Contributed by some of the most revered and exciting voices in the genre -- and compiled by acclaimed editor and anthologist David G. Hartwell -- these stories of wonder and terror, astounding technologies and miraculous discovery, stretch the imagination into realms and universes never dreamed of before. Each tale is a dazzling gem, rocketing readers across light years and into unknown dimensions -- exploring the intricate cultures of alien races and the strange, secret workings of the human mind. And together they form an unparalleled whole -- a collection of luminous visions that shines more brightly than a newborn sun.New tales from:Nancy KressUrsula K. Le GuinGreg EganBruce SterlingMichael SwanwickGene Wolfeand many more

    "Robin Hobb" and "Megan Lindholm" are both pseudonyms used by California-born Margaret Ogden, who from 1983 to 1992, published exclusively as Lindholm. This generous, 400-page hardcover original brings together short stories and novellas penned under both authorial bylines. As Hobb herself notes, "their" writing and styles differ in significant ways. (P.S. This collection includes stories previously unpublished in the United States.)

    Elrod, Jody Lynn Nye, Michelle West, and others explore the endlessly fascinating possibilities that would arise if a magic shop truly sold magic.

    Wings of Fire brings you all these dragons, and more, seen clearly through the eyes of many of today's most popular authors. Introduction - Jonathan Strahan and Marianne S. JablonStable of Dragons - Peter S. Beagle The Rules of Names - Ursula K. Le Guin The Ice Dragon - George R. R. Martin Sobek - Holly BlackKing Dragon - Michael Swanwick The Laily Worm - Nina Kiriki Hoffman The Harrowing of the Dragon of Hoarsbreath - Patricia A. McKillip The Bully and the Beast - Orson Scott Card Concerto Accademico - Barry N. Malzberg The Dragon's Boy - Jane Yolen The Miracle Aquilina - Margo Lanagan Orm the Beautiful - Elizabeth Bear Weyr Search - Anne McCaffrey Paper Dragons - James P. BlaylockDragon's Gate - Pat Murphy In Autumn, A White Dragon Looks Over the Wide River - Naomi Novik St. Dragon and the George - Gordon R. DicksonThe Silver Dragon - Elizabeth A. LynnThe Dragons of Summer Gulch - Robert ReedBerlin - Charles de Lint Draco, Draco - Tanith LeeThe Dragon on the Bookshelf - Harlan Ellison and Robert Silverberg Gwydion and the Dragon - C. J. CherryhThe George Business - Roger Zelazny Dragon's Fin Soup - S. P. Somtow The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule - Lucius Shepard

    In “Vortex,” by Gregory Benford, astronauts find a once thriving microbial lifeform that carpets the caves of Mars dying off. A code monkey tracks down the vain creator of a pernicious software virus that people jack cerebrally in “RedKing,” by Craig DeLancey. In “Number Nine Moon,” by Alex Irvine, illicit scavengers on Mars are on a rescue mission to save themselves after one of their team members dies. A young girl’s thirst for vengeance becomes a struggle for survival when she is swallowed by a gigantic sea creature on an alien planet in “Of the Beast in the Belly,” by C.W. Johnson. In “The Seventh Gamer,” by Gwyneth Jones, a writer immerses herself into a MMORPG community to search for characters being played by real aliens from other worlds. A woman armed with a rifle stalks a herd of cloned wooly mammoths in British Columbia in “Chasing Ivory,” by Ted Kosmatka. In “Fieldwork,” by Shariann Lewitt, a volcanologist struggles with her research on Europa where both her mother and grandmother suffered dire consequences. A daughter pays homage to her mother with mega-engineering projects to deal with climate change over eons in “Seven Birthdays,” by Ken Liu. In “The Visitor from Taured,” by Ian R. MacLeod, a cosmologist in the near future is obsessed with proving his theory of multiverses. The citizens of a small town on a “Jackaroo” planet object to a corporation placing a radio telescope near local alien artifacts in “Something Happened Here, But We’re Not Quite Sure What It Was,” by Paul McAuley. And finally, in “Sixteen Questions for Kamala Chatterjee,” by Alastair Reynolds, a graduate student defends her dissertation on a solar anomaly that threatens humanity.

    Dick the greatest science fiction mind on any planet. Since his untimely death in 1982, interest in his works has continued to mount, and his reputation has been further enhanced by a growing body of critical attention. Dick won the prestigious Hugo Award for best novel of 1963 for "The Man in the High Castle, " and in the last year of his life, the film Blade Runner was made from his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?This volume includes all of the writer's earliest short and medium-length fiction (including some previously unpublished stories) covering the years 1952-1955. These fascinating stories include "Beyond Lies the Wub, " "The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford, " "The Variable Man, " and twenty-two others.

    IN THE MAGIC REALMSa quickly woven spell may proved the key to power or to a power weaver's downfall, while a skilled blade wielder may survive dangers beyond even a sorceress wildest imaginings.So join today's top magic makers and talented newcomers as they guide you to kingdoms where: a late night encounter in a tavern can awaken sorceries more compelling than death;a swords-woman's capture will pit her against a cult of darkness;oath-bound companions possessed of a magical blade and wizardly skills stumble across a shape-changing mystery they're not all sure they should attempt to solve;and a colorful cast of bold women warriors and mistresses of enchantment comes breathtakingly alive to rove kingdoms created by Mercedes Lackey, Diana L Paxson, and many another noble scribe.

    Here you’ll discover the dangers of walking the boulevards dreamed up by Harlan Ellison … the dark side of wishes granted by Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Djinn Number Seven … the wry twists of Rick Norwood’s wordplay … the sinister shadows lurking behind H. P. Lovecraft’s wonders … and the blood-curdling terror of feeding time at James Gunn’s zoo.This superb collection of the best short short works by outstanding contemporary writers packs an infinite amount of entertainment into these 100 small masterpieces of fantasy fiction… and takes you beyond the limits of time and space to savor the suspense, the shivers, the supernatural fun of every eerie, unforgettable one.Contents: Introduction: The widest field / Isaac Asimov — The Abraham Lincoln murder case / Rick Norwood — A dozen of everything / Marion Zimmer Bradley — The anatomy lesson / Scott Sanders — And I alone am escaped to tell thee / Roger Zelazny — Angelica / Jane Yolen — Apocryphal fragment / Edward Wellen — A prophecy of monsters / Clark Ashton Smith — At the bureau / Steve Rasnic Tem — Aunt Agatha / Doris Pitkin Buck — The Boulevard of Broken Dreams / Harlan Ellison — But not the herald / Roger Zelazny — Chained / Barry N. Malzberg — Chalk talk / Edward Wellen — Climacteric / Avram Davidson — The contest / Robert J. Sawyer — Controlled experiment / Rick Conley — The curse of Hooligan’s Bar / Charles E. Fritch — The Dark Ones / Richard Christian Matheson — Dead call / William F. Nolan — Deadline / Mel Gilden — Deal with the D.E.V.I.L. / Theodore R. Cogswell — The devil finds work / Mack Reynolds — Devlin’s dream / George Clayton Johnson — Displaced person / Eric Frank Russell — Echoes / Lawrence C. Connolly — Ex oblivione / H. P. Lovecraft — Farewell party / Richard Wilson — Feeding time / James Gunn — Final version / John Morressy — Five minutes early / Robert Sheckley — Freedom / Rick Norwood — Garage sale / Janet Fox — Getting back to before it began / Raylyn Moore — The giveaway / Steve Rasnic Tem — Give her hell / Donald A. Wollheim — God’s nose / Damon Knight — The good husband / Evelyn E. Smith — The handler / Damon Knight — The haters / Donald A. Wollheim — The house / Andre Maurois — How Georges Duchamps discovered a plot to take over the world / Alexei Panshin — The human angle / William Tenn — The importance of being important / Calvin W. Demmon — Interview with a gentleman farmer / Bruce Boston — Judgment Day / Jack C. Haldeman II — Just one more / Edward D. Hoch — The lady and the merman / Jane Yolen — The last unicorns / Edward D. Hoch — The last wizard / Avram Davidson — Letters from camp / Al Sarrantonio — L is for loup-garou / Harlan Ellison — Love filter / Gregg Chamberlain — The maiden’s sacrifice / Edward D. Hoch — Malice aforethought / Donald A Wollheim — The man who sold rope to the gnoles / Margaret St. Clair — Miranda-Escobedo / James Sallies — Mr. Wilde’s second chance / Joanna Russ — Mortimer Snodgrass Turtle / Jack C. Haldeman Ii — Mouse-kitty / Rick Norwood — Naturally / Fredric Brown — Night visions / Jack Dann — Once upon a unicorn / F. M. Busby — $1.98 / Arthur Porges — Opening a vein / Bill Pronzini, Barry N. Malzberg — The Other / Katherine Maclean — The other one / Rick Norwood — The Other Train Phenomenon / Richard Bowker — The painters are coming today / Steve Rasnic Tem — Paranoid fantasy #1 / Lawrence Watt-Evans — Perchance to dream / Katherine Maclean — Personality problem / Joe R. Lansdale — Pharaoh’s revenge / C. Bruce Hunter — Pick-up for Olympus / Edgar Pangborn — The poor / Steve Rasnic Tem — Prayer war / Jonathan V. Post — The prophecy / Bill Pronzini — The rag thing / Donald A. Wollheim — The recording / Gene Wolfe — Red carpet treatment / Robert Lipsyte — The sacrifice / Gardner Dozois — Santa’s tenth reindeer / Gordon Van Gelder — The second short-shortest fantasy ever published / Barry N. Malzberg — Sleep / Steve Rasnic Tem — Some days are like that / Bruce J. Balfour — Temporarily at liberty / Lawrence Goldman — The thing that stared / Richard Wilson — Thinking the unthinkable / Will Creveling — The third wish / Rick Norwood — Those three wishes / Judith Gorog — Thus I refute / Terry Carr — The toe / Phyllis Ann Karr — Tommy’s Christmas / John R. Little — The tower bird / Jane Yolen — Vernon’s dragon / John Gregory Betancourt — Voodoo / Fredric Brown — Weather prediction / Evelyn E. Smith — Who rides with Santa Anna? / Edward D. Hoch — Wisher takes all / William F. Temple — The world where wishes worked / Stephen Goldin — Your soul comes C.O.D. / Mack Reynolds

    With established names and new talent this diverse and ground-breaking collection will take the reader to the outer-reaches of space and the inner realms of humanity with stories of fantastical worlds and worlds that may still come to pass.Featuring Paolo Bacigalupi • Elizabeth Bear • Greg Bear • Jeffrey Ford • Neil Gaiman • Nalo Hopkinson • Nisi Shawl • Simon Ings • Gwyneth Jones • Caitlin R. Kiernan • Anne Leckie • Kelly Link • Usman T. Malik • Ian McDonald • Vonda McIntrye • Sam J. Miller • Tamsyn Muir • Robert Reed • Alastair Reynolds • Kim Stanley Robinson • Kelly Robson • Geoff Ryman • Nike Sulway • Catherynne Valente • Genevieve Valentine • Kai Ashante Wilson • Alyssa Wong

    For the sixth year in a row, master anthologist Jonathan Strahan has collected stories to captivate, entertain, and showcase the very best the genre has to offer. Critically acclaimed, and with a reputation for including award-winning speculative fiction, The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year is the only major �best of” anthology to collect both fantasy and science fiction under one cover. Jonathan Strahan has edited more than thirty anthologies and collections, including The Locus Awards (with Charles N. Brown), The New Space Opera (with Gardner Dozois), and Swords and Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery.Content"The Case of Death and Honey" by Neil Gaiman"The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees" by E. Lily Yu"Tidal Forces" by Caitlín R Kiernan"Younger Women" by Karen Joy Fowler"White Lines on a Green Field" by Catherynne M. Valente"All That Touches The Air" by An Owomoyela"What We Found" by Geoff Ryman"The Server and the Dragon" by Hannu Rajaniemi"The Choice" by Paul McAuley"Malak" by Peter Watts"Old Habits" by Nalo Hopkinson"A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong" by K. J. Parker"Valley of the Girls" by Kelly Link"Brave Little Toaster" by Cory Doctorow"The Dala Horse" by Michael Swanwick"The Corpse Painter’s Masterpiece" by M Rickert"The Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu"Steam Girl" by Dylan Horrocks"After the Apocalypse" by Maureen F. McHugh"Underbridge" by Peter S. Beagle"Relic" by Jeffrey Ford"The Invasion of Venus" by Stephen Baxter"Woman Leaves Room" by Robert Reed"Restoration" by Robert Shearman"The Onset of a Paranormal Romance" by Bruce Sterling"Catastrophic Disruption of the Head" by Margo Lanagan"The Last Ride of the Glory Girls" by Libba Bray"The Book of Phoenix" by Nnedi Okorafor"Digging" by Ian McDonald"The Man Who Bridged the Mist" by Kij Johnson"Goodnight Moons" by Ellen Klages

    Think of what you’ve just read.” Lovecraftian stories are the bread and butter of the true horror fan. During his lifetime, Lovecraft himself encouraged other writers to develop stories in the vein we now call Lovecraftian: horror, based around the idea that Earth had been colonized by malign aliens in the remote past, long before mankind arose and became civilized, who eventually became worshipped and feared as evil Gods by their human servitors. Eventually these aliens had been “banished” to another dimensional limbo by a benign Elder Race, but might one day return to reclaim the Earth “when the stars are right.” That deep seated unease threads through this collection of Richard. A Lupoff's short stories that seem to share a common universe. Praise for Richard A. Lupoff: "Lupoff writes with intelligence, humour, wisdom, and a zest for life." - Joe Gorges, author of Hammett. Richard A. Lupoff began his writing career as a print and broadcast journalist while attending university. After earning his degree he served twice in the United States Army, first as an enlisted man, then as an officer. Following military service he worked for twelve years in the computer industry, while also serving as a guest lecturer at universities including the University of California (Berkeley) and Stanford University. As author and editor he has written more than fifty volumes, ranging from science fiction, mystery, fantasy, horror, and mainstream fiction to the evolution of cartooning and comics. He is a past winner of the Hugo Award, and a finalist for the Nebula and Oscar Awards. He has achieved the rare distinction of being represented in “Best of the Year” anthologies in three fields: science fiction, mystery, and horror.

    Peter Hamilton takes us on a journey from a murder mystery in an alternative Oxford in the 1800s to a story featuring Paula Myo, Deputy Director of the Intersolar Commonwealth's Serious Crimes Directorate.

    Morlan, Robert Silverberg, Michael Swanwick, Jane Yolen and many others. Supplementing the stories are the editors' invaluable overviews of the year in fantastic fiction, Edward Bryant's witty roundup of the year's fantasy films, and a long list of Honorable Mentions —all of which adds up to an invaluable reference source, and a font of fabulous reading.

    Featuring new fiction by Mary Robinette Kowal, E. Lily Yu, Shveta Thakrar, Charlie Jane Anders, Delilah S. Dawson, and Sarah Monette, classic fiction by Scott Lynch, essays by Natalie Luhrs, Sofia Samatar, Michael R. Underwood, and Caitlín Rosberg, poetry by C. S. E. Cooney, Bryan Thao Worra, and Sonya Taaffe, interviews with E. Lily Yu and Delilah S. Dawson by Deborah Stanish, a cover by Antonio Caparo, and an editoral by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas.

    A multitude of astonishingly creative and gifted writers are boldly exploring the mythic past, the paranormal present, and the promises and perils of myriad alternate worlds and futures. There are almost too many new and intriguing stories published every year for any reader to be able to experience them all. So how to make sure you haven’t missed any future classics?Award-winning editor and anthologist Jonathan Strahan has surveyed the expanding universes of modern sf and fantasy to find the brightest stars in today’s dazzling literary firmament. From the latest masterworks by the acknowledged titans of the field to fresh visions from exciting new talents, this outstanding collection is a comprehensive showcase for the current state of the art in both science fiction and fantasy. Anyone who wants to know where the future of imaginative short fiction is going, and treat themselves to dozens of unforgettable stories, will find this year’s edition of Best Science Fiction and Fantasy to be just what they’re looking for!The depth and breadth of what science fiction and fantasy fiction is changes with every passing year. The twenty-nine stories chosen for this book by award-winning anthologist Jonathan Strahan carefully maps this evolution, giving readers a captivating and always-entertaining look at the very best the genre has to offer. Jonathan Strahan has edited more than twenty anthologies and collections, including The Locus Awards, The New Space Opera, The Jack Vance Treasury, and a number of year's best annuals. He has won the Ditmar, William J. Atheling Jr., and Peter McNamara Awards for his work as an anthologist, and is the reviews editor for Locus.