New Releases by Nancy Kress

Collects short stories from Lightspeed, the online science fiction magazine.

The aliens appeared one day, built a base on the moon, and put an ad on the internet. At first, everyone thought it was a joke. But it wasn''t. This is the story of three volunteers who answered that ad, and what they found on Kular A and Kular B.

The threat of terrorism and biological warfare become all too real in this riveting thriller when the danger comes from a family''s most cherished pets. Tessa Sanderson, ex-FBI agent, has moved to a sleepy Maryland town to escape her tragic past. When the town''s beloved dogs begin viciously attacking pet owners, federalaCDC agents determine that the dogs are carrying a mutated flu affecting the aggression center of their brains, for which their is no knownacure. Tessa offers to help round up and quarantine the dogs, even though some unconvinced locals are preparing to protect their pets by any means necessary. But she has another reason for getting involved?someone has been sending her threatening emails in Arabic claiming responsibility for the virus, and Tessa is resolved to go deep undercover to expose this deadly conspiracy.aCombining hard science with thoughtful narrative, this chilling tale of science fiction explores the complex relationships between dogs and their owners."

The title story, like most of the other pieces, is character-centered as a single mother wrestles with high-tech taking over her town. "Patent Infringement" is a fine if brief epistolary story on the subject; "The Most Famous Little Girl in the World" is the story of the lifelong friendship of two women set against a background of alien contact. "First Flight" is an affectionate homage to the classic Tom Corbett, Space Cadet TV show of the 1950s. "To Cuddle Amy" is a powerful short-short horror story about disposable children. "My Mother, Dancing" deals with a human race called on to seed with life a completely barren universe.

Le conflit entre Humains et Faucheurs est loin d''être terminé. Chaque camp possède désormais un artefact, arme redoutable capable d''anéantir une galaxie et perturber l''espace-temps. Lyle Kaufman et sa compagne Marbet, la Sensitive qui a pu communiquer avec un Faucheur, tentent de contrer les desseins de l''amiral Pierce, nouveau chef du Conseil de Défense de l''Alliance solaire. Ce dernier s''apprête à provoquer une catastrophe cosmique en utilisant l''artefact des Humains dans le système des Faucheurs. Seul Tom Capelo, le physicien qui en a découvert le fonctionnement, pourrait tenter de faire entendre raison à l''amiral. Mais il a été kidnappé et personne ne sait comment le retrouver. A part sa fille, peut-être, qui fut témoin de son enlèvement...

Nancy Kress made her reputation in the early 90s with her multiple award-winning novella, "Beggars in Spain," which became the basis for her extremely successful Beggars Trilogy (comprising Beggars in Spain, Beggars and Choosers, and Beggars Ride). Since then she has written over a dozen novels, including the well-received Probability Trilogy, culminating in Probability Space, which garnered her the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best SF Novel. Now comes a brand new science fiction epic. It began with Crossfire: a far-future novel of planetary colonization and alien first contact. Jake Holman, a man trying to escape a dark past, brought together a diverse group of thousands to settle on a new world. But instead the humans found themselves caught in the crossfire of a galaxy-spanning war between two disparate species: agressive, militaristic humanoids known as Furs and passive, plantlike creatures known as Vines. Having cast their lots with the peaceful Vines, humanity faces all-out war against the technologically superior Furs. Our only hope? A virus designed by the Vines to remove all aggressiveness from the Furs. Can it spread fast enough to save not only Holman''s colony, but the rest of humanity? And at what price to the Furs? Driven by strong ideas and deep moral questions, and peopled with real-as-life characters, Crucible shows Kress at the top of her form, amply demonstrating why she has been one of science fiction finest authors of the past twenty years.

A truly unforgettable story is defined by its characters. Their motivations, their changes, their actions compel us to read on, anxiously trying to discern what will happen next. In Dynamic Characters, award-winning author and Writer''s Digest columnist Nancy Kress explores the fundamental relationship between characterization and plot, illustrating how vibrant, well-constructed characters act as the driving force behind an exceptional story. Kress balances her writing instruction with hands-on checklists to help you build strong characters from the outside in. Blending physical, emotional and mental characterization, you''ll learn to create characters that initiate exciting action, react to tense situations, make physical and emotional transformations, and power the plot from beginning to end.

On a découvert, non loin de Mars, déjà terraformée et habitée, un tunnel spatial menant instantanément vers un autre système solaire peuplé par des humanoïdes. Hélas, les Terriens ont du même coup fait connaissance avec les Faucheurs, une race belliqueuse qui semble bien décidée à éradiquer toute forme de vie sur son passage. Une équipe terrienne regroupant des anthropologues, un géologue et une botaniste est envoyée étudier Monde, une planète sur laquelle les habitants ont développé une culture étrange, basée sur un principe de réalité partagée : toute violence préméditée, tout mensonge ou désaccord avec la communauté est sanctionné par une douleur physique insupportable. Mais cette mission scientifique n''est que la couverture d''un projet militaire visant à s''approprier l''un des satellites de Monde, un artefact qui renferme une arme redoutable. C''est sans compter la présence des Faucheurs dont la maîtrise technologique surpasse de loin celle des Terriens... Premier volume d''une trilogie, Réalité partagée mêle habilement space opera et hard science. Nancy Kress aborde ici des thèmes qui lui sont chers comme l''anthropologie et les effets du développement technologique.

Told from the perspective of several generations of teenagers, this science fiction novel involves an Earth ravaged by mankind, high-tech manipulative aliens, and advanced genetics. Early in the 21st century, global warming has caused sickness and death among plants, animals, and humans. Suddenly aliens contact and genetically modify a group of 14-year-olds, inviting them to visit their spacecraft. After several months of living among the aliens and studying genetics, the students discover that the aliens have been manipulating them and rebel. Upon their return to Earth, the girls in the group discover that they are pregnant and can only wonder what form their unborn children will take. Generations later, the offspring of these children seek to use their alien knowledge to change their genetic code, to allow them to live and prosper in an environment that is quickly becoming uninhabitable from the dual scourges of global warming and biowarfare. But after all the generations of change, will the genetically modified creatures resemble their ancestors, or will nothing human remain?

Encore plus pernicieux qu''on ne le prévoyait, les effets de la pollution chimique ont entraîné une chute radicale du taux de la fertilité dans le monde. Il n''y naît pratiquement plus d''enfants. A tel point que certaines personnes en mal de progéniture en arrivent à traiter leurs animaux domestiques comme d''authentiques bébés... Mais cette situation entraîne probablement de plus sombres déviations, comme le soupçonne Shana Walders, une jeune appelée de l''armée américaine, quand, participant à l''évacuation d''une zone rendue dangereuse par le déraillement d''un transport de produits toxiques, elle se retrouve face à l''inconcevable dans une société où les manipulations génétiques sont soumises à de sévères limitations. Les Etats-Unis seraient-ils en train de se transformer souterrainement en une nouvelle île du docteur Moreau ? Tel est le lièvre qu''a soulevé Shana. Mais qui voudra le suivre avec elle ?

"Anyone who has ever doubted the psychological link between fantasy and life will be quickly corrected by this insightful and highly recommended novel."--Roger C. Schlobin, "Fantasy Newsletter."

By the middle of the twenty-first century the worldwide fertility rate has declined nearly eighty percent. No one knows why. Now the average age in the United States is fifty-four, and children are treasured and spoilt by those lucky enough to have them and coveted by the vast majority who can''t. Maximum Light is the story of three people from different sections of this very different American society. Nick Clementi is seventy-five years old, a doctor, and an advisor to the Congressional Advisory Committee for Medical Crises. Shana Walders is twenty-six and has just finished her two years in the National Service Corps. Cameron Atuli is twenty-eight, a primcipal dancer with the National Ballet, and has willingly had a portion of his memory removed; what it was and why he did it, he doesn''t know. In her last days of National Service, Shana witnesses something so horrible that it is immediately brought to the attention of Clementi''s committee, but so shocking that even the committee would like to believe that it can''t be true. And what Cameron can''t remember may be the key to the mystery. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A group of teenagers from the late twentieth century is brought from their own time into a future utopia of the twenty-sixth century, where they are assigned the task of battling the Panurish, grotesque humanoids possessing a third eye.

The unforgettable conclusion to the ground breaking trilogy begun with the Nebula Award-winning "Beggars in Spain". Two hundred years in the future regular human beings hate and fear the Sleepless and the SuperSleepless, genetically modified humans who are immune to disease and hunger, and need no sleep. When the Sleepless plot to take over the world and leave regular humans powerless, civilization and the very meaning of the word "human" hang in the balance.

Collection of eighteen fantasy and science fiction stories by the author with themes from alien anthropology to miniature worlds.

Tells the stories of Joan of Arc''s reincarnation, a woman who relives past lives, a writer who discovers a galactic empire, a sentient spacesuit, and an unusual research firm.