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For many decades now, Japan has been known for its contribution to cutting-edge technologies, and even now Japan is ranked high in fields such as robotics research. Much of Japan's advanced technologies has been inspired by ideas in comic books (authors like Osamu Tezuka of Astro Boy) and literature (authors like Sakyo Komatsu, Yasutaka Tsutsui, and Shin'ichi Hoshi).

Beginning his writing career in 1928, Juza Unno took inspiration from Western authors like Jules Verne as well as his own knowledge of electric engineering to write fiction that integrated a broad spectrum of creative innovative ideas. His stories touch upon everything from facial reconstruction and gender reassignment surgery to video phones, cryogenics, multi-dimensional beings, and celestial body orbit adjustment (and, of course, robots). Because of this, Unno is sometimes referred to as the father of Japanese science fiction.

This collection contains some of Unno's best short- and medium-length fiction, and is the first time his stories have been published in print media in English.

The highlight of this collection is the novella "Eighteen O'Clock Music Bath," one of Unno's most well-known stories about an underground dystopian world where the citizens are brainwashed daily by specially constructed music. Not only is this Japan's first work in the dystopian genre, but it also touches upon many of Unno's innovative ideas (not to mention the notable appearance of a tantalizingly beautiful robot). Like many of Unno's other works, "Eighteen O'Clock Music Bath" is a cautionary tale about how misuse of technology can have disastrous consequences.

"Fast Forward Japan" contains a total of nine stories, including "The Living Intestine", an unusual tale of a doctor's medical experiment gone awry; "Adventures of the Dinosaur-Craft", a story where two boys use technology and creativity to have the adventure of a lifetime; "The Last Broadcast", a story about a scientist whose breakthrough allows him to eavesdrop on a alien civilization on the brink of destruction; and "The World in One Thousand Years", a tale about a man who wakes up in the future from a long cryogenic sleep.

These stories are sure to delight and inform those interested in Japanese science fiction, and might even help to kickstart our own innovations.

Table of Contents:

• The Living Intestine - (2018) - short fiction
• The Adventures of the Dinosaur-Craft - (2020) - short story
• The Last Broadcast - short fiction
• The World in One Thousand Years - (2018) - short fiction
• Eighteen O'Clock Music Bath - (2018) - novella
• The Theory of Planetary Colonization - (2018) - short fiction
• Four-Dimensional Man - (2018) - short fiction
• Mysterious Spacial Rift - (2018) - short fiction
• Crematoria - (2020) - short fiction

Science Fiction is the genre that looks at the implications of technology on society, which in this age of exponential technological growth makes it the most relevant branch of literature going. This is only the start, and the close of the 21st century will look absolutely nothing like its inception.

It has been said that science fiction is an ongoing dialogue about the future, and the front line of that dialogue is the short story. The field has a long history of producing famous anthologies to showcase its distinguished short fiction, but it has been several years since there has been a prestigious all-original science fiction anthology series.

Fast Forward is offered in the tradition of Damon Knight's prestigious and influential anthology series, Orbit, and Frederik Pohl's landmark Star SF. Fast Forward marks the start of a new hard science fiction anthology series, dedicated to presenting the vanguard of the genre and charting the undiscovered country that is the future.

Contributors for the first volume include: Kage Baker, Paolo Bacigalupi, Tony Ballantyne, Stephen Baxter, Elizabeth Bear, A. M. Dellamonica, Paul Di Filippo, Robyn Hitchcock, Louise Marley, Ken MacLeod, Ian McDonald, John Meaney, Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper, Mike Resnick and Nancy Kress, Justina Robson, Pamela Sargent, Mary A. Turzillo, Robert Charles Wilson, Gene Wolfe, and George Zebrowski.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: Welcome to the Future - essay by Lou Anders
• YFL-500 - novelette by Robert Charles Wilson
• The Girl Hero's Mirror Says He's Not the One - shortstory by Justina Robson
• Small Offerings - shortstory by Paolo Bacigalupi
• They Came from the Future - poem by Robyn Hitchcock
• Plotters and Shooters - novelette by Kage Baker
• Aristotle OS - shortstory by Tony Ballantyne
• The Something-Dreaming Game - shortstory by Elizabeth Bear
• No More Stories - shortstory by Stephen Baxter
• Time of the Snake - shortstory by A. M. Dellamonica
• The Terror Bard - novelette by Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper
• p dolce - shortstory by Louise Marley
• Jesus Christ, Reanimator - shortstory by Ken MacLeod
• Solomon's Choice - novelette by Mike Resnick and Nancy Kress
• Sanjeev and Robotwallah - shortstory by Ian McDonald
• A Smaller Government - shortstory by Pamela Sargent
• Pride - shortstory by Mary A. Turzillo
• I Caught Intelligence - poem by Robyn Hitchcock
• Settlements - shortstory by George Zebrowski
• The Hour of the Sheep - shortstory by Gene Wolfe
• Sideways from Now - novella by John Meaney
• Wikiworld - novelette by Paul Di Filippo

When Fast Forward 1 debuted in February 2007, it marked the first major all- original, all-SF anthology series to appear in some time – and it was met with a huge outpouring of excitement and approbation from the science fiction community. No less than seven stories from Fast Forward 1 were chosen to be reprinted a total of nine times in the four major "Best of the Year" retrospective anthologies, a wonderful testament to the quality of contributions in our inaugural book. What’s more, Fast Forward 1 was hailed repeatedly as leading the charge in a return of original, unthemed anthologies series (several more have since appeared in our wake). Now the critically-acclaimed, groundbreaking series continues, featuring all new stories.

Table of Contents

• Introduction: The Age of Accelerating Returns - (2008) - essay by Lou Anders
• Catherine Drewe - (2008) - short story by Paul Cornell
• Cyto Couture - novelette by Kay Kenyon
• The Sun Also Explodes - (2008) - short story by Chris Nakashima-Brown
• The Kindness of Strangers - (2008) - short story by Nancy Kress
• Alone with an Inconvenient Companion - (2008) - short story by Jack Skillingstead
• True Names - (2008) - novella by Cory Doctorow and Benjamin Rosenbaum
• Molly's Kids - (2008) - short story by Jack McDevitt
• Adventure - (2008) - short story by Paul J. McAuley
• Not Quite Alone in the Dream Quarter - (2008) - short story by Pat Cadigan and Mike Resnick
• An Eligible Boy - (2008) - novelette by Ian McDonald
• SeniorSource - (2008) - short story by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
• Mitigation - novelette by Tobias S. Buckell and Karl Schroeder
• Long Eyes - (2008) - short story by Jeff Carlson
• The Gambler - (2008) - novelette by Paolo Bacigalupi