John Joseph Adams has edited two previous Saga Anthologies: Loosed upon the World: The Saga Anthology of Climate Fiction (2015) and What the #@&% Is That?: The Saga Anthology of the Monstrous and the Macabre (2016). His latest is a collection of epic SF tales “for fans who want a little less science and a lot more action, inspired by movies like Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars.” It contains brand-new fiction from the top authors in the genre.

Okay, I try to be objective in these future-book summaries, but I think JJA and Saga Press have just discovered the keys to my heart. There have been some terrific anthologies published in 2017 (and the year is still young) but, dang. Already this one looks like my favorite.

Just check out the list of contributors: Alan Dean Foster, Dan Abnett, Aliette De Bodard, Kameron Hurley, Charlie Jane Anders, Yoon Ha Lee, Linda Nagata, Seanan McGuire, Caroline M. Yoachim, Tobias S. Buckell, and many others. Here’s the complete table of contents.

“A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime,” Charlie Jane Anders
“Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance,” Tobias S. Buckell
“The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts,” Becky Chambers
“The Sighted Watchmaker,” Vylar Kaftan
“Infinite Love Engine,” Joseph Allen Hill
“Unfamiliar Gods,” Adam-Troy Castro, with Judi B. Castro
“Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World,” Caroline M. Yoachim
“Our Specialty is Xenogeology,” Alan Dean Foster

“Golden Ring,” Karl Schroeder
“Tomorrow When We See the Sun,” A. Merc Rustad
“Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair!,” Seanan McGuire
“The Dragon that Flew Out of the Sun,” Aliette De Bodard
“Diamond and the World Breaker,” Linda Nagata
“The Chameleon’s Gloves,” Yoon Ha Lee
“The Universe, Sung in Stars,” Kat Howard
“Wakening Ouroboros,” Jack Campbell
“Warped Passages,” Kameron Hurley
“The Frost Giant’s Data,” Dan Abnett

Publishers Weekly says:

This collection lands the cosmic element… “The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts” by Becky Chambers nails the superheroic style in a chosen-one-against-impossible-odds tale… The deliciously enthralling “The Dragon that Flew Out of the Sun” by Aliette de Bodard is about the stories we tell ourselves, and crosses cultures, traditions, and mythology with life in a galactic empire.

Cosmic Powers: The Saga Anthology of Far-Away Galaxies will be published by Saga Press on April 18, 2017. It is 352 pages, priced at $29.99 in hardcover, $16.99 in trade paperback, and $7.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Chris Foss.

See all our recent coverage of the best upcoming SF and Fantasy here.