Search Worlds Without End

This short story wa originally published in the collection The Walk Up Nameless Ridge / Beacon 23 (2015) and was reprinted in Lightspeed, December 2015. It was later incorportated in Beacon 23: The Novel (2015).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

For centuries, men and women have manned lighthouses to ensure the safe passage of ships. It is a lonely job, and a thankless one for the most part. Until something goes wrong. Until a ship is in distress. In the 23rd century, this job has moved into outer space. A network of beacons allows ships to travel across the Milky Way at many times the speed of light. These beacons are built to be robust. They never break down. They never fail. At least, they aren't supposed to.

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, April 2013. It can also be found in the anthology Wastelands 2: More Stories of the Apocalypse (2015), edited by John Joseph Adams.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

A new collection of stories, including some that have never before been seen, from the New York Times best-selling author of the Silo trilogy

Hugh Howey is known for crafting riveting and immersive page-turners of boundless imagination, spawning millions of fans worldwide, first with his best-selling novel Wool, and then with other enthralling works such as Sand and Beacon 23.

Now comes Machine Learning, an impressive collection of Howey's science fiction and fantasy short fiction, including three stories set in the world of Wool, two never-before-published tales written exclusively for this volume, and fifteen additional stories collected here for the first time. These stories explore everything from artificial intelligence to parallel universes to video games, and each story is accompanied by an author's note exploring the background and genesis of each story.

Howey's incisive mind makes Machine Learning: New and Collected Stories a compulsively readable and thought-provoking selection of short works--from a modern master at the top of his game.

Contains:

Part One: The Belt of the Buried Gods

The wind blows from east to west. It brings with it the sand, deposited in dunes, to bury and torment the unfortunate souls who live here. Life on the sand is miserable. Life below it is even worse.

Part Two: Out of No Man's Land

For every bucket of sand a man hauls, the wind brings another.
For every life that wanders out of sight, one more is born.
On the anniversary of a father lost, two brothers whisper stories in a tent.
They camp on the border of No Man's Land.
And one of them has a secret.

Part Three: Return to Danvar

An eldest daughter is a father's curse. Vic knows this. She knows she was never supposed to be the one. But her father taught her to breathe beneath the sand, taught her how to dive deep and find the treasures of the buried past. He taught her brother as well. When she hears of Danvar's discovery, it feels as though fate has slipped her by. If the rumors are to believed, that is. And while she has her doubts, her missing brother sends her on a hunt of her own. Cities are not the only things that get buried and forgotten. There are families, too.

Part Four: Thunder Due East

A family long scattered reunites as danger approaches Springston. Brother and sister rush to sound a warning, but that warning will come too late. Bombs will thunder like the pulse of a terrible god. The great dune will flow as the sea. And when a people find themselves buried beneath the sands, who in the heavens will hear their muffled pleas?

Part Five: A Rap Upon Heaven's Gate

Every generation thinks that it is special, that the great fall will occur before their time is up. Every generation is wrong. Until now.

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We live across the thousand dunes with grit in our teeth and sand in our homes. No one will come for us. No one will save us. This is our life, diving for remnants of the old world so that we may build what the wind destroys. No one is looking down on us. Those constellations in the night sky? Those are the backs of gods we see.

On planet Eno, there stands a mountain that has never been summited. Many have tried. All have failed.

This climbing season finds three teams making their bid up this murderous peak. And one man among them will discover these ugly truths: There are fates worse than death. There are fates worse than obscurity. To be remembered forever can be its own curse.

This short story originally appeared in 2012 and was reprinted in Lightspeed Magazine, October 2017. It can also be found in the collection Machine Learning: New and Collected Stories (2017).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

This Omnibus Edition collects the five Wool books into a single volume. It is for those who arrived late to the party and who wish to save a dollar or two while picking up the same stories in a single package.

The first Wool story was released as a standalone short in July of 2011. Due to reviewer demand, the rest of the story was released over the next six months. My thanks go out to those reviewers who clamored for more. Without you, none of this would exist. Your demand created this as much as I did.

This is the story of mankind clawing for survival, of mankind on the edge. The world outside has grown unkind, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very thing they profess to want: They are allowed outside.

In 2007, the Center for Automation in Nanobiotech (CAN) outlined the hardware and software platform that would one day allow robots smaller than human cells to make medical diagnoses, conduct repairs, and even self-propagate.

In the same year, the CBS network re-aired a program about the effects of propranolol on sufferers of extreme trauma. A simple pill, it had been discovered, could wipe out the memory of any traumatic event.

At almost the same moment in humanity's broad history, mankind had discovered the means for bringing about its utter downfall. And the ability to forget it ever happened.

WOOL introduced the silo and its inhabitants.

SHIFT told the story of their making.

DUST will chronicle their undoing.

Welcome to the underground.

Famine. Death. War. Pestilence. These are the harbingers of the biblical apocalypse, of the End of the World. In science fiction, the end is triggered by less figurative means: nuclear holocaust, biological warfare/pandemic, ecological disaster, or cosmological cataclysm.

But before any catastrophe, there are people who see it coming. During, there are heroes who fight against it. And after, there are the survivors who persevere and try to rebuild.

The Apocalypse Triptych will tell their stories.

Edited by acclaimed anthologist John Joseph Adams and bestselling author Hugh Howey, The Apocalypse Triptych is a series of three anthologies of apocalyptic fiction. The End Is Nigh focuses on life before the apocalypse. The End Is Now turns its attention to life during the apocalypse. And The End Has Come explores life after the apocalypse.

Volume one of The Apocalypse Triptych, The End Is Nigh, features all-new, never-before-published works by Hugh Howey, Paolo Bacigalupi, Jamie Ford, Seanan McGuire, Tananarive Due, Jonathan Maberry, Scott Sigler, Robin Wasserman, Nancy Kress, Charlie Jane Anders, Ken Liu, and many others.

Post-apocalyptic fiction is about worlds that have already burned. Apocalyptic fiction is about worlds that are burning. The End Is Nigh is about the match.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction (The End is Nigh) - essay by John Joseph Adams
• The Balm and the Wound - short story by Robin Wasserman
• Heaven is a Place on Planet X - short story by Desirina Boskovich
• Break! Break! Break! - short story by Charlie Jane Anders (2014)
• The Gods Will Not Be Chained - short story by Ken Liu
• Wedding Day - short story by Jake Kerr
• Removal Order - short story by Tananarive Due
• System Reset - short story by Tobias S. Buckell
• This Unkempt World is Falling to Pieces - short story by Jamie Ford
• BRING HER TO ME - short story by Ben H. Winters
• In the Air - short story by Hugh Howey
• Goodnight Moon - short story by Annie Bellet
• Dancing with Death in the Land of Nod - novelette by Will McIntosh
• Houses Without Air - short story by Megan Arkenberg
• The Fifth Day of Deer Camp - novelette by Scott Sigler
• Enjoy the Moment - short story by Jack McDevitt
• Pretty Soon the Four Horsemen are Going to Come Riding Through - short story by Nancy Kress
• Spores - novelette by Seanan McGuire [as by Mira Grant]
• She's Got a Ticket to Ride - short story by Jonathan Maberry
• Agent Unknown - short story by David Wellington
• Enlightenment - short story by Matthew Mather
• Shooting the Apocalypse - novelette by Paolo Bacigalupi
• Love Perverts - short story by Sarah Langan

Famine. Death. War. Pestilence. These are the harbingers of the biblical apocalypse, of the End of the World. In science fiction, the end is triggered by less figurative means: nuclear holocaust, biological warfare/pandemic, ecological disaster, or cosmological cataclysm.

But before any catastrophe, there are people who see it coming. During, there are heroes who fight against it. And after, there are the survivors who persevere and try to rebuild.

The Apocalypse Triptych will tell their stories.

Edited by acclaimed anthologist John Joseph Adams and bestselling author Hugh Howey, The Apocalypse Triptych is a series of three anthologies of apocalyptic fiction. The End Is Nigh focuses on life before the apocalypse. The End Is Now turns its attention to life during the apocalypse. And The End Has Come explores life after the apocalypse.

The End Is Nigh is about the match. The End Has Come is about what will rise from the ashes. The End Is Now is about the conflagration.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - John Joseph Adams
• Herd Immunity - short story by Tananarive Due
• The Sixth Day Of Deer Camp - short story by Scott Sigler
• Goodnight Stars - short story by Annie Bellet
• Rock Manning Can't Hear You - short story by Charlie Jane Anders
• Fruiting Bodies - short story by Seanan Mcguire
• Black Monday - short story by Sarah Langan
• Angels Of The Apocalypse - short story by Nancy Kress
• Agent Isolated - short story by David Wellington
• The Gods Will Not Be Slain - short story by Ken Liu
• You've Never Seen Everything - short story by Elizabeth Bear
• Bring Them Down - short story by Ben H. Winters
• Twilight Of The Music Machines - short story by Megan Arkenberg
• Sunset Hollow - short story by Jonathan Maberry
• Penance - short story by Jake Kerr
• Avtomat - short story by Daniel H. Wilson
• Dancing With Batgirl In The Land Of Nod - novelette by Will Mcintosh
• The Hair Of The Moon - short story by Jamie Ford
• To Wrestle Not Against Flesh And Blood - short story by Desirina Boskovich
• In The Mountain - short story by Hugh Howey
• Dear John - novelette by Robin Wasserman

Famine. Death. War. Pestilence. These are the harbingers of the biblical apocalypse, of the End of the World. In science fiction, the end is triggered by less figurative means: nuclear holocaust, biological warfare/pandemic, ecological disaster, or cosmological cataclysm.

But before any catastrophe, there are people who see it coming. During, there are heroes who fight against it. And after, there are the survivors who persevere and try to rebuild.

The Apocalypse Triptych will tell their stories.

Edited by acclaimed anthologist John Joseph Adams and bestselling author Hugh Howey, The Apocalypse Triptych is a series of three anthologies of apocalyptic fiction. The End Is Nigh focuses on life before the apocalypse. The End Is Now turns its attention to life during the apocalypse. And The End Has Come explores life after the apocalypse.

Volume one of The Apocalypse Triptych, The End Is Nigh, features all-new, never-before-published works by Hugh Howey, Paolo Bacigalupi, Jamie Ford, Seanan McGuire, Tananarive Due, Jonathan Maberry, Scott Sigler, Robin Wasserman, Nancy Kress, Charlie Jane Anders, Ken Liu, and many others.

The End Is Nigh is about the match.

The End Is Now is about the conflagration.

The End Has Come is about what will rise from the ashes.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - John Joseph Adams
• Bannerless - novelette by Carrie Vaughn
• Like All Beautiful Places - short story by Megan Arkenberg
• Dancing With a Stranger in the Land of Nod - short story by Will McIntosh
• The Seventh Day of Deer Camp - short story by Scott Sigler
• Prototype - short story by Sarah Langan
• Acts of Creation - short story by Chris Avellone
• Resistance - novelette by Seanan McGuire
• Wandering Star - short story by Leife Shallcross
• Heaven Come Down - short story by Ben H. Winters
• Agent Neutralized - novelette by David Wellington
• Goodnight Earth - short story by Annie Bellet
• Carriers - short story by Tananarive Due
• In the Valley of the Shadow of the Promised Land - novelette by Robin Wasserman
• The Uncertainty Machine - short story by Jamie Ford
• Margin of Survival - short story by Elizabeth Bear
• Jingo and the Hammerman - short story by Jonathan Maberry
• The Last Movie Ever Made - short story by Charlie Jane Anders
• The Gray Sunrise - short story by Jake Kerr
• The Gods Have Not Died In Vain - novelette by Ken Liu
• The Happiest Place... - short story by Mira Grant
• In the Woods - short story by Hugh Howey
• Blessings - short story by Nancy Kress

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.

George Orwell once wrote of a world where abuse of power begins with an abuse of language and a bastardization of truth. Some of today's most exciting voices in speculative fiction explore the ramifications of those ideas in IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.

THE DYSTOPIA TRIPTYCH is a series of three anthologies of dystopian fiction. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH--before the dystopia--focuses on society during its descent into absurdity and madness. BURN THE ASHES--during the dystopia--turns its attention to life during the strangest, most dire times. OR ELSE THE LIGHT--after the dystopia--concludes the saga with each author sharing their own vision of how we as a society might crawl back from the precipice of despair.

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH features all-new, never-before-published works by Hugh Howey, Seanan McGuire, Carrie Vaughn, Scott Sigler, Cadwell Turnbull, Karin Lowachee, Caroline M. Yoachim, Adam-Troy Castro, An Owomoyela, Tobias S. Buckell, Tim Pratt, Rich Larson, Alex Irvine, Darcie Little Badger, Violet Allen, and Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, plus a reprint by Dominica Phetteplace.

We burn them to ashes and then burn the ashes.

In Ray Bradbury's FAHRENHEIT 451, that's the motto of the Firemen who hunted down and burned books wherever they found them. Bradbury warned of a world where our literary history is taken from us. In BURN THE ASHES, some of the best science fiction authors working today continue to explore the dystopic worlds they introduced in IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.

Edited by John Joseph Adams, Christie Yant, and Hugh Howey, THE DYSTOPIA TRIPTYCH is a series of three anthologies of dystopian fiction. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH--before the dystopia--focuses on society during its descent into absurdity and madness. BURN THE ASHES--during the dystopia--turns its attention to life during the strangest, most dire times. OR ELSE THE LIGHT--after the dystopia--concludes the saga with each author sharing their own vision of how we as a society might crawl back from the precipice of despair.

BURN THE ASHES features all-new, never-before-published works by Hugh Howey, Seanan McGuire, Carrie Vaughn, Scott Sigler, Cadwell Turnbull, Karin Lowachee, Caroline M. Yoachim, Adam-Troy Castro, An Owomoyela, Tobias S. Buckell, Tim Pratt, Rich Larson, Alex Irvine, Darcie Little Badger, Violet Allen, Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, and Dominica Phetteplace.

Into the darkness within; or else the light...

When Margaret Atwood wrote these words, she left open the possibility that even our darkest tales may harbor a glimmer of hope. In OR ELSE THE LIGHT, the third and final entry of THE DYSTOPIA TRIPTYCH, over a dozen of the best minds in science fiction conclude their stories with a descent into darkness, or perhaps a ray of light.

Edited by John Joseph Adams, Christie Yant, and Hugh Howey, THE DYSTOPIA TRIPTYCH is a series of three anthologies of dystopian fiction. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH--before the dystopia--focuses on society during its descent into absurdity and madness. BURN THE ASHES--during the dystopia--turns its attention to life during the strangest, most dire times. OR ELSE THE LIGHT--after the dystopia--concludes the saga with each author sharing their own vision of how we as a society might crawl back from the precipice of despair.

OR ELSE THE LIGHT features all-new, never-before-published works by Hugh Howey, Seanan McGuire, Carrie Vaughn, Scott Sigler, Cadwell Turnbull, Karin Lowachee, Caroline M. Yoachim, Adam-Troy Castro, An Owomoyela, Tobias S. Buckell, Tim Pratt, Rich Larson, Alex Irvine, Darcie Little Badger, Violet Allen, Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, and Dominica Phetteplace.