In his Foreword, Rich Horton says: "First rate stories...Time Considered as a Series of Thermite Burns in No Particular Order is a clever and very funny time travel romp; The Beancounter's Cat is set in a far future with Clarkean science sufficiently advanced to appear magical; Walls of Flesh, Bars of Bone (with Barbara Lamar) is another look at the mystery of human destiny; Under the Moons of Venus is a remarkable, evocative homage to one of SF's greats."Well-known editor Gardner Dozois has said of The Beancounter's Cat that it "...starts out reading like fantasy, and gradually turns into very far-future SF."Also included is an original tale with Paul Di Filippo, Luminous Fish, taking Mike Moorcock's famous character Jerry Cornelius for a spin in the 21st century! Nine scintillating science fiction stories by a major writer in the field.

From Publishers Weekly In SF veteran Broderick's brain-stretching stand-alone, 20-something August Seebeck enters a mysterious game, the Contest of Worlds, in which some of the godlike players are his brothers and sisters, battling against terminatorish "deformers." August discovers superhuman powers of his own and falls in love with a heartbreakingly beautiful female player, Lune. But the game's ultimate purpose remains unclear while the context of the action keeps changing, as August zips through multiple universes. The more he learns of other worlds, the less he can be sure of—but the more his decisions matter. As things get increasingly serious for August, the story's tone remains wry, packed with offhand literary references and bookish puns. Broderick (The Dreaming) pays homage to Fritz Leiber's tales of alternate histories and to Roger Zelazny's Amber series; the narrative also resembles Robert A. Heinlein's The Number of the Beast in its cheerful trashing of comfortable but undependable certainties. In a universe where nothing can be taken at face value, scientists and SF readers need to be ready to move on, to ask the next question. Broderick shows that the effort needn't be a grim duty but actually fun. (May 3) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From *Starred Review* August Seebeck fears that Great-aunt Tansy's claim that for several weeks there have been dead bodies in the bathroom on Saturday nights means she's losing her grip. When he meets two women coming in his second-floor bathroom window to dispose of a body, it's shocking, despite Tansy's warning. August learns he and the women have something in common--the string of symbols that is etched into their feet. Moreover, the women's light-show trick to make him forget the encounter doesn't work. And, anyway, the 11 Seebeck siblings are players in a Game of Worlds, and none of the others believe August is their brother until certain proof--more than just the foot-hieroglyphics--is forthcoming. August travels a multitude of worlds, visiting siblings and falling in love with Lune (one of the women in the bathroom--not a Seebeck), bent on understanding the game in which they're all players, while his hitherto-unknown family squabble over his sudden appearance and are attacked by the Deformers, their opponents in the game. Broderick's influences are writ large even before he confesses in the afterword that they are Roger Zelazny and Fritz Lieber. He follows in the footsteps of giants, and does it elegantly, drawing further inspiration from contemporary scientific thought. Regina SchroederCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

In the year 4004 AD, the entire universe of habitable worlds has been filled with human beings, thanks to an ancient teleport network and unlimited growth. Humans live on more than a hundred quadrillion terraformed planets, all woven into a bureaucratic and restrictive Empire. VALENCIES tracks a frustrated group of libertarian anarchists on the marginal planet Victoria. Kael, son of three gay doctors, and Theri, daughter of a man and woman bound by maniacal doctrinal tenets, are a young couple in a cosmos of complacent immortals. Ben and Anla the clone rage and passionately make up in a cycle of dominance and submission as old as history or myth. And slipping like a mad trickster between the four is Catsize, former commander, terrible poet crazed by two millennia of thwarted revolutions, hilarious prankster, an instigator of mischief and healer of souls. VALENCIES tells with pathos and humor a richly detailed portrait of the struggle against an Empire that's prepared to obliterate an entire world. Brian W. Aldiss said about this book: "One of the most playful SF novels of recent years."

From Publishers Weekly In this jaunty blend of mysticism and theoretical physics, Australian grad student August Seebeck, who discovered in Godplayers (2005) that he was part of a superhuman family battling implacable cyborgs for control of multiple, interlocking realities, feels frustrated and bewildered. None of his alleged siblings will tell him exactly who he is, why the K-machines are their enemies, what the rules of the conflict are and, generally, what the blazes is going on. As the action bounces from one time, character or universe to another, confusion multiplies. And then there's the underlying question of whether anything in any universe is real or whether everything is part of a super video game. Inspired by Roger Zelazny's Amber series, Broderick keeps the style light, mixing wonderful panoramas with puns and goofy sight gags. Toward the end, August does start putting things together, gathering plenty of momentum to propel readers into the next chunk of this dazzling SF saga. (Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From In the sequel to Godplayers (2005), August Seebeck is still wandering through Wonderland, armed with a mysterious, devastatingly powerful vorpal implant (and yes, there is a Jammerwock) and an intense desire to get some straight answers out of his cagey newfound relatives about the Contest of Worlds, his role in it, and their opponents, the K-machines. It seems the contest isn't entirely as it seemed, and neither is the woman August loves. There are betrayals and confusion and misdirection every time August starts to get closer to the truth, or even to asking the right questions. His quest to discover the reasons behind his pivotal role in the contest is a trip down the rabbit hole to doors that don't exist, exotic siblings, and even more exotic locales. It's a fun story, full of galaxy-spanning adventure and intrigue, that incorporates a perspective on that currently hot concept, technological singularity. Broderick also continues his homage to humorous sf masters Roger Zelazny and Fritz Leiber as he seamlessly constructs the story he has to tell. Regina SchroederCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Caroline is about to go psychotic--and with her family, no surprise. Joseph can't talk to women even if he is a certified high IQ clever dick trying to take snapshots of the end of the universe. Ray and Marj have their own hassles with in-laws, but student terrorists get in the way. Meanwhile Brian, misogynist and wit, appalls everyone in the quipu world. Quipus? They're the scandalous fanzines that hikes traded before blogs were invented. Hikes? High IQ clever dicks, of course. "The portrait of a generation is incisive. Far and away Broderick's best novel."- George Turner, winner of the Miles Franklin and the Arthur C. Clark Awards"A painfully sarcastic celebration of technological Jansenism. In a notable achievement, Broderick has created the profound out of the trivial."- John Baxter, author of We'll Always Have Paris: Sex and Love in the City of LightIn Quipu (appearing for the first time as an E-Reads publication), Australian writer Damien Broderick reimagines his prize-winning 1984 novel Transmitters as the surprising saga of a "family" of genius-level one-of-a-kind individuals.

Ten speculative stories from an Australian writer who has won the Ditmar (Australian science fiction achievement) award three times and whose novel TThe Dreaming Dragons' is included in TSF: The best 100 novels'.

R. Doubting Thomas Perdue, tough Aussie former P.I. and jailbird, is in trouble, and it can only get worse. Tom's Feng shui consultancy implodes when some bastard drives a Mack truck through his heritage office. Fatal things keep happening to his phones. And who's been blabbing about his racehorse-doping past? The love of his life has made a ten-year vow of celibacy to the Virgin Mary. Tom's Goth daughter's girlfriend's obese sister has vanished, extremely foul play suspected. Meanwhile, an unusual racing camel named Nile Fever has become an animal of interest to the Australian Federal Police, and Tom is up to his neck in the middle of the mess. I'm Dying Here is a darkly comic crime caper that leaves no taboo, or cell phone, unviolated. "This is a comic, crazy, original crime novel. You won't find another one like it this year, or, more likely, ever." Bill Crider. "What it reminds me of, powerfully, is a Donald Westlake comic novel about Dormunder. If you did smart,...

Our third offering of kitty delights and delectables features 25 cat stories, 2 nonfiction compilations of cat anecdotes, and 9 poems--but the emphasis overall is decidedly more modern than in our previous cat Megapacks. Heading the list this time are: Mary A. Turzillo, who contributes 8 tales and poems; A. R. Morlan, author of 6 stories; Michael Hemmingson, who's penned 3 moving poems; Damien Broderick, writer of 2 otherworldly cat tales; Kathryn Ptacek, contributor of 2 fantasies; Douglas Menville, who provides a couple of kitty poems; and pieces by Darrell Schweitzer, David C. Smith, and Marilyn "Mattie" Brahen--not to mention Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain, Bram Stoker, and Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. So, settle back in your chair, your couch, and your bed, cat-lovers everywhere, and enjoy this new anthology of frisky feline tales!"The Cheshire-Cat," by Lewis Carroll"All in the Golden Afternoon," by Marilyn "Mattie" Brahen"Fat Cat," by Robert Reginald"Alex," by Mary A. Turzillo"The Cat-Tracker Lady of Asad Alley," by A. R. Morlan"A Limp Dead Cat in My Arms," by Michael Hemmingson"The Ruined Queen of Harvest World," by Damien Broderick"Stories of Cat Sagacity," by W. H. G. Kingston"Mau," by Douglas Menville"Cat in the Box," by A. R. Morlan"Purple," by Mary A. Turzillo"Ebenezer Wheezer (c1972-1990)," by Douglas Menville"Concerning the 'Pretty Lady'," by Helen M. Winslow"The Boys," by Kathryn Ptacek"Reverence for Cats," by Mark Twain"'...And Mongo Was His Name-O'," by A. R. Morlan"Tommy's Cat," by David C. Smith"Tatiana," by Mary A. Turzillo"Lin Jee," by Mary A. Turzillo"The Squaw," by Bram Stoker"How the Former Pets Survive or Die," by Michael Hemmingson"Cat Burglar," by Kathryn Ptacek"Puss in Boots: Two Versions," by Charles Perrault and Dinah Maria Mulock"No Heaven Will Not Ever Heaven Be...," by A. R. Morlan"The Queen's Cat," by Peggy Bacon"Chocolate Kittens from Mars," by Mary A. Turzillo"Cats Can Colonize Mars," by Mary A. Turzillo"Cat Anecdotes," edited by Adam White"The Adventure of the Hanoverian Vampires," by Darrell Schweitzer"The Beancounter's Cat," by Damien Broderick"A Little Pinch Is All You Need," by A. R. Morlan"They Always Die," by Michael Hemmingson"Scout," by Mary A. Turzillo"The Cat," by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman"The Hunter's Mothers," by Mary A. Turzillo"Hunger," by A. R. Morlan "Ryah's Guest," by Robert Reginald