Mary Robinette Kowal

On a cold spring night in 1952, a huge meteorite fell to earth and obliterated much of the east coast of the United States, including Washington D.C. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render the earth inhospitable for humanity, as the last such meteorite did for the dinosaurs. This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated effort to colonize space, and requires a much larger share of humanity to take part in the process. Elma York's experience...

"Ginger Stuyvesant, an American heiress living in London during World War I, is engaged to Captain Benjamin Hartshorne, an intelligence officer. Ginger is a medium for the Spirit Corps, a special Spiritualist force ... Ginger and her fellow mediums contribute a great deal to the war efforts, so long as they pass the information through appropriate channels. While Ben is away at the front, Ginger discovers the presence of a traitor. Without the presence...

"Trying to enjoy married life, October Daye discovers that an old friend and ally is really an enemy in disguise and must battle for her life and community"-- All the trials and turmoils and terrors of a hero's life have done very little to prepare October Daye for the expectation that she will actually share her life with someone else, the good parts and the bad ones alike. With an official break from hero duties from the Queen in the Mists, and...

"The half-Fae private detective is once again run through the wringer when problems plaguing the San Francisco Fae community strike home on a personal level. First, in an unprecedented, unexpected move, the Queen of the Mists promotes Toby to countess. Given that the Queen hates her, it's quite obviously a trap, but not something Toby can refuse or avoid. Subsequently, several of Toby's closest friends are struck down through poison and illness, and...

To stop the King of Silences from declaring war on the Mists, October Daye and her friends must travel to another Kingdom where old enemies and new will be waiting to ensure that their efforts will come to naught.

"It's been almost a year since October "Toby" Daye averted a war, gave up a county, and suffered personal losses that have left her wishing for a good day's sleep. She's tried to focus on her responsibilities-training Quentin, upholding her position as Sylvester's knight, and paying the bills-but she can't help feeling like her world is crumbling around her, and her increasingly reckless behavior is beginning to worry even her staunchest supporters....

"Hundreds of years ago, the Selkies made a deal with the sea witch: they would have the sea for as long as she allowed it, and when the time came, she would call in all their debts at once. Many assumed that day would never come. Those people were wrong. When the Luidaeg--October "Toby" Daye's oldest and most dangerous ally--tells her the time has come for the Selkies to fulfill their side of the bargain, and that Toby must be a part of the process,...

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anathem, Reamde, and Cryptonomicon comes an exciting and thought-provoking science fiction epic-a grand story of annihilation and survival spanning five thousand years. What would happen if the world were ending? A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise an ambitious plan to ensure the survival...

For some people, their day-to-day existence is infected by memetic incursion: where fairy tale narratives become reality, often with disastrous results. ATI Management Bureau is an organization tasked with protecting the world from fairy tales, even while most of their agents are struggling to keep their own fantastic archetypes from taking over their lives. When fairy tales take over real life, no one gets a happy ending.

Thirteen short stories from some of the best and most honored writers of speculative fiction.