Most Popular Books by Geoff Ryman

What happens when the whole world goes online . . . through the air? A brilliant literary SF novel by the author of 253.

To defeat her enemies . . . she must make them immortal. Only men are allowed into the wells of vision. But Cara’s mother defies this edict and is killed, but not before returning with a vision of terrible and wonderful things that are to come . . . and all because of five-year-old Cara. Years later, evil destroys the rest of Cara’s family. In a rage, Cara uses magic to transform herself into a male warrior. But she finds that to defeat her enemies, she must break the cycle of violence, not continue it. As Cara’s mother’s vision of destiny is fulfilled, the wonderful follows the terrible, and a quest for revenge becomes a quest for eternal life.

The multiple-award-winning sf classic from the acclaimed author of Was. In the city of the future, humans photosynthesize, viruses educate people, organics have replaced electronics . . . and almost no one lives past 40. The outcast Milena feels alone--until she meets the genetically engineered Rolfa.

''Was'' is woven from three main strands of narrative: the story of a girl named Dorothy who lives a sad and painful life in 19th-century Kansas and once made an impression on a young substitute teacher named Frank Baum; the story of Frances Gumm, whose difficult childhood forever haunted the persona she became when she changed her name to Judy Garland; and the story of Jonathan, an actor dying of AIDS who dreams of one day playing the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, and who, before he dies, traces Dorothy back to Kansas and Baum.

Twenty-eight doses of wonder, including contributions by Naomi Novik, Catherynne M. Valente, Elizabeth Bear, and Jeffrey Ford. From the distant past to the present day, from Antarctica and Mars to worlds that never were, the tales in this book bring news from nowhere-and everywhere. Fantasy is a mode of storytelling, a method of entertainment, a mode of argument, and a way of seeing. Here, presented by two of the most distinguished anthologists of the day, are twenty-eight stories that see, tell, argue, and entertain. Includes contributions from Elizabeth Bear, Peter S. Beagle, Kage Baker, Daryl Gregory, Lisa Goldstein, Al Michaud, Naomi Novik, Catherynne M. Valente, John Brown, Richard Bowes, Kij Johnson, Debra Doyle and James Macdonald, Geoff Ryman, Marc Laidlaw, Liz Williams, James Morrow, Kris Dikeman [as Kristine Dikeman], Randy McCharles, Kage Baker, Richard Parks, Peter S. Beagle, Richard Harland, Howard Waldrop, Delia Sherman, James Stoddard, Stephen Woodworth, Jeffrey Ford, and Kim Wilkins.

What if you could have sex with anyone in the world? The ultimate fantasy? Or a nightmare of self-discovery? Michael Blasco, a young scientist investigating what happens to the brain during the process of learning, suddenly finds himself on the other end of experimentation. On the way home from his lab one night he runs into Tony, a fitness instructor from his gym who he harbors a crush for, on the same platform waiting for the subway. When Michael imagines Tony naked, a pleasant fantasy to spice up a dull journey home, an extraordinary thing happens: Tony strips then and there on the platform and offers himself to Michael in front of all onlookers. Horrified, Michael flees. But back at his apartment, Tony reappears, as if by magic. And disappears again, when Michael wishes him away. Being a scientist, Michael recognizes an experiment when he sees one, and sets out to test the parameters of his newfound gift. In quick succession he conjures up Billie Holliday, Johnny Weismuller, Daffy Duck, Picasso, Sophia Loren, even his younger self. The world is seemingly there for the taking. But what does Michael really desire? Mad with lust and losing all scientific objectivity, he runs the gamut of his fantasies inventing new lovers and calling up old ones, until, sated and morally bankrupt, he''s forced to confront himself. What happens to the heart when it gets everything it desires? From the renowned author of Was and 253 comes a witty, disturbing and intensely erotic fable for the modern age.

Geoff Ryman writes about the other and leaves us dissected in the process. His stories are set in recognizable places—London, Cambodia, tomorrow—and feature men and women caught in recognizable situations (or technologies) and not sure which way to turn. They, we, should obviously choose what''s right. But what if that''s difficult? What will we do? What we should, or . . . ? Paradise Tales builds on the success of his most recent novel, The King''s Last Song, and on the three Cambodian stories included here, "The Last Ten Years of the Hero Kai," "Blocked," and the exceedingly-popular "Pol Pot''s Beautiful Daughter." Paradise Tales includes stories selected from the many periods of Ryman’s career including “Birth Days,” “Omnisexual,” “The Film-makers of Mars,” and a new story, “K is for Kosovo (or, Massimo’s Career).” To complement this first full-length short story collection, Small Beer Press is reprinting Ryman''s backlist: Was, The Child Garden, and a book of four novellas, The Unconquered Countries, with new introductions to continue to build the readership of one of the most fascinating writers exploring the edges of being, gender, science, and fiction. Geoff Ryman is the author of the novels The King''s Last Song, The Child Garden, Air (a Clarke and Tiptree Award winner), and The Unconquered Country (a World Fantasy Award winner). Canadian by birth, he has lived in Cambodia and Brazil and now teaches creative writing at the University of Manchester in England.

A Bakerloo tube train with no-one standing and no empty seats can carry 252 passengers. The driver makes 253. Each one has a page devoted to them, divided into three sections - what they look like, what they are thinking and inside information - and some of them are going to die.

The discovery of forty reels of a lost 1911 movie adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs'' A Princess of Mars, impossibly well-made and yet ineluctably old, is...weird. But for the journalist protagonist of "The Film-makers of Mars," that''s only the beginning of the weirdness to come... Geoff Ryman''s longer works include The Unconquered Country, the novella version of which won the World Fantasy Award in 1985; The Child Garden, which won the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1990; the hypertext novel 253, the "print remix" of which won the Philip K. Dick Award in 1999; and Air, which won the Arthur C. Clarke and James Tiptree, Jr. Awards in 2006. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

"[Ryman] has not so much created as revealed a world in which the promise of redemption takes seed even in horror."—The Boston Globe “Sweeping and beautiful. . . . The complex story tears the veil from a hidden world.”—The Sunday Times “Inordinately readable . . . extraordinary in its detail, color and brutality.”—The Independent "Ryman has crafted a solid historical novel with an authentic feel for both ancient and modern Cambodia." —Washington DC City Paper “Another masterpiece by one of the greatest fiction writers of our time.”—Kim Stanley Robinson "Ryman''s knack for depicting characters; his ability to tell multiple, interrelated stories; and his knowledge of Cambodian history create a rich narrative that looks at Cambodia''s "killing fields" both recent and ancient and Buddhist belief with its desire for transcendence. Recommended for all literary fiction collections." —Library Journal Archeologist Luc Andrade discovers an ancient Cambodian manuscript inscribed on gold leaves but is kidnapped—and the manuscript stolen—by a faction still loyal to the ideals of the brutal Pol Pot regime. Andrade’s friends, an ex-Khmer Rouge agent and a young motoboy, embark on a trek across Cambodia to rescue him. Meanwhile, Andrade, bargaining for his life, translates the lost manuscript for his captors. The result is a glimpse into the tremendous and heart-wrenching story of King Jayavarman VII: his childhood, rise to power, marriage, interest in Buddhism, and the initiation of Cambodia’s golden age. As Andrade and Jayavarman’s stories interweave, the question becomes whether the tale of ancient wisdom can bring hope to a nation still suffering from the violent legacy of the last century. Geoff Ryman is the author of the novels Air (winner of Arthur C Clarke and James Tiptree awards) and The Unconquered Country (a World Fantasy Award winner). Canadian by birth, he has lived in Cambodia and Brazil and now teaches creative writing at the University of Manchester in England.

Jonathan Strahan, the award-winning and much lauded editor of many of genre’s best known anthologies is back with his 10th volume in this fascinating series, featuring the best science fiction and fantasy from 2015. With established names and new talent this diverse and ground-breaking collection will take the reader to the outer-reaches of space and the inner realms of humanity with stories of fantastical worlds and worlds that may still come to pass. Featuring Paolo Bacigalupi • Elizabeth Bear • Greg Bear • Jeffrey Ford • Neil Gaiman • Nalo Hopkinson • Nisi Shawl • Simon Ings • Gwyneth Jones • Caitlin R. Kiernan • Anne Leckie • Kelly Link • Usman T. Malik • Ian McDonald • Vonda McIntrye • Sam J. Miller • Tamsyn Muir • Robert Reed • Alastair Reynolds • Kim Stanley Robinson • Kelly Robson • Geoff Ryman • Nike Sulway • Catherynne Valente • Genevieve Valentine • Kai Ashante Wilson • Alyssa Wong

"In a future, tropical London, humans photosynthesize, organics have replaced electronics, viruses educate people, and very few live past forty. But Milena is resistant to the viruses. She''s alone until she meets Rolfa, a huge, hirsute Genetically Engineered Polar Woman, and Milena realizes she might, just might, be able to find a place for herself after all."--Cover p. [4].

''Highly engaging and fascinating... this thought-provoking collection reminded me why I used to like science fiction so much... Eventually, one hopes, science fiction will regain its rightful place - as once again stranger than science.'' - The Guardian, 20 Dec 09. ''All hit, no miss... thought-provoking at worst, and stunning at best... shows that science can inspire anyone and everyone.'' – New Scientist, 5 Dec 09. ''Inspiring'' – THE, 19 Nov 09. ''A diamond of compression.'' – Financial Times, 20 Dec 09. When It Changed is an attempt to put authors and scientists back in touch with each other, to re-introduce research ideas with literary concerns, and to re-forge the alloy that once made SF great. Composed collaboratively – through a series of visits and conversations between leading authors and practicing scientists – it offers fictionalised glimpses into the far corners of current research fields, be they in nanotechnology, invertebrate physiology, particle physics, or software archaeology. From Planck''s Length (the smallest indivisible distance) to Plankton (potential saviours of the Earth''s ecosystem), from virtual encounters between Witgenstein and Turing, to future civilisations torn asunder by different readings of the Standard Model, together these stories represent a literary ''experiment'' in the true sense of the word, and endeavour to isolate a whole new strain of the SF bug. * * Featuring Sara Maitland''s ''Moss Witch'' - Runner Up in the BBC National Short Story Prize 2009.* *

The long-awaited new book from multi-award winner Geoff Ryman An extraordinary science-fiction novel about identity, divinity and alternate reality – the story of the son of God. “Women, of course, can not be sons of God,” In the village of Nazareth, virgin Maryam and the wife of Yosef barLevi gives birth to a miracle: a little girl. She is named Avigayil, after her grandmother. But as Avigayil grows, it’s clear she believes that she is destined to be someone greater than just the daughter of Maryam. From leading a gang of village boys to challenging the priests in the temple, Avigayil is determined to find her way as Yeshu, a man. Yeshu can work miracles. He can see futures. He can speak for God. A gripping, thoughtful sci-fi novel, tackling family, the multiverse and the survival of love through immense change and crisis. File Under: Science Fiction [ The Greatest Story Never Told | Child of The Faith | Apocrypha | Herstory ]

El pueblo de Mae es el último en conectarse a la red. Pero ahora hay algo nuevo, algo que no necesita conexiones ni ordenadores: es Aire.Aire es una nueva tecnología de comunicación que pone los beneficios de Internet al alcance de todos y en todas partes, lo quieran o no. Nada puede pararlo. Mae es analfabeta, pero sabe que Aire lo cambiará todo. ¿La escuchará su gente antes de que sea demasiado tarde?

What Remains, published in conjunction with the appearance of Ellen Klages and Geoff Ryman as the Guests of Honor at WisCon 33, features three tales, two of them by Geoff Ryman and one by Ellen Klages. In Ryman¿s ¿No Bad Thing,¿ a certain brilliant, world-famous scientist has become a vampire and duly turns hi intellectual gifts in a new direction; and in ¿Care,¿ a story set in the fascinating world of Belo Horizonte, a little boy¿s father stands with him on the Edge of the world looking down at Rio, shows him how to walk off the Edge, then disappears. In Ellen Klages¿s original novelette ¿Echoes of Aurora,¿ Jo Norwood goes back to her hometown to bury her father and meets a lovely, mysterious woman named Aurora, and through the summer, Jo and Rory make passionate love, poetry, and a story together¿a story that begins ¿Once upon a time, you kissed me.¿ What Remains also includes Eileen Gunn¿s interview of Geoff Ryman and Debbie Notkin¿s interview of Ellen Klages.