Search Worlds Without End

The war of words between right and left collapsed into a shooting war, and raged between the high-technology weapons on each side, devastating cities and overrunning the countryside.

At the close of Empire, political scientist and government adviser Averell Torrent had maneuvered himself into the presidency of the United States. And now that he has complete power at home, he plans to expand American imperial power around the world.

Opportunity comes quickly. There's a deadly new plague in Africa, and it is devastating the countryside and cities. President Torrent declares American solidarity with the victims, but places all of Africa in quarantine until a vaccine is found or the disease burns itself out. And he sends Captain Bartholomew Coleman, Cole to his friends, to run the relief operations and protect the American scientists working on identifying the virus. If Cole and his team can avoid dying of the plague, or being cut down by the weapons of fearful African nations, they might do some good. Or they might be out of the way for good.

Khesh City floats above the surface of the uninhabitable planet of Vellern. Topside, it's extravagant, opulent, luxurious; the Undertow is dark, twisted and dangerous. A place where nothing is forbidden, Khesh City is also a democracy, of sorts, policed by the Angels—elite, state-sponsored killers who answer only to their enigmatic master, the Minister.

Taro lived a privileged life with his Angel aunt until a strange man, who bought his body for the night, followed him home and murdered her. Taro wants to find the killer who ruined his future, but he's struggling just to survive in the brutal Undertow—then an encounter with the Minister sets him on a new course. Elarn Reen is a famous musician sent to Khesh City as the unwilling agent of mankind's oldest enemy, the Sidhe.

To save her own life, she must find and kill a renegade Sidhe. As Taro and Elarn's paths converge, it becomes clear that the lives of everyone in Khesh City are at risk—and a common prostitute and an uncommon singer are the city's only chance.

When a naked, amnesiac stranger is found outside a remote highland village, he is taken in by Kerin, a widow whose unconventional ways are tolerated because her son Damaru is "skytouched."

All skytouched are able to affect matter, and are tested by the Beloved Daughter, the living goddess who rules the world from the City of Light. If he is found worthy, Damaru will become a Consort of the skymothers, the gods themselves.

Kerin and the stranger - nicknamed Sais - accompany Damaru to the City, but as Sais recovers his memory, he realizes that the world does not work the way everyone else assumes it does. As Kerin and Sais uncover the true nature of the world, they discover the unimaginable fate of the Consorts, a fate Kerin will do anything to stop her son from sharing.

Most people believe the Sidhe are long dead, exterminated centuries ago when the males of the race rose up and fought alongside the humans subjugated and enslaved by the female Sidhe. But Jarek Reen knows better: he's discovered, the painful way, that the Sidhe are alive and well, and still screwing over humanity. They've already killed his sister, so he's not surprised when he discovers an old friend and her partner are next on the Sidhe's hitlist. He helps not only to foil the assassination attempt, but also to muddy the scene of the crime, leaving the Angels Nual and Taro sanMalia presumed dead - and free to join his crusade to expose the insidious influence of the Sidhe, and their evil plans to enslave the human race again. Their mission takes them across human-space, from utilitarian hub-points to rich, exotic planets - where they discover that a brilliant vacation spot hides some of the darkest secrets of all. And that's when they discover how easy it is for the hunters to become the hunted ...

Jarek Reen is trying to save a lost world. He discovered the primitive theocracy of Serenein by accident, and now he wants it to take its place in human-space. To do this he needs a shiftspace beacon - without it, there is no way to find the planet again. The beacons were made by the Sidhe, the race that originally gave humanity access to the stars - and dominated human-space for millennia, before a coalition of human rebels and Sidhe males brought the evil Sidhe females down.

Most people think the Sidhe are long dead, but Jarek knows better: a renegade female Sidhe is one of his companions, and a male Sidhe gave her and her lover the special powers that made them Angels, very unusual trained assassins. Jarek's only hope is to find Aleph, the hidden system where the last Sidhe males are rumoured to live. But even if he can persuade these eccentric, introspective beings to put aside their interminable internal squabbles, he still has to persuade Serenein that joining the rest of humankind is a good thing ...for the price of progress is likely to be high. Can he stop it turning into tragedy?

When paranoia is a way of life, trust doesn't come easily. The Sidhe look like us. They live amongst us. What they lack in numbers they make up with their fearsome mental abilities and the considerable physical resources at their disposal. And their biggest advantage? No one believes they exist. Almost no one. Bez, the best hacker in human-space, is fighting a secret war against them. Always one step ahead, never lingering in one place, she's determined to bring them down. But she can't expose the Hidden Empire alone and when the only ally she trusted fails her she must accept help from an unexpected quarter. Just one misstep, one incorrect assumption, and her Sidhe trap - her life's work - could end in vicious disaster. Worse, if Bez fails then humanity may never have another chance to win free of the manipulative and deadly Sidhe …

Having colonized other worlds, humans are certain the galaxy is theirs for the taking. But they soon discover the horrifying price of their arrogance when a scientific experiment awakens the wrath of the previously unknown Hydrogues and begins a war.