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THE WAYPOINT TO ULTIMATE POWER!

Over a millennium in the past, humans fleeing Earth in slower-than-light vessels discovered the Waywork, an abandoned alien superhighway system that allows instantaneous travel from star to star. The problem: there are a finite number of Waypoint nodes--and the burgeoning population of humans is hemmed in as a result. Furthermore, humanity is divided into contending Starstates. One of the strongest is based on an oligarchy ruling families, but still mostly democratic. The other is a totalitarian nightmare. War seems inevitable.

Now a new Waypoint appears. Might it lead to the long-lost creators of the Waywork? If so, there may be knowledge and technology that will tip the balance in the coming war.

Three people race to make it to the new Waypoint--and beyond. These include Wyodreth Antagean, the reluctant son of an interstellar shipping magnate, Lady Garsina Oswight, the daring daughter of a royal family, and Zuri Mikton, a disgraced flag officer seeking redemption. They are facing an implacable foe in Golsubril Vex, a merciless, but highly effective, autocrat from the Waywork's most brutal regime. Vex is determined to control the new Waypoint and whatever revelation or power lies on the other side.

Now humanity's fate--to live in freedom or endless dictatorship--depends on just what that revelation might be. And who gets there first.

From an award-winning author, science fiction short stories, featuring alternative history tale, hard sci-fi and post-apocalyptic tales.

Ten astounding tales by triple award nominee Brad R. Torgersen. Go on fantastic new adventures at the bottom of Earth's oceans and at the edge of the solar system. Meet humans who are utterly alien and aliens who are all too human. Originally featured in the pages of Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine as well as Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show, these stories are gathered here for the first time, along with anecdotes and other commentary from the author. Introductions by Stanley Schmidt, Mike Resnick and Allan Cole. Features the stories "Ray of Light" (2012 Hugo & Nebula nominee), "Outbound" (2011 Analog Readers Choice Award winner), and "Exanastasis" (2010 Writers of the Future Award winner).

Go on fantastic new adventures at the bottom of Earth's oceans and at the edge of the solar system. Meet humans who are utterly alien and aliens who are all too human. Originally featured in the pages of Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine as well as Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show, these stories are gathered here for the first time, along with anecdotes and other commentary from the author.

Table of Contents:

• 1 - Introduction 1 - Stanley Schmidt - essay by Stanley Schmidt
• 5 - Introduction 2 - Mike Resnick - essay by Mike Resnick
• 8 - Introduction 3 - Allan Cole - essay by Allan Cole
• 9 - Outbound - (2010) - novelette
• 54 - Gemini 17 - short fiction
• 81 - Influences: Allan Cole & Chris Bunch - essay
• 84 - The Bullfrog Radio Astronomy Project - (2011) - short story
• 106 - Exiles of Eden - (2011) - short story
• 126 - Writer Dad: Mike Resnick - essay
• 131 - Footprints - (2002) - short story
• 140 - The Exchange Officers - (2013) - novelette
• 166 - Essay: On the Growth of Fantasy and the Waning of Science Fiction - (2012) - essay
• 174 - The Chaplain's Assistant - [The Chaplain's War] - (2011) - short story
• 195 - The Chaplain's Legacy - [The Chaplain's War] - (2013) - novella
• 271 - The Hero's Tongue: Larry Niven - essay
• 275 - Exanastasis - (2010) - short fiction
• 305 - Ray of Light - (2011) - novelette
• 332 - Denouement - essay

An eclectic collection of science fiction and fantasy stories, including notes on the craft of writing from the author.

Following in the success of his previous short fiction collection, Lights in the Deep, author Brad R. Torgersen is back with twelve new tales. From the edges of explored space, to the depths of the artificial soul. At once breaking the limits of human endurance, while also treading the tender landscapes of the human heart. Originally appearing in the pages of Analog magazine, Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show magazine, Mike Resnick's Galaxy's Edge magazine, and elsewhere, these stories are collected here for the first time; with commentary and anecdotes from the author.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction 1 (Racers of the Night: Science Fiction Stories) - essay by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
• Introduction 2 (Racers of the Night: Science Fiction Stories) - essay by Kevin J. Anderson
• Introduction 3 (Racers of the Night: Science Fiction Stories) - essay by Dave Wolverton
• The Curse of Sally Tincakes - (2012) - novelette
• The Bricks of Eta Cassiopeiae - (2013) - short story
• Guard Dog - (2012) - short story by Mike Resnick and Brad R. Torgersen
• Counselor: L. E. Modesitt, Jr. - essay
• Recapturing the Dream - novelette
• The Flamingo Girl - (2013) - novelette
• Reardon's Law - (2013) - novella
• Blood and Mirrors - novelette
• Mentors: Kevin J. Anderson & Rebecca Moesta - essay
• The Shadows of Titan - (2012) - novelette by Carter Reid and Brad R. Torgersen
• The Nechronomator - (2014) - short story
• The Hideki Line - (2014) - short story
• Peacekeeper - short story
• Teacher: Dave Wolverton - essay
• Life Flight - (2014) - novelette
• Afterword (Racers of the Night: Science Fiction Stories) - essay

Hugo and Nebula Award nominated novelette.

"Ray of Light" is both a tragic and heart-warming novelette of human endurance. Not your typical tale of alien invasion or apocalypse, "Ray of Light" is the story of Max and Jenna Leighton, father and daughter, trapped by catastrophe in the last place on Earth humans have been able to survive an endless, sunless night.

The story originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, December 2011. It can also be found in the anthology Nebula Awards Showcase 2013, edited by Catherine Asaro and the collection Lights in the Deep (2013).

Hugo Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, January-February 2013. The story is included in the collection Lights in the Deep (2013).

Hugo Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July-August 2013. It is included in the collection Lights in the Deep (2013) and was later expanded to the full novel The Chaplain's War (2014).

A chaplain serving in Earth's space fleet is trapped behind enemy lines where he struggles for both personal survival and humanity's future.

The mantis cyborgs: insectlike, cruel, and determined to wipe humanity from the face of the galaxy.

The Fleet is humanity's last chance: a multi-world, multi-national task force assembled to hold the line against the aliens' overwhelming technology and firepower. Enter Harrison Barlow, who like so many young men of wars past, simply wants to serve his people and partake of the grand adventure of military life. Only, Harrison is not a hot pilot, nor a crack shot with a rifle. What good is a Chaplain's Assistant in the interstellar battles which will decide the fate of all?

More than he thinks. Because while the mantis insectoids are determined to eliminate the human threat to mantis supremacy, they remember the errors of their past. Is there the slightest chance that humans might have value? Especially since humans seem to have the one thing the mantes explicitly do not: an innate ability to believe in what cannot be proven nor seen God. Captured and stranded behind enemy lines, Barlow must come to grips with the fact that he is not only bargaining for his own life, but the lives of everyone he knows and loves. And so he embarks upon an improbable gambit, determined to alter the course of the entire war.

Loosely based on Larry Niven's 1973 novella "Flash Crowd," Red Tide continues to examine the social consequences of the impact of having instantaneous teleportation, where humans can instantly travel long distances in milliseconds.

"Red Tide", by Larry Niven, is an updated version of his 1973 novella "Flash Crowd", about the social consequences of inventing an instant, practically free transfer booth that can take one anywhere on Earth in milliseconds.

One consequence not foreseen by the builders of the system was that with the almost immediate reporting of newsworthy events, tens of thousands of people worldwide - along with criminals - would teleport to the scene of anything interesting, thus creating disorder and confusion. The plot centers around a television journalist who, after being fired for his inadvertent role in inciting a post-robbery riot in Los Angeles, decides to independently investigate the teleportation system for the flaws in its design allowing for such spontaneous riots to occur.

"Dial at Random", a companion novelette also by Niven, steps back in time to when the new, experimental long-distance teleportation system is being tested by its inventor. Something goes terribly awry, and a teenage girl is subjected to a bizarre journey.

"Sparky the Dog" a novelette by Brad R. Torgersen, ties the lives of the journalist and inventor together with a flashback to the early days of the teleportation experiments, when the inventor and his dog went on a wild adventure.

"Displacement Activity" a novelette by Matthew J. Harrington, relates the story of a man accidentally teleported far across the galaxy, where he must adapt into a distant future society where humans are not much better than slaves.

Teleportation is a theme that has fascinated Niven throughout his career and even appears in his seminal work Ringworld, where the central character celebrates his birthday by instantly teleporting himself to different time zones, extending his birthday. Niven also discusses the impact of such instantaneous transportation in an included essay, "Exercise in Speculation: The Theory and Practice of Teleportation."