Future history . . .

The Wreck of the Godspeed and Other Stories by James Patrick Kelly
August 2008, $24.95, hardcover
ISBN10: 1-930846-51-7
ISBN13: 978-1-930846-51-7

For thirty years James Patrick Kelly has been writing award-nominated and -winning short fiction, and these thirteen stories of his recent work are of the high quality and cutting style that is synonymous with him. In Nebula-winner “Burn” a supposedly idyllic world comes to grip with environment responsibility and environmental terrorists, coupled with the personal decisions that are never clear or easy. In “Men Are Trouble,” nominated for the Nebula award, “devils” have eliminated men from Earth and “seed” woman for procreation; the story revolves around the search for a missing person and the discovery of an underground that is seeking to reestablish the “way things were.” In the Hugo nominated “The Best Christmas Ever” mechanicals must keep the last man on Earth happy, and do so by throwing him the best, and possibly last, Christmas ever. In the Hugo-nominated, morality tale “Bernardo’s House” we meet a high-tech house and artificial woman, controlled by an AI, pining away awaiting the return of Bernardo—that is, until someone does visit. A HAL-like interstellar ship and a colorful group of pilgrims seek new worlds to explore in “The Wreck of the Godspeed,” but is the ship’s AI acting a bit strange? Is the AI going insane, or is something unique happening? The man who killed the last mammoth; will he be remembered as the hero, with “Luck”? To what extent will TV programs of the future go to get ratings? Ask the sentient “The Leila Torn Show.” In “The Dark Side of Town” the problems and temptations of a happy virtual reality versus a dismal real life are examined. What would like be like if one had to pass a test before one could become a “Mother”? A colony ship’s captain is behaving weirdly on “Dividing the Sustain,” and the ship needs a fully functional captain. Where is he, and how will he make his appearance? The Garden of Eden story is retold from the serpent’s view, in “Serpent.” What hath God wrought? Where is “The Edge of Nowhere” and what is past nowhere? “The Ice is Singing” in harmony? Does it sing to you? This collection of Kelly’s recent work provides the reader with new insights into the human psyche, as well as some of the best speculative SF fiction available.

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Harvest of Changelings by Warren Rochelle
September 2008, $14.95, softcover reprint

Ten years ago Ben Tyson a librarian living in Garner, NC, met and loved Valeria, a Daoine Sidhe woman. Valeria's death left Ben to raise their child, Malachi, alone, and for ten years, the two of them lived a fairly ordinary life. Everything changed when Malachi turned ten and began to manifest his fey powers but without the control a full-blooded fairy would have. Ben has to get his son through the nearest gate to Faerie* before these powers kill him. But, where is the gate? Where are the three other children Malachi dreams of--earth, fire, and water to his air? Why are there reports of such things as dragon sightings and bookstores are selling out of titles on the occult and witchcraft? All Ben knows is the date the gate can next be opened, Halloween. What he doesn't know is that the powers in Faerie have called home the descendents of changelings left here generations ago. Ben doesn't know there are evil forces in both universes trying to prevent this return. He doesn't know the fate of two universes.

More than a straightforward fairy tale, this is a story of the Other: those who are different--physically, mentally, and in how their lifestyles. The four part-fairy children are taunted because by their classmates because of these differences; two have been abused by their parents. All four are outsiders. As they find each other, they find they must learn how to survive together, and unite to overcome the apathy and prejudice of humans, as well as the evil Fomorii.

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Jeffrey Ford — The Well-Built City Trilogy
Book 1: The Physiognomy
Book 2: Memoranda
Book 3: The Beyond
October/November 2008, $14.95, softcover reprints

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Lucius Shepard, novella collection, TBD

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Holiday, M. Rickert, TBD

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Empties, George Zebrowski, TBD

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