Captain Evgeny Lerner was already struggling to maintain his mastery of the pirate starship Scape Grace and her crew of pan-galactic rogues. He just wanted to guide her toward profit and away from disaster, by navigating the shrinking shadows of an expanding galactic Collective. Stuck with a giant, violent, authoritarian first mate; a half-computer communications officer; a xenophobic ship's doctor; a psychotic, saurian weapons officer; a genetically engineered engineer torn from ...

Tor Essentials presents new editions of science fiction and fantasy titles of proven merit and lasting value, each volume introduced by an appropriate literary figure.After thousands of years of searching, humans stand on the verge of first contact with an alien race. Two human groups: the Qeng Ho, a culture of free, innovative traders, and the Emergents, a ruthless society based on the technological enslavement of minds.The group that opens trade ...

The Culture — a human/machine symbiotic society — has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy.Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game. . . a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and...

An electric blend of sci-fi and horror, Paradise-1 begins a terrifying new trilogy of exploration and survival in deep space from Arthur C. Clarke Award-nominated author David Wellington."A superior space thriller that never flags....Readers will be on the edge of their seats." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)Paradise-1. Earth’s first deep space colony. For thousands of people, it was an opportunity for a new life. Unti...

She's a space pirate with vital information. He's a wanted fugitive with enemies hot on his afterburner. Will their unexpected attraction survive escaping a dangerous asteroid mine in time to avert disaster?Trouble is arising across the galaxy, and space pirate Julke Defayensdytr has vital information for her clan. She's almost given up trying to escape the hidden rogue asteroid mine she's been imprisoned in for over a year. But a new batc...

Fighting for freedom on a deadly moon, first he must win the soul of the woman sent to destroy him.He means nothing to her.After losing everyone she loved, Yumi Swinton was promised a chance to save what remains of Salty Way Galaxy devastated by the catastrophic Oblivion Wars—and finally make peace with her pain. But when she’s ordered to quell flaring unrest on a barren quarry moon, the stalwart hardrock miner at the heart of the trouble ...

Disgusted by a series of climate disasters that have destroyed humanity, the ruling artificial intelligences decide that a planetary surface is unsafe for living species. They begin a multi-million year quest to find a safer home for the human race. But the unpredictable humans they resurrect have their own ideas.Roger Williams, author of the influential singularity classic The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect, returns with this complete edition of The Mort...

In the distant future mankind creates sentient cybertanks patterned on the human brain to help fight their alien enemies. Then, inexplicably, the humans vanished. They just went away. All that is left of the human empire are the cybertanks who, in their own way, keep the human civilization alive. With an intelligence based on the human psyche, the cybertanks continue to defend human space, but also perform scientific research, create art, form committees and ponder the universe.The...

One moment you're on your way home from work; the next thing you know, you're flung across the galaxy, with no way to get back. In PAST IS PROLOGUE, Jack Joystar is about to find that, for him, the adventure is just beginning.

A man is marooned on a government base on the far side of Earth's moon. It doesn't appear as if anyone is coming back...ever. There is food, shelter, air, and water enough to allow him to live for a long time. But the man doesn't want to just continue existing. He needs a goal--a reason to survive.

Bestselling, award-winning futurist David Brin returns to globe-spanning, high concept Science Fiction with Existence.Gerald Livingston is an orbital garbage collector. Only now, high over the blue Earth, he spots something that's … unusual… and pulls it in, sending rumors across Earth's infomesh about an "alien artifact." Amid a maelstrom of worldwide speculation, the Artifact is a game-changer. A message in a bottle? An alien capsule that wants to communicate… or deliver a warnin...

Clarkesworld is a Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning science fiction and fantasy magazine. Each month we bring you a mix of fiction, articles, interviews and art.Our May 2022 issue (#188) contains:Original fiction by Rich Larson ("Wants Pawn Term"), Adriana C. Grigore ("Tea Parties around Nebula-55"), Bo Balder ("Hatching"), David D. Levine ("Kora Is Life"), Liang Qingsan ("The Possibly Brief Life of Guang Hansheng"), Oyedotun Damilola Muees ("A Manual on Different O...