Search Worlds Without End

Having destroyed Earth, the alien conquerors resettle the remains of humanity on the planet of Eleusis. In the four habitable areas of the planet--Day, Dusk, Dawn, and Night--the haves and have nots, criminals and dissidents, and former alien conquerors irrevocably bind three stories:

*A violent warlord abducts a young girl from the agrarian outskirts of Dusk leaving her mother searching and grieving.
*Genetically modified twin brothers desperately search for the lost son of a human/alien couple in a criminal underground trafficking children for unknown purposes.
*A young woman with inhuman powers rises through the insurgent ranks of soldiers in the borderlands of Night.

Their stories, often containing disturbing physical and sexual violence, skate across years, building to a single confrontation when the fate of all--human and alien--balances upon a knife's-edge.

Shirley Jackson Award-nominated Collection

A dictator craves love -- and horrifying sacrifice -- from his subjects; a mother raised in a decaying warren fights to reclaim her stolen daughter; a ghost haunts a luxury hotel in a bloodstained land; a new babysitter uncovers a family curse; a final girl confronts a broken-winged monster...

Word Horde presents the debut collection from critically-acclaimed Weird Fiction author Nadia Bulkin. Dreamlike, poignant, and unabashedly socio-political, She Said Destroy includes three stories nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award, four included in Year's Best anthologies, and one original tale, with an Introduction by Paul Tremblay.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction (She Said Destroy) - essay by Paul Tremblay
• Intertropical Convergence Zone - (2008) - short fiction
• The Five Stages of Grief - (2011) - short story
• And When She Was Bad - (2009) - short fiction
• Only Unity Saves the Damned - (2015) - short fiction
• Pugelbone - (2010) - short fiction
• Red Goat, Black Goat - (2010) - short story
• Seven Minutes in Heaven - (2015) - short story
• Girl, I Love You - (2014) - short story
• Endless Life - (2012) - short fiction
• Violet Is the Color of Your Energy - (2015) - short fiction
• Truth Is Order and Order Is Truth - (2014) - novelette
• Absolute Zero - (2011) - short story
• No Gods, No Masters - short fiction

In a futuristic, fascistic Rome, a brilliant, unstable scientist proves that she can transcend the human body's limitations. The test subject? Her own daughter. A mother-daughter mad scientist story, THE DESTROYER asks how far we'll go to secure our own legacies -- and how far we'll run to escape them.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, April 2018.

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This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, July 2017.

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Nebula Award nominated short story. It was originally published in Lightspeed, August 2010. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2011, edited by Rich Horton, Lightspeed: Year One (2011), edited by John Joseph Adams and the Nebula Awards Showcase 2012, edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel. It is collected in Her Husband's Hands and Other Stories (2014).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

This novella was first published in Analog Science Fiction & Fact, May/June 2022.

Read the full story for free at Analog.

This short story originally appeared in the anthology 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories (1995) edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg and Martin H. Greenberg, and was reprinted in Lightspeed, February 2015. The story can also be found in the anthology The Way of the Wizard (2010), edited by John Joseph Adams. It is included in the collection An Alien Darkness (2000).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, March 2017.

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This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, July 2018.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Nebula and Stoker Award nominated short story. It was originally published in Lightspeed, October 2011 and can aslo be found in the anthology War & Space: Recent Combat (2012), edited by Rich Horton and Sean Wallace as well as in the collection Her Husband's Hands and Other Stories (2014).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

A utopia where the most privileged get to do whatever they want to do with their lives, indulging their slightest whims via the bodies whose wombs they occupy; a soldier's wife tries to love a husband who is little more than backup memory; a society in which the citizens all make merry for nine remarkable days, and on the tenth get a taste of hell; the last ragged survivors of an expedition to a savage backwater world hunt down an infamous war criminal; a divorcing couple confront their myriad troubles to gain resolution, reason, respect--but not without sacrifice. Introducing these stories (and more) from Adam-Troy Castro, whose short fiction has been nominated for two Hugos, three Stokers, and eight Nebulas.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (2014) - essay by David Gerrold
• Arvies - (2010) - shortstory (read at Lightspeed Magazine)
• Her Husband's Hands - (2011) - shortstory (read at Lightspeed Magazine)
• Of a Sweet Slow Dance in the Wake of Temporary Dogs - (2003) - novelette (read at the website of the Imaginings anthology)
• Our Human - (2012) - novelette
• Cherub - (2011) - shortfiction
• The Shallow End of the Pool - (2008) - novella
• Pieces of Ethan - (2010) - shortfiction
• The Boy and the Box - (2013) - shortstory (read at Lightspeed Magazine)
• Extro: "Bad People Doing Evil Things" - (2013) - essay

This story originally appeared in Lightspeed, May 2017.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, September 2012.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Imaginings: An Anthology of Long Short Fiction (2003), edited by Keith R. A. DeCandido, and was reprinted in Lightspeed, Issue 103, December 2018. It can also be found in the anthologies Nebula Awards Showcase 2005, edited by Jach Dann and Brave New Worlds: Dystopian Stories (2011). It is included in the collection Her Husband's Hands and Other Stories (2014).

Read the full story for free at the Imaginings anthology website or Lightspeed.

There are few authors who consistently turn out magnificent novella-length stories. Adam-Troy Castro is one of these authors. His stories are evocative and far-reaching. Among the stories featured in the collection are: The Funeral March of the Marionettes, Unseen Demons, The Tangled Strings of the Marionettes, The Magic Bullet Theory, and Sunday Night Yams at Minnie and Earl's (winner of the AnLab award for best novella).

Table of Contents:

• The Funeral March of the Marionettes - (1997) - novella
• The Tangled Strings of the Marionettes - (2003) - novella
• Unseen Demons - (2002) - novella
• The Magic Bullet Theory - (2000) - novella
• Sunday Night Yams at Minnie and Earl's - (2001) - novella
• Afterword - (2003) - essay by Adam-Troy Castro

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, August 2016.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Hugo and Nebula Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July-August 1999. It is included in the collection With Stars in Their Eyes (2003).

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, July 2013. It is included in the collection Her Husband's Hands and Other Stories (2014).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

This novelette originally appeared in Lightspeed, September 2018.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, Issue 108, May 2019.

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This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, July 2014.

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Resolution. Reason. Respect.

Among U.S. couples marrying today, roughly 40% will divorce. About half of those will have children at the time of the split. Ensuing ugliness will engulf the lives of both divorcees and offspring. They can in most cases expect years of legal battles, deceit, rage, depression, baiting, vitriol, manipulation, and hurt.

Perhaps there is another way, a better way. A way that allows for resolution, reason, and respect. An agreement, of sorts, but one that confronts rather than masks the myriad troubles at hand. Lays them all out on the table. Settles the issues once and for all in an honorable arena. Something direct. Fair. Final.

Adam-Troy Castro, Hugo/Nebula/Stoker-nominated author of the SF novel Emissaries from the Dead, brings you a brutally horrific tale of the ultimate settlement in the battle of broken-hearted wills in a new novella from Creeping Hemlock Press. Petty power-plays have been cast aside. The façade of decency is shelved. For one blistering week in an abandoned desert motel, there will be no excuses, pleading, or games. Only resolution, reason, respect.

And blood.

This novella was first published in Analog Science Fiction & Fact, September/October 2021.

Read the full story for free at Analog.

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, January 2018.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

This short sotry originally appeared in Lightspeed, January 2014. It can also be found in the anthology The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015, edited by Joe Hill and John Joseph Adams.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, January 2017.

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This novella was first published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July/August 2023.

Read the full story for free here.

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, October 2017.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (2003) - essay by Stanley Schmidt
• The Astronaut from Wyoming - (1999) - novella by Jerry Oltion and Adam-Troy Castro
• If You Wish Upon a Star... - (1988) - shortstory by Jerry Oltion
• Crisis on Ward H! - (1998) - shortstory by Adam-Troy Castro
• Suicide - (1990) - novelette by Jerry Oltion (variant of Suicide by UFO)
• Jesus Used a Paper Cup - (1994) - shortstory by Adam-Troy Castro
• Unfamiliar, Foreign, Outré - (1995) - shortstory by Jerry Oltion
• The Adventure of the Garrulous Codger - (2003) - shortstory by Adam-Troy Castro

Table of Contents:

• 3 - Introduction (Star Destroyers) - essay by Tony Daniel and Christopher Ruocchio
• 7 - Superweapon - short story by David Drake
• 19 - A Sudden Stop - short story by Steve White
• 35 - Another Solution - short story by Mark L. Van Name
• 49 - The Magnolia Incident - novelette by Mike Kupari
• 75 - A Helping Hand - short story by Jody Lynn Nye
• 107 - Boomers - short story by J. R. Dunn
• 127 - Hate in the Darkness - novelette by Michael Z. Williamson
• 161 - The Stars Are Silent - short story by Gray Rinehart
• 181 - Excerpts from Two Lives - [Liaden Universe] - novelette by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
• 209 - Icebreaker - short story by Dave Bara
• 225 - Try Not to Kill Us All - short story by Joelle Presby
• 243 - Skipjack - novelette by Susan R. Matthews
• 269 - Homecoming - novelette by Robert Buettner
• 293 - Not Made for Us - short story by Christopher Ruocchio
• 313 - A Tale of the Great Trek War Aboard the Starship Persistence - short story by Brendan DuBois

The quarrelsome, belligerent beings of Earth already had space satellites and planetary probes. Soon they would find the Ultrons' orbital beacon.

The Ultrons who controlled hundreds of civilized planets knew that Earth meant trouble--its history proved that. If the beacon transmitting data was found there'd be no end to mankind's interstellar mischief.

So Lucian of the Ults took on human disguise, manned a space cruiser with tame humans, and set out on a Salvage and Destroy mission. The beacon must be silenced and Earth brought under control. But the problems turned out to be far more complex than any Ult computer or alien commander could ever unravel!

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Behind the Mask: An Anthology of Heroic Proportions (2017), edited by Tricia Reeks and Kyle Richardson. It can also be found in the anthology The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018, edited by N.K. Jemisin and John Joseph Adams.

Witness the epic battle of the cyclops!Visit the endangered dragon preserve! Please, no slaying.Solve the mystery of The Mystery Cottage, if you dare!Buy some knick knacks from The Fates! They might come in handy later.On a road trip across an enchanted America, Helen and Troy will discover all this and more. If the curse placed upon them by an ancient god doesn't kill them or the pack of reluctant orc assassins don't catch up to them, Helen and Troy might reach the end their journey in one piece, where they might just end up destroying the world. Or at least a state or two.A minotaur girl, an all-American boy, a three-legged dog, and a classic car are on the road to adventure, where every exit leads to adventure. Whether they like it or not.

A crucial, genre-bending tale about the life-saving power of friendship.

Solomon and Ash both experienced a traumatic event when they were twelve.

Ash lost all memory of that event when she fell from Solomon's treehouse. Since then, Solomon has retreated further and further into a world he seems to have created in his own mind. One that insulates him from reality, but crawls with foes and monsters... in both animal and human form.

As Solomon slips further into the place he calls Darkside, Ash realizes her only chance to free her best friend from his pain is to recall exactly what happened that day in his backyard and face the truth--together.

This short story originally appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, #1 October 2006. It can an also be found in the anthology Realms: The First Year of Clarkesworld Magazine (2007), edited by Sean Wallace and Nick Mamatas. The story is included in the collection Somewhere Beneath Those Waves (2011).

Read the full story for free at Clarkesworld.

Peter has had more identities than he can remember and suffered pains and humiliations he longs to forget. But, whether spy or prisoner, slave or propaganda tool, none of his roles has brought the one thing he wants above all: freedom.

THE CHILDREN'S WAR

Bad papers. That's how Peter's nightmare began. Living in contemporary Europe under Nazi domination -- more than fifty years after the truce among the North American Union, the Third Reich, and the Soviet Union -- Peter has struggled to make sense of the reign of terror that governs his world. Now, arrested for bearing a false identity, he is pulled full-force into a battle against Nazi oppression. The crusade for freedom that belonged to generations past is now Peter's legacy -- and his future depends not on running away, but on fighting back.

Escaping a Nazi prison camp and joining the Underground Home Army, Peter dedicates himself to breaking down the system that betrayed him. But by facing the evil at the heart of the Nazi political machine, Peter falls deeper into a web of intrigue and adventure that risks everything he holds dear -- in this life and for the sake of future generations.

A disturbingly real vision of what could have been, The Children's War is a page-turning epic thriller with a mesmerizing premise and an unforgettable cast of characters. J.N. Stroyar's searingly authentic, impassioned vision of human triumph over the forces of corruption and cruelty stands as a powerful tribute to the millions who have sacrificed and died in the name of freedom.

Giant jellyfish aliens invade Earth. The story follows one man as he attempts to find a weapon from the invaders themselves that will allow humanity to destroy them, and take back their lands.

This short story originally appeared in Uncanny Magazine, December 2017.

Read the full story for free at Uncanny.

Bow Down to Nul

When Earthman Gary Towler is off work, he is a pariah. For his task as chief interpreter for the corrupt and tyrannical nuls makes other humans avoid him as a traitor.

Nor is he trusted by the three-armed mammoth rulers themselves, especially when they learned than an envoy was on the way from their distant planetary headquarters to investigate charges of corruption on Earth. For the leaders realized that Gary knew too much.

When the humans leading the underground rebellion demanded Gary's aid or his life, he was caught between two untrustful forces. And his only way out was to make himself into a one-man third force against two worlds' plotters.

The Dark Destroyers

They brought a new ice age.

A Yank at Valhalla

Only a mortal could escape the Twilight of the Gods!

The Sun Destroyers

Collection containing:

• Into the Darkness (1940)
• Daughter of Darkness (1941)
• Abyss of Darkness (1942)
• Rebel of the Darkness (1951)

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Legion of the Damned® novels and the Mutant Files series comes the second novel in a postapocalyptic military science fiction series about America struggling to overcome a natural disaster but starting a second civil war...

As people fight to survive the aftereffects of more than a dozen meteor strikes, a group of wealthy individuals conspires to rebuild the United States as a corporate entity called the New Confederacy, where the bottom line is law. As a second civil war rages, with families fighting against families on opposite sides, Union president Samuel T. Sloan battles to keep the country whole.

To help in the fight for unity, Union Army captain Robin "Mac" Macintyre and her crew of Stryker vehicles are sent after the ruthless "warlord of warlords," an ex-Green Beret who rules a large swath of the West. But defeating him will be even more difficult than she thought. The warlord is receiving military assistance from Mac's sister--and rival--Confederate major Victoria Macintyre. And when the siblings come together in the war-torn streets of New Orleans, only one of them will walk away.

Finalist for the AnLab Reader's Choice Award

Investigator Andrea Cort faces a murder suspect who has three bodies. Andrea's own lover, the Porrinyards, has two bodies, so she's the perfect person to ferret out the truth.

This story was originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, April 2011.

On a savage backwater world, the last ragged survivors of an expedition to hunt down the infamous war criminal known as The Beast Magrison set off into an inhospitable wilderness in search of the alien village that may be sheltering this beast. The hunters are aliens from two different species, the village is inhabited by strange aliens of yet another species, and Magrison himself is no sterling advertisement for humanity. Who's human in this situation? The answer may surprise and upset you.

This novella from acclaimed SF writer Adam-Troy Castro explores the fate of the dread Magrison. Readers can find out more about the world that spawned Magrison by tracking down his Andrea Cort novels, Emissaries from the Dead and The Third Claw of God.

This story is included in the collection Her Husband's Hands and Other Stories (2014).

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

AnLab Readers' Choice Award-winning Novella

On the hostile home-world of the Caith, Andrea Cort has been assigned the case of a murderer who's been condemned to a horrible death. All legal options have been exhausted, but the Caith offer a rarely-used alternative to execution, one that purports to ensure that the accused will never break the law again. Alas, it's not so much another chance at life, but deliverance into a hell far worse than mere death...

Read this novella for free at Analog (PDF).

Includes bonus Novella Tasha's Fail-Safe (2015):

Once, she and Andrea Cort hated each other. Now the victim of a savage assassination attempt by a traitor to the Confederacy, she lies in an unresponsive state, the identity of her assailant locked inside her head. Can Andrea penetrate a vital secret she never even knew existed?

Hugo and Nebula Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July 1997. The story is included in the collections An Alien Darkness (2000) and Tangled Strings (2003).

Sturgeon and Nebula Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July 2003. The story is also included in the collection Tangled Strings (2003).

finalist for the AnLab Reader's Choice Award

EMIL SANDBURG.

Serial killer. His victims were all Catarkhans, specimens of a closed-off sentient race incapable of sensing the great atrocities he committed against them. Prosecuting him by their laws is going to be a problem.

Enter ANDREA CORT.

Misanthrope. Genius. Controversial figure. Aware even as she takes the case that other alien forces intend to use her past against her, and against humanity. Unaware that its implications will change the course of her life...

Nebula-nominated and AnLab Readers' Choice Award-winning Novella

Andrea Cort. War criminal. Genius. Outcast. Heroine.

Sent to the home-world of the Zinn, a once-powerful race now on the long path to extinction, she's expected to sign the approval for a simple prisoner transfer - but why are the Zinn so eager to take custody of an unremarkable human murderer? What brutal crime is being planned against an innocent? What hidden agenda threatens to topple the balance of power?

This is the earliest adventure of Andrea Cort, heroine of the Philip K. Dick Award-winning novel, Emissaries From The Dead. This story was originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, November 2011.

Two murders have occurred on One One One, an artificial ecosystem created by the universe's dominant AIs to house several engineered species, including a violent, sentient race of sloth-like creatures. Under order from the Diplomatic Corps, Counselor Andrea Cort has come to this cylinder world where an indentured human community hangs suspended high above a poisoned, acid atmosphere. Her assignment is to choose a suitable homicide suspect from among those who have sold their futures to escape existences even worse than this one. And no matter where the trail leads her she must do nothing to implicate the hosts, who hold the power to obliterate humankind in an instant.

But Andrea Cort is not about to hold back in her hunt for a killer. For she has nothing to lose and harbors no love for her masters or fellow indentures. And she herself has felt the terrible exhilaration of taking life....

Andrea Cort became a "war criminal" at the age of eight when an unexplained darkness invaded her soul.

Now, decades later, the Devil is calling her.

Employed by the Diplomatic Corps but secretly aiding the AI masters of the universe, Counselor Andrea Cort despises the powerful Bettelhines-unrepentant death merchants who have prospered from the annihilation of civilizations. Now curiosity compels her to answer a cryptic summons to their home world, where the only law is Bettelhine law. But a murder attempt greets her arrival at Xana's orbital entry port-and far graver peril awaits aboard the elevator transport meant to carry Andrea to the planet's surface.

Trapped miles above Xana-surrounded by suspicious Bettelhines, their slavishly loyal retainers . . . and a corpse liquefied by a 15,000-year-old weapon-Andrea must unmask an assassin or die an equally hideous death. But the true reason for her summons-and sordid secrets weaving through her own dark past-threaten to destroy Andrea Cort more completely than the Claw of God.

finalist for the AnLab Reader's Choice Award

Welcome to Greeve. A sun-drenched backwater world, where people earn their keep from the sea. It's nowhere important, far from any of Mankind's petty politics and intrigues. Few of its residents are more familiar than old John, who's been fishing its waters for decades. He keeps to himself, mostly. Nobody really knows him. No one knows where he came from. But how dangerous can he be?

Then another off-worlder settles in, with no apparent goal other than devoting the rest of his days to local drugs and local women. Old John is horrified to recognize him at once. How dangerous can Old John be? As dangerous as any man alive...

This story was originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July/August 2015. Read this novella for free at the author's website (PDF).

Finalist for the AnLab Reader's Choice Award

The woman in the pod has just asked him:"How long do you need me to have been your wife?" Draiken considers the contorted syntax. Not how long would you like to be married, or how long are we supposed to have been married, but how long do you need me to have been your wife, a construction that only fits this one situation, a contract to lie. And this lie will help the former spy get revenge on his past masters.

This story was originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, October 2016. Read this novella for free at Analog (PDF).

finalist for the AnLab Reader's Choice Award

Draiken and Thorne, having both been imprisoned and tortured by the machiavellian organization for which they once worked, now seek vengeance by means of destroying their former employers. But in order to obtain information necessary to achieve their goal, Draiken agrees to be locked into a prison from which there is ony one way to escape; if he succeeds in solving the mystery of how to escape, he will win the release of all the prisoners and the information he requires. But the prison cell has technology which distorts his senses, making an escape seem impossible.

This story was originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, January/February 2018. Read this novella for free at Analog (PDF).

finalist for the AnLab Reader's Choice Award

Still on his path of seeking the destruction of his former employers, Draiken engages in surveillance of prosecutor Andrea Cort, whom he believes has ties to his targets. But she is aware that he's up to something, and he may end up a casualty of her own machinations.

This story was originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July/August 2018. Read this novella for free at Analog (PDF).

Draiken, with Stang's help, is on a mission to capture a deadly enforcer/killer who works for a crime boss on a space station. But who are the mysterious clients waiting for delivery of the hostage on a nearby asteroid, and why does Draiken believe that the killer will be willing to cooperate with him?

This novella was a Finalist for the Analog Readers' Awards and was first published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact in January/February 2019.

Read this story for free at Analog.

Analog Anlab Readers Award Finalist Novella

Far-future espionage operative John Draiken, after a long career, instead of retiring to enjoy the fruits of his high-paying but brutal job, has decided that his previous employer needs to be wiped out for its evil work in mind control on the galaxy's populace. His recently-acquired associate and companion, Delia Stang, is hanging out on a backwater hellhole planet for seemingly no reason - but where is Draiken? And if he's dead, how will his vengeance be fulfilled?

This novella originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction & Fact, September-October 2020. Read it for free at the publisher's website.

In the violent, deteriorating San Francisco of the future, two bodies--chained together in a death embrace--are pulled from the bay. Only ex-cop Tanner recognizes the mark of the Chain Killer, and now he must prepare to penetrate the lair of a madman--in the city's hell on earth.

In the fabled city of Shadizar, sultry Princess Tamaris hires Conan to recover the magical gem known as the Heart of Ahriman. Accompanied by the beautiful maiden Jehnna, Conan must vanquish scheming, murderous Bombatta, the princess' henchman, and face the sinister Guardians of the Horn, only to confrotnt the foul and ancient, many-fanged demon-god Dagoth. With Jehna's life and Conan's very soul at stake, Conan must truly be Conan the Destroyer.

Saving the world is easy for Constance Verity: she's used to doing the impossible on a daily basis. Everything that comes after is the tricky part.

Connie has accepted and secured her place in the universe. There isn't a foe she can't outfight or a peril she can't outwit - until she discovers she herself might be the greatest threat to the world she's spent her life saving.

All the signs are pointing to impending doom, and not just for Connie. Her friends, her enemies and the universe itself are all at risk. She's always known she was destined for a glorious death, but she never suspected she'd be taking everyone and everything else with her.

With her trademark determination, Constance Verity sets out to avert a cosmic plan millions of years in the making - and save the universe from herself.

A year after saving the powers of Olympus by defeating Nyx, the Goddess of Darkness, Daphne is haunted by still-looming threats, her complicated feelings for the god Apollo, and the promise she made to the Olympian gods that she would help them again when they called upon her. When their command finally comes, it is deceptively simple: secure herself a spot as one of Queen Helen's guards.

A war is coming, and all of Sparta must be prepared.

In the midst of a treaty summit among the monarchs of Greece, Daphne and Helen uncover a plot of betrayal--and soon, a battle begins that leads to all-out war. As the kingdoms of Greece clash on the shores of Troy and the gods choose sides, Daphne must use her wits, her training, and her precarious relationship with Apollo to find a way to keep her queen safe, stop the war, and uncover the true reason the gods led her to Troy. But the gods are keeping more than one secret, and Daphne will be forced to decide how far she is willing to go to save those she loves--and whose side she's on in a war that is prophesized to be the downfall of her people

Pressed into service when World War II breaks out in the Pacific, the US Walker--a Great War-era destroyer--finds itself retreating from pursuing Japanese battleships. Its captain, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Patrick Reddy, desperately leads the Walker into a squall, hoping it will give them cover--only to emerge into an alternate world. A world where two species have evolved: the cat-like Lemurians and the reptilian Griks--and they are at war.

With its power and weaponry, the Walker's very existence could alter the balance of power. And for Reddy and his crew, who have the means to turn a primitive war into a genocidal Armageddon, one thing becomes clear. They must determine whose side they're on. Because whichever species they choose is the winner.

Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy, along with the men and women of the USS Walker, have chosen sides in a war not of their making. Swept from the World War II Pacific into an alternate world, they have allied with the Lemurians—a mammalian race threatened by the warlike reptilian Grik.

The Lemurians are vastly outnumbered and ignorant of warfare, and even the guns and technology of Walker cannot turn the tide of battle. Luckily they are not alone—Reddy finally finds Mahan, the other destroyer that passed through the rift. Together, the two American ships will teach the Lemurians to make a stand. Or so they think.

For the massive Japanese battleship Amagi, the very ship that Walker was fleeing from when the rift took them, has followed them through. And now the Amagi is in the hands of the Grik.

The alternate history saga of The Destroyermen continues...

Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy, along with the men and women of the battleship Walker, are once again at war. Having sided with the peaceful Lemurians against the savage, reptilian Grik, they now find themselves scrambling to prepare for the attack that is sure to come. Meanwhile, the Japanese juggernaut Amagi, also trapped in this strange world, is under Grik control. Soon, they will have amassed a force that no amount of fire-power and technology will be able to stop. Reddy, his crew, his allies, and his loved ones face annihilation. But if there is one thing they have learned about their new world, it is that hope-and help-may just be over the horizon...

After a terrible battle against the Grik, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy must contend with the arrival of a ship captained by Commodore Jenks of the New Britain Imperial Navy-an island-nation populated by the descendants of British East Indiamen swept through the rift centuries before. But the British bring a new and different kind of threat along with them…

In Taylor Anderson's acclaimed Destroyermen series, a parallel universe adds a extraordinary layer to the drama of World War II. Now, as Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy and the crew of the U.S.S. Walker continue their battle for both freedom and survival, the stakes become much more personal...and much more perilous.

Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy and the crew of the USS Walker find themselves caught between the nation they swore to defend and the allies they promised to protect. For even as the Allies and the Empire of New Britain Isles stand united against the attacks of both the savage Grik and the tenacious Japanese, the "Holy Dominion"-a warped mixture of human cultures whose lust for power overshadows even the Grik-is threatening to destroy them both with a devastating weapon neither can withstand.

In Taylor Anderson's acclaimed Destroyermen series, a parallel universe adds an extraordinary layer to the drama of World War II.

Now, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy, the crew of USS Walker, and their allies battle an ever-growing host of enemies across the globe in a desperate battle for freedom...

War has engulfed the—other earth. With every hard-won victory and painful defeat, Matt Reddy and the Allies encounter more friends—and even more diabolical enemies. Even, at last, in the arms of the woman he loves, there is little peace for Reddy. The vast sea, and the scope of the conflict, have trapped him too far away to help on either front, but that doesn't mean he and Walker can rest.

Cutting short his "honeymoon," Reddy sails off in pursuit of Hidoiame , a rogue Japanese destroyer that is wreaking havoc in Allied seas. Now that Walker is armed with the latest "new" technology, he hopes his battle-tested four-stacker has an even chance in a straight-up fight against the bigger ship—and he means to take her on.

Elsewhere, the long-awaited invasion of Grik "Indiaa" has begun, and the Human-Lemurian Alliance is pushing back against the twisted might of the Dominion. The diplomatic waters seethe with treachery and a final, terrible plot explodes in the Empire of New Britain Isles. Worse, the savage Grik have also mastered "new" technologies and strategies. Their fleet of monstrous ironclads—and an army two years in the making—are finally massing to strike...

In the Pacific, as USS Walker is repaired and updated after a previous battle and Matt Reddy is healing from his wounds, planning begins for a bold raid on the very heart of the Grik Empire.

But time is running out for the Alliance army in Indiaa, and the Allied forces in the west must gather in an unprecedented land, air, and sea campaign to destroy the mighty Grik battle fleet and break through to their relief. All other plans go on hold when the attempt proves more difficult--and more heartbreakingly costly--than anyone imagined.

Meanwhile, the struggle continues on other fronts near and far: in the jungles of Borno in distant southern Africa and in the Americas, where the Allies are finally learning the terrible truth about the twisted Dominion.

The Alliance is on the offensive everywhere, but their enemies have a few surprises, including new weaponry and new tactics...and a stunning geographic advantage that Reddy never suspected.

Until now.

The long-planned raid on the heart of the Grik Empire has grown more ambitious - and dangerously ill-defined. Only Matthew Reddy, commander of the old destroyer USS Walker, seems focused on its original intent.

Many Lemurians see an opportunity to reconquer their sacred homeland, which was stolen long ago, and have no intention of simply striking a blow and then pulling back. Others, Lemurian and human, have their own agendas - which may not be in the best interests of the Alliance. Complicating matters further is Reddy's suspicion that his task force is being stalked by an unknown power bent on aiding the Grik for reasons of its own.

As the raid begins and chaos reigns, Reddy has no choice but to go all in, risking everything in a desperate act that results in a sprawling, nightmarish battle on the beaches of "Grik City", on the very decks of Walker, and in the labyrinthine passageways of the Celestial Palace itself.

The final cost could be more than Matt Reddy - or the Alliance - can bear.

Matt Reddy's old Asiatic Fleet destroyer USS Walker has been mysteriously transported to an alternate version of earth. Here WWII is no longer raging, and Reddy and his crew have been trying to find a new place for themselves in this strange new world.

Now, along with the felinoid Lemurians and Imperial allies, they fight to keep the reptilian Grik, a race growing in supremacy, from reconquering the Lemurians' ancestral home on Madagascar. Reddy and his crew are exhausted, far from reinforcements, and wildly outnumbered, so the odds seem greater than ever before. As for the fate of the Americas, Don Hernan and the evil Dominion have gathered to annihilate the forces behind the walls of Fort Defiance as a shadowy power with an agenda all its own rises with chilling resolve.

As the war teeters on a knife-edge, a tipping point may have been reached at last--and cold steel and hot-blooded valor will remain the ultimate weapons.

Ever since the USS Walker came from another world war to defy the terrifying Grik and diabolical Dominion, Matt Reddy and his crew have given their all to protect the oppressed Lemurians. But with the Walker in desperate need of repairs just as the Grik's First General is poised to strike, Reddy is desperate.

With more enemies than ever before arrayed against them, the crew of the Walker needs new allies. That means combing the lethal wilds of Madagascar to find the Lemurians' fabled ancestors, as well as the enigmatic dwellers east of the Pass of Fire. But what Reddy's crew unearths may be more than they can handle--discoveries so shattering they could tilt the balance of the war in either direction.

But Reddy's greatest adversary is from his past: a madman named Kurokawa whose single-minded mission of revenge will shake the Alliance to its core and raise the stakes to the most personal and terrifying levels Reddy has ever faced.

Captain Matt Reddy and the crew of the USS Walker have been fighting for their lives, ever since their ship was swept from the Pacific to another world and they became embroiled in a deadly conflict between the Lemurians and the vicious Grik.

With his family and allies prisoners of the madman Kurokawa, the mysterious League and evil Dominion plotting schemes of their own, and the Grik trying to build their swarm and concentrate power, Reddy faces danger on all sides.

Desperate to confront Kurokawa, Captain Reddy is rushing repairs to the Walker, but he fears he's subordinating the war effort for personal reasons--again. Still, Kurokawa can't be left alone. Sometimes, just because you want to do something doesn't mean it's wrong....

The crew of a WWII destroyer face their greatest challenge yet as they try to survive in a strange new world in the next thrilling book in the New York Times bestselling series.

Commander Matt Reddy and his crew are afraid it may finally be the end of the USS Walker. Ever since their ship was transported to another world, and they became embroiled in a deadly conflict between the Lemurians and the vicious Grik, the Walker has been taking a pounding. With Walker out of commission for repairs, Reddy takes command of a different ship and joins a desperate battle to block the Grik swarm.

Meanwhile, the humans and their allies face a deadly second front in the Republic to the south. All of Reddy's forces are committed, and there's no turning back. Either they'll win--or lose--everything...

After being transported to a strange alternate Earth, Matt Reddy and the crew of the USS Walker have learned desperate times call for desperate measures, in the return to the New York Times bestselling Destroyermen series.

Time is running out for the Grand Human and Lemurian Alliance. The longer they take to prepare for their confrontations with the reptilian Grik, the Holy Dominion, and the League of Tripoli, the stronger their enemies become. Ready or not, they have to move--or the price in blood will break them.

Matt Reddy and his battered old destroyer USS Walker lead the greatest army the humans and their Lemurian allies have ever assembled up the Zambezi toward the ancient Grik capital city. Standing against them is the largest, most dangerous force of Grik yet gathered.

On the far side of the world, General Shinya and his Army of the Sisters are finally prepared for their long-expected assault on the mysterious El Paso del Fuego. Not only is the dreaded Dominion ready and waiting for them; they've formed closer, more sinister ties with the fascist League of Tripoli.

Everything is on the line in both complex, grueling campaigns, and the Grand Alliance is stretched to its breaking point. Victory is the only option, whatever the cost, because there can be no second chances.

Matt Reddy and the crew of the USS Walker are positioned to push the line of battle to the breaking point on an alternate Earth, in the thrilling return to the New York Times bestselling Destroyermen series.

Matt Reddy and his sailors have fought, bled, and died for their Lemurian friends and other allies from across time, but their enemies are still operational. In Africa, the Grik General Esshk has escaped defeat to build a new army and new weapons, and is desperate enough to use them to destroy the world if he can't have it.

In South America, the NUS, General Shinya, and the Army of the Sisters have the evil Dominion on the ropes and are closing in on the seat of its blood-drenched power, but the twisted Don Hernan has struck a deal with the fascist League, and Victor Gravois is finally assembling the awesome fleet of modern ships he's always craved. If he's successful, the war will be lost.

Undermined by treachery on a stunning scale, Matt Reddy must still steam his battered old ship halfway around the world, scraping up what forces he can along the way, and confront the mightiest armada the world has ever seen in a fiery duel to the death.

Troyana was a fantastic, scientific super city that had been lost to the rest of the world for centuries. It lay hidden in the wildest, steamiest part of the Brazilian jungle in an area cryptically known as "Tierra Prohibitiva." But Troyana had finally been rediscovered by four fortune-hunting Americans.

American Frank Nankivell was bound and determined to leave Troyana with a secret and precious piece of human cargo--Estha, the Troyanan beauty whose love he could not live without. But when Estha was captured by the disciples of a fanatical revolutionary, Nankivell's plans to return to the outside world with his three pals came to a screeching halt. With grim determination, Nankivell set off to reenter the city--alone. But Troyana was now a citadel in turmoil and little did Nankivell know that he would soon stumble upon a forbidden secret hidden deep within its catacombs--a secret so astounding that it might well portend doom not only for Nankivell and his lost love, but for Troyana itself.

It has been two years since the starship Phoenix left Alpha Station on a rescue mission to a faraway sector of space where over four thousand human spacers were under attack by a hostile alien race.

Now, exhausted from their journey, with resources strained by four thousand extra mouths to feed, the crew of the Phoenix yearns for home. But when the ship makes the final jump into atevi space, things do not seem right. And when they make contact with Alpha, they learn the worst: that supplies to the station have been cut off; that civil war has broken out on the atevi mainland; that the powerful Western Association has been overthrown; and that Tabini-aiji, Bren Cameron's primary supporter and Ilisidi's grandson and ally, is missing and may be dead.

With no one left to lead the Western Association, Ilisidi and Bren know that the survival of their allies lies in their hands. And with the atevi world at war, the only safe landing strip lies on the human colony at Mospheira. Although there are many dangers inherent in bringing a powerful atevi leader such as Ilisidi onto human lands, Bren realizes they have no choice but to do so.

But even if they safely survive their landing, will Bren and Ilisidi together prove strong enough to muster the remaining shards of the Western Association and regain control of their planet?

Atreus of Erlkazar

Hidden from his powerful family's enemies behind the hideous mask of his own face. Sent by the goddess of beauty on an impossible mission. Driven to find a way past his own flesh, into a soul torn between destiny and love.

Deep in the ancient valleys of the enigmatic Utter East, Atreus will finally look into the... Faces of Deception.

From the depths of the demiplane of shadow comes a new magic so mysterious it confounds even the Chosen of Mystra.

From beneath the dune seas of Anauroch escapes one of Toril's most powerful and ancient evils -- the phaerimm.

From Evereska, the last elven refuge on comes word of invasion.

From nowhere appears a group of enigmatic sorcerers determined to destroy the phaerimm and save Evereska... for purposes known only to themselves.

For Evereska, the last elven refuge on Faerûn, it's a battle for survival.

For the Chosen of Mystra, it's a potent rival for their goddess's dominion over magic.

For the human realms of Faerûn, it's a permanent shift in the balance of power.

For a lost race of powerful archwizards, it's a flying mountain they call home.

From the author of The Summoning, Beyond the High Road, and Death of the Dragon (with Ed Greenwood), the Realms-shaking Return of the Archwizards series continues!

The exciting conclusion of the Return of the Archwizards trilogy.The Sorcerer concludes the Return of the Archwizards trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Troy Denning. Events in this trilogy will have great impact on other Forgotten Realms novels to come, and this particular title introduces elements of change to Forgotten Realms readers.

The seer Alaundo prophesied that seven scourges would sweep Cormyr way in ruin. For centuries the royal family has stood watch against that day and devoted their lives to the protection of the realm.

But in a time when their ancient guardians slumber and their most loyal servants disappear, when a terrible evil prepares to sweep down upon their home --

Who will protect the royal family?

Azoun IV, in the twilight of his years, is still a shining hero to most of his subjects, and to all but the eldest, the only king they've ever known. He's led them capably out of dark doom before.

Yet Cormyr has never faced so many mighty and mysterious foes at once. Demonic ghazneths, ancient curses, weird trees of foul magic, goblins and their kin on the rise in the northern wilderlands, a blight upon the land, rebellious mutterings, dying war wizards... and a dragon the likes of which no living eyes on Faerun have ever seen.

The Purple Throne doesn't seem so unassailable now. It could well shatter under the weight of a gigantic dragon--or the secrets and follies of the last of the Obarskyrs.

New York Times best-selling author Troy Denning pens the 2nd novel in the Empires Trilogy, a saga set in the land of Kara-Tur within the Forgotten Realms.

The barbarbarian horde has breached the ancient Dragonwall and now threatens the oriental land of Shou Lung. Powerful as they are, the Shou army's only hope lies with Batu Min Ho, a young general who is himself a third generation descendant of Tuigan barbarians. But Batu's wife must fight her own battle in the treacherous political terrain of the imperial court, as a psy attempts to undermine the empreror's confidence in her husband. And if Batu is to retain his command and save Shou Lung, it is a battle she must not lose.

In the fifth book of the multi-author Sundering series, New York Times best-selling author Troy Denning sends an embittered paladin, Kleef Kenric, on a quest to stop evil forces from taking advantage of the chaos rolling across the land of Faerûn and claiming dominion over the entirety of the Realms.

Stubbornly clinging to his family's worship of a long-forgotten god, Kleef Kenric soon discovers that his god has blessed him with divine gifts, making him one of a new group of Chosen cropping up around the Realms. This divine gift makes him an excellent ally--and a target for those who wish corral his powers.

After battling his way out Marsember, a city besieged on all sides in the wake of the Sundering, he becomes swept up in the mission of a group of odd allies--a warrior noblewoman, an accomplished thief, and a mysterious short pudgy man exuding a faint odor of decay. With the forces of Shade tracking their every step, they travel to the Underdark to thwart the rise of the goddess of Death, but before long Kleef learns that his allies hide dangerous secrets--secrets that could destroy not only Kleef but the very fabric of the Forgotten Realms.

For a millennium, men and giants have abided together in the snowy wilderness of the Ice Spires, all paying fealty to a single dynasty of human kings.

A thousand years of peace is about to shatter.

When an ogre horde kidnaps Brianna of Hartwick - the fiery heir to Hartvale's throne - King Camden must choose between love of his daughter and duty to his kingdom. Only Tavis Burdun, a brash firbolg scout who covets Brianna's hand, has the courage to go after her. Before he saves the princess, though, he must uncover the kingdom's most jealously guarded secret...

The rise of a new queen has shattered the ancient peace of the Ice Spires, and the only thing left standing between Hartsvale and the giant tribes bent on her destruction is a lone scout armed with a single golden arrow. And now that sanctuary is about to end.

The queen is trapped in a remote citadel, surrounded by giants, and the scout who would save her must now leave and undertake a harrowing journey to summon help. Only, as the scout soon learns, the greatest danger to the queen is posed not from without, but from within.

For untold centuries, a banished titan has lurked in the cold, forbidden dusk of the Twilight Vale--imprisoned for a crime as black as the boreal night. With the birth of a new king comes the titan's freedom.

The Kingdom hangs in the balance as the queen's consort is forced to choose between his love for his son and the dark prophesy that says his child will unleash a cataclysmic war. But before he can choose, a thief steals both the boy and the choice away from him.

She is beautiful, she is a princess, and Aphrodite is her favorite goddess, but something in Helen of Sparta just itches for more out of life. Not one to count on the gods - or her looks - to take care of her, Helen sets out to get what she wants with steely determination and a sassy attitude. That same attitude makes Helen a few enemies - such as the self-proclaimed "son of Zeus" Theseus - but it also intrigues, charms, and amuses those who become her friends, from the famed huntress Atalanta to the young priestess who is the Oracle of Delphi.

In Nobody's Princess, author Esther Friesner deftly weaves together history and myth as she takes a new look at the girl who will become Helen of Troy. The resulting story offers up adventure, humor, and a fresh and engaging heroine you cannot help but root for.

In this rousing sequel to Nobody's Princess, young Helen of Sparta is not about to be left behind when her older brothers head off to join the quest for the Golden Fleece. Accompanied by her friend Milo, and disguised as a boy herself, Helen sets out to join the crew of heroes aboard the massive ship known as The Argo.

Helen quickly faces all sorts of danger. There are battles to be fought, as well as an encounter with a terrifying murderous princess. With her beauty blossoming, Helen's journey takes her beyond the mythology of the Golden Fleece to Athens, where her very future as Queen of Sparta is threatened.

It is the beginning of the end ...The end of the axe-age, the sword-age, leading to the passing of gods and men from the universe. As all the ancient prophecies fall into place, the final battle rages, on Earth, across Faerie, and into the land of the dead.

Jack Churchill, Champion of Existence, must lead the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons in a last, desperate assault on the Fortress of the Enemy, to confront the ultimate incarnation of destruction: the Burning Man. It is humanity's only chance to avert the coming extinction. At his back is an army of gods culled from the world's great mythologies - Greek, Norse, Chinese, Aztec, and more.

But will even that be enough? Driven to the brink by betrayal, sacrifice and death, his allies fear Jack may instead bring about the very devastation he is trying to prevent ...

Worlds closer to the galatic core than Known Space are --or were-- home to intelligent speciers. Some learned of the core explosion in time to flee. Destroyer of Worlds opens in 2670, ten years after Juggler of Worlds closes; with refugee species fleeing in an armada of ramscoops in the direction of the Fleet of Worlds. The onrushing aliens are recognized as a threat; they have left in their trail a host of desolated worlds: some raided for supplies, some attacked to eliminate competition, and some for pure xenophobia.

Only the Puppeteers might have the resources to confront this threat--but the Puppeteers are philosophical cowards... they don't confront anyone. They need sepoys to investigate the situation and take action for them. The source of the sepoys? Their newly independent former slave world, New Terra.

Summer, 1957.

Atticus Turner and his father, Montrose, travel to North Carolina, where they plan to mark the centennial of their ancestor's escape from slavery by retracing the route he took into the Great Dismal Swamp. But an encounter with an old nemesis turns their historical reenactment into a real life-and-death pursuit.

Back in Chicago, George Berry fights for his own life. Diagnosed with cancer, he strikes a devil's bargain with the ghost of Hiram Winthrop, who promises a miracle cure--but to receive it, George will first have to bring Winthrop back from the dead.

Meanwhile, fifteen-year-old Horace Berry, reeling from the killing of a close friend, joins his mother, Hippolyta, and her friend Letitia Dandridge on a research trip to Nevada for The Safe Negro Travel Guide. But Hippolyta has a secret--and far more dangerous--agenda that will take her and Horace to the far end of the universe and bring a new threat home to Letitia's doorstep.

Hippolyta isn't the only one keeping secrets. Letitia's sister, Ruby, has been leading a double life as her white alter ego, Hillary Hyde. Now, the supply of magic potion she needs to transform herself is nearly gone, and a surprise visitor throws her already tenuous situation into complete chaos.

Yet these troubles are soon eclipsed by the return of Caleb Braithwhite. Stripped of his magic and banished from Chicago at the end of Lovecraft Country, he's found a way back into power and is ready to pick up where he left off. But first he has a score to settle...

A 90-year-old man reminisces about the time when he was in his 20s, living and working as a technician on the Moon, and the mysterious aliens who had the appearance of an older couple from the Midwestern United States and lived with their dog in a "house" there.

This Nebula Award-nominated novella originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, June 2001. The story can also be found in the anthologies Nebula Awards Showcase 2004, edited by Vonda N. McIntyre, Alien Contact (2012), edited by Marty Halpern, and The Eagle Has Landed: 50 Years of Lunar Science Fiction, (2019), edited by Neil Clarke. It is included in the collection Tangled Strings (2003).

Read this story online for free at Analog.

A young engineer working on the Moon repeatedly encounters a couple of strange astronauts doing bizarre things – but it never happens when one of his co-workers is around. Is he going crazy? Or is he being pranked? And who would have the ability to pull off pranks requiring this level of technological advancement?

This novella was a Finalist for the Analog Readers' Awards and was first published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact in September/October 2019.

Read this story for free at Analog.

She rules the city of Sigil from behind a veil of perfect silence. Feared by mortal and god alike, she flays her worshipers alive and casts her foes into inescapable labyrinths of despair. Only fools dare ask her to speak. And the Amnesian Hero has come with a question. When the god Poseidon tells a man with no memory how to recover his past, the unwitting warrior seeks out the Lady of Pain and finds himself banished to the Mazes. With the help of a beautiful - but dead - tiefling sorceress, a horned fiend with a dark disposition, and a deranged wind-priest who claims to be the center of the multiverse, he must discover the secret of the Lady's past - or confront a memory so horrifying it could tear him apart!

In the Capitol, Grand Inquisitor Omand Vokkan hatches a plot to kill every member of the untouchable caste in all of Lok, down to the last man, woman, and child. As a member of the Order of Inquisition, Vokkan has no official say in the creation of Law, but he has powerful allies willing to do his bidding. Through them, he has convinced the Judges that the genocide will be swift, complete, and without complication. Nothing is farther from the truth.

Lord Protector Devedas has sworn to uphold the Law. Once, he and the traitor Ashok Vadal had been like brothers. Now, he hunts Vadal and the Sons of the Black Sword, heretics and rebels who seek to live outside the rule of the Law. All Devedas must do is find and kill his best friend and order will be restored to Lok.

The rebels seek the secret kingdom spoken of by the Prophet Thera, a paradise where water is pure and food plentiful, where there are no castes, where the people rule themselves and are not slaves to the Capitol. Ashok Vadal is not sure he believes in such a Paradise, but he - along with his allies - does seek refuge in the rebellion's hideout in Akershan. But Vadal, a former High Protector who has turned his back on the corrupt Law, will not merely wait meekly, hoping that fleeing to Akershan will spare the rebellion from the clutches of the Great Extermination. No, if it's a war the Capitol wants, Vadal, who has faced down gods and demons, will be all too willing to give it to them....

Perfect for the fans of Shatter Me who are desperately awaiting the release of Unravel Me, this novella-length digital original will bridge the gap between these two novels from the perspective of the villain we all love to hate, Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45.

In Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me, Juliette escaped from The Reestablishment by seducing Warner--and then putting a bullet in his shoulder. But as she'll learn in Destroy Me, Warner is not that easy to get rid of...

Back at the base and recovering from his near-fatal wound, Warner must do everything in his power to keep his soldiers in check and suppress any mention of a rebellion in the sector. Still as obsessed with Juliette as ever, his first priority is to find her, bring her back, and dispose of Adam and Kenji, the two traitors who helped her escape. But when Warner's father, The Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment, arrives to correct his son's mistakes, it's clear that he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner simply cannot allow.

Set after Shatter Me and before its forthcoming sequel, Unravel Me, Destroy Me is a novella told from the perspective of Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45.>

"...the stories you'll find collected here will broaden your view of what is possible or imaginable, provoking unusual - and sometimes uncomfortable - thoughts. That is as it should be."
- David Brin, Preface

The first book in an ongoing series, Speculative Japan presents a selection of outstanding works of Japanese science fiction and fantasy in English translation... and a glimpse into new worlds of the imagination. It was first released at Nippon 2007, the 65th World Science Fiction Convention in Yokohama, Japan, and then made available worldwide.

Japanese fiction has assumed a position of significance in many genres of world literature as it continues to chart its own creative course. Whereas science fiction in the English-speaking world developed gradually over a period of evolutionary change in style and content, SF in Japan took off from a very different starting line. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, Japanese SF writers worked to combine their own thousand-year-old literary tradition with a flood of Western SF and other fiction. Contemporary Japanese SF thus began in a jumble of ideas and periods, and ultimately propelled Japanese authors into a quantum leap of development, rather than a steady process of evolution.

The result has been phenomenal. As new authors developed in this exotic environment, they invented new ways to view SF, and used the genre to form new images of themselves and their culture. The time is long overdue to present the work of Japanese science fiction and fantasy writers to the world in English. We hope this shared world of speculative fiction produces a creative feedback relationship, which can only encourage new and more stimulating visions of tomorrow.

Table of Contents:
• Judy-san - Judith Merril, 1923-1997 • essay by Grania Davis
• Preface • essay by David Brin
• Introduction: Phase Shifting • essay by Gene Van Troyer
• "Collective Reason": A Proposal • essay by Shibano Takumi
• The Savage Mouth • short story by Komatsu Sakyo
• A Time for Revolution • short story by Kazumasa Hirai
• Hikari • short story by Kono Tensei
• I'll Get Rid of Your Discontent • short story by Mayumura Taku
• The Road to the Sea • short story by Ishikawa Takashi
• Where Do the Birds Fly Now? • short story by Yamano Koichi
• Another Prince of Wales • short story by Toyota Aritsune
• The Flower's Life Is Short • short story by Fukushima Masami
• Girl • short story by Ohara Mariko
• Standing Woman • (1974) • short story by Tsutsui Yasutaka
• Cardboard Box • short story by Hanmura Ryo
• The Legend of the Paper Spaceship • short story by Yano Tetsu
• Reiko's Universe Box • short story by Kajio Shinji
• Mogera Wogura • short story by Hiromi Kawakami
• Adrenalin • short story by Yoshimasu Gozo
• Afterword: From Vertical to Horizontal • essay by Asakura Hisashi
• Editor's Afterword: "Translator As Hero" • essay by Grania Davis

The deaths of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, and victory at the Battle of Endor by no means spelled the end of the Empire. In the aftermath, the New Republic has faced a constant struggle to survive and grow. And now a new threat looms: a masterpiece of Alderaanian art--lost in transit after the planet's destruction--has resurfaced on the black market. Offered at auction, it will command a handsome price... but its greatest value lies in the vital secret it conceals--the key to a code used to communicate with New Republic agents deep undercover within the Empire. Discovery of the key by Imperial forces would spell certain disaster. The only option is recovery--and Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO have been dispatched to Tatooine to infiltrate the auction.

But trouble is waiting when they arrive: an Imperial Star Destroyer is orbiting Tatooine on the lookout for Rebels; a mysterious stranger at the auction seems to recognize Leia; and an Imperial officer's aggressive bidding for the Alderaanian painting could foil the Solos' mission. When a dispute erupts into violence, and the painting vanishes in the chaos, Han and Leia are thrust into a desperate race to reclaim it--before Imperial troops or a band of unsavory treasure-peddlers get there first.

Dangerous as the chase is, for Leia it leads into especially dark territory. Already haunted by the specter of her infamous father, and fearful that his evil may infect future generations, she has suffered a disturbing Force-vision of Luke turning to the dark side. As she battles beside Han against marauding TIE fighters, encroaching stormtroopers, and Tatooine's savage Tusken Raiders, Leia's struggle with the warring emotions inside her culminates in the discovery of an extraordinary link to the past. And as long-buried secrets and truths at last emerge, she faces a moment of reckoning that will forever alter her destiny... and that of the New Republic.

Contents:

• 1 - The Joiner King - [Star Wars: Dark Nest - 1] - (2005) - novel by Troy Denning
• 395 - The Unseen Queen - [Star Wars: Dark Nest - 2] - (2005) - novel by Troy Denning
• 643 - The Swarm War - [Star Wars: Dark Nest - 3] - (2005) - novel by Troy Denning

After triumphing in Star Wars: The Unifying Force, the heroes of the New Jedi Order return in a dazzling new adventure!

Luke Skywalker is worried: A handful of Jedi Knights, including his nephew and niece, Jaina and Jacen Solo, have disappeared into the Unknown Regions in response to a strange cry for help that only they could hear. Now the alien Chiss have angrily lodged a formal complaint, accusing the missing Jedi of meddling in a border dispute between the Chiss and an unidentified aggressor.

Luke has no choice but to head to the Unknown Regions for serious damage control. Han and Leia follow, intent on protecting their children from what could be grave danger. But none of them are prepared for what they find when they reach their destination.

A colony of mysterious aliens is expanding toward the edge of Chiss space. The leader of the alien nest is resolute. Adept in the Force, he is drawing old friends to his side, compelling them to join the colony and meld their Force-abilities with his, even if it leads to all-out war....

The epic Star Wars odyssey enters a new frontier as the heroes of the New Jedi Order confront a monstrous evil -- insidious, unseen, and insatiable....

Despite being given new worlds to populate, the insectoid Killiks have not found peace. An unknown enemy has been attacking the new nests -- and the Killiks hold the Jedi responsible. Traveling back to the Unknown Regions to unravel the mystery, the Skywalkers and Solos discover an evil far more familiar than they ever expected... and even more terrifying. Why does the Dark Nest want to kill Mara? Will Jacen's apocalyptic vision trigger another galactic war or prevent one? And perhaps most ominous of all, what deadly secret are the Killiks hiding?

To find out, Luke, Mara, Han, and Leia must embark on a perilous journey into the uncharted void between right and wrong. The ferocious Unknown Terrors are only the beginning of the awesome challenges that lie ahead in their quest to fathom the unfathomable. For an obscure dispute is about to explode into chaos, pitting Jedi against Jedi -- and threatening the very galaxy itself.

In the explosive conclusion to the Dark Nest trilogy, Luke Skywalker summons the heroes of the New Jedi Order from near and far, as the Star Wars galaxy teeters on the edge of eternal war. Yet even the combined powers of the formidable Jedi may not be enough to vanquish the deadly perils confronting them.

The Chiss-Killik border war is threatening to engulf the entire galaxy and raising the awful specter of Killiks sweeping across space to absorb all living creatures into a single hive mind. The only hope for peace lies with the Jedi -- and only if they can not only end the bloodshed between two fierce enemies but also combat the insidious evil spread by the elusive Dark Nest and its unseen queen.

Leia's newly acquired Jedi skills will be put to the ultimate test in the coming life-and-death battle. As for Luke, he will have to prove, in a lightning display of Force strength and swordplay, that he is -- beyond a shadow of a doubt -- the greatest Jedi Master in the galaxy.

Following a trail of clues across the galaxy, Luke Skywalker continues his quest to find the reasons behind Jacen Solo's dark downfall and to win redemption for the Jedi Order. Sojourning among the mysterious Aing-Tii monks has left Luke and his son Ben with no real answers, only the suspicion that the revelations they seek lie in the forbidden reaches of the distant Maw Cluster. There, hidden from the galaxy in a labyrinth of black holes, dwell the Mind Walkers: those whose power to transcend their bodies and be one with the Force is as seductive and intoxicating as it is potentially fatal. But it may be Luke's only path to the truth.

Meanwhile, on Coruscant, the war of wills between Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala and the Jedi Order is escalating. Outraged over the carbonite freezing of young Jedi Knights Valin and Jysella Horn after their inexplicable mental breakdowns, the Jedi are determined to defy Daala's martial tactics, override Council Master Kenth Hamner's wavering leadership, and deal on their own terms with the epidemic of madness preying on their ranks. As Han and Leia Solo, along with their daughter Jaina, join the fight to protect more stricken Knights from arrest, Jedi healers race to find a cure for the rapidly spreading affliction. But none of them realize the blaster barrel is already swinging in their direction--and Chief Daala is about to pull the trigger.

Nor do Luke and Ben, deep in the Maw Cluster and pushing their Force abilities beyond known limits, realize how close they are--to the Sith strike squad bent on exterminating the Skywalkers, to a nexus of dark-side energy unprecedented in its power and its hunger, and to an explosive confrontation between opposing wielders of the Force from which only one Master--good or evil--can emerge alive.

In a stunning turn of events, Luke Skywalker and his son, Ben, joined forces with members of the Sith armada sent to kill them--and turned their combined might against the monstrous being Abeloth. But with one menace dealt with, a new and even more insidious threat looms.

Now Luke and Ben must go on the run, taking along the inscrutable--and ever dangerous--Sith apprentice Vestara Khai. With a host of Sith warriors in hot pursuit, the Skywalkers soon find themselves trapped on the moon Pydyr, caught between their former allies and a mob of angry Fallanassi. A new truce may be their only hope. But can a Sith ever be trusted?

With the Jedi's most famous father-and-son team outnumbered and outgunned, the countdown to galactic disaster has begun--and time is running out.

There can be no surrender.
There will be no mercy.
It's not just the future of the galaxy at stake--
It's the destiny of the Force.

In the stunning finale of the epic Fate of the Jedi series, Jedi and Sith face off--with Coruscant as their battlefield. For the Sith, it's the chance to restore their dominance over the galaxy that forgot them for so long. For Abeloth, it's a giant step in her quest to conquer all life everywhere. For Luke Skywalker, it's a call to arms to eradicate the Sith and their monstrous new master once and for all.

In a planetwide strike, teams of Jedi Knights take the Sith infiltrators by swift and lethal surprise. But victory against the cunning and savage Abeloth, and the terrifying endgame she has planned, is anything but certain. And as Luke, Ben, Han, Leia, Jaina, Jag, and their allies close in, the devastating truth about the dark side incarnate will be exposed--and send shock waves through the Jedi Order, the galaxy, and the Force itself.

The stunning follow-up to Fate of the Jedi! Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia have spent a lifetime fighting wars, bringing the Jedi back from extinction, raising families, and saving the galaxy more times than they can count. They've earned the right to rest on their laurels and let the younger generation shoulder the burden - but fate has another adventure in store for our heroes, a quest only they can tackle and hope to survive...

Forty years after the Battle of Yavin a dangerous new era in the Star Wars epic begins--the revelations are shocking, the stakes desperate, and the enemy everywhere.

As civil war threatens the unity of the Galactic Alliance, Han and Leia Solo have enraged their families and the Jedi by joining the Corellian insurgents. But the Solos draw the line when they discover the rebels' plot to make the Hapan Consortium an ally--which rests upon Hapan nobles murdering their pro-Alliance queen and her daughter.

Yet the Solos' selfless determination to save the queen cannot dispel the inescapable consequences of their actions, that will pit mother against son and brother against sister in the battles ahead. For as Jacen Solo's dark powers grow stronger under the Dark Jedi Lumiya, and his influence over Ben Skywalker becomes more insidious, Luke's concern for his nephew forces him into a life-and-death struggle against his fiercest foe, and Han and Leia Solo find themselves at the mercy of their deadliest enemy... their son.

The galaxy is in turmoil due to spreading and incresingly violent civil war - and the Solo/Walker clan is in shock after the horrifying murder of one of it's most beloved members. Jacen Solo, now a full Sith Lord, has seized control of the Galactic Alliance. Luke Skywalker's judgement is clouded by grief, even as he faces his most momentous decision since becoming Grand Master of the Jedi order: whether to support Jacen's illegitimate government against the forces threatening Coruscant... or to join the Rebel Confederacy and take arms against the Galactic Alliance he helped forge.

No war can last forever. Now, in the long and punishing battle between the defiant champions of the New Jedi Order and the juggernaut that is the Galactic Alliance, the endgame is finally at hand. With so much lost--and nothing less than the course of the future still at stake--there can be no turning back. No matter the consequences.

The rebel cause is losing ground under the twin blows of Admiral Gilad Pellaeon's assassination and the death of Mara Jade Skywalker. At the same time, having gained the support of the Imperial Remnant and its ruthlessly efficient forces, the Galactic Alliance, with the extraordinary power and dark brilliance of newly ascendant Sith Lord Darth Caedus at its helm, may be unstoppable. Tormented and torn between the call of duty and the thirst for vengeance, Luke has searched the Force and beheld an unspeakable vision of the galaxy enslaved under tyranny more monstrous than even Palpatine's. Now it seems that the last, best hope lies in mobilizing the scattered Jedi for one decisive search-and-destroy mission. The objective: eliminate Darth Caedus.

It's a plan that will be as difficult and dangerous to execute as it is daring. For Caedus is a scion of both the Skywalker and Solo bloodlines whose command of the Force surpasses even that of his grandfather

Darth Vader. There is only one who is bound by destiny to stand against him in what will surely be a duel to the death, only one with an outside chance of bringing down the dark lord who was once Jacen Solo.

Failure is not an option. The furious final moments between power and peace are here, and whoever confronts Darth Caedus will decide the outcome--and the fate of those left standing.

A must-read for every fan of Star Wars fiction and the New Jedi Order series in particular! It is a dark time for the New Republic. The Yuuzhan Vong, despite some recent losses, continue to advance into the Core, and continue their relentless hunt for the Jedi. Now, in a desperate act of courage, Anakin Solo leads a Jedi strike force into the heart of Yuuzhan Vong territory, where he hopes to destroy a major Vong anti-Jedi weapon. There, with his brother and sister at his side, he will come face to face with his destiny--as the New Republic, still fighting the good fight, will come face to face with theirs...

Shinichi Sotoyama might just be the world's most average high schooler. That is, until he finds himself summoned by the Blue Demon King to a fantasy world-just like his favorite RPG games! Except this Demon King is pathetically begging at his feet, lamenting the arrival of some "heroes"... who apparently, have infinite lives and respawn over and over again?!

Unlike his hysterical summoner, Shinichi coolly takes on the challenge of fending off these pesky heroes, literally shaking hands with the devil. But the demon clan is about to find out that his twisted mind is darker than the worst of them!

After defeating the heroes, Shinichi is ready to live out his happily ever after--until a powerful light spell blasts through the sky, marking the arrival of his newest enemy, the Saint! Shinichi is all too eager to take down this adversary, but when he realizes she's surrounded by holy warriors around the clock and won't fall for his sweet nothings, he scrambles to come up with another plan. The latest rendition of his genius scheme somehow involves the daughter of the Demon King and a dirty way to make her official debut... as an idol?!

Two new developments have emboldened Shinichi to storm the Holy City with Celes.

First: Saint Sanctina's officially joined his crew.

And second: he's got more supporters than ever rallying to unite humans and demons.

His next target? The Holy Mother Cardinal, Vermeita, who plays a critical role in the church. With a perfect plan to bring her down, Shinichi's got a real shot at human-demon harmony-until a certain man with the Goddess's blessing threatens to mess it all up, commanding an army of ten thousand heroes...

With all dirty schemes successfully deployed, Shinichi and his friends have finally gotten the church to agree to a temporary truce. Next up is... taking on the Goddess herself! Easier said than done, since they still have no leads on who she is or where she could be hiding. Their only hope is to locate a forest at the top of the Goddess's hit list, known for housing the Elven Tomb. But Shinichi will need to tread carefully: The elves protecting the sacred monument are so hostile toward humans that even the undying heroes are no match for them!

After escaping the Goddess's attacks by going deep into the Demon World, Shinichi is desperate to find a way to counterattack. But even when he scans the ancient texts to get a leg up on her, he doesn't come up with any leads. That's when he finds where the red dragon has been slumbering all this time. In this climactic volume, Shinichi realizes he needs to act now--if he wants a shot at taking the Goddess down for good!

Who knew life without the goddess could be so peaceful...? Just kidding! With nothing to believe in, the humans are in total chaos. Trouble is around every corner-no immortal heroes and too many demons, scheming government officials, and corrupt clergy members. As if that isn't enough, Shinichi needs to deliver on his promises and tie up all the loose ends... including picking a primary love interest to conclude the final volume of the series!

The island nation of Sileria lies in the shadow of Darshon, the Destroyer Goddess, the great volcano that dominates the landscape and people of Sileria. When she awakens, their world trembles. She has lain quiet for decades, throughout the occupation of foreign invaders.

But Darshon has begun to stir.

Sileria has finally been freed from foreign rule, only to fall under the power of the ruthless waterlords, powerful mages who terrorize those who depend on their mercy for the water that all life must have.

Now their mercy is denied.

Tansen, the rebel warrior, joins forces with Mirabar, a Guardian who is feared and admired for her fire magic, and Zarien, a mysterious sea-born boy, in a stand against the waterlords rule.

As the power struggle among Sileria's warring factions intensifies to a fevered pitch, the tremors of Darshon increase, threatening to engulf them all in molten death. There will be a final reckoning that will change Sileria forever. But no one may triumph unless the Destroyer Goddess wills it.

Rory Thorne is a princess with thirteen fairy blessings, the most important of which is to see through flattery and platitudes. As the eldest daughter, she always imagined she'd inherit her father's throne and govern the interplanetary Thorne Consortium.

Then her father is assassinated, her mother gives birth to a son, and Rory is betrothed to the prince of a distant world.

When Rory arrives in her new home, she uncovers a treacherous plot to unseat her newly betrothed and usurp his throne. An unscrupulous minister has conspired to name himself Regent to the minor (and somewhat foolish) prince. With only her wits and a small team of allies, Rory must outmaneuver the Regent and rescue the prince.

How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse is a feminist reimagining of familiar fairytale tropes and a story of resistance and self-determination--how small acts of rebellion can lead a princess to not just save herself, but change the course of history.

Ancient Greece: A place where the gods hold mortal life cheap, mere playthings to amuse, delight, and abuse at their will.

But those puny mortals are not wholly devoid of power and at the core of their fabulous city-states lies the Labyrinth, where they can shape the powers of the heavens to their own design. When Theseus entered the Labyrinth and came away with the prize of freedom and his beloved Adrianne, Mistress of the Labyrinth, his future seemed assured... Until he abandoned her for the unforgivable sin of bearing him only a daughter, and the world seemed to change. From that day forward, all the Labyrinths in the ancient world started to decay. It slowly became clear that power was fading from the city-states.

Was it the natural decline that comes to all cultures or was it because the power of the Labyrinth had been corrupted by a woman spurned?

A hundred years pass--Troy has fallen and the Trojans are a scattered and humbled people. The warrior Brutus is of the line of kings and gods. He wears the golden kingship bands of Troy proudly--but they are his only mementos of a former glory, for he is a man without a country and is left little else but pride and a memory of the latent power that he could wield if but given a chance. When he receives a god-sent vision of a distant shore where he can rebuild the ancient kingdom, he will move heaven and earth to reach his destiny.

Ever eastward he is drawn, to a lovely and mystical green land that offers him a haven--and a dream of power and conquest. Nothing will deter him... not even the entreaties of the young princess whom he took as his wife and bedded against her will. First her hatred--and now her love--torment and bind him. She is the only one who realizes the danger he is stepping into, and she will do anything to save him... and his son, whom she carries in her womb.

For in the mists of Albion there lies a woman of power--a woman who has used her siren call to cloud Brutus's mind and has her own reasons for luring the warrior to these lush shores....

She is the long-descended granddaughter of Adrianne, and she has in her heart a hatred that has been passed down for generations. Her plans for Brutus will enact a revenge that could destroy the gods themselves.

If Brutus makes the journey successfully, it will be the next step in the Game of the Labyrinth and might start a complicated contest of wills that could span centuries....

From ancient Greece they came, remnants of the glorious Trojans. Led by Brutus, Kingman, holder of the bands of gold that wield the very magic of the Gods, these travelers are bowed but not broken, and they have come to Albion to begin anew. A vision of beauty called them to create a new Troy, and when they landed on the shores of the land that became Britain, they found an old magic that was fading. And so they began to construct a new Labyrinth, a place of magic that will bring unimaginable power to those who can control it.

The temptress who brought Brutus to this land seeks to use him for her own purposes, but in that she fails, for it is the bride of Brutus who dooms the completion of the labyrinth... and sends all the players in this drama--handsome Brutus, his beautiful wife, Cornelia, and the sensuous and deadly Genvissa--into a hell of death and rebirth, until the Labyrinth is completed and the ancient magic is set free.

A thousand years pass. Cathedrals rise in place of mud and wattle huts, hymns to saints replace odes to Celtic and Greek gods. But the magic from the dawn of time waits, and the players are not yet done with their destinies. They have new faces and new bodies, but old souls--and not all who have come back remember their parts in this drama. There are kings and princes, deadly court intrigues, and ancient powers awoken.

And a warrior across the sea who only waits for his opportunity to finish what was started centuries before...

Darkwitch Rising is the third title in Sara Douglass's compelling Troy Game series, a riveting historical fantasy series of love and revenge set against the very fabric of time itself.

Britian. An ancient land. Most think they know its history. But few suspect and fewer still know the truth.

For back in the mists of time came Brutus, last of the Trojan kings, who was armed with the knowledge of how to construct a magical Labyrinth that could rival the might of the gods. He was drawn to this place by the alluring sorceress Genvissa and together they almost succeeded in creating the Labyrinth. But in the end they were thwarted by Brutus's wife Cornelia, who understood the danger to the land. Her actions however trapped them all into a endless cycle of death and rebirth until the magic of the Labyrinth is completed.

Ages pass. Time and again the players have come close to victory but each time there is a new wrinkle to stay the fulfillment of power.

The Now that these soul travelers arrive in is a most unique one. The English are at war, not with a foreign power but amongst themselves; a mighty Civil War that threatens to destroy a nation. A great pestilence is upon the land and the newly restored Charles II sits upon the throne trying to hold chaos at bay... and he is one of the major players in this drama.

And he is not alone.

1940. The skies above London are filled with German planes on nightly raids, a Blitz that brings a barrage of bombs that pound the city into rubble. Each morning Londoners face the night's handiwork and though they are presented with the possibility of sudden death, they are determined to fight the evil that threatens to destroy their nation. They struggle to live normal lives amid the terror and chaos.

But is it only Hitler's Luftwaffe and the Blitz that is responsible for all the death and destruction that the city is facing?

Brutus, the Greek Kingman who brought the bands of power to the isle of Alba millennia ago once again walks the streets of London, this time as an American major. The men and women who are his eternal companions (and sometimes lovers and enemies) have all been reborn in this time and place. They have come together for one last battle to finally complete the magical Labyrinth buried at the heart of the city. Half completed and resonating with an evil power, the Maze calls to them to complete the Game and possibly set all the players free. As Brutus works to find a solution that will end his age-old pain he comes to realize that there is a new power that walks the land. It is strong, hungry, and it has its own agenda.

And by its actions could change the world forever.

Tristan Strong, just back from a victorious but exhausting adventure in Alke, the land of African American folk heroes and African gods, is suffering from PTSD. But there's no rest for the weary when his grandmother is abducted by a mysterious villain out for revenge.

Tristan must return to Alke--and reunite with his loud-mouthed sidekick, Gum Baby--in order to rescue Nana and stop the culprit from creating further devastation. Anansi, now a "web developer" in Tristan's phone, is close at hand to offer advice, and several new folk heroes will aid Tristan in his quest, but he will only succeed if he can figure out a way to sew broken souls back together.

He is a man of many names. Some call him the Golden One; others, the Lord of the Silver Bow. To the Dardanians, he is Prince Aeneas. But to his friends, he is Helikaon. Strong, fast, quick of mind, he is a bold warrior, hated by his enemies, feared even by his Trojan allies. For there is a darkness at the heart of the Golden One, a savagery that, once awakened, can be appeased only with blood.

Argurios the Mykene is a peerless fighter, a man of unbending principles and unbreakable will. Like all of the Mykene warriors, he lives to conquer and to kill. Dispatched by King Agamemnon to scout the defenses of the golden city of Troy, he is Helikaon's sworn enemy.

Andromache is a priestess of Thera betrothed against her will to Hektor, prince of Troy. Scornful of tradition, skilled in the arts of war, and passionate in the ways of her order, Andromache vows to love whom she pleases and to live as she desires.

Now fate is about to thrust these three together-and, from the sparks of passionate love and hate, ignite a fire that will engulf the world.

Readers who know the works of David Gemmell expect nothing less than excellence from this author, whose taut prose, driving plots, and full-bodied characters have won him legions of fans the world over. Now, with this first masterly volume in an epic reimagining of the Trojan War, Gemmell has written an ageless drama of brave deeds and fierce battles, of honor and treachery, of love won and lost.

The second novel in David Gemmell's bestselling Troy trilogy. Interlacing myth and history, and high adventure, this is epic storytelling at its very best.

War is looming, and all the kings of the Great Green are gathering, each with their own dark plans of conquest and plunder.

Into this maelstrom of treachery come three travellers: Piria, a runaway priestess nursing a terrible secret; Kalliades, a warrior with high ideals and a legendary sword; and his close friend Banokles, who will carve his own legend in the battles to come.

Together they journey to the fabled city of Troy, where a darkness is falling that will eclipse the triumphs and personal tragedies of ordinary mortals for centuries to come.

Outside the golden city of Troy, Prince Hektor leads the Trojan cavalry in daring raids against the forces led by his young rival, the peerless warrior Achilles. Meanwhile, burning for vengeance after the brutal murder of his wife, Helikaon commands the Trojan fleet, sowing misery and death among the Mykene navy and supply ships. But even these mighty efforts are of scant avail against the hordes of battle-hardened Mykene infantry, the Myrmidon soldiers of Achilles, and the cunning strategies of Odysseus, compelled against his heart's urgings to aid the cause of Agamemnon.

Now, before the gates of Troy, Hektor and Achilles will find themselves inexorably drawn into a battle of champions that will decide the fate of the innocents trapped within the city walls. There, as King Priam slips into madness, Andromache-wife of Hektor, lover of Helikaon, mother, warrior, and priestess-must navigate a maze of treachery and danger to save her children and her city from the massacre about to unfold.

First Contact Was Friendly

When aliens trundled a gate to other worlds into the Solar System, the world reacted with awe, hope and fear. When the first aliens to come through, the Glatun, turned out to be peaceful traders, the world breathed a sigh of relief.

Who Controls the Orbitals, Controls the World

When the Horvath came through, they announced their ownership of us by dropping rocks on three cities and gutting them. Since then, they've held Terra as their own personal fiefdom. With their control of the orbitals, there's no way to win and Earth's governments have accepted the status quo.

Live Free or Die

To free the world from the grip of the Horvath is going to take an unlikely hero. A hero unwilling to back down to alien or human governments, unwilling to live in slavery and with enough hubris, if not stature, to think he can win.

Fortunately, there's Tyler Vernon. And he has bigger plans than just getting rid of the Horvath.

Troy Rising is a book in three parts-Live Free or Die being the first part-detailing the freeing of Earth from alien conquerors, the first steps into space using off-world technologies and the creation of Troy, a thousand trillion ton battlestation designed to secure the Solar System.

Of all the hosts of Eurotas the Troias were the most fell. For they were born of Winter.

Between the Solar Array Pumped Laser and Troy, the two trillion ton nickel-iron battlestation created by eccentric billionaire Tyler Vernon, Earth has managed to recapture the Sol system from their Horvath conquerors and begin entering the galactic millieu.

But when the Rangora Empire rapidly crushes humanity's only ally it becomes clear the war is just beginning. At the heart of nickel iron and starlight are the people, Marines, Navy and civilians, who make Troy a living, breathing, engine of war. Survivors of apocalypse, they know the cost of failure.

If this Troy falls, no one will be left to write the epic.

Citadel continues the saga begun in Live Free or Die, following the paths of several characters during the first years of The Spiral Arm Wars culminating in the First Battle of E Eridani.

The fight to free the Earth from alien domination began in Live Free or Die, and continued in Citadel. Now Tyler Vernon, and his troops aboard the gigantic battle station Troy, face a desperate battle with the forces of galactic tyranny. And the very survival of the Earth and its people is not all that is at stake. The galaxy itself must choose to live free or die—and if the tyrants win this battle, darkness will fall across the galaxy for millennia to come.

This novelette originally appeared on Eidolon: SF Online, December 1997. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifteenth Annual Collection (1998), edited by Gardner Dozois. The story is included in the collections Troy (Brown, 2006) and Magic Dirt: The Best of Sean Williams (2008).

Hundreds of years in the future, on a stagnating and almost empty Earth, a space shuttle pilot from the early days of the 21st century is awoken from the cryogenic sleep he entered after a devastating accident. As he comes to terms with this new world, he begins to realise that their history does not match what he remembers - and that only he may be able to stop the coming catastrophe destined to destroy the planet. Until he meets a young woman who seems to have a drive of her own, and a plan...