Most Popular Books by Elizabeth Bear

Dr. Sunya Song embarks on an interstellar journey across the Milky Way to connect with the artificial intelligence known as Baomind, a moon-sized entity that holds the key to humanity’s survival amidst cosmic challenges and unforeseen threats in Hugo Award–winning author Elizabeth Bear’s next epic science fiction novel. Information doesn’t want to be free. Information wants to vanish without a trace. Sunya Song’s job is to stop that from happening. She’s an archinformist: a specialist historian whose job usually involves sitting at a console at her university job near the Galactic Core, sorting ancient documents and restoring corrupted files. But now, the research opportunity of a lifetime has sent her—along with her teenage children and alien wife—halfway across the galaxy to preserve the data and aid in the retrieval of the archaeological find of the century: an ancient alien artificial intelligence called Baomind. As vast as a stellar system, the Baomind orbits a dying red giant, and the star’s time has nearly ended. The isolated research station and its small fleet of ships come under attack by fanatic Freeport pirates who believe that artificial intelligence is an abomination that must be destroyed, putting the lives of Sunya and her family at risk. Tens of thousands of lightyears from home, isolated from all help, Sunya is the only one who can save them all.

“Outstanding…Amid a space opera resurgence, Bear’s novel sets the bar high.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) A space salvager and her partner make the discovery of a lifetime that just might change the universe in this wild, big-ideas space opera from Hugo Award-winning author Elizabeth Bear. Halmey Dz and her partner Connla Kurucz are salvage operators, living just on the inside of the law...usually. Theirs is the perilous and marginal existence—with barely enough chance of striking it fantastically big—just once—to keep them coming back for more. They pilot their tiny ship into the scars left by unsuccessful White Transitions, searching for the relics of lost human and alien vessels. But when they make a shocking discovery about an alien species that has been long thought dead, it may be the thing that could tip the perilous peace mankind has found into full-out war. Energetic and electrifying, Ancestral Night is a dazzling space opera, sure to delight fans of Alastair Reynolds, Iain M. Banks, and Peter F. Hamilton—“Bear''s ability to create breathtaking variations on ancient themes and make them new and brilliant is, perhaps, unparalleled in the genre” (Library Journal, starred review).

The empires along the Celadon Highway, from Messaline to Song, are plunged into war in this first book of The Endless Sky trilogy.

"Re Temur, legitimate heir to his grandfather''s Khaganate, has finally raised his banner and declared himself at war with his usurping uncle. With his companions--the Wizard Samarkar, the Cho-tse Hrahima, and the silent monk Brother Hsiung--he must make his way to Dragon Lake to gather in his army of followers. But Temur''s enemies are not idle; the leader of the Nameless Assassins, who has shattered the peace of the Steppe, has struck at Temur''s uncle already. To the south, in the Rasan empire, plague rages. To the east, the great city of Asmaracanda has burned, and the Uthman Caliph is deposed. All the world seems to be on fire, and who knows if even the beloved son of the Eternal Sky can save it?"--

In this compelling and addictive novel set in the same universe as the critically acclaimed White Space series and perfect for fans of Karen Traviss and Ada Hoffman, a space station begins to unravel when a routine search and rescue mission returns after going dangerously awry. Meet Doctor Jens. She hasn’t had a decent cup of coffee in fifteen years. Her workday begins when she jumps out of perfectly good space ships and continues with developing treatments for sick alien species she’s never seen before. She loves her life. Even without the coffee. But Dr. Jens is about to discover an astonishing mystery: two ships, one ancient and one new, locked in a deadly embrace. The crew is suffering from an unknown ailment and the shipmind is trapped in an inadequate body, much of her memory pared away. Unfortunately, Dr. Jens can’t resist a mystery and she begins doing some digging. She has no idea that she’s about to discover horrifying and life-changing truths. Written in Elizabeth Bear’s signature “rollicking, suspenseful, and sentimental” (Publishers Weekly) style, Machine is a fresh and electrifying space opera that you won’t be able to put down.

A tale set in late nineteenth century steampunk Seattle finds orphaned Karen working in a high-quality bordello, where she confronts a powerful man who owns a dangerous mind-control machine.

There''s a harpy with bronze wings living in the dumpster behind Desiree''s building. She''s ugly and she eats garbage, but she has a little kingdom back there. Desiree wants something of her own, too -- something all hers. Can that foul old thing possibly help her? At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

"[A] vivid world...The strong setting and engaging characters will have readers eager for the second installment."—Publishers Weekly

Readers met the irrepressible Karen Memory in Elizabeth Bear''s 2015 novel Karen Memory, and fell in love with her steampunk Victorian Pacific Northwest city, and her down-to-earth story-telling voice. iO9--28 New Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Well Worth Checking Out in March Unbound Worlds--20 Best New Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books--March 2018 The Verge--15 new science fiction and fantasy books--March 2018 Kirkus--18 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in March 2018 NerdMuch--20 Best New Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books--March 2018 Now Karen is back with Stone Mad, a new story about spiritualists, magicians, con-men, and an angry lost tommy-knocker—a magical creature who generally lives in the deep gold mines of Alaska, but has been kidnapped and brought to Rapid City. Karen and Priya are out for a night on the town, celebrating the purchase of their own little ranch and Karen''s retirement from the Hotel Ma Cherie, when they meet the Arcadia Sisters, spiritualists who unexpectedly stir up the tommy-knocker in the basement. The ensuing show could bring down the house, if Karen didn''t rush in to rescue everyone she can. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

She wasn’t born for this mission. She was modified for it. 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. . . .

“Ellen Datlow is the queen of anthology editors in America.”—Peter Straub With original stories by Jeffrey Ford, Pat Cadigan, Elizabeth Bear, Margo Lanagan, and others From Del Rey Books and award-winning editor Ellen Datlow, two of the most respected names in science fiction and fantasy, comes a collection of fifteen all-new short stories, plus a science fiction novella, that could count as a virtual “best of the year” anthology. Here you will find slyly twisted alternate histories, fractured fairy tales, topical science fiction, and edgy urban fantasy. In “Daltharee,” World Fantasy Award–winning author Jeffrey Ford spins a chilling tale of a city in a bottle—and the demented genius who put it there. In “Sonny Liston Takes the Fall,” John W. Campbell Award–winning author Elizabeth Bear pens a poignant and eerie requiem for the heavyweight forever associated with his controversial loss to Cassius Clay. From hot new writer Margo Lanagan comes “The Goosle,” a dark, astonishing take on Hansel and Gretel. In the novella “Prisoners of the Action,” Paul McAuley and Kim Newman take a trip down a rabbit hole that leads to a Guantanamo-like prison whose inmates are not just illegal but extraterrestrial. Many of the writers you’ll recognize. Others you may not. But one thing is certain: These stars of today and tomorrow demonstrate that the field of speculative fiction is not only alive and well—it’s better than ever. PLUS TWELVE MORE STORIES “The Elephant Ironclads” by Jason Stoddard “Ardent Clouds” by Lucy Sussex “Gather” by Christopher Rowe “North American Lake Monsters” by Nathan Ballingrud “All Washed Up While Looking for a Better World” by Carol Emshwiller “Special Economics” by Maureen F. McHugh “Aka St. Mark’s Place” by Richard Bowes “Shira” by Lavie Tidhar “The Passion of Azazel” by Barry N. Malzberg “The Lagerstätte” by Laird Barron “Gladiolus Exposed” by Anna Tambour “Jimmy” by Pat Cadigan

She was engineered for combat—in a world that is running out of time. “Very exciting . . . very impressive debut.”—Mike Resnick 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. “A gritty and painstakingly well-informed peek at a future we’d all better hope we don’t get . . . Elizabeth Bear builds her future nightmare tale with style and conviction and a constant return to the twists of the human heart.”—Richard Morgan

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. . . . André Deschênes 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 André’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. . . .

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.

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. . . .

A compliation of short science fiction and fantasy from Elizabeth Bear - tales of myth and mythic resonance, fantasies both subtle and epic in tone; hard science fiction and speculations about an unknowable universe.

Prepare to meet the wicked progeny of the master of modern horror. In Lovecraft''s Monsters, H. P. Lovecraft''s most famous creations—Cthulhu, Shoggoths, Deep Ones, Elder Things, Yog-Sothoth, and more—appear in all their terrifying glory. Each story is a gripping new take on a classic Lovecraftian creature, and each is accompanied by a spectacular original illustration that captures the monsters'' unique visage. Contributors include such literary luminaries as Neil Gaiman, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Karl Edward Wagner, Elizabeth Bear, and Nick Mamatas. The monsters are lovingly rendered in spectacular original art by World Fantasy Award–winning artist John Coulthart (The Steampunk Bible). Legions of Lovecraft fans continue to visit his bizarre landscapes and encounter his unrelenting monsters. Now join them in their journey...if you dare.

A new anthology celebrating the witches and sorcerers of epic fantasy—featuring stories by George R. R. Martin, Scott Lynch, Megan Lindholm, and many others! Hot on the heels of Gardner Dozois’s acclaimed anthology The Book of Swords comes this companion volume devoted to magic. How could it be otherwise? For every Frodo, there is a Gandalf . . . and a Saruman. For every Dorothy, a Glinda . . . and a Wicked Witch of the West. What would Harry Potter be without Albus Dumbledore . . . and Severus Snape? Figures of wisdom and power, possessing arcane, often forbidden knowledge, wizards and sorcerers are shaped—or misshaped—by the potent magic they seek to wield. Yet though their abilities may be godlike, these men and women remain human—some might say all too human. Such is their curse. And their glory. In these pages, seventeen of today’s top fantasy writers—including award-winners Elizabeth Bear, John Crowley, Kate Elliott, K. J. Parker, Tim Powers, and Liz Williams—cast wondrous spells that thrillingly evoke the mysterious, awesome, and at times downright terrifying worlds where magic reigns supreme: worlds as far away as forever, and as near as next door. FEATURING SIXTEEN ALL-NEW STORIES: “The Return of the Pig” by K. J. Parker “Community Service” by Megan Lindholm “Flint and Mirror” by John Crowley “The Friends of Masquelayne the Incomparable” by Matthew Hughes “The Biography of a Bouncing Boy Terror: Chapter Two: Jumping Jack in Love” by Ysabeau S. Wilce “Song of Fire” by Rachel Pollack “Loft the Sorcerer” by Eleanor Arnason “The Governor” by Tim Powers “Sungrazer” by Liz Williams “The Staff in the Stone” by Garth Nix “No Work of Mine” by Elizabeth Bear “Widow Maker” by Lavie Tidhar “The Wolf and the Manticore” by Greg Van Eekhout “The Devil’s Whatever” by Andy Duncan “Bloom” by Kate Elliott “The Fall and Rise of the House of the Wizard Malkuril” by Scott Lynch Plus George R. R. Martin’s classic story “A Night at the Tarn House” and an introduction by Gardner Dozois Praise for The Book of Magic “In The Book of Magic, you get everything you expect and more! Assembling seventeen great authors in one place is a difficult job but this book, with a lot of help from editor Gardner Dozois, does just that. . . . This compilation is a treat for any who love a good fantasy tale.”—Geeks of Doom

Two of fantasy''s hottest new talents deliver the story of Isolfr, a young nobleman, 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 accept it.

As long as there’s an Earth to defend, Jenny Casey has a job. But she may outlast the world she was custom-built to save. . . . 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. . . .