The best stories pull readers in and keep them turning the pages, eager to find the answer to the question, “And then what happened?” Edited by Neil Gaiman, a literary magician whose acclaimed work defies easy categorization and transcends all boundaries, and “master anthologist” (Booklist) Al Sarrantonio, Stories is a groundbreaking collection that reinvigorates and expands the boundaries of imaginative fiction, affording some of the best writers in the world—from Peter Straub and Chuck Palahniuk to Roddy Doyle and Diana Wynne Jones, Stewart O’Nan and Joyce Carol Oates to Walter Mosley, Jodi Picoult, the volume’s editors, and others—the opportunity to work together, defend their craft, and realign misconceptions. A brilliant and visionary compendium of diverse tales, Stories will transform your view of the world and ignite a new appreciation for the limitless realm of exceptional fiction.

Of all the planets orbiting that G-class star we call the Sun, none was so steeped in an aura of romantic decadence, thrilling mystery, and gung-ho adventure as Mars. This new anthology of all original stories embraces an older, more welcoming, more exotic Mars: a planet of ancient canals curring through red deserts studded with the ruined cities of dying races

From backyard miracles to cosmic conundrums, enter the incredible world of Isaac Asimov. Spanning twenty-three years of Asimov's amazing career, these stories display to the full the exhilarating power of one of science fiction's most astonishing writers. Each tale is accompanied by Asimov's own intriguing account of how and why it came to be Darwinian Pool Room (1950) Day of the Hunters (1950) Shah Guido G. (1951) Button, Button (1953) The Monkey's Finger (1953) Everest (1953) The Pause (1954) Let's Not (1954) Each an Explorer (1956) Blank! (1957) Does a Bee Care? (1957) Silly Asses (1958) Buy Jupiter (1976) A Statue for Father (1959) Rain, Rain, Go Away (1959) Founding Father (1965) Exile to Hell (1968) Key Item [Multivac] (1968) The Proper Study (1968) 2430 A.D. (1970) The Greatest Asset (1972) Take a Match (1972) Thiotimoline to the Stars [Thiotimoline 4] (1973) Light Verse (1973)