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The New York Times Book Review hails this collection of thirteen dazzling stories and a rare screenplay by Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Greg Bear as a "solid introduction to the oeuvre of a classic writer."

Greg Bear--author of Queen of Angels, Eon, and Hull Zero Three, among many other hugely popular novels--has an ability to transform challenging scientific concepts into gripping fiction that has won him numerous awards and an avid following. He has written novels about interstellar war, human evolution, intelligent bacteria, international terrorism, and the exploration of deep space--but he doesn't stop there. This brilliant collection of Bear's stories, each newly revised by the author, proves he is a master of the short form as well. Just Over the Horizon offers thirteen mind-bending explorations of the near future... or just beyond the border of conventional reality. The volume includes:

• "Blood Music," a Hugo and Nebula award-winning classic and the basis for the novel of the same name--and the first science-fictional exploration of nanotechnology;
• "Sisters," in which high school students find maturity and family by confronting a tragic genetic destiny;
• "Tangents," winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards, about a persecuted scientist who seeks refuge in a better world;
• "Dead Run," a tale of union truck drivers ferrying souls through Death Valley into Hell, adapted for an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone;
• "Sleepside Story," which Bear calls one of his favorite pieces, an urban fantasy tale that takes a music student by Night Metro to the Sleepside mansion of a magical woman of the night, inverting "Beauty and the Beast" in a very modern mirror;
• "Genius," the screenplay written for the television series Outer Limits, but never produced.

6 dazzling stories, freshly revised for this volume, plus new introductions, commentary, and reminiscences from the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of War Dogs, Eternity, and The Forge of God

Greg Bear is the author of more than 30 books, from thrillers (Darwin's Radio, Vitals) to science fiction (Blood Music, Eon, Hull Zero Three) to pure fantasy (The Infinity Concerto, The Serpent Mage). He has won 5 Nebula and 2 Hugo Awards, his works have been translated into more than 20 languages, and his titles have sold millions of copies worldwide. But his skills are not confined to writing at full-length novels: He is also the author of dozens of brilliant short stories, novellas, and novelettes. Far Thoughts and Pale Gods contains 6 highly acclaimed stories, each newly revised by the author, that illustrate Bear's abundant breadth of talent. The volume includes:

• "Heads," which marks the first time the concept of quantum computing appears in science fiction--though it is a vision of 400 frozen heads that will remain in the reader's memory;
• "The Wind from a Burning Woman," the first story set in the universe that spawned the novels Eon and Eternity;
• "Plague of Conscience," which explores what it means to be alien--and whether that can be comprehended without understanding what it means to be human;
• "Scattershot," beginning "The teddy bear spoke excellent Mandarin," a gripping deep-space adventure that is also a tribute to legendary female science fiction writer James Tiptree Jr.

These and the remaining entries--"Mandala" and "Petra"--form a remarkable collection showcasing the talents of a major American writer.

Each story is accompanied by an introduction and an afterword written especially for this volume.

7 remarkable stories, newly revised for this collection, showcase the award-winning talents of one of the 21st century's finest writers of speculative fiction

Whether penning science fiction (Moving Mars, Queen of Angels, War Dogs), alternate history (the Mongoliad series with Neal Stephenson), or fantasy (Sleepside, The Infinity Concerto), Greg Bear tells stories that engage the reader's intellect while gripping the imagination. His short fiction is no exception. Beyond the Farthest Suns takes readers to the far end of the universe and the borders of scientific understanding. The volume includes:

• "The Way of All Ghosts," set in the bestselling universe of Eon and Eternity;
• "The Venging," which takes a group of desperate fugitives fleeing alien dominance down into the awesome gateway of a black hole;
• "The Fall of the House of Escher," in which a world-famous illusionist is brought back from the dead for a terrifying command performance;
• "Hardfought," the critically acclaimed Nebula Award-winning story showcasing a far future in which a legendary female pilot and her alien captor are forced into a tapestry of echoing lives where they struggle to communicate and find the deepest secrets of their history.

These works, along with 3 additional entries, stunningly illustrate how Bear interweaves the rationality of science with remarkable characters whose thoughts and emotions reflect our own.