Every other man, woman, and child on Earth has become a vampire, and they are all hungry for Neville's blood.By day, he is the hunter, stalking the sleeping undead through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn.How long can one man survive in a world of vampires?I am legend --Buried talents --The near departed --Prey --Witch war --Dance of the dead --Dress of white silk --Mad house --The funeral --From shadowed places --Person to person.

    Now, two hundred years after Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, SF-expert Lisa Yaszek presents the best of the female tradition in American science fiction, in the most comprehensive collection of its kind ever published. From Pulp Era pioneers to New Wave experimentalists, here are over two dozen brilliant writers ripe for discovery and rediscovery, including Leslie F. Stone ("The Conquest of Gola," 1931), Judith Merril ("That Only a Mother," 1948), Leigh Brackett ("All the Colors of the Rainbow," 1957), Kit Reed ("The New You," 1962), Joanna Russ ("The Barbarian," 1968); Ursula K. Le Guin ("Nine Lives," 1969), and James Tiptree Jr. ("Last Flight of Dr. Ain," 1969). Imagining strange worlds and unexpected futures, looking into and beyond new technologies and scientific discoveries, in utopian fantasies and tales of cosmic horror, these women created and shaped speculative fiction as surely as their male counterparts. Their provocative, mind-blowing stories combine to form a thrilling multidimensional voyage of literary-feminist exploration and recovery.Contents:Introduction / Lisa Yaszek --The miracle of the lily / Clare Winger Harris --The conquest of Gola / Leslie F. Stone --The black god's kiss / C. L. Moore --Space episode / Leslie Perri --That only a mother / Judith Merril --In hiding / Wilmar H. Shiras --Contagion / Katherine Maclean --The inhabited men / Margaret St. Clair --Ararat / Zenna Henderson --All cats are gray / Andrew North --Created he them / Alice Eleanor Jones --Mr. Sakrison's halt / Mildred Clingerman --All the colors of the rainbow / Leigh brackett --Pelt / Carol Emshwiller --Car pool / Rosel George Brown --For sale, reasonable / Elizabeth Mann Borgese --Birth of a gardener / Doris Pitkin Buck --The tunnel ahead / Alice Glaser --The new you / Kit Reed --Another rib / John Jay Wells & Marion Zimmer Bradley --When I was Miss Dow / Sonya Dorman --Baby, you were great / Kate Wilhelm --The barbarian / Joanna Russ --The last flight of Dr. Ain / James Tiptree Jr --Nine lives / Ursula K Le Guin --Biographical notes.

    Now, after twenty-one annual collections, comes the ultimate in science fiction anthologies, The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction, in which legendary editor Gardner Dozois selects the very best short stories for this landmark collection. Contributors include: * Stephen Baxter * Greg Bear * William Gibson * Terry Bisson * Pat Cadigan * Ted Chiang * John Crowley * Tony Daniel * Greg Egan * Molly Gloss * Eileen Gunn * Joe Haldeman * James Patrick Kelly * John Kessel * Nancy Kress * Ursula K. Le Guin * Ian R. MacLeod * David Marusek * Paul McAuley * Ian McDonald * Maureen F. McHugh * Robert Reed * Mike Resnick * Geoff Ryman * William Sander * Lucius Shepard * Robert Silverberg * Brian Stableford * Bruce Sterling * Charles Stross * Michael Swanwick * Steven Utley * Howard Waldrop * Walter Jon Williams * Connie Willis * Gene WolfeWith work spanning two decades, The Best of the Best stands as one of the ultimate science fiction anthologies ever published.Contents xi • Foreword (The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction) • essay by Robert Silverbergxvii • Preface (The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction) • essay by Gardner Dozois1 • Blood Music • (1983) • novelette by Greg Bear19 • A Cabin on the Coast • (1984) • shortstory by Gene Wolfe28 • Salvador • (1984) • shortstory by Lucius Shepard42 • Trinity • (1984) • novella by Nancy Kress78 • Flying Saucer Rock and Roll • (1985) • novelette by Howard Waldrop (aka Flying Saucer Rock & Roll)93 • Dinner in Audoghast • (1985) • shortstory by Bruce Sterling103 • Roadside Rescue • (1985) • shortstory by Pat Cadigan109 • Snow • (1985) • shortstory by John Crowley121 • The Winter Market • (1985) • novelette by William Gibson137 • The Pure Product • (1986) • novelette by John Kessel152 • Stable Strategies for Middle Management • (1988) • shortstory by Eileen Gunn162 • Kirinyaga • [Kirinyaga • 2] • (1988) • novelette by Mike Resnick177 • Tales from the Venia Woods • [Roma Eterna] • (1989) • shortstory by Robert Silverberg191 • Bears Discover Fire • (1990) • shortstory by Terry Bisson199 • Even the Queen • (1992) • shortstory by Connie Willis213 • Guest of Honor • (1993) • novelette by Robert Reed238 • None So Blind • (1994) • shortstory by Joe Haldeman246 • Mortimer Gray's History of Death • (1995) • novella by Brian Stableford (aka Mortimer Gray's "History of Death")293 • The Lincoln Train • (1995) • shortstory by Maureen F. McHugh303 • Wang's Carpets • (1995) • novelette by Greg Egan328 • Coming of Age in Karhide • [Hainish] • (1995) • novelette by Ursula K. Le Guin342 • The Dead • (1996) • shortstory by Michael Swanwick352 • Recording Angel • (1996) • shortstory by Ian McDonald363 • A Dry, Quiet War • (1996) • novelette by Tony Daniel380 • The Undiscovered • (1997) • novelette by William Sanders400 • Second Skin • (1997) • shortstory by Paul J. McAuley418 • Story of Your Life • (1998) • novella by Ted Chiang454 • People Came from Earth • (1999) • shortstory by Stephen Baxter464 • The Wedding Album • [Cathy] • (1999) • novella by David Marusek502 • 10 to 16 to 1 • (1999) • novelette by James Patrick Kelly (aka 1016 to 1)520 • Daddy's World • (1999) • novelette by Walter Jon Williams541 • The Real World • [Silurian Tales] • (2000) • shortstory by Steven Utley561 • Have Not Have • (2001) • novelette by Geoff Ryman577 • Lobsters • [Macx Family] • (2001) • novelette by Charles Stross597 • Breathmoss • (2002) • novella by Ian R. MacLeod647 • Lambing Season • (2002) • shortstory by Molly Gloss

    Social criticism, political parable, and environmental advocacy lie at the center of Paolo's work. Each of the stories herein is at once a warning, and a celebration of the tragic comedy of the human experience.The eleven stories in Pump Six represent the best Paolo's work, including the Hugo nominee "Yellow Card Man," the nebula and Hugo nominated story "The People of Sand and Slag," and the Sturgeon Award-winning story "The Calorie Man."

    Contents:The Infinite Assassin (1991)The Hundred Light-Year Diary (1992)Eugene (1990)The Caress (1990)Blood Sisters (1991)Axiomatic (1990)The Safe-Deposit Box (1990)Seeing (1995)A Kidnapping (1995)Learning to Be Me (1990)The Moat (1991)The Walk (1992)The Cutie (1989)Into Darkness (1992)Appropriate Love (1991)The Moral Virologist (1990)Closer (1992)Unstable Orbits in the Space of Lies (1992)

    He is now one of the most celebrated science fiction writers in the field , having won the field's top award, the Hugo, for each of his last two novels.Now, for the first time, this illustrious author gathers all his short fiction into a single volume. This collection is truly the definitive Vinge, capturing his visionary ideas at their very best. It also contains a never-before-published novella, one that represents precisely what this collection encapsulates--bold, unique, challenging science fictional ideas brought to vivid life with compelling storytelling.Including such major pieces as "The Ungoverned" and "The Blabber," this sumptuous volume will satisfy any reader who loves the sense of wonder, and the excitement of great SF.The volume collects Vinge's short fiction through 2001 (except "True Names", including Vinge's comments from the earlier two volumes.)Contents:"Bookworm, Run!""The Accomplice""The Peddler's Apprentice" (with Joan D. Vinge)"The Ungoverned""Long Shot""Apartness""Conquest by Default""The Whirligig of Time""Bomb Scare""The Science Fair""Gemstone""Just Peace" (with William Rupp)"Original Sin""The Blabber""Win A Nobel Prize!" (originally published in Nature, Vol 407 No 6805 "Futures")"The Barbarian Princess" (this is also the first section of "Tatja Grimm's World")"Fast Times at Fairmont High" (occurs in the same milieu as Rainbows End) (winner 2002 Hugo Award for Best Novella)

    When you realize that the 33 stories are ordered chronologically, you begin to grasp the scale of Cordwainer Smith's creation. Regimes, technologies, planets, moralities, religions, histories all rise and fall through his millennia.These are futuristic tales told as myth, as legend, as a history of a distant and decayed past. Written in an unadorned voice reminiscent of James Tiptree Jr., Smith's visions are dark and pessimistic, clearly a contrast from the mood of SF in his time; in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s it was still thought that science would cure the ills of humanity. In Smith's tales, space travel takes a horrendous toll on those who pilot the ships through the void. After reaching perfection, the lack of strife stifles humanity to a point of decay and stagnation; the Instrumentality of Mankind arises in order to stir things up. Many stories describe moral dilemmas involving the humanity of the Underpeople, beings evolved from animals into humanlike forms.Stories not to be missed in this collection include "Scanners Live in Vain", "The Dead Lady of Clown Town", "Under Old Earth", "The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal", "Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons", and the truly disturbing "A Planet Called Shayol". Serious SF fans should not pass up the chance to experience Cordwainer Smith's complex, distinctive vision of the far future.--Bonnie BoumanContents:- Introduction by John J. Pierce- Editor’s Introduction by James A. Mann• Stories of the Instrumentality of Mankind- No, No, Not Rogov! (1959)- War No. 81-Q (rewritten version) - Mark Elf (1957)- The Queen of the Afternoon (1978)- Letter to Editor, Fantasy Book (March 9, 1948)- Scanners Live in Vain (1950)- The Lady Who Sailed The Soul (1960)- When the People Fell (1959)- Think Blue, Count Two (1963)- The Colonel Came Back from Nothing-at-All (1979)- The Game of Rat and Dragon (1955)- The Burning of the Brain (1958)- From Gustible’s Planet (1962)- Himself in Anachron- The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal (1964)- Golden the Ship Was — Oh! Oh! Oh! (1959)- The Dead Lady of Clown Town (1964)- Under Old Earth (1966)- Drunkboat (1963)- Mother Hitton’s Littul Kittons (1961)- Alpha Ralpha Boulevard (1961)- The Ballad of Lost C’Mell (1962)- A Planet Named Shayol (1961)- On the Gem Planet [Casher O'Neill] (1963)- On the Storm Planet [Casher O'Neill] (1965)- On the Sand Planet [Casher O'Neill] (1965)- Three to a Given Star [Casher O'Neill] (1965)- Down to a Sunless Sea (1975)• Other Stories- War No. 81-Q (original version) (1928)- Western Science Is So Wonderful (1958)- Nancy (1959)- The Fife of Bodidharma (1959)- Angerhelm (1959)- The Good Friends (1963)Cover art by Jack Gaughan

    The eight stories, reprinted for the first time in this collection delve further into the history and exploits of the Company and its operatives, including Mendoza, Lewis, and Alec. The book opens with the novella, "To the Land Beyond the Sunset," starring Lewis and Mendoza, and involving a strange tribe in Bolivia whose members claim to be gods. Their ability to grow a small tropical paradise in the middle of the desert certainly seems godlike, and it's Mendoza's job to figure what their secret is."Standing in His Light" features Van Drouten, and her role in the career of the artist Jan Vermeer. The story illustrates how, with a little help from the Company, lost masterpieces can be found (or created) easily. Other stories include "Welcome to Olympus, Mr. Hearst," which opens up intriguing questions about The Company, and the original novelette, "Hellfire at Twilight," which concludes the volume and tells of Lewis infiltrating the famous Hellfire Club in the England of the 18th century. This book is a compelling read for every Baker fan, and essential for Company addicts

    I hop to avoid either and to entertain you while I'm doing it."Here she has succeeded!

    A thinking person's collection of eight science fiction short stories by Blish first published in various magazines between 1953 and 1959.Tomb Tapper • (1956) • noveletteKing of the Hill • (1955) • shortstoryCommon Time • (1953) • shortstoryA Work of Art • (1956) • noveletteTo Pay the Piper • (1956) • shortstoryNor Iron Bars (expanded) • (1957) • noveletteBeep • (1954) • noveletteThis Earth of Hours • (1959) • novelette

    Blaylock"The Giving Mouth" by Ian R. MacLeod "A Sun in the Attic" by Mary Gentle "The God-Clown is Near" by Jay Lake"The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider Get Down: A Dime Novel" by Joe R. Lansdale"The Selene Gardening Society" by Molly Brown"Seventy-Two Letters" by Ted Chiang"The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance" by Michael Chabon"Victoria" by Paul Di Filippo"Reflected Light" by Rachel E. Pollock"Minutes of the Last Meeting" by Stepan Chapman"Excerpt from the Third and Last Volume of Tribes of the Pacific Coast" by Neal Stephenson"The Steam-Driven Time Machine: A Pop Culture Survey" by Rick Klaw"The Essential Sequential Steampunk: A Modest Survey of the Genre within the Comic Book Medium" by Bill Baker

    Hartwell 43 • Nine Lives • (1969) • novelette by Ursula K. Le Guin 61 • Light of Other Days • [Slow Glass] • (1966) • shortstory by Bob Shaw 68 • Rappaccini's Daughter • (1844) • novelette by Nathaniel Hawthorne 86 • The Star • (1955) • shortstory by Arthur C. Clarke 91 • Proof • (1942) • shortstory by Hal Clement 103 • "It's Great to Be Back!" • [Future History] • (1947) • shortstory by Robert A. Heinlein 116 • Procreation • (1983) • shortstory by Gene Wolfe 122 • Mimsy Were the Borogoves • (1943) • novelette by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore [as by Lewis Padgett ] 144 • Davey Jones' Ambassador • (1935) • novelette by Raymond Z. Gallun 166 • The Life and Times of Multivac • (1975) • shortstory by Isaac Asimov 174 • The Singing Diamond • (1979) • shortstory by Robert L. Forward 180 • Down & Out on Ellfive Prime • (1979) • novelette by Dean Ing 196 • Send Me a Kiss by Wire • (1985) • shortstory by Hilbert Schenck 208 • The Xi Effect • (1950) • shortstory by R. S. Richardson [as by Philip Latham ] 222 • A Descent into the Maelstrom • (1841) • shortstory by Edgar Allan Poe (aka A Descent into the Maelström) 233 • Exposures • (1981) • shortstory by Gregory Benford 243 • The Planners • (1968) • shortstory by Kate Wilhelm 254 • Beep • (1954) • novelette by James Blish 278 • Drode's Equations • (1981) • novelette by Richard Grant 288 • The Weather Man • (1962) • novella by Theodore L. Thomas 313 • Transit of Earth • (1971) • shortstory by Arthur C. Clarke 323 • Prima Belladonna • [Vermilion Sands] • (1956) • shortstory by J. G. Ballard 333 • To Bring in the Steel • (1978) • novelette by Donald Kingsbury 360 • Gomez • (1954) • novelette by C. M. Kornbluth 377 • Waterclap • (1970) • novelette by Isaac Asimov 398 • Weyr Search • [Dragonriders of Pern] • (1967) • novella by Anne McCaffrey 434 • Message Found in a Copy of Flatland • (1983) • shortstory by Rudy Rucker 442 • The Cold Equations • (1954) • novelette by Tom Godwin 459 • The Land Ironclads • (1903) • novelette by H. G. Wells 474 • The Hole Man • (1974) • shortstory by Larry Niven 484 • Atomic Power • (1934) • shortstory by John W. Campbell, Jr. [as by Don A. Stuart ] 494 • Stop Evolution in Its Tracks! • (1988) • shortstory by John Sladek 499 • The Hungry Guinea Pig • (1930) • shortstory by Miles J. Breuer, M.D. 514 • The Very Slow Time Machine • (1978) • novelette by Ian Watson 528 • The Beautiful and the Sublime • (1986) • novelette by Bruce Sterling 547 • "The Author of the Acacia Seeds" and Other Extracts from the Journal of the Association of Therolinguistics • (1974) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le Guin (aka The Author of the Acacia Seeds and Other Extracts from the Journal of the Association of Therolinguistics) 553 • Heat of Fusion • (1984) • shortstory by John M. Ford 564 • Dolphin's Way • (1964) • shortstory by Gordon R. Dickson 576 • All the Hues of Hell • (1987) • shortstory by Gene Wolfe 585 • Occam's Scalpel • (1971) • novelette by Theodore Sturgeon 600 • giANTS • (1979) • shortstory by Edward Bryant 612 • Time Fuze • (1954) • shortstory by Randall Garrett 616 • Desertion • [City] • (1944) • shortstory by Clifford D. Simak 627 • Kyrie • (1968) • shortstory by Poul Anderson 635 • The Person from Porlock • (1947) • shortstory by Raymond F. Jones 651 • Day Million • (1966) • shortstory by Frederik Pohl 656 • The Cage of Sand • (1962) • novelette by J. G. Ballard 672 • The Psychologist Who Wouldn't Do Awful Things to Rats • (1976) • novelette by James Tiptree, Jr. 689 • In the Year 2889 • (1889) • shortstory by Jules Verne (aka La Journée d'un journaliste américain en 2890 1891 ) 700 • Surface Tension • [Pantropy] • (1952) • novelette by James Blish 724 • No, No, Not Rogov! • [The Instrumentality of Mankind] • (1959) • shortstory by Cordwainer Smith 737 • In a Petri Dish Upstairs • (1978) • novelette by George Turner 758 • With the Night Mail • (1905) • novelette by Rudyard Kipling 788 • The Longest Science-Fiction Story Ever Told • (1966) • shortstory by Arthur C. Clarke 790 • The Pi Man • (1959) • shortstory by Alfred Bester 803 • Relativistic Effects • (1982) • novelette by Gregory Benford 818 • Making Light • (1981) • shortstory by James P. Hogan 826 • The Last Question • (1956) • shortstory by Isaac Asimov 835 • The Indefatigable Frog • (1953) • shortstory by Philip K. Dick 843 • Chromatic Aberration • (1984) • novelette by John M. Ford 864 • The Snowball Effect • (1952) • shortstory by Katherine MacLean 873 • The Morphology of the Kirkham Wreck • (1978) • novelette by Hilbert Schenck 892 • Tangents • (1986) • shortstory by Greg Bear 904 • Johnny Mnemonic • (1981) • shortstory by William Gibson 917 • What Continues, What Fails . . . • (1991) • novelette by David Brin 937 • Mammy Morgan Played the Organ, Her Daddy Beat the Drum • (1990) • novella by Michael F. Flynn 967 • Bookworm, Run! • (1966) • novelette by Vernor Vinge 989 • Appendix: Another Path Through the Book (The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF) • (1994) • essay by Kathryn Cramer

    Destroyed oil rigs, mysteriously reborn, clamber from the sea and onto the land, driven by an obscure but violent purpose. An anatomy student cuts open a cadaver to discover impossibly intricate designs carved into a corpse's bones—designs clearly present from birth, bearing mute testimony to . . . what?Of such concepts and unforgettable images are made the twenty-eight stories in this collection—many published here for the first time. By turns speculative, satirical, and heart-wrenching, fresh in form and language, and featuring a cast of damaged yet hopeful seekers who come face-to-face with the deep weirdness of the world—and at times the deeper weirdness of themselves—Three Moments of an Explosion is a fitting showcase for one of our most original voices.

    Discover a bold new way to raise a child in this unsettling story of the near future by the New York Times bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow.When Sam’s wife first tells him about Vitek, a twenty-first-century fertility lab, he sees it as the natural next step in trying to help their future child get a “leg up” in a competitive world. But the more Sam considers the lives that his child could lead, the more he begins to question his own relationships and the choices he has made in his life.Amor Towles’s You Have Arrived at Your Destination is 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.

    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.