Search Worlds Without End

Nebula- and Locus-winning Novella

"Born With the Dead" by Robert Silverberg tells the story of a man whose wife is among the rekindled dead now. He's heard that she is on a plane to Zanzibar with five other rekindled dead. As a "warm", he is not really allowed to make contact with her. The dead like to stay in their cold-cities. But he'd loved her so much when she was alive, he just has to try! This novella was nominated for every major science fiction award when it was originally published in 1974, winning the Nebula and Locus awards.

"Quicken", a novella by Australian author Damien Broderick, uses Robert Silverberg's original novella as a starting point for a brilliant leap into the far future, widening the scope and tenor of the original story by revisiting some of its subtler implications.

Life has spread across the stars, and everyone enjoys a long life. However, only those who are Earth-born are truly immortal.

But what happens when the immortals of Earth are suddenly faced with their ultimate destruction?

"The Song of Last Things" by Robert Silverberg introduces Hanosz Prime, a near-immortal (though not truly so, not being of true Earth stock) planetary ruler who abdicates his throne and travels to humanity's ancient home to meet the legendarily-beautiful Kaivilda and discover the ultimate answer to humanity's imminent end.

"The Last Mandala Sweeps" by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro comes in as a relationship is developing between Hanosz and Kaivilda. But then someone attempts to kill him. Is Kaivilda his soulmate, or a would-be murderer? And the Oracles of Earth, issuing conflicting prophecies, seem to think that he is destined to save Earth and humanity from the looming cataclysm. Can Hanosz Prime, with Kaivilda's help, avert disaster and save them all?

Nebula-nominated Novella

"Annabel Lee" by Nancy Kress:

Set in the near future, this story gives us a world increasingly hostile to new ideas as religious fundamentalism dictates social agenda, and where the primary use of science is to bolster these very same uncompromising attitudes.

This is a world we can imagine very easily, since the author takes us down the sliding slope very gently. Years pass, and attitudes change a little bit here... and a little bit there... until the cumulative impact of these cultural changes becomes a thought-controlling nightmare.

Annabel Lee is a child of this society, but unique. She has been infected by a long-dormant alien parasite. But this "infection" may be the only hope for the world - if she can survive long enough.

The companion novelette "Strange Attraction" by Therese Pieczynski predates Kress' world and takes us to back to 1980s Nicaragua, where a strange demon lurks.