In science fiction, nothing says sensawunda like a Big Dumb Object—a colossal, extremely powerful machine of unknown purpose and origin. It's that feeling that editor Jonathan Strahan was after when he asked six of today's finest authors to write for Godlike Machines. And they succeed brilliantly! • "Troika" Alastair Reynolds unlocks the secrets inside an alien spaceship—secrets that could change the world…if only a repressive regime would believe its last surviving explorer. • Stephen Baxter "Return to Titan" sends wormhole builders to Titan, but what they discover there may fuel their wildest dreams…or destroy them. • Cory Doctorow "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" turns the idea of godlike machines on its head with replicating machines that turn cities back into wilderness. • Sean Williams "A Glimpse of the Marvelous Structure" leads a spacer agent through a subterranean Structure…and into space-time itself. • Robert Reed—in "Alone " a story about the ancient, Jupiter-sized Great Ship—looks at a strange passenger who has been onboard far longer than seems possible. • Greg Egan "Hot Rock" gives us an alien technology only he could imagine—a wandering world that's inexplicably warm enough to support life. Made from the pure stuff of SF, these unique, all-new adventures are nothing less than awesome!

SUMMARY: Kim Stanley Robinson has been an ongoing force in the Science Fiction genre for over twenty years, with his novels (Year's of Rice and Salt, Forty Signs of Rain) crossing over to the mainstream, and routinely appearing on the New York Times best sellers list. During the 80s and early nineties, his short fiction continued to push the boundaries of science fiction, defining the science-focused side of the science fiction genre. Award-winning editor Jonathan Strahan worked with Kim Stanley Robinson to select the stories that make up this landmark volume. In addition to these reprints, The Best of Kim Stanley Robinson features a brand-new short story, "The Timpanist of the Berlin Philharmonic, 1942."