Zima Blue and Other Stories (2006, ISBN 1-59780-058-9) is the first collection of short works by Alastair Reynolds

Alastair Reynolds

Alastair Preston Reynolds is a British science fiction author. He specialises in dark hard science fiction and space opera. He spent his early years in Cornwall, moved back to Wales before going to Newcastle, where he read physics and astronomy. Afterwards, he earned a PhD from St Andrews, Scotland...

. It was published in September 2006, by Night Shade Books

Night Shade Books

Night Shade Books is an independent publishing company based in San Francisco, specializing in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It was started in 1997 by Jason Williams, with Jeremy Lassen coming on board as a partner shortly after the company's founding...

. It includes ten stories, most of them long out of print. None of the stories in it are set in Reynolds's well-known Revelation Space universe

Revelation Space universe

The Revelation Space universe is a fictional universe which was created by Alastair Reynolds and used as the setting for a number of his novels and stories...

, although Galactic North

Galactic North

Galactic North is a collection of short stories by the science fiction author Alastair Reynolds...

, a collection of most of Reynolds's Revelation Space short stories was released soon after.

The contents are:

• Introduction by Paul J. McAuley
• "Angels of Ashes" (Originally published in Asimov's SF
  Asimov's Science Fiction
  Asimov's Science Fiction is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy and perpetuates the name of author and biochemist Isaac Asimov...
  
  , July 1999; unavailable since then)
• "Beyond the Aquila Rift" (Originally published in Constellations
  Constellations (book)
  Constellations is a science fiction anthology of all-new short stories edited by Peter Crowther, the fourth in his themed science fiction anthology series for DAW Books. The stories are all intended to be inspired by the theme of constellations. The book was published in 2005...
  
  , edited by Peter Crowther
  Peter Crowther
  Peter Crowther is a British journalist, short story writer, novelist, editor, publisher and anthologist. He is the founder of PS Publishing. He edits a series of themed anthologies of science fiction short stories published by DAW books...
  
  , 2005)
• "Enola" (Originally published in Interzone
  Interzone (magazine)
  Interzone is an award-winning British fantasy and science fiction magazine. Published since 1982, Interzone is the eighth longest-running science fiction magazine in history and the longest-running British SF magazine...
  
  54, December 1991; unavailable since then in English)
• "Hideaway" (Originally published in Interzone 157, July 2000; unavailable since then)
• "Merlin's Gun" (Originally published in Asimov's SF, May 2000; unavailable since then)
• "The Real Story" (Originally published in Mars Probes, edited by Peter Crowther, 2002)
• "Spirey and the Queen" (Originally published in Interzone 108, June 1996)
• "Understanding Space and Time" (Originally published in a limited edition of 400 copies for the Novacon
  Novacon
  Novacon is an annual science fiction convention, usually held each November in the West Midlands, UK. It is now the annual convention of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group.-History:...
  
   35 Sci Fi convention)
• "Zima Blue" (Originally published in Postscripts magazine, issue 4, edited by Peter Crowther)

There was also one brand new story included, "Signal to Noise", which Reynolds had recently finished and for which Reynolds was shortlisted for the 2006 British Science Fiction Association award for short fictionhttp://www.bsfa.co.uk/index.cfm/section.shortlist2006.

For each story in the collection, Reynolds provides a personal afterword in which he discusses the story's genesis, influences, and such, which might be of interest to the reader.

There is a limited edition (2006, ISBN 1-59780-059-7) with an extra story, "Digital to Analogue", and with Reynolds's signature. "Digital to Analogue" was originally published in the 1992 anthology In Dreams

In Dreams (book)

In Dreams is a 1992 anthology book of science fiction and horror short stories. It includes stories by Alastair Reynolds, Don Webb, Lewis Shiner, and Greg Egan. It was edited by Paul J...

.

A new version of the collection was published in April 2009 and contained all the stories listed above as well as Minla's Flowers (currently available in The New Space Opera

The New Space Opera

The New Space Opera is a science fiction anthology edited by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan. It was published in 2007, and includes all original stories selected to represent the genre of space opera. It includes a five-page introduction, plus a brief introduction to each of the stories, and...

), Cardiff Afterlife (a sequel of sorts to Signal to Noise) and Everlasting (first published in Interzone

Interzone (magazine)

Interzone is an award-winning British fantasy and science fiction magazine. Published since 1982, Interzone is the eighth longest-running science fiction magazine in history and the longest-running British SF magazine...

, Summer 2005).