Search Worlds Without End

In the earliest days of humankind, everything in the world seemed magical. Gods and demons, spirits and sprites were considered to be responsible for everything from life and death, to the turning of the seasons, to the abundance or failure of crops. Today, much that was once attributed to magic has been explained by science, and in our technologically driven world, the question is whether there is still a place for magic. For twenty of fantasy's finest imaginers, the answer is obviously, "Yes."

Table of Contents:

• The Wild Hunt (excerpt) - short fiction by Kate Paulk
• The Power of Magic - essay by Sarah A. Hoyt
• More to Truth Than Proof - short story by Irene Radford
• In a Dark Wood, Dreaming - short story by Esther M. Friesner
• The Thing in the Woods - short story by Harry Turtledove
• The Star Cats - short story by Charles Edgar Quinn
• Lighthouse Surfer - short story by Daniel M. Hoyt
• Something Virtual This Way Comes - short story by Laura Resnick
• Tears of Gold - short story by Paul Crilley
• Houdini's Mirror - short story by Russell Davis
• Angel in the Cabbages - short story by Fran LaPlaca
• Raining the Wild Hunt - short story by Kate Paulk
• Still Life, With Cats - novelette by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
• The Case of the Allergic Leprechaun - short story by Alan L. Lickiss
• The Flood Was Fixed - short story by Eric Flint
• Visitor's Night at Joey Chicago's - [Harry the Book] - short story by Mike Resnick
• A Midsummer Nightmare - novelette by Walt Boyes
• Winds of Change - short story by Linda A. B. Davis
• Firebird and Shadow - short story by Darwin A. Garrison
• Night of the Wolf - short story by John Lambshead
• Opus No. 1 - short story by Barbara Nickless
• Regency Sprite - novelette by Dave Freer
• About the Authors
• About the Editor

A new world. New magic. New history.

After Halley's Comet was destroyed in a magical battle in 1759, the backlash separated the entire New World from the Old in an event known as The Sundering. Now isolated from the rest of the globe, America has become a very different place, where magic works and history has been changed forever.

It is 1803--a new 1803. Young Meriwether Lewis, footloose and intrigued, goes to hear a lecture in St. Louis by the venerated old wizard Benjamin Franklin. Franklin's talk is disrupted by the attack of a winged fire-breathing beast, much like legends from Lewis's own Welsh heritage. In the aftermath, Franklin tells the young man that he knows of a great, growing evil that lurks in the uncharted Arcane Territories west of the Mississippi.

Using his own vast fortune, Franklin commissions Lewis and his own talented partner William Clark to embark on a remarkable voyage of exploration, to meet and document the indigenous tribes, to find a route all the way to the Pacific Ocean--and perhaps beyond the magical veil to Europe again--and to stop the growing evil that is filling the American West. For while the Sundering separated the rest of the world and granted the original colonists unexpected magical gifts, sorcery inspired by native legends has also been ignited. And the Arcane Territories may hold unparalleled dangers for the expedition, both natural and magical.

Accompanied by the brilliant shape-shifting sorceress Sacajawea, Lewis and Clark set off on an unparalleled adventure across a landscape that no European has ever seen.

Athena Hera Sinistra never wanted to go to space. Never wanted see the eerie glow of the Powerpods. Never wanted to visit Circum Terra. Never had any interest in finding out the truth about the DarkShips.

You always get what you don't ask for. Which must have been why she woke up in the dark of shipnight, within the greater night of space in her father's space cruiser, knowing that there was a stranger in her room. In a short time, after taking out the stranger – who turned out to be one of her father's bodyguards up to no good, she was hurtling away from the ship in a lifeboat to get help. But what she got instead would be the adventure of a lifetime – if she managed to survive...

Darkship Thieves won the Prometheus Award for Best Novel.

After rescuing her star pilot husband and discovering the dark secret of her own past on Earth, Athena Hera Sinistra returns to space habitat Eden to start life anew. Not happening. No good deed goes unpunished, and Thena and Kit are placed under arrest for the crime of coming back alive. The only escape from a death sentence: return to Earth and bring back the lost method for creating the Powertrees, the energy source of both Eden and Earth whose technological origins have been lost to war. But that mission is secondary to a greater imperative. Above all else, Thena must not get caught. If she does, then suicide is to be the only option.

With the odds heavily stacked against not only success, but survival, Thena comes to understand what her cynical accusers do not: it is not merely one woman's life on the line anymore. For it's on Earth where the adventure truly begins. Thena realizes that what is truly at stake is the fate of Eden and Earth alike, the continuance of the darkship fleet - and freedom for all in the Solar system - and beyond.

Darkship Renegades was nominated for the Prometheus Award for Best Novel.

The Son Also Rises...

On a near future Earth, Good Man does not mean good at all. Instead, the term signifies a member of the ruling class, and what it takes to become a Good Man and to hold onto power is downright evil. Now a conspiracy hundreds of years in the making is about to be brought to light when the imprisoned son of the Good Man of Olympic Seacity escapes from his solitary confinement cell and returns to find his father assassinated.

But when Luce Keeva attempts to take hold of the reins of power, he finds that not all is as it seems, that a plot for his own imminent murder is afoot - and that a worldwide conflagration looms. It is a war of revolution, and a shadowy group known as the Sons of Liberty may prove to be Luce's only ally in a fight to throw off an evil from the past that has enslaved humanity for generations.

A Few Good Men was nominated for the Prometheus Award for Best Novel.

A new chapter in Hoyt's celebrated Darkship series dawns with revolution on Earth as the Good Men fall.

DOWN WITH THE TYRANNY OF THE GOOD MEN!

A spaceship mechanic has no place in a fairytale. But now Zen Sienna finds herself in a beautiful palace being courted by the ruler of vast lands. Yet soon Zen is caught up in a revolution that comes a bit too close to imitating the original French revolution--complete with beheadings. Swept up in a turmoil of fire and blood, she must find her footing. Torn by divided loyalties, unexpectedly in charge of protecting the innocent while trying to stop the guilty, Zen discovers both her inner strength and discovers who will remain true friends and comrades, and who will be revealed as enemies in disguise waiting to strike!

Through the fire of revolution and war, Zen must earn her citizenship on Earth and find her place in a world that's totally changed.

After winning the civil war in Eden, Athena returns to her calling, collecting powerpods with her husband Kit. Now weeks away from Earth, she goes into labor. To make matters worse, a strange ship attacks Athena and Kit's Cathouse and kidnaps Athena's husband. That ship is called Je Reviens. It's a named steeped in history--and not the good kind of history.

Hot on Kit's trail, Athena discovers that you shouldn't name a ship Je Reviens unless you intend it to return. The genetically modified Mules are back, and they have a plan to prevent themselves from being exiled ever again. And if the Mules win, the best thing humanity can hope for is slavery.

The worst is death.

While a bio-engineered plague wreaks havoc on the forces of liberty, Athena must risk herself, her husband, and her child for the survival of humanity.

The Mules may be about to find out what revenge truly is: one angry mother.

Set in a magical Victorian British Empire that never was, this unique fantasy blends adventure, intrigue, and romance, as a newlywed couple embark on a dangerous quest--and, in the process, discover their own heart's desires.

On a luxury magic carpetship in 1889, an English couple travel to Cairo for their honeymoon. Except for a brush with a dragon, the voyage is uneventful. But for Nigel Oldhall and his beautiful Indian-born bride, Emily, the holiday hides another purpose. Within hours of arriving in the teeming city, they are plunged into an extraordinary struggle among demons, murderers, and magic.

In Cairo, Nigel can no longer hide his secret from his wife: he is on a mission to rescue a ruby that will ensure Queen Victoria's hold on Africa forever. But the search has already swallowed up Nigel's older brother--and now it has put his own Emily in mortal danger. But is she the innocent Nigel imagines? Soon, separately and apart, the two will set off for the heart of the continent among conspirators and traitors, all seeking the ruby and the gifts and curses it offers them--and all of humankind....

Filled with adventure and danger, intrigue and romance, this thrilling new fantasy from Sarah Hoyt follows the quest for a rare treasure--by a man of rare breed--in a magical Victorian British Empire that never was....

British gentleman and were-dragon Peter Farewell has embarked on a daunting task: to recover the Soul of Fire, a magical ruby said to lie at the heart of British-controlled India. But finding one stone in the heart of a land simmering on the cusp of rebellion, and rife with hostile magics, seems an impossible task--until Peter saves the life of a young virgin fleeing a distasteful arranged marriage. For unknown to Sofie Warington, the flawed gem that is all that is left of her dowry is the very one Peter has been seeking. And if Peter can keep her safe from the sinister factions desperate to gain control of both Sofie and her dowry, he will find more than a jewel; he will find his heart's destiny.

Within the magical realm of a Victorian British Empire that never was, one man embarks on a fantastic mission that dates back to the first true king of Europe and that may determine the fate of the last true emperor of China-and the world.

When Nigel Oldhall hires on to pilot a magic carpetship under the name of Enoch Jones, it seems the perfect way for him to travel without attracting attention. For the English nobleman has in his possession the two most powerful jewels in the universe. His mission is to return them to their shrine in deepest Africa, restoring order to the world-and to his life. But he doesn't count on being attacked by Chinese pirates-or being held captive by a shape-shifting beauty...

Daughter of the Dragon King, sister of the new True Emperor of All Under Heaven, Red Jade is also on a mission: to reclaim the royal status stolen from her family by invaders. Since their expulsion, they have ruled only a mystical shadow-realm. Now, with the jewels in her sight, Red Jade has the chance to rule all. But she soon finds herself, and Enoch, trapped in a scheme that may cause her to change loyalties-and discover her heart's true destiny.

A world not of this world but in it-where a transparent palace hangs suspended in mid-air and tiny fairies twinkle here and there... where a traitorous king holds court before elven lords and ladies... and where fantastical tragedies and capricious romances reach out to entangle mortal souls...

Enter: William Shakespeare

This enchanting fantasy debut begins with the disappearance of young Will Shakespeare's wife and newborn daughter - a mystery that draws the Bard into a realm beyond imagination... and beyond reality. Held captive by the devious ruler of the elves and fairies, Shakespeare's family appears lost to him forever. But an alluring elf named Quicksilver takes a fancy to Shakespeare - and sees a chance to set things right.

Can a mere schoolteacher win his wife back from a king? Or will Shakespeare fall prey to his own desires - and the cunning schemes of the unpredictable elf?

The fairie known as Lady Silver - who gave the creative spark to Shakespeare and Marlowe - is in London, tracking a deadly supernatural beast that is drawn to Marlowe. She must stop it before it destroys both their world and hers.

Life has been good to Shakespeare, now the preeminent playwright of his time since the mysterious death of Christopher Marlowe. In his heart, he knows that his past contact with the Elven king Quicksilver sparked his talent and changed him forever - but it came at too high a cost. Then word is brought to him from Stratford that his son has disappeared, lost in the forest where Quicksilver reigns. Ablaze with anger, Will ventures once more into the realm of the unnatural, determined to wrest the boy from the Elven king's clutches. But he finds that Quicksilver is not the culprit. Now he must face an inhuman being of dark power to save not only his son, but all the realm of magic...

Every one of us has the beast inside. But for Kyrie Smith, the beast is no metaphor. Since she was 15, when she first shape-shifted into a savage, black panther, Kyrie has questioned her humanity and moved from town to town, searching for a way to feel human again.

Kyrie's lonely life changes forever while waitressing at a cheap diner. Investigating screams from the parking lot, Kyrie stumbles upon a blood-spattered dragon crouching over a mangled human corpse. The dragon changes back into her co-worker, Tom, naked, dazed and unable to remember how he got there.

Thrust into a world of shape-shifting dragons, giant cats and other beasts waging a secret war behind humanity's back, Kyrie may find the answers she seeks - with help from Tom, a mythical object called the Pearl of Heaven, and her own inner beast.

Shape-Shift Into Adventure!

Shapeshifters Kyrie and Tom try to live a normal life in a small Colorado town - normal, that is, considering one of them is secretly a panther and the other a dragon. But now a primeval Shifter feud grows infinitely more deadly, and Kyrie and Tom find themselves warriors in an ancient struggle for Shifter destiny itself!

Quick-witted fantasy doyenne Sarah Hoyt continues the brilliant contemporary fantasy "Shifter" saga begun in Draw One in the Dark.

Sequel to Draw One in the Dark and The Gentleman Takes a Chance - a new entry in Sarah A. Hoyt's celebrated Shifter contemporary fantasy series!

For years, Rafiel Trall, one of Goldport's finest, has been walking the fine line between enforcing human law and protecting the shifters who come his way. A lion shifter himself, he's found this duty onerous. Lately it's been lightened by his friendship with Tom Ormson, a dragon shifter, and Kyrie Smith, a panther shifter. This should make it easier for him to find a solution for the crimes of a feral shifter - but not when an as yet unnamed entity takes out the Great Sky Dragon, the head of all dragon shifters. With his power devolving on Tom Ormson just as Kyrie finds that a mysterious ailment prevents her from shifting, Rafiel must rely only on himself, a seductive dragon girl and an even more seductive and unreliable old shifter to solve the crimes, maintain shifters hidden and keep his best friend in the world from becoming a dragon of unimaginable mass destruction.