Darko Suvin's paradigm-setting definition of SF as "the literature of cognitive estrangement" established a robust theory of the genre that continues to spark fierce debate, as well as inspiring myriad intellectual descendants and disciples. Suvin's centuries-spanning history of the genre links SF to a long tradition of utopian and satirical literatures crying out for a better world than this one, showing how SF and the imagination of utopia are now forever intertwined.

    This is not true. He is our best critic; he thinks with a sublime ferocity."--Cynthia OzickFollowing the collection The Broken Estate--which established James Wood as the leading critic of his generation--The Irresponsible Self confirms Wood's preeminence, not only as a discerning judge but also as an appreciator of contemporary novels.In twenty-three passionate, sparkling dispatches, he effortlessly connects his encyclopedic, passionate understanding of the literary canon with an equally earnest and appreciative view of the most discussed authors writing today, including Franzen, Pynchon, Rushdie, DeLillo, Naipaul, David Foster Wallace, and Zadie Smith.This collection includes Wood's famous and controversial attack on "hysterical realism", and his sensitive but unsparing examinations of White Teeth and Brick Lane. The Irresponsible Self is indispensable reading for anyone who cares about modern fiction.

    Tired of his decrepit house, he leaves his wife and mother behind and sets out for a night at The Boneyard. Joe has a knack for dice throwing and figures he can take on any opponent. But can he win when the stakes are raised, and it's his life he's gambling for?

    In this Hugo & Nebula Award-winning story, an Arab woman confronts the uncertainty principle in both practice and theory as she stands accused of killing a man who might do her harm in the future.

    This collection, showcasing Bear’s unique imagination and singular voice, includes her Hugo- and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award-winning story “Tideline” and Hugo-winning novelette “Shoggoths in Bloom,” as well as an original, never-published story. Recipient of the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, the Locus Award, a World Fantasy, British Fantasy, and Philip K. Dick nominee, Bear is one of speculative fiction’s most acclaimed, respected, and prolific authors.ContentTidelineSonny Liston Takes the FallSoundingThe Something-Dreaming GameThe Cold BlacksmithIn the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal BurnsOrm the BeautifulThe Inevitable Heat Death of the UniverseLove Among the TalusCryptic ColorationThe LadiesShoggoths in BloomThe Girl Who Sang Rose MadderDollyGods of the ForgeAnnie WebberThe Horrid Glory of Its WingsConfessorThe Leavings of the WolfThe Death of Terrestrial Radio

    Dick is the magnificent and imaginative final work of an author who dedicated his life to questioning the nature of reality and perception, the malleability of space and time, and the relationship between the human and the divine. Edited and introduced by Pamela Jackson and Jonathan Lethem, this will be the definitive presentation of Dick’s brilliant, and epic, final work. In The Exegesis, Dick documents his eight-year attempt to fathom what he called "2-3-74," a postmodern visionary experience of the entire universe "transformed into information." In entries that sometimes ran to hundreds of pages, Dick tried to write his way into the heart of a cosmic mystery that tested his powers of imagination and invention to the limit, adding to, revising, and discarding theory after theory, mixing in dreams and visionary experiences as they occurred, and pulling it all together in three late novels known as the VALIS trilogy. In this abridgment, Jackson and Lethem serve as guides, taking the reader through the Exegesis and establishing connections with moments in Dick’s life and work.

    He is a perfect spy: an artificially created human whose metamorphic DNA can be programmed with "masques"--genetic copies of anyone--over and over again. Until his body breaks down. But Tristan's masters offer him humanity, citizenship, and a permanent shape in exchange for one last mission. Now, Tristan must play a masquerade that will save--or destroy--an entire people.

    A fascinating mythology of horror and consequence, this epic masterfully combined intriguing literature with captivating art. THE SANDMAN COMPANION is an exhaustive guide to this legend. Revealing hitherto undisclosed information and behind-the-scenes secrets, this book features in-depth interviews, never-before-seen illustrations, character origins, and story explanations and analysis. Also including excerpts from the original proposal for the series, this handbook is the perfect complement to the Sandman graphic novels.

    Mickey Wade is a recently-unemployed journalist who lucked into a rent-free apartment – his sick grandfather's place. The only problem: it's in a lousy neighborhood. The one where Mickey grew up, in fact. The one he was so desperate to escape.But now he's back. Dead broke. And just when he thinks he's reached rock bottom, Mickey wakes up in the past. Literally.At first he thinks it's a dream. All of the stores he remembered from his childhood, the cars, the rumble of the elevated train. But as he digs deeper into the past, searching for answers about the grandfather he hardly knows, Mickey meets the twelve-year-old kid who lives in the apartment below. The kid who will grow up to someday murder Mickey's father.

    Each annotation includes audio from the new unabridged recording of Heir to the Empire to enhance their comments. The biggest event in the history of Star Wars books, Heir to the Empire follows the adventures of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia after they led the Rebel Alliance to victory in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.Five years after the Death Star was destroyed and Darth Vader and the Emperor were defeated, the galaxy is struggling to heal the wounds of war, Princess Leia and Han Solo are married and expecting twins, and Luke Skywalker has become the first in a long-awaited line of new Jedi Knights.But thousands of light-years away, the last of the Emperor’s warlords—the brilliant and deadly Grand Admiral Thrawn—has taken command of the shattered Imperial fleet, readied it for war, and pointed it at the fragile heart of the New Republic. For this dark warrior has made two vital discoveries that could destroy everything the courageous men and women of the Rebel Alliance fought so hard to create.The explosive confrontation that results is a towering epic of action, invention, mystery, and spectacle on a galactic scale—in short, a story worthy of the name Star Wars.

    

    This volume assembles some of Clifton's very best work -- including THEY'D RATHER BE RIGHT:STAR BRIGHT (1952)THE KENZIE REPORT (1953)WE'RE CIVILIZED!SENSE FROM THOUGHT DIVIDE (1955)A WOMAN'S PLACE (1955)DO UNTO OTHERS (1958)THEY'D RATHER BE RIGHT (1958)WHAT NOW, LITTLE MAN? (1959)EIGHT KEYS TO EDEN (1960)And if you enjoy this volume, don't forget to search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see more entries in this great series, covering science fiction, fantasy, horror, mysteries, westerns, classics -- and much, much more!

    A book illustrating various characters for the Anne McCaffrey crafted world of Pern

    Depahli, the fabulously beautiful woman from the "untouchable class" would die for him, just as surely as his father would like to kill him for shaming the very traditional family for such a relationship. Chalcedony "Chal" Schneemann doesn't want to kill Taneer, if he doesn't have to, but it wouldn't upset him terribly much if it came to it, and he'll stop at nothing to recover the stolen property for the company that pays him very, very well to solve big problems discreetly and quickly. Sanjay Ghosh, a poor farmer-turned-merchant in the big city of Sagramanda would like to help Taneer unload his stolen items, for the $30 million dollars his 3 percent fee is worth. Jena Chalmette, a crazy French woman pledged to Kali, simply wants to kill for the glory of her god, and she's very good at it. Chief Inspector Keshu Singh would like to put this sword-wielding serial killer away as quickly as possible before the media gets a hold of the story. Then there's a man-eating tiger, come in from the nearby jungle reserve and just looking for his next meal. A fast-paced and gripping techno-thriller set in an India just around the corner from today.

    GOOD AND EVIL. GIN AND TONIC.A novel which takes us from a dusty secondhand bookshop in Darlington, clear across the galaxy aboard a celestial double decker bus... all the way to the outlandish world of Hyspero, and the throne room of the Scarlet Empress... and the very brink of the strange pocket dimension called The Obverse.This is a story about an object - a glass jar with mysterious contests - being the focus of a chase between Iris Wildthyme, Panda, and their new friend Simon, and a bunch of gentlemen pirates of the Dogworld, who are determined to retrieve the strange jar and its even stranger contents.