From a giant spider that can’t be ignored in a high school classroom, to humanity facing a mutagen plague, to the last two robots witnessing the end of the universe, this comprehensive collection includes sixty-two of the best stories from James Van Pelt’s fertile and wide-ranging imagination that have appeared over the last thirty years in Asimov's, Analog, Realms of Fantasy, Weird Tales, Talebones, and numerous other science fiction and fantasy publications.

Included in this collection is a Nebula finalist, a Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award Finalist, numerous stories that were recognized by Analog or Asimov’s readers as among the best of the year, along with titles that were reprinted in Gardner Dozois’s Year’s Best Science Fiction, and other year’s best anthologies.

Frightening or thrilling or uplifting, each of these stories is an exploration into the unknown. Take up a journey now into The Best of James Van Pelt.

THE FATES OF UNIVERSES AREN’T THE ONLY THINGS TIME TRAVEL CAN IMPACT

It was supposed to be a routine trip for the members of the Gordian Division, both human and AI: fly out to Saturn, inspect the construction of their latest time machines, then fly back.

But when the division’s top scientist and chief engineer are killed in the same freak accident, suspicions of foul play run deep. Detective Isaac Cho is sent in to investigate, but he has more on his mind than just a new case. His superiors have saddled him with an exchange officer from the neighboring Admin—Special Agent Susan Cantrell—whose notion of proper “law enforcement” involves blowing up criminals first and skipping questions entirely.

Despite his objections, Cho is stuck with an untested partner on a case that increasingly reeks of murder and conspiracy. The unlikely pair must work together to unravel this mystery, and soon they discover their unique combination of skills might just provide the edge they need.

But nothing is ever simple where the Gordian Division is involved.

Not even time itself.

A NEW KENCYRATH NOVEL!

Jamethiel Knorth, Priest’s Bane and Dream-Weaver, has returned victorious from Taitastigon, but trouble dogs the Kencyrath.

There is intrigue among the Highborn. The Randir and his allies want the larger houses to decide for all nine, which would strip the Highlordship from the Knorth. At Omiroth, a senile king struggles against his venal son-in-law—but if neither of these can rule, the next in line is a mother-dominated child. Kindrie Soul-Walker is captured and thrown in a secret dungeon, a political prisoner. And a Kendar administrator, dissatisfied with the use that Jame is making of the gates, schemes against her, and then against her house and her brother, Torisen Black Lord, Highlord of the Kencyrath.

Onward!

From their very first convention, LibertyCon and the volunteers who run it have been a breed apart. Every year, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, it attracts the best of the best science fiction and fantasy authors, scientists, artists, and fans. Woods Publishing invites you to join us for an anthology of all-new fiction by fifteen very talented authors.

Featuring a new Honorverse story by David Weber and stories by best-selling authors, Eric Flint, Kevin J. Anderson, Travis S. Taylor, D.J. Butler, and more!

Onward, LibertyCon! is a must for any fan of this convention. For those who haven’t attended this convention, I ask: What are you waiting for?

Since being brought forward in time to the post apocalyptic wastelands of what was once his home, life has been pretty hard on Paul. Though it has had two good points, namely Sarah and Heather. But now Coyote wants him to take care of the task that he was brought here to deal with in the first place: Aybem. While it has always been clear that destroying Aybem is supposed to be Riggs' job, Coyote remains unconvinced that Riggs can do it without Paul's help. After seeing just what Riggs is capable of doing, Paul isn't as convinced that he needs to be there, but he also knows he's not going to get any choice in the matter. And of course, just what does happen to you once Coyote no longer needs your help? This is the last book in the Days of the Future Past trilogy, a story of a young man brought forward in time because he came to the attention of Coyote, who thought that the gods' chosen hero just might need some help.

Coyote has a new task for Paul, one that involves him traveling north hundreds of miles over the post-apocalyptic landscape of California, the place that Paul once called home. Thankfully, Sarah and Heather have both decided to go with him and between Heather's shooting skills and Sarah's magical ones; Paul thinks he might just live through whatever scheme Coyote has enlisted him in. If he can live through telling the girls just what Coyote's got him carrying in his pack now of course. At least he's done with Riggs and hopefully won't have to deal with him ever again, nothing could be worse than that after all!

Paul's been having a bad day, perhaps one of the worst days he's ever had. And now into the middle of all this, his instructor just got drafted by some mystical goddess to help save a world. As for Paul? Well, he's really not supposed to be there, and if he thought he was having a bad day before all of this, it just got worse, a lot worse. He's now on a one-way trip, forced to help a man who despises him while at the mercy of the world's biggest trickster.

2 Ebooks, $8.98

Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandma’s Radish and Other Stories

by Tang Tang

Neil Peart: Cultural Repercussions

by Bradley J. Birzer

A Full Examination of the Words and Ideas of Neil Peart,
man of Letters and Drummer Extraordinaire of the Rock Band Rush.
Revised and Expanded Edition

In January 2020, the world lost not only one of the greatest drummers, but also one of the most insightful lyricists. And a brilliant writer.

Though Neil Peart was universally lauded as drummer for legendary rock band Rush, few studies have been devoted to his writings. Yet, Peart was very much a man of his words. He wrote lyrics, travelogues, essays, cultural criticism, short stories, and fantasy novels.

The themes in his writings are timeless: personal journeys, exploration, excellence, growth, philosophy, art, satisfaction and happiness, religion, politics, individualism, natural history, life, love, loss, redemption, and beauty.

Peart wanted every person to persevere through individual trials, find unique gifts and abilities and, ultimately, true happiness. He did not just profess such things; he lived them.

Never satisfied with second best or any form of defeat, Peart challenged himself to live up to his own philosophy. And he always succeeded with grace, which earned him even more fervent admirers.

Since his death in 2020, Neil Peart has continued to inspire thousands through his music, his words, and his example.

This book—revised and expanded to incorporate Peart’s final years—carefully examines the influence that his life, his witness, and his words have had on others. Neil Peart lived life to the fullest, and he made us each better for it.

There’s the new treecat adoptee who needs to be kept from becoming a risk to the carefully guarded secret of just how smart the arboreal inhabitants of Sphinx really are.

There’s the overeager journalist whose campaign to protect the treecats from exploitation as the newest, coolest pet on any planet could threaten the very creatures he seeks to defend.

And there’s the mysterious rash of weird accidents that are plaguing Sphinx’s younger inhabitants—including some of those nearest and dearest to Stephanie.

In trying to get enough proof to get the understaffed authorities of her pioneer planet to act, Stephanie will be called upon to attempt things she never imagined doing—including going undercover into the wilds of the late-night club scene, a realm where her faithful treecat guardian, Lionheart, cannot follow. . . .

Robosoldiers. They take many forms, from disembodied AI to humanlike androids and more. But at their cores beat the cybernetic hearts of warriors! In these stories of hard military SF you will journey to the battlefields of tomorrow with the veterans who have been there and the researchers developing the next phase of battle and get a glimpse into the future of warfare.

New stories from David Drake, Richard Fox, Weston Ochse, Martin L. Shoemaker, T.C. McCarthy, Brad R. Torgersen, and more!

Within a military that prides teamwork, strength in numbers, and camaraderie, the sniper is the outlier. The loner. The specialist whose talent can mean the difference between mission success and disaster—and often between life and death. Kyle Monroe is one member of this exclusive fraternity. Wade Curtis is another. From Pakistan to the tunnels beneath the ruins of Vlad the Impaler’s castle in Romania to the jungles of Indonesia, Monroe and Curtis are the best at what they do: eliminating their nation’s enemies from a distance with one well-placed bullet to the head.

Includes three complete military thriller novels: The Scope of Justice, Targets of Opportunity, and Confirmed Kill.

Welcome to Fairy Tales from Tang Tang

Tang Tang weaves traditional Chinese storytelling with Western fantasy elements, using vivid language to craft unique stories of wonder and magic. These beautiful, poignant fairy tales will leave an imprint on your heart with their universal themes of friendship, family, loyalty and loss.

What happens when . . .
• a young boy is sent to rob a silly ghost?
• a young girl faces the Blue Hag feared by everyone in the village?
• a magical radish seed sets out to do great things?
• a primary school teacher reluctantly takes a class about fairy tales?

This book is for children and for adults who never lost their sense of wonder.

Translated from the original Chinese.
Edited by Rebecca Moesta and illustrated by Lü Qiumei.
Translated by Li Xiaochun and Rebecca Moesta.

A BIOTECH RACE AGAINST TIME TO DEVELOP MILITARY-GRADE DRAGONS

Genetic engineer Noah Parker has at last landed the job he’s long coveted: director of dragon design for the Build-A-Dragon Company. With a combination of genetic engineering and a cryptic device known as the Redwood Codex, he and his team can produce living, breathing dragons made-to-order. But sales of dragons have plummeted, and the Build-A-Dragon Company will have to find new revenue streams if it hopes to stay in business. A contract to develop dragons for the U.S. military promises a much-needed lifeline. Yet the specs are more challenging than anything Noah has ever designed. Worse, he learns that a shadow company headed by former CEO Robert Greaves has stolen the dragon-making technology to make a competing bid. Noah’s dragons will face off against those of his old adversary. It’s a head-to-head design competition, with the ethical future of domesticated dragons hanging in the balance.

A COMING-OF-AGE STORY LIKE NO OTHER: CHAIM CAAN, AN OBSERVANT JEW, FINDS HE MUST MAKE SENSE OF HIS PLACE IN THE WORLD WHEN HE DISCOVERS HE HAS BEEN TURNED INTO A VAMPIRE

Chaim Caan was just out for a night of fun, blowing off some steam the way a young man will. After the better part of a year spent in COVID lockdowns, he was ready to let his hair down at a night club. But the fascinating young woman he encountered that night left him with something to remember her by: she turned Chaim into a vampire.

Soon, Chaim finds himself thrust into a weird underground world of mysticism and enchantment as he navigates life as the newly undead, trying to reconcile his beliefs as an observant Jew with the new reality that has been thrust upon him.

He is forced to deal with a lot of change: to his body, to his mind, to his perceptions, to his relationships, and even to his world. He finds himself in parts of the world he had never dreamed of being in, and he finds himself doing things that he had never envisioned being a part of his life.

And if he can come to terms with these changes, this mild-mannered young man might just find himself a hero.

“Knights had no meaning in this game. It wasn’t a game for knights.” —Raymond Chandler

In a world of criminals, thugs, con artists, cheats, and swindlers, there must be a man to stand against the powers of darkness and corruption. A man not afraid to walk the mean streets—whether they be those of 1930s Los Angeles, an ancient fantasy realm, or some far-flung planet of a future star empire. He is a man who knows that a “good man” is not always a “nice guy.” But when the chips are down, he understands that a hero does the right thing, even if it means losing everything.

He is Sam Spade. He is Philip Marlowe. He is Rick Deckard. He is Harry Dresden.

He is all these men and more.

Now, join Larry Correia and Kacey Ezell as they present all-new stories of fantasy and science fiction with a hardboiled detective bent by today’s top authors.

Grab the bottle of Scotch from your bottom desk drawer. Light a cigarette. Tilt your fedora back on your head. But don’t forget to watch your back. This is No Game for Knights.

Stories by: Laurell K. Hamilton, Larry Correia, Christopher Ruocchio, Michael Haspil, D.J. Butler, Kacey Ezell, Griffin Barber, Robert Buettner, Sharon Shinn, Craig Martelle, Chris Kennedy, S.A. Bailey, G. Scott Huggins, Nicole Givens Kurtz, and Rob Howell.

6 Ebooks, $27.94

Triploidy

The Archon Sequence
by Bill DeSmedt

The Cat-Tailed Rabbit and Other Stories

by Tang Tang

Silver and Plum and Other Stories

by Tang Tang

Doctor Alien: Three Tales

by Rajnar Vajra

Daughter of Ancients

Bridge of D'Arnath: Book 4
by Carol Berg

Neodymium Betrayal

by Jen Finelli

All-around gold-medal-winning Olympic athlete, world-class pilot, race driver, and hugely successful financial genius, Peter Cory had every reason to be content with life and satisfied with himself. He didn't know, however, that he was the product of a 9000-year-long, alien breeding program, that the challenge for which they had bred him was now impending, and that all the special qualities they had instilled into his DNA were about to face their ultimate test.

A malevolent cosmic force threatened the Galaxy, but before Peter could attempt to save the trillions of sapient beings with which it was populated, he would have to learn to use his gifts.

And even before he could begin his training, he would have to survive the wilds of the most utterly inimical planet in the known universe, armed with only his determination and a gradually dawning awareness of his incredible potential. . . .

A SWEEPING SPACE OPERA

On a normal day of mace-wielding duels and interplanetary sabotage, young Jei Bereens has things under control. He’s plagued by night-terrors and an archenemy as slippery as the grime on his gun, but freedom fighters all around the galaxy look to him for help. He’s got the favor of a mystical energy being and a best friend who’d die for him. On a normal day, Jei is legend.

Today is not a normal day.

Today, Jei broke an enemy soldier's mask and found his best friend inside.

Tomorrow, that best friend will sell Jei out in the name of saving the universe.

And the next day, Jei will disobey orders and break promises to take her down.

Neodymium Betrayal is the second novel of the Neodymium Chronicles, a sweeping space opera series that will appeal to fans of classics like Perelandra and modern hits like the Firebird Trilogy alike.

Fear of the Lords’ final curse was only one reason Gerick never intended to return to Avonar.

He must investigate a refugee from the desert—the charismatic D’Sanya, D’Arnath’s own daughter so she claims, newly released from a thousand-year captivity.

Only Gerick’s deep-buried memories of his life as the Fourth Lord—the last artifacts he could ever wish to revisit—might validate her story before the enraptured Dar’Nethi grant her the power of the Bridge of Worlds.

Tangled in bonds of love, family, guilt, and dread memory, Gerick must unravel the mysteries of ancient magic, ancient evil, and the appalling truth of his own destiny.

Daughter of Ancients—the final installment of the award-winning Bridge of D’Arnath epic fantasy series by Carol Berg.