Search Worlds Without End

This short story originally appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, #76 January 2013. It can also be found in the anthology Clarkesworld: Year Seven (2015), edited by Sean Wallace and Neil Clarke.

Read the full story for free at Clarkesworld.

Table of Contents:

• The Shipwrecked Hotel - (1965) - novelette by James Blish and Norman L. Knight
• Subversive - (1962) - shortstory by Mack Reynolds
• Comic Inferno - (1963) - novelette by Brian W. Aldiss
• The Big Pat Boom - (1963) - shortstory by Damon Knight
• The Transfinite Choice - (1966) - shortstory by David I. Masson
• Game for Motel Room - (1963) - shortstory by Fritz Leiber
• My Son, the Physicist! - (1962) - shortstory by Isaac Asimov
• Not Me, Not Amos Cabot! - (1964) - shortstory by Harry Harrison
• Period of Gestation - (1964) - shortstory by Thom Keyes
• ...After a Few Words... - (1962) - shortstory by Seaton McKettrig

"Some of the Math Club nerds have got a real live alien! They're hiding it in a basement rec room."

High School junior Mark Bamford didn't believe the silly rumor. For one thing, California homes don't have basements. Besides. A stranded alien? Such a cliche. A movie rip-off. Couldn't the math geeks think up a better hoax? Only... was it a hoax? What about all those black vans from the super-secret Cirrocco Corp cruising all over town, as if searching for something?

Time to do some investigating of his own. Only, who could he turn to for help? The skateboarding "X" crowd? The varsity climbing team? When it it came right down to it, should he turn to the least likely ally of them all? Sky Horizon explores a possibility that has always fascinated, since the days of Homer -- that of strangers from beyond -- and gives it new shape under the deft hand of one of science fiction's modern masters.

It is the essence of science fiction to chart the possibilities of the future, but it takes the hand of a master to capture the farthest reaches of time--futures almost unimaginably distant. The Furthest Horizon collects seventeen of the most inventive and audacious visions of the future by many acclaimed writers, including:

* Brian Aldiss * Paul Anderson * Avram Davidson * Joe Haldeman * Alexander Jablokov * Paul J. McAuley * Ian McDonald * Michael Moorcock * Frederik Pohl * Robert Reed * Keith Roberts * Robert Silverberg * Cordwainer Smith * James Tiptree, Jr. * Jack Vance * Walter Jon Williams * Gene Wolfe

Table of Contents:

• Preface - essay by Gardner Dozois
• Guyal of Sfere - (1950) - novella by Jack Vance
• Old Hundredth - (1960) - short story by Brian W. Aldiss
• Alpha Ralpha Boulevard - (1961) - novelette by Cordwainer Smith
• Day Million - (1966) - short story by Frederik Pohl
• Bumberboom - (1966) - novelette by Avram Davidson
• Coranda - (1967) - novelette by Keith Roberts
• Nightwings - (1968) - novella by Robert Silverberg
• Pale Roses - (1974) - novelette by Michael Moorcock
• Anniversary Project - (1975) - short story by Joe Haldeman
• Slow Music - (1980) - novella by James Tiptree, Jr.
• The Map - (1984) - short story by Gene Wolfe
• Dinosaurs - (1987) - novelette by Walter Jon Williams
• The Death Artist - (1990) - novelette by Alexander Jablokov
• Sister Alice - (1993) - novella by Robert Reed
• Recording Angel - (1995) - novelette by Paul J. McAuley
• Genesis - (1995) - novella by Poul Anderson
• The Days of Solomon Gursky - (1998) - novella by Ian McDonald

Hugh Conway saw humanity at its worst while fighting in the trenches of the First World War. Now, more than a decade later, Conway is a British diplomat serving in Afghanistan and facing war yet again--this time, a civil conflict forces him to flee the country by plane. When his plane crashes high in the Himalaya mountains, Conway and the other survivors are found by a mysterious guide and led to a breathtaking discovery: the hidden valley of Shangri-La.

Kept secret from the world for more than two hundred years, Shangri-La is like paradise--a place whose inhabitants live for centuries amid the peace and harmony of the fertile valley. But when the leader of the Shangri-La monastery falls ill, Conway and the others must face the daunting prospect of returning home to a world about to be torn open by war.

Thrilling and passionate, Lost Horizon is a masterpiece of modern fiction, and one of the most enduring books of the twentieth century.

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Album Zutique (2003), edited by Jeff VanderMeer, and was reprinted in Lightspeed, September 2014.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Axxter forsakes the dull life of Cylinder's Horizontal to go where the excitement is - the Vertical, where warring tribes live on Cylinder's outer edge. On becoming a graffex artist for one of the most powerful tribes, he begins a dangerous journey that will take him beyond the Cylinder.

2046 A.D.: Seven years ago an experimental space vessel disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Now the ship has been found orbiting Neptune. When a salvage team is sent to investigate, they encounter the ultimate horror that lurks behind the Event Horizon.

Novelization of the movie.

Table of Contents:

• 11 - Introduction: From the Other Side of the Mask
• 19 - Starblood
• 30 - Jenny Among the Zeebs
• 46 - The Joy of Living
• 60 - The Last Three Months
• 64 - The Underdweller (variant of Small World)
• 78 - Full of, Mostly, Bagels and Cream Cheese
• 83 - Kelly, Fredric Michael: 1928-1987
• 89 - The Day the Gorf Took Over (variant of Gorf! Gorf! Gorf!)
• 102 - Happily Ever After
• 107 - Fasterfaster! (variant of The Fasterfaster Affair)
• 120 - He Kilt It with a Stick
• 126 - Toe to Tip, Tip to Toe, Pip-Pop as You Go
• 135 - The Party
• 146 - Papa's Planetn
• 150 - Solution (variant of To Serve the Ship)
• 156 - Lawbreaker (variant of Violation)
• 162 - The Mating of Thirdburt
• 180 - The Worlds of Monty Willson
• 182 - Promises to Keep: A Science Fiction Drama

Mercurio D Rivera has been tipped as 'the next big thing' by critics and readers alike. He first burst onto the scene in 2006 with "Longing for Langalana". Featured in Interzone, "Langalana" won the magazine's readers' poll for best story of that year and became the first of many pieces to gain honourable mention in Gardner Dozois' Year's Best anthology. Since then, Mercurio's work has appeared regularly in Interzone, as well as such venues as Asimov's, Nature, Black Static, and Solaris Rising 2. In 2010, his story "Tu Sufrimiento Shall Protect Us" was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award and gained honourable mention in Ellen Datlow's Year's Best Horror.

Table of Contents:

• Across the Event Horizon: An Introduction - essay by Terry Bisson
• Dance of the Kawkawroons - (2010) - short story
• Longing for Langalana - (2006) - novelette
• Missionaries - (2012) - novelette
• Snatch Me Another - (2008) - short story
• Dear Annabehls - (2009) - short story
• The Fifth Zhi - (2008) - short story
• The Scent of Their Arrival - (2008) - novelette
• Bargonns can Swizzle - (2005) - short story
• Rewind, Replay - (2005) - short story
• Naked Weekend - (2007) - short story
• Doubled - (2009) - short story
• Tu Sufrimiento Shall Protect Us - (2010) - short story
• Sleeping with the Anemone - (2008) - short story
• Answers from the Event Horizon - (2009) - short story
• About the Author - essay by uncredited
• Story Honors and Accolades - essay by uncredited

Ahni Huang is hunting for her brother's killer. As a class 9 empath with advanced biogenetic augmentations, she has complete mental and physical control of her body, and can read other people's intentions before they can even think them. Ahni soon finds though, that there are deceptions behind deceptions, and in the middle of it lies the fate of her brother.

Earth is in the midst of a political struggle between the World Council, which governs humankind, and the Platforms, which orbit high above Earth. On the Platform New York Up, "upsider" life is different. They have their own culture, values, and ambitions--and now they want their independence from Earth. One upsider leader, Dane Nilson, is determined to accomplish this goal, but he has a secret, one that could condemn him to death.

When Ahni stumbles upon Dane during her quest for vengeance, her fate becomes inextricably linked to his. Together they must delve beyond the intrigue and manipulative schemes to get to the core of truth; a truth that will shape the future of the Platforms and shatter any preconceived notions of what defines the human race.

The boy was raised as one of the Chained, condemned to toil in the bowels of a mining ship out among the stars. His whole world changes -- literally -- when he is yanked "upstairs" and informed he has been given an opportunity to be educated at the ship's university alongside the elite.

Overwhelmed and alone, the boy forms a bond with the woman he comes to know as "the professor," a weary idealist and descendent of the Chained who has spent her career striving for validation from her more senior colleagues, only to fall short at every turn.

Together, the boy and the woman will embark on a transformative journey to grasp the design of the chains that fetter them both -- and are the key to breaking free.

The universe of the mind is a limitless expanse of wonders, filled with worlds and secrets that cannot be fully explored within the pages of a single novel. Avid readers of science fiction have long appreciated the myriad joys of returning to fictional galaxies already experienced; delighting in the ever-unfolding mysteres of Frank Herbert's Dune or Asimov's Foundation series, for example.

In Far Horizons--edited by acclaimed author Robert Silverberg-- a veritable "Who's Who" of science fiction's most beloved and highly honored writers once again revisit the remarkable worlds they created and made famous.

Ursula K. Le Guin sends representatives of the Ekumen into the violent later years of a planetary civil war. Dan Simmons once again billiantly mixes allegory and space adventure in his dangerous, religion-dominated cosmos of Hyperion. Greg Bear reexplores his artificial universe, "The Way", from Eon, Eternity and Legacy.

Orson Scott Card recounts the momentous first meeting of his time-and-planet-hopping protagonist Ender Wiggin with Ender's computer based, soon to be companion, Jane.Gregory Benford rockets us back to the Galactic Center, Anne McCaffrey's Ship Who Sang sings again, and Joe Haldeman's Forever War rages on eternally. Here, also, are new stories by David Brin, Nancy Kress, Frederik Pohl, and Robert Silverberg himself--each venturing further into univestigated corners of familiar galaxies to delve into the perilous mystery of being human.

Perhaps the greatest concentration of science fiction talent ever in one volume, Far Horizons is an unprecedented masterpiece -- one that reopens vast empires of imagination and adventure to new explorations and appreciations. It is a major SF event, sure to bring unparalleled joy to the hearts of serious fans everywhere.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Robert Silverberg
• Old Music and the Slave Women - novella by Ursula K. Le Guin
• A Separate War - novelette by Joe Haldeman
• Investment Counselor - novelette by Orson Scott Card
• Temptation - novella by David Brin
• Getting to Know the Dragon - novelette by Robert Silverberg
• Orphans of the Helix - novelette by Dan Simmons
• Sleeping Dogs - novelette by Nancy Kress
• The Boy Who Would Live Forever - novelette by Frederik Pohl
• A Hunger for the Infinite - novelette by Gregory Benford
• The Ship That Returned - novelette by Anne McCaffrey
• The Way of All Ghosts - novelette by Greg Bear

Thirty-four light years from Earth, the explorer ship Magellan is nearing its objective -- the Iota Persei system. But when ship commander Cait Dyson wakes from deepsleep, she finds her co-pilot dead and the ship's AI unresponsive. Cait works with the rest of her multinational crew to regain control of the ship, until they learn that Earth is facing total environmental collapse and their mission must change if humanity is to survive.

As tensions rise and personal and political agendas play out in the ship's cramped confines, the crew finally reach the planet Horizon, where everything they know will be challenged.

Hamilton Felix, the result of generations of genetic selection, finds his life as the ultimate man boring, until a gang of revolutionaries tries to enlist him in their cause.

Speculative fiction is wide in scope and styles, and Speculative Horizons showcases the talent and storytelling skills of five of the genre's most imaginative voices:

In C. S. Friedman's 'Soul Mate,' it's love at first sight for Josie at the arts and crafts festival when she meets the handsome Stephan Mayeaux. It all sounds too good to be true until her newfound boyfriend starts to act strangely and unexplained occurrences begin to take place around her.

In Tobias S. Buckell's 'The Eve of the Fall of Habesh,' contragnartii Jazim must carry out one final assignment before the armies of the Sea People lay waste to the city he loves.

L. E. Modesitt, Jr. returns to the universe of his bestselling Recluce saga in 'The Stranger.' A young herder's existence will be forever changed by the unexpected arrival of the black-clad man recounting tales of angels living on the summit of the Roof of the World.

In 'Flint,' Brian Ruckley introduces us to a young and inexperienced shaman who must venture into the spirit world to discover the source of the sickness which afflicts his tribe before they are all wiped out.

Talk to any cop working for Homicide, Narcotics, or Vice, and they'll tell you that they get the worst cases imaginable. But in Hal Duncan's 'The Death of a Love,' you realize that they have nothing on Erocide.

In this third and final adventure in the Above World series, Aluna and her friends finally face their most terrifying enemy, Karl Strand.

Aluna and Hoku, Kampii from the City of Shifting Tides, and their friends, Equian Dash and winged Aviar Calli, are determined to stop a war. The maniacal ex-scientist Karl Strand is planning to conquer the world with his enormous army of tech-enhanced soldiers... unless the four friends can get to Strand first.

Aluna's plan is dangerous: pose as Upgraders and infiltrate the army. But the enemy isn't what they expected and the strategy begins to crumble. When the friends are torn apart by conflicting allegiances, their slim chance of avoiding war seems to disappear completely. For Aluna and Hoku, what began as a quest to save their own people has become a mission to save the world. But do Aluna and her friends have any hope of defeating Strand if they can't take him on together?

On July 31, 1991, the final episode of "Alien Nation, "Green Eyes" aired, ending the series with a blockbuster finale and an exciting cliffhanger.

In "Green Eyes" the Newcomers were faced with a deadly new bacteria created by a ruthless group of humans called Purists, who were determined to rid the Earth of the alien Tenctonese. As the story closed, all of the "Alien Nation characters were in crisis, and the Francisco family was infected with the bacteria, facing certain death.

This story was never resolved... until now. "Dark Horizon" was a two-hour "Alien Nation script commissioned by Twentieth Century Fox. The story would have resolved the cliffhanger and kicked off "Alien Nation's second seacon. With the final cancellation of the series, the script was put away and fans were left with their questions unanswered. Pocket Books is now proud to present a novelization by critically acclaimed science fiction author K. W. Jeter, of the entire action-packed story that began with "Green Eyes" and ended with "Dark Horizon."

As the story opens, George Francisco and Matthew Sikes stand watch over George's family, while the Earth faces a new threat. A ruthless Overseer has come from space to recover the Tenctonese slaves, and he will stop at nothing to see that the Newcomers-- as well as the entire human race-- are enslaved forever.

A City of living bone towers crumbles to the ground and danger abounds. Kirit Densira has lost everything she loved the most--her mother, her home, and the skies above. Nat Brokenwings--once Kirit's brother long before the rebellion tore them apart--is still trying to save his family in the face of catastrophe. They will need to band together once more to ensure not just their own survival, but that of their entire community.

"The master of science-fiction intrigue" (Washington Post) returns to the Coyote universe.

The planet of Coyote has become the last, best hope of humankind, but it has also become the principal point of contact with the hjadd, the alien race encountered by a European starship many years earlier. Although the hjadd have built an embassy near the original colony, they remain a mystery.

And as the colonists make preparations to explore the rest of the new world, ex-convict Hawk Thompson discovers more about the hjadd than anyone has learned before-and his knowledge will change human history...

"We need to reach out. We need to continue the line..."

On a windswept northern shore, the islanders believe the worst they have to fear is a Viking attack. Then the burning comes. Water will not stop it. It consumes everything in its path - yet the burned still speak.

The Doctor encounters a people under attack from a power they cannot possibly understand. They have no weapons, no strategy and no protection against a fire sent to engulf them all. The islanders must take on a ruthless alien force in a world without technology; but at least they have the Doctor on their side... Don't they?

Master Sergeant Reed Beckham has led his Delta Force Team, codenamed Ghost, through every kind of hell imaginable and never lost a man. When a top secret Medical Corps research facility goes dark, Team Ghost is called in to face their deadliest enemy yet--a variant strain of Ebola that turns men into monsters.

After barely escaping with his life, Beckham returns to Fort Bragg in the midst of a new type of war. As cities fall, Team Ghost is ordered to keep CDC virologist Dr. Kate Lovato alive long enough to find a cure. What she uncovers will change everything.

Total extinction is just on the horizon, but will the cure be worse than the virus?

This harrowing tale of supernatural suspense kicks off a new series from the visionary mind of #1 New York Times bestselling author Scott Westerfeld.

When a plane crash-lands in the arctic, eight young survivors step from the wreckage expecting to see nothing but ice and snow. Instead they find themselves lost in a strange jungle with no way to get home and little hope of rescue.

Food is running out. Water is scarce. And the jungle is full of threats unlike anything the survivors have ever seen before -- from razor-beaked shredder birds to carnivorous vines and much, much worse.

With danger at every turn, these eight kids must learn to work together to survive. But cliques and rivalries threaten to tear them apart. And not everyone will make it out of the jungle alive.

Thirty thousand Japanese gamers awake one day to discover that the fantasy world of Elder Tales, an MMORPG that was formerly their collective hobby, has become their cold hard reality. Severed from their everyday lives, they confront a new horizon filled with ravenous monsters, flavorless food, and the inability to die! Amid the chaos, veteran gamer Shiroe gathers his friends, the guardian Naotsugu and the assassin Akatsuki, and together they embark on an adventure to change the world as they know it!

Even though peace has seemingly been restored to Akiba, unrest churns beneath its surface. Learning that two of his students--the twins Tohya and Minori--have been bound to an unscrupulous guild, Shiroe makes his bid to bring order to the lawless streets. Are his band of handpicked veterans up to the task...?

A message has reached the Round Table, and in response, Shiroe and his comrades leave Akiba on a quest to establish exchange with the Continental Alliance. Meanwhile, the summer training camp where rookie players from every guild will hone their skills begins. Minori and Touya (along with others at their level) face failure after failure as they challenge the dungeons. Without Shiroe to rely on, their abilities will now be tested!

The stronghold of Akiba faces a new threat: a mighty goblin army! In their efforts to rebuild the city, the adventurers of Elder Tales had neglected important quests, and now they reap the consequences. With the revelation that in-game death leads to memory loss of the real world, the stakes have never been higher. And will cutthroat politics destroy tenuous new alliances before the real battle even begins?

In the sort of autumn afternoon that leaves maidens sighing, new enemies arrives in Akiba! And these enemies are more terrifying than any monster--they're human. Worse, their target is the very system at the heart of the city--the Round Table Council! Will the tenuous government that Shiroe's worked so hard to build survive this latest threat?

The unthinkable has happened--murder in the city of Akiba. The Libra Festival's events have left Akatsuki dispirited. Despairing and confused, she wanders the city in search of the murderer and a chance to gain the power and recognition she craves--but feelings alone will not be enough. A new chapter in the Log Horizon epic begins!

Shiroe left Akiba in search of 8,000,000,000,000 gold coins, setting off for the vast north lands. But, what he found there was a warning of a large scale raid about to occur.

In Akiba's unstable situation, Shiroe's chosen raid members include the galactic idol Tetora, the leader of Silver Sword who refused to take part in the round table council, Massachusetts, and the man he defeated in Susukino who still hates him, Demiquas.

...Is everything really going to be alright?

For the sake of obtaining their very own Magic Bags, Touya, Minori, Serara, Isuzu, and Rundelhous all set off on their very first journey as a five-member party! Their quest to find the materials soon becomes a crosscountry musical tour, as they find themselves performing live events in all the towns and villages they come across!

On their journey they meet a daylight hating vampire, a People of the Land scribe, and a band of fanatics who believe they've unlocked the secret to returning to the real world--

This is their first real adventure alone, without any supervision and no one to bail them out, but will they really be safe in this world that's more dangerous than it seems??

When the Catastrophe hit, American Elder Tales player Leonardo was one of the many people trapped. Stuck on the Chinese server with none of his friends and surrounded by thousands of monsters, his situation is hopeless... until a headstrong girl comes to his rescue! Kanami, the former Debauchery Tea Party leader, recruits him for her party. Along with the hero Elias, the blank-faced healer Coppélia, and a strange white horse that can talk, the group resolves to travel to the Japanese server, the only place where the new expansion pack unlocked before the Catastrophe struck. The long trek eastward begins!

Almost a full year has passed since Shiroe and the others found themselves stuck in Elder Tales. Most of the Akiba residents have grown accustomed to the new world--though, they still don't want to be there. Minori delivers Shiroe a letter from Roe2, his sub-character from the test server. He suspects she's someone who might be able to explain exactly why the Catastrophe happened and for what purpose.

The most powerful of the ancient race vs the peerless mad-warrior!

After becoming completely lost, Krusty finds himself with nothing to do in the enchanted lands of the Chinese server. Meanwhile, nearby Krusty's location, Kanami ventures into the Sirius Grotto Dungeon to explore. However, Elias is considered "too powerful," preventing him from entering and participating in the dungeon raid! He begins to harbor doubts about the meaning of his won existence but before long, everything will change after his world and Krusty's collide!

Bioengineer Peter Bernhardt has dedicated his life to nanotechnology, the science of manipulating matter on the atomic scale. As the founder of Biogineers, he is on the cusp of revolutionizing brain therapies with microscopic nanorobots that will make certain degenerative diseases a thing of the past. But after his research is stolen by an unknown enemy, seventy thousand people die in Las Vegas in one abominable moment. No one is more horrified than Peter, as this catastrophe sets in motion events that will forever change not only his life but also the course of human evolution.

Peter's company is torn from his grasp as the public clamors for his blood. Desperate, he turns to an old friend, who introduces him to the Phoenix Club, a cabal of the most powerful men in the world. To make himself more valuable to his new colleagues, Peter infuses his brain with experimental technology, exponentially upgrading his mental prowess and transforming him irrevocably.

As he's exposed to unimaginable wealth and influence, Peter's sense of reality begins to unravel. Do the club members want to help him, or do they just want to claim his technology? What will they do to him once they have their prize? And while he's already evolved beyond mere humanity, is he advanced enough to take on such formidable enemies and win?

In (R)EVOLUTION, our hero changed the world. Now everyone reaps the unintended consequences, which play out on an international scale. Life is changed irrevocably by the actions of the man once known as Peter Bernhardt.

Centuries before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, in the era of the glorious High Republic, the Jedi are the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy!

After a series of staggering losses, the Republic seems to finally have the villainous Nihil marauders on the run, and it looks like there's light at the end of the tunnel. Until word comes of a suspected Nihil attack on the industrial cosmopolitan world of Corellia, right in the Galactic Core.

Sent to investigate are Jedi Masters Cohmac Vitus and Kantam Sy, along with Padawans Reath Silas and Ram Jomaram, all fighting their own private battles after months of unrelenting danger. On Corellia, Reath and Ram encounter a brazen young security specialist named Crash, whose friend was one of the victims of the Nihil attack, and they team up with her to infiltrate Corellia's elite while the Masters pursue more diplomatic avenues. But going undercover with Crash is more dangerous than anyone expected, even as Ram pulls in his friend Zeen to help with an elaborate ruse involving a galactic pop star.

But what they uncover on Corellia turns out to be just one part of a greater plan, one that could lead the Jedi to their most stunning defeat yet....

After 2000 years, the Wall has been breached. As Mithila steps into a world unknown, her sister Minakshi tightens her grasp on a city bracing for chaos and violence under a red sky. The ghost of an old Revolution stalks the streets, while the shadow of a new one threatens to tear Sumer apart.

Spreading word about this historical transgression, Alvar and Mankala find themselves facing new perils in a City they can barely recognise-one torn between old fears and new desires, while caught in a deadly power struggle. But soon, they will know that the crossing of the Wall has consequences not just for the City, but for the world.

The New York Times Book Review hails this collection of thirteen dazzling stories and a rare screenplay by Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Greg Bear as a "solid introduction to the oeuvre of a classic writer."

Greg Bear--author of Queen of Angels, Eon, and Hull Zero Three, among many other hugely popular novels--has an ability to transform challenging scientific concepts into gripping fiction that has won him numerous awards and an avid following. He has written novels about interstellar war, human evolution, intelligent bacteria, international terrorism, and the exploration of deep space--but he doesn't stop there. This brilliant collection of Bear's stories, each newly revised by the author, proves he is a master of the short form as well. Just Over the Horizon offers thirteen mind-bending explorations of the near future... or just beyond the border of conventional reality. The volume includes:

• "Blood Music," a Hugo and Nebula award-winning classic and the basis for the novel of the same name--and the first science-fictional exploration of nanotechnology;
• "Sisters," in which high school students find maturity and family by confronting a tragic genetic destiny;
• "Tangents," winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards, about a persecuted scientist who seeks refuge in a better world;
• "Dead Run," a tale of union truck drivers ferrying souls through Death Valley into Hell, adapted for an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone;
• "Sleepside Story," which Bear calls one of his favorite pieces, an urban fantasy tale that takes a music student by Night Metro to the Sleepside mansion of a magical woman of the night, inverting "Beauty and the Beast" in a very modern mirror;
• "Genius," the screenplay written for the television series Outer Limits, but never produced.

In Book Two of the Heechee Saga, Robinette Broadhead is on his way to making a fortune by bankrolling an expedition to the Food Factory--a Heechee spaceship that can graze the cometary cloud and transfor the basic elements of the universe into untold quantities of food. But even as he gambles on the breakthrough technology, he is wracked with the guilt of losing his wife, poised forever at the "event horizon" of a black hole where Robin had abaondoned her. As more and more information comes back from the expedition, Robin grows ever hopeful that he can rescue his beloved Gelle-Klara Moynlin. After three and a years, the factory is discovered to work, and a human is found aboard. Robin's suffering may be just about over....

Caught in the middle of a titanic struggle between two alien superpowers, the factions of humanity and their allies, the Ildirans, are under siege. Can they resolve their differences to fight a common threat? For the leader of the Roamers, survival means extending a helping hand to others, while the chairman of the Terran Hansa plans to use a new, untested alien weapon regardless of the consequences. And for the new Ildiran Mage-Imperator, survival involves throwing off the choking traditions of the Empire - even if it might trigger a civil war. As old intrigues and dark secrets come to light, a man who is believed to be long dead returns with an ally who may save mankind. But this new fragile hope will be threatened by a fresh betrayal - the most bitter and brutal of them all...

The concluding volume in the epic fantasy saga from multiple Hugo Award-winning author Lois McMaster Bujold

A Lakewalker entrusted with protecting the populace from malices—terrifying remnants of ancient magic—Dag Redwing Hickory never expected to fall in love with Fawn Bluefield, the farmer girl he rescued. When they joined in marriage, defying their kin, they bridged the perilous split between their peoples. Now Dag's extraordinary maker abilities have grown—along with his fears about who and what he is becoming, and his frustration with the disdain in which Lakewalker soldier-sorcerers are expected to hold their farmer neighbors.

Fawn and Dag's world is changing, and the traditional Lake-walker practices cannot continue to hold every malice at bay. At the end of their long journey home, the pair must at last answer the question they've grappled with for so long: When the old traditions fail disastrously, can their untried new ways stand against their world's deadliest foe?