New Releases by Nancy Kress

A collection spotlighting the best hard science fiction stories and novellas published in 2025 by current and emerging masters of the genre, edited by Allan Kaster. · “Apartment Wars” by Vera Brook—the widow of a physicist, residing in a country short of living space for its citizens, finds a device that creates small pocket dimensions. This novella is a finalist for a 2025 Analog Analytical Laboratory (AnLab) Award. · “ESRI” by James Dick—the daughter of the woman who launched a failed second mission to Europa, launches the third mission to that moon. · “Freediver” by Isabel J. Kim—a two-man team risks a spacewalk to repair vital portal-spanning telecom cables hanging a hundred meters beneath the ocean . . . billions of light years away. · “Reality Check” by Nancy Kress—parents resort to deep brain stimulation to break their teenage son’s addiction to gaming. · “Threat Assessment” by Matthew Kressel & Mercurio D. Rivera—a psychologist is recruited by the military to determine why a self-aware AI, secluded on the Moon, wants to destroy humankind. · “The Last Lunar New Year” by Derek Künsken—the fate of humanity’s descendants is argued in a far-future zero-G court. · “In the Slime of Life” by Edward M. Lerner—humans and alien green scum antagonize each other on a malodorous, water world. · “The Hunt for Lemuria 7” by Allen M. Steele—robotic rovers search for the passengers and crew of a tourist-class lunar spacecraft that mysteriously vanished on the Moon. · “Tenth Contact” by Bruce Sterling & Paul Di Filippo—astronauts on Ganymede are caught in a once-in-twenty-million-years galactic aurora storm. This novelette is a finalist for a 2025 Asimov’s Readers’ Award. · “The Twenty-One Second God” by Peter Watts—a man able to keep his sanity after briefly joining a hivemind is interrogated by the government. This novelette is a finalist for a 2026 Locus Award. · “Infestation” by Jay Werkheiser—borane life-forms discover a planet infested with carbon life-forms.

Unrivaled: Four Groundbreaking Hugo & Nebula Winning Stories includes four of the most outstanding and most acclaimed novellas in science fiction, penned by Joe Haldeman, Lois McMaster Bujold, Mike Resnick, and Nancy Kress. Each novella has stood the test of time and completed the extremely difficult task of winning both the Nebula and the Hugo. Only stories of the highest caliber get awarded both the Nebula and the Hugo. The Hugo is awarded at the annual Worldcon, voted on by fans. The Nebula is awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) voted on by its members, primarily professional writers. A piece that wins both signifies that it had wide-spread fan appeal (fan votes) and also the highest regard by professionals in the field (voted on exclusively by SFWA member.) Beggars in Spain take place in a future where genetic engineering has become a reality, and society and culture face the consequences of genetic modifications. The story revolves around the existence of the "sleepless" individuals genetically modified to not need sleep, who have greater potential for intelligence and accomplishment than ordinary humans, called "Sleepers." The Hemingway Hoax weaves together a story of an attempt to produce a fake Ernest Hemingway manuscript with themes concerning time travel and parallel worlds. The story is based on a real-life incident when Hemingway''s first wife Hadley lost a suitcase containing his manuscripts. The Mountains of Mourning explores the concepts of justice and mercy when Miles Vorkosigan is sent to represent the empire in a far-flung rural village where a woman demands justice for the murder of her baby who was born healthy, but with a cleft lip and palate. The Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge explores the meaning of human progress and decline, long after humans have disappeared from the Earth. An alien archeological expedition is sent to explore humanity''s rise and fall in its birthplace of Olduvai Gorge. Seven recounted stories based on artifacts found tell the tale of how humans rose and how they fell and leave the aliens with an uneasy feeling about what the future may hold.

Anyone who thinks that, at an early age, they can plan their entire life is mistaken. Nancy Kress has been exploring the possibilities of genetic engineering, human evolution, alien contact, artificial intelligence, and the future of the species for over forty years, with one eye on the bleeding edge of science and the other on the human soul and what makes it bleed. These stories, and the essays that explain her own history and worldview, compose a brief tourist’s guide for the world to come. In the title memoir, “Not What I Intended,” Kress discusses a childhood and community life where no young girl ever dreams of becoming a writer, and how she made those nondreams come true. “Patent Infringement” is a short piece inspired by Kress’s own time writing corporate copy that managed to predict COVID, COVID vaccines, and the patenting of genes for profit. “Laws of Survival” is a tale of first contact in which humanity is hardly the species the aliens are interested in—can an amateur dog trainer save the world the aliens have trashed, or at least herself? “Amy Lowell, Cixin Liu, Jane Austen, and the Art of Fiction” is a compelling essay about the human drive to create patterns, and what the cognitive limitations of patternmaking means for fiction … and for politics. “Machine Learning” is science fiction but might also be a work of psychological realism about the creation of AI and the healing of a scientist’s grief over the loss of his daughter. And featuring an in-depth Q&A with new Outspoken Authors series coeditor Nick Mamatas, who traveled up to Seattle to talk to Nancy about the future of plagues, sleepless nights, teaching science fiction writing, and dogs dogs dogs!

In un futuro prossimo gli alieni arrivano sulla Luna e dichiarano di voler porre rimedio a una grave ingiustizia causata alla razza umana diecimila anni prima. Attraverso un bizzarro annuncio, cercano ventuno testimoni da spedire su sette pianeti da loro selezionati, per poi tornare a riferire al resto dell''umanità. Lo scopo degli alieni sembrerebbe semplice: ridare agli uomini la comprensione del passato, per garantire loro un futuro. Ma un paio di inquietanti domande restano in sospeso: perché mandare laggiù degli umani? E per cosa stanno espiando, gli alieni?

IL MARE CAMBIA "Davvero era questa la pericolosa organizzazione che avrebbe ripristinato l''ingegneria genetica in un paese che l''aveva messa al bando, in modo da produrre il fabbisogno alimentare per gli Stati Uniti e per il resto del mondo, mentre il cambiamento climatico, la desertificazione e l''innalzamento dei mari cambiavano il volto del pianeta?" Anno 2032. Di giorno Renata Black è un''assistente legale che si occupa di casi di violenza sessuale. Di notte è Caroline Denton, membro dell''Org, una società segreta che si occupa di sicurezza alimentare. Dieci anni prima, infatti, si era scatenata la Catastrofe: un biofarmaco ottenuto da piante geneticamente modificate aveva ucciso centosedici bambini. Il caos che ne era derivato aveva fatto crollare l''economia americana... Un ritratto convincente dei tempi in cui viviamo e di quello che ci aspetta in un cli-fi techno-thriller.

Paolo Bacigalupi, Terry Bisson, Jean-Claude Dunyach, Greg Egan, Yves Frémion, Laurent Genefort, Nancy Kress, Sylvie Lainé, Wildy Petoud, Lisa Tuttle... ... sont les Architectes du vertige. Cinquante années de Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire. Dix textes sélectionnés parmi les lauréats du plus prestigieux des prix littéraires dédiés à la science-fiction, au fantastique et à la fantasy. Dix récits du vertige et de l’émerveillement. Une anthologie anniversaire au faîte d’un monument.

Experience these powerful new voices—vivid, visceral, and visionary—as they explore uncharted worlds and reveal unlimited possibilities. This 40th anniversary edition of the L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, the bestselling and most widely influential anthology of its kind, brings you 12 strikingly original stories and illustrations―by the best new creative talent in speculative fiction, all winners of the Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests. The collection is rounded out with 3 bonus stories plus 4 articles providing art and writing tips from bestselling authors and internationally renowned artists. Be carried away by stories—and illustrations—that will make you think, laugh, and see the world in ways you never imagined. “When her owner goes missing, a digital housecat must become more than simulation to find her dearest companion through the virtual world.—“The Edge of Where My Light Is Cast” by Sky McKinnon, art by Carina Zhang No one came to his brother’s funeral. Not even the spirits. Étienne knew it was his fault.—“Son, Spirit, Snake” by Jack Nash, art by Pedro N. Man overboard is a nightmare scenario for any sailor, but Lieutenant Susan Guidry is also running out of air—and the nearest help is light years away.—“Nonzero” by Tom Vandermolen, art by Jennifer Mellen Mac wanted to invent a cocktail to burn itself upon the pages of history—but this one had some unexpected side effects.—“The Last Drop” by L. Ron Hubbard and L. Sprague de Camp, art by Chris Arias Dementia has landed Dan Kennedy in Graydon Manor, and what’s left of his life ahead seems dismal, but a pair of impossible visitors bring unexpected hope.—“The Imagalisk” by Galen Westlake, art by Arthur Haywood When a teenage swamp witch fears her mama will be killed, she utilizes her wits and the magic of the bayou—no matter the cost to her own soul.—“Life and Death and Love in the Bayou” by Stephannie Tallent, art by Ashley Cassaday Our exodus family awoke on the new world—a paradise inexplicably teeming with Earth life, the Promise fulfilled. But 154 of us are missing....—“Five Days Until Sunset” by Lance Robinson, art by Steve Bentley Spirits were supposed to lurk beneath the Lake of Death, hungry and patient and hostile to all life.—“Shaman Dreams” by S.M. Stirling, art by Dan dos Santos A new app lets users see through the eyes of any human in history, but it’s not long before the secrets of the past catch up with the present.—“The Wall Isn’t a Circle” by Rosalyn Robilliard, art by Guelly Rivera In the shadows of Teddy Roosevelt’s wendigo hunt, a Native American boy resolves to turn the tables on his captors, setting his sights on the ultimate prey—America’s Great Chief.—“Da-ko-ta” by Amir Agoora, art by Connor Chamberlain When squids from outer space take over, a punk-rock P.I. must crawl out of her own miserable existence to find her client’s daughter—and maybe a way out.—“Squiddy” by John Eric Schleicher, art by Tyler Vail Another outbreak? This time it’s a virus with an eighty percent infection rate that affects personality changes ... permanently.—“Halo” by Nancy Kress, art by Lucas Durham Planet K2-18b is almost dead, humanity is enslaved, and it’s Rickard’s fault. Now in his twilight years, he’d give an arm and a leg for redemption. Literally.—“Ashes to Ashes, Blood to Carbonfiber” by James Davies, art by May Zheng What if magic could undo the unthinkable, and undo Death itself? Would you use it no matter the cost? What would you sacrifice for love?—“Summer of Thirty Years” by Lisa Silverthorne, art by Gigi Hooper Joe is a prospector tasked with exploring the cosmos on behalf of an all-powerful government. Breadna is a toaster. There have been weirder love stories, but that’s unlikely.—“Butter Side Down” by Kal M, art by Selena Meraki

In this epic science fiction tale by an award-winning author, two warring tribes are the subjects of a strange alien experiment. Epic in scope, peopled by characters from every strata of profoundly different societies, An Alien Light is an unflinching look at the strengths and weaknesses of the genetic, evolutionary, and historical inheritance that all of us share . Arys, a glassblower and outcast. Jehane, a skilled female warrior. Dahar, with a deeply inquisitive mind. Grax, an alien with profound doubts. These four and hundreds of others are thrown together in an experiment to determine the fate of humanity, both on Earth and in her galactic colonies. For the Ged, the stakes are nothing less than the outcome of a war. For the humans, ignorant of the larger situation, the rewards for participating are incredible riches. But no one except the alien Ged understands the criteria for being chosen. When that knowledge comes, there is no agreement about if, how, or when to use it. Some will betray others. Some will sacrifice. Some will die. And some must succeed, no matter the price. Praise for An Alien Light "This heady mix of fantasy and sf explores humanity''s infinite capacity for change. Highly recommended." — Library Journal "An attractively complex portrayal of an alien species." —The Washington Post "Nancy Kress has the true storyteller''s gift—the ability to make her characters and what happens to them so vital that the reader''s heart aches." —Stephen R. Donaldson

12 award-winning science fiction authors from around the world offer original tales of relationships in a future world of evolving technology. For fans of anthologies like Soonish and Netflix''s Black Mirror In a future world dominated by the technological, people will still be entangled in relationships—in romances, friendships, and families. This volume in the Twelve Tomorrows series considers the effects that scientific and technological discoveries will have on the emotional bonds that hold us together. The strange new worlds in these stories feature AI family therapy, floating fungitecture, and a futuristic love potion. Imagine genetic alterations to code for altruism, or digital avatars that can interface with other avatars on dating sites, running sample conversations to find appropriate matches, or artificial assistance animals. Contributions include Xia Jia''s novelette set in a Buddhist monastery, translated by the Hugo Award-winning writer Ken Liu; and a story by Nancy Kress, winner of 6 Hugos and 2 Nebulas. A full story list: James Patrick Kelly, Your Boyfriend Experience Mary Robinette Kowal, A Little Wisdom Nancy Kress, Invisible People Rich Larson, Echo the Echo Sam J. Miller, The Nation of the Sick Annalee Newitz, The Monogamy Hormone Suzanne Palmer, Don''t Mind Me Cadwell Turnbull, Mediation Nick Wolven, Sparklybits Xia Jia, The Monk of Lingyin Temple, translated by Ken Liu Also includes an interview with Nancy Kress by Lisa Yaszek, and Tatiana Plakhova''s beautiful "data abstract" illustrations serve as frontispiece to each of the stories.

There is no light without dark; no highlights without shadows; no good without evil. The Devil is where things happen. Where stories begin. This collection brings together stories from multiple cultures, featuring the Devil both as an abstract concept and a creature, a terror, a force of nature, an enemy, a trickster, and so many more. Step into the world of shadows, and travel through Devil’s many incarnations spanning centuries of history and myth, from the Ancient Greece, African and Caribbean folklore, dark ages in Europe, all the way to the present day. This anthology features new and established authors from diverse, multicultural backgrounds.

SE CI SARÀ UN DOMANI Sono passati dieci anni da quando gli alieni hanno lasciato la Terra, e finalmente è pronta la nave per seguirli nello spazio: la Fratellanza. A bordo ci sono sei scienziati, quattro diplomatici e sei soldati, ma quando arrivano ad Alleanza non trovano quello che si aspettavano. Soprattutto non trovano la cura contro le spore provenienti dallo spazio. Di nuovo gli scienziati devono ingaggiare una corsa contro il tempo per salvare l''umanità da un virus mortale.

NEW SPACE OPERA FROM MULTIPLE NEBULA- AND HUGO-WINNING AUTHOR NANCY KRESS WHAT LIES BEYOND THE ELEVENTH GATE . . . Despite economic and territorial tensions, no one wants the city-states of the Eight Worlds to repeat the Terran Collapse by going to war. But when war accidentally happens, everyone seeks ways to exploit it for gain. The Landry and Peregoy ruling dynasties see opportunities to grab territory, increase profits, and settle old scores. Exploited underclasses use war to fuel rebellion. Ambitious heirs can finally topple their elders’ regimes—or try to. But the unexpected key to either victory or peace lies with two persons uninterested in conquest, profits, or power. Philip Anderson seeks only the transcendent meaning of the physics underlying the universe. Tara Landry, spoiled and defiant youngest granddaughter of dynasty head Rachel Landry, accidentally discovers an eleventh star-jump gate, with a fabulous find on the planet behind it. Her discovery, and Philip’s use of it, alter everything for the Eight Worlds. At the publisher''s request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). About Nancy Kress: "Nancy Kress at her very best . . . A first-contact novel like no other."—Greg Bear on Tomorrow''s Kin "It''s a rare and desirable hybrid: a literary, military, hard-SF novel."—Amazon.com on Probability Moon “Nancy Kress is one of the best science-fiction writers working today."—Kim Stanley Robinson

Based on Nancy Kress’s Nebula Award-winning novella, “Yesterday’s Kin”, this hard science fiction series explores the limits of human genetics, and the development of human culture on two widely distant planets. “Nancy Kress delivers one of the strongest stories of the year to date.” --Gardner Dozois, editor of The Year’s Best Science Fiction series The Yesterday’s Kin Trilogy discounted ebundle includes: Tomorrow''s Kin, If Tomorrow Comes, Terran Tomorrow Tomorrow''s Kin: The aliens have arrived... they''ve landed their Embassy ship on a platform in New York Harbor, and will only speak with the United Nations. They say that their world is so different from Earth, in terms of gravity and atmosphere, that they cannot leave their ship. The population of Earth has erupted in fear and speculation. If Tomorrow Comes: Ten years after the Aliens left Earth, humanity succeeds in building a ship, Friendship, to follow them home to Kindred. Aboard are a crew of scientists, diplomats, and a squad of Rangers to protect them. But when the Friendship arrives, they find nothing they expected. No interplanetary culture, no industrial base—and no cure for the spore disease. Terran Tomorrow: The diplomatic mission from Earth to World ended in disaster, as the Earth''s scientists discovered that the Worlders were not the scientifically advanced culture they believed. Once home, after the twenty-eight-year gap caused by their transit through space, they find an Earth changed almost beyond recognition... At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Excerpts of fantasy and science fiction novels written by fearless women, including Vengeful by V.E. Schwab, Zero Sum Game by S.L. Huang, The Phoenix Empress by K Arsenault Rivera, Terran Tomorrow by Nancy Kress, Horizon by Fran Wilde, and City of Broken Magic by Mirah Bolender. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

An unabridged collection spotlighting the “best of the best” science fiction stories published in 2017 by current and emerging masters of the genre, edited by Allan Kaster. In “My English Name,” by R. S. Benedict, an intelligent alien, who parasitizes an English teacher in China, falls in love. After a victorious space battle, an indentured robot finds a refugee who makes an offer it can’t refuse in “Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance” by Tobias S. Buckell. In “The Moon is Not a Battlefield,” by Indrapramit Das, an Indian soldier retires on Earth after spending most of her life on the Moon. A young woman joins the U.S. Army to fight terrorists after aliens arrive on Earth bearing tech gifts unevenly dispersed to humans in “Dear Sarah” by Nancy Kress. In “An Evening with Severyn Grimes,” by Rich Larson, a gifted hacker uses cyberspace to extract pay back on the rich businessman who put her in prison. Set in the author’s hexarchate universe, an ex-Kel super soldier is enlisted to retrieve a weapon of mass destruction stolen by a rogue general in “The Chameleon’s Gloves” by Yoon Ha Lee. In “The Martian Obelisk,” by Linda Nagata, on a dying Earth, an architect remotely building a monument to mankind on Mars receives a message from an abandoned Mars colony. A petty meat counterfeiter is blackmailed into forging T-bone steaks for an anonymous thug in “A Series of Steaks” by Vina Jie-Min Prasad. In “The Residue of Fire,” by Robert Reed, a torturer tries to cope with one of his alien victims who witnessed a pivotal moment in the lives of two immortals, in this Great Ship tale. And finally, in this Revelation Space tale, a starship captain wakes from hibernation with her ship stalled next to an alien artifact and a mutiny in progress in “Night Passage” by Alastair Reynolds.

Follows the arrival of alien embassies who meet with the United Nations amid human fear and speculation before obscure scientist Dr. Marianne Jenner is secretly invited to visit the aliens and prevent an imminent disaster.

En una sociedad futura el progreso de la genética permite la aparición de los Insomnes, estirpe que dispone de mayor poder gracias a su capacidad para permanecer activa durante más horas. El mundo se divide en ociosos Vividores, atendidos por los Auxiliares, e Insomnes, con sus superdotados descendientes, los Superinsomnes. Dos Vividores y un Auxiliar exponen su particular punto de vista sobre este modelo.

Short novels are movie length narratives that may well be the perfect length for science fiction stories. This unabridged collection presents the best-of-the-best short science fiction novels published in 2013 by current and emerging masters of this vibrant form of story-telling. In “Earth I,” by Stephen Baxter, asearch among the stars to ferret out the origins of mankind amidst the Xaian normalization digs up many surprises. In “Success,” by Michael Blumlein, a brilliant but erratic biologist studying epigenetics struggles to hang on to his grip on everyday life as he writes his ground-breaking tome. In “Feral Moon,” by Alexander Jablokov, the Alliance military is invading Phobos to retrieve dead bodies for later repatriation, but the stiff resistance is putting the operation in serious doubt. In “The Weight of the Sunrise,” by Vylar Kaftan, winner of both the Nebula Award and the Sidewise Award for Alternate History, the Incan empire is offered a vaccine, to contain a smallpox out-break, by a Virginian raising funds for the American war against the British. In “One,” by Nancy Kress, a boxer down on his luck gains the ability to read minds and grapples round-after-round with the consequences. In the Great Shipstory “Precious Mental,” by Robert Reed, an immortal captain who has been living incognito for hundreds of years is kidnaped to help salvage an ancient derelict spaceship. Finally, in the Poirot-like mystery “Murder on the AldrinExpress,” by Martin L. Shoemaker, murder is suspected in the death of the leader of a Mars expedition when evidence of sabotage is uncovered.

An unabridged collection of the “best of the best” science fiction stories published in 2013 by current and emerging masters of the genre, edited by Allan Kaster. In “Zero for Conduct,” by Greg Egan, an Afghani teenager, living in a near-future Iran with her exiled grandfather, makes a game-changing superconductor discovery. A young girl struggles to survive on a planet, with a stringent class structure, where Doors are used to go off-world in “Exit, Interrupted,” by C. W. Johnson. “Pathways” by Nancy Kress, follows a teenage girl from a small Kentucky mountain town, in a near-future U. S., struggling with her family and culture as she seeks treatment for Fatal Familial Insomnia. In “Entangled,” by Ian R. MacLeod, an Indian woman, in a Britain turned upside down by a disease that links people’s minds, searches for answers to her personal catastrophe. In “The Irish Astronaut,” by Val Nolan, a colleague brings the ashes of an astronaut, who died in the Aquariusdisaster, to Ireland for final burial. In “Among Us,” by Robert Reed, a government agency goes to extraordinary lengths to identify and track the aliens among us. “A Map of Mercury,” by Alastair Reynolds, showcases the plight of a failed artist dispatched to retrieve an artistic genius from a collective of cyborgs parading across the face of Mercury. In “Martian Blood,” by Allen M. Steele, a researcher from Earth goes on an expedition into the untamed regions of Mars to extract blood from its natives. “The She-Wolf’s Hidden Grin,” by Michael Swanwick, set in the same milieu as Gene Wolfe’s “The Fifth Head of Cerberus,” follows the childhoods of two sisters on a planet far from Earth. Finally, in “The Best We Can,” by Carrie Vaughn, a frustrated scientist pursues first contact among an apathetic populace.

Fantascienza - racconto lungo (33 pagine) - L''era degli antibiotici sta per finire. Nessuno sa cosa accadrà quando batteri e infezioni non potranno più essere combattuti. Nancy Kress prova a immaginarlo. Sono lontani i tempi in cui un taglietto o un''infezione potevano portare alla morte. Da da molti decenni ormai siamo abituati a considerare queste cose un passato superato, cancellato dall''invenzione degli antibiotici. Eppure non è così. Una delle prove più evidenti e drammatiche della teoria dell''evoluzione è proprio nei batteri, che anno dopo anno, generazione dopo generazione, si stanno evolvendo verso l''immunità alle cure. Già oggi è sempre più difficile curare certe infezioni, e l''uso sconsiderato e l''abuso di antibiotici ha favorito e accelerato questo processo. Entro qualche anno, meno di quanti possiamo pensare, potremmo cominciare a perdere la guerra contro i batteri. E allora gli ospedali torneranno a essere lazzaretti, dove più che curare si cerca di contenere le epidemie. Nancy Kress cerca di immaginare un futuro che purtroppo ogni anno che passa appare meno fantascientifico. NANCY KRESS è nata nel 1948 a Buffalo (New York). Risiede a Seattle, nello stato di Washington, cercando di conciliare le sue molteplici attività: scrittrice di fantascienza, responsabile di corsi di letteratura e scrittura creativa. Ha cominciato a scrivere e pubblicare fantascienza e fantasy verso la metà degli anni ’70, e i suoi racconti, eleganti e incisivi, sono stati ospitati dalle riviste Omni, Isaac Asimov’s SF Magazine e Fantasy & Science Fiction. Nel 2008/2009 è stata professore ospite di letteratura all’Università di Lipsia in Germania. Nella sua carriera ha vinto quattro Premi Nebula e due Premi Hugo oltre a numerosi altri riconoscimenti che l’hanno consacrata come una delle voci più significative della narrativa di fantascienza contemporanea.

Marianne Jenner, a geneticist and mother of three, has 10 months to try to avert a disaster and keep her family intact after aliens land in New York. By the author of Beggars in Spain. 7,500 first printing.

2012 Nebula Award Winner 2012 Locus Award Winner 2013 Hugo Nominee 2013 Sturgeon Award Nominee In the year 2035, all that is left of humanity lives in the Shell. No one knows why the Tesslies attacked in 2014, devastated the environment, and nearly destroyed humanity. Or why the aliens imprisoned twenty-six survivors in a sterile enclosure built on the barren remains of the Earth. Fifteen-year-old Pete, one of only six children born in the Shell, is determined to lead humanity to a new beginning. But Pete struggles to control his anger as, one by one, the survivors sicken and die. Although the Earth appears to be slowly healing, the Shell’s inhabitants may not live long enough to see it. The only chance for humanity lies within brief time portals. Peter and the survivors hatch a desperate plan: to increase their numbers by abducting children from the past. In the year 2013, a brilliant CIA consultant sees a pattern in seemingly unrelated kidnappings. As Julie Kahn’s predictive algorithms reveal that the world is in imminent danger, she discovers that she may also play a role in its possible rebirth. Julie and Pete are rapidly converging in time—a chance encounter between them may be the Earth’s only hope.

"In an America decimated by economic collapse, teenage Amy jumps at the chance to star in a reality show--but what she doesn''t know is that it may kill her before it pays off"--

Under the countless billions of stars in the universe, what forms will alien life take? How will they live? And what will happen when we meet them? From first encounters to life alongside aliens--and stories of the aliens'' own lives--here are many futures: violent and peaceful, star-spanning and personal.

This collection of unabridged, unforgettable tales, written by some of science fiction’s most esteemed authors, pays homage to one of the genre’s most cherished story types. Whether time travel stories leap forward in time or slip into the past, they remain popular with fans. John Barnesspins a tale of intrigue as the principles of science are discovered centuries ahead of time while mankind is divided into classes (Com''n and Liejt) and the Irish people are slaves in “Things Undone.” Nancy KressAnne Boleyn and that of historians from a distant future to which pivotal historic figures are taken in order to prevent otherwise inevitable bloodshed in “And Wild for to Hold.” Ian R. MacLeodsends three time traveling historians from the future to rescue Captain Oatesfrom the doomed Scott party amidst the race to the South Pole in the early 20thcentury in “Home Time.” Tom Purdomsets historians from the future on a high seas adventure to document a 19thcentury British Admiralty anti-slavery patrol in “The Mists of Time.” Science fiction grand master, Robert Silverberg, slowly slides the fifty-seven year old owner of a Toyota dealership in the San Francisco Bay area backwards in time towards his birth in “Against the Current.” Allen M. Steeletells the story of how a U.S. Navy blimp crewmember happens upon time travelers while monitoring Soviet sea traffic around Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis in “The Observation Post.” Michael Swanwickfollows the director of a dinosaur research center holding a timeline-polluting fund raiser located in the late Cretaceous period in the Hugo award winning story, “Scherzo with Tyrannosaur.” Genevieve Valentineobserves the detrimental effects of time travel on the timeline through the eyes of a seamstress whose wealthy patrons are obsessed with their time period costumes in “Bespoke.”

Two stories about artificial intelligence from one of the most respected names in hard science fiction. Multiple Hugo and Nebula winner Nancy Kress gives us a fascinating look into the evolution of artificial intelligence and the impact it has on human society.

Nancy Kress is unrivaled in her treatment of genetic engineering. In 1991 she wrote the ground-breaking classic novella Beggars in Spain (Hugo/Nebula) and since then has only enhanced her outstanding reputation of telling stories set in the near-future and dealing with genetics. *** This collection brings together six of these stories written between 1984 and 2008, including "The Flowers of Aulit Prison" which won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short story.