Nancy Kress Książki

Schwytani w ogień krzyżowy?Na dalekiej planecie osiedla się ludzka kolonia, kt�rej założycielem jest Jake Holman, mężczyzna usiłujący uciec przed mroczną przeszłością.Właśnie gdy ta r�żnorodna wielotysięczna grupa zaczyna się przyzwyczajać do swojego życia w nowym świecie, dochodzi do zaskakującego odkrycia: na planecie żyją prymitywni humanoidalni Obcy.Istoty te, mieszkające w krytych strzechą chatach i posługujące się najprymitywniejszymi narzędziami, zajmują tylko kilka izolowanych wiosek i najwyraźniej nie są gatunkiem rodzimym.

Now a dozen years old, the award-winning collection continues to provide dozens of the best stories of the year, including work by renowned veterans and exciting newcomers, including Stephen Baxter, Michael Bishop, Terry Bisson, Pat Cadigan, Greg Egan, Eliot Fintushel, Michael F. Flyn, Lisa Goldstein, Jose Haldemnan, Katherine Kerr, Nancy Kress, Ursula K. Le Guin, Maureen F. McHugh, Robert Reed, Mike Resnick, Mary Rosenblum.

This collection features a diverse array of speculative fiction from 1989, showcasing both established and emerging voices in the genre. The contents include a mix of novellas, novelettes, and short stories, each offering unique narratives and imaginative worlds. Notable contributions include Judith Moffett's "Tiny Tango," a thought-provoking novella, and Mike Resnick's "For I Have Touched the Sky," which continues the Kirinyaga series. Gregory Benford's "Alphas" and Connie Willis's "At the Rialto" present engaging explorations of human experience and societal themes. The anthology also includes works by Kathe Koja, Steven Popkes, and Robert Silverberg, each adding depth and variety to the collection. From William King's "Visiting the Dead" to Bruce Sterling's "Dori Bangs," the stories reflect a range of styles and subjects. Lucius Shepard's "The Ends of the Earth" and Nancy Kress's "The Price of Oranges" further exemplify the creativity of the time. Additional highlights include S. P. Somtow's "Lottery Night," Alexander Jablokov's "A Deeper Sea," and Megan Lindholm's "Silver Lady and the Fortyish Man." The collection concludes with Gardner Dozois's insightful essay summarizing the year's contributions to the genre, alongside honorable mentions that acknowledge other noteworthy works. This anthology serves as a testament to the richness and diversity of speculative fiction during this period.

Helps the readers improve their fiction work, one essential 'element' at a time.

How do you create a main character readers won't forget? How do you write a book in multiple-third-person point of view without confusing your readers (or yourself)? How do you plant essential information about a character's past into a story?Write Great Fiction: Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint by award-winning author Nancy Kress answers all of these questions and more! This accessible book is filled with interactive exercises and valuable advice that teaches you how to: Choose and execute the best point of view for your story, Create three-dimensional and believable characters, Develop your characters' emotions, Create realistic love, fight, and death scenes, Use frustration to motivate your characters and drive your story. With dozens of excerpts from some of today's most popular writers, Write Great Fiction: Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint provides you with the techniques you need to create characters and stories sure to linger in the hearts and minds of agents, editors, and readers long after they've finished your book.

Fia, the Storygiver, had come to the backward kingdom of Veliano to practice her special art. In the mist that swirled between her hands, her mind formed tiny figures to act out simple folk tales for the entertainment of the lords and ladies.But in the court of King Rofdal and his third Queen, Leonore, the story forming in the mist became a tale of twisted passion and shocking betrayal... for waiting in Veliano was the man Fia both loved and feared. Waiting was a web of intrigue to trap her in a struggle for ultimate power - a magic linked to the dark legend of the White Pipes... the secret instrument of Fia's fate, and the fate of all she held dear.

In this future, some people need no sleep at all. Leisha Camden was genetically modified at birth to require no sleep, and her normal twin Alice is the control. Problems and envy between the sisters mirror those in the larger world, as society struggles to adjust to a growing pool of people who not only have 30 percent more time to work and study than normal humans, but are also highly intelligent and in perfect health. The Sleepless gradually outgrow their welcome on Earth, and their children escape to an orbiting space station to set up their own society. But Leisha and a few others remain behind, preaching acceptance for all humans, Sleepless and Sleeper alike. With the conspiracy and revenge that unwinds, the world needs a little preaching on tolerance.

Exploring the complexities of human inheritance, the narrative features a diverse cast from various societal backgrounds. It delves into the strengths and weaknesses shaped by genetic, evolutionary, and historical factors, providing a thought-provoking examination of what connects and divides us.

Leisha Camden, a genetically engineered 'Sleepless,' navigates a world where her unique trait sets her apart from others. As she grapples with her identity and the societal implications of her condition, she becomes embroiled in a complex web of relationships and ethical dilemmas. The narrative explores themes of isolation, humanity, and the consequences of scientific advancement, challenging perceptions of normalcy and the value of emotional experience.

Once again, the year's finest flights of speculative imagination are gathered in one extraordinary volume, compiled by acclaimed editor and anthologist David G. Hartwell. From some of the most renowned visionaries of contemporary SF -- as well as new writers who are already making an indelible mark -- comes an all-new compendium of unparalleled tales of the possible that will enthrall, astonish, terrify, and elate. Stories of strange worlds and mind-boggling futures, of awesome discoveries and apocalyptic disasters, of universes light years distant and deep within the human consciousness, are collected here as SF's brightest lights shine more radiantly than ever before.

A young and willful princess sets out on a quest to seek The Heart of the World. In her travels she encounters a purple talking dog. Wit and humor overlay a bittersweet parable on coming of age, and facing the consequence of choices, and fate.

Renowned for her exploration of genetic engineering, Nancy Kress has built a formidable reputation since her acclaimed novella, which won both the Hugo and Nebula awards. Her narratives often unfold in a near-future setting, delving into the ethical and societal implications of genetic manipulation. Kress's work challenges readers to consider the complex interplay between humanity and scientific advancement, making her stories thought-provoking and relevant in today's context.

A haunting green island. A stand of trees known as the Golden Grove. In the moonlit darkness, the webs gleam faintly, stirring in the warm night breeze. Arachne and the women sit at their looms around the Grove, weaving tapestries from the silk of the golden spiders, tapestries of life and time, clarity and light, the pattern of their world...But the Grove is dying.The spiders are sick--their offspring disfigured, their webs malformed. The mysterious aura is waning, the peace and harmony fading. Shadow falls over Island, strange ships are seen on the horizon, and Arachne fears that the pattern is about to change...forever.

"Despite economic and territorial tensions, no one wants the city-states of the Eight Worlds to repeat the Terran Collapse by going to war. But when war accidentally happens, everyone seeks ways to exploit it for gain. The Landry and Peregoy ruling dynasties see opportunities to grab territory, increase profits, and settle old scores. Exploited underclasses use war to fuel rebellion. Ambitious heirs can finally topple their elders' regimes--or try to. But the unexpected key to either victory or peace lies with two persons uninterested in conquest, profits, or power. Philip Anderson seeks only the transcendent meaning of the physics underlying the universe. Tara Landry, spoiled and defiant youngest granddaughter of dynasty head Rachel Landry, accidentally discovers an eleventh star-jump gate, with a fabulous find on the planet behind it. Her discovery, and Philip's use of it, alter everything for the Eight Worlds"-- Provided by publisher

This is a brilliant, fascinating tale about the search for God, in which a young woman endures sensory deprivation, brain stimulation, and biofeedback; she has sensed something, but not everyone agrees about the nature of the presence. It may not be a blessing... Nebula Award® Nominee

Pride and Prejudice meets Macbeth by way of Moby Dick and a dollop of the speculative, in this hugely entertaining anthology where authors such as John Scalzi get inspiration for short stories from the first lines of famous works of literature. Edited by hugely respected anthologist Gardner Dozois, the collection includes stories by John Scalzi, Tad Williams, Elizabeth Bear and many others.

Tomorrow's Kin is the first volume in a hard science fiction trilogy by Nancy Kress based on the Nebula Award-winning Yesterday's Kin. The aliens have arrived... they've landed their Embassy ship on a platform in New York Harbor, and will only speak with the United Nations. They say that their world is so different from Earth, in terms of gravity and atmosphere, that they cannot leave their ship. The population of Earth has erupted in fear and speculation. One day Dr. Marianne Jenner, an obscure scientist working with the human genome, receives an invitation that she cannot refuse. The Secret Service arrives at her college to escort her to New York, for she has been invited, along with the Secretary General of the UN and a few other ambassadors, to visit the alien Embassy. The truth is about to be revealed. Earth's most elite scientists have ten months to prevent a disaster--and not everyone is willing to wait.

Nancy Kress returns with Terran Tomorrow , the final book in the thrilling hard science fiction trilogy based on the Nebula Award-winning novella Yesterday's Kin . io9--New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books You Need to Put on Your Radar for Fall The diplomatic mission from Earth to World ended in disaster, as the Earth scientists discovered that the Worlders were not the scientifically advanced culture they believed. Though they brought a limited quantity of the vaccine against the deadly spore cloud, there was no way to make enough to vaccinate more than a few dozen. The Earth scientists, and surviving diplomats, fled back to Earth. But once home, after the twenty-eight-year gap caused by the space ship transit, they find an Earth changed almost beyond recognition. In the aftermath of the spore cloud plague, the human race has been reduced to only a few million isolated survivors. The knowledge brought back by Marianne Jenner and her staff may not be enough to turn the tide of ongoing biological warfare. The Yesterday's Kin Trilogy #1 Tomorrow's Kin #2 If Tomorrow Comes #3 Terran Tomorrow

Nancy Kress returns with the sequel of Tomorrow's Kin , part of an all-new hard SF trilogy based on a Nebula Award-winning novella Ten years after the Aliens left Earth, humanity has succeeded in building a ship, Friendship , in which to follow them home to Kindred. Aboard are a crew of scientists, diplomats, and a squad of Rangers to protect them. But when the Friendship arrives, they find nothing they expected. No interplanetary culture, no industrial base--and no cure for the spore disease. A timeslip in the apparently instantaneous travel between worlds has occurred and far more than ten years have passed. Once again scientists find themselves in a race against time to save humanity and their kind from a deadly virus while a clock of a different sort runs down on a military solution no less deadly to all. Amid devastation and plague come stories of heroism and sacrifice and of genetic destiny and free choice, with its implicit promise of conscious change.

Die Welt ist von Drohnen bewohnt - den "normalen" Menschen, die den Problemen einer abgewirtschafteten Erde hilflos gegenüberstehen. Es sind die "Schlaflosen", die für sie sorgen und sie ernähren. Nur diese genmodifizierten Menschenabkömmlinge mit ihrer überragenden Intelligenz sind imstande, die komplexe SoftTech der Genetik und Nanotechnik zu handhaben, nur sie sind der Lage, die Erde vielleicht doch noch zu retten. Doch für wen? (Klappentext)

Počínaje rokem 1965 je každoročně organizována, volena a vyhlašována společností Američtí spisovatelé science fiction a fantasy (SFWA) k poctění nejlepších SF děl posledních 12 měsíců. Je udělována v pěti kategoriích: Povídka, noveleta, novela, román a scénář (rozhlasový, televizní, filmový). Pro zajímavost: nejčastějšími vítězi dosud jsou (v kategorii román): Robert Silverberg a Gene Wolfe (9 vítězství), Poul Anderson a Philip K. Dick (5 vítězství). NEJLEPŠÍ POVÍDKA: Severna Park: Lék (The Cure for Everything) NEJLEPŠÍ NOVELETA: Jack Williamson: Země jaká bývala (The Ultimate Earth) NEJLEPŠÍ NOVELETA: Kelly Link: Lousin duch (Louise's Ghost) James Patrick Kelly: Změna (Undone) (tato povídka není ve výpisu nominací uvedena) NOMINOVANÁ POVÍDKA: Mike Resnick: Sloni z Neptunu (The Elephants on Neptune) NEJLEPŠÍ ROMÁN (ukázka): Catherine Asaro: Kvantová růže (The Quantum Rose)

Der dritte und abschließende Band der berühmten Bettler-Trilogie, einer Saga über die Menschlichkeit und Unmenschlichkeit moderner Wissenschaft (Klappentext)

Jake Holman, ein Mann, der seiner dunklen Vergangenheit zu entfliehen sucht, hat eine Schar Menschen um sich versammelt, um mit ihnen gemeinsam eine neue Welt zu besiedeln. Doch statt friedliche Aufbauarbeit zu leisten, finden sie sich im Kreuzfeuer eines interstellaren Krieges wieder, zwischen zwei verschiedenen Spezies: den so genannten Pelzlingen, aggressiven Humanoiden, und den Ranken, eher friedlichen, pflanzenähnlichen Wesen. Mitten in diesen Konflikt gerät die Crucible, ein Schiff von der Erde. An Bord sind Soldaten, die die Kolonie verteidigen sollen. Als die Kolonisten sich für den Krieg rüsten, müssen sie bald feststellen, dass Wachsamkeit mitunter einen hohen Preis fordert

Der FBI-Agent Robert Cavanaugh, Protagonist des vorherigen Romans Miracoli e giuramenti, wurde in Maryland versetzt, wo das größte Verbrechen der Zustand der Straßen ist. Seine Hauptaufgabe besteht darin, die kleinen radikalen Gruppen zu überwachen, die sich in den ländlichen Gebieten des Staates verstecken. Doch die Dinge komplizieren sich, als eine Reihe von anomalen Todesfällen in den Krankenhäusern unter der schwarzen Bevölkerung beginnt, sich auszubreiten. Es handelt sich um eine seltsame Epidemie, die menschlichen Ursprungs sein könnte, in jenen Laboren, wo die Gentechnik unkontrollierte und gefährliche Mutationen hervorbringt. Cavanaugh setzt alles daran, zu verhindern, dass die Ansteckung eine Bedrohung für Millionen von Menschen wird oder dass ein Rassenkrieg ausbricht.

In der Krebsforschung ist endlich der Durchbruch gelungen - mit einem gentechnisch geschneiderten Virus, das selbständig sein Ziel sucht und findet - individuell und perfekt. Doch es kann auch als Waffe verwendet werden, die selbständig ihr Ziel sucht und findet, individuell und perfekt - und absolut tödlich. (Klappentext)

Durch einen Eingriff im Gehirn ist es möglich geworden, Erinnerungen früherer Inkarnationen eines Menschen zugänglich zu machen. Nur - sie lassen sich weder steuern noch kontrollieren. Für jeden, der nach der Operation erwacht, beginnt eine gespenstische und abenteuerliche Reise in die Vergangenheit. (Klappentext)

Vesmírná válka s rasou Sekerníků je stále krutější a zoufalejší a lidstvo je tím, kdo prohrává. Možná je ještě naděje: prastarý artefakt, pozůstatek dávno zmizelé civilizace, který kdesi na samotném okraji vesmíru krouží po oběžné dráze nad zdánlivě primitivní planetou. Jenže artefakt není tím, čím se zdál být a blíží se okamžik, kdy to lidé zjistí – a pak už nic není jako předtím…

Bei ihrem Aufbruch ins All stießen die Menschen auf ein Netzwerk aus Sternentoren, hinterlassen von einer uralten Rasse Außerirdischer - und auf die Faller, die ihnen sofort den Krieg erklärten. Jahrhunderte später setzt das Sternenschiff Zeus ein Kontaktteam unter Dr. Achmed Bazargans Leitung auf einem neu entdeckten Planeten ab. Vordergründig soll das Team die Einheimischen studieren, doch in Wahrheit wollen sie einen künstlichen Mond erforschen, den diese einst bauten - eine Superwaffe, die alles Leben in einem Sternensystem auslöschen kann. Auch die Faller wissen davon, und sie haben sich längst auf den Weg gemacht ... Ein neuer Roman von der mehrfachen Gewinnerin des HUGO und NEBULA AWARDS!

Znovu jsou tady – autoři a jejich světy, jež si získávají miliony dychtivých čtenářů. Opět přicházejí ve dvou svazcích a vracejí se do zvláštních a podmanivých míst, do nichž je zasazen nový příběh, jenž doplňuje a dokresluje jejich nejslavnější díla. Mnoho příběhů se odvíjí v dřívější minulosti těchto scifi světů a vrhá nové světlo na příběhy již proslavené. Jiné sledují známé dějové linie, ale odehrávají se stranou hlavních událostí. Všechny do jednoho jsou však nepostradatelné pro miliony fanoušků těchto autorů a jejich světů, které již hluboce uvízly v myslích a srdcích čtenářů. Joe Haldeman v povídce Rozdělená válka dokresluje příběhy z knihy Věčná válka. Všemi oblíbený Enderův cyklus doplňuje Orson Scott Card v povídce Investiční poradce o tu část, v níž se dozvíme, kterak Ender k Jane přišel. David Brin v příběhu Pokušení vysvětluje, jak se mladá rasa, v tomto případě delfíni, vyrovnává s nabídkou, kterou nelze na první pohled odmítnout… Nancy Kressová nás uvádí do své slavné ságy o Nespavých povídkou Spící psi. Greg Bear, autor nesmrtelných románů o světě Cesty a asteroidu Thistledownu, znovu vyvolává Olmyho na Cestu všech duchů.

Edited by one of SF's outstanding writers and critics, Far Horizonscontains new works by eleven of the most acclaimed authors in the field, set in their best-known worlds and each with an introduction by the author. This volume is a showcase of breathtaking imagination, challenging ideas, compelling storytelling and the sense of wonder inspired by science fiction at its very best.