Ten classic stories from the birth of modern science fiction writing The Golden Age of Science Fiction, from the early 1940s through the 1950s, saw an explosion of talent in SF writing including authors such as Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and Arthur C. Clarke. Their writing helped science fiction gained wide public attention, and left a lasting impression upon society. The same writers formed the mould for the next three decades of science fiction, and much of their writing remains as fresh today as it was then. Collected in one giant volume, here is the very best of the golden era. The stories include: A.E. van Vogt, 'The Weapons Shop' Isaac Asimov, 'The Big and the Little' Lester del Rey, 'Nerves' Fredric Brown, 'Daymare' Theodore Sturgeon, 'Killdozer!' C.L. Moore, 'No Woman Born' A. Bertram Chandler, 'Giant Killer'

Divided into three main sections, "The Ancient World", "The Middle Ages" and "Regency and Gaslight", The Mammoth Book of Historical Whodunnits includes: · The Thief versus Rhampsinitus by Herodotus - probably the earliest detective story ever written. · The Locked Tomb Mystery, set in ancient Egypt, by Elizabeth Peters. · A new story by John Maddox Roberts featuring the young Roman detective Decius Metellus. · Robert van Gulik's ingenious He Came With the Rain featuring Judge Dee, a real-life character who lived inseventh-century China. · A new story by Peter Tremayne, set in seventh-century Ireland and featuring Sister Fidelma. · Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael story The Price of Light. · Paul Harding's The Confession of Brother Athelstan. · A classic locked-room mystery featuring Lillian de la Torre's popular detective Sam Johnson. · A story by Michael Harrison featuring August Dupin, the detective created by Edgar Allan Poe and the inspiration behind Sherlock Holmes. · John Dickson Carr's acclaimed The Gentleman from Paris. ...and many more!

This is the only essential annual SF collection. Widely regarded as the benchmark anthology for every science fiction fan, "The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 20" continues to uphold its standard of excellence with over two dozen stories from the previous year. This year's volume includes many bright young talents of science fiction, as well as a host of established masters. It covers every aspect of the genre - soft, hard, cyberpunk, cyber noir, anthropological, military and adventure. Also included is a thorough summation of the year and a recommended reading list.

A rollicking tour of the history of the high seas with Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, 'Calico Jack' Rackham, Anne Bonney and other figures of maritime legend. Includes Francis 'The Scourge of Spain' Drake's audacious night-time treasure raid on Nombre de Dios; Alexander Exquemelin's fly-on-the-wall account of the 'wicked order of pirates, or robbers of the sea'; the journal of William Dampier, found stashed in a hollow bamboo tube, and much more. Witness skulduggery and malice, terror and excitement -- a colourful and always entertaining collection.

This thought-provoking collection not only takes us into the past and the future, but also explores what might happen if we attempt to manipulate time to our own advantage. These stories show what happen once you start to meddle with time and the paradoxes that might arise. It also raises questions about whether we understand time, and how we perceive it. Once we move outside the present day, can we ever return or do we move into an alternate world? What happens if our meddling with Nature leads to time flowing backwards, or slowing down or stopping all together? Or if we get trapped in a constant loop from which we can never escape. Is the past and future immutable or will we ever be able to escape the inevitable? These are just some of the questions that are raised in these challenging, exciting and sometimes amusing stories by Kage Baker, Simon Clark, Fritz Leiber, Christopher Priest, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Robert Silverberg, Michael Swanwick, John Varley and many others.

A parody of the end-of-the-world theme in which time travel allows Nick, Jane and their friends to witness the final apocalypse. As a group of friends gather for Mike and Ruby's party, each couple boasts about their recent trip to the end of the world: a new holiday service available from travel agents at tremendous expense. But as the time-tourists compare their experiences, they soon realise they have not all witnessed the same end of the world.

In the new millennium, what secrets lay beyond the far reaches of the universe? What mysteries belie the truths we once held to be self evident? The world of science fiction has long been a porthole into the realities of tomorrow, blurring the line between life and art. Now, in The Mammoth Book of Best New Science Fiction 23 the very best SF authors explore ideas of a new world. With an extensive recommended reading guide and a summation of the year in science fiction, this annual compilation has become the definitive must-read anthology for all science fiction fans and readers interested in breaking into the genre. Praise for Gardner Dozois: 'Dozois's definitive must-read short story anthology takes the pulse of science fiction today' Publishers Weekly 'For more than a quarter century, Gardner Dozois's The Mammoth Book of Best New SF has defined the field. It is the most important anthology, not only annually, but overall.' - Charles N. Brown, publisher of Locus Magazine

Rather than providing a dictionary of superstitions, of which there are already numerous excellent, exhaustive and, in many cases, academic works which list superstitions from A to Z, Bainton gives us an entertaining flight over the terrain, landing from time to time in more thought-provoking areas. He offers an overview of humanity's often illogical and irrational persistence in seeking good luck and avoiding misfortune. While Steve Roud's two excellent books - The Penguin Dictionary of Superstitions and his Pocket Guide - and Philippa Waring's 1970 Dictionary concentrate on the British Isles, Bainton casts his net much wider. There are many origins which warrant the full back story, such as Friday the thirteenth and the Knights Templar, or the demonisation of the domestic cat resulting in 'cat holocausts' throughout Europe led by the Popes and the Inquisition. The whole is presented as a comprehensive, entertaining narrative flow, though it is, of course, a book that could be dipped into, and includes a thorough bibliography. Schoenberg, who developed the twelve-tone technique in music, was a notorious triskaidekaphobe. When the title of his opera Moses und Aaron resulted in a title with thirteen letters, he renamed it Moses und Aron. He believed he would die in his seventy-sixth year (7 + 6 = 13) and he was correct; he also died on Friday the thirteenth at thirteen minutes before midnight. As Sigmund Freud wrote, 'Superstition is in large part the expectation of trouble; and a person who has harboured frequent evil wishes against others, but has been brought up to be good and has therefore repressed such wishes into the unconscious, will be especially ready to expect punishment for his unconscious wickedness in the form of trouble threatening him from without.'

This hugely acclaimed collection is now in its 14th successful year, and Gardner Dozois's selection for 2001 maintains its high standards of excellence with more than 25 SF stories from contemporary talents such as John Kessel, Ursula K Le Guin, Nancy Kress, Paul J. McAuley, Alastair Reynolds, Brian Stableford, Stephen Baxter, Greg Egan, Charles Stross, Ian McDonald and many other bright stars of SF, as well as the usual thorough summation of the year and recommended reading lists.

Humanity has always used symbols-material objects used to denote difficult, abstract concepts-to describe thoughts and feelings, or to protect secret truths from common knowledge. This concise A-Z guide is a fascinating work of reference that brings to light all the symbols and symbolisms of the world, many aspects of which have been lost to time, including Freemasonry, the Kabbalah, the tarot, astrology, alchemy, Zoroastrianism, and ancient cultures from Egypt to Japan.