Search Worlds Without End

This novelette originally appeared in the anthology Epoch (1975), edited by Robert Silverberg and Roger Elwood. It can also be found in the John Joseph Adams anthologies Lightspeed: Year One (2010) and Wastelands 2: More Stories of the Apocalypse (2015). It is included in the collections Songs of Stars and Shadows (1977) and Songs the Dead Men Sing (1983).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

This novelette originally appeared in the anthology Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honour of Jack Vance (2009), edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. It was reprinted in Clarkesworld Magazine, #85 October 2013. The story can also be found in the anthology The Book of Magic (2018), edited by Gardner Dozois.

Read the full story for free at Clarkesworld.

Table of Contents:

• With Morning Comes Mistfall - (1973)
• The Second Kind of Loneliness - (1972)
• Override - (1973)
• Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels - (1973)
• The Hero - (1971)
• FTA - (1974)
• Run to Starlight - (1974)
• The Exit to San Breta - (1972)
• Slide Show - (1973)
• A Song for Lya - (1974)

All new and original to this volume, the 21 stories in Dangerous Women include work by twelve New York Times bestsellers, and seven stories set in the authors' bestselling continuities--including a new "Outlander" story by Diana Gabaldon, a tale of Harry Dresden's world by Jim Butcher, a story from Lev Grossman set in the world of The Magicians, and a 35,000-word novella by George R. R. Martin about the Dance of the Dragons, the vast civil war that tore Westeros apart nearly two centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones.

Also included are original stories of dangerous women--heroines and villains alike--by Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie, Sherilynn Kenyon, Lawrence Block, Carrie Vaughn, S. M. Stirling, Sharon Kay Penman, and many others.

Writes Gardner Dozois in his Introduction, "Here you'll find no hapless victims who stand by whimpering in dread while the male hero fights the monster or clashes swords with the villain, and if you want to tie these women to the railroad tracks, you'll find you have a real fight on your hands. Instead, you will find sword-wielding women warriors, intrepid women fighter pilots and far-ranging spacewomen, deadly female serial killers, formidable female superheroes, sly and seductive femmes fatale, female wizards, hard-living Bad Girls, female bandits and rebels, embattled survivors in Post-Apocalyptic futures, female Private Investigators, stern female hanging judges, haughty queens who rule nations and whose jealousies and ambitions send thousands to grisly deaths, daring dragonriders, and many more."

Table of Contents:

• Introduction (Dangerous Women) - (2013) - essay by Gardner Dozois
• Some Desperado - [The First Law Universe] - (2013) - short story by Joe Abercrombie
• My Heart is Either Broken - non-genre - (2013) - shortfiction by Megan Abbott
• Nora's Song - non-genre - (2013) - shortfiction by Cecelia Holland
• The Hands That Are Not There - [The Imperials Saga] - (2013) - novelette by Melinda M. Snodgrass
• Bombshells - [The Dresden Files] - (2013) - novelette by Jim Butcher
• Raisa Stepanova - non-genre - (2013) - novelette by Carrie Vaughn
• Wrestling Jesus - (2013) - novelette by Joe R. Lansdale
• Neighbors - (2013) - novelette by Robin Hobb [as by Megan Lindholm]
• I Know How to Pick 'Em - non-genre - (2013) - shortfiction by Lawrence Block
• Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell - [Cosmere: Threnody] - (2013) - novella by Brandon Sanderson
• A Queen in Exile - non-genre - (2013) - shortfiction by Sharon Kay Penman
• The Girl in the Mirror - [Fillory] - (2013) - novelette by Lev Grossman
• Second Arabesque, Very Slowly - (2013) - novelette by Nancy Kress
• City Lazarus - (2013) - novelette by Diana Rowland
• Virgins - [Outlander] - (2013) - novella by Diana Gabaldon
• Hell Hath No Fury - (2013) - short story by Sherrilyn Kenyon
• Pronouncing Doom - [Emberverse] - (2013) - novelette by S. M. Stirling
• Name the Beast - (2013) - short story by Sam Sykes
• Caretakers - non-genre - (2013) - novelette by Pat Cadigan
• Lies My Mother Told Me - [Wild Cards] - (2013) - novella by Caroline Spector
• The Princess and the Queen, or, The Blacks and the Greens - [A Song of Ice and Fire] - (2013) - novella by George R. R. Martin

In "Death by Dahlia," number-one New York Times best-selling author Charlaine Harris takes vampire Dahlia Lynley-Chivers to a lavish party that turns deadly. And with so many different creatures of the night in attendance, Dahlia will have a hard time identifying the most likely suspect.

Number-one New York Times best-selling author Patricia Briggs thrills in "In Red, with Pearls," as a werewolf P.I. races to crack a case involving zombies, witches, and the most horrifying creatures of them all: lawyers.

In "Lord John and the Plague of Zombies", New York Times best-selling author Diana Gabaldon follows Lord John as he journeys to the beautiful but faintly sinister island paradise of Jamaica, where he's soon investigating a mystery with no shortage of spiders, snakes, revolutionaries, and, of course, zombies.

With these and 13 more original tales, Down These Strange Streets takes you to the cities where fantasy and mystery collide and where private eyes who have seen it all find something lurking that is stranger still.

Table of Contents

• The Bastard Stepchild - (2011) - essay by George R. R. Martin
• Death by Dahlia - (2011) - novelette by Charlaine Harris
• The Bleeding Shadow - (2011) - novelette by Joe R. Lansdale
• Hungry Heart - [Nightside] - (2011) - shortstory by Simon R. Green
• Styx and Stones - (2011) - novelette by Steven Saylor
• Pain and Suffering - (2011) - novelette by S. M. Stirling
• It's Still the Same Old Story - (2011) - novelette by Carrie Vaughn
• The Lady Is a Screamer - (2011) - shortstory by Conn Iggulden
• Hellbender - (2011) - novelette by Laurie R. King
• Shadow Thieves - (2011) - novelette by Glen Cook
• No Mystery, No Miracle - (2011) - novelette by Melinda M. Snodgrass
• The Difference Between a Puzzle and a Mystery - (2011) - novelette by M. L. N. Hanover
• The Curious Affair of the Deodand - (2011) - novelette by Lisa Tuttle
• Lord John and the Plague of Zombies - (2011) - novella by Diana Gabaldon
• Beware the Snake - (2011) - shortstory by John Maddox Roberts
• In Red, with Pearls - (2011) - novelette by Patricia Briggs
• The Adakian Eagle - (2011) - novella by Bradley Denton

Marsh meant to turn down York's offer. It was too full of secrets that spelled danger. But the promise of both gold and a grand new boat that could make history crushed his resolve-coupled with the terrible force of York's mesmerizing gaze. Not until the maiden voyage of his new sidewheeler Fevre Dream would Marsh realize he had joined a mission both more sinister, and perhaps more noble, than his most fantastic nightmare...and mankind's most impossible dream. Here is the spellbinding tale of a vampire's quest to unite his race with humanity, of a garrulous riverman's dream of immortality, and of the undying legends of the steamboat era and a majestic, ancient river.

Running from poverty and hopelessness, Ramón Espejo boarded one of the great starships of the mysterious, repulsive Enye. But the new life he found on the far-off planet of São Paulo was no better than the one he abandoned. Then one night his rage and too much alcohol get the better of him. Deadly violence ensues, forcing Ramón to flee into the wilderness.

Mercifully, almost happily alone—far from the loud, bustling hive of humanity that he detests with sociopathic fervor—the luckless prospector is finally free to search for the one rich strike that could make him wealthy. But what he stumbles upon instead is an advanced alien race in hiding: desperate fugitives, like him, on a world not their own. Suddenly in possession of a powerful, dangerous secret and caught up in an extraordinary manhunt on a hostile, unpredictable planet, Ramón must first escape . . . and then, somehow, survive.

And his deadliest enemy is himself.

This novelette originally appeared in the anthology Orbit 18 (1976), edited by Damon Knight. It can also be found in the anthologies The Best Science Fiction of the Year #6 (1977), edited by Terry Carr, Splatterpunks: Extreme Horror (1990), edited by Paul M. Sammon, The Living Dead (2008), edited by John Joseph Adams, and Extreme Zombies (2012), edtied by Paula Guran. The story is included in the collections Songs the Dead Men Sing (1983) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

Locus Award Finalist for Best Collection

Table of Contents:

• Nightflyers - (1980) - novella
• Override - (1973) - novelette
• Weekend in a War Zone - (1977) - shortstory
• And Seven Times Never Kill Man - (1975) - novelette
• Nor the Many-Colored Fires of a Star Ring - (1976) - novelette
• A Song for Lya - (1974) - novella

Nebula Award winning and Hugo Award nominated short story.

Richard Cantling didn't regret the sacrifices he had made for his work, but he had expected his daughter to forgive and forget. When the painting arrives, it seems a gesture of reconciliation--until he's brought face to face with another of his offspring, one he never planned to meet...

It originally appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, November 1985. The story can also be found in the anthologies Nebula Awards 21 (1986), edited by George Zebrowski and Future on Ice (1998), edited by Orson Scott Card. It is included in the colledtions Portraits of His Children (1987) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

A collection of short science fiction tales by the Hugo and Nebula Award winner features a tale of an author who is visited by the characters from his novel and a little girl whose best friend is a dragon made of ice.

Table of Contents:

• A Sketch of Their Father - essay by Roger Zelazny
• With Morning Comes Mistfall - (1973) - shortstory
• The Second Kind of Loneliness - (1972) - shortstory
• The Last Super Bowl - (1975) - novelette
• The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr - (1976) - shortstory
• The Ice Dragon - (1980) - novelette
• In the Lost Lands - (1982) - shortstory
• Unsound Variations - (1982) - novella
• Closing Time - (1982) - shortstory
• Under Siege - (1985) - novelette
• The Glass Flower - (1986) - novelette
• Portraits of His Children - (1985) - novelette

Table of Contents:

• The Skin Trade
• Blood of the Dragon
• Black and White and Red All Over
• Starport

A thrilling collection of twenty-one original stories by an all-star list of contributors--including a new A Game of Thrones story by George R. R. Martin!

If you're a fan of fiction that is more than just black and white, this latest story collection from #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin and award-winning editor Gardner Dozois is filled with subtle shades of gray. Twenty-one all-original stories, by an all-star list of contributors, will delight and astonish you in equal measure with their cunning twists and dazzling reversals. And George R. R. Martin himself offers a brand-new A Game of Thrones tale chronicling one of the biggest rogues in the entire history of Ice and Fire.

Follow along with the likes of Gillian Flynn, Joe Abercrombie, Neil Gaiman, Patrick Rothfuss, Scott Lynch, Cherie Priest, Garth Nix, and Connie Willis, as well as other masters of literary sleight-of-hand, in this rogues gallery of stories that will plunder your heart--and yet leave you all the richer for it.

Table of Contents:

• George R.R. Martin "Everybody Loves a Rogue" (Introduction)
• Joe Abercrombie "Tough Times All Over"
• Gillian Flynn "What Do You Do?"
• Matthew Hughes "The Inn of the Seven Blessings"
• Joe R. Lansdale "Bent Twig"
• Michael Swanwick "Tawny Petticoats"
• David Ball "Provenance"
• Carrie Vaughn "The Roaring Twenties"
• Scott Lynch "A Year and a Day in Old Theradane"
• Bradley Denton "Bad Brass"
• Cherie Priest "Heavy Metal"
• Daniel Abraham "The Meaning of Love"
• Paul Cornell "A Better Way to Die"
• Steven Saylor "Ill Seen in Tyre"
• Garth Nix "A Cargo of Ivories"
• Walter Jon Williams "Diamonds From Tequila"
• Phyllis Eisenstein "The Caravan to Nowhere"
• Lisa Tuttle "The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives"
• Neil Gaiman "How the Marquis Got His Coat Back"
• Connie Willis "Now Showing"
• Patrick Rothfuss "The Lightning Tree"

When Simon Kress returned to his home planet of Baldur from an offworld business trip, he was amused to find that his tank of Earth piranhas had cannibalized themselves into extinction, and of the two exotic animals that roamed his estate, only one remained. Now, in search of some new pets to satisfy his cruel pursuit of amusement, Simon finds a new shop in the city where he is intrigued by a new lifeform he has never heard of before ... a collection of multi-colored sandkings. The curator explains that the insect-like animals, no larger than Simon's fingernails, are not insects, but animals with a highly-evolved hive intelligence capable of staging wars between the different colors, and even religion--in the form of worship of their owner. The curator's warning to Simon about the regularity of their feeding, unfortunately, was not taken seriously.... "Outer Limits" Episode, Hugo Award Winner, Locus Poll Award Winner, Nebula Award Winner

Table of Contents

• The Way of Cross and Dragon
• Bitterblooms
• In the House of the Worm
• Fast-Friend
• The Stone City
• Starlady
• Sandkings

Shadow Twin is a 120 page novella by Gardner Dozois, George R.R. Martin, and Daniel Abraham. Gardner began the novella in the 1970s, handed it off to George in the 1980s, who, in turn, called upon Daniel Abraham to add the finishing touches.

This novella has been expanded into the novel Hunter's Run.

In this star-studded cross-genre anthology, seventeen of the greatest modern authors of fantasy, science fiction, and romance explore the borderlands of their genres with brand-new tales of ill-fated love. From zombie-infested woods in a postapocalyptic America to faery-haunted rural fields in eighteenth- century England, from the kingdoms of high fantasy to the alien world of a galaxy-spanning empire, these are stories of lovers who must struggle against the forces of magic and fate.

Award-winning, bestselling author Neil Gaiman demonstrates why he's one of the hottest stars in literature today with "The Thing About Cassandra," a subtle but chilling story of a man who meets an old girlfriend he had never expected to see.

International blockbuster bestselling author Diana Gabaldon sends a World War II RAF pilot through a stone circle to the time of her Outlander series in "A Leaf on the Winds of All Hallows." Torn from all he knows, Jerry MacKenzie determinedly survives hardship and danger, intent on his goal of returning home to his wife and baby-no matter the cost.

New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher presents "Love Hurts," in which Harry Dresden takes on one of his deadliest adversaries and in the process is forced to confront the secret desires of his own heart.

Just the smallest sampling promises unearthly delights, but look also for stories by New York Times bestselling romance authors Jo Beverley and Mary Jo Putney, and by such legends of the fantasy genre as Peter S. Beagle and Tanith Lee, as well as many other popular and beloved writers, including Marjorie M. Liu, Jacqueline Carey, Carrie Vaughn, and Robin Hobb. This exquisite anthology, crafted by the peerless editing team of George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, is sure to leave you under its spell.

Table of Contents:

• Star-crossed Lovers (Introduction) - essay by Gardner Dozois and George R. R. Martin
• Love Hurts - [The Dresden Files] - novelette by Jim Butcher
• The Marrying Maid - novelette by Jo Beverley
• Rooftops - novelette by Carrie Vaughn
• Hurt Me - short story by Daniel Abraham [as by M. L. N. Hanover]
• Demon Lover - short story by Cecelia Holland
• The Wayfarer's Advice - [The Imperials Saga] - novelette by Melinda M. Snodgrass
• Blue Boots - [The Farseer] - novelette by Robin Hobb
• The Thing About Cassandra - short story by Neil Gaiman
• After the Blood - novelette by Marjorie M. Liu
• You, and You Alone - [Kushiel's Legacy] - novelette by Jacqueline Carey
• His Wolf - novelette by Lisa Tuttle
• Courting Trouble - novelette by Linnea Sinclair
• The Demon Dancer - [The Guardian] - short story by Mary Jo Putney
• Under/Above the Water - novelette by Tanith Lee
• Kaskia - short story by Peter S. Beagle
• Man in the Mirror - short story by Yasmine Galenorn
• A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows - [Outlander] - novelette by Diana Gabaldon

(all stories first published in 2010)

A feast of legends to savor - some with a shudder, some with a smile - Deadly spiders big as pumpkins consume victims who scream with joy...The saga of a man who lives alone on his own planet...Adrian Colmer, Master Probe, takes on a client who claims to be the subject of telepathic torment...An all-too-possible revolution in the United States, post-1984...How Jupiter got its thirteenth moon...And other astonishing tales.

Table of Contents

• Introduction (Songs of Stars and Shadows)
• This Tower of Ashes - (1976)
• Patrick Henry, Jupiter, and the Little Red Brick Spaceship - (1976)
• Men of Greywater Station - (1976) with Howard Waldrop
• The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr - (1976)
• Night of the Vampyres - (1975)
• The Runners - (1975)
• Night Shift - (1973)
• ". . . For a Single Yesterday" - (1975)
• And Seven Times Never Kill Man - (1975)

To honor the magnificent career of Jack Vance, one unparalleled in achievement and impact, George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, with the full cooperation of Vance, his family, and his agents, have created a Jack Vance tribute anthology: Songs of the Dying Earth. The best of today's fantasy writers to return to the unique and evocative milieu of The Dying Earth, from which they and so many others have drawn so much inspiration, to create their own brand-new adventures in the world of Jack Vance's greatest novel.

Half a century ago, Jack Vance created the world of the Dying Earth, and fantasy has never been the same. Now, for the first time ever, Jack has agreed to open this bizarre and darkly beautiful world to other fantasists, to play in as their very own. To say that other fantasy writers are excited by this prospect is a gross understatement; one has told us that he'd crawl through broken glass for the chance to write for the anthology, another that he'd gladly give up his right arm for the privilege. That's the kind of regard in which Jack Vance and The Dying Earth are held by generations of his peers.

This book contains original stories from George R. R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, Dan Simmons, Elizabeth Moon, Tanith Lee, Tad Williams, Kage Baker, and Robert Silverberg, along with fifteen others--as well as an introduction by Dean Koontz.

Table of Contents:

• Thank You, Mr. Vance - (2009) - essay by Dean R. Koontz
• Preface - (2009) - essay by Jack Vance
• The True Vintage of Erzuine Thale - (2009) - novelette by Robert Silverberg
• Grolion of Almery - (2009) - novelette by Matthew Hughes
• The Copsy Door - (2009) - novelette by Terry Dowling
• Caulk the Witch-Chaser - (2009) - shortstory by Liz Williams
• Inescapable - (2009) - shortstory by Mike Resnick
• Abrizonde - (2009) - novelette by Walter Jon Williams
• The Traditions of Karzh - (2009) - novelette by Paula Volsky
• The Final Quest of the Wizard Sarnod - (2009) - novelette by Jeff VanderMeer
• The Green Bird - (2009) - novelette by Kage Baker
• The Last Golden Thread - (2009) - shortstory by Phyllis Eisenstein
• An Incident in Uskvosk - (2009) - shortstory by Elizabeth Moon
• Sylgarmo's Proclamation - (2009) - novelette by Lucius Shepard
• The Lamentably Comical Tragedy (or The Laughably Tragic Comedy) of Lixal Laqavee - (2009) - novelette by Tad Williams
• Guyal the Curator - (2009) - novelette by John C. Wright
• The Good Magician - (2009) - novelette by Glen Cook
• The Return of the Fire Witch - (2009) - novelette by Elizabeth Hand
• The Collegeum of Mauge - (2009) - shortstory by Byron Tetrick
• Evillo the Uncunning - (2009) - novelette by Tanith Lee
• The Guiding Nose of Ulfänt Banderoz - (2009) - novella by Dan Simmons
• Frogskin Cap - (2009) - shortstory by Howard Waldrop
• A Night at the Tarn House - (2009) - novelette by George R. R. Martin
• An Invocation of Incuriosity - (2009) - shortstory by Neil Gaiman

Table of Contents:

• George R. R. Martin, Dark Harbinger - (1983) - essay by Algis Budrys
• The Monkey Treatment - (1983) - novelette
• "...For a Single Yesterday" - (1975) - novelette
• In the House of the Worm - (1976) - novella
• The Needle Men - (1981) - shortstory
• Meathouse Man - (1976) - novelette
• Sandkings - (1979) - novelette
• This Tower of Ashes - (1976) - shortstory
• Nightflyers - (1980) - novella
• Remembering Melody - (1981) - shortstory

For many of us, the Ace Double Novels of the '50s and '60s have long been a source both of pleasure and nostalgia. This new double volume from Subterranean Press stands squarely in that distinguished tradition, offering a pair of colorful, fast-paced novelettes from one of the most popular writers currently working in any genre: George R. R. Martin.

Starlady takes place on a planet called Thisrock and depicts a Darwinian society populated by thieves, whores, cutthroats, pimps, and assorted lost souls. It is a tale of love, loss, vengeance, and ambition written with great economy of means, and with a narrative intensity that never, ever lets up.

Fast-Friend takes a fresh new look at an enduring human dream: travel to the stars. With consummate narrative skill, and with a visionary's sensibility, Martin tells an unforgettable story of longing and transcendence, a story suffused with images at once beautiful and terrifying, mysterious and profound.

Onetime underground journalist Sandy Blair has traveled far from his radical roots in the '60s - until the bizarre and brutal murder of a millionaire rock promoter draws him back. As Sandy sets out to investigate the crime, he finds himself on a magical mystery tour of the pent-up passions of his generation. For a new messiah has resurrected the once legendary rock band Nazgûl - but with an apocalyptic new beat that is a requiem of demonism, mind control, and death only Sandy may be able to change in time....

The ice dragon was a creature of legend and fear, for no man had ever tamed one. When it flew overhead, it left in its wake desolate cold and frozen land. But Adara was not afraid. For Adara was a winter child, born during the worst freeze that anyone, even the Old Ones, could remember.

Adara could not remember the first time she had seen the ice dragon. It seemed that it had always been in her life, glimpsed from afar as she played in the frigid snow long after the other children had fled the cold. In her fourth year she touched it, and in her fifth year she rode upon its broad, chilled back for the first time. Then, in her seventh year, on a calm summer day, fiery dragons from the North swooped down upon the peaceful farm that was Adara's home. And only a winter child--and the ice dragon who loved her--could save her world from utter destruction.

The Ice Dragon marks the highly anticipated children's book debut of George R.R. Martin, the award-winning author of the New York Times best-selling series A Song of Ice and Fire and is set in the same world. Illustrated with lush, exquisitely detailed pencil drawings by acclaimed artist Yvonne Gilbert, The Ice Dragon is an unforgettable tale of courage, love, and sacrifice by one of the most honored fantasists of all time.

The story originally appeared in the anthology Dragons of Light (1980), edited by Orson Scott Card. The 2006 edition is a slightly rewritten version to make it suitable for a younger audience.

Tired and bloody from her battle with the Seven, Sharra stumbles through the gate onto a pristine planet, the kingdom and prison of a solitary singer doomed to await Sharra's arrival...

This short story originally appeared in Fantastic, May 1976 and was reprinted in Fantasy Magazine, March 2011. It can also be found in the anthologies:

• The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 3 (1977), edited by Lin Carter
• Other Worlds Than These (2012), edited by John Joseph Adams
• Warrior Women (2015), edited by Paula Guran

The story is included in the collections Songs of Stars and Shadows (1977), Portraits of His Children (1987), and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

Read the full story for free at Fantasy Magazine.

Locus Award winning and Hugo and Nebula Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July 1983. The story can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: First Annual Collection (1984), edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collections Songs the Dead Men Sing (1983) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

Stoker Award winning and WFA nominated novelette.

He lives in the darkness beneath the stairs, in the apartment closet to the garbage cans. He eats CheezDoodles. He tells Jesse he has things to show her...

The story originally appeared in Omni, October 1987. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Fantasy: First Annual Collection (1988) edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Omni Best Science Fiction Two (1992), edited by Ellen Datlow, Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror (2010), edited by Ellen Datlow, and The Horror Hall of Fame: The Stoker Winners (2012) edited by Joe R. Lansdale. The story is included in the collection GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: Fat! (The Science Fiction Weight-Loss Book) - (1983) - essay by Isaac Asimov
• Sylvester's Revenge - (1975) - shortstory by Vance Aandahl
• Fat Farm - (1980) - shortstory by Orson Scott Card
• The Stretch - (1956) - shortstory by Sam Merwin, Jr.
• Camels and Dromedaries, Clem - (1967) - shortstory by R. A. Lafferty
• The Champ - (1978) - shortstory by T. Coraghessan Boyle
• The Truth About Pyecraft - (1903) - shortstory by H. G. Wells
• The Iron Chancellor - (1958) - novelette by Robert Silverberg
• The Man Who Ate the World - (1956) - novelette by Frederik Pohl
• Gladys's Gregory - (1963) - shortstory by John Anthony West
• Abercrombie Station - (1952) - novella by Jack Vance
• Shipping Clerk - (1952) - shortstory by William Morrison
• The Malted Milk Monster - (1959) - novelette by William Tenn
• The Food Farm - (1967) - shortstory by Kit Reed
• The Artist of Hunger - (1983) - shortstory by Scott Russell Sanders
• Quitters, Inc. - (1978) - shortstory by Stephen King

Randi Wade's world is spiraling into a dark labyrinth of secrets and lies. Her only friend is keeping something from her. Innocent victims are being savagely attacked and left for dead, all but their skins. There is an eerie connection between the crime scenes and her own father's murder nearly twenty years before, unsolved to this day. Despite this, Chief of Police Joe Urquhart, her father's former partner and best friend, beckons her to drop the case, drop everything. Is he protecting her, or something else? As the case unfolds, Randi is pulled ever closer to realizing her darkest fear: that werewolves do exist, and they'll do anything necessary to keep their secrets safe in this once quiet town... Even if it means killing their own. All the while, an eccentric but powerful family watches closely from inside the black iron gates of Blackstone Manor, as the horrendous truth behind it all begins to bubble toward the top. - The Skin Trade movie website.

The never-before-seen history of Westeros and the lands beyond. With hundreds of pages of all-new material from George R.R. Martin.

If the past is prologue, then George R.R. Martin's masterwork--the most inventive and entertaining fantasy saga of our time--warrants one hell of an introduction. At long last, it has arrived with THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE.

George R.R. Martin, in collaboration with Elio M. García, Jr. and Linda Antonsson, has written a comprehensive history of the Seven Kingdoms, featuring the epic battles, bitter rivalries, and daring rebellions that lead up to the events in the bestselling A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Collected within this volume is the accumulated knowledge, scholarly speculation, and inherited folk tales of maesters and septons, maegi and singers, including over 170 full-colour illustrations and maps, family trees for the Houses Stark, Lannister and Targaryen, and in-depth explanations of the history and culture of Westeros.

This is the definitive companion volume to George R.R. Martin's dazzlingly conceived universe; THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE is indeed proof that the pen is mightier than a storm of swords.

This novelette was reworked from a historical fiction story Martin wrote in 1968. It originally appeared in Omni, October 1985. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Third Annual Collection (1986), edited by Gardner Dozois, The Seventh Omni Book of Science Fiction (1989), edited by Ellen Datlow, and The Time Traveler's Almanac (2014), edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. It is included in the collections Portraits of His Children (1987) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

Hugo and Nebula Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in Amazing Science Fiction Stories, January 1982. The story can also be found in the anthology Pawn to Infinity (1982), edited by Fred and Joan Saberhagen. It is included in the collections Portraits of His Children (1987) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

Hugo and Nebula Award nominated short story in Martin's Thousand Worlds universe. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, May 1973. The story can also be found in the anthologies Nebula Award Stories Nine (1974), edited by Kate Wilhelm and Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Third Annual Collection (1974), edited by Lester del Rey. It is included in the collections A Song for Lya and Other Stories (1976), Portraits of His Children (1987) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

Hugo Award winning and Nebula and WFA nominated novella. The novella is made up of the Daenerys chapters from the novel A Game of Thrones (1996). It originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, July 1996. It is included in the collection Quartet: Four Tales from the Crossroads (2001).

The cold is returning to Winterfell, where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime. A time of conflict has arisen in the Stark family, as they are pulled from the safety of their home into a whirlpool of tragedy, betrayal, assassination, plots and counterplots. Each decision and action carries with it the potential for conflict as several prominent families, comprised of lords, ladies, soldiers, sorcerers, assassins and bastards, are pulled together in the most deadly game of all--the game of thrones.

George R. R. Martin, a writer of unsurpassed vision, power, and imagination, has created a landmark of fantasy fiction. In his widely acclaimed A Game of Thrones, he introduced us to an extraordinary world of wonder, intrigue, and adventure. Now, in the eagerly awaited second volume in this epic saga, he once again proves himself a master myth-maker, setting a standard against which all other fantasy novels will be measured for years to come.

Time is out of joint. The summer of peace and plenty, ten years long, is drawing to a close, and the harsh, chill winter approaches like an angry beast. Two great leaders--Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon--who held sway over an age of enforced peace are dead...victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns, as pretenders to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms prepare to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war.

As a prophecy of doom cuts across the sky--a comet the color of blood and flame--six factions struggle for control of a divided land. Eddard's son Robb has declared himself King in the North. In the south, Joffrey, the heir apparent, rules in name only, victim of the scheming courtiers who teem over King's Landing. Robert's two brothers each seek their own dominion, while a disfavored house turns once more to conquest. And a continent away, an exiled queen, the Mother of Dragons, risks everything to lead her precious brood across a hard hot desert to win back the crown that is rightfully hers.

A Clash of Kings transports us into a magnificent, forgotten land of revelry and revenge, wizardry and warfare. It is a tale in which maidens cavort with madmen, brother plots against brother, and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside.

Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, the price of glory may be measured in blood. And the spoils of victory may just go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when rulers clash, all of the land feels the tremors.

Audacious, inventive, brilliantly imagined, A Clash of Kings is a novel of dazzling beauty and boundless enchantment--a tale of pure excitement you will never forget.

Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as violently as ever, as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey, of House Lannister, sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the land of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, the victim of the jealous sorceress who holds him in her evil thrall. But young Robb, of House Stark, still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Robb plots against his despised Lannister enemies, even as they hold his sister hostage at King's Landing, the seat of the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world....

But as opposing forces maneuver for the final titanic showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost line of civilization. In their vanguard is a horde of mythical Others--a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords...

Few books have captivated the imagination and won the devotion and praise of readers and critics everywhere as has George R. R. Martin's monumental epic cycle of high fantasy. Now, in A Feast for Crows, Martin delivers the long-awaited fourth book of his landmark series, as a kingdom torn asunder finds itself at last on the brink of peace... only to be launched on an even more terrifying course of destruction.

A Feast for Crows

It seems too good to be true. After centuries of bitter strife and fatal treachery, the seven powers dividing the land have decimated one another into an uneasy truce. Or so it appears.... With the death of the monstrous King Joffrey, Cersei is ruling as regent in King's Landing. Robb Stark's demise has broken the back of the Northern rebels, and his siblings are scattered throughout the kingdom like seeds on barren soil. Few legitimate claims to the once desperately sought Iron Throne still exist -- or they are held in hands too weak or too distant to wield them effectively. The war, which raged out of control for so long, has burned itself out.

But as in the aftermath of any climactic struggle, it is not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters start to gather, picking over the bones of the dead and fighting for the spoils of the soon-to-be dead. Now in the Seven Kingdoms, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed, while surprising faces -- some familiar, others only just appearing -- are seen emerging from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenges ahead.

It is a time when the wise and the ambitious, the deceitful and the strong will acquire the skills, the power, and the magic to survive the stark and terrible times that lie before them. It is a time for nobles and commoners, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and sages to come together and stake their fortunes... and their lives. For at a feast for crows, many are the guests -- but only a few are the survivors.

Dubbed "the American Tolkien" by Time magazine, George R. R. Martin has earned international acclaim for his monumental cycle of epic fantasy. Now the #1 New York Times bestselling author delivers the fifth book in his spellbinding landmark series--as both familiar faces and surprising new forces vie for a foothold in a fragmented empire.

In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance once again--beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has three times three thousand enemies, and many have set out to find her. Yet, as they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.

To the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone--a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, will face his greatest challenge yet. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.

And from all corners, bitter conflicts soon reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all....

Taking place nearly a century before the events of A Game of Thrones, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms compiles the first three official prequel novellas to George R. R. Martin's ongoing masterwork, A Song of Ice and Fire. These never-before-collected adventures recount an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living consciousness.

Before Tyrion Lannister and Podrick Payne, there was Dunk and Egg. A young, naïve but ultimately courageous hedge knight, Ser Duncan the Tall towers above his rivals--in stature if not experience. Tagging along is his diminutive squire, a boy called Egg--whose true name (hidden from all he and Dunk encounter) is Aegon Targaryen. Though more improbable heroes may not be found in all of Westeros, great destinies lay ahead for these two... as do powerful foes, royal intrigue, and outrageous exploits.

Featuring more than 160 all-new illustrations by Gary Gianni, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a must-have collection that proves chivalry isn't dead--yet.

WFA nominated novella. It originally appeared in the anthology Legends (1998), edited by Robert Silverberg. The story can also be found in the collections GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003) and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2015).

Novella set in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire setting. It originally appeared in the anthology Legends II (2003), edited by Robert Silverberg. The story is included in the collection A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2015).

WFA nominated novella. It originally appeared in the anthology Warriors (2010), edited by Gardner Dozois and George R. R. Martin. The story can also be found in the anthology Epic: Legends of Fantasy (2012), edited by John Joseph Adams. It is included in the collection A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2015).

Centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones, House Targaryen--the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria--took up residence on Dragonstone. Fire & Blood begins their tale with the legendary Aegon the Conqueror, creator of the Iron Throne, and goes on to recount the generations of Targaryens who fought to hold that iconic seat, all the way up to the civil war that nearly tore their dynasty apart.

What really happened during the Dance of the Dragons? Why was it so deadly to visit Valyria after the Doom? What were Maegor the Cruel's worst crimes? What was it like in Westeros when dragons ruled the skies? These are but a few of the questions answered in this essential chronicle, as related by a learned maester of the Citadel and featuring more than eighty all-new black-and-white illustrations by artist Doug Wheatley. Readers have glimpsed small parts of this narrative in such volumes as The World of Ice & Fire, but now, for the first time, the full tapestry of Targaryen history is revealed.

With all the scope and grandeur of Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Fire & Blood is the the first volume of the definitive two-part history of the Targaryens, giving readers a whole new appreciation for the dynamic, often bloody, and always fascinating history of Westeros.

Table of Contents:

• Nightflyers - interior artwork by Jack Gaughan
• True Names - interior artwork by Jack Gaughan
• 5 - Introduction (Binary Star No. 5) - essay by James R. Frenkel
• 11 - Nightflyers - [Thousand Worlds] - (1980) - novella by George R. R. Martin
• 128 - Afterword (Nightflyers) - essay by Vernor Vinge
• 133 - True Names - novella by Vernor Vinge
• 234 - Afterword (True Names) - essay by George R. R. Martin

This is an "omnibus" edition of all the stories subsequently published in Dreamsongs 1 & 2

Table of Contents:

A Four-Color Fanboy
1 "Only Kids Are Afraid of the Dark" 1967
2 "The Fortress" 2003 Written in the 1960s
3 "And Death His Legacy" 2003 Written in the 1960s

The Filthy Pro
4 "The Hero" 1971 "A Song for Lya" (1976)
5 "The Exit to San Breta" 1972 "A Song for Lya" (1976)
6 "The Second Kind of Loneliness" 1972 "A Song for Lya" (1976) "Portraits of His Children (1987)
7 "With Morning Comes Mistfall" 1973 "A Song for Lya" (1976) "Portraits of His Children (1987)

The Light of Distant Stars
8 "A Song for Lya" 1974 "A Song for Lya" (1976) "Nightflyers" (1985)
9 "This Tower of Ashes" 1976 "Songs of Stars and Shadows" (1977) "Songs the Dead Men Sing" (1983)
10 "And Seven Times Never Kill Man" 1975 "Songs of Stars and Shadows" (1977) "Nightflyers" (1985)
11 "The Stone City" 1977 "Sandkings" (1981)
12 "Bitterblooms" 1977 "Sandkings" (1981)
13 "The Way of Cross and Dragon" 1979 "Sandkings" (1981)

The Heirs of Turtle Castle
14 "The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr" 1976 "Songs of Stars and Shadows" (1977) "Portraits of His Children" (1987)
15 "The Ice Dragon" 1980 "Portraits of His Children" (1987)
16 "In the Lost Lands" 1982 "Portraits of His Children" (1987)

Hybrids and Horrors
17 "Meathouse Man" 1976 "Songs the Dead Men Sing" (1983)
18 "Remembering Melody" 1981 "Songs the Dead Men Sing" (1983)
19 "Sandkings" 1979 "Sandkings" (1981) "Songs the Dead Men Sing" (1983)
20 "Nightflyers" 1980 "Songs the Dead Men Sing" (1983) "Nightflyers" (1985)
21 "The Monkey Treatment" 1983 "Songs the Dead Men Sing" (1983)
22 "The Pear-Shaped Man" 1987 Previously uncollected

A Taste of Tuf
This section features two stories in the Haviland Tuf series, about an overweight space trader encountering various civilizations.
23 "A Beast for Norn" 1976 "Tuf Voyaging" (1986)
24 "Guardians" 1981 "Tuf Voyaging" (1986)

The Siren Song of Hollywood
This section features two television screenplays by George R. R. Martin. The former is a script for an episode of The Twilight Zone, and the latter is a pilot for a never-made science fiction series similar to Sliders.
25 "The Road Less Travelled" 1986
26 "Doorways" 1993

Doing the Wild Card Shuffle
This section features two of George R. R. Martin's contributions to the Wild Cards shared universe.
27 "Shell Games" 1987
28 "From the Journal of Xavier Desmond" 1988

The Heart in Conflict
29 "Under Siege" 1985 "Portraits of His Children" (1987)
30 "The Skin Trade" 1988 "Quartet" (2001)
31 "Unsound Variations" 1982 "Portraits of His Children" (1987)
32 "The Glass Flower" 1986 "Portraits of His Children" (1987)
33 "The Hedge Knight" 1998 Previously uncollected
34 "Portraits of His Children" 1985 "Portraits of His Children" (1987)

Even before A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin had already established himself as a giant in the field of fantasy literature. The first of two stunning collections, Dreamsongs: Volume I is a rare treat for readers, offering fascinating insight into his journey from young writer to award-winning master.

Gathered here in Dreamsongs: Volume I are the very best of George R. R. Martin's early works, including his Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker award-winning stories, cool fan pieces, and the original novella The Ice Dragon, from which Martin's New York Times bestselling children's book of the same title originated. A dazzling array of subjects and styles that features extensive author commentary, Dreamsongs, Volume I is the perfect collection for both Martin devotees and a new generation of fans.

Dubbed "the American Tolkien" by Time magazine, number-one New York Times best-selling author George R. R. Martin is a giant in the field of fantasy literature and one of the most exciting storytellers of our time. Now he delivers a rare treat for listeners: a compendium of his shorter works, collected into two stunning volumes, that offers fascinating insight into his journey from young writer to award-winning master.

BONUS: Each selection includes extensive commentary by author George R. R. Martin.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1977) - essay by Ben Bova
• The Family Monkey - (1977) - novella by Lisa Tuttle
• Kingmakers - (1977) - shortstory by Robert Thurston
• The Stone City - (1977) - novelette by George R. R. Martin
• To Ceremark - (1977) - shortstory by Ruth Berman
• Mom's Differentials - (1977) - shortstory by George Alec Effinger
• Silent Leges - (1977) - novella by Jerry Pournelle
• The John W. Campbell, Jr. Awards 1973-1975 - (1977) - essay by uncredited

Table of Contents:

• Preface - essay by George R. R. Martin
• New Voices and Unnatural Practices - essay by Theodore Sturgeon
• The Hollow Man - novelette by Lisa Tuttle
• Lady of Ice - novella by Guy Snyder
• The Dancer in the Darkness - novella by Thomas F. Monteleone
• Twilight Lives - novelette by Jesse Miller
• Satan's Children - novella by Spider Robinson
• The John W. Campbell, Jr. Awards, 1973-1977 - essay by uncredited

Table of Contents:

• Preface - essay by George R. R. Martin
• The Campbell Touch - essay by Isaac Asimov
• Beatnik Bayou - novelette by John Varley
• Haute Falaise Bay - novelette by Brenda Pearce
• Scorched Supper on New Niger - novelette by Suzy McKee Charnas
• Stage Whisper - novelette by Alan Brennert
• Queen of the Magic Kingdom - shortstory by Alan Brennert
• The Wishes of Maidens - novelette by Felix C. Gotschalk
• Virtual Image - novella by P. J. Plauger
• The John W. Campbell, Jr. Awards, 1973-1978 - essay by uncredited

Table of Contents:

• Preface - essay by George R. R. Martin
• Introduction - essay by A. E. van Vogt
• John Varley - essay by George R. R. Martin
• Blue Champagne - novella by John Varley
• M. A. Foster - essay by George R. R. Martin
• Entertainment - novella by M. A. Foster
• Arsen Darnay - essay by George R. R. Martin
• The Pilgrimage of Ishten Telen Haragosh - novella by Arsen Darnay
• Joan D. Vinge - essay by George R. R. Martin
• Psiren - novella by Joan D. Vinge
• Tom Reamy - essay by George R. R. Martin
• M Is For the Million Things - shortstory by Tom Reamy
• Afterword: Tom Reamy - essay by Algis Budrys
• Winners and Nominees: The John W. Campbell, Jr. Awards, 1973-1979 - essay by uncredited

Table of Contents:

• Preface - essay by George R. R. Martin
• Introduction - essay by Poul Anderson
• In the Dowaii Chambers - novella by Jack L. Chalker
• Dreams - novelette by M. A. Foster
• A Catastrophe Machine - novelette by Carter Scholz
• The Dark King - (1977) - shortstory by C. J. Cherryh
• Companions - novella by C. J. Cherryh
• The John W. Campbell Award, 1973-1983 - essay by uncredited

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by George R. R. Martin
• In the Trees - short story by Ramsey Campbell
• This Time - short story by Ramsey Campbell
• Missed Connection - short story by Ramsey Campbell
• Root Cause - short story by Ramsey Campbell
• Looking Out - short story by Ramsey Campbell
• Bedtime Story - short story by Ramsey Campbell
• Beyond Words - short story by Ramsey Campbell
• Riding the Nightmare - short story by Lisa Tuttle
• From Another Country - short story by Lisa Tuttle
• The Dragon's Bride - novelette by Lisa Tuttle
• The Hellbound Heart - novella by Clive Barker

Fifteen all-new stories by science fiction's top talents, collected by bestselling author George R. R. Martin and multiple-award winning editor Gardner Dozois

Burroughs's A Princess of Mars. Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles. Heinlein's Red Planet. These and so many more inspired generations of readers with a sense that science fiction's greatest wonders did not necessarily lie far in the future or light-years across the galaxy but were to be found right now on a nearby world tantalizingly similar to our own--a red planet that burned like an ember in our night sky... and in our imaginations.

This new anthology of fifteen all-original science fiction stories, edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, celebrates the Golden Age of Science Fiction, an era filled with tales of interplanetary colonization and derring-do. Before the advent of powerful telescopes and space probes, our solar system could be imagined as teeming with strange life-forms and ancient civilizations--by no means always friendly to the dominant species of Earth. And of all the planets orbiting that G-class star we call the Sun, none was so steeped in an aura of romantic decadence, thrilling mystery, and gung-ho adventure as Mars.

Join such seminal contributors as Michael Moorcock, Mike Resnick, Joe R. Lansdale, S. M. Stirling, Mary Rosenblum, Ian McDonald, Liz Williams, James S. A. Corey, and others in this brilliant retro anthology that turns its back on the cold, all-but-airless Mars of the Mariner probes and instead embraces an older, more welcoming, more exotic Mars: a planet of ancient canals cutting through red deserts studded with the ruined cities of dying races.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: Red Planet Blues - (2013) - essay by George R. R. Martin
• Martian Blood - (2013) - novelette by Allen Steele
• The Ugly Duckling - (2013) - novelette by Matthew Hughes
• The Wreck of the Mars Adventure - (2013) - novelette by David D. Levine
• Swords of Zar-Tu-Kan - (2013) - novelette by S. M. Stirling
• Shoals - (2013) - novelette by Mary Rosenblum
• In the Tombs of the Martian Kings - (2013) - novelette by Mike Resnick
• Out of Scarlight - (2013) - short story by Liz Williams
• The Dead Sea-Bottom Scrolls - (2013) - short story by Howard Waldrop
• A Man Without Honor - (2013) - novelette by James S. A. Corey
• Written in Dust - (2013) - novelette by Melinda M. Snodgrass
• The Lost Canal - (2013) - novelette by Michael Moorcock
• The Sunstone - (2013) - novelette by Phyllis Eisenstein
• King of the Cheap Romance - (2013) - novelette by Joe R. Lansdale
• Mariner - (2013) - novelette by Chris Roberson
• The Queen of the Night's Aria - (2013) - novelette by Ian McDonald

Sixteen all-new stories by science fiction's top talents, collected by bestselling author George R. R. Martin and multiple-award-winning editor Gardner Dozois

From pulp adventures such as Edgar Rice Burroughs's Carson of Venus to classic short stories such as Ray Bradbury's "The Long Rain" to visionary novels such as C. S. Lewis's Perelandra, the planet Venus has loomed almost as large in the imaginations of science fiction writers as Earth's next-nearest neighbor, Mars. But while the Red Planet conjured up in Golden Age science fiction stories was a place of vast deserts and ruined cities, bright blue Venus was its polar opposite: a steamy, swampy jungle world with strange creatures lurking amidst the dripping vegetation. Alas, just as the last century's space probes exploded our dreams of Mars, so, too, did they shatter our romantic visions of Venus, revealing, instead of a lush paradise, a hellish world inimical to all life.

But don't despair! This new anthology of sixteen original stories by some of science fiction's best writers--edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin and award-winning editor Gardner Dozois--turns back the clock to that more innocent time, before the hard-won knowledge of science vanquished the infinite possibilities of the imagination.

Join our cast of award-winning contributors--including Elizabeth Bear, David Brin, Joe Haldeman, Gwyneth Jones, Mike Resnick, Eleanor Arnason, Allen M. Steele, and more--as we travel back in time to a planet that never was but should have been: a young, rain-drenched world of fabulous monsters and seductive mysteries.

Table of Contents:

• "Frogheads" by Allen M. Steele
• "The Drowned Celestrial" by Lavie Tidhar
• "Planet Of Fear" by Paul Mcauley
• "Greeves And The Evening Star" by Matthew Hughes
• "A Planet Called Desire" by Gwyneth Jones
• "Living Hell" by Joe Haldeman
• "Bones Of Air, Bones Of Stone" by Stephen Leigh
• "Ruins" by Eleanor Arnason
• "The Tumbledowns Of Cleopatra Abyss" by David Brin
• "By Frogsled And Lizardback To Outcast Venusian Lepers" by Garth Nix
• "The Sunset Of Time" by Michael Cassutt
• "Pale Blue Memories" by Tobias S. Buckell
• "The Heart's Filthy Lesson" by Elizabeth Bear
• "The Wizard Of The Trees" by Joe R. Lansdale
• "The Godstone Of Venus" by Mike Resnick
• "Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts By Ida Countess Rathangan" by Ian Mcdonald

Hugo Award winning and Nebula Award nominated novella.

Two telepaths investigate the newly discovered world of Shkea, where every native inhabitant, and an increasing number of human colonists, worships a mysterious and deadly parasite.

The story originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, June 1974. It can also be found in the anthologies The 1975 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha, The Hugo Winners, Volume 3: (1970-75) (1977), edited by Isaac Asimov, and The Best of Analog (1978), edited by Ben Bova. It is included in the collections A Song for Lya and Other Stories (1976), Nightflyers (1985) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

Hugo Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, July 1975. The story can also be found in the anthology Heads to the Storm (1989), edited by Sandra Miesel and David Drake. It is included in the collections Songs of Stars and Shadows (1977), Nightflyers (1985) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

This novelette originally appeared in Cosmos Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine, November 1977. It can also be found in the anthology Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Seventh Annual Collection (1978), edited by Gardner Dozois. It can also be found in the collections Sandkings (1981) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

A whisperjewel summoned him to Worlorn, and a love he thought he'd lost. But Worlorn isn't the world Dirk t'Larien imagined, and Gwen Delvano is no longer the woman he once knew. She is bound to another man, and to a dying planet that is trapped in twilight, forever falling toward night. Amid this bleak landscape is a violent clash of cultures in which there is no code of honor - and the hunter and the hunted are often interchangeable.

Caught up in a dangerous triangle, Gwen is in need of Dirk's protection, and he will do anything to keep her safe, even if it means challenging the barbaric man who has claimed her - and his cunning cohort. But an impenetrable veil of secrecy surrounds them all, and it's becoming impossible for Dirk to distinguish between his allies and his enemies. While each will fight to stay alive, one is waiting for escape, one for revenge, and another for a brutal, untimely demise.

In a crumbling underground city on a dying planet, young Annelyn has lived a life of privilege. When he is humiliated at the hands of the crafty groun hunter they call the Meatbringer, he and his high-born friends plot revenge. But Annelyn's plan goes desperately awry, leading him deep into the city's ruins--and to the ugly truth about his forebears' reverence for the mythic White Worm.

This novella originally appeared in the anthology The Ides of Tomorrow: Original Science Fiction Tales of Horror (1976), edited by Terry Carr. It is included in the collections Sandkings (1981) and Songs the Dead Men Sing (1983).

Locus Award winning and Hugo Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, April 1980. The story can also be found in the anthologies The 1981 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha, The Best Science Fiction of the Year #10 (1981), edited by Terry Carr, Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Tenth Annual Collection (1981), edited by Gardner Dozois, and Baker's Dozen: 13 Short Horror Novels (1987), edited by Charles G. Waugh and Martin H. Greenberg. It is included in the collections Songs the Dead Men Sing (1983), Nightflyers (1985) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

Hugo, Nebula and Locus Award winning novelette.

When Simon Kress returned to his home planet of Baldur from an offworld business trip, he was amused to find that his tank of Earth piranhas had cannibalized themselves into extinction, and of the two exotic animals that roamed his estate, only one remained. Now, in search of some new pets to satisfy his cruel pursuit of amusement, Simon finds a new shop in the city where he is intrigued by a new lifeform he has never heard of before ... a collection of multi-colored sandkings. The curator explains that the insect-like animals, no larger than Simon's fingernails, are not insects, but animals with a highly-evolved hive intelligence capable of staging wars between the different colors, and even religion--in the form of worship of their owner. The curator's warning to Simon about the regularity of their feeding, unfortunately, was not taken seriously....

The story originally appeared in Omni, August 1979 and has been reprinted many times. There is a comic adaptation and the story served as the basis for an episode of the horror series Outer Limits. It can be found in the anthologies:

• The Best Science Fiction of the Year #9 (1980), edited by Terry Carr
• Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Ninth Annual Collection (1980), edited by Gardner Dozois
• Nebula Winners Fifteen (1981), edited by Frank Herbert
• The First Omni Book of Science Fiction (1984), edited by Ellen Datlow
• The Hugo Winners, Volume 5: (1980-82) (1986), edited by Isaac Asimov
• The Best of the Nebulas (1989), edited by Ben Bova
• Foundations of Fear: An Exploration of Horror (1992) edited by David G. Hartwell
• Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Century (2001), edited by Orson Scott Card
• In Space No One Can Hear You Scream (2013), edited by Hank Davis
• The Big Book of Science Fiction (2016), edited by Jeff and Ann VanderMeer

It is included in the collections Sandkings (1981), Songs the Dead Men Sing (1983) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

It's been a lifetime and more since Cyrain has been challenged in the game of mind. When the cyborg arrives, she senses a worthy and dangerous opponent--one that's been dead for 800 years...

This short story originally appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, September 1986. It can also be found in the collections Portraits of His Children (1987) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology New Voices in Science Fiction (1977), edited by Martin himself. It is also included in the collections Sandkings (1981) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

A Hugo- and Locus Award-winning and Nebula-nominated short story. It first appeared in Omni, June 1979 and has been reprinted many times. It can be found in several anthologies, including The 1980 Annual World's Best SF (1980) edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha, Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Ninth Annual Collection (1980), edited by Gardner Dozois, The Fourth Omni Book of Science Fiction (1985), edited by Ellen Datlow, The Good New Stuff: Adventure SF in the Grand Tradition (1999), edited by Gardner Dozois, and Galileo's Children: Tales of Science vs. Superstition (2005), also edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collections Sandkings (1981) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed Magazine.

Locus Award winning and Hugo Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, October 12, 1981. The story is included in the collections Tuf Voyaging (1986) and GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003).

Haviland Tuf is an honest space-trader who likes cats. So how is it that, in competition with the worst villains the universe has to offer, he's become the proud owner of a seedship, the last remnant of Earth's legendary Ecological Engineering Corps? Never mind; just be thankful that the most powerful weapon in human space is in good hands--hands which now have the godlike ability to control the genetic material of thousands of outlandish creatures.

Armed with this unique equipment, Tuf is set to tackle the problems that human settlers have created in colonizing far-flung worlds: hosts of hostile monsters, a population hooked on procreation, a dictator who unleashes plagues to get his own way... and in every case, the only thing that stands between the colonists and disaster is Tuf's ingenuity--and his reputation as a man of integrity in a universe of rogues.

From George R. R. Martin's Introduction to Warriors:

"People have been telling stories about warriors for as long as they have been telling stories. Since Homer first sang the wrath of Achilles and the ancient Sumerians set down their tales of Gilgamesh, warriors, soldiers, and fighters have fascinated us; they are a part of every culture, every literary tradition, every genre. All Quiet on the Western Front, From Here to Eternity, and The Red Badge of Courage have become part of our literary canon, taught in classrooms all around the country and the world. Our contributors make up an all-star lineup of award-winning and bestselling writers, representing a dozen different publishers and as many genres. We asked each of them for the same thing?a story about a warrior. Some chose to write in the genre they're best known for. Some decided to try something different. You will find warriors of every shape, size, and color in these pages, warriors from every epoch of human history, from yesterday and today and tomorrow, and from worlds that never were. Some of the stories will make you sad, some will make you laugh, and many will keep you on the edge of your seat."

Included are a long novella from the world of Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, a new tale of Lord John by Diana Gabaldon, and an epic of humanity at bay by David Weber. Also present are original tales by David Ball, Peter S. Beagle, Lawrence Block, Gardner Dozois, Joe Haldeman, Robin Hobb, Cecelia Holland, Joe R. Lansdale, David Morrell, Naomi Novik, James Rollins, Steven Saylor, Robert Silverberg, S.M. Stirling, Carrie Vaughn, Howard Waldrop, and Tad Williams.

Many of these writers are bestsellers. All of them are storytellers of the highest quality. Together they make a volume of unforgettable reading.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: Stories from the Spinner Rack - essay by George R. R. Martin
• The King of Norway - novelette by Cecelia Holland
• Forever Bound - novelette by Joe Haldeman
• The Triumph - novelette by Robin Hobb
• Clean Slate - novelette by Lawrence Block
• And Ministers of Grace - novelette by Tad Williams
• Soldierin' - novelette by Joe R. Lansdale
• Dirae - novelette by Peter S. Beagle
• The Custom of the Army - novella by Diana Gabaldon
• Seven Years from Home - novelette by Naomi Novik
• The Eagle and the Rabbit - novelette by Steven Saylor
• The Pit - novelette by James Rollins
• Out of the Dark - novella by David Weber
• The Girls from Avenger - non-genre - novelette by Carrie Vaughn
• Ancient Ways - novelette by S. M. Stirling
• Ninieslando - novelette by Howard Waldrop
• Recidivist - shortstory by Gardner Dozois
• My Name is Legion - novelette by David Morrell
• Defenders of the Frontier - novelette by Robert Silverberg
• The Scroll - novelette by David Ball
• The Mystery Knight: A Tale of the Seven Kingdoms - novella by George R. R. Martin

From George R. R. Martin's Introduction to Warriors:

"People have been telling stories about warriors for as long as they have been telling stories. Since Homer first sang the wrath of Achilles and the ancient Sumerians set down their tales of Gilgamesh, warriors, soldiers, and fighters have fascinated us; they are a part of every culture, every literary tradition, every genre. All Quiet on the Western Front, From Here to Eternity, and The Red Badge of Courage have become part of our literary canon, taught in classrooms all around the country and the world. Our contributors make up an all-star lineup of award-winning and bestselling writers, representing a dozen different publishers and as many genres. We asked each of them for the same thing-a story about a warrior. Some chose to write in the genre they're best known for. Some decided to try something different. You will find warriors of every shape, size, and color in these pages, warriors from every epoch of human history, from yesterday and today and tomorrow, and from worlds that never were. Some of the stories will make you sad, some will make you laugh, and many will keep you on the edge of your seat."

The stories in the first mass market volume of this book are:

• Introduction: Stories of the Spinner Rack, by George R. R. Martin
• Forever Bound, by Joe Haldeman
• The Eagle and the Rabbit, by Steven Saylor
• And Ministers of Grace, by Tad Williams
• The King of Norway, by Cecelia Holland
• Defenders of the Frontier, by Robert Silverberg
• The Mystery Knight, by George R. R. Martin

Many of these writers are bestsellers. All of them are storytellers of the highest quality. Together they make a volume of unforgettable reading.

From George R. R. Martin's Introduction to Warriors:

"People have been telling stories about warriors for as long as they have been telling stories. Since Homer first sang the wrath of Achilles and the ancient Sumerians set down their tales of Gilgamesh, warriors, soldiers, and fighters have fascinated us; they are a part of every culture, every literary tradition, every genre. All Quiet on the Western Front, From Here to Eternity, and The Red Badge of Courage have become part of our literary canon, taught in classrooms all around the country and the world. Our contributors make up an all-star lineup of award-winning and bestselling writers, representing a dozen different publishers and as many genres. We asked each of them for the same thing-a story about a warrior. Some chose to write in the genre they're best known for. Some decided to try something different. You will find warriors of every shape, size, and color in these pages, warriors from every epoch of human history, from yesterday and today and tomorrow, and from worlds that never were. Some of the stories will make you sad, some will make you laugh, and many will keep you on the edge of your seat."

The stories in the second mass market volume of this book are:

• Introduction: Stories of the Spinner Rack, by George R. R. Martin
• Seven Years from Home, by Naomi Novik
• Dirae, by Peter S. Beagle
• Ancient Ways, by S. M. Stirling
• The Scroll, by David Ball
• Recidivist, by Gardner Dozois
• Ninieslando, by Howard Waldrop
• Out of the Dark, by David Weber

Many of these writers are bestsellers. All of them are storytellers of the highest quality. Together they make a volume of unforgettable reading.

From George R. R. Martin's Introduction to Warriors:

"People have been telling stories about warriors for as long as they have been telling stories. Since Homer first sang the wrath of Achilles and the ancient Sumerians set down their tales of Gilgamesh, warriors, soldiers, and fighters have fascinated us; they are a part of every culture, every literary tradition, every genre. All Quiet on the Western Front, From Here to Eternity, and The Red Badge of Courage have become part of our literary canon, taught in classrooms all around the country and the world. Our contributors make up an all-star lineup of award-winning and bestselling writers, representing a dozen different publishers and as many genres. We asked each of them for the same thing-a story about a warrior. Some chose to write in the genre they're best known for. Some decided to try something different. You will find warriors of every shape, size, and color in these pages, warriors from every epoch of human history, from yesterday and today and tomorrow, and from worlds that never were. Some of the stories will make you sad, some will make you laugh, and many will keep you on the edge of your seat."

The stories in the third mass market volume of this book are:

• Introduction: Stories of the Spinner Rack, by George R. R. Martin
• The Triumph, by Robin Hobb
• Soldierin', by Joe R. Lansdale
• Clean Slate, by Lawrence Block
• The Girls from Avenger, by Carrie Vaughn
• The Pit, by James Rollins
• My Name is Legion, by David Morrell
• The Custom of the Army, by Diana Gabaldon

Many of these writers are bestsellers. All of them are storytellers of the highest quality. Together they make a volume of unforgettable reading.

Back in print after a decade, expanded with new original material, this is the first volume of George R. R. Martin's Wild cards shared-world series

There is a secret history of the world-a history in which an alien virus struck the Earth in the aftermath of World War II, endowing a handful of survivors with extraordinary powers. Some were called Aces-those with superhuman mental and physical abilities. Others were termed Jokers-cursed with bizarre mental or physical disabilities. Some turned their talents to the service of humanity. Others used their powers for evil. Wild Cards is their story.

Originally published in 1987, Wild Cards I includes powerful tales by Roger Zelazny, Walter Jon Williams, Howard Waldrop, Lewis Shiner, and George R. R. Martin himself. And this new, expanded edition contains further original tales set at the beginning of the Wild Cards universe, by eminent new writers like Hugo-winner David Levine, noted screenwriter and novelist Michael Cassutt, and New York Times bestseller Carrie Vaughn.

It all began in 1946, when the bizarre, gene-altering A3Wild CardsAy virus was unleashed in the skies over New York City. A virus that created superpowered Aces and bizarre, disfigured Jokers. Now, thirty years later, the victims face a new nightmare. From the far reaches of space comes The Swarm, a deadly menace that could very well destroy the planet. Putting aside their hatred and mistrust, Aces and Jokers must form an uneasy alliance and prepare for a battle they must not lose.

Forty years after the "wild card" virus swept Earth, leaving its survivorsand their descendantsblessed or cursed with superhuman powers (aces) or grotesque deformities (jokers), a cadre of men led by the Astrologer seeks bloody vengeance on the "aces" who disrupted their evil schemes. Though graphic violence and explicit sex may limit the audience, this fast-paced, well-written collaboration by authors George R.R. Martin, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Lewis Shiner, and others should appeal to fans of Wild Cards and Aces High.

The action-packed alternate fantasy returns for a new generation, featuring fiction from #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin, Michael Cassutt, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Lewis Shiner, and more--plus two completely new stories from Kevin Andrew Murphy and bestselling author Carrie Vaughn.

Forty years after the Wild Card Virus's release, the World Health Organization decides it's time to take a delegation of Aces, Jokers, politicians, and journalists on a fact-finding mission to learn how other countries are dealing with the virus that reshaped humanity. Leading the team is Gregg Hartmann, a senator with presidential aspirations and a dangerous ace up his sleeve. Joining him is a menagerie of some of the series' best and most popular Wild Cards, including Dr. Tachyon, aces Peregrine and Golden Boy, and jokers Chrysalis, Troll, and Father Squid.

From the jungles of Haiti and Peru to the tumultuous political climate of Egypt, from a monastery in Japan to the streets of the most glamorous cities of Europe, the Wild Cards are in for an eye-opening trip. While some are worshiped as actual gods, those possessing the most extreme mutations are treated with a contempt that's all too familiar to the delegates from Jokertown. New alliances will be formed, new enemies will be made, and some actions will fulfill centuries-old prophecies that make ripples throughout the future of the Wild Cards universe.

The fifth volume in the Wild Cards alternate universe saga is set in the New York City of 1986. The simmering streets of Jokertown have erupted, as gang war breaks out between ruthless rivals: the Shadow Fists and the Mafia. As the violence rages out of control, even the metahuman Aces and Jokers alike are forced to go underground and wage their own war against the powers of the netherworld!

Since a strange alien virus created the superhuman beings known as Aces and Jokers four decades ago, they have struggled for respect and recognition. Now they are key players in a presidential convention torn by hatred and dissent. Assassins stalk the halls of the convention and one of the candidates plans to use his secret Wild Card power for evil.

Travel on a journey of intrigue and adventure in this collaborative novel edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin and written by five of science fiction's most imaginative talents: Stephen Leigh, Victor Milan, Walton Simons, Melinda M. Snodgrass, and Walter Jon Williams.

On waking on Monday morning from his regular nightmare, Jay Ackroyd's new assignment as Chrysalis' bodyguard gets off to a bad start when he discovers his employer's battered corpse at the Crystal Palace with an ace of spades placed conveniently on top - the calling card of the bow-and-arrow killer, Yeoman. Not trusting the nat police to put too much effort into finding the killer of a joker, Jay sets off to solve the case by himself.

Daniel Brennan, thinking he's escaped the violence for a quieter life in the country, sees the news of his ex-lover's murder on TV (and his implied role in it), and finds himself dragged back into his old life when he, too, chooses to pursue the matter himself and find the person responsible.

In the process of searching for the murderer, Jay bets the farm on finding the missing reporter, Digger Downs; gets sweaty with the ultimate femme fatale; briefly gains a Takisian sidekick; and comes face to face with the hideous Ti Malice. Brennan. meanwhile, takes a trip in the magic kingdom; hears Wyrm's horrible confession; finds unexpected help from the church; and uncovers the secret of Chrysalis' success.

Something is stirring on Ellis Island, something strange and dangerous enough to subdue even the white-hot tensions between Wild Cards and normal humans. They call themselves the Jumpers: a vicious gang with the power to transport their minds into others' bodies, using them to commit acts of terror and violence, before abandoning them and leaving their victims to face the consequences.

The Jumpers cutthroat ambition to control the Wild Card community will pit aces, jokers, and humans at odds like never before.

One-Eyed Jacks features the writing talents of Walton Simons, Chris Claremont, Lewis Shiner, William F. Wu, Victor Milan, Stephen Leigh, Melinda M. Snodgrass, and John Jos. Miller, along with previously unpublished stories from Carrie Vaughn and Kevin Andrew Murphy.

Contents:

• "The Temptation of Heironymous Bloat: I" - Stephen Leigh
• "And Hope to Die" - John J. Miller
• "The Temptation of Heironymous Bloat: II" - Stephen Leigh
• "Lovers: I " - Melinda M. Snodgrass
• "The Temptation of Heironymous Bloat: III " - Stephen Leigh
• "Lovers: II " - Melinda M. Snodgrass
• "The Temptation of Heironymous Bloat: IV" - Stephen Leigh
• "Madman Across the Water - novella" - Victor Milán
• "The Temptation of Heironymous Bloat: V" - Stephen Leigh
• "Lovers: III " - Melinda M. Snodgrass
• "The Temptation of Heironymous Bloat: VI" - Stephen Leigh
• "While Night's Black Agents Their Preys Do Rouse: I" - Walter Jon Williams
• "The Temptation of Heironymous Bloat: VII" - Stephen Leigh
• "Riders" - Lewis Shiner
• "Nobody Does It Alone - shortstory" - Walton Simons
• "The Temptation of Heironymous Bloat: VIII" - Stephen Leigh
• "Lovers: IV " - Melinda M. Snodgrass
• "The Temptation of Heironymous Bloat: IX" - Stephen Leigh
• "While Night's Black Agents Their Preys Do Rouse: II" - Walter Jon Williams
• "Lovers: V " - Melinda M. Snodgrass
• "The Temptation of Heironymous Bloat: X" - Stephen Leigh
• "Lovers: VI " - Melinda M. Snodgrass
• "The Temptation of Heironymous Bloat: XI" - Stephen Leigh

Fleeing the battle between the Jokers, Aces, and Nats, Blaise heads for the planet Takis in the body of Dr. Tachyon, leaving Tach trapped in the pregnant body of a teenage runaway.

As the final battle between the Nats and Bloat rages on Ellis Island, the Turtle throws in the towel, Modular Man switches sides, Reflector faces defeat, and assassins reach Bloat's chamber.

Someone is trying to wipe out the jokers--those shadowy behind-the-scenes global players--and they must fight back before they are completely destroyed.

Hannah Davis and her group of heroes race to expose the Card Sharks, an evil conspiracy whose ultimate goal is the wholesale destruction of those afflicted with the Wild Cards virus.

Exposed by a reporter and her joker sidekick, the Cardshark Conspiracy plots to unleash the Black Trump, a biological weapon that destroys anyone with a wild card genetic structure, and time is running out for ace Mark Meadows.

On September 15, 1946, a biological weapon created by an alien race was accidentally detonated above the streets of New York City, killing countless numbers of men, women, and children. But those who survived the initial explosion soon began to wish they had died also, once they discovered they had been forever mutated by the virus unleashed in the blast. . . .

When the first volume in the Wild Cards series made its debut in 1986, it caused a sensation in the science fiction and fantasy communities. Here were stories of superpowered beings in a real world setting, detailing the lives of "Aces," those given superhuman powers by the "Wild Cards" virus, and "Jokers"?those whom the virus transformed into freaks and monsters. Over the course of fifteen volumes, the world created by editor George R.R. Martin and some of SF's most talented writers was explored through the eyes of both Aces and Jokers across the globe.

In this all-new collection of Wild Cards stories, the spotlight is on the most unusual Wild Cards of them all?the Deuces. As you'll discover in this thrilling collection, their role in the Wild Cards Universe is just as important as that of the Aces and the Jokers. In fact, their actions have affected the course of Wild Cards history.

Set in an alternate, shared-world universe, Deuces Down is the one place you'll find such never-before-told tales as John J. Miller's exciting 1969 World Series between the Baltimore Orioles and the Brooklyn Dodgers; Michael Cassutt's first moon landing, when the whole world wasn't watching; Walton Simons' Great New York City Blackout of 1977; Melinda M. Snodgrass's account of Grace Kelly's mysterious disappearance during the filming of The French Lieutenant's Woman. It's a strange and terrifying world, where anything can happen. A world of Wild Cards.

John Fortune-son of Peregine and Fortunato, two of the most powerful and popular Aces the world has ever known-has finally turned his card. He's an Ace! And proud of it... except that his new powers put him on a collision course with enemies he never knew he had. Is he the new messiah? Or the Anti-Christ? Or is he just a kid who's in over his head and about to drown? It's really quite simple. Mr. Nobody wants to do his job. The Midnight Angel wants to serve her Lord. Billy Ray, dying from boredom, wants some action. John Nighthawk wants to uncover the awful secret behind his mysterious power. Fortunato wants to rescue his son from the clutches of a cryptic Vatican office. John Fortune just wants to catch Siegfried and Ralph's famous Vegas review. The problem is that all roads, whether they start in Turin, Italy, Las Vegas, Hokkaido, Japan, Jokertown, Snake Hill, the Short Cut, or Yazoo City, Mississippi, lead to Leo Barnett's Peaceable Kingdom where the difference between the Apocalypse and Peace on Earth is as thin as a razor's edge and where Death himself awaits the final terrible turn of the card.

In 1946, an alien virus that rewrites human DNA was accidentally unleashed in the skies over New York City. It killed ninety percent of those it infected. Nine percent of those who survived mutated into tragically deformed creatures. And one percent gained superpowers. The Wild Cards shared-universe series, created and edited since 1987 by New York Times #1 bestseller George R. R. Martin along with Melinda Snodgrass, is the tale of the history of the world since then-and of the heroes among that one percent.

Originally begun in 1987, long before George R. R. Martin became a household name among fantasy readers ("The American Tolkien" --Time magazine), the Wild Cards series earned a reputation among connoisseurs for its smart reimagining of the superhero idea. Now, with Inside Straight, the Wild Cards continuity jumps forward to a new generation of major characters, entirely accessible to Martin's hundreds of thousands of new readers, with all-original stories by Martin himself, along with Daniel Abraham, Michael Cassutt, and Stephen Leigh, among others.

In 1946, an alien virus that rewrites human DNA was accidentally unleashed in the skies over New York City. It killed ninety percent of those it infected. Nine percent survived to mutate into tragically deformed creatures. And one percent gained superpowers. The Wild Cards shared-universe series, created and edited since 1987 by New York Times #1 bestseller George R. R. Martin ("The American Tolkien" --Time magazine) along with Melinda Snodgrass, is the tale of the history of the world since then-and of the heroes among the one percent.

Now a new generation of heroes has taken its place on the world stage, its members crucial players in international events. At the United Nations, veteran ace John Fortune has assembled a team of young aces known as the Committee, to assist at trouble spots around the world–including a genocidal was in the Niger Delta, an invasion of zombies in hurricane ravaged New Orleans, and a freak nuclear explosion in a small Texas town.

In 1946, an alien virus that rewrites human DNA was accidentally unleashed in the skies over New York City. It killed ninety percent of those it infected. Nine percent survived to mutate into tragically deformed creatures. And one percent gained superpowers. The Wild Cards shared-universe series, created and edited since 1987 by New York Times #1 bestseller George R. R. Martin ("The American Tolkien"-Time magazine) along with Melinda Snodgrass, is the tale of the history of the world since then-and of the heroes among the one percent.

Ranging from New York and New England to ravaged Africa and New Orleans, encompassing war, devastation, and stubborn hope, Suicide Kings advances the story of the Wild Cards, and their struggle to be fully human in a world that fears and mistrusts them.

In 1946, an alien virus that rewrites human DNA was accidentally unleashed in the skies over New York City. It killed ninety percent of those it infected. Nine percent survived, mutated into tragically deformed creatures. And one percent gained superpowers. The Wild Cards shared-universe series, created and edited by New York Times #1 bestseller George R. R. Martin (called "the American Tolkien" by Time), is the tale of the history of the world since then-and of the heroes among the one percent.

Now, in the latest Wild Cards mosaic novel, we get to know the hardbitten world of Manhattan's Fifth Precinct-or "Fort Freak," as cops and malefactors alike call the cop-shop where every other desk sergeant, detective, and patrol officer is more than human.

Decades after an alien virus changed the course of history, the surviving population of Manhattan still struggles to understand the new world left in its wake. Natural humans share the rough city with those given extraordinary—and sometimes terrifying—traits. While most manage to coexist in an uneasy peace, not everyone is willing to adapt. Down in the seedy underbelly of Jokertown, residents are going missing. The authorities are unwilling to investigate, except for a fresh lieutenant looking to prove himself and a collection of unlikely jokers forced to take matters into their own hands—or tentacles. The deeper into the kidnapping case these misfits and miscreants get, the higher the stakes are raised.

Edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin and acclaimed author Melinda M. Snodgrass, Lowball is the latest mosaic novel in the acclaimed Wild Cards universe, featuring original fiction by Carrie Vaughn, Ian Tregillis, David Anthony Durham, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Mary Anne Mohanraj, David D. Levine, Michael Cassutt, and Walter John Williams.

Perfect for old fans and new readers alike, Lowball delves deeper into the world of aces, jokers, and the hard-boiled men and women of the Fort Freak police precinct in a pulpy, page-turning novel of superheroics and mystery.

Perfect for old fans and new readers alike, High Stakes (Wild Cards) delves deeper into the world of aces, jokers, and the hard-boiled men and women of the Fort Freak police precinct in a pulpy, page-turning novel of superheroics and Lovecraftian horror.

After the concluding events of Lowball, Officer Francis Black of Fort Freak, vigilante joker Marcus "The Infamous Black Tongue" Morgan, and ace thief Mollie "Tesseract" Steunenberg get stuck in Talas, Kazakhstan. There, the coldblooded Baba Yaga forces jokers into an illegal fighting ring, but her hidden agenda is much darker: her fighters' deaths serve to placate a vicious monster from another dimension. When the last line of defense against this world weakens, all hell breaks loose, literally....

The Committee in New York sends a team of aces to investigate. One by one, each falls victim to evil forces--including the dark impulses within themselves. Only the perseverance of the most unlikely of heroes has a chance of saving the world before utter chaos erupts on Earth.

Edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin, High Stakes features the writing talents of Melinda M. Snodgrass, John Jos. Miller, David Anthony Durham, Caroline Spector, Stephen Leigh, and Ian Tregillis.

Now on its final voyage, the historical steamboat Natchez is known for her super-powered guest entertainers. But after the suspicious death of a crewmember, retired NY police detective Leo Storgman decides to make this incident his personal case. His findings only lead to a growing number of questions. Is there some truth behind the ghostly sightings of the steamboat's first captain Wilbur Leathers? What secret does the current captain seem to be hiding? And could the Natchez be ferrying mysterious--and possibly dangerous--cargo onboard?

Edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin, Mississippi Roll features the writing talents of Stephen Leigh, John Jos. Miller, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Carrie Vaughn (Martians Abroad), Hugo-Award winning author David D. Levine (Arabella of Mars), and Hugo and Nebula Award finalist Cherie Priest (Boneshaker).

In Low Chicago, a gang of criminals scattered throughout the past threaten the stability of the world in George R. R. Martin's latest Wild Cards adventure.

The stakes were already high enough at Giovanni Galante's poker table that night in Chicago. Poker. Dealer's choice. Seven players. A million-dollar cash buy-in.

But after a superpowered mishap, the most high-profile criminals in the city are scattered throughout the past and their schemes across time threaten the stability of the world.

Perfect for current fans and new readers alike, Low Chicago is an all-new time travel adventure that highlights the criminal underworld of 1920s Chicago, featuring a fresh cast of characters from the Wild Cards universe.

Co-edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin and Melinda M. Snodgrass (screenwriter, Star Trek), Low Chicago features the writing talents of Saladin Ahmed (author of the bestselling comic Black Bolt), Paul Cornell (screenwriter, Doctor Who), Marko Kloos (author of the bestselling Frontlines series), John Jos. Miller, Mary Anne Mohanraj (Bodies in Motion, The Stars Change), Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy and Theodore Sturgeon Award finalist Christopher Rowe, Kevin Andrew Murphy, and Melinda M. Snodgrass.

San Antonio, home of the Alamo, is also host to the nation's top high school jazz competition, and the musicians at Xavier Desmond High are excited to outplay their rivals. They are also jokers, kids with strange abilities and even stranger looks. On top of that, well, they are teenagers, apt for mischief, mishaps, and romantic misunderstandings.

Michelle Pond, aka The Amazing Bubbles, thinks that her superhero (and supermom) know-how has prepared her to chaperone the event. But when her students start going wayward, she'll soon discover the true meaning of "Don't mess with Texas."

Texas Hold'em features the writing talents of David Anthony Durham (Acacia Trilogy), Max Gladstone (the Craft Sequence), Victor Milan (Dinosaur Lords series), Diana Rowland (Kara Gillian and White Trash Zombie series), Walton Simons, Caroline Spector and William F. Wu.

The return of the famous shared-world superhero books created and edited by George R. R. Martin, author of A Song of Ice and Fire.

For decades, George R. R. Martin - best-selling author of A Song of Ice and Fire - has collaborated with an ever-shifting ensemble of science fiction and fantasy icons to create the amazing Wild Cards universe.

In the aftermath of World War II, the Earth's population was devastated by a terrifying alien virus. Those who survived were changed forever. Some, known as Jokers, were cursed with bizarre mental and physical deformities; others, granted superhuman abilities, are known as Aces. Now the virus has reached Britain....

Queen Margaret rules over a country in which such legendary figures as Herne the Hunter, Spring-heeled Jack and Babh, the goddess of war, roam at will. Her Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill - gifted with extraordinary longevity - together with the Enigma ace - Alan Turing - set up a special organisation named the Order of the Silver Helix. They will need all the wild cards they can find if they are to deal with the terrifying mutations thrown up by the virus.

Knaves over Queens - the first ever Wild Cards novel set in the UK, and a perfect jumping-in point for listeners new to this shared world - features a stunning collection of original stories from such luminaries of the world of science fiction and fantasy as Paul Cornell, Marko Kloos, Mark Lawrence, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Emma Newman, Peter Newman, Peadar O Guilin, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Caroline Spector and Charles Stross.

For decades, George R.R. Martin -- bestselling author of A Song of Ice and Fire -- has collaborated with an ever-shifting ensemble of science fiction and fantasy icons to create the amazing Wild Cards universe.

In the aftermath of World War II, the Earth's population was devastated by an alien virus. Those who survived were changed forever. Some, known as jokers, were cursed with bizarre mental and physical mutations; others, granted superhuman abilities, became the lucky few known as aces.

Queen Margaret, who came to the English throne after the death of her sister Elizabeth, now lies on her death-bed. Summoning the joker ace Alan Turing, she urges him to seek the true heir: Elizabeth's lost son. He was rumoured to have died as a baby but, having been born a joker, was sent into hiding.

Margaret dies and her elder son Henry becomes king and at once declares he wants to make England an 'Anglo-Saxon country' and suggests jokers be sent 'to the moon'. Dangerous tensions begin to tear the country apart. The Twisted Fists -- an organization of jokers led by the Green Man - are becoming more militant. And Babh, goddess of war, sees opportunities to sow strife and reap blood...

This marvellous mosaic novel, featuring the talents of Mary Anne Mohanraj, Peter Newman, Peadar Ó Guilín, Melinda M. Snodgrass and Caroline Spector, follows KNAVES OVER QUEENS -- the first ever Wild Cards novel set in the UK.

In Joker Moon, the next Wild Cards adventure from series editor George R. R. Martin, we follow Aarti, the Moon Maid, who can astrally project herself onto the surface of the moon and paint projections across the lunarscape.

Theodorus was a dreamer.

As a child, he dreamt of airplanes, rockets, and outer space. When the wild card virus touched him and transformed him into a monstrous snail centaur weighing several tons, his boyhood dreams seemed out of reach, but a Witherspoon is not so easily defeated. Years and decades passed, and Theodorus grew to maturity and came into his fortune... but still his dream endured.

But now when he looked upward into the night sky, he saw more than just the moon... he saw a joker homeland, a refuge where the outcast children of the wild card could make a place of their own, safe from hate and harm. An impossible dream, some said. Others, alarmed by the prospect, brought all their power to bear to oppose him. Theodorus persisted...

...never dreaming that the Moon was already inhabited. And the Moon Maid did not want company.

Hugo Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in two installmetns in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, in January and February 1980. There are no other known publications but the story was incorporated in slightly edited form in the fix-up novel Windhaven (1981).

Locus Award winning and Hugo and Nebula Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, May 1975. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Best Science Fiction of the Year #5 (1976), edited by Terry Carr and The 1976 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha. In sligtly rewritten form, it makes up the second part of the fixup novel Windhaven (1981).

The planet of Windhaven was not originally a home to humans, but it became one following the crash of a colony starship. It is a world of small islands, harsh weather, and monster-infested seas. Communication among the scattered settlements was virtually impossible until the discovery that, thanks to light gravity and a dense atmosphere, humans were able to fly with the aid of metal wings made of bits of the cannibalized spaceship.

Many generations later, among the scattered islands that make up the water world of Windhaven, no one holds more prestige than the silver-winged flyers, who bring news, gossip, songs, and stories. They are romantic figures crossing treacherous oceans, braving shifting winds and sudden storms that could easily dash them from the sky to instant death. They are also members of an increasingly elite caste, for the wings-always in limited quantity-are growing gradually rarer as their bearers perish.

With such elitism comes arrogance and a rigid adherence to hidebound tradition. And for the flyers, allowing just anyone to join their cadre is an idea that borders on heresy. Wings are meant only for the offspring of flyers-now the new nobility of Windhaven. Except that sometimes life is not quite so neat.

Maris of Amberly, a fisherman's daughter, was raised by a flyer and wants nothing more than to soar on the currents high above Windhaven. By tradition, however, the wings must go to her stepbrother, Coll, the flyer's legitimate son. But Coll wants only to be a singer, traveling the world by sea. So Maris challenges tradition, demanding that flyers be chosen on the basis of merit rather than inheritance. And when she wins that bitter battle, she discovers that her troubles are only beginning.

For not all flyers are willing to accept the world's new structure, and as Maris battles to teach those who yearn to fly, she finds herself likewise fighting to preserve the integrity of a society she so longed to join-not to mention the very fabric that holds her culture together.