Short Stories/Novellas

“What Bear has done...is create a world that is all too plausible, one wracked by environmental devastation and political chaos...she conducts a tour of this society’s darker corners, offering an unnerving peek into a future humankind would be wise to avoid.” —Science Fiction Weekly From Elizabeth Bear, 2005 John W. Campbell Best New Writer Award winner and author of the critically acclaimed and wildly popular Jenny Casey Trilogy: Hammered, Scardown, and Worldwired, comes The Chains That You Refuse, a collection of dazzling short fiction featuring twenty-one genre-bending stories and one poem, including the exhilarating and previously uncollected Jenny Casey origin story “Gone to Flowers.” These scintillating and surprising tales, many never before collected or published, are drawn from inspirations as varied as Norse legends, Lovecraftian horrors, and the American murder ballad “Stagger Lee,” and showcase Elizabeth Bear’s remarkable and imaginative storytelling talents. Whether set in a distant mythic kingdom, in modern-day Las Vegas, or in the far-future sunken city of New Orleans, Bear’s enthusiastic narratives blur the lines between traditional speculative fiction, fantasy, horror, and fable with unflinching grace and wide-eyed wonder. Whether you are already a fan of Elizabeth Bear or not, The Chains That You Refuse demonstrates, beyond a doubt, why David Brin called Elizabeth Bear “a talent to watch.”

June 2007. Cover art by John Allemand, illustrating the story “Alien Archaeology” by Neal Asher. Also in this issue: “News from the Front” by Harry Turtledove ”Three Days of Rain” by Holly Phillips ”Studies in the Field” by R. Neube ”Don't Stop” by James Patrick Kelly ”Tideline” by Elizabeth Bear ”Scrawl Daddy” by Jack Skillingstead ”Marrying In” by Carrie Vaughn plus poetry by Debbie Ouellet, Sandra J. Lindow, and Greg Beatty FEATURES: “Heroes, Unsung” (editorial) by Sheila Williams; “Resurrecting the Quagga” (Reflections) by Robert Silverberg; “RAH” (On the Net) by James Patrick Kelly; “On Books” (reviews) by Peter Heck

Short fiction from Elizabeth Bear, recipient of the "John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer." Includes her Hugo- and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award-winning “Tideline” and Hugo-winning novelette, “Shoggoths in Bloom,” as well as an original, never-published story. A World Fantasy, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick nominee, Bear is one of speculative fiction’s most acclaimed, respected, and prolific authors.

There's a harpy with bronze wings living in the dumpster behind Desiree's building. She's ugly and she eats garbage, but she has a little kingdom back there. Desiree wants something of her own, too -- something all hers. Can that foul old thing possibly help her? At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Publishers Weekly, Starred Review: "Exceptional Anthology..." Science Fiction stories, first contact, space opera, adventure, by Elizabeth Bear, Mike Resnick, K.D. Wentworth, Sandra McDonald, Michael A. Burstein, Lawrence M. Schoen, James Gunn, Sara Genge, and more. Edited by Z.S. Adani and Eric T. Reynolds.

In art as in life, you've got to change in order to live. Even when your audience—and maybe your friends—thinks it would be great if you stayed the same forever. In some cases, literally forever. The author of over seventeen SF and fantasy novels published over the last half-decade, Elizabeth Bear won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2005, and the Hugo Award and the Sturgeon Award in 2008 for her short story "Tideline." At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

It's hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean, and a hundred times too big to be a ship. It looks like nothing anyone ever saw. And it's crashed just outside Tombstone with something alive inside. "Bear is an author you can count on to deliver the good read. This one shows a serious interest in the Doc Holliday character, about whom more has been written than known. I like Bear’s take on him, particularly the way he picks up on the time travel bit. This isn’t your usual pulp Doc."-- Locus **This story is told in a non-traditional fashion. Chapters will appear out of order.** At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Reminiscent of both "Damnation Alley" by Roger Zelazny and "The Postman" by David Brin, "And the Deep Blue Sea" offers almost three stories for the price of one.

"This Chance Planet" by Elizabeth Bear is a near future science fiction story about a young Russian waitress with ambitions to become an engineer and her musician boyfriend, who wants her to gestate a liver for money so his band can tour. Plus, there's a dog. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Virtual reality technology is no longer confined to computer-science labs and high-tech theme parks. Today, head-mounted goggles, sensors, and haptic control systems are tools for immersive journalism, professional development, and clinical therapy. In this novella, award-winning science fiction and fantasy author Elizabeth Bear and artist Melissa Gay imagine a near future informed by visceral VR simulations to catalyze positive change. We Have Always Died in the Castle is the first story in the Crowd Futures project from Arizona State University. An experiment in collaborative storytelling, Crowd Futures brings authors and illustrators into dialogue with members of an intellectually curious public to participate in the creative process by proposing scenarios, sharing ideas, weighing options, and navigating the uncertainties of our looming scientific and technological discoveries.

An academic's whimsical decision to take a DNA test leads her into uncharted territory, where she discovers some extraordinary truths about herself and new possibilities for her future. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Red Mother is a fantasy novella by Hugo Award-winning author Elizabeth Bear. Auga, a wandering sorcerer, follows his brother's fate-thread into the village of Ormsfjoll, where he expects to deliver good news and continue his travels. What he doesn't anticipate is that to meet his brother he must first contend with the truth at the heart of the volcano that wreaks havoc on Ormsfjoll. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.