From the Book of Revelation to The Road Warrior, from A Canticle for Leibowitz to The Road, storytellers have long imagined the end of the world, weaving eschatological tales of catastrophe, chaos, and calamity. In doing so, these visionary authors have addressed one of the most challenging and enduring themes of imaginative fiction: The nature of life in the aftermath of total societal collapse. Gathering together the best post-apocalyptic literature of the last two decades from many of today's most renowned authors of speculative fiction - including George R. R. Martin, Gene Wolfe, Orson Scott Card, Carol Emshwiller, Jonathan Lethem, Octavia E. Butler, and Stephen King - Wastelands explores the scientific, psychological, and philosophical questions of what it means to remain human in the wake of Armageddon. Whether the end of the world comes through nuclear war, ecological disaster, or cosmological cataclysm, these are tales of survivors, in some cases struggling to rebuild the society that was, in others, merely surviving, scrounging for food in depopulated ruins and defending themselves against monsters, mutants, and marauders. Wastelands delves into this bleak landscape, uncovering the raw human emotion and heart-pounding thrills at the genre's core. --back coverContains the following stories:Introduction by John Joseph AdamsThe End of the Whole Mess by Stephen KingSalvage by Orson Scott CardThe People of Sand and Slag by Paolo BacigalupiBread and Bombs by M. RickertHow We Got In Town and Out Again by Jonathan LethemDark, Dark Were the Tunnels by George R. R. MartinWaiting for the Zephyr by Tobias S. BuckellNever Despair by Jack McDevittWhen Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory DoctorowThe Last of the O-Forms by James Van PeltStill Life With Apocalypse by Richard KadreyArtie’s Angels by Catherine WellsJudgment Passed by Jerry OltionMute by Gene WolfeInertia by Nancy KressAnd the Deep Blue Sea by Elizabeth BearSpeech Sounds by Octavia E. ButlerKillers by Carol EmshwillerGinny Sweethips’ Flying Circus by Neal Barrett, Jr.The End of the World as We Know It by Dale BaileyA Song Before Sunset by David GriggEpisode Seven... by John LanganAppendix: For Further Reading

    Now from this brilliant young writer comes a groundbreaking collection of stories, many of them previously unavailable in the United States, and including four never-before-published tales–one set in Miéville’s signature fantasy world of New Crobuzon. Among the fourteen superb fictions are“Jack”–Following the events of his acclaimed novel Perdido Street Station, this tale of twisted attachment and horrific revenge traces the rise and fall of the Remade Robin Hood known as Jack Half-a-Prayer. “Familiar”–Spurned by its creator, a sorceress’s familiar embarks on a strange and unsettling odyssey of self-discovery in a coming-of-age story like no other.

    In the fallout of the devastation, a boy is found in the wreckage of a fortress from the Great War. The strongest of the Weavers, ones who can sense emotions in others, is dispatched to monitor the child. As the boy matures it becomes evident there is a dangerous power within him. Relocated to an academy on the edge of the Commonwealth, Brent is put to the test to determine if he is the greatest threat humanity has ever encountered. As his every move is observed and scrutinized he’ll have to face the exams of instructors, attempts on his life, and the wrath of the young Weavers.

    This brilliant collection, often cited as the first of its kind, explores fundamental questions about ourselves and our treatment of the universe (and other beings) around us and ultimately what it means to be human.Contents: * Cordwainer Smith: The Shaper of Myths (1975) • essay by John J. Pierce [as by J. J. Pierce] * The Instrumentality of Mankind (timeline) (1975) • essay by John J. Pierce * Scanners Live in Vain [The Instrumentality of Mankind] (1950) / novelette by Cordwainer Smith: meet Martel, a human altered to be part machine-a scanner-to be able withstand the trauma space travel has on the body. Despite the stigma placed on him and his kind, he is able to regrasp his humanity to save another; Fantasy Book #6 ’50 * The Lady Who Sailed The Soul [The Instrumentality of Mankind] (1960) / novelette by Cordwainer Smith, Genevieve Linebarger; Galaxy Apr ’60 * The Game of Rat and Dragon [The Instrumentality of Mankind] (1955) / short story by Cordwainer Smith; Galaxy Oct ’55 * The Burning of the Brain [The Instrumentality of Mankind] (1958) / short story by Cordwainer Smith; If Oct ’58 * Golden the Ship Was - Oh! Oh! Oh! [The Instrumentality of Mankind] (1959) / short story by Cordwainer Smith, Genevieve Linebarger; Amazing Apr ’59 * The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal [The Instrumentality of Mankind] (1964) / short story by Cordwainer Smith; Amazing May ’64 * The Dead Lady of Clown Town [The Instrumentality of Mankind] (1964) / novella by Cordwainer Smith: get to know the underpeople-animals genetically altered to exist in human form, to better serve their human owners-and meet D'Joan, a dog-woman who will make readers question who is more human: the animals who simply want to be recognized as having the same right to life, or the people who created them to be inferior; Galaxy Aug ’64 * Under Old Earth [The Instrumentality of Mankind] (1966) / novelette by Cordwainer Smith; Galaxy Feb ’66 * Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons [The Instrumentality of Mankind] (1961) / novelette by Cordwainer Smith; Galaxy Jun ’61 * Alpha Ralpha Boulevard [The Instrumentality of Mankind] (1961) / novelette by Cordwainer Smith; Galaxy Jun ’61 * The Ballad of Lost C'mell [The Instrumentality of Mankind] (1962) / novelette by Cordwainer Smith: the notion of love being the most important equalizer there is, is put into action when an underperson, C'mell, falls in love with Lord Jestocost. Who is to say her love for him is not as valid as any true-born human? She might be of cat descent, but she is all woman!; Galaxy Oct ’62 * A Planet Named Shayol [The Instrumentality of Mankind] (1961) / novelette by Cordwainer Smith: it is an underperson of bull descent, and beings so mutilated and deformed from their original human condition to be now considered demons of a hellish land, who retain and display the most humanity when Mankind commits the most inhumane action of all; Galaxy Oct ’61aka: Paul M. A. Linebarger, Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger, Paul Linebarger, Felix C. Forrest, Carmichael Smith, Kordvejner Smit..

    Visited one morning by a dimension-hopping artificial intelligence named Hans, Paul is given the ability to jump instantly to any world he can envision. But without truly knowing himself, Paul soon discovers that framing a wish that gets the expected results is not as easy as it first appears. From the depths of the Big Bang to a world where hippies rule; from a land of Amazons to one where life is a video-game; from a society where cooperation means everything to one where individual chaos rules-across these bizarre dimensions and many others, Paul races in the search for happiness, love, wealth, status... and the answer to the Ontological Pickle. Acquiring comrades and enemies along the way, our feckless alternaut reaches a cul-de-sac from which the only exit is death. And then his adventures really begin....

    

    But one thing all of those campaigns—boringly!—had in common was: They abided by the physical laws of the universe! HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!! is an anthology of science fiction/fantasy stories told in the form of fictional crowdfunding project pitches, using the components (and restrictions) of the format to tell the story. This includes but is not limited to: Project Goals, Rewards, User Comments, Project Updates, FAQs, and more. The idea is to replicate the feel of reading a crowdfunding pitch, so that even though the projects may be preposterous in the real world, they will feel like authentic crowdfunding projects as much as possible.So if what you’ve always been looking for in a Kickstarter—and couldn’t find—was a project that allowed you to SUMMON DEMONS, DEFY GRAVITY, WIELD MAGIC, or VIOLATE CAUSALITY, then HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!! & Other Improbable Crowdfunding Projects may be just the thing you’ve been looking for.

    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)

    But Commonwealth operative Simon Kovalic knows nothing ever goes to plan. So, when a duplicitous bounty hunter lives up to his reputation, Kovalic’s ready—just maybe not ready enough.Now he and his team must get offworld, before their enemies catch up with them…

    In "Exhalation," an alien scientist makes a shocking discovery with ramifications that are literally universal. In "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom," the ability to glimpse into alternate universes necessitates a radically new examination of the concepts of choice and free will.Including stories being published for the first time as well as some of his rare and classic uncollected work, Exhalation is Ted Chiang at his best: profound, sympathetic—revelatory.

    Contents:· The Silken-Swift · nv F&SF Nov ’53 · The Professor’s Teddy-Bear · ss Weird Tales Mar ’48 · Bianca’s Hands · ss Argosy (UK) May ’47 · Saucer of Loneliness · ss Galaxy Feb ’53 · The World Well Lost · ss Universe Jun ’53 · It Wasn’t Syzygy [“The Deadly Ratio”] · nv Weird Tales Jan ’48 · The Music · vi * · Scars · ss Zane Grey’s Western Magazine May ’49 · Fluffy · ss Weird Tales Mar ’47 · The Sex Opposite · nv Fantastic Fll ’52 · Die, Maestro, Die! · nv Dime Detective Magazine May ’49 · Cellmate · ss Weird Tales Jan ’47 · A Way of Thinking · nv Amazing Oct/Nov ’53

    In Ender's Game, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin begins his life as the result of genetic experimentation created for the sole purpose of saving the earth from an alien race seeking to destroy all humankind.After three thousand years have passed, Ender Wiggin continues his destiny to win humanity's war. In part two of The Ender Wiggin Saga, Speaker for the Dead, Ender becomes known as Ender Xenocide: the man who killed an entire race of thinking, feeling beings -- the only other sapient race found in the galaxy, until Lusitania was discovered. Wiggin finds himself having to unravel the secrets of the Pequeninos and face the specter of war against an alien race once again, threatening the lives of sapient beings.The third episode of The Ender Wiggin Saga is Xenocide. The Starways Congress declares war on Descolada (a deadly virus that thrives on the three sapient races co-existing on the planet Lusitania) and sends a fleet to destroy Lusitania. Mysteriously, the fleet disappears, and only a young girl, who is one of the godspoken humans gifted with enhanced intelligence, can unlock the mystery.Now included for the first time is the fourth installment, Card's Children of the Mind. Lusitania is threatened by a fleet carrying planet-destroying weapons that were used by Ender thousands of years in the past, and Ender's oldest friend, Jane, a computer intelligence that evolved with him for over 3,000 years, has her power threatened by the Starways Congress. Ender's siblings, Peter and Valentine, created by Enderon his first trip Outside, have come to join in the battle to save Lusitania and Jane.The Ender Wiggin Saga unleashes a millenium-long epic tale of loyalty, conflict, and deadly games -- a science-fiction buff's treasure.

    In Venice an architecture student commits a crime of passion. A white southern airport loader tries to do a favor for a black northern child. The ordinary stuff of ordinary fiction--but with a difference! These tales take place twenty-five, fifty, a hundred-fifty years from now, when men and women have been given gills to labor under the sea. Huge repair stations patrol the cables carrying power to the ends of the earth. Telepathic and precocious children so passionately yearn to visit distant galaxies that they'll kill to go. Brilliantly crafted, beautifully written, these are Samuel Delany's award-winning stories, like no others before or since.

    There's a greater emphasis than usual on Golden Age writers (just the way it came together) -- but we have one original story as well, a posthumous collaboration with H.B. Fyfe, finishing a really terrific but not-quite-done tale he had been working on before his death. It's a bit reminiscent of James Tiptree, Jr.'s best work -- but predates Tiptree by a couple of decades. And we have novels by Robert Silverberg, Frederik Pohl & C.M. Kornbluth, Murray Leinster, E. Everett Evans, and Donald Wollheim...not to mention part 2 of our serialization of Tony Rothman's mammoth 2013 novel, Firebird. And a ton of great short stories. 36 works in all, more than 1900 pages of great reading!ANGELS IN THE JETS, by Jerome BixbyA CODE FOR SAM, by Lester del ReySTAR SHIP, by Poul AndersonTHE WELL-OILED MACHINE, by H.B. FyfeJACK OF NO TRADES, by Evelyn E. SmithTHE GRAVITY BUSINESS, by James E. GunnDOOMSDAY EVE, by Robert Moore WilliamsMASTER OF LIFE AND DEATH, by Robert SilverbergFALCONS OF NARABEDLA, by Marion Zimmer BradleyNEW LAMPS, by Robert Moore WilliamsTHE PIRATES OF ZAN, by Murray LeinsterOUT OF THE IRON WOMB!, by Poul AndersonLATER THAN YOU THINK, by Fritz LeiberTHE PLANET MAPPERS, by E. Everett EvansAFTERGLOW, by H.B. Fyfe and John Gregory BetancourtSHIPPING CLERK, by William MorrisonCONTAGION, by Katherine MacLeanTHE LIGHT ON PRECIPICE PEAK, by Stephen TallTHE LUCKIEST MAN IN DENV, by Simon EisnerON THE FOURTH PLANET, by J.F. BoneBIMMIE SAYS, by Sydney Van ScyocSWEET TOOTH, by Robert F. YoungSEARCH THE SKY, by Frederik Pohl and C. M. KornbluthSTAR, BRIGHT, by Mark CliftonHOT PLANET, by Hal ClementTWO WEEKS IN AUGUST, by Frank M. RobinsonTHE ALIEN, by Raymond F. JonesBODYGUARD, by Christopher GrimmJAYWALKER, by Ross RocklynneSECOND CHILDHOOD, by Clifford D. SimakOF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS, by William TennPOLLONY UNDIVERTED, by Sydney Van ScyocDELAY IN TRANSIT, by F. L. WallaceA GIFT FROM EARTH, by Manly BanisterONE AGAINST THE MOON, by Donald A. WollheimSpecial Feature: FIREBIRD, by Tony Rothman [Part 2 of 3]If you enjoy this volume of classic stories, don't forget to search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see the 270+ other entries in this series, including science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, adventure, horror, westerns -- and much, much more!

    Contains the stories:"The Narrow Land""The Masqerade on Dicantropus""Where Hesperus Falls""The World-Thinker""Green Magic""The Ten Books""Chateau D'If" (aka "New Bodies for Old")