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This novella originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July-August 2012. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirtieth Annual Collection (2013), edited by Gardner Dozois.

"You're going to hell, Jack Nightingale."

These are the words that ended Jack Nightingale's career as a police negotiator. Now a struggling private detective, the chilling words return with a vengeance when Jack inherits a mansion with a priceless library--and a terrifying warning from a man who claims to be his father.

Nightingale quickly learns his soul was sold at birth and a devil will come to claim it on his thirty-third birthday, which is just three short weeks away. It's a hard pill to swallow. He doesn't believe in Hell and probably doesn't believe in Heaven either. But when people close to him start to die horribly, he is led to the inescapable conclusion that real evil may be at work. And if he doesn't find a way out, he'll be damned for eternity.

Legendary thief, lethal assassin, powerful sorcerer... this epic fantasy duology follows the adventures of the elusive man known as Nightfall as he struggles between his criminal past and his present obligation to protect the King.

Darkness comes where Nightfall goes....

He has been known by countless names and terrifying deeds throughout the lands of mankind--thief, magic wielder, swordsman, assassin, adventurer. But chief among those names and perhaps the most dangerous of his personae is that of Nightfall, a man--or perhaps the legendary demon himself--gifted with unique powers which any sorcerer would kill to possess.

Yet though Nightfall has always escaped his pursuers by moving on to new realms, new identities, and new enterprises, even the cleverest of beings must occasionally slip. And when this master of the night finally falls prey to a royal trap, he finds the consequences beyond even his ability to evade. Bound by sorcery and oath to guard and guide a young prince on his quest, Nightfall will need every trick and talent at his command to keep both himself and his idealistic young charge from death at the hands of unknown betrayers.

Nightfall--assassin, thief, swordsman, adventurer, and wielder of magic--has always evaded his pursuers, until he falls prey to a royal trap that leaves him bound by sorcery and oath to guard a young prince on an epic quest.

He has been known by countless names and terrifying deeds, but chief among those names is that of Nightfall, a man-or perhaps the legendary demon himself-gifted with a unique power which any sorcerer would kill to possess.

Now, Nightfall is bound by magic and oath to guard and guide a newly-crowned king. But when his liege disappears, Nightfall must get help from Duke Varsah-the man who wants nothing more than to see Nightfall destroyed.

Hugo Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, April 2003. The story can also be found in the anthology Digital Rapture: The Singularity Anthology (2012), edited by John Kessel and James Patrick Kelly. The story is incorportated in the fixup novel Accelerando (2005).

Read the full story for free at the author's website.

The story came about when, in 1988, Marty Greenberg suggested Asimov find someone who would take his forty-seven year old short story, "Nightfall", and - keeping the story essentially as written - add a detailed beginning and a detailed ending to it. This resulted in the 1990 publication of the novel, Nightfall by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg. As Asimov relates in the Robert Silverberg chapter of his autobiography, "...Eventually, I received the extended Nightfall manuscript from Bob [Silverberg]... Bob did a wonderful job and I could almost believe I had written the whole thing myself. He remained absolutely faithful to the original story and I had very little to argue with.

These two renowned writers have invented a world not unlike our own--a world on the edge of chaos, torn between the madness of religious fanaticism and the stubborn denial of scientists. Only a handful of people on the planet Lagash are prepared to face the truth--that their six suns are setting all at once for the first time in 2,000 years, signaling the end of civilization!

This collection contains a subset of the stories previously published in Nightfall and Other Stories (1969).

Contains:

• Nightfall
• Green Patches
• Hostess
• Breeds There a Man...
• C_Chute

This collection contains the remainder of the stories previously published in Nightfall and Other Stories (1969) not already published in Nightfall One.

Contains:

• "In a Good Cause -"
• "What If -"
• Sally
• Flies
• "Nobody Here But -"
• It's Such a Beautiful Day
• Strikebreaker
• Insert Knob A in Hole B
• The Up-to-Date Sorcerer
• Unto the Fourth Generation
• What Is This Thing Called Love?
• The Machine That Won the War
• My Son, The Physicist
• Eyes Do More Than See
• Segregationist

Table of Contents:

• What Is This Thing Called Love? - (1961)
• Strikebreaker - (1957)
• Sally - (1953)
• Nightfall - (1941)
• Segregationist - (1967)
• Eyes Do More Than See - (1965)
• Green Patches - (1950)
• Hostess - (1951)
• Breeds There a Man...? - (1951)
• Flies - (1953)
• The Up-to-Date Sorcerer - (1958)
• Unto the Fourth Generation - (1959)
• The Machine That Won the War - (1961)
• My Son, the Physicist! - (1962)
• It's Such a Beautiful Day - (1955)
• Insert Knob A in Hole B - (1957)
• "In a Good Cause--" - (1951)
• The C-Chute - (1951)
• Biographical Comments in "Nightfall and Other Stories" - essay by Isaac Asimov
• "Nobody Here But--" - (1953)
• What If-- - (1952)

Remy Pendergast is many things: the only son of the Duke of Valenbonne (though his father might wish otherwise), an elite bounty hunter of rogue vampires, and an outcast among his fellow Reapers. His mother was the subject of gossip even before she eloped with a vampire, giving rise to the rumors that Remy is half-vampire himself. Though the kingdom of Aluria barely tolerates him, Remy's father has been shaping him into a weapon to fight for the kingdom at any cost.

When a terrifying new breed of vampire is sighted outside of the city, Remy prepares to investigate alone. But then he encounters the shockingly warmhearted vampire heiress Xiaodan Song and her infuriatingly arrogant fiancé, vampire lord Zidan Malekh, who may hold the key to defeating the creatures--though he knows associating with them won't do his reputation any favors. When he's offered a spot alongside them to find the truth about the mutating virus Rot that's plaguing the kingdom, Remy faces a choice.

It's one he's certain he'll regret.

But as the three face dangerous hardships during their journey, Remy develops fond and complicated feelings for the couple. He begins to question what he holds true about vampires, as well as the story behind his own family legacy. As the Rot continues to spread across the kingdom, Remy must decide where his loyalties lie: with his father and the kingdom he's been trained all his life to defend or the vampires who might just be the death of him.

n the distant Pegasus galaxy, the scientists and soldiers of the Atlantis expedition push back the frontiers of knowledge and exploration; in the city of the Ancients, new challenges and old secrets are waiting to be unlocked. Far from home, ranged against lethal enemies the Atlantis team must fight to preserve a distant outpost of humanity against impossible odds; but when the Nightfall comes, it will be like nothing they have ever encountered before...

The second novel in the Nessantico Cycle continues the epic tale of an empire at its height, yet poised on the brink of what could be a devastating descent into ruin. It is a story of murder and magic, of deception and betrayal, of Machiavellian politics, star-crossed lovers, and a realm facing war on every front.

Fifteen years have passed since the end of the war with demons, creatures of darkness who have hunted the night and plagued humanity since time out of mind. The heroes of humanity's hour of need have become legend, and those who remain struggle to escape their shadows.

Olive Paper and Darin Bales have grown up in this new peaceful world. Demons have been all but destroyed, but dangers still lurk for the children of heroes.

Olive, princess of Hollow, has her entire life planned out by her mother, Duchess Leesha Paper: a steady march on a checklist to prepare her for succession. The more her mother writes the script, the more Olive rails against playing the parts she is assigned.

Darin faces challenges of a different kind. Though free to choose his own path, the weight of legacy hangs heavy around his shoulders. It isn't easy being the son of the man people say saved the world. Everyone expects greatness from Darin, but the only thing he's ever been great at is hiding.

When Olive and Darin step across the wards one night, they learn the demons are not all gone, and those that remain hunger for revenge. Events are set in motion that only prophecy can foresee as Olive and Darin seek to find their own places in the world in time to save it again.

Humanity thought the war with demonkind was over. Now, after less than a generation to rebuild, the demon corelings have returned with a vengeance. The Spear of Ala - the fortress that stands at the gates of the demon's hive - is the last bastion against the horde, and reports say it may already have fallen.

Olive Paper is expected to take the vanguard in the fight. Only an heir of Kaji can wield the artifact that opens the gates of the Spear of Ala, and as Ahmann Jardir's child, Olive seems destined for a role as leader and savior. But Olive does not wish to follow in her father's footsteps any more than she did her mother's.

Darin Bales was born with supernatural senses that he struggles to process, and even those who love him believe he can barely take care of himself. Yet to save his mother from the clutches of Alagai Ka, the demon king, Darin will brave anything to mount a rescue.

Darin and Olive each strive to walk their own path but find themselves inextricably tied to the legacies of their parents and to a fated confrontation with the demon king and his new hatchling queen.

If they fail, humanity may not survive.