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In the sixth decade of the 21st century, the world has been transformed. Nanotechnology has been perfected, giving humans the ability to change their environment and themselves on the cellular level. And the study of the mind has brought about a revolution in both human psychotherapy and artificial intelligence.It''s a sane and perfect world. Almost.A man called Jack Giffey is planning to break into the Omphalos, the most secure building in all of separatist Green Idaho. Rumor says that the Omphalos houses the not-quite-dead, the very wealthy deceased who are still alive, their brains connected directly into Thinkers, Artificial Intelligences that provide a virtual reality. Data is the great treasure of the new millennium, and Giffey plans to tap into the Omphalos datastream, to steal the knowledge gathered by the inhabitants of the Omphalos.In the offices of Mind Design, Inc., the most advanced Artificial Intelligence in the world has had a unique experience. She has received a request for contact from a new AI, one she does not know and did not help to design. Jill has never met a stranger of her own kind before; is it an alien Thinker, or the offspring of some vast conspiracy?Slant is set in Bear''s Queen of Angels universe, and is one of the great science fiction novels of the 1990s.

From the author of the classic Eon Trilogy, the Nebula Award-winning novel of human courage and love set within the greater saga of a planetary liberation movement. Mars is a colonial world, governed by corporate interests on Earth. The citizens of Mars are hardworking, but held back by their lack of access to the best education, and the desire of the Earthly powers to keep the best new inventions for themselves. The young Martians -- the second and third generations born on Mars -- have little loyalty to Earth, and a strong belief that their planet can be independent. The revolution begins slowly, but will grow in power over decades of political struggle until it becomes irresistible.Told through the eyes of an extraordinary character, Casseia Majumdar, a daughter of one of Mars'' oldest, most conservative Binding Multiples, Moving Mars is Greg Bear''s brilliant conception of the human colonization of the red planet, with lovingly painted details and a grand historical sweep, embellishing an audacious scientific speculation.

Among Charles de Lint's most beloved creations is the northern city of Newford, a place touched by deep magic-and the setting for novels like The Onion Girl and story collections like Dreams Underfoot. Now, with the Orb publication of The Ivory and the Horn, all four of the Newford story collections are returned to print. Here, on the streets of Newford, is the magic that hovers at the edge of everyday life.

Marîd Audran has risen from hustling on the streets of the decadent Budayeen ghetto to being the right-hand man of one of the Maghreb''s most feared men. As an enforcer for the powerful Friedlander Bey, Marîd is just beginning to enjoy his newfound wealth and privilege, when he and Bey are betrayed by a rival and accused of murder.Sentenced to exile and abandoned to die in the vast Arabian desert, Marîd and Bey must somehow survive the searing sands and make their way back to the now-hostile Budayeen—and, then, take their vengeance.By turns thrilling and philosophical, The Exile Kiss is the culmination of one of the great works of modern SF.

Marid Audran has become everything he once despised. Not so long ago, he was a hustler in the Budayeen, an Arabian ghetto in a Balkanized future Earth. Back then, as often as not, he didn''t have the money to buy himself a drink. But he had his independence.Now Marid works for Friedlander Bey, "godfather" of the Budayeen, a man whose power stretches across a shattered, crumbling world. During the day, Marid is a policeman…and Bey''s personal envoy to the police. His new position has brought him money and power which he would abandon in a moment if he could return to a life of neither owning nor being owned. Which, unfortunately, isn''t one of his options.It''s also not an issue. For something dark is afoot. Something that is sending the city into chaos. Helping a child-mutilator to avoid arrest. Sending a killer to murder Marid''s partner. Murdering prostitutes and savaging their remains. Signs point to the hand of Abu Adil—the one man in the city whose power rivals Friedlander Bey''s. Whatever happens next, it''s not going to be good news for Marid Audran…

"A moving, thoughtful feminist novel set in a gritty and believable dystopian future."--Kirkus ReviewsIn Book One of the Holdfast Chronicles, Aldera the Messenger, along with all other women, is a slave. In Book Two, Aldera the Runner lives in two worlds, both consisting entirely of women. Now In Book Three, The Furies, Aldera the Conqueror leads an army back over the mountains, hoping to end the tyranny and free the salves she left behind.

"Science fiction is the characteristic literary genre of the century. It is the genre that stands in opposition to literary modernism." ΓÇôDavid G. Hartwell, from the IntroductionFirst published in hardcover in 1997, The Science Fiction Century was an anthology that defined and explained what we mean when we talk about modern SF. Now it returns to print in an affordable two-volume softcover edition. Here in volume 1, literary names such as Rudyard Kipling and Jack London rub shoulders with genre authors whose pedigrees run back to the 1940s and 50s, including figures such as Hal Clement, John Wyndham, Poul Anderson, Harlan Ellison, Bruce Sterling, James Tiptree, Jr., and Connie Willis. Here is modern science fiction in all its breadth, from the anthologist hailed by John Updike as a "loving expert."

Greg Bear''s The Forge of God described the destruction of Earth itself by self-replicating robots, Von Neumann machines designed to use the planet''s mass to create more robotic creatures and spread throughout the Galaxy. In Anvil of Stars, only a few humans have survived, aided by a mysterious alien race known only as "The Benefactors", who arrived at Earth too late.Now the small group of human survivors is determined to track down the criminal race who launched the planet killers. Humanity is given a starship by The Benefactors, and driven only by revenge they set out to find the unknown beings who are responsible for the destruction of Earth, and many other worlds.

Stephen Brust continues the Khaavren Romances, his remix of Alexandre Dumas' d'Artagnan Romances, with Five Hundred Years Later, extending his a fantasy twist to the original The Three Musketeers sequel.The heroes of The Phoenix Guards are reunited a mere five centuries later...just in time for an uprising that threatens to destroy the Imperial Orb itself!This is the story of the conspiracy against the Empire that begins in the mean streets of the Underside and flourishes in the courtly politics of the Palace where Khaavren has loyally served in the Guards this past half-millennium.It is the tale of the Dragonlord Adron's overweening schemes, of his brilliant daughter Aliera, and of the eldritch Sethra Lavode.And it is the tale of four boon companions, of love, and of revenge...a tale from the history of Dragaera, of the events that changed the world.The Khaavren Romances, set in the world of Vlad Taltos's Dragaera:1. The Phoenix Guards2. Five Hundred Years After3. The Paths of the Dead (The Viscount of Adrilankha, Vol. 1)4. The Lord of Castle Black (The Viscount of Adrilankha, Vol. 2)5. Sethra Lavode (The Viscount of Adrilankha, Vol. 3)The Baron of Magister Valley [standalone]