“Someone Else’s Problem” is original to this volume.

“Itsy Bitsy Spider” first appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, June 1997.

“The First Law of Thermodynamics” first appeared in Intersections, edited by John Kessel, Tor Books, January 1996.

“Donut Hole” is original to this volume.

“Who Owns Cyberpunk?” first appeared in Strange Divisions and Alien Territories, edited by Keith Brooke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

“The Best Christmas Ever” first appeared in SciFiction, May 2004.

The First Law of Thermodynamics

James Patrick Kelly © 2021

This edition © PM Press

ISBN (paperback): 978-1-62963-885-0

ISBN (ebook): 978-1-62963-904-8

LCCN: 2020947226

Series editor: Terry Bisson

Cover design by John Yates/www.stealworks.com

Author photograph by Pamela Kelly

Insides by Jonathan Rowland

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Printed in the USA