Video Game Fantasy Science Fiction

CONTENTS: Introduction; I Just Make Them Up, See; Someday; The Feeling of Power; Living Space; Satisfaction Guaranteed; The Last Question; Jokester; The Immortal Bard; Spell My Name With an "S"; The Ugly Little...

A collection of the year’s best science fiction and fantasy short fiction selected by New York Times bestselling author of the Silo series Hugh Howey and series editor John Joseph Adams. “These are dangerous stories. The kind that warp reality and threaten to change the world” warns...

Empress Celene of Orlais rose to the throne of the most powerful nation in Thedas through wisdom, wit, and ruthless manipulation. Now the empire she has guided into an age of enlightenment is threatened from within by imminent war between the templars and the mages, even as rebellion stirs among the downtrodden elves. To save Orlais, Celene must keep her hold on the throne by any means necessary.

Hygeia, an outer rim colony, is doomed as the moon on which it was built hurtles toward an inevitable collision with the dead planet Hephaestus. When a distress signal arrives from a Weyland-Yutani biowarfare outpost near the colony, a desperate plan is launched to evacuate the trapped scientists and colonists. Their destination: LV-846, a key United Americas colony where high-level talks are scheduled to address the galaxy-wide hostilities between the colonies.

It is a dark time for the world. Humanity is just crawling out from under 300 years of domination by the race of vampires known as the Nobility. The war against the vampires has taken its toll; cities lie in ruin, the countryside is fragmented into small villages and fiefdoms that still struggle against nightly raids by the fallen vampires - and the remnants of their genetically manufactured demons and werewolves.

After trapping Mr. Anarchy, the evil master griefer who's been tormenting them, Lily, Simon, and Michael can finally concentrate on trying to escape the Overworld and getting to know their new friends on the server. So when one of their friends invites them along on a treasure hunt, they couldn't be more thrilled! But when the gang's absence from Lisimi Village gives Mr. Anarchy a chance to escape, their hunt for treasure is cut short and Lily, Simon, and Michael must make a hard decision.

The War Hounds find their footing and incorporate their new members. Xautil and Bota seek to establish their own empire, dancing and bonking included. Shai'ton, Hell's Daughter and the other infernals strive to establish their control over Earth while fending off their Infernal Overlords in Tir' Na'Nog and York is the nexus where everyone's plans come to a crossroads. The Fortress has stood for eight years as a symbol that humanity will not kneel, will not lay down, they will fight. Will it fall or be the birth of a war the echoes across the cosmos.

Massively damaged in Aliens and Alien 3, the synthetic Bishop asked to be shut down forever. His creator, Michael Bishop, has other plans. He seeks the Xenomorph knowledge stored in the android’s mind and brings Bishop back to life—but for what reason? No longer an employee of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, Michael tells his creation that he seeks to advance medical research for the benefit of humanity. Yet where does he get the resources needed to advance his work. With whom do his new allegiances lie?

Iron Man and Captain America are two core members of the Avengers, the world's greatest superhero team. But when a tragic battle blows a hole in the city of Stamford, killing hundreds of people, the US government demands that all superheroes unmask and register their powers. To Tony Stark - Iron Man - it's a regrettable but necessary step. To Captain America, it's an unbearable assault on civil liberties.

On Earth, political tensions boil over between the United Americas, Union of Progressive Peoples, and Three World Empire. Conflict spreads to the outer fringes, and the UK colony of New Albion breaks with the Three World empire. This could lead to a Colony War. Trapped in the middle are journalist Cher Hunt, scientist Chad McLaren, and the synthetic Davis. Cher, seeking to discover who caused the death of her sister, Shy Hunt, uncovers a far bigger story. McLaren’s mission, fought alongside his wife, is to stop the militarization of the deadliest weapon of all—the Xenomorph.

Lucy and her friends' time at Minecrafters Academy is coming to an end, and the entire school is preparing for graduation. But when an explosion shakes the campus and Lucy's old friend Steve appears with bad news from his village, all plans to celebrate come to a halt. The school is no longer under attack - it's being destroyed. And it's time for the students to use their training outside the safety of the Academy. Lucy, Jane, and Phoebe must use the skills they've honed in school to battle the evil force.

As war breaks out among the colonies, a huge ship appears over the UPP mining planet Shānmén, releasing a horror that yields hideous transformations. Rescue is too far away, and the colonists’ only hope appears in the form of the vessel Righteous Fury. It carries the Jackals—an elite mix of former Colonial Marines and Royal Marines. Led by Zula Hendricks, the Jackals seek to rescue the few survivors from the depths of the planet, but have they arrived on time?

Zeke de'Godfrey was never meant to fight. As the second son of a fading noble line, his job was simple, stay out of the way, enjoy the food, chase the girls, and let his older brother carry the weigh. Artax did exactly that. Thirty-four Emblems. A blade that never broke. The last hope of House Godfrey. Until he lost everything in a battle against Socrax the Frost Dragon. His Aura core shattered. His legend ended. Now the knives are out, and their house is circling the drain. Zeke makes a choice. Before the Senate, he speaks five words that change everything: "Then I'll become his sword.

Peter Parker is caught in a complicated web. Working in a cutting-edge laboratory, he's a young scientist who's trying to make a difference. Yet he's constantly burdened by the responsibilities of his second career as the crime-fighting Spider-Man. Wilson Fisk - the so-called Kingpin of Crime - has returned to New York, establishing himself publicly as an altruistic entrepreneur and philanthropist. Spider-Man knows better, but he can't uncover Fisk's scheme, which, if executed, will make the crime lord too big to fail.

The Battle of Serenity Valley was the turning point that led the Independents to their defeat at the hands of the Alliance. Yet the Browncoats had held the valley for weeks against all odds, before being ordered to lay down their arms. Command stated they refused to send in airpower because the ground war was "too hot". But the soldiers who were there insist that was not true.... While picking up a new cargo on Persephone, Captain Malcolm Reynolds is kidnapped by a bunch of embittered veteran Browncoats who suspect him of sabotaging the Independents during the war.

Miles Morales has a lot going on, what with moving to a new neighborhood, dealing with the loss of his father, and the whole gaining superpowers thing. After a misunderstanding with the law, Miles questions what it means to be a hero when people are ready to believe the worst of you. Tempted by the power and freedom of his new abilities, Miles must decide what kind of Spider-Man he wants to be. When Vulture starts wreaking havoc across the city with his new accomplice Starling, Miles can't just sit back and watch.

Mal and the crew take receipt of a sealed crate that they are being paid to transport to Badger, no questions asked. Yet once their cargo is safely stowed aboard, River insists Mal should "space" it out of the airlock, for it contains, she insists, ghosts.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters follows the heroic efforts of the cryptozoological agency Monarch as its members face off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah. When these ancient super species, thought to be mere myths, rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.

Aren has lived by the rules all his life. He's never questioned it; that's just the way things are. But then his father is executed for treason, and he and his best friend, Cade, are thrown into a prison mine, doomed to work until they drop. Unless they can somehow break free.... But what lies beyond the prison walls is more terrifying still. Rescued by a man who hates him yet is oath-bound to protect him, pursued by inhuman forces, Aren slowly accepts that everything he knew about his world was a lie.

“Shy” Hunt and the tech team from McAllen Integrations thought they’d have an easy job - set up environmental systems for the brand new Hasanova Data Solutions colony, built on the abandoned ruins of a complex known as “Charybdis”. There are just two problems: The colony belongs to the Iranian state, so diplomacy is strained at best, and the complex is located above a series of hidden caves that contain deadly secrets.