Artificial intelligence in 100 stories. To ready us for the inevitable, here are 100 of the best short stories ever written - most of them by humans - about artificial intelligence. Simon Ings has assembled anthropomorphic cyborgs and invertebrate AIs, thuggish metal lumps and wisps of manufactured intelligence so delicate that if you blink you might miss them in the new overlord of all robot literary compendiums. It's Alive! is about inventors and their creations. Following the Money drops robots into the day-to-day business of living. Owners and Servants considers the human potentials and pitfalls of owning and maintaining robots. Changing Places looks at what happens at the blurred interface between human and machine minds. All Hail the New Flesh waves goodbye to the physical boundaries that once separated machines from their human creators. Succession considers the future of human and machine consciousnesses - in so far as we might have one. With 100 stories spanning an order of magnitude more pages, Simon Ings's We, Robots is the new overlord of all robot literary compendiums. Welcome it.

This companion volume to Persephone Book No. 8, "Good Evening, Mrs Craven", contains ten stories describing aspects of British life in the years after the war. "Minnie's Room" itself is about a family who are unable to believe that their maid wants to leave them to live in a room of her own. An elderly couple emigrates because of 'the dragon out to gobble their modest, honourable incomes.' The sisters in "Beside the Still Waters" grumble because 'Everything is so terribly difficult nowadays.'Mollie Panter - Downes, said the Spectator, 'is discomfortingly good at anatomising the crudities and subtleties of snobbery - but she is never unkind.'

They've helped orchestrate the perfect day for countless couples. Now twelve new couples will find themselves in the wedding spotlight in the second Year of Weddings novella collection. Love at Mistletoe Inn by Cindy Kirk Sometimes the road to happiness is paved with youthful mistakes. Ten years after what she thought was her almost-wedding, Hope Prentiss discovers that the ceremony counted-and, as fate would have it, the jilted John Burke has just ridden back into town. After spending some time with John and helping plan a Christmas wedding for a mystery couple, Hope begins to wonder if she really wants a divorce . . . or a real wedding of her own. A Brush with Love by Rachel Hauck Revealing the beauty in other women might be Ginger Winters's specialty-but it will take an unexpected kind of love to help Ginger see the beauty in herself. Ginger Winters will be the "beauty-maker" for the Alabama society wedding of the decade. But when high-school crush Tom Wells shows up looking for a haircut, Ginger's thinly veiled insecurities threaten to keep her from love once again . . . despite Tom's best efforts. Serving Up a Sweetheart by Cheryl Wyatt Meadow knows how to serve delicious food to match any wedding theme. But can she accept love when it's served up on a silver platter? Meadow Larson is having the mother of all Mondays when her roof caves in during a blizzard, right before the most important wedding contract of her career. Renovation contractor Colin McGrath offers to fix Meadow's roof, even though he knows he is the last person she would accept help from. But the more Meadow gets to know the new Colin, the more she realizes God may have something more permanent in store than a new catering kitchen.

London Under Snow is delicate, compact, mature and profound collection of short stories about winter by Jordi Llavina. Six fragments of different lives in six different moment. In this beautifully written collection, the characters come face to face with their different lives and pasts, all of which are full of ghosts and memories. Sensibility courses through each story, all of them written with a meticulous eye to detail and a careful lyricism that pays tribute to the human condition and the society that we have created. Bringing winter and Christmas celebrations in a variety of places and cultures to life in a selection of beautifully written short stories, Llavina mixes personal experiences with fictional characters to blur the lines between fiction and reality. 'Llavina exhibits his great ability to successfully penetrate our psyches.' Lluis Muntada, El Pais 'Presided over by tenderness and truth, Jordi Llavina's stories are beautiful, cathartic masterpieces.' Anna M. Gil, La Vanguardia 'The narrative fabric of these stories is the voice - sensitive, powerful, complicated and dedicated - that Llavina creates for each of us. Almost personal, he whispers gently in our ears.' Ramon Pla i Arxe, La Vanguardia

Selected from a survey of more than five hundred English professors, short storywriters, and novelists, this revised and updated second edition features fifty remarkable stories written by a wide spectrum of stylistically and culturally diverse authors.

Russell Banks - Donald Barthelme - Rick Bass - Richard Bausch - Charles Baxter - Amy Bloom - T. C. Boyle - Kevin Brockmeier - Robert Olen Butler - Sandra Cisneros - Peter Ho Davies - Janet Desaulniers - Junot Diaz - Anthony Doerr - Stuart Dybek - Deborah Eisenberg - Richard Ford - Mary Gaitskill - Dagoberto Gilb - Ron Hansen - A. M. Homes - Mary Hood - Denis Johnson - Edward P. Jones - Thom Jones - Jamaica Kincaid - Jhumpa Lahiri - David Leavitt - Kelly Link - Reginald McKnight - David Means - Susan Minot - Rick Moody - Bharati Mukherjee - Antonya Nelson - Joyce Carol Oates - Tim O'Brien - Daniel Orozco - Julie Orringer - ZZ Packer - E. Annie Proulx - Stacey Richter - George Saunders - Joan Silber - Leslie Marmon Silko - Susan Sontag - Amy Tan - Melanie Rae Thon - Alice Walker - Steve Yarbrough

The nation's favourite annual guide to the short story, now in its tenth year. Best British Short Stories invites you to judge a book by its cover - or, more accurately, by its title. This new series aims to reprint the best short stories published in the previous calendar year by British writers, whether based in the UK or elsewhere. The editor's brief is wide ranging, covering anthologies, collections, magazines, newspapers and web sites, looking for the best of the bunch to reprint all in one volume. Featuring: Richard Lawrence Bennett, Luke Brown, David Constantine, Tim Etchells, Nicola Freeman, Amanthi Harris, Andrew Hook, Sonia Hope, Hanif Kureishi, Helen Mort, Jeff Noon, Irenosen Okojie, KJ Orr, Bridget Penney, Diana Powell, David Rose, Sarah Schofield, Adrian Slatcher, NJ Stallard, Robert Stone, Stephen Thompson and Zakia Uddin.

Claire Keegan's brilliant debut collection, Antarctica, was a Los Angeles Times Book of the Year, and earned her resounding accolades on both sides of the Atlantic. Now she has delivered her next, much-anticipated book, Walk the Blue Fields, an unforgettable array of quietly wrenching stories about despair and desire in the timeless world of modern-day Ireland. In the never-before-published story "The Long and Painful Death," a writer awarded a stay to work in Heinrich Boell's old cottage has her peace interrupted by an unwelcome intruder, whose ulterior motives only emerge as the night progresses. In the title story, a priest waits at the altar to perform a marriage and, during the ceremony and the festivities that follow, battles his memories of a love affair with the bride that led him to question all to which he has dedicated his life; later that night, he finds an unlikely answer in the magical healing powers of a seer. A masterful portrait of a country wrestling with its past and of individuals eking out their futures, Walk the Blue Fields is a breathtaking collection from one of Ireland's greatest talents, and a resounding articulation of all the yearnings of the human heart.

Twelve chilling and thrilling stories from the darkest stars of modern horror including Josh Malerman, Caroline Kepnes, Stephen Graham Jones, Ramsay Campbell and more... Created as an homage to the 1980 classic horror anthology, Dark Forces, this collection contains 12 original novelettes showcasing today's top horror talent edited by John F.D. Taff. Within these pages you'll find tales of dead men walking, an insidious secret summer fling, an island harbouring unspeakable power, and a dark hallway that beckons. You'll encounter terrible monsters-both human and supernatural-and be forever changed. These stories run the gamut from traditional to modern, from dark fantasy to neo-noir, from explorations of beloved horror tropes to the unknown-possibly unknowable-threats. ALL-NEW TERRIFYING TALES FROM: CHESYA BURKE RAMSEY CAMPBELL GEMMA FILES STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES ALMA KATSU CAROLINE KEPNES JOHN LANGAN LIVIA LLEWELLYN JOSH MALERMAN USMAN T. MALIK PRIYA SHARMA JOHN F.D. TAFF

In the eight stories presented in The Song of Youth, Montserrat Roig (Barcelona, 1946-1991) employs language as a weapon against political and social "dismemory", enabling the stories of those silenced by the brutal Franco regime to come to the fore. Feminist, critical but always lyrical, Roig's writing gives shape and meaning to the human experience.

'What is the life of a human being - a drop of dew, a flash of lightning? This is so sad, so sad.' Autobiographical stories from one of Japan's masters of modernist story-telling. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927). Akutagawa's Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories is also available in Penguin Classics.

Gorgeous Collector's Edition. From such texts as the Shah Nameh (the Persian Book of Kings), Masnavi-e Ma'navi, the Anvar-i Suhayli fables and works by the great poet Nizami, come ancient tales of a civilization that once stretched across the known world. Find here the wonderful stories of the magical bird the Simurgh, the Seven Labours of Rustem, the evil demon onager-giant Akwan Diw and the tragic romance of Laili and Majnun. Persian literature is amongst the most beautiful and inventive of all cultures, offering a joyful read of creation, love and conquest. Flame Tree Collector's Editions present the foundations of speculative fiction, authors, myths and tales without which the imaginative literature of the twentieth century would not exist, bringing the best, most influential and most fascinating works into a striking and collectable library. Each book features a new introduction and a Glossary of Terms.

'The chance to join "the Revival of the Great Lucia Berlin"' New York Times 'Raw, elliptical, devilishly funny tales' Observer Ranging from Texas, to Chile, to New Mexico and New York, in Evening in Paradise Berlin writes about the good, the bad and everything in between: struggling young mothers, husbands who pack their bags and leave in the middle of the night, wives looking back at their first marriage from the distance of their second . . . The publication of A Manual for Cleaning Women, Lucia Berlin's dazzling collection of short stories, marked the rediscovery of a writer whose talent had gone unremarked by many. The incredible reaction to Lucia's writing - her ability to capture the beauty and ugliness that coexist in everyday lives, the extraordinary honesty and magnetism with which she draws on her own history to breathe life into her characters - included calls for her contribution to American literature to be as celebrated as that of Raymond Carver. Evening in Paradise is a careful selection from Lucia Berlin's remaining stories - a jewel-box follow-up for her hungry fans.

The Obituary Tango, is an anthology of short stories from around Africa, which were submitted to the 2005 Caine Prize for African Writing. The winner of the 2005 Caine Prize, Monday Morning was written by Nigerian S.A. Afolabi. The four others shortlisted for the award, which has become known as Africa's Booker Prize, include Tropical Fish by Doreen Baingana of Uganda; Tindi in the Land of the Dead by Ike Okonto of Nigeria; The Obituary Tango by Jamal Mahjoub of Sudan and Jail Birds by South African Mutual Naidoo. This anthology collects the winner and the shortlisted stories, together with stories written at the Celtel Caine Prize Writers' Workshop held near Naivasha in Kenya earlier this year.

Paired once again with top journalist Jameson Rook, NYPD Homicie Detective Nikki Heat arrives at her latest crime scene to find an unidentified body stuffed inside a suitcase. Nikki is in for a big shock when this new homicide connects to the unsolved murder of her own mother. Will Nikki Heat finally be able to solve the dark mystery that has been her demon for ten years?

Another deluxe edition of new writing and neglected perspectives. Asian ghosts and supernatural beings - from India to Sri Lanka, China to Korea, Japan to the Philippines - can be both terrifying and comforting. Underpinned by strong cultural beliefs in the cycles of life and ancestor worship, the nature of Asian spirits differs from that of their counterparts in other areas of the world. The possibility is more instinctually accepted that ghosts remain with us, as part of the world, whether we can see them or not. Featured here are all kinds of stories from across East, South and Southeast Asia: classic weird tales by the likes of Pu Songling, Rabindranath Tagore, S Mukerji, Im Bang and Yi Ruk, Lafcadio Hearn and Yei Theodora Ozaki, are complemented by stories by Asian writers of today. An egui (the Chinese version of a 'hungry ghost') is exorcised, a vicious jiangshi (Chinese zombie-like revenant) is encountered in the night, a Bengali shakchunni (the ghost of an unsatisfied bride) poignantly seeks love with devastating effect, a family is haunted by vengeful Korean gwishin, and the iconic Japanese tragedies of Oiwa and O-Kiku are revisited. The Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy, Classic Stories and Epic Tales collections bring together the entire range of myth, folklore and modern short fiction. Highlighting the roots of suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories, the books in Flame Tree Collections series are beautifully presented, perfect as a gift and offer a lifetime of reading pleasure.

From Patricia Engel, whose novel Infinite Country was a New York Times bestseller and a Reese’s Book Club pick, comes an exquisite collection of ten haunting, award-winning short stories set across the Americas and linked by themes of migration, sacrifice, and moral compromise. Two Colombian expats meet as strangers on the rainy streets of New York City, both burdened with traumatic pasts. In Cuba, a woman discovers her deceased brother’s bones have been stolen, and the love of her life returns from Ecuador for a one-night visit. A cash-strapped couple hustles in Miami, to life-altering ends. The Faraway World is a collection of arresting stories from the New York Times bestselling author of Infinite Country, Patricia Engel, “a gifted storyteller whose writing shines even in the darkest corners� (The Washington Post). Intimate and panoramic, these stories bring to life the liminality of regret, the vibrancy of community, and the epic deeds and quiet moments of love.

Shortlisted for the Premio Valle Inclan, 2020 Nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award, 2019 A SPELLBINDING COLLECTION OF STORIES FROM A MAJOR INTERNATIONAL LITERARY STAR The crunch of a bird's wing. A cloud of butterflies, so beautiful it smothers. A crimson flash of blood across an artist's canvas. Spine-tingling and unexpected, unearthly and strange, the stories of Mouthful of Birds are impossible to forget. Samanta Schweblin's writing expertly blurs the line between the surreal and the everyday, pulling the reader into a world that is at once nightmarish and beautiful. An exhilarating tour de force guaranteed to leave the pulse racing.

A postman who develops close friendships with everyone on his postal route, an old man who stops buying the coal he needs to heat his flat so he can afford Christmas presents for his granddaughters, a senile old Holocaust survivor whos suspicious of almost all her neighbours, two young sisters who are fed up with their baby brother, and an old woman squabbling with her tailor while a suit is being sewn for her to wear at her own funeral these are just some of the intriguing characters we meet in Doctor Bianco and Other Stories. Written in terse, spare, unaffected prose devoid of sentimentality, the nineteen stories in this collection gradually reveal the portraits of various people inhabiting one particular apartment building in an unspecified town. The gritty, harsh realities faced by Bielawskis protagonists are at times darkly funny and other times gut-wrenchingly sad. Bielawski sets up a magnifying glass on a small corner of Polish life and allows us to glimpse fascinating, surreal scenes from a tangle of human lives whose heartbreak, despair and various anxieties might feel surprisingly familiar to readers from any walk of life.