The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories
The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories
An unabridged audio collection spotlighting the “best of the best” hard science fiction stories published in 2016 by current and emerging masters of the genre, edited by Allan Kaster. In “Vortex,” by Gregory Benford, astronauts find a once thriving microbial lifeform that carpets the caves of Mars dying off. A code monkey tracks down the vain creator of a pernicious software virus that people jack cerebrally in “RedKing,” by Craig DeLancey. In “Number Nine Moon,” by Alex Irvine, illicit scavengers on Mars are on a rescue mission to save themselves after one of their team members dies. A young girl’s thirst for vengeance becomes a struggle for survival when she is swallowed by a gigantic sea creature on an alien planet in “Of the Beast in the Belly,” by C.W. Johnson. In “The Seventh Gamer,” by Gwyneth Jones, a writer immerses herself into a MMORPG community to search for characters being played by real aliens from other worlds. A woman armed with a rifle stalks a herd of cloned wooly mammoths in British Columbia in “Chasing Ivory,” by Ted Kosmatka. In “Fieldwork,” by Shariann Lewitt, a volcanologist struggles with her research on Europa where both her mother and grandmother suffered dire consequences. A daughter pays homage to her mother with mega-engineering projects to deal with climate change over eons in “Seven Birthdays,” by Ken Liu. In “The Visitor from Taured,” by Ian R. MacLeod, a cosmologist in the near future is obsessed with proving his theory of multiverses. The citizens of a small town on a “Jackaroo” planet object to a corporation placing a radio telescope near local alien artifacts in “Something Happened Here, But We’re Not Quite Sure What It Was,” by Paul McAuley. And finally, in “Sixteen Questions for Kamala Chatterjee,” by Alastair Reynolds, a graduate student defends her dissertation on a solar anomaly that threatens humanity.
- ASIN: B075MGLBL1
- Manufacturer: AudioText
The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 4
The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 4
From Hugo Award-winning editor Neil Clarke, the best science fiction stories of the year are collected in a single paperback volume. Keeping 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 accomplishable by only the most determined and voracious readers. For everyone else, Night Shade Books is proud to introduce 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.
- ASIN: B07HS1CW91
- Manufacturer: Night Shade Books
The Enceladus Mission: Hard Science Fiction (Ice Moon Book 1)
The Enceladus Mission: Hard Science Fiction (Ice Moon Book 1)
A space odyssey that’s worth taking. (Kirkus)In the year 2031, a robot probe detects traces of biological activity on Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons. This sensational discovery shows that there is indeed evidence of extraterrestrial life. Fifteen years later, a hurriedly built spacecraft sets out on the long journey to the ringed planet and its moon.The international crew is not just facing a difficult twenty-seven months: if the spacecraft manages to make it to Enceladus without incident it must use a drillship to penetrate the kilometer-thick sheet of ice that entombs the moon. If life does indeed exist on Enceladus, it could only be at the bottom of the salty, ice covered ocean, which formed billions of years ago.However, shortly after takeoff disaster strikes the mission, and the chances of the crew making it to Enceladus, let alone back home, look grim.From internationally best-selling hard science fiction author Brandon Q. Morris comes a new novel for hard science fiction enthusiasts. As a physicist and space specialist, Morris describes the journey of the international expedition through the hostile vacuum of space, using the latest scientific findings and technology trends as his inspiration. This isn’t a What If book, this is a When Will book.
- ASIN: B07GKPC16B
- Manufacturer: Hard-SF.com
The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year's Best Science Fiction
The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year's Best Science Fiction
For the first time in a decade, a compilation of the very best in science fiction, from a world authority on the genre.For decades, the Year's Best Science Fiction has been the most widely read short science fiction anthology of its kind. Now, after thirty-five annual collections comes the ultimate in science fiction anthologies. In The Very Best of the Best, legendary editor Gardner Dozois selects the finest short stories for this landmark collection, including short fiction from authors such as Charles Stross, Michael Swanwick, Nancy Kress, Greg Egan, Stephen Baxter, Pat Cadigan, and many many more.
- ASIN: B07D2BGWRF
- Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 2
The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 2
An unabridged collection spotlighting the “best of the best” hard science fiction stories published in 2017 by current and emerging masters of the genre, edited by Allan Kaster. In “Shadows of Eternity,” by Gregory Benford, a student investigates enigmatic SETI recordings from probes sent to nearby stars despite her teachers’ admonishments to stick to the curriculum. An alien robot offers to help save Earth as war and pollution ravage the last of the survivors on the planet in “The Chatter of Monkeys,” by Bond Elam. In “Acadie,” by Dave Hutchinson, the first humans still, even after five hundred years, hunt across the stars for their augmented children who have left Earth in search of paradise. The crew of an exploratory starship finds an icy moon that might harbor life in “Canoe,” by Nancy Kress. In “The Use of Things,” by Ramez Naam, an astronaut struggles to survive after being jolted free from an asteroid while on a solitary prospecting mission. A problem with the local birds threatens the rebuilding of Bikini Island as sea-levels rise due to global warming in “The Proving Ground,” by Alec Nevala-Lee. In “Holdfast,” by Alastair Reynolds, a genmod human soldier faces off with an alien warrior in the inhospitable terrain of a superjovian planet. A Russian astronaut, gathering debris in near-Earth space, must make tough moral choices when asked to carry out a special mission in “Vanguard 2.0,” by Carter Scholz. And finally, after a terrorist attack, a technically dead fish farmer gets a new body and second chance at life as an experimental super soldier, in “ZeroS,” by Peter Watts.
- ASIN: B07L9LVX34
- Manufacturer: AudioText
The Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume 3
The Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume 3
As Earth dies, an architect is commissioned to remote build a monument on Mars from the remains of a failed colony; a man who has transferred his consciousness into a humanoid robot discovers he’s missing thirty percent of his memories, and tries to discover why; bored with life in the underground colony of an alien world, a few risk life inside one of the “whales” floating in the planet’s atmosphere; an apprentice librarian searching through centuries of SETI messages from alien civilizations makes an ominous discovery; a ship in crisis pulls a veteran multibot out from storage with an unusual assignment: pest control; the dead are given a second shot at life, in exchange for a five-year term in a zombie military program. For decades, science fiction has compelled us to imagine futures both inspiring and cautionary. Whether it’s a warning message from a survey ship, a harrowing journey to a new world, or the adventures of well-meaning AI, science fiction inspires the imagination and delivers a lens through which we can view ourselves and the world around us. With The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Three, award-winning editor Neil Clarke provides a year-in-review and twenty-seven of the best stories published by both new and established authors in 2017. Table of ContentsIntroduction: The State of Short SF Field in 2017A Series of Steaks by Vina Jie-Min PrasadHoldfast by Alastair ReynoldsEvery Hour of Light and Dark by Nancy KressThe Last Novelist, or a Dead Lizard in the Yard by Matthew KresselShikasta by Vandana SinghWind Will Rove by Sarah PinskerFocus by Gord SellarThe Martian Obelisk by Linda NagataShadows of Eternity by Gregory BenfordThe Worldless by Indrapramit DasRegarding the Robot Raccoons Attached to the Hull of My Ship by Rachel Jones and Khaalidah Muhammad-AliBelly Up by Maggie ClarkUncanny Valley by Greg EganWe Who Live in the Heart by Kelly RobsonA Catalogue of Sunlight at the End of the World by A.C. WiseMeridian by Karin Lowachee... [Read More]
- ASIN: B07H45GMSP
- Manufacturer: Night Shade Books
Seeker
Seeker
A breathtaking near-future thriller. From the NY Times bestselling author whose books have been downloaded over a million times.A small alien spacecraft with extraordinary secrets. And a mad scramble to get to it first.When an interstellar probe lands in the heart of the Amazon Jungle, powerful nations around the world will stop at nothing to retrieve it. Because the unoccupied alien craft is sure to contain revolutionary technology. Technology that will allow the country that controls it to dominate the globe.With the probe hidden within the densest rainforest on Earth, traditional military power is useless. So the US chooses to send in a single operative, a man who's been enhanced to the limits of current technology. He'll be greatly outnumbered, and with so much on the line, not even the closest of allies can be trusted.But the true stakes are higher than anyone could possibly know. Because all is not what it seems.And the alien spacecraft has plans of its own . . .Seeker is a fast-paced, roller-coaster ride of a thriller. One that explores actual human enhancements being worked on today, along with mind-blowing concepts that readers will be pondering long after they've read the last page.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Richards is an extraordinary writer," (Dean Koontz) who can "keep you turning the pages all night long." (Douglas Preston)"Richards is a worthy successor to Michael Crichton." (SF Book dot com)Near Future Science Fiction Thrillers by Douglas E. RichardsWIRED (Wired 1)AMPED (Wired 2)MIND'S EYE (Nick Hall 1)BRAINWEB (Nick Hall 2)MIND WAR (Nick Hall 3)SPLIT SECOND(Split Second 1)TIME FRAME (Split Second 2)--New in 2018QUANTUM LENSGAME CHANGERINFINITY BORN SEEKER --New in 2018VERACITY -- Available in February, 2019Kids Science Fiction Thrillers (9 and up, enjoyed by kids and adults alike)TRAPPED (Prometheus Project 1)CAPTURED (Prometheus Project 2)STRANDE... [Read More]
- ASIN: B07DHDM8DH
- Manufacturer: Paragon Press
Best Science Fiction of the Year (Best Science Fiction of the Year Book 2)
Best Science Fiction of the Year (Best Science Fiction of the Year Book 2)
To keep 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 accomplishable by only the most determined and voracious readers. For everyone else, Night Shade Books is proud to introduce the latest volume of The Best Science Fiction of the Year, a new 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.
- ASIN: B07H48LV3C
- Manufacturer: Night Shade Books
Infinity Born
Infinity Born
A breathtaking near-future thriller. From the NY Times bestselling author whose books have been downloaded over a million times.When DARPA's billion-dollar program to create Artificial Superintelligence is sabotaged, US operative Cameron Carr is tasked with finding the culprit. He's been on high-stakes missions before, but this time the stakes are nothing less than the future of humanity. Because the race to evolve a superintelligent computer is on, and power players around the world will stop at nothing to get there first.In the right hands, Artificial Superintelligence could lift humanity to towering heights. But in the wrong hands, this technology could represent the greatest threat humanity has ever seen . . .Ripped from tomorrow's headlines, Infinity Born is a roller-coaster ride of a thriller that explores the deadly perils and mind-blowing possibilities that await the human race--including both extinction and immortality.As our phones and computers become ever smarter, Infinity Born takes an unblinking look at a technological tipping point that is just around the corner. One that will have a profound impact on the future course of human history."Richards is a worthy successor to Michael Crichton." (SF Book dot com)"Richards is an extraordinary writer," (Dean Koontz) who can "keep you turning the pages all night long." (Douglas Preston)Near Future Science Fiction Thrillers by Douglas E. RichardsWIRED (Wired 1)AMPED (Wired 2)MIND'S EYE (Nick Hall 1)BRAINWEB (Nick Hall 2)MIND WAR (Nick Hall 3)SPLIT SECOND(Split Second 1)TIME FRAME (Split Second 2)QUANTUM LENSGAME CHANGERINFINITY BORNSEEKER -- New in 2018VERACITY -- Available in February, 2019Kids Science Fiction Thrillers (9 and up, enjoyed by kids and adults alike)TRAPPED (Prometheus Project 1)CAPTURED (Prometheus Project 2)STRANDED (Prometheus Project 3)OUT OF THIS WORLDDEVIL'S SWORD
- ASIN: B072584M83
- Manufacturer: Paragon Press
The Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume 1
The Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume 1
To keep 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 accomplishable by only the most determined and voracious readers. For everyone else, Night Shade Books is proud to introduce the inaugural volume of The Best Science Fiction of the Year, a new 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.Neil Clarke is the award-winning publisher and editor in chief of Clarkesworld magazine, winner of three Hugo Awards for Best Semiprozine, and the editor of the 2014 cyborg-themed original anthology Upgraded. Clarke lives in Stirling, New Jersey.
- ASIN: B07H51C6F7
- Manufacturer: Night Shade Books