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Hugo and Nebula Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Spring 1977. The story can also be found in the anthologies:

• Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Sixth Annual Collection (1977), edited by Gardner Dozios
• Nebula Winners Thirteen (1980), edited by Samuel R. Delany
• Strange Dreams (1993), edited by Stephen R. Donaldson
• Timegates (1997), edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann.
• Flight or Fright (2018), edited by Stephen King and Bev Vincent

It is included in the collection The Persistence of Vision (1978) and The John Varley Reader (2004).

Read the full story for free at the Baen website.

Table of Contents:

• The Pusher (1981)
• Blue Champagne (1981)
• Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo (1986)
• Options (1979)
• Lollipop and the Tar Baby (1977)
• The Manhattan Phone Book (Abridged) (1984)
• The Unprocessed Word (1986)
• Press Enter [] (1984)

This stellar collection by John Varley contains eleven provocative, utterly distinctive stories and novellas. None of them are currently available in any other book. Some have been unavailable in any form for twenty-five years or more. The result is a publishing event that no admirer of Varley--or of first-rate imaginative fiction--can afford to miss.

The bulk of these stories comprise what the author calls a 'Grand Tour of the Solar System,' moving from one thoroughly imagined setting to another with deceptive ease. 'The Funhouse Effect' is a tale of mystery, intrigue, and illusion that takes place on a mechanized comet moving toward the sun s corona. 'Retrograde Summer' is an account of gender reversals and family secrets set against the radically unstable backdrop of Mercury. 'Bagatelle' pits a recurring Varley character--Police Chief Anna-Louise Bach--against a living bomb that threatens to devastate Luna's Dresden City. Other stories range from Venus ('In the Bowl') to an underground 'disneyland' on Pluto ('Good-Bye, Robinson Crusoe') to the unexplored reaches of deep space ('The Black Hole Passes'). The collection ends with two very different offerings that are nonetheless vintage Varley. 'The Unprocessed Word' is a whimsical reflection on one writer s relationship with a ubiquitous, constantly evolving technology, while 'The Manhattan Phone Book (Abridged)' is a brief, absolutely chilling meditation on the consequences of nuclear proliferation.

Whatever the tone, style, or subject matter, Varley remains in complete control of this impressively varied material. Good-Bye, Robinson Crusoe and Other Stories provides intellectual stimulation and pure entertainment in equal measure, and bears the unmistakable hallmark of a master storyteller on every page.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay
• The Funhouse Effect - (1976) - novelette
• Retrograde Summer - (1975) - novelette
• In the Bowl - (1975) - novelette
• Blue Champagne - (1981) - novella
• Bagatelle - (1976) - novelette
• Equinoctial - (1977) - novella
• Good-Bye, Robinson Crusoe - (1977) - novelette
• Lollipop and the Tar Baby - (1977) - novelette
• The Black Hole Passes - (1975) - novelette
• The Unprocessed Word - (1986) - shortstory
• The Manhattan Phone Book - (1984) - shortstory

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Stars: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian (2003), edited by Janis Ian and Mike Resnick. It can also be found in the anthology Year's Best SF 9 (2004), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. The story is included in the collection The John Varley Reader (2004).

Hugo Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1977. The story can also be found in the anthologies The 1978 Annual World's Best SF (1978), edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha, Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Seventh Annual Collection (1978), edited by Gardner Dozois, The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: 23rd Series (1980), edited by Edward L. Ferman and Explorers: SF Adventures to Far Horizons (2000) edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collections The Persistence of Vision (1978) and The John Varley Reader (2004).

This novelette originally appeared in Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine, June 1989 and was reprinted in Lightspeed, August 2011. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Seventh Annual Collection (1990), edited by Gardner Dozois. The story is included in the collection The John Varley Reader (2004).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Not content with investing his fortune and watching it grow, multibillionaire Howard Christian buys rare cars that he actually drives, acquires collectible toys that he actually plays with, and builds buildings that defy the imagination. But now his restless mind has turned to a new obsession: cloning a mammoth...

In a barren province of Canada, a mammoth hunter financed by Christian has made the discovery of a lifetime: an intact frozen woolly mammoth. But what he finds during the painstaking process of excavating the huge creature baffles the mind. Huddled next to the mammoth is the mummified body of a Stone Age man around 12,000 years old. And he is wearing a wristwatch.

It looks like Howard Christian is going to get his wish--and more...

A group of scientists from the far future have hit upon the perfect method of moving people through time--they engineer disasters in what we call the present, and whisk the people away, forward in time, a fraction of a second before they are to die. When an investigator begins his investigation into a midair collision between two planes, he never dreams that he will turn up evidence of time travel.

Press Enter won both the Hugo and the Nebula Award in 1984. In a sense it is the direct descendant of Roger Zelazny's "My Name is Legion" in which the the central character has wiped his identity from all records and databases and is free and invisble. It is one of the earliest SF stories to deal with the language of personal computer and of hackers, just becoming the rage in SF circles in the early 1980's and of the stories that set the stage for the advent of William Gibson's "Neutomancer" Today we can notice perhaps a bit too much exposition about the details of computers and how they operate, but I assure you it was necessary in 1983 when the story first appeared and terms like "software" were still relatively exotic. It is a darker vision than most of the early Varley, and is set in more or less the present world, both uncharacteristic of his work. he was often given to mystery plots, and shy men---but competent men and women nevertheless. This is a horror story, and not optimistic about technology---it is so extreme in fact that the central character is thinking about getting rid of his indoor plumbing. And to top it off, it is about an older man and a younger woman ----shades of Heilein! This is a story by someone who isn't doing what he used to do . Maybe it is by someone who is getting ready to stop entirely.

On the moon, they're altering their bodies so everyone can look exactly alike. They're turning Pluto into an amusement park. A cult of zealots is painting the second ring of Saturn red and on Earth, they're reading John Varley's The Barbie Murders.

Table of Contents:

• Bagatelle - (1976)
• The Funhouse Effect - (1976)
• The Barbie Murders - (1978)
• Equinoctial - (1977)
• Manikins - (1976)
• Beatnik Bayou - (1980)
• Good-Bye, Robinson Crusoe - (1977)
• Lollipop and the Tar Baby - (1977)
• Picnic on Nearside - (1974)

From the moment John Varley burst onto the scene in 1974, his short fiction was like nothing anyone else was writing. His stories won every award the science fiction field had to offer, many times over. His first collection, The Persistence of Vision, published in 1978, was the most important collection of the decade, and changed what fans would come to expect from science fiction.

Now, The John Varley Reader gathers his best stories, many out of print for years. This is the volume no Varley fan-or science fiction reader-can do without.

Table of Contents:

• Picnic on Nearside - (1974) - novelette
• Overdrawn at the Memory Bank - (1976) - novelette
• In the Hall of the Martian Kings - (1976) - novella
• Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance - (1976) - novelette
• The Barbie Murders - (1978) - novelette
• The Phantom of Kansas - (1976) - novelette
• Beatnik Bayou - (1980) - novelette
• Air Raid - (1977) - shortstory
• The Persistence of Vision - (1978) - novella
• Press Enter [] - (1984) - novella
• The Pusher - (1981) - shortstory
• Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo - (1986) - novella
• Options - (1979) - novelette
• Just Another Perfect Day - (1989) - shortstory
• In Fading Suns and Dying Moons - (2003) - novelette
• The Flying Dutchman - (1998) - shortstory
• Good Intentions - (1992) - shortstory
• The Bellman - (2003) - novelette

Hugo, Nebula and Locus award nominated novella. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1978. The story can also be found in the anthologies:

• The 1979 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim, Arthur W. Saha
• The Best Science Fiction Novellas of the Year #1 (1979), edited by Terry Carr
• Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Eighth Annual Collection (1979), edited by Gardner Dozois
• Nebula Winners Fourteen (1980), edited by Frederik Pohl
• The Hugo Winners, Volume 4: (1976-79) (1985), edited by Isaac Asimov
• The Best of the Nebulas (1989), edtied by Ben Bova

It is half of Tor Double #29: Nanowire Time / The Persistence of Vision and is included in the collections The Persistence of Vision (1979) and The John Varley Reader (2004).

Genetic engineering, sex changes, arcane pleasures, computer technology, and communication beyond the five senses are among the topics treated in nine stories by an acclaimed new science-fiction writer.

Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Algis Budrys
• The Phantom of Kansas - (1976) - novelette
• Air Raid - (1977) - shortstory
• Retrograde Summer - (1975) - novelette
• The Black Hole Passes - (1975) - novelette
• In the Hall of the Martian Kings - (1976) - novella
• In the Bowl - (1975) - novelette
• Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance - (1976) - novelette
• Overdrawn at the Memory Bank - (1976) - novelette
• The Persistence of Vision - (1978) - novella

Hugo and Locus Award winning and Nebula Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, October 1981. The story can also be found in the anthologies The 1982 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha, The Best Science Fiction of the Year #11 (1982), edited by Terry Carr, Nebula Award Stories Seventeen (1983), edited by Joe Haldeman, The Hugo Winners, Volume 5: (1980-82) (1986), edited by Isaac Asimov, and The Mammoth Book of Time Travel SF (2013), edited by Mike Ashley. It is included in the collections Blue Champagne (1986) and The John Varley Reader (2004).

Despite wars with Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as 9/11, the United States’ dependence on foreign oil has kept the nation tied to the Middle East. A scientist has developed a cure for America’s addiction—a slow-acting virus that feeds on petroleum, turning it solid. But he didn’t consider that his contagion of an Iraqi oil field could spread to infect the fuel supply of the entire world…

In Los Angeles, screenwriter Dave Marshall heard this scenario from a retired US marine and government insider who acted as a consultant on Dave’s last film. It sounded as implausible as many of his scripts, but the reality is much more frightening than anything he could have envisioned.

An ordinary guy armed with extraordinary information, Dave hopes his survivor’s instinct will kick in so he can protect his wife and daughter from the coming apocalypse that will alter the future of Earth—and humanity…

Hugo Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in the anthology New Voices 4 (1981), edited by George R.R. Martin. The story in included in the collections Blue Champagne (1986) and Good-Bye, Robinson Crusoe and Other Stories (2013).

Locus Award winning and Hugo Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, January-February 1978. The story can also be found in the anthology The Best Science Fiction of the Year #8 (1979), edited by Terry Carr. It is included in the collections The Barbie Murders (1980) and The John Varley Reader (2004).

This novelette originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, June 2003. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-First Annual Collection (2004), edited by Gardner Dozois. The story is included in the collection The John Varley Reader (2004).

Hugo and Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology New Voices III (1980), edited by George R. R. Martin. It can also be found in the anthologies The 1981 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha and The Best Science Fiction of the Year #10 (1981), edited by Terry Carr. It is included in the collections The Barbie Murders (1980) and The John Varley Reader (2004).

Hugo Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Galaxy, July 1976. The story is inlcuded in the collections The Persistence of Vision (1978) and The John Varley Reader (2004).

Nebula Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1975. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Best Science Fiction of the Year #5 (1976), edited by Terry Carr, The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: 22nd Series (1977), edited by Edward L. Ferman, Nebula Winners Twelve (1978), edited by Gordon R. Dickson, and The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction (1980), edited by Robert Silveerberg and Martin H. Greenberg. It is included in the collections The Persistence of Vision (1978) and Good-Bye, Robinson Crusoe and Other Stories (2013).

Hugo and Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology Universe 9 (1979), edited by Terry Carr. It can also be found in the anthologies The 1980 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha, and The Best Science Fiction of the Year #9 (1980). It is included in the collections Blue Champagne (1986) and The John Varley Reader (2004).

Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1975. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Best Science Fiction of the Year #5 (1976), edited by Terry Carr and Worldmakers: SF Adventures in Terraforming (2001) edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collections The Persistence of Vision (1978) and Good-Bye, Robinson Crusoe and Other Stories (2013).

Hugo Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Galaxy, February 1976. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Best Science Fiction of the Year #6 (1977), edited by Terry Carr, The World Treasury of Science Fiction (1989), edited by David G. Hartwell and Clones (1998) edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collections The Persistence of Vision (1978) and The John Varley Reader (2004).

After the effortless capture of Earth by vastly superior aliens, humanity is forced to fight for existence on the Moon and other lumps of airless rock. The invention of the Hotline -- a constant stream of data from a star in the constellation Ophiuchus -- facilitates survival and enables the development of amazing new technologies.

Then, after 400 years, humanity's unknown helpers send a bill for their services... and suddenly everything is threatened once again.

The Ophiuchi Hotline was John Varley's first novel, and it received nominations for both the Hugo and Nebula awards he later won both for his book Persistence of Vision.

Luna, the Eden-like lunar colony that has become humankind's home since an alien attack destroyed Earth, is threatened by strange dark forces that lead reporter Hildy Johnson and other inhabitants to feelings of depression and suicide.

Sparky Valentine, an actor and wanted murderer roaming the universe with a theatrical group, who can transform his appearance and his sex with magnetic implants, finds himself nearing both home and a confrontation with justice.

Christopher Bach was a policeman in one of the largest Lunar cities when the A.I. Lunar Central Computer had a breakdown. Known as the Big Glitch, the problem turned out to be a larger war than anyone expected. When order was restored, Chris's life could never be the same. Now he's a private detective, assisted by his genetically altered dog Sherlock, and emulates the tough guys in the noir books and movies that he loves.

When Bach takes the case of a woman involuntarily infected with an engineered virus, he is on the hunt to track down the biohackers in the infamous district of Irontown. But if he wants to save humanity, he'll have to confront his own demons.

When Cirrocco Jones, captain of the spaceship Ringmaster, and his crew are captured by Gaea, a planet-sized creature that orbits around Saturn, they find themselves inside a bizarre world inhabited by centaurs, harpies, and constantly shifting environments.

Second in the Gaean Trilogy. Human explorers have entered the sprawling mind of the alien Gaea. Now they must fight her will. For she is much too powerful. And definitely insane.

The satellite-sized alien Gaea has gone completely insane. She has transformed her love of old movies into monstrous realities. She is Marilyn Monroe. She is King Kong. And now she must be destroyed.

In the highly anticipated new novel by John Varley, "one of the genre's most accomplished storytellers" (Publishers Weekly), a manned mission to Mars becomes a personal mission for an unlikely bunch of astronauts: seven suburban misfits who have constructed a spaceship built out of old tanker cars and held together with all-American ambition. They call her Red Thunder. They plan to be the first people on the Red Planet...despite China's big head start. If it didn't sound so crazy, it would be history in the making...

The son of one of the first men to fly to Mars and back, Ray Garcia-Strickland is now a disgruntled Martian, tired of the Red Planet's overdevelopment and the gravity-dependent tourist Earthies. But that doesn't stop him from fearing the worst when Earth is struck by an unknown object, causing a massive tsunami. Living high on his father's glory was okay, but now Ray must literally come down to Earth-and solve one of its greatest mysteries.

Lieutenant Patricia Kelly Elizabeth Strickland - otherwise known as Podkayne - has joined the Music, Arts, and Drama Division of the Martian Navy, passing the audition with a little help from some higher-ups. And now she's going to Europa, one of Jupiter's many moons, to be an entertainer. But she's about to learn that there can be plenty of danger to go around in the Martian Navy, even if you've just signed on to sing.

On a voyage to New Earth, the starship Rolling Thunder is powered by an energy no one understands, except for its eccentric inventor Jubal Broussard. Like many of the ship's inhabitants, Jubal rests in a state of suspended animation for years at a time, asleep yet never aging.

The moments when Jubal emerges from suspended animation are usually a cause for celebration for his family, including his twin daughters--Cassie and Polly--and their uncle who is captain of the Rolling Thunder. But this time, Jubal makes a shocking announcement...

The ship must stop, or everyone will die.

These words from the mission's founder, the man responsible for the very existence of the Rolling Thunder, will send shock waves throughout the starship--and divide its passengers into those who believe and those who doubt. And it will be up to Cassie and Polly to stop a mutiny, discover the truth, and usher the ship into a new age of exploration...

Tango Charley and Foxtrot Remeo:

Lunar police officer Anna-Louise Bach helps save a girl surviving on a long-abandoned space station that is about to crash.

The Star Pit:

Space Travel is as easy as jumping on a ship - but only if you're golden...

Press Enter:

Victor Apfel, a troubled war vet, gets an odd, pre-recorded phone message, instructing him to go inside the house next door. He opens the door to find his neighbor shot through the head. But is it suicide - or murder? And is it possible that a computer is to blame?

Hawksbill Station:

In the mid-21st century, time travel is used to send political prisoners to Hawksbill Station, a prison camp in the late Cambrian Era. When the latest arrival suspiciously deflects questions about his crimes and knowledge of 'Up Front', the inmates decide to find out his secret.

Nanowire Time:

The Persistence of Vision:

In a 1990s buffeted with crises, the narrator, lacking any meaning to his life, finds a happy community of deaf-blinds. This story is a quest for the trancendant, couched in a questioning of whether physical disabilities can free people from the mundane.