Alternate histories. Alternate realities. It's said that every choice creates multiple timelines, each one exploring what could have happened if a different decision had been made. Most of these alternate histories stem from different outcomes to a pivotal battle, or to an assassination attempt, or to the ending or escalation of a war. All violent, all bloody, all brutal. But what about those choices made during peacetime, when there was no monumental, ongoing conflict? After all, everyone knows how significant the flutter of a butterfly's wings can be, how far-reaching its effects can be felt. In these pages you will find fifteen new branches of history written by some of today's greatest science fiction and fantasy writers, including Elektra Hammond, Dale Cozort, Harry Turtledove, C.W. Briar, Rick Wilber, Juliet E. McKenna, Michael Robertson, Kat Otis, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Brian Hugenbruch, Stephen Leigh, Elizabeth Kite, Ian R. MacLeod, Mike Barretta, and Kari Sperring, all stemming from a peaceful divergence in our past. Join them as they wander down familiar paths...and then swerve down roads not taken.

Modern space adventures crafted by a new generation of Grand Tradition science fiction writers. Smart, engaging stories that take us back to a time when science fiction was fun and informative, pithy and piquant-when speculative fiction transported us from the everyday grind and left us wondrously satisfied. Showcasing the breadth of Grand Tradition stories, from 1940s-style pulp to realistic hard SF, from noir and horror to SF spaceships, alien uplift, and action-adventure motifs, Far Orbit's diversity of Grand Tradition stories makes it easy for every SF fan to find a favorite.

Issue 1 of the new Heroic Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine Cirsova. Featuring: Novelette A Hill of Stars by Misha Burnett Short Stories The Gift of the Ob-Men by Schuyler Hernstrom This Day, At Tilbury by Kat Otis At the Feet of Neptune's Queen by Abraham Strongjohn Rose by Any Other Name by Brian K. Lowe Late Bloom by Melanie Rees The Hour of the Rat by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt Poetry My Name is John Carter (Part 1) by James Hutchings Essay Retrospective: Toyman by E.C. Tubb by Jeffro Johnson

This month's stories are all about change. For some, it is expected, for others not. Each character deals with it differently, some successfully, some not. But each story touches the heart and, hopefully, will make your next life change a little richer. First up, from Hannah Dela Cruz, an understated literary piece about a snowy day and Robert Redford-"A Box Full of Winter." From FFO Alum, a fantasy offering about the metaphysical manifestations of grief in Kelly Sandoval's "A Menagerie of Grief." Another FFO Alum, Kat Otis, offers us "Hinterlight Abby." A science fiction story, life aboard a generation ship pairs with belief in unexpected and unsettling ways. And, finally, this month's reprint selection, "Molten Heart," by yet another FFO Alum, Alexis A. Hunter. Get out your tissues. This science fiction tale of maternal love found in an unlikely place will touch even the stoniest hearts. Plus a new FXXK WRITING column by Jason S. Ridler. Fiction has always fought back. Just remember, if nothing ever changed there would be no butterflies.