Aiah worked for the Plasm Authority, metering the shimmering substance that powered the world-city, until she fell in love with Constantine, the rebel Metropolitan fighting a war to overthrow the corrupt dynasty of the Keremaths. Now the war is over, and Aiah is at the mercy of the tyrant she cre...
Peleng is a planet ripe for the plucking, and Drake Maijstral is an Allowed Burglar rated in the Top Ten by the Imperial Sporting Commission. But what should be a simple case of breaking-and-plundering turns into an intergalactic crisis when Maijstral steals something so rare, so valuable, so u...
If I could choose a term that described my overall impression of this book, it would most likely be: pleasantly dissatisfied.Yes, an oxymoron.Simply put, I expected more from this book. The pleasant part comes from the way certain events played out, covering major ground without treading too heav...
‘The empire of the Shaa lasted 10,000 years. Years of terror, infinite violence and oppressive, brutal order. Now the Shaa are no more, but the terror and violence are only beginning…The Shaa, rulers of the universe, began to commit ritual suicide when it became clear that their minds – profoundl...
_The Rift_ is as bloated and turgid as one of the corpses that keep floating down the Mississippi River in Williams' overwritten riff on the disaster/apocalypse theme. Williams has pacing problems, plotting problems and, more than anything else, the problem of having done such a massive amount of...
Conventions of War is the third and final novel in Williams' Dread Empire's Fall series. Lady Caroline Sula leads the guerrilla war against the rebellious Naxids on the Empire's occupied capital world of Zanshaa, while Lord Gareth Martinez commands a battleship in the Fleet task force waging a w...
The clone of a mercenary named Steward wakes up and is tasked with finding out who killed the original. The only problem is his memories are fifteen years out of date. The Beta Steward wanders through his Alpha's former life, piecing together the last fifteen years in an effort to solve his murde...
The saga of Drake Maijstral, introduced in The Crown Jewels, continues. Drake is the number one rated Allowed Burglar in the Human Constellation, a vast-galaxy spanning confederation that exists side-by-side with the ancient Khosali Empire--but nearly everyone he meets seems to want to challenge ...
Silverside Station caters to the rich, the famous, and the celebrated— but is it big enough for top thieves Drake Maijstral and Geoff Fu George, both of whom have set their sights on the Eltdown Shard, a fabulous jewel that captures the light of a dying sun, a jewel that dangles around the comely...
There are three scientific factors that are important to the world: the metropolis, the shield and plasm. (You can read more about them at my blog review: http://yaykisspurr.wordpress.com/2012...)Each of these ideas had merit but none of them fully worked for me. The gigantic planet sized city ha...
Reese looked down at the boy in the hospital bed and felt her insides twist. The boy was named Steward, and he’d just had a bullet removed that morning. In the last few days, mad with warrior zen and a suicidal concept of personal honor, he’d gone kamikaze and blown up the whole network. Griffith...
He could hear the sounds of Alien Inquisitor on the vid. He was carrying a two-liter plastic bottle of industrial-strength soap he’d just stolen from the custodian’s storeroom here in Marlene’s condeco. He put down the bottle of soap, rubbed his sore shoulder muscle, took some whiskey from the sh...
Any restful sleep is impossible: it seems as if she has only to close her eyes for the Adrenaline Monster to jerk her awake and leave her staring wide-eyed into the darkness, nerves alert to any sign of danger, pulse beating in her ears, sweat moist on her nape. The endless hours and infinite fru...
As he left the port Aristide detected a slightly frantic quality to the metropolis, as if the great city had somehow sensed it was already at war. Road traffic had a sullen, aggressive quality, and those traveling on foot seemed uncertain when they weren’t rushing along in furious haste. Even the...
said German Freddie with a smile. “That is your man, I believe.”“That's him,” Brocius agreed. “That's Virgil Earp, the lawman.”“What do you suppose he wants?” asked Freddie.“He's got a warrant for someone,” said Brocius, “or he wouldn't be here.”Freddie gazed without enthusiasm at the lawman walk...
Are you a longtime fan of the series? WJW: I got the job because, well, they asked me. I’d like to think it was because they’d read my other books and liked them. I was a fan of the films, but had never read any of the books. Imagine my surprise to discover that Han and Leia had produced three ch...
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work in any form. With thanks for technical assistance to Michael Rupen, Kristy Dyer, Bob Norton. Investments The car sped south in the subtropical twilight. The Rio Hondo was on Lieutenant Severin’s right, a silver presence that woun...
We were clumped beneath the statue of Jan Hus and in the midst of our medley of South American Tunes Made Famous by North American Pop Singers. The segue from “Cielito Lindo” to “El Condor Pasa” required some complicated fingering, and when I glanced up from my guitarra I saw our contact standing...
He had limped into the Starker house from the firelit military camp outside, from a cacophony of wagons rattling, men driving tent pegs, provost marshals setting up the perimeter, a battalion of Ewell’s Napoleon guns rolling past, their wheels lifting dust from the old farm road, dust that drifte...
Clouds seem pasted to it like construction-paper cutouts. The returning gravity presses on Sarah’s chest. She swallows hard and feels Weasel lying like a rock in her throat. In Roon’s house she hadn’t dared relax–– she was either watching Roon the whole time or riding Cowboy to make sure he didn’...
You're reading the introduction to a new collection of short stories by one of science fiction's most versatile and elegant writers, and because you're reading the introduction I infer that you're probably about to read The Green Leopard Plague and Other Stories for the first time. &n...
A Kyklops had teleported into Overlook Station, and then flown down on the shuttle. Since, unlike humans, it could teleport without apparatus, presumably it took the shuttle for the pleasure of the ride. The Kyklops wore a human body, controlled through an n-dimensional interface, and took its pl...
FROM: Chatsworth Osborne Jr. Apparently, yes. FROM: Vikram Have we found a hidden sponsor? FROM: Chatsworth Osborne Jr. A remarkably unsubtle one, if so. FROM: Desi I’m not spending any money on this! FROM: Chatsworth Osborne Jr. That’s your privilege. But I ask myself if my entertainment is...
“I’ve never seen you out of uniform,” he said as he took her hand. Clattering in her blood was the anxiety that drew her smile taut. “I thought I’d give you a surprise.” “I hope it won’t be the last surprise you’ll give me tonight.” He put her arm in his and drew her toward the refreshments. Sula...