If Harp could wish, he’d be invisible.Orphaned as a child, failed by a broken system and raised on a struggling colony world, Harp’s isolated existence turns upside down when his rancher boss hands him into military service in lieu of the taxes he cannot pay. Since Harp has spent his whole life being regarded with suspicion, and treated as less, why would he expect his latest environment to be any different? Except it is, so is it any wonder he decides to hide the ‘...

If Harp could wish, he'd be invisible.Orphaned as a child, failed by a broken system and raised on a struggling colony world, Harp's isolated existence turns upside down when his rancher boss hands him into military service in lieu of the taxes he cannot pay. Since Harp has spent his whole life being regarded with suspicion, and treated as less, why would he expect his latest environment to be any different? Except it is, so is it any wonder he decides to hide the ...

Heroes and saviours are not always where you expectOldEarth is long abandoned now, NewEarth a fresh beginning. Its vassal worlds have spread across the void, not always under all the supervision that NewEarth intended. Though NewEarth itself might lead one to suspect the reasons...Luc is an illegal child surviving in the lowest depths, at risk from authority. Ailyn is a Legal, daughter of a General. With her friends, Ailyn visits the lower levels for excite...

A desert prince's love for his slave can become his salvation -- or his undoing.Prince Ashamet does not believe in love. But a gift of an exotic pale-skinned foreign slave unexpectedly turns his world around. The handsome Keril's purity and innocence are unlike anything Ashamet has ever encountered in a grown man. Amidst the court intrigues and mysterious attempts on his life, Ashamet finds himself far too preoccupied with gaining his slave's trust.But is Keril's love truly...

A Coming of Age story, and so much more.OldEarth is long abandoned, practically forgotten. By now NewEarth rules colonies on far-flung planets. One such, Demmos to its settlers, is a mild-climate little world that's inconveniently at the outer limit of NewEarth's expansion, but a welcome source of basic food-grain, and a breeding ground for any useful talent they decide to harvest. And it's growing nicely now their real settlers have been added.Several gene...

No longer invisible, Harp finds that fame, and family, 
might mean an even riskier future.In Harpan's Worlds Harp faced his own personal history, and its repercussions. In Worlds Aligned he must deal with the results. Providing of course that he survives them.So Worlds Aligned is a second glimpse of the humans who survive long after OldEarth is abandoned.Note: Harpan's Worlds and Worlds Aligned form a duo...

StoriesSomething Fishy—David L ClementsMessage in a Bottle—Davyne DeSyeAn Infinite Number of Me—Dan Grace3.8 Missions—Katie GrayAnyone Can ask About Enhancement—Terry JackmanThe Walls of Tithonium Chasma—Tim MajorQuantum Flush—Daniel SouleBrother’s Keeper—Shannon Connor WinwardThat Very Mab—May Kendall and Andrew Lang (SF Caledonia)Noise and Sparks: Ruth EJ BoothTales of the Beachcomber—Mark TonerMonic...

In the new millennium, what secrets lay beyond the far reaches of the universe? What mysteries belie the truths we once held to be self evident? The world of science fiction has long been a porthole into the realities of tomorrow, blurring the line between life and art. Now, in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Ninth Annual Collection the very best SF authors explore ideas of a new world. This venerable collection brings together short stories from award winning authors and ...

For decades now Gardner Dozois has been presenting his annual selection of the very best of recently published SF stories, both byoutstanding up-and-coming writers and undisputed masters of the genre. It has been voted Year's Best Anthology by the readers of Locus magazine an unparalleled eighteen times and remains the definitive anthology for both diehard sci-fi fans and newcomers to the genre.Without fail, Dozois pinpoints the previous year's most exciting and ambitious ...

LIGHTSPEED is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine. In its pages, you will find science fiction: from near-future, sociological soft SF, to far-future, star-spanning hard SF—and fantasy: from epic fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, and contemporary urban tales, to magical realism, science-fantasy, and folktales.This month, we present our special anniversary issue, Women Destroy Science Fiction!, an all-science fiction extravaganza entirely written—and edited!—by women.Gu...

The Time Traveller's Almanac is the largest, most definitive collection of time travel stories ever assembled. Gathered into one volume by intrepid chrononauts and world-renowned anthologists Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, here is over a century's worth of literary travels into past and the future. The anthology covers millions of years of Earth's history – from the age of the dinosaurs to strange and fascinating futures, through to the end of Time itself. The Time Traveller's Alman...

In the new millennium, what secrets lay beyond the far reaches of the universe? What mysteries belie the truths we once held to be self evident? The world of science fiction has long been a porthole into the realities of tomorrow, blurring the line between life and art. Now, in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Third Annual Collection, the very best SF authors explore ideas of a new world. This venerable collection brings together award-winning authors and masters of the fie...