—Glory Road
Hoffman, Mary
—Stravaganza: City of Masks (et seq.)
Hogan, James P.
—Paths to Otherwhere
Holdstock, Robert
—Mythago Wood *
Howard, Robert E.
—Almuric
Jones, Diana Wynne
—Charmed Life (et seq.)
—Deep Secret (et seq.)
—Dark Lord of Derkholm (et seq.)
Jones, Raymond F.
—Renaissance (AKA Man of Two Worlds)
Juster, Norton
—The Phantom Tollbooth
Kay, Elizabeth
—The Divide (et seq.)
Kay, Guy Gavriel
—The Fionavar Tapestry (series)
Kendrick, Mark Ian
—The Rylerran Gateway
King, Stephen
—The Dark Tower (series)
King, Stephen and Peter Straub
—The Talisman *
Kube-McDowell, Michael P.
—Alternities (et seq.)
L’Engle, Madeleine
—A Wrinkle in Time (et seq.)
Laumer, Keith
—Worlds of the Imperium
Lawhead, Stephen R.
—The Skin Map (et seq.)
Lawrence, Michael
—A Crack in the Line (et seq.)
Le Guin, Ursula K.
—Changing Planes
Leiber, Fritz
—The Big Time
Lewis, C. S.
—The Chronicles of Narnia (series)
Lindsay, David
—A Voyage to Arcturus (et seq.)
Lovecraft, H. P.
—The Dream-Quest of Unknown
Kadath
Lukyanenko, Sergey
—Rough Draft
MacHale, D. J.
—The Merchant of Death (et seq.)
McAuley, Paul
—Cowboy Angels
McDonald, Ian
—Planesrunner (et seq.)
Mellick III, Carlton
—The Haunted Vagina
Melko, Paul
—The Walls of the Universe (et seq.)
Miéville, China
—Un Lun Dun
Miles, Lawrence
—Dead Romance
Mirrlees, Hope
—Lud-in-the-Mist *
Moorcock, Michael
—Eternal Champion (series)
—The Cornelius Quartet (series)
—Warlord of the Air
Murakami, Haruki
—Hard Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World *
Myers, John Myers
—Silverlock
Nichols, Ruth
—A Walk Out of the World
Norman, Jon
—Gor (series)
Norton, Andre
—Star Gate
Parkin, Lance
—Warlords of Utopia (et seq.)
Piper, H. Beam
—Paratime (series)
Pohl, Frederik
—The Coming of the Quantum Cats
Pullman, Philip
—His Dark Materials (series)
Reynolds, Alastair
—Absolution Gap
Robinett, Stephen
—Stargate
Rucker, Rudy
—Jim and the Flims
Ruff, Matt
—The Mirage
Russ, Joanna
—The Female Man *
Sawyer, Robert J.
—Hominids (et seq.)
Shan, Darren
—Lord Loss (et seq.)
Sherman, Josepha
—The Shattered Oath (et seq.)
Smith, L. Neil
—The Probability Broach (et seq.)
Stephenson, Neal
—Anathem *
Stirling, S. M.
—Conquistador
Stross, Charles
—The Merchant Princes (series)
Turtledove, Harry
—Crosstime Traffic (series)
—After the Downfall
Valente, Catherynne M.
—Palimpsest *
Webb, Catherine
—Mirror Dreams (et seq.)
Wells, H. G.
—Men Like Gods
—The Time Machine
Zelazny, Roger
—The Chronicles of Amber (series)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks to the following:
Jeremy Lassen and Jason Williams at Night Shade Books, for letting me edit all these anthologies and for doing such a kick-ass job publishing them. Also, to Ross Lockhart and the rest of the team at Night Shade for all they do behind-the-scenes.
Marty Halpern, for his copyediting prowess.
Cody Tilson: Thank you for another fantastic cover.
My agent, Joe Monti, for finding a good home for this project, and for the incredible amount of support he’s provided since taking me on as a client—he’s gone above and beyond the call of duty. To any writers reading this: you’d be lucky to have Joe in your corner.
Robyn Lupo, Patrick Stephens, and Kevin McNeil for providing feedback on the stories during the editorial process. And also to David Carani and again to Robyn for some other anthologizing assistance.
Gordon Van Gelder, my friend and mentor. Without him, this anthology would definitely not exist.
Thanks to Seanan McGuire, for the catch.
My amazing wife, Christie, and my mom, Marianne, for all their love and support, and their endless enthusiasm for all my new projects.
My dear friends Robert Bland, Desirina Boskovich, Christopher M. Cevasco, Douglas E. Cohen, Jordan Hamessley, Andrea Kail, David Barr Kirtley, and Matt London.
The readers and reviewers who loved my other anthologies, making it possible for me to do more.
And last, but certainly not least: a big thanks to all of the authors who appear in this anthology.
Acknowledgment is made for permission to print the following material:
“Ana’s Tag” by William Alexander. © 2008 by William Alexander. Originally published in Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Moon Six” by Stephen Baxter. © 1997 by Stephen Baxter. Originally published in Science Fiction Age. Reprinted by permission by the author.
“Twenty-Two Centimeters” by Gregory Benford. © 2004 by Gregory Benford. Originally published in Oceans of the Mind. Reprinted by permission by the author.
“Nothing Personal” by Pat Cadigan. © 2007 by Pat Cadigan. Originally published in Alien Crimes. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Angles” by Orson Scott Card. © 2000 by Orson Scott Card. Originally published in Destination 3001. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Thirteen Texts of Arthyria” by John R. Fultz. © 2010 by John R. Fultz. Originally published in The Way of the Wizard. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Foreword by Lev Grossman. © 2012 Lev Grossman.
“Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut” by Stephen King. © 1984 by Stephen King. Originally published in Redbook. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Ontological Factor” by David Barr Kirtley. © 2011 by David Barr Kirtley. Originally published in Cicada. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Porridge on Islac” by Ursula K. Le Guin. © 2003 by Ursula K. Le Guin. Originally published in Changing Planes. Reprinted by permission of the author and the author’s agents, The Virginia Kidd Agency, Inc.
“Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain” by Yoon Ha Lee. © 2010 by Yoon Ha Lee. Originally published in Lightspeed Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Magic for Beginners” by Kelly Link. © 2005 by Kelly Link. Originally published in Magic for Beginners. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
“The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr” by George R. R. Martin. © 1976 by George R. R. Martin. Originally published in Fantastic Stories. Reprint
ed by permission of the author.
“A Brief Guide to Other Histories” by Paul McAuley. © 2008 by Paul McAuley. Originally published in Postscripts. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Cristóbal Effect” by Simon McCaffery. © 2012 by Simon McCaffery. Originally published in Lightspeed Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“[a ghost samba]” by Ian McDonald. © 2008 by Ian McDonald. Originally published in Postscripts. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Crystal Halloway and the Forgotten Passage” by Seanan McGuire. © 2011 by Seanan McGuire. Originally published in Fantasy Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Ten Sigmas” by Paul Melko. © 2004 by Paul Melko. Originally published in Talebones. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Rose Wall” by Joyce Carol Oates. © 1981 by the Ontario Review, Inc. Originally published by The Twilight Zone Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Impossible Dreams” by Tim Pratt. © 2006 by Tim Pratt. Originally published in Asimov’s Science Fiction. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Like Minds” by Robert Reed. © 2003 by Robert Reed. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Signal to Noise” by Alastair Reynolds. © 2009 by Alastair Reynolds. Originally published in Zima Blue. Reprinted by permission of the author and the Orion Publishing Group Ltd.
“Dear Annabehls” by Mercurio D. Rivera. © 2009 by Mercurio D. Rivera. Originally published in Electric Velocipede. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Trips” by Robert Silverberg. © 1974 by Agberg, Ltd. Originally published in Final Stage. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Ruminations in an Alien Tongue” by Vandana Singh. © 2012 by Vandana Singh. Originally published in Lightspeed Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“An Empty House with Many Doors” by Michael Swanwick. © 2011 by Michael Swanwick. Originally published in Asimov’s Science Fiction. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Beyond Porch and Portal” by E. Catherine Tobler. © 2009 by E. Catherine Tobler. Originally published in Poe: 19 New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The City of Blind Delight” by Catherynne M. Valente. © 2008 by Catherynne M. Valente. Originally published in Clockwork Phoenix. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Goat Variations” by Jeff VanderMeer. © 2009 by Jeff VanderMeer. Originally published in Other Earths. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Of Swords and Horses” by Carrie Vaughn. © 2006 by Carrie Vaughn. Originally published in Realms of Fantasy. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Magician and the Maid and Other Stories” by Christie Yant. © 2010 by Christie Yant. Originally published in The Way of the Wizard. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Night Shade Books is an Independent Publisher of Quality Science-Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
YOU ARE BEING WATCHED. Your every movement is being tracked, your every word recorded. One wrong move, one slip-up, and you may find yourself disappeared—swallowed up by a monstrous bureaucracy, vanished into a shadowy labyrinth of interrogation chambers, show trials, and secret prisons from which no one ever escapes. Welcome to the world of the dystopia, a world of government and society gone horribly, nightmarishly wrong.
In his smash-hit anthologies Wastelands and The Living Dead, acclaimed editor John Joseph Adams showed you what happens when society is utterly wiped away. Now he brings you a glimpse into an equally terrifying future. Brave New Worlds collects 30 of the best tales of totalitarian menace. When the government wields its power against its own people, every citizen becomes an enemy of the state. Will you fight the system, or be ground to dust beneath the boot of tyranny?
Night Shade Books is an Independent Publisher of Quality Science-Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
Nine years ago, Steve Clarke was just a teenage boy in love with the girl of his dreams. Then a freak chemical spill transformed him into Reaver, the man whose super-powerful fists can literally take a year off a bad guy’s life.
Days ago, he found himself at the mercy of his arch-nemesis Octagon and a whole crew of fiendish super-villains, who gave him two weeks to settle his affairs—and prepare to die.
Now, after years of extraordinary adventures and crushing tragedies, the world’s greatest hero is returning to where it all began in search of the boy he once was...and the girl he never forgot.
Exciting, scandalous, and ultimately moving, Prepare to Die! is a unique new look at the last days of a legend.
Night Shade Books is an Independent Publisher of Quality Science-Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
It’s the dawn of the 22nd century, and the world has fallen apart. Decades of war and resource depletion have toppled governments. The ecosystem has collapsed. A new dust bowl sweeps the American West. The United States has become a nation of migrants—starving masses of nomads roaming across wastelands and encamped outside government seed distribution warehouses.
In this new world, there is a new power: Satori. More than just a corporation, Satori is an intelligent, living city risen from the ruins of the heartland. She manufactures climate-resistant seed to feed humanity, and bio-engineers her own perfected castes of post-humans Designers, Advocates and Laborers. What remains of the United States government now exists solely to distribute Satori product; a defeated American military doles out bar-coded, single-use seed to the nation’s hungry citizens.
When a Satori Designer goes rogue, Doss is tasked with hunting down the scientist-savan—a chance to break Satori’s stranglehold on seed production and undo its dominance. In a race against Satori’s genetically honed assassins, Doss’s best chance at success lies in an unlikely alliance with Brood—orphan, scavenger and small-time thief—scraping by on the fringes of the wasteland, whose young brother may possess the key to unlocking Satori’s power.
Night Shade Books is an Independent Publisher of Quality Science-Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
An ancient society of cartographer wasps create delicately inscribed maps; a bodyjacking parasite is faced with imminent extinction; an AI makes a desperate gambit to protect its child from a ravenous dragon; a professor of music struggles with the knowledge that murder is not too high a price for fame; living origami carries a mother’s last words to her child; a steam girl conquers the realm of imagination; Aliens attack Venus, ignoring an incredulous earth; a child is born on Mars...
The science fiction and fantasy fiction 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 that 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
Night Shade Books is an Independent Publisher of Quality Science-Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
ISBN: 978-1-59780-227-7 HC / ISBN: 978-1-59780-293-2
978-1-59780-292-5 TP $26.99
$24.99 HC / $14.99 TP Look for them in e-Book format!
Greg Egan’s The Clockwork Rocket introduced readers to an exotic universe where the laws of physics are very different from our own, where the speed of light varies in ways Einstein would never allow, and where intelligent life has evolved in unique and fascinating ways. Now Egan continues his epic tale of alien beings embarked on a desperate voyage to save their world . . . .
The generation ship Peerless is in search of advanced technology capable of sparing their home planet from imminent destruction. In theory, the ship is traveling fast enough that it can traverse the cosmos for generations–and still return home only a few years after they departed. But a critical fuel shortage threatens to cut their urgent voyage short, e
ven as a population explosion stretches the ship’s life-support capacity to its limits.
When the astronomer Tamara discovers the Object, a meteor whose trajectory will bring it within range of the Peerless, she sees a risky solution to the fuel crisis. Meanwhile, the biologist Carlo searches for a better way to control fertility, despite the traditions and prejudices of their society. As the scientists clash with the ship’s leaders, they find themselves caught up in two equally dangerous revolutions: one in the sexual roles of their species, the other in their very understanding of the nature of matter and energy.
The Eternal Flame lights up the mind with dazzling new frontiers of physics and biology, as only Greg Egan could imagine them.
Night Shade Books is an Independent Publisher of Quality Science-Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
ISBN: 978-1-59780-396-0 ISBN: 978-1-59780-429-5
$14.99 $14.99
Look for them in e-Book format!
Jane Carver is nobody’s idea of a space princess.
Jane Carver, a hell-raising, redheaded biker chick from Coral Gables, Florida, had found a new life and love on Waar, a savage planet of fearsome creatures and swashbuckling warriors. Until the planet’s high priests sent her back to Earth against her will.
But nobody keeps Jane from her man, even if he happens to be a purple-skinned alien nobleman.
Against all odds, she returns to Waar, only to find herself accused of kidnaping the Emperor’s beautiful daughter. Allying herself with a band of notorious sky-pirates, Jane sets out to clear her name and rescue the princess, but that means uncovering the secret origins of the Gods of Waar—and picking a fight with the Wargod himself.
Good thing Jane is always up for a scrap...
Both a loving tribute and scathing parody of the swashbuckling space fantasies of yore, Swords of Waar is the wildly entertaining sequel to Jane Carver of Waar, and continues the raucous adventures of science fiction’s newest and most ball-busting space heroine.
ABOUT THE EDITOR
John Joseph Adams is the bestselling editor of many anthologies, such as Armored, Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom, Brave New Worlds, Wastelands, The Living Dead, The Living Dead 2, By Blood We Live, Federations, The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and The Way of the Wizard. Forthcoming work includes Epic (Tachyon, November 2012), The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination (Tor Books, 2013), Dead Man’s Hand (Titan Books, 2013), and Robot Uprisings (co-edited with Daniel H. Wilson, 2013).
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