Beyond the Aquila Rift: The Best of Alastair Reynolds


Alastair Reynolds - 2008
    It features the very best stories from the ‘Revelation Space’ universe alongside thrilling hard science fiction stories, environmental SF tales and thought-provoking shorts. Table of Contents: • Great Wall of Mars • Weather • Beyond the Aquila Rift • Minla's Flowers • Zima Blue • Fury • The Star Surgeon's Apprentice • The Sledge-Maker's Daughter • Diamond Dogs • Thousandth Night • Troika • Sleepover • Vainglory • Trauma Pod • The Last Log of the Lachrymosa • The Water Thief • The Old Man and the Martian Sea • In Babelsberg • Story Notes

Mad Hatters and March Hares


Ellen DatlowJane Yolen - 2017
    Datlow asked eighteen of the most brilliant and acclaimed writers working today to dream up stories inspired by all the strange events and surreal characters found in Wonderland.Featuring stories and poems from Seanan McGuire, Catherynne M. Valente, Delia Sherman, Genevieve Valentine, Priya Sharma, Stephen Graham Jones, Richard Bowes, Jeffrey Ford, Angela Slatter, Andy Duncan, C.S.E. Cooney, Matthew Kressel, Kris Dikeman, Jane Yolen, Kaaron Warren, Ysbeau Wilce, and Katherine Vaz.

Prehistoric, Vol. 1


S.J. LarssonJeff Bracket - 2019
    Lost worlds where T-Rex and Velociraptors still roam and man is now on the menu. Laboratories at the forefront of cloning technology experiment with dinosaurs they do not understand or are able to contain. The deepest parts of the ocean where Megalodon, the largest and most ferocious predator to have ever existed is stalking new prey. Plus many more thrillers filled with extinct prehistoric monsters written by some of the best creature feature authors this side of the Jurassic period.

The On Call Midwife at Christmas (The Lessons of a Student Midwife)


J.E. Rowney - 2020
    Being on call means that anything could happen.Take half an hour out of your busy day, and join the midwife on call at Christmas.The best presents are sometimes the ones we least expect.This is a quick-read story, featuring characters from the Lessons of a Student Midwife series.

A Blink of the Screen: Collected Shorter Fiction


Terry Pratchett - 2012
    Here for the first time are his short stories and other short form fiction collected into one volume. A Blink of the Screen charts the course of Pratchett's long writing career: from his schooldays through to his first writing job on the Bucks Free Press,; to the origins of his debut novel, The Carpet People; and on again to the dizzy mastery of the phenomenally successful Discworld series.Here are characters both familiar and yet to be discovered; abandoned worlds and others still expanding; adventure, chickens, death, disco and, actually, some quite disturbing ideas about Christmas,all of it shot through with his inimitable brand of humour.With an introduction by Booker Prize-winning author A.S. Byatt, illustrations by the late Josh Kirby and drawings by the author himself, this is a book to treasure.

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020


Diana GabaldonCaroline M. Yoachim - 2020
    There is an openness to experiment and pushing boundaries, combined with the classic desire to read about spaceships and dragons, future technology and ancient magic, and the places where they intersect. Contemporary science fiction and fantasy looks to accomplish the same goal as ever—to illuminate what it means to be human. With a diverse selection of stories chosen by series editor John Joseph Adams and Diana Gabaldon, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020 explores the ever-expanding and changing world of SFF today.

The Year's Best Fantasy: Second Annual Collection


Ellen DatlowRu Emerson - 1989
    Recommended reading lists and selected poetry complete the volume.Contents: * Summation 1988: Fantasy by Terri Windling * Summation 1988: Horror by Ellen Datlow * Horror and Fantasy on the Screen by Edward Bryant * Obituaries * Death is Different by Lisa Goldstein * The Tale of the Rose and the Nightingale (And What Came of It) by Gene Wolfe * It Was the Heat by Pat Cadigan * The Cutter by Edward Bryant * The Freezer Jesus by John DuFresne * Voices of the Kill by Thomas M. Disch * Secretly by Ruth Roston * The Devil's Rose by Tanith Lee * Wempires by Daniel Pinkwater * Scatter My Ashes by Greg Egan * Unfinished Portrait of the King of Pain by Van Gogh by Ian McDonald * Shoo Fly by Richard Matheson * The Thing Itself by Michael Blumlein * The Soft Whisper of Midnight Snow by Charles de Lint * Roman Games by Ann Gay * The Princess, the Cat, and the Unicorn by Patricia C. Wrede * The Book and Its Contents by Robert Kelly * The Great God Pan by M. John Harrison * Lost Bodies by Ian Watson * Two Minutes Forty-Five Seconds by Dan Simmons * Preflash by John M. Ford * Life of Buddha by Lucius Shepard * Appointment With Eddie by Charles Beaumont * Fragments of Papyrus from the Temple of the Older Gods by William Kotzwinkle * Spillage by Nancy Kress * Snowman by Charles L. Grant * The Scar by Dennis Etchison * Laiken Langstrand by Gwyneth Jones * The Last Poem About the Snow Queen and Pinocchio by Sandra M. Gilbert * Game in the Pope's Head by Gene Wolfe * Playing the Game by Ramsey Campbell * Faces by F. Paul Wilson * Snowfall by Jessie Thompson * Seal-Self by Sara Maitland * No Hearts, No Flowers by Barry N. Malzberg * The Boy Who Drew Unicorns by Jane Yolen * The Darling by Scott Bradfield * Night They Missed the Horror Show by Joe R. Lansdale * Your Story by Rick DeMarinis * Winter Solstice - Camelot Station by John M. Ford * The Boy Who Hooked the Sun by Gene Wolfe * Clem's Dream by Joan Aiken * Love In Vain by Lewis Shiner * In the Darkened Hours by Bruce Boston * A Golden Net for Silver Fishes by Ru Emerson * Dancing Among Ghosts by Jim Aikin * Honorable Mentions: 1988

Low Port


Sharon LeeRu Emerson - 2004
    Underwood, L. E. Modesitt, Jr., Nathan Archer, Jody Lynn Nye and many others, including a new urban fantasy by Sharon Lee! So come along and meet an orphan with a dream, a dockworker who believes in freedom, a maintenance worker with feelings and visit a soup kitchen with a secret.Contents:Voyeur / Eric Witchey --Digger don't take no requests / John Teehan --The gate between hope and glory / Holly Phillips --Riis run / eluki bes shahar --Bidding the walrus / Lawrence M. Schoen --The gift / Laura J. Underwood --The dock to heaven / L.E. Modesitt, Jr. --Find a pin / Ru Emerson --Sailing to the temple / Alan Smale --The pilgrim trade / Mark W. Tiedemann --More to glory / Patrice Sarath --Gonna boogie with Granny Time / Sharon Lee --Angel's kitchen / Chris Szego --Lair of the lesbian love goddess / Edward McKeown --Contraband / Nathan Archer --Spinacre's war / Lee Martindale --Bottom of the food chain / Jody Lynn Nye --Zappa for bardog / Joe Murphy --The times she went away / Paul E. Martens --Scream angel / Douglas Smith.

The New Voices of Fantasy


Peter S. BeagleAmal El-Mohtar - 2017
    The New Voices of Fantasy tethers some of the fastest-rising talents of the last five years. Their tales were hand-picked by the legendary Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn) and genre expert Jacob Weisman (The Treasury of the Fantastic).So go ahead, join the Communist revolution of the honeybees. The new kids got your back.

Brave New Worlds


John Joseph AdamsNeil Gaiman - 2010
    Brave New Worlds brings together the best dystopian fiction of the last 30 years, demonstrating the diversity that flourishes in this compelling subgenre. This landmark tome contains stories by Ursula K. Le Guin, Cory Doctorow, M. Rickert, Paolo Bacigalupi, Orson Scott Card, Neil Gaiman, Ray Bradbury, and many others.Table of ContentsIntroduction / John Joseph Adams --Lottery / Shirley Jackson --Red card / S.L. Gilbow --Ten with a flag / Joseph Paul Haines --Ones who walk away from Omelas / Ursula K. Le. Guin --Evidence of love in a case of abandonment / M. Rickert --The Funeral / Kate Wilhelm --O happy day! / Geoff Ryman --Pervert / Charles Coleman Finlay --From homogeneous to honey / Neil Gaiman & Bryan Talbot --Billennium / J.G. Ballard --Amaryllis / Carrie Vaughn --Pop squad / Paolo Bacigalupi --Auspicious eggs / James Morrow --Peter Skilling / Alex Irvine --The Pedestrian / Ray Bradbury --Things that make me weak and strange get engineered away / Cory Doctorow --Pearl diver / Caitlin R. Kiernan --Dead space for the unexpected / Geoff Ryman --"Repent harlequin!", said the Ticktockman / Harlan Ellison --Is this your day to join the revolution? / Genevieve Valentine --Independence day / Sarah Langan --Lunatics / Kim Stanley Robinson --Sacrament / Matt Williamson --Minority report / Philip K. Dick --Just do it / Heather Lindsley --Harrison Bergeron / Kurt Vonnegut Jr. --Caught in the organ draft / Robert Silverberg --Geriatric ward / Orson Scott Card --Arties aren't stupid / Jeremiah Tolbert --Jordan's waterhammer / Joe Mastroianni --Of a sweet slow dance in the wake of temporary dogs / Adam-Troy Castro --Resistance / Tobias S. Buckell --Civilization / Vylar Kaftan.

I'm Waiting for You and Other Stories


Bo-Young Kim - 2021
    But small incidents wreak havoc on space and time, driving their wedding date further away. As centuries on Earth pass and the land and climate change, one thing is constant: the desire of the lovers to be together. In two separate yet linked stories, Kim Bo-Young cleverly demonstrate the idea love that is timeless and hope springs eternal, despite seemingly insurmountable challenges and the deepest despair.In “The Prophet of Corruption” and “That One Life,” humanity is viewed through the eyes of its creators: godlike beings for which everything on Earth—from the richest woman to a speck of dirt—is an extension of their will. When one of the creations questions the righteousness of this arrangement, it is deemed a perversion—a disease—that must be excised and cured. Yet the Prophet Naban, whose “child” is rebelling, isn’t sure the rebellion is bad. What if that which is considered criminal is instead the natural order—and those who condemn it corrupt? Exploring the dichotomy between the philosophical and the corporeal, Kim ponders the fate of free-will, as she considers the most basic of questions: who am I?

The Djinn Falls in Love & Other Stories


Mahvesh MuradJames Smythe - 2017
    Eavesdropping and exploring; savaging our bodies, saving our souls. They are monsters, saviours, victims, childhood friends. Some have called them genies: these are the Djinn. And they are everywhere. On street corners, behind the wheel of a taxi, in the chorus, between the pages of books. Every language has a word for them. Every culture knows their traditions. Every religion, every history has them hiding in their dark places. There is no part of the world that does not know them.They are the Djinn. They are among us.With stories from: Nnedi Okorafor, Neil Gaiman, Helene Wecker, Amal El-Mohtar, Catherine King, Claire North,  E.J. Swift, Hermes (trans. Robin Moger), Jamal Mahjoub, James Smythe, J.Y. Yang, Kamila Shamsie, Kirsty Logan, K.J. Parker, Kuzhali Manickavel, Maria Dahvana Headley, Monica Byrne, Saad Hossein, Sami Shah, Sophia Al-Maria and Usman Malik.

One Million Tomorrows


Bob Shaw - 1970
    But to get their one million tomorrows men have to make the transition from FUNKIE to COOL. FUNKIE is a slang for `functional male`. Immortality can only be achieved at the expense of male sexuality. So when Will Carewe is offered one million tomorrows without the side effects, he is being offered something very valuable. Something people would kill for.

Bolo


Keith Laumer - 1976
    Originally developed as far back as the 1980's by the Bolo Division of General Motors, these great artillery machines took on awareness in later designs and gradually began to replace man in that most human of endeavors: War.But let Bolo speak for itself. In the action-packed Annals of the Dinochrome Brigade, the ultimate fighting machines tell their own fascinating, far-ranging and ultimately tragic story.Contents:A Short History of the Bolo Fighting Machines (1976)The Night of the Trolls (1963)Courier (1961)Field Test (1976)The Last Command (1967)A Relic of War (1969)Combat Unit (1960)

The Gate: 13 Dark and Odd Tales


Robert J. Duperre - 2010
    Duperre, author of The Fall: The Rift Book I. Also contributing to this collection are the talented Mercedes M. Yardley, David Dalglish, David McAfee, and Daniel Pyle.