Search Worlds Without End

Nommo-nominated novella

What is true evil? How do you fight it?

Since she was little, Lada wanted to be part of the Order of Fennarin, one of the warrior-monks who are the last bastion in a war against the demons and insurgents that threaten her island home. Yet to achieve her dream, Lada turned blood traitor, her decision leading to the death and exile of her family.

Her betrayal comes to haunt her now, ten years later, when her elders demand that she oversees her brother Ailas's trial. Lada feared him lost forever, thanks to his covenant with demons, which makes him anathema to her and her order.

Will she deny her blood and uphold the order that's become her family? Or will she listen to the whispers of the demons? After all, they might just be telling the truth - though a truth that may make her question everything, even the organisation to which she's entrusted her very soul.

In the fantastic land of Markovy east of Europe, in the Iron Wood filled with werewolves and other unpleasant creatures, in the house of the dreaded Bone Witch, lives a young orphan girl named Aria. Her life is changed forever when a foreign knight, Sir Roye de Roye, enters the forest pursued by enemies, carrying with him the most precious artifact of the kingdom, the egg of the Firebird. Aria saves him and falls in love with him, and it becomes her mission in life to restore the egg to the firebird's nest. And so she and her knight set out on a wonderful quest, filled with spectacle, romance, and hairs-breadth escapes, to save the land and find a life together.

From the distant dipoles of the universe, two telepathic computers, Largo and Czandra, known as Control, rule over life on all civilized planets. And now, with Project Cancelar, Control has formulated a plan for achieving immortality... a plan which requires as fodder the collapsing of the universe and the destruction of all life. And there is nothing the humans can do.

But there is another force in the universe, hidden in the abyss of the Silent Quarter... plotting destruction of Control. A force that is about to be demolished! Before it expires, it launches from its depths a magic ring, an elixir, and a man and a woman in love - riding within the living spirit of a remarkable spaceship to do battle against the cumulative technology of the entire universe.

The world is moving towards alternative energy. Two giant laboratories, one in France, one in Texas, are engaged in a contest to give mankind a limitless source of energy-fusion, the energy source of stars. In France, the European Union is constructing the colossal ITER project. At CFRC, the Controlled Fusion Research Center near Austin, a scientists have constructed a machine they call Prometheus to challenge ITER. When the director of the Austin lab attempts to achieve fusion on the day of Prometheus' dedication, a near-fatal accident ensues, and in an instant the rivalry between ITER and CFRC becomes a race to change the future of the world. But was it an accident, or sabotage?

Prominent physicist and writer Tony Rothman, PhD, uses his technical expertise to create a rare and timely novel based on genuine science. Not science fiction, the science of Firebird is as real as the collision between science and politics it portrays. Rothman, who has taught physics at Princeton and Harvard Universities, is the author of eleven books. He has won numerous writing awards and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

Rushdie's short story discusses sati, or Hindu widow burning, something that was once a practice and has now gained the status of a colonial myth. The story engages with the mythology that has grown out of this discontinued practice.

It is a hot place, flat and sere. The rains have failed so often that now they say instead, the drought succeeded. They are plainsmen, livestock farmers, but their cattle are deserting them. The cattle, staggering, migrate south and east in search of water, and rattle as they walk. Their skulls, horned mile-posts, line the route of their vain exodus. There is water to the west, but it is salt. Soon even these marshes will have given up the ghost. Tumbleweed blows across the leached grey flats. There are cracks big enough to swallow a man.

An apt enough way for a farmer to die: to be eaten by his land. Women do not die that way. Women catch fire, and burn...

Mineappolis writer Abra Staffin-Wiebe brings us a new take on an old Russian fairy tale: the quest for a blessing from the elusive firebird. In this iteration, young Ekaterina celebrates her fourteenth birthday, and a rare firebird sighting sets in motion a chain of events that will change her life forever.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

Forty-one years ago the renowned physicist Chris Robin vanished. Before his disappearance, his fringe science theories about the existence of endless alternate universes had earned him both admirers and enemies.

Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath discover that Robin had several interstellar yachts flown far outside the planetary system where they too vanished. And following Robin's trail into the unknown puts Benedict and Kolpath in danger...

When a pair of mysterious firebirds appear in their world, the first transforming random objects and the second altering time in order to steal, the sorceress Nyx and her cousin Meguet are forced to investigate a dark mystery.

Ilya, son of a Russian prince, is largely ignored by his father and tormented by his larger, older brothers. His only friends are three old people: a priest, a magician, and a woman who toils in the palace dairy. From them Ilya learns faith, a smattering of magic, and the power of love--all of which he will need desperately, for his life is about to be turned upside-down.

The prince's magnificent cherry orchard is visited at midnight by the legendary Firebird, whose wings are made of flame. Ilya's brothers' attempts capture the magical creature fail. When Ilya tries to catch the Firebird, he sees her as a beautiful woman and earns a magical gift: the speech of animals.

Banished, the young man journeys through a fantastical Russia full of magical mazes, enchanted creatures, and untold dangers. As happens in the best fairy tales, Ilya falls in love with an enchanted princess, but to win her freedom will be no easy task.

Cloud Atlas meets Orphan Black in this epic dimension-bending trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray about a girl who must chase her father's killer through multiple dimensions.

Marguerite Caine's physicist parents are known for their groundbreaking achievements. Their most astonishing invention, called the Firebird, allows users to jump into multiple universes--and promises to revolutionize science forever. But then Marguerite's father is murdered, and the killer--her parent's handsome, enigmatic assistant Paul-- escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite refuses to let the man who destroyed her family go free. So she races after Paul through different universes, always leaping into another version of herself. But she also meets alternate versions of the people she knows--including Paul, whose life entangles with hers in increasingly familiar ways. Before long she begins to question Paul's guilt--as well as her own heart. And soon she discovers the truth behind her father's death is far more sinister than she expected.

A Thousand Pieces of You explores an amazingly intricate multi-universe where fate is unavoidable, the truth elusive, and love the greatest mystery of all.

In this sequel to A Thousand Pieces of You by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray, Marguerite races through various dimensions to save the boy she loves.

Ever since she used the Firebird, her parents' invention, to cross through to alternate dimensions, Marguerite has caught the attention of enemies who will do anything to force her into helping them dominate the multiverse--even hurt the people she loves. She resists until her boyfriend, Paul, is attacked, and his consciousness is scattered across multiple dimensions.

The hunt for each splinter of Paul's soul sends Marguerite racing through a war-torn San Francisco, the criminal underworld of New York City, and a glittering Paris where another Marguerite hides a shocking secret. Each dimension brings Marguerite one step closer to rescuing Paul. But with every trial she faces, she begins to question the one constant she's found between the worlds: their love for each other.

The fate of the multiverse rests in Marguerite's hands in the final installment of the Firebird trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray.

Ever since she used the Firebird, her parent's invention, to cross through alternate dimensions, Marguerite has been at the center of a cross-dimensional feud. Now she has learned that the evil Triad Corporation plans to destroy hundreds of universes, using their ultimate weapon: another dimension's Marguerite who is wicked, psychologically twisted, and always one step ahead.

Even though her boyfriend Paul has always been at Marguerite's side, the Triad's last attack has left him a changed man, and he may never be the same again. Marguerite alone must stop Triad and prevent the destruction of the multiverse. It's a battle of the Marguerites... and only one can win.

In the epic conclusion to the sweeping series that kicked off with A Thousand Pieces of You, fate and family will be questioned, loves will be won and lost, and the multiverse will be forever changed.

Firebirds is more than simply an anthology -- it is a celebration of wonderful writing. It gathers together sixteen original stories by some of today's finest writers of fantasy and science fiction. Together, they have won virtually every major prize -- from the National Book Award to the World Fantasy Award to the Newbery Medal -- and have made best-seller lists worldwide. These authors, including Lloyd Alexander (The Chronicles of Prydain), Diana Wynne Jones (The Merlin Conspiracy), Garth Nix (The Abhorsen Trilogy), Patricia A. McKillip (Ombria in Shadow), Meredith Ann Pierce (The Darkangel Trilogy), and Nancy Farmer (The House of the Scorpion), each with his or her own inimitable style, tell stories that will entertain, provoke, startle, amuse, and resonate long after the last page has been turned.The writers featured in Firebirds all share a connection to Firebird Books, an imprint that is dedicated to publishing the best fantasy and science fiction for teenage and adult readers.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction (2003) - essay by Sharyn November
• Cotillion - (2003) - novelette by Delia Sherman
• The Baby in the Night Deposit Box - (2003) - novelette by Megan Whalen Turner
• Beauty - (2003) - novelette by Sherwood Smith
• Mariposa - (2003) - short story by Nancy Springer
• Max Mondrosch - (2003) - short story by Lloyd Alexander
• The Fall of Ys - (2003) - short story by Meredith Ann Pierce
• Medusa - (2003) - short story by Michael Cadnum
• The Black Fox - (1974) - poem by Graham Pratt
• The Black Fox - (2003) - short story by Emma Bull
• Byndley - (2003) - short story by Patricia A. McKillip
• The Lady of the Ice Garden - (2003) - novelette by Kara Dalkey
• Hope Chest - (2003) - novelette by Garth Nix
• Chasing the Wind - (2003) - novelette by Elizabeth E. Wein
• Little Dot - (2003) - novelette by Diana Wynne Jones
• Remember Me - (2003) - short story by Nancy Farmer
• Flotsam - (2003) - novelette by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
• The Flying Woman - (2003) - short story by Laurel Winter

Here is the eagerly anticipated follow-up to the award-winning anthology Firebirds! Firebirds Rising takes readers from deep space to Faerie to just around the corner. It is full of magic, humor, adventure, and?best of all?the unexpected. The one thing readers can count on is marvelous writing. Firebirds Rising proves once again that Firebird is a gathering place for writers and readers of speculative fiction from teenage to adult, from the United States to Europe, Asia, and beyond.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Sharyn November
• Huntress - novelette by Tamora Pierce
• Unwrapping - short story by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
• The Real Thing - novelette by Alison Goodman
• Little (Grrl) Lost - novelette by Charles de Lint
• I'll Give You My Word - novelette by Diana Wynne Jones
• In the House of the Seven Librarians - novelette by Ellen Klages
• Wintermoon Wish - novelette by Sharon Shinn
• The Wizards of Perfil - novella by Kelly Link
• Jack O'Lantern - novelette by Patricia A. McKillip
• Quill - novelette by Carol Emshwiller
• Blood Roses - short story by Francesca Lia Block
• Hives - novella by Kara Dalkey
• Perception - short story by Alan Dean Foster
• The House on the Planet - novelette by Tanith Lee
• Cousins - novelette by Pamela Dean
• What Used to Be Good Still Is - novelette by Emma Bull
• Acknowledgments - essay by uncredited
• About the Editor - essay by uncredited

First Firebirds. Then Firebirds Rising. Now there is Firebirds Soaring, the third anthology of original stories by some of today?s finest writers of fantasy and science fiction. These authors, including Nancy Farmer (The Sea of Trolls), Ellen Klages (The Green Glass Sea), Margo Lanagan (Black Juice), and Jane Yolen (The Devil?s Arithmetic), have brought new worlds and Old Magic to life in nineteen remarkable pieces of short fiction. Mike Dringenberg, co-creator of Sandman with Neil Gaiman, contributes decorative vignettes. Firebirds Soaring?like Firebirds and Firebirds Rising?sets the standard for short fiction for teenagers and adult fans of the genre.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (2009) - essay by Sharyn November
• Kingmaker - (2009) - short story by Nancy SpringerA Ticket to Ride - (2009) - short story by Nancy Farmer
• A Thousand Tails - (2009) - short story by Christopher Barzak
• All Under Heaven - (2009) - short story by Chris Roberson
• Singing on a Star - (2009) - short story by Ellen Klages
• Egg Magic - (2009) - novelette by Louise Marley
• Flatland - (2009) - novelette by Kara Dalkey
• Dolly the Dog-Soldier - (2009) - short story by Candas Jane Dorsey
• Ferryman - (2009) - short story by Margo Lanagan
• The Ghosts of Strangers - (2009) - novella by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
• Three Twilight Tales - (2009) - short story by Jo Walton
• The Dignity He's Due - (2009) - novelette by Carol Emshwiller
• Power and Magic - (2009) - short story by Marly Youmans
• Court Ship - (2009) - novelette by Sherwood Smith
• Little Red - (2009) - short story by Adam Stemple and Jane Yolen
• The Myth of Fenix - (2009) - short story by Laurel Winter
• Fear and Loathing in Lalanna: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the Kalchyan Dream - (2009) - short story by Nick O'Donohoe
• Bonechewer's Legacy - (2009) - novelette by Clare Bell
• Something Worth Doing - (2009) - novelette by Elizabeth E. Wein

Magic and the force of destiny propelled Bridget Lederle across the void between worlds, through the Land of Death and Spirit, to the world of Isavalta, where she discovered secrets about herself and her family that had been hidden since before her birth. It seems like only yesterday that a charismatic stranger swept her from her home on the shore of Lake Superior and took her on an impossible journey to a strange, bejeweled world where sorcery could spring from the simplest of patterns, with most serious effect.

In Isavalta she also discovered magical powers she had never suspected she possessed before her transit between the worlds. More than self-knowledge has changed her: she is in love with Sakra, a powerful sorcerer and her staunch ally. And she learns that her daughter, who she thought was lost to her, is alive.

But that daughter is also the pawn in a dangerous game of power and politics. The powerful spells of a ruler intent on conquest threaten to destroy both mother and daughter. Torn between the contending forces of magic and empire, Bridget lives an extraordinary adventure replete with unimaginable dangers. Beset by enemies on all sides, she must rely on the aid of supernatural forces she can't control, lest she be destroyed by a fate she cannot imagine.

The Firebird's Vengeance is a finalist for the RITA Award for Best Epic Romantic Fantasy