Search Worlds Without End

A collection of the critically acclaimed dark, weird, and surreal short fiction of Ben Peek. It presents a world where bands are named after the murderer of a dead president, where the work of Octavia E. Butler is turned into an apocalypse meta-narrative, and John Wayne visits a Wal-Mart. It presents a world where a dying sun shines over a broken, bitter landscape and men and women tattoo their life onto their skin for an absent god. It presents a zombie apocalypse, Mark Twain dreaming of Sydney, and answers a questionnaire you never read.

Table of Contents:

• Ben Peek: Liminal Artist - essay by Rjurik Davidson
• There Is Something So Quiet and Empty Inside of You That It Must Be Precious - shortfiction
• The Dreaming City - (2004) - novelette
• Johnny Cash (A Tale in Questionnaire Results) - (2005) - shortstory
• Possession - (2007) - shortfiction
• The Souls of Dead Soldiers Are for Blackbirds, Not Little Boys - (2006) - novelette
• The Funeral, Ruined - (2008) - shortstory
• Under the Red Sun - (2006) - shortstory
• John Wayne (As Written by a Non-American) - (2007) - shortstory
• Octavia E. Butler (a remix) - shortfiction
• theleeharveyoswaldband - (2006) - shortstory

This short story originally appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, #63 December 2011. It can also be found in the anthology Clarkesworld: Year Six (2014), edited by Sean Wallace and Neil Clarke.

Read the full story for free at Clarkesworld.

The Gods are dying. Fifteen thousand years after the end of their war, their bodies can still be found across the world. They kneel in forests, lie beneath mountains, and rest at the bottom of the world's ocean. For thousands of years, men and women have awoken with strange powers that are derived from their bodies. The city Mireea is built against a huge stone wall that stretches across a vast mountain range, following the massive fallen body of the god, Ger.

Ayae, a young cartographer's apprentice, is attacked and discovers she cannot be harmed by fire. Her new power makes her a target for an army that is marching on Mireea. With the help of Zaifyr, a strange man adorned with charms, she is taught the awful history of 'cursed' men and women, coming to grips with her new powers and the enemies they make. Meanwhile, the saboteur Bueralan infiltrates the army that is approaching her home to learn its terrible secret.

Split between the three points of view, the narrative of Godless reaches its conclusion during an epic siege, where Ayae, Zaifyr and Bueralan are forced not just into conflict with those invading, but with those inside the city who wish to do them harm.

The first installment in Ben Peek's exciting new epic fantasy series, Godless is a fast-paced page turner set in an enthralling new world.

A new god has risen.
The immortal Zaifyr has arrived at the Floating Cities in chains, to await trial for murder. Despite this, he's preparing for war against a new child god - for she will do anything to destroy those who stand in her way.

A city has fallen.
Ayae must fight to protect the survivors, and finds herself ensnared in a web of political intrigue. She'll find politics can be as lethal as any sword, and hers is not the only life at stake.

A warrior has arrived.
Across the ocean, the exile Bueralan returns home. And he's bearing a dead man's soul around his neck. God-touched and grief-stricken, he treads a dangerous path. He'll confront a legendary fighter... and discover a secret that will change the world.

A nation in fragments

On the shores of Yeflam, Ayae struggles to keep her people together. She acts as liaison between the camp leaders and the immortals who could save them. Zaifyr's immortal siblings have arrived--but they have their own unfathomable agendas and Ayae is caught in their power games.

An army on the march

Heast has returned to his role as Captain of Refuge, a mercenary unit that answers the call of lost causes. With help from an unexpected source, Heast and his band of mercenaries could turn the tide of war--if they live long enough.

A world in danger

Bueralan Le is trapped in the company of the new god child. Though he fights to prevent her from unleashing her forces on the world, he is bound by blood to her darkest creation. The future of the world may depend on his choices.

The epic conclusion to The Children Trilogy, following The Godless and Leviathan's Blood