Best Selling Books by Nancy Kress

Nine new stories from a long-time star of the science fiction field including the Hugo Award winner "The Erdmann Nexus" and Nebula Award winner "The Fountain of Age." These stories have been reprinted in The Year''s Best Science Fiction, Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, and Best of the Web. Kress unpacks the future the way DNA investigators unravelled the double helix: one gene at a time. In many of these stories gene sculpting is illegal yet commonplace and the effects range between slow catastrophe (“End Game”), cosmic (“First Rites”), and tragic (“Safeguard”). Then there’s the morning when Rochester disappears and Jenny has to rely on “The Kindness of Strangers.” There’s Jill, who is kidnapped by aliens and trying to learn the “Laws of Survival.” And there’s Hope, whose Grandma is regretting the world built “By Fools Like Me.”

Aliens try to atone for past wrongs to humanity and take twenty-one humans on a revelatory journey in this science fiction novel by a Nebula Award–winning author. The aliens appeared one day, built a base on the moon, and put an ad on the internet: “We are an alien race you may call the Atoners. Ten thousand years ago we wronged humanity profoundly. We cannot undo what has been done, but we wish humanity to understand it. Therefore, we request twenty-one volunteers to visit seven planets to Witness for us. We will convey each volunteer there and back in complete safety. Volunteers must speak English. Send requests for electronic applications to [email protected].” At first, everyone thought it was a joke. But it wasn’t. This is the story of three of those volunteers, and what they found on Kular A and Kular B . . . Praise for Steal Across the Sky “Kress skillfully explores the consequences of her ideas. . . . Arrestingly ambiguous and persuasively set forth—in the best science-fiction tradition, guaranteed provocative no matter what your personal opinions.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

By the middle of the twenty-first century the worldwide fertility rate has declined nearly eighty percent. No one knows why. Now the average age in the United States is fifty-four, and children are treasured and spoilt by those lucky enough to have them and coveted by the vast majority who can''t. Maximum Light is the story of three people from different sections of this very different American society. Nick Clementi is seventy-five years old, a doctor, and an advisor to the Congressional Advisory Committee for Medical Crises. Shana Walders is twenty-six and has just finished her two years in the National Service Corps. Cameron Atuli is twenty-eight, a primcipal dancer with the National Ballet, and has willingly had a portion of his memory removed; what it was and why he did it, he doesn''t know. In her last days of National Service, Shana witnesses something so horrible that it is immediately brought to the attention of Clementi''s committee, but so shocking that even the committee would like to believe that it can''t be true. And what Cameron can''t remember may be the key to the mystery. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

2012 Nebula Award Winner 2012 Locus Award Winner 2013 Hugo Nominee 2013 Sturgeon Award Nominee In the year 2035, all that is left of humanity lives in the Shell. No one knows why the Tesslies attacked in 2014, devastated the environment, and nearly destroyed humanity. Or why the aliens imprisoned twenty-six survivors in a sterile enclosure built on the barren remains of the Earth. Fifteen-year-old Pete, one of only six children born in the Shell, is determined to lead humanity to a new beginning. But Pete struggles to control his anger as, one by one, the survivors sicken and die. Although the Earth appears to be slowly healing, the Shell’s inhabitants may not live long enough to see it. The only chance for humanity lies within brief time portals. Peter and the survivors hatch a desperate plan: to increase their numbers by abducting children from the past. In the year 2013, a brilliant CIA consultant sees a pattern in seemingly unrelated kidnappings. As Julie Kahn’s predictive algorithms reveal that the world is in imminent danger, she discovers that she may also play a role in its possible rebirth. Julie and Pete are rapidly converging in time—a chance encounter between them may be the Earth’s only hope.

In a world where the slightest edge can mean the difference between success and failure, Leisha Camden is beautiful, extraordinarily intelligent ... and one of an ever-growing number of human beings who have been genetically modified to never require sleep. Once considered interesting anomalies, now Leisha and the other "Sleepless" are outcasts -- victims of blind hatred, political repression, and shocking mob violence meant to drive them from human society ... and, ultimately, from Earth itself. But Leisha Camden has chosen to remain behind in a world that envies and fears her "gift" -- a world marked for destruction in a devastating conspiracy of freedom ... and revenge.

Nancy Kress made her reputation in the early 90s with her multiple award-winning novella, "Beggars in Spain," which became the basis for her extremely successful Beggars Trilogy (comprising Beggars in Spain, Beggars and Choosers, and Beggars Ride). Since then she has written over a dozen novels, including the well-received Probability Trilogy, culminating in Probability Space, which garnered her the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best SF Novel. Now comes a brand new science fiction epic. It began with Crossfire: a far-future novel of planetary colonization and alien first contact. Jake Holman, a man trying to escape a dark past, brought together a diverse group of thousands to settle on a new world. But instead the humans found themselves caught in the crossfire of a galaxy-spanning war between two disparate species: agressive, militaristic humanoids known as Furs and passive, plantlike creatures known as Vines. Having cast their lots with the peaceful Vines, humanity faces all-out war against the technologically superior Furs. Our only hope? A virus designed by the Vines to remove all aggressiveness from the Furs. Can it spread fast enough to save not only Holman''s colony, but the rest of humanity? And at what price to the Furs? Driven by strong ideas and deep moral questions, and peopled with real-as-life characters, Crucible shows Kress at the top of her form, amply demonstrating why she has been one of science fiction finest authors of the past twenty years. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

"In an America decimated by economic collapse, teenage Amy jumps at the chance to star in a reality show--but what she doesn''t know is that it may kill her before it pays off"--

Nancy Kress returns with If Tomorrow Comes, the sequel of Tomorrow''s Kin, part of an all-new hard science fiction trilogy based on a Nebula Award-winning novella 2019 Locus Finalist for Best Science Fiction Novel Locus 2018 Recommended Reading List iO9--28 New SFF Books Worth Checking out in March 2018 Kirkus--18 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in March 2018 Unbound Worlds--Best SFF Books of March 2018 The Verge-- 15 new science fiction and fantasy books to read this March 2018 Ten years after the Aliens left Earth, humanity succeeds in building a ship, Friendship, 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. The Yesterday''s Kin Trilogy Tomorrow''s Kin If Tomorrow Comes At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Kress''s best short stories of the decade are collected for the first time in this substantial anthology that includes many Nebula Award nominees.

Under the countless billions of stars in the universe, what forms will alien life take? How will they live? And what will happen when we meet them? From first encounters to life alongside aliens--and stories of the aliens'' own lives--here are many futures: violent and peaceful, star-spanning and personal.

Science fiction authors offer original tales of relationships in a future world of evolving technology. In a future world dominated by the technological, people will still be entangled in relationships—in romances, friendships, and families. This volume in the Twelve Tomorrows series considers the effects that scientific and technological discoveries will have on the emotional bonds that hold us together. The strange new worlds in these stories feature AI family therapy, floating fungitecture, and a futuristic love potion. A co-op of mothers attempts to raise a child together, lovers try to resolve their differences by employing a therapeutic sexbot, and a robot helps a woman dealing with Parkinson''s disease. Contributions include Xia Jia''s novelette set in a Buddhist monastery, translated by the Hugo Award-winning writer Ken Liu; a story by Nancy Kress, winner of six Hugos and two Nebulas; and a profile of Kress by Lisa Yaszek, Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech. Stunning artwork by Tatiana Plakhova—"infographic abstracts” of mixed media software—accompany the texts. Contributors James Patrick Kelly, Mary Robinette Kowal, Nancy Kress, Rich Larson, KenLiu, Sam J. Miller, Annalee Newitz, Suzanne Palmer, Tatiana Plakhova, Cadwell Turnbull, Nick Wolven, Xia Jia, Lisa Yaszek

In this original bio-thriller from the author of Beggars in Spain, the threat of terrorism and biological warfare is all too real when the danger comes from a family’s most cherished pets. Tessa Sanderson, ex-FBI agent, has moved to a sleepy Maryland town to escape her tragic past. When the town’s beloved dogs begin viciously attacking pet owners and their children, federal CDC agents determine that the dogs are carrying a mutated flu affecting the aggression center of their brains, for which there is no known cure. Tessa offers her unofficial assistance to Animal Control Officer Jess Langstrom, who has been ordered to round up all the dogs and quarantine them. Meanwhile, some of the locals, unconvinced of the threat, are preparing to protect their pets by any means necessary. But Tessa, the widow of an Arab who roused the suspicions of her FBI colleagues, has another secret: Someone is sending her threatening e-mails in Arabic that claim responsibility for the virus, and she resolves to go deep undercover to expose a deadly conspiracy.

Get your stories off to a roaring start. Keep them tight and crisp throughout. Conclude them with a wallop. Is the story or novel you''ve been carrying around in your head the same one you see on the page? Or does the dialogue suddenly sound flat and predictable? Do the events seem to ramble? Translating a flash of inspiration into a compelling story requires careful crafting. The words you choose, how you describe characters, and the way you orchestrate conflict all make the difference—the difference between a story that is slow to begin, flounders midway, or trails off at the end—and one that holds the interest of readers and editors to the final page. By demonstrating effective solutions for potential problems at each stage of your story, Nancy Kress will help you... • hook the editor on the first three paragraphs • make—and keep—your story''s "implicit promise" • build drama and credibility by controlling your prose Dozens of exercises help you strengthen your short story or novel. Plus, you''ll sharpen skills and gain new insight into... • the price a writer pays for flashbacks • six ways characters should "reveal" themselves • techniques for writing—and rewriting Let this working resource be your guide to successful stories—from beginning to end.

NEW SPACE OPERA FROM MULTIPLE NEBULA- AND HUGO-WINNING AUTHOR NANCY KRESS WHAT LIES BEYOND THE ELEVENTH GATE . . . 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. At the publisher''s request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). About Nancy Kress: "Nancy Kress at her very best . . . A first-contact novel like no other."—Greg Bear on Tomorrow''s Kin "It''s a rare and desirable hybrid: a literary, military, hard-SF novel."—Amazon.com on Probability Moon “Nancy Kress is one of the best science-fiction writers working today."—Kim Stanley Robinson

A comatose patient undergoes an experimental procedure that uses favorite childhood stories to pull the patient back into consciousness—but the experiment doesn''t go quite as planned... At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Create Complex Characters 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.

A truly unforgettable story is defined by its characters. Their motivations, their changes, their actions compel us to read on, anxiously trying to discern what will happen next. In Dynamic Characters, award-winning author and Writer''s Digest columnist Nancy Kress explores the fundamental relationship between characterization and plot, illustrating how vibrant, well-constructed characters act as the driving force behind an exceptional story. Kress balances her writing instruction with hands-on checklists to help you build strong characters from the outside in. Blending physical, emotional and mental characterization, you''ll learn to create characters that initiate exciting action, react to tense situations, make physical and emotional transformations, and power the plot from beginning to end.

In this epic science fiction tale by an award-winning author, two warring tribes are the subjects of a strange alien experiment. Epic in scope, peopled by characters from every strata of profoundly different societies, An Alien Light is an unflinching look at the strengths and weaknesses of the genetic, evolutionary, and historical inheritance that all of us share. Arys, a glassblower and outcast. Jehane, a skilled female warrior. Dahar, with a deeply inquisitive mind. Grax, an alien with profound doubts. These four and hundreds of others are thrown together in an experiment to determine the fate of humanity, both on Earth and in her galactic colonies. For the Ged, the stakes are nothing less than the outcome of a war. For the humans, ignorant of the larger situation, the rewards for participating are incredible riches. But no one except the alien Ged understands the criteria for being chosen. When that knowledge comes, there is no agreement about if, how, or when to use it. Some will betray others. Some will sacrifice. Some will die. And some must succeed, no matter the price. Praise for An Alien Light “This heady mix of fantasy and sf explores humanity’s infinite capacity for change. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal

The unforgettable conclusion to the ground breaking trilogy begun with the Nebula Award-winning "Beggars in Spain". Two hundred years in the future regular human beings hate and fear the Sleepless and the SuperSleepless, genetically modified humans who are immune to disease and hunger, and need no sleep. When the Sleepless plot to take over the world and leave regular humans powerless, civilization and the very meaning of the word "human" hang in the balance.

In a genetically altered future America that is overrun by beautiful and super-intelligent people, the entire planet faces destruction in the face of overpopulation and unemployment. Reprint.

Humankind has expanded out into interstellar space using star gates-technological remnants left behind by an ancient, long-vanished race. But the technology comes with a price. Among the stars, humanity encountered the Fallers, a strange alien race bent on nothing short of genocide. It''s all-out war, and humanity is losing. In this fragile situation, a new planet is discovered, inhabited by a pre-industrial race who experience "shared reality"-they''re literally compelled to share the same worldview. A team of human scientists is dispatched-but what they don''t know is that their mission of first contact is actually a covert military operation. For one of the planet''s moons is really a huge mysterious artifact of the same origin as the star gates . . . and it just may be the key to winning the war. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Marianne Jenner, a geneticist and mother of three, has 10 months to try to avert a disaster and keep her family intact after aliens land in New York. By the author of Beggars in Spain. 7,500 first printing.

Spine-tingling Breathtaking Mind-blowing Experience these powerful new voices—vivid, visceral, and visionary—as they explore uncharted worlds and reveal unlimited possibilities. Twelve captivating tales from the best new science fiction and fantasy writers of the year as selected by Writers of the Future Contest judges accompanied by three more bestselling authors you’ve read before. Each is accompanied by a full-color illustration. Plus Bonus Art and Writing Tips. 24 Award-winning Authors and Illustrators 3 Bonus Short Stories by L. Ron Hubbard • Nancy Kress • S. M. Stirling Art and Writing Tips by Gregory Benford • Bob Eggleton • L. Ron Hubbard • Dean Wesley Smith Edited by Jody Lynn Nye 16-page color gallery of artwork • Cover art by Dan dos Santos

The title story, like most of the other pieces, is character-centered as a single mother wrestles with high-tech taking over her town. "Patent Infringement" is a fine if brief epistolary story on the subject; "The Most Famous Little Girl in the World" is the story of the lifelong friendship of two women set against a background of alien contact. "First Flight" is an affectionate homage to the classic Tom Corbett, Space Cadet TV show of the 1950s. "To Cuddle Amy" is a powerful short-short horror story about disposable children. "My Mother, Dancing" deals with a human race called on to seed with life a completely barren universe.

Renata Black is entertained by the traffic snarl caused by a rogue self-driving house--until she spots the Org''s Tiffany Teal paint marking the house''s windowsill. In 2022, GMOs were banned after a biopharmed drug caused the Catastrophe: worldwide economic collapse, agricultural standstill, and personal tragedy for a lawyer and her son. Ten years later, Renata, a.k.a. Caroline Denton, is an operative of the Org, an underground group that could save the world from itself. Their illegal research is performed and protected by splinter cells, which are hunted by the feds. Now a mole is in the Org. Who would put the entire Org in jeopardy? Renata is the only one who can find out--and she will need to go to her clients in the Quinault Nation for answers. Nancy Kress (Beggars in Spain, Yesterday''s Kin) once again delivers a smart, mesmerizing bio-thriller, with a hard, nuanced look at the perils and promise of technology.

A human colony settles on a distant planet, only to discover primitive humanoid aliens already living there.

Nancy Kress cemented her reputation in SF with the publication of her multiple-award–winning novella, "Beggars in Spain," which became the basis for her extremely successful Beggars Trilogy (comprising Beggars in Spain, Beggars and Choosers, and Beggars Ride). And now she brings us Probability Space, the conclusion of the trilogy that began with Probability Moon and then Probability Sun, which is centered on the same world as Kress''s Nebula Award-winning novelette, "Flowers of Aulit Prison." The Probability Trilogy has already been widely recognized as the next great work by this important SF writer. In Probability Space, humanity''s war with the alien Fallers continues, and it is a war we are losing. Our implacable foes ignore all attempts at communication, and they take no prisoners. Our only hope lies with an unlikely coalition: Major Lyle Kaufman, retired warrior; Marbet Grant, the Sensitive who''s involved with Kaufman; Amanda, a very confused fourteen-year-old girl; and Magdalena, one of the biggest power brokers in all of human space. As the action moves from Earth to Mars to the farthest reaches of known space, with civil unrest back home and alien war in deep space, four humans--armed with little more than an unproven theory--try to enter the Fallers'' home star system. It''s a desperate gamble, and the fate of the entire universe may hang in the balance. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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 At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A rash of strokes among otherwise healthy black men transforms FBI Agent Robert Cavanaugh''s otherwise boring post in Southern Maryland into a suddenly fascinating and dangerous job as he investigates. Reprint.

A group of teenagers from the late twentieth century is brought from their own time into a future utopia of the twenty-sixth century, where they are assigned the task of battling the Panurish, grotesque humanoids possessing a third eye.

Excerpts of fantasy and science fiction novels written by fearless women, including Vengeful by V.E. Schwab, Zero Sum Game by S.L. Huang, The Phoenix Empress by K Arsenault Rivera, Terran Tomorrow by Nancy Kress, Horizon by Fran Wilde, and City of Broken Magic by Mirah Bolender. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Tomorrow''s Kin is the first volume in and all new hard science fiction trilogy by Nancy Kress based on the Nebula Award-winning Yesterday''s Kin. Locus 2017 Recommended Reading List 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. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The mysterious deaths of a showgirl in Las Vegas and a scientist in Boston lead FBI agent Robert Cavanaugh into a deadly investigation into the links between the Mafia and a biotech company specializing in recombinant DNA research.