While Miles is recuperating from injuries, his boss arrives to question him. Includes three major Vorkosigan novellas: "The Mountains of Mourning," “Labyrinth,” and "The Borders of Infinity."
NEW STORIES OF THE FUTURE OF SPACE EXPLORATION. Original anthology of stories about near-future space exploration from top authors. Includes stories by Jack McDevitt, Michael F. Flynn, Sarah A. Hoyt, Ben Bova, Mike Resnick, and many more.
In Mission: Tomorrow, science fiction writers imagine the future of space exploration with NASA no longer dominant. Will private companies rule the stars or will new governments take up the call? From Brazilians to Russians to Chinese, the characters in these stories deal with everything from strange encounters, to troubled satellites and space ships, to competition for funding and getting there first. Nineteen stories of what-if spanning the gamut from Mercury to Pluto and beyond, assembled by critically praised editor Bryan Thomas Schmidt.
Table of Contents:
"Tombaugh Station" by Robin Wayne Bailey
"Excalibur" by Jack McDevitt
"The Race For Arcadia" by Alex Shvartsman
"A Walkabout Amongst The Stars" by Lezli Robyn
"Sunrise On Mercury" by Robert Silverberg
"In Panic Town, On The Backward Moon" by Michael F. Flynn
"The Ultimate Space Race" by Jaleta Clegg
"Orpheus' Engines" by Christopher McKitterick
"Around The NEO in 80 Days" by Jay Werkheiser
"Iron Pegasus" by Brenda Cooper
"Airtight" by Michael Capobianco
"Windshear" by Angus McIntyre
"On Edge" by Sarah A. Hoyt
"Tartaros" by Mike Resnick
"Malf" by David D. Levine
"Ten Days Up" by Curtis C. Chen
"The Rabbit Hole" by James Gunn
"Rare (Off Earth) Elements (A Sam Gunn Tale)" by Ben Bova
"Tribute" by Jack Skillingstead
Book #21 in the multiple New York Times best‑selling Ring of Fire series. The uptimers and their allies take on the Ottoman Empire at its height of power.
The modern West Virginia town of Grantville has been displaced in time to continental Europe in 1632. Now four years have passed. The long‑feared attack on Austria by the Ottoman Empire has begun. Armed with new weapons inspired by the time‑displaced Americans of Grantville, the Turks are determined to do what they were unable to do in the universe the Americans came from: capture Vienna.
The Ottomans have the advantage of being able to study the failings and errors of their own campaigns in a future they can now avoid. They are led by the young, dynamic, and ruthless Murad IV, the most capable emperor the Ottomans have produced in a century. They are equipped with weapons that would have seemed fantastical to the Turks of that other universe: airships, breech‑loading rifles, rockets—even primitive tanks.
And this time they won’t have to face massive reinforcements from Austria’s allies. In fact, the only force Emperor Gustav Adolf can think of sending to Austria is the United States of Europe Third Division under the command of Mike Stearns. It’s an army currently engaged in a desperate struggle for Bavaria.
The emperors of the USE and Austria share the same problem. They have one too many enemies, one too few allies, and only one general to cover the gaps. Fortunately, that general is Mike Stearns, also known as the Prince of Germany.
Progress! It’s wonderful—though it sometimes has unexpected and undesirable side effects. Read the long warning list of possible side effects on a medicine bottle’s label sometime . . . the part in really tiny print.
But surely the benefits of modern technology outweigh the drawbacks. Until they don’t. Remember how increasingly deadly weapons, from the machine gun to the H‑bomb, were supposed to make war too horrific to even be contemplated? Didn’t happen. The cell phone has made it possible to phone from almost anywhere—too bad if you wanted to be out of reach. And civilization is so big and complicated, that a breakdown of any part can have disastrous consequences. Modern transportation makes it possible to get anywhere in a hurry, though traffic jams and overextended airports may slow the hurry part to a crawl. And it also can ensure that a new disease can go all over the planet in a few days. Then, there’s the sheer complexity of society itself, from interminable waits at the DMV to trying to get tech help on the phone (“Your call is important to us . . .”).
And that’s just the present day. What new technologies, new ways of organizing (or disorganizing) society, new confused and confusing government bureaucracies, new ways for small disgruntled groups to wreak havoc, and worse, will the future bring? Will privacy keep eroding? Could computers and robots take over? Maybe they wouldn’t want to. And if the pace of modern life is driving you batty, just wait to see what’s on the horizon.
Exploring such scary, yet fascinating, possibilities are such masters of science fiction as Robert A. Heinlein, Sarah A. Hoyt, Fritz Leiber, Gordon R. Dickson, Lester del Rey, Christopher Anvil, Fredric Brown, and more, writers who have seen the future—and it may not work . . .
In "Heart of the Tiger" the Kilrathi empire was eradicated through the bravery of a few flying aces. Now, Captain Blair and his wing are fighting a more familiar menace—their fellow humans. Blair had settled down to the quiet life of a farmer, but he's been called back into action to fight rebels from the Border Worlds. And Captain Blair finds that dog-fighting with people is a whole different kettle of kittens than fighting an alien cat species. Those humans are tricky in ways the Kilrathi never dreamed of!
An exciting future thriller from nationally best‑selling author of the Orphan's Legacy science fiction saga. A face‑off with killers in order to guard a secret that could change humanity forever.
LIVE FOREVER—OR DIE TRYING
When the world’s richest man is the victim of a car bomb and literally blown off the Golden Gate Bridge the attack is attributed to terrorists and the world moves on. But some still wonder. Was Manuel Colibri targeted because, as Silicon Valley rumor has it, he was about to make the dream that people alive today can live to be one thousand come true?
Two people are pursuing the truth. Tech journalist Kate Boyle and recovering Iraq war veteran Ben Shepard race through the Bay Area chasing the only clues the reclusive Colibri left behind. They discover not only each other but a cosmic secret that can change human history—and may cost them their lives.
No one thought much about the storm. Not the National Weather Service and not the big‑name meteorologists. Local weatherman Wally Wellman thought there might be trouble, but even he couldn't predict the natural disaster that was about to lay siege to the quiet suburb of Sheridan, Michigan.
Now, with resources stretched to their breaking point, Sheridan police officer Mike Stuart must try to keep the town safe. But there something is lurking in Sheridan. Something as cold as the snow and ice, and just as deadly. A pair of escaped convicts, on the run south, have been stranded in town. But they don't plan on laying low. And as the death toll rises, Officer Stuart must face down enemies far more dangerous—and unpredictable—than any storm.
Lois McMaster Bujold 
