How would first contact--on earth, in space, on another planet--transform our understandings of technology, philosophy, and what it means to be human? What kind of cognitive dissonance would society experience, if we discovered a previously unrecognized sentience on Earth?
What would life be like if it originated in a frigid ocean beneath an impenetrable shell of ice? Or on a world whose haze obscures any view of the universe beyond? Or on an unfathomable scale in the depths of space? Or . . .
Life--beyond us.
Dive in as the European Astrobiology Institute presents fifty-four original SF Stories and Science Essays on life, from microbial to macro, from automatic to sagacious. Each speculative story is followed by a professional essay illuminating the scientific underpinnings of the story and providing a new window into the cutting-edge knowledge about exploration for life in the universe.
SF STORIES BY: Eugen Bacon, Gregory Benford, Renan Bernardo, Jana Bianchi, Tobias S. Buckell, Eric Choi, Julie E. Czerneda, Tessa Fisher, Simone Heller, Valentin D. Ivanov, Mary Robinette Kowal, Lisa Jenny Krieg (translated by Simone Heller), Geoffrey A. Landis, Rich Larson, Liu Yang (translated by Ladon Gao), Lucie Lukačovičová, Premee Mohamed, G. David Nordley, Malka Older, Deji Bryce Olukotun, Tomás Petrásek, Brian Rappatta, Arula Ratnakar, D.A. Xiaolin Spires, Bogi Takács, Peter Watts, and B. Zelkovich.
SCIENCE ESSAYS BY: Jacques Arnould, William Bains, José A. Caballero, Dimitra Demertzi, Martina Dimoska, Tessa Fisher, Dennis Höning, Valentin D. Ivanov, Fabian Klenner, Nina Kopacz, Geoffrey A. Landis, Natuschka Lee, Ania Losiak, Stephen Francis Mann, Connor Martini, Tony Milligan, Philippe Nauny, Julie Nováková, Erik Persson, Tomás Petrásek, Joanna Piotrowska, Giovanni Poggiali, Amedeo Romagnolo, Stefano Sandrelli, Floris van der Tak, Jan Toman, Sheri Wells-Jensen, and Raymond M. Wheeler
INTRODUCTION BY: Stephen Baxter
FOREWORD BY: Julie Nováková
AFTERWORDS BY: Wolf D. Geppert; Lucas K. Law & Susan Forest
EDITED BY: Julie Nováková, Lucas K. Law & Susan Forest
Previous anthologies by Laksa Media (Strangers Among Us, The Sum of Us, Where the Stars Rise, Shades Within Us, Seasons Between Us) have been recommended by Publishers Weekly, Booklist (American Library Association), Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, School Library Journal, Locus, Foreword Reviews, and Quill & Quire.
Author Biography:
Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of the Glamourist Histories series, Talkers, the Lady Astronaut Universe series, and The Spare Man. She is part of the award-winning podcast Writing Excuses and has received the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, four Hugo awards, the Nebula and Locus awards. Her stories appear in Asimov's, Uncanny, and several Year's Best anthologies. Mary Robinette, a professional puppeteer, also performs as a voice actor (SAG/AFTRA), recording fiction for authors including Seanan McGuire, Cory Doctorow, and John Scalzi. She lives in Nashville with her husband Rob and over a dozen manual typewriters. Visit maryrobinettekowal.com Lucas K. Law is a Malaysian-born editor and author who divides his time and heart between Calgary and Qualicum Beach, Canada. He edits Laksa Media's award-winning anthology series (with SusanForest-Strangers Among Us, The Sum of Us, Shades Within Us, Seasons Between Us-and with Derwin Mak, Where the Stars Rise). When he is not editing, writing, or reading, he is a corporate and non-profit organization consultant in business planning and development. Lucas is a life member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta. Julie Nováková is an evolutionary biologist by study, active in science education and outreach, one of the many founding members of the EAI, and acclaimed author, editor and translator of speculative fiction. She has edited or co-edited four anthologies in three different languages(English: Dreams From Beyond: Anthology of Czech Speculative Fiction; Strangest of All: Anthology of Astrobiological Science Fiction; Czech: Terranullius; Filipino: Haka, co-edited with Jaroslav Olsa, Jr.). Her stories and translations appeared in Clarkesworld, Asimov's, Analog, Tor.com, F&SF and elsewhere, and s he occasionally publishes nonfiction in Clarkesworld, Analog and other venues. Find more at www.julienovakova.com or Twitter @Julianne_SF.
