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Mystery, horror, comedy, speculation, paradox, political allegory, nightmare: all these things are Kafka. In the decades since his death in 1924, the works of Franz Kafka have grown in power and influence. New generations of writers and artists have drawn from the well he opened. Kafkaesque presents a broad range of the most imaginative work that has made his name a commonplace even among people who have never read a word of his fiction.
"All of the works collected in Kafkaesque prove both edifying and entertaining...A fine, intelligent, and exquisitely bizarre collection of fiction."
-New York Journal of Books
One of the Internet's most celebrated copyright activists returns with his second collection of essays and polemics. Discussing complex topics in an accessible manner, Cory Doctorow shares visions of a future where artists have full freedom of expression, tempered with the view that creators need to benefit from their own creations. From extolling the Etsy makerverse to excoriating Apple for dumbing-down technology in creating an information monopoly, each unique piece is brief, witty, and at the cutting edge of tech.
"Part Poor Benjamin, part Dr. Spock, Doctorow is by now a wise, trusted guide in this messy—but eminently navigable!—world in which we’ve landed"
-Booklist
"Doctorow makes the complicated accessible throughout this great little guidebook, a GPS for the digital age."
-Publishers Weekly
In his first new collection since 2005, the master of the secret history delves into the mysteries of souls, whether they are sacrificed on the pinnacle of Mount Parnassus or lodged in a television cable box. Featuring two original tales, including a journey back to revisit the Romantic poets, The Bible Repairman and Other Stories also gathers Powers' short fiction that was only previously available in limited editions.
"Powers knows the ways we get haunted - by ambition, loss, greed, and heartbreak - and you finish reading this handful of beautifully crafted tales wishing he'd tell us more."
-Locus
"Powers' first new collection since 2005 assembles five stories and a novella, where he exhibits his extraordinary talent as a fantasist and his uncommon imaginative power."
-SF Site
"Superb.... Here, in potent, distilled form, you will find Powers's trademarked secret histories, heroically damaged (or damagedly heroic) losers, creepy supernatural phenomena, and macabre humor."
-Barnes & Noble Review
These 49 reviews will take you on A Trip to the Moon, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and through the jungle with Tarzan. From Metropolis to a pre-technicolor Oz, Kage Baker guides the reader through the earliest special effects, introduces the first movie stars, and tackles the best and the worst of silent science fiction with her trademark sense of humor.
"Go ahead! Stick your puny rapiers into my wife! But cower before my MUCH BIGGER CUTLASS!"
-from the review of 20,00 Leagues Under the Sea
Urban fantasy - including werewolves, vampires, zombies, and even the Devil - is well represented here in all three of its distinct styles, including the playful mythologies of Charles de Lint, the sexy paranormal romances of Patricia Briggs, and the gritty urban-noir of Neil Gaiman. Other contributors include Holly Black, Emma Bull, Francesca Lia Block, Tim Powers, Suzy McKee Charnas, Carrie Vaughn, and more.
"An essential book not only for longtime followers of such intriguing stories, but those who thought fantasy only took place in the completely imagined worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien" -Bookgasm
"Recommended for anyone who has a smartphone, watches TV, or uses the Internet."
-Pop Matters
This cutting-edge exploration of the mass-media age features prescient fiction and incisive essays from the best and brightest visionaries of the future. Contributors include Marshall McLuhan, Ray Bradbury, Aldous Huxley, Cory Doctorow, James Tiptree, Jr., Nicholas Carr, Octavia Butler, Judy Wacjman, Joe Haldeman, Kate Wilhelm, Timothy Berners-Lee, and more.
"Often deep, occasionally dense, and always thought-provoking, these works will appeal to both academics and lay readers."
-Publishers Weekly
"Recommended for anyone who has a smartphone, watches TV, or uses the Internet."
-Pop Matters
In this long-awaited new novel from an American Book Award winner, an ages-old family secret breaches the boundaries between reality and magic, revealing the places between them. Will Taylor has fallen for the enigmatic Livvy Feierabend. But Livvy's family - vivacious actress Maddie, family historian Rose, and their mother, absent-minded Sylvia - are behaving strangely, as though they are living in some kind of fairy tale...
"The author of The Red Magician and The Alchemist's Door has written an exquisitely beautiful, eerily compelling modern fairy tale.... A treat for fantasy lovers and folk/fairy tale enthusiasts alike."
-Library Journal, starred review
"The arrival of a new Goldstein fantasy is a major cause for rejoicing. And The Uncertain Places does not disappoint."
-io9
Jilly Coppercorn is faced with a life-changing choice. Her best friend Donna from the bad old days takes Jilly into a beautiful mysterious city full of wonderful opportunities and delights that at first seems perfect. But the problem is that the journey was a one-way trip. This original novel both celebrates and journeys beyond Charles de Lint's popular mythical city of Newford.
"[De Lint] clearly has no equal as an urban fantasist."
-Booklist
"De Lint's elegant prose and effective storytelling continue to transform the mundane into the magical at every turn."
-Library Journal
Crucified Dreams reaches down through the gutters into the shadowy depths of the imagination. These are the savage tales that unite noir with horror and the ordinary with the unfathomable. Combing the urban, the paranormal, and the downright terrifying, these award-winning stories go where your deepest fears - and inner demons - are already realized.
"...prime pieces by respected genre writers. Readers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror will find something within their respective (or overlapping) tastes to enjoy."
-Hellnotes
"Spanning more than 35 years, and pulled from a wide variety of horror, fantasy, mystery, and science fiction publications, [the stories] reflect a uniform standard of excellence by which any writer would want to measure his own work."
-Locus
This extraordinary collection of new fiction reveals a magician at the height of his powers, a storyteller who is more mesmerizing with every tale. Whether melancholy, comedic, or deeply tragic, these tales are suffused with a luminous misdirection that reveals far more meets the eye.
"Short story and fantasy lovers will devour these tasty tidbits that whet the appetite for more."
-Library Journal
"This 13-story anthology will entice even the most jaded reader to read long hours into the night.... Sleight of Hand will beguile and enchant."
-New York Journal of Books
"Beagle still has the power to surprise...a new collection of stories by one of the all-time greats."
-UK Guardian
Brilliant, talented, and charismatic, Philip K. Dick was a prolific author, a loyal friend, and a loving father and husband. His six-year marriage to Anne R. Dick, whom he described as the love of his life, was full of passion, the meeting of both intellectual soulmates and best friends. But behind the facade of an untroubled life was a man struggling with inner demons. This intricate biographical memoir reveals one of the twentieth century's most important writers through his tumultuous relationship with his ex-wife.
"...invaluable for Dick fans and scholars because it's told by the one person he was close to at an important turning point in his career."
-New York Times
"The secret of Phil Dick's greatness, as with so many other great men, is his wife, Anne."
-Thomas M. Disch, author of Camp Concentration and The Wall of America
Gentle Readers, after the outraged letters following our first volume, I would be remiss not to warn you. The handsome tome that lies between your hands is perhaps even more shocking than its predecessor. And yet, I see that your curiosity is piqued, so....
Steampunk Reloaded, featuring classic and original fiction, nonfiction, and illustrations, takes up where the highly-popular first Steampunk anthology left off. Clockwork contraptions, outrageous dirigibles, and insane inventors are just the beginning. Herein you will find the light and humorous to the decidedly more serious and back again.
{Starred Review] "The dynamic VanderMeers follow 2008's Steampunk with this engaging anthology of 23 stories (three original to this volume, including Jeffrey Ford's "Dr. Lash Remembers"), two essays (including one by Gail Carriger), and a roundtable interview, all of which define, deepen, and demonstrate the clockwork beauty of automaton-laden science fiction."
-Publishers Weekly
"Steampunk is a genre for thinkers, and this book proves the point."
-New York Journal of Books
Join the disembodied head of Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, Frankenstein (a.k.a. The Creature), the Tin Man, Captain Nemo, Mark Twain, Jules Verne and the inestimable Ned the Seal as they embark upon a spectacular set of non-stop Steampunk adventures. For the first time, two epic chronicles, inscribed by a courageous young seal on his trusty notepad, are collected together in one volume.
"A madcap excursion."
-Shelf Awareness
"The comparison to Alan Moore's great comic series is probably the most apt, both in the form of a collection of historic and literary characters and in the tone of Moore's delight in the obscene."
-Voyages Extraordinaires
In this exciting canonic volume, Peter S. Beagle introduces the Secret History of Fantasy, which began as epic sword-and-sorcery fantasy became popular. Gifted writers rediscovered older fantasy classics and redefined the genre in their own unique voices. Contributors include Gregory Maguire, Francesca Lia Block, Patricia McKillip, Neil Gaiman, and more.
"All 17 stories eschew all or most of the conventions of commercial fantasy.... Start reading and expect to enjoy."
-Booklist
"...set[s] out to rewrite our concept of fantasy, and with the help of some of the world's best writers, succeeds admirably."
-The Agony Column
All of the finest stories of this popular pioneer of urban fantasy and creator of the mythical city of Newford have been chosen by the author � and his fans � and gathered in this extraordinary collection. These are retold fairy tales and new modern myths that redefine the boundaries of magic, which might be found in a heroic, selfless act or sitting a table away at your local cafe.
"An outstanding and widely varied collection of 29 tales... Longtime fans and newcomers alike will fall in love with de Lint's graceful, poetic language and characters."
-Publishers Weekly
"The Very Best of Charles de Lint truly is Charles de Lint at his very best."
-FantasyLiterature.com
Compared by critics to Borges, Nabokov, and Kafka, an inventive contemporary fantasist continues to amaze with this surreal, innovative, and absurdist gathering of award-winning short fiction. Exotic beasts and improbable travelers roam restlessly through Jeff Vandermeer's darkly diverting and finely-honed tales
"VanderMeer proves again why he is so essential and why everybody should be reading him."
-Junot Diaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
"One of our very best contemporary practitioners of the fantastic...superb prose, overwhelmingly odd situations, and fascinating, eccentric characters."
-Publishers Weekly, starred review
A perfect gift book, this sumptuously illustrated and whimsically bite-sized bestiary is the definitive - in fact only - guide to the kosherness (kashrut) of imaginary animals. It is an undomesticated romp from A to Z, including E. T., hobbits, Mongolian Death Worms, and the elusive chupacabra.
"This slim and silly volume is the ideal gift for anyone who has tried to make a saving throw vs. petrification using a dreidel."
-io9.com
"Witty."
-Jewish Humor Central
"Amusement, amazement and culinary benefit"
-The Agony Column
This sophisticated, scary anthology collects the best horror fiction published during 1984 and 2005, one of horror's most prolific eras. These exceptionally diverse stories, hand-picked by horror expert editor Ellen Datlow, are tales of the subtly psychological, the unpredictably mischievous, and the disturbingly visceral.
"An anthology to be cherished and an invaluable reference for horror aficionados."
-Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Make sure you are in a safe place before you open it up."
-New York Journal of Books
Godzilla's in a twelve-step program. A soul-sucking Mummy stalks Elvis and John F. Kennedy. Joe Bob Briggs has a moral dilemma: If your girlfriend turns zombie on you, what do you do? And that's the tame stuff. Joe R. Lansdale, the high priest of Texan weirdness, will shock, amuse, and offend you as only he can.
"Always entertaining, champion storyteller Lansdale shares his best weird yarns in this terrific collection.... This is a great introduction to the raunchy, cheerfully unclassifiable East Texan bon vivant."
-Publishers Weekly
"Let this volume introduce you to his uncensored, unfiltered world. He is a writer deserving of a wide and appreciative audience."
-UK Guardian
Booklife is the first book that addresses the new challenges facing 21st-century writers: balancing self promotion with the craft of writing. It covers both online opportunities such as blogging, social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, as well practical and creative aspects of writing. Web and publishing expert Jeff VanderMeer uses twenty-five years of experience to help you get a Booklife now.
"Jeff VanderMeer has written a fascinating book on managing a writing career.... Recommended for anyone who writes, wants to write, or has written and now wonders what to do next."
-Nancy Kress, author of the bestseller, Write Great Fiction
"If you're at all interested in writing, especially an eventual career in writing (which nowadays requires considerable skill in self-management and strategic use of promotional tools), Booklife should be on your bookshelf."
-Wired
It is 1945. Inspired by the U.S. Army's intention to build an atomic bomb, the Navy plans its own dramatic ending to World War II, the Knickerbocker Project. The goal is to produce the ultimate biological weapon: giant Godzilla-esque fire-breathing iguanas with a penchant for total destruction. Is Syms Thorley, B-movie star, ready to don a rubber monster-suit for the good of his country?
"Preposterous but somehow almost plausible, skillfully mingling real and imaginary characters with genuinely hilarious moments."
-Kirkus
"James Morrow deftly combines humor, pathos, rubber-suited monsters and the absurdity and horrors of war into a compact novel that elicits laughter and tears in equal measure."
-Green Man Review
The secret is out. Exploring an alternate history of science fiction, this ingenious anthology showcases eighteen brilliant authors - including Don DeLillo, Margaret Atwood, T. C. Boyle, Connie Willis, Michael Chabon, and more - who are leading the way to a new literature of the future. These award-winning stories defy trends, cross genres, and prove great fiction cannot be categorized.
"All I really want to do, at the moment, is embrace the unsuspecting editors in a massive, spine-crunching bear hug"
-Ed Park, LA Times
"These stories are good enough to make The New Yorkers Eustace Tilley pop his cartoon monocle."
-io9
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