"The Guardian called Alastair Reynolds' work ٢a turbulent, wildly entertaining ride٣ and The Times acclaimed him as ٢the mastersinger of space opera٣. With a career stretching back more than 25 years and across fourteen novels, including the classic 'Revelation Space' series, the bestselling 'Poseidon's Children' series, Century Rain, Pushing Ice, and most recently The Medusa Chronicles (with Stephen Baxter), Reynolds has established himself as one of the best and most beloved writers of hard science fiction and space opera working today. A brilliant novelist, he has also been recognized as one of our best writers of short fiction. His short stories have been nominated for the Hugo, British Fantasy, British Science Fiction, Theodore Sturgeon Memorial, Locus, Italia, Seiun, and Sidewise Awards, and have won the Seiun and Sidewise Awards. The very best of his more than sixty published short stories are gathered in Beyond the Aquila Rift: The Best of Alastair Reynolds, a sweeping 250,000 word career retrospective which features the very best stories from the 'Revelation Space' universe like ٢Galactic North٣, ٢Great Wall of Mars٣, ٢Weather٣, ٢Diamond Dogs٣, and ٢The Last Log of the Lachrymosa٣ alongside thrilling hard science fiction stories like Hugo Award nominee ٢Troika٣, ٢Thousandth Night٣, and ٢The Star Surgeon's Apprentice٣. Spanning more than fifteen years, the book also collects more recent stories like environmental SF tale ٢The Water Thief٣, powerful and moving YA ٢The Old Man and the Martian Sea٣ and the brilliant ٢In Babelsberg٣. Beyond the Aquila Rift: The Best of Alastair Reynolds has something for every reader of science fiction, and easily meets the challenge of delivering stories that are the hardest of hard science fiction and great entertainment." --Jacket flap.