Her childhood in a migrant worker family has left her uncomfortable with lingering in any one place, so she sticks around just long enough to replenish her funds before she moves on, her only constant companion Joanie, a fierce, energetic Raise hummingbird.Sal is a fully autonomous robot, the creation of which was declared illegal ages earlier due to ethical concerns. She is older than the law, however, at best out of place in society and at worst hated. Her old master is long dead, but she continues to run the tea shop her master had owned, lost in memories of the past, slowly breaking down, and aiming to fulfill her master's dream for the shop.When Clara stops by Sal's shop for lunch, she doesn't expect to find a real robot there, let alone one who might need her help. But as they begin to spend time together and learn more about each other, they both start to wrestle with the concept of moving on…

    Readers cannot resist journeying with her into realms-dangerously dark or illuminatingly revelatory-they could never imagine without her as their guide. From ghost stories in the tradition of M. R. James to darkly poetic tales to moving fictional examinations of the most basic of human emotion-fear, love, hate, loneliness-Monette's pen produces stories that are invariably unforgettable . . .

    Disch- The Little Black Box (1964)- The War With the Fnools (1964)- A Game of Unchance (1964)- Precious Artifact (1964)- Retreat Syndrome (1965)- A Terran Odyssey (1987)- Your Appointment Will Be Yesterday (1966)- Holy Quarrel (1966)- We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (1966)- Not by Its Cover (1968)- Return Match (1967)- Faith of Our Fathers (1967)- The Story to End All Stories (1968)- The Electric Ant (1969)- Cadbury, the Beaver Who Lacked (1987)- A Little Something for Us Tempunauts (1974)- The Pre-Persons (1974)- The Eye of the Sibyl (1987)- The Day Mr. Computer Fell Out of Its Tree (1987)- The Exit Door Leads In (1979)- Chains of Air, Web of Aether (1980)- Strange Memories of Death (1984)- I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon (1980, variant of Frozen Journey)- Rautavaara's Case (1980)- The Alien Mind (1981)- NotesFront cover illustration by Chris Moore

    Here are seventeen short stories, including her Hugo Award-winning story "Cat Pictures Please," which is about what would happen if artificial intelligence was born out of our search engine history. Two stories are previously unpublished. Kritzer has a gift for telling stories both humorous and tender. Her stories are filled with wit and intelligence, and require thoughtful reading.

    By sending us to alternate universes and chronicling ordinary magic, introducing us to mythical beasts and talking animals, and engaging with a wide spectrum of emotion from tenderness to fear, each of these stories challenge the way we see our place in the cosmos. The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019 represents a wide range of the most accomplished voices working in science fiction and fantasy, in fiction, today—each story dazzles with ambition, striking prose, and the promise of the other and the unencountered.

    These stories feature cats, bees, wolves, dogs, and even that most capricious of animals, humans, and have been reprinted in The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, and The Secret History of Fantasy. Kij Johnson's stories have won the Sturgeon and World Fantasy awards. She has taught writing; worked at Tor, Dark Horse, and Microsoft; worked as a radio announcer; run bookstores; and waitressed in a strip bar.Contents:The Man Who Bridged the Mist (2011)Wolf Trapping (1989)The Empress Jingu Fishes (2004)The Bitey Cat (2012)Chenting, in the Land of the Dead (1999)My Wife Reincarnated as a Solitaire—Exposition on the Flaws in my Spouse's Character—The Nature of the Bird—The Possible Causes—Her Final Disposition (2007)Schrödinger's Cathouse (1993)Names for Water (2010)Fox Magic (1993)Spar (2009)The Horse Raiders (2000)26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss (2008)At the Mouth of the River of Bees (2003)The Evolution of Trickster Stories among the Dogs of North Park after the Change (2007)The Cat Who Walked a Thousand Miles (2009)Ponies (2010)

    The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how.They're going to need to ask it a lot.Becky Chambers's new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?

    Storylines both conventional and outlandish reveal humdrum routines as menacing, or imaginary worlds as perfectly familiar. Allusions to authors such as Edgar Allan Poe and Jules Verne reinforce the fantasy tradition in these tales, while understated humor and moments of sadness add a quirky unpredictability. Also included is the previously unpublished novella, "Botch Town," a coming-of-age story about a boy on Long Island whose family and friends live ordinary lives under threats both real and imagined. Each story is followed by a brief afterword that details its genesis.ContentsIntroduction by Jonathan CarrollThe Annals of Eelin-Ok + Story NotesJupiter's Skull + Story NotesA Night in the Tropics + Story NotesThe Empire of Ice Cream + Story NotesThe Beautiful Gelreesh + Story NotesBoatman's Holiday + Story NotesBotch Town + Story NotesA Man of Light + Story NotesThe Green Word + Story NotesGiant Land + Story NotesCoffins on the River + Story NotesSummer Afternoon + Story NotesThe Weight of Words + Story NotesThe Trentino Kid + Story Notes

    talk show Arthur C. Clarke was once asked to name his favorite writer. His answer was "Larry Niven." Countless others agree. The Baltimore Sun and Kirkus Reviews have both dubbed Niven "the premier writer of hard SF," and Gregory Benford has hailed him as "the paradigm of SF personality of the last several decade."Now Larry Niven presents us with his undisputed masterwork. N-Space contains, very simply, the best SF of his career--marvelous fiction, a wealth of anecdotes and gossip, plus Niven's own special brand of wit and excitement.Contents:1 • Introduction: The Maker of Worlds • (1990) • essay by Tom Clancy3 • On Niven • (1992) • essay by Frederik Pohl and Steven Barnes and David Brin and John Hertz and Wendy All and Gregory Benford15 • Dramatis Personae • (1990) • essay by Larry Niven25 • Foreword: Playgrounds for the Mind • (1990) • essay by Larry Niven31 • From World of Ptavvs (excerpt) • (1990) • shortfiction by Larry Niven36 • Bordered in Black • (1966) • shortstory by Larry Niven56 • Convergent Series • (1967) • shortstory by Larry Niven (variant of The Long Night)62 • All the Myriad Ways • [Time Travel - Parallel Universe] • (1968) • shortstory by Larry Niven73 • From A Gift From Earth (Excerpt) • (1990) • shortfiction by Larry Niven90 • The Meddler • (1968) • novelette by Larry Niven112 • Passerby • [State] • (1969) • shortstory by Larry Niven126 • Down in Flames • (1969) • essay by Larry Niven139 • From Ringworld (Excerpt) • (1990) • shortfiction by Larry Niven148 • The Fourth Profession • (1971) • novelette by Larry Niven195 • "Shall We Indulge in Rishathra?" • (1978) • shortfiction by Larry Niven195 •  "Shall We Indulge in Rishathra?" • (1978) • interior artwork by William Rotsler199 • Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex • (1969) • essay by Larry Niven208 • Inconstant Moon • (1971) • novelette by Larry Niven234 • What Can You Say About Chocolate Covered Manhole Covers? • (1971) • shortstory by Larry Niven245 • Cloak of Anarchy • [Known Space] • (1972) • shortstory by Larry Niven269 • From Protector (excerpt) • (1990) • shortfiction by Larry Niven279 • The Hole Man • (1974) • shortstory by Larry Niven293 • Night on Mispec Moor • [State] • (1974) • shortstory by Larry Niven305 • Flare Time • (1978) • novella by Larry Niven347 • The Locusts • (1979) • novelette by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes389 • From The Mote in God's Eye (excerpt) • (1990) • shortfiction by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle394 • Building the Mote in God's Eye • [A Step Farther Out] • (1976) • essay by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle420 • Brenda • (1988) • novella by Larry Niven465 • The Return of William Proxmire • (1989) • shortstory by Larry Niven475 • The Tale of the Jinni and the Sisters • (1988) • shortstory by Larry Niven491 • Madness Has Its Place • [Man-Kzin Wars] • (1990) • novelette by Larry Niven519 • Niven's Laws (1990 version) • (1990) • essay by Larry Niven528 • The Kiteman • [Integral Trees] • (1990) • novelette by Larry Niven571 • The Alien in Our Minds • (1987) • essay by Larry Niven580 • Space • (1990) • essay by Larry Niven597 • Bibliography of Larry Niven • (1990) • essay by uncredited

    When she fails to return, her consort Moon, along with Stone and a party of warriors and hunters, must track them down. Finding them turns out to be the easy part; freeing them from an ancient trap hidden in the depths of the Reaches is much more difficult.The Tale of Indigo and Cloud explores the history of the Indigo Cloud Court, long before Moon came to Court. In the distant past, Indigo stole Cloud from Emerald Twilight. But in doing so, the reigning Queen Cerise and Indigo are now poised for a conflict that could ruin everything.Stories of Moon and the shape changers of Raksura have delighted readers for years. This world is a dangerous place full of strange mysteries, where the future can never be taken for granted, and must always be fought for with wits and ingenuity, and often tooth and claw. With two brand-new novellas, Martha Wells shows that the world of Raksura has many more stories to tell...Contains: The Falling World #3.6The Tale of Indigo and Cloud #0.1The Forest Boy #0.2Adaptation #0.4Appendices

    These stories describe the fall of civilization, the destruction of the entire Earth, or the end of the Universe itself.Contents:When we went to see the end of the world - Robert SilverbergThe End of the World - Sushma JoshiThe Clockwork Atom Bomb - Dominic GreenBloodletting - Kate WilhelmWhen Sysadmins ruled the World - Cory DoctorowThe Rain at the End of the World - Dale BaileyThe Flood - Linda NagataThe End of the World Show - David BarnettFermi and Frost - Frederik PohlSleepover - Alastair ReynoldsThe Last Sunset - Geoffrey LandisMoments of Inertia - William BartonThe Books - Kage BakerPallbearer - Robert ReedAnd the Deep Blue Sea - Elizabeth BearThe Meek - Damien BroderickThe Man who Walked Home - James Tiptree JRA Pail of Air - Fritz LeiberGuardians of the Phoenix - Eric BrownLife in the Anthropocene - Paul di FilippoTerraforming Terra - Jack WilliamsonWorld Without End - F Gwynplaine MacIntyreThe Children of Time - Stephen BaxterThe Star called Wormwood - Elizabeth Counihan

    Exotic beasts and improbable travelers roam restlessly through these darkly diverting and finely honed tales.In “The Situation,” a beleaguered office worker creates a child-swallowing manta-ray to be used for educational purposes (once described as Dilbert meets Gormenghast). In “Three Days in a Border Town,” a sharpshooter seeks the truth about her husband in an elusive floating city beyond a far-future horizon; “Errata” follows an oddly familiar writer who has marshaled a penguin, a shaman, and two pearl-handled pistols with which to plot the end of the world. Also included are two stories original to this collection, including “The Quickening,” in which a lonely child is torn between familial obligation and loyalty to a maligned talking rabbit.Chimerical and hypnotic, VanderMeer leads readers through the postmodern into a new literature of the imagination.

    Pull up a chair, grab a glass of your favorite, and listen to the stories spun by time travelers, cybernetic aliens, telepaths...and a bunch of regular folks on a mission to save the world, one customer at a time.Callahan's Crosstime Saloon contains the following stories, virtually all of which were published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact: * "The Guy With the Eyes" * "The Time-Traveler" * "The Centipede's Dilemma" * "Two Heads Are Better Than One" * "The Law Of Conservation of Pain" * "Just Dessert" * "A Voice is Heard in Ramah..." * "Unnatural Causes" * "The Wonderful Conspiracy"

    Now, for the first time, that fiction has been gathered together in one place, ready to be enjoyed one twisting, tangled tale at a time. Her work crosses genres and subverts expectations.Meet the mad scientists of “Laughter at the Academy” and “The Tolling of Pavlov’s Bells.” Glory in the potential of a Halloween that never ends. Follow two very different alphabets in “Frontier ABCs” and “From A to Z in the Book of Changes.” Get “Lost,” dress yourself “In Skeleton Leaves,” and remember how to fly. All this and more is waiting for you within the pages of this decade-spanning collection, including several pieces that have never before been reprinted. Stories about mermaids, robots, dolls, and Deep Ones are all here, ready for you to dive in. This is a box of strange surprises dredged up from the depths of the sea, each one polished and prepared for your enjoyment. So take a chance, and allow yourself to be surprised.Enjoy.

    This was published as a Clarkesworld audiobook podcast in 2020.