Instead, what he finds at his journey's end is totally unexpected...In the climactic closing episode of the final season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Captain Benjamin Sisko, his destiny inextricably linked to that of the alien entities known as The Prophets, was last seen plunging into the depths of the Bajoran Fire Caves, locked in combat with Gul Dukat. Although he appeared to his new wife Kasady Yates and promised her that he would one day return, his son Jake has not seen him since. In Deep Space Nine: Avatar, a mysterious prophecy sent Jake on an impossible quest to trace his missing father. However, instead of finding his heart's desire, Jake is thrown across the galaxy and saved by the unexpected intervention of a strange ship with an even stranger crew. Sharing their travels and their dangers, he learns important lessons about dealing with his father's loss, and about the truth of the prophecy that sent him here. In the process, he discovers much more than he anticipated; a revelation that will change the world forever for Jake, for Bajor and for Deep Space Nine.

    This is the irony faced by a group of friends whose lives are changed forever when the mysterious alien race known as the Kethani come to Earth bearing an amazing gift: immortality. These superbly crafted episodes deal with human emotions in the face of the vast consequences of the alien arrival, and show how people across the world react to this benign invasion, how ultimately we evolve as we gain the stars. 7 • Prelude: The Coming of the Kéthani • [Kéthani Stories] • (2008) • short story by Eric Brown 19 • Ferryman • [Kéthani Stories] • (1997) • short story by Eric Brown 41 • Onward Station • [Kéthani Stories] • (1998) • short story by Eric Brown 65 • The Kéthani Inheritance • [Kéthani Stories] • (2001) • novelette by Eric Brown 95 • Thursday's Child • [Kéthani Stories] • (2002) • novelette by Eric Brown 131 • The Touch of Angels • [Kéthani Stories] • (2006) • novelette by Eric Brown 169 • The Wisdom of the Dead • [Kéthani Stories] • (2003) • short story by Eric Brown 193 • A Heritage of Stars • [Kéthani Stories] • (2005) • short story by Eric Brown 215 • Matthew's Passion • [Kéthani Stories] • (2008) • short story by Tony Ballantyne and Eric Brown 245 • A Choice of Eternities • [Kéthani Stories] • (2004) • short story by Eric Brown 269 • The Farewell Party • [Kéthani Stories] • (2007) • short story by Eric Brown 293 • Coda: Diaspora • [Kéthani Stories] • (2008) • short story by Eric Brown

    In their time, long before the rise of the native civilizations, they had terrorized a hundred worlds—not from villainy but from folly, from tampering with the strands that held a universe together.Now the task was to uproot these Gates, destroy their potency for mischief, take horror out of the hands of the few who hungered for power by misuse of the Gates.This is the story of one such Gate and one such world.

    It is a deed that rivals the terrifying power of the Death Star, the long-destroyed weapon of the defeated Empire. But where did it happen? And how? And why? Then death comes to Coruscant itself. As Leia, head of the New Republic, prepares to address the Senate, a massive explosion rocks the meeting hall, decimating the Senate's ranks. Leia survives and recovers, only to be faced with calls to resign from office. Even worse, some of the Senators lay the blame for the attack on Han Solo.As Leia works desperately to clear Han's name, Han and Chewbacca journey to the lawless asteroids of Smuggler's Run to track down rumors of a secret plot against the New Republic. And Luke goes in search of Brakiss, a former Jedi student who has turned his considerable talents to the dark side of the Force and might well have been involved in the unexplained deaths of millions that so disturbed Luke and Leia.But Brakiss is only a small part of the carnage taking place on Coruscant and elsewhere. Luke is being stalked by a master of the dark side who is determined to rule as the next Emperor. Luke, Leia, and Leia's Jedi children are targeted to die. Then billions will follow, in a holocaust unequaled in galactic history.

    Dick award and was optioned by Hollywood. He followed this up with two further novels continuing the adventures of Takeshi Kovacs - BROKEN ANGELS and WOKEN FURIES. He also wrote two further standalone SF novels, MARKET FORCES and BLACK MAN (which won the Arthur C. Clarke award).All five of these novels are collected here as the perfect introduction to Richard's work, or a welcome reminder of his power as a writer. Richard has also written two computer games (CRYSIS 2 and SYNDICATE), comics for MARVEL and is currently working on a fantasy trilogy comprising OF THE STEEL REMAINS, THE COLD COMMANDS, THE DARK DEFILES.

    Stealing the bodies of the living, they are grouping together into powerful consortiums led by leaders from history. An increasingly desperate Confederation Navy is struggling to stem the tide as the race for the universe's most powerful weapon begins. But if the dead can return to life, who will be the ultimate victors?

    Contents:1 · Up the Bright River · Philip José Farmer · nv * 41 · If the King Like Not the Comedy · Jody Lynn Nye · nv * 64 · Because It’s There · Jerry Oltion · nv * 90 · A Place of Miracles · Owl Goingback · ss * 100 · Diaghilev Plays Riverworld · Robert Sheckley · nv * 123 · Secret Crimes · Robert Sampson · nv * 152 · Hero’s Coin · Brad Strickland · ss * 160 · Human Spirit, Beetle Spirit · John Gregory Betancourt · nv Aboriginal SF Fll ’93 185 · Nevermore · David Bischoff & Dean Wesley Smith · nv * 220 · Old Soldiers · Lawrence Watt-Evans · ss * 231 · Legends · Esther M. Friesner · nv * 262 · Stephen Comes Into Courage · Rick Wilber · nv * 286 · Riverworld Roulette · Robert Weinberg · nv * 314 · Coda · Philip José Farmer · ss *

    Enterprise-E, " leading up to the events of the hit movie "Star Trek: First Contact." The "U.S.S. Enterprise-E" has launched, with Captain Jean-Luc Picard in command. In addition to many familiar faces, the new ship also has some new crew members -- among them, conn officer Sean Hawk and security chief Linda Addison.But soon Picard is devastated to learn that there's a saboteur on board -- in the form of a changeling infiltrator from the Dominion Picard and his crew must learn who the changeling replaced and stop it before it destroys the fleet's finest ship...A new eBook from the authors of "Enigma Ship" and "Spin "

    Human colonists serve as world-building crash-test dummies, dropped onto empty planets deemed too dangerous or inconvenient for other races, to pave over whatever marvels and threats evolution had put there. Like so many others, Ramon Espejo ran from the poverty and hopelessness of the Third World to the promise of a new world, joining a host of like-minded workers and dreamers aboard one of the great starships of the mysterious, repulsive Enye. But the life he found on the far-off planet of Sao Paulo was no better than the one he had abandoned.Tough, volatile, and angry, a luckless prospector hoping for that one rich strike that will make him wealthy, Ramon is content only when on his own out in the bush, far from the dirty, loud, bustling hive of humanity that he detests with sociopathic fervor. Then one night his rage and too much alcohol get the better of him, resulting in sudden bloodshed and a high-profile murder.Ramon is forced to flee into the wilderness for however long it will take for the furor to die down. Here, mercifully, almost happily alone, Ramon is once again free. But while searching for his long-elusive lode, he stumbles upon something completely unexpected: a highly advanced alien race in hiding; fugitives like himself on a world not their own.Suddenly in possession of a powerful, dangerous secret, Ramon must battle for his freedom from alien captors and also against the hostile and unpredictable planet. And so the chase begins. Police, fugitive aliens, and a human murderer weave a web of shifting alliances as Ramon enters the greatest manhunt the alien world of Sao Paulo has ever known. If he is to survive, Ramon must overcome inscrutable aliens and deadly predators, but his greatest enemy is himself. With every move in the desperate game, he struggles to outwit his enemies and solve the mystery of a murder he himself committed. A rip-roaring adventure tale and character study of a fascinating and twisted mind, "Hunter's Run" showcases three masters of the form at their best.

    Did some cryptic patron race begin the job long ago, then abandon us? Or did we leap all by ourselves? That question burns, yet a greater mystery looms ahead, in the furnace of a star. Under the caverns of Mercury, Expedition Sundiver prepares for the most momentous voyage in our history – into the boiling inferno of the sun, seeking our destiny in the cosmic order of life.

    Dedicated to the arts and sciences, the Institute seems an unlikely target for an invasion, but it proves easy pickings when the Crusade comes from beyond, determined to impose its harsh, unbending Truth on all the worlds of the Federation. Armed with weaponized gravity, the alien Crusaders will stop at nothing to rescue the universe from its myriad beliefs . . . even if it means warping the mind and soul of every sentient being they encounter. Responding to an urgent distress signal, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise soon find themselves in conflict with the Crusade, and facing individual challenges. When Kirk and Spock are transported to the Crusade’s distant homeland to confront the source of the invasion, Sulu finds himself trapped behind enemy lines, while Lieutenant Uhura is faced with possibly the most difficult decisions of her career.As the Crusade sets its sights beyond Ephrata IV, it is up to the Enterprise and its besieged crew to keep freedom of thought from being crushed beneath the weight of worlds!

    E, Modesitt, Jr, now back in a new trade papeback edition from Tor.After finding out that he has unusual powers, he is banished from the planet Karnak. Martin is thrust into the tranquil world of Aurore, vacation paradise for the galaxy. There he finds that the reality of Aurore is much different from its serene veneer. The gods are wantonly cruel and indifferent to the chaos they cause: are they really gods or just men and women with larger-than-life powers? Whatever the answer Martin Martel must challenge their supremacy to defend his life, love, and the fate of all mankind.

    Simak's "City" is a series of connected stories, a series of legends, myths, and campfire stories told by Dogs about the end of human civilization, centering on the Webster family, who, among their other accomplishments, designed the ships that took Men to the stars and gave Dogs the gift of speech and robots to be their hands.Contents:· City · May 1944 · Huddling Place · Jul 1944 · Census · Sep 1944 · Desertion · Nov 1944 · Paradise · Jun 1946 · Hobbies · Nov 1946 · Aesop · Dec 1947 · The Simple Way [The Trouble with Ants] · Jan 1951.

    At his side, a mysterious woman whose life and memory he saved, whose love he has won for a second time. His name is Derec; hers is Ariel. And their story has only begun to be told...In Robot City, the late science fiction genius Isaac Asimov challenged a talented group of science fiction writers to resolve the conundrums he set for them in the context of his famous Three Laws of Robotics. In Robots and Aliens, a new challenge was put forth: What would happen if the robots of Asimov's universe were to meet alien races? Would the Three Laws that protect both humans and robots still apply when dealing with a species that is neither...?This pair of adventures, enhanced with a pair of essays by Asimov himself, continue the saga of Robot City, where the finest minds in science fiction enter the most futuristic landscape in robot history!

    But one Sangaree survived - the young Norborn heir, the man who swore vengeance on the Storm family and their soldiers, in a carefully mapped plot that would take generations to fulfill. Now Mouse's father Gneaus must fight for an El Dorado of wealth on the burning half of the planet Blackworld. As the great private armies of all space clash on the narrow Shadowline that divides inferno from life-sheltering shade, Gneaus' half- brother Michael plays his traitorous games, and a man called Deeth pulls the deadly strings that threaten to entrap them all - as the Starfishers Trilogy begins.