Jackaroo Series by Paul McAuley, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Catherynne M. Valente, Elizabeth Bear, Nancy Kress, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Ursula K. Le Guin, Ken Liu, Robert Reed, Lavie Tidhar, An Owomoyela, Zen Cho, Vandana Singh, Molly Gloss, Desirina Boskovich, Genevieve Valentine, Jamie Barras, Sofia Samatar, Karin Lowachee, Jeremiah Tolbert, Alastair Reynolds, Brooke Bolander, Nisi Shawl, Samantha Henderson, Sonya Taaffe, Eleanor Arnason, Gitte Christensen, Indra Das, Jeffrey Ford, Karin Tidbeck, Pervin Saket, Greg Van Eekhout, Yoon Ha Lee, Gardner Dozois, Jonathan Strahan, Ken MacLeod, Tony Daniel, James Patrick Kelly, Mary Rosenblum, Stephen Baxter, Robert Silverberg, Gregory Benford, Walter Jon Williams, Dan Simmons, Gwyneth Jones, Ian McDonald, Greg Egan, Kage Baker, Peter F. Hamilton, Rich Horton, C.S.E. Cooney, Marissa Lingen, Kelly Link, Anya Johanna DeNiro, Bradley Denton, Theodora Goss, Alexandra Duncan, K.J. Parker, Neil Gaiman, Kat Howard, George Saunders, Karen Joy Fowler, Rachel Swirsky, Nina Allen, Kij Johnson, John Barnes, Vylar Kaftan, Jonathan Carroll, Margo Lanagan, Suzy McKee Charnas, Chris Lawson, E. Lily Yu, Gavin J. Grant, Geoff Ryman, Hannu Rajaniemi, Peter Watts, Nalo Hopkinson, Cory Doctorow, Michael Swanwick, M. Rickert, Dylan Horrocks, Maureen F. McHugh, Peter S. Beagle, Robert Shearman, Bruce Sterling, Libba Bray, Nnedi Okorafor, Ellen Klages, Peter Crowther, Lucius Shepard, Steven Gould, Sumit Paul-Choudhury, Simon Ings, Nick Harkaway, Jeff VanderMeer, Frederik Pohl, T.D. Edge, P.D. Smith, Holly Gramazio, Anne Galloway, Neil Clarke, Ian Watson, Catherine Asaro, Neal Asher, David Drake, Elizabeth Moon, David Weber, Ann Leckie, Gwendolyn Clare, Brandon Sanderson, Aliette de Bodard, Paul Berger, Tobias S. Buckell, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Robert Charles Wilson, John G. Hemry, Ken Scholes, Ruth Nestvold, Steve Rasnic Tem, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Naomi Novik

From the publisher's web site: This fourth volume of the year's best science fiction and fantasy features thirty stories by some of the genre's greatest authors, including Jonathan Carroll, Neil Gaiman, Kij Johnson, Kelly Link, Paul McAuley, RJ Parker, Robert Reed, Rachel Swirsky, Catherynne M. Valente, and many others. Selecting the best fiction from Asimov's, F&SF, Strange Horizons, Subterranean, Tor... moreFrom the publisher's web site: This fourth volume of the year's best science fiction and fantasy features thirty stories by some of the genre's greatest authors, including Jonathan Carroll, Neil Gaiman, Kij Johnson, Kelly Link, Paul McAuley, RJ Parker, Robert Reed, Rachel Swirsky, Catherynne M. 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. less

The science fiction and fantasy fields continue to evolve, setting new marks with each passing year. 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... moreThe science fiction and fantasy fields continue to evolve, setting new marks with each passing year. 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 less

Selected by the author from his output across a quarter of a century, this landmark collection contains the very finest science fiction stories by one of Britain's foremost masters of the genre... moreSelected by the author from his output across a quarter of a century, this landmark collection contains the very finest science fiction stories by one of Britain's foremost masters of the genre. From sharply satirical alternate histories to explorations of the outer edges of biotechnology, from tales of extravagant far futures to visions of transformative challenges of deep space, the showcase the reach and restless intelligence of a writer Publishers Weekly has praised as being 'one of the field's finest practitioners.' Stories include: 'Little Ilya and Spider and Box' 'The Temporary King' 'Cross Road Blues' 'Gene Wars' 'Prison Blues' 'Children of the Revolution' 'Recording Angel' 'Second Skin' 'All Tomorrow's Parties' '17' 'Sea Change, With Monsters' 'How We Lost the Moon, A True Story by Frank W. Allen' 'A Very British History' 'The Two Dicks' 'Meat' 'Rocket Boy' 'The Thought War' 'City of the Dead' 'Little Lost Robot' 'Shadow Life' 'The Choice' 'Searching for Van Gogh at the End of the World' 'Karl and the Ogre' less

One of our finest SF writers moves closer to home. London is devastated. New worlds are being explored. And the aliens have arrived...The aliens are here. And they want to help. The extraordinary new project from one of the country's most acclaimed and consistently brilliantly SF novelists of the last 30 years.The Jackaroo have given humanity 15 worlds and the means to reach them... moreOne of our finest SF writers moves closer to home. London is devastated. New worlds are being explored. And the aliens have arrived...The aliens are here. And they want to help. The extraordinary new project from one of the country's most acclaimed and consistently brilliantly SF novelists of the last 30 years.The Jackaroo have given humanity 15 worlds and the means to reach them. They're a chance to start over, but they're also littered with ruins and artifacts left by the Jackaroo's previous clients.Miracles that could reverse the damage caused by war, climate change, and rising sea levels. Nightmares that could for ever alter humanity - or even destroy it.Chloe Millar works in London, mapping changes caused by imported scraps of alien technology. When she stumbles across a pair of orphaned kids possessed by an ancient ghost, she must decide whether to help them or to hand them over to the authorities. Authorities who believe that their visions point towards a new kind of danger.And on one of the Jackaroo's gift-worlds, the murder of a man who has just arrived from Earth leads policeman Vic Gayle to a war between rival gangs over possession of a remote excavation site.Something is coming through. Something linked to the visions of Chloe's orphans, and Vic Gayle's murder investigation. Something that will challenge the limits of the Jackaroo's benevolence... less

The Jackaroo, those enigmatic aliens who claim to have come to help, gave humanity access to worlds littered with ruins and scraps of technology left by long-dead client races. But although people have found new uses for alien technology, that technology may have found its own uses for people. The dissolute scion of a powerful merchant family, and a woman living in seclusion with only her dog and her demons for company, have become infected by a copies of a powerful chunk of alien code... moreThe Jackaroo, those enigmatic aliens who claim to have come to help, gave humanity access to worlds littered with ruins and scraps of technology left by long-dead client races. But although people have found new uses for alien technology, that technology may have found its own uses for people. The dissolute scion of a powerful merchant family, and a woman living in seclusion with only her dog and her demons for company, have become infected by a copies of a powerful chunk of alien code. Driven to discover what it wants from them, they become caught up in a conflict between a policeman allied to the Jackaroo and the laminated brain of a scientific wizard, and a mystery that spans light years and centuries. Humanity is about to discover why the Jackaroo came to help us, and how that help is shaping the end of human history. less

Under the countless billions of stars in the universe, what forms will alien life take? How will they live? And what will happen when we meet them? Aliens: Recent Encounters collects answers to these questions from some of today's best science fiction writers. From first encounters to life alongside aliens - and stories of the aliens' own lives - here are many futures: violent and peaceful, star-spanning and personal. Only one thing is certain: alien life will defy our expectations.

The brightest names in science fiction pen all-new tales of space and wonder.Contents 1 • Introduction (The New Space Opera) • (2007) • essay by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan6 • Saving Tiamaat • (2007) • shortstory by Gwyneth Jones24 • Verthandi's Ring • (2007) • shortstory by Ian McDonald39 • Hatch • [The Great Ship Universe] • (2007) • shortstory by Robert Reed66 • Winning Peace • (2007) • novelette by Paul J... moreThe brightest names in science fiction pen all-new tales of space and wonder.Contents 1 • Introduction (The New Space Opera) • (2007) • essay by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan6 • Saving Tiamaat • (2007) • shortstory by Gwyneth Jones24 • Verthandi's Ring • (2007) • shortstory by Ian McDonald39 • Hatch • [The Great Ship Universe] • (2007) • shortstory by Robert Reed66 • Winning Peace • (2007) • novelette by Paul J. McAuley88 • Glory • (2007) • novelette by Greg Egan112 • Maelstrom • (2007) • novelette by Kage Baker143 • Blessed by an Angel • (2007) • shortstory by Peter F. Hamilton158 • Who's Afraid of Wolf 359? • shortstory by Ken MacLeod170 • The Valley of the Gardens • (2007) • novelette by Tony Daniel202 • Dividing the Sustain • (2007) • novelette by James Patrick Kelly234 • Minla's Flowers • [Merlin [4] • 2] • (2007) • novella by Alastair Reynolds291 • Splinters of Glass • (2007) • novelette by Mary Rosenblum316 • Remembrance • (2007) • shortstory by Stephen Baxter334 • The Emperor and the Maula • (2007) • novelette by Robert Silverberg379 • The Worm Turns • (2007) • shortstory by Gregory Benford401 • Send Them Flowers • (2007) • novelette by Walter Jon Williams436 • Art of War • shortstory by Nancy Kress454 • Muse of Fire • (2007) • novella by Dan Simmons less

An anthology of science fiction short stories by some of today's top authors to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the science fiction film classic Forbidden Planet. Filled to the brim with provocative tales of worlds where humans were never meant to go.

This second volume of the year's best science fiction and fantasy features thirty stories by some of the genre's greatest authors, including Elizabeth Bear, Nancy Kress, Jay Lake, Margo Lanagan, Kelly Link, Paul McAuley, Sarah Monette, Lucius Shepard, Jo Walton, and many others. Selecting the best fiction from Analog, Asimov's, Clarkesworld, F&SF, The New Yorker, Tor... moreThis second volume of the year's best science fiction and fantasy features thirty stories by some of the genre's greatest authors, including Elizabeth Bear, Nancy Kress, Jay Lake, Margo Lanagan, Kelly Link, Paul McAuley, Sarah Monette, Lucius Shepard, Jo Walton, and many others. Selecting the best fiction from Analog, Asimov's, Clarkesworld, F&SF, The New Yorker, Tor.com, and other top venues, The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy is your guide to magical realms and worlds beyond tomorrow. less

Arc is a digital quarterly about the future. There are articles and travelogues, stories and speculations. Guesses, dreams, conjectures. Most of all, mistakes. Some are glorious, some are wild, some are inevitable, and a couple, no doubt, will turn out to be downright foolish. Because the future holds all the jokers. The future always wins... moreArc is a digital quarterly about the future. There are articles and travelogues, stories and speculations. Guesses, dreams, conjectures. Most of all, mistakes. Some are glorious, some are wild, some are inevitable, and a couple, no doubt, will turn out to be downright foolish. Because the future holds all the jokers. The future always wins.In this issue:THE FUTURE'S MINE, by Frederik PohlHow we think about the future, shapes the future — and the last of Gernsback’s greats says we should be careful what we wish for.NOBODY KNOWS YOU'RE A DOG, by Anne Galloway & Sumit Paul-ChoudhuryThe internet is sending feelers through the animal kingdom. Is this a new way of looking at life on earth - or just another vanity mirror for humans?ATTENUATION, by Nick HarkawaySonny Hall lived fast, died young and left a beautiful corpse. And that’s when his troubles really began.PETERSBURG'S PROMETHEUS, by Sonja Vesterholt & Simon IngsFor 20 years, unemployable Russian filmmaker Pavel Klushantsev led a life of loneliness and obscurity, unaware of a Hollywood campaign to track down “the Red Kubrick”.THE MAN, by Paul McAuleyWhy did he come to this hardscrabble human settlement, unannounced, unequipped, without purpose, without desire? Come to think of it - why did they?THROUGH THE DEEP SPACE DESERT, by Regina PeldszusHumanity is about to embark on the longest, most tedious round-trip ever. Fretful passenger Regina Peldszus asks, “Are we there yet?”BIG DAVE'S IN LOVE, by T.D. EdgePoor Dave: somewhere under all those vodka mallows beats a lover’s heart. And Jack had better find it, fast, before the sludge arrives.THE MUDANG'S DANCE, by Gord SellarSouth Korea has gone from impoverished feudal backwater to liberal economic superpower in a generation — yet its people don’t talk about the future much. Do they know something we don’t?BUILT FOR PLEASURE, by P.D. SmithThere are many serious and sober reasons why humanity has become a predominantly urban species - but it’s the silly ones that count.ADULT PURSUITS, by Holly GramazioTreasure hunts and letterboxing, football and free-for-alls: these games engage entire communities. Can digital games compete?BAD VIBRATIONS, by Kyle MunkittrickA game is like a dream: you have to be in it to understand it. So why do the best games put you in the last place you would ever want to be?KOMODO, by Jeff VanderMeerListen, child: there are no such things as angels, and the gods are taking us for a ride. But what a ride! less

Clarkesworld publisher Neil Clarke collects a reprint anthology of artificial human-themed short fiction. The idea of creating an artificial human is an old one. One of the earliest science-fictional novels, Frankenstein, concerned itself primarily with the hubris of creation, and one’s relationship to one’s creator... moreClarkesworld publisher Neil Clarke collects a reprint anthology of artificial human-themed short fiction. The idea of creating an artificial human is an old one. One of the earliest science-fictional novels, Frankenstein, concerned itself primarily with the hubris of creation, and one’s relationship to one’s creator. Later versions of this “artificial human” story (and indeed later adaptations of Frankenstein) changed the focus to more modernist questions… What is the nature of humanity? What does it mean to be human? These stories continued through the golden age of science fiction with Isaac Asimov’s I Robot story cycle, and then through post-modern iterations from new wave writers like Philip K. Dick. Today, this compelling science fiction trope persists in mass media narratives like Westworld and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, as well as twenty-first century science fiction novels like Charles Stross’s Saturn's Children and Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl. The short stories in More Human than Human demonstrate the depth and breadth of artificial humanity in contemporary science fiction. Issues of passing . . . of what it is to be human . . . of autonomy and slavery and oppression, and yes, the hubris of creation; these ideas have fascinated us for at least two hundred years, and this selection of stories demonstrates why it is such an alluring and recurring conceit. less

Over the past 100 years the technology of war has advanced enormously in destructive power. So what will future wars be like? And what will cause them: religion, politics, resources, refugees, or advanced weaponry itself? Watson and Whates present a collection of gripping SF stories which explores a daunting gamut of possible future conflicts: nuclear tactics and enhanced soldiery, terrorism and cyberware, intelligent robotic machines and even war with aliens.

In the new millennium, what secrets lay beyond the far reaches of the universe? What mysteries belie the truths we once held to be self evident? The world of science fiction has long been a porthole into the realities of tomorrow, blurring the line between life and art. Now, in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirtieth Annual Collection the very best SF authors explore ideas of a new world through their short stories... moreIn the new millennium, what secrets lay beyond the far reaches of the universe? What mysteries belie the truths we once held to be self evident? The world of science fiction has long been a porthole into the realities of tomorrow, blurring the line between life and art. Now, in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirtieth Annual Collection the very best SF authors explore ideas of a new world through their short stories. This venerable collection brings together award winning authors and masters of the field such as Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, Damien Broderick, Elizabeth Bear, Paul McAuley and John Barnes. And with an extensive recommended reading guide and a summation of the year in science fiction, this annual compilation has become the definitive must-read anthology for all science fiction fans and readers interested in breaking into the genre.The multiple Locus Award-winning annual compilation of the year's best science fiction stories less

“Over all this anthology is mostly hits, remarkably few misses. Highly recommended.”—N.K. Jemisin, New York Times Book ReviewNeil Clarke, publisher of the award-winning Clarkesworld magazine, presents a collection of thought-provoking and galaxy-spanning array of galactic short science fiction.From E. E. "Doc" Smith’s Lensman, to George Lucas’ Star Wars, the politics and process of Empire have been a major subject of science fiction’s galaxy-spanning fictions... more“Over all this anthology is mostly hits, remarkably few misses. Highly recommended.”—N.K. Jemisin, New York Times Book ReviewNeil Clarke, publisher of the award-winning Clarkesworld magazine, presents a collection of thought-provoking and galaxy-spanning array of galactic short science fiction.From E. E. "Doc" Smith’s Lensman, to George Lucas’ Star Wars, the politics and process of Empire have been a major subject of science fiction’s galaxy-spanning fictions. The idiom of the Galactic Empire allows science fiction writers to ask (and answer) questions that are shorn of contemporary political ideologies and allegiances. This simple narrative slight of hand allows readers and writers to see questions and answers from new and different perspectives.The stories in this book do just that. What social, political, and economic issues do the organizing structure of “empire” address? Often the size, shape, and fates of empires are determined not only by individuals, but by geography, natural forces, and technology. As the speed of travel and rates of effective communication increase, so too does the size and reach of an Imperial bureaucracy. Sic itur ad astra—“Thus one journeys to the stars.”At the beginning of the twentieth century, writers such as Kipling and Twain were at the forefront of these kinds of narrative observations, but as the century drew to a close, it was writers like Iain M. Banks who helped make science fiction relevant. That tradition continues today, with award-winning writers like Ann Leckie, whose 2013 debut novel Ancillary Justice hinges upon questions of imperialism and empire.Here then is a diverse collection of stories that asks the questions that science fiction asks best. Empire: How? Why? And to what effect?Table of Contents:- “Winning Peace” by Paul J. McAuley- “Night’s Slow Poison” by Ann Leckie- “All the Painted Stars” by Gwendolyn Clare- “Firstborn” by Brandon Sanderson- “Riding the Crocodile” by Greg Egan- “The Lost Princess Man” by John Barnes- “The Waiting Stars” by Aliette de Bodard- “Alien Archeology” by Neal Asher- “The Muse of Empires Lost” by Paul Berger- “Ghostweight” by Yoon Ha Lee- “A Cold Heart” by Tobias S. Buckell- “The Colonel Returns to the Stars” by Robert Silverberg- “The Impossibles” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch- “Utriusque Cosmi” by Robert Charles Wilson- “Section Seven” by John G. Hemry- “The Invisible Empire of Ascending Light” by Ken Scholes- “The Man with the Golden Balloon” by Robert Reed- “Looking Through Lace” by Ruth Nestvold- “A Letter from the Emperor” by Steve Rasnic Tem- “The Wayfarer’s Advice” by Melinda M. Snodgrass- “Seven Years from Home” by Naomi Novik- “Verthandi’s Ring” by Ian McDonaldSkyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors. less