Science Fiction Creation

First contact with a mysterious race of aliens reveals an unusual request; a family's pet dog comes to grips with the newly bestowed gift of human-like intelligence; a poet, in danger and alone on a distant world, makes unlikely allies; hundreds of years in the future, a famous hermit lives in the sea above the now-underwater Harvard University; former friends navigate unsteady peace between human refugees and the technologically superior race that saved them; in a future where human life can be infinitely extended through cybertronic rebirth, one woman declines immortality. 

Keeping up-to-date with the most buzzworthy and cutting-edge science fiction requires sifting through countless magazines, e-zines, websites, blogs, original anthologies, single-author collections, and more - a task accomplishable by only the most determined and voracious readers. For everyone else, Night Shade Books is proud to introduce the latest volume of The Best Science Fiction of the Year, collecting the finest that the genre has to offer, from the biggest names in the field to the most exciting new writers.

Watch out - the Earth just fell into a dark sun's orbit! Or maybe you'd rather visit a theme park called Hell? These are just two of the strange and unnerving tales you'll find in this collection of great science fiction and fantasy stories.

With The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 3, award-winning editor Neil Clarke provides a year-in-review and 27 of the best stories published by both new and established authors in 2017. 

Tormented her entire life by inhuman voices, Jennsen seeks to end her intolerable agony. She at last discovers a way to silence the voices. For everyone else, the torment is about to begin. Richard Rahl and his wife, Kahlan, have been reunited after their long separation, but with winter descending and the paralyzing dread of an army of annihilation occupying their homeland, they must venture deep into a strange and desolate land.

From number one, worldwide, best-selling fantasy author Morgan Rice comes the third book in a long-anticipated science-fiction series. With planet Earth destroyed, what will become of 13-year-old Kevin and Chloe in the mother ship? Will the aliens enslave them? What do they want? Is there any hope of escape? And will Kevin and Chloe ever return to Earth again?

Four sci-fi short stories where you'll find good computers, people who regret their past, and an explanation for something you're familiar with.

A colony survives among the icy rings of a planet, hiding from alien robots determined to destroy them … at a remote site on the edge of the Arctic Circle, a group of scientists, engineers, and physicians gather to gamble humanity’s future on one last-ditch experiment … a man who can’t feel pain has been bioengineered to be a killing machine, but he refuses to give in to his fate … a man is contacted by three future versions of himself, each trying to save their world from destruction. 

With The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Six, award-winning editor Neil Clarke provides a year-in-review and 33 of the best stories published by both new and established authors in 2020. 

The best of the year's science fiction and fantasy stories as selected by the multiple award-winning editor Jonathan Strahan. Distant worlds, time travel, epic adventure, unseen wonders, and much more! The best, most original and brightest science fiction and fantasy stories from around the globe from the past 12 months are brought together in one collection by multiple award winning editor Jonathan Strahan.

Max and the others did what most believed was impossible: they defeated the final tower floor. With that task complete, they face a new challenge. Every member of the party: Max, Tanila, Cordellia, Fowl, Batrire, Sog & Rakonath; is now a god. But the new title doesn't come with the unlimited power they expected their world's creators held.

Incredible Science Fiction: Amazing Tales from the 50's and Beyond, Volume Two collates a collection of some of the very best science-fiction stories published in the '50s together. All these stories (with the exception of The Anatomy of Fear) are now in the public domain and were original published in various science-fiction magazines that were very popular in the 1950s. This is a lovingly curated collection of some of the very best stories published during this time. This collection includes a further story from the Hugo Award-nominated Rog Phillips.

Science fiction is a portal that opens doors onto futures too rich and strange to imagine. Fantasy takes us through doorways of magic and wonder. For more than a decade award-winning editor Jonathan Strahan has sifted through tens of thousands of stories to select the best, the most interesting, the most engaging science fiction and fantasy to thrill and delight readers. 

The enigmatic and likely certifiably crazy Igor Chaosbane has drawn runes into my frat house’s dungeon. Now that’s out of the way, we can really get to training for the War Mage Games. And don’t think I’ve forgotten about my other training methods. There’s a fetching potions tutor who’s got me wondering just what Infernal magic can do.

If I'm to save the Universal Magic, I need to find them. What I need to do with them isn't exactly fit for public consumption, but it's fundamental to who I am as a Creation Mage. I just have to slip into the castle, disguised as a noble, and snatch four other Creation Mages. All while avoiding the eyes of the Queen and the Arcane Council.

I never wanted any of this. Sure, I'll take the universe-shattering powers—who wouldn't? But there's always a bloody price. You don't inherit the ability to bend creation to your will and get to ride off into the sunset. Oh no, every power-hungry dickhead in the universe wants a piece of the action, especially the former God of Creation. Not that I asked for the title—or any of the mess that comes with it. But, if I want to achieve my dream of being left the hell alone, it's going to cost me. And that price? Pain… so much pain.

I've either made the greatest or worst decision of my life: to travel to the Chaosbane Family Ranch to celebrate Yuletide. One of the many fellow festivalgoers accompanying me is arguably the Chaosbane's craziest family member, Leah. There's no telling what kind of crazy antics we'll end up in, but I hope that at least one of them will lead to learning more spells.

Creation Mages to wine and dine. Immortals to defeat. A multiverse to save.

You can't just go around draining the Ethereal Cores of the gods. Firstly, it kills them, and they're supposed to be immortal. And secondly...Well, that's just not how things are done! Unfortunately, no one told Clive that, and now two gods are dead at his hand. Now, he's imprisoned awaiting judgment, and no amount of brute strength or pure obstinance will be enough to wriggle out of this delicate dilemma.

It took everything to defeat the feared Natom Hilgresh. Turns out, that was the easy part. Now the clock is ticking for Clive to return to Far Reach and prepare for the second coming. Of course, it isn’t exactly a Sunday stroll. Navigating unforgiving terrain across the war-torn country of Kalabri, the vast armies of Destruction and Justice swarm the land, killing everyone in their path.