Search Worlds Without End

Enter into the world of the future where human potential is fulfilled to hitherto unexpected and unexplored dimensions.

Here are nine fantastic stories that run the gamut of ultimate imagination: A young woman whose mental condition makes her think the world is all wonderful; a time when space travelers from Earth are all female and cloned; the decision to destroy Ana; a fairy tale of tomorrow, of the Sidhe, beyond death under the waters of the lake.

Also included are marvelous tales of the dynamic directions that "thought experiments" have taken; the discovery of a new home for the human race--after the holocaust, a time when electronic secrets must be traded for food; the search for the beginning of the world; and a society where test-tube babies have three mothers who can be female or male.

Contributors include Raccoona Sheldon, James Tiptree, Jr., Dave Skal, Mildred Downey Broxon, Ursule K. Le Guin, Joanna Russ, P. J. Plauger, Craig Strete, and Marge Piercy.

Table of Contents:

• Feminism and Science Fiction: Beyond BEMs and Boobs - essay by Susan Janice Anderson
• Your Faces, O My Sisters! Your Faces Filled of Light! - short story by Raccoona Sheldon
• Houston, Houston, Do You Read? - novella by James Tiptree, Jr.
• The Mothers, the Mothers, How Eerily It Sounds - short story by David J. Skal
• The Antrim Hills - novelette by Mildred Downey Broxon
• Is Gender Necessary? - essay by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Corruption - short story by Joanna Russ
• Here Be Dragons - short story by P. J. Plauger
• Why Has the Virgin Mary Never Entered the Wigwam of Standing Bear? - short story by Craig Strete
• Woman on the Edge of Time - novelette by Marge Piercy
• Other Works of Interest - essay
• About the Authors - essay

Contains Nebula Award-winning Novella "The Spacetime Pool" and Nebula-nominated Novella "Aurora in Four Voices"

• Introduction - essay by Kate Dolan
• Aurora in Four Voices - (1998) - novella
• Ave de Paso - (2001) - shortstory
• The Spacetime Pool - (2008) - novella
• Light and Shadow - (1994) - novelette
• The City of Cries - (2005) - novella
• A Poetry of Angles and Dreams - essay
• Afterword - essay by Aly Parsons
• Bibliography - essay by Steven H Silver

The Nebula-winning Novella "The Spacetime Pool" can be read online here:

• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8

"A Poetry of Angles and Dreams" can be read online here

This short story originally appeared in the collection What Remains (2009, with Geoff Ryman). It can also be found in the anthology The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Four (2010), edited by Jonathan Strahan. The story is included in the collection Wicked Wonders (2017).

In Aurora, Illinois, Aubrey Wheeler is just trying to get by after her semi-criminal ex-husband split, leaving behind his unruly teenage son.

Then the lights go out--not just in Aurora but across the globe. A solar storm has knocked out power almost everywhere. Suddenly, all problems are local, very local, and Aubrey must assume the mantle of fierce protector of her suburban neighborhood.

Across the country lives Aubrey's estranged brother, Thom. A fantastically wealthy, neurotically over-prepared Silicon Valley CEO, he plans to ride out the crisis in a gilded desert bunker he built for maximum comfort and security.

But the complicated history between the siblings is far from over, and what feels like the end of the world is just the beginning of several long-overdue reckonings--which not everyone will survive...

AURORA tells the incredible story of our first voyage beyond the solar system.

Our voyage from Earth began generations ago.

Now, we approach our destination.

A new home.

AURORA.

A distress signal on the edge of inhabited space. A mission that is far outside normal parameters. Two very different people with one common goal - survival.

When a distress signal is received from a black-ops space station on the edge of inhabited space, Captain Saul Harris of the UNF Aurora is called in from leave to respond. But the mission is not what it seems. Female members of the United National Forces have not been allowed to travel into the outer zones before, but Harris is ordered to take three new female recruits. For Corporal Carrie Welles, one of the Aurora's new recruits, her first mission in space seems like a dream come true. Determined to achieve the success of her father before her, and suddenly thrust into a terrifying mission, she must work with her new captain and the strained Aurora crew to make it home alive. When the Aurora arrives at the station, Harris and Welles soon find themselves caught up in a desperate fight for survival. Station Darwin is not what they expected. The lights are off. But somebody is home.

Before they can rise victorious, they must first descend into hell ...

Captain Saul Harris of the UNF Aurora gets the call he does not want to receive. Forced to pull his team back together and go hunt down and capture old enemies, he finds himself faced with a whole new terror. He thought the Darwin mission was over, but all those unanswered questions are beginning to haunt him... Corporal Carrie Welles has no choice but to rejoin the Aurora crew and help her Captain finish what they started. But is this mission as straight forward as it seems? Is she really prepared for the fight of her life?

To read a sample, simply click here.

Their hardest battle will be fighting the enemy within...

Captain Saul Harris has found himself at a crossroads. Haunted by dreams of the dead, he fights to keep his soldiers safe as events spiral out of his control. But has his search for the truth led him to discover there is more to this mission of chasing Sharley than meets the eye?

Meanwhile, Corporal Carrie Welles seeks revenge. Consumed with demons from her past two missions, she goes rogue in the hope that her actions will end all the pain and suffering the Aurora team has endured. But will facing the enemy free them all from Sharley's cruel grasp, or has she condemned herself to a suicide mission?

As the mystery of Sharley and UNFASP unfolds and lives hang in the balance, Harris and Carrie are forced to search deep inside themselves, and what they find will shock them.

To read a sample, simply click here.

The beginning, and end, of everything...

After the dramatic events of the past few missions, Captain Saul Harris and Corporal Carrie Welles have found themselves on a path they never expected to be on. Carrie, more vulnerable than she's ever been, is placed under immense pressure as she becomes the most valuable asset to the UNF.

Meanwhile, Harris works with the Aurora crew to keep the UNF at bay and shield her from their nemesis, Sharley, who wants her now more than anything. As events unfold, Carrie comes face to face with the truth of her father's past, while Harris is forced to confront the truth of his ancestor's. The revelations leave them reeling in shock, but not as much as when the explosive truth behind UNFASP is finally revealed.

Harris and Carrie struggle with the difficult decisions they have to make, while theAurora team endures their toughest challenge yet. Once again they come face to face with their enemies in a showdown that will rock them to their very core and change them all forever.

For the Aurora team, Centralis, is the beginning, and end, of everything.

The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the academy would touch...

A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass tech whiz with the galaxy's biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger-management issues
A tomboy pilot who's totally not into him, in case you were wondering

And Ty's squad isn't even his biggest problem--that'd be Aurora Jie-Lin O'Malley, the girl he's just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler's squad of losers, discipline cases, and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.

NOBODY PANIC.

First, the bad news: an ancient evil--you know, your standard consume-all-life-in-the-galaxy deal--is about to be unleashed. The good news? Squad 312 is standing by to save the day. They've just got to take care of a few small distractions first.

Like the clan of gremps who'd like to rearrange their favorite faces.

And the cadre of illegit GIA agents with creepy flowers where their eyes used to be, who'll stop at nothing to get their hands on Auri.

Then there's Kal's long-lost sister, who's not exactly happy to see her baby brother, and has a Syldrathi army at her back. With half the known galaxy on their tails, Squad 312 has never felt so wanted.

When they learn the Hadfield has been found, it's time to come out of hiding. Two centuries ago, the colony ship vanished, leaving Auri as its sole survivor. Now, its black box might be what saves them. But time is short, and if Auri can't learn to master her powers as a Trigger, the squad and all their admirers are going to be deader than the Great Ultrasaur of Abraaxis IV.

Shocking revelations, bank heists, mysterious gifts, inappropriately tight bodysuits, and an epic firefight will determine the fate of the Aurora Legion's most unforgettable heroes--and maybe the rest of the galaxy as well.

Is this the end?

What happens when you ask a bunch of losers, discipline cases, and misfits to save the galaxy from an ancient evil? The ancient evil wins, of course.

Wait.... Not. So. Fast.

When we last saw Squad 312, they working together seamlessly (aka, freaking out) as an intergalactic battle raged and an ancient superweapon threatened to obliterate Earth. Everything went horribly wrong, naturally.

But as it turns out, not all endings are endings, and the team has one last chance to rewrite theirs. Maybe two. It's complicated.

Cue Zila, Fin, and Scarlett (and MAGELLAN!): making friends, making enemies, and making history? Sure, no problem

Cue Tyler, Kal, and Auri: uniting with two of the galaxy's most hated villains? Um, okay. That, too.

Actually saving the galaxy, though?

Now that will take a miracle.

Wielder Kara Tremain and Allan Garrett have seized control of the new Nexus--the hub of magical power for Tumbor city--created by the White Cloak cult at the Needle, taking their leader prisoner. Kara intends to use the Needle's Nexus to heal the distortion over the city, allowing the ley network to stabilize. But the distortion here is huge, and Kara will need the help of all of the Wielders at the Needle, including the White Cloaks. Can she trust them, or will they betray her, possibly destroying any chance of healing the ley network altogether?

Meanwhile, Allan journeys back to their home city, hoping to form alliances with survivors of the disaster there, only to discover that Erenthrall itself has sunk into the ground and the vicious groups left there have banded together in an even more hostile faction. They attack while Allan is treating with the eastern Temerite enclave, forcing Allan and the Temerites to flee back to the Needle and abandon Erenthrall.

But the Needle is no safe haven. The White Cloaks have begun fomenting unrest, all of it targeted at Kara and the Wielders. The tensions escalate beyond control when their leader declares he's had a vision--a vision predicting the annihilation of reality itself!

Can it get any stranger? Absolutely!

When Peg, Meg, and Teg were first summoned Over Where, vast and varied life experience (along with wide reading choices) helped them adjust to a world where they were the only humans, magic was real, ships could fly, and reincarnation was a confirmed fact.

In the company of the "inquisitors," Xerak, Grunwold, and Vereez, the three newly appointed mentors rediscovered the Library of the Sapphire Wind, and, within it, revelations that transformed the young people's pasts into a vast tangle of lies and half-truths.

But there are still questions to be answered. Before they are done, Meg the retired librarian, Teg the archeologist-turned-mage, and the multi-talented, ever surprising Peg will deal with kidnappings, betrayal, arcane artifacts, romantic intrigues, and the inescapable reality that past lives cast long shadows.

Together, the three mentors and their young allies will uncover the startling truth about what lies on the other side of the Aurora Borealis Bridge--a truth that holds the secret of Over Where, and that will change all their lives forever.

As the dutiful daughter of High House von Hasenberg, Bianca set aside her personal feelings and agreed to a political match arranged by her family, only to end up trapped in a loveless, miserable marriage. When her husband unexpectedly dies, Bianca vows never to wed again. Newly independent, she secretly uses her wealth and influence to save other women stuck in dire circumstances. Information is power and Bianca has a network of allies and spies that would be the envy of the 'verse--if anyone knew about it.

When her family's House is mysteriously attacked, Bianca's oldest brother, the heir to House von Hasenberg, disappears. Fearful for her brother's life, the headstrong Bianca defies her father and leaves Earth to save him. Ian Bishop, the director of House von Hasenberg security--and Bianca's first love--is ordered to find and retrieve the rebellious woman.

Ian is the last man Bianca wants to see. To evade capture, she leads him on a merry chase across the universe. But when their paths finally collide, she knows she must persuade him to help her. Bianca will do anything to save her sibling, even if it means spending time alone on a small ship with the handsome, infuriating man who once broke her heart.

As the search takes them deep into rival House Rockhurst territory, Bianca must decide if she can trust Ian with the one piece of information that could destroy her completely...

A startling, seductive literary novel that entwines suspense, science fiction, adventure, romance and history into an intoxicating new genre.

1908: New Venice--"the pearl of the Arctic"--a place of ice palaces and pneumatic tubes, of beautifully ornate carriage-sleds and elegant victorian garb, of long nights and vistas of ice.

But as the city prepares for spring, it feels more like qaartsiluni, "the time when something is about to explode in the dark." Local "poletics" are wracked by tensions with the Eskimos circling the city, with suffragette riots led by an underground music star, with drug round-ups by the secret police force known as the Gentlemen of the Night. An ominous black airship hovers over the city, and the Gentlemen are hunting for the author of a radical pamphlet calling for revolt.

Their lead suspect is Brentford Orsini, one of the city's most prominent figures. But as the Gentlemen of the Night tighten the net around him, Orsini receives a mysterious message from a long-lost love that compels him to act.

What transpires is a literary adventure novel unlike anything you've ever read before. Brilliant in its conception, masterful in its prose, thrilling in its plot twists, and laced with humor, suspense, and intelligence, it marks the beginning of a great new series of books set in New Venice-and the launch of an astonishing new writer.

The Third Law of Robotics states that a robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws...

In Mirage and Chimera, Mark W. Tiedemann explored the fear and hatred toward robots - and their offworld owners - held by the people of Earth, and the animosity toward Terrans expressed by all Spacers. Now, all the plot threads of Tiedemann's epic story come together in this exciting conclusion to the Isaac Asimov's Robot Mysteries cycle.

After the diplomatic failures of the Spacer mission on Earth - which began with the assassinations of key diplomats and politicians, and culminated with the uncovering of a vast plot to create cyborgs from terminally-handicapped human infants - Ambassador Ariel Burgess and roboticist Derec Avery are recalled to their home planet, Aurora. Unfortunately, their situation only worsens when they arrive, as they become suspects in yet another murder - one that, based on the evidence, could only have been committed by a non-human.

On a world with a 20-to-1 robot-to-human population, is it possible a robot could have violated the Three Laws governing its behavior - and if so, why? Or is something far more sinister at work?

Hugo and Nebula Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, December 1998. The story can also be found in the anthology The Space Opera Renaissance (2006), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. It is included in the collection Aurora in Four Voices (2011).