Description:

Mind-expanding explorations of the future of the human formOur bodies and minds are malleable, and only the imagination is the limit to the possible improvements. From genetics to artificial enhancements, humanity will alter the course of its own evolution. Included here are more than twenty stories from the most imaginative writers in the field, including:Poul Anderson * James Blish * Eric Brown * Ted Chiang * Tony Daniel * Samuel R. Delany * Greg Egan * Joe Haldeman * Geoffrey A. Landis * Paul McAuley * Ian MacLeod * David Marusek * Tom Purdom * Robert Reed * Joanna Russ * Robert Silverberg * Brian Stableford * Bruce Sterling * Charles Stross * Michael Swanwick * Liz Williams * Gene Wolfe * Roger Zelazny Contents ix • Preface (Supermen) • essay by uncredited 1 • The Chapter Ends • [Psychotechnic League] • (1954) • novelette by Poul Anderson 18 • Watershed • [Pantropy] • (1955) • shortstory by James Blish 26 • Slow Tuesday Night • (1965) • shortstory by R. A. Lafferty 32 • Aye, and Gomorrah • (1967) • shortstory by Samuel R. Delany (aka Aye, and Gomorrah . . .) 41 • Nobody's Home • (1972) • shortstory by Joanna Russ 54 • The Hero as Werwolf • (1975) • shortstory by Gene Wolfe 66 • Halfjack • (1979) • shortstory by Roger Zelazny 71 • Dancer's in the Time-Flux • shortstory by Robert Silverberg (aka Dancers in the Time-Flux 1983 ) 85 • Spook • (1983) • shortstory by Bruce Sterling 97 • Understand • (1991) • novelette by Ted Chiang 125 • None So Blind • (1994) • shortstory by Joe Haldeman 133 • Mortimer Gray's History of Death • (1995) • novella by Brian Stableford (aka Mortimer Gray's "History of Death") 181 • Brother Perfect • [Sister Alice] • (1995) • novella by Robert Reed 223 • A Child of the Dead • (1997) • shortstory by Liz Williams 229 • Nevermore • (1997) • novelette by Ian R. MacLeod 247 • The Wisdom of Old Earth • (1997) • shortstory by Michael Swanwick 255 • TOAST: A Con Report • (1998) • shortstory by Charles Stross 267 • The Gardens of Saturn • (1998) • novelette by Paul J. McAuley 296 • Grist • (1998) • novella by Tony Daniel 342 • Fossil Games • (1999) • novelette by Tom Purdom 373 • The Wedding Album • [Cathy] • (1999) • novella by David Marusek 413 • Steps Along the Way • (1999) • shortstory by Eric Brown 421 • Border Guards • (1999) • novelette by Greg Egan 442 • Epilogue (Supermen) • essay by uncredited 444 • Homo Sapiens Declared Extinct • (1999) • shortstory by Bruce Sterling (aka A.D. 2380: Homo Sapiens Declared Extinct 2001 ) 446 • A History of the Human and Post-Human Species • (2000) • shortstory by Geoffrey A. Landis 449 • The Great Goodbye • (2000) • shortstory by Robert Charles Wilson