A speculative fiction safari that riffs on the traditional ideals of automata to explore our strange and competitive relationship with the natural world. Biomimicry is no stranger to literature, with canonical authors like Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hans Christian Anderson, and Jules Verne setting the tone for a trope that has expounded and expanded upon what exactly separates humans from the animal kingdom as well as the boundary between machines and living beings. Featuring 15 original stories by today's top science fiction and fantasy authors and contextual mecha-fauna essays by artist and Insect Lab Studio maker, Mike Libby, and SF encyclopedist and author Jess Nevins, Mechanical Animals presents a biomimicry menagerie of animalistic machines that will blur the lines between what is and isn't nature's design. Edited by Selena Chambers and Jason Heller Featuring: Mike Libby Jess Nevins Tessa Kum Delia Sherman Maurice Broaddus Sarah Hans Lauren Beukes Jesse Bullington An Owomoyela Stephen Graham Jones Hans Christian Andersen Molly Tanzer Aliette de Bodard Nick Mamatas Nathaniel Hawthorne Kat Howard Michael Cisco Adrian Van Young Robert T. Toombs Joseph S. Pulver, Jr. Alistair Rennie Jules Verne Caroline Yoachim Carrie Vaughn INTRODUCTION: MAKING TOTEMIC SENSE Mike Libby MECHANICAL ANIMALS Jess Nevins TWO BEES DANCING Tessa Kum BRASS MONKEY Delia Sherman THE REBEL Maurice Broaddus and Sarah Hans EXHIBITIONIST Lauren Beukes STRAY FROG Jesse Bullington THE HARD SPOT IN THE GLACIER An Owomoyela EVERY SINGLE WONDERFUL DETAIL Stephen Graham Jones THE NIGHTINGALE Hans Christian Andersen LE CYGNE BAISEUR Molly Tanzer AMONG THE WATER BUFFALOES, A TIGER'S STEPS Aliette de Bodard THE TWIN DRAGONS OF SENTIMENTALITY AND DIDACTICISM Nick Mamatas THE ARTIST OF THE BEAUTIFUL Nathaniel Hawthorne GLASS WINGS Kat Howard BET THE FARM Michael Cisco LONG PIG Adrian Van Young Excerpt from ELECTRIC BOB'S BIG BLACK OSTRICH; OR, LOST ON THE DESERT Robert T. Toombs LOOKIN' OUT MY BACKDOOR Joseph S. Pulver, Jr. THE ISLAND BRUSHED BY GHOSTS Alistair Rennie Excerpt from THE STEAM HOUSE: CHAPTER V: THE IRON GIANT Jules Verne THE CLOCKWORK PENGUIN DREAMED OF STARS Caroline Yoachim CLOSER TO THE SKY Carrie Vaughn