Science Fiction Alternative History

The best science fiction scrutinizes our culture and politics, examines the limits of the human condition, and zooms across galaxies at faster-than-light speeds, moving from the very near future to the far-flung worlds of tomorrow in the space of a single sentence. Neil Clarke has selected the short science fiction (and only science fiction) best representing the previous year's writing, showcasing the talent, variety, and awesome "sensawunda" that the genre has to offer.

The science fiction genre has become increasingly influential in mainstream popular culture, evolving into one of the most engaging storytelling tools we use to think about technology and consider the shape of the future. Along the way, it has also become one of the major lenses we use to explore important philosophical questions. The origins of science fiction are most often thought to trace to Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, a story born from a night of spooky tale-telling by the fireside that explores scientific, moral, and ethical questions that were of great concern in the 19th century - and that continue to resonate today.

At long last, humanity has moved beyond Earth and begun seeding new worlds. Colonies extend across the solar system, from Luna to Mars to Saturn's satellite Titan. Even Jupiter's moon Europa has become home to a couple thousand brave souls willing to risk their lives adapting to its frozen and deadly landscape.

In a near future London, where extreme weather has depleted plant life, sixteen-year-olds must surgically augment an ability to contribute to the new utopian society. Akaego moves to a prestigious academy after the late discovery of her rare ability - she can project a vocal frequency that accelerates plant growth. As Akaego learns to use her new skill and is chosen for an internship with the mayor she begins to feel like she can change society for the better . . . and it doesn't hurt that the mayor's gorgeous son, Joon, seems to be flirting with her.

“River of Stars is a major accomplishment, the work of a master novelist in full command of his subject.”—Michael Dirda, in The Washington Post “Game of Thrones in China.”—Salon.com Ren Daiyan was still just a boy when he took the lives of seven men while guarding an imperial...

Charles Stross builds a new series with Empire Games. Expanding on the world he created in the Family Trade series, a new generation of paratime travellers walk between parallel universes. The year is 2020. It's seventeen years since the Revolution overthrew the last king of the New British...

Hugo Award-winning author Charlie Stross dives deep into the underbelly of paratime espionage, nuclear warfare, and state surveillance in this provocative techno-thriller audiobook set in The Merchant Princes multi-verse Dark State ups the ante on the already volatile situations laid out in the...

Zac Topping's breathtaking near-future thriller, Wake of War, is a timely account of the lengths those with power will go to preserve it, and the determination of those they exploit to win back their freedom. It's 2037, and the United States government is on the brink of collapse amid rebel...

An expeditionary force will discover unfamiliar lands, fight deadly foes, and reveal secrets as they explore the mysterious new earth they now call home in this gripping alternate history adventure set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Destroyermen series. Ever since the World War...

'an extraordinary science fiction novel' SFX MAGAZINE 'constantly surprising, moving and thought-provoking' GUARDIAN 'a must-read author' SFF WORLD 'perhaps the only writer today cooking up Le Guin's special sauce of liberation frustration and revolutionary blues' LOCUS June 1941, Eastern Europe...

Berlino, 30 aprile 1945: le avanguardie dell'Armata Rossa conquistano il bunker dove Adolf Hitler ha deciso di togliersi la vita. Ma come sarebbe cambiata la storia dell'umanità se quel giorno i soldati sovietici avessero trovato Hitler ancora vivo? Questa è la premessa da cui parte "L'ultimo inganno di Hitler", un avvincente romanzo di fantapolitica che ha come protagonisti alcuni personaggi realmente esistiti dei servizi segreti americani, sovietici e vaticani. Tra questi, lo psichiatra Douglas Kelley, che lavorò per l'esercito statunitense ed era esperto di ipnosi.

Known for his New York Times best-selling alternate history novels, Flint is equally a master of shorter forms, and this second large volume gathers more of Flint's shorter works. Including several stories and a short novel set in Flint's celebrated Ring of Fire alternate history series. A commemorative novelette set in Poul Anderson's Operation Chaos universe. A story with Dave Freer, set in his and Flint's popular Rats, Bats, and Vats series. Several humorous short stories addressing Biblical literalism. A long novella in a Martian steampunk setting.

On their way to fight in the Mexican-American War, a group of American soldiers are swept away to a strange and deadly alternate Earth in this thrilling new adventure set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Destroyermen series. The United States, 1847. A disparate group of young...

From Robert Charles Wilson, the author of the Hugo-winning Spin, comes Burning Paradise, a new tale of humans coming to grips with a universe of implacable strangeness. Cassie Klyne, nineteen years old, lives in the United States in the year 2015—but it's not our United States, and it's not...

Two events made September 1st a memorable day for Jesse Cullum. First, he lost a pair of Oakley sunglasses. Second, he saved the life of President Ulysses S. Grant. In the near future of Robert Charles Wilson's Last Year, the technology exists to open doorways into the past--but not our past...

Nurse Mercy Lynch is elbows deep in bloody laundry at a war hospital in Richmond, Virginia, when Clara Barton comes bearing bad news: Mercy's husband has died in a POW camp. On top of that, a telegram from the west coast declares that her estranged father is gravely injured, and he wishes to see...