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.

    Read on for more from this exceptional character. Please note: This story includes language that some might find offensive.

    New issues are released on the first Tuesday of every month. We are a 2013 Hugo Award nominee for Best Semiprozine! FICTION Perfect by Haddayr Copley-Woods Steel Snowflakes in My Skull by Tom Piccirilli The Cultist's Son by Ferrett Steinmetz Repairing the World by John Chu Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary by Pamela Dean (eBook/subscriber exclusive) The Violent Century (extract) by Lavie Tidhar (eBook/subscriber exclusive) POETRY Cogs by Beth Cato Unlabelled Core c. Zanclean (5.33 Ma) by Michele Bannister Tell Me the World is a Forest by Chris Lynch Aristeia by Sonya Taaffe NONFICTION Resolute: Notes from the Editor-in-Chief by Sigrid Ellis Interview with Cover Artist Mehrdad Isvandi by Loraine Sammy Interview with Ferrett Steinmetz by Maggie Slater After Our Bodies Fail by Abra Staffin-Wiebe Cover art by Mehrdad Isvandi Edited by Sigrid Ellis

    There is a concert pianist who defies death by uploading his soul into his piano. There is the person who draws his mother’s ghost out of the bullet hole in the wall near where she was executed. Another character has a horn growing out of the center of his forehead—punishment for an affair. But he is too weak to end it, too much in love to be moral. Another story recounts a panda breeder looking for tips. And then there’s a border patrol agent trying to figure out how to process undocumented visitors from another galaxy. Poignant by way of funny, and philosophical by way of grotesque, Hernandez’s stories are prayers for self-sovereignty.

    A thief, a candlemaker, an ex-mercenary, and a pig farmer walk into a trap…and what happens to them is no joke. When Riyria is hired to retrieve a jester’s treasure, Royce and Hadrian must match wits with a dwarf who proves to be anything but a fool. Difficult choices will need to be made, and in the end those who laugh last do so because they are the only ones to survive.This is a standalone short story of 7,200 words, originally published in the Unfettered anthology. No prior knowledge of The Riyria Revelations or The Riyria Chronicles is required to enjoy it to its fullest, making this a perfect introduction for new readers or a chance for Riyria veterans to spend a little more time with old friends. The Jester is a story of adventure, bonds of friendship, and a recognition that the choices we make dictates the future we find.

    Contentsvii • Introduction (Morning Child and Other Stories) • essay by Gardner Dozois1 • Morning Child • (1984) • shortstory by Gardner Dozois10 • A Special Kind of Morning • (1971) • novelette by Gardner Dozois59 • The Hanging Curve • (2002) • shortstory by Gardner Dozois73 • A Kingdom by the Sea • (1972) • novelette by Gardner Dozois103 • A Dream at Noonday • (1970) • shortstory by Gardner Dozois119 • Ancestral Voices • (1998) • novella by Gardner Dozois and Michael Swanwick191 • Fairy Tale • (2003) • shortstory by Gardner Dozois210 • The Peacemaker • (1983) • shortstory by Gardner Dozois230 • Machines of Loving Grace • (1972) • shortstory by Gardner Dozois237 • Chains of the Sea • (1973) • novella by Gardner Dozois

    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.

    Scott Fitzgerald is known for his novels, but in his lifetime, his fame stemmed from his prolific achievement as one of America's most gifted story writers. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," a witty and fantastical satire about aging, is one of his most memorable stories. In 1860 Benjamin Button is born an old man and mysteriously begins aging backward. At the beginning of his life he is withered and worn, but as he continues to grow younger he embraces life -- he goes to war, runs a business, falls in love, has children, goes to college and prep school, and, as his mind begins to devolve, he attends kindergarten and eventually returns to the care of his nurse. This strange and haunting story embodies the sharp social insight that has made Fitzgerald one of the great voices in the history of American literature.

    Jonathan Strahan) , which you can listen to [official url]. I love his narration; it’s heart-breaking. I grew up watching Reading Rainbow, so it was pretty awesome to grow up to write words that LeVar Burton read out loud!Reading time: 56:27

    A henpecked husband copes with the frustrations of his dull life by imagining he is a fearless airplane pilot, a brilliant doctor, and other dashing figures.

    It begins with a walk in the bazaar, but soon grows into a tale unlike any other told in the caliph's empire. It's a story that includes not just buried treasure and a band of thieves, but also men haunted by their past and others trapped by their future; it includes not just a beloved wife and a veiled seductress, but also long journeys taken by caravan and even longer ones taken with a single step. Above all, it's a story about recognizing the will of Allah and accepting it, no matter what form it takes.

    First published in Collier's, May 6, 1950.The story concerns a household in Allendale, California, in the aftermath of a nuclear war.

    A short story in The Iron Druid series that occurs two weeks before the events of the first book.*Short story bundled with "Clan Rathskeller" (another short story) at the back of the ebook "Hounded," Iron Druid Chronicles Book 1.

    - Patrick Ness