The short story “Mono no Aware” by Ken Liu has been published for the first time in 2012. It won the Hugo Award for best short story of the year.

Hiroto Shimizu is part of the crew of the Hopeful, a starship that set off for a journey of more than three centuries to a star called 61 Virginis to escape a disaster caused by the impact of an asteroid on Earth. When a damage to the giant solar sail used as a propulsion system is discovered, Hiroto is the most qualified for the difficult repair work.

The novelette “Lot’s Daughter” by Ward Moore was published for the first time in 1954. It’s the sequel to “Lot”.

A few years after the atomic war, Mr. Jimmon survives with his daughter Erika and the son they had in the meantime. The three of them follow a routine dictated by the demands of their lives isolated from other possible survivors. Mr. Jimmon isn’t very happy, but one day something changes.

The novelette “Lot” by Ward Moore was published for the first time in 1953.

When nuclear was breaks out, the Jimmon family is ready. Mr. Jimmon prepared anything that could be useful to their survival so they can quickly leave after loading everything on their car. He had discussed about it with his family just to be ready, but since the beginning of the trip tension seem to come not from external dangers but by their bickering with each other, which test the unity of the family.

The short story “Fragmentation, or Ten Thousand Goodbyes” by Tom Crosshill was published for the first time in 2012.

Rico is worried about his mother, who is elderly and has some mental problem. Whenever she says goodbye to someone, she’s convinced that she’ll never see them again. Some time earlier, Rico’s father had his min uploaded to a virtual environment, where he now lives, even if the procedure doesn’t seem free from flaws. Will Rico convince his mother to do the same thing?

The story “Life of the Author plus 70” by Kenneth Schneyer was published for the first time in 2013.

Eric Weiss is a writer who had no success. He’s the only person to have borrowed his own novel from the local library after he suggested buying it. Eventually, he had to adapt to working for a creative department of cartoons. By signing his contract he noticed the curious clause that includes the possibility for him to get hibernated in case of life threats.

Things to improve for Weiss but after ten years he gets warned that he never returned the book he borrowed. The fine to be paid is $102,400 and Weiss’ attempts to amicably solve the situation only make it worse. His case is handled by an artificial intelligence and it’s impossible to talk to a human being. Weiss is forced to try every loophole to try not to pay an awful lot of money.