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Weaponized
by Neal AsherWeaponized is a thrilling far-future adventure by acclaimed science fiction author Neal Asher.A bright new future for humanity – or a dark and inescapable past.With the advent of new AI technology, Polity citizens now possess incredible lifespans. Yet they struggle to find meaning in their longevity, seeking danger and novelty in their increasingly mundane lives.On a mission to find a brighter future for humanity, ex-soldier Ursula fosters a colony on the hostile planet Threpsis. Here, survival isn&’t a given, and colonists thrive without their AI guidance. But when deadly alien raptors appear, Ursula and her companions find themselves forced to adapt in unprecedented ways. And they will be pushed to the very brink of what it means to be human.As a desperate battle rages across the planet, Ursula must dig deep into her past if she is to save humanity&’s future.
Best Science Fiction of the Year (Best Science Fiction of the Year)
by Neil ClarkeFrom Hugo Award-Winning Editor Neil Clarke, the Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year Collected in a Single Paperback VolumeKeeping up-to-date with the most buzzworthy and cutting-edge science fiction requires sifting through countless magazines, e-zines, websites, blogs, original anthologies, single-author collections, and more—a task that can be accomplished by only the most determined and voracious readers. For everyone else, Night Shade Books is proud to present the latest volume of The Best Science Fiction of the Year, a yearly anthology compiled by Hugo and World Fantasy Award–winning editor Neil Clarke, collecting the finest that the genre has to offer, from the biggest names in the field to the most exciting new writers.The best science fiction scrutinizes our culture and politics, examines the limits of the human condition, and zooms across galaxies at faster-than-light speeds, moving from the very near future to the far-flung worlds of tomorrow in the space of a single sentence. Clarke, publisher and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed and award-winning magazine Clarkesworld, has selected the short science fiction (and only science fiction) best representing the previous year&’s writing, showcasing the talent, variety, and awesome &“sensawunda&” that the genre has to offer.
The Best of Glen Cook: 18 Stories from the Author of The Black Company and The Dread Empire
by Glen CookThe best short fiction of legendary author Glen Cook (The Black Company, the Dread Empire) is collected into a new volume.For over forty years, Glen Cook has been among the most well-known, influential, and widely respected authors in science fiction and fantasy. Through classic series such as The Black Company, Garrett P.I., the Dread Empire, Starfishers, Darkwar, and more, his gritty, down-to-earth style left an indelible impression on his readers around the world, forever shifting the genre landscape and carving out his place as a pioneering icon.The Best of Glen Cook collects eighteen of his greatest stories—as chosen and introduced by the author himself—including a new, never-before-published Black Company novelette. With works set in all of his most famous series, these tales of science fiction and fantasy offer both the perfect way for longtime fans to trace Cook&’s history and for new readers to become familiar with one of the finest genre authors of the twentieth century.
Jack Four (Jack Four)
by Neal AsherThis high-octane adventure is set in the same world as Neal Asher's acclaimed Polity universe. It's a thrilling, fast-paced standalone novel, perfect for fans of Alastair Reynolds and Stephen Baxter.Created to die–determined to live . . .Jack Four–one of twenty human clones–has been created to be sold. His purchasers are the alien prador and they only want him for their experimentation program. But there is something different about Jack. No clone should possess the knowledge that&’s been loaded into his mind. And no normal citizen of humanity&’s Polity worlds would have this information.The prador&’s king has been mutated by the Spatterjay virus into a creature even more monstrous than the prador themselves. And his children, the King&’s Guard, have undergone similar changes. They were infected by the virus during the last humans-versus-prador war, now lapsed into an uneasy truce. But the prador are always looking for new weapons – and their experimentation program might give them the edge they seek.Suzeal trades human slaves out of the Stratogaster Space Station, re-engineering them to serve the prador. She thinks the rewards are worth the risks, but all that is about to change. The Station was once a zoo, containing monsters from across known space. All the monsters now dwell on the planet below, but they aren&’t as contained as they seem. And a vengeful clone may be the worst danger of all.&‘Neal Asher&’s books are like an adrenaline shot targeted directly for the brain&’John Scalzi, author of the Old Man&’s War series'Magnificently awesome. Then Asher turns it up to eleven'Peter F. Hamilton, author of Salvation and others, on Asher's The Soldier
House of the Rising Sun
by Richard CoxBoth a frightening apocalyptic story set in the southern United States and a character-focused, deeply moving literary thriller.What would happen if technology all over the world suddenly stopped working? When a strange new star appears in the sky, human life instantly grinds to a halt. Across the world, anything and everything electronic stops working completely. At first, the event seems like a bizarre miracle to Seth Black—it interrupts his suicide attempt and erases gambling debt that threatened to destroy his family. But when Seth and his wife, Natalie, realize the electricity isn't coming back on, that their the food supplies won't last, they begin to wonder how they and their two sons will survive. Meanwhile, screenwriter Thomas Phillips—an old friend of Natalie&’s—has just picked up Skylar Stover, star of his new movie, at the airport when his phone goes dead and planes begin to fall from the sky.Thomas has just completed a script about a similar electromagnetic event that ended the world. Now, he's one of the few who recognizes what's happening and where it will lead. When Thomas and Skylar decide to rescue Natalie and Seth, the unwilling group must attempt to survive together as the world falls apart. They try to hide in Thomas's home and avoid desperate neighbors, but fear they&’ll soon be roaming the streets with starving refugees and angry vigilantes intent on forming new governments. It&’s all they can do to hold on to each other and their humanity. Yet all the while, unbeknownst to them, Aiden Christopher—a bitter and malignant man leveraging a crumbling society to live out his darkest, most amoral fantasies—is fighting to survive as well. And he's on a collision course with Thomas, Skylar, and the Black family . . .
War Bodies
by Neal AsherRebellion could be their salvation—or their doom.Long ago, the Cyberat left Earth to co-evolve with machines. Now, led by the powerful dictator Castron, their Old Guard believe that machines should replace the physical body. But these beliefs are upended with the arrival of the human Polity—and their presence ignites rebellion.Piper was raised as a weapon against the Cyberat, implanted with secretive hardware. When his parents are captured by the Old Guard, the Polity offer him unexpected aid. Piper knows the Polity want more from him, but at what cost? The rebellion also attracts the deadly prador, placing an entire world in peril.As war rages across the planet, Piper must battle with the unknown technology implanted in his bones. It may be the Polity&’s answer to their relentless fight against the prador. It could also be civilization-ending Jain tech—or something far more extraordinary.War Bodies by Neal Asher is a gripping, high-octane standalone set in his expansive Polity world.
Best Horror of the Year (Best Horror of the Year)
by Ellen DatlowFor more than four decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the sixteenth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as: Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Stephen Graham Jones, Joyce Carol Oates, Laird Barron, Mira Grant, and many others.
Best Horror of the Year (Best Horror of the Year)
by Ellen DatlowFrom Ellen Datlow (&“the venerable queen of horror anthologies&” (New York Times) comes a new entry in the series that has brought you stories from Stephen King and Neil Gaiman comes thrilling stories, the best horror stories available.For more than four decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the thirteenth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as: Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Stephen Graham Jones, Joyce Carol Oates, Laird Barron, Mira Grant, and many others.With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today&’s most challenging and exciting writers.
Splendid Chaos
by John ShirleyZero is a young film maker who believes his whole life and career are mapped out before him. That is, until the night he and his friends walk into a rock club ... and are caught in a dazzling trap that spans worlds.They are dropped onto a dreamlike planet whose surrealistic beauty cannot hide its grotesque reality. Fool's Hope - a world, so stunningly bizarre, nightmares are irrelevant. Here, abductees - both human and alien - are pitted against a neverending succession of hellish parasites, carnivores, shape-changers, and symbiotes.Yet the greatest enemy of all could be human. When former professor Harmon Fiskle is transformed by the Current - a roving mutagenic force - he is freed to pursue his megalomaniacal nature. He advocates a depraved policy of social Darwinism, and forges a grotesque alliance of Twists: men and women who have sacrificed their own humanity to become monstrous mutations of their former selves.With an entire world at stake, only Zero can solve the mystery of Fool's Hope ... if it isn't already too late.
Best Horror of the Year (Best Horror of the Year)
by Ellen DatlowFrom Ellen Datlow—&“the venerable queen of horror anthologies&” per the New York Times—comes a new entry in the series that has brought you thrilling stories from Stephen King and Neil Gaiman, the best horror stories available.For more than four decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the fifteenth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as: Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Stephen Graham Jones, Joyce Carol Oates, Laird Barron, Mira Grant, and many others.With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today&’s most challenging and exciting writers.
Best Horror of the Year (Best Horror of the Year)
by Ellen DatlowFrom Ellen Datlow (&“the venerable queen of horror anthologies&” (New York Times) comes a new entry in the series that has brought you stories from Stephen King and Neil Gaiman comes thrilling stories, the best horror stories available.For more than four decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the thirteenth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as: Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Stephen Graham Jones, Joyce Carol Oates, Laird Barron, Mira Grant, and many others.With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today&’s most challenging and exciting writers.
An Ill Fate Marshalling
by Glen CookKing Bragi Ragnorson decides to join Chatelain Mist&’s coup against the Dread Empire. Varhlokkur — the King&’s wizard — tries to dissuade Ragnorson from this chosen path, but only the drum-beat of war is heard. The King&’s Spymaster Michael Trebilcock joins with the wizard to stave off The Ill Fate Marshaling, to no effect.Many of the characters from past volumes take center stage, and the climatic events of this book shake the world of the Dread Empire to its very core, creating A Path to Coldness of Heart. Glen Cook&’s final Dread Empire novel was to have been published 20 years ago, but the manuscript was stolen, and the fate of The Dread Empire has been in Limbo — until now! Night Shade is proud to present the long delayed final Dread Empire Trilogy, of which An Ill Fate Marshaling is Volume 2.
Edge of Worlds (The Books of the Raksura)
by Martha WellsAn expedition of groundlings from the Empire of Kish have traveled through the Three Worlds to the Indigo Cloud court of the Raksura, shape-shifting creatures of flight that live in large family groups. The groundlings have found a sealed ancient city at the edge of the shallow seas, near the deeps of the impassable Ocean. They believe it to be the last home of their ancestors and ask for help getting inside. But the Raksura fear it was built by their own distant ancestors, the Forerunners, and the last sealed Forerunner city they encountered was a prison for an unstoppable evil.Prior to the groundlings&’ arrival, the Indigo Cloud court had been plagued by visions of a disaster that could destroy all the courts in the Reaches. Now, the court&’s mentors believe the ancient city is connected to the foretold danger. A small group of warriors, including consort Moon, an orphan new to the colony and the Raksura&’s idea of family, and sister queen Jade, agree to go with the groundling expedition to investigate. But the predatory Fell have found the city too, and in the race to keep the danger contained, the Raksura may be the ones who inadvertently release it.The Edge of Worlds, from celebrated fantasy author Martha Wells, returns to the fascinating world of The Cloud Roads for the first book in a new series of strange lands, uncanny beings, dead cities, and ancient danger.
The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All
by Laird BarronOver the course of two award-winning collections and a critically acclaimed novel, The Croning, Laird Barron has arisen as one of the strongest and most original literary voices in modern horror and the dark fantastic. Melding supernatural horror with hardboiled noir, espionage, and a scientific backbone, Barron&’s stories have garnered critical acclaim and have been reprinted in numerous year&’s best anthologies and nominated for multiple awards, including the Crawford, International Horror Guild, Shirley Jackson, Theodore Sturgeon, and World Fantasy awards.Barron returns with his third collection, The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All. Collecting interlinking tales of sublime cosmic horror, including &“Blackwood&’s Baby,&” &“The Carrion Gods in Their Heaven,&” and &“The Men from Porlock,&” The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All delivers enough spine-chilling horror to satisfy even the most jaded reader.
Stories of the Raksura: The Falling World
by Martha WellsIn &“The Falling World,&” Jade, sister queen of the Indigo Cloud Court, has traveled with Chime and Balm to another Raksuran court. When she fails to return, her consort, Moon, along with Stone and a party of warriors and hunters, must track them down. Finding them turns out to be the easy part; freeing them from an ancient trap hidden in the depths of the Reaches is much more difficult.
The Serpent Sea (The Books of the Raksura)
by Martha WellsMoon, once a solitary wanderer, has become consort to Jade, sister queen of the Indigo Cloud court. Together, they travel with their people on a pair of flying ships in hopes of finding a new home for their colony. Moon finally feels like he&’s found a tribe where he belongs. But when the travelers reach the ancestral home of Indigo Cloud, shrouded within the trunk of a mountain-sized tree, they discover a blight infecting its core. Nearby they find the remains of the invaders who may be responsible, as well as evidence of a devastating theft. This discovery sends Moon and the hunters of Indigo Cloud on a quest for the heartstone of the tree — a quest that will lead them far away, across the Serpent Sea.In this followup to The Cloud Roads, Martha Wells returns with a world-spanning odyssey, a mystery that only provokes more questions — and the adventure of a lifetime.
I am Providence
by Nick MamatasFor fans of legendary pulp author H. P. Lovecraft, there is nothing bigger than the annual Providence-based convention the Summer Tentacular. Horror writer Colleen Danzig doesn&’t know what to expect when she arrives, but is unsettled to find that among the hob-knobbing between scholars and literary critics are a group of real freaks: book collectors looking for volumes bound in human skin, and true believers claiming the power to summon the Elder God Cthulhu, one of their idol&’s most horrific fictional creations, before the weekend is out.Colleen&’s trip spirals into a nightmare when her roommate for the weekend, an obnoxious novelist known as Panossian, turns up dead, his face neatly removed. What&’s more unsettling is that, in the aftermath of the murder, there is little concern among the convention goers. The Summer Tentacular continues uninterrupted, except by a few bumbling police.Everyone at the convention is a possible suspect, but only Colleen seems to show any interest in solving the murder. So she delves deep into the darkness, where occult truths have been lurking since the beginning of time. A darkness where Panossian is waiting, spending a lot of time thinking about Colleen, narrating a new Lovecraftian tale that could very well spell her doom.
The Voyage of the Sable Keech (Spatterjay)
by Neal AsherSable Keech is a walking dead man, and the only one to have been resurrected by nanochanger. Did he succeed because he was infected by the Spatterjay virus, or because he came late to resurrection in a tank of seawater? Tracing the man's last-known seaborne journey, Taylor Bloc wants to know the truth. He also wants so much else – adulation, power, control – and will go to any lengths to achieve them. An ancient hive mind, almost incomprehensible to the human race, has sent an agent to this uncertain world. Does it simply want to obtain the poison 'sprine' that is crucial to immortality – and, if so, maybe Janer must find it and stop it. Meanwhile, still faced with the ennui of immortality, Erlin has her solitude rudely interrupted by a very angry whelkus titanicus, and begins the strangest of journeys. Deep in the ocean the Spatterjay virus has wrought a terrible change that will affect them all. Something dormant for ten years is breaking free, and once again the aftershocks of an ancient war will focus on this watery world. And Sniper, for ten years the Warden of Spatterjay, finally takes delivery of his new drone shell. It's much better than his old one: powerful engines, more lethal weapons, thicker armour. He's going to need them.
The Technician (A Novel of Polity)
by Neal AsherThe Theocracy has been dead for twenty years, and the Polity rules on Masada – but it is an order that the rebels of the Tidy Squad cannot accept, and the iconic Jeremiah Tombs is top of their hitlist. Tombs, meanwhile, has escaped his sanatorium. His insanity must be cured, because the near-mythical hooder, called &‘the Technician&’, that attacked him all those years ago, did something to his mind even the AIs fail to understand. Tombs might possess information about the suicide of an entire alien race. It&’s up to the war drone Amistad to discover this information, with the help of an ex-rebel Commander, the black AI Penny Royal and the amphidapt Chanter. Meanwhile, in deep space, the mechanism the Atheter used to reduce themselves to animals stirs from slumber and begins to power-up its weapons . . .
Best Horror of the Year (Best Horror of the Year)
by Ellen DatlowFor over three decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the eighth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night.Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as:Neil GaimanKim Stanley RobinsonStephen KingLinda NagataLaird BarronMargo LanaganAnd many othersWith each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today&’s most challenging and exciting writers.
The Books of the Raksura
by Martha WellsThe Complete Raksura Series, by Martha Wells. Containing Cloud Roads (2011), The Serpent Sea (2012), The Siren Depths (2013).
Wyatt in Wichita: A Historical Novel
by John ShirleyAuthor John Shirley turns his pen to the Wild West and the legendary Wyatt Earp!Wyatt in Wichita fuses historical fact with fiction, following the adventures of the young Wyatt Earp. Following the tragic loss of his first wife in the Missouri of 1870 in his early days on the dark side of the West, Wyatt eventually makes his way to Ellsworth and Wichita, where by confronting corruption he would eventually finally find his life&’s work as a tough lawman.Could Wyatt Earp have known Billy the Kid when the kid was really just that? Could Wyatt have met up with Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood? Using the sparse trails of historical evidence available to him, the lives of the famous and infamous intersect in Shirley&’s novel, which revolves around Wyatt&’s search for the murderer of an innocent young woman of Wichita. With Bat Masterson at his side, and bawdy girls about him in the smoky light of crowded saloons, Shirley explores the possible origins of the legendary figure who would forever remain synonymous with the Wild West.Stemming from a true passion and interest in one of the Wild West&’s most indelible characters, Wyatt in Wichita is a thrilling read and an imagined glimpse into a seldom-seen side of Wyatt Earp and the untamed frontiers of early America.
The Collected Fiction of William Hope Hodgson: House on Borderland & Other Mysterious Places
by William Hope HodgsonThe second of a five volume set collecting all of Hodgson's published fiction. Each volume contains one of Hodgson's novels, along with a selection of thematically-linked short fiction.
The Whitefire Crossing (The Shattered Sigil)
by Courtney SchaferDev is a smuggler with the perfect cover. He's in high demand as a guide for the caravans that carry legitimate goods from the city of Ninavel into the country of Alathia. The route through the Whitefire Mountains is treacherous, and Dev is one of the few climbers who knows how to cross them safely. With his skill and connections, it's easy enough to slip contraband charms from Ninavel - where any magic is fair game, no matter how dark - into Alathia, where most magic is outlawed.But smuggling a few charms is one thing; smuggling a person through the warded Alathian border is near suicidal. Having made a promise to a dying friend, Dev is forced to take on a singularly dangerous cargo: Kiran. A young apprentice on the run from one of the most powerful mages in Ninavel, Kiran is desperate enough to pay a fortune to sneak into a country where discovery means certain execution - and he'll do whatever it takes to prevent Dev from finding out the terrible truth behind his getaway.Yet the young mage is not the only one harboring a deadly secret. Caught up in a web of subterfuge and dark magic, Dev and Kiran must find a way to trust each other - or face not only their own destruction, but that of the entire city of Ninavel.
…And The Angel With Television Eyes
by John Shirley"...And the Angel with Television Eyes" explores the region where fantasy meets reality. This surreal journey of self-discovery and transformation at once questions the nature of our world, and redefines it in the context of 21st century pop culture and technology. It takes a writer of John Shirley's talent and audacity to bring together elements as disparate as Shakespeare, Nietzsche, on-line role playing games, soap operas, and classic mythology - binding them together, creating a heady mélange on, above, and below the streets of Manhattan.