Showing results by narrator "James Patrick Kelly" in All Categories

Here's a cautionary tale about a day in the life of a baby boomer in the not-so-distant future. Climate change has led to economic collapse and social unrest, and yet Ruth lives comfortably enough. But when she sets off on a simple trip across town to visit her friend Matt, she comes face to face with the grim reality of the world she has helped to create.

Chip's luck has run out. He's been on the dole for most of his life and now the government wants to ship him off to fight in the never-ending war in Mexico. But he has two things going for him: a cocky attitude and his thinkmate, an all-knowing personal digital assistant named Mr. Jimmy. Maybe the way to escape is to get in line to step through the mysterious door down the alley. Hundreds of people have passed through, but no one has come out.

Waiting in a doctor's office sure can suck the life out of you. Unless...."Could Be Worse" is a never-before-published story, written and narrated by Hugo and Nebula Award-winner James Patrick Kelly.

He's a simple man, trying to live a simple life. He works at a dry cleaner and lives by himself. He doesn't have any friends and doesn't dare to reach out to others because there's a monster inside of him, a bloody-minded creature he's fighting a losing battle to control. He prays to God for help knowing that, unless his prayers are answered very soon, he will go on a killing spree. A taut tale of suspense and the fantastic, that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last sentence.

What is love? A profound and life-changing emotion, or a heady brew of neurochemicals washing through your brain? Two young medical students take a break from their studies to enjoy a night out at a neuromance palace, where for a mere $40 you can fall deeply in love and out again in a single carefree evening. Here's a romantic comedy about sales techniques, square-dancing, and hormones gone wild.

An overweight draftsman with a love for science fiction answers an ad in the back of his favorite magazine. It promises an incredible weight-loss miracle, but the return address is from Brimstone, Texas. In this wacky tale of diet and revenge, getting what you wish for might cost your immortal soul.

The story of the Cage family, begun in "Solstice", continues. Wynne Cage has grown up and is working as a spook journalist, covering a gang attempting to pull off one of the most spectacular heists in history. When things go very, very wrong, she is forced to throw herself on the mercy of the mysterious owner of Chillon castle. Who is Francois Bonivard and how did he come to be so hideously disfigured? Wynne may be a reporter, but this story soon gets personal.

Here's a slapstick fable for modern times, which will tickle the child in all of us. And you thought you understood the way the government works.

Here's a time travel tale that takes place during the Cuban Missile Crisis. 12 year-old Ray stumbles upon an android from the future that has been sent back to 1962 to change the course of our history. What he asks Ray to help him do will shock you in this gripping story of impossible choices. This story won the Hugo for Best Novelette in 2000.

Bernardo has gone and his intelligent house misses him desperately. Designed to meet all her master's needs, she is his cook, maid, secretary, lover, and secret refuge from the world. Now she struggles to cope with his loss. On the edge of madness, she is saved by the arrival of a damaged young girl, who will teach her what it means to be human.

Where did all the people go? In a bizarre outpost perched on top of a mountain, the survivors of some cyber-cataclysm ponder the fate of humanity. Although all their needs are taken care of, their memories have been so compromised that they question their very reality. When one of them begins a project that will change everything, the mysterious keepers arrive to restore order.

It's Christmas and one of the aliens wants to go shopping at the mall to get in the proper holiday spirit. The trouble is, he doesn't know an elf from an elephant. Here's a wacky Yule story about intelligence, diversity, and too many tins of fruitcake.

Talisha is shocked when she finds mechdream pills in the bottom of her husband's underwear drawer. Designed to create a unique virtual reality based on his wildest fantasies, they will allow him to plumb the depths of his pleasure centers. The only problem is, he's spending the rent money building his virtual paradise. Just what are her husband's deepest desires? Talisha isn't sure she wants to know.

You live on a lake and it's Christmas. You go skating and you happen upon a man frozen under the ice. Who is he? No, don't ask! You're in a horror story.

What if God decided to try again in the Garden of Eden? Humanity 2.0 turns out to be more to the Deity's liking. But of course, the eternal Adversary must always have his say. A comic remake of the book of Genesis - with a sting.

Murph lives on an ocean liner which has been set down in the corn fields of Kansas. He works as a security op and plays dangerous games in a virtual reality called Way Out. But Murph is lonely and wants to meet his online lover, Cat, in person. But who is Cat, exactly, and what secret is she keeping from Murph?

Here's an emotional tale of family secrets set in 2038. Jen has been estranged from her father, a Shakespearian actor, ever since he got divorced from her mother years and years ago. But when her mother dies, Jen is astonished to discover that she has left her ex-husband a fortune in her will. Jen tries to confront her father, but first she must get past the robot that cares for him. This is a Hugo, Nebula, and Sturgeon nominee, and the winner of the Locus Award for best short story of 1997.

More about the strange Cage family from the stories "Solstice" and "Chillon". Now comes Peter, Wynne's son, who is going to be 12 years old forever, or at least as long as Wynne keeps paying to have him twanked. With his robot playmate Comrade, Peter is growing up in a world where virtual reality is commonplace and where people can have themselves genetically altered into dinosaurs, bears or a three-quarters scale replica of the Statue of Liberty.

Welcome to a survivalist's nightmare. On the day a nuclear war is threatening to break out, his wife's car dies 20 miles away from the bunker he has so painstakingly prepared. He has to go get her, but what price is he willing to pay to keep his family safe in the face of the impending holocaust?

A young man signs up for a writing class because he thinks it will be a good place to meet women. The woman he does hook up with tells him a fantastic story and gives him more than he bargained for. A horror story for English majors.