Lightspeed publishes all types of science fiction, from near-future, sociological soft sf, to far-future, star-spanning hard sf, and anything and everything in between. Each month, Lightspeed features a mix of originals and reprints, from a variety of authors - from the bestsellers and award-winners you already know to the best new voices you haven''t heard of yet. Now, in Lightspeed: Year One, you will find all of the fiction published in Lightspeed''s first year, from new stories such as Nebula Award finalists, Vylar Kaftan''s "I''m Alive, I Love You, I''ll See You in Reno" and "Arvies" by Adam-Troy Castro, and Carrie Vaughn''s Hugo Award-nominee "Amaryllis," to classic reprints by Stephen King, Ursula K. Le Guin, George R. R. Martin, and more.Contents:"I'm Alive, I Love You, I'll See You in Reno" by Vylar Kaftan"The Cassandra Project" by Jack McDevitt"Cats in Victory" by David Barr Kirtley"Amaryllis" by Carrie Vaughn"No Time Like the Present" by Carol Emshwiller"Manumission" by Tobias S. Buckell"The Zeppelin Conductors' Society Annual Gentlemen's Ball" by Genevieve Valentine"...For a Single Yesterday" by George R. R. Martin"How to Become a Mars Overlord" by Catherynne M. Valente"Patient Zero" by Tananarive Due"Arvies" by Adam-Troy Castro"More Than the Sum of His Parts" by Joe Haldeman"Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain" by Yoon Ha Lee"The Long Chase" by Geoffrey A. Landis"Amid the Words of War" by Cat Rambo"Travelers" by Robert Silverberg"Hindsight" by Sarah Langan"Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back" by Joe R. Lansdale"The Taste of Starlight" by John R. Fultz"Beachworld" by Stephen King"Standard Loneliness Package" by Charles Yu"Faces in Revolving Souls" by Caitlin R. Kiernan"Hwang's Billion Brilliant Daughters" by Alice Sola Kim"Ej-Es" by Nancy Kress"In-Fall" by Ted Kosmatka"The Observer" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch"Jenny's Sick" by David Tallerman"The Silence of the Asonu" by Ursula K. Le Guin"Postings from an Amorous Tomorrow" by Corey Mariani"Cucumber Gravy" by Susan Palwick"Black Fire" by Tanith Lee"The Elephants of Poznan" by Orson Scott Card"Long Enough And Just So Long" by Cat Rambo"The Passenger" by Julie E. Czerneda"Simulacrum" by Ken Liu"Breakaway, Backdown" by James Patrick Kelly"Saying the Names" by Maggie Clark"Gossamer" by Stephen Baxter"Spider the Artist" by Nnedi Okorafor"Woman Leaves Room" by Robert Reed"All That Touches the Air" by An Owomoyela"Maneki Neko" by Bruce Sterling"Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son" by Tom Crosshill"Velvet Fields" by Anne McCaffrey"The Harrowers" by Eric Gregory"Bibi From Jupiter" by Tessa Mellas"Eliot Wrote" by Nancy Kress"Scales" by Alastair Reynolds

    Valente, and many others. Selecting the best fiction from Asimov's, F&SF, Strange Horizons, Subterranean, Tor.com, and other top venues, The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy is your guide to magical realms and worlds beyond tomorrow.

    Cambias, Greg Egan, Charles Coleman Finlay, James Alan Gardner, Dominic Green, Daryl Gregory, Gwyneth Jones, Ted Kosmatka, Mary Robinette Kowal, Nancy Kress, Jay Lake, Paul McAuley, Ian McDonald, Maureen McHugh, Sarah Monette, Garth Nix, Hannu Rajaniemi, Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, Mary Rosenblum, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Geoff Ryman, Karl Schroeder, Gord Sellar, and Michael Swanwick.Supplementing the stories are the editor’s insightful summation of the year’s events and a lengthy list of honorable mentions, making this book both a valuable resource and the single best place in the universe to find stories that stir the imagination, and the heart.xi • Acknowledgments (The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Sixth Annual Collection) • (2009) • essay by Gardner Dozoisxiii • Summation: 2008 • (2009) • essay by Gardner Dozois1 • Turing's Apples • (2008) • shortstory by Stephen Baxter16 • From Babel's Fall'n Glory We Fled • (2008) • shortstory by Michael Swanwick (aka From Babel's Fall'n Glory We Fled . . .)32 • The Gambler • (2008) • novelette by Paolo Bacigalupi50 • Boojum • [Boojum] • (2008) • shortstory by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette65 • The Six Directions of Space • (2008) • novella by Alastair Reynolds107 • N-Words • (2008) • shortstory by Ted Kosmatka120 • An Eligible Boy • (2008) • novelette by Ian McDonald140 • Shining Armour • (2008) • shortstory by Dominic Green (aka Shining Armor)154 • The Hero • (2008) • novelette by Karl Schroeder172 • Evil Robot Monkey • (2008) • shortstory by Mary Robinette Kowal175 • Five Thrillers • (2008) • novelette by Robert Reed209 • The Sky That Wraps the World Round, Past the Blue and Into the Black • (2008) • shortstory by Jay Lake217 • Incomers • (2008) • shortfiction by Paul J. McAuley233 • Crystal Nights • (2008) • novelette by Greg Egan252 • The Egg Man • (2008) • novelette by Mary Rosenblum270 • His Master's Voice • (2008) • shortstory by Hannu Rajaniemi280 • The Political Prisoner • (2008) • novella by Charles Coleman Finlay327 • Balancing Accounts • (2008) • shortstory by James L. Cambias341 • Special Economics • (2008) • novelette by Maureen F. McHugh362 • Days of Wonder • (2008) • novelette by Geoff Ryman390 • City of the Dead • (2008) • novelette by Paul J. McAuley [as by Paul McAuley ]410 • The Voyage Out • (2007) • shortstory by Gwyneth Jones424 • The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm • (2008) • shortstory by Daryl Gregory439 • G-Men • (2008) • novelette by Kristine Kathryn Rusch466 • The Erdmann Nexus • (2008) • novella by Nancy Kress520 • Old Friends • (2008) • shortstory by Garth Nix526 • The Ray-Gun: A Love Story • (2008) • novelette by James Alan Gardner543 • Lester Young and the Jupiter's Moons' Blues • (2008) • novelette by Gord Sellar568 • Butterfly, Falling At Dawn • (2008) • novelette by Aliette de Bodard585 • The Tear • (2008) • novella by Ian McDonald

    Humans can last days without food. Humans will walk for days on broken bones to get to safety. Humans will literally cut off bits of themselves if trapped by a disaster. You would be amazed what humans will do to survive. Or to ensure the survival of others they feel responsible for. If you're hurt, if you're trapped, if you need someone to fetch help? You really want a human. Twelve authors provide their perspectives on human ingenuity and usefulness as we try to find our place among the stars. From battletested to brokenhearted, humans are capable of amazing things. Humans Wanted shows not only what we are, but also how awesome we can be.

    Written with the biting wit and penetrating insight that are his trademarks, this new collection is exciting and essential reading.

    Nothing is simple and everything is perilous when humans are involved: corruption, greed, and even love (of a sort).A permanent corporate branding gives a young woman enhanced physical abilities and a nearly-constant highRecruits lifted out of poverty find a far worse fate collecting biohazardous plants on an inhospitable worldThe only adult survivor of the apocalypse decides he will be the savior of teenagers; the teenagers are not amused.From Johannesburg to outer space, these previously uncollected tales are a compelling, dark, and slippery ride.