New Releases by Kage Baker

"In this enchanting, if melancholy, story collection from Hugo- and Nebula Award-nominee Baker, the supernatural matter-of-factly touches the shabby lives of people in small, isolated towns, providing resolution and revelation . . ." —Publsihers Weekly Kage Baker, celebrated creator of the Company novels and the standout collection Mother Aegypt, now brings together pirates, primates, eldritch horrors, maritime ghosts, and much more in Dark Mondays. This captivating new collection of fantastic short fiction is sure to cement her reputation as one of the most original storytellers working in the fantasy and speculative fiction genres today. Whether spinning tales of the mysterious young woman and the dreadful pirate captain Henry Morgan in the original novella “The Maid on the Shore,”or the tiny California beach community assaulted by Lovecraftian terrors in “Calamari Curls,” or the girl menaced by a haunting photograph and a trio of aspiring vampires at the heart of “Portrait, With Flames,” Kage Baker distinguishes herself throughout Dark Mondays as a storyteller extraordinaire, crafting intricately woven plots, compelling characters, and captivating settings filled with convincing detail. As likely to shock and surprise as it is to fill you with a sense of weird wonder and delight, Dark Mondays will entrance you with its inventive prose, astound you with its action, and seduce you with its style. Dark Mondays features five never-before-published stories, including the forty-one-thousand-word pirate novel, “The Maid on the Shore,” which chronicles the lesser known aspects of Captain Henry Morgan’s infamous sacking of Panama City.

"Like a brisk October wind, these 13 stories blow clear and cold, bringing with them unusual landscapes, brilliant colors, multilayered shadows, and haunting characters. They challenge from the first page with insights and concepts sure to win inquiring, thoughtful, imaginative minds . . . Listen closely, and perhaps you will hear the collective sigh of delight from intelligent lovers of fantasy the world over. A book to savor." —Paula Luedtke, Booklist A short story collection from Kage Baker, including an original novella set in her ongoing series of The Company, "Mother Aegypt."

". . . Baker’s fans will delight in this slight, bawdy and funny confection." —Publishers Weekly In nineteenth-century England, the women of Nell Gwynne’s brothel—intellectual, elegant, refined, and ready to cater to every whim—work at an establishment that serves rich, powerful men. So close to the highest halls of power, they are also perfectly-placed spies for the Gentlemen’s Speculative Society. But catering to the rich and powerful is hard work, so every year, the courtesans, led by their Proprietress, Mrs. Corvey, take a holiday to the seaside, for a respectable stint of rest, relaxation, reading, and sea bathing. But this year, the boarding house also boasts a suspicious American as a guest, and instead of a vacation, Mrs. Covey and the ladies are assailed by thugs, dead butlers, their cook’s unexpected departure, and sea monsters. With the GSS operatives all otherwise engaged, it is up to the ladies of Nell Gwynne’s to get to the bottom of the mysterious goings-on and save the day.

“. . . An astonishing and thoroughly satisfying installment. What''s more, Baker''s overall concept and rationale, flawlessly sustained through five books, grows ever more spellbinding and impressive." —Kirkus Reviews “Baker’s trademark mix of serious speculation and black humor informs this solid addition to her time-travel series.” —Publishers Weekly The Company created immortals to preserve cultural artifacts, extinct animals, and lost treasures from the annals of human history for their enduring cultural value, and more importantly, for a profit. But what happens when an immortal despises the very people who created that which he is programmed to save? Executive Facilitator General Labienus’s career took off in ancient Sumeria, where he was worshiped as a god and learned contempt for his mortal worshippers. Since then, he’s had time to contemplate how best to attain power within the Company for his own purposes. From Labienus’s subversion of the ADONAI black project to his machinations in San Francisco before the Great Quake, from chocolate wars in Amsterdam to a monastery in Ireland where the Fair Folk might just be a forgotten branch of the human race, Labienus’s schemes thread through the Company’s history, and as the immortals get closer to the Silence of 2355, the time to unravel them may be running out . . .

Mars is an old world, one that has been mapped by science fiction writers for over a century. The late Nebula and Locus Award winning writer Kage Baker was among the most skilled cartographers to render the Red Planet as full of life and love, hope and heroism. Gathered together here for the first time are all of Baker's Mars stories, beginning with "The Empress of Mars," for which she won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award. It was in this story that Baker first laid out her vision of our neighboring planet, with its patchwork quilt of societies based in part on the history of the British Empire. Here are Celts and colonialists side by side with adventuring Haulers who bring ice from the poles and missionaries who bring the message of their goddess from Luna. These tales are all part of an imaginatively worked out near future, where raucous frontier people intermingle with devoted terraformers in an uneasy mix overseen by Areco, Baker's version of the British East India Company. Turn by turn, each story sets its protagonists the task of understanding and altering a world that resists change. In "The Empress of Mars," a woman gathers her family--her children along with outcast Eccentrics--and turns an unexpected windfall into the founding of a place they can be proud to call their own. "Plotters and Shooters" recounts a series of incidents in an orbital defense station involving characters who may be delightfully familiar. In the "Maelstrom," one of the Eccentrics remakes himself into a theatrical impresario, founding a theater that serves as "a cathedral to pure weirdness." Finally, in "Attlee and the Long Walk," a young child of the agricultural tunnels takes a journey through both her physical and emotional worlds, making unexpected discoveries in both. Maelstrom and Other Martian Tales stands as a testament to the gritty and glorious imagination of a writer gone too soon. These are remarkable stories by a remarkable author.

IL FIGLIO DELLA MACCHINA Mendoza, agente della Compagnia, è stata costretta a diventare un'immortale, un essere umano geneticamente modificato che può ambire all'eternità, per poi essere bandita in una prigione persa nel tempo. Ora i suoi amanti del passato, Alec, Nicholas e Bell-Fairfax, sono determinati a salvarla, ma prima devono imparare a convivere, perché i tre possiedono un unico corpo. Una volta ritrovata Mendoza, scoprono che la situazione è persino peggiore di quanto potessero immaginare, al punto da convincerli finalmente a combattere la Compagnia.

Clarkesworld is a Hugo Award-winning science fiction and fantasy magazine. Each month we bring you a mix of fiction (new and classic works), articles, interviews and art. Our April 2015 issue (#103) contains: Original Fiction by Robert Reed ("The Empress in Her Glory"), Berrien C. Henderson ("Let Baser Things Devise"), Benjanun Sriduangkaew ("The Petals Abide"), and Emily Devenport ("Postcards from Monster Island"). Reprints by Kage Baker ("Noble Mold") and Indrapramit Das ("Weep for Day"). Non-fiction by Julie Novakova (Small Markets, Big Wonders), a roundtable on Spanish science fiction, an Another Word column by Alethea Kontis, and an editorial by Neil Clarke.

More than five-hundred pages, over one-quarter of a million words... Space Opera spans a vast range of epic interstellar adventure stories told against a limitless cosmos filled with exotic aliens, heroic characters, and incredible settings. A truly stellar compilation of tales from one of the defining streams of science fiction, old and new, written by a supernova of genre talent.

"The idea of time travel has been with us since ancient times. Now, the concept of time travel seems ... almost ... plausible. Today, tales of chrononauts are more imaginative and thought-provoking than ever before: new views, cutting-edge concepts, radical notions of paradox and possibility -- state-of-the-art speculative stories collected from those written in the twenty-first century. Forward to the past, back to the future -- get ready for a fascinating trip!"--Page 4 of cover.

From Metropolis to the pre-technicolor Oz, this fantastical retrospective takes readers through the wildest frontiers of silent films. Glorious landscapes are explored from Tarzan’s jungle and Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory to the Adventures of Prince Achmed and 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. Highlighting the earliest and cheesiest special effects, Kage Baker reviews 49 cinematic odysseys with acerbic wit and historical acumen. Contrasting the tour de forces with the utter train wrecks of the silver screen, these sci-fi movies are affectionately viewed, giving special recognition to the flimsy plots, terrifying fiends, and the best and worst directors that inspired generations of fans and filmmakers alike.

In this new story set in the world of The Anvil of the World and The House of the Stag, two teenagers join the crew of a huge river barge after their addict mother is drowned. The girl and her half-breed younger brother try to make the barge their new home. As the great boat proceeds up the long river, we see a panorama of cities and cultures, and begin to perceive patterns in the pirate attacks that happen so frequently in the river cities. Eliss, the girl, becomes a sharp-eyed spotter of obstacles in the river for the barge, and more than that, one who perceives deeply. A young boy her age, Krelan, trained as a professional assassin, has come aboard, seeking the head of a dead nobleman, so that there might be a proper burial. But the head proves as elusive as the real explanation behind the looting of cities, so he needs Eliss’s help. And then there is the massive Captain of the barge, who can perform supernatural tricks, but prefers to stay in his cabin and drink.

Nine-year-old Emma is lost at sea in a terrible storm. She awakens on a desolate island, frightened and lonely. Yet brave, quick-witted Emma will not be alone for long, as the ghost of a bellboy appears with the tragic tale of the Grand Wenlocke. More than a century ago, a brilliant inventor built a splendid Victorian resort, the Grand Wenlocke. The hotel was powered by a Difference Engine, a miraculous device that could slow down time (making your vacation just as long as you’d like). But just before it was scheduled to open, the Grand Wenlocke mysteriously sank under the sand. Now the storm that brought Emma to the island has awakened the hotel, perfectly preserved and as incredible as ever. While exploring the magical hotel, Emma encounters a kind-hearted cook and her faithful little dog, a seemingly fearsome pirate captain, and the imperious young heir to the Wenlocke fortune (should it ever be recovered). Adventure, friendship, peril, and perhaps even treasure—all these and more await Emma at the hotel under the sand.

In this rollicking novel of action, planetary romance, and high adventure, a determined Mary Griffith opens the only place to buy a beer on Mars'' Tharsis Bulge and soon becomes the center of a terraforming company''s machinations, its downfall, and the founding of a new world.

Before the Riders came to their remote valley, the Yendri led a tranquil pastoral life. Gard, taken as a slave by powerful mages, has found subtle ways to earn his freedom, and becomes lord and commander of a demon army.

It''s 1672 in Port Royal, Jamaica. John James, London bricklayer''s apprentice turned pirate, is returning from the sack of Panama with his share of the loot (a lousy 200 pieces of eight) and a resolve to go back to bricklaying, since piracy pays so badly. First, though, he has a duty: he must deliver a letter to a lady.

Facilitator Joseph has outlasted entire civilizations during his twenty-thousand years of service to Dr. Zeus, the twenty-fourth century Company that created immortal operatives like him to preserve history and culture. The year is 1699 and Joseph is now in Alta California, to imitate an ancient Native-American Coyote god, and save the native Chumash from the white Europeans.He has the help of the Botanist Mendoza, who hasn''t gotten over the death of her lover Nicholas, in Elizabethan England. Lately though, Joseph has started to have a few doubts about The Company. There are whispers about the year 2355, about operatives that suddenly go missing. Time is running out for Joseph, which is ironic considering he''s immortal, but no one ever said that it was easy being a god. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

In a direct sequel to "The Life of the World to Come," Mendoza is banished to a prison lost in time, where rebellious immortals are "dealt with." Her past lovers Alec, Nicholas, and Bell-Fairfax are determined to rescue her, but first they must learn how to live together, because all three happen to be sharing Alecs body.

This is the Kage Baker novel everyone has been waiting for: the conclusion to the story of Mendoza and The Company. In The Sons of Heaven, the forces gathering to seize power finally move on the Company. The immortal Lewis wakes to find himself blinded, crippled, and left with no weapons but his voice, his memory, and the friendship of one extraordinary little girl. Edward Alton Bell-Fairfax, resurrected Victorian superman, plans for world domination. The immortal Mendoza makes a desperate bargain to delay him. Enforcer Budu, assisted by Joseph, enlists an unexpected ally in his plans to free his old warriors and bring judgment on his former masters. Executive Facilitator Suleyman uses his intelligence operation to uncover the secret of Alpha-Omega, vital to the mortals'' survival. The mortal masters of the Company, terrified of a coup, invest in a plan they believe will terminate their immortal servants. And they awaken a powerful AI whom they call Dr Zeus. This web of a story is filled with great climaxes, wonderful surprises, and gripping characters many readers have grown to love or hate. It''s a triumph of SF!

This is the third novel in what has become one of the most popular series in contemporary SF, now back in print from Tor. In the 24th century, the Company preserves works of art and extinct forms of life, for profit, of course. It recruits orphans from the past, renders them all but immortal, and trains them to serve the Company, Dr. Zeus. One of these is Mendoza the botanist. The death of her lover has been followed by centuries of heartbreak. She spends a period of time in early twentieth century Hollywood in the days of D.W. Griffith, and then Mendoza is in the midst of the Civil War, and runs into a man that looks disturbingly similar to her lost love. She is about to find love again, and be in more trouble than she could ever have imagined. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Mendoza is a Preserver for The Dr. Zeus Company, living in the past to collect species for the future. But when she kills six people in California in 1863, The Company makes her disappear. Joseph, a senior Preserver, loves Mendoza as the daughter he never had. Drunk on chocolate and fueled by rage, he''s determined to find her however long it takes. Being an indestructible, immortal cyborg gives him an unlimited well of patience. What begins as a rescue mission uncovers a conspiracy stretching across fifty centuries of recorded history. Behind it lie genocide, graveyards filled with Company agents, and the roots of the ominous Silence that falls across the world in 2355. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

This book includes the concluding novels of Kage Baker's "Company" series and brings all the counterplots to a head in a final showdown.

"Everyone's favorite immortal cyborg, Mendoza, and the three incarnations of her not-quite-human love, Nicholas Harpole/Edward Bell-Fairfax/Alec, are all together for the first time. And now they can really begin to fight back against the Company. The Machine's Child is the one all Baker fans have really been waiting for, the start of a complex and gripping war along the timelines."--Jacket.

The Anvil of the World is the tale of Smith and his feud-prone people, the Children of the Sun. Smith, formerly a successful assassin, is trying to retire, hoping to live an honest life in obscurity in spite of all those who have sworn to kill him. But when he agrees to be the master of a caravan from traveling from the inland city of Troon to Salesh by the sea, trouble follows. As always, Baker''s approach is charmingly distinctive. Smith''s adventure is certainly the only fantasy featuring a white-uniformed nurse, gourmet cuisine, one hundred and forty-four glass butterflies, and a steamboat.