Humanity's only chance rests with an unusual pair of allies: a young Jao prince, newly arrived to Terra to assume his duties, and a young human woman brought up amongst the Jao occupiers.But both are under pressure from the opposing forces--a cruel Jao viceroy on one side, determined to drown all opposition in blood; a reckless human resistance on the other, perfectly prepared to shed it. Added to the mix is the fact that only by adopting some portions of human technology and using human sepoy troops can the haughty Jao hope to defeat the oncoming Ekhat attack--and then only by fighting the battle within the Sun itself.

    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.

    A Plague of Demons: One man found out the secret behind the aliens who controlled the world, harvesting "dead" soldiers to fight wars on distant worlds-and only he could stop them, if he could keep from getting harvested himself. Thunderhead: An officer has manned an outpost on a lonely planet for years, watching for the alien enemy that may never come, forgotten by the bureaucracy which sent him there-and then the enemy came! Test to Destruction: Aliens are testing a human prisoner to determine how serious a foe the human race might be-and they have chosen the wrong man to Test to Destruction. And much more.

    An alien migration fleet -- 14,000 starships strong -- searches the stars for a new home, its homeworld forever lost. When they finally find planets that can support them, all they have to do is eradicate the pesky human natives, a task they assume is easily within their powers. But Earth's Commonwealth of Worlds isn't about to give up so easily -- even if it has to create and train something it hasn't had for centuries: soldiers!

     War is everywhere. Not only among the firefights, in the sweat dripping from heavy armor and the clenching grip on your weapon, but also wedging itself deep into families, infiltrating our love letters, hovering in the air above our heads. It's in our dreams and our text messages. At times it roars with adrenaline, while at others it slips in silently so it can sit beside you until you forget it's there. Join Joe Haldeman, Linda Nagata, Karin Lowachee, Ken Liu, Jay Posey, and more as they take you on a tour of the battlefields, from those hurtling through space in spaceships and winding along trails deep in the jungle with bullets whizzing overhead, to the ones hiding behind calm smiles, waiting patiently to reveal itself in those quiet moments when we feel safest. War Stories brings us 23 stories of the impacts of war, showcasing the systems, combat, armor, and aftermath without condemnation or glorification. Instead, War Stories reveals the truth. War is what we are. Table of Contents: Foreword -- Gregory Drobny Graves -- Joe Haldeman Part 1: Wartime Systems In the Loop -- Ken Liu Ghost Girl -- Rich Larson The Radio -- Susan Jane Bigelow Contractual Obligation -- James L. Cambias The Wasp Keepers -- Mark Jacobsen Non-Standard Deviation -- Richard Dansky Part 2: Combat All You Need -- Mike Sizemore The Valkyrie -- Maurice Broaddus One Million Lira -- Thoraiya Dyer Invincible -- Jay Posey Light and Shadow -- Linda Nagata Part 3: Armored Force Warhosts -- Yoon Ha Lee Suits -- James Sutter Mission. Suit. Self. -- Jake Kerr In Loco -- Carlos Orsi Part 4: Aftermath War Dog -- Mike Barretta Coming Home -- Janine Spendlove Where We Would End a War -- F. Brett Cox Black Butterfly -- T.C. McCarthy Always the Stars and the Void Between -- Nerine Dorman Enemy States -- Karin Lowachee War 3.01 -- Keith Brooke Cover art by Galen Dara.

    The military sci-fi classic in a striking new packageFelix is an Earth soldier, encased in special body armor designed to withstand Earth's most implacable enemy-a bioengineered, insectoid alien horde. But Felix is also equipped with internal mechanisms that enable him, and his fellow soldiers, to survive battle situations that would destroy a man's mind.This is a remarkable novel of the horror, the courage, and the aftermath of combat--and how the strength of the human spirit can be the greatest armor of all.

    These are scenarios few have ever dared to contemplate, and they include: ¸  "Superiority": Arthur C. Clarke presents an intergalactic war in which one side's own advanced weaponry may actually lead to its ultimate defeat. ¸  "Dragonrider": A tale of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern, in which magic tips the scales of survival. ¸  "Second Variety": Philip K. Dick, author of the short story that became the movie Blade Runner, reaches new heights of terror with his post apocalyptic vision of the future. ¸  "The Night of the Vampyres": A chilling ultimatum of atomic proportions begins a countdown to disaster in George R. R. Martin's gripping drama. ¸  "Hero": Joe Haldeman's short story that led to his classic of interstellar combat, The Forever War. ¸  "Ender's Game": The short story that gave birth to Orson Scott Card's masterpiece of military science fiction.. . . as well as stories from Poul Anderson o Gregory Benford o C. J. Cherryh o David Drake o Cordwainer Smith o Harry Turtledove o and Walter John WilliamsGuaranteed to spark the imagination and thrill the soul, these thirteen science fiction gems cast a stark light on our dreams and our darkest fears--truly among the finest tales of the 20th century.

    Leo Graf was just your typical efficient engineer: mind your own business and do the job. But all that changed on his assignment to the Cay Habitat, where children had been bio-engineered to have four arms (and no legs) to function in zero gravity. Now that they’re no longer needed, a heartless mega corporation is getting rid of them before they eat into the profit margin. Leo Graf adopted 1000 quaddies—now he had to teach them to be free. “Labyrinth”—When Miles Vorkosigan is captured while on a secret mission to a lawless world, his only hope of escape is an unlikely pair of allies: a quaddie and a teenage werewolf. Diplomatic Immunity— Miles Vorkosigan and his wife were heading home for the births of their first children, but a major diplomatic disaster is looming at Graf Station, colonized by the descendants of the original quaddies, and duty calls. Unfortunately, diplomatic immunity doesn’t carry over to immunity from a very nasty biological weapon. The downside of being a troubleshooter comes when trouble starts shooting back. . . .

    Outnumbered and on the defensive, Earth made a desperate decision. It would attack the aliens not from space, but on the ground-with forces the Trofts did not even suspect. Thus were created the Cobras, a guerilla force whose weapons were surgically implanted, invisible to the unsuspecting eye, yet undeniably deadly. But power brings temptation . . . and not all the Cobras could be trusted to fight for Earth alone. Jonny Moreau would learn the uses-and abuses-of his special abilities, and what it truly meant to be a Cobra.

    This fourth collection gathers material mostly written by the former space scientist in the last decade, even as a number of stories—such as the title piece, set in the universe of House of Suns—revisit earlier environments. The scope of settings is wide, ranging from the contemporaneous Earth to the near future and out to the furthest realms of the galaxy, and taking in such diverse topics as the perils of immortality, cybernetic encounters in the Wild West, uncanny skateboard parks and the flocking behaviour of birds. There is horror here, but also hope—and not a little black humour.The collection includes “Open and Shut,” “Night Passage,” and “Plague Music,” a long, previously unpublished story, all three set in the Revelation Space universe.Limited: 1500 signed numbered hardcover copiesTable of Contents:* Introduction: Winter Did Come* Belladonna Nights* Different Seas* For the Ages* Visiting Hours* Holdfast* The Lobby* A Map of Mercury* Magic Bone Woman* Providence* Wrecking Party* Sixteen Questions for Kamala Chatterjee* Death’s Door* A Murmuration* Open and Shut* Plague Music* Night Passage* Story Notes

    Lobo: An AI-enhanced Predator-Class Assault Vehicle, a mobile fortress equipped for any environment from the seabed to interstellar space. TWO WOLVES IN A GALAXY OF LARGER PREDATORSJon Moore wanted only to relax on the pristine planet of Macken--but Macken was the secret battleground of two megacorporations, both determined to control the local jump gate and the riches of an undeveloped world. Moore was too valuable a tool not to be used, whether or not he was willing. What the corporations didn't realize was that Moore had a mind of his own and a conscience that wouldn't let him quit until he'd righted the wrong they'd tricked him into making. And Moore had Lobo--or just possibly Lobo had Jon Moore, because this Assault Vehicle had a mind of its own. . . .Finding allies and enemies among terrorist groups and elite mercenaries, gun-runners and the only kind of government possible on a frontier short on rules and long on riches, Jon and Lobo fight to a climax with a corporate army that can't afford to leave any witnesses. Exotic settings, fast action, real tech, mechanically-enhanced animals--and a beautiful woman who's as deadly as a cobra!"One Jump Ahead: " the first novel in the Jon & Lobo series

    Many have native microbes dangerous to the human immigrants. Others have diseases brought to them accidentally -- or on purpose -- by visiting ships. When millions of lives are threatened, it's a job for the Interstellar Medical Service, and a Med Ship is sent to solve the problem. Calhoun is the best the Med Service has, and hard experience has taught him that often the major obstacle to curing the sick is... the sick. And removing that kind of obstacle may take very strong medicine.This book is a compilation of four books released in the 1960's: The Mutant Weapon, Doctor to the Stars, S.O.S. from Three Worlds and This World is Taboo.3 • Med Ship Man • (1963)57 • Plague on Kryder II • (1964)121 • The Mutant Weapon • (1959)231 • Ribbon in the Sky • (1957)285 • Tallien Three (aka The Hate Disease) • (1963)351 • Quarantine World • (1966)425 • The Grandfathers' War • (1957)505 • Pariah Planet (aka This World is Taboo) • (1961)632 • Editors' Afterword by Eric Flint and Guy Gordon

    One of the most acclaimed writers in the field, Zelazny's rare ability to mix fantastical dream imagery with the real-life hardware of science fiction has won him more than a score of Hugo and Nebula nominations. He creates characters who live to haunt the reader beyond the page and who inhabit worlds both enchanting and disturbing--dazzling and memorable.7 • Introduction (The Last Defender of Camelot) • essay by Robert Siverberg11 • Comes Now the Power • (1966) • short story by Roger Zelazny18 • For a Breath I Tarry • (1966) • novelette by Roger Zelazny65 • The Engine at Heartspring's Center • (1974) • short story by Roger Zelazny76 • Halfjack • (1979) • short story by Roger Zelazny83 • Home is the Hangman • [Nemo] • (1975) • novella by Roger Zelazny165 • Permafrost • (1986) • novelette by Roger Zelazny195 • LOKI 7281 • (1984) • short story by Roger Zelazny204 • Mana from Heaven • [Magic Goes Away] • (1983) • novelette by Roger Zelazny250 • 24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai • [Cthulhu Mythos] • (1985) • novella by Roger Zelazny329 • Come Back to the Killing Ground, Alice, My Love • [Kalifriki] • (1992) • novella by Roger Zelazny388 • The Last Defender of Camelot • (1979) • novelette by Roger Zelazny

    A caste of scientists arose who knew how to repair and operate the ancient machines, but not how they worked, and worshipped at the altars of the atomic gods who were said to make the machines run. Society was a strange mix of the modern and the medieval, with armies riding on horseback into huge spaceships, then flying to human colonies on other planets to wage war with swords and arrows. Then came the mutant Clane, who would have been put to death for his deformities had he not been born into the ruling family. Though his body was twisted, his mind was brilliant, and he not only recovered the lost science behind the ancient machines, but found the truth behind the legends of civilisation's downfall. Alien invaders, not human war, had reduced humanity to barbarism as a prelude for a later return in force to colonize the Solar System. And that return would happen soon, unless Clane could find a way to stop it. . . . For the first time, the entire Clane saga, told in the two novels Empire of the Atom and The Wizard of Linn, is complete in one volume.Mission to the Stars, Van Vogt's sweeping novel of interstellar adventure, is also included, along with the two short novels in the Ezwal series, chronicling the struggle of one man to convince a feral but intelligent species to join with humanity in the battle against a mutual enemy, but first he must convince the lone Ezwal who is trapped with him in a deadly jungle to co-operate, or neither will survive.

    Whether it wanted to or not. When the Amplitur and their allies stumbled upon the races called the Weave, the Purpose seemed poised for a great leap forward. But the Weave's surprising unity also gave it the ability to fight the Amplitur and their cause. And fight it did, for thousands of years.Will Dulac was a New Orleans composer who thought the tiny reef off Belize would be the perfect spot to drop anchor and finish his latest symphony in solitude. What he found instead was a group of alien visitors, a scouting party for the Weave, looking for allies among what they believed to be a uniquely warlike race, Humans.Will tried to convince the aliens that Man was fundamentally peaceful, for he understood that Human involvement would destroy the race. But all too soon, it didn't matter. The Amplitur had discovered Earth...