Annal:2008 Philip K. Dick Award

Emissaries from the Dead: An Andrea Cort Novel

Adam-Troy Castro

• 2008 Philip K Dick winner
• Score: 10.58

Two murders have occurred on One One One, an artificial ecosystem created by the universe’s dominant AIs to house several engineered species, including a violent, sentient race of sloth-like creatures. Under order from the Diplomatic Corps, Counselor Andrea Cort has come to this cylinder world where an indentured human community hangs suspended high above a poisoned, acid atmosphere. Her assignment is to choose a suitable homicide suspect from among those who have sold their futures to escape existences even worse than this one. And no matter where the trail leads her she must do nothing to implicate the hosts, who hold the power to obliterate humankind in an instant.

But Andrea Cort is not about to hold back in her hunt for a killer. For she has nothing to lose and harbors no love for her masters or fellow indentures. And she herself has felt the terrible exhilaration of taking life….

Terminal Mind

David Walton

• 2008 Philip K Dick winner
• Score: 10.58

Years in the future, the U.S. is a splintered country. The city-state of Philadelphia is ripe for revolution. Mark McGovern, the son of a rich politician, lives in a world of expensive parties and frivolous biological mods, a sharp contrast to the poor underworld of his best friend, Darin Kinsley. When the two accidentally release a sophisticated virus called a ‘slicer’ into the net, Mark must try to stem the tide of casualties before the charged political situation explodes. But the slicer is more than a virus. To destroy it, Mark must first sort truth from lies, not only for himself, but for the mind of the child who holds his fate.

Endgame

Kristine Smith

• 2008 Philip K Dick nominee
• Score: 6.58

Ever since contact was first made between humans and the alien idomeni, tensions between the two races have been frequent and bloody. As the first genetically altered human-idomeni hybrid, former Captain Jani Kilian serves as a lightning rod for the anger, outrage, and hatreds of both sides. And now the ex-soldier finds herself in the unwanted role of diplomat—serving the interests of her hybrid enclave, Thalassa, the only place in the universe that welcomes renegade humans, hybrids, and aliens alike.

But the all-powerful Commonwealth intends to bring Thalassa to its knees, and the time for diplomacy is at an end. With death surrounding her, Jani Kilian must return to where her nightmare began and once again take on her most powerful persona: warrior. For as the game approaches its inevitable conclusion, she knows only two options remain: victory…or extermination.

Fast Forward 2

Lou Anders

• 2008 Philip K Dick nominee
• Score: 6.58

When Fast Forward 1 debuted in February 2007, it marked the first major all-original, all-SF anthology series to appear in some time and it was met with a huge outpouring of excitement and approbation from the science fiction community. No less than seven stories from Fast Forward 1 were chosen to be reprinted a total of nine times in the four major Best of the Year retrospective anthologies, a wonderful testament to the quality of contributions in our inaugural book. What’s more, Fast Forward 1 was hailed repeatedly as leading the charge in a return of original, unthemed anthologies series (several more have since appeared in our wake). Now the critically-acclaimed, groundbreaking series continues, featuring all new stories from: Paul Cornell, Kay Kenyon, Chris Nakashima-Brown, Nancy Kress, Jack Skillingstead, Cory Doctorow and Benjamin Rosenbaum, Jack McDevitt, Paul McAuley, Mike Resnick and Pat Cadigan, Ian McDonald, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Karl Schroeder and Tobias S. Buckell, Jeff Carlson, Paolo Bacigalupi.

Judge

Karen Traviss

• 2008 Philip K Dick nominee
• Score: 6.58

The Eqbas have come, bringing justice, change, hope to some…and death to many.

Seeking to punish the human gethes who caused the near destruction of an ocean-dwelling race in the distant Cavanagh’s Star system, the Eqbas have finally landed on Earth. But another, equally important obligation has drawn them across the galaxy: the salvation of this environmentally ravaged world, a mission that could entail the annihilation of billions of humans.

Former police officer Shan Frankland has come as well—along with her two lifemates, one alien and one human—carrying in her blood the parasite that makes her virtually immortal. Though she once vowed never to let the powerful contagion reach the homeworld she left nearly a century ago, she feels compelled to play an active role in the unfolding drama—and to follow the catastrophic events that have devastated civilizations and defined her life to their shocking, inevitable end.

Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait

K.A. Bedford

• 2008 Philip K Dick nominee
• Score: 6.58

In the future, Aloysius "Spider" Webb will journey to the End of Time...

For now, Spider must be content with repairing broken time machines, rebuilding his life and avoiding the lunatic antics of his boss, Dickhead McMahon.

Spider’s life is status quo until he discovers inside a broken second-hand time machine, the corpse of a brutally murdered woman from the future. The Department of Time and Space steps in to manage the situation—leaving Spider asking a lot of questions that only lead to more questions; unsettling evidence, brewing trouble, and the knowledge that Spider himself might be involved in an epic battle for control of time itself.

Will his knowing the future be a curse or a blessing? and will Spider Webb really find out how things turn out before they happen? With his new found knowledge, who can Spider trust?

One thing is certain: it will all happen before the End of Time!