Search Worlds Without End

WFA nominated novella. It oriignally appeared in Amazing Stories, September 1984.

'Imagine a horizon.'

'I can't.'

Mithila's world is bound by a Wall enclosing the city of Sumer -- nobody goes out, nothing comes in. The days pass as they have for two thousand years: just enough to eat for just enough people, living by the rules. Within the city, everyone knows their place.

But when Mithila tries to cross the Wall, every power in Sumer comes together to stop her.

To break the rules is to risk all of civilization collapsing. But to follow them is to never know: who built the Wall? Why? And what would the world look like if it didn't exist? As Mithila and her friends search for the truth, they must risk losing their families, the ones they love, and even their lives.

Is a world they can't imagine worth the only world they have?

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.

Stories are sly things... they can be hard to catch and kill.

Inanna is an impossibility, the first full Anunnaki born on Earth in Ancient Mesopotamia. Crowned the goddess of love by the twelve immortal Anunnaki who are worshipped across Sumer, she is destined for greatness.

But Inanna is born into a time of war. The Anunnaki have split into warring factions, threatening to tear the world apart. Forced into a marriage to negotiate a peace, she soon realises she has been placed in terrible danger.

Gilgamesh, a mortal human son of the Anunnaki, and notorious womaniser, finds himself captured and imprisoned by King Akka who seeks to distance himself and his people from the gods. Arrogant and selfish, Gilgamesh is given one final chance to prove himself.

Ninshubar, a powerful warrior woman, is cast out of her tribe after an act of kindness. Hunted by her own people, she escapes across the country, searching for acceptance and a new place in the world.

As their journeys push them closer together, and their fates intertwine, they come to realise that together, they may have the power to change to face of the world forever.

Now is the time for the gods of war...

Gilgamesh, soon to be crowned King of Uruk, travels north to find his homelands in flames and his family on the run. A blood-red moon brings warnings of a new kind of war, and in the far north, the enemies of Sumer are massing.

Inanna and Ninshubar sail south to take their revenge upon Enki, the king of the water gods. Armed with the master meeand struggling to understand its true nature, Inanna will face impossible demons in her quest to fully comprehend the power she has inherited.

Meanwhile Ereshkigal, queen of the underworld, has a mysterious visitor. This dark stranger brings with him the threat of dangers far more terrible than Enki, or even Sumer's warlike neighbours. Because a long time ago, in a realm faraway, a little girl was taken from her family. Now, a vengeance, long prophesied, is about to unfold.

As the forces of chaos rise across the riverlands, Gilgamesh must battle against overwhelming odds to save the city he loves, and the Anunnaki will soon discover that no one can escape the sins of the past. Not even the gods.

"A god is nothing without a good story."

It has been six months since the fall of the great cities of Ancient Sumer. Six months since war and chaos scattered everyone to the wind.

Ereshkigal, the queen of the underworld, finds herself trapped in the rubble of her realm with only one thought: to rescue the man she loves.

In the realm of light, Harga and Marduk mount a hopeless resistance against the vast Akkadian forces, whilst Gilgamesh, once king of Uruk, travels to Egypt in search of a legend that could save them.

High above them all, in the kingdom of Heaven, a goddess with no memory lies imprisoned and helpless whilst a faint voice on the wind whispers a name... Inanna.

And, wandering between the realms, a lost and lonely spirit named Ninshubar desperately tries to find her lost mistress.

But as their search for one another begins to draw them closer, Tiamat, the many-headed dragon-queen of Heaven, is preparing for an assault on the realm of light that could crush all life on Earth.

Don't miss the thrilling conclusion to the Sumerians trilogy as the threads of destiny pull ever tighter, and the fate of the entire world lies perilously in the balance.

THESE HEROES MIGHT BE MORE TROUBLE THAN THEY'RE WORTH

Homura wants to light something, anything, on fire--and she finally gets her chance when she's summoned to another world that's desperate enough to ask her for help! Along with a group of similarly offbeat high school girls who all have their own powers, Homura sets off to incinerate evildoers and rein in the chaos caused by the Dark Lord's resurrection. But what happens when these five oddballs get carried away? Will they actually save the world, or will Homura's flames of justice wind up burning it all down?