In the festive season of Winterfair on the planet Barrayar, Lord Miles Vorkosigan is making elaborate preparations for his wedding. The long-awaited event stirs up romance and intrigue among his eccentric family and friends, particularly for bioengineered space mercenary Sergeant Taura and shy, diffident Armsman Roic. But Miles also has an enemy who is plotting to turn the romantic ceremony into a festival of death. Winterfair Gifts offers another of Bujold's witty, character-centered science fiction plots with a twist of romance.

    Not everyone can. Who decides? Desperate to save his daughter from a mysterious sickness, Daniel applies for the Methuselah Treatment. If she gets it, his daughter won’t just recover, she’ll live forever. But the drug is tightly controlled, and only the special, the talented, and the truly deserving ever receive it. There is nothing special about Daniel’s destitute ten- year-old girl—or is there?

    All you have is the disconnected voice of an attentive caretaker. Dr. Kuhn is there to help you—physically, emotionally, and psychologically. She’ll help you remember everything. She’ll make sure you reclaim your lost identity. Now answer one question: Are you sure you want to?Paul Tremblay’s The Last Conversationis part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.

    Thanks to her guns, her car, and her dapper style, she came through The Bad Years alive, but since losing Angie things haven’t been right. Tonight’s job threatens to bring the worst terrors of that time skittering back to life. “Anyway: Angie” is a new urban fantasy story with more than a touch of horror from rising star Daniel José Older, set in the world of his upcoming Bone Street Rumba series.This short story was acquired and edited by acquiring editor Carl Engle-Laird.Cover art by Goni Montes

    When Kimball comes upon twelve-year-old Thayet, she's been stuck on a rock in a river of bugs for two days, no food, no water, and no way back.This is an excerpt from 7th Sigma.

    Thomas & Michael Damian ThomasDINOSAURS!"The Uncanny Dinosaurs—Introduction" by Brooke Bolander, Sam J. Miller, Mari Ness, Nicasio Andres Reed, A. Merc Rustad & Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, K.M. Szpara, JY Yang, and Lynn M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas"Red Lizard Brigade" by Sam J. Miller"You Can Make a Dinosaur, but You Can't Help Me" by K.M. Szpara"Bones in the Rock" by R.K. Kalaw"By Claw, By Hand, By Silent Speech" by Elsa Sjunneson-Henry & A. Merc Rustad"The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat" by Brooke Bolander"The Emigrants' Guide to Oregon, California, and the Unknown" by Brit E. B. Hvide"Expecting a Dinosaur" by Mari Ness"Give the People What They Want" by Alex Bledsoe"Nails in My Feet" by Mary Robinette Kowal"Everything Under Heaven" by Anya OwNONFICTION"Island Futures" by Tobias S. Buckell"Joy and Applause" by Alasdair Stuart"The Seduction of Numbers, the Measures of Progress" by Marissa Lingen"Thirteen Reasons Who: A Timeline of a Question" by Tansy Rayner RobertsPOETRY"Octavia's Letter to Marcus Anthony on the Discovery of His Faithlessness" by Cassandra Khaw"The One" by Brandon O'Brien"The Year We Got Rid of Our Ghosts" by Ali Trotta"FIND A HOT ASIAN GIRLFRIEND NEAR YOU" by Cynthia SoINTERVIEWSK.M. Szpara interviewed by Caroline M. YoachimAnya Ow interviewed by Caroline M. Yoachim

    The Incrementalists are an ancient conspiracy to make the world better -- just a little bit at a time. "Fireworks in the Rain" tells a story not found in the novel, and serves as an equally beguiling introduction to the Incrementalists and how they work...At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

    Born with a deformed foot, she feigns indifference to the pity and insults that come her way. Wary of all things beautiful, Rae instantly distrusts their latest visitor: an appallingly attractive faerie. Further, his presence imperils the secret her sister guards. But when the local townspeople show up demanding his blood, Rae must find a way to protect both her sister’s secret and their guest. Even if that means risking herself.The Bone Knife introduces Rae, the heroine of The Theft Of Sunlight (March 2021). Look for The Bone Knife at the back of your copy of Thorn (HarperTeen/Hot Key 2020).

    WESTLAKE A SCIENCE FICTION WRITER? Everyone knows him as the mystery writer who published books like The Hook (2000), Bad News 2001, and Put a Lid on It (2002) under his own name, Donald E. Westlake, and of course that he was also Richard Stark and a number of other favorite authors. But a science fiction writer? -- Really? -- You bet he was, early on in his career. (He even wrote one SF novel -- Anarchaos, in 1966, as "Curt Clark.") He also wrote quite a bit of short SF, like this weird little SF mystery that first graced the pages of Amazing in 1963.

    Here, in a desperate effort to prevent another world war, the women have segregated most men into closed military garrisons and have taken on themselves every other function of government, industry, agriculture, science and learning.The resulting manifold responsibilities are seen through the life of Stavia, from a dreaming 10-year-old to maturity as doctor, mother and member of the Marthatown Women's Council. As in Tepper's Awakeners series books, the rigid social systems are tempered by the voices of individual experience and, here, by an imaginative reworking of The Trojan Woman that runs through the text. A rewarding and challenging novel that is to be valued for its provocative ideas.

    It begins with a walk in the bazaar, but soon grows into a tale unlike any other told in the caliph's empire. It's a story that includes not just buried treasure and a band of thieves, but also men haunted by their past and others trapped by their future; it includes not just a beloved wife and a veiled seductress, but also long journeys taken by caravan and even longer ones taken with a single step. Above all, it's a story about recognizing the will of Allah and accepting it, no matter what form it takes.

    The looms that create Arras are as controlled as the Spinsters who work them, ensuring a near idyllic world for the average citizen. But at what price? As an election approaches, a surprise weather forecast and a mysterious stranger hint that not all is as it seems, and a young boy learns that in Arras nothing can be trusted, not even memories. "The Rain is a Lie" is an original short story set in the world of Gennifer Albin's Crewel.

    New issues are released on the first Tuesday of every month. Extra large Customer Appreciation issue! TABLE OF CONTENTS FICTION The Tomato Thief—Ursula Vernon The Open-Hearted—Lettie Prell Soursop—Chikodili Emelumadu Bones of the World—Jennifer Hykes That Lucky Old Sun—Carrie Cuinn Razorback—Ursula Vernon Kutraya’s Skies—Dave Creek Riding Atlas—Ferrett Steinmetz Paper Tigers (Novel Excerpt)—Damien Angelica Walters NONFICTION Interview with Ursula Vernon—Andrea Johnson Interview with Chikodili Emelumadu—Andrea Johnson Interview with Lettie Prell—Andrea Johnson Interview with Matt Davis, Cover Artist—Russell Dickerson An Exploration of Racism in Heart of Darkness—Lucy A. Snyder POETRY RX-200 Series: It’s Everything You Need—Samson Stormcrow Hayes Upside of the Cataclysmic Meteor—Zebulon Huset The Doctor’s Assistant—Anton Rose In the Far Future, Billy Experiences the Most Powerful Drug Known to Man—Greg Leunig Automaton—Bianca Spriggs Maxwell’s Demon—Annie Neugebauer Various Kinds of Wolves—J.J. Hunter Editorial Words from the Editor-in-Chief — Jason Sizemore

    Then things start getting weird.