Search Worlds Without End

The newly expanded version of this classic comes replete with even more stories from Forrest J Ackerman and his talented friends and collaborators. Joining such notables as Theodore Sturgeon and A. E. van Vogt are classic authors Catherine L. Moore, Donald A. Wollheim, and more.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction (Expanded Science Fiction Worlds of Forrest J Ackerman & Friends PLUS) - (2002) - essay
• Earth's Lucky Day - [Shock Short] - (1936) - shortstory by Forrest J. Ackerman and Francis Flagg
• Dwellers in the Dust - [Shock Short] - (1948) - shortstory
• Micro Man - (1946) - shortstory
• A Martian Oddity - (1950) - shortstory
• Confessions of a Science Fiction Addict - (1957) - essay
• The Big Sleep - (1950) - shortstory
• Metropolis Ueber Alles - (1963) - essay
• Burn Witch, Burn - (1958) - shortstory
• And Then the Cover Was Bare - (1969) - shortstory
• The Lure and Lore of The Blind Spot - (1951) - essay
• Task of the Temponaut - (1973) - shortfiction by Norbert F. Novotny and Van Del Rio
• Yvala - [Northwest Smith] - (1936) - novelette by C. L. Moore [as by C. L. Moore and Amaryllis Ackerman ]
• The Cosmic Kidnappers - (1993) - shortfiction by Christian Vallini and Forrest J. Ackerman [as by Christian Vallini and S. F. Balboa ]
• The Girl Who Wasn't There - (1963) - shortstory by Forrest J. Ackerman and Tigrina and William F. Nolan and Charles E. Fritch
• The Lady Takes a Powder - (1953) - shortstory by Tigrina and Forrest J. Ackerman
• The Atomic Monument - (1969) - shortfiction by Theodore Sturgeon and Forrest J. Ackerman
• Nyusa, Nymph of Darkness - [Northwest Smith] - (1935) - shortstory by C. L. Moore and Forrest J. Ackerman (variant of Nymph of Darkness) [as by Catherine L. Moore and Forrest J. Ackerman ]
• Time to Change - (1968) - shortfiction by Forrest J. Ackerman and Marcial Souto
• Great Gog's Grave - (1981) - shortstory by Forrest J. Ackerman and Donald A. Wollheim
• The Naughty Venusienne - (2002) - shortstory by Morgan Ives (I) and Otis Kaye
• The Time Twister - (1947) - shortstory by Francis Flagg and Forrest J. Ackerman [as by Francis Flagg and Weaver Wright ]
• Dhactwhu! - Remember? - [Shock Short] - (1949) - shortstory by Forrest J. Ackerman and Robert A. W. Lowndes [as by Wilfred Owen Morley and Jacques DeForest Erman ]
• Tarzan and the Golden Loin - (1948) - shortstory
• Count Down to Doom - (1966) - shortfiction by Forrest J. Ackerman and Charles Nuetzel
• The Far-Out Philosopher of Science Fiction - (1949) - essay
• Laugh, Clone, Laugh - (1969) - shortstory by A. E. van Vogt and Forrest J. Ackerman
• When Frighthood Was in Flower - (1969) - essay
• The Record - (1939) - shortstory by Forrest J. Ackerman and Ray Bradbury
• The Man Who Was Thirsty - (1969) - shortfiction
• The House in the Twilight Zone - (1969) - essay
• The Radclyffe Effect - (1969) - shortstory
• Letter to an Angel - (1969) - shortstory

Your every movement is being tracked, your every word recorded. Your spouse may be an informer, your children may be listening at your door, your best friend may be a member of the secret police. You are alone among thousands, among great crowds of the brainwashed, the well-behaved, the loyal. Productivity has never been higher, the media blares, and the army is ever triumphant. 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.

What happens when civilization invades and dictates every aspect of your life? From 1984 to The Handmaid's Tale, from Children of Men to Bioshock, the dystopian imagination has been a vital and gripping cautionary force. Brave New Worlds collects the best tales of totalitarian menace by some of today's most visionary writers, including Neil Gaiman, Paolo Bacigalupi, Orson Scott Card, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Ursula K. Le Guin.

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?

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (2010) - essay by John Joseph Adams
• The Lottery - (1948) - short story by Shirley Jackson
• Red Card - (2007) - short story by S. L. Gilbow
• Ten with a Flag - (2006) - short story by Joseph Paul Haines
• The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas - (1973) - short story by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Evidence of Love in a Case of Abandonment: One Daughter's Personal Account - (2008) - short story by M. Rickert
• The Funeral - (1972) - novelette by Kate Wilhelm
• O Happy Day! - (1985) - novelette by Geoff Ryman
• Pervert - (2004) - short story by Charles Coleman Finlay
• From Homogenous to Honey - (2006) - short story by Neil Gaiman and Bryan Talbot
• Billennium - (1961) - short story by J. G. Ballard
• Amaryllis - (2010) - short story by Carrie Vaughn
• Pop Squad - (2006) - novelette by Paolo Bacigalupi
• Auspicious Eggs - (2000) - novelette by James Morrow
• Peter Skilling - (2004) - short story by Alexander C. Irvine
• The Pedestrian - (1951) - short story by Ray Bradbury
• The Things That Make Me Weak and Strange Get Engineered Away - (2008) - novelette by Cory Doctorow
• The Pearl Diver - (2006) - short story by Caitlín R. Kiernan
• Dead Space for the Unexpected - (1994) - short story by Geoff Ryman
• "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman - (1965) - short story by Harlan Ellison
• Is This Your Day to Join the Revolution? - (2009) - short story by Genevieve Valentine
• Independence Day - (2010) - short fiction by Sarah Langan
• The Lunatics - (1988) - novelette by Kim Stanley Robinson
• Sacrament - short story by Matt Williamson
• The Minority Report - (1956) - novelette by Philip K. Dick
• Just Do It - (2006) - short story by Heather Lindsley
• Harrison Bergeron - (1961) - short story by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
• Caught in the Organ Draft - (1972) - short story by Robert Silverberg
• Geriatric Ward - (2008) - short story by Orson Scott Card
• Arties Aren't Stupid - (2008) - short story by Jeremiah Tolbert
• Jordan's Waterhammer - (1999) - short story by Joe Mastroianni
• Of a Sweet Slow Dance in the Wake of Temporary Dogs - (2003) - novelette by Adam-Troy Castro
• Resistance - (2008) - short story by Tobias S. Buckell
• Civilization - (2007) - short story by Vylar Kaftan
• For Further Reading - (2010) - essay by Ross E. Lockhart

Some edtions also include:

• Personal Jesus - (2010) - shortstory by Jennifer Pelland
• The Perfect Match - (2012) - shortstory by Ken Liu
• The Cull - (2010) - short story by Robert Reed
• Study Guide and Filmography - (2012) - essay by Gary K. Wolfe

What if you could not only travel any location in the world, but to any possible world?

We can all imagine such "other worlds"--be they worlds just slightly different than our own or worlds full of magic and wonder--but it is only in fiction that we can travel to them. From The Wizard of Oz to The Dark Tower, from Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass to C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, there is a rich tradition of this kind of fiction, but never before have the best parallel world stories and portal fantasies been collected in a single volume--until now.

Table of Contents:

• Foreword (Other Worlds Than These) - essay by Lev Grossman
• Introduction (Other Worlds Than These) - essay by John Joseph Adams
• Moon Six - (1997) - novelette by Stephen Baxter
• A Brief Guide to Other Histories - (2008) - shortstory by Paul J. McAuley
• Crystal Halloway and the Forgotten Passage - (2011) - shortstory by Seanan McGuire
• An Empty House With Many Doors - (2011) - shortstory by Michael Swanwick
• Twenty-Two Centimeters - (2004) - shortstory by Gregory Benford
• Ana's Tag - (2008) - shortstory by William Alexander
• Nothing Personal - (2007) - novella by Pat Cadigan
• The Rose Wall - (1981) - shortstory by Joyce Carol Oates
• The Thirteen Texts of Arthyria - (2010) - novelette by John R. Fultz
• Ruminations in an Alien Tongue - (2012) - shortstory by Vandana Singh
• Ten Sigmas - (2004) - shortstory by Paul Melko
• Magic for Beginners - (2005) - novella by Kelly Link
• [A Ghost Samba] - (2008) - shortstory by Ian McDonald
• The Cristóbal Effect - (2012) - shortstory by Simon McCaffery
• Beyond Porch and Portal - (2009) - novelette by E. Catherine Tobler
• Signal to Noise - (2006) - novelette by Alastair Reynolds
• Porridge on Islac - (2003) - shortstory by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Mrs. Todd's Shortcut - (1984) - novelette by Stephen King
• The Ontological Factor - (2011) - shortstory by David Barr Kirtley
• Dear Annabehls - [Dear Annabehls Universe] - (2009) - shortstory by Mercurio D. Rivera
• The Goat Variations - (2009) - shortstory by Jeff VanderMeer
• The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr - (1976) - shortstory by George R. R. Martin
• Of Swords and Horses - (2006) - shortstory by Carrie Vaughn
• Impossible Dreams - (2006) - shortstory by Tim Pratt
• Like Minds - (2003) - novelette by Robert Reed
• The City of Blind Delight - (2008) - shortstory by Catherynne M. Valente
• Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain - (2010) - shortstory by Yoon Ha Lee
• Angles - (2002) - novelette by Orson Scott Card
• The Magician and the Maid and Other Stories - (2010) - shortstory by Christie Yant
• Trips - (1974) - novelette by Robert Silverberg
• For Further Reading (Other Worlds Than These) - essay by Ross E. Lockhart

In an anthology of tales inspired by Wells's The War of the Worlds, notable science fiction authors--such as Connie Willis, Mike Resnick, Robert Silverberg, and Gregory Benford--imagine the Martian invasion seen through the eyes of his contemporaries in other locations throughout the world.

Table of Contents:

• Foreword - short fiction by Kevin J. Anderson
• The Roosevelt Dispatches - (1996) - short story by Mike Resnick
• Canals in the Sand - short story by Kevin J. Anderson
• Foreign Devils - (1996) - novelette by Walter Jon Williams
• Blue Period - short story by Daniel Marcus
• The Martian Invasion Journals of Henry James - (1996) - novelette by Robert Silverberg
• The True Tale of the Final Battle of Umslopogaas the Zulu - short story by Janet Berliner
• Night of the Cooters - (1987) - short story by Howard Waldrop
• Determinism and the Martian War, with Relativistic Corrections - short story by Doug Beason
• Soldier of the Queen - short story by Barbara Hambly
• Mars: The Home Front - short story by George Alec Effinger
• A Letter from St. Louis - short story by Allen Steele
• Resurrection - short story by Mark W. Tiedemann
• Paris Conquers All - (1996) - short story by David Brin and Gregory Benford
• To Mars and Providence - short story by Don Webb
• Roughing It During the Martian Invasion - short story by Daniel Keys Moran and Jodi Moran
• To See the World End - short story by M. Shayne Bell
• After a Lean Winter - (1996) - novelette by Dave Wolverton
• The Soul Selects Her Own Society: Invasion and Repulsion: A Chronological Reinterpretation of Two of Emily Dickinson's Poems: A Wellsian Perspective - (1996) - short story by Connie Willis
• Afterword: Retrospective - short fiction by Gregory Benford and David Brin

Table of Contents:

• Foreword - essay by Roger Elwood
• Tomorrow's Children - (1947) - novelette by Poul Anderson and F. N. Waldrop
• The Queen of Air and Darkness - (1971) - novella
• Her Strong Enchantments Failing - essay by Patrick L. McGuire
• Epilogue - (1962) - novella
• The Longest Voyage - (1960) - novelette
• Challenge and Response - (1970) - essay by Sandra Miesel
• Journeys End - (1957) - short story
• A World Named Cleopatra - essay by Poul Anderson
• The Sheriff of Canyon Gulch - (1951) - novelette by Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson
• Day of Burning - (1967) - novelette

Sympathetic Centaur-like Jovians are in danger of extinction by cruel invaders from another region of the planet. At the same time their friends, the human colonists of Ganymede, are threatened by a powerful space warship commanded by a dictatorial militarist. Eventually, the two groups find ingenious ways to help each other defeat their respective enemies.

(Wikipedia)

Note: The electronic version of this title contains over thirty additional, illuminating eBook-exclusive illustrations by the author.

At a time when speculative fiction seems less and less far-fetched, Margaret Atwood lends her distinctive voice and singular point of view to the genre in a series of essays that brilliantly illuminates the essential truths about the modern world. This is an exploration of her relationship with the literary form we have come to know as "science fiction,” a relationship that has been lifelong, stretching from her days as a child reader in the 1940s, through her time as a graduate student at Harvard, where she worked on the Victorian ancestor of the form, and continuing as a writer and reviewer.

This book brings together her three heretofore unpublished Ellmann Lectures from 2010: "Flying Rabbits," which begins with Atwood's early rabbit superhero creations, and goes on to speculate about masks, capes, weakling alter egos, and Things with Wings; "Burning Bushes," which follows her into Victorian otherlands and beyond; and "Dire Cartographies," which investigates Utopias and Dystopias. In Other Worlds also includes some of Atwood's key reviews and thoughts about the form. Among those writers discussed are Marge Piercy, Rider Haggard, Ursula Le Guin, Ishiguro, Bryher, Huxley, and Jonathan Swift. She elucidates the differences (as she sees them) between "science fiction" proper, and "speculative fiction," as well as between "sword and sorcery/fantasy" and "slipstream fiction." For all readers who have loved The Handmaid's Tale, Oryx and Crake, and The Year of the Flood, In Other Worlds is a must.

In the huge termite-hills of cities that dotted the dead world of Killibol it seemed that nothing could ever change. Each city was enclosed and self-sustaining, in a stasis fixed by the one reality of power: the protein tanks in which organic nutrients could be processed to provide food.

But gang-leader Becmath was a man with a vision: to build an empire for himself without breaking this stasis. His lieutenant Klein recognised Becmath's genius and stayed faithful to him even when they were forced to travel Killibol's arid surface in a desperate search for the lost gateway to Earth. He stayed faithful through murder, treachery and countless adventures. Only when Becmath's schemes reached incredible fulfilment was he able to realise that he had been serving an egomaniac and a monster...

Table of Contents:

• Introduction (The Fantasy Worlds of Peter Beagle) - (1978) - essay
• Lila the Werewolf - [Sam Farrell] - (1969) - novelette
• The Last Unicorn - [Last Unicorn] - (1968) - novel
• Come, Lady Death - (1963) - short story (variant of Come Lady Death)
• A Fine and Private Place - (1960) - novel

A time-traveller on an illegal trip into the past learns a chilling truth about her own destiny...

As a deadly Superflu runs rampant through a polluted, overpopulated Earth, a husband-and-wife scientific team races to scientific team races to salvage a livable future...

On a planet where the laws of physics are strangely twisted, a brilliant scientist's work undermines an ancient faith and leads to a shattering revelation...

An ore-hauler on Mercury, desperate to save her endangered ship and career, finds a remarkable way out: a wormhole trapped in the hellish flux of magnetic fields and fiery plasma generated by the nuclear furnace of the sun...

Table of Contents:

• A Calculus of Desperation - (1995) - novelette
• Doing Alien - (1994) - short story
• In the Dark Backward - (1993) - short story
• The Voice - (1997) - short story
• Kollapse - (1995) - short story
• As Big as the Ritz (revised) - (1987) - novella
• The Scarred Man - (1970) - short story
• World Vast, World Various - (1992) - novella
• Zoomers - (1996) - short story
• High Abyss - (1995) - short story
• A Worm in the Well - (1995) - novelette
• A Dance to Strange Musics - (1998) - novelette
• Afterthoughts - (2000) - essay

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1971) - essay by Ben Bova
• The Blue Mouse - (1971) - shortstory by Gene Wolfe
• Hot Potato - (1971) - shortstory by Burt K. Filer
• All Cats Are Gray - (1953) - shortstory by Andre Norton
• The Law-Twister Shorty - [Dilbia] - (1971) - novelette by Gordon R. Dickson
• Three Blind Mice - (1971) - novelette by Keith Laumer
• Daughter - [Nora Fenn] - (1971) - shortstory by Anne McCaffrey
• Something Wild Is Loose - (1971) - novelette by Robert Silverberg
• Silent in Gehenna - (1971) - shortstory by Harlan Ellison

Caribbean born novelist Tobias Buckell established himself as a gifted new voice in science fiction with his stunning first novel Crystal Rain. Now, in his first collection, Buckell demonstrates his strengths in the short form, offering readers a collection of stories that are compelling, smart, wonderfully imagined, and entertaining.

Tides from the New Worlds contains 19 stories that range from multicultural science fiction to magical realism, some in print for the first time.

Table of Contents:

• Fish Merchant
• Anakoinosis
• Aerophilia
• In The Heart of Kalikuata
• The Shackles of Freedom (with Mike Resnick)
• Shoah Sry (with Ilsa Bick)
• Her
• In Orbite Medievali
• Four Eyes
• Trinkets
• Spurn Babylon
• Death's Dreadlocks
• Smooth Talking
• Tides
• Something In The Rock
• A Green Thumb
• All Her Children Fought
• Necahual
• Toy Planes

Zeke Bolivar slipped out of null space to find a planet which defied, just by existing, all natural laws. For it wasn't a sphere, but only half of one. It floated in space, circling in a calm, regular orbit around its sun, like a vast half-grapefruit, cut neatly down the middle. Rimming the grotesque half-palnet along the "cut" was an opaque black wall. When he landed near the edge of the hemispheroid planet, he found he was expected. As events became more and more bizarre, he considered that he might simply be mad. Then an oddly familiar old man shoved Zeke at the black wall - which turned insubstantial and let him fall through...

Lin Carter's short tales of lost worlds -- Hyperborea, Mu, Lemuria, Atlantis, and more!

Table of Contents:

• The Introduction: Lost Worlds of Time - essay
• The Scroll of Morloc - (1975) - short story with Clark Ashton Smith
• The Stairs in the Crypt - (1976) - short story with Clark Ashton Smith
• The Thing in the Pit - short story
• Thieves of Zangabal - (1969) - novella
• Keeper of the Emerald Flame - (1970) - novella
• Riders Beyond the Sunrise - (1967) - short story with Robert E. Howard
• The Twelve Wizards of Ong - (1976) - short story
• The Seal of Zaon Sathla - (1970) - short story
• The Afterword: Lost Worlds to Come - essay

This classic collection of short stories includes some of Clarke's finest work: vivid glimpses into the future, a year, a decade, a century, a millennium from now.

Contents:

• 11 - I Remember Babylon - (1960) - shortstory
• 23 - Summertime on Icarus - (1960) - shortstory
• 35 - Out of the Cradle, Endlessly Orbiting... - (1959) - shortstory
• 41 - Who's There? - (1958) - shortstory
• 47 - Hate - (1961) - shortstory
• 63 - Into the Comet - (1960) - shortstory
• 75 - An Ape About the House - (1962) - shortstory
• 83 - Saturn Rising - (1961) - shortstory
• 95 - Let There Be Light - [Tales from the White Hart] - (1957) - shortstory
• 103 - Death and the Senator - (1961) - shortstory
• 125 - Trouble With Time - (1960) - shortstory
• 131 - Before Eden - (1961) - shortstory
• 143 - A Slight Case of Sunstroke - (1958) - shortstory
• 151 - Dog Star - (1962) - shortstory
• 157 - The Road to the Sea - (1951) - novella

A student of multiversal time travel slips from one version of New York to another, discovering that love may transcend timelines, but so too can heartbreak...

Read it for free here Tor.com

The looming threat of a once-in-a-millennium magical event sends nineteenth-century China into violent chaos in this epic alternate-history fantasy.

Author of the Seventh Sword series Dave Duncan transports us to Imperial China in an alternate nineteenth century--an Asian epoch not unlike the Boxer Rebellion era--with a spellbinding tale of rebellion, political intrigue, larceny, seduction, shape-shifting, dark magic, and murder. These are troubled years in the Good Land.

Ten centuries have passed since the last time the Portal of a Thousand Worlds opened, bringing chaos, upheaval, and radical change to the then-ruling dynasty, and now the mystical gateway is rumored to be on the verge of opening once more. Only the Firstborn--he who has been reincarnated through countless generations and remembers all he has ever learned--knows what the future holds, but he has been imprisoned for refusing to comply with a repressive imperial government's wishes.

Now, those hoping to seize the opportunity for wealth and position are hatching sinister plots. And as the cold-hearted dowager empress closely guards a fateful secret, and a rebel army led by a fanatical zealot gathers strength under the Bamboo Banner, the cataclysm approaches....

The recipient of two Aurora Awards and numerous Locus and Endeavour Award nominations, Dave Duncan is an acknowledged master of sword-and-sorcery adventure on par with George R. R. Martin of Game of Thrones fame. A sprawling epic with a colorful cast of royals, thieves, prostitutes, gods, warriors, dragons, assassins, merchants, and mages set against the backdrop of a volatile alternate Asia, Portal of a Thousand Worlds is a magnificent work of invention from one of the premier fantasists of our day.

Contents:

• 7 - Introduction (Of Worlds Beyond) - essay by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach
• 9 - On the Writing of Speculative Fiction - essay by Robert A. Heinlein
• 18 - Writing a Science Novel - essay by John Taine
• 34 - The Logic of Fantasy - essay by Jack Williamson
• 47 - Complication in the Science Fiction Story - essay by A. E. van Vogt
• 63 - Humor in Science Fiction - essay by L. Sprague de Camp
• 73 - The Epic of Space - essay by Edward E. Smith
• 84 - The Science of Science Fiction Writing - essay by John W. Campbell, Jr.

A collection of hard-hitting and insightful alternate history and science fiction tales authored or co-authored by New York Times bestseller Eric Flint. The collection includes stories set in Flint's hugely-popular Ring of Fire series as well as well as tales from Flint's Joe's World humorous fantasy series and stories set in the shared worlds of bestselling military science fiction legends David Weber and David Drake (including one entry in Weber's blockbuster Honor Harrington universe) and capped with a classic alternate history novella, the hard-hitting, bleak and beautiful "Islands."

A cornucopia of hard-hitting and insightful tales for fans of New York Times bestseller Eric Flint and his Ring of Fire alternate history series. This generous selection includes stories and two short novels from the Ring of Fire series, as well as hilarious tales from Flint's Joe's World humorous fantasy series and, with Dave Freer, a tale set in their popular Rats, Bats and Vats series. Next, Flint goes all-out for the "aha" moment within a clutch of stories set in the shared worlds of bestselling military science fiction legends David Weber and David Drake, including one entry in Weber's blockbuster Honor Harrington universe. The collection is capped with the hard-hitting, bleak and beautiful "Islands," a classic alternate history novella set in Flint and David Drake's Belasarius alternate Rome series, and it comes complete with an insightful foreword by Flint together with his delightful and informative introduction to each tale.

Thirteen Science Fiction Tales from a Master Storyteller

From fighting giant bugs to defeating an interstellar empire without firing a shot; from scientific idiot savants toying with the universe to how the robots will really win the robot apocalypse, these thirteen flavorful tales are guaranteed to entertain, amuse, awe, and maybe even enlighten.

Includes the first appearance in print of the Icerigger novellete "Chilling" and a new novelette, "Valentin Sharffen and the Code of Doom."

Table of Contents:

• ix - Introduction (The Flavors of Other Worlds) - (2018) - essay
• 1 - Unvasion - (2004) - short story
• 11 - The Man Who Knew Too Much - (2006) - short story
• 20 - Perception - [Humanx Commonwealth - 6] - (2006) - short story
• 33 - Chilling - [Humanx Commonwealth - 7] - (2006) - novelette
• 57 - Consigned - (2007) - short story
• 67 - Cold Fire - (2008) - short story
• 81 - Pardon Our Conquest - [Humanx Commonwealth] - (2009) - short story
• 92 - That Creeping Sensation - (2011) - short story
• 102 - Rural Singularity - (2013) - short story
• 112 - Seasoning - (2014) - short story
• 120 - Our Specialty Is Xenogeology - (2017) - short story
• 133 - Ten and Ten - (2018) - short story
• 142 - Valentin Sharffen and the Code of Doom - short story

Worlds Seen in Passing is an anthology of award-winning, eye-opening, genre-defining science fiction, fantasy, and horror from Tor.com's first ten years, edited by Irene Gallo.

Since it began in 2008, Tor.com has explored countless new worlds of fiction, delving into possible and impossible futures, alternate and intriguing pasts, and realms of fantasy previously unexplored. Its hundreds of remarkable stories span from science fiction to fantasy to horror, and everything in between. Now Tor.com is making some of those worlds available for the first time in print.

This volume collects some of the best short stories Tor.com has to offer, with Hugo and Nebula Award-winning short stories and novelettes chosen from all ten years of the program.

Table of Contents:

• "Six Months, Three Days" by Charlie Jane Anders
• "Damage" by David D. Levine
• "The Best We Can" by Carrie Vaughn
• "The City Born Great" by N. K. Jemisin
• "A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel" by Yoon Ha Lee
• "Waiting on a Bright Moon" by JY Yang
• "Elephants and Corpses" by Kameron Hurley
• "About Fairies" by Pat Murphy
• "The Hanging Game" by Helen Marshall
• "The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere" by John Chu
• "A Cup of Salt Tears" by Isabel Yap
• "The Litany of Earth" by Ruthanna Emrys
• "Brimstone and Marmalade" by Aaron Corwin
• "Reborn" by Ken Liu
• "Please Undo This Hurt" by Seth Dickinson
• "The Language of Knives" by Haralambi Markov
• "The Shape of My Name" by Nino Cipri
• "Eros, Philia, Agape" by Rachel Swirsky
• "The Lady Astronaut of Mars" by Mary Robinette Kowal
• "Last Son of Tomorrow" by Greg van Eekhout
• "Ponies" by Kij Johnson
• "La beauté sans vertu" by Genevieve Valentine
• "A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers" by Alyssa Wong
• "A Kiss With Teeth" by Max Gladstone
• "The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections" by Tina Connolly
• "The End of the End of Everything" by Dale Bailey
• "Breaking Water" by Indrapramit Das
• "Your Orisons May Be Recorded" by Laurie Penny
• "The Tallest Doll in New York City" by Maria Dahvana Headley
• "The Cage" by A.M. Dellamonica
• "In the Sight of Akresa" by Ray Wood
• "Terminal" by Lavie Tidhar
• "The Witch of Duva" by Leigh Bardugo
• "Daughter of Necessity" by Marie Brennan
• "Among the Thorns" by Veronica Schanoes
• "These Deathless Bones" by Cassandra Khaw
• "Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch" by Kelly Barnhill
• "This World Is Full of Monsters" by Jeff VanderMeer
• "The Devil in America" by Kai Ashante Wilson
• "A Short History of the Twentieth Century, or, When You Wish Upon A Star" by Kathleen Ann Goonan

Four award-winning authors. Four amazing alternate histories.

In this collection of novellas, four masters of alternate history turn back time, twisting the facts with four excursions into what might have been.

Bestselling author Harry Turtledove imagines a different fate for Socrates (now Sokrates); S. M. Stirling envisions life "in the wilds of a re-barbarized Texas" after asteroids strike the earth in the 19th century; Sidewise winner Mary Gentle contributes a story of love (and pigs) set in the mid-15th century, as European mercenaries prepare to sack a Gothic Carthage; and Nebula nominee Walter Jon Williams pens a tale of Nietzsche intervening in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Table of Contents:

• The Daimon - novella by Harry Turtledove
• The Real History Behind "The Daimon" - essay by Harry Turtledove
• Shikari in Galveston - novella by S. M. Stirling
• Why Then, There - essay by S. M. Stirling
• The Logistics of Carthage - novella by Mary Gentle
• 1477 and All That - essay by Mary Gentle
• The Last Ride of German Freddie - novella by Walter Jon Williams
• Afterword to "The Last Ride of German Freddie" - essay by Walter Jon Williams

First edition, hardcover. Retrospective anthology; most works have a forward by the story's author.

Contents:

• Introduction by Frederik Pohl
• As IF Was in the Beginning by Larry T. Shaw
• The Golden Man (1954) by Philip K. Dick
• The Battle (1954) by Robert Sheckley
• Last Rites (1955) by Charles Beaumont
• Game Preserve (1957) by Rog Phillips
• The Burning of the Brain (1958) by Cordwainer Smith
• The Man Who Tasted Ashes (1959) by Algis Budrys
• Kings Who Die (1962) by Poul Anderson
• Fortress Ship (1963) by Fred Saberhagen
• Father of the Stars (1964) by Frederik Pohl
• Trick or Treaty (1965) by Keith Laumer
• Nine Hundred Grandmothers (1966) by R. A. Lafferty
• Neutron Star (1966) by Larry Niven
• This Mortal Mountain (1967) by Roger Zelazny
• I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (1967) by Harlan Ellison
• Driftglass (1967) by Samuel R. Delany
• The Holmes-Ginsbook Device (1968) by Isaac Asimov
• Down in the Black Gang (1969) by Philip José Farmer
• The Reality Trip (1970) by Robert Silverberg
• The Nightblooming Saurian (1970) by James Tiptree, Jr.
• Occam's Scalpel (1971) by Theodore Sturgeon
• Construction Shack (1973) by Clifford D. Simak
• Time Deer (1974) by Craig Strete
• Afterword: Flash Point, Middle by Barry N. Malzberg

Table of Contents:

• 1 - The Gods Themselves - (1972) - novel
• 171 - The C-Chute - (1951) - novelette
• 187 - The Dead Past - (1956) - novelette
• 229 - Hostess - (1951) - novelette
• 259 - "In a Good Cause--"? - (1951) - novelette
• 277 - The Key - [Wendell Urth] - (1966) - novelette
• 299 - Lest We Remember - (1982) - novelette
• 321 - The Martian Way - (1952) - novelette
• 355 - Nightfall - (1941) - novelette
• 379 - Profession - (1957) - novella
• 419 - Sucker Bait - (1954) - novella
• 467 - The Ugly Little Boy - (1958) - novelette (variant of Lastborn)
• 497 - Youth - (1952) - novelette
• 519 - The End of Eternity - (1955) - novel

A strange and viscious attack of mental energy is suddenly unleashed on the occupants of Explorer Globe 13 during a routine mission to find mineral wealth in a distant planetary system. Only Keek, the vessels alien menial is unaffected.

An engaging tour through the work and life of one of America's great science fiction writers

Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author Joe Haldeman burst onto the literary scene with the hugely popular novel The Forever War, but his career also took off on the strength of his short fiction. This brilliant collection brings together examples of his science fiction as well as his writing on Vietnam--and reveals the inexorable connections between the two.

The works included in Vietnam and Other Alien Worlds are united by its title essay, in which Haldeman explains how his past informs his envisioned futures. One of these futures is a grouping of four stories from the Confederación universe, which includes his novels All My Sins Remembered and There Is No Darkness. An anthropological expedition goes awry as a research team's subjects become murderous, and trade negotiations fall apart, comically lost in translation. The collection closes with one of Haldeman's most affective works about Vietnam--the moving narrative poem "DX."

Vietnam and Other Alien Worlds proves to be an anthology as versatile and multifaceted as the author who wrote it.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay
• Passages - (1990) - novelette
• A !Tangled Web - (1981) - novelette
• Seasons - (1985) - novella
• The Mazel Tov Revolution - (1974) - shortstory
• Vietnam and Other Alien Worlds - (1992) - essay
• Not Being There - essay
• Confessions of a Space Junkie - (1992) - essay
• War Stories - essay
• Photographs and Memories - essay
• Saul's Death - (1983) - poem
• Homecoming - (1990) - poem
• Time Lapse - (1989) - poem
• DX - (1987) - poem

THESE ARE THE BROKEN WORLDS...

MARS... center of the fractured universe, planet of immortal warlords and cloned warriors, fallen now to the alien invaders.

PARMENIO... fog-shrouded pleasure planer, playground of the decadent, where anythi9ng and anybody could be bought--or stolen.

LOEI... world of towering peaks, rife with intrigue and dander, rumored hiding place of the fabled fleet of Old Earth.

YNENGA... desert planer, home fo the bird-like Tu-u, with shifting sands that hide ancient secrets.

VIHARN... a world divided, where cloud dwellers turn traitor, and those who dwell on the land may hold the key to survival.

Attanio Hwin, reluctant messender. Chance and a beautiful woman have bfought him from the steamy streets of Parmenio to the vaulting corridors of a Martian veilship and the scattered settlements of the Galactic Arm. He carries a warning to the hostile inhabitants:

The aliens are coming.

The Broken Wrolds must unite... or die!

Frank Herbert's last published novel, a charming and witty science fiction adventure coauthored with his son Brian. What if the entire universe were the creation of alien minds? After an unfortunate spaceship accident, the hedonistic and ambitious human Lutt Hansen, Jr., finds himself sharing his body and mind with a naive alien dreamer. The two have to survive numerous dangers, schemes and assassination attempts... but can they survive each other?

2000 years in the future, runaway pollution has made the Earth uninhabitable except in giant biodomes. The society is an anarchy, with disputes mediated through the Machiavellian Committee for the Revolution. Mars, Venus and the Moon support flourishing colonies of various political stripes. On the fringes of the solar system, in the Gas Planets, a strange, new, violent kind of human has evolved. In this unstable system the anarchist Paula Mendoza, an agent of the Committee, works to make peace, and ultimately protect her people, in a catastrophic clash of worlds that destroys the order she knows.

A girl and a god, alone in communion...

In the winding underground tunnels of the Library, the great peacekeeper of the three systems, a heinous secret lies buried - and Freida is the only one who can uncover it. As the daughter of a Library god, Freida has spent her whole life exploring the Library's ever-changing tunnels and communing with the gods. Her unparalleled access makes her unique - and dangerous.

When Freida meets Joshua, a Tierran boy desperate to save his people, and Nergüi, a disciple from a persecuted religious minority, Freida is compelled to help them. But in order to do so, she will have to venture deeper into the Library than she has ever known. There she will discover the atrocities of the past, the truth of her origins, and the impossibility of her future.

With the world at the brink of war, Freida embarks on a journey to fulfill her destiny, one that pits her against an ancient war god. Her mission is straightforward: Destroy the god before he can rain hellfire upon thousands of innocent lives - if he doesn't destroy her first.

Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there's just one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying – from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn't outrun. Cara's life has been cut short on 372 worlds in total.

On this dystopian Earth, however, Cara has survived. Identified as an outlier and therefore a perfect candidate for multiverse travel, Cara is plucked from the dirt of the wastelands. Now what once made her marginalized has finally become an unexpected source of power. She has a nice apartment on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley City. She works – and shamelessly flirts – with her enticing yet aloof handler, Dell, as the two women collect off-world data for the Eldridge Institute. She even occasionally leaves the city to visit her family in the wastes, though she struggles to feel at home in either place. So long as she can keep her head down and avoid trouble, Cara is on a sure path to citizenship and security.

But trouble finds Cara when one of her eight remaining doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, plunging her into a new world with an old secret. What she discovers will connect her past and her future in ways she could have never imagined – and reveal her own role in a plot that endangers not just her world, but the entire multiverse.

Included in this volume are two short novels by Raymond F. Jones: "The Memory of Mars" originally appeared in the December, 1961 issue of Amazing Stories. "Cubs of the Wolf" originally appeared in the November, 1955 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.

In the real world, Bugz is a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who faces the stresses of teenage angst and life on the Rez. But in the virtual world, her alter ego is not just confident but dominant in a massively multiplayer video game universe.

Feng is a teen boy who has been sent from China to live with his aunt, a doctor on the Rez, after his online activity suggests he may be developing extremist sympathies. Meeting each other in real life, as well as in the virtual world, Bugz and Feng immediately relate to each other as outsiders and as avid gamers. And as their connection is strengthened through their virtual adventures, they find that they have much in common in the real world, too: both must decide what to do in the face of temptations and pitfalls, and both must grapple with the impacts of family challenges and community trauma.

But betrayal threatens everything Bugz has built in the virtual world, as well as her relationships in the real world, and it will take all her newfound strength to restore her friendship with Feng and reconcile the parallel aspects of her life: the traditional and the mainstream, the east and the west, the real and the virtual.

A unique imagination illuminates all of William Tenn's work. In this remarkable collection of his short stories, he ranges from the hilarious to the serious, demonstrating vividly his gift for making any dimension of reality as real and immediate as your own street. There are four or five amazing hours of reading for you in this book.

Orna, a representative of a universe-wide trade union, undergoes a drastic change in perspective while investigating the disappearance of three planets and their inhabitants on a newly terraformed world.

Read the full story for free at Tor Reactor.

In this bold and controversial examination of the past, present, and future of science fiction, Lem informs the raging debate over the literary merit of the genre with ten arch, incisive, provocative essays

Do not be misled by the 'speculative' in the title. Although there may be robots and fantastical creatures, these common symbols are tools to frame the familiar from fresh perspectives. Here you will find the recent past and ongoing present of government and society with curfews, crime, and corruption; the universal themes of family, growth and death, love and hate; the struggle to thrive when power is capricious and revenge too bittersweet. Here too is the passage of everything--old ways, places, peoples, and ourselves--leaving nothing behind but memories, histories, and stories.
This anthology speaks to the fragility of our Caribbean home, but reminds the reader that although home may be vulnerable, it is also beautifully resilient. The voice of our literature declares that in spite of disasters, this people and this place shall not be wholly destroyed.

Read for delight, then read for depth, and you will not be disappointed.

Brand-new stories by: Tammi Browne-Bannister, Summer Edward, Portia Subran, Brandon O'Brien, Kevin Jared Hosein, Richard B. Lynch, Elizabeth J. Jones, Damion Wilson, Brian Franklin, Ararimeh Aiyejina, and H.K. Williams.

Table of Contents:

• 9 - Introduction (Other Times, Other Worlds) - essay by Martin H. Greenberg
• 15 - The Mechanical Answer
• 35 - Dance of a New World
• 51 - Ring Around the Redhead
• 75 - A Child Is Crying
• 91 - Flaw
• 101 - But Not to Dream
• 113 - The Miniature
• 127 - Spectator Sport
• 135 - Half-Past Eternity
• 193 - The Big Contest
• 203 - Susceptibility
• 215 - Common Denominator
• 227 - Game for Blondes
• 239 - Labor Supply
• 249 - The Legend of Joe Lee
• 263 - The Annex
• 279 - Afterword (Other Times, Other Worlds) - essay by John D. MacDonald
• 283 - Bibliography (Other Times, Other Worlds) - essay by June Moffatt and Len Moffatt

A female shape-changer, pursued by invisible aliens, escapes to Victorian London. . . where she is aided by Aleister Crowley and the disciples of the Golden Dawn.

Barry Malzberg's fourth collection, including several previously unpublished stories. Includes an introduction by Malzberg and a preface by Roger Ellwood.

Contents:

• Initiation - (1975)
• Management - (1975)
• The Union Forever - (1973)
• Reconstitution - (1975)
• Final War - (1968)
• Closed Sicilian - (1973)
• After the Unfortunate Accident - (1975)
• The Second Short Shortest Fantasy Story Ever Published - (1973)
• In the Cup - (1972)
• Death to the Keeper - (1968)
• Chronicles of a Comer - (1972)

Much has been written about the "long Sixties," the era of the late 1950s through the early 1970s. It was a period of major social change, most graphically illustrated by the emergence of liberatory and resistance movements focused on inequalities of class, race, gender, sexuality, and beyond, whose challenge represented a major shock to the political and social status quo. With its focus on speculation, alternate worlds and the future, science fiction became an ideal vessel for this upsurge of radical protest.

Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985 details, celebrates, and evaluates how science fiction novels and authors depicted, interacted with, and were inspired by these cultural and political movements in America and Great Britain. It starts with progressive authors who rose to prominence in the conservative 1950s, challenging the so-called Golden Age of science fiction and its linear narratives of technological breakthroughs and space-conquering male heroes. The book then moves through the 1960s, when writers, including those in what has been termed the New Wave, shattered existing writing conventions and incorporated contemporary themes such as modern mass media culture, corporate control, growing state surveillance, the Vietnam War, and rising currents of counterculture, ecological awareness, feminism, sexual liberation, and Black Power. The 1970s, when the genre reflected the end of various dreams of the long Sixties and the faltering of the postwar boom, is also explored along with the first half of the 1980s, which gave rise to new subgenres, such as cyberpunk.

Dangerous Visions and New Worlds contains over twenty chapters written by contemporary authors and critics, and hundreds of full-color cover images, including thirteen thematically organised cover selections. New perspectives on key novels and authors, such as Octavia Butler, Ursula K. Le Guin, Philip K. Dick, John Wyndham, Samuel Delany, J.G. Ballard, John Brunner, Judith Merril, Barry Malzberg, Joanna Russ, and many others are presented alongside excavations of topics, works, and writers who have been largely forgotten or undeservedly ignored.

A collection of 15 science fiction stories that introduce the reader to the variety of themes and subjects that the genre can offer.

Table of Contents:

• 9 - Introduction (The Worlds of Science Fiction) - essay by Robert P. Mills
• 13 - The First Men - novelette by Howard Fast
• 49 - A Work of Art - short story by James Blish
• 71 - Evening Primrose - short story by John Collier
• 87 - Memento Homo - short story by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
• 109 - A Miracle of Rare Device - short story by Ray Bradbury
• 127 - "All You Zombies..." - short story by Robert A. Heinlein
• 143 - Faq' - short story by George P. Elliott
• 157 - Babel II - novelette by Damon Knight
• 187 - A Saucer of Loneliness - short story by Theodore Sturgeon
• 205 - Night Piece - short story by Poul Anderson
• 225 - Now Let Us Sleep - short story by Avram Davidson
• 241 - The Strange Girl - short story by Mark Van Doren
• 249 - The Quest for Saint Aquin - novelette by Anthony Boucher
• 273 - The War in the Air - short story by R. V. Cassill
• 293 - The Ugly Little Boy - novelette by Isaac Asimov
• 340 - Epilogue: My Private World of Science Fiction - essay by Alfred Bester

The first book of the multiverse.

Dorian Hawkmoon... Corum Jhaelen Irsei... Elric of Melniboné. Over the years, Michael Moorcock has captivated readers with his unending versions of the Eternal Champion, the timeless warrior who serves the Cosmic Balance in the ongoing battle that rages between Law and Chaos through the many planes and levels of the multiverse. But what is the multiverse and what are its origins? In this essential novel, Michael Moorcock provides readers these critical answers.

World War Three has come and gone, and humankind has survived its brutal past to assume its place among the stars. Yet their existence is endangered nonetheless, as their entire universe is threatening to collapse. All their hopes rest on the shoulders of Count Renark von Bek, a nobleman of extraordinary psychic abilities and carefully guarded secrets.

Aided by his companions, von Bek will delve into the Sundered Worlds, a mysterious galaxy outside the space-time continuum that has materialized on the edges of known space. Inside this roving galaxy, they will uncover the secrets of the multiverse and embark upon a last desperate gamble to save humankind.

But as they will soon discover, even survival comes laden with danger, as the solutions to their dilemma may also hold the final keys to their destruction...

Alternate title: The Blood Red Game

George Cringe is a middle-aged school-teacher, married with several children. His marriage, while not a failure, is hardly a great success, and he is somewhat drawn towards a fellow teacher, Jennifer Lawton, who is much younger than he is. For relaxation, George has taken to creating an endless SF saga set on the planet Agenor, where his hero and heroine, Zil Bryn and Orgypp, face various problems, their current one involving an outbreak of psychedelic mushrooms.

Collects the renowned author's award-winning horror stories in one chilling volume that takes readers into a dark realm where nothing is what it seems and terror hides in the shadows.

Table of Contents:

• 1 - Preface (Nightworlds) - essay
• 6 - Kelly, Fredric Michael: 1928-1987 - (1973) - short story
• 18 - On 42nd St. - (1989) - short story
• 34 - The Halloween Man - (1986) - short story
• 52 - The Final Stone - (1986) - short story
• 90 - My Name Is Dolly - (1987) - short story
• 98 - The Party - (1967) - short story
• 116 - Something Nasty - (1983) - short story
• 132 - An Act of Violence - (1995) - short story
• 144 - Fyodor's Law - (1994) - short story
• 162 - On Harper's Road - (1993) - short story
• 186 - The Francis File - (1994) - short story
• 200 - Freak - (2000) - short story
• 214 - The Pool - (1981) - short story
• 232 - One of Those Days - (1962) - short story
• 240 - Him, Her, Them - (1991) - short story
• 268 - Gobble, Gobble! - (1990) - short story
• 278 - Fair Trade - (1982) - short story
• 288 - Babe's Laughter - (1991) - short story
• 298 - He Kilt It with a Stick - (1968) - short story
• 310 - Starblood - (1972) - short story
• 330 - Vympyre - (1995) - short fiction
• 336 - A Real Nice Guy - (1980) - short story

How many millions of books have been sold and read with pleasure by science fiction readers is beyond anyone's guess. For quite without fanfare Andre Norton has become the favorite author in the pantheon of science fantasy writers. Norton's novels of time travel, of interstellar trade, of other dimensions, and of the fabulous Witch World, are constantly in print and always in demand - and so it with pride that this new book brings to the sf public Norton's rarest gems: novelettes and short stories unavailable elsewhere that comprise between themselves the whole strata of Norton's marvel cosmos. "The Book of Andre Norton" Contains, among others, "The Toads of Grimmerdale", "Long Live Lord Kor!", and five more classics, as well as special articles about and and a complete bibliography.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1974) - essay by Donald A. Wollheim
• The Toads of Grimmerdale - (1973) - novella
• London Bridge - (1973) - shortstory
• On Writing Fantasy - (1971) - essay
• Mousetrap - (1954) - shortstory
• All Cats Are Gray - (1953) - shortstory
• The Long Night of Waiting - (1974) - shortstory
• The Gifts of Asti - (1948) - shortstory
• Long Live Lord Kor! - (1970) - novella
• Andre Norton: Loss of Faith - (1971) - essay by Rick Brooks
• Norton Bibliography - (1974) - essay by Helen-Jo Jakusz Hewitt

This collection of thirteen captivating short stories and novellas samples the wide range of Nebula Grand Master Norton's work. The first six stories, set in the Witch World universe, depict mostly female protagonists coping with the aftermath of wars made even more devastating by the deployment of magic. "Toads of Grimmerdale" and "Changeling" recount the travails of Hertha, a noblewoman who is cast out into "drifts of ice-crusted snow" by her brother after she refuses to abort the fetus of a rapist. "Spider Silk" is what blind, former slave Dairine is taught to weave by male-hating giant arachnids. In the title novella, an Esper fleeing a lynch mob is carried into another world, where his kind rules--but even there he is different and must fight for survival. A dreamer who creates worlds for others finds her work, herself, and her client in grave danger in "Toys of Tamisan." "Mousetrap," the earliest story here, envisions a not-too-distant future in which mankind explores Mars but human nature remains the same.

Table of Contents:

• Falcon Blood - (1979) - shortstory
• The Toads of Grimmerdale - (1973) - novella
• Changeling - (1980) - novelette
• Spider Silk - (1976) - novelette
• Sword of Unbelief - [Witch World Universe] - (1977) - novelette
• Sand Sister - (1979) - novella
• Toys of Tamisan - (1969) - novella
• Wizards' Worlds - (1967) - novella
• Mousetrap - (1954) - shortstory
• Were-Wrath - (1984) - novelette
• By a Hair - (1958) - shortstory
• All Cats Are Gray - (1953) - shortstory
• Swamp Dweller - (1985) - novelette

Beautifully crafted, unfailingly strange, and always moving, Susan Palwick's stories shift effortlessly between fantasy and science fiction, magical realism and horror. Here you will encounter aliens, ghosts, and robots, along with a colorful assortment of eccentric and vulnerable humans. You will see souls trapped in lucite, witness the operations of a magical measuring tape, and watch the oldest woman on a generation ship bequeath a precious Terran relic to a young friend. Collecting tales published in markets such as Tor.com, Asimov's, F&SF, and Lightspeed, All Worlds are Real also includes three new pieces exclusive to this volume.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction by Jo Walton
• Windows (2014)
• The Shining Hills (2017)
• Ash (2016)
• Cucumber Gravy (2001)
• Hhasalin (2013)
• Sanctuary (2013)
• City of Enemies
• Lucite (2016)
• Hodge
• Homecoming (2013)
• Weather (2014)
• Hideous Flowerpots (2018)
• Remote Presence (2017)
• Recoveries (2018)
• Wishbone

A team of scientists travel the width and breadth of the solar system, solving scientific puzzles as they do.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1983) - essay by John F. Carr
• Time and Time Again - (1947) - short story
• The Mercenaries - (1950) - novelette
• Dearest - (1951) - short story
• Hunter Patrol - (1959) - novelette with John J. McGuire
• Flight from Tomorrow - (1950) - novelette
• Operation R.S.V.P. - (1951) - short story
• Genesis - - (1951) - novelette
• The Answer - (1959) - short story
• Crossroads of Destiny - (1959) - short story
• Day of the Moron - (1951) - novelette

As the first international anthology to cover the entire scope of fantastic narrative, Fantastic Worlds presents over fifty tales, myths, and stories, ranging from Genesis to Ovid, Hans Christian Andersen to J.R.R. Tolkien, Edgar Allan Poe to James Thurber, and Franz Kafka to Italo Calvino. Including tales of fairies and elves, ghost stories, high fantasy, and stories of social criticism and the conflict between science and religion, this volume presents a diverse selection of writings that all share the same capacity to liberate the human spirit through the wild mental acrobatics of fantasy.

Table of Contents:

• Preface - (1979) - essay by Eric S. Rabkin
• Introduction (1979) - essay by Eric S. Rabkin
• The Sources of the Fantastic - (1979) - essay by Eric S. Rabkin
• Genesis (King James Version) - (unknown) - shortstory by unknown
• The Blackfoot Genesis - (1892) - shortstory by Blackfoot Myth
• The Eye of the Giant - (1979) - shortstory by Togoland Myth
• How I Brought Death Into the World - (1952) - shortstory by Amos Tutuola
• The Myth of Actaeon - (1979) - shortstory by Ovid
• The Myth of Narcissus - (1979) - shortstory by Ovid
• The Myth of Philomela - (1979) - shortstory by Ovid
• The Ghost Wife - (1889) - shortstory by Pawnee Folktale
• The Magic Swan Geese - (1855) - shortstory by Russian Folktale
• Why Tortoise's Shell Is Not Smooth - (1958) - shortstory by Chinua Achebe
• How Mr. Rabbit Was Too Sharp for Mr. Fox - (1880) - shortstory by Joel Chandler Harris
• Paul Bunyan on the Columbia - (1924) - shortstory by Esther Shephard
• Little Red-cap - (1979) - shortstory by Wilhelm Grimm and Jacob Grimm (trans. of Rothkäppchen 1812)
• The Sleeping Beauty - (1979) - shortstory by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (trans. of Dornröschen 1812)
• Hansel and Grethel - (1979) - shortstory by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (trans. of Hänsel und Gretel 1812)
• The Tinder-Box - (1835) - shortstory by Hans Christian Andersen (trans. of Fyrtøiet)
• The Tale of Cosmo - (1858) - novelette by George MacDonald
• Leaf by Niggle - (1964) - shortstory by J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Diversity of Fantastic Literature - (1979) - essay by Eric S. Rabkin
• Our Ideas of Time - (1711) - shortstory by Joseph Addison (1672-1719)
• Ritter Gluck: A Recollection from the Year 1809 - shortstory by E. T. A. Hoffmann (trans. of Ritter Gluck 1808)
• The Oval Portrait - (1842) - shortstory by Edgar Allan Poe
• The Garden of Live Flowers - (1872) - shortstory by Lewis Carroll
• The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - (1939) - shortstory by James Thurber
• The Royal Banquet - (1961) - shortstory by Norton Juster
• The Sandman - (1943) - novelette by E. T. A. Hoffmann (trans. of Der Sandmann 1816)
• The Black Cat - (1843) - shortstory by Edgar Allan Poe
• The Picture in the House - (1919) - shortstory by H. P. Lovecraft
• The Hand - (1861) - shortstory by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
• The Moonlit Road - (1907) - shortstory by Ambrose Bierce
• Lost Hearts - (1895) - shortstory by M. R. James
• Golden Wings - (1856) - shortstory by William Morris
• The Sword of Welleran - (1908) - shortstory by Lord Dunsany
• The Five Black Swans - (1973) - shortstory by Sylvia Townsend Warner
• The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar - (1845) - shortstory by Edgar Allan Poe
• The Birthmark - (1843) - shortstory by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• The Star - (1955) - shortstory by Arthur C. Clarke
• EPICAC - (1950) - shortstory by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
• The Third Level - (1950) - shortstory by Jack Finney
• The Star - (1897) - shortstory by H. G. Wells
• Modern Fantasy - (1979) - essay by Eric S. Rabkin
• The Judgment - (1948) - shortstory by Franz Kafka (trans. of Das Urteil 1913)
• A Common Confusion - (1933) - shortstory by Franz Kafka (trans. of Eine alltägliche Verwirrung 1931)
• Cockroaches - (1963) - shortstory by Bruno Schulz
• Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote - shortstory by Jorge Luis Borges (trans. of Pierre Menard, autor del Quijote 1939)
• Axolotl - (1967) - shortstory by Julio Cortázar (trans. of Axolotl 1956)
• Pastoral - shortstory by Tommaso Landolfi
• All at One Point - (1968) - shortstory by Italo Calvino (trans. of Tutto in un punto 1964)
• There Is No Such Place as America - (1970) - shortstory by Peter Bichsel (trans. of Kindergeschichten 1969)
• The Piano Player - (1963) - shortstory by Donald Barthelme
• Homage to the San Francisco YMCA - (1971) - shortstory by Richard Brautigan
• The Marker - (1963) - shortstory by Robert Coover
• The Zebra Storyteller - (1971) - shortstory by Spencer Holst
• Annotated Bibliography (Fantastic Worlds: Myths, Tales, and Stories) - (1979) - essay by Eric S. Rabkin
• Index (1979) - essay by Eric S. Rabkin

Table of Contents:

• Foreword - essay by Spider Robinson
• Introduction to Larry Niven's "Inconstant Moon" - essay by Spider Robinson
• Inconstant Moon - (1971) - novelette by Larry Niven
• Introduction to "Spud and Cochise" by Oliver La Farge - essay by Larry Niven
• Spud and Cochise - (1936) - novelette by Oliver La Farge
• Introduction to "Need" by Theodore Sturgeon - essay by Spider Robinson
• Need - (1960) - novella by Theodore Sturgeon
• Introduction to "Hop-Friend" by Terry Carr - essay by Theodore Sturgeon
• Hop-Friend - (1962) - short story by Terry Carr
• Introduction to "Duel Scene" by William Goldman - essay by Spider Robinson
• "Duel Scene" (from The Princess Bride) - (1973) - short fiction by William Goldman
• Introduction to "Seventh Victim" by Robert Sheckley - essay by William Goldman
• Seventh Victim - (1953) - short story by Robert Sheckley
• Introduction to "Portions of This Program..." by Dean Ing - essay by Spider Robinson
• Portions of This Program... - (1977) - novelette by Dean Ing
• Introduction to "They Bite" by Anthony Boucher - essay by Dean Ing
• They Bite - (1943) - short story by Anthony Boucher
• Introduction to "The Man Who Traveled in Elephants" by Robert A. Heinlein - essay by Spider Robinson
• The Man Who Traveled in Elephants - (1957) - short story by Robert A. Heinlein
• Introduction to "Our Lady's Juggler" by Anatole France - essay by Spider Robinson
• Our Lady's Juggler - (1908) - short story by Anatole France (trans. of Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame 1892)

Sura Neelin is on the run from her creditors, from her past, and her father's murderers. She can't get a job, she can't get a place to live, she can't even walk down the street: the total surveillance society that is mid-21st century America means that every camera and every pair of smart glasses is her enemy.

But Sura might have a chance in the alternate reality of the games. People can disappear in the LARP game worlds, into the alternate economy of Notchcoin and blockchains. The people who build the games also program the surveillance networks -- she just needs an introduction, and the skills to play.

Turns out, she has very valuable skills, and some very surprising friends.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction (Exploring Fantasy Worlds) - essay by Darrell Schweitzer
• Aspects of Fantasy - essay by Michael Moorcock
• Dreams Within Dreams - essay by Sandra Miesel
• Prithee, Sirrah, What Doustou Mean by Archaic Style in Fantasy? - (1977) - essay by Darrell Schweitzer
• Robert E. Howard's Fiction - essay by L. Sprague de Camp
• The Fantasy of Johannes V. Jensen - essay by Poul Anderson
• The Anima Archetype in Science Fiction - (1967) - essay by Fritz Leiber
• Titus Groan: An Appreciation - essay by David H. Keller, M.D.
• Portrait of Nathan - essay by Ben P. Indick
• A Robert Nathan Checklist - essay by Darrell Schweitzer
• Cabell: Fantasist of Reality - essay by Paul Spencer

Contents:

• ix - Introduction (Rod Serling's Other Worlds) - essay by Richard Matheson
• 1 - Robert A. Heinlein - essay by Jack C. Haldeman, II
• 3 - They - (1941) - shortstory by Robert A. Heinlein
• 21 - Ben Bova - essay by Jack C. Haldeman, II
• 23 - Fifteen Miles - [Kinsman] - (1967) - shortstory by Ben Bova
• 37 - Gordon R. Dickaon - essay by Jack C. Haldeman, II
• 39 - Dolphin's Way - (1964) - shortstory by Gordon R. Dickson
• 61 - Carl Jacobi - essay by Jack C. Haldeman, II
• 63 - The Royal Opera House - (1972) - shortstory by Carl Jacobi
• 75 - Theodore Sturgeon - essay by Jack C. Haldeman, II
• 77 - Special Aptitude - (1951) - shortstory by Theodore Sturgeon
• 97 - William F. Nolan - essay by Jack C. Haldeman, II
• 99 - The Underdweller - (1957) - shortstory by William F. Nolan (variant of Small World)
• 113 - Isaac Asimov - essay by Jack C. Haldeman, II
• 115 - I'm in Marsport Without Hilda - (1957) - shortstory by Isaac Asimov
• 131 - Dennis Etchison - essay by Jack C. Haldeman, II
• 133 - A Nice, Shady Place - (1963) - shortstory by Dennis Etchison
• 149 - Clifford D. Simak - essay by Jack C. Haldeman, II
• 151 - Construction Shack - (1973) - shortstory by Clifford D. Simak
• 167 - Ray Bradbury - essay by Jack C. Haldeman, II
• 169 - A Little Journey - (1951) - shortstory by Ray Bradbury
• 179 - Gardner R. Dozois - essay by Jack C. Haldeman, II
• 181 - The Visible Man - (1975) - novelette by Gardner Dozois
• 215 - Thomas F. Monteleone - essay by Jack C. Haldeman, II
• 217 - Mister Magister - shortstory by Thomas F. Monteleone
• 223 - Joe Haldeman & Robert Thurston - essay by Jack C. Haldeman, II
• 225 - What Johnny Did on His Summer Vacation - shortstory by Joe Haldeman and Robert Thurston
• 237 - Fritz Leiber - essay by Jack C. Haldeman, II
• 239 - Little Old Miss Macbeth - (1958) - shortstory by Fritz Leiber

Robert Sheckley was science fiction's in-house reply to the black humorists of the 1950s and 60s: Bruce Jay Friedman, Terry Southern, and the young Thomas Pynchon were his none-too-distant relatives; Mort Sahl's comedy, Charles Schultz's cartoons, and Tom Lehrer's songs all mined similar veins. Sheckley targeted the conformity and consumerism of our mid century technotopia while it was still under construction.

His new worlds, alternate universes, and future dystopias have only become more present with the passing years, even as his career, played out both in the pulp magazines and in front-line venues like Playboy and Omni, is a glimpse of a time when "science fiction writer" could be a kind of hipster credential. Mordant, absurdist, and deadpan, the best of Sheckley's dissident farces represent science fiction's high-water mark as an allegorical clearinghouse for twenty-century angst.

Rob Merlin was the best engineer who had ever lived. That was why "The King of Space" had to have him for the most spectacular construction project ever - even though Rob was a potentially fatal threat to his power...

Thus begins a breakthrough novel by the former President of the American Astronautical Society, about an idea whose time has come: a shimmering bridge between Earth and space that mankind will climb to the stars!

Hugo-nominated Related Work

In addition to exploring Silverberg's career, now in its sixth decade, this collection of transcribed conversations delves into aspects of Silverberg's life -- such as his extensive travel, passion for film, opera and classical music -- not covered elsewhere.

A decade-and-a-half-long friendship, and working together on When the Blue Shift Comes, afforded Alvaro the opportunity to speak at length with Silverberg. The result: a remarkably candid series of conversations that will be of interest to science fiction readers and anyone curious about the writing life.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction by Gardner Dozois
• The Vividness of Landscape
• Aesthetics
• In the Continuum
• Enwonderment
• Libraries
• Potpourri
• After the Myths Went Home
• Afterword: Travels With Bob by Karen Haber

Table of Contents:

• Foreword - essay by Robert Silverberg
• Introduction: The Making of a Science-Fiction Writer - essay by Robert Silverberg
• Four in One - (1953) - novelette by Damon Knight
• Four in One: Complications, With Elegance - essay by Robert Silverberg
• Fondly Fahrenheit - (1954) - novelette by Alfred Bester
• Fondly Fahrenheit: Who Am I, Which Are You? - essay by Robert Silverberg
• No Woman Born - (1944) - novelette by C. L. Moore
• No Woman Born: Flowing from Ring to Ring - essay by Robert Silverberg
• Home Is the Hunter - (1953) - short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore
• Home Is the Hunter: The Triumph of Honest Roger Bellamy - essay by Robert Silverberg
• The Monsters - (1953) - short story by Robert Sheckley
• The Monsters: Don't Forget to Kill Your Wife - essay by Robert Silverberg
• Common Time - (1953) - short story by James Blish
• Common Time: With All of Love - essay by Robert Silverberg
• Scanners Live in Vain - (1950) - novelette by Cordwainer Smith
• Scanners Live in Vain: Under the Wire with the Habermans - essay by Robert Silverberg
• Hothouse - (1961) - novelette by Brian W. Aldiss
• Hothouse: The Fuzzypuzzle Odyssey - essay by Robert Silverberg
• The New Prime - (1951) - novelette by Jack Vance
• The New Prime: Six Plots for the Price of One - essay by Robert Silverberg
• Colony - (1953) - novelette by Philip K. Dick
• Colony: I Trusted the Rug Completely - essay by Robert Silverberg
• The Little Black Bag - (1950) - novelette by C. M. Kornbluth
• The Little Black Bag: Press Button for Triple Bypass - essay by Robert Silverberg
• Light of Other Days - [Slow Glass] - (1966) - short story by Bob Shaw
• Light of Other Days: Beyond the Radius of Capture - essay by Robert Silverberg
• Day Million - (1966) - short story by Frederik Pohl
• Day Million: A Boy, a Girl, a Love Story - essay by Robert Silverberg
• For Further Reading - essay by Robert Silverberg

Table of Contents:

• About Robert Silverberg - essay by Isaac Asimov
• Introduction - essay by Robert Silverberg
• The Old Man - (1957) - shortstory
• New Men for Mars - (1957) - novelette
• Collecting Team - (1956) - shortstory
• Double Dare - (1956) - shortstory
• The Overlord's Thumb - (1958) - novelette
• Ozymandias - (1958) - shortstory
• Certainty - (1959) - shortstory
• Mind for Business - (1956) - shortstory
• Misfit - (1957) - shortstory

Contains three stories:

• "Worlds Without End" (1956)
• "The Spaceman's Van Gogh" (1956)
• "Full Cycle" (1955)

An extraordinary artist with few rivals in his chosen arena, Dan Simmons possesses a restless talent that continually presses boundaries while tantalizing the mind and touching the soul. Now he offers us a superb quintet of novellas -- five dazzling masterworks of speculative fiction, including "Orphans of the Helix," his award-winning return to the Hyperion Universe -- that demonstrates the unique mastery, breathtaking invention, and flawless craftsmanship of one of contemporary fiction's true greats.

• Human colonists seeking something other than godhood encounter their long-lost "cousins"...and an ancient scourge.
• A devastated man in suicide's embrace is caught up in a bizarre cat-and-mouse game with a young woman possessing a world-ending power.
• The distant descendants of a once-oppressed people learn a chilling lesson about the persistence of the past.
• A terrifying ascent up the frigid, snow-swept slopes of K2 shatters preconceptions and reveals the true natures of four climbers, one of whom is not human.
• At the intersection of a grand past and a threadbare present, an aging American in Russia confronts his own mortality as he glimpses a wondrous future.

When Alexandra's best friend and coach, Nathan, dies, her world is turned upside down. Ending a year-long MMA fighting career, she flees to her hometown, seeking refuge in work at the local museum and its mysterious exhibition from the Scottish Hebrides. One fateful night sends her world for another spin, and she finds herself thrown back in time to the Highlands of Iron-Age Scotland. Caught between violent rivalry and political agendas, Alexandra is faced with an impossible choice. One that might determine the outcome of the true Ragnarok.

Between Worlds - Ragnarok is an epic time travel tale about loss, love and loyalty. Fusing Norse Mythology and Scottish history, it provides a glimpse of how the legends of the Nordic Gods might have lived, loved, fought, had they walked this earth as a living, breathing civilisation.

Sturgeon Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, June 2003. The story can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-First Annual Collection (2004), edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collection Are You There and Other Stories (2009).

Read the full story for free at the Baen website.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Frederik Pohl
• Blind Time - (1946) - short story
• The Planet Mender - (1952) - novelette
• The Catspaw - (1948) - novella
• Rat Race - (1947) - short story
• Meddler's Moon - (1947) - novelette
• Meddler's Moon (radio script) - short story
• In the Cards - (1947) - novelette
• History Repeats - (1959) - short story
• The Big Fix - (1959) - novelette
• Fire, 2016! - (1964) - novelette
• Understanding - (1967) - novelette

The brand new anthology from multi-award winning editor Jonathan Strahan, featuring stories set in futures wracked by the deluge, from some the best writers in SF, including Kim Stanley Robinson, Ken Liu, Paul McAuley, Kathleen Ann Goonan, Charlie Jane Anders, Lavie Tidhar, Jeffrey Ford, and James Morrow.

We stand at the beginning of one of the greatest ecological disasters in the time on Man. The world is warming and seas are rising. We may deny it, but we can't hide when the water comes. Already the streets of Miami flood regularly and Mick Jones looks more and more prescient when he sang that "London is drowning and I, I live by the river!" all those years ago.

And yet water is life. It brings change. Where one thing is wiped away, another rises in its place. There has always been romance and adventure in the streets of a drowned London or on gorgeous sailing cities spanning a submerged world, sleek ships exploring as land gets ever rarer.

Drowned Worlds looks at the future we might have if the oceans rise, good or bad. Here you'll find stories of action, adventure, romance and, yes, warning and apocalypse. Stories inspired by Ballard's The Drowned World, Sterling's Islands in the Net, and Ryman's The Child Garden. Stories that allow that things may get worse, but remembers that such times also bring out the best in us all.

Table of Contents:

• Elves of Antarctica, Paul McAuley
• Dispatches from the Cradle: The Hermit - Forty-Eight Hours in the Sea of Massachusetts, Ken Liu
• Venice Drowned, Kim Stanley Robinson
• Brownsville Station, Christopher Rowe
• Who Do You Love?, Kathleen Ann Goonan
• Because Change Was the Ocean and We Lived by Her Mercy, Charlie Jane Anders
• The Common Tongue, the Present Tense, the Known, Nina Allan
• What is, Jeffrey Ford
• Destroyed by the Waters, Rachel Swirsky
• The New Venusians, Sean Williams
• Inselberg, Nalo Hopkinson
• Only Ten More Shopping Days Left Till Ragnarök, James Morrow
• Last Gods, Sam J. Miller
• Drowned, Lavie Tidhar
• The Future is Blue, Catherynne M. Valente

Published before Tiptree's identity had become known, this collection contains Silverberg's famous (infamous?) introduction in which he concluded that Tiptree had to be a man because the writing was "ineluctably masculine". Silverberg gracefully recanted once Tiptree's identity was revealed.

Table of Contents:

• Who Is Tiptree, What Is He? - (1974) - essay by Robert Silverberg
• All the Kinds of Yes - (1972)
• The Milk of Paradise - (1972)
• And I Have Come Upon This Place by Lost Ways - (1972)
• The Last Flight of Dr. Ain - (1969)
• Amberjack - (1972)
• Through a Lass Darkly - (1972)
• The Girl Who Was Plugged In - (1973)
• The Night-blooming Saurian - (1970)
• The Women Men Don't See - (1973)
• Fault - (1968)
• Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death - (1973)
• On the Last Afternoon - (1972)

This novelette originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, July-August 2017, and was reprinted in Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 102, November 2018.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed Magazine.

Contents:

• The Replicators - (1965)
• The First Martian - (1951)
• The Purpose - (1945)
• The Earth Killers - (1949)
• The Cataaaaa - (1947)
• Automaton - (1950)
• Itself! - (1963)
• Process - (1950)
• Not the First - (1941)
• Fulfillment - (1951)
• Ship of Darkness - (1948)
• The Ultra Man - (1966)

Treecats, starships, dragons, alternate history, self-aware Bolo supertanks, wizards, sailing ships, ironclads....

Open the door and peep inside, but be careful! Once you step into the worlds of Weber, you may not want to go home again.

Table of Contents:

• 9 Introduction - [Honor Harrington Universe Nonfiction]
• 13 A Certain Talent
• 29 In the Navy - [1632 Fiction]
• 81 The Captain from Kirkbean
• 101 Sir George and the Dragon - [Ranks of Bronze]
• 169 Swordbrother - [Bahzell]
• 297 A Beautiful Friendship - [Star Kingdom]
• 361 Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington - [Honor Harrington Universe Short Fiction]
• 475 Miles to Go - [Bolo]
• 589 The Traitor - [Bolo]

Contents:

• 11 - The Adventure of the Crystal Egg - [Sherlock Holmes Versus Mars] - novelette
• 53 - Sherlock Holmes Versus Mars - [Sherlock Holmes Versus Mars] - (1975) - novelette
• 97 - George E. Challenger Versus Mars - [Sherlock Holmes Versus Mars] - novelette
• 147 - The Adventure of the Martian Client - [Sherlock Holmes Versus Mars] - (1969) - short story
• 175 - Venus, Mars, and Baker Street - [Sherlock Holmes Versus Mars] - (1972) - short story
• 205 - Appendix: A Letter from Dr. Watson - [Sherlock Holmes Versus Mars] - short fiction

H. G. Wells

Scientific visionary. Social prophet. Master storyteller. Few novelists have captivated generations of readers like H. G. Wells. In enduring, electrifying detail, he takes us to dimensions of time and space that have haunted our dreams for centuries -- and shows us ourselves as we really are.

The Time Machine

In the heart of Victorian England, an inquisitve gentleman known only as the Time Traveler constructs an elaborate invention that hurtles him hundreds of thousands of years into the future. There he finds himself in the violent center of the ultimate conflict between beings of light and creatures of darkness.

The War of the Worlds

Martians invade Great Britain, laying waste turn-of-the-century London. This tale of conquest by superior beings with superadvanced technology is so nightmarishly real that an adaptation by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater sent hundreds of impressionable radio listeners into panicked flight forty years after the story's original publication.

Darcy Patel has put college and everything else on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. Arriving in New York with no apartment or friends she wonders whether she's made the right decision until she falls in with a crowd of other seasoned and fledgling writers who take her under their wings...

Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, a suspenseful thriller about Lizzie, a teen who slips into the 'Afterworld' to survive a terrorist attack.

But the Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead and as Lizzie drifts between our world and that of the Afterworld, she discovers that many unsolved - and terrifying - stories need to be reconciled. And when a new threat resurfaces, Lizzie learns her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she loves and cares about most.

What if being a librarian was the most dangerous job in the world?

Worldsoul, a great city that forms a nexus point between Earth and the many dimensions known as the Liminality, is a place where old stories gather, where forgotten legends come to fade and die--or to flourish and rise again. Until recently, Worldsoul has been governed by the Skein, but they have gone missing and no one knows why. The city is also being attacked with lethal flower-bombs from an unknown enemy. Mercy Fane and her fellow Librarians are doing their best to maintain the Library, but... things... keep breaking out of ancient texts and legends and escaping into the city. Mercy must pursue one such nightmarish creature, and she turns to Shadow the alchemist for aid, with the fate of the Library--and Worldsoul itself--hanging in the balance...

Table of Contents:

• 9 - When Two Worlds Meet
• 75 - Aurochs Came Walking
• 99 - On Pain of Death
• 141 - The Sound of Bugles
• 173 - The Final Frontier
• 191 - When the Spoilers Came

The Worlds of Jack Williamson celebrates the 100th birthday of one of the Grand Masters of science fiction. While Jack Williamson passed away in 2006 at the age of 98, his incredible body of work continues to be enjoyed by legions of fans and admirers. Assembled in this centennial tribute are several unpublished stories: The Moon Bird, The Forbidden Window, The Golden Glass, and a film treatment from 1957, The Planets are Calling. Also included are several classics in the Williamson canon such as the original novella-length version of Darker Thank You Think; Minus Sign, an unreprinted seetee story of anti-matter and terraforming; and a tale with the first use of psionics, The Man from Outside. Contemporary stories include The Hole in the World, Afterlife, and The Luck of the Legion, the last Legion of Space adventure. Included are four essays from academics and scholars who have studied Williamson s works, as well as Dr. Williamson s 1957 Master s Thesis, A Study of the Sense of Prophecy in Modern Science Fiction. Fellow Grand Masters of science fiction Frederik Pohl and James Gunn provide introductory remarks on reading, knowing, collaborating with, and admiring Jack Williamson.

Table of Contents:

• "Jack" - essay by Frederik Pohl
• "Worlds of Jack Williamson" - essay by James E. Gunn
• The Moon Bird - novella by Jack Williamson
• The Forbidden Window - shortstory by Jack Williamson
• The Golden Glass - novelette by Jack Williamson
• Darker Than You Think - (1940) - novella by Jack Williamson
• Darker Than He Thought: The Psychonalysis of Jack Williamson - essay by Alan C. Elms
• Minus Sign - (1942) - novella by Jack Williamson
• The Man from Outside - (1951) - shortstory by Jack Williamson
• A Study of the Sense of Prophecy in Modern Science Fiction - essay by Jack Williamson
• The Planets are Calling - novelette by Jack Williamson
• Jack Williamson: The Comedy of Cosmic Evolution - (1976) - essay by Alfred D. Stewart
• Tricentennial Century - novella by Jack Williamson
• The Humanoid Universe - (1980) - novelette by Jack Williamson
• The Hole in the World - (1997) - shortstory by Jack Williamson
• Afterlife - (2002) - shortstory by Jack Williamson
• The Luck of the Legion - (2002) - shortstory by Jack Williamson
• A Christmas Carol - (2007) - shortstory by Jack Williamson
• Queens Of Space - essay by Vicky L. Medley
• Collecting Jack Williamson: Master of Wonder - essay by Richard A. Hauptmann
• Contributors
• Acknowledgments

The worlds of Robert F. Young are unlike any others, and they are all stamped with the hallmark of excellence that is distinctively his own. Some of these worlds are strange and alien, distant in time and space; some are as familiar as your own back yard -- so close you can reach out and touch them. But be careful! They all contain unlooked-for surprises: what you expect to happen never does. These are tales of the unexpected.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction (The Worlds of Robert F. Young) - (1965) - essay by Avram Davidson
• The Girl Who Made Time Stop - (1961) - short story
• Added Inducement - (1957) - short story
• Hopsoil - (1961) - short story
• Flying Pan - (1956) - short story
• Emily and the Bards Sublime - [Poetic Androids] - (1956) - short story
• The Dandelion Girl - (1961) - short story
• The Stars Are Calling, Mr. Keats - (1959) - short story
• Goddess in Granite - (1957) - novelette
• Promised Planet - (1955) - short story
• Romance in a Twenty-First Century Used-Car Lot - (1960) - novelette
• The Courts of Jamshyd - (1957) - short story
• Production Problem - (1959) - short story
• Little Red Schoolhouse - (1956) - short story
• Written in the Stars - (1957) - short story
• A Drink of Darkness - (1962) - short story
• Your Ghost Will Walk... - [Poetic Androids] - (1957) - short story

Cameron Fenton participates in a parapsychology study, using an experimental drug. Instead of increasing his ESP, it causes him to leave his his body and enter other worlds. But are they real, or do they exist only in his mind? And if they are real, will he ever be able to get anyone in his world to believe him?

Vanguard from Alpha

The spy team from Earth knew they were looking for trouble when they secretly landed in Luna Area 101 - dangerous Rosk territory. But the fearless trio got more than they bargained for at the hands of these hostile guests of Earth. Tyne and Murray escaped with their lives. The third man was dead, and Tyne suspected that Murray had murdered him in cold blood.

Ready to confront him with his charge, Tyne discovered that Murray had disappeared somewhere in the banned area. But when he followed him, he discovered something vastly more dangerous than Murray's guilt or innocence--the Rosks threatened imminent invasion of Earth. And only Tyne now held the secret that could deflect their hordes of death.

The Changeling Worlds

On the gold-symbol world of Beresford's Planet, Richard Kirby lived in total luxury. As a member of "The Set" his life was a never-ending round of planetary party-hopping. The only restriction imposed on him - that he never put down on any world marked with a red or black symbol - was something that he had always accepted without question.

That is until his brother Alec was murdered in cold blood! Alec had been an undercover agent to these forbidden planets, and in order to avenge him, Kirby had to find out for himself what was really happening there.

But with the start of his investigation, Kirby found out quickly that the authorities meant business when they said "Hands off!" The secret they were protecting was of vital importance, and it now became a matter of life and death, not only to Kirby, but to all the inhabitants of the Changeling Worlds.

Threshold of Eternity

Because of a twist in the structure of Time, three strangers were brought unexpectedly together: Red Hawkins of California, Chantal Vareze of London and a man from the 41st Century. Their meeting seemed an impossible prank of a universe gone mad - but it turned out to be quite otherwise.

For it seemed there was a war going on throughout space and time. A war fought by men of different epochs, on planets of different cultures, but for a cause that all could acknowledge - the very continued existence of creation itself.

And the coming together of these three very unlikely people - a modern man, a lovely girl and a futurian soldier - was to prove the master stroke of a super-science strategy that had already brought humanity to the THRESHOLD OF ETERNITY.

The War of Two Worlds

The twenty-year Earth-Mars war was finally over. What was left of Earth - its crumbled cities, its ruined farmlands - were firmly and completely under the rule of the Martian Archon. And this powerful planetary ruler was taking no chances: he intended to reduce the Terrans to a society of primitive agricultural tribes in less than a generation!

But for David Arnfeld, ex-spaceman and Earth Base Commander, there was something in the whole set-up which did not ring true. Why had both sides muffed countless chances to end that awful war in the first year or two? And why had the two planets gone to war in the first place?

In the back of Arnfeld's mind an idea was growing...perhaps there was yet a chance to save the doomed population of Earth. But if his idea was true, and proof was available, he had to work fast. Too many people were involved in this War of the Two Worlds to let one man upset their plans.

Reversing a common science fiction cliche, Farscape follows the adventures of the human astronaut John Crichton after he is shot through a wormhole into another part of the universe. Here Crichton is the only human being, going from being a member of the most intelligent species on our planet to being frequently considered mentally deficient by the beings he encounters in his new environment. John Crichton befriends a group of beings from various species attempting to escape from imprisonment aboard a living spaceship. The series, which broke many of the so-called "rules" of science fiction, follows Crichton's attempts to survive in worlds that are often hostile to him and his friends. Their adventures center on each being's attempt to find a way home.

The essays in this volume explore themes running throughout the series, such as good and evil, love and sex, and what it means to be a hero, as well as the various characters populating the series, including the villains and even the ship itself.

Contains:

• The Tactful Saboteur
• Committee of the Whole
• Old Rambling House
• Mating Call
• A-W-F, Unlimited
• The Featherbedders
• The GM Effect
• Escape Felicity

Envoy to New Worlds

The Machiavelli of cosmic diplomacy. Collection of Retief stories.

Flight From Yesterday

Yesterday in America, tomorrow in Atlantis.

Worlds of the Imperium

When Brion Bayard was kidnapped and brought to the alternate world where Earth's history took a different turn, it was not a pleasant experience. It was, however, a startling experience. Here was a world that was just like the Earth he was taken from--with just a few subtle changes. On top of all this, Brion was given a puzzling assignment by his captors. He was to secretly enter a palace, and kill a dangerous and tyrannical dictator. There was one, small catch--the hated dictator in this world was the mirror image of Brion Bayard. For on an Alternate Earth, Brion's is his own worst enemy!

Seven from the Stars

As they watched humanity and Earth being destroyed they were determined to fight and survive, but they now faced an enemy able to live undetected in a human host, unrestricted by time and space, and determined to rule!

THE WORLDS OF FRITZ LEIBER is a brand new collection of some of the finest SF, Fantasy and Horror stories produced by the internationally acclaimed author of THE BIG TIME.

It is a collection handpicked by the author and contains two Change-War stories, a Fafhrd and Gray Mouser tale, Catch That Zeppelin (the winner of the 1976 Nebula Award) and eighteen other outstanding stories.

But no one could describe this book better than Fritz Leiber himself: "I believe this collection represents me more completely, provides a fuller measure of the range of my creative efforts, than any other. Welcome to my worlds!"

Contents:

• Hatchery of Dreams (1961)
• The Goggles of Dr. Dragonet (1961)
• Far Reach to Cygnus (1965)
• Night Passage (1975)
• Nice Girl with Five Husbands (1951)
• When the Change-Winds Blow (1964)
• 237 Talking Statues, Etc. (1963)
• The Improper Authorities (1959)
• Our Saucer Vacation (1959)
• Pipe Dream (1959)
• What's He Doing in There? (1957)
• Friends and Enemies (1957)
• The Last Letter (1958)
• Endfray of the Ofay (1969)
• Cyclops (1965)
• Mysterious Doings in the Metropolitan Museum (1974)
• The Bait (1973)
• The Lotus Eaters (1972)
• Waif (1974)
• Myths My Great-Granddaughter Taught Me (1963)
• Catch That Zeppelin! (1975)
• Last (1957)

Literary critics and scholars have written extensively on the demise of the "utopian spirit" in the modern novel. What has often been overlooked is the emergence of a new hybrid subgenre, particularly in science fiction and fantasy, which incorporates utopian strategies within the dystopian narrative, particularly in the feminist dystopias of the 1980s and 1990s. The author names this new subgenre "transgressive utopian dystopias."

Suzette Haden Elgin's Native Tongue trilogy, Suzy McKee Charna's Holdfast series, and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale are thoroughly analyzed within the context of this this new subgenre of "transgressive utopian dystopias." Analysis focuses particularly on how these works cover the interrelated categories of gender, race and class, along with their relationship to classic literary dualism and the dystopian narrative.

Without completely dissolving the dualistic order, the feminist dystopias studied here contest the notions of unambiguity and authenticity that are generally part of the canon.

While all fiction uses words to construct models of the world for readers, nowhere is this more obvious than in fantasy fiction. Epic fantasy novels create elaborate secondary worlds entirely out of language, yet the writing style used to construct those worlds has rarely been studied in depth. This book builds the foundations for a study of style in epic fantasy.

Close readings of selected novels by such writers as Steven Erikson, Ursula Le Guin, N. K. Jemisin and Brandon Sanderson offer insights into the significant implications of fantasy's use of syntax, perspective, paratexts, frame narratives and more. Re-examining critical assumptions about the reading experience of epic fantasy, this work explores the genre's reputation for flowery, archaic language and its ability to create a sense of wonder. Ultimately, it argues that epic fantasy shapes the way people think, examining how literary representation and style influence perception.

Learning from Other Worlds provides both a portrait of the development of science fiction criticism as an intellectual field and a definitive look at the state of science fiction studies today. Its title refers to the essence of "cognitive estrangement" in relation to science fiction and utopian fiction--the assertion that by imagining strange worlds we learn to see our own world in a new perspective. Acknowledging an indebtedness to the groundbreaking work of Darko Suvin and his belief that the double movement of estrangement and cognition reflects deep structures of human storytelling, the contributors assert that learning-from-otherness is as natural and inevitable a process as the instinct for imitation and representation that Aristotle described in his Poetics.

In exploring the relationship between imaginative invention and that of allegory or fable, the essays in Learning from Other Worlds comment on the field's most abiding concerns and employ a variety of critical approaches--from intellectual history and genre studies to biographical criticism, feminist cultural studies, and political textual analysis. Among the topics discussed are the works of John Wyndham, Kim Stanley Robinson, Stanislau Lem, H.G. Wells, and Ursula Le Guin, as well as the media's reactions to the 1997 cloning of Dolly the Sheep. Darko Suvin's characteristically outspoken and penetrating afterword responds to the essays in the volume and offers intimations of a further stage in his long and distinguished career.

This useful compendium and companion offers a coherent view of science fiction studies as it has evolved while paying tribute to the debt it owes Suvin, one of its first champions. As such, it will appeal to critics and students of science fiction, utopia, and fantasy writing.

Contents:

• 1 - Introduction (Learning from Other Worlds) - (1999) - essay by Patrick Parrinder
• 19 - Before the Novum: The Prehistory of Science Fiction Criticism - (1999) - essay by Edward James
• 36 - Revisiting Suvin's Poetics of Science Fiction - (1999) - essay by Patrick Parrinder
• 51 - 'Look into the Dark': On Dystopia and the Novum - (1999) - essay by Tom Moylan
• 72 - Science Fiction and Utopia: A Historico-Philosophical Overview - (1999) - essay by Carl Freedman
• 98 - Society after the Revolution: The Blueprints for the Forthcoming Socialist Society published by the Leaders of the Second International - (1999) - essay by Marc Angenot
• 119 - From the Images of Science to Science Fiction - (1999) - essay by Gérard Klein
• 127 - Estranged Invaders: The War of the Worlds - (1999) - essay by Peter Fitting
• 146 - 'A part of the... family [?]': John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos as Estranged Autobiography - (1999) - essay by David Ketterer
• 178 - Labyrinth, Double and Mask in the Science Fiction of Stanislaw Lem - (1999) - essay by Rafail Nudelman
• 193 - 'We're at the Start of a New Ball Game and That's Why We're All Real Nervous': Or, Cloning - Technological Cognition Reflects Estrangement from Women - (1999) - essay by Marleen S. Barr
• 208 - 'If I find one good city I will spare the man': Realism and Utopia in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy - (1999) - essay by Fredric Jameson
• 233 - Afterword: With Sober, Estranged Eyes - (1999) - essay by Darko Suvin
• 272 - Checklist of Printed Items that Concern Science Fiction (with Utopian Fiction or Utopianism, and a few Bordering Items) - (1999) - essay by Darko Suvin

Six Worlds Yonder

Stories in this collection:

• The Waitabits
• Tieline
• Top Secret
• Nothing New
• Into Your Tent I'll Creep
• Diabologic

The Space Willies

An Earthman's tongue is his deadliest weapon

There was a common understanding in the Space Navy that scout-pilots were a breed apart--cocksure, reckless, and slightly nuts. But it was also understood that when a really dangerous job had to be done, a scout-pilot was the man to do it.

So for John Leeming, a couple of months of dodging death in a one-man ship, zipping in and out of the enemy Combine's rearguard, was just another one of those jobs. And there was no man in the Universe more surprised than Leeming when his heretofore indestructible ship just gave up the ghost smack in the middle of a Combine-held prison planet!

It was then that the spirit of the Scout Corps had its chance to shine. With self-confidence as his only weapon, Leeming had only two choices: give in to the enemy and be captured...or quick-talk them into a real case of THE SPACE WILLIES!

Invaders from Earth

Earth's colony on Ganymede is under attack. The people of Earth demand reprisal, and the United Nations must take action to protect the interests of the people.

But Ted Kennedy is worried. He has been to Ganymede and seen the "people"; and knows a truth too terrifying to reveal. Only he can convince the leaders of Earth that they are victims of a hoax. His life may be forfeit, but he is determined to live long enough to stop the INVADERS FROM EARTH

To Worlds Beyond

Collection containing:

• The Old Man - (1957) - shortstory
• New Men for Mars - (1957) - novelette
• Collecting Team - (1956) - shortstory
• Double Dare - (1956) - shortstory
• The Overlord's Thumb - (1958) - novelette
• Ozymandias - (1958) - shortstory
• Certainty - (1959) - shortstory
• Mind for Business - (1956) - shortstory
• Misfit - (1957) - shortstory

Message from the Eocene

Legacy of a Lost Race

His name was Tharg, but he was not of any life form we know today. He lived so long ago that the planet Earth had not yet shaped itself. Lava seas roiled and churned, volcanoes spouted and grew, and heavy clouds hung in the hydrogen atmosphere, leaving the planet's surface dark and dangerous.

On that world Tharg met his death, or something very much like it. He became a disembodied, totally nonphysical intelligence, cut off from all contact with the life he had known. He "slept" for hundreds of millions of yhears, unconnected with the world, unthinking, hardly existing.

But then he began to awake--for there was new life on Earth, creatures called "human," and Tharg, knowing an anceint promise from the stars, had to tell them of it. But... how?

Three Worlds of Futurity

Collection of short stories:

• The Everlasting Food - (1950) - novelette
• Idris' Pig - (1949) - novella
• The Rages - (1954) - novelette
• Roberta - (1962) - shortstory
• The Island of the Hands - (1952) - shortstory

Table of Contents:

• The Brains of Earth - novella
• The Kokod Warriors - (1952) - novelette
• The Unspeakable McInch - (1948) - shortstory
• The Howling Bounders - (1949) - shortstory
• The King of Thieves - (1949) - shortstory
• The Spa of the Stars - (1950) - shortstory
• Coup de Grace - (1958) - shortstory

Famous for the mistaken panic that ensued from Orson Welles’s 1938 radio dramatization, The War of the Worlds remains one of the most influential of all science fiction works.

The night after a shooting star is seen streaking through the sky from Mars, a cylinder is discovered on Horsell Common in London. Naïve locals approach the cylinder armed just with a white flag—only to be quickly killed by an all-destroying heat ray, as terrifying tentacled invaders emerge.

Soon the whole of human civilization is under threat as powerful Martians build gigantic killing machines, destroying all life in their path with black gas and burning ray. The forces of Earth, however, may prove harder to beat than they appear.

Contains:

Nebula- and World Fantasy Award-nominated Novella "A Dozen Tough Jobs"
Hugo-, Asimov's-, and Locus-nominated Novelette "Fin de Cyclé"
Sidewise- and Locus-nominated Novella "You Could Go Home Again"

Other Worlds, Better Lives features longer stories written Howard Waldrop between 1989 and 2003 and displays his mastery of the novella form.

Among the stories here is "You Could Go Home Again", in which Thomas Wolfe, having survived the brain disease that killed him in our world, returns from the 1940 Tokyo Olympics, aboard an airship where fellow voyager Fats Waller provides musical interludes, to a U.S. governed by technocrats.

"Fin de Cyclé" is the story of how a movie made by Georges Méliès, assisted by Alfred Jarry, Marcel Proust, and Pablo Picasso, rouses the French public to demand justice in the case of Captain Alfred Dreyfus and helps to free him from Devil s Island.

Various young characters from late 1950s and early 1960s TV programs and science fiction movies confront the Cuban missile crisis in "The Other Real World", while Richard Wagner abandons his operatic ambitions to become one of the forefathers of the Peoples Federated States of Europe in "A Better World's in Birth!"

"Flatfeet!" combines reflections on Osvald Spengler's classic The Decline of the West and American artist Thomas Cole's series of paintings entitled "The Course of Empire" with a number of historical parallels and Keystone Kops-style antics in what the author calls in his afterword "one of the most jam-packed stories I ever wrote".

In "Major Spacer in the 21st Century!" Waldrop manages to cover the history of much of twentieth century communications technology in realistic detail.

The longest story in the collection is "A Dozen Tough Jobs"; here, Waldrop takes the mythological figure of Hercules and sets him down in early twentieth-century Mississippi along with an African-American sidekick appropriately named I.O. Lace. Readers unfamiliar with Greek mythology can read this novella straight as a tale of race relations, rural poverty, and class distinctions centered on the convict Houlka Lee; those who know the old myths will delight in the meticulously worked-out parallels between Waldrop's story and the fabled Twelve Labours of Hercules.

- Pamela Sargent, SciFi Weekly

Table of Contents:

• Size Matters - essay
• A Dozen Tough Jobs - (1989) - novella
• Afterword (A Dozen Tough Jobs) - essay
• Fin de Cyclé - (1990) - novelette
• Afterword (Fin de Cyclé) - essay
• You Could Go Home Again - (1993) - novella
• Afterword (You Could Go Home Again) - essay
• Flatfeet! - (1996) - shortstory
• Afterword (Flatfeet!) - essay
• Major Spacer in the 21st Century! - (2001) - novelette
• Afterword (Major Spacer in the 21st Century!) - essay
• The Other Real World - (2001) - novelette
• Afterword (The Other Real World) - essay
• A Better World's in Birth! - (2003) - novelette
• Afterword (A Better World's in Birth!) - essay

Minor Terran bureaucrat, Hobart Floyt, has been left a mysterious inheritance by the ruler of an empire located many light-years away. Earth's government is broke and its functionaries want Floyt to collect the money. To make sure he succeeds, they blackmail a brash young spacer named Alacrity Fitzhugh into shepherding him on a dangerous interstellar mission.

The Iduve were the most advanced spacefaring race in the galaxy. They traveled where they pleased in giant city-sized vessels, engrossed with their own affairs. The Iduve were humanoid, but they differed from Earth's own humans in one significant way: they were pure predators incapable of human emotion.

Aiela was a world-survey officer who found himself abducted to serve the Iduve clanship Ashanome. Forcibly mind-linked with two other captives, life for Aiela became wholly dedicated to the service of his captors.

But then the Ashanome came to the world of Priamos, a war-torn planet caught in a struggle between humans and the alien race known as the amaut. When she discovered that her fugitive brother was hiding there, Chimele, leader of the Ashanome, was willing to sacrifice this entire world to destroy him. And Priamos' only hope for survival lay with Aiela and his fellow captives...

Contents:

• xi - Makers of Worlds - (1971) - essay by Lin Carter
• 3 - Zulkaïs and Kalilah - [Vathek] - (1909) - novelette by William Beckford (trans. of Histoire de la Princesse Zulkaïs et du Prince Kalilah 1912)
• 58 - Silence: A Fable - [Tales of the Folio Club] - (1903) - short story by Edgar Allan Poe (variant of Siope--A Fable 1838)
• 64 - The Romance of Photogen and Nycteris - (1879) - novelette by George MacDonald (variant of The History of Photogen and Nycteris: A Day and Night Mährchen)
• 113 - The Sphinx - (1894) - poem by Oscar Wilde
• 128 - The Fall of Babbulkund - (1907) - short story by Lord Dunsany
• 145 - The Green Meadow - (1918) - short story by Winifred V. Jackson and H. P. Lovecraft [as by Elizabeth Berkeley and H. P. Lovecraft]
• 154 - The Feast in the House of the Worm - (1970) - short story by Gary Myers (variant of The House of the Worm)
• 166 - Zingazar - (1971) - short story by Lin Carter
• 183 - A Wine of Wizardry - (1907) - poem by George Sterling
• 193 - The Garden of Fear - [James Allison] - (1934) - novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 213 - Jirel Meets Magic - [Jirel of Joiry] - (1935) - novelette by C. L. Moore
• 254 - Duar the Accursed - (1937) - novelette by Clifford Ball
• 279 - The Hashish-Eater - (1947) - poem by Clark Ashton Smith (variant of The Hashish-Eater: or, The Apocalypse of Evil 1922)
• 300 - The Party at Lady Cusp-Canine's - (1969) - short story by Mervyn Peake
• 313 - The Sword of Power (Excerpt from Khymyrium) - [Khymyrium] - (1971) - short fiction by Lin Carter

IMAGINARY WORLDS is a book about fantasy, about the men who write it, and how it is written. It is a joyful excursion by a man who himself loves fantasy, into the origins and the magicks of such writers as Dunsany, Eddison, Cabell: it examines the rise of fantasy in the American pulp magazines and delights in the sturdy health of 'sword and sorcery': it looks with pleasure on the works of some modern masters and knowledgeably explores the techniques of world-making.

It is, in short, a happy exploration of worlds, and men, and writers, and writings, by an author whose enthusiasm for his subject is boundless -- and is thus a joyful guide for fantasy lovers everywhere.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Michael Moorcock
• The Small Betraying Detail - (1965) - shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
• The Keys to December - (1966) - novelette by Roger Zelazny
• The Assassination Weapon - (1966) - shortstory by J. G. Ballard
• Nobody Axed You - (1965) - novelette by John Brunner
• A Two-Timer - (1966) - novelette by David I. Masson
• The Music Makers - (1965) - shortstory by Langdon Jones
• The Squirrel Cage - (1966) - shortstory by Thomas M. Disch

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Michael Moorcock
• Another Little Boy - (1966) - shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
• The Poets of Millgrove, Iowa - (1966) - shortstory by John Sladek
• The Transfinite Choice - (1966) - shortstory by David I. Masson
• You: Coma: Marilyn Monroe - (1966) - shortstory by J. G. Ballard
• The Total Experience Kick - (1966) - shortstory by Charles Platt
• The Contest - (1967) - shortstory by Thomas M. Disch
• The Empty Room - (1967) - shortstory by Thomas M. Disch
• The Descent of the West End - (1967) - shortstory by Thomas M. Disch
• The Singular Quest of Martin Borg - (1965) - novelette by George Collyn
• The Countenance - (1964) - shortstory by Barrington J. Bayley
• The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius - (1965) - shortstory by Michael Moorcock
• Sisohpromatem - (1967) - shortstory by Kit Reed
• For a Breath I Tarry - (1966) - novelette by Roger Zelazny

Michael Moorcock's New Worlds may be the most dynamic SF magazine in the world today. Here is a vigorous, trail-blazing magazine whose writers carry you on voyages into the unknown--voyages which are original, disturbing & above all different.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Michael Moorcock
• In Passage of the Sun - (1966) - novelette by George Collyn
• Multi-Value Motorway - (1967) - shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
• The Great Clock - (1966) - shortstory by Langdon Jones
• The Post-Mortem People - (1966) - shortstory by Peter Tate
• The Disaster Story - (1966) - shortstory by Charles Platt
• The Heat Death of the Universe - (1967) - shortstory by Pamela Zoline
• Coranda - (1967) - novelette by Keith Roberts
• The Soft World Sequence - (1967) - poem by George MacBeth
• Kazoo - (1967) - shortstory by James Sallis
• Integrity - (1964) - shortstory by Barrington J. Bayley
• The Mountain - (1965) - shortstory by Michael Moorcock

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Michael Moorcock
• The Ship of Disaster - (1965) - shortstory by Barrington J. Bayley
• The Square Root of Brain - (1968) - shortstory by Fritz Leiber
• In Seclusion - (1966) - novelette by Harvey Jacobs
• Transient - (1965) - shortstory by Langdon Jones
• The Head-Rape - (1968) - poem by D. M. Thomas
• The Source - (1965) - shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
• Period of Gestation - (1964) - shortstory by Thom Keyes
• Dr. Gelabius - (1968) - shortstory by Hilary Bailey
• The Valve Transcript - (1968) - shortstory by Joel Zoss
• Linda and Daniel and Spike - (1967) - shortstory by Thomas M. Disch
• Masterson and the Clerks - (1967) - novella by John Sladek

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Michael Moorcock
• The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde - (1969) - shortstory by Norman Spinrad
• The Death Module - (1967) - shortstory by J. G. Ballard
• The Last Inn on the Road - (1967) - shortstory by Roger Zelazny and Dannie Plachta
• The Spectrum - (1969) - poem by D. M. Thomas
• The Tennyson Effect - (1966) - shortstory by Graham Hall
• The Serpent of Kundalini - [Colin Charteris] - (1968) - shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
• Mars Pastorale - (1967) - shortstory by Peter Tate
• Biographical Note on Ludwig Van Beethoven II - (1968) - shortstory by Langdon Jones
• A Landscape of Shallows - (1968) - shortstory by Christopher Finch
• Scream - (1968) - shortstory by Giles Gordon
• The Rodent Laboratory - (1966) - shortstory by Charles Platt

Table of Contents:

• The Killing Ground by J. G. Ballard
• Gravity by Harvey Jacobs
• The Eye of the Lens by Langdon Jones
• A Man Must Die by John Clute
• Mr Blacks Poems of Innocence by D. M. Thomas
• The Ersatz Wine by Christopher Priest
• Lib by Carol Emshwiller
• Ba Ba Blocksheep by M. John Harrison
• The Luger is a 9mm Automatic Handgun with Parabellum Action by Jerrold Mundis
• The Delhi Division by Michael Moorcock

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1971) - essay by Michael Moorcock
• The Ash Circus - (1969) - shortstory by M. John Harrison
• All the King's Men - (1965) - novelette by Barrington J. Bayley
• Mix-Up - (1964) - shortstory by George Collyn
• Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones - (1968) - novelette by Samuel R. Delany
• Lone Zone - (1965) - novella by Charles Platt
• Flower-Gathering - (1969) - poem by Langdon Jones
• Transplant - (1969) - poem by Langdon Jones
• The Apocalypse Machine - (1968) - shortstory by Leo Zorin
• The Beach Murders - (1966) - shortstory by J. G. Ballard
• The Wall - (1965) - shortstory by Josephine Saxton
• The Tank Trapeze - (1969) - shortstory by Michael Moorcock

Table of Contents:

• A Boy and His Dog - (1969) - novella by Harlan Ellison
• The Fall of Frenchy Steiner - (1964) - novelette by Hilary Bailey
• The Bait Principle - (1970) - shortstory by M. John Harrison
• Salvador Dali (The Innocent as Paranoid) - (1969) - essay by J. G. Ballard
• The Last Lonely Man - (1964) - shortstory by John Brunner
• The Radius Riders - (1962) - shortstory by Barrington J. Bayley
• The Big Sound - (1962) - shortstory by Barrington J. Bayley
• The Ship that Sailed the Ocean of Space - (1962) - shortstory by Barrington J. Bayley
• Double Time - (1962) - shortstory by Barrington J. Bayley
• The Erogenous Zone - (1969) - shortfiction by Graham Charnock

The Earth-like planet Peponi has vast riches, an abundant and opulent wildlife, much like Kenya on old-Earth, and most importantly, compliant natives. But now that humanity is on the brink of opening up an entirely new world, has it learned its lessons from the past? Covers the time from colonization to independence.

When Karimon is claimed by human colonists, which bears an uncanny resemblence to Zimbabwe on old-Earth, the planet's intelligent reptile inhabitants fight back by forging an alliance with the invaders' enemies. Covers the time from colonization to independence.

A small group of humans hope to avoid the mistakes that destroyed many other worlds. They are raising the Jasons from barbarism to civilization, on a planet which has much in comman with Uganda from old-Earth, but something goes hideously wrong.

William Masterson must try to find out why Jehanum, a showplace planet with a model government, productive farms, and a thriving tourist industry, has descended into bloody barbarism. One dictator after another rises to power, and the culture of the world is torn to fragments.

Being a sentient spaceship really should be more fun. But after spreading out through space for almost a century, Bob and his clones just can't stay out of trouble.

They've created enough colonies so humanity shouldn't go extinct. But political squabbles have a bad habit of dying hard, and the Brazilian probes are still trying to take out the competition. And the Bobs have picked a fight with an older, more powerful species with a large appetite and a short temper.

Still stinging from getting their collective butts kicked in their first encounter with the Others, the Bobs now face the prospect of a decisive final battle to defend Earth and its colonies. But the Bobs are less disciplined than a herd of cats, and some of the younger copies are more concerned with their own local problems than defeating the Others.

Yet salvation may come from an unlikely source. A couple of eighth-generation Bobs have found something out in deep space. All it will take to save the Earth and perhaps all of humanity is for them to get it to Sol -- unless the Others arrive first.

An expedition of groundlings from the Empire of Kish have traveled through the Three Worlds to the Indigo Cloud court of the Raksura, shape-shifting creatures of flight that live in large family groups. The groundlings have found a sealed ancient city at the edge of the shallow seas, near the deeps of the impassable Ocean. They believe it to be the last home of their ancestors and ask for help getting inside. But the Raksura fear it was built by their own distant ancestors, the Forerunners, and the last sealed Forerunner city they encountered was a prison for an unstoppable evil.

Prior to the groundlings' arrival, the Indigo Cloud court had been plagued by visions of a disaster that could destroy all the courts in the Reaches. Now, the court's mentors believe the ancient city is connected to the foretold danger. A small group of warriors, including consort Moon, an orphan new to the colony and the Raksura's idea of family, and sister queen Jade, agree to go with the groundling expedition to investigate. But the predatory Fell have found the city too, and in the race to keep the danger contained, the Raksura may be the ones who inadvertently release it.

Astronauts constructing a new space station must avert destruction from a missile sent by an unknown enemy; a generation starship is rocked by revelations of who their secret passengers in the hold truly are; a life or death struggle tests an operating surgeon -- in orbit, with an alien patient never seen before. Since space flight was achieved, and long before, science fiction writers have been imagining a myriad of stories set in the depths of the great darkness beyond our atmosphere.

From generation ships -- which are in space so long that there will be generations aboard who know no planetary life -- to orbiting satellites in the unforgiving reaches of the vacuum, there is a great range of these insular environments in which thrilling, innovative, and deeply emotional stories may unfold. With the Library's matchless collection of periodicals and magazines at his fingertips, Mike Ashley presents a stellar selection of tales from the infinite void above us, including contributions from Judith Merril, Jack Vance, and John Brunner.

Contents:

• 7 - Introduction (Spaceworlds: Stories of Life in the Void) - essay by Mike Ashley
• 19 - Umbrella in the Sky - (1961) - short story by E. C. Tubb
• 47 - Sail 25 - (1962) - novelette by Jack Vance (variant of Gateway to Strangeness)
• 87 - The Longest Voyage - (1967) - novelette by Richard C. Meredith
• 113 - The Ship Who Sang - [The Ship Who...] - (1961) - novelette by Anne McCaffrey
• 139 - O'Mara's Orphan - [Sector General] - (1960) - novelette by James White
• 185 - Ultima Thule - (1951) - short story by Eric Frank Russell
• 207 - The Voyage That Lasted 600 Years - (1940) - novelette by Don Wilcox
• 253 - Survival Ship - (1951) - short story by Judith Merril
• 267 - Lungfish - (1957) - novelette by John Brunner
• 317 - Story Sources (Spaceworlds: Stories of Life in the Void) - essay by Mike Ashley

Mercury Shell, Venus Shell, Earth, Mars, Asteroid, Jupiter, Saturn. Each shell concentric, studded with artificial planets, each planet embedded in its shell, spinning like a ball-bearing. The whole Zeus-created in the service of Man but now beyond his control.

Now mathematics and space physics, converging, suggested another shell, its existence hidden from Man. A shell of utter darkness, cold and silence where only extreme mutants could survive.

To find that shell, the three were journeying again: Maq Ancor, Master Assassin, Magician Cherry and Sine Anura, Mistress of the Erotic. Together, daring the all-seeing, all-sensing hostility of Zeus.

Captain Future and His Valiant Aides Speed to the Rescue of the Sagittarian System-Ready to Lock in Mortal Combat with Deadly Enemies from Another Dimension!...

William Morrison authored this novels under pseudonym Brett Sterling.

It first appeared in the spring, 1943 Issue of Captain Future magazine.

To download a free copy of this magazine;

• Go to Luminist Perodical Archives
• Scroll down to or search for Captain Future
• Click on the blue highlight of the above issue and follow the intructions for downloading a PDF copy.

Jack, a Walker, is in danger. He's learned a secret and earned an enemy. And Mage of Four, Mage of Luck, is a powerful enemy. He must flee the world of Lostwithal. He must flee to Kemolo, our world. The secret could mean the end of all worlds, not just his own.

Jake, Sarah, and Oberon Venn continue their fight for control of the Obsidian Mirror, and whoever wins will either save a life, change the past, or rescue the future.

But the Mirror has plans of its own.

Adam O'Connor, a teenage troublemaker of the late twentieth century, is hurtled out of time to the twenty-fourth century, where he is assigned the task of leading a historic meeting between humans and the warlike K'lugu and Devlins.

An outcast from her home -- Shunned after a trip through the galaxy with Abel, the most advanced cybernetic man ever created, Noemi Vidal dreams of traveling through the stars one more time. And when a deadly plague arrives on Genesis, Noemi gets her chance. As the only soldier to have ever left the planet, it will be up to her to save its people... if only she wasn't flying straight into a trap.

A fugitive from his fate -- On the run to avoid his depraved creator's clutches, Abel believes he's said good-bye to Noemi for the last time. After all, the entire universe stands between them...or so he thinks. When word reaches him of Noemi's capture by the very person he's trying to escape, Abel knows he must go to her, no matter the cost.

But capturing Noemi was only part of Burton Mansfield's master plan. In a race against time, Abel and Noemi will come together once more to discover a secret that could save the known worlds, or destroy them all.

In this thrilling and romantic sequel to Defy the Stars, bestselling author Claudia Gray asks us all to consider where--and with whom--we truly belong.

The Axiom Diamond is a mythical relic, with the power to show its bearer any truth they desire. Men have sought for it across many continents for centuries, but in vain. When trainee sorceress Aimee de Laurent's first ever portal-casting goes awry, she and her mentor are thrown into the race to find the gem, on the skyship Elysium. Opposing them are the infamous magic-wielding knights of the Eternal Order and their ruthless commander, Lord Azrael, who will destroy everything in their path...

A murderous plot aboard a city-sized flying ship must be averted before a crazed cult sends a million people to their deaths.

When portal-mage Harkon Bright and his apprentice are asked to help select a new captain for the immense skyship Iseult, they quickly find themselves embroiled in its Machiavellian officer's court. Meanwhile, their new recruit, Elias, struggles to adapt to his unexpected gift of life while suffering dark dreams of an ancient terror.

As the skies darken and storm-clouds gather on the Dragon Road, the crew of the Elysium come face to face with deadly intrigues, plots from beyond death, and a terrible darkness that lurks in the heart of a thousand-year storm.

The bizarre idea that the earth's interior is hollow and, perhaps, even populated has been put to effective literary use by writers ranging from Edgar Allen Poe and Jules Verne to Rudy Rucker and Edgar Rice Burroughs. This notion had respectability as a scientific hypothesis until the early 1800s, and the theory that the earth "is hollow and inhabitable within" continues to find believers as an alternative description of the earth to this day.

The hollow earth is one of the most important settings in the literature of the imagination that fed into early science fiction. Subterranean Worlds presents a fascinating look at the theme of the hollow earth and its history, as well as the geological theories which produced many of these stories. It excerpts key passages from the major subterranean world fictions, some translated into English for the first time. With helpful introductions to each selection and a comprehensive bibliography, this book is the definitive treatment of this entertaining topic.

Contents:

• A Bluffer's Guide to The Underworld: An Introduction to the Hollow Earth
• Theories and Descriptions of the Inner Earth, from Kicher to Symmes
• Relation D'Un Voyage Du Pole Arctique Au Pole Antarctique
• Lamekis ou les voyages extraordinaries d'un Egyptien dans la terre interieure
• The Journey of Niels Klim to the World Underground
• The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins
• A Voyage to the World in the Center of the Earth
• L'aventurier Francois
• L'Icosameron
• John Cleves Symmes Jr. and Symzonia
• Collin de Plancy: Voyage au centre de la terre
• Edgar Allen Poe and "the Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym"
• Jules Verne: Voyage au centre de la terre
• After Verne: Later Developments

Hugo and Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology New Voices III (1980), edited by George R. R. Martin. It can also be found in the anthologies The 1981 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha and The Best Science Fiction of the Year #10 (1981), edited by Terry Carr. It is included in the collections The Barbie Murders (1980) and The John Varley Reader (2004).

Hugo Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Galaxy, July 1976. The story is inlcuded in the collections The Persistence of Vision (1978) and The John Varley Reader (2004).

Nebula Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1975. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Best Science Fiction of the Year #5 (1976), edited by Terry Carr, The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: 22nd Series (1977), edited by Edward L. Ferman, Nebula Winners Twelve (1978), edited by Gordon R. Dickson, and The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction (1980), edited by Robert Silveerberg and Martin H. Greenberg. It is included in the collections The Persistence of Vision (1978) and Good-Bye, Robinson Crusoe and Other Stories (2013).

Hugo and Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology Universe 9 (1979), edited by Terry Carr. It can also be found in the anthologies The 1980 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha, and The Best Science Fiction of the Year #9 (1980). It is included in the collections Blue Champagne (1986) and The John Varley Reader (2004).

Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1975. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Best Science Fiction of the Year #5 (1976), edited by Terry Carr and Worldmakers: SF Adventures in Terraforming (2001) edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collections The Persistence of Vision (1978) and Good-Bye, Robinson Crusoe and Other Stories (2013).

Hugo Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Galaxy, February 1976. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Best Science Fiction of the Year #6 (1977), edited by Terry Carr, The World Treasury of Science Fiction (1989), edited by David G. Hartwell and Clones (1998) edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collections The Persistence of Vision (1978) and The John Varley Reader (2004).

After the effortless capture of Earth by vastly superior aliens, humanity is forced to fight for existence on the Moon and other lumps of airless rock. The invention of the Hotline -- a constant stream of data from a star in the constellation Ophiuchus -- facilitates survival and enables the development of amazing new technologies.

Then, after 400 years, humanity's unknown helpers send a bill for their services... and suddenly everything is threatened once again.

The Ophiuchi Hotline was John Varley's first novel, and it received nominations for both the Hugo and Nebula awards he later won both for his book Persistence of Vision.

Luna, the Eden-like lunar colony that has become humankind's home since an alien attack destroyed Earth, is threatened by strange dark forces that lead reporter Hildy Johnson and other inhabitants to feelings of depression and suicide.

Sparky Valentine, an actor and wanted murderer roaming the universe with a theatrical group, who can transform his appearance and his sex with magnetic implants, finds himself nearing both home and a confrontation with justice.

Christopher Bach was a policeman in one of the largest Lunar cities when the A.I. Lunar Central Computer had a breakdown. Known as the Big Glitch, the problem turned out to be a larger war than anyone expected. When order was restored, Chris's life could never be the same. Now he's a private detective, assisted by his genetically altered dog Sherlock, and emulates the tough guys in the noir books and movies that he loves.

When Bach takes the case of a woman involuntarily infected with an engineered virus, he is on the hunt to track down the biohackers in the infamous district of Irontown. But if he wants to save humanity, he'll have to confront his own demons.

What strange attraction lures people to the planet Drebnar? When the TARDIS is dragged there, the Doctor determines to find out why. He discovers that scientists from the Frontier Worlds Corporation have set up a base on the planet, and are trying to blur the distinction between people and plants.

The fate of the multiverse rests in Marguerite's hands in the final installment of the Firebird trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray.

Ever since she used the Firebird, her parent's invention, to cross through alternate dimensions, Marguerite has been at the center of a cross-dimensional feud. Now she has learned that the evil Triad Corporation plans to destroy hundreds of universes, using their ultimate weapon: another dimension's Marguerite who is wicked, psychologically twisted, and always one step ahead.

Even though her boyfriend Paul has always been at Marguerite's side, the Triad's last attack has left him a changed man, and he may never be the same again. Marguerite alone must stop Triad and prevent the destruction of the multiverse. It's a battle of the Marguerites... and only one can win.

In the epic conclusion to the sweeping series that kicked off with A Thousand Pieces of You, fate and family will be questioned, loves will be won and lost, and the multiverse will be forever changed.

How can you stop a conspiracy of telepaths? The alien Lyhhrt are powerful enough to read the human mind; if they find you know too much, they can erase your memory, or simply stop your heart. The normally peaceful Lyhhrt society has been splintered by technological change, the bitter legacy of their exploitation by the Zamos crime family. Now a few renegade Lyhhrt, driven mad by isolation from their group mind, seem to be planning terrible crimes--or are they again being used as deadly tools in someone else's scheme?

What did our ancestors dream of when they gazed up at the stars and looked beyond the present? Wildly imaginative but grounded in reasoned scientific speculation, A Journey in Other Worlds races far ahead of the nineteenth century to imagine what life would be like in the year 2000. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Earth is effectively a corporate technocracy, with big businesses using incredible advances in science to improve life on the planet as a whole. Seeking other planets habitable for the growing human population, the spaceship Callisto, powered by an antigravitational force known as apergy, embarks on a momentous tour of the solar system. Jupiter proves to be a wilderness paradise, full of threatening beasts and landscapes of inspired beauty, where the explorers must fight for their lives. Dangers less tangible but equally deadly await the Callisto crew on Saturn, which yields profound secrets about their fate and the ultimate destiny of mankind.

Thoughtful, adventurous, and replete with a dazzling array of futuristic devices, A Journey in Other Worlds is a classic, unforgettable story of utopias and humankind's restless exploration of the stars.

The Bision Edition is the fourth edition. Each edition was revised and expanded.

So, just how was Tarzan created? Eager to know the inside story about the legendary John Carter and the amazing cities and peoples of Barsoom? Perhaps your taste is more suited to David Innes and the fantastic lost world at the Earth's core? Or maybe wrong-way Napier and the bizarre civilizations of cloud-enshrouded Venus are more to your liking? These pages contain all that you will ever want to know about the wondrous worlds and unforgettable characters penned by the master storyteller Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Richard A. Lupoff, the respected critic and writer who helped spark a Burroughs revival in the 1960s, reveals fascinating details about the stories written by the creator of Tarzan. Featured here are outlines of all of Burroughs's major novels, with descriptions of how they were each written and their respective sources of inspiration. This Bison Books edition includes a new foreword by fantasy writer Michael Moorcock, a new introduction by the author, a final chapter by Phillip R. Burger, as well as corrected text and an updated bibliography.

Contents:

• 2 - Edgar Rice Burroughs and His Most Famous Creations - (1965) - interior artwork by Al Williamson and Reed Crandall
• 7 - Preface (Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure) - (1965) - essay by Henry Hardy Heins
• 24 - Introduction to the Centennial Edition (Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure) - essay by Richard A. Lupoff
• 28 - Introduction to Second Edition (Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure) - (1968) - essay by Richard A. Lupoff (variant of Introduction to this Edition (Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure))
• 46 - John Carter Battles Green Men of Barsoom - (1965) - interior artwork by Al Williamson and Reed Crandall
• 76 - David Innes, Hyaenodons, and Man-Apes of Pellucidar - (1965) - interior artwork by Frank Frazetta
• 119 - The Land That Time Forgot - (1965) - interior artwork by Al Williamson and Reed Crandall
• 127 - A Scene from The Moon Men - (1965) - interior artwork by Reed Crandall
• 130 - A Scene from The Red Hawk - (1965) - interior artwork by Reed Crandall
• 162 - Carson Napier and the Klangan of Amtor - (1965) - interior artwork by Al Williamson and Reed Crandall
• 197 - David Innes, Jubal the Ugly One, Dian the Beautiful - (1965) - interior artwork by Frank Frazetta
• 219 - A Mahar casts her sinister spell - (1965) - interior artwork by Frank Frazetta (variant of "She moved as one in a trance straight toward the reptile." 1973)
• 240 - Jacket Design for a Proposed Edition of Pellucidar - (1965) - interior artwork by Frank Frazetta
• 272 - David Innes Faces a Labyrinthodon in Pellucidar - (1965) - interior artwork by Frank Frazetta
• 286 - David Innes, a Hydrophidian, Ja the Mezop - (1965) - interior artwork by Frank Frazetta
• 305 - Bibliography (Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure) - (1965) - essay by Richard A. Lupoff
• 313 - A Checklist of Edgar Rice Burroughs Books - (1965) - essay by Richard A. Lupoff

An artist, poet, and prolific contributor to Weird Tales, Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1967) is an influential figure in the history of pulp fiction. A close correspondent and collaborator with H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, Smith was widely celebrated as a master by his contemporaries. Back in print for the first time since 1971, Lost Worlds brings together twenty-three of Smith's classic stories, all of which were originally published in Weird Tales. Rather than center his works on heroes, Smith created fantastical worlds around which he built cycles of stories. Included here are tales from the realms of Averoigne, Zothique, Hyperborea, and others. Told in lush poetic prose, these haunting stories bring to life dark, dreamlike realms full of gothic monsters and mortals. Jeff VanderMeer provides an introduction for this Bison Books edition.

Contents:

• viii - Introduction (Lost Worlds) - essay by Jeff VanderMeer
• 3 - The Tale of Satampra Zeiros - [Satampra Zeiros] - (1931) - shortstory
• 18 - The Door to Saturn - [Hyperborea] - (1932) - shortstory
• 42 - The Seven Geases - [Hyperborea] - (1934) - novelette
• 67 - The Coming of the White Worm - [Hyperborea] - (1941) - shortstory
• 85 - The Last Incantation - [Malygris] - (1930) - shortstory
• 91 - A Voyage to Sfanomoë - [Poseidonis] - (1931) - shortstory
• 101 - The Death of Malygris - [Malygris] - (1934) - shortstory
• 119 - The Holiness of Azédarac - [Averoigne] - (1933) - novelette
• 144 - The Beast of Averoigne - [Averoigne] - (1933) - shortstory
• 159 - The Empire of the Necromancers - [Zothique] - (1932) - shortstory
• 171 - The Isle of the Torturers - [Zothique] - (1933) - shortstory
• 190 - Necromancy in Naat - [Zothique] - (1936) - novelette
• 214 - Xeethra - [Zothique] - (1934) - novelette
• 239 - The Maze of Maal Dweb - [Maal Dweb] - (1933) - shortstory
• 255 - The Flower-Women - [Maal Dweb] - (1935) - shortstory
• 271 - The Demon of the Flower - (1933) - shortstory
• 283 - The Plutonian Drug - (1934) - shortstory
• 296 - The Planet of the Dead - (1932) - shortstory
• 311 - The Gorgon - (1932) - shortstory
• 325 - The Letter from Mohaun Los - (1932) - novelette (variant of Flight into Super-Time)
• 366 - The Light from Beyond - (1933) - novelette
• 390 - The Hunters from Beyond - (1932) - shortstory
• 410 - The Treader of the Dust - (1935) - shortstory

Contains both The House of Many Worlds (1951) and Three Faces of Time (1955).

THE CLASSIC OF ALTERNATE EARTHS!

Ancient, encrusted with legend, supposedly empty, the old mansion on Spindrift Key stood like a dark and lowering wraith. Reporter Elspeth Marriner's nose for news leads her into a world of trouble. Make that, in worlds of trouble. When she and photographer Mack Fraser, the man she loves to hate, are sent to investigate the old mansion in the Hatteras, they never dream that once inside their lives will never be the same. For the house is a gateway to alternate Earths, watched over by a mysterious group called the Workers, who guard against more advanced civilizations crossing the dimensional barriers to conquer defenseless neighbors. From the Workers, Elspeth learns that her and Mack's presence at the house is no accident. They have been personally selected by the Workers for a dangerous assignment. Their unique combination of talents and knowledge are needed to counter a threat that could plunge the entire world into war. If Elspeth accepted the assignment, she would have to cross to another world, aided only by her native ingenuity, then surmount a succession of plots and counterplots, with death the price of failure. Worse, she would have to work more closely than ever with the detested Mark Fraser.

Terrifying disturbances have been reported in the Uranium mines of Fortuna. The minors have come to believe that they are haunted, and the delays in production have attracted the attention of the Royal Atomic Energy Commission. Their agent arrives to discover one of the mine's owners, a young woman of unknown origin, living in terror of the other, an old man with mad dreams of immortality. They follow a mysterious and ruthless would-be goddess into another world, where masked beings of pure energy have enslaved the population for thousands of years, drawing their titanic power from the unfathomable Well of the Worlds.

A CAPTIVATING STORY OF JOURNEY AND SACRIFICE

Uled, the originator of the carnivorous Aern, the plantlike Vael, and the reptilian Zaur, has completed his plan to return from the dead, unleashing an army of undead creatures on the living world.

Prince Rivvek has achieved peace between his people and the Aern, but at the cost of his capital city and the departure of a large portion of his military on a suicide mission to attempt the rescue of the Lost Command, a group of one thousand Armored Aern who carried their assault into the Never Dark as a gambit to help win the last Demon War. The goal is to gain the forgiveness of the Aern and to be accepted as something other than Oathbreakers by Rae'en, the leader of the Aern and daughter of Kholster.

Kholster, who only recently became the god of death, must work together with other new deities to bring balance to the heavens and stop Uled. Can he prevent Uled's undead army from ravaging the world in time to save Rae'en and those he still loves in the mortal realm?

A single-volume omnibus of the first three Hainish novels.

Intergalactic war reaches Fomalhaut II in Rocannon's World.

Born out of season, a precocious young girl visits the alien city of the farborns and the false-men in Planet of Exile.

In City of Illusions a stranger wandering in the forest people's woods is found and his health restored; now the fate of two worlds rests in this stranger's hands...

Contents

• Rocannon's World (1966)
• Planet of Exile (1966)
• City of Illusions (1967)

Finalist for the Compton Crook Award for Best First Novel

The clone of a traitor, sub-human spy probe August is catapulted into the midst of an interplanetary war as the planet Neuland is threatened with alien annihilation and August himself confronts his dream of becoming fully human.

Treated like an outcast in a genetically engineered world, human throwback Gray Bridger hopes to escape Testament and the powerful Bridger matriarchy that plots to use Gray for its own devices.

On a future Earth, the arrival of a vast alien starship forces the entire world to confront a deadly virus.

Simply because he is genetically altered, an academic researcher is banished to the unknown enemy worlds of the Emirates -- a place of barbaric culture ruled by the Sons, descendants of human men and holy Houris. Pursued by those who would use his gift towards their own ends, he desperately attempts to find a way back to the Harmony and stumbles across a terrible secret that will stop an intergalactic war, and perhaps, change what it means to be Human -- forever.

He thought Hell was the worst they could throw at him.

He was wrong.

Back from tangling with the Hammer of Kraa, the most brutal, trigger-happy tyrants in humanspace, Junior Lieutenant Michael Helfort is assigned to the Federated Worlds heavy cruiser Ishaq, which is struggling to rise to the threat posed by a newly resurgent Hammer. Aboard the floundering ship, Helfort is coming to grips with a painful injury and the unpleasant truth that nobody likes a young hero--least of all senior officers.

Without warning, the Ishaq and twenty-seven Fed merchant ships are blown apart in a horrific ambush, the first step in the Hammer's master strategy to destroy the hated Federated Worlds. Michael and a pitiful remnant of the Ishaq's crew escape the inferno. The Feds have no idea who's behind the heinous attack, and the Hammer are determined to keep it that way, consigning the Ishaq's survivors to a prison camp deep in the wilderness of the Hammer's home planet.

No one's getting out alive to derail the Hammer's lethal master plan--especially not the FedWorlds hero who so humiliated them on the battlefield. It's payback time, and the Hammers intend to throw their entire space fleet into destroying Michael Helfort and the Federated Worlds.

Too bad it won't be enough.

Darien is no longer a lost outpost of humanity, but the prize in an intergalactic power struggle. Hegemony forces have a stranglehold over the planet and crack troops patrol its hotspots while Earth watches, passive, rendered impotent by galactic politics. But its Darien ambassador will soon become a player in a greater conflict. There is more at stake than a turf war on a newly discovered world.

An ancient Uvovo temple hides access to a hyperspace prison, housing the greatest threat sentient life has ever known. Millennia ago, malignant intelligences were caged there following an apocalyptic war. And their servants work on their release.

However, Darien’s guardians have not been idle, gathering resistance on the planet’s forest moon. Knowledge has been lost since great races battled in eons past, and now time is short. The galaxy will depend on the Uvovo reclaiming their past – and humanity must look to its future. For a new war is coming.

This work takes its readers on a thrilling journey to the planets and moons of our solar system, including Mars and Saturn before heading, at several times the speed of light, to Alpa Centauri, where they explore an Eden-like planet.

Appeared in Ace Double F-127 in 1962.

When Brion Bayard was kidnapped and brought to the alternate world where Earth's history took a different turn, it was not a pleasant experience. It was, however, a startling experience. Here was a world that was just like the Earth he was taken from--with just a few subtle changes. On top of all this, Brion was given a puzzling assignment by his captors. He was to secretly enter a palace, and kill a dangerous and tyrannical dictator. There was one, small catch--the hated dictator in this world was the mirror image of Brion Bayard. For on an Alternate Earth, Brion's is his own worst enemy!

Stories deal with a magician's quest, a man who changes into an elephant, sorcerers, werewolves, storytellers, a magical necklace, ancient monsters revived by a spell, a daring rescue, and a mysterious wall...

Table of Contents:

• 7 - Introduction: Wizards - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 11 - Mazirian the Magician - [Dying Earth] - (1950) - short story by Jack Vance
• 27 - Please Stand By - [Max Kearny] - (1962) - short story by Ron Goulart
• 49 - What Good Is a Glass Dagger? - [Magic Goes Away] - (1972) - novelette by Larry Niven
• 84 - The Eye of Tandyla - [Pusadian] - (1951) - novelette by L. Sprague de Camp
• 107 - The White Horse Child - (1979) - short story by Greg Bear
• 126 - Semley's Necklace - [Hainish] - (1964) - short story by Ursula K. Le Guin (variant of The Dowry of Angyar)
• 145 - And the Monsters Walk - (1952) - novella by John Jakes
• 182 - The Seeker in the Fortress - [Kardios] - (1979) - novelette by Manly Wade Wellman
• 204 - The Wall Around the World - (1953) - novelette by Theodore R. Cogswell
• 230 - The People of the Black Circle - [Conan] - (1934) - novella by Robert E. Howard

Table of Contents:

• 9 - Introduction: Witches - (1984) - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 12 - My Mother Was a Witch - (1966) - short story by William Tenn
• 18 - A Message from Charity - (1967) - short story by William M. Lee
• 37 - The Witch - (1943) - novelette by A. E. van Vogt
• 58 - The Witches of Karres - [Karres] - (1949) - novelette by James H. Schmitz
• 99 - Spree - (1984) - short story by Barry N. Malzberg
• 107 - Devil's Henchman - (1952) - short story by Murray Leinster
• 121 - Malice in Wonderland - (1957) - novelette by Rufus King
• 140 - Operation Salamander - [Operation Chaos] - (1957) - novelette by Poul Anderson
• 166 - Wizard's World - (1967) - novella by Andre Norton
• 212 - Sweets to the Sweet - (1947) - short story by Robert Bloch
• 221 - Poor Little Saturday - (1956) - short story by Madeleine L'Engle
• 236 - Squeakie's First Case - (1943) - novelette by Margaret Manners
• 258 - The Ipswich Phial - [Lord Darcy] - (1976) - novelette by Randall Garrett
• 303 - Black Heart and White Heart - (1896) - novella by H. Rider Haggard

Magical tales of chivalry and adventure include works by Poul Anderson, Vera Chapman, L. Sprague de Camp, Kenneth Grahame, Keith Laumer, Roger Zelazny, and others...

Table of Contents:

• 1 - Introduction: In Days of Old - (1985) - essay by Isaac Asimov (variant of In Days of Old)
• 7 - Crusader Damosel - (1978) - short story by Vera Chapman
• 21 - Divers Hands - [Julian] - (1979) - novelette by Darrell Schweitzer
• 49 - The Reluctant Dragon - (1898) - novelette by Kenneth Grahame
• 71 - The Immortal Game - (1954) - short story by Poul Anderson
• 85 - The Stainless-Steel Knight - (1961) - novelette by John T. Phillifent
• 117 - Diplomat-at-Arms - [Retief] - (1960) - novella by Keith Laumer
• 165 - Dream Damsel - (1954) - short story by Evan Hunter
• 177 - The Last Defender of Camelot - (1979) - novelette by Roger Zelazny
• 201 - A Knyght Ther Was - (1963) - novella by Robert F. Young
• 251 - Divide and Rule - (1939) - novella by L. Sprague de Camp

Short stories by authors such as Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, and Andre Norton depict the strange effects of curses and magic spells...

Table of Contents:

• 7 - Curses! - (1985) - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 10 - The Candidate - (1961) - short story by Henry Slesar
• 18 - The Christmas Shadrach - (1891) - short story by Frank R. Stockton
• 37 - The Snow Women - [Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser] - (1970) - novella by Fritz Leiber
• 106 - Invisible Boy - (1945) - short story by Ray Bradbury
• 116 - The Hero Who Returned - (1979) - novelette by Gerald W. Page
• 140 - Toads of Grimmerdale - [Witch World Secrets] - (1973) - novella by Andre Norton (variant of The Toads of Grimmerdale)
• 188 - A Literary Death - (1985) - short story by Martin H. Greenberg
• 191 - Satan and Sam Shay - (1942) - short story by Robert Arthur
• 206 - Lot No. 249 - (1892) - novelette by Arthur Conan Doyle
• 239 - The Witch Is Dead - [Simon Ark - 3] - (1956) - short story by Edward D. Hoch
• 259 - I Know What You Need - (1976) - novelette by Stephen King
• 282 - The Miracle Workers - (1969) - novella by Jack Vance (variant of The Miracle-Workers 1958)

Table of Contents:

• 7 - Introduction: Giants in the Earth - (1985) - essay by Isaac Asimov (variant of Giants in the Earth)
• 11 - The Riddle of Ragnarok - (1955) - short story by Theodore Sturgeon
• 31 - Straggler from Atlantis - [Kardios] - (1977) - novelette by Manly Wade Wellman
• 57 - He Who Shrank - (1936) - novella by Henry Hasse
• 123 - From the Dark Waters - (1976) - short story by David Drake
• 139 - Small Lords - (1957) - novelette by Frederik Pohl
• 161 - The Mad Planet - [Burl - 1] - (1920) - novella by Murray Leinster
• 220 - Dreamworld - (1955) - short story by Isaac Asimov
• 222 - The Thirty and One - [Tales from Cornwall - 4] - (1938) - short story by David H. Keller, M.D.
• 235 - The Law-Twister Shorty - [Dilbia] - (1971) - novelette by Gordon R. Dickson
• 279 - In the Lower Passage - (1902) - short story by Harle Oren Cummins
• 284 - Cabin Boy - (1951) - novelette by Damon Knight
• 312 - The Colossus of Ylourgne - [The Colossus of Ylourgne] - (1934) - novelette by Clark Ashton Smith

Table of Contents:

• 3 - Centaur Fielder for the Yankees - (1986) - short story by Edward D. Hoch
• 15 - The Ice Dragon - (1980) - novelette by George R. R. Martin
• 38 - Prince Prigio - (1889) - novella by Andrew Lang
• 90 - The Gorgon - (1982) - novelette by Tanith Lee
• 114 - The Griffin and the Minor Canon - (1885) - short story by Frank R. Stockton
• 131 - The Kragen - (1964) - novella by Jack Vance
• 205 - The Little Mermaid - (1837) - novelette by Hans Christian Andersen (trans. of Den Lille Havfrue)
• 230 - Letters from Laura - (1954) - short story by Mildred Clingerman
• 239 - The Triumph of Pegasus - (1964) - novelette by Frank A. Javor
• 271 - Caution! Inflammable! - (1955) - short story by Thomas N. Scortia
• 276 - The Pyramid Project - (1964) - novelette by Robert F. Young (variant of The Sphinx)
• 309 - The Silken-Swift - (1953) - short story by Theodore Sturgeon
• 332 - Mood Wendigo - [Howie Wyman] - (1980) - short story by Thomas A. Easton

Stories tell of a magical umbrella, a newspaper that predicts the future, a devil's advocate, a terrible curse, a witch, a wizard, nightmares, and a powerful genie...

Table of Contents:

• 9 - Introduction: Wishing Will Make It So - (1986) - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 12 - The Monkey's Paw - (1902) - short story by W. W. Jacobs
• 24 - Behind the News - (1952) - short story by Jack Finney
• 38 - The Flight of the Umbrella - [Umbrella / Fillmore] - (1977) - novella by Marvin Kaye
• 97 - Tween - (1978) - novelette by J. F. Bone
• 121 - The Boy Who Brought Love - (1974) - short story by Edward D. Hoch
• 125 - The Vacation - (1963) - short story by Ray Bradbury
• 133 - The Anything Box - (1956) - short story by Zenna Henderson
• 148 - A Born Charmer - [Dafydd Llewelyn] - (1981) - short story by Edward P. Hughes
• 166 - What If ... - (1952) - short story by Isaac Asimov
• 180 - Millennium - (1955) - short story by Fredric Brown
• 182 - Dreams Are Sacred - (1948) - novelette by Peter Phillips
• 206 - The Same to You Doubled - (1970) - short story by Robert Sheckley
• 216 - Gifts - (1958) - short story by Gordon R. Dickson
• 230 - I Wish I May, I Wish I Might - (1973) - short story by Bill Pronzini
• 234 - Three Day Magic - (1948) - novella by Charlotte Armstrong
• 321 - The Bottle Imp - (1891) - novelette by Robert Louis Stevenson

A collection of fantasy stories dealing with black magic, temptation, and demonic enchantment includes works by Arthur C. Clarke, Stephen Vincent Benet, Leo Tolstoy, Robert Bloch, Theodore Sturgeon, and Philip Jose Farmer...

Table of Contents:

• 9 - The Devil - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 13 - I'm Dangerous Tonight - (1937) - novella by Cornell Woolrich
• 91 - The Devil in Exile - [Devil & Belphagor - 3] - (1968) - short story by Brian Cleeve
• 105 - The Cage - (1959) - short story by Ray Russell
• 113 - The Tale of Ivan the Fool - (1890) - novelette 1886) [as by Leo Tolstoi]
• 143 - The Shepherds - (1941) - short story by Ruth Sawyer
• 151 - He Stepped on the Devil's Tail - (1955) - short story by Winston K. Marks
• 167 - Rustle of Wings - (1953) - short story by Fredric Brown
• 173 - That Hell-Bound Train - (1958) - short story by Robert Bloch
• 189 - Added Inducement - (1957) - short story by Robert F. Young
• 197 - The Devil and Daniel Webster - (1936) - short story by Stephen Vincent Benét
• 213 - Colt .24 - (1987) - short story by Rick Hautala
• 225 - The Making of Revelation, Part I - (1980) - novelette by Philip José Farmer
• 243 - The Howling Man - (1959) - short story by Charles Beaumont
• 261 - Trace - (1961) - short story by Jerome Bixby
• 265 - Guardian Angel - (1950) - novelette by Arthur C. Clarke
• 309 - The Devil Was Sick - (1951) - short story by Bruce Elliott
• 321 - Deal with the D.E.V.I.L. - (1981) - short story by Theodore R. Cogswell
• 325 - Dazed - (1971) - novelette by Theodore Sturgeon

A collection of fantastic tales from some of the world's finest science fiction writers brings to life a lost world that still holds out the promise of magical secrets or fatal traps for the curious or unwary...

Table of Contents:

• 9 - Introduction: The Lost City - (1988) - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 15 - Treaty in Tartessos - (1963) - short story by Karen Anderson
• 23 - The Vengeance of Ulios - (1935) - novelette by Edmond Hamilton
• 61 - Scar-Tissue - (1946) - short story by Henry S. Whitehead
• 77 - The Double Shadow - [Poseidonis] - (1933) - short story by Clark Ashton Smith
• 95 - The Dweller in the Temple - [Kardios] - (1977) - novelette by Manly Wade Wellman
• 123 - Gone Fishing - (1988) - short story by J. A. Pollard
• 129 - The Lamp - [W. Wilson Newbury] - (1975) - short story by L. Sprague de Camp
• 153 - The Shadow Kingdom - [Kull of Valusia] - (1929) - novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 193 - The New Atlantis - (1975) - novelette by Ursula K. Le Guin
• 225 - Dragon Moon - [Elak] - (1941) - novelette by Henry Kuttner
• 273 - The Brigadier in Check -- and Mate - [Brigadier Ffellowes] - (1986) - novella by Sterling E. Lanier

Fourteen chilling tales--including Charles L. Grant's "Come Dance With Me on my Pony's Grave," Parke Godwin's "The Fire When it Comes," and Isaac Asimov's "Author Author"--tells of ghosts returned on quests of justice, love, and vengeance...

Table of Contents:

• 7 - Introduction: Ghosts - (1988) - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 11 - Ringing the Changes - (1955) - novelette by Robert Aickman
• 39 - Author! Author! - (1964) - novelette by Isaac Asimov
• 67 - Touring - (1981) - novelette by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois and Michael Swanwick [as by Jack M. Dann and Gardner Dozois and Michael Swanwick]
• 85 - The Wind in the Rose-Bush - (1902) - novelette by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
• 102 - Come Dance with Me on My Pony's Grave - (1973) - short story by Charles L. Grant
• 115 - The Fire When It Comes - (1981) - novelette by Parke Godwin
• 159 - The Toll-House - (1907) - short story by W. W. Jacobs
• 169 - The Invasion of the Church of the Holy Ghost - (1983) - novelette by Russell Kirk
• 213 - A Terrible Vengeance - (1889) - novelette by Mrs. J. H. Riddell [as by Charlotte Riddell]
• 254 - Elle Est Trois, (La Mort) - (1983) - novelette by Tanith Lee
• 275 - A Passion for History - (1976) - short story by Stephen Minot
• 286 - Daemon - (1946) - short story by C. L. Moore
• 309 - The Lady's Maid's Bell - (1902) - novelette by Edith Wharton
• 329 - The King of Thieves - [Magnus Ridolph] - (1949) - short story by Jack Vance

Tales of dark magic, sinister spells, deadly vengeance, and terrifying powers highlight a collection featuring the work of Wilkie Collins, Robert Bloch, Arthur C. Clarke, and other authors...

Table of Contents:

• 7 - Introduction: Malevolence - (1989) - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 10 - The Curse - (1946) - short story by Arthur C. Clarke
• 13 - Julia Cahill's Curse - (1903) - short story by George Moore
• 19 - The Red Swimmer - (1939) - novelette by Robert Bloch
• 40 - The Doom of the Griffiths - (1858) - novelette by Mrs. Gaskell [as by Elizabeth Gaskell]
• 75 - You Know Willie - (1957) - short story by Theodore R. Cogswell
• 80 - Trouble with Water - (1939) - short story by H. L. Gold [as by Horace L. Gold]
• 102 - Mad Monkton - (1855) - novella by Wilkie Collins
• 164 - Long Chromachy of the Crows - (1905) - short story by Seumas MacManus
• 175 - The Little Black Train - [John the Balladeer] - (1954) - short story by Manly Wade Wellman
• 191 - The Curse of the Catafalques - (1882) - novelette by F. Anstey
• 217 - A Séance in Summer - (1974) - short story by Thomas F. Monteleone [as by Mario Martin, Jr.]
• 228 - Transformations - (1989) - short story by Christopher Fahy
• 237 - In Dark New England Days - (1890) - short story by Sarah Orne Jewett
• 256 - The Messenger - (1897) - novelette by Robert W. Chambers
• 292 - Or the Grasses Grow - (1958) - short story by Avram Davidson
• 301 - The Dollar - (1905) - short story by Morgan Robertson
• 317 - A Hunger in the Blood - (1989) - novelette by Talmage Powell

Table of Contents:

• 1 - Fairyland - (1991) - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 4 - How the Fairies Came to Ireland - (1902) - short story by Herminie Templeton Kavanagh [as by Herminie Templeton]
• 15 - The Manor of Roses - [John & Stephen] - (1966) - novella by Thomas Burnett Swann
• 79 - The Fairy Prince - (1911) - short story by H. C. Bailey
• 93 - The Ugly Unicorn - (1991) - short story by Jessica Amanda Salmonson
• 105 - The Brownie of the Black Haggs - short story by James Hogg (variant of The Brownie of the Black Hags 1828)
• 121 - The Dream of Akinosuké - (1904) - short story by Lafcadio Hearn
• 128 - Elfinland - (1991) - novelette by Ludwig Tieck (trans. of Die Elfen 1812) [as by Johann Ludwig Tieck]
• 148 - Darby O'Gill and the Good People - (1901) - short story by Herminie Templeton Kavanagh [as by Herminie Templeton]
• 161 - No Man's Land - novella by John Buchan (variant of No-Man's-Land 1899)
• 208 - The Prism - (1901) - short story by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman [as by Mary E. Wilkins]
• 220 - The Kith of the Elf-Folk - (1908) - short story by Lord Dunsany
• 235 - The Secret Place - (1966) - short story by Richard McKenna
• 252 - The King of the Elves - (1953) - novelette by Philip K. Dick
• 274 - Flying Pan - (1956) - short story by Robert F. Young
• 284 - My Father, the Cat - (1957) - short story by Henry Slesar
• 292 - Kid Stuff - (1953) - short story by Isaac Asimov
• 307 - The Long Night of Waiting - (1974) - short story by Andre Norton
• 325 - The Queen of Air and Darkness - (1971) - novella by Poul Anderson

Stories deal with the rise and fall, government, exploration missions, incorporation, and defense of interstellar empires.

Table of Contents:

• 7 - Introduction: Empires - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 11 - Cycles - essay by uncredited
• 13 - Chalice of Death - [Lest We Forget Thee, Earth - 1] - (1957) - novella by Robert Silverberg
• 47 - Orphan of the Void - [Terran Federation - 1] - (1972) - novelette by Lloyd Biggle, Jr. (variant of The Man Who Wasn't Home 1960)
• 92 - Down to the Worlds of Men - (1963) - novelette by Alexei Panshin
• 120 - Governance - essay by uncredited
• 122 - Ministry of Disturbance - [Empire Era] - (1958) - novelette by H. Beam Piper
• 163 - Blind Alley - [Foundation Universe] - (1945) - short story by Isaac Asimov
• 186 - A Planet Named Shayol - [The Instrumentality of Mankind] - (1961) - novelette by Cordwainer Smith
• 222 - Concerns - essay by uncredited
• 224 - Diabologic - (1955) - short story by Eric Frank Russell
• 245 - Fighting Philosopher - [Philosophical Corps] - (1954) - novelette by Everett B. Cole [as by E. B. Cole]
• 281 - Honorable Enemies - [Dominic Flandry] - (1951) - novelette by Poul Anderson

1984 Signet Classic mass market paperback. Edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh. Sci-fi anthology includes stories by Asimov, George R.R. Martin, L. Sprague de Camp, Mike Resnick, Arthur C. Clarke. Alan Dean Foster and others.

Table of Contents:

• 1 - Introduction: Competition! - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 4 - Run to Starlight - (1974) - novelette by George R. R. Martin
• 33 - The Mickey Mouse Olympics - (1979) - short story by Tom Sullivan
• 47 - Dream Fighter - (1977) - short story by Bob Shaw
• 59 - The Kokod Warriors - [Magnus Ridolph] - (1952) - novelette by Jack Vance
• 94 - Getting Through University - [Dr. Dillingham] - (1968) - novelette by Piers Anthony
• 127 - For the Sake of Grace - [Coyote Jones] - (1969) - novelette by Suzette Haden Elgin
• 150 - The National Pastime - (1973) - novelette by Norman Spinrad
• 169 - A Day for Dying - (1969) - short story by Charles Nuetzel
• 179 - The People Trap - (1968) - short story by Robert Sheckley
• 197 - Why Johnny Can't Speed - (1971) - short story by Alan Dean Foster
• 210 - Nothing in the Rules - (1939) - novelette by L. Sprague de Camp
• 239 - The Olympians - (1982) - short story by Mike Resnick
• 247 - The Wind from the Sun - (1964) - novelette by Arthur C. Clarke
• 267 - Prose Bowl - (1979) - novelette by Barry N. Malzberg and Bill Pronzini
• 293 - From Downtown at the Buzzer - (1977) - novelette by George Alec Effinger
• 313 - A Glint of Gold - (1980) - short story by Simon Hawke [as by Nicholas V. Yermakov]
• 329 - The Survivor - (1965) - novelette by Walter F. Moudy

Table of Contents:

• 7 - Introduction: Super - (1984) - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 11 - Angel, Dark Angel - (1967) - short story by Roger Zelazny
• 23 - Worlds to Kill - (1968) - novelette by Harlan Ellison
• 47 - In the Bone - (1966) - short story by Gordon R. Dickson
• 69 - What Rough Beast? - (1959) - novelette by Damon Knight
• 92 - Death by Ecstasy - [Gil Hamilton] - (1969) - novella by Larry Niven
• 154 - Un-Man - [Psychotechnic League] - (1953) - novella by Poul Anderson
• 236 - Muse - (1969) - short story by Dean R. Koontz
• 247 - Resurrection - (1948) - short story by A. E. van Vogt
• 265 - Pseudopath - (1959) - novelette by Philip E. High
• 288 - After the Myths Went Home - (1969) - short story by Robert Silverberg
• 296 - Before the Talent Dies - (1957) - novelette by Henry Slesar
• 317 - Brood World Barbarian

Tales by Mark Twain, Fritz Leiber, Poul Anderson, Frederik Pohl, Arthur C. Clarke, Gregory Benford, and other masters of the science fiction genre explore the realm of comets.

Table of Contents:

• ix - Introduction: Comets - (1986) - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 1 - A Blazing Starre Seene in the West - (1642) - short fiction by Jonas Wright
• 5 - Into the Sun - (1882) - short story by Robert Duncan Milne
• 23 - Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven - (1907) - short fiction by Mark Twain (variant of Extract from Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven)
• 32 - The Comet Doom - (1928) - novelette by Edmond Hamilton
• 71 - Sunspot - (1960) - short story by Hal Clement
• 93 - Inside the Comet - (1960) - short story by Arthur C. Clarke (variant of Into the Comet)
• 103 - Raindrop - (1965) - novelette by Hal Clement
• 149 - Comet Wine - (1967) - novelette by Ray Russell
• 167 - The Red Euphoric Bands - (1967) - short story by R. S. Richardson [as by Philip Latham]
• 180 - Throwback - (1969) - short story by Sydney J. Bounds
• 189 - Kindergarten - (1970) - short story by James E. Gunn
• 192 - West Wind, Falling - (1971) - novelette by Gregory Benford and Gordon Eklund
• 213 - The Comet, the Cairn and the Capsule - (1972) - short story by Duncan Lunan (variant of Comet, Cairn and Capsule)
• 230 - Some Joys Under the Star - (1973) - short story by Frederik Pohl
• 243 - Future Forbidden - (1973) - short story by R. S. Richardson [as by Philip Latham]
• 260 - The Death of Princes - (1976) - short story by Fritz Leiber
• 277 - The Funhouse Effect - [Eight Worlds] - (1976) - novelette by John Varley
• 302 - The Family Man - (1978) - short story by Theodore L. Thomas
• 309 - Double Planet - (1984) - short story by John Gribbin [as by Dr. John Gribbin]
• 317 - Pride - (1985) - novelette by Poul Anderson

A collection of science fiction tales of mystery, crime, and detection features works by Stephen R. Donaldson, Isaac Asimov, Larry Niven, Harlan Ellison, and others.

Table of Contents:

• 7 - Introduction (Tin Stars) - (1986) - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 11 - Into the Shop - (1964) - short story by Ron Goulart
• 22 - Cloak of Anarchy - [Known Space] - (1972) - novelette by Larry Niven
• 44 - The King's Legions - [Federation of Humanity] - (1967) - novelette by Christopher Anvil
• 98 - Finger of Fate - (1980) - short story by Edward Wellen
• 109 - Arm of the Law - (1958) - short story by Harry Harrison
• 126 - Voiceover - (1984) - novelette by Edward Wellen
• 154 - The Fastest Draw - (1963) - short story by Larry Eisenberg
• 163 - Mirror Image - [Elijah Baley / R. Daneel Olivaw] - (1972) - short story by Isaac Asimov
• 180 - Brillo - (1970) - novelette by Ben Bova and Harlan Ellison
• 214 - The Powers of Observation - (1968) - short story by Harry Harrison
• 230 - Faithfully Yours - (1955) - short story by Lou Tabakow
• 249 - Safe Harbor - (1986) - novelette by Donald Wismer
• 272 - Examination Day - (1958) - short story by Henry Slesar
• 277 - The Cruel Equations - (1971) - short story by Robert Sheckley
• 291 - Animal Lover - (1978) - novella by Stephen R. Donaldson

A medley of tales focusing on humankind's ancestor, the Neanderthal, features works by Poul Anderson, Philip Jose Farmer, Isaac Asimov, L. Sprague de Camp, and Bertram Chandler.

Table of Contents:

• 7 - Introduction: Neanderthal Man - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 11 - Genesis - [Paratime Police] - (1951) - novelette by H. Beam Piper
• 39 - The Ugly Little Boy - (1958) - novelette by Isaac Asimov (variant of Lastborn)
• 91 - The Long Remembering - (1957) - short story by Poul Anderson
• 106 - The Apotheosis of Ki - (1956) - short story by Miriam Allen deFord
• 113 - Man o' Dreams - (1929) - short story by Will McMorrow
• 130 - The Treasure of Odirex - [Erasmus Darwin] - (1978) - novella by Charles Sheffield
• 196 - The Ogre - (1959) - short story by Avram Davidson
• 206 - Alas, Poor Yorick - [Howie Wyman] - (1981) - short story by Thomas A. Easton
• 223 - The Gnarly Man - (1939) - novelette by L. Sprague de Camp
• 251 - The Hairy Parents - (1975) - short story by A. Bertram Chandler
• 263 - The Alley Man - (1959) - novella by Philip José Farmer
• 319 - Afterword: The Valley of Neander - (1964) - essay by Robert Silverberg

Hitchhiker; Truck Driver; Hermes to the Ages; Pushbutton War; The Getaway Special; Between a Rock and a High Place; To Grab Power; Coming of Age in Henson's Tube.

Table of Contents:

• 9 - Introduction: Shuttles - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 13 - Truck Driver - (1972) - short story by Rob Chilson [as by Robert Chilson]
• 31 - Hermes to the Ages - (1980) - novelette by Frederick D. Gottfried
• 63 - Pushbutton War - (1960) - short story by Joseph P. Martino
• 81 - The Last Shuttle - (1981) - short story by Isaac Asimov
• 85 - The Getaway Special - (1985) - short story by Jerry Oltion
• 102 - Between a Rock and a High Place - (1982) - novella by Timothy Zahn
• 164 - To Grab Power - (1971) - short story by Hayden Howard
• 182 - Coming of Age in Henson's Tube - (1977) - short story by William John Watkins [as by William Jon Watkins]
• 187 - Deborah's Children - (1983) - short story by Grant Callin [as by Grant D. Callin]
• 207 - The Book of Baraboo - [Circus World] - (1980) - novella by Barry B. Longyear
• 279 - The Speckled Gantry - (1979) - short story by Joseph Green and Patrice Milton
• 285 - The Nanny - (1983) - novelette by Thomas Wylde
• 309 - Hitchhiker - (1987) - short story by Sheila Finch
• 323 - Dead Ringer - novella by Edward Wellen

Tells the stories of mental parasites, extraterrestrial creatures, clones, monstrous aliens, invaders, and colonists.

Table of Contents:

• 9 - Introduction: Monsters - (1988) - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 12 - Passengers - (1968) - short story by Robert Silverberg
• 25 - The Botticelli Horror - (1960) - novelette by Lloyd Biggle, Jr.
• 64 - The Shapes - (1968) - novelette by J. H. Rosny aîné (trans. of Les Xipéhuz 1887)
• 88 - The Clone - (1959) - short story by Theodore L. Thomas
• 99 - The Men in the Walls - (1963) - novella by William Tenn
• 174 - The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth - (1965) - novelette by Roger Zelazny
• 206 - Student Body - (1953) - novelette by F. L. Wallace [as by Floyd L. Wallace]
• 227 - Black Destroyer - [Space Beagle] - (1939) - novelette by A. E. van Vogt
• 258 - Mother - (1953) - novelette by Philip José Farmer
• 286 - Exploration Team - [Colonial Survey] - (1956) - novelette by Murray Leinster
• 332 - All the Way Back - (1952) - short story by Michael Shaara

Table of Contents:

• 9 - Introduction: Robots - (1989) - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 13 - The Tunnel Under the World - (1955) - novelette by Frederik Pohl
• 44 - Brother Robot - (1958) - short story by Henry Slesar
• 59 - The Lifeboat Mutiny - [AAA Ace] - (1955) - short story by Robert Sheckley
• 73 - The Warm Space - (1985) - novelette by David Brin
• 89 - How-2 - (1954) - novelette by Clifford D. Simak
• 128 - Too Robot to Marry - (1959) - short story by George H. Smith
• 130 - The Education of Tigress McCardle - (1957) - short story by C. M. Kornbluth (variant of The Education of Tigress Macardle)
• 141 - Sally - (1953) - short story by Isaac Asimov
• 159 - Breakfast of Champions - (1980) - short story by Thomas A. Easton
• 165 - Sun Up - (1976) - short story by A. A. Jackson, IV and Howard Waldrop
• 178 - Second Variety - [Claws - 1] - (1953) - novelette by Philip K. Dick
• 223 - The Problem Was Lubrication - (1961) - short story by David R. Bunch
• 227 - First to Serve - (1954) - short story by Algis Budrys
• 245 - Two-Handed Engine - (1955) - novelette by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore
• 270 - Though Dreamers Die - (1944) - novelette by Lester del Rey
• 290 - Soldier Boy - (1953) - novelette by Michael Shaara
• 312 - Farewell to the Master - (1940) - novelette by Harry Bates

Fifteen short stories--by Piers Anthony, Henry Kuttner, A.E. Van Vogt, Lester del Rey, Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, and others--explore the theme of an alien invasion of Earth.

Table of Contents:

• 7 - Introduction (Invasions) - essay by Isaac Asimov
• 11 - Living Space - (1956) - short story by Isaac Asimov
• 26 - Asylum - (1942) - novella by A. E. van Vogt
• 85 - Exposure - (1950) - short story by Eric Frank Russell
• 104 - Invasion of Privacy - (1970) - novelette by Bob Shaw
• 127 - What Have I Done? - (1952) - short story by Mark Clifton
• 146 - Impostor - (1953) - short story by Philip K. Dick
• 161 - The Soul-Empty Ones - (1951) - novelette by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
• 200 - The Cloud-Men: Being a Foreprint from the London News Sheet #1 - short story by Owen Oliver (variant of The Cloud-Men, Being a Foreprint from the London News Sheet of March 9, 1915 1911)
• 217 - Stone Man - [Berserker (Fred Saberhagen)] - (1967) - novelette by Fred Saberhagen
• 253 - For I Am a Jealous People! - (1954) - novella by Lester del Rey
• 296 - Don't Look Now - (1948) - short story by Henry Kuttner
• 310 - The Certificate - (1959) - short story by Avram Davidson
• 314 - The Alien Rulers - (1968) - novelette by Piers Anthony
• 350 - Squeeze Box - (1959) - short story by Philip E. High
• 365 - The Liberation of Earth - (1953) - short story by William Tenn

Soviet scientists discover the secret of a mysterious explosion that leveled a remote section of Siberia in 1889 and now intend to use their discovery to destroy the United States by identical, seemingly natural causes.

Because of a world-spanning socialistic bureaucracy on Earth in the twenty-first century, those who seek freedom must journey to the space colonies established in the asteroid belt.

While exploring on the Saturnian moon Rhea, Derek Kuroda discovers some powerful alien artifacts which soon become the source of power to launch dozens of asteroid worlds to freedom.

It is the beginning of the end ...The end of the axe-age, the sword-age, leading to the passing of gods and men from the universe. As all the ancient prophecies fall into place, the final battle rages, on Earth, across Faerie, and into the land of the dead.

Jack Churchill, Champion of Existence, must lead the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons in a last, desperate assault on the Fortress of the Enemy, to confront the ultimate incarnation of destruction: the Burning Man. It is humanity's only chance to avert the coming extinction. At his back is an army of gods culled from the world's great mythologies - Greek, Norse, Chinese, Aztec, and more.

But will even that be enough? Driven to the brink by betrayal, sacrifice and death, his allies fear Jack may instead bring about the very devastation he is trying to prevent ...

Fleet of Worlds marks Larry Niven's first full novel-length collaboration within his Known Space universe, the playground he created for his bestselling Ringworld series. Teaming up with fellow SF writer Edward M. Lerner, Fleet of Worlds takes a closer look at the Human-Puppeteer (Citizens) relations and the events leading up to Niven's first Ringworld novel.

Kirsten Quinn-Kovacs is among the best and brightest of her people. She gratefully serves the gentle race that rescued her ancestors from a dying starship, gave them a world, and nurtures them still. If only the Citizens knew where Kirsten's people came from....

A chain reaction of supernovae at the galaxy's core has unleashed a wave of lethal radiation that will sterilize the galaxy. The Citizens flee, taking their planets, the Fleet of Worlds, with them.

Someone must scout ahead, and Kirsten and her crew eagerly volunteer. Under the guiding eye of Nessus, their Citizen mentor, they explore for any possible dangers in the Fleet's path--and uncover long-hidden truths that will shake the foundations of worlds.

For too long, the Puppeteers have controlled the fate of worlds. Now Sigmund is pulling the strings...

Covert agent Sigmund Ausfaller is Earth's secret weapon, humanity's best defense against all conspiracies, real and potential - and imaginary - of foes both human and alien. Who better than a brilliant paranoid to expose the devious plots of others?

He may finally have met his match in Nessus, representative of the secretive Puppeteers, the elder race who wield vastly superior technologies. Nessus schemes in the shadows with Earth's traitors and adversaries, even after the race he represents abruptly vanishes from Known Space.

As a paranoid, Sigmund had always known things would end horribly for him. Only the when, where, how, why, and by whom of it all had eluded him. That fog has begun to lift...

But even Sigmund has never imagined how far his investigations will take him - or that his destiny is entwined with the fates of worlds.

Worlds closer to the galatic core than Known Space are --or were-- home to intelligent speciers. Some learned of the core explosion in time to flee. Destroyer of Worlds opens in 2670, ten years after Juggler of Worlds closes; with refugee species fleeing in an armada of ramscoops in the direction of the Fleet of Worlds. The onrushing aliens are recognized as a threat; they have left in their trail a host of desolated worlds: some raided for supplies, some attacked to eliminate competition, and some for pure xenophobia.

Only the Puppeteers might have the resources to confront this threat--but the Puppeteers are philosophical cowards... they don't confront anyone. They need sepoys to investigate the situation and take action for them. The source of the sepoys? Their newly independent former slave world, New Terra.

Fleeing the supernova chain reaction at the galactic core, the cowardly Puppeteers of the Fleet of Worlds have--just barely--survived. They've stumbled from one crisis to the next: The rebellion of their human slaves. The relentless questing of the species of Known Space. The spectacular rise of the starfish-like Gw'oth. The onslaught of the genocidal Pak.

Catastrophe looms again as past crises return--and converge. Who can possibly save the Fleet of Worlds from its greatest peril yet?

Louis Wu? Trapped in the Wunderland civil war, all he wants is to go home--but the only possible escape will plunge him into unknowable danger.

Ol't'ro? The Gw'oth ensemble mind fled across the stars to establish a colony world free from tyranny. But some problems cannot be left behind, and other problems--like the Fleet of Worlds itself--are racing straight at them.

Achilles? Despite past disgrace, the charismatic Puppeteer politician knows he is destined for greatness. He will do anything to seize power--and to take his revenge on everyone who ever stood in his way.

Nessus? The insane Puppeteer scout is out of ideas, out of resources, with only desperation left to guide him.

Their hopes and fears, dreams and ambitions are about to collide. And the winner takes... worlds.

For decades, the spacefaring species of Known Space have battled over the largest artifact -- and grandest prize -- in the galaxy: the all-but-limitless resources and technology of the Ringworld. But without warning, the Ringworld has vanished, leaving behind three rival war fleets.

Something must justify the blood and treasure that have been spent. If the fallen civilization of the Ringworld can no longer be despoiled of its secrets, the Puppeteers will be forced to surrender theirs. Everyone knows that the Puppeteers are cowards.

But the crises converging upon the trillion Puppeteers of the Fleet of Worlds go far beyond even the onrushing armadas:

Adventurer Louis Wu and the exiled Puppeteer known only as Hindmost, marooned together for more than a decade, escaped from the Ringworld before it disappeared. And throughout those years, as he studied Ringworld technology, Hindmost has plotted to reclaim his power...

Ol't'ro, the Gw'oth ensemble mind -- and the Fleet of Worlds' unsuspected puppet master for a century -- is deviously brilliant. And increasingly unbalanced ...

Proteus, the artificial intelligence on which, in desperation, the Puppeteers rely to manage their defenses, is outgrowing its programming -- and the supposed constraints on its initiative...

Sigmund Ausfaller, paranoid and disgraced hero of the lost human colony of New Terra, knows that something threatens his adopted home world -- and that it must be stopped...

Achilles, the megalomaniac Puppeteer -- twice banished, and twice rehabilitated -- sees the Fleet of Worlds' existential crisis as a new opportunity to reclaim supreme power. Whatever the risks...

One way or another, the fabled race of Puppeteers may have come to the end of their days.

The opening of The Fugitive Worlds finds Toller Maraquine II - grandson of the hero of The Ragged Astronauts and The Wooden Spaceships - bemoaning the fact that life on the twin planets of Land and Overland has become dull and uneventful compared to the stirring times in which his illustrious forebear lived. Then, while on a balloon flight between the worlds, he makes an astonishing discovery - a rapidly growing crystal disc, many miles across, is creating a barrier between Land and Overland. Precipitated for personal reasons into investigating the enigmatic disc, Toller - armed with only his sword and boundless courage - becomes a pivotal figure in events which will decide the future of entire planets and their civilizations.

Elke Veraart is in prison. She used to be an eco-terrorist, hunting down poachers to protect endangered species. Now she's facing the grim reality of life behind bars. Just as Elke is about to give up hope she is offered a chance to win back her freedom. All she has to do is find a missing dog.

Meisje is no ordinary dog. She's cybernetically enhanced, a valuable living weapon. She's also lost, hungry, and alone. As Elke closes in on Meisje she finds her admiration for the resourceful cyber-dog growing. And Meisje begins to wonder if she could trust the woman on her trail.

Then Elke discovers that she's not the only one hunting the cyber-dog, and that her orders have changed. She must do more than find Meisje. She has to kill her.

Elke has to make an impossible choice: her freedom, or Meisje's life. Or is there another way? It's risky, but Elke could use the secrets she's uncovered to save them both.

The Muara. A ruined sea-side resort, shattered by the weather, buried in sand. Three children scavenge a living on the abandoned beaches and in the sand-swamped houses. This is their home and its desolation is their security... but their safety is an illusion.

Under the sands of the Muara, in an underground room, is a secret that could destroy them and everything they know.

Constable Elke Veraart and her cyber-dog Meisje are peace keepers, patrolling the Babylon Eye. It's a good job, but there must be more to life than chasing smugglers and settling domestic disputes.

Then three children ask Elke to find their mother, who's been missing for more than a year. The search attracts the wrong kind of attention. Elke and her young friends are in desperate danger.

Unable to resist the powers that have been unleashed against her, Elke is swept out of the Babylon Eye and into another world. While she struggles to regain her freedom, the children are unprotected. They must face, all alone, a new danger that stalks the corridors of the Babylon Eye.

The Mirror of the Worlds is the second in David Drake's Crown of the Isles trilogy, which will conclude the epic Lord of the Isles series.

The Fortress of Glass began the tale of how the new kingdom of the Isles is finally brought into being by the group of heroes and heroines who have been central to all the books in the series: Prince Garric, heir to the throne of the Isles, his consort Liane, his sister Sharina, her herculean sweetheart Cashel, and his sister Ilna.

The powers of magic in the Isles have flooded to a thousand-year peak, and even local magicians can perform powerful spells normally beyond their control. Fantastic forces from all angles threaten, trying to keep Garric and his companions apart to thwart the reunification of the Isles.

Now the world itself has suffered a magical upheaval. The ocean has receded and the Isles have become the higher ground of a newly formed continent. But the new continent is a patchwork of geography from the dispast and future, peopled by creatures from all times and places. Garric and his companions must now struggle for the survival of humanity.

Reed McGurn was an American pilot flying a Spitfire for His Majesty's Royal Air Force in WWII. His plane soared into battle in the death-filled skies over southern Germany. The action was fierce, and after a mid-air collision with a German fighter, McGurn's plane was sent hurtling to the ground. Only his plane never reached the ground--at least not the battle-scarred German landscape. With sure death leaping toward him, McGurn found his plane suddenly emersed in a wall of gray clouds--clouds that came seemingly out of nowhere. Moments later his plane crash-landed in a strange world filled with killer beasts and exotic vegetation. It was a world of ancient civilizations and lost races. A world in which McGurn soon found the love of a wild, yet beautiful woman. Unfortunately for him it was also a love that marked him for certain death.

Summer, 1957.

Atticus Turner and his father, Montrose, travel to North Carolina, where they plan to mark the centennial of their ancestor's escape from slavery by retracing the route he took into the Great Dismal Swamp. But an encounter with an old nemesis turns their historical reenactment into a real life-and-death pursuit.

Back in Chicago, George Berry fights for his own life. Diagnosed with cancer, he strikes a devil's bargain with the ghost of Hiram Winthrop, who promises a miracle cure--but to receive it, George will first have to bring Winthrop back from the dead.

Meanwhile, fifteen-year-old Horace Berry, reeling from the killing of a close friend, joins his mother, Hippolyta, and her friend Letitia Dandridge on a research trip to Nevada for The Safe Negro Travel Guide. But Hippolyta has a secret--and far more dangerous--agenda that will take her and Horace to the far end of the universe and bring a new threat home to Letitia's doorstep.

Hippolyta isn't the only one keeping secrets. Letitia's sister, Ruby, has been leading a double life as her white alter ego, Hillary Hyde. Now, the supply of magic potion she needs to transform herself is nearly gone, and a surprise visitor throws her already tenuous situation into complete chaos.

Yet these troubles are soon eclipsed by the return of Caleb Braithwhite. Stripped of his magic and banished from Chicago at the end of Lovecraft Country, he's found a way back into power and is ready to pick up where he left off. But first he has a score to settle...

The war with the Mageworlds is over. Now it's time for the real struggle to begin.

Freebooter at heart, spacer by trade, Beka Rosselin-Metadi doesn't want to hear about her father whose rugged generalship held back the Mageworlds--or her highborn mother whose leadership has held the galaxy together ever since. Beka pilots spacecraft--as far from her famous family as possible, thanks very much.

Then Beka's mother is assassinated on the Senate floor, and her father offers her Warhammer, prize ship from his own freebooting youth--if she'll use it to deliver the assassins to him "off the books."

Looking for assassins has a tendency to make assassins look for you. In short order Beka's arranged her own very public death and adopted a new identity; now all she has to do is leave a trail of kidnappings and corpses across five star systems, and blow the roof off the strongest private fortress in the Galaxy. If her own family can just get off her case long enough...!

Blockaded, Restricted, And Forgotten--The Mageworlds would never threaten the Republic again.

A broken and drifting ship, it's long-dead captain still strapped in the command seat: that's what free-spacers call a starpilot's grave. When one of these derelict craft appears in the net, the artificial barrier zone separating the Republic from the Mageworlds, the discovery is no accident. It's a sign, a warning that the Mageworlds have not forgotten the Republic--and the Magelords make long plans.

But the Magelords weren't planning on Beka Rosselin-Metadi.

Beka has unfinished business to take care of, and his name is Ebenra D'Caer: the man who arranged her mother's murder. D'Caer is safe--he thinks--hidden amoung the Mages on the far side of the Net. Flying under a false name and false colors, beka penetrates the Magezone and finds more than anyone expected: the Magelords have discovered a fatal weakness in the Republic's defenses, and are poised to wreak their vengeance on the hated enemy.

The Mages are too strong. They must prevail.

Unless one woman in one ship can do the impossible.

Galcen has fallen. The Space Force is broken and scattered. the planets of the former Republic are rushing to make peace with the victorious Mages.

All that remains is mopping up. Minor details. A privateer or two, a few Adepts who remain alive and on the run, and the hereditary ruler of a lifeless planet.

Beka Rosselin-Metadi, the last Domina of Lost Entibor, possesses little more than a famous name and a famous ship. With them she must salvage what she can from the wreckage of the Republic. Her enemies are too many to count, her friends too few to make a difference. She can trust no one except herself, her crew--and the family she ran away from years before.

Beka has resources few suspect: a hidden base, a long forgotten oath, and a dead man's legacy. But she has problems as well; for in a universe gone mad, neither friends nor enemies are all that they may seem.

A play that began in treachery and blood five hundred years before has reached its final act. A broken galaxy will be sundered forever, or else made whole.

The Magelords are plundering the civilized galaxy one planet at a time. First their scoutships appeared above the outplanets. Raiding parties followed, then whole armadas bent on loot and conquest. The Mages break the warfleets that oppose them. They take entire planets. Who can stop them? Now, the Mages have attacked Entibor--that was their first mistake.

It's a generation after the Second Magewar, and again power struggles threaten the Mageworlds and the Republic alike. Now, on decadent Kheset, the crisis has broken, and all eyes are turned to Jens Metadi-Jessan D'Rosselin, scion of the Galaxy's most rambunctious family and unwilling heir to the throne of Khesat. But Jens is off on his own Grand Tour of the Galaxy, getting the adventure he's looking for--and more.

The star systems of the Mageworlds are linked by magic. Only when trained Mages have found a Way to a new world can the great colonizing and trading ships follow. But beyond the furthest worlds is a great gap, beyond which, hint the legends, lie vast, rich human worlds long lost to the Mages' trade.

Now the most powerful Mage-circle ever is determined to walk to those worlds, to reunite humanity's sundered branches and make a fortune in the process. And young Arekhon sus-Khalgath, scion of the most powerful of the clans of starship builders, has left his inheritance to join them.

But immense forces are arrayed against them. Blood will be spilled, and dynasties thrown down, before the worlds of mankind are again united. For the first time in living memory, the Mages will go to war--with themselves.

The new novel in the sweeping Mageworlds series.

On the planet Entibor, Arekhon sus-Khalgath sus Peledaen has found shelter and domestic tranquility with his old love, Elaeli Inadi, at the price of what he had left behind: a dispersed and shattered Mage-Circle, an estranged brother who had tried to kill him, and a homeworld on the cusp of massive cultural upheaval.

Arekhon finds himself impelled homeward by strange dreams and prophetic visions. The Great Working--the effort to do the unthinkable and reunite a galaxy long sundered by the Gap Between--remains incomplete, left unfinished in the aftermath of the dissolution of Arehkon's Mage-Circle. But too much energy and too many lives have been poured into the Working already; and it cannot end so long as any of the Circle members remain alive and bound into it.

Home, unfortunately, isn't a safe place for Arehkon to be at the moment. For Eraasi has changed--and the great fleet families at the center of the Eraasian culture are girding for war.

Contains:

• The Kokod Warriors
• The Unspeakable McInch
• The Howling Bounders
• The King of Thieves
• The Spa of the Stars
• Coup de Grace
• The Sub-standard Sardines
• To B of not to C or to D

When Saffron Coulter stumbles through a hole in reality, she finds herself trapped in Kena, a magical realm on the brink of civil war.

There, her fate becomes intertwined with that of three very different women: Zech, the fast-thinking acolyte of a cunning, powerful exile; Viya, the spoiled, runaway consort of the empire-building ruler, Vex Leoden; and Gwen, an Earth-born worldwalker whose greatest regret is putting Leoden on the throne. But Leoden has allies, too, chief among them the Vex'Mara Kadeja, a dangerous ex-priestess who shares his dreams of conquest.

Pursued by Leoden and aided by the Shavaktiin, a secretive order of storytellers and mystics, the rebels flee to Veksh, a neighboring matriarchy ruled by the fearsome Council of Queens. Saffron is out of her world and out of her depth, but the further she travels, the more she finds herself bound to her friends with ties of blood and magic.

Can one girl - an accidental worldwalker - really be the key to saving Kena? Or will she just die trying?

Saffron Coulter is back on Earth, but even so, nothing is easy. Struggling with the victimising expectations of her friends and family and threatened with a stay in psychiatric care, Saffron has to make a choice: to forget about Kena and fit back into the life she's outgrown, or pit herself against everything she's ever known and everyone she loves.

Meanwhile in Kena, Gwen is increasingly troubled by Leoden's absence and his plans for the captive worldwalkers, while Yena, still in Veksh, must confront the deposed Kadeja. What is their endgame? Who can they trust? And what happens when Leoden returns?

Table of Contents:

• Introduction (New Worlds of Fantasy) - essay by Terry Carr
• Divine Madness - (1966) - shortstory by Roger Zelazny
• Break the Door of Hell - (1966) - novelette by John Brunner
• The Immortal - (1962) - shortstory by Jorge Luís Borges
• Narrow Valley - (1966) - shortstory by R. A. Lafferty
• Comet Wine - (1967) - novelette by Ray Russell
• The Other - (1966) - shortstory by Katherine MacLean
• A Red Heart and Blue Roses - (1961) - shortstory by Mildred Clingerman
• Stanley Toothbrush - (1962) - shortstory by Terry Carr
• The Squirrel Cage - (1966) - shortstory by Thomas M. Disch
• Come Lady Death - (1963) - shortstory by Peter S. Beagle
• Nackles - (1964) - shortstory by Donald E. Westlake
• The Lost Leonardo - (1964) - shortstory by J. G. Ballard
• Timothy - (1966) - shortstory by Keith Roberts
• Basilisk - shortstory by Avram Davidson
• The Evil Eye - (1966) - novelette by Alfred Gillespie

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Terry Carr
• The Petrified World - (1968) - shortstory by Robert Sheckley
• The Scarlet Lady - (1966) - novelette by Keith Roberts
• They Loved Me in Utica - shortstory by Avram Davidson
• The Library of Babel - (1962) - shortstory by Jorge Luís Borges
• The Ship of Disaster - (1965) - shortstory by Barrington J. Bayley
• Window Dressing - shortstory by Joanna Russ
• By the Falls - (1970) - shortstory by Harry Harrison
• The Night of the Nickel Beer - (1967) - shortstory by Kris Neville
• A Quiet Kind of Madness - (1968) - novelette by David Redd
• A Museum Piece - (1963) - shortstory by Roger Zelazny
• The Old Man of the Mountains - (1963) - shortstory by Terry Carr
• En Passant - (1960) - shortstory by Britt Schweitzer
• Backward, Turn Backward - shortstory by Wilmar H. Shiras
• His Own Kind - shortstory by Thomas M. Disch
• Perchance to Dream - shortstory by Katherine MacLean
• Lazarus - (1927) - shortstory by Leonid Andreyev
• The Ugly Sea - (1960) - shortstory by R. A. Lafferty
• The Movie People - (1969) - shortstory by Robert Bloch

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1971) - essay by Terry Carr
• Farrell and Lila the Werewolf - (1969) - novelette by Peter S. Beagle
• Adam Had Three Brothers - (1960) - shortstory by R. A. Lafferty
• Big Sam - (1970) - shortstory by Avram Davidson
• Longtooth - (1970) - novelette by Edgar Pangborn
• The Inner Circles - (1967) - shortstory by Fritz Leiber
• Von Goom's Gambit - (1966) - shortstory by Victor Contoski
• Through a Glass - Darkly - (1970) - novelette by Zenna Henderson
• The Stainless Steel Leech - (1963) - shortstory by Roger Zelazny
• Sleeping Beauty - (1967) - shortstory by Terry Carr
• The Plot is the Thing - (1966) - shortstory by Robert Bloch
• Funes the Memorious - (1962) - shortstory by Jorge Luís Borges
• Say Goodbye to the Wind - (1970) - shortstory by J. G. Ballard
• A Message from Charity - (1967) - shortstory by William M. Lee

Years ago, Old Earth sent forth sisters and brothers into the vast dark of the prodigal colonies armed only with crucifixes and iron faith. Now, the sisters of the Order of Saint Rita are on an interstellar mission of mercy aboard Our Lady of Impossible Constellations, a living, breathing ship which seems determined to develop a will of its own.

When the order receives a distress call from a newly-formed colony, the sisters discover that the bodies and souls in their care?and that of the galactic diaspora?are in danger. And not from void beyond, but from the nascent Central Governance and the Church itself.

Not long ago, Earth's colonies and space stations threw off the yoke of planet Earth's tyrannical rule. Decades later, trouble is brewing in the Four Systems, and Old Earth is flexing its power in a bid to regain control over its lost territories.

The Order of Saint Rita--whose mission is to provide aid and mercy to those in need--bore witness to and defied Central Governance's atrocities on the remote planet Phyosonga III. The sisters have been running ever since, staying under the radar while still trying to honor their calling.

Despite the sisters' secrecy, the story of their defiance is spreading like wildfire, spearheaded by a growing anti-Earth religious movement calling for revolution. Faced with staying silent or speaking up, the Order of Saint Rita must decide the role they will play--and what hand they will have--in reshaping the galaxy.

August Seebeck is in his twenties, a man of average looks and intellect. Then comes the claim of his great-aunt Tansy that she has been finding corpses each Saturday night in her bath (they vanish by morning). August dismisses this tale as elderly fantasy until he stumbles upon a corpse being shoved into the second-floor bathroom window of his aunt's house. Even that wouldn't faze him, but then someone steps out of the mirror...

August suddenly discovers he is a Player in the multi-universe Contest of Worlds and that his true family is quarrelsome on a mythic scale. His search for understanding follows a classic quest pattern of the Parsifal kind, except that August is nobody's fool.

An epic quest that is funny and engrossing, Godplayers is in the best tradition of Zelazny, Van Vogt, and the Knights of the Round Table, from one of science fiction's hottest up-and-coming writers.

August Seebeck is a 20-something student from a world not quite the same as ours. In Godplayers, August tumbled into a vastly larger universe, and learned that he wasn't, after all, an orphaned only child. He and his turbulent siblings, and the breathtaking Lune and others still stranger, are Players in the Contest of Worlds. They are mysteriously transformed humans whose ancient task is enigmatic battle with the dread, passionate K-Machines. Now crisis deepens.

Empowered with a potent killing device of his own, an eerie gift from legend, August finds himself flung from world to world in a brutal and baffling game, with entire universes at stake and very little idea of the rules. Only two things are clear: his beloved Lune is not who she seems, and August's pivotal role is no chance accident. In this cosmos, survival of the gods themselves depends upon human victory over the K-Machines.

A critical study of the fantasy fiction of William Morris.

Contents:

• 3 - Worlds Beyond the World - essay
• 4 - Into the Unknown - essay
• 18 - The Dream of a Better World - essay
• 34 - Killing Time - essay
• 43 - Beyond the World - essay
• 61 - Some Closing Remarks (Worlds Beyond the World) - essay
• 63 - Selected Critical Sources (Worlds Beyond the World) - essay

Wylie was a remarkably successful and versatile writer, whose literary range included pulp science fiction, social diatribes, concerns for the environment, fantasies, romances, mysteries, warnings against the coming nuclear holocaust, and satires.

Contents:

• 3 - Philip Wylie--The Reappearance - essay
• 8 - The Early Achievements - essay
• 23 - The Philosophical Works - essay
• 41 - The Atomic Age - essay
• 55 - The End of the Dream - essay
• 62 - Selected Bibliography (Still Worlds Collide) - essay

One star-chained evening in a Manhattan bathroom, Carl Schirmer spontaneously combusts! His body transforms into light, mysteriously snatched from his banal life by an alien intelligence 130 billion years in the future. There, all spacetime is collapsing into a cosmic black hole, the Big Crunch -- and a bold, cosmic destiny awaits Carl. Rebuilt from the remnants of his light by extraterrestrials for a cryptic purpose, he awakens in time's last world, the strangest of all -- the Werld.

At the edge of infinity, Carl discovers the Foke, nomadic humans who travel among the floating islands of the Werld. The Foke teach him how to live -- and love -- at the end of time, and he loses his heart to his plucky guide, the beautiful Evoë. Their life together in this blissful kingdom that knows no aging or disease brings them to rapture -- until Evoë falls prey to the zotl, a spidery intelligence who hunt the Foke and eat the chemical by-products of their pain. In order to save his beloved from a gruesome death, Carl must return to Earth -- 130 billion years earlier -- where he is shocked to discover that the Earth he's come back to is not the one he left.

Can he meet the harsh demands of his task before the zotl find him and begin ravishing the Earth?

Ceasefires have one big downside: they eventually come to an end. And when they do, once again game nodes are set ablaze, and platoons of Dark Faction soldiers threaten our customary world with destruction. The enemy has grown stronger and more numerous. To make matters worse, they also got their hands on even deadlier weaponry. They have learned painful lessons from previous encounters and adjusted their tactics accordingly. What's more, the vast hordes of enemies are led by the greatest strategist of modern times, and his mage advisors can see all possible futures so they always know just what to do.

How can our world possibly stand up against such an enemy? Our only hope is the bravery and tenacity of our best fighters, those who'd rather die than surrender. Well, that and a starship captained by one lone mage.

Table of Contents:

• Protocol - (1962)
• Sealed Orders - (1962)
• Cultural Exchange - (1962)
• Aide Memoire - (1962)
• Policy - (1962)
• Palace Revolution - (1961)

In the Capitol, Grand Inquisitor Omand Vokkan hatches a plot to kill every member of the untouchable caste in all of Lok, down to the last man, woman, and child. As a member of the Order of Inquisition, Vokkan has no official say in the creation of Law, but he has powerful allies willing to do his bidding. Through them, he has convinced the Judges that the genocide will be swift, complete, and without complication. Nothing is farther from the truth.

Lord Protector Devedas has sworn to uphold the Law. Once, he and the traitor Ashok Vadal had been like brothers. Now, he hunts Vadal and the Sons of the Black Sword, heretics and rebels who seek to live outside the rule of the Law. All Devedas must do is find and kill his best friend and order will be restored to Lok.

The rebels seek the secret kingdom spoken of by the Prophet Thera, a paradise where water is pure and food plentiful, where there are no castes, where the people rule themselves and are not slaves to the Capitol. Ashok Vadal is not sure he believes in such a Paradise, but he - along with his allies - does seek refuge in the rebellion's hideout in Akershan. But Vadal, a former High Protector who has turned his back on the corrupt Law, will not merely wait meekly, hoping that fleeing to Akershan will spare the rebellion from the clutches of the Great Extermination. No, if it's a war the Capitol wants, Vadal, who has faced down gods and demons, will be all too willing to give it to them....

The Space Corps -- the arm of the Space Exploratory Forces sent in to establish better communications with aliens on world after world -- was an elite corps of tough, courageous men and women. And Morgan Farraday was the bravest and most clever of them all.

But even Morgan would be hard-pressed to survive the challenges and perils of the seven planets that awaited her. Worlds where scaly swamp beings demanded a kind of contact that was too close for any human's comfort...where a civilization of nocturnal creatures was only too ready to drain humans of all they had to offer... or where missions from rival human empires would use any tool at their command -- even interstellar war -- to claim control of the most valued substance in the universe!

Morgan Farraday, an administrator from Earth, becomes involved in the destiny of the planet Jaspre when her daughter Dee meets the charismatic Anders Ahlwen, whose followers receive psychic powers and a transcendent spiritual reality from the artificial sun Argus.

It's 1960, and the Axis powers dominate the world. Life goes on, because, as we see in "Escape to Other Worlds with Science Fiction," history is driven both by big events and by small temptations...

Following the appearance of her first two novels, The King's Peace and The King's Name, Jo Walton won the 2002 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Two years later she won the World Fantasy Award for Tooth and Claw. Her Small Change trilogy, comprising Farthing, Ha'penny, and Half A Crown, is set in a world in which Britain struck an early truce with Hitler in 1941; "Escape to Other Worlds with Science Fiction" is set in the America of that world.

This story is included in the collection Starlings (2018).

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

Chaos Warlord Huron Blackheart and his Red Corsairs launch a devastating conquest of the Hollow Worlds of Lastrati.

The Imperium fights a constant battle to defend itself from its many enemies, but few are as deadly or as relentless as the Chaos Space Marines. Bearing a grudge that dates back 10,000 years to the Horus Heresy, these fallen angels are driven by hatred and an overwhelming desire for revenge. When Huron Blackheart leads his warband of Red Corsairs to attack the Hollow Worlds of Lastrati, the human defenders can do little to protect themselves against such powerful enemies. By the time the Space Wolves Chapter arrives, the Red Corsairs are already well entrenched. With neither side prepared to withdraw nor concede defeat, the battle spirals out of control--will the Hollow Worlds be destroyed by the forces of destruction that have been unleashed?

Skyball - popular, challenging, violent... and the greatest sport in the universe. Two opposing worlds are neck and neck in the championships, and lately the game's been a killer. It's up to the mercenaries of Star Risk, Ltd., to keep the two sides galaxy-friendly.

The Star Risk team put their lives on the line again... for the money, of course. If they don't get killed themselves.

Within every federation and every empire, behind every hero and every villain, there are the worlds that define them. In the aftermath of Unity and in the daring tradition of Spock's World, The Final Reflection, and A Stitch in Time, the civilizations most closely tied to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine can now be experienced as never before...in tales both sweeping and intimate, reflective and prophetic, eerily familiar and utterly alien.

CARDASSIA: The Lotus Flower. The last world ravaged by the Dominion War is also the last on which Miles O'Brien ever imagined building a life. As he joins in the reconstruction of Cardassia's infrastructure, his wife Keiko spearheads the planet's difficult agricultural renewal. But Cardassia's struggle to remake itself -- from the fledgling democracy backed by Elim Garak to the people's rediscovery of their own spiritual past -- is not without opposition, as the outside efforts to help rebuild its civilization come under attack by those who reject any alien influence.

ANDOR: Paradigm. On the eve of a great celebration of their ancient past, the unusual and mysterious Andorians, a species with four sexes, must decide just how much they are willing to sacrifice in order to ensure their survival. Biological necessity clashes with personal ethics; cultural obligation vies with love -- and Ensign Thirishar ch'Thane returns home to the planet he forswore, to face not only the consequences of his choices, but a clandestine plan to alter the very nature of his kind.

TRILL. Unjoined. The Trill are a combination of a symbiont and a host. The symbiont lives for hundreds of years in one host after another: each body is different, each personality is different, each life is different -- but all of them are one. The symbiont accumulates experiences, relationships, memories ...Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin have set their story on this most multi-layered and extraordinary of worlds. When Trill involvement in the assassination of an allied world leader comes to light, the reason lies in the terrifying and tragic origins of the Trill -- and the answers reveal unsuspected links to other regions of the Star Trek universe.

BAJOR. Fragments and Omens. Political intrigue and interpersonal conflict in the style of The West Wing dominate on Deep Space Nine's core world of Bajor. The future of Bajor and the new role of long-missing Captain Benjamin Sisko are linked as this tale lays the groundwork for a major new storyline in further Deep Space Nine novels.

Within every federation and every empire, behind every hero and every villain, there are the worlds that define them. In the aftermath of Unity and in the daring tradition of Spock's World, The Final Reflection, and A Stitch in Time, the civilizations most closely tied to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine can now be experienced as never before... in tales both sweeping and intimate, reflective and prophetic, eerily familiar and utterly alien.

FERENGINAR: Satisfaction is Not Guaranteed. Quark's profit-driven homeworld is rocked with scandal as shocking allegations involving his brother's first wife, the mother of Nog, threaten to overthrow Rom as Grand Nagus of the Ferengi Alliance. Making matters worse, Quark has been recruited by Rom's political adversaries to join their coup d'état, with guarantees of all Quark ever dreamed if they succeed in taking his brother down. While Ferenginar's future teeters on the edge, the pregnancy of Rom's current wife, Leeta, takes a difficult turn for both mother and child.

THE DOMINION: Olympus Descending. Since its defeat in the war for the Alpha Quadrant, the Great Link -- the living totality of the shape-shifting Founders -- has struggled with questions. At its moment of greatest doubt, its fate, and that of the Dominion itself, is tied to Odo's investigation of his kind's true motives for sending a hundred infant changelings out into the galaxy.

As Odo searches for answers and takes a hard look at his past choices, Taran'atar reaches a turning point in his own quest for clarity... one from which there may be no going back.

Here's what you, the fans, have demanded for decades! An anthology featuring original Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager stories written by Star Trek fans, for Star Trek fans!

After a lengthy competition that drew thousands of submissions; these astounding stories, written exclusively by brand-new authors, were selected for their originality and style. These eighteen fantastic tales rocket across the length and breadth of Federation time and space, from when Captain Kirk explored the galaxy on the first Starship Enterprise, through Captain Picard's U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-D and Captain Sisko's Deep Space Nine to Captain Janeway's Voyager, with many fascinating stops along the way.

Table of Contents:

• ix - Introduction (Strange New Worlds) - essay by Dean Wesley Smith
• 3 - A Private Anecdote - shortstory by Landon Cary Dalton
• 13 - The Last Tribble - shortstory by Keith L. Davis
• 26 - The Lights in the Sky - shortstory by Phaedra Weldon [as by Phaedra M. Weldon ]
• 46 - Reflections - novelette by Dayton Ward
• 71 - What Went Through Data's Mind 0.68 Seconds Before the Satellite Hit - shortstory by Dylan Otto Krider
• 79 - The Naked Truth - novelette by Jerry M. Wolfe
• 100 - The First - shortstory by Peg Robinson
• 114 - See Spot Run - shortstory by Kathy Oltion
• 130 - Together Again, for the First Time - shortstory by Bobbie Benton Hull
• 149 - Civil Disobedience - shortstory by Alara Rogers
• 156 - Of Cabbages and Kings - shortstory by Franklin Thatcher
• 177 - Life's Lessons - shortstory by Christina F. York
• 195 - Where I Fell Before My Enemy - shortstory by Vince Bonasso
• 217 - Good Night, Voyager - novelette by Patrick Cumby
• 242 - Ambassador at Large - novelette by J. A. Rosales
• 264 - Fiction - novelette by jaQ Andrews
• 286 - I, Voyager - shortstory by Jackee C.
• 296 - Monthuglu - novelette by Craig D. B. Patton
• 317 - The Man Who Sold the Sky - shortstory by John J. Ordover
• 320 - The Girl Who Controlled Gene Kelly's Feet - novelette by Paula M. Block
• 353 - My First Story - essay by John J. Ordover
• 355 - A Few Words ... - essay by Paula M. Block
• 365 - About the Contributors (Strange New Worlds) - essay by uncredited

Award-quality short stories set in Star Trek universes, written by fans of the series. Culled from a second nationwide contest/author search, they represent some of the finest Star Trek writing available today.

Contents:

• ix - Introduction (Strange New Worlds II) - essay by Dean Wesley Smith
• 3 - Triptych - novelette by Melissa Dickinson
• 26 - The Quick and the Dead - shortstory by Kathy Oltion
• 43 - The First Law of Metaphysics - novelette by Michael S. Poteet
• 66 - The Hero of My Own Life - novelette by Peg Robinson
• 89 - Doctors Three - shortstory by Charles Skaggs
• 107 - I Am Klingon - novelette by Ken Rand
• 129 - Reciprocity - shortstory by Brad Curry
• 143 - Calculated Risk - novelette by Christina F. York
• 166 - Gods, Fate, and Fractals - shortstory by William Leisner
• 184 - I Am Become Death - shortstory by Franklin Thatcher
• 199 - Research - shortstory by J. R. Rasmussen
• 202 - Change of Heart - shortstory by Steven Scott Ripley
• 221 - A Ribbon for Rosie - novelette by Ilsa J. Bick
• 245 - Touched - shortstory by Kim Sheard
• 255 - Almost ... But Not Quite - novelette by Dayton Ward
• 278 - The Healing Arts - novelette by E. Cristy Ruteshouser and Lynda Martinez Foley
• 302 - Seventh Heaven - novelette by Dustan Moon
• 327 - Afterword (Strange New Worlds II) - essay by John J. Ordover
• 335 - About the Contributors (Strange New Worlds II) - essay by uncredited

Back by popular demand -- again! Our third anthology featuring original Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager stories written by Star Trek fans, for Star Trek fans!

Each Strange New Worlds competition draws a greater response than the last. The final selections gathered here were chosen from an overwhelming number of entries by virtue of their originality and style. With wit, compassion, and an affection for all things Star Trek, these brand-new authors take us where Star Trek has never gone before.

Their tales rocket across the length and breadth of Federation time and space, from when Captain Kirk explored the galaxy on the first Starship Enterprise, through Captain Picard's U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-D and Captain Sisko's Deep Space Nine, to Captain Janeway's Starship Voyager, with many more fascinating stops along the way. Find out what happens in the Star Trek universe when fans -- like you -- take the helm!

Contents:

• ix - Introduction: The Class of 2000 - essay by Dean Wesley Smith
• 3 - If I Lose Thee ... - novelette by Sarah A. Hoyt and Rebecca Lickiss
• 24 - Aliens Are Coming! - shortstory by Dayton Ward
• 39 - Family Matters - novelette by Susan Ross Moore
• 61 - Whatever You Do, Don't Read This Story - novelette by Robert T. Jeschonek
• 86 - A Private Victory - shortstory by Tonya D. Price
• 95 - The Fourth Toast - shortstory by Kelly Cairo
• 106 - One of Forty-seven - shortfiction by E. Catherine Tobler
• 110 - A Q to Swear By - novelette by Shane Zeranski
• 132 - The Change of Seasons - shortstory by Logan Page
• 138 - Out of the Box, Thinking - novelette by Jerry M. Wolfe
• 163 - Ninety-three Hours - shortstory by Kim Sheard
• 181 - Dorian's Diary - shortstory by G. Wood
• 189 - The Bottom Line - shortstory by Andrew (Drew) Morby
• 204 - The Best Defense ... - shortstory by John Takis
• 218 - An Errant Breeze - shortstory by Harold Gross and Eve Gordon [as by Gordon Gross ]
• 231 - The Ones Left Behind - shortstory by Mary Wieck
• 246 - The Second Star - shortstory by Diana Kornfeld
• 260 - The Monster Hunters - shortstory by Ann Nagy
• 268 - Gift of the Mourners - shortstory by Jackee Crowell
• 285 - jubHa' - shortstory by Lawrence M. Schoen
• 289 - Hints (Strange New Worlds III) - essay by Dean Wesley Smith

In the fourth year of its ongoing mission, the Strange New Worlds writing competition has once again sought out exciting new voices and imaginations among Star Trek's vast galaxy of fans. After scanning countless submissions for signs of style and originality, the judges are proud to report that the universe of amazing Star Trek writers just keeps expanding.

Strange New Worlds IV features more than a dozen never-before-published stories spanning the twenty-third and twenty-fourth centuries, from the early days of James T. Kirk and his crew to the later generations of Captains Picard, Sisko, and Janeway. These memorable new tales explore and examine the past and future of Star Trek from many different perspectives.

Join Strange New Worlds in its thrilling quest to uncover the most compelling Star Trek fiction this side of the Galactic Barrier!

Contents:

• 3 - A Little More Action - shortstory by TG Theodore
• 15 - Prodigal Father - shortstory by Robert J. Mendenhall
• 33 - Missed - shortstory by Pat Detmer
• 39 - Tears for Eternity - shortstory by Lynda Martinez Foley
• 49 - Countdown - shortstory by Mary Sweeney
• 59 - First Star I See Tonight - shortstory by Victoria Grant
• 66 - Scotty's Song - shortstory by Michael Jasper [as by Michael J. Jasper ]
• 80 - The Name of the Cat - shortstory by Steven Scott Ripley
• 101 - Flight 19 - shortstory by Alan James Garbers
• 120 - The Promise - novelette by Shane Zeranski
• 142 - Flash Point - shortstory by E. Catherine Tobler
• 145 - Prodigal Son - shortstory by Tonya D. Price
• 152 - Seeing Forever - shortstory by Jeff Suess
• 167 - Captain Proton and the Orb of Bajor - novelette by Jonathan Bridge
• 189 - Isolation Ward 4 - shortstory by Kevin G. Summers
• 209 - Iridium-7-Tetrahydroxate Crystals Are a Girl's Best Friend - shortstory by Bill Stuart
• 218 - Uninvited Admirals - shortstory by Penny A. Proctor
• 230 - Return - shortstory by Chuck Anderson
• 233 - Black Hats - shortstory by William Leisner
• 243 - Personal Log - shortstory by Kevin Killiany
• 262 - Welcome Home - shortstory by Diana Kornfeld
• 277 - Shadows, in the Dark - novelette by Ilsa J. Bick
• 301 - Contest Rules (Strange New Worlds IV) - essay by uncredited
• 307 - About the Contributors (Strange New Worlds IV) - essay by uncredited

The Fifth year of the Star Trek new author contest.

Contents:

• ix - Introduction (Strange New Worlds V) - essay by John J. Ordover
• 3 - Disappearance on 21st Street - shortstory by Mary Scott-Wiecek
• 11 - The Trouble with Borg Tribbles - shortstory by William Leisner
• 17 - Legal Action - shortstory by Alan L. Lickiss
• 33 - Yeoman Figgs - shortstory by Mark Murata
• 43 - The Shoulders of Giants - novelette by Robert T. Jeschonek
• 69 - Bluff - shortstory by Steven Scott Ripley
• 84 - The Peacemakers - novelette by Alan James Garbers
• 109 - Efflorescence - shortstory by Julie Hyzy [as by Julie A. Hyzy ]
• 122 - Kristin's Conundrum - shortstory by Jeff D. Jacques and Michelle A. Bottrall
• 143 - The Monkey Puzzle Box - shortstory by Kevin Killiany
• 162 - The Farewell Gift - shortstory by Tonya D. Price
• 177 - Dementia in D Minor - shortstory by Mary Sweeney
• 199 - Fear, Itself - novelette by Robert J. Mendenhall
• 223 - Final Entry - shortstory by Cynthia K. Deatherage
• 239 - The Difficulties of Being Evil - shortstory by Craig Gibb
• 244 - Restoration - shortstory by Penny A. Proctor
• 258 - On the Rocks - shortstory by TG Theodore
• 268 - Witness - shortstory by Diana Kornfeld
• 286 - Fragment - shortstory by Catherine E. Pike
• 296 - Who Cries for Prometheus? - shortstory by Phaedra Weldon [as by Phaedra M. Weldon ]
• 311 - Remnant - shortstory by James J. Swann and Louisa M. Swann
• 329 - A Girl for Every Star - shortstory by John Takis
• 346 - Hoshi's Gift - shortstory by Kelle Vozka
• 357 - Afterword (Strange New Worlds V) - essay by Dean Wesley Smith
• 361 - Contest Rules (Strange New Worlds V) - essay by uncredited
• 367 - About the Contributors (Strange New Worlds V) - essay by uncredited

In the sixth year of its ongoing mission, the Strange New Worlds writing competition has once again sought out exciting new voices and imaginations among Star Trek's vast galaxy of fans. After scanning countless submissions for signs of style and originality, the judges are proud to report that the universe of amazing Star Trek writers just keeps expanding.

Strange New Worlds VI features twenty-three never-before-published stories spanning the twenty-second to the twenty-fourth centuries, from the early days of Captain Jonathan Archer to James T. Kirk and his crew to the later generations of Captains Picard, Sisko, and Janeway. These memorable new tales explore and examine the past and future of Star Trek from many different perspectives.

Contents:

• ix - Introduction (Strange New Worlds VI) - essay by Dean Wesley Smith
• 3 - Whales Weep Not - shortstory by Juanita Nolte
• 18 - One Last Adventure - shortstory by Mark Allen and Charity Zegers
• 32 - Marking Time - shortstory by Pat Detmer
• 43 - Ancient History - shortstory by Robert J. Mendenhall
• 56 - Bum Radish: Five Spins on a Turquoise Reindeer - shortstory by TG Theodore
• 64 - A Piece of the Pie - shortstory by G. Wood
• 73 - The Soft Room - novelette by Geoffrey Thorne
• 96 - Protecting Data's Friends - novelette by Scott William Carter
• 117 - The Human Factor - shortstory by Russ Crossley
• 128 - Tribble in Paradise - shortstory by Louisa M. Swann
• 145 - Fabrications - shortstory by Brett Hudgins
• 149 - Urgent Matter - shortstory by Robert J. LaBaff
• 160 - Best Tools Available - shortstory by Shawn Michael Scott
• 179 - Homemade - shortstory by Elizabeth A. Dunham
• 187 - Seven and Seven - novelette by Kevin Hosey
• 209 - The End of Night - novelette by Paul J. Kaplan
• 230 - Hidden - novelette by Jan Stevens
• 254 - Widow's Walk - shortstory by Mary Scott-Wiecek
• 267 - Savior - shortstory by Julie Hyzy
• 286 - Preconceptions - shortstory by Penny A. Proctor
• 302 - Cabin E-14 - shortstory by Shane Zeranski
• 321 - Our Million-Year Mission - novelette by Robert T. Jeschonek
• 346 - The Beginning - shortstory by Annie Reed
• 359 - Contest Rules (Strange New Worlds VI) - essay by uncredited
• 365 - About the Contributors (Strange New Worlds VI) - essay by uncredited

Our seventh anthology features original Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise stories written by Star Trek fans, for Star Trek fans!

Featuring new stories by new writers and a few contest veterans, Strange New Worlds VII spans the entire Star Trek universe from the original days of Captain Kirk and throughout the tenures of Captains Picard, Sisko, and Janeway and back in time again to Archer. Each of these unforgettable stories explores the past and future of Star Trek from many different perspectives.

Contents:

• ix - Introduction (Strange New Worlds VII) - essay by Dean Wesley Smith
• 3 - A Test of Character - shortstory by Kevin Lauderdale
• 15 - Indomitable - shortstory by Kevin Killiany
• 27 - Project Blue Book - shortstory by Christian Grainger
• 40 - The Trouble with Tribals - shortstory by Paul J. Kaplan
• 42 - All Fall Down - shortstory by Muri McCage
• 58 - A Sucker Born - shortstory by Pat Detmer
• 72 - Obligations Discharged - shortstory by Gerri Leen
• 85 - Life's Work - shortstory by Julie Hyzy
• 96 - Adventures in Jazz and Time - shortstory by Kelly Cairo
• 103 - Future Shock - shortstory by John Coffren
• 110 - Full Circle - shortstory by Scott Pearson
• 126 - Beginnings - shortstory by Jeff D. Jacques
• 142 - Solemn Duty - shortstory by Jim Johnson
• 157 - Infinite Bureaucracy - shortstory by Anne E. Clements
• 166 - Barclay Program Nine - shortstory by Russ Crossley
• 179 - Redux - novelette by Susan S. McCrackin
• 202 - The Little Captain - shortstory by Catherine E. Pike
• 216 - I Have Broken the Prime Directive - shortstory by G. Wood
• 220 - Don't Cry - shortstory by Annie Reed
• 229 - Earthquake Weather - shortstory by Louisa M. Swann
• 247 - Guardians - novelette by Brett Hudgins
• 271 - The Law of Averages - shortstory by Amy Sisson
• 278 - Forgotten Light - shortstory by Frederick Kim
• 294 - Contest Rules (Strange New Worlds VII) - essay by uncredited
• 299 - About the Contributors (Strange New Worlds VII) - essay by uncredited

This newest volume of Strange New Worlds features original Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise stories written by Star Trek fans, for Star Trek fans!

Each of these stories features our favorite Trek characters in new and adventurous situations. In this anthology, we get to experience a new version of the Kobayashi Maru, feel what it's like to be inside the Borg collective, delight in tasting new foods, and encourage Starfleet's future.

Contents:

• ix - Introduction (Strange New Worlds 8) - essay by Dean Wesley Smith
• 3 - Shanghaied - (2005) - novelette by Alan James Garbers
• 27 - Assignment: One - (2005) - shortstory by Kevin Lauderdale
• 36 - Demon - (2005) - novelette by Kevin Andrew Hosey
• 61 - Don't Call Me Tiny - (2005) - shortstory by Paul C. Tseng
• 81 - Morning Bells Are Ringing - (2005) - shortstory by Kevin G. Summers
• 99 - Passages of Deceit - (2005) - shortstory by Sarah A. Seaborne
• 115 - Final Flight - (2005) - shortstory by John Takis
• 133 - Trek - (2005) - shortstory by Dan C. Duval
• 147 - Gumbo - (2005) - shortstory by Amy Vincent
• 155 - Promises Made - (2005) - shortstory by David DeLee
• 173 - Always a Price - (2005) - shortstory by Muri McCage
• 186 - Transfiguration - (2005) - shortstory by Susan S. McCrackin
• 205 - This Drone - (2005) - shortstory by M. C. DeMarco
• 215 - Once Upon a Tribble - (2005) - shortstory by Annie Reed
• 224 - You May Kiss the Bride - (2005) - shortstory by Amy Sisson
• 234 - Coffee with a Friend - (2005) - shortstory by J. B. Stevens
• 257 - Egg Drop Soup - (2005) - shortstory by Robert Burke Richardson
• 264 - Hero - (2005) - shortstory by Lorraine Anderson
• 268 - Insanity - (2005) - novelette by A. Rhea King
• 295 - A & Ω (Alpha & Omega) - (2005) - novelette by Derek Tyler Attico
• 318 - Concurrence - (2005) - novelette by Geoffrey Thorne
• 344 - Dawn - (2005) - shortstory by Paul J. Kaplan
• 359 - Contest Rules (Strange New Worlds 8) - essay by uncredited
• 365 - About the Contributors (Strange New Worlds 8) - essay by uncredited

The tales featured in Strange New Worlds IX, rocket readers across the length and breadth of the Federation, time, and space; from Captain Jonathan Archer's first exploration of the galaxy on board the very first Starship Enterprise through to Captain Picard's tenure on the USS Enterprise 1701-D -- and beyond. Here you can read a fresh and original take on Captain Benjamin Sisko's role on Deep Space Nine, Captain Kathryn Janeway's homeward journey with the crew of the Starship Voyager, Captain Archer's encounters with the Xindi -- and many more ports of call along the way.

Contents:

• ix - Introduction (Strange New Worlds 9) - essay by Dean Wesley Smith
• 3 - Gone Native - (2006) - shortstory by John Coffren
• 9 - A Bad Day for Koloth - (2006) - shortstory by David DeLee
• 20 - Book of Fulfillment - (2006) - shortstory by Steven Costa
• 28 - The Smallest Choices - (2006) - shortstory by Jeremy Yoder
• 41 - Staying the Course - (2006) - shortstory by Paul C. Tseng
• 57 - Home Soil - (2006) - shortstory by Jim Johnson
• 74 - Terra Tonight - (2006) - shortstory by Scott Pearson
• 87 - Solace in Bloom - (2006) - novelette by Jeff D. Jacques
• 111 - Shadowed Allies - (2006) - novelette by Emily P. Bloch
• 134 - Living on the Edge of Existence - (2006) - shortstory by Gerri Leen
• 148 - The Last Tree on Ferenginar: A Ferengi Fable from the Future - (2006) - shortstory by Mike McDevitt
• 168 - The Tribbles' Pagh - (2006) - shortstory by Ryan M. Williams
• 185 - Choices - (2006) - novelette by Susan S. McCrackin
• 207 - Unconventional Cures - (2006) - shortstory by Russ Crossley
• 213 - Maturation - (2006) - shortstory by Catherine E. Pike
• 225 - Rounding a Corner Already Turned - (2006) - novelette by Allison Cain
• 247 - Mother Nature's Little Reminders - (2006) - shortstory by A. Rhea King
• 255 - Mestral - (2006) - novelette by Ben Guilfoy
• 279 - Remembering the Future - (2006) - shortstory by Randy Tatano
• 291 - Rocket Man - (2006) - shortstory by Kenneth E. Carper
• 312 - The Rules of War - (2006) - shortstory by Kevin Lauderdale
• 321 - The Immortality Blues - (2006) - novelette by Marc Carlson
• 343 - Orphans - (2006) - novelette by R. S. Belcher
• 367 - Contest Rules (Strange New Worlds 9) - essay by uncredited
• 375 - About the Contributors (Strange New Worlds 9) - essay by uncredited
• [384] - First, Do No Harm (excerpt) - shortfiction by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore

Ambassador Sarek meets his future wife. Captain Ransom atones for his sins. T'Pol pursues a composer, after she is captivated by the human's music. Strands of DNA are woven together from four Starfleet captains, creating one man with one mission. An entity fights for its right to live, despite the fact that it is not alive.

From the ordinary to the extraordinary, all of these stories are embraced by the vision of Star Trek. When Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek, he also tapped a wellspring of human imagination. Viewers were transformed into fans, who embraced the show and turned the definition of "fan" on its ear. However, when what was on the screen was simply not enough, fans started writing their own stories, which they then shared among friends and family.

Ten years ago, Pocket Books offered Star Trek fans a unique opportunity to become a part of the Star Trek mythos. A contest was created in which the best stories submitted by nonprofessional writers would be published. And over the course of a decade, hundreds of pounds of submissions poured in. Many of the writers who submitted to Strange New Worlds went on to become professional writers.

Contents:

• vii - Introduction: Ten Years of Great Adventure - essay by Dean Wesley Smith
• 5 - The Smell of Dead Roses - novelette by Gerri Leen
• 29 - The Doomsday Gambit - shortstory by Rick Dickson
• 47 - Empty - shortstory by David DeLee
• 63 - Wired - shortstory by Aimee Ford Foster
• 85 - A Dish Served Cold - shortstory by Paul C. Tseng
• 101 - The Very Model - shortstory by Muri McCage
• 117 - So a Horse Walks into a Bar ... - shortstory by Brian Seidman
• 139 - Signal to Noise - shortstory by Jim Johnson
• 157 - The Fate of Captain Ransom - shortstory by Rob Vagle
• 175 - A Taste of Spam - shortstory by L. E. Doggett
• 191 - Adjustments - shortstory by Laura Ware
• 203 - The Day the Borg Came - shortstory by M. C. DeMarco
• 217 - The Dream - shortstory by Robyn Sullivent Gries
• 229 - Universal Chord - shortstory by Carolyn Winifred
• 249 - You Are Not in Space - shortstory by Edgar Governo
• 271 - Time Line - shortstory by Jerry M. Wolfe
• 289 - Echoes - shortstory by Randy Tatano
• 311 - Brigadoon - novelette by Rigel Ailur
• 337 - Reborn - shortstory by Jeremy Yoder

When an experimental shuttlecraft fails, Captain Christopher Pike suspects a mechanical malfunction--only to discover the very principles on which Starfleet bases its technology have simply stopped functioning. He and his crewmates are forced to abandon ship in a dangerous maneuver that scatters their party across the strangest new world they've ever encountered.

First Officer Una Chin-Riley finds herself fighting to survive an untamed wilderness where dangers lurk at every turn. Young cadet Nyota Uhura struggles in a volcanic wasteland where things are not as they seem. Science Officer Spock is missing altogether. And Pike gets the chance to fulfill a childhood dream: to live the life of a cowboy in a world where the tools of the twenty-third century are of no use.

Yet even in the saddle, Pike is still very much a starship captain, with all the responsibilities that entails. Setting out to find his crewmates, he encounters a surprising face from his past--and discovers that one people's utopia might be someone else's purgatory. He must lead an exodus--or risk a calamity of galactic proportions that even the Starship Enterprise is powerless to stop...

The year is 2255, not long after the events of the Original Series episode "The Cage." A young Spock is science officer on the U.S.S. Enterprise, under the command of Captain Christopher Pike, when an outbreak of deadly Rigelian fever threatens the crew. Reviewing the Starfleet medical database, Dr. Phillip Boyce comes up with a highly experimental and untested new treatment that might save the crew. Just one problem: it requires a rare mineral substance, ryetalyn, which is not easily obtained... except on a remote alien colony near the Klingon border. But borders are somewhat blurry in this part of galaxy. Pike will need to tread carefully in order to avoid provoking an armed conflict with the Klingons--or starting an all-out war.

The Ephrata Institute is an intellectual think tank at the outer fringes of the final frontier. Dedicated to the arts and sciences, the Institute seems an unlikely target for an invasion, but it proves easy pickings when the Crusade comes from beyond, determined to impose its harsh, unbending Truth on all the worlds of the Federation. Armed with weaponized gravity, the alien Crusaders will stop at nothing to rescue the universe from its myriad beliefs... even if it means warping the mind and soul of every sentient being they encounter.

Responding to an urgent distress signal, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise soon find themselves in conflict with the Crusade, and facing individual challenges. When Kirk and Spock are transported to the Crusade's distant homeland to confront the source of the invasion, Sulu finds himself trapped behind enemy lines, while Lieutenant Uhura is faced with possibly the most difficult decisions of her career.

As the Crusade sets its sights beyond Ephrata IV, it is up to the Enterprise and its besieged crew to keep freedom of thought from being crushed beneath the weight of worlds!

It is the central core of an immense computer library -- an elite network of research planetoids. Here, the Pathfinders -- the only artificial intelligences legally permitted to serve the Federation -- control and sift the overwhelming dataflow from thousands of research vessels across the galaxy...

Now the greatest scientists in the Federation have gathered here for the prestigious Nobel and Z-Magnees prize ceremonies -- unaware that a deadly assassin is stalking one of them. And as Captain Kirk struggles to save his ship from sabotage and his first officer from accusations of murder, he discovers the hidden assassin is far from the deadliest secret lurking on Memory Prime...

Starfleet's most sacred commandment has been violated. Its most honored captain is in disgrace, its most celebrated starship in pieces, and the crew of that ship scattered among the thousand worlds of the Federation...

Thus begins "Prime Directive", an epic tale of the Star Trek universe. Following in the bestselling tradition of "Spock's World" and "The Lost Years", Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens have crafted a thrilling tale of mystery and wonder, a novel that takes the Star Trek characters from the depths of despair into an electrifying new adventure that spans the galaxy.

Journey with Spock, McCoy, and the rest of the former crew of the Starship Enterprise to Talin-- the planet where their careers ended. A world once teeming with life that now lies ruined, its cities turned to ashes, its surface devastated by a radioactive firestorm-- because of their actions. There, they must find out how-- and why-- this tragedy occurred and discover what has become of their captain.

When Morgan Chane and his comrades of John Dilullo's interstellar mercenaries invaded the Close World of Arkuu in search of a lost Terran expedition, they found a planet of strange menace. Incredibly powerful monsters prowled though Arkuu's dense jungles, and the ghosts of the planet's past haunted its ancient deserted cities. The Arkuuns themselves fought grimly to drive the Terrans away. But at last Chane discovered the Free-Faring, the terrible alien secret of Arkuu... and suddenly he knew why no Terran had ever left the Closed Worlds alive.

This novel is contained in the Omnibus Starwolf

The Eternal Emperor ruled countless worlds across the galaxy. Vast armies and huge fleets awaited his command. But when he needed a "little" job done right, he turned to Mantis Team and its small band of militant problem solvers.

Just then the Emperor needed to pacify the Wolf Worlds, the planets of an insignificant cluster that had raised space piracy to a low art.

And Mantis Team could use all the men it needed -- as long as it needed no more than two.

The immortal Emperor can grant a form of eternal life-after-death, creating an elite known as the Risen, and so has ruled the eighty worlds unchallenged for sixteen hundred years. The only thing he fears are the Rix, machine-augmented humans who worship AI compound minds. They are dedicated to replacing his prolonged rule with an eternal cybernetic dynasty of their own.

Brilliant tactician Captain Laurent Zai of the Imperial Frigate Lynx faces a suicide mission: stopping the next thrust of the Rix invasion with just his own vessel. While ship-to-ship combat rages among the stars, Zai's lover, Senator Nara Oxham, is caught in a deadly political fencing match with the Emperor himself. The Emperor has a terrible secret, a secret Nara is in danger of finding out, a secret for which he would countenance the killing of worlds.

The Barbarians in their long ships waited at the edge of the Galaxy, waited for the ancient Terran Empire to fall, while tow men struggled to save it: ex-Admiral McCormac, forced to rebel against a corrupt Emperor, and Starship Commander Flandry, the brilliant young officer who served the Imperium even as he scorned it.

Trapped between them was the woman they both loved, but couldn't share: the beautiful Kathryn, whose single world could decide the fate of a billion suns.

My name is Gary Rendell. I'm an astronaut. When they asked me as a kid what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said, "astronaut, please!" I dreamed astronaut, I worked astronaut, I studied astronaut.

I got lucky; when a probe sent out to explore the Oort Cloud found a strange alien rock and an international team of scientists was put together to go and look at it, I made the draw.

I got even luckier. When disaster hit and our team was split up, scattered through the endless cold tunnels, I somehow survived.

Now I'm lost, and alone, and scared, and there's something horrible in here.

Lucky me.

Lucky, lucky, lucky.

Welcome to the end of time. It's a perfect day.

Nobody remembers how the Causality War started. Really, there's no-one to remember, and nothing for them to remember if there were; that's sort of the point. We were time warriors, and we broke time.

I was the one who ended it. Ended the fighting, tidied up the damage as much as I could. Then I came here, to the end of it all, and gave myself a mission: to never let it happen again.

Harry Bodie's been called into the delightful fantasy world of his grandmother's beloved children's books. It's not delightful here at all.

All roads lead to Underhill, where it's always winter, and never nice.

Harry Bodie has a famous grandmother, who wrote beloved children's books set in the delightful world of Underhill. Harry himself is a failing kids' TV presenter whose every attempt to advance his career ends in self-sabotage. His family history seems to be nothing but an impediment.

An impediment... or worse. What if Underhill is real? What if it has been waiting decades for a promised child to visit? What if it isn't delightful at all? And what if its denizens have run out of patience and are taking matters into their own hands?

Scions have no limits. Scions do not die. And Scions do not disappear.

Sergeant Ted Regan has a problem. A son of one of the great corporate families, a Scion, has gone missing at the front. He should have been protected by his Ironclad--the lethal battle suits that make the Scions masters of war--but something has gone catastrophically wrong.

Now Regan and his men, ill equipped and demoralised, must go behind enemy lines, find the missing Scion, and uncover how his suit failed. Is there a new Ironclad-killer out there? And how are common soldiers lacking the protection afforded the rich supposed to survive the battlefield of tomorrow?

Firewalkers are brave. Firewalkers are resourceful. Firewalkers are expendable.

The Earth is burning. Nothing can survive at the Anchor; not without water and power. But the ultra-rich, waiting for their ride off the dying Earth? They can buy water. And as for power?

Well, someone has to repair the solar panels, down in the deserts below.

Kids like Mao, and Lupé, and Hotep; kids with brains and guts but no hope.

The Firewalkers.

Ogres are bigger than you.
Ogres are stronger than you.
Ogres rule the world.

It's always idyllic in the village until the landlord comes to call.

Because the landlord is an Ogre. And Ogres rule the world, with their size and strength and appetites. It's always been that way. It's the natural order of the world. And they only eat people sometimes.

But when the headman's son, Torquell, dares lift his hand against the landlord's son, he sets in motion a chain of events which let him learn about the dark sciences that ensured his masters' domination, the monstrous lies behind everything he knows, and the even worse truths about the Ogres, and the people they rule.

Karen Lord's debut novel, the multiple-award-winning Redemption in Indigo, announced the appearance of a major new talent-a strong, brilliantly innovative voice fusing Caribbean storytelling traditions and speculative fiction with subversive wit and incisive intellect. Compared by critics to such heavyweights as Nalo Hopkinson, China Miéville, and Ursula K. Le Guin, Lord does indeed belong in such select company-yet, like them, she boldly blazes her own trail.

Now Lord returns with a second novel that exceeds the promise of her first. The Best of All Possible Worlds is a stunning science fiction epic that is also a beautifully wrought, deeply moving love story.

A proud and reserved alien society finds its homeland destroyed in an unprovoked act of aggression, and the survivors have no choice but to reach out to the indigenous humanoids of their adopted world, to whom they are distantly related. They wish to preserve their cherished way of life but come to discover that in order to preserve their culture, they may have to change it forever.

Now a man and a woman from these two clashing societies must work together to save this vanishing race-and end up uncovering ancient mysteries with far-reaching ramifications. As their mission hangs in the balance, this unlikely team-one cool and cerebral, the other fiery and impulsive-just may find in each other their own destinies... and a force that transcends all.

Karen Lord is one of today's most brilliant young talents. Her science fiction, like that of predecessors Ursula K. Le Guin and China Miéville, combines star-spanning plots, deeply felt characters, and incisive social commentary. With The Galaxy Game, Lord presents a gripping adventure that showcases her dazzling imagination as never before.

On the verge of adulthood, Rafi attends the Lyceum, a school for the psionically gifted. Rafi possesses mental abilities that might benefit people... or control them. Some wish to help Rafi wield his powers responsibly; others see him as a threat to be contained. Rafi's only freedom at the Lyceum is Wallrunning: a game of speed and agility played on vast vertical surfaces riddled with variable gravity fields.

Serendipity and Ntenman are also students at the Lyceum, but unlike Rafi they come from communities where such abilities are valued. Serendipity finds the Lyceum as much a prison as a school, and she yearns for a meaningful life beyond its gates. Ntenman, with his quick tongue, quicker mind, and a willingness to bend if not break the rules, has no problem fitting in. But he too has his reasons for wanting to escape.

Now the three friends are about to experience a moment of violent change as seething tensions between rival star-faring civilizations come to a head. For Serendipity, it will challenge her ideas of community and self. For Ntenman, it will open new opportunities and new dangers. And for Rafi, given a chance to train with some of the best Wallrunners in the galaxy, it will lead to the discovery that there is more to Wallrunning than he ever suspected... and more to himself than he ever dreamed.

Caitlin R. Kiernan's short fiction was first published in 1995. Over the intervening decade and a half, she has proven not only one of dark fantasy and science fiction's most prolific and versatile authors, but, to quote Ramsey Campbell, "One of the most accomplished writers in the field, and very possibly the most lyrical." S. T. Joshi has written, "Kiernan's witchery of words creates a mesmerizing effect that we haven't seen since the days of Lovecraft and Bradbury."

Two Worlds and In Between: The Best of Caitl'n R. Kiernan (Volume One) presents a stunning retrospective of the first ten years of her work, a compilation of more than two hundred thousand words of short fiction, including many of her most acclaimed stories, as well as some of the author's personal favorites, several previously uncollected, hard-to-find pieces, and her sf novella, The Dry Salvages, and a rare collaboration with Poppy Z. Brite. Destined to become the definitive look at the early development of Kiernan's work, Two Worlds and In Between is a must for fans and collectors alike, as well as an unprecedented introduction to an author who, over the course of her career, has earned the praise of such luminaries as Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, Charles De Lint, and Clive Barker.

Contents:

• Emptiness Spoke Eloquent - (1997)
• Two Worlds, and in Between - (1997)
• To This Water (Johnstown, Pennsylvania 1889) - (1996)
• Tears Seven Times Salt - (1996)
• Breakfast in the House of the Rising Sun (Murder Ballad No. 1) - (1997)
• Estate - (1997)
• Rats Live on No Evil Star - (1999)
• Salmagundi (New York City, 1981) - (1998)
• Postcards from the King of Tides - (1998)
• Giants in the Earth - (1996)
• Zelda Fitzgerald in Ballet Attire - poem (2000)
• Spindleshanks (New Orleans, 1956) - (2000)
• The Road of Pins - (2002)
• Onion - (2001)
• In the Garden of Poisonous Flowers - (2002)
• Night Story 1973 - (2002) - by Poppy Z. Brite and Caitlín R. Kiernan
• From Cabinet 34, Drawer 6 - (2005)
• Andromeda Among the Stones - (2002)
• La Peau Verte - (2005)
• Riding the White Bull - (2004)
• Waycross - (2003)
• The Dead and the Moonstruck - (2004)
• The Daughter of the Four of Pentacles - (2007)
• The Dry Salvages - (2004)
• The Worm in My Mind's Eye - (2005)
• Houses Under the Sea - (2006)

A DROID AND HIS BOY, ON A SEARCH FOR A LEGENDARY WEAPON

Daslakh is an AI with a problem. Its favorite human, a young man named Zee, is in love with a woman who never existed -- and he will scour the Solar System to find her. But in the Tenth Millennium a billion worlds circle the Sun--everything from terraformed planets to artificial habitats, home to a quadrillion beings.

Daslakh's nicely settled life gets more complicated when Zee helps a woman named Adya escape a gang of crooks. This gets the pair caught up in the hunt for the Godel Trigger, a legendary weapon left over from an ancient war between humans and machines--which could spell the end of civilization.

In their search, they face a criminal cat and her henchmen, a paranoid supermind with a giant laser, the greatest thief in history, and a woman who might actually be Zee's lost love.

It's up to Daslakh to save civilization, keep Zee's love life on the right track--and make sure that nobody discovers the real secret of the Godel Trigger.

Solana Sina is a scarab, salvaging wrecked and abandoned space habitats among the Billion Worlds of the Tenth Millennium. She and an oddball crew--a raven, a cyborg, and a dinosaur--board the derelict colony Safdaghar hoping to score some loot before the colony gets catapulted into the outer reaches of the Solar System. But Solana and the scarabs come face-to-face with a gang of vicious pirates looking for slaves and treasure, and a mysterious stranger intent on preserving an explosive secret. Solana must overcome her own horrifying past to survive and escape before it's too late. But there's an even more dangerous threat lurking in the dark passages and ruined buildings of Safdaghar...

She's a revolutionary. Humanity is running out of options. Habitable planets are being destroyed as quickly as they're found and Naira Sharp thinks she knows the reason why. The all-powerful Mercator family has been controlling the exploration of the universe for decades, and exploiting any materials they find along the way under the guise of helping humanity's expansion. But Naira knows the truth, and she plans to bring the whole family down from the inside.

He's the heir to the dynasty. Tarquin Mercator never wanted to run a galaxy-spanning business empire. He just wanted to study rocks and read books. But Tarquin's father has tasked him with monitoring the settlement of a new planet, and he doesn't really have a choice in the matter.

Disguised as Tarquin's new bodyguard, Naira plans to destroy the settlement ship before they make land. But neither of them expects to end up stranded on a dead planet. To survive and keep her secret, Naira will have to join forces with the man she's sworn to hate. And together they will uncover a plot that's bigger than both of them.

Naira and Tarquin have escaped vicious counter-revolutionaries, misprinted monsters and the pull of a dying planet. Now, bound together to find the truth behind the blight that has been killing habitable planets, they need to hunt out the Mercator family secrets.

But, when the head of Mercator disappears, taking the universe's remaining supply of starship fuel with him, chaos breaks loose between the ruling families. Naira's revolution must be put aside for the sake of humanity's immediate survival.

In this alternate history novel, the Bubonic Plague sets the stage for a world where the West is powerless. After the Black Death has wiped out most of the European population, there is little defense against Turkish invasion and expansion, and by the 1980s, the major world powers are the Russians, the Turks, the Aztecs, the Incas, and the Japanese. Dan Beauchamp, a young Englishman whose heart longs for fortune and adventure, travels to industrial Mexico and discovers that he has a lot to learn.

These three novellas are set in an alternate world first created by Silverberg in his novel, The Gate of Worlds (TOR, 1984). The idea remains intriguing: the Black Plague decimates the European population to a degree that proves irrecoverable and the ensuing cultural, inventive, and technological vacuum is filled by the civilizations of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Silverberg and John Brunner contribute taut and tantalizing glimpses into the might-have-beens of Timbuctoo politics and would-be Eastern European assassins. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's contribution, set in the courts of the Incas, unfortunately bogs down in its strain to demonstrate just how exotic this setting is. Despite this reservation, the book is likely to be popular with fans of alternate-world dramas and of these well-known authors. In addition, it might prove a stimulating enrichment for world-history classes. -Cathy Chauvette, Fairfax County Pub. Lib., VA

Four novellas with the same main character Caher O'Neill.

Contains:

• On the Gem Planet
• On the Storm Planet
• On the Sand Planet
• Three to a Given Star

The Milesian Accords have fallen, but their shadow remains.

As magic returns to the mundane world, so do supernatural creatures. A federal agent seeking answers, a spurned Nephilim searching for his fae-blood wife, and a primeval goddess hungering for power all seek Liam Knox, the First Druid of the Accords.

New allies and old foes appear as paths converge on a nexus between realities. No longer a simple farmhouse, the druid's home has become a pathway between worlds and a locus of power.

Can Liam protect his family? Can he shield those who have no other place to go? And can he keep magic from destroying this world?

Sean McMullen, one of Australia's leading genre writers, took America by storm with his sweeping Greatwinter Trilogy, a post-apocalyptic science fiction tour de force that won over critics and readers alike.

Now McMullen delivers Voyage of the Shadowmoon, a fantasy epic of daunting skill and scope. The Shadowmoon is a small, unobtrusive wooden schooner whose passengers and crew are much more than they seem: Ferran, the Shadowmoon's lusty captain who dreams of power; Roval, the warrior-sorcerer; Velander and Terikel, priestesses of a nearly extinct sect; and the chivalrous vampire Laron, who has been trapped in a fourteen-year-old body for seven hundred years.

They sail the coast, gathering useful information, passing as simple traders. But when they witness the awful power of Silverdeath, an uncontrollable doomsday weapon of awesome destructiveness, they realize they must act. But every single king, emperor, and despot covets Silverdeath's power. It will take all of their wits and more than a little luck if they hope to prevent one of these power-hungry fools from destroying the world. Their only advantage? The Shadowmoon.

While it seems to be little more that a small trading vessel--too small for battle, too fat for speed--it is actually one of the most sophisticated vessels in the world, one that allows them to travel to places where no others would dare. They can only hope it will be enough to save them all before Silverdeath rains destruction across their entire world.

Sean McMullen, one of Australia's leading genre authors, delivers Glass Dragons, the scintillating sequel to Voyage of the Shadowmoon which Kirkus Reviews called "a brilliantly inventive, marvelously plotted sea-faring fantasy that both mocks and surpasses genre expectations.... Australian author McMullen writes like Roger Zelazny at the peak of his powers: his dashing, flamboyant, cleverly resourceful characters trade off insults and reveal surprising abilities as they swagger bravely from one hair-raising scene to another. Exciting, suspenseful, vividly believable, and great, clever fun: a major fantasy-award contender."

Glass Dragons continues the tale of Laron, the chivalrous 700-year-old vampire, the appallingly dangerous and beautiful Velander, and the long-suffering Terikel, as they investigate a secret project of arcane magic, a magic so dangerous it could destroy their world. A project which threatens to fall into the wrong hands.

Glass Dragons is a broad and complicated tale, filled with wonderful characters both new and old, woven through with low humor and great courage, built upon grand acts of heroism and love. Enjoy.

At first Wayfarer Inspector Danolarian thought the huge oval thing that had fallen from the sky was a dragon's egg. When it opened, however, he knew that it was much, much worse. His world was being invaded by pitiless sorcerers from Lupan, who could sweep whole armies aside, and even defeat the invulnerable glass dragons. Surrender or flight were the only options... but not for Inspector Danolarian, his Wayfarer Constables, and his sweetheart, the sorceress Lavenci.

Although Danolarian is no sorcerer, he's no ordinary Wayfarer either. Faced with civilization crumbling around him, and organized resistance shattered by the invincible magic of the Lupanians, he chances upon an unlikely ally and begins to fight back. It won't be easy, for he has to rally the demoralized sorcerers of Alberin, organize its terrified citizens, stay one step ahead of his own past, and, most importantly, survive a dinner party with Lavenci's mother.

Swords, sorcery, and time travel are a strange and dangerous mix.

Wayfarer Inspector Danolarian saw his world's future and did not approve. The inspector knew about time travel because he had once met his future self. What he did not know was that he would be abducted into the future, and wind up on the run with a constable who had shape-shifted into a cat. Danolarian would also find himself marooned in the ancient past, where he would have to recover his time engine from five thousand naked, psychopathic horsemen.

A faulty repair plunges him another three million years back in time, to a world of strange, beautiful people living idyllic lives in splendid castles. But things are not always as they seem. After being attacked, he learns from his unlikely rescuer that time travel is not entirely real. A furious Danolarian returns to his own time, planning revenge against the time engine's true builders.

It is the second stage of human colon-ization--the first age, humanity's initial attempt to people the stars, ended in disaster when it was discovered that Earth's original superluminal drive did permanent genetic damage to all who used it--mutating Earth's far-flung colonists in mind and body. Now, one of Earth's first colonies has given humanity back the stars, but at a high price--a monopoly over all human commerce. And when a satellite in earth's outer orbit is viciously attacked by corporate raiders, an unusual young woman flees to a ship bound for the Up-and-Out. But her narrow escape does not mean safety. For speeding across the galaxy pursued by ruthless, but unknown adversaries, this young woman will discover a secret which is buried deep inside her psyche--a revelation the universe may not be ready to face....

When deep-space travel altered the genes of the first interstellar colonists, Earth abandoned them. But some of the colonies survived, and a new civilization of mental and physical "Variants" has been established, centered around clusters of space stations known as the outworlds.

Now the unthinkable has happened: a suicide assault has destroyed the life support system of a major waystation. All that is known about the young men responsible is that in their last living moments they were receiving messages from an uninhabited sector of space, and were playing a virtual reality game.

Two unlikely allies have joined forces to investigate the incident: Ru Gaya, a mercenary explorer with a taste for high risk ventures, and game designer Micah Bello, who must find the parties responsible for the attack in order to clear his name. From the corridors of a derelict station lost to madness to an outlaw stronghold in the depths of uncharted space, the two now follow the trail of an enemy who can twist human minds to his purpose, and whose plans could bring about the collapse of outworld civilization.

Two mighty empires are at war - and both will lose, with thousands of planets falling to the extinction event called the Scour. At least that's what the artificial intelligence known as Rupshe believes.

But somewhere in the multiverse there exists a force - the Mother Mass - that could end the war in an instant, and Rupshe has assembled a team to find it. Essien Nkanika, a soldier trying desperately to atone for past sins; the cat-woman Moon, a conscienceless killer; the digitally recorded mind of physicist Hadiz Tambuwal; Paz, an idealistic child and the renegade robot spy Dulcimer Coronal.

Their mission will take them from the hellish prison world of Tsakom to the poisoned remains of a post-apocalyptic Earth, and finally bring them face to face with the Mother Mass itself. But can they persuade it to end eons of neutrality and help them? And is it too late to make a difference?

Because the Pandominion's doomsday machines are about to be unleashed - and not even their builders know how to control them.

From Julian May, the acclaimed author who created the incredible worlds of The Many-Colored Land and The Golden Torc, comes a bold new science fiction adventure!

When rebellious Asahel Frost was expelled from the Interstellar Commerce Secretariat on trumped-up charges, he lost it all: wife, citizenship, fortune, self-respect. Exiled to a beautiful but remote planet in the Perseus Spur, Frost became Helmut Icicle, a man without a past or a future. But someone remembered Asahel Frost--remembered him enough to send an assassin to kill him. And in so doing, brought him back to life.

Now, determined to track down the would-be assassin, Helmut finds himself caught in a conspiracy as convoluted as it is deadly. His sister, Eve, has mysteriously vanished. His estranged father wants him to find her with the assistance of the lovely Matilde Gregoire, who happens to hate his guts. As Helmut follows the tangled strands of deceit, greed, and violence back to their common source, he begins to wonder if he is the hunter or the hunted...

After a brief (but heroic) fling with all that is right and just, Asahel Frost has reverted to his true nature--undisciplined and feckless, according to the girlfriend who just dumped him. Now he is once again the legal nonentity known as Helmut Icicle, living the riverboat skipper life in a tiny galactic outpost with the rest of the ne'er-do-wells.

That is until his sister Eve, herself genetically altered by the alien Haluk, begs Helmut to expose the Haluk's conspiracy, which threatens humans throughout the Spur worlds. Genetic alteration is tightly controlled, yet now it's running rampant. Helmut must find the culprits, but time is running out. Too many people have vanished into the secret empire where an evil genius reigns supreme. Worse yet, there's an unknown traitor in Helmut's own family who is quite willing to murder. Only one thing's clear: Helmut will emerge either triumphant... or dead.

Two centuries into the future, the Hundred Concerns, a group of powerful corporations that dominate galactic commerce, have pressured the Commonwealth of Humans into signing a pact with the Haluk, a conquering alien race with nefarious designs. Among the few people who recognize the malevolent intent of the aliens is hotheaded maverick Helly Frost.

To prove that the Haluk have created demiclones--genetically engineered individuals who are perfect human replicas--Helly travels to the Sagittarius Whorl, a fearsome region of the galaxy hostile to every form of life. But he must find crucial pieces of evidence that will expose the Haluk plot. Instead, he discovers something far darker than he had ever imagined....

Galactic empires clash, elemental beings devastate whole planetary systems, and the factions of humanity are pitted against each other. Heroes rise and enemies make their last stands in the climax of an epic tale seven years in the making. Acclaim for The Saga of Seven Suns'Anderson weaves action, romance, and science with a rousing plot reflecting the classic SF of Clarke and Herbert and the glossy cinematic influence of Lucas and Spielberg.' --- Publishers Weekly *Starred Review* 'Kevin Anderson has created a fully independent and richly conceived venue for his personal brand of space opera, a venue that nonetheless raises fruitful resonances with Frank Herbert's classic Dune series.' --- Scifi.com'Everything about Anderson's latest is BIG-the war, the history, the aliens. These are elemental forces battling here, folks. Yet the characters are always the heart of the story, and their defeats and triumphs give perspective to it all.' --- Starlog 'A soaring epic . . . a space opera to rival the best the field has ever seen.' --- Science Fiction Chronicle'Colorful stuff . . . bursting with incidents, concepts, and a massive cast of characters, matching well-thought-out SF ideas with melodrama and interfamily strife.' --- SFX

The crew of the Capricious seems to leave a trail of devastation wherever they go. But with powerful enemies in pursuit and family and friends under attack planetside, there's no time to worry about all that. Ensnared by the legend of Origin, humanity's birthplace, and a long-dead form of magic, the Capricious takes off on a journey to find the first colony ship... and magic that could bring down gods.

When Brant and Charlene wreck their car in a horrible snowstorm in the middle of nowhere, the only place they can find shelter is a mysterious little inn called World's End. Here they wait out the storm and listen to stories from the many travelers also stuck at this tavern. These tales exemplify Neil Gaiman's gift for storytelling--and his love for the very telling of them. This volume has almost nothing to do with the larger story of the Sandman, except for a brief foreshadowing nod. It's a nice companion to the best Sandman short story collection, Dream Country, (and it's much better than the hodgepodge Fables and Reflections). World's End works best as a collection--it's a story about a story about stories--all wrapped up in a structure that's clever without being cute, and which features an ending nothing short of spectacular.

Aleister Lanoe has won a stunning victory against the alien armada that threatened Niraya, but it's not enough to satisfy his desire for vengeance. He won't rest until he's located the armada's homeworld and reduced it to ashes.

Yet his personal vendetta will have to wait. Lanoe now faces a desperate race against time, and the merciless Centrocor corporation, if he's to secure the Earth's future--and discover the truth he seeks.

The battle is over. But the war has only just begun.

Something is wrong in Aquae Sulis, Bath's secret mirror city.

The new season is starting and the Master of Ceremonies is missing. Max, an Arbiter of the Split Worlds Treaty, is assigned with the task of finding him with no one to help but a dislocated soul and a mad sorcerer.

There is a witness but his memories have been bound by magical chains only the enemy can break. A rebellious woman trying to escape her family may prove to be the ally Max needs.

But can she be trusted? And why does she want to give up eternal youth and the life of privilege she's been born into?

Cat has been forced into an arranged marriage with William - a situation that comes with far more strings than even she could have anticipated, especially when she learns of his family's intentions for them both.

Meanwhile, Max and the gargoyle investigate The Agency - a mysterious organisation that appears to play by its own rules - and none of them favourable to Society.

Over in Mundanus, Sam has discovered something very peculiar about his wife's employer - something that could herald a change for everyone in both sides of the Split Worlds.

In love and war nothing is safe. William Iris struggles to keep the throne of Londinium whilst hated by his own court and beset by outsiders, while Cathy discovers the legacy of her former governess. But those who dare to speak out about Society are always silenced. Sometimes for good. While trying to avoid further torments from the mercurial fae, Sam finds himself getting tangled in the affairs of the Elemental Court. But an unexpected offer from the powerful and enigmatic Lord Iron turns out to be far more than Sam bargained for.

Max and the gargoyle are getting closer to uncovering who is behind the murder of the Bath Chapter and the corruption in London and Max finds the gargoyle's controversial ideas harder to ignore. Can he stay true to his sworn duty without being destroyed by his own master, whose insanity threatens to unravel them all?

The long-awaited return to Emma Newman's popular fantasy series, A Little Knowledge takes us back to the Split Worlds, where dynastic families feud across the ages, furthering the agendas of their cruel supernatural patrons.

"Emma Newman is an extraordinary new voice in SF/F." ?Paul Cornell, Hugo Award winner, and author of London Falling and Saucer Country

Cathy and Will are now the Duchess and Duke of Londinium, the biggest Fae-touched Nether city, but they have different ideas of what their authority offers. Pressured by his Fae patron, Lord Iris, Will struggles to maintain total control whilst knowing he must have a child with his difficult wife. Cathy wants to muscle the Court through two hundred years of social change and free it from its old-fashioned moral strictures. But Cathy learns just how dangerous it can be for a woman who dares to speak out...

Meanwhile, as Sam learns more about the Elemental Court it becomes clear that the Fae are not the only threat to humanity. Sam realises that he has to make enemies of the most powerful people on the planet, or risk becoming the antithesis of all he believes in.

Threatened by secret societies, hidden power networks, and Fae machinations, can Sam and Cathy survive long enough to make the changes they want to see in the world?

As the Iris family consolidates their hold on society within the secret world of the Nether, William Iris finds himself more powerful and yet more vulnerable than ever. His wife, Cathy, has left him, a fact that will destroy him if it becomes public. To keep his position -- and survive -- he needs to get her back, whatever the cost.

Cathy has finally escaped the Nether, but hates that she must rely so heavily on Sam's protection. When the strange sorceress Bea offers her a chance to earn true freedom by joining the quest Sam has been bound to, Cathy agrees. But can she and Sam navigate Bea's plans for the future without becoming two more of her victims?

And Bea, a self-taught and powerful killer, is not without her enemies. Rupert, the last sorcerer of Albion, is obsessed with finding and destroying her. He orders Max and his gargoyle to help him, pulling them away from protecting innocents. As the Arbiter and his partner face the ugly side of their responsibilities to Rupert, they begin to question where their loyalties should truly lie.

Amidst death, deceit, and the fight for freedom, friendships are tested, families are destroyed, and heroes are forged as the battle to control the Split Worlds rages to its climatic conclusion.

Since boyhood, Druadaen expected he'd ascend to the command of an elite legion and become the leader his father predicted he would be. However, fate had something different in store.

Assigned instead to a small group of outriders tasked with watching nearby kingdoms, Druadaen discovers that the world beyond his homeland is riddled with impossibilities. How do humanoid raiders, known as the Bent, suffer staggering losses and yet return as a vast horde every decade? How do multi-ton dragons fly? How have fossils formed in a world which sacrists insist has existed for only ten millennia?

Determined to solve these mysteries, Druadaen journeys into the dank warrens of the Bent, seeks out a dragon's lair, and ventures into long-buried ruins in search of ancient scrolls. But, whereas legends tell of heroes who encounter their greatest perils during just such forays into the unknown, Druadaen's most lethal enemies might lurk in even more unusual places:

The temples and council chambers of his own homeland.

Druadaen, Outrider for the once-mighty Dunarran Consentium, has proven that there are irreconcilable contradictions between magic and physics on Arrdanc, the world of his birth. And what is his reward for this important discovery, made against all odds and at considerable personal risk? Exile--organized and compelled by nervous temple hierarchs.

However, Druadaen remains determined to uncover what several ancient persons and beings have urged him to seek: "the truth of the world"--which might only be gained by traveling beyond it. Indeed, the mysterious Lady of the Mirror speculates that he might find the answers by journeying to the other side of her unusual looking glass: a reflective, ethereal portal that she calls a "shimmer."

But there's a catch: because the mysterious portal only allows a single person to pass through, Druadaen must leave his companions behind. Unfortunately, once he has, they discover that the "shimmer" only allows travelers to leave Arrdanc, not return to it. So his friends, led by stalwart swordsman Ahearn, resolve to find another means by which they can retrieve Druadaen--and with him, the truth of the world.

There's just one small problem with their quest: the closer they come to finding a solution, the more obvious it becomes that various powers on Arrdanc don't want them to succeed. In fact, they'd rather Druadaen doesn't return at all.

So much so that they might kill both him and his friends in order to prevent it.

Hugo Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in Omni, April 1987 and was reprinted in Clarkesworld Magazine, #92 May 2014. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifth Annual Collection (1988), edited by Gardner Dozois, Invaders! (1993) edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois and War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches (1996) edited by Kevin J. Anderson. It is included in the collections Night of the Cooters (1990) and Things Will Never Be the Same: Selected Short Fiction, 1980 - 2005 (2008).

Read the full story for free at Clarkesworld.

Sidewise Award winning novelette. It originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, January 1996. The story can also be found in the anthologies War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches (1996), edited by Kevin J. Anderson, and The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fourteenth Annual Collection (1997), edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collection Frankensteins and Foreign Devils (1998).

Hugo Award winning and Nebula Award nominated novella.

Two telepaths investigate the newly discovered world of Shkea, where every native inhabitant, and an increasing number of human colonists, worships a mysterious and deadly parasite.

The story originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, June 1974. It can also be found in the anthologies The 1975 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha, The Hugo Winners, Volume 3: (1970-75) (1977), edited by Isaac Asimov, and The Best of Analog (1978), edited by Ben Bova. It is included in the collections A Song for Lya and Other Stories (1976), Nightflyers (1985) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

Hugo Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, July 1975. The story can also be found in the anthology Heads to the Storm (1989), edited by Sandra Miesel and David Drake. It is included in the collections Songs of Stars and Shadows (1977), Nightflyers (1985) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

This novelette originally appeared in Cosmos Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine, November 1977. It can also be found in the anthology Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Seventh Annual Collection (1978), edited by Gardner Dozois. It can also be found in the collections Sandkings (1981) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

A whisperjewel summoned him to Worlorn, and a love he thought he'd lost. But Worlorn isn't the world Dirk t'Larien imagined, and Gwen Delvano is no longer the woman he once knew. She is bound to another man, and to a dying planet that is trapped in twilight, forever falling toward night. Amid this bleak landscape is a violent clash of cultures in which there is no code of honor - and the hunter and the hunted are often interchangeable.

Caught up in a dangerous triangle, Gwen is in need of Dirk's protection, and he will do anything to keep her safe, even if it means challenging the barbaric man who has claimed her - and his cunning cohort. But an impenetrable veil of secrecy surrounds them all, and it's becoming impossible for Dirk to distinguish between his allies and his enemies. While each will fight to stay alive, one is waiting for escape, one for revenge, and another for a brutal, untimely demise.

In a crumbling underground city on a dying planet, young Annelyn has lived a life of privilege. When he is humiliated at the hands of the crafty groun hunter they call the Meatbringer, he and his high-born friends plot revenge. But Annelyn's plan goes desperately awry, leading him deep into the city's ruins--and to the ugly truth about his forebears' reverence for the mythic White Worm.

This novella originally appeared in the anthology The Ides of Tomorrow: Original Science Fiction Tales of Horror (1976), edited by Terry Carr. It is included in the collections Sandkings (1981) and Songs the Dead Men Sing (1983).

Locus Award winning and Hugo Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, April 1980. The story can also be found in the anthologies The 1981 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha, The Best Science Fiction of the Year #10 (1981), edited by Terry Carr, Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Tenth Annual Collection (1981), edited by Gardner Dozois, and Baker's Dozen: 13 Short Horror Novels (1987), edited by Charles G. Waugh and Martin H. Greenberg. It is included in the collections Songs the Dead Men Sing (1983), Nightflyers (1985) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

Hugo, Nebula and Locus Award winning novelette.

When Simon Kress returned to his home planet of Baldur from an offworld business trip, he was amused to find that his tank of Earth piranhas had cannibalized themselves into extinction, and of the two exotic animals that roamed his estate, only one remained. Now, in search of some new pets to satisfy his cruel pursuit of amusement, Simon finds a new shop in the city where he is intrigued by a new lifeform he has never heard of before ... a collection of multi-colored sandkings. The curator explains that the insect-like animals, no larger than Simon's fingernails, are not insects, but animals with a highly-evolved hive intelligence capable of staging wars between the different colors, and even religion--in the form of worship of their owner. The curator's warning to Simon about the regularity of their feeding, unfortunately, was not taken seriously....

The story originally appeared in Omni, August 1979 and has been reprinted many times. There is a comic adaptation and the story served as the basis for an episode of the horror series Outer Limits. It can be found in the anthologies:

• The Best Science Fiction of the Year #9 (1980), edited by Terry Carr
• Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Ninth Annual Collection (1980), edited by Gardner Dozois
• Nebula Winners Fifteen (1981), edited by Frank Herbert
• The First Omni Book of Science Fiction (1984), edited by Ellen Datlow
• The Hugo Winners, Volume 5: (1980-82) (1986), edited by Isaac Asimov
• The Best of the Nebulas (1989), edited by Ben Bova
• Foundations of Fear: An Exploration of Horror (1992) edited by David G. Hartwell
• Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Century (2001), edited by Orson Scott Card
• In Space No One Can Hear You Scream (2013), edited by Hank Davis
• The Big Book of Science Fiction (2016), edited by Jeff and Ann VanderMeer

It is included in the collections Sandkings (1981), Songs the Dead Men Sing (1983) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

It's been a lifetime and more since Cyrain has been challenged in the game of mind. When the cyborg arrives, she senses a worthy and dangerous opponent--one that's been dead for 800 years...

This short story originally appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, September 1986. It can also be found in the collections Portraits of His Children (1987) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology New Voices in Science Fiction (1977), edited by Martin himself. It is also included in the collections Sandkings (1981) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

A Hugo- and Locus Award-winning and Nebula-nominated short story. It first appeared in Omni, June 1979 and has been reprinted many times. It can be found in several anthologies, including The 1980 Annual World's Best SF (1980) edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha, Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Ninth Annual Collection (1980), edited by Gardner Dozois, The Fourth Omni Book of Science Fiction (1985), edited by Ellen Datlow, The Good New Stuff: Adventure SF in the Grand Tradition (1999), edited by Gardner Dozois, and Galileo's Children: Tales of Science vs. Superstition (2005), also edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collections Sandkings (1981) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed Magazine.

Rick Riordan Presents Yoon Ha Lee's space opera about thirteen-year-old Min, who comes from a long line of fox spirits. But you'd never know it by looking at her. To keep the family safe, Min's mother insists that none of them use any fox-magic, such as Charm or shape-shifting. They must appear human at all times.

Min feels hemmed in by the household rules and resents the endless chores, the cousins who crowd her, and the aunties who judge her. She would like nothing more than to escape Jinju, her neglected, dust-ridden, and impoverished planet. She's counting the days until she can follow her older brother, Jun, into the Space Forces and see more of the Thousand Worlds.

When word arrives that Jun is suspected of leaving his post to go in search of the Dragon Pearl, Min knows that something is wrong. Jun would never desert his battle cruiser, even for a mystical object rumored to have tremendous power. She decides to run away to find him and clear his name.

Min's quest will have her meeting gamblers, pirates, and vengeful ghosts. It will involve deception, lies, and sabotage. She will be forced to use more fox-magic than ever before, and to rely on all of her cleverness and bravery. The outcome may not be what she had hoped, but it has the potential to exceed her wildest dreams.

This sci-fi adventure with the underpinnings of Korean mythology will transport you to a world far beyond your imagination.

Sebin, a young tiger spirit from the Juhwang Clan, wants nothing more than to join the Thousand World Space Forces and, like their Uncle Hwan, captain a battle cruiser someday. But when Sebin's acceptance letter finally arrives, it's accompanied by the shocking news that Hwan has been declared a traitor. Apparently, the captain abandoned his duty to steal a magical artifact, the Dragon Pearl, and his whereabouts are still unknown. Sebin hopes to help clear their hero's name and restore honour to the clan.

Nothing goes according to plan, however. As soon as Sebin arrives for orientation, they are met by a special investigator named Yi and his assistant, a girl named Min. Yi informs Sebin that they must immediately report to the ship Haetae and await further instructions. Sebin finds this highly unusual, but soon all protocol is forgotten when there's an explosion on the ship, the crew is knocked out, and the communication system goes down. It's up to Sebin, three other cadets, and Yi and Min to determine who is sabotaging the battlecruiser. When Sebin is suddenly accused of collaborating with the enemy, the cadet realizes that Min is the most dangerous foe of all...

While on a mission to cement peace between the Sun Clans and the Thousand Worlds, Min the fox spirit and her ghost brother Jun get stranded on a death planet with Haneul the dragon spirit and Sebin the tiger spirit. To survive, the young cadets will have to rely on all their wits, training, and supernatural abilities. And let's not forget the Dragon Pearl...

This thrilling conclusion of the Thousand Worlds trilogy, told in alternating points of view, will put you under a delightful spell as it transports you to worlds full of both danger and wonder.

Locus Award winning and Hugo Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, October 12, 1981. The story is included in the collections Tuf Voyaging (1986) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

Haviland Tuf is an honest space-trader who likes cats. So how is it that, in competition with the worst villains the universe has to offer, he's become the proud owner of a seedship, the last remnant of Earth's legendary Ecological Engineering Corps? Never mind; just be thankful that the most powerful weapon in human space is in good hands--hands which now have the godlike ability to control the genetic material of thousands of outlandish creatures.

Armed with this unique equipment, Tuf is set to tackle the problems that human settlers have created in colonizing far-flung worlds: hosts of hostile monsters, a population hooked on procreation, a dictator who unleashes plagues to get his own way... and in every case, the only thing that stands between the colonists and disaster is Tuf's ingenuity--and his reputation as a man of integrity in a universe of rogues.

Pel Brown has troubles in his basement. But it's not water leaking in -- it's magic. Sword-carrying barbarians are spilling through, demanding that Pel help them defeat Shadow, a dark force taking over their world. Meanwhile, on the other side of town, a spaceship has crashed in Amy Jewell's backyard, and the aliens want Amy's help against the Shadow seeking to conquer their world. When Pel and Amy go through the basement portal into the world of magic, the Shadow attacks and traps them inside. Now Pel and Amy find themselves entangled in escapades that will make them into heroes... or corpses.

A handful of ordinary Americans -- housewives, lawyers, interior decorators, and the like -- found themselves caught up in a transdimensional conflict, and transported from their homes to realms where magic worked, to desert planets and rebel worlds, to places straight out of science fiction and fantasy. But these were not the harmless, happy-ending lands of film and fable. The sweat and blood was real, and the horrors they faced genuinely dangerous. One world was a world of magic, ruled by a dark force called Shadow. A handful of would-be heroes resisted Shadow's dominion, and sought assistance in their desperate struggle to free their homeland. The other reality was a universe of spaceships and rayguns, dominated by a Galactic Empire that saw Shadow as a threat -- and that demanded the exiles from our world aid them in their campaign. Against their will, these few people were flung into battle... IN THE EMPIRE OF SHADOW