Search Worlds Without End

When Shaalara of the Alteen Zirnaath, a sapient, medium-sized spider of the jumping variety came into Eichra Oren's office to commission the Assessor of p'Na and his symbiote, canine detective Sam Otusam, to find the location of her fiancé, they were not expecting the 'accidents' that impeded their research, or the taking on even more unusual clients along the way.

For conducting an investigation on the Elders' planet is not an easy task. The Elders--large squid-like Superbeings--had 'Appropriated' species from all across the omniverse, plucking sapient races from alternate Earths, where they had faced extinction, or simply fascinated their new omnipotent benefactors.

While the Elders' had introduced the Appropriated Persons and their descendants to a world where there were no wars, and gifted them with lifetimes that averaged a thousand years--at least--it had long been determined that the peaceful beings should not have taken these species from their Earths; there was a sense of unease rising within the populace.

Eichra Oren's primary role as an Assessor of p'Na was to assess the actions of his clients, and determine whether they had atone for them--at the edge of his sword, or otherwise--but what of the Elders' actions? Those directly involved with the Appropriation had long since ended their lives, when the moral implications of their actions had been made clear to them. But what about the rest of the Elders?

Why were there whispers of new Appropriations? And who was the mysterious new race threatening Earth?

Eichra and Sam were determined to find out.... And maybe, just maybe, find a runaway groom along the way

Berdan Geanar has had a difficult life. Unsure of himself, and apparently hated by the grandfather he has lived with since the death of his parents, he has no idea of what to do with his life.

But when his grandfather abandons him, taking all the family money and the special space suit that should rightly be his, Berdan decides to fight and take back what is rightfully his.

This is an omnibus edition of First Time the Charm (variant of Contact and Commune), Second to One (variant of Converse and Conflict), and Third Among Equals.

Just when the 21st century thought it was safe to throw Marxism on the ash heap of history once and for all, a worldwide economic collapse suddenly made freedom seem less desirable than security, and the Total State turned out to be the comeback kid. In the US, where the power elite had long shown heartfelt affection for collectivism and making the trains (nationalized, of course) run on time, communism had a second coming. Which meant that Earth was now the Red Planet. The few holdouts and counterrevolutionaries would be dealt with in good time.

Of course, collectivization only made the worldwide depression worse. But then the People's Astronomers noticed an asteroid with unusual spectrographic properties, seemingly a treasure trove of valuable minerals that might rejuvenate the Earth's economy. So three aged NASA shuttles were pulled out of mothballs. crewed by a team of handpicked misfits whom no one would miss, and sent to the asteroid.

However, someone else was there first, under an airtight canopy made by genetically engineered trees. And they weren't human, even if they were from Earth. The Elders were "nautiloids," like intelligent giant squids in Volkswagen-sized shells, from a parallel universe where they were Earth's dominant species. Worst of all, they were CAPITALISTS!

In the dangerous bio-mass of the planet Majesty, Lysandra and her father, a coyote scientist, uncover the plans of an ancient, hidden civilization and the Hooded Seven's plot to attack the human Confederation that Lysandra and her father command.

Earth is ruled by three mighty empires: The Saracen-Jewish Empire led by the Caliph of Rome, the Mughal-Arab Empire, ferocious in its determination to destroy its neighbor, and the great Sino-Aztec's Crystal Empire, led by a living God.

Little is known about the Crystal Empire, which spans most of western America. But it is the most powerful force surviving on Earth and its might is unchallenged. One man, however, will change that. Sedrich Sedrichsohn, a legendary fallen fighter, has a chance at redemption and nothing will stand in his way to reclaim his life and his purpose, even if he must fight the Sun-God himself.

This book was nominated for the Prometheus Award.

Earth was destroyed in 2023 and only Lunar colonists survived. Nine hundred years later, in a star-spanning "nation" without conscription or taxation, "The Parkinson" is transporting famous entertainer Chelsie Bradford on a tour of the galaxy to raise funds for a very unpopular interstellar war. Captain Nathaniel Blackburn of Coordinated Arm Intelligence must find out who's killing rock musicians raising money for the War Against the Clusterian Powers.

Then the deaths begin.

Blackburn knows the killer will strike again. But he doesn't know why. Are the murders acts of sabotage--or acts of twisted love? Political passion, or personal fury directed at the beautiful, enigmatic Chelsie... the woman who is - the WarDove!

Best known for his libertarian science fiction (The Probability Broach), Smith offers a change of pace with this swashbuckling space adventure, loosely patterned in the spirit of Rafael Sabatini and C. S. Forester.

The powerful imperia-conglomerate of the 31st century spans the star systems, extorting from those under its rule. When young Arran Islay decides to live as a brigand, he declares war on "those who live by stealing property - life and liberty - from its rightful owners." Adopting the name of his murdered friend, Henry Martyn, he sets sail in search of fortune and revenge.

Other Islay family members are fully delineated and play important roles in this story, written in an evocatively archaic style reminiscent of both the classic adventure tales familiar from childhood and the space operas of 1930s pulp fiction. The author has a flair for inventive future terminology and imaginative concepts: "Legos: The architectural style was still referred to by its legendary name." Smith blends intergalactic action, heroics and derring-do into a futuristic political thriller, and the result is a delight: piracy in high space, penned with panache. - Publishers Weekly

This book was nominated for the Prometheus Award.

Bretta Martyn concerns itself chiefly with the exploits of young Robretta Islay, eldest daughter to Arran Islay, Hereditary Drector of Skye - infamous throughout the Known Deep as the ship-robber "Henry Martyn" - and of Loreanna Daimler-Wilkinson Islay, late of the Monopolity of Hanover, his notorious "bride of war".

Peremptorily summoned to the political center of the universe by a new CEO of Hanover, Arran and his old comrade Phoebus Krumm are commanded to put an end to the vile "manufacture" and trade in Oplyte Warrior-Slaves, in which innocent humans are abducted and hideously transformed into short-lived, mindless killing machines.

Arran is given little choice but to take his wife and daughter with him into danger and it is here, after she is brutalized and separated from her family, that Bretta's own adventure begins, an adventure that will take her into the corrupt heart of an evil empire, toward a young woman's first stirrings of romance, and ultimately to the lost and ancient homeworld of humanity.

Bretta, Henry Martyn's daughter, is ejected from her spaceship and left for dead by her father's enemies, but the resourceful Bretta makes her way to a world of escaped slaves, where she vows revenge.

This book was nominated for the Prometheus Award.

Ex U.S. Senator Gibson Altman rules the prison colony where everyone is expected to live by rules that govern every aspect of their lives.

The inhabitants of the experimental colony survive in a society plagued by crime, corruption and despair, toiling endlessly at tasks they are appointed to. Altman lives a life of luxury, ruling the lives of the souls trapped within his experiment and brooking no opposition to mandate.

However, Pallas, the terraformed asteroid is also home to Curringer, a society in stark contrast to Altman's prison. It is a community where individual freedoms are championed and men and women are free to live as they please.

Emerson Ngu escapes from Altman's prison colony and becomes a hero of Curringer. Altman is driven by a deep hatred of Emerson and his triumph and will do anything to get his revenge on him. But in the process will he also destroy and his own daughter and even the world of Pallas.

Amidst political turmoil on Earth, a rescue mission to ailing colonists on Mars becomes a battle for power and survival in the harsh realities of space.

As humanity explores space, political strife rips apart nations and increases social divides. US President Horton Willoughby III governs only Eastern America, and is seen as a political farce. Industrialist Richfield Chan sees opportunity in the fractured government, and plans to seize power.

Chan rallies allies to send a seventh colony ship to Mars, hoping to undermine the current president. The Ngu family, responsible for terraforming and mining on Pallas, realize that any rescue mission from Earth will arrive too late. Four siblings launch a rescue mission from Pallas to save the ailing colonists with their expertise and better chosen implements.

The Ngu siblings know their mission is one-way, and must teach the colonists to survive on the inhospitable planet or find a way to endure until another rescue ship arrives. The "little people" refuse to be subject to incompetent governments any longer, and must make their own stand.

>In the 22nd century people have spread into the Solar System. Born and raised in a twentieth of Earth's gravity on the asteroid Pallas, young skater Llyra Ngu is grimly determined to compete and win on mankind's homeworld - an ambition that many say will cripple or kill her.

Her older brother Wilson is equally set on quitting his job as a surveyor's apprentice to become an asteroid hunter, a calling fraught with the promise of fabulous riches and the danger of sudden death. He will find a full share of romance and disappointment, love and loss, and pursue the asteroid hunter's holy grail, the legendary Diamond Rogue.

Llyra's training will require years, and a journey that will take her to Ceres, at one tenth Earth's gravity, where her father bosses the Ceres Terraformation Project, to the one-sixth gravity of the Moon, to Mars and one third gravity, and finally to Earth. Along the way, she will survive jealous rivals, a hostile press, terrorist attacks, and the hijacking of a spaceliner in order to achieve her goal.

In the end, Llyra and Wilson will hear the call of the stars, themselves.

Denver detective Win Bear, on the trail of a murderer, discovers much more than a killer. He accidentally stumbles upon the probability broach, a portal to a myriad of worlds - some wildly different from, others disconcertingly similar to our own. Win finds himself transported to an alternate Earth where Congress is in Colorado, everyone carries a gun, there are gorillas in the Senate, and public services are controlled by private businesses.

More than a 150,000 women have been kidnapped without a trace or any ransom demand in the 'normal' world run by the Federalists and the bureaucracy. But that is not the only problem, because the freedom loving population in the 'alternate' reality of the North American Confederacy are facing their own crises.

People are disappearing across the Probability Broach, including Win Bear's closest friend, Featherstone-Haugh (who heads the Confederacy), and even Win's wife and assistant.

Ill (and deadly) winds are blowing and threatening to destroy the Probability Broach as we know it. Win Bear, keeping one step ahead of lethal assassins and fighting incredible odds, must solve multiple apparantly disparate cases that all seem to lead to the end of freedom.

More than a 150,000 women have been kidnapped without a trace or any ransom demand in the 'normal' world run by the Federalists and the bureaucracy. But that is not the only problem, because the freedom loving population in the 'alternate' reality of the North American Confederacy are facing their own crises.

People are disappearing across the Probability Broach, including Win Bear's closest friend, Featherstone-Haugh (who heads the Confederacy), and even Win's wife and assistant.

Ill (and deadly) winds are blowing and threatening to destroy the Probability Broach as we know it. Win Bear, keeping one step ahead of lethal assassins and fighting incredible odds, must solve multiple apparantly disparate cases that all seem to lead to the end of freedom.

To his bosses at the Ochskahrt Memorial Academy he was Captain Bernard M. Gruenblum, Temporal Division - just another time traveler. But to the aliens from Yamaguchi he was, literally, God. So, if Bernie was going to medieval Japan, they were too. Well, three of them.

It was supposed to be a routine historical survey, but things livened up when a mutiny knocked Bernie off course. With disillusioned aliens for a crew and a brig full of murderers, Bernie knew getting home would be tough - and that was before the time machine disappeared!

Corporal Whitey O'Thraight may need to choose between his own survival or that of his home planet.

Whitey O'Thraight, the Ship's Armorer on the first interstellar vessel launched by his home planet Vespucci, finds himself stranded on a strange planet with just one other survivor.

Captured by the local Baron, they are freed by a group of monks who are much more than they initially appear to be. Their new benefactors and friends have something special in mind for the two survivors, but going along with these plans might mean the destruction of Vespucci as they knew it.

In The Gallatin Divergence, a time-traveling Federalist woman wants to change history but is opposed by the protagonists of The Probability Broach. As these two forces clash, history is once again altered and yet another timeline is created.

In the North American Confederacy...

People are free - really free. Free to do as they please, whether it be starting a business, running for elected office, or taking target practice in the back forty. There's not a whole lot of government, nor is there a lot of crime, because everyone who wants to carries a gun, and isn't afraid to use it.

But someone has bombed the Endicott Building, killing hundreds of people, and Win Bear, the only licensed detective in the confederacy, has to find out who did this dastardly deed, and why. Because whoever did it has already shown their willingness to commit more terrorist acts, no matter how many people are hurt.

And that can't go on, or soon the confederacy will be just as the bad old United States - and that is something they want to avoid at all costs.

Table of Contents:

• Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu - [Star Wars: The Lando Calrissian Adventures - 1] - (1983)
• Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon - [Star Wars: The Lando Calrissian Adventures - 2] - (1983)
• Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka - [Star Wars: The Lando Calrissian Adventures - 3] - (1983)

Gambler, rogue, and con-artiste, Lando Calrissian was born with a well-developed taste for the good life. More comfortable at the dealer's end of a fast shuffle than at the rear end of a blaster, Lando always had his sensors scanning for the chance to pick up easy credits. So when he heard that the planets of the Rafa System were practically buried in ancient alien treasure, he hopped aboard the Millennium Falcon and brushed up on his rusty astrogation. He never stopped to think that someone might be conning the con man!

The Oseon was a solar system of luxury hotels catering to the underemployed filthy rich-every gambler's dream come true. And so it was for Lando and his robot companion until Lando broke the gambler's cardinal rule: never beat a cop at high-stakes games of chance.

For a year Lando and Vuffi Raa, his robot astrogator, had roamed space. But then Lando has gone out on a limb to help a race of persecuted aliens, and now he and Vuffi were up against several sets of their own enemies.