Stuart Friedman --Figure / Edward Grendon --Rag thing / David Grinnell --Good provider / Marion Gross --Columbus was a dope / Robert A. Heinlein --Texas Week / Albert Hernhuter --Hilda / H.B. Hickey --Choice / W. Hilton-Young --Not with a bang / Damon Knight --Altar at midnight / C.M. Kornbluth --Bad day for sales / Fritz Leiber --Who's cribbing? Jack Lewis --Spectator sport / John D. MacDonald --Cricket ball / Avro Manhattan --Double-take / Winston K. Marks --Prolog / John P. McKnight --Available data on the worp reaction / Lion Miller --Narapoia / Alan Nelson --Tiger by the tail / Alan E. Nourse --Counter charm / Peter Phillips --Fly / Arthur Porges --Business, as usual / Mack Reynolds --Two weeks in August / Frank M. Robinson --See? / Edward G. Robles, Jr. --Appointment at noon / Eric Frank Russell --We don't want any trouble / James H. Schmitz --Built down logically / Howard Schoenfeld --Egg a month from all over / Idris Seabright --Perfect woman / Robert Sheckley --Hunters / Walt Sheldon --Martian and the magician / Evelyn E. Smith --Barney / Will Stanton --Talent / Theodore Sturgeon --Project hush / Willian Tenn --Great judge / A.E. Van Vogt --Emergency landing / Ralph Williams --Obviously suicide / S. Fowler Wright --Postlude --Six Haiku / Karen Anderson
Assignment in Eternity
Robert A. Heinlein - 1953
Heinlein: two classic novellas and two short stories with speculation on what makes us human."Gulf": in which the greatest superspy of them all is revealed as the leader of a league of supermen and women who can't decide on quite what to do with the rest of us. The prequel to Heinlein's later New York Times best seller, Friday."Lost Legacy": in which it is proved that we are all members of that league of the superhuman–or would be, if we but had eyes to see.Plus two great short stories: Two of the master's finest: one on the nature of being, the other on what it means to be a Man. The second story, "Jerry Was a Man," was adapted for the TV series Masters of Science Fiction, and is now available on DVD.1 online resource (8 hr., 40 min.), MP3 audiobook in 9 parts
The New Space Opera
Gardner DozoisRobert Silverberg - 2007
McAuley88 • Glory • (2007) • novelette by Greg Egan112 • Maelstrom • (2007) • novelette by Kage Baker143 • Blessed by an Angel • (2007) • shortstory by Peter F. Hamilton158 • Who's Afraid of Wolf 359? • shortstory by Ken MacLeod170 • The Valley of the Gardens • (2007) • novelette by Tony Daniel202 • Dividing the Sustain • (2007) • novelette by James Patrick Kelly234 • Minla's Flowers • [Merlin [4] • 2] • (2007) • novella by Alastair Reynolds291 • Splinters of Glass • (2007) • novelette by Mary Rosenblum316 • Remembrance • (2007) • shortstory by Stephen Baxter334 • The Emperor and the Maula • (2007) • novelette by Robert Silverberg379 • The Worm Turns • (2007) • shortstory by Gregory Benford401 • Send Them Flowers • (2007) • novelette by Walter Jon Williams436 • Art of War • shortstory by Nancy Kress454 • Muse of Fire • (2007) • novella by Dan Simmons
The Big Book of Science Fiction
Ann VanderMeer - 2016
What if life was neverending? What if you could change your body to adapt to an alien ecology? What if the pope were a robot? Spanning galaxies and millennia, this must-have anthology showcases classic contributions from H. G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, Octavia E. Butler, and Kurt Vonnegut, alongside a century of the eccentrics, rebels, and visionaries who have inspired generations of readers. Within its pages, you'll find beloved worlds of space opera, hard SF, cyberpunk, the New Wave, and more. Learn about the secret history of science fiction, from titans of literature who also wrote SF to less well-known authors from more than twenty-five countries, some never before translated into English. In The Big Book of Science Fiction, literary power couple Ann and Jeff VanderMeer transport readers from Mars to Mechanopolis, planet Earth to parts unknown. Immerse yourself in the genre that predicted electric cars, space tourism, and smartphones. Sit back, buckle up, and dial in the coordinates, as this stellar anthology has got worlds within worlds. Including: . Legendary tales from Isaac Asimov and Ursula K. Le Guin. An unearthed sci-fi story from W. E. B. Du Bois. The first publication in twenty years of the work of cybernetic visionary David R. Bunch. A rare and brilliant novella by Chinese international sensation Cixin Liu Plus: . Aliens!. Space battles!. Robots!. Technology gone wrong!. Technology gone right!"
Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick - 1982
Dick was a master of science fiction, but he was also a writer whose work transcended genre to examine the nature of reality and what it means to be human. A writer of great complexity and subtle humor, his work belongs on the shelf of great twentieth-century literature, next to Kafka and Vonnegut. Collected here are twenty-one of Dick's most dazzling and resonant stories, which span his entire career and show a world-class writer working at the peak of his powers.In "The Days of Perky Pat," people spend their time playing with dolls who manage to live an idyllic life no longer available to the Earth's real inhabitants. "Adjustment Team" looks at the fate of a man who by mistake has stepped out of his own time. In "Autofac," one community must battle benign machines to take back control of their lives. And in "I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon," we follow the story of one man whose very reality may be nothing more than a nightmare. The collection also includes such classic stories as "The Minority Report," the basis for the Steven Spielberg movie, and "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," the basis for the film Total Recall. Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick is a magnificent distillation of one of American literature's most searching imaginations.» Introduction by Jonathan Lethem1. Beyond Lies the Wub (wikipedia)2. Roog (wikipedia)3. Paycheck (wikipedia, imdb)4. Second Variety (wikipedia, imdb)5. Imposter (wikipedia)6. The King of the Elves (wikipedia, imdb)7. Adjustment Team (wikipedia, imdb)8. Foster, You're Dead! (wikipedia)9. Upon the Dull Earth (wikipedia)10. Autofac (wikipedia)11. The Minority Report (wikipedia, imdb)12. The Days of Perky Pat (wikipedia)13. Precious Artifact14. A Game of Unchance15. We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (wikipedia, imdb)16. Faith of Our Fathers (wikipedia)17. The Electric Ant (wikipedia)18. A Little Something for Us Tempunauts (wikipedia)19. The Exit Door Leads In (wikipedia)20. Rautavaara's Case (wikipedia)21. I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon (wikipedia)
Amaryllis and Other Stories
Carrie Vaughn - 2016
This collection brings together alien encounters, classic fantasy creatures, strange magic, historical milieus; stories with heart, of people making their ways in the world the best they can, however strange and hostile those worlds might be; rare, hard-to-find stories that haven't been available in years. All this, now brought together in the first widely-available retrospective collection of Vaughn's work, including her Hugo-nominated, WSFA Small Press Award winning story "Amaryllis," about a post-catastrophe future in which a community struggles to live in balance with the environment and each other."Amaryllis" was also published in Lightspeed Magazine.ContentsTHE BEST WE CANSTRIFE LINGERS IN MEMORYA HUNTER'S ODE TO HIS BAITSUN, STONE, SPEARCROWSSALVAGEDRAW THY BREATH IN PAINTHE GIRL WITH THE PRE-RAPHAELITE HAIRGAME OF CHANCEROARING TWENTIESA RIDDLE IN NINE SYLLABLES1977DANAE AT SEAFOR FEAR OF DRAGONSTHE ART OF HOMECOMINGASTROPHILIABANNERLESSAMARYLLIS