Ijon Tichy, Lem's Candide of the Cosmos, encounters bizarre civilizations and creatures in space that serve to satirize science, the rational mind, theology, and other icons of human pride. Line drawings by the Author. Translated by Michael Kandel. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

A New York Times Bestseller A sparkling anthology starring Lady Whistledown--the elusive Regency-era gossip columnist popularized in # 1 New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels, now a series created by Shondaland for Netflix. Lady Whistledown Tells All! Society is abuzz when the Season's most promising debutante is jilted by her intended--only to be swept away by the deceitful rogue's dashing older brother--in New York Times bestseller Julia Quinn's witty, charming, and heartfelt tale. When the scandalous actions of his beautiful fiancée are recorded in Lady Whistledown's column, a concerned groom-to-be rushes back to London to win his lady's heart once and forever, in Suzanne Enoch's enchanting romantic gem. Karen Hawkins captivates with an enduring story of a handsome rogue whose lifelong friendship--and his heart--are tested when the lovely lady in question sets her cap for someone else. A dazzling and delightful tale by Mia Ryan has a young woman cast out of her home by an insufferable yet charming marquis--who intends to take possession not only of the house . . . but its former occupant as well!

These wickedly authentic introductions to twenty-first-century books preface tomes on teaching English to bacteria, using animated X-rays to create "pornograms," and analyzing computer-generated literature through the science of "bitistics." "Lem, a science fiction Bach, plays in this book a googleplex of variations on his basic themes" (New York Times Book Review). Translated by Marc E. Heine. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

It's been over a year since fourteen-year-old Eddie "Trash" Thalmeyer and his friends from Edgeview Alternative School found out about their special hidden talents. Trash can move things with his mind, Torchie is a fire-starter, Cheater reads minds, Lucky finds lost objects, Flinch can predict the future, and Martin can see into people's souls. Now back home with their families, all the boys want to do is get back to their normal lives, start attending high school, and keep in touch with their friends from Edgeview. When Trash tests his power in a bank and accidentally steals a fistful of cash, he is kidnapped by the ruthless leader of a shadowy company whose purpose is to gather information about psychic phenomena—and who is willing to do anything to get it.... Torchie, Cheater, Lucky, Flinch, and Martin join forces to rescue their friend using their hidden talents, and discover their true talents in the process.

"This classic ghost story from the author of The Last Unicorn follows Jonathan who's been living in a cemetery with a raven as his only friend amongst the newly dead until he discovers a pair of ghostly lovers bearing an extraordinary gift-the final chance for his own happiness"--

The return of a beloved classic, from the bestselling author of The Princess Bride ! “This inventive, offbeat fable has a touch of magic about it.”— Los Angeles Times Once upon a time, the gondoliers of Venice possessed the finest voices in all the world. But, alas, few remember those days—and fewer still were ever blessed to hear such glorious singing. No one since has discovered the secret behind the sudden silence of the golden-voiced gondoliers. No one, it seems, but S. Morgenstern. Now Morgenstern recounts the sad and noble story of the ambitions, frustrations, and eventual triumph of Luigi, the gondolier with the gooney smile. Here, in this brilliantly illustrated exposition of the surprising facts behind this all-but-forgotten mystery, S. Morgenstern reveals the fascinating truths about John the Bastard, Laura Lorenzini, the centenarian Cristaldi the Pickle, Enrico Caruso, Porky XII, the Great Sorrento, the Queen of Corsica—and, of course, the one and only Luigi. His tale will captivate you as much as his song! “Where The Princess Bride was lightheartedly brutal, this story is gently whimsical, well-complemented by Paul Giovanopoulos’s zany drawings.”— San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle

Hidden Talents is the first novel in a hit supernatural duology for young readers by award-winning author David Lubar. This hilarious coming-of-age-with-powers story starring the misfits at Edgeview Alternative School was shortlisted for the Printz Award and is now available in trade paperback. When thirteen-year-old Martin Anderson arrives at the Edgeview Alternative School, it's the end of the road. Literally. He's been expelled from every other school. Edgeview is the last stop. A warehouse for the system's rejects. Martin fits right in. Everyone has given up on Martin. Even Martin. But at Edgeview Martin falls in with a group of five outsiders who make the other Edgeview rejects appear gifted by comparison. He makes a remarkable discovery: each of his friends possesses a remarkable talent. One is telekinetic. Another is empathic. Others have psychic abilities. Martin thinks these talents make them special. They think it makes them freaks. Martin has one shot to convince them otherwise. " Hidden Talents provides us with a glimpse of David Lubar as a writer whose comic talent is matched by his ability to write with sensitivity and power about adolescents." — The Alan Review

"We never expected that inventing Star-Drive would lead to this! We were first! Humans invented star drive, bringing light and movement to the galaxy, forging a grand alliance with all races. (Well, most of them.) It seemed the galaxy was ours to lead and to share! Till we met demmies. Oh, they're not so bad. They mean well. Impulsive and exasperating, sure. Often brilliant, cheeky, moronic, volatile, always astonishing... did I mention exasperating? And lucky. Gradually, it dawned on humanity- Hey, that's what we wanted to be! In ancient sci-fi dreams, we pictured ourselves as the impulsive-lucky ones, not wise-patient elders. Only now... ... they reverently call Earthlings "the Ancient Ones." And demmies are having all the fun! Dr. Alvin Montessori is Human Advisor aboard the mostly demmie-crewed star cruiser Clever Gamble, orbiting Oxytocin 41, where something weird is going on. It starts when the crew unreels a humongous hose down to the surface... ... and their first contact team discovers a whole lot of 'something weird.'"--

"Peter Beagle deserves a seat at the table with the great masters of fantasy. If you had any doubts, The Overneath will dispel them." ―Christopher Moore, author of Lamb An odd couple patrols a county full of mythological beasts and ornery locals. A familiar youngster from the world of The Last Unicorn is gifted in magic but terrible at spell-casting. A seemingly incorruptible judge meets his match in a mysterious thief who steals his heart. Two old friends discover that the Overneath goes anywhere, including locations better left unvisited. Lyrical, witty, and insightful, The Overneath is Peter S. Beagle's much-anticipated return to the short form. In these uniquely beautiful and wholly original tales, with new and uncollected work, Beagle once again proves himself a master of the imagination.

A middle-aged Jewish man who fantasizes about being a cowboy goes on an eccentric quest across Europe after the 1941 Nazi invasion of Lithuania in this wild and witty yet heartrending novel from the bestselling author of Yiddish for Pirates , shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Motl is middle-aged, poor, nerdy, Jewish and in desperate need of a shave. Since having his balls shot cleanly off as a youth in WWI, he's lived a quiet life at home in Vilnius with his shrewd and shrewish mom, Gitl, losing himself in the masculine fantasy world of cowboy novels by writers like Karl May--novels equally loved by Hitler, whose troops have just invaded Lithuania and are out to exterminate people like Motl. In his dreams, Motl is a fast-talking, rugged, expert gunslinger capable of dealing with the Nazi threat. But only in his dreams. As friends and neighbours are killed around them, Motl and Gitl escape from Vilnius, saving their own skins. But they immediately risk everything to try rescue relatives they hope are still alive. With death all around him, Motl decides that a Jew's best revenge is not only to live, but to procreate. In order to achieve this, though, he must relocate those most crucial pieces of his anatomy lost to him in a glacier in the Swiss Alps in the previous war. It's an absurd yet life-affirming mission, made even more urgent when he's separated from his mother, and isn't sure whether she's alive or dead. Joining forces, and eventually hearts, with Esther, a Jewish woman whose family has been killed, Motl ventures across Europe, a kaleidoscope of narrow escapes and close encounters with everyone from Himmler, to circus performers, double agents, quislings, fake "Indians" and real ones. Motl at last figures out that he has more connection to the Indigenous characters in western novels than the cowboys. An imaginative and deeply felt exploration of genocide, persecution, colonialism and masculinity--saturated in Gary Barwin's sharp wit and perfect pun-play-- Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted: The Ballad of Motl the Cowboy is a one-of-a-kind novel of sheer genius.

Apropos is a product of a violent childhood. Estranged from his prostitute mother, fatherless since his unfortunate conception, Apropos makes his living as a thief. But when the death of a young girl rattles his conscience, and when he forges an unlikely alliance with a hero of true nobility, Apropos finds himself confronting for the first time in his life the selfish nature of his maverick, every-man-for-himself ethos. At times a loyal friend, at others a ruthless betrayer, Apropos is fast approaching the moment when he must choose between honor and safety, between the core of nobility residing in his heart and the shame that has haunted him through life. A darkly atmospheric tale rich with tension and unexpected turns of fate, SIR APROPOS OF NOTHING is crafted by Peter David with both penetrating wit and subtle poignancy. Treating the fantasy genre to an invigorating overhaul, David delivers something altogether new and original, starring a character as familiar as yesterday--and as new as tomorrow.

When Tom Brodzinksi tries to give up smoking, he inadvertently sets off a chain of events that threaten to upset the tenuous balance of peace in a not-too-distant land. When he flips the butt of his final cigarette off the balcony of his vacation apart-ment, it lands on elderly Reggie Lincoln, lounging on the balcony below. Lincoln suf-fers a burn, and the local authorities charge Tom with assault―in a country with draconian anti-smoking laws, a cigarette is a weapon of offense. For reparation, Tom must leave his family behind and wander through the arid center of the country's deserted territory. Joining Tom on his journey is Brian Prentice, a mysteriously sin-ister presence, who has his own sins to make up for. Inevitably, the two men en-counter violence, forcing them to come together despite their seething mistrust. Refusing facile moral certitudes, The Butt is set in a distorted world, a country that is part Australia, part Iraq, and part the heart of a distinctively modern darkness.

"He's back. Despite absolutely no requests at all, Sir Apropos of Nothing-he who was spawned from the violent assault of a tavern wench by a group of drunken knights-has returned. This time his voyages take him to the land of Rogypt, a surprisingly ancient realm where the tragic people known as the Shews labor endlessly in building pyramids for their masters. When Apropos inadvertently interferes with he who is destined to be their savior, no less than a deity reaches down and points His fickle finger upon him, informing him it is now his responsibility to liberate the people. All that stands in his way? An unpredictable young ruler, his insanely duplicitous sister and, oh yes, an ancient mummy's curse. So basically, just a typical day for the roguish Apropos."--Publisher's description.

What has been missing from the daring tales of fairy tale heroes is quite simply some heft. In Burly Tales, Lambda Literary Award-winning editor Steve Berman has gathered a dozen stories of whimsy and romance that feature gay men with plenty of curves and fur. Run away with us to the woods, where the cubs and bears are not going to eat you (not without informed, enthusiastic consent), where no one will judge if you take up residence in a house with seven bearded men and only one bed, and where if you fall in love with a large, hairy man with a forbidding castle and a well-stocked library, he'll still be that way after you kiss him. These are stories about trolls guarding gay bars, giants atop the clouds, and a prince trapped in a tower who hopes his beard might be long enough to help his lover climb to his rescue. The book also features an introduction by Matthew Bright and an afterword by acclaimed ursine author Jeff Mann.

What's it like to be a termite? Professor Mmaa's Lecture explores how a society of termites would work, and what they would think of us Homo Sapiens. A pioneering work of xenofiction. A hilarious social satire. Finally back in print! This is the English language version.

This cyber-erotic romantic thriller, written by two queer icons in the 1990s, has been "rebooted" for today's readers. In this rowdy cyber-romance originally written in the 1990s, two people meet online and fall in love in every guise they can manage. As Scratch and Winc go from anonymous lovers to accidental heroes and gender outlaws, they expose the shadowy Web stretched between technology and capitalist greed, nearly becoming roadkill on the internet superhighway. With a little help from their friends including a brave teenager and a mysterious hacker, these darling rebels fight government intervention and find chosen family in this eerily prescient tale. The 30th anniversary “reboot” edition includes an updated lens for today’s readers, as GenZ investigative journalist Drew uncovers what just might be the greatest queer love story of all time . Like Octavia Butler's PARABLE OF THE SOWER, Margaret Atwood's A HANDMAID'S TALE, and George Orwell's 1984, the return of NEARLY ROADKILL is right on time with urgent lessons for our contemporary landscape.

The transcripts take the reader on an intellectually breathtaking tour through David Mamet's baroque, fragmented world, where nothing is certain except the certainty bestowed by the academy.After the Cola riots, the fire at the Stop 'n' Shop, and the death of my kitten, what remains? Does the Joke Code still operate? Has anyone seen my copy of Bongazine? Can Jane of Trent unlock this paranoia? What were Chet and Donna doing in the boathouse? And just who does Ginger think she is? In playing with the ideas of perception, accuracy, and truth, Wilson dares to doubt them all.

These are the tales of Eternal Voyager. Tales from a distant future in which all life is virtual. Everyone in the Metaverse takes for granted the ability to teleport; to change shape; to create entire planets for their playgrounds and to make backup copies of themselves, so they cannot permanently die. And what do these people who live beyond the conventional universe do with their powers? Mostly they play RPGs. ***** "I loved Conor Kostick's Epic and these six short novels (more like long, self-contained chapters) are sort of related. They are set in a universe (called the Metaverse) where virtual characters have come alive and have fun and adventures." Reader Review ***** "From a plague of vampyrism to silver orb aliens, to talking to dragons and battling orcs, Eternal Voyager [party animal] tackles them all with sharp humour and several quick avatar changes. Have you ever solved your own murder? Join a romp through metaversal adventures which just about cover every possible realm and involves a broad spectrum of characters. Parallels between the avatar world and our own are unmistakable - sometimes amusing, sometime deadly serious. Highly recommended." Reader Review

ICU Psychosis Something is very badly wrong in the Hospital ICU where Donna's father is supposedly convalescing. Nurses disappear and never return, necessary treatments are delayed without cause, and she can't get a straight answer out of anyone... except the dead guy who keeps talking to her post-op crazy father.