Name: Ghosts by Gaslight
Rating: 3.53 (730 reviews)
Author: Jack Dann

Ghost in the Cogs: Steam-Powered Ghost Stories

★ 3.76

Scott Gable

Ghosts. Gaslight. Gears.

And incredible authors: Siobhan Carroll, Folly Blaine & Randy Henderson, Jessica Corra, Howard Andrew Jones, Emily C. Skaftun, Elsa S. Henry, Eddy Webb, Nayad Monroe, Jonah Buck, Erika Holt, Wendy Nikel, Parker Goodreau, Christopher Paul Carey, T. Mike McCurley, Scott Fitzgerald Gray, Richard Dansky, Nick Mamatas, Spencer Ellsworth, Liane Merciel, Richard Pett, James Lowder, Cat Hellisen.

Welcome to a wondrous age of steam where pirates, rust, and syphilis aren't all you need to worry about. Ghosts abound!

In this hissing and clanking steampunk anthology, there are moments that science just can't explain. All the mechanical geniuses scratch their heads and whisper words of ghosts and powers, of spirits and demons. Possessed automatons take on lives of their own. Superstitious pilots take all necessary precautions. Avant-garde machinists harness the spirits to power their creations. Revenge-minded ghosts stalk haunted gasworks. This is a mechanized playground for the souls of the dead.

Again and again, the spirit world proves itself inspiring and dangerous, useful and annoying. In rich steampunk worlds, chock full of gizmos and gadgets aplenty, these are the stories that go bump, clatter, boom in the night.

The Essential Ellison: A 50 Year Retrospective

★ 4.54

Harlan Ellison

Harlan Ellison is probably best known as a script writer for sci-fi and fantasy movies and TV series such as the original Outer Limits, The Hunger, Logan's Run, and Babylon Five. But his range is much broader than that, encompassing stories, novels, essays, reviews, reminiscences, plays, even fake autobiographies. The Essential Ellison, a special limited edition personally signed and numbered by Ellison, contains 74 unabridged works, including such classics as "A Boy and His Dog," "Xenogenesis," and "Mefisto in Onyx."

Uncanny Magazine Issue 39: March/April 2021

★ 4.14

Lynne M. Thomas

The March/April 2021 issue of Hugo Award-winning Uncanny Magazine.

Featuring new fiction by Catherynne M. Valente, Dominica Phetteplace, Caroline M. Yoachim, Carrie Vaughn, Rati Mehrotra, and Sarah Pinsker. Reprint fiction by Alaya Dawn Johnson. Essays by Tansy Rayner Roberts, Sid Jain, Marieke Nijkamp, and Jay Edidin, poetry by Tamara Jerée, Brandon O'Brien, Terese Mason Pierre, and Ali Trotta, interviews with Caroline M. Yoachim by Tina Connolly, and Sarah Pinsker by Caroline M. Yoachim, a cover by Paul Lewin, and editorials by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas.

Contents:
The Uncanny Valley / Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas
The Sin of America / Catherynne M. Valente
The Perils of a Hologram Heart / Dominica Phetteoplace
Colors of the Immortal Palette / Caroline M. Yoachim
The Book of the Kraken / Carrie Vaughn
Eighteen Days of Barbereek / Rati Mehrotra
Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather / Sarah Pinkser
They Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass / Alaya Dawn Johnson
Deadly Frocks and Other Tales of Murder Clothes / Tansy Rayner Roberts
Seduced by the Ruler's Gaze: An Indian Perspective on Seth Dickinson's Masquerade / Sid Jain
Protector of Small Steps / Marieke Nijkamp
Please Be Kind to the Singularity / Jay Eddin
The Most Humane Methods Could Involve a Knife / Tamara Jerée
Lagahoo Culture (Part II) / Brandon O'Brien
Future Saints / Terese Mason Pierre
Of Monsters I Loved / Ali Trotta

Maps in a Mirror: The Short Fiction of Orson Scott Card

★ 4.02

Orson Scott Card

Maps in a Mirror brings together nearly all of Orson Scott Card's short fiction written between 1977 and 1990. For those readers who have followed this remarkable talent since the beginning, here are all those amazing stories gathered together in one place, with some extra surprises as well. For the many who are newly come to Card, here is chance to experience the wonder of a writer so versatile that he can handle everything from traditional narrative poetry to modern experimental fiction with equal ease and grace. The brilliant story-telling of the Alvin Maker books is no accident; the breathless excitement evoked by the Ender books is not a once-in-a-lifetime experience. In this enormous volume are forty-six stories, plus ten long, intensely personal essays, unique to this volume. In them the author reveals some of his reasons and motivations for writing, with a good deal of autobiography into the bargain.
Contents:
Introduction (Book 1: The Hanged Man, Tales of Dread) • essay by Orson Scott Card
Eumenides in the Fourth Floor Lavatory (1979) / novelette by Orson Scott Card
Quietus (1979) / short story by Orson Scott Card
Deep Breathing Exercises (1979) / short story by Orson Scott Card
Fat Farm (1980) / short story by Orson Scott Card
Closing the Timelid (1979) / short story by Orson Scott Card
Freeway Games (1979) / short story by Orson Scott Card
A Sepulchre of Songs (1981) / novelette by Orson Scott Card
Prior Restraint (1986) / short story by Orson Scott Card
The Changed Man and the King of Words (1982) / novelette by Orson Scott Card
Memories of My Head (1990) / short story by Orson Scott Card
Lost Boys (1989) / short story by Orson Scott Card
Afterword (Book 1: The Hanged Man, Tales of Dread) • essay by Orson Scott Card
Introduction (Book 2: Flux, Tales of Human Futures) • essay by Orson Scott Card
A Thousand Deaths [Tales of Capitol] (1978) / novelette by Orson Scott Card
Clap Hands and Sing (1982) / short story by Orson Scott Card
Dogwalker (1989) / novelette by Orson Scott Card
But We Try Not to Act Like It (1979) / short story by Orson Scott Card
I Put My Blue Genes On (1978) / short story by Orson Scott Card
In the Doghouse (1978) / short story by Orson Scott Card and Jay A. Parry
The Originist [Foundation] (1989) / novella by Orson Scott Card
Afterword (Book 2: Flux, Tales of Human Futures) • essay by Orson Scott Card
Introduction (Book 3: Maps in a Mirror, Fables and Fantasies) • essay by Orson Scott Card
Unaccompanied Sonata (1979) / short story by Orson Scott Card
A Cross-Country Trip to Kill Richard Nixon (1980) / novelette by Orson Scott Card
The Porcelain Salamander (1981) • short story by Orson Scott Card
Middle Woman (1981) / short story by Orson Scott Card
The Bully and the Beast (1979) / novella by Orson Scott Card
The Princess and the Bear (1980) / novelette by Orson Scott Card
Sandmagic [Mither Mages] (1979) / novelette by Orson Scott Card
The Best Day (1984) / short story by Orson Scott Card
A Plague of Butterflies (1981) / short story by Orson Scott Card
The Monkeys Thought 'Twas All in Fun (1979) / novelette by Orson Scott Card
Afterword (Book 3: Maps in a Mirror, Fables and Fantasies) • essay by Orson Scott Card
Introduction (Book 4: Cruel Miracles, Tales of Death, Hope, and Holiness) • essay by Orson Scott Card
Mortal Gods (1979) / short story by Orson Scott Card
Saving Grace (1987) / short story by Orson Scott Card
Eye for Eye (1987) / novella by Orson Scott Card
St. Amy's Tale (1980) / novelette by Orson Scott Card
Kingsmeat (1978) / short story by Orson Scott Card
Holy (1980) / novelette by Orson Scott Card
Afterword (Book 4: Cruel Miracles, Tales of Death, Hope, and Holiness) • essay by Orson Scott Card
Introduction (Book 5: Lost Songs, The Hidden Stories) • essay by Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game [Ender Wiggin] (1977) / novelette by Orson Scott Card
Mikal's Songbird (1978) / novelette by Orson Scott Card
Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow [The Alvin Maker Saga] (1989) • poem by Orson Scott Card
Malpractice (1977) / short story by Orson Scott Card
Follower (1978) / short story by Orson Scott Card
Hitching (1978) / short story by Orson Scott Card
Damn Fine Novel (1989) / short story by Orson Scott Card
Billy's Box (1978) / short story by Orson Scott Card
The Best Family Home Evening Ever (1978) / short story by Orson Scott Card
Bicicleta (1977) / short story by Orson Scott Card
I Think Mom and Dad Are Going Crazy, Jerry (1979) / short story by Orson Scott Card
Gert Fram (1977) / short story by Orson Scott Card
Afterword (Book 5: Lost Songs, The Hidden Stories) • essay by Orson Scott Card

Again, Dangerous Visions

★ 4.15

Harlan Ellison

All you need to know about this book:

1- It is the companion volume to the most influential book of speculative fiction in the past twenty-five years, the award-winning "Dangerous Visions". Of course, you've heard of "Dangerous Visions".
2- It contains original stories, written especially for this anthology, by forty-two very special writers, none of whom were in "Dangerous Visions". Of course, you remember the writers who won all those awards for "Dangerous Visions".
3- It contains forty-six stories ranging in length from shorties of 1,000 words to short novels of 40,000 words; each story was written without thought to taboos or publishing restrictions that usually hamper sci-fi writers. Of course, you remember what a mind-blower, in this respect, was "Dangerous Visions".
4- Each story has its own Afterword by the author, as well as its own individual Introduction by the editor. Of course, you remember the wealth of addenda that made such a milestone of "Dangerous Visions".
5, 6, & 7- It took over three years to compile this book. It has been edited by Harlan Ellison who put together "Dangerous Visions", which you will surely recall. And... this is a more startling book than "Dangerous Visions". This book takes off where "Dangerous Visions" stopped and it is a BETTER book than "Dangerous Visions".

The John Varley Reader

★ 4.28

John Varley

From the moment John Varley burst onto the scene in 1974, his short fiction was like nothing anyone else was writing. His stories won every award the science fiction field had to offer, many times over. His first collection, The Persistence of Vision, published in 1978, was the most important collection of the decade, and changed what fans would come to expect from science fiction.

Now, The John Varley Reader gathers his best stories, many out of print for years. This is the volume no Varley fan - or science fiction reader - can do without.
1 • Picnic on Nearside • [Eight Worlds] • (1974) • novelette by John Varley
24 • Overdrawn at the Memory Bank • [Eight Worlds] • (1976) • novelette by John Varley
53 • In the Hall of the Martian Kings • (1976) • novella by John Varley
91 • Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance • [Eight Worlds] • (1976) • novelette by John Varley
119 • The Barbie Murders • [Anna-Louise Bach] • (1978) • novelette by John Varley
146 • The Phantom of Kansas • [Eight Worlds] • (1976) • novelette by John Varley
180 • Beatnik Bayou • [Eight Worlds] • (1980) • novelette by John Varley
212 • Air Raid • (1977) • shortstory by John Varley
228 • The Persistence of Vision • (1978) • novella by John Varley
271 • Press Enter [] • (1984) • novella by John Varley
327 • The Pusher • (1981) • shortstory by John Varley
343 • Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo • [Eight Worlds] • (1986) • novella by John Varley
409 • Options • [Eight Worlds] • (1979) • novelette by John Varley
437 • Just Another Perfect Day • (1989) • shortstory by John Varley
449 • In Fading Suns and Dying Moons • (2003) • novelette by John Varley
467 • The Flying Dutchman • (1998) • shortstory by John Varley
486 • Good Intentions • (1992) • shortstory by John Varley
502 • The Bellman • [Anna-Louise Bach] • (2003) • novelette by John Varley

Sandkings

★ 4.22

George R.R. Martin

When Simon Kress returned to his home planet of Baldur from an offworld business trip, he was amused to find that his tank of Earth piranhas had cannibalized themselves into extinction, and of the two exotic animals that roamed his estate, only one remained. Now, in search of some new pets to satisfy his cruel pursuit of amusement, Simon finds a new shop in the city where he is intrigued by a new lifeform he has never heard of before... a collection of multi-colored sandkings. The curator explains that the insect-like animals, no larger than Simon's fingernails, are not insects, but animals with a highly-evolved hive intelligence capable of staging wars between the different colors, and even religion - in the form of worship of their owner. The curator's warning to Simon about the regularity of their feeding, unfortunately, was not taken seriously...

Contents:
- The Way of Cross and Dragon (1979)
- Bitterblooms (1977)
- In the House of the Worm (1976)
- Fast-Friend (1976)
- The Stone City (1977)
- Starlady (1976)
- Sandkings (1979)

Cover illustration by Michael Whelan

Slippage: Previously Precariously Poised, Uncollected Stories

★ 4.12

Harlan Ellison

Harlan Ellison is undoubtedly one of the most audacious, infuriating, brazen characters on the planet. Which may help explain why he is also one of the most brilliant, innovative, and eloquent writers on earth. Slippage simply presents recent, typical Ellison. In a word, masterful. The 21 stories in this 1997 collection, which is encased in black boxes, show Ellison at the height of his powers, with several of the stories (no surprise here) major award-winners. Highlights include a black mind reader who pays a visit to a white serial killer, a husband who falls prey to a vampiric personal computer, and a love affair between a young man and a woman who may be more undead than alive. Perhaps even more fascinating are the painfully candid snapshots of autobiography running throughout the volume. Even if Ellison's unsettling fictions are not enough to dazzle you, his often bizarre life experiences as an author will still keep you compulsively turning the page like a polite voyeur. --Stanley Wiater

Contents:
The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore (1992)
Anywhere but Here, with Anybody but You (1996)
Crazy as a Soup Sandwich (1989)
Darkness upon the Face of the Deep (1991)
The Pale Silver Dollar of the Moon Pays Its Way and Makes Change: Version 1 (1997)
The Pale Silver Dollar of the Moon Pays Its Way and Makes Change: Version 2 (1994)
The Lingering Scent of Woodsmoke (1996)
The Museum on Cyclops Avenue (1995)
Go toward the Light (1996)
Mefisto in Onyx (1993)
Where I Shall Dwell in the Next World (1992)
Chatting with Anubis (1995)
The Few, the Proud (1989)
The Deadly "Nackles" Affair (1987) essay
Nackles (1964)
Nackles (1987)
Sensible City (1994)
The Dragon on the Bookshelf (1995) with Robert Silverberg
Keyboard (1995)
Jane Doe #112 (1990)
The Dreams a Nightmare Dreams (1997)
Pulling Hard Time (1995)
Scartaris, June 28th (1990)
She's a Young Thing and Cannot Leave Her Mother (1988)
Midnight in the Sunken Cathedral (1995)

Ghosts by Gaslight

Books similar to Ghosts by Gaslight

Ghost in the Cogs: Steam-Powered Ghost Stories

The Essential Ellison: A 50 Year Retrospective

Uncanny Magazine Issue 39: March/April 2021

Maps in a Mirror: The Short Fiction of Orson Scott Card

Again, Dangerous Visions

The John Varley Reader

Sandkings

Slippage: Previously Precariously Poised, Uncollected Stories

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