Search Worlds Without End

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Michael Bishop
• You and Me and the Continuum - (1966) - shortstory by J. G. Ballard
• The Map - shortstory by Gene Wolfe
• Halfjack - (1979) - shortstory by Roger Zelazny
• Doing Lennon - (1975) - shortstory by Gregory Benford
• Strangeness, Charm and Spin - shortstory by Kate Wilhelm
• Brown Robert - (1962) - shortstory by Terry Carr
• The Bloomsday Revolution - shortstory by Ian Watson
• The Dybbuk Dolls - (1975) - novelette by Jack Dann
• Dancing Chickens - shortstory by Edward Bryant
• When the Music's Over... - shortstory by Michael Swanwick
• Terrific Park - (1981) - novelette by George Alec Effinger
• The Tale of the (Man) Who (Met) (God) - shortstory by Norman Spinrad
• The Starry Message to Galileo Galilei - (1982) - poem by Robert Frazier
• The Supremacy of Bacteria - (1983) - poem by Robert Frazier
• Cetacean Dreams - poem by Robert Frazier
• "We cannot escape humility." - (1983) - poem by Robert Frazier
• Summer's Lease - (1974) - shortstory by Joe Haldeman
• The Nine Billion Names of God - shortstory by Carter Scholz
• Nor Limestone Islands - (1971) - shortstory by R. A. Lafferty
• Fears - shortstory by Pamela Sargent
• SQ - (1978) - shortstory by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Scrimptalon's Test - shortstory by Michael Bishop and Gerald W. Page
• An Infinite Summer - (1976) - novelette by Christopher Priest
• The Man Who Was Pregnant - (1977) - shortstory by Elizabeth A. Lynn
• Corridors - (1982) - shortstory by Barry N. Malzberg
• Limits - (1981) - shortstory by Larry Niven
• Crossing into Cambodia - (1979) - shortstory by Michael Moorcock
• The Lecturer - shortstory by John Kessel
• Under the Hollywood Sign - (1975) - novelette by Tom Reamy
• The Lords of Misrule - (1984) - shortstory by M. John Harrison
• Ralph 4F... - Hugo Gernsback (Hugogre N. Backs) - (1973) - shortstory by John Sladek
• Solar Shoe-Salesman... - Philip K. D*ck (Chipdip K. Kill) - (1973) - shortstory by John Sladek
• The Sublimation World... - J.G. Ballard - (1968) - shortstory by John Sladek
• School Days - shortstory by Suzette Haden Elgin
• The Wanda Lake Number - (1979) - shortstory by Robert Thurston
• Chambers of Memory - shortstory by Gordon Eklund
• Painwise in Yucatan - (1976) - essay by James Tiptree, Jr.
• Dinner Party - shortstory by Gardner Dozois
• The Cure - shortstory by Lisa Tuttle
• Paradise Beach - (1976) - novelette by Richard Cowper
• Getting Away - (1976) - shortstory by Steven Utley
• The Cabinet of Edgar Allan Poe - (1982) - shortstory by Angela Carter
• Dead in Irons - (1976) - novelette by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
• Rock On - shortstory by Pat Cadigan
• The Death of Socrates - (1972) - novelette by Thomas M. Disch
• Helpless, Helpless - shortstory by Howard Waldrop
• Dogs' Lives - (1984) - novelette by Michael Bishop
• The Eichmann Variations - shortstory by George Zebrowski

Every family has issues. Most can't blame them on extraterrestrials.

Evie Shao and her sister, Kass, aren't on speaking terms. Fifteen years ago on a family camping trip, their father and brother vanished. Their dad turned up days later, dehydrated and confused--and convinced he'd been abducted by aliens. Their brother, Jakob, remained missing. The women dealt with it very differently. Kass, suspecting her college-dropout twin simply ran off, became the rock of the family. Evie traded academics to pursue alien conspiracy theories, always looking for Jakob.

When Evie's UFO network uncovers a new event, she goes to investigate. And discovers Jakob is back. He's different--older, stranger, and talking of an intergalactic war--but the tensions between the siblings haven't changed at all. If the family is going to come together to help Jakob, then Kass and Evie are going to have to fix their issues, and fast. Because the FBI is after Jakob, and if their brother is telling the truth, possibly an entire space armada, too.

The perfect combination of action, imagination and heart, Light Years from Home is a touching drama about a challenge as difficult as saving the galaxy: making peace with your family... and yourself.

Hisako Saski was born with her life already mapped out. In exchange for an education, better housing for her family, and a boost out of poverty, she's been contracted into an arranged marriage to Adem Sadiq, a maintenance engineer and amateur musician who works and lives aboard his family's sub-light freighter, the Hajj.

Hisako is not happy with the deal. The arcane branch of physics it requires her to study broke off a thousand years before, and she is not keen on the idea of giving up everything she knows to marry a stranger and move onto an aging spaceship.

Onboard the Hajj, Hisako soon learns her dilemmas are overshadowed by the discovery of ancient secrets, a derelict warship, and a chance at giving the survivors of Earth a fresh start.

A collection of 15 masterpieces by one of the brightest stars in the science fiction firmament, tales of wit, wonder and adventure - with a touch of something strange...

Contents:

• Introduction - (1976) - essay by Gardner Dozois
• Introduction - (1973) - essay by Harry Harrison
• And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side - (1972) - shortstory
• The Snows Are Melted, the Snows Are Gone - (1969) - shortstory
• The Peacefulness of Vivyan - (1971) - shortstory
• Mama Come Home - (1975) - novelette (variant of The Mother Ship 1968)
• Help - (1973) - novelette (variant of Pupa Knows Best 1968)
• Painwise - (1972) - novelette
• Faithful to Thee, Terra, in Our Fashion - (1973) - novelette (variant of Parimutuel Planet 1969)
• The Man Doors Said Hello To - (1970) - shortstory
• The Man Who Walked Home - (1972) - shortstory
• Forever to a Hudson Bay Blanket - (1972) - shortstory
• I'll Be Waiting for You When the Swimming Pool is Empty - (1971) - shortstory
• I'm Too Big but I Love to Play - (1970) - novelette
• Birth of a Salesman - (1968) - shortstory
• Mother in the Sky With Diamonds - (1971) - novelette
• Beam Us Home - (1969) - shortstory

And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side - Exogamy, the desire to mate with the new and different has been a primary force in human evolution - but when the object of that desire is not merely different, but alien...

The Man Who Walked Home - The first Chrononaut moved step by step from the far future toward a present whose past was in the future, and whose future was his past.

I'm Too Big But I Love To Play - Genuine communication between human and alien implies that one must transform himself into an analog of the other. And when that transformation is complete...

Reeling from a devastating attack by a mysterious enemy, the Quatra Fleet Academy is opening its doors to a new class of cadets from every planet in the solar system.

Hotshot pilot Vesper dreams of becoming a captain, but when she loses her spot to a wisecracking boy from the wrong side of the asteroid belt, she begins to question everything she thought she knew. Trapped on the toxic planet Deva, Cormak will take any chance he can to join the Academy--even if he has to steal someone's identity to get there. Arran was always an outcast on icy Chetire and is looking for a place to belong. He just never thought it would be in the arms of the hottest guy in the galaxy. And Orelia has infiltrated the fleet to complete a mission, one that threatens the security of everyone around her. But if anyone finds out who she really is, it'll be her life on the line....

As worlds collide at the Academy, these four cadets will have to learn to work together if they want to survive. But how do you begin to trust the very people you've spent a lifetime learning to hate?

Tensions are rising between the Quatrans and the Specters, and the Quatra Fleet is gearing up for an epic fight. With a galaxy on the brink of war and loyalties divided, the friendship of four cadets will be tested.

Orelia has been arrested for espionage, and her future is looking bleak... until the Quatrans make her a surprising offer that could save her life--and the lives of everyone in the galaxy.

Reeling from his breakup, Arran finds comfort in a sympathetic boy from Loos, someone who understands how hard it can be to fit in. But is it enough for Arran to forget his heartbreak?

Cormak's position at the Academy is finally secure. But when someone discovers his treasonous secret, it jeopardizes everything he's fought for, including his relationship with the person he cares about most.

And Vesper is ready to become a superstar officer... until she uncovers a conspiracy that shakes her faith in the Quatra Fleet to its core.

As secret machinations come to light, these cadets will be forced to overcome their differences and band together to restore peace to their worlds.

What would intelligent life-forms on another planet look like? Would they walk upright? Would they wear clothes? Or would they be hulking creatures on six legs that wallow in their own excrement?

Upon first contact with the Utod -- intelligent, pacifist beings who feel no pain -- mankind instantly views these aliens as animals because of their unhygienic customs. This leads to the slaughter, capture and dissection of the Utod. But when one explorer recognizes the intelligence behind their habits, he must reevaluate what it actually means to be "intelligent."

With a New Introduction from the Author!

Successful Chicago commodities broker abducted by aliens

Not a headline from the National Enquirer, just Marcus Walker's own little Jerry Springer moment. He was indeed hustled aboard an alien Vilenjji starship, part of a cargo of primitive creatures bound for the "civilized" part of the galaxy, where they'll be sold... as pets. Fortunately, there was another Earthling aboard, a scruffy dog named George who'd been speech-enhanced to increase his market value. Walker had spoken to plenty of dogs in his line of work but never to actual animals. He and George formed an immediate bond, giving new meaning to "man's best friend."

The Light-Years Beneath My Feet finds Walker and George free at last, having managed, with some outside help, to outwit their kidnappers. But now they are a million billion miles from Earth. Walker glories in the wonders of his rescuers' hi-tech world and the thrill of being humankind's first galactic traveler--until he remembers the only place he wants to be is home. To take his mind off the depressing fact that he hasn't the slightest idea where home is, never mind how to get there, the erstwhile commodities broker becomes a chef.

Walker never imagined that whipping up delicacies for demanding alien palates would lead to a possible way home--or that the possible way home would involve swapping his easy-living adopted planet for an all-out, age-old war many parsecs away. But hey, it was all for a good cause, he has George and their two fellow escapees for company, and what else was there to do, besides avoid Vilenjji? Plenty, as it turns out....