Includes Robert Silverberg's "How It Was When The Past Went Away"; "The Eve of RUMOKO" by Roger Zelazny and "We All Die Naked" by James Blish.

    The station is in a security lockdown and the sole apparent occupant, a Union captain, offers Kieran an entire ship if he can disable the lockdown. Kieran realizes that he’s probably dealing with a criminal, rather than an actual captain, but he’s just desperate enough to accept. He flies out to the nearest station and returns with a slicer and some dangerous-looking backup. As he’s making his approach to the station, Kieran hears a garbled cry for help over the comm. He hopes it’s just his imagination.But it’s not. Half the station’s crew is being held hostage, while the other half appear to be masquerading as Union officers. Kieran and his team disable the lockdown, and to Kieran’s amazement, they are given a ship as promised. As they are leaving the station, they see an entire fleet of Union cruisers pouring out of the newly-reactivated space gate. Kieran is confused. What are so many warships doing on the frontier? The Union isn’t at war.Kieran sets out to investigate, but along the way strange things start happening to him and his crew. At first there seem to be logical explanations, but before long the answers are not so clear. As time goes by, Kieran realizes the horrible truth:He wasn’t the only one trying to escape. . . .

    According to historical records, 50,000 soldiers marched into the desert from Luxor and vanished into a sandstorm.Never to be seen againHoping to discover the lost army’s fate, a team of scientists utilizes satellite archeology to locate ancient ruins hidden beneath the dunes. Subsequent excavation reveals a temple devoted to Sekhmet, warrior goddess of destruction. Hidden within it are chambers filled with bones.They never stood a chanceThe scientists quickly realize that they’re not alone. Something is hunting them inside the buried tomb, a creature that has evolved to live in complete darkness, an extant species that will stop at nothing to make sure that no one ever learns of its existence, because in the end…

    An overview of the best science fiction short stories of the 20th century as selected and evaluated by critically-acclaimed author Orson Scott Card.

    But who was this Iceman, what was he doing high on a glacier 8000 years ago, and why was he carrying a strange metallic cylinder? Archaeologists can only speculate, but neuroscientist Doctor Lisa Cho knows a better way. Young and ambitious, Dr. Cho is at the threshold of developing technology capable of replicating the neural pathways of the human brain and has devised an audacious plan; she wants to wake the Iceman from his primeval slumber and let him provide the answers to his past. But the Iceman’s story is not what anyone expected.As Cho seeks to understand the Iceman’s origin, her path converges in France with a brilliant theoretical physicist on his own mission to unravel the meaning of the Iceman’s cryptic artifact. Their quests become intertwined and increasingly perilous as they inch closer to the truth and the mystery behind the enigmatic Iceman. Waking Iceman is a far-reaching science fiction thriller that takes the reader on a sweeping journey from the inner mind of an ancient human to a parallel world with a profound secret. It’s a tale that raises deep questions: Is information more fundamental than mass and energy? Is there more to human consciousness than basic biology? Can love survive an 8000 year divide?  And what is real and what’s only a dream? For Cho, the answers will come at a price—sending her and everyone else on a collision course with destiny.More at: https://crwahl.com

    Extensively trained and conditioned from birth he's now indentured for the next fifty years of his life; assuming he doesn't die first, or somehow manage to pay off his creation and training debts.Created by the corporations to deal with the harsh labor shortages of the twenty second century when humans will no longer take on the dangerous jobs Raj finds himself now in the harsh world of space exploration, trading, corporate maneuverings, and sometimes the even more dangerous fanatics that hate Raj and his fellows. No longer in safe confines of the training academies he must learn how to live and deal with both his fellow workers and the humans he encounters and not get saddled with extra bills or fines because he's screwed up or worse yet, get 'put down' because he's lost his temper one time too many.After all, it's not like he's human...(176740 words / 707 pages)

    Doing all she can to keep her younger sisters safe, Aazuria tries to assimilate and work among the Americans. She tries to hold her head up high even in the lowest of places, until she meets a somber man in a dark corner with eyes that remind her of home. Trevain Murphy is a successful crab fisherman who has spent his life building an empire on the sea. When a graceful dancer captures his attention, he becomes fascinated with her old-fashioned speech and unique mannerisms. Learning that her father has recently died, he cannot resist extending his kindness in offering to guide and protect her. As it becomes clear that the dark-haired woman is much more than she seems, Trevain is unprepared to uncover the staggering secrets behind her innocent facade. Neither the captain nor the princess can imagine that their lives will become forcibly entwined as a common enemy threatens both of their worlds...

    EIGHT New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors bring you eight stories of memorable weddings, spilling over with nervous tingles and overwhelming moments. Experience the euphoria of wedding day bliss, cry a river of happiness and celebrate the joy over and over again with these happy ever after tales. Patricia Rosemoor – A Rancher’s Vow – Reed Quarrels asks Alcina Dale to marry him so he can save the Curly! Ranch, not knowing Alcina has been in love with him forever. Taylor Lee – Undercover Wedding – They called her the Ice Princess. That was before the sexy police commander turned up the heat and proved that fire does melt ice. It couldn’t have been a more perfect wedding until a group of would-be assassins crash the party. Natalie Ann – True Love – Shattered dreams vs. a new beginning. Can a young widow with a two-year-old heal this wounded warrior? Tamara Ferguson – Two Hearts in Accord- When active duty wounded warriors lieutenants Anna Drummond and Neil Harrison insist that the last thing they want is a long term relationship, will TWO HEARTS IN ACCORD finally admit that it’s love? Stephanie Queen – Margo and George Forever? – Will Margo make it to the alter in spite of George’s family and the circus of a wedding they planned? Suzanne Jenkins – A Greektown Wedding - Relationships are blooming as Spring approaches, but will the Detroit Police Department be enough to keep the out of control lovers in check? Alicia Street – Maybe Lovers – Can a hot doc with his own troubles convince a cynical bartender that it's okay to dream of love? Mimi Barbour – My Cheeky Angel - Can a tomboy change to attract a man?

    It's heading for Earth at twelve thousand miles per hour...and it will land virtually undetected. For Jack McAllister, a young writer who has finally launched a career for himself, it begins tragically: his estranged father, a former NASA engineer, dies suddenly at his home in Merriweather, Indiana, leaving Jack's Alzheimer's-stricken mother a widow. But in the wake of personal heartbreak, he's confronted by an even more astonishing event--the covert landing of an alien machine in the forest just a few miles outside of town. Now Jack must unmask the true purpose of the otherworldly device that has begun a detailed environmental survey of the woods. Aided by the town's young and resilient female deputy sheriff, he soon discovers that the alien scout is only one small part of a much larger operation, and the countdown to a terrifying global catastrophe is about to take place. Drawing deeply from his father’s scientific influence, all while attempting to avoid the snares of a sexy, seductive and scheming local TV reporter, Jack uncovers—and ultimately finds himself an unwilling component of—an alien plan set to terminate life on Earth as we know it.

    can't wait for the next one." From author, Mark Wayne McGinnis, who brought you the hit series, Scrapyard Ship and Tapped In, comes a new and exciting new science fiction saga and the rise of the most unlikely new hero. Seventeen-year-old Collin Frost, the kicker for the Lone Stars high school football team, was not enjoying the bus ride back to the school after a game that hadn’t gone so well. The ride was made worse for him when Bubba, the team’s defensive tackle, decided Collin should sit in the aisle instead of the seat next to him. That’s why when the bus pulled to a stop at a railway crossing in a small town in Middleton Texas, Collin didn’t actually see what the bus driver, the cheerleaders, and his teammates saw … a hovering, goliath-sized space ship. And here the journey of the Lone Star Renegades begins. Abducted into the belly of a sim rover collector ship, sent from a distant galaxy, the Lone Stars must find a way to survive long enough to escape their deathly confines. When that escape finally does come, the teenagers find themselves twenty-three light years from Earth and smack dap in the middle of an interstellar war. Young and irreverent, the Lone Stars must bargain with the Brotherhood forces for passage back to Earth—a bargain that would require them to complete a military basic training program and inevitably have them fight against Brotherhood's enemies for the duration of one year.

    Stronger. Better. Faster. We will rebuild you.CONTENTSIntroduction by Neil ClarkeCome From Away by Madeline AshbyNo Place to Dream, but a Place to Die by Elizabeth BearMarried by Helena BellA Cold Heart by Tobias S. BuckellHoneycomb Girls by Erin CashierWhat I’ve Seen With Your Eyes by Jason K. ChapmanWizard, Cabalist, Ascendant by Seth DickinsonSeventh Sight by Greg EganNegative Space by Amanda ForrestMercury in Retrograde by Erin HoffmanTongtong’s Summer by Xia JiaGod Decay by Rich LarsonAlways the Harvest by Yoon Ha LeeThe Regular by Ken LiuCoastlines of the Stars by Alex Dally MacFarlaneFusion by Greg MellorMemories and Wire by Mari NessOil of Angles by Chen QiufanThe Sarcophagus by Robert ReedSynecdoche Oracles by Benjanun SriduangkaewTender by Rachel SwirskyThe Cumulative Effects of Light Over Time by E. Catherine ToblerSmall Medicine by Genevieve ValentineCollateral by Peter WattsTaking the Ghost by A.C. WiseMusée de l’Âme Seule by E. Lily YuAbout the AuthorsAbout the EditorCover art by Julie Dillon

    She doesn't trust anyone, especially with her heart, and makes damn sure to keep herself guarded. With a steel cage wrapped firmly around her heart, She's promised herself she will never give anyone the chance to repeat history.Her world is lonely, but it's a risk she's willing to take, if it means there's no one to hurt her.But that's all about to change… Kayden:Is a hot, happy, outgoing,successful Southern gentleman that every woman dreams of, with an accent that’s truly panty melting. He is pure perfection in every way.He doesn't have a problem letting people into his world in fact he welcomes them in with strong open arms. He longs for the day he meets the right woman to settle down with, give his heart to and start a family of his own.That is until he meets Rena....Kayden knows his whole heart belongs to Rena and that he has to have her for himself, but Rena is adamant she has no room for love in her life.Will he break her and finally claim her heart?

    I am a genetically modified human. PAINFUL SECRETS. STARTLING TRUTHS.UNDENIABLE LOVE.All it took was a chance meeting--one tingling glance across a darkened street to change my life.I'd been searching for my two best friends in the crowded Zenith Club, which was a really bad idea because I'm totally claustrophobic. I burst outside, and that's when I came face-to-face with the incredibly gorgeous Hunter Cayman. Dark-haired, tall, and leaning against an insane sports car, my pulse went haywire. Maybe things weren't so bad after all. The young doctor had his long muscular arms crossed over his leather jacket clad chest, and all his six-foot something would make any girl's knees turn weak. But then, if what Ella said was true, Hunter was the kind of guy who left behind a trail of broken hearts. And heartache was the last thing I needed right now.Yet there's something strange, something almost superhuman about Hunter. It's more than that infuriatingly knowing grin. I'm trying to stop thinking about him, and I get the feeling he's avoiding me, too. Yet Deep Cove is a tiny town and every time we run into each other the tension literally crackles, sparking around us. It just figures that when suddenly I'm in danger, he's there to save me.In truth, I should be dead. By all the logic in this world, I should be shattered to pieces. How fast was I going on that ATV when I smashed into those iron gates? Ninety? A hundred? And the men who were chasing me, where did they go?Somehow I'm whole.Maybe better than whole. There's no one I can talk to, not even my best friend, Gage. Gage hates Hunter. He wants Hunter's laboratory to be shut down. He thinks Hunter's a monster. And yet, if that's true, if Hunter's a monster...than what am I? I'm not sure what terrifies me more, the metamorphosis taking place inside me, or the intensely powerful connection with a guy whose heart and soul has become linked with mine.

    They have a hunger, a burning desire to taste of the flesh of others and their bite carries an infection, a virus that will send those who are bitten, crazy. Those infected lose everything that makes them human, leaving them with just an urge for violence, for lust, for hunger and an unquenchable rage! In the city of Leeds, Sarah, a young nurse, sees first-hand, the effects of this infection as it sweeps through the city, filling the emergency room with injured people. Unable to do more than bandage their wounds and send them home, she doesn’t realise how bad things are about to become. Not far away, Jack, finds himself thrust into the role of leader as his tower block is quarantined by the military when martial law descends on the city. With little food and a community in terror, he has to hold things together and find a way to survive as the city dies around him. This is the first book of a new series that begins as the world ends.

    Assembling an array of talent, this collection includes contributions from visionaries Michael Moorcock and China Miéville, modern icon Clive Barker, and audacious new talents Hal Duncan, Jeffrey Ford, and Sarah Monette. An essential snapshot of a vibrant movement in popular fiction, this anthology also features critical writings from authors, theorists, and international editors as well as witty selections from online debates.ContentsIntroduction: The New Weird: “It’s Alice?” by Jeff VanderMeer“The Gutter Sees the Light That Never Shines” by Alistair Rennie“Watson’s Boy” by Brian Evenson“Cornflowers Beside the Unuttered” by Cat Rambo“Jack” by China Miéville“In the Hills, the Cities” by Clive Barker“Forfend the Heaven’s Rending” by Conrad Williams“Locust-Mind” by Daniel Abraham“Tracking Phantoms” by Darja Malcolm-Clarke“Constable Chalch and the Ten Thousand Heroes” by Felix Gilman“The Lizard of Ooze” by Jay Lake“Festival Lives: Preamble: An Essay” by Jeff VanderMeer and Ann VanderMeer“At Reparata” by Jeffrey Ford“Immolation” by Jeffrey Thomas“The Art of Dying” by Darja Malcolm-Clarke“Whose Words You Wear” by K. J. Bishop“The Neglected Garden” by Kathy Koja“Letters from Tainaron” by Leena Krohn“The Luck in the Head” by M. John Harrison“Crossing Cambodia” by Michael Moorcock“Death in a Dirty Dhorti” by Paul Di Filippo“All God’s Chillun Got Wings” by Sarah Monette“The Braining of Mother Lamprey” by Simon D. Ings“The Ride of the Gabbleratchet” by Steph Swainston“A Soft Voice Whispers Nothing” by Thomas Ligotti“European Editor Perspectives on the New Weird: An Essay” by Martin Šust, Michael Haulica, Hannes Riffel, Jukka Halme, Konrad Walewski“The New Weird: I Think We’re the Scene” by Michael Cisco“New Weird Discussions: The Creation of a Term” by various authors