New Releases by Walter Jon Williams

Short novels are movie length narratives that may well be the perfect length for science fiction stories. This collection presents the best-of-the-best short science fiction novels published in 2012 by current and emerging masters of this vibrant form. In "In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal Burns," by Elizabeth Bear, Police Sub-Inspector Ferron investigates the murder of genetics engineer, Dexter Coffin, who has been turned inside out, in a cutting edge biomedical lab set in a not too distant future India. In Jay Lake''s"The Stars Do Not Lie," Morgan Abutti is soon in fear for his life when he tries to announce his discovery of something in the stars that contradicts the creation myth of a major religion on his planet. In "The Weight of History, the Lightness of the Future," also by Jay Lake, set in the author''s "Sunspin" series, the Howard Immortal, Before Michaela Cannon, and an untrustworthy shipmind investigate the cause of the Mistake, an alien attack on human civilization with an EMP weapon that occurred more than a thousand years ago and wiped out most of its technology. In "Sudden, Broken and Unexpected," by Steven Popkes, a burnt-out, talented musician is hired to help a world-class rock star divaloid, an electronic construct, prepare for her new world tour. There''s only one problem, the musician passionately despises divaloids. In Robert Reed''s"Eater-of-Bone," marooned human colonists, from the "Great Ship," fight for dominance on a planet inhabited by smaller, weaker, and less intelligent aliens. Finally, in "The Boolean Gate," by Walter Jon Williams, set in the 19th century, an elderly Samuel Clemens escapes his Mark Twain persona through his friendship with Nicola Tesla. As Tesla''s inventions come to fruition, Twain suspects that Tesla has opened up a gateway to an alien intelligence.

À bord de l''Olympia, les deux héros parcourent le multivers et ses Probabilités un peu au hasard, jusqu''à ce qu''un manque de vivres les pousse à se poser sur la station Supra, avant-poste du multivers...

"Walter Jon Williams really knows how to play power chords in the ''key of wonder'' and in Implied Spaces he''s gone to town on the guitar solo!" --Charles Stross "Implied Spaces pioneers a new genre of SF--- the ''Sword and Singularity'' novel. Williams combines fantasy tropes believably with nanotech, bleeding-edge infotech speculation, classic smashing-planets space opera, and intriguingly human, or possibly post-human characters along with a fast-moving plot and a quirky sense of humor in a melance that''s cosmological, theological, ontological, comic, and thoroughly entertaining." ---S.M. Stirling The mysterious swordsman Aristide wanders the multiverse with his talking cat Bitsy, both of them in search of the "implied spaces," the accidents of architecture in a world that is itself artificial and created by a supreme intelligence. While exploring the pre-technological world of Midgarth, Aristide discovers a plot that threatens to shake the multiverse to its foundations, a sinister enemy intent on laying all humanity in his thrall. Aristide must surmount war, plague, death, the loss of love, and cosmic havoc in order to finally confront the enemy, whose secret brings all reality into questions . . .

Dagmar Shaw got out of the game... and into the movies. Sean is a washed-up child actor reduced to the lowest dregs of reality television to keep himself afloat. His life was a downward spiral of alcoholism, regret, and failure... until he met Dagmar. Except Sean has secrets, dark even for the Hollywood treadmill of abuse, addiction, and rehab. And Dagmar is a cipher. There are dark rumors about her past, the places she''s been, the things she was involved in. People tend to die around her and now, she wants Sean for something. A movie, she says, but with her history, who''s to say what her real game is?

The time of reckoning is close at hand. Events in the New York Times bestselling Star Wars The New Jedi Order series take a decisive turn, as the heroes of the New Republic prepare for their most volatile clash yet with the enemy—from without and within. In the war against the ruthless Yuuzhan Vong, the fall of Coruscant leaves the New Republic divided by internal strife, and on the verge of bowing to conquest. But those who steadfastly refuse to consider surrender—Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Leia Organa Solo, and their children and comrades-in-arms—are determined to seize victory against overwhelming odds. And now, finally, there are signs that the tide may be turning in the New Republic’s favor. After capturing crucial Yuuzhan Vong intelligence, Jedi fighter-pilot Jaina Solo prepares to lead a daring surprise strike against an enemy flagship. Meanwhile, Jaina’s brother Jacen—liberated from the hands of the enemy and newly schooled in an even greater mastery of the Force by the Jedi Knight Vergere—is eagerly poised to bring his unique skills to bear against the invaders. And on Mon Calamari, the New Republic’s provisional capital, the retired, ailing hero Admiral Ackbar has conceived a major tactical plan that could spell the beginning of a swift end for the Yuuzhan Vong. Yet even as opposing squadrons face off in the depths of space, intrigue runs rampant: in the heated political race for Chief of State . . . in the shadows where Yuuzhan Vong spies plot assassinations . . . and in the inscrutable creature Vergere, a Jedi Knight whose allegiance is impossible to predict. And as Luke Skywalker sets about reestablishing the Jedi Council, the growing faction opposed to the ways of the Force unveil a terrifying weapon designed to annihilate the Yuuzhan Vong species. But in doing so, they may be dooming the New Republic to becoming the very thing it has sworn to fight against—and unleashing the power of the dark side. Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!

By day Dagmar Shaw orchestrates vast games with millions of players spanning continents. By night, she tries to forget the sound of a city collapsing in flames around her. She tries to forget the faces of her friends as they died in front of her. She tries to forget the blood on her own hands. But then an old friend approaches Dagmar with a project. The project he pitches is so insane and so ambitious, she can''t possibly say no. But this new venture will lead her from the world of alternate-reality gaming to one even more complex. A world in which the players are soldiers and spies and the name of the game is survival.

Ils sont quatre amis passionnés de jeux de rôle qui se sont connus à la fac en Californie. Dagmar est conceptrice de jeux multimédia ; Charlie, son patron, a fait fortune avec un logiciel de gestion des opérations boursières ; Austin a prospéré dans le capital-risque ; BJ, lui, végète au service clientèle d''une entreprise d''informatique. Des rues de Jakarta en proie à un cataclysme financier jusqu''à une Los Angeles déjantée, où un mystérieux assassin frappe dans l''entourage de Dagmar, tandis que l''une après l''autre les monnaies de la planète s''effondrent, vous entrez ici dans un thriller haletant et peut-être bien... prophétique. Si le dernier espoir venait de la communauté des joueurs en ligne ?

“Space opera the way it ought to be [...] Bujold and Weber, bend the knee; interstellar adventure has a new king, and his name is Walter Jon Williams.” -- George R.R. Martin Following The Praxis, Walter Jon Williams’ critically-acclaimed mix of space opera and military science fiction, the conflict grows for the fate of humanity…and the universe. The Dread Empire of the Shaa is no more, following the death of the last oppressor. But freedom remains elusive for the myriad sentient races enslaved for ten centuries, as an even greater terror arises. The Naxids—a powerful insectoid species themselves subjugated until the recent Shaa demise—plan to fill the vacuum with their own bloody domination, and have already won a shattering victory with superior force and unimaginable cruelty. But two heroes survived the carnage at Magaria: Lord Gareth Martinez and the fiery, mysterious gun pilot Lady Caroline Sula, whose courageous exploits are becoming legend in the new history of galactic civil war. Yet their cunning, skill, and bravery may be no match for the overwhelming enemy descending upon the loyalist stronghold of Zanshaa, as the horrific battle looms that will determine the structure of the universe—and who shall live to inhabit it—for millennia to come.

Thank you, Mr. Vance / Dean Koontz -- Preface / Jack Vance -- The True vintage of Erzuine Thale / Robert Silverberg -- Grolion of Almery / Matthew Hughes -- The Copsy Door / Terry Downling -- Caulk the witch-chaser / Liz Williams -- Inescapable / Mike Resnick -- Abrizonde / Walter Jon Williams -- The Traditions of Karzh / Paula Volsky -- The Final quest of the Wizard Sarnod / Jeff Vandermeer -- The Green bird / Kage Baker -- The Last golden thread / Phyllis Eisenstein -- An Incident at Uskvesk / Elizabeth Moon -- Sylgarmo''s Proclamation / Lucius Shepard -- The Lamentably comical tragedy (or the laughably tragic comedy) of Lixal Laoavee / Tad Williams -- Guyal the Curator / John C. Wright -- The Good magician / Glenn Cook -- The Return of the Fire Witch / Elizabeth Hand -- The Collegeum of Mauge / Byron Tetrick -- Evillo the Cunning / Tanith Lee -- The Guiding nose of Ulf?nt Banderoz / Dan Simmons -- Frogskin cap / Howard Waldrop -- A Night at Tarn House / George R.R. Martin -- An Invocation of incuriosity / Neil Gaiman.

Presents a collection of four novellas that explore alternate history, including "The Daimon," in which Sokrates leads his soldiers to victory over the Spartans, and "The Last Ride of German Freddie," in which Nietzsche finds himself in Tombstone, Arizona, in works by Harry Turtledove, S. M. Stirling, Mary Gentle, and Walter Jon Williams. Reprint.

No Star Wars fan will want to miss this exciting eBook exclusive adventure from Nebula Award-winner Walter Jon Williams, author of the Star Wars The New Jedi Order hardcover novel, Destiny’s Way. That’s Jedi Knight Kyp Durron’s opinion about the planet Ylesia, home base of the so-called Peace Brigade, a group of traitors dedicated to hindering the war efforts of the New Republic and hastening the ultimate victory of the merciless Yuuzhan Vong. Kyp’s plan calls for a lightning-fast strike, backed with overwhelming force, to destroy the Brigade’s offensive capabilities and teach prospective traitors that betrayal carries a heavy price. But young Jacen Solo, still bearing the scars of his imprisonment by the Yuuzhan Vong, has a better idea: a daring raid into the heart of Ylesia’s capital, with the objective of capturing the Brigade’s top leaders—including the newly sworn-in President, Thrackan Sal-Solo, cousin to Jacen and his twin, Jaina. But unknown to the Jedi and the New Republic forces, Supreme Overlord Shimrra of the Yuuzhan Vong has dispatched reinforcements to the Ylesia system. Instead of a swift surgical strike, Jaina, Jacen, Kyp, and their comrades are about to find themselves locked in a desperate battle for survival, with the odds stacked against them and time running out. . . . BONUS: This original novella includes an exclusive excerpt from Star Wars: New Jedi Order: Force Heretic I: Remnant and an interview with the author.

This is a landmark anthology of four original novellas by the reigning masters of alternate history. Set in different eras, different places, and different times, these forays into "what might have been" showcases the stunning breadth and far-reaching possibilities the genre represents.

Science fiction-roman.

Hardwired features high-tech thrills and unforgettable heroes in the great tradition of William Gibson''s Neuromancer. According to Locus, Hardwired is Walter Jon Williams''s "best book to date".