“Cory Doctorow straps on his miner’s helmet and takes you deep into the caverns and underground rivers of pop culture, here filtered through SF-colored glasses. Enjoy.” Neil Gaiman, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Now available for the first time with two additional stories!
Have you ever wondered what it's like to be bitten by a zombie or live through a bioweapon attack? In Cory Doctorow's collection of novellas, he wields his formidable experience in technology and computing to give us mind-bending sci-fi tales that explore the possibilities of information technology—and its various uses—run amok.
"Anda's Game" is a spin on the bizarre new phenomenon of "cyber sweatshops," in which people are paid very low wages to play online games all day in order to generate in-game wealth, which can be converted into actual money. Another tale tells of the heroic exploits of "sysadmins"—systems administrators—as they defend the cyberworld, and hence the world at large, from worms and bioweapons. And yes, there is a story about zombies too. Plus, for the first time, this collection includes "Petard" and "The Man Who Sold the Moon."
Praise
“Cory Doctorow straps on his miner’s helmet and takes you deep into the caverns and underground rivers of pop culture, here filtered through SF-colored glasses. Enjoy.” Neil Gaiman, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Just as Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke were at the vanguard of the genre in the ’50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, Doctorow explores revolutionary—and visionary—territory with every new novel and short story he publishes. Other authors may be considered at the cutting edge of the genre: Doctorow is the cutting edge.” Barnes&Noble.com
“This collection shows a stunning talent coming into his own, balancing
good storytelling and contemporary technology near perfectly…These stories
reflect a wicked sense of humor, clear knowledge of contemporary problems, and
an understanding of the way good SF works.” Booklist (starred review)
“Doctorow’s intimate knowledge of the techno-cyberculture gives his
stories more credibility than a casual reader might think: it doesn’t take a
hardcore SF fan to believe that zombies, invisible ants, a 3D-printer world,
video-game sweatshops, and global catastrophe may be lurking just around the
corner…All of the tales contain provocative scenarios and believable,
nonconformist protagonists. Smart, entertaining, and at the vanguard of the
genre.” Bookmarks magazine
“He sparkles! He fizzes! He does backflips and breaks the
furniture! Science fiction needs Cory Doctorow.” Bruce Sterling, award-winning author and a founder of the cyberpunk genre
“Doctorow’s sci-fi collection explores the best and worst of the future of technology. Read by a variety of talented narrators…Most of the narrators succeed in blending Doctorow’s sf premise seamlessly with the human experiences at its core. Standouts include ‘After the Siege,’ read by Emily Woo Zeller, who conveys the anger, loss, and determination of Valentine as she goes from carefree child to war-weary teen during the siege of her city. R. C. Bray does an effectively unflappable, deadpan cop about to crack under the strain when his daughter goes missing in ‘I, Robot.’ Most sf fans will find something to enjoy in this excellent collection.” Booklist (audio review)
Black Friday Sale, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Literature & Fiction, Thriller & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction, Anthologies & Short Stories, Technothrillers, Anthologies & Short Stories, Science Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Fiction - All, Fiction - Adult
Cory Doctorow is a blogger, journalist, and author science fiction and nonfiction. His writing has won numerous awards, including three Locus Awards, two John W. Campbell Awards, three Prometheus Awards, two Sunburst Awards, the White Pine Award, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award, among others. He has served as Canadian regional director of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is coeditor of the blog Boing Boing, and he was named one of the web’s twenty-five “influencers” by Forbes and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He is a contributing author to Wired magazine, and his writing has been published in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, the Globe and Mail, the Boston Globe, Popular Science, and others.
William Hughes is an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator. A professor of political science at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon, he received his doctorate in American politics from the University of California at Davis. He has done voice-over work for radio and film and is also an accomplished jazz guitarist.
Emily Woo Zeller is an artist, actor, dancer, choreographer, and voice artist who has won Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration in 2018. She began her voice-over career by voicing animation in Asia. AudioFile magazine named her one of the Best Voices of 2013 for her work in Gulp. Other awards include the 2009 Tristen Award for Best Actress as Sally Bowles in Cabaret and the 2006 Roselyn E. Schneider Prize for Creative Achievement.
Jim Meskimen is a stage, film, and television actor who has appeared in many well-known movies and television shows. He acted in Apollo 13 and Frost/Nixon for director Ron Howard, both of which were nominated for Best Picture Oscars. His television appearances include The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Friends, Lie to Me, Criminal Minds, and Parks and Recreation. He is also a painter, award-winning audiobook narrator, and audiobook director for Galaxy Audio.
Jeffrey Kafer is an avid performer on the stage and in voice-overs. He has narrated over one hundred books spanning all genres, and he won the 2008 Voicey Award for Best New Voice.
Fiona Hardingham is a British-born actress, singer, voice-over artist, and AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator. On stage, she appeared at the Edinburgh Festival in her comedic one-woman show The Dark Show. She has also starred in the dark-comedy short film The Ballerino. She earned a BA honors degree in performing arts from Middlesex University, London, and also studied at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
R. C. Bray is an award-winning audiobook narrator with over 180 titles to his credit. Besides winning five AudioFile Earphones Awards, he won the prestigious Audie Award in 2015 for Best Science Fiction Narration and has been an Audie Award finalist seven times. He has been a finalist for the Voice Arts Award, and in 2014, his narration earned a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award. He is also an accomplished producer and voice-over artist, and his voice can be heard in countless TV and radio commercials.
Nicola Barber, is an Audie Award and Earphones Award-winning narrator whose voice can be heard in television and radio commercials and popular video games such as World of Warcraft. She is also an Audie finalist in the prestigious category of solo female narrationfor her work on Murphy’s Law by Rhys Bowen and Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth. She has performed on the stage in New York City and at a number of top regional theaters in the United States. Her film and television roles include The Nanny Diaries with Scarlett Johansson, and Law & Order’s 2009 season premiere. Originally from England, she currently resides in New York, a multicultural background that enables her to bring a broad range of accents and characterizations to her role as a full-time voice-over actor.
Lloyd James (a.k.a. Sean Pratt) hasbeen a working professional actor in theater, film, television, and voice-overs for more than thirty years. He has narrated over one thousand audiobooks and won numerous Earphones Awards and nominations for the Audie Award and the Voice Arts Award. He holds a BFA degree in acting from Santa Fe University, New Mexico.
Richard Powers has published thirteen novels. He is a MacArthur Fellow and received the National Book Award. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Overstory, and Bewilderment was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
Overview
Now available for the first time with two additional stories!
Have you ever wondered what it's like to be bitten by a zombie or live through a bioweapon attack? In Cory Doctorow's collection of novellas, he wields his formidable experience in technology and computing to give us mind-bending sci-fi tales that explore the possibilities of information technology—and its various uses—run amok.
"Anda's Game" is a spin on the bizarre new phenomenon of "cyber sweatshops," in which people are paid very low wages to play online games all day in order to generate in-game wealth, which can be converted into actual money. Another tale tells of the heroic exploits of "sysadmins"—systems administrators—as they defend the cyberworld, and hence the world at large, from worms and bioweapons. And yes, there is a story about zombies too. Plus, for the first time, this collection includes "Petard" and "The Man Who Sold the Moon."