Search Worlds Without End

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, February 2012. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2013, edited by Rich Horton.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story and the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature

Digger is a story about a wombat.

More specifically, it is a story by author and artist Ursula Vernon about a particularly no-nonsense wombat who finds herself stuck on the wrong end of a one-way tunnel in a strange land where nonsense seems to be the specialty. Now with the help of a talking statue of a god, an outcast hyena, a shadow-being of indeterminate origin, and an oracular slug she seeks to find out where she is and how to go about getting back to her Warren.

Digger is a story about a wombat. More specifically, it is a story about a particularly no-nonsense wombat who finds herself stuck on the wrong end of a one-way tunnel in a strange land where nonsense seems to be the specialty. Now with the help of a talking statue of a god, an outcast hyena, a shadow-being of indeterminate origin, and an oracular slug she seeks to find out where she is and how to go about getting back to her Warren.

With an irreverent sense of humor and a fantasy protagonist with a healthy dose of skepticism, Digger rapidly gained a huge following of devoted fans eager for the twice a week updates of the webcomic. This volume collects the first two chapters of the story, along with an all-new six page comic revealing the origin of the talking statue of Ganesh. Digger has long received acclaim from fellow artists and webcomic critics.

The second collection of Digger features the third and fourth chapters of the highly acclaimed webcomic. Digger is still lost in the strange land she discovered at the end of a one-way tunnel, which now seems more intentional than accidental. A seemingly innocuous fossil she picked up on the way is suspected of having more to it than meets the eye, and the beneficient talking statue of Ganesh has a need that sends Digger and a decidedly unhinged acolyte deep underground in search of answers.

Compared to all that, vampire squash, hungry hyenas, and over-zealous religious police are trifles, really...

In this third volume of Digger, covering chapters five and six of Ursula Vernon's webcomic, our wombat Heroine is driven from the protective care of the Hag by the persistent efforts of Captain Jhalm. Back in the strange world outside the temple of Ganesh, Digger encounters friends new and old, while often confronting the age-old question of the nature of good and evil. Seemingly simple answers lead to complicated consequences, foes turn into allies, and Digger must continue to sort out who she can trust in her quest to find her way back home.

Digger puts her trust into trolls, vampire squash, and hyenas who wanted to eat her. Regular readers will probably not be surprised to learn that Digger's instincts serve her well.

In this fourth volume of Digger, covering chapters seven and eight of Ursula Vernon's webcomic, our wombat Heroine finds herself under the scrutiny of the universally feared matriarch of the Cerulean Hills hyena tribe, Boneclaw Mother. Should she survive, there is only the small matter of a ceremonial feast for the late hyena hunter Skull Ridges, which Digger unwittingly helped avenge much to the consternation of all. (It's complicated...) A hyena long feast is no place for a vegetarian wanting to avoid offense and a one-way-trip to the dessert course.

And there is still the matter of getting home without getting any deeper into the matter of nearly-dead Gods, insane acolytes, talking statues, or amoral shadow critters with a penchant for existential crises. When Surka (the ex-pirate captain shrew turned professional bridge troll) and Ed (the outcast hynena artist and master of the warrior-tea ceremony) are among the saner beings in your social circle, you KNOW things are just not turning out like you hoped.

In this fifth volume of Digger, covering chapters nine and ten of Ursula Vernon's webcomic, our wombat heroine embarks on the journey into which she had been cajoled by the statue of Ganesh in the previous volume, accompanying Murai and her destiny towards a monastery in the Morrakgon Mountains that once had connections to the god shackled underground. Along the way, they meet up with Grim Eyes, who had been sent to join them by Boneclaw Mother, hire a guide with an interesting history (and morphology) all his own, and are surprised to find that Shadowchild has been trailing them all along. One of the oracular slug's prophesies comes true, with disastrous consequences that threaten to end their quest rather abruptly, but with a good dose of teamwork, wombat-style glow-sticks, and Grim Eyes' first-aid skills, they manage to resume their trek.

Unfortunately, when they arrive at the monastery, they find it to be rather less inhabited than they had hoped, though not completely empty. Murai's destiny is interrupted by the arrival of one of Digger's relatives, from whom they learn the history behind the god who is chained underground. Their path forward becomes clear, but before they can return to the temple, Shadowchild gets a visit from a relative of his own, and for him the phrase "confronting your demons" takes on a whole new meaning.

In this sixth and final volume of Digger, covering chapters eleven and twelve of Ursula Vernon's webcomic, our wombat heroine makes her way back from the Morrakgon Mountain monastery along with Grim Eyes and Murai. They make a beeline for the temple, but get intercepted by Surka with grave news. The Veiled have corralled the hyenas on their lands and are coming to surround the temple, leaving Murai the only one equipped to defend the temple (even with a broken arm). Meanwhile Digger and Ed (now dishomed by The Veiled as well as his former tribe) take a decidedly un-mystical crowbar to see about killing a God or what is left of one, anyway.

Who will come out of this with their liver intact? Will Boneclaw Mother do "The Thing" to Captain Jhalm? Will there be bug-on-a-stick?

When the last of the Gravediggers, an elite imperial infiltration unit, are disbanded and hunted down by the emperor they once served, munitions expert Colonel Thomas Granger takes refuge in the unlikeliest of places. He becomes a jailer in Ethugra – a prison city of poison-flooded streets and gaols in which a million enemies of the empire are held captive. But when Granger takes possession of two new prisoners, he realises that he can't escape his past so readily.

Ianthe is a young girl with an extraordinary psychic talent. A gift that makes her unique in a world held to ransom by the powerful Haurstaf – the sisterhood of telepaths who are all that stand between the Empire and the threat of the Unmer, the powerful civilization of entropic sorcerers and dragon-mounted warriors. In this war-torn land, she promises to make Granger an extremely wealthy man, if he can only keep her safe from harm.

This is what Granger is best at. But when other factions learn about Ianthe's unique ability, even Granger's skills of warfare are tested to their limits. While, Ianthe struggles to control the powers that are growing in ways no-one thought were possible. Another threat is surfacing: out there, beyond the bitter seas, an old and familiar enemy is rising – one who, if not stopped, will drown the world and all of humanity with it...

A terrible war once raged between the two rival planets within a distant solar system. Over the centuries their human inhabitants had ‘adapted’ themselves to the extremely different conditions of their new homes, far outside Polity influence..

In the midst of this merciless conflict, one side encountered a bizarre object suspected of being a cosmic superstring employed as a new weapon by the rival side. Their attack on it caused the object to collapse into four parts, each found to be packed either with alien technology or some unknown form of life. Pending further study, these were quickly encased inside four separate Ozark cylinders, and stored in a massively secure space station in orbit.

Sometime later, while conducting research on this alien entity they now call ‘the Worm’, a female scientist falls pregnant and susequently gives birth to quads. She then inexplicably commits suicide by walking directly out into space…

The war was finally brought to an end by use of new weapons arising as a result of research of the Worm. These were employed by giant space dreadnoughts nicknamed ‘hilldiggers’ –– and their destructive power created new mountain ranges out of the vanquished planet’s terrain. Twenty years after the dust has settled, those four exceptionally talented orphans have grown up to assume varying degrees of power and influence within a post-war society.

And one of this exceptional breed now seems determined to gain total control over the deadly hilldiggers. But why?

And Grimma said, We have two choices. We can run, or we hide. And they said, Which shall we do?

She said, We shall Fight.

A Bright New Dawn is just around the corner for thousands of tiny nomes when they move into the ruined buildings of an abandoned quarry. Or is it?

Soon strange things begin to happen. Like the tops of puddles growing hard and cold, and the water coming down from the sky in frozen bits, Then humans appear and they really mess everything up. The quarry is to re-opened, and the nomes must fight to defend their new home. But how long will they be able to keep the humans at bay - even with the help of the monster Jekub?