Elizabeth Bear Books In Order

Jenny Casey Books In Publication Order

  1. Hammered (2004)
  2. Scardown (2005)
  3. Worldwired (2005)

Promethean Age Books In Publication Order

  1. Blood and Iron (2006)
  2. Whiskey and Water (2007)
  3. Ink and Steel (2008)
  4. Hell and Earth (2008)
  5. One-Eyed Jack (2014)

New Amsterdam Books In Publication Order

  1. New Amsterdam (2007)
  2. Seven for a Secret (2009)
  3. The White City (2010)
  4. Ad Eternum (2012)
  5. Garrett Investigates (2012)

Jacob’s Ladder Books In Publication Order

  1. Dust / Pinion (2007)
  2. Chill / Sanction (2009)
  3. Grail / Cleave (2011)

Iskryne World Books In Publication Order

  1. A Companion to Wolves (2007)
  2. The Tempering of Men (2011)
  3. An Apprentice to Elves (2015)

The Edda of Burdens Books In Publication Order

  1. All the Windwracked Stars (2008)
  2. By the Mountain Bound (2009)
  3. The Sea Thy Mistress (2011)

Eternal Sky Books In Publication Order

  1. Range of Ghosts (2012)
  2. Shattered Pillars (2013)
  3. Steles of the Sky (2014)

Karen Memory Books In Publication Order

  1. Karen Memory (2015)
  2. Stone Mad (2018)

Lotus Kingdoms Books In Publication Order

  1. The Stone in the Skull (2017)
  2. The Red-Stained Wings (2019)

Sub-Inspector Ferron Books In Publication Order

  1. In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal Burns (2012)

Bone and Jewel Creatures Books In Publication Order

  1. Bone and Jewel Creatures (2010)
  2. Book of Iron (2013)

White Space Books In Publication Order

  1. Ancestral Night (2019)
  2. Machine (2020)

Standalone Novels In Publication Order

  1. Carnival (2006)
  2. Undertow (2007)
  3. The Cobbler’s Boy (With: Katherine Addison) (2018)

Short Stories/Novellas In Publication Order

  1. The Chains That You Refuse (2006)
  2. Shoggoths in Bloom and Other Stories (2008)
  3. The Horrid Glory of Its Wings (2009)
  4. Destination (2010)
  5. The Girl Who Sang Rose Madder (2010)
  6. Faster Gun (2012)
  7. And the Deep Blue Sea (2012)
  8. This Chance Planet (2014)
  9. We Have Always Died In The Castle (2018)
  10. On Safari in R’lyeh and Carcosa with Gun and Camera: A Tor.com Original (2020)
  11. The Red Mother (2021)

Apocalypse Triptych Anthology Books In Publication Order

  1. The End is Nigh (2014)
  2. The End is Now (2014)
  3. The End Has Come (2015)

Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Books In Publication Order

  1. Fast Ships, Black Sails (2008)

New Cthulhu Anthology Books In Publication Order

  1. The Recent Weird (2011)
  2. More Recent Weird (2015)

The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction Anthology Books In Publication Order

  1. The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 2 (2010)
  2. The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 3 (2011)
  3. The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 4 (2012)
  4. The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 5 (2013)
  5. The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 6 (2014)
  6. The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 7 (2015)
  7. The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 8 (2016)
  8. The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 9 (2017)
  9. The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 10 (2018)

Kyle Murchison Booth Books In Publication Order

  1. The Bone Key (By:Sarah Monette) (2007)

The Year’s Top Hard Science Fiction Stories Books In Publication Order

  1. The Year’s Top Hard Science Fiction Stories (By:Alastair Reynolds,,Gregory Benford,,Allan Kaster,Ken Liu,Ted Kosmatka,,Paul J. McAuley) (2017)
  2. The Year’s Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 2 (By:Allan Kaster) (2018)
  3. The Year’s Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 3 (By:Alastair Reynolds,Greg Egan,Peter Watts,Yoon Ha Lee,,Allan Kaster,Ken Liu,S.L. Huang,Paul J. McAuley) (2019)
  4. The Year’s Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 4 (With: ,,,Greg Egan,Peter Watts,Allan Kaster) (2020)

The Year’s Top Robot and AI Stories Books In Publication Order

  1. The Year’s Top Robot and AI Stories (With: Allan Kaster) (2019)

Sub-Inspector Ferron Mysteries Books In Publication Order

  1. A Blessing of Unicorns (2020)

Skolian Empire Books In Publication Order

  1. Primary Inversion (By:Catherine Asaro) (1995)
  2. Catch the Lightning (By:Catherine Asaro) (1996)
  3. The Last Hawk (By:Catherine Asaro) (1997)
  4. The Radiant Seas (By:Catherine Asaro) (1998)
  5. Ascendant Sun (By:Catherine Asaro) (2000)
  6. The Quantum Rose (By:Catherine Asaro) (2000)
  7. Spherical Harmonic (By:Catherine Asaro) (2001)
  8. Sextopia (By:Catherine Asaro) (2001)
  9. The Moon’s Shadow (By:Catherine Asaro) (2003)
  10. Skyfall (By:Catherine Asaro) (2003)
  11. Schism (By:Catherine Asaro) (2004)
  12. The Final Key (By:Catherine Asaro) (2005)
  13. Best New Paranormal Romance (With: Rebecca York,Elizabeth Hand,Jane Yolen,Delia Sherman,Catherine Asaro,,,,John Grant,,,Sarah Prineas) (2006)
  14. The Ruby Dice (By:Catherine Asaro) (2008)
  15. Diamond Star (By:Catherine Asaro) (2009)
  16. Carnelians (By:Catherine Asaro) (2011)

Skolian Empire Books In Chronological Order

  1. Skyfall (By:Catherine Asaro) (2003)
  2. Schism (By:Catherine Asaro) (2004)
  3. The Final Key (By:Catherine Asaro) (2005)
  4. The Last Hawk (By:Catherine Asaro) (1997)
  5. Primary Inversion (By:Catherine Asaro) (1995)
  6. The Radiant Seas (By:Catherine Asaro) (1998)
  7. Ascendant Sun (By:Catherine Asaro) (2000)
  8. The Quantum Rose (By:Catherine Asaro) (2000)
  9. Spherical Harmonic (By:Catherine Asaro) (2001)
  10. The Moon’s Shadow (By:Catherine Asaro) (2003)
  11. Diamond Star (By:Catherine Asaro) (2009)
  12. The Ruby Dice (By:Catherine Asaro) (2008)
  13. Carnelians (By:Catherine Asaro) (2011)
  14. Catch the Lightning (By:Catherine Asaro) (1996)
  15. Sextopia (By:Catherine Asaro) (2001)
  16. Best New Paranormal Romance (With: Rebecca York,Elizabeth Hand,Jane Yolen,Delia Sherman,Catherine Asaro,,,,John Grant,,,Sarah Prineas) (2006)

The WisCon Chronicles Books In Publication Order

  1. The WisCon Chronicles, Volume 1 (2007)
  2. The WisCon Chronicles, Vol. 2: Provocative essays on feminism, race, revolution, and the future (2008)
  3. The Wiscon Chronicles, Vol.3: Carnival of Feminist SF (2009)
  4. The WisCon Chronicles, Volume 4 (2010)
  5. The Wiscon Chronicles Volume 5 (2011)
  6. The WisCon Chronicles Vol. 6: Futures of Feminism and Fandom (2012)
  7. The Wiscon Chronicles Vol 7: Shattering Ableist Narratives (2013)
  8. The WisCon Chronicles Vol. 8: Re-Generating WisCon (2014)
  9. The WisCon Chronicles, Vol.9 (2015)
  10. Trials by Whiteness (2017)

The Book of Cthulhu Books In Publication Order

  1. The Book of Cthulhu (2011)
  2. The Book of Cthulhu II (2012)

Anthologies In Publication Order

  1. All Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories (2004)
  2. Best New Paranormal Romance (2006)
  3. The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2010 (2009)
  4. The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 2 (2010)
  5. Starship Vectors (2010)
  6. The Book of Cthulhu (2011)
  7. The Recent Weird (2011)
  8. Brave New Love: 15 Dystopian Tales of Desire (2012)
  9. The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2014 Edition (2014)
  10. Time Travel: Recent Trips (2014)
  11. Mermaids and Other Mysteries of the Deep (2015)
  12. Future Visions (2015)
  13. The Long List Anthology (2015)
  14. Ex Libris: Stories of Librarians, Libraries, and Lore (2017)
  15. The Year’s Top Robot and AI Stories (2019)
  16. The Year’s Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 4 (2020)
  17. The 2020 Look at Space Opera Book (2020)

Jenny Casey Book Covers

Promethean Age Book Covers

New Amsterdam Book Covers

Jacob’s Ladder Book Covers

Iskryne World Book Covers

The Edda of Burdens Book Covers

Eternal Sky Book Covers

Karen Memory Book Covers

Lotus Kingdoms Book Covers

Sub-Inspector Ferron Book Covers

Bone and Jewel Creatures Book Covers

White Space Book Covers

Standalone Novels Book Covers

Short Stories/Novellas Book Covers

Apocalypse Triptych Anthology Book Covers

Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Book Covers

New Cthulhu Anthology Book Covers

The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction Anthology Book Covers

Kyle Murchison Booth Book Covers

The Year’s Top Hard Science Fiction Stories Book Covers

The Year’s Top Robot and AI Stories Book Covers

Sub-Inspector Ferron Mysteries Book Covers

Skolian Empire Book Covers

Skolian Empire Book Covers

The WisCon Chronicles Book Covers

The Book of Cthulhu Book Covers

Anthologies Book Covers

Elizabeth Bear Books Overview

Hammered

Once Jenny Casey was somebody’s daughter. Once she was somebody s enemy. Now the former Canadian special forces warrior lives on the hellish streets of Hartford, Connecticut, in the year 2062. Racked with pain, hiding from the government she served, running with a crime lord so she can save a life or two, Jenny is a month shy of fifty, and her artificially reconstructed body has started to unravel. But she is far from forgotten. A government scientist needs the perfect subject for a high stakes project and has Jenny in his sights. Suddenly Jenny Casey is a pawn in a furious battle, waged in the corridors of the Internet, on the streets of battered cities, and in the complex wirings of her half man made nervous system. And she needs to gain control of the game before a brave new future spins completely out of control.

Scardown

The year is 2062, and after years on the run, Jenny Casey is back in the Canadian armed forces. Those who were once her enemies are now her allies, and at fifty, she’s been handpicked for the most important mission of her life a mission for which her artificially reconstructed body is perfectly suited. With the earth capable of sustaining life for just another century, Jenny as pilot of the starship Montreal must discover brave new worlds. And with time running out, she must succeed where others have failed.

Now Jenny is caught in a desperate battle where old resentments become bitter betrayals and justice takes the cruelest forms of vengeance. With the help of a brilliant AI, an ex crime lord, and the man she loves, Jenny may just get her chance to save the world. If it doesn t come to an end first

Worldwired

Give Canada’s Master Warrant Officer Jenny Casey an inch and she ll take a galaxy. That s just the kind of person a world on the brink of destruction needs. The year is 2063, and Earth has been brutalized. An asteroid flung at Toronto by the PanChinese government has killed tens of millions and left the equivalent of a nuclear explosion in its wake. Humanity must find another option…
.

Perched above the devastation in the starship Montreal, Jenny is still in the thick of the fray. Plugged into the worldwire, connected to a brilliant AI, her mind can be everywhere and anywhere at once. But it s focused on the mysterious alien beings right outside her ship. Are they there to help or destroy? With Earth a breeding ground for treason and betrayal as governments struggle to assign blame, Jenny holds the fate of humankind in her artificially reconstructed hand…
.

Blood and Iron

Spellbound by the Faerie Queen, the woman known as Seeker has abducted human children for her mistress’s pleasure for nearly an eternity, unable to free herself from her servitude and reclaim her own humanity. Seeker’s latest prey is a Merlin. Named after the legendary wizard of Camelot, Merlins are not simply those who wield magic, they are magic. Now, with rival mages also vying for the favor of this being of limitless magic to tip the balance of power, Seeker must persuade the Merlin to join her cause or else risk losing something even more precious to her than the fate of humankind.

Whiskey and Water

Several years ago, Matthew the Magician ended an age old war. It only cost him everything and everyone he knew and loved. Turning against his mentor, Jane Andraste, in the realm of Faerie left him physically crippled and his power shattered. But Matthew remains the protector of New York City. So when he finds a young woman brutally murdered by a Fae creature, he must bring her killer to justice before Jane uses the crime to justify more war and before he confronts an even larger threat in the greatest Adversary of all…

Ink and Steel

On the heels of Hell and Earth Kit Marley, playwright and spy in the service of Queen Elizabeth, has been murdered. His true gift to Her Majesty was his way with words, crafting plays infused with a subtle magic that maintained her rule. He performed this task on behalf of the Prometheus Club, a secret society of nobles engaged in battle against sorcerers determined to destroy England. Assuming Marley’s role is William Shakespeare but he is unable to create the magic needed to hold the Queen s enemies at bay. Resurrected by enchantment in Faerie, Marley is England s only hope. But before he can assist Will in the art of magic, he must uncover the traitor among the Prometheans responsible for his death

Hell and Earth

From the talented Entertainment Weekly award winning author of Whiskey and Water and Blood and Iron.

Kit Marley and William Shakespeare are playwrights in the service of Queen Elizabeth, employed by the Prometheus Club. Their words, infused with magic, empower Her Majesty’s rule. But some of the Prometheans, comprised of England s most influential men and mages, conspire to usurp the Queen.

Able to walk in both worlds, Kit seeks allies to aid him in his mission to protect Elizabeth only to encounter enemies, mortal and monster, who will stop at nothing to usher in a new age. But despite the might of his adversaries, Kit possesses more power than even he can possibly imagine.

New Amsterdam

Abigail Irene Garrett drinks too much. She makes scandalous liaisons with inappropriate men, and if in her youth she was a famous beauty, now she is both formidable and notorious. She is a forensic sorceress, and a dedicated officer of a Crown that does not deserve her loyalty. She has nothing, but obligations. Sebastien de Ulloa is the oldest creature she has ever known. He was no longer young at the Christian millennium, and that was nine hundred years ago. He has forgotten his birth name, his birth place, and even the year in which he was born, if he ever knew it. But he still remembers the woman who made him immortal. He has everything, but a reason to live. In a world where the sun never set on the British Empire, where Holland finally ceded New Amsterdam to the English only during the Napoleonic wars, and where the expansion of the American colonies was halted by the war magic of the Iroquois, they are exiles in the new world and its only hope for justice.

Seven for a Secret

The sequel to New Amsterdam!The wampyr has walked the dark streets of the world’s great cities for a thousand years. In that time, he has worn out many names and even more compatriots. Now, so that one of those companions may die where she once lived, he has come again to the City of London. In 1938, where the ghosts of centuries of war haunt rain grey streets and the Prussian Chancellor’s army of occupation rules with an iron hand. Here he will meet his own ghosts, the remembrances of loves mortal and immortal. And here he will face the Chancellor’s secret weapon: a human child.

The White City

For centuries, The White City has graced the banks of the Moskva River. But in the early years of a twentieth century not quite analogous to our own, a creature even more ancient than Moscow’s fortress heart has entered its medieval walls.

In the wake of political success and personal loss, the immortal detective Don Sebastien de Ulloa has come to Moscow to choose his path amid the embers of war between England and her American colonies. Accompanied by his court–the forensic sorcerer Lady Abigail Irene and the authoress Phoebe Smith–he seeks nothing but healing and rest.

But Moscow is both jeweled and corrupt, and when you are old there is no place free of ghosts, and Sebastien is far from the most ancient thing in Russia…

Dust / Pinion

On a broken ship orbiting a doomed sun, dwellers have grown complacent with their aging metal world. But when a serving girl frees a captive noblewoman, the old order is about to change…
. Ariane, Princess of the House of Rule, was known to be fiercely cold blooded. But severing an angel’s wings on the battlefield even after she had surrendered proved her completely without honor. Captive, the angel Perceval waits for Ariane not only to finish her off but to devour her very memories and mind. Surely her gruesome death will cause war between the houses exactly as Ariane desires. But Ariane s plan may yet be opposed, for Perceval at once recognizes the young servant charged with her care. Rien is the lost child: her sister. Soon they will escape, hoping to stop the impending war and save both their houses. But it is a perilous journey through the crumbling hulk of a dying ship, and they do not pass unnoticed. Because at the hub of their turning world waits Jacob Dust, all that remains of God, following the vapor wisp of the angel. And he knows they will meet very soon.

Chill / Sanction

Sometimes the greatest sin is survival. The generation ship Jacob’s Ladder has barely survived cataclysms from without and within. Now, riding the shock wave of a nova blast toward an uncertain destiny, the damaged ship the only world its inhabitants have ever known remains a war zone. Even as Perceval, the new captain, struggles to come to terms with the traumas of her recent past, the remnants of rebellion aboard the ship still threaten the crew s survival. Yet as Perceval s relatives Tristen and Benedick play a deadly game of cat and mouse in pursuit of a traitor through a vast ship that is renewing itself in strange and dangerous ways, an even more insidious threat is building in a place no one ever thought to look. And this implacable enemy could change the face of the ship forever if a ragtag band of heroes cannot stop it.

A Companion to Wolves

A Companion to Wolves is the story of a young nobleman, Isolfr, who is chosen to become a wolfcarl a warrior who is bonded to a fighting wolf. Isolfr is deeply drawn to the wolves, and though as his father’s heir he can refuse the call, he chooses to go.
The people of this wintry land depend on the wolfcarls to protect them from the threat of trolls and wyverns, though the supernatural creatures have not come in force for many years. Men are growing too confident. The wolfhealls are small, and the lords give them less respect than in former years. But the winter of Isolfr’s bonding, the trolls come down from the north in far greater numbers than before, and the holding s complaisance gives way to terror in the dark.
Isolfr, now bonded to a queen wolf, Viradechtis, must learn where his honor lies, and discover the lengths to which he will to go when it, and love for his wolf, drive him.

The Tempering of Men

Audio CD, Tantor and Blackstone Publishing

All the Windwracked Stars

It all began with Ragnarok, with the Children of the Light and the Tarnished ones battling to the death in the ice and the dark. At the end of the long battle, one Valkyrie survived, wounded, and one valraven the steeds of the valkyrie.

Because they lived, Valdyrgard was not wholly destroyed. Because the valraven was transformed in the last miracle offered to a Child of the Light, Valdyrgard was changed to a world where magic and technology worked hand in hand.

2500 years later, Muire is in the last city on the dying planet, where the Technomancer rules what’s left of humanity. She’s caught sight of someone she has not seen since the Last Battle: Mingan the Wolf is hunting in her city.

By the Mountain Bound

For five hundred years the immortal Children of the Light, einherjar and valkyrie, have lived together in the North of Valdyrgard. They were born out of the Sea, each with a shining crystal sword in his or her hand; they are Angels of Light created in the formation of a new world. But three have come before them, from the death throes of the old world, Midgard: the world girdling Serpent, Bearer of Burdens; the Wolf Fenris, eater of the Sun, who now takes the form of an einherjar; and his demon sister, stealer of souls.

The Children spend their days feasting, fighting, hunting, and guarding their human charges. But one dreadful day a woman is washed up from the sea, a Lady who is no mortal, though she is not valkyrie either. Thus begins the breaking of the Children of the Light, the tarnishing of their power, and the death of Valdyrgard.

By the Mountain Bound is a prequel to Elizabeth Bear’s highly acclaimed All the Windwracked Stars, and tells the painful tale of love and betrayal, sorcery and battle, that led up to the day when Muire was left alone in the snow at the end of the world.

Range of Ghosts

Temur, grandson of the Great Khan, is walking away from a battlefield where he was left for dead. All around lie the fallen armies of his cousin and his brother, who made war to rule the Khaganate. Temur is now the legitimate heir by blood to his grandfather’s throne, but he is not the strongest. Going into exile is the only way to survive his ruthless cousin. Once Princess Samarkar is climbing the thousand steps of the Citadel of the Wizards of Tsarepheth. She was heir to the Rasan Empire until her father got a son on a new wife. Then she was sent to be the wife of a Prince in Song, but that marriage ended in battle and blood. Now she has renounced her worldly power to seek the magical power of the wizards. These two will come together to stand against the hidden cult that has so carefully brought all the empires of the Celadon Highway to strife and civil war through guile and deceit and sorcerous power.

Bone and Jewel Creatures

Dark magic is afoot in the City of Jackals…
Eighty years Bijou the Artificer has been a Wizard of Messaline, building her servants from precious scraps, living with the memory of a great love that betrayed her. She is ready to rest. But now her former apprentice, Brazen the Enchanter, has brought her a speechless feral child poisoned by a sorcerous infection. Now, Messaline is swept by a mysterious plague. Now the seeping corpses of the dead stalk the streets. Now, finally, Bijou’s old nemesis Bijou’s old love Kaulas the Necromancer is unleashing a reeking half death on Bijou’s people. And only Bijou and her creatures wrought of bone and jewels can save the City of Jackals from his final revenge.

Carnival

In Old Earth’s clandestine world of ambassador spies, Michelangelo Kusanagi Jones and Vincent Katherinessen were once a starring team. But ever since a disastrous mission, they have been living separate lives in a universe dominated by a ruthless Coalition one that is about to reunite them. The pair are dispatched to New Amazonia as diplomatic agents Allegedly, they are to return priceless art. Covertly, they seek to tap its energy supply. But in reality, one has his mind set on treason. And among the extraordinary women of New Amazonia, in a season of festival, betrayal, and disguise, he will find a new ally and a force beyond any that humans have known .

Undertow

A frontier world on the back end of nowhere is the sort of place people go to get lost. And some of those people have secrets worth hiding, secrets that can change the future assuming there is one…
. Andr Desch nes is a hired assassin, but he wants to be so much more. If only he can find a teacher who will forgive his murderous past and train him to manipulate odds and control probability. It’s called the art of conjuring, and it s Andr s only route to freedom. For the world he lives on is run by the ruthless Charter Trade Company, and his floating city, Novo Haven, is little more than a company town where humans and aliens alike either work for one tyrannical family or are destroyed by it. But beneath Novo Haven s murky waters, within its tangled bayous, reedy banks, and back alleys, revolution is stirring. And one more death may be all it takes to shift the balance…
.

The Chains That You Refuse

A new collection by one of the most popular and prolific authors of the last few years covers a wide range of material, from time travel to cyberpunk to contemporary fantasy. Twenty stories and two poems, originally published in high profile places like SciFi. com and Asimov’s.

Destination

Publishers Weekly, Starred Review: ‘Exceptional Anthology…
‘ Science Fiction stories, first contact, space opera, adventure, by Elizabeth Bear, Mike Resnick, K.D. Wentworth, Sandra McDonald, Michael A. Burstein, Lawrence M. Schoen, James Gunn, Sara Genge, and more. Edited by Z.S. Adani and Eric T. Reynolds.

Fast Ships, Black Sails

Do you love the sound of a peg leg stomping across a quarterdeck? Or maybe you prefer a parrot on your arm, a strong wind at your back? Adventure, treasure, intrigue, humor, romance, danger and, yes, plunder! Oh, the Devil does love a pirate and so do readers everywhere! Swashbuckling from the past into the future and space itself, Fast Ships, Black Sails, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, presents an incredibly entertaining volume of original stories guaranteed to make you walk and talk like a pirate.

The Recent Weird

For more than 80 years H.P. Lovecraft has inspired writers of supernatural fiction, artists, musicians, filmmakers, and gaming. His themes of cosmic indifference, the utter insignificance of humankind, minds invaded by the alien, and the horrors of history written with a pervasive atmosphere of unexplainable dread remain not only viable motifs, but are more relevant than ever as we explore the mysteries of a universe in which our planet is infinitesimal and climatic change is overwhelming it. In the first decade of the twenty first century the best supernatural writers no longer imitate Lovecraft, but they are profoundly influenced by the genre and the mythos he created. New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird presents some of the best of this new Lovecraftian fiction bizarre, subtle, atmospheric, metaphysical, psychological, filled with strange creatures and stranger characters eldritch, unsettling, evocative, and darkly appealing.

The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 2

An unabridged audio collection of the best of the best science fiction stories published in 2009 by current and emerging masters of the genre, as narrated by top voice talents. In Erosion, by Ian Creasey, A man tests the limits of his exo suit prior to leaving a dying Earth. In As Women Fight, by Sara Genge, a hunter, in a society of body switchers, has no time to train for a fight to inhabit his wife’s body. In A Story, with Beans, by Steven Gould, the role of religion in a dystopian future plagued with metal eating bugs is considered. In Events Preceding the Helvetican Renaissance, by John Kessel, a monk, in the far future, steals the only copy of a set of plays from a repressive regime and uses this loot to free his people. In On the Human Plan, by Jay Lake, a mysterious alien visits a far future, dying Earth in search of the death of Death. Set in the Jackaroo sequence, Crimes and Glory, by Paul McAuley, a detective chases a thief to recover alien technology that both aliens and humanity are desperate to recover. Set in the Lovecraftian Boojum universe, Mongoose by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear, a vermin hunter and his tentacled assistant come on board a space station to hunt toves and raths. In Before My Last Breath, by Robert Reed, a geologist discovers a strange fossil in a coal mine that leads to the discovery of a peculiar graveyard. In The Island, by Peter Watts, a woman on a spaceship must decide whether to place a stargate near an alien society that will ultimately destroy it. Finally, This Peaceable Land; or, The Unbearable Vision of Harriet Beecher Stowe, by Robert Charles Wilson, is an alternate American Civil War history in which the war was never fought, slavery gradually disappeared, and Uncle Tom s Cabin was never published. More than 9.5 hours on 8 CDs, read by Tom Dheere, Vanessa Hart, and J. P. Linton.

The Bone Key (By:Sarah Monette)

The dead and the monstrous will not leave Kyle Murchison Booth alone, for an unwilling foray into necromancy has made him sensitive to and attractive to the creatures who roam the darkness of his once safe world. Ghosts, ghouls, incubi: all have one thing in common. They know Booth for one of their own…

Primary Inversion (By:Catherine Asaro)

The Skolian Empire rules a third of the civilized galaxy through its mastery of faster than light communication. But war with the rival empire of the Traders seems imminent, a war that can only lead to slavery for the Skolians or the destruction of both sides. Destructive skirmishes have already occurred. A desperate attempt must be made to avert total disaster.

Catch the Lightning (By:Catherine Asaro)

In the distant future, the Skolian empire rules one third of the human galaxy, and is the most powerful of all. For the ruling family has the power of telepathy, and through it, the ability to communicate faster than light across the interstellar space. but their most determined enemy, the traders, who thrive on human pain, need to interbreed with a Skolian to gain their powers. And now they have her.

The Last Hawk (By:Catherine Asaro)

Catherine Asaro, a physicist who combines believable hard science with first rate storytelling, exploded onto the science fiction scene with her stellar debut novel, Primary Inversion. Now she brings us the third tale of the Skolian Empire, which AudioFile calls a classic tale of power and conflict, with a twist. When Kelric, a scion of the imperial family of Skolia, crash lands his fighter on the off limits planet of Coba, he figures it will be only a short time before he makes his way home. But he fails to account for the powerful matriarchy of Coba, the mistresses of the great estates who do not want the Empire to know about their recent cultural advances. First they take him prisoner. Then, one by one, the most powerful women on the planet fall in love with him!

The Radiant Seas (By:Catherine Asaro)

Catherine Asaro’s novels showcase her unique ability to weave a fine web of adventure, hard science and romance. The Radiant Seas continues the story begun in Primary Inversion, the tale of Sauscony and Jaibriol, each the heir to an interstellar empire, as their lives become entangled again in the machinations of the Skolian Empire. As they begin to pick up what’s left of their lives, the fate of much of the known universe comes to rest on the shoulders of their fragile young family. Interstellar war erupts and Jaibriol is snatched away to become the unwilling ruler of the Highton Aristos. Sauscony must lead an invading space fleet to rescue Jaibriol from his own empire without revealing that they are married. The Radiant Seas is an ambitious romantic epic that will further establish Catherine Asaro as a new force in the sf field.

Ascendant Sun (By:Catherine Asaro)

Ascendant Sun is a stand alone novel in the same universe as the Nebula Award finalist The Last Hawk, in which Kelric, a prince of Imperial Skolia, crashed on the planet Coba. Now eighteen years later he has escaped Coba and returned home only to find Skolia in chaos. In the aftermath of the Radiance War, all surviving members of his family are prisoners of Earth or the Trader empire. Only Kelric remains free. With no more than his clothes to his name and no one he dares trust, he must find a way to claim his title before his enemies discover his identity. His devotion to his family sustains him as he launches a silent, one man battle against the Trader empire, initially as a weapons officer. Kidnapped and sold as a pleasure slave, he must overcome ever greater obstacles in his quest. So begins a journey that crosses three empires, as he strives to save his people.

The Quantum Rose (By:Catherine Asaro)

The sixth volume in the Saga of the Skolian Empire Primary Inversion; The Radiant Seas; etc. is a freestanding page turner as a romance, with a hard science framework. It begins in an idyllic forest bathing pool on the backwater world of Balumil. Kamoj Quanta Argali, attractive young female governor of a poor province with decaying traces of millennia old technology, notices the mysterious off worlder, Havyrl Lionstar, watching her dress. Retreating in consternation, she also attempts to hide fromDand thus offendsDher lifelong fianc , Jax Ironbridge, overbearing governor of a wealthier neighboring province. Soon Havyrl brother of previous protagonists in the series blunders into outbidding Jax for marriage with Kamoj. Jax objects violently and reclaims Kamoj by force, puzzling the off worlder, whose presence by then is entangling the provincial governors in the imperial politics of the wider universe. The gender role elaboration in the maneuvers that follow will seem overdetailed to some readers, but fascinating to others. To Havyrl and his staff, Balumil is a rediscovered colony; hence they spend a lot of time explaining to Kamoj the significance of the quasimagical remnants of technology in her culture. Desperate for clues to understanding the wider universe as her planet’s isolation ends, Kamoj proves to be as brainy as she is beautiful.

Spherical Harmonic (By:Catherine Asaro)

Separated for decades by circumstance and political machinations, the Ruby Dynasty, hereditary rulers of Skolia, struggle to bring together the tattered remnants of their family in the shadow of a disastrous interstellar war. Too many have died, others are presumed lost, yet Dyhianna, the Ruby Pharaoh, must move quickly if they are reassume their rightful place as rulers of the Skolian Empire.

The Moon’s Shadow (By:Catherine Asaro)

Catherine Asaro exploded on to the science fiction scene in 1995 with the publication of her widely acclaimed debut novel, Primary Inversion, which introduced readers to the vast and intricate future Saga of the Skolian Empire. She won wide acclaim for her innovative blend of cutting edge physics, interstellar intrigue, and passionate romance. Booklist praised Primary Inversion as ‘an unusually masterful first novel combining hard speculative science and first rate storytelling to look at the galaxy’s distant future. This is one of the best SF first novels in years, a likely candidate for the genre’s major awards.’ And Romantic Times called Catherine Asaro ‘a formidable new talent. Primary Inversion is a stunning, fast paced novel of a future war between two human empires. Asaro’s elegant scientific concepts of space and time play an exciting role in this absolutely nifty space drama.’Asaro continued the saga of the Skolian Empire in six subsequent volumes Catch the Lightning, The Last Hawk, The Radiant Seas, Ascendant Sun, The Quantum Rose, and Spherical Harmonic gaining a legion of devoted readers and regularly garnering nominations for the field’s highest awards, culminating in her winning the 2001 Nebula Award for Best Novel for The Quantum Rose in addition to winning the two most recent Romantic Times Awards for Best SF Novel. With The Moon’s Shadow, Catherine Asaro begins a thrilling new chapter in this galaxy spanning epic, as the titanic conflicts which have raged across the cosmos at last come to a climax. At the age of seventeen the young nobleman named Jaibriol Qox becomes ruler of a vast galactic empire and loses everything he has ever valued. Born of a clandestine liaison between a renegade daughter of the Skolian Imperialate and a scion of the genetically engineered Eubian Traders, Jai Qox grew up in exile, unaware of the powers that coursed through his noble blood. In the waning days of the bloody Radiance War that ravaged the galaxy, Jai was captured and returned to the Traders to play a role as a puppet Emperor in their scheme to consolidate their domination of space. Now Jai must walk a razor’s edge, to seize the power that is his by birthright without succumbing to its dark seduction and wield it for the good of all, and to avert a conflagration that threatens to engulf a thousand worlds.

Skyfall (By:Catherine Asaro)

ast year, Catherine Asaro won the Nebula Award for The Quantum Rose, the sixth novel in her Saga of the Skolian Empire. This very same novel was also named Best SF Novel by Romantic Times Bookclub. She is an author who’s truly hitting her stride. Skyfall takes us back to the start of the newest generation of the Skolian Empire, showing us how it all be gan with a chance meeting on a backwater planet. Kurj, a provincial ruler on a primitive planet, is plagued by inner demons. When he meets Roca, a beautiful and mysterious woman from the stars, he whisks her away to his mountain retreat. But a chance storm strands them in the mountains, inadvertently causing a great interstellar war, and birthing the next generation of rulers for the Sklolian Empire. Revel in the latest adventure of this Nebula Award winning series.

Schism (By:Catherine Asaro)

In 2002, Catherine Asaro won the Nebula Award for The Quantum Rose, the sixth novel in her Saga of the Skolian Empire. This very same novel was also named Best SF Novel by the Romantic Times. Schism: Part One of Triad is the tenth novel in this multiple award winning series, and represents an excellent entry point into the series.

For Schism harkens back to the early years of the Skolian Empire, back to the beginning of the war between Skolia and the Euban Traders. Twenty three years have passed since the fateful vote in the Skolian Assembly that Roca missed in Skyfall. It created the first open hostility between Eube and Skolia, which has only deepened over the ensuing years.

Now, Eube senses an opportunity, for strife has riven the first family of the Skolian Empire. Sauscony, the daughter of Roca and Eldrinson, is ready to seek her fortune as an officer in training in the Skolian military. When her father forbids her to undertake such a dangerous path, a wedge is formed as Soz chooses duty over family. Eube hopes to make this permanent, a divide that will leave the Skolian Empire ripe for conquest. And they’re willing to kill anyone to make it happen.

Revel in the latest adventure of this Nebula Award winning series.

The Final Key (By:Catherine Asaro)

Catherine Asaro has won numerous awards for her Saga of the Skolian Empire novels, including the Nebula Award and two Romantic Times awards for Best SF Novel. Combining cutting edge scientific theory with grand romantic adventure, this series represents space opera at its finest.
The Final Key is the second half of the story arc known as Triad, which began in Schism. Schism ended with the Skolian Empire torn asunder by personal conflict within the royal family. With The Final Key, the Skolian Empire comes under all out assault from its nemesis, the Euban Concord, who have undermined the Empire via subterfuge and assassination, leaving it ripe for conquest. The Skolian Empire’s only hope? A young woman barely out of her teens who hasn’t even complete her training as a cadet.

Best New Paranormal Romance (With: Rebecca York,Elizabeth Hand,Jane Yolen,Delia Sherman,Catherine Asaro,,,,John Grant,,,Sarah Prineas)

Enchanting and enchanted lovers, magical romance, dark desires, otherworldly sensations, ethereal encounters, paranormal thrills, sensual spells, supernatural suspense, sizzling speculations…
Highly imaginative short fiction and novellas from the best fantasy romance writers both bestselling authors and new talent of 2005. Edited by award winning editor Paula Guran. Juno is a new imprint from Wildside Press.

The Ruby Dice (By:Catherine Asaro)

Two men, two empires. Jaibriol ruled the Eubian Concord: over two trillion people across more than a thousand worlds and habitats. Kelric ruled the Skolian Imperialate. War had come before ten years ago, Jaibriol had lost his parents in the final battle of the Radiance War between the Concord and the Imperialate and it might come again, devastating vast swathes of the galaxy. Neither Jaibriol nor Kelric wanted war, but neither was complete master of his realm. And each hid a secret that, if revealed, might be his downfall. Jaibriol was a secret psion, with telepathic abilities, and to be a psion in the Eubian Concord was to be a contemptible slave, eventually to be tortured for the pleasure of the slave’s owner. Kelric, years ago, had disappeared for nearly two decades. He had been a prisoner and slave on the planet Coban, part of neither empire, until he had managed to escape. And if the Skolian Imperialate knew of his captivity, there would be demands for vengeance, ravaging Coban and killing the wife and children Kelric had left behind when he escaped. Neither man knew how much longer he could keep his secret nor how much longer they could hold back the threat of a war that could incinerate hundreds of inhabited worlds.

Diamond Star (By:Catherine Asaro)

Del Valdoria was an heir of the Ruby Dynasty, rulers of the interstellar empire called the Skolian Imperialate. But he had no interest in being associated with the draconian measures his brothers used to maintain power. He just wanted to sing holo rock not a respectable activity for a Ruby prince. To make things more complicated, he was on Earth, far from home, and the Earth government wasn’t willing to let such a potential source of information and valuable bargaining chip leave. And then a major entertainment corporation took an interest in his music. Del’s mix of unsophisticated innocence and sensual wickedness was dynamite. Singing as Del Arden, he became a major hit almost overnight, the hottest thing in holo rock. And that was a nightmare for the Earth government, because it put a spotlight on him, inviting the attention of assassins, kidnappers, and who knew what other dangers. If anything happened to Del, Allied Space Command might as well just walk up to Skolian Space Command and say, ‘Hey, let’s have a war. Then there was a third interstellar empire, the Eubian Concord, warlike enemy of the Skolian Imperialate. His millions of fans on Earth might not know that their idol was a Ruby prince, but the Concord knew just who he was. And certain songs, if sung by a son of the Ruby Dynasty, might be considered an act of war…

The WisCon Chronicles, Vol. 2: Provocative essays on feminism, race, revolution, and the future

WisCon, a literary festival for feminists interested in science fiction and fantasy, has for over three decades attracted people with diverse and stronlgy held opinions. It hasn’t always suffered them gladly, and it doesn’t necessarily mediate the arguments that ensue, but WisCon does not homogenize their points of view, and it provides an ongoing opportunity for feminists of all stripes to get together and laugh, talk, and enrich one another. This volume explores some of the issue of interest at WisCon 2007: gender, race, culture, revolution, and the future of thinking about those matters, and it also includes a forum on how to deal with racist and sexist material in writing workshops as well as the epistolary performance that constituted Kelly Link and Laurie J. Marks’ jointly delivered Guest of Honor speeches.

The Wiscon Chronicles, Vol.3: Carnival of Feminist SF

The word’s been out for some time now that we’re living in ”post feminist” times. And yet the world’s largest feminist science fiction convention, held annually in Madison, Wisconsin, which many of the genre’s luminaries attend, has become so popular that the ceiling limiting attendance to 1000 participants often tops out months in advance. People attend to meet up with friends from other parts of the country or the world whom they’ve come to know online; they attend because the programming goes far beyond the ”feminism 101” that is the most they can hope for from most other science fiction conventions. But above all they come to experience the kind of community they can’t get elsewhere. Some participants even characterize it as ”four days of feminist utopia” a reference to the communities created in the most famous feminist novels of the 1970s. This volume explores some of the issues of interest at WisCon 2008: the politics of the intelligibility of stories, internet drama, and feminist fandom. It offers a selection of thoughtful essays and analyses, dialogues, comments, arguments, meditations, and appeals to reason, collected from participants writers, bloggers, activists, and fans, some of them WisCon veterans and some attending for the first time including L. Timmel Duchamp, K. Tempest Bradford, Nancy Jane Moore, Alexis Lothian, Sue Lange, Victoria Janssen, and many others.

The Book of Cthulhu

The Cthulhu Mythos is one of the 20th century”s most singularly recognizable literary creations. Initially created by H. P. Lovecraft and a group of his amorphous contemporaries the so called ‘Lovecraft Circle’, The Cthulhu Mythos story cycle has taken on a convoluted, cyclopean life of its own. Some of the most prodigious writers of the 20th century, and some of the most astounding writers of the 21st century have planted their seeds in this fertile soil. The Book of Cthulhu harvests the weirdest and most corpulent crop of these modern mythos tales. From weird fiction masters to enigmatic rising stars, The Book of Cthulhu demonstrates how Mythos fiction has been a major cultural meme throughout the 20th century, and how this type of story is still salient, and terribly powerful today. Table of Contents: Caitlin R. Kiernan Andromeda among the Stones Ramsey Campbell The Tugging Charles Stross A Colder War Bruce Sterling The Unthinkable Silvia Moreno Garcia Flash Frame W. H. Pugmire Some Buried Memory Molly Tanzer The Infernal History of the Ivybridge Twins Michael Shea Fat Face Elizabeth Bear Shoggoths in Bloom T. E. D. Klien Black Man With A Horn David Drake Than Curse the Darkness Charles Saunders Jeroboam Henley”s Debt Thomas Ligotti Nethescurial Kage Baker Calamari Curls Edward Morris Jihad over Innsmouth Cherie Priest Bad Sushi John Hornor Jacobs The Dream of the Fisherman”s Wife Brian McNaughton The Doom that Came to Innsmouth Ann K. Schwader Lost Stars Steve Duffy The Oram County Whoosit Joe R. Lansdale The Crawling Sky Brian Lumley The Fairground Horror Tim Pratt Cinderlands Gene Wolfe Lord of the Land Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. To Live and Die in Arkham John Langan The Shallows Laird Barron The Men from Porlock

The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2010

Darkness surrounds us. We can find darkness anywhere: in a strange green stone etched with mysterious symbols; at a small town’s annual picnic; in a ghostly house that is easy to enter but not so easy to leave; behind the dumpster in the alley where a harpy lives; in The Nowhere, a place where car keys, toys, people disappear to; among Polar explorers; and, most definitely, within ourselves. Darkness flies from mysterious crates; surrounds children whose nightlights have vanished; and flickers between us at the movie theater. Darkness crawls from the past and is waiting in our future; and there’s always a chance that Halloween really is a door opening directly into endless shadow. Welcome to the dark. You may never want to leave. This inaugural volume of the year’s best dark fantasy and horror features more than 500 pages of dark tales from some of today’s finest writers of the fantastique. Chosen from a variety of sources, these stories are as eclectic and varied as the genre itself.

Starship Vectors

Starships come in many shapes and sizes. Their crews and passengers are an eclectic lot. They venture into the deep voids of space on their assigned missions. Sometimes they succeed and sometimes they do not. This collection tells the stories of the crews and passengers aboard six of these starships. Those aboard the Mayflower II are determined to be the first generation ship to successfully reach another galaxy in a story Mayflower II by Stephen Baxter that takes place in the Xeelee universe. In Boojum, by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette, space pirates are on the prowl for booty aboard the living starship, Lavinia Whateley. In The Political Officer, by Charles Coleman Finlay, the crew aboard a military starship must contend with both the enemy and a political officer. In The Tomb Wife, by Gwyneth Jones, the navigator of the interstellar freighter, Pirate Jenny, hears a ghost from an alien tomb in its cargo hold. Two competitive physicists aboard the Kepler use uploads of themselves to probe the scientific mysteries of radiation rich space in Shiva in Shadow by Nancy Kress. A wealthy woman explores the lives of the less fortunate aboard a starship larger than Earth in Robert Reed’s The Remoras, part of the author s ongoing Marrow series. These are unabridged readings by Nicola Barber and Tom Dheere. The playing time is approximately nine hours on eight CDs..

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