James Alan Gardner

"Only days have passed since a freak accident granted four college students superhuman powers. Now Jools and her friends (who haven't even picked out a name for their superhero team yet) get caught up in the hunt for a Mad Genius's misplaced super-weapon. But when Jools falls in with a modern-day Robin Hood and his band of super-powered Merry Men, she finds it hard to sort out the Good Guys from the Bad Guys--and to figure out which side she truly...

Four years after Festina Ramos left Melaquin, the "planet of no return," Uclodda Unorr arrives. Unorr is a hired smuggler tasked with gathering evidence of misconduct of the Technocracy's Outward Fleet. Much to his surprise he discovers that Oar, a resident of the planet and last of her kind, is still alive. Though Oar's glass-like body is indestructible, her mind grows weak and will soon fall victim to "apathetic hibernation." Along with her old...

James Alan Gardner has been called "one of the most engaging reads in SF." His debut novel, Expendable, was acclaimed by some of science fiction's most esteemed authors. Now, in Gravity Wells, he brings together some of the stories that have helped solidify his reputation as one of the greats in speculative fiction. This collection consists of stories making their debut, previously published stories that have won the Aurora Award, the grand prize...

Life on Old Earth is simple. Under the rule of the Spark Lords, most chaos has been brought under control. Five unsatisfied teachers out for a night of drinking is nothing out of the ordinary . . . until they find one of their students has been murdered by an unknown alien organism. When it is discovered that the murdered student's boyfriend has gone missing, these misfits find themselves tangled in an unofficial homicide investigation that uncovers...

In the twenty-fifth century, under the leadership of the League of Peoples, war and crime are things of the past and life is held sacred. That is, as long as you are healthy and beautiful. But those who are deformed or flawed, or who appear to be misfits in any way, are destined-or is "doomed" a better word?-to become Explorers, crews assigned to probe worlds so hostile, the chances of returning are somewhere between slim and none. In Vigilant, the...

"Sparks are champions of (weird) science, complete with capes and costumes and amazing superpowers that only make sense if you don't think about them too hard. Darklings are creatures of myth and magic: ghosts, vampires, were-beasts, and the like. Doors creak at their approach. Cobwebs gather where they linger. Kim Lam is just an ordinary college student until a freak scientific accident (what else?) transforms Kim and her three housemates into honest-to-goodness...

Three Great Authors--Three Great Science Fiction Stories A Strand In The Web New York Times Bestselling Fantasy Author Anne Bishop makes her U.S. debut in Science Fiction with this engaging futuristic novella. The Restorers travel the universe fulfilling a purpose handed down through the generations. They live and die aboard city-ships, never knowing the worlds they create and save. What begins as a disastrous training exercise in creating and balancing...