An anthology of stories edited by John Joseph Adams. From Dracula to Buffy the Vampire Slayer; from Castlevania to Tru Blood, the romance between popular culture and vampires hearkens back to humanity’s darkest, deepest fears, flowing through our very blood, fears of death, and life, and insatiable hunger. And yet, there is an attraction, undeniable, to the vampire archetype, whether the pale European count, impeccably dressed and coldly masculine, yet strangely ambiguous, ready to sink his sharp teeth deep into his victims’ necks, draining or converting them, or the vamp, the count’s feminine counterpart, villain and victim in one, using her wiles and icy sexuality to corrupt man and woman alike… Edited by John Joseph Adams (Wastelands, The Living Dead), By Blood We Live gathers together the best vampire literature of the last three decades from many of today’s most renowned authors of fantasy, speculative fiction, and horror

Imagine a near-future city, say London, where medical science has advanced beyond our own and a single-dose pill has been developed that, taken when pregnant, eradicates many common genetic defects from an unborn child. Hope Morrison, mother of a hyperactive four-year-old, is expecting her second child. She refuses to take The Fix, as the pill is known. This divides her family and friends and puts her and her husband in danger of imprisonment or worse. Is her decision a private matter of individual choice, or is it tantamount to willful neglect of her unborn child? A plausible and original novel with sinister echoes of 1984 and Brave New World

A four hundred year journey through space is about to end for the teeming inhabitants of a large ship-world. The air is thick with expectation as they enter the system that is to become their new home, the probes reporting nothing more advanced than bacteria and algae among the clustered planets. But the original data was wrong, and direct scans of the planet reveal a whole alien civilisation. Maybe the aliens have just arrived. Maybe evolution has been incredibly rapid during their long journey… Neither of these explanations seem plausible. It seems likely that the probe data has been falsified from the beginning. Advice is years distant, help is decades away. They’re on their own and they’ll have to decide a plan of action fast as the rest of humanity is just as vulnerable and not much further away. Won Prometheus Award in 2006. Nominated for BSFA Award in 2005. Nominated for Hugo, Locus, and Campbell awards in 2006

In the aftermath of the Hard Rapture—a cataclysmic war sparked by the explosive evolution of Earth’s artificial intelligences into godlike beings—a few remnants of humanity managed to survive. Some even prospered. Lucinda Carlyle, head of an ambitious clan of galactic entrepreneurs, had carved out a profitable niche for herself and her kin by taking control of the Skein, a chain of interstellar gates left behind by the posthumans. But on a world called Eurydice, a remote planet at the farthest rim of the galaxy, Lucinda stumbled upon a forgotten relic of the past that could threaten the Carlyles’ way of life. For, in the last instants before the war, a desperate band of scientists had scanned billions of human personalities into digital storage, and sent them into space in the hope of one day resurrecting them to the flesh. Now, armed, dangerous, and very much alive, these revenants have triggered a fateful confrontation that could shatter the balance of power, and even change the nature of reality itself

Every short story in this wonderfully varied collection has one thing in common: each features some alteration in history, some divergence from historical reality, which results in a world very different from the one we know today. As well as original stories specially commissioned from bestselling writers such as James Morrow, Stephen Baxter and Ken MacLeod, there are genre classics such as Kim Stanley Robinson’s story of how World War II atomic bomber the Enola Gay, having crashed on a training flight, is replaced by the Lucky Strike with profoundly different consequences

In the new millennium, what secrets lay beyond the far reaches of the universe? What mysteries belie the truths we once held to be self evident? The world of science fiction has long been a porthole into the realities of tomorrow, blurring the line between life and art. Now, in The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Ninth Annual Collection the very best SF authors explore ideas of a new world. This venerable collection brings together short stories from award winning authors and masters of the field such as Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, Damien Broderick, Elizabeth Bear, Paul McAuley and John Barnes. And with an extensive recommended reading guide and a summation of the year in science fiction, this annual compilation has become the definitive must-read anthology for all science fiction fans and readers interested in breaking into the genre. In this collection of thirty-five science fiction stories from 2011, Gardner Dozois once again identifies the best stories of the year

Once again, the finest short-form sf offerings of the year have been collected in a single volume. With Year's Best SF 17, acclaimed, award-winning editors and anthologists David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer demonstrate the amazing depth and power of contemporary speculative fiction, showcasing astonishing stories from some of the genre's most respected names as well as exciting new writers to watch. Prepare to travel light years from the ordinary into a tomorrow at once breathtaking, frightening, and possible, with tales of wonder from: Elizabeth Bear Gregory Benford Neil Gaiman Nancy Kress Michael Swanwick and others

Karlailų klanas kontroliuoja tarperdvinių kirmgraužių tinklą ir Euridikės planetoje aptinka keistą gigantišką reliktą, kurį nežinia kas sukūrė. Galbūt tai svetimeivių statinys, o gal vadinamųjų postžmonių architektūrinis paveldas. Kad ir kaip būtų, šis atradimas iš esmės pakeitė visos žmonijos likimą