Lavie Tidhar

The Apex Book of World SF, edited by Lavie Tidhar, features award-winning science fiction and fantasy short stories from Asia, Eastern Europe, and around the world. The world of speculative fiction is expansive; it covers more than one country, one continent, one culture. Collected here are sixteen stories penned by authors from Thailand, the Philippines, China, Israel, Pakistan, Serbia, Croatia, Malaysia, and other countries across the globe. Each one tells a tale breathtakingly vast and varied, whether caught in the ghosts of the past or entangled in a postmodern age. Among the spirits, technology, and deep recesses of the human mind, stories abound. Kites sail to the stars, technology transcends physics, and wheels cry out in the night. Memories come and go like fading echoes and a train carries its passengers through more than simple space and time. Dark and bright, beautiful and haunting, the stories herein represent speculative fiction from a sampling of the finest authors from around the world. Contains the following stories from around the world:S.P. Somtow (Thailand) "The Bird Catcher"Jetse de Vries (Netherlands) "Transcendence Express"Guy Hasson (Israel) "The Levantine Experiments"Han Song (China) "The Wheel of Samsara"Kaaron Warren (Australia/Fiji) "Ghost Jail"Yang Ping (China) "Wizard World"Dean Francis Alfar (Philippines) "LAquilone du Estrellas (The Kite of Stars)"Nir Yaniv (Israel) "Cinderers"Jamil Nasir (Palestine) "The Allah Stairs"Tunku Halim (Malaysia) "Biggest Baddest Bomoh"Aliette de Bodard (France) "The Lost Xuyan Bride"Kristin Mandigma (Philippines) "Excerpt from a Letter by a Social-realist Aswang"Aleksandar iljak (Croatia) "An Evening in the City Coffehouse, With Lydia on My Mind" (Read for free in Apex Magazine issue 5)Anil Menon (India) "Into the Night"Melanie Fazi (France, translated by Christopher Priest) "Elegy"Zoran ivkovi (Serbia, translated by Alice Copple-Toi) "Compartments"

In The Apex Book of World SF 2, editor Lavie Tidhar collects short stories by science fiction and fantasy authors from Africa to Latin America. An expedition to an alien planet; Lenin rising from the dead; a superhero so secret he does not exist. In The Apex Book of World SF 2, World Fantasy Award-nominated editor Lavie Tidhar brings together a unique collection of stories from around the world. Quiet horror from Cuba and Australia; surrealist fantasy from Russia and epic fantasy from Poland; near-future tales from Mexico and Finland, as well as cyberpunk from South Africa. In this anthology, one gets a glimpse of the complex and fascinating world of genre fictionfrom all over our world. Features work from noted international authors such as Will Elliot, Hannu Rajaniemi, Shweta Narayan, Lauren Beukes, Ekaterina Sedia, Nnedi Okorafor, and Andrzej Sapkowski. Contains the following short stories from around the world:"Alternate Girls Expatriate Life" by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz"Mr Goop" by Ivor W. Hartmann"Trees of Bone" by Daliso Chaponda"The First Peruvian in Space" by Daniel Salvo (translated by Jose B. Adolph)"Eyes in the Vastness of Forever" by Gustavo Bondoni"The Tomb" by Chen Qiufan (translated by the author)"The Sound of Breaking Glass" by Joyce Chng"A Single Year" by Csilla Kleinheincz (translated by the author)"The Secret Origin of Spin-Man" by Andrew Drilon"Borrowed Time" by Anabel Enriquez Piñeiro (translated by Daniel W. Koon)"Branded" by Lauren Beukes"December 8th" by Raul Flores (translated by Daniel W. Koon)"Hungry Man" by Will Elliott"Nira and I" by Shweta Narayan"Nothing Happened in 1999" by Fabio Fernandes"Shadow" by Tade Thompson"Shibuya no Love" by Hannu Rajaniemi"Maquech" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia"The Glory of the World" by Sergey Gerasimov"The New Neighbours" by Tim Jones"From the Lost Diary of TreeFrog7" by Nnedi Okorafor"The Slows" by Gail Hareven (translated by Yaacov Jeffrey Green)"Zombie Lenin" by Ekaterina Sedia"Electric Sonalika" by Samit Basu"The Malady" by Andrzej Sapkowski (translated by Wiesiek Powaga)"A Life Made Possible Behind The Barricades" by Jacques Barcia

In The Apex Book of World SF: Volume 3, editor Lavie Tidhar collects short stories by science fiction and fantasy authors from Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe. These stories run the gamut from science fiction, to fantasy, and to horror. Some are translations (from German, Chinese, French, Spanish, and Swedish), and some were written in English. The authors herein come from Asia and Europe, Africa, and Latin America. Their stories are all wondrous and wonderful and showcase the vitality and diversity that can be found in the field. They are a conversation, by voices that should be heard. And once again, editor Lavie Tidhar and Apex Publications are tremendously grateful for the opportunity to bring them to our readers. Contains the following work from around the world:Courtship in the Country of Machine-Gods Benjanun Sriduangkaew (Thailand)A Hundred Ghosts Parade Tonight Xia Jia (China)Act of Faith Fadzilshah Johanabos (Malaysia)The Foreigner Uko Bendi Udo (Nigeria)The City of Silence Ma Boyong (China)Planetfall Athena Andreadis (Greece)Jungle Fever Ika Koeck (Malaysia)To Follow the Waves Amal El-Mohtar (Lebanon/Canada)Ahuizotl Nelly Geraldine Garcia-Rosas (Mexico)The Rare Earth Biram Mboob (Gambia)Spiders Nest Myra Çakan (Germany)Waiting with Mortals Crystal Koo (Philippines)Three Little Children Ange (France)Britas Holiday Village Karin Tidbeck (Sweden)Regressions Swapna Kishore (India)Dancing on the Red Planet Berit Ellingsen (Korea/Norway)

Smileys People meets War of the WorldsAs a 19th century unlike our own comes to a close, Mycroft Holmes is found murdered outside his London club. It is up to retired shadow executive Smith to track down the killer only to stumble on the greatest conspiracy of his life. Strange forces are stirring into life around the globe, and in the shadow game of spies nothing is certain.In The Great Game, World Fantasy Award winning author Lavie Tidhar concludes his epic trilogy of a Victorian era that could never have been: filled with literary references galore, not to mention airship battles, Frankenstein monsters, alien tripods and death-defying acts. It is a world where nothing is certain not even death.And furthermore venture deeper into the Lost Files of the Bookman Histories in this 2016 edition, as Professor Tidhar explores the Dynamics of an Asteroid!

When his beloved is killed in a terrorist atrocity committed by the sinister Bookman, young poet Orphan becomes enmeshed in a web of secrets and lies. His quest to uncover the truth takes him from the hidden catacombs of a London on the brink of revolution, through pirate-infested seas, to the mysterious island that may hold the secret to the origin, not only of the shadowy Bookman, but of Orphan himself...

The mysterious and glamorous Milady De Winter is one of their most valuable agents. A despicable murder inside a locked and bolted room on the Rue Morgue in Paris is just the start. This whirlwind adventure will take Milady to the highest and lowest parts of that great city, and beyond - and cause her to question the very nature of reality itself. A breathtaking alternate Victorian history adventure, set in the same world as The Bookman.

EDITORIALWords from the Editor-in-Chief by Jason SizemoreFICTION"Agent of V.A.L.I.S." by Lavie Tidhar"Screaming Without a Mouth" by Travis Heermann"Death Flowers of a Never-Forgotten Love" by Jason Sanford"Dolly" by Elizabeth BearPODCAST FICTION"Death Flowers of a Never-Forgotten Love" by Jason Sanford, narrated by Lisa ShiningerPOETRY"Naked" by Anne Neugebauer"BlackRiver" by Caleb J. Oakes"Chimney Witch" by Matthew Chamberlin"The Sword Excalibur" by David BarberNONFICTIONInterview with Author Travis Heermann by Andrea JohnsonInterview with Artist Vincent Sammy by Russell DickersonCover art by Vincent Sammy.

A British secret agent is caught in a plot to assassinate archangels who settled Earth after WWII in this classic thriller from the World Fantasy Award winning author!"Sharp, brutal, coolyet also stunningly imaginative and perfectly realised." Michael Marshall, bestselling author of The Straw Men trilogyIn 1945, the Archangels materialised over the battlefields of Europe, ushering in a new Cold War. Fifty years later, they are being killed off one by one.But who or what can kill an angel?Killarney is a shadow executive for the Bureau, British Intelligences most secret organisation. She is the best and she always works alone. Sent on a desperate mission to locate a missing cryptographer who may prove the key to the murders, Killarney finds herself running for her life, from London to Paris to Moscow, leading to a confrontation with a very human evil in the frozen wastelands of Novosibirsk.Plagued by dreams of a different world, and haunted by a swastika adorned with angel wings, it could take all of Killarneys resources to survive, when Heaven itself may be threatened, and God herself may be walking the earthPraise for An Occupation of Angels"Fast moving, powerfully phantasmagoric fantasy" Adam Roberts"A novella of blistering, ballistic energy and ferocious cleverness" James Lovegrove"A breathless adventure story, finely crafted and rammed home with the assured confidence of an author very much in his stride." SFRevue.com

His name was Gorel of Goliris and he was a gunslinger and an addict, touched by the Black Kiss. Gorel wanted nothing more than to return to his home, the greatest empire the World had ever known, from which he was banished by sorcery as a child. But wherever he went, trouble doggedly followed, and death preceded his stepsIn Black Gods Kiss Lavie Tidhar returns to the vivid world of his 2012 British Fantasy Award winning novella, "Gorel & The Pot-Bellied God." It collects 5 long adventures set before and after the events of "Pot-Bellied God," and includes a brand-new novella, "Kur-a-Len."In these pages you will find thrilling tales of guns and sorcery, filled with ghosts, mercenaries, necromancers and gods not to mention sex, and death!REVIEWS:"One of the most flamboyantly entertaining collections of the year what [the stories] are is almost the pure essence of pulp violent, action-packed, paced like a runaway freight train, politically incorrect and socially unredeemable." Locus Magazine"Muscular fantasy varied, adult, occasionally surreal and always interesting. Black Gods Kiss is a collection for readers seeking a different flavour to their fantasy." British Fantasy Society"Classic heroic fantasy My overwhelming feeling upon reading it is gratitude that such an exceptional writer chooses to write the kind of books I want to read." Theakers Quarterly

"Tidhar is a genius at conjuring realities that are just two steps to the left of our own." NPR"A warped genius... There is no one like him." Ian McDonaldWith an introduction by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, author of New York Times Bestseller Mexican GothicLavie Tidhars ground-breaking, award winning novel A Man Lies Dreaming introduced Adolf Hitler as a down-at-heels private detective, forced to eke out a miserable living in 1930s London. Forgotten by history, the man now calling himself Wolf is the lowest of the low, suffering fresh humiliations at every turn.Now Wolf is back, in five darkly comic new stories that see him take on blackmail, murder, and theft not to mention his old comrades.A brilliant alternate history noir with a heart, these stories are in turn shocking, horrifying and comic, as could only come from the mind of World Fantasy Award winner Lavie Tidhar.PRAISE FOR LAVIE TIDHARS A MAN LIES DREAMINGJERWOOD FICTION UNCOVERED PRIZE WINNER 2015BRITISH FANTASY AWARD NOMINEE 2015PREMIO ROMA NOMINEE 2016GEFFEN PRIZE NOMINEE 2019DUBLIN LITERATURE AWARD LONGLIST 2016"Complex, elusive and intriguing" The Jerusalem Post"Nasty, clever, waspish and witty a brilliant and potent thought experiment" The Sunday Herald"Bold and unnerving" NPR"Damn good" Jewish Book Council"A wholly original Holocaust story: as outlandish as it is poignant." Kirkus (starred review)"A vital, brilliant novel" Barnes & Noble SFF Blog"Outstanding and moving" Maxim Jakubowski, LoveReading.co.uk"Gripping clever and thrilling work" Buzz Magazine"In turns brutal, harrowing, heartbreaking and intriguing. [an] unforgettable novel." Gulf Weekly"Poetic & terrible quite incredible" Tor.com"A brilliant novel." Pop Verse

"Lavie Tidhar lays it out like a dystopian dog!" James EllroyA middle-aged hitwoman goes on the run from the Israeli mob; a boy on a South Pacific island searches for a missing cat and uncovers dark secrets; an ageing bagman has to recover a package across one violent night, no matter the cost; an informer must uncover the heist of a lifetime on the fringes of the Roman Empire, and Sherlock Holmes is faced with a confounding botanical mystery; while a pair of hapless actors are forced into a seedy mystery in Golden Age Hollywood.Moving from the genteel English countryside to the mean streets of L.A. and from the islands of Vanuatu to the dark alleyways of Tel Aviv, this wide-ranging collection gathers together the best crime and noir stories of master storyteller Lavie Tidhar, including the CWA Dagger Award nominated "Bag Man" and much more besides.Welcome to a world of gangsters and hired killers, of lost romantics and deadly women, of good times and lowlifes. Where its always the wrong part of town, and where whatever you do, there are no good choices...Because when it comes, no one hears the last shot."Tidhar changes genres with every outing, but his astounding talents guarantee something new and compelling no matter the story he tells." Library Journal"Some write in ink, others in song, Tidhar writes in fire." Junot Diaz

As a 19th century unlike our own comes to a close, Mycroft Holmes is found murdered outside his London club. It is up to retired shadow executive Smith to track down the killer only to stumble on the greatest conspiracy of his life. Strange forces are stirring into life around the globe, and in the shadow game of spies nothing is certain.In The Great Game, World Fantasy Award winning author Lavie Tidhar concludes his epic trilogy of a Victorian era that could never have been: filled with literary references galore, not to mention airship battles, Frankenstein monsters, alien tripods and death-defying acts. It is a world where nothing is certain not even death."A clever, superior thriller, inventive and entertaining." SFX"Achieves moments of surprising depth and beauty, with real insights into human history and psychology as well as the immense and varied wealth of writing in the last half of the 19th century. Its a virtuoso performance." Locus"The plot is fast-paced, the book is action-packed, the cast of characters astounding Every scene was vivid before my minds eye an outstanding steampunk novel. Gripping, multi-faceted, and fascinating." Daily Steampunk

THE CLASSIC COLLECTION OF JEWISH FANTASY!"Marks a milestone in the literature of the fantastic." Paul Di Filippo, author of The Steampunk TrilogyIn HebrewPunk, World Fantasy Award winning author Lavie Tidhar had reinvented pulp fantasy fiction in Jewish terms, creating a hidden world where fantasy, horror and history intertwine.Featuring the Rabbi, the Rat and the Tzaddik, their stories take us on a journey from an expedition to an alternate world in Kenya in 1904 to the drug-soaked streets of 1920s London and to Transylvania in the Second World War."Imagine Hard-Boiled Kabbalah... If you like your otherworld fun noir, have I got a book for you!" Kage Baker, author of In the Garden of Iden"Wondrous, adventurous, and thought-provoking." Ellen Datlow, co-editor of The Years Best Fantasy and Horror"Tidhar writes a sort of intensified supernatural action-surrealism that fair rattles along and is full of surprisesnot only plot twists and thrills but a level of conceptual surprise, a reinvigoration of some of the more tired conventions of the fantasy-horror genre... not to be missed." Adam Roberts, author of The Thing Itself

"A complex, layered and hugely enjoyable story" Bestsf"Lovely work" LocusWhen a mysterious message arrives from vanished New Atlantis, a restless Mai undertakes the perilous journey to its drowned isles. But the journey is long and hard: through the Blasted Plains and the ancient cities of Tyr and Suf, through shipwreck and wilderness.For this is a world where ants develop inexplicable weapons, where a lonely robot lives surrounded by cats in the ruins of old Paris, and where floating coral islands host sleeping sentience. Mais journey takes her by land, sea and air to the islands of New Atlantis, and to the nightmare prison buried underneath old London.On her way she will find heartbreak and love and a new life, awakening.PRAISE FOR NEW ATLANTIS"Excellent... not a word is wasted" Sfcrowsnest"Amazing" 1000yearplan"A wonderful, imaginative story" SFRevuPRAISE FOR LAVIE TIDHARWinner The World Fantasy AwardWinner The John W. Campbell AwardWinner The British Fantasy AwardWinner The Jerwood Fiction Uncovered PrizeWinner The Neukom Literary Arts AwardWinner The Kitschies AwardWinner The BSFA Award"Tidhar is a genius at conjuring realities that are just two steps to the left of our own." NPR"Tidhar changes genres with every outing, but his astounding talents guarantee something new and compelling no matter the story he tells." Library Journal"In a genre entirely of his own, and quite possibly a warped genius." Ian McDonald, author of River of Gods"One of the foremost science fiction authors of our generation." Silvia Moreno-Garcia, author of Gods of Jade and Shadow"Already staked a claim as the genres most interesting, most bold, and most accomplished writer." Locus"One of science fictions great voices." Starburst

Three wise men came from the East for the infant Jesus in The New Testament. Three brave companions accompany the Buddha in the Chinese classic A Journey to the West.Could they have been the same three?Guided by a star, three strange companions arrive in the barbarous land of Judea to seek a newborn childa possible messiah to some, and the reincarnation of the Budda to others. When the childs life is threatened, his family and new guardians escape to Egypt, returning years later, to a Jewish land on the cusp of annihilation by the Roman Empire.Once a general in the Judean army, now a Roman agent, Josephus Flavius is sent by Caesar back to his home land to observe and report on the actions of the troubling young man now preaching sedition in the Galilee a boy with the unsettling powers of kung-fu. . .Their lives would collide in a cataclysmic confrontation between Romans and Jews, between empire and rebelsand change the world forever. . .REVIEWS:"inspired and fantastical" Asimovs Science Fiction Magazine"A vivid and gonzo reimagining of the life of Jesus. . . hugely entertaining" Locus Magazine

"Tidhar changes genres with every outing, but his astounding talents guarantee something new and compelling no matter the story he tells." Library JournalThe daughter of a legendary card player with skills of her own, Claire doesnt want to go into the family business. Shes heard the call, and she desperately wants to become a nun. But when her convent comes under financial threat, Claire must leave what she loves to save what she lovesand enter an international poker tournament.Both a poker novella and a meditation on faith, The Big Blind is a taut, heartfelt and compelling new book from multiple award winner Lavie Tidhar."Lavie Tidhar is one of the great writers of my generation." Silvia Moreno-Garcia, author of Mexican Gothic"An utterly original voice in contemporary fiction." Daniel Polansky, author of The Seventh Perfection"In a genre entirely of his own, and quite possibly a warped genius." Ian McDonald, author of Time Was

The world of Heven was populated, centuries ago, by Melanesian settlers from distant Earth. It is a peaceful, quiet world yet it harbours ancient secrets.Kal just wants to fly. But flying is the one thing forbidden on Heven a world dominated by the mysterious, ever present clouds in the skies. What do they hide? For Kal, finding the answer might mean his death but how far will you go to realise your dreams?Set against the breathtaking vista of a world filled with mystery and magic, Cloud Permutations is a planetary romance with a unique South Pacific flavour, filled with mythic monsters, ancient alien artefacts, floating islands and a quest to find a legendary tower. . . whatever the cost.REVIEWS:"A meditation on the making and meaning of cultural myths" World Literature Today"Wonderful novella. . . his writing is as powerful and lovingly handled as any old master" Tangent"Wonderful and touching" Rising Shadow Review"An impressive science fiction tale. . . It is Tidhars refreshing telling that makes it special." Locus

1941: an hour before the attack on Pearl Harbour, a man from the future materialises in President Roosevelts office. His offer of military aid may cut the War and its pending atrocities short, and alter the course of the future...The future: welcome to Mars, where the lives of three ordinary people become entwined in one dingy smokesbar the moment an assassin opens fire. The target: the mysterious Bill Glimmung. But is Glimmung even real? The truth might just be found in the remote FDR Mountains, an empty place, apparently of no significance, but where digital intelligences may be about to bring to fruition a long-held dream of the stars...Mixing mystery and science fiction, the Holocaust and the Mars of both Edgar Rice Burroughs and Philip K. Dick, Martian Sands is a story of both the past and future, of hope, and love, and of finding meaningno matter whereor whenyou are.