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In this stunning collection of short fiction, 16 of today's masters of speculative fiction reveal the terrors, triumphs, and seeming impossibilities awaiting humanity in the years to come. Featuring never-before-published stories by Kevin J. Anderson, Paul Di Filippo, Alan Dean Foster, CaitlA-n R. Kiernan, Louise Marley, Sean McMullen, John Meaney, Paul Melko, Robert A. Metzger, Chris Roberson, Adam Roberts,Mike Resnick & Harry Turtledove, Robert J. Sawyer, and Robert Charles Wilson.

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Sixteen renowned masters of speculative fiction share their individual visions of the future of humankind, in an anthology containing all-original short stories by Keven J. Anderson, Alan Dean Foster, Sean McMullen, Louise Marley, Mike Resnick, Harry Turtledove, Robert Charles Wilson, and others. Original.

Lou Anders is an editor, author, and journalist. He is the editorial director of Prometheus Books' science fiction imprint Pyr, as well as the anthologies Outside the Box, Live Without A Net, and Projections: Science Fiction in Literature & Film. He is the author of The Making of Star Trek: First Contact, and has published over 500 articles in such magazines as The Believer, Dreamwatch, Star Trek Monthly, Star Wars Monthly, Babylon 5 Magazine, Sci Fi Universe, Doctor Who Magazine, and Manga Max.

The 16 stories in this collection range from Paul Di Filippo's cautionary tale about a future that never sleeps ("Shuteye for the Timebroker") to Robert Charles Wilson's eerie story of a world where the distinctions between the living and the dead or the sentient and the nonsentient are blurred ("The Cartesian Theater"). Editor Anders, the current editorial director of Prometheus Books's Pyr sf imprint, presents sometimes chilling, sometimes ironic, and always surprising visions of the near and not-so-near future. The contributing authors include Kevin J. Anderson, Harry Turtledove, Mike Resnick, Sean McMullen, and other genre veterans. Skilled writing and cutting-edge imagination make this a strong addition to most sf or short story collections.

[Page 104]. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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A few of the 16 contributions to Anders's all-original anthology about the dark side of tomorrow simply present a Big Scary Idea with little storytelling; others offer the kind of thoughtful, full-bodied admonitions that SF can do so well. Sean McMullen's "The Engines of Arcadia," for example, reconsiders the devolutionary theory of H.G. Wells's The Time Machine : what if humans weren't doomed to degenerate but instead could choose to survive happily for all time? Another side of humanity comes into play in Adam Roberts's "Man You Gotta Go," the story of a chirpy, helpful AI that gives us all the chance to explore the universe--if we're willing to give up our physical bodies. The nature of a "human" soul is tested in Robert Charles Wilson's "The Cartesian Theater," in which artificial constructions die in agony for the audience's amusement. These writers stress human potential for bad choices. Evidently, we are the scariest aspect of the future. Read in short stretches, this volume offers a worthwhile assortment of jolting warnings. Anders (Live Without a Net ) is the editorial director of Pyr, Prometheus Books' SF imprint. (Jan.)

[Page 32]. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.