Dragons. Art. Revolution. Gyen Jebi isn't a fighter, or a subversive. They just want to paint. One day they're jobless and desperate; the next, Jebi finds themself recruited by the Ministry of Armor to paint the mystical sigils that animate the occupying government's automaton soldiers. But when Jebi discovers the depths of the Razanei government's horrifying crimes-and the awful source of the magical pigments they use-they find they can no longer stay out of politics. What they can do is steal Arazi, the ministry's mighty dragon automaton, and find a way to fight...

This sixth volume of the year's best science fiction and fantasy features over thirty stories by some of the genre's greatest authors, including Yoon Ha Lee, James Patrick Kelly, Ken Liu, Robert Reed, Lavie Tidhar, Carrie Vaughn, and many others. Selecting the best fiction from Asimov's, Clarkesworld, F&SF, and other top venues, The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy is your guide to magical realms and worlds beyond tomorrow.

"Locus Award winner Lee (Phoenix Extravagant) takes on the folktale form in a collection of 25 gorgeous, magical stories, tiny jewels of worldbuilding that tap into mythic themes to feel somehow both ancient and delightfully fresh... The result is breathtaking in its playful grace." -Publisher's Weekly Starred Review Enter a world of magic and myth, where foxes fall in love and robots build their own dragons. In The Fox's Tower and Other Tales, New York Times bestselling author Yoon Ha Lee crafts together short and moving stories of love, adventure, magic, and nature. With poetic language and intricate world building, readers will be whisked away to a different adventure with every new story. Full of fascinating creatures and LGBT+ romances, this flash fiction collection combines the classic with the contemporary in Yoon's captivating style.

The stunning conclusion to the mind-bending series Shuos Jedao is awake... ...and nothing is as he remembers. He's a teenager, a cadet-a nobody-in the body of an old man; a general in command of an elite force. And he's the most feared, and reviled, man in the galaxy. Jedao carries orders from Hexarch Nirai Kujen to re-conquer the fractured pieces of the hexarchate. But he has no memory of ever being a soldier, let alone a general, and the Kel soldiers under his command hate him for a massacre he can't remember committing. Kujen's friendliness can't hide the fact that he's a tyrant. And what's worse, Jedao and Kujen are being hunted-by an enemy who knows more about Jedao than he does himself...

When the hexarchate's gifted young captain Kel Cheris summoned the ghost of the long-dead General Shuos Jedao to help her put down a rebellion, she didn't reckon on his breaking free of centuries of imprisonment - and possessing her. Even worse, the enemy Hafn are invading, and Jedao takes over General Kel Khiruev's fleet, which was tasked with stopping them. Only one of Khiruev's subordinates, Lieutenant Colonel Kel Brezan, seems to be able to resist the influence of the brilliant but psychotic Jedao. Jedao claims to be interested in defending the hexarchate, but can Khiruev or Brezan trust him? For that matter, will the hexarchate's masters wipe out the entire fleet to destroy the rogue general?

Clarkesworld is a Hugo Award-winning science fiction and fantasy magazine. Each month they bring you a mix of fiction (new and classic works), articles, interviews and art.

Our January 2014 issue contains: Original Fiction by Ken Liu ("The Clockwork Soldier"), Cheng Jingbo ("Grave of the Fireflies") and Yoon Ha Lee ("Wine"). Classic stories by Aliette de Bodard ("Ship's Brother") and Robert Charles Wilson ("Utriusque Cosmi"). Non-fiction by Carl Abbott ("Distributed Cities"), an interview with Pat Cadigan, an Another Word column by Craig DeLancey, and an editorial by Neil Clarke.