In this town, you can’t stop criminals with a fist. You gotta make them weep for shame.For decades, brutal ganglords have held the city under their thumb. But now a champion is taking back the streets. He breaks down gangsters emotionally, then posts video of their sobbing confessions online for everyone to see.For this tactic, tabloids call this vigilante the Purple Onion.The tides seem to be turning. Until a new threat emerges . . .

Marooned on a killbug planet, deadly foes outnumber and surround us. Supplies dwindling, morale decaying. Our orders – survive at any cost.To motivate us to keep each other alive, the major has assigned the grim task of eulogizing the dead to whoever was standing closest when the enemy splattered their guts across the bug-tunnel walls.Time and again, this task has fallen to me, Pvt. Timothy Archon.Totally not my fault! That pervert, Grayson, for ins...

Kevin is pretty cool with being uncool.Back in the '80s, he did it all. The spiked mohawk, the chains, the stompin' boots, the punk rock clubs. Brawl by brawl, he made name for himself as the most kickass vampire in Lower Manhattan.But after his friends got staked, he decided to lay low.Today he lives in an abandoned church in rural Ohio. His hobbies include playing Billy Joel on the organ and painting the statuary with nail polish from Walgreens.

The Convent of Mary the Queen sits majestically on beautiful grounds miles from the nearest town. Years ago, something so sinister and evil happened in the convent, something so dire that no one speaks about it. Therese is excited to become a nun; it has been her lifelong dream. She enters the convent with much happiness and enthusiasm, ecstatic that her dream has now become a reality. She works hard, and prays hard. The sisters are overjoyed to have a young woman join them, and Therese so...

With two great golden clouds suspended around it, Moth was the only planet that appeared to have wings. It was a beautiful planet . . . and a trap for the unwary.Here was a wide-open world for any venture a man might scheme. The planet attracted unwary travelers, hardened space-sailors, and merchant buccaneers—a teeming, constantly shifting horde that provideda comfortable income for certain quick-witted fellows like Flinx and his pet mini-dragon, Pip. With his odd...

The 13th Science Fiction MEGAPACK® continues the bestselling anthology series, presenting modern and classic works of speculative fiction. This edition features an interview with author Robert J. Sawyer plus 26 great stories! Included are:SARGASSO OF LOST STARSHIPS, by Poul AndersonTHE DAY IS DONE, by Lester del ReyX MARKS THE PEDWALK, by Fritz LeiberRAFT, by Larry TrittenSPACEMAN ON A SPREE, by Mack ReynoldsTHE MASKED WORLD, by Jack Williamson

A science fiction epic from "the best writer in America" (Tom Clancy)—Hugo and Nebula award-winning author John Varley.Fleeing Earth after an alien invasion, the human race stands on the threshold of evolution. Their new home is Luna, a moon colony blessed with creature comforts, prolonged lifespans, digital memories, and instant sex changes.But the people of Luna are bored, restless, suicidal—and so is the computer that monitors their existence...

United in their natural form they are one, sharing all their memories, experiences, and lives. Apart they are six, the only existing members of their ancient race, a species with the ability to assume any form once they understand its essence.Their continued survival in a universe filled with races ready to destroy anyone perceived as different is based on the Rules. And first among those Rules is: Never reveal your true nature to another being. But when the youngest among them, Es...

It's Howling Time in Known Space again!Back to the Frontlines of theTop Selling Space War in All of Science Fiction.The first colonists from Earth named the planet Wunderland. Generations later, the felinoid invaders called Kzin came and turned it into a hell for humans. Touched on in other accounts of the Man-Kzin wars, here for the first time is the decades-long saga of Wunderland: How the Wunderlanders first learne...

Welcome to the hottest pocket in Larry Niven’s Known Space: the time of the assault on pacifist humanity by berserker felinoids from the planet Kzin. This time humanity’s representatives to the Warrior Race are Donald Kingsbury, Greg Bear, and Steve Stirling. As is traditional in this war for species survival, in all cases “monkey cleverness” (i.e., human cunning) is more than a match for felinoid ferocity. But as is also traditional, victory never comes cheap to those out on the sharp edg...

LARRY NIVEN’S KNOWN SPACE IS AFLAME WITH WAR!Once upon a time, in the very earliest days ofinterplanetary exploration, an unarmed humanvessel was set upon by a warship from theplanet Kzin—home of the fiercest warriors inKnown Space. This was a fatal mistake for theKzinti, of course; they learned the hard way thatthe reason humanity had decided to study warno more was that humans were so very, verygood at it.And thus began THE MAN-KZIN WARS. Now,several centuries later, the ...

A collection of sixteen science fiction and fantasy short stories from the New York Times–bestselling author of the Xanth series.Here for the pleasure of his millions of fans is a collection of short fiction by bestselling writer Piers Anthony. This collection of sixteen stories includes four that have been published only overseas or in small magazines. Each story is introduced by Piers Anthony. "Alien Plot," the title story, is a brand-new long story that ...