Search Worlds Without End

Barlo, from the planet Raamz, is the sole survivor of the wreck of an interstellar spaceship. In his pod -- lifeboat -- he reaches a planet which has the atmosphere he needs to survive -- Earth. Befriended by young Toby Adam, Barlo is hunted down by a vigilante group, the U.S. armed forces, and Russian agents who are after Barlo's advanced knowledge of a star drive. Barlo manages to outwit the bumbling hunters, who merely succeed in obstructing one another and themselves. Barlo's eventual departure leaves both a surprise and a promise for Toby and all earthmen.

Table of Contents:

• The Scapegoat - novella by C. J. Cherryh
• Seasons - novella by Joe Haldeman
• Cordon Sanitaire - novella by Timothy Zahn

Table of Contents:

• The Election - (1983) - novella by Robert Silverberg
• World War Last - (1985) - novella by Norman Spinrad
• When Winter Ends - (1985) - novella by Michael P. Kube-McDowell

Table of Contents:

• As Big as the Ritz - (1986) - novella by Gregory Benford
• Fugue State - novella by John M. Ford
• Chance - novella by Nancy Springer

Table of Contents:

• West - novella by Orson Scott Card
• Liberty Port - novella by David Drake
• The Borders of Infinity - novella by Lois McMaster Bujold

This is the first novella collection set in the world of Pratt's popular Axiom space opera trilogy. In this collection of previously unpublished novellas, Hugo Award-winner Tim Pratt returns to the acclaimed sci-fi universe of his Axiom trilogy. Each of these three stories takes fans and new readers alike deeper into the rich world of the Axiom than ever before, revisiting the crewmembers of the White Raven as they strike out on new and enthralling adventures.

Contents

• The Artificial Stars - the machine intelligence (and head of the Trans-Neptunian Authority) Shall sends an instance of his consciousness on a secret mission to an uncharted star system to investigate a mysterious message... which apparently came from a splintered and corrupted version of Shall himself.
• The Augmented Stars - engineer and "radical self-improvement" advocate Ashok, probably the character most profoundly changed by the events of the the trilogy, takes his own ship (and a crew including both new and familiar faces) on a treasure hunt in search of a legendary trove of alien technology. (Which will, of course, try to kill them all.)
• The Alien Stars - everyone's favorite squidlike alien Liar, Lantern, has to take arms (well, pseudopods) against her former superiors, the elders of a secret cult devoted to protecting the grim legacy of the Axiom... and the elders won't go down without trying to take the rest of the galaxy with them.