Search Worlds Without End

Nebula Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, September 2005. It is included in the collection I Remember the Future: The Award-Nominated Stories of Michael A. Burstein (2008).

At the depth of his despair, Howard finds Sanctuary. For the first time in his wretched existence he has no need to run from his relentless pursuers. His wants are provided for and he is safe. But still Howard Landry is tormented. Where and what is Sanctuary? And why has he no memory of his life before he came here? Before Howard can find real peace he must know the truth. And until his pilgrimage uncovers the truth, this fantastic world is no Sanctuary but a land of challenges and peril.

In a disintegrating and lawless near-future, a young man journeys north to a mysterious island owned by one of the world's wealthiest men--and finds an entire new civilization waiting for him.

Ben is a painter from the crowded, turbulent city. For six months his fiancée, Cara, has been working on the remote island of Sanctuary Rock, the private estate of millionaire philanthropist Sir John Pemberley. Now she has decided to break off their engagement and stay there for good.

Ben travels to the island to try and win Cara back. After an arduous journey, he finds himself compelled to stay. But as Ben begins to traverse Pemberley's kingdom, he begins to uncover the truth of the apparently perfect society the enigmatic Sir John is building. Is Sanctuary Rock truly a second Eden, as he claims--or a previously undiscovered level of hell?

Seventeen Spaceships Lost...

If science fiction is prophetic, here is one of the most freightening prophecies of all time. DREADFUL SANCTUARY is an overwhelmingly powerful novel of man's fight to conquer space -- and space's fight to resist that conquest.

Seventeen rockets had been built. Seventeen rockets had exploded. And the last one was the worst tragedy of all -- because this rocket was manned. What would happen to the eighteenth?

There was an invisable menace in space. Man had to lean what it was and how to defeat it. He also had to answer the most difficult riddle inaginable: How do you know you're sane?

This novella was first published in Asimov's Science Fiction, November-December 2019.

An edge of your seat hard SF adventure as colonists on a new world find that nothing is what they expected and that travelling to a distant star is far more dangerous than they'd ever imagined...

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

Sanctuary in the Sky

A cold war among the stars was growing hotter by the minute. As Pag and Cathrodyne struggled for domination, a hot war threatened which would rend and annihilate whole planetary systems. The two master races would have consumed one another long ago, but for one single factor:

Waystation. It was a stupendous synthetic world, famed throughout this galaxy. For Waystation was controlled by a neutral people, and until the greater powers could seize this strategic wonder planet and ferret out its secrets, they were doomed to fretful inactivity.

But as a Cathrodyne vessel drew near to Waystation, the all-important balance of power stood in sudden peril. The ship in itself was routine. But on board was a stranger, a man of undiscovered race, who spoke too little, and, it appeared, knew too much...

The Secret Martians

Jery Delvin had a most unusual talent. He could detect the flaws in any scheme almost on sight--even where they had eluded the best brains in the ad agency where he worked. So when the Chief of World Security told him that he had been selected as the answer to the Solar System's greatest mystery, Jery assumed that it was because of his mental agility.

But when he got to Mars to find out why fifteen boys had vanished from a spaceship in mid-space, he found out that even his quick mind needed time to pierce the maze of out-of-this-world double-dealing. For Jery had become a walking bomb, and when he set himself off, it would be the end of the whole puzzle of THE SECRET MARTIANS--with Jery as the first to go!

In the third novel of the best-selling Dragon Jousters series, The Altan serf Vetch has escaped the enemy kingdom of Tia, only to find his homeland, Alta, enslaved by the evil Priest-Kings. With a small band of followers, Vetch must gather a secret army of dragon riders to rid their world of war and magical domination once and for all.

The first book in a brand new trilogy by well-loved Dragonlance authors!

Two of the authors of the Elven Nations trilogy now continue the story of the elves! The fortunes of war have driven the once-great elven nations into exile in the desert land of Khur. The elves must overcome extraordinary perils including treachery to establish a new homeland.

It's not easy serving Chernobog, the God of Destruction, Darkness and Death... especially during the holidays; and especially when you're out of eggnog and one of your pesky, freeloading mythic creatures has eaten your last cookie.

Roman would like nothing more than to be left alone, but when a wounded boy stumbles into his yard and begs for sanctuary, Roman takes him in. Now elite mercenaries are camped out on his property, combat mages are dousing the house with fire, and strange priests are unleashing arcane magic. They thought Roman was easy pickings, just a hermit in the woods, but they chose the wrong dark priest to annoy. For while Roman might be patient, he is the Black Volhv, filled with the love of his terrible god. For his adversaries, it's a fight to the death, but for him, it's just another day in the neighbourhood.

After nearly five decades (and, indeed, the same number of volumes), one might think they were well-acquainted with the Lady Isabella Trent--dragon naturalist, scandalous explorer, and perhaps as infamous for her company and feats of daring as she is famous for her discoveries and additions to the scientific field.

And yet--after her initial adventure in the mountains of Vystrana, and her exploits in the depths of war-torn Eriga, to the high seas aboard The Basilisk, and then to the inhospitable deserts of Akhia--the Lady Trent has captivated hearts along with fierce minds. This concluding volume will finally reveal the truths behind her most notorious adventure--scaling the tallest peak in the world, buried behind the territory of Scirland's enemies--and what she discovered there, within the Sanctuary of Wings.

This novella originally appeared in Amazing Stories, November 1988. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Sixth Annual Collection (1989), edited by Gardner Dozois. The story is included in the collection Montezuma Strip (1995).

Rising like a phoenix from the embers of an abandoned scientific expedition, the people of Nuala are the definition of survivors. They have fought back against the deadly radiation levels of their beautiful, dangerous world. Nualans have battled frightening mutations, genetic shift, and the highest rate of infertility in the Axis Republic. Their reward is a society based on tolerance, compassion, and cultural diversity, descendants who can sense a lie (and a few who can heal by touch) -- and a bonanza of the rarest platinum group metal in the known galaxy.

Balanced on the border between the Axis Republic and the Fewha Empire, ruled by a constitutional monarchy, the small Nualan system counters its low birth rate by sending out its children to search for mates to expand the planetary gene pool. Some Axis citizens choose Nuala. One, a decorated soldier named Moran, is about to marry a Nualan princess.

But heirs to power and wealth have enemies, both homegrown and interstellar. There are those who would kill to keep an Axis warrior from marrying a Nualan... and those who think it's the perfect smoke screen to keep anyone from noticing where the border is about to shift.

Nuala means survival. Survival against all odds, all enemies, all fortune. They're going to have to prove it.

How much must one pay for an hour of youthful folly? The Pureblood Registry accused Lucian de Remeni-Masson of "unseemly involvement with ordinaries," which meant only that he spoke with a young woman not of his own kind, allowed her to see his face unmasked, worked a bit of magic for her.... After that one mistake, Lucian's grandsire excised half his magic and savage Harrowers massacred his family. Now the Registry has contracted his art to a common coroner. His extraordinary gift for portraiture is restricted to dead ordinaries--beggars or starvelings hauled from the streets.

But sketching the truth of dead men's souls brings unforeseen consequences. Sensations not his own. Truths he cannot possibly know and dares not believe. The coroner calls him a cheat and says he is trying to weasel out of a humiliating contract. The Registry will call him mad--and mad sorcerers are very dangerous....

Ever since the Order of the Equites Cineré stole his memory, his name, and his heart, thinking about the past makes Greenshank's head ache. After two years of rigorous training, he is almost ready to embrace the mission of the Order--to use selfless magic to heal the troubles of Navronne. But on his first assignment alone, the past comes racing back, threatening to drown him in conspiracy, grief, and murder.

He is Lucian de Remeni--a sorcerer whose magical bents for portraiture and history threaten the safety of the earth and the future of the war-riven kingdom of Navronne. He just can't remember how or why.

Fighting to unravel the mysteries of his power, Lucian must trace threads of corruption that reach from the Pureblood Registry into the Order itself, the truth hidden two centuries in the past and beyond the boundaries of the world...

The planet Sanctuary -- A fabled world in unexplored space which is thought to be the last refuge of the persecuted, home to both the justly and unjustly accused. Though its name has been translated into every language in the galaxy, Starfleet has never known its exact location.

When the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise is assigned to capture a dangerous criminal named Auk Rex, their pursuit takes them to an unexplored sector of space. Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy continue the pursuit in a shuttlecraft, following Auk Rex to the surface of the planet, Sanctuary. Soon, Kirk and his crew are locked in a life and death struggle on the mysteriouus planet, which harbors deadly secrets and never releases its visitors.

After the war in the Parish, Adam is looking forward to a period of peace, but his superiors have other ideas. There are rumours from Oxford and the Cotswolds that Father John - who once almost overthrew Plymouth - is building an army, and someone has to go and investigate.

Arriving in Oxford, Adam is surprised to find a thriving city with a healthy populace and technology not seen since before the fall of The Sisters. He also finds it patrolled by the descendants of the Thames Valley Police, among them Detective Inspector Leonie Mellow.

However, it doesn't not take long for dark events to concern Adam. Murders, paint-splashed graffiti on walls, people going missing - and he can't help but wonder if the past is following him.

The Doctor pointed at Bernice. "The wench's mind is addled", he said. "Arrest her before she spreads her ungodly heresy".

The TARDIS is caught in the gravitational field of a dark star. The Doctor and Bernice are forced to evacuate, and find themselves stranded in medievalFrance - a brutal time of crusades and wars of succession.

As the Albigensian crusade draws to its bloody conclusion, men inflict savage brutalities on each other in the name of religion. And the TARDIS crew find their lives intertwined with warring Templars, crusaders and heretics. While the Doctor begins a murder investigation in a besieged fortress, Bernice finds herself drawn to an embittered mercenary who has made the heretics' fight his own. And they both realise that to leave history unchanged they may have to sacrifice far more than their lives.

The mystic Wyrds have been banished by King Charald, whose descent into madness grows ever steeper. Exiled and forced to set sail on the first day of winter, Imoshen's people are packed onto seven crowded ships. Tensions flare under the pressure and the all-fathers and all-mothers are put to the test controlling their hardened warriors. Ronnyn and his sister Aravelle have been separated, just as they feared, and look to an uncertain future. Sorne is betrayed and captured on the seas. Tobazim faces a confrontation with the bloodthirsty All-father Kyredeon and his notorious assassin, Graelen. And, while Imoshen has promised the T'Enatuath a home with the Sagoras, the enigmatic scholars have not yet replied to her plea for sanctuary. This is the thrilling climax to The Outcast Chronicles.

In this semi-autobiographical novel, the hero-narrator is Michael Moorcock, but born in a different year with different parentage. The narrative follows, roughly, the outline of the author’s known life. ‘Moorcock’ is a Londoner, an early school leaver, and smart as paint. A lover of low-lit, he edits a Tarzan fanzine before drifting into SF proper. Scenes from real life alternate with interludes in Alsacia (also called the Sanctuary), a secret London enclave where historical figures mingle with literary ones.

Edited by Robert Lynn Asprin. Cover art by Gary Ruddell. Cover: Jubal defends himself against Tempus.

Shadows of Sanctuary
The Thieves' World Adventure continues.
Edited by Robert Asprin

NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED STORIES FROM THE TOP NAMES IN FANTASY

In the beginning there was Thieves' World, a book so popular that it earned a panel all its own at the World Science Fiction Convention. Then came Tales form the Vulgar Unicorn...

And now "Shadows of Sanctuary", Sanctuary, the meanest, seediest town in all of fantasy, has captured the imaginations of some of the most popular writers in all of fantasy -- ROBERT ASPRIN, LYNN ABBEY, ANDREW J. OFFUTT, VONDA N. MCINTYRE, JANET MORRIS, C. J. CHERRYH.

Join them, and the characters you came to love in previous books, in this third volume of the most unique series in science fiction.

Contents:

• Introduction by Robert Asprin
• Looking for Satan by Vonda N. McIntyre
• Ischade by C.J. Cherryh
• A Gift in Parting by Robert Asprin
• The Vivisectionist by Andrew J. Offutt
• The Rhinoceros and the Unicorn by Diana L. Paxson
• Then Azyuna Danced by Lynn Abbey
• A Man and His God by Janet Morris
• Essay: Thing the Editor Never Told Me by Lynn Abbey

Table of Contents:

• fep - Sanctuary (map 1) - interior artwork by James Odbert [as by James R. Odbert]
• 1 - Thieves' World - [Thieves' World - 1] - (1979) - anthology by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 5 - Introduction (Thieves' World) - (1979) - short story by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 7 - Editor's Note (Sanctuary) - essay by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 15 - Sentences of Death - (1979) - novelette by John Brunner
• 39 - The Face of Chaos - [Thieves' World] - (1979) - novelette by Lynn Abbey
• 60 - The Gate of the Flying Knives - [Thieves' World] - (1979) - novella by Poul Anderson
• 94 - Shadowspawn - (1979) - novelette by Andrew J. Offutt [as by Andrew Offutt]
• 116 - The Price of Doing Business - (1979) - novelette by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 131 - Blood Brothers - [Thieves' World] - (1979) - novelette by Joe Haldeman
• 148 - Myrtis - (1979) - novelette by Christine DeWees
• 166 - The Secret of the Blue Star - [Lythande] - (1979) - novelette by Marion Zimmer Bradley
• 183 - The Making of Thieves' World - (1979) - essay by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 191 - Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn - [Thieves' World - 2] - (1980) - anthology by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 195 - Introduction (Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn) - (1980) - short story by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 197 - Spiders of the Purple Mage - [Thieves' World] - (1980) - novella by Philip José Farmer
• 251 - Goddess - [Thieves' World] - (1980) - novelette by David Drake
• 273 - The Fruit of Enlibar - [Thieves' World] - (1980) - novelette by Lynn Abbey
• 290 - The Dream of the Sorceress - [Thieves' World] - (1980) - novelette by A. E. van Vogt
• 317 - Vashanka's Minion - [The Sacred Band of Stepsons] - (1980) - novelette by Janet Morris
• 338 - Shadow's Pawn - [Thieves' World] - (1980) - novelette by Andrew J. Offutt [as by Andrew Offutt]
• 362 - To Guard the Guardians - [Thieves' World] - (1980) - novelette by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 383 - The Lighter Side of Sanctuary - (1980) - essay by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 387 - Shadows of Sanctuary - [Thieves' World - 3] - (1981) - anthology by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 391 - Introduction (Shadows of Sanctuary) - (1981) - short story by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 395 - Looking for Satan - [Lythande] - (1981) - novella by Vonda N. McIntyre
• 439 - Ischade - (1981) - novella by C. J. Cherryh
• 473 - A Gift in Parting - (1981) - novelette by Robert Asprin [as by Robert Lynn Asprin]
• 491 - The Vivisectionist - (1981) - novelette by Andrew J. Offutt [as by Andrew Offutt]
• 520 - The Rhinoceros and the Unicorn - (1981) - novelette by Diana L. Paxson
• 542 - Then Azyuna Danced - [Thieves' World] - (1981) - novelette by Lynn Abbey
• 563 - A Man and His God - [Sacred Band Tales] - (1981) - novella by Janet Morris
• 597 - Things the Editor Never Told Me - (1981) - essay by Lynn Abbey
• bep - Sanctuary (map 2) - interior artwork by James Odbert [as by James R. Odbert]

If you like stories of bold brave knights employed in meritorious duty, or tales of ladies delicate and fair, be warned. Beyond Sanctuary, set at the foot of notorious Wizardwall, may be too much for your sensibilities. There wizards, bards, and maidens mingle with murderers and thieves, and the fight breaking out at the next table may be the one that ends your life.

The hero is Tempus, leader of mercenaries and warrior-servant of Vashanka, god of storm and war. With Niko, Cime, and the Froth Daughter Jihan, Tempus faces the archmage Datan and his unholy followers - in a battle for the Rankan Empire's survival and that of his very soul.