Over the course of its magnificent history, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction has been helmed by a succession of distinguished editors who have earned the magazine its reputation for publishing speculative fiction of the highest literary quality: Anthony Boucher, J Francis McComas, Avram Davidson, Robert P Mills, Joseph W Ferman, and Edward L Ferman. After twenty-five years of distinguished work, Edward L. Ferman handed over the editorial responsibilities to Kristine Kathryn Rusch in 1991, and under her guidance the magazine has continued to publish the finest literature of the fantastic. The nineteen stories in this volume demonstrate aptly the outstanding quality and the broad range of the magazine's fiction, with a generous selection of literary pearls and diamonds, including Karen Joy Fowler's eerie story of things half-seen, "The Dark"; "Susan," by Harlan Ellison, a subtle and tender fantasy from a master of hard-hitting short fiction; and Terry Bisson's sharp-edged and funny portrait of one possible future in "Next." With sixteen other stories from newcomers like Dale Bailey, Carolyn Ives Gilman, and Ray Vukcevich as well as acclaimed veterans such as Joe Haldeman, James Morrow, Mike Resnick, and Gene Wolfe, this volume is a fan's delight and a necessary addition to every science fiction collection.