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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

Introduction · Algis Budrys · in
The Phantom of Kansas · nv Galaxy Feb ’76
Air Raid [as by Herb Boehm] · ss IASFM Spr ’77
Retrograde Summer · nv F&SF Feb ’75
The Black Hole Passes · nv F&SF Jun ’75
In the Hall of the Martian Kings · na F&SF Feb ’77
In the Bowl · nv F&SF Dec ’75
Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance · nv Galaxy Jul ’76
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank · nv Galaxy May ’76
The Persistence of Vision · na F&SF Mar ’78

Fleeing Earth after an alien invasion, the human race stands on the threshold of evolution, like a fish cast on artificial shores. Their new home is Luna, a moon colony blessed with creature comforts, prolonged lifespans, digital memories, and instant sex changes. But the people of Luna are bored, restless, and suicidal -- and so is the computer that monitors their existence...

Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards, John Varley is truly one of the "greats" of science fiction, comparable only to Heinlein, Herbert, Asimov, and Clark. Now the all-time master returns -- with his long-awaited epic novel of life beyond the great beyond...All the universe is a stage, and Sparky Valentine is its itinerant thespian. He makes his way from planet to planet as part of a motley theater troupe, bringing Shakespeare -- a version of it anyway -- to the outer reaches of earth's solar system. He journeys through the outlands, where thousands of artificial satellites drift, conglomerates of junk and rock welded together to support meager communities of human life. Here Sparky plies his trade, transforming himself from young to old, fat to thin, man to woman, by altering magnetic implants beneath his skin. Indispensable hardware for a career actor and an interstellar con man wanted for murder -- for while Sparky Valentine may have a song in his heart, he also has a price on his head. But his galactic roamings are bringing him closer to home, closer to justice -- and closer to the truth of his strange and prolonged existence...

An appalling mid-air collision between a DC10 & a 747 started it all. Hundreds of smashed & shattered bodies were scattered among the debris. Bill Smith & his team began the gruesome job of investigation. At first it was just little things that didn't add up--like all the watches in the crash having stopped one hour before it happened. And the odd sensation of being followed & watched by people who were not there. But then Bill started to discover things that really had no right being where they were & found himself right in the middle of the most extraordinary conspiracy, a conspiracy that seemed to have its origins somewhere in the far distant future.

After the effortless capture of Earth by vastly superior aliens, humanity is forced to fight for existence on the Moon and other lumps of airless rock. The invention of the Hotline — a constant stream of data from a star in the constellation Ophiuchus —facilitates survival and enables the development of amazing new technologies. Then, after 400 years, humanity's unknown helpers send a bill for their services...and suddenly everything is threatened once again.

The Ophiuchi Hotline was John Varley's first novel, and it received nominations for both the Hugo and Nebula awards; he later won both for his book Persistence of Vision.