Search Worlds Without End

Lawrence Watt-Evans heads out on the road to explore a whole multiverse of stories on the theme of travel to places that are not just elsewhere, but elsewhen. These stories make it clear that time travel is not just about trips to the past and future: Crosstime Traffic will take you sideways in time. Includes the Hugo-winning story 'Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers,' and a new afterword by the author. You'll want to take your times over these twenty tales of fantasy, science fiction and mystery by Lawrence Watt-Evans, master of many genres.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay
• Paranoid Fantasy #1 - (1975) - shortstory
• Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers - (1987) - shortstory
• A Flying Saucer With Minnesota Plates - (1991) - shortstory
• An Infinity of Karen - (1988) - shortstory
• The Drifter - (1991) - shortstory
• Storm Trooper - (1992) - shortstory
• Truth, Justice, and the American Way - (1992) - shortstory
• Real Time - (1989) - shortstory
• New Worlds - (1991) - shortstory
• One Night at a Local Bar - (1980) - shortfiction
• Science Fiction - (1991) - novelette
• Watching New York Melt - (1991) - shortfiction by Lawrence Watt-Evans and Julie Evans
• Monster Kidnaps Girl at Mad Scientist's Command! - shortstory
• Windwagon Smith and the Martians - (1989) - shortstory
• The Rune and the Dragon - (1984) - shortstory
• The Palace of al-Tir al-Abtan - (1989) - shortstory
• The Final Folly of Captain Dancy - (1992) - novella
• After the Dragon is Dead - (1990) - shortstory
• About the Author - essay

Bredon didn't mean to interfere with the Powers--but then they interfered with him! When the beings of myth and legend start fighting among themselves, mere mortals had best beware. Millennia ago, the survivors of a crash settled the planet of Denner's Wreck. Their descendants long ago forgot their own history.

Centuries later, the planet was rediscovered by visitors who stayed--and came to be called The Powers. The descendants of the original settlers soon learned to treat the newcomers like gods. Then, one fine day, Bredon the Hunter found himself caught up in the affairs of the Powers--at just the moment one of them went mad!

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Lawrence Watt-Evans
• Cloister - (1991) - shortstory by Piers Anthony
• Getting Real - novelette by Susan Shwartz
• The Cleanest Block in Town - shortfiction by Janet Asimov
• Another Dime, Another Place - novelette by A. J. Austin
• Watching New York Melt - shortfiction by Lawrence Watt-Evans and Julie Evans
• Post Time in Pink - novelette by Mike Resnick
• Learning Experience - shortfiction by Laurence M. Janifer
• Ties - shortfiction by Martha Soukup
• Wild Thing - shortfiction by Eric Blackburn
• Rise and Fall - shortfiction by Stephen L. Antczak
• Shadows on the Moon - shortstory by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
• The Baby Track - shortfiction by Howard Mittelmark
• Clash of Titans (A New York Romance) - shortfiction by Kurt Busiek
• What Lives After - shortfiction by Robert Frazier
• Slow Burn in Alphabettown - shortfiction by S. N. Lewitt
• Let Me Call You Sweetheart - shortstory by Michael A. Stackpole
• Tomb w/ View - shortfiction by P. D. Cacek
• A Walk Through Beirut - novelette by John Shirley
• The Last Real New Yorker in the World - shortfiction by James D. Macdonald and Debra Doyle
• Tunnel Vision - shortfiction by Esther M. Friesner
• A Nice Place to Visit - shortfiction by Warren Murphy and Molly Cochran
• Long Growing Season - novella by Robert J. Howe
• Candelabra and Diamonds - shortfiction by Don Sakers
• In the Good Old Summer Time - shortfiction by B. W. Clough
• Afterword - essay by Eric S. Johansson

When John Mercy-of-Christ's soldiers ran up against weapons like none they had ever seen before, John's campaign to defeat the enemies of The True Word and Flesh came to a sudden halt. Once guns that could only come from Old Earth arrived, the doctrinal differences between his sect and the Chosen of the Holy Ghost had to be put to one side-for what other abominations might be in store? If the starships of Earth were to battle the swords of Godsworld, John was ready for that war. But what he wasn't ready for was just how much the new war was going to change him.

To Gudge's bride, Queen Artemisia of Hydrangea, are born a set of royal triplets. But traditional Gorgorian belief holds that triplets are a sure sign of the mother's adultery--for which the tradition Gorgorian punishment is death. And Gudge is nothing is not a traditionalist.

So in secret the Queen sends her faithful servant Ludmilla on a desperate mission, to bear the girl and the younger boy to the secret forest redoubt of the last Hydrangean resistance. The oldest boy will remain, to be raised as the heir.

Unfortunately, Ludmilla takes both boys instead...

Hugo Award winning and Nebula Award nominated short story. It was orginally published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, July 1987. The story can also be found in the anthologies The New Hugo Winners, Volume II (1992), edited by Isaac Asimov and The Greatest Science Fiction Stories of the 20th Century (1998), edited by Martin H. Greenberg. It is included in the collection Crosstime Traffic (1992).

Read of listen to the full story for free at Escapepod.

Ethshar and the Northern Empire have been at war for hundreds of years. Hardly anyone alive remembers why, or over what. The tempest, turmoil, and war are endless, and the killing more endless still. The war has become not just a way of life, but an institution; no one dares to dream that it could end. Not even Valder of Kardoret, Ethsharitic Scout, trapped behind enemy lines.

But now everything has changed: at a moment of great need, a hermit wizard crafted Valder a magic sword called Wirikidor -- a blade at once cursed and enchanted, a misenchanted blade that makes him unbeatable.

Soon the tides of battle will turn, and once they've turned they'll turn forever.

Tobas had been lucky to find a wizard to take him on as apprentice. But then the wizard died suddenly and unexpectedly after teaching Tobas only a solitary spell, and the youth was too old to find a new master. How could he earn a living when all the magic he could do was light fires?

A STAR RISES IN THE SOUTH

When the foreigners confronted Sterren in Ethshar of the Spices he was uneasy; when they all but abducted him, taking him to an obscure kingdom in the south, he knew he was in a terrible predicament.

A predicament some might actually find appealing -- he was by heredity the Ninth Warlord of Semma, least of the small kingdoms; he was a noble, and his rank afforded him material privileges, even in a place as insignificant and obscure as Semma.

But the office also carried certain terrible responsibilities: he was to win the war the stupid King had stirred up by his arrogance. Two larger and stronger Kingdoms were preparing to invade Semma.

And if the country lost, the first thing likely to be forfeit was the life of the Warlord.

And if it won... if it won, the fate and shape of Ethshar would change forever.

For deep in the south there are secrets of magic not even Sterren can imagine.

It was definite -- Dumery had no magical talent at all. He could never fulfill his dream to become a wizard's apprentice. Hurt, angry, and mortally disappointed, he despaired of ever choosing a trade.

But then Dumery spied a so-called great wizard humbling himself before a man selling dragon's blood -- the precious stuff that made difficult spells work. If Dumery couldn't be a wizard, maybe he could become a dragon-hunter and have all those scornful wizards crawling to him.

So, leaving his family, city, and comfortable home, Dumery began trailing Kensher, the man in brown -- even though Kensher said he didn't need a dragon-hunting apprentice. But when Dumery finally caught up with Kensher, he would discover Kensher's great secret of how the precious fluid was obtained -- a secret from which only Kensher's kin could profit.

Once again, Dumery would be left without career or future. Unless...

Kelder had always dreamed of a life more exciting than what waited for him on the family farm. So when a fortune-teller predicted a glorious future, that he'd roam free and unfettered and be a champion of the lost and forlorn, he immediately set out on the fabled Great Highway to Shan in search of adventure.

But once he was on the road, life was hardly as exciting as he'd hoped -- until he met Irith. She was the most beautiful girl, and the only girl with wings, Kelder had ever seen. They teamed up to see the world, and then Kelder found adventures aplenty: there were bandits and demons, and there were curses to lift, wizards to seek spells from, orphans to champion, and legendary cities to visit. For the young and carefree, life on the Great Highway was filled with fun, action, and magic.

But Kelder began to wonder about his beautiful companion. Irith certainly had seen a lot of the world for one so young -- and everyone along the highway seemed to know her... Soon, discovering Irith's secrets became Kelder's greatest adventure of all...

Tabaea was an ordinary thief, sneaking and prowling and stealing for a living. Then one night while burgling a house, she witnessed a wizard teaching his apprentice a spell -- the creation of a magic dagger.

Tabaea decided to try the magic for herself. But even though she could feel the power rising around her as she went through the steps of the ritual, something had clearly gone wrong. The apprentice's dagger had glowed; it had resisted attempts to pick it up; and there had been a blinding flash at the end of the ceremony.

But Tabaea's dagger didn't do any of those things. And it wouldn't free her from bonds, or heal her wounds -- it didn't seem to be magical at all. It just turned black.

Then, by chance, Tabaea discovered that her dagger indeed had its own kind of unusal magic -- a dark, powerful magic that promised invincibility to its bearer.

But magic can be dangerous even in the hands of an expert -- and for Tabaea, magic and power could spell disaster...

The Night of Madness begins when a mysterious object falls from the heavens, creating a wave of magic in all directions. The wave brings not only a dream but an infusion of warlockry to the land, and soon all hell breaks loose. Looting, rioting, petty personal revenge, and uncontrollable madness run rampant, and all of Ethshars magicians seem helpless before it.

When Magic Goes Awry...

What is an aspiring apprentice wizard to do when she finds her mentor and master frozen in his tracks by mysterious magics?

Kilisha of Eastgate, a promising young student of wizardry in the city of Ethshar of the Rocks, still has much to learn before she can assume the robes of a journeyman enchanter. But when her teacher, the venerable Ithanalin the Wise, is overcome by a peculiar spell that scatters his soul amongst a collection of runaway household furnishings, it is up to Kilisha to find the cause and restore him to his former self. Adventure and mayhem abound.

Every wizard in Ethshar knew that if you needed something special, something difficult to find, that Gresh the Supplier was the man to see. He was expensive, but always delivered. So when the Wizards' Guild finally got fed up with the little green nuisances that called themselves "spriggans," the Guild hired Gresh to fetch them the magic mirror that created the troublesome imps. The wizards thought finding it looked impossible. Gresh thought his methods would do the job. But no one had asked the spriggans what they thought!

Once, not so long ago,a warlock named Vond built an empire in the southern part of the Small Kingdoms. Vond is gone, but his empire survives under the rule of a seven-person Imperial Council and a young regent named Sterren.

The Empire of Vond was hardly trouble-free after Vond's departure. Its neighbors are understandably wary of further expansion, there are questions about how Vond's magic became so potent, and so on. Most of the World, though, doesn't care -- Vond is off there in the southeastern corner of the World, far away from anywhere important.

But one day a dockworker named Emmis watches a Vondish ship arrive in Ethshar of the Spices and finds himself hired as native guide and aide to someone who claims to be Vond's ambassador plenipotentiary to the overlords of the Hegemony of the Three Ethshars.

But who is the Vondish ambassador, really, and what is his true business in Ethshar? And who has followed him to the city?

The Calling. Sooner or later, it claimed every powerful warlock... a growing magical compulsion to go north to the mysterious land of Aldagmor that nothing could stop. None ever returned. Hanner the Warlock knew his days were numbered. The Calling pulled at him ceaselessly now, and his ability to resist had begun to crumble. So he determined to find a place where the Calling couldn't reach him... another world, located through a magic tapestry.

Every warlock knew that the farther he was from Aldagmor, the weaker the Calling was -- and the weaker his magic was, as well, but that was only a secondary consideration. That weakening had given Hanner the idea to find, or make, a place so distant from Aldagmor that the Call couldn't reach it at all. Unfortunately, the Call took him anyway.

And that's where his story really gets interesting. Because the Calling wasn't what everyone believed. And when the warlocks who had been Called over the decades suddenly woke up again at the object doing the calling -- and found themselves without their powers -- their world may never be the same!

The great wizard Nabal's death offers many opportunities, both for those who knew him and those who did not. For young conmen Ezak and Kel, it means a chance to loot the wizard's estate... if they can win the confidence of Nabal's widow, Dorna.

But Dorna has plans of her own. She means to leave the tiny village for a better life in the city. And all of Nabal's wizardly artifacts and talismans will pay for that new life -- if she can only get them there intact!

Young Ishta found it in the forest, buried beneath dead leaves: a rounded, flattened stone as black as onyx. One side held a golden oval that glowed with a unnatural light. Of course, it had to be magic.

But what did farmers know of magic? It could be dangerous, or it could be some harmless toy. They had to find out.

Since Ishta was too young to bring her discovery to the Baron of Varag's stronghold, her older brother, Garander, went instead. Once there, Azlia, a beautiful wizard, recognized the stone immediately as Northern sorcery. She had to call Sammel, the local sorcerer, to find out its nature... a relic of the last great war.

When the Baron takes the stone for himself, that should have ended things. But it was just the beginning for Garander. Because that magical stone wasn't the only relic left in the woods...

The Wizard Lord's duty is to keep the world in its delicate balance. He must govern lightly to protect his domain from power-hungry interlopers, such as certain wizards who previously fought to rule the world...But if the Wizard Lord himself strays from the way of the just, then it is up to the Chosen to intercede.

The Chosen ones are the Leader, the Seer, the Swordsman, the Beauty, the Thief, the Scholar, the Archer, and the Speaker. Each are magically-infused mortal individuals who, for the term of their service, have only one function--to be available to remove an errant Wizard Lord, whether by persuasion or by stronger means.

Breaker, a young man of ambition, has taken the mantle of Swordsman from its former bearer who wished to retire. Never did he realize that he would be called to duty so quickly, or that the balance of power in his world would be so precarious.

He had a duty to perform. A world to save.

So why does he still have doubts... not just about himself, but about the entire balance of power?

All of the world is kept in a delicate balance under the supervision of the Wizard Lord. It is his duty to govern lightly and protect his domain...but if he should stray from the way of the just, then it is up to the Chosen to intercede.

The Chosen are the Leader, the Seer, the Swordsman, the Beauty, the Thief, the Scholar, the Archer, and the Speaker. These are magically infused mortal individuals who for the term of their service have only one function--to remove an errant Wizard Lord.

The Chosen fulfilled this role when they removed the previous Wizard Lord and exposed treachery from within their own ranks.

Since their last adventure, the world has returned to apparent peace and prosperity. The new Wizard Lord rules benevolently... but with an eye towards modernization through technology, instead of magic.

Do such plans jeopardize the delicate balance of power?

Is a Wizard Lord who is able to rule without magic a threat to the Chosen?

All of the world is kept in a delicate balance under the supervision of the Wizard Lord. It is his duty to govern lightly and protect his domain...but if he should stray from the way of the just then it is up to the Chosen to intercede. The Chosen are the Leader, the Seer, the Swordsman, the Beauty, the Thief, the Scholar, the Archer, and the Speaker, magically infused mortal individuals who for the term of their service have only one function--to remove an errant Wizard Lord.

But the new Wizard Lord has now changed the playing field by neutralizing all magic in his domain (both his own and that of the Chosen) and has successfully killed and/or blocked his adversaries and their challenges to his omnipotence. Sword (now on the run) must work alone to restore order to their fair land and unravel the mystery of the Ninth Talisman--which might be the salvation or downfall of all that is good in their well ordered land.

Lawrence Watt-Evans, author of the acclaimed Legends of Ethshar and Worlds of Shadows novels invites readers to embark on a rollicking journey in a brand-new fantasy series.

Anrel Murau is a scholar, a young man with no magical ability even though he is the son of two powerful sorcerers. Anrel's lack of talent bars him from the ruling classes, but he is content to be a simple clerk.

Upon returning to his childhood home after years of study in the capital, Anrel finds his friends and family held under the thumb of the corrupt local lord. When this lord murders a dear friend, Anrel finds that although he's not a sorcerer, he is not without other means to demand justice.

If he can survive life on the run, that is.

Carrying only his sword, a few coins, and his wit, Anrel must leave behind everything he has ever known, trust himself to unexpected allies, and outmaneuver leagues of enemies who will stop at nothing to keep his dangerous ideas from ever being heard. Magic and intrigue collide in a swashbuckling tale of daring escapes, beautiful witches, and one quiet young man's rise to hero--or traitor. Nothing will ever be simple for Anrel again, as his personal quest may provide more peril for those he holds dear.

Anrel Murau, a simple scholar, is secretly the notorious revolutionary Alvos the Orator--the Empire's most wanted man. On the run and nearly penniless, Anrel finds himself forced to seek refuge in the capital city's Pensioner's Quarter, a den of thieves, murderers, and con men. Barely scraping out an existence on the fringe of respectable society, Anrel never forgets his demands for justice, nor the love of the woman he left behind.

The civil unrest that has long been simmering in the Empire is beginning to boil over into violent protests and Anrel's enemy, Lord Allutar, continues to corrupt the Grand Council.

But Anrel's alter-ego, Alvos the Orator, has taken on a life of his own and many factions of the Grand Council seek a way to harness his followers' political might for their own ends. Which means they need Anrel to take on a surprising new role and gain access to one of the Empire's greatest secrets to stop the rampant evil.

The adventure of Alvos the Orator continues with more action, more intrigue, and more suspense than ever before as Anrel seeks to at last clear his name and seek retribution against his old enemy once and for all.

The overman named Garth sought immortal fame. The oracle told him to serve the Forgotten King to get that fame. But this King sent Garth after a basilisk whose gaze could turn men to stone. What sane use could anyone have for a monster like that?

Garth of Ordunin had been set a new task by the Forgotten King: Bring back to Skelleth whatever he found upon the altars of the seven temples of Dusarra. As he went about his blasphemous errand he learned more about the Dark Gods -- and more about his own destiny!

The sword that Garth had stolen from Dusarra marked him as the chosen of Bheleu, god of destruction, and gave him immense power. This power could only be used to destroy, and Garth wanted to build. He chose to refuse the god's gift. Bheleu did not intend to allow that.

Garth had given the mighty Sword of Bheleu into the Forgotten King's keeping. Now he needed it back, and the King demanded that Garth bring him the Book of Silence in exchange--but Garth feared that the King would use the Book to bring about an Age of Death.

Arlian had never left his home village on the Smoking Mountain. The stony ground, jagged peaks, and black glass were all he had ever known of life, and he knew deep in his heart that he would probably never leave.

Until the dragon weather came. Incredible heat, oppressive humidity, dark and angry clouds...and dragons. Dragons with no feelings, no sympathy, no use for humans; dragons who destroyed his entire village and everyone in it.

Everyone, that is, except Arlian.

Orphaned and alone, Arlian makes his way through life, obsessed with the concept of justice, determined to avenge his family and his village. But can one righteous man change the entire world for the better? Or is he doomed by his own actions to become as unjust as those he seeks to destroy?

It all began with Dragon Weather: a wave of incredible heat, oppressive humidity, dark angry clouds... and dragons. Dragons with no remorse, no sympathy, and no use for humans. Dragons who destroyed an entire village and everyone in it. Everyone, that is, except the young boy Arlian.

Orphaned and alone, Arlian was captured by looters and sold as a mining slave. Seven years later he escaped, fueled by years of hatred for the dragons, bandits, and slavers who took away his youth-and a personal vow to exact retribution from all those who have wronged him, including the powerful Lord Enziet Arlian's entire life has one purpose, and one purpose only: to mete out justice. And in the climactic battle of Dragon Weather Lord Enziet fell to this justice.

In The Dragon Society Arlian returns to Manfort, the city that is home to The Dragon Society, whose sworn purpose is to stand against the dragon menace, and whose foremost member had been Lord Enziet. Arlian must immediately deal with the consequences of Enziet's death. But what he finds is shocking, for the doomed Enziet believes that Arlian might well be the best hope humanity will ever have for defeating the dragons... permanently.

After many years of peace in the Lands of Men, there came Dragon Weather: a wave of incredible heat, oppressive humidity, dark angry clouds... and dragons. Dragons with no remorse, no sympathy, no use for humans; dragons who destroyed an entire village and everyone in it. Everyone, that is, except the young boy Arlian. Orphaned and alone, Arlian was captured by looters and sold as a mining slave. He finally escaped, fueled by years of hatred and a personal vow to bring justice to all who had wronged him.

After killing those who enslaved him, Arlian sought out The Dragon Society, whose sworn purpose was to stand against the dragon menace. It was there, among his peers, that Arlian discovered he is humanity's best hope for defeating the dragons... permanently.

Now, Arlian seeks his final vengeance: death to all of dragonkind. But as he begins to destroy the evil beasts, wild magic seeps into the Lands of Men, sowing chaos and destruction in its wake. Will Arlian's all-consuming quest for justice consume humanity as well? The answer may lie within his ancient foe's most lethal weapon: Dragon Venom

Pel Brown has troubles in his basement. But it's not water leaking in -- it's magic. Sword-carrying barbarians are spilling through, demanding that Pel help them defeat Shadow, a dark force taking over their world. Meanwhile, on the other side of town, a spaceship has crashed in Amy Jewell's backyard, and the aliens want Amy's help against the Shadow seeking to conquer their world. When Pel and Amy go through the basement portal into the world of magic, the Shadow attacks and traps them inside. Now Pel and Amy find themselves entangled in escapades that will make them into heroes... or corpses.

A handful of ordinary Americans -- housewives, lawyers, interior decorators, and the like -- found themselves caught up in a transdimensional conflict, and transported from their homes to realms where magic worked, to desert planets and rebel worlds, to places straight out of science fiction and fantasy. But these were not the harmless, happy-ending lands of film and fable. The sweat and blood was real, and the horrors they faced genuinely dangerous. One world was a world of magic, ruled by a dark force called Shadow. A handful of would-be heroes resisted Shadow's dominion, and sought assistance in their desperate struggle to free their homeland. The other reality was a universe of spaceships and rayguns, dominated by a Galactic Empire that saw Shadow as a threat -- and that demanded the exiles from our world aid them in their campaign. Against their will, these few people were flung into battle... IN THE EMPIRE OF SHADOW

THE POWER OVER LIFE AND DEATH

They called him Pelbrun the Brown Magician. He'd been plain old marketing consultant Pel Brown until the day a mystic doorway had appeared in his basement. That improbable portal had led him and his family to the magic land of Faerie; another had opened the way to the super-science universe of the Galactic Empire.

But this was no fairy tale...

At first Pel had sought the key that would take them safely home. But before he could wrest the matrix of magic away from the despot Shadow, Pel's wife and daughter were brutally murdered. Neither absolute control over the matrix nor rulership of Faerie could ease the pain in Pels heart--until he realized that the matrix held power over life and death!

So this once-ordinary man set out to overturn the irrefutable laws of mortality. But even his newfound omnipotence couldn't protect him from the pitfalls that lay ahead, as both the Empire and Earth's military sought to exploit his incredible power. Then the Empire invaded Faerie--forcing Pel to fight in order to keep his dreams alive...

The cyborg code-named "Slant" was sent out as an Independent Reconnaissance Unit during an interstellar war between Earth and its colonies. The fighting ended three hundred years ago, but Slant's computer does not admit this -- he is compelled to carry on as if the war were still raging.

Then he comes across a planet where his sensors register "gravitational anomalies." The computer interprets these as enemy weapons research.

The local inhabitants call the anomalies ''magic.''

At the end of The Cyborg and the Sorcerers, Sam Turner was making a life for himself on the planet Dest. He thought he had left the long-lost interstellar war between Earth and its rebellious colonies behind him forever.

"Forever" turned out to be eleven years. That was how long it took for another Independent Reconnaissance Unit to respond to the distress call his ship had sent before it was destroyed.

And this one made his own berserk killer computer look sane.