The Dark SF Bundle - Curated by Lavie Tidhar

Science fiction has dabbled in utopia before, but never as often as people might think. The early writers' visions of the future were often dire. There was Asimov's crumbling galactic empire in Foundation, or his murder-driven The Caves of Steel with its claustrophobically enclosed city. Philip K. Dick's nightmares took form in print, paranoid horror-like tales of a shifting reality in classics like Ubik or The Man in the High Castle. Richard Matheson's I Am Legend imagined the last man on Earth haunted by vampires.

There is a certain darkness to much good SF, an underlying sense that, beneath the glimmering golden surface of spaceships and robots and towers reaching up to the skies there is a shadow, and it will always be there, and might engulf us all. Once it might have been fear of the Bomb, now perhaps of cataclysmic climate collapse. War was then, and is now. Not much has changed. But dark SF has within it, too, a dark seduction. There is a place, it seems to whisper, for the cozy, the cheerful and optimistic in your heart. But deep down you know the truth. Things don't end well. Sit down. Relax. Read a book and wait for your inevitable extinction. What else is there to do?

The writers gathered here have all written some pretty dark stuff in their time, but what I hope you find here is a collection of science fiction tales as fine as any you may wish to encounter here at the start of the new twenties, with all the chaos our reality currently exhibits. This is science fiction with an edge – as science fiction must be, if it is to be relevant! And it comes from some of the top names in the field. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

– Lavie Tidhar

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For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you're feeling generous), you'll get the basic bundle of four books in any ebook format—WORLDWIDE.

• After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress
• One Day All This Will Be Yours by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Infinity Wars edited by Jonathan Strahan
• Genocidal Organ by Project Itoh

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $20, you get all three of the regular books, plus six more books for a total of 10!

• The Freeze-Frame Revolution by Peter Watts
• The Second Shooter by Nick Mamatas
• Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley
• Martian Sands by Lavie Tidhar
• Plague Birds by Jason Sanford
• The Fate of Mice by Susan Palwick

This bundle is available only for a limited time via http://www.storybundle.com. It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get multiple DRM-free formats (.epub, .mobi) for all books!

It's also super easy to give the gift of reading with StoryBundle, thanks to our gift cards – which allow you to send someone a code that they can redeem for any future StoryBundle bundle – and timed delivery, which allows you to control exactly when your recipient will get the gift of StoryBundle.

Why StoryBundle? Here are just a few benefits StoryBundle provides.

• Get quality reads: We've chosen works from excellent authors to bundle together in one convenient package.
• Pay what you want (minimum $5): You decide how much these fantastic books are worth. If you can only spare a little, that's fine! You'll still get access to a batch of exceptional titles.
• Support authors who support DRM-free books: StoryBundle is a platform for authors to get exposure for their works, both for the titles featured in the bundle and for the rest of their catalog. Supporting authors who let you read their books on any device you want—restriction free—will show everyone there's nothing wrong with ditching DRM.
• Give to worthy causes: Bundle buyers have a chance to donate a portion of their proceeds to Locus!
• Receive extra books: If you beat the bonus price, you'll get the bonus books!

StoryBundle was created to give a platform for independent authors to showcase their work, and a source of quality titles for thirsty readers. StoryBundle works with authors to create bundles of ebooks that can be purchased by readers at their desired price. Before starting StoryBundle, Founder Jason Chen covered technology and software as an editor for Gizmodo.com and Lifehacker.com.

For more information, visit our website at storybundle.com, tweet us at @storybundle and like us on Facebook. For press inquiries, please email press@storybundle.com.