New Releases by Seanan McGuire

Seanan McGuire’s New York Times-bestselling and Hugo Award-nominated InCryptid series continues with a whirlwind adventure.... After four generations of caring for the Price family, Mary Dunlavy has more than earned a break from the ongoing war with the Covenant of St. George. Instead, what she''s getting is a new employer, in the form of the anima mundi, Earth''s living soul made manifest, and a new assignment: to hunt down the Covenant agents on the East Coast and make them stop imprisoning America''s ghosts. All in a day''s work for a phantom nanny, even one who''d really rather be teaching her youngest charges how to read. One ghost can''t take on the entire Covenant without backup, which is how she winds up on a road trip with the still-mourning Elsie and the slowly collapsing Arthur, both of whom are reeling in their own way from the loss of their mother. New allies and new enemies await in Worcester, Massachusetts, where the path of the haunting leads. With the anima mundi demanding results and Mary''s newfound freedom at stake, it''s down to Mary to make sure that everyone gets out of this adventure alive. It''s been a long afterlife, but Mary Dunlavy''s not ready to be exorcised quite yet. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Giant turtles, impossible ships, and tidal rivers ridden by a Drowned girl in search of a family in the latest in the bestselling Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning Wayward Children series from Seanan McGuire. Nadya had three mothers: the one who bore her, the country that poisoned her, and the one who adopted her. Nadya never considered herself less than whole, not until her adoptive parents fitted her with a prosthetic arm against her will, seeking to replace the one she''d been missing from birth. It was cumbersome; it was uncomfortable; it was wrong. It wasn''t her. Frustrated and unable to express why, Nadya began to wander, until the day she fell through a door into Belyrreka, the Land Beneath the Lake--and found herself in a world of water, filled with child-eating amphibians, majestic giant turtles, and impossible ships that sailed as happily beneath the surface as on top. In Belyrreka, she found herself understood for who she was: a Drowned Girl, who had made her way to her real home, accepted by the river and its people. But even in Belyrreka, there are dangers, and trials, and Nadya would soon find herself fighting to keep hold of everything she had come to treasure.

Wanda and Peter Parker embrace great responsibility in the next adventure of an epic multiversal series that reimagines iconic Marvel origin stories. So many worlds, so little time. Infinite possibilities, creating infinite realities. Long have I watched death court the Scarlet Witch. But . . . what if Wanda didn’t have to suffer her grief alone? All Wanda has ever known is her friendly little neighborhood in Queens. As an infant, after her parents died, she was adopted into a family where her doting Aunt May and Uncle Ben would always be at the breakfast table. One that includes her idiot brother, Peter Parker, who thinks hiding a spider bite, joining a secret fight club, and becoming a super hero are somehow good ideas. When Wanda’s own powers emerge, blood, chaos, and suspicion follow in their wake. But as she learns to harness her power under the guidance of Doctor Strange, Peter is standing beside her in the Sanctum Sanctorum. And as they try to protect New York City, the Parker siblings learn that with great powers, there must also come great responsibilities—and greater losses. Reeling from tragedy, Wanda finds herself truly alone for the first time in her life. Peter is lost to his own grief, and so she must forge ahead on her own. But on her first solo outing, she runs into a mysterious speedster—a man named Pietro. And everything she has ever known shatters like glass. Faced with unbelievable truths, Wanda is forced to choose between the life she knows and the life she could have.

Winner: Hugo Award for Best Series The Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire is the story of Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children, a boarding school for children who come home from portal fantasy worlds and can’t adjust to their new lives. "A mini-masterpiece of portal fantasy — a jewel of a book that deserves to be shelved with Lewis Carroll''s and C. S. Lewis'' classics" —NPR The first five books in Seanan McGuire''s multi-Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Wayward Children series. Join the students of Eleanor West, and jump through doors into worlds both dangerous and extraordinary. This ebundle includes: Book 1: Every Heart a Doorway Book 2: Down Among the Sticks and Bones Book 3: Beneath the Sugar Sky Book 4: In an Absent Dream Book 5: Come Tumbling Down Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else. But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children. Meet Nancy, cast out of her world by the Lord of the Dead; Jack and Jill, each adopted by a monster of the Moors; Sumi and her impossible daughter, Rini; Lundy, a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than live up to the expectations of the world around her. Five worlds, Five adventures, Five sets of lives destined to intersect. Eleanor West''s Home for Wayward Children No Solicitations / No Visitors / No Quests But quests are what these children do best... At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Every night, a Moon shines down on the Impossible City... New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire takes us back to the world of the award-winning Alchemical Journeys series in this action-packed follow-up to Middlegame and Seasonal Fears. All across the world, people look up at the moon and dream of gods. Gods of knowledge and wisdom, gods of tides and longevity. Over time, some of these moon gods incarnated into the human world alongside the other manifest natural concepts. Their job is to cross the sky above the Impossible City—the heart of all creation—to keep it connected to reality. And someone is killing them. There are so many of them that it''s easy for a few disappearances to slip through the cracks. But they aren''t limitless. In the name of the moon, the lunar divinities must uncover the roots of the plot and thwart the true goal of those behind these attacks—control of the Impossible City itself. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

From the end of the world to the beginning, with a nice charcuterie plate to sustain us on the way, it''s time for another journey through the eccentric, eclectic short fiction of Seanan McGuire. From dangerous holidays to the beauty of the library, from the power of cheese to the power of love, this volume will take you from the past to the future, sometimes on the same page. Learn about the insecurities of the superheroic world, and how hard some people will work to survive the end of absolutely everything. Discover what everyone knows, and watch what happens when the cultural foundations are pulled from under your favorite cuisine. See what people will do when all else is lost, and watch what happens on the day the music dies. And when all that is through, visit our magical cheese shop for something truly delicious, impossible and unique. We have a little something for everyone in our box of delights. Don''t be afraid--just reach in, and choose a treat to improve and enhance your day. We''ve been waiting for another trip to the store on the corner, where they sell Wensleydale and wishes side by side. Come along now, let''s go.

Seanan McGuire''s New York Times-bestselling and Hugo Award-nominated urban fantasy InCryptid series continues with the thirteenth book following the Price family, cryptozoologists who study and protect the creatures living in secret all around us Mary Dunlavy didn''t intend to become a professional babysitter. Of course, she didn''t intend to die, either, or to become a crossroads ghost. As a babysitting ghost, she''s been caring for the Price family for four generations, and she''s planning to keep doing the job for the better part of forever. With her first charge finally back from her decades-long cross-dimensional field trip, with a long-lost husband and adopted daughter in tow, it''s time for Mary to oversee the world''s most chaotic family reunion. And that''s before the Covenant of St. George launches a full scale strike against the cryptids of Manhattan, followed quickly by an attack on the Campbell Family Carnival. It''s going to take every advantage and every ally they have for the Prices to survive what''s coming—and for Mary, to avoid finding out the answer to a question she''s never wanted to know: what happens to a babysitting ghost if she loses the people she''s promised to protect?

Portals and danger, and a girl who can find both in the next book in the Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning Wayward Children series from Seanan McGuire. Antsy is the latest student to pass through the doors at Eleanor West''s School for Wayward Children. When the school’s (literally irresistible) mean girl realizes that Antsy''s talent for finding absolutely anything may extend to doors, Antsy is forced to flee in the company of a small group of friends, looking for a way back to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go to be sure that Vineta and Hudson are keeping their promise. Along the way, they will travel from a world which hides painful memories that cut as sharply as its beauty, to a land that time wasn’t yet old enough to forget—and more than one student''s life will change forever. Mislaid in Parts Half-Known is a story that reminds us that getting what you want doesn''t always mean finding what you need. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

In partnership with Blizzard Entertainment, New York Times-bestselling, award-winning author Seanan McGuire pens the first-ever history of Overwatch, from its founding in the Omnic Crisis to its fall and reformation! Soldiers. Scientists. Adventurers. Oddities. During the Omnic Crisis, the people of our world were scattered, devastated . . . but heroes from around the globe answered the call. Overwatch offered a beacon of hope to weary survivors looking to reclaim and rebuild our war-torn world. After the Crisis had abated, their role expanded to help humanity solve some of the planet''s most dire problems and usher in a new age of hope and prosperity. And yet, just as Overwatch hit its prime, it fell victim to its own power, and was disbanded. But years later, amidst a rising tide of injustice, the heroes of Overwatch stand strong, ready to fight for a better tomorrow. Now fans can trace the history of Overwatch in this comprehensive volume, packed with declassified mission briefings, splash artwork, weapon schematics, and more. All new lore developed by New York Times-bestselling, award-winning author Seanan McGuire in partnership with Blizzard Entertainment threads together the story of Overwatch across its many comics, stories, cinematics, and game missions. Don''t miss this must-have, collectible read for Overwatch fans both old and new.

The 18th novel of the Hugo-nominated, New York Times bestselling October Daye urban fantasy series. For one bright, shining moment, Tybalt, King of Cats, had everything he had ever wanted. He was soon to set his crown aside; he had married the woman he loved; he was going to be a father. After centuries of searching for a family of his own, he had finally found a way to construct the life of his dreams, and was looking forward to a period of peace—or at least as much peace as is ever in the offing for the husband of a hero. Alas for Tybalt and his domestic aspirations, fate—and Titania—had other ideas. His perfect world had been complete for only a moment when it was ripped away, to be replaced by hers. Titania, Faerie’s Summer Queen, Mother of Illusions and enemy of so many he holds dear, has seized control of the Kingdom, remaking it in her own image. An image which does not include meddlesome shapeshifters getting in her way. Tybalt quickly finds himself banished from her reality, along with the Undersea and the rest of the Court of Cats. To protect his people and his future, Tybalt must find the woman he loves in a world designed to keep her from him, convince her that he’s not a stranger trying to ruin her life for no apparent reason, and get her to unmake the illusion she’s been firmly enmeshed in. And he’ll have to do it all while she doesn’t know him, and every unrecognizing look is a knife to his heart. For Tybalt, King of Cats, the happily ever after was just the beginning.

The 17th novel of the Hugo-nominated, New York Times bestselling October Daye urban fantasy series. October is very happy with her life as the second daughter of her pureblood parents, Amandine and Simon Torquill. Born to be the changeling handmaid to her beloved sister August, she spends her days working in her family’s tower, serving as August’s companion, and waiting for the day when her sister sets up a household of her own. Everything is right in October’s Faerie. Everything is perfect. Everything is a lie. October has been pulled from her own reality and thrown into a twisted reinterpretation of Faerie where nothing is as it should be and everything has been distorted to support Titania’s ideals. Bound by the Summer Queen’s magic and thrust into a world turned upside down, October has no way of knowing who she can trust, where she can turn, or even who she really is. As strangers who claim to know her begin to appear and the edges of Titania’s paradise begin to unravel, Toby will have to decide whether she can risk everything she knows based on only their stories of another world. But first she’ll have to survive this one, as Titania demonstrates why she needed to be banished in the first place—and this time, much more than Toby’s own life is at stake.

In this deluxe hardcover collection, experience two standalone tales each spotlighting a beloved Magic: The Gathering character. First, delve into Ajani Goldmane’s past adventures and uncover surprises, including what happened when the steadfast, valiant protector faced threats beyond his capabilities! Then, Nahiri has protected her home plane Zendikar for centuries, her ruthlessness and power kept in check by a strong sense of justice. But a new challenge awaits that may change the way the Multiverse perceives her... Nebula, Hugo, Locus, and Alex Award-winning novelist Seanan McGuire (Ghost- Spider) returns to the world of Magic: The Gathering with artists Fabiana Mascolo (Firefly, Cyberpunk 2077: Blackout), Jacques Salomon, Giuseppe Cafaro, Lea Caballero, and Michael Shelfer to bring Ajani Goldmane and Nahiri the Lithomancer to comics! Collects Magic: Ajani Goldmane #1 and Magic: Nahiri the Lithomancer #1.

Seanan McGuire''s New York Times-bestselling and Hugo Award-nominated urban fantasy InCryptid series continues with the twelfth book following the Price family, cryptozoologists who study and protect the creatures living in secret all around us. Reunion, noun: 1. The state of being united again. Reconciliation, noun: 1. An act of reconciling, as when former enemies agree to an amiable truce. 2. The process of making consistent or compatible. 3. See also “impossible.” Alice Price-Healy gave up her life for fifty years to focus completely on the search for her missing husband. The danger of focus like that is that it leaves little room for thinking about what happens after…and now that she’s finally managed to find Thomas, she has no idea what she’s supposed to do next. The fact that he comes with a surrogate daughter who may or may not have some connection to Alice’s recently adopted grandson is just icing on the complicated cake. So the three of them are heading for the most complicated place in the universe: they’re going home. But things on Earth have changed while Alice, Thomas, and Sally have been away. The Covenant of St. George, antagonized by Verity’s declaration of war and Sarah’s temporary relocation of an entire college campus, is trying to retake North America from the cryptids and cryptozoologists who’ve been keeping the peace for the past hundred years. And they’re starting in New York. Alice and company have barely been back for an hour before the Ocean Lady and the Queen of the Routewitches are sending them to New York to help, and they find themselves embroiled in the politics of dragons, kidnappings, and of course, the most dangerous people of all: family. Getting “back to normal” may be the hardest task Alice has undertaken yet.

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions—slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere . . . else. Adventures are always interesting, but they’re not always happy. From the worlds of Wayward Children comes a story of love, of devotion, of bones wrapped in flesh. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Jack Walcott was only twelve years old when she and her twin sister Jill, descended the impossible staircase and found herself in the Moors, a world of drowned gods and repugnant royals. After abandoning her sister to a vampire lord, and under the tutelage of a mad scientist who can do impossible things with flesh and living lightning, Jack quickly learns that in the Moors, death is merely a suggestion. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Now in hardcover, the sixteenth novel of the Hugo-nominated, New York Times-bestselling October Daye urban fantasy series. October Daye is finally something she never expected to be: married. All the trials and turmoils and terrors of a hero’s life have done very little to prepare her for the expectation that she will actually share her life with someone else, the good parts and the bad ones alike, not just allow them to dabble around the edges in the things she wants to share. But with an official break from hero duties from the Queen in the Mists, and her family wholly on board with this new version of “normal,” she’s doing her best to adjust. It isn’t always easy, but she’s a hero, right? She’s done harder. Until an old friend and ally turns out to have been an enemy in disguise for this entire time, and October’s brief respite turns into a battle for her life, her community, and everything she has ever believed to be true. The debts of the Broken Ride are coming due, and whether she incurred them or not, she’s going to be the one who has to pay.

Even time travel can’t unravel love Time-travel is a way for writers to play with history and imagine different futures – for better, or worse. When romance is thrown into the mix, time-travel becomes a passionate tool, or heart-breaking weapon. A time agent in the 22nd century puts their whole mission at risk when they fall in love with the wrong person. No matter which part of history a man visits, he cannot not escape his ex. A woman is desperately in love with the time-space continuum, but it doesn’t love her back. As time passes and falls apart, a time-traveller must say goodbye to their soulmate. With stories from best-selling and award-winning authors such as Seanan McGuire, Alix E. Harrow and Nina Allan, this anthology gives a taste for the rich treasure trove of stories we can imagine with love, loss and reunion across time and space. Including stories by: Alix E. Harrow, Zen Cho, Seanan McGuire, Sarah Gailey, Jeffrey Ford, Nina Allan, Elizabeth Hand, Lavanya Lakshminarayan, Catherynne M. Valente, Sam J. Miller, Rowan Coleman, Margo Lanagan, Sameem Siddiqui, Theodora Goss, Carrie Vaughn, Ellen Klages

From New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire, Seasonal Fears is the extraordinary companion novel to Middlegame. The king of winter and the queen of summer are dead. The fight for their crowns begins! Melanie has a destiny, though it isn’t the one everyone assumes it to be. She’s delicate; she’s fragile; she’s dying. Now, truly, is the winter of her soul. Harry doesn’t want to believe in destiny, because that means accepting the loss of the one person who gives his life meaning, who brings summer to his world. So, when a new road is laid out in front of them—a road that will lead through untold dangers toward a possible lifetime together—walking down it seems to be the only option. But others are following behind, with violence in their hearts. It looks like Destiny has a plan for them, after all.... "One must maintain a little bit of summer even in the middle of winter." —Thoreau At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

From the legends of Atlantis, El Dorado, and Shangri-La to classic novels such as King Solomon''s Mine, The Land That Time Forgot, and The Lost World, readers have long been fascinated by the idea of lost worlds and mythical kingdoms. Read short stories featuring the discovery of such worlds or kingdoms--stories where scientists explore unknown places, stories where the discovery of such turns the world on its head, stories where we''re struck with the sense of wonder at realizing that we don''t know our world quite as well as we''d thought. Featuring new tales by today''s masters of SF&F: Tobias S. Buckell James L. Cambias Becky Chambers Kate Elliott C.C. Finlay Jeffrey Ford Theodora Goss Darcie Little Badger Jonathan Maberry Seanan McGuire An Owomoyela Dexter Palmer Cadwell Turnbull Genevieve Valentine Carrie Vaughn Charles Yu E. Lily Yu

It''s been fifty years since the crossroads caused the disappearance of Thomas Price, and his wife, Alice, has been trying to find him and bring him home ever since, despite the increasing probability that he''s no longer alive for her to find. Now that the crossroads have been destroyed, she''s redoubling her efforts. It''s time to bring him home, dead or alive. Preferably alive, of course, but she''s tired, and at this point, she''s not that picky. It''s a pan-dimensional crash course in chaos, as Alice tries to find the rabbit hole she''s been missing for all these decades--the one that will take her to the man she loves. Who are her allies? Who are her enemies? And if she manages to find him, will he even remember her at this point?

What happens when emotions like love and friendship span vast distances -- in space, in time, and in the heart? Science fiction often focuses on future technology and science without considering the ways social structures will change as tech changes -- or not. What will relationships look like in a complicated future of clones, uploaded intelligences, artificial brains, or body augmentation? What stories emerge when we acknowledge possibilities of new genders and ways of thinking about them? The Reinvented Heart presents stories that complicate sex and gender by showing how shifting technology may affect social attitudes and practices, stories that include relationships with communities and social groups, stories that reinvent traditional romance tropes and recast them for the 21st century, and above all, stories that experiment, astonish, and entertain.

October Daye finds herself confronted with her family''s past and responsible for peace in the Kingdom of the Mists, as she plans for her wedding and for her future.

Bonded to a synthetic symbiote from another reality, Ghost-Spider, a.k.a. Gwen Stacy of Earth-65, is unique among the webslingers of the multiverse! But when Knull descends on her adopted home, his gravity well of dark psychic energy unleashes unforeseen consequences on Gwen! And her bandmate Mary Jane Watson is about to be pulled into this ordeal with a symbiote of her own. The ensuing madness can only be described as Gwenom vs. Carnage! They''ve been at each other''s throats in The Mary Janes for years, but this battle of the bands will really shred! Plus, Andi Benton returns, but does Scream have what it takes to put a dent in Knull''s armor? And what does this latest symbiotic nightmare mean for Spider-Man?! COLLECTING: King In Black: Gwenom vs. Carnage (2021) 1-3, King in Black: Scream (2021) 1, King in Black: Spider-Man (2021) 1

The King in Black invades Earth-65! Bonded to a synthetic symbiote from another reality, Ghost-Spider, A.K.A. Gwen Stacy, is unique among the web-slingers of the Multiverse! But when Knull descends on her adopted home, his gravity well of dark psychic energy unleashes unforeseen consequences on Gwen! And her bandmate Mary Jane Watson is about to be pulled into this ordeal with a symbiote of her own. The ensuing madness can only be described as Gwenom vs. Carnage! They''ve been at each other''s throats in the Mary Janes for years, but this battle of the bands will really shred! Plus: Andi Benton returns, but does Scream have what it takes to put a dent in Knull''s armor? And what does this latest symbiotic nightmare mean for Spider-Man?! Collects KING IN BLACK: GWENOM VS. CARNAGE #1-3, KING IN BLACK: SCREAM and KING IN BLACK: SPIDER-MAN.

The third book of the Ghost Roads series returns to the highways of America, where hitchhiking ghost Rose Marshall continues her battle with her killer—the immortal Bobby Cross. Lady of shadows, keeper of changes, plant the seeds of faith within me, that I might grow and flourish, that I might find my way through danger and uncertainty to the safety of your garden. Let my roots grow strong and my skin grow thick, that I might stand fast against all who would destroy me. Grant to me your favor, grant to me your grace, and when my time is done, grant to me the wisdom to lay my burdens down and rest beside you, one more flower in a sea of blooms, where nothing shall ever trouble me again. Rose Marshall died when she was sixteen years old and on her way to her high school prom. She hasn’t been resting easy since then—Bobby Cross, the man who killed her, got away clean after running her off the road, and she’s not the kind of girl who can let something like that slide. She’s been looking for a way to stop him since before they put her body in the ground. But things have changed in the twilight world where the spirits of the restless dead continue their “lives.” The crossroads have been destroyed, and Bobby’s protections are gone. For the first time, it might be possible for Rose to defeat him. Not alone, though. She’ll need every friend she’s managed to make and every favor she’s managed to add to her account if she wants to stand a chance…and this may be her last chance to be avenged, since what is Bobby Cross without the crossroads? Everything Rose knows is about to change.

The tenth book in the fast-paced InCryptid urban fantasy series returns to the mishaps of the Price family, eccentric cryptozoologists who safeguard the world of magical creatures living in secret among humans. Just when Sarah Zellaby, adopted Price cousin and telepathic ambush predator, thought that things couldn''t get worse, she''s had to go and prove herself wrong. After being kidnapped and manipulated by her birth family, she has undergone a transformation called an instar, reaching back to her Apocritic origins to metamorphize. While externally the same, she is internally much more powerful, and much more difficult to control. Even by herself. After years of denial, the fact that she will always be a cuckoo has become impossible to deny. Now stranded in another dimension with a handful of allies who seem to have no idea who she is--including her cousin Annie and her maybe-boyfriend Artie, both of whom have forgotten their relationship--and a bunch of cuckoos with good reason to want her dead, Sarah must figure out not only how to contend with her situation, but with the new realities of her future. What is she now? Who is she now? Is that person someone she can live with? And when all is said and done, will she be able to get the people she loves, whether or not they''ve forgotten her, safely home?

A young girl discovers a portal to a land filled with centaurs and unicorns in Seanan McGuire''s Across the Green Grass Fields, a standalone tale in the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Wayward Children series. “Welcome to the Hooflands. We’re happy to have you, even if you being here means something’s coming.” Regan loves, and is loved, though her school-friend situation has become complicated, of late. When she suddenly finds herself thrust through a doorway that asks her to "Be Sure" before swallowing her whole, Regan must learn to live in a world filled with centaurs, kelpies, and other magical equines—a world that expects its human visitors to step up and be heroes. But after embracing her time with the herd, Regan discovers that not all forms of heroism are equal, and not all quests are as they seem... A standalone Wayward Children story containing all-new characters, and a great jumping-on point for new readers. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Collects Ghost-Spider (2019) #6-10. Gwen Stacy lives two lives! Hopping back and forth between her home of Earth-65 and the mainstream Marvel Universe, she’s the happening hero known as Ghost-Spider! But two worlds means twice the problems, and Gwen’s about to answer the question nobody even thought to ask: Whatever happened to the Susan and Johnny Storm of Earth-65?! Then, rock ’n’ roll dreams come true as Gwen takes her band, the Mary Janes, on a rip-roaring multiversal concert tour! But not all those watchful eyes belong to starstruck fans. There’s something symbiotic and sinister stirring in the Marvel Universe. Ms. Stacy was already jailed once on Earth-65 for her super hero activities — and now she’s about to be outlawed in the Marvel U! But what exactly is the alternate-reality Reed Richards, the Machiavellian Maker, up to on her homeworld?

Within these pages lie eighteen stories, from eighteen worlds shaped by some of today’s best writers of science fiction and fantasy, all guests on the Aurora Award-winning podcast The Worldshapers during its first year. Some are international bestsellers. Among them are winners and nominees for the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Aurora, Sunburst, Aurealis, Ditmar, British Science Fiction Association, and Dragon Awards. Some have been writing for decades, others are at the beginning of their careers. All have honed their craft to razor-sharpness. A teenage girl finds something strange in the middle of the Canadian prairie. An exobiologist tries to liberate a giant alien enslaved on its homeworld by humans. The music of the spheres becomes literal for an Earth ship far from home. A superhero league interviews for new members. Strangers share a drink on a world where giant starships fall. Two boys, one a werewolf, one a mage, get more than they bargained for when they volunteer to fight an evil Empire. A man with amnesia accepts a most unusual offer. A young woman finds unexpected allies as she tries to win a flying-machine race in steampunk London . . . Ranging from boisterous to bleak, from humorous to harrowing, from action-filled to quiet and meditative; taking place in alternate pasts, the present day, the far, far future, and times that never were; set on Earth, in the distant reaches of space, in fantasy worlds, and in metaphysical realms, each of these stories is as unique as its creator. And yet, they all showcase one thing: the irrepressible need of human beings to create, to imagine, to tell stories. To shape worlds.