A black hole connected to the sun. A race against time. A question of who lives and who dies.  Across distant star systems, forces clash to save the worlds they love.  Torrance Black, stranded on a dying planet, gambles on one last hope. Baraq Waganat, the quadar who triggered civil war, yearns to fulfil a legacy. Allie Feder, brilliant physicist, chases the universe's most powerful weapon. Deidra Francis, leader of Universe Three, faces a brutal dilemma. Zina Nichols, ambitious United Government Intelligence Officer, runs a high-stakes op. Thomas Kitchell and Marisa Harthing, long-ago heroes of the Everguard disaster, learn to play a game they never knew existed.  Who will live? Who will die? And what will be left behind? STARBORN, the ninth book of Stealing the Sun, a space-based Science Fiction series from frequent Analog contributor and bestselling Science Fiction and Dark Fantasy author Ron Collins

Starborn - Stealing the Sun, #9

A mage's apprentice. Sorcerers on the hunt. Unnatural magic of devastating power. Garrick is a mage's apprentice, soon to be a full-fledged sorcerer. The course of his life is clear-he will be an apprentice, a mage, and then a superior. But a tragic accident finds him wielding a god-like power over life and death, and as rumors of mage war grow stronger around him, he learns his future is not fated to be as simple as he dreamed. Glamour of the God-Touched follows Garrick as he discovers the forces behind his new magic. The lessons he learns and how he deals with them will threaten the very nature of who he is.

Glamour of the God-Touched - Saga of the God-Touched Mage, #1

A desolate plane. A devastated order of mages. A planewalker hungry for revenge. Garrick has agreed to lead the independent Torean mages, if for no other reason than to protect them from deceit and trickery of the god-like planewalkers. But when he returns to Dorfort, he finds the high superior of the Koradictine order has kidnapped Will, the boy Garrick had taken under wing. Devastated, he vows to retrieve the boy, a choice that results in being disowned by the twisted planewalker who is his mage superior. Meanwhile, the Lectodinian order launches a winter offensive designed to gain control of magic across Adruin, and the remnants of the Koradictine leadership joust for position as they enact a desperate ploy to survive. In Changing of the Guard, Garrick is on his own as he hunts the Koradictine high superior through a trail that leads through demonic underplanes and mystical time warps. Can he survive the planes without his superior's aid? Can he save the boy? And perhaps more important, what will remain of the orders if he survives?The results will change the face of Adruin forever.

Changing of the Guard - Saga of the God-Touched Mage, #6

Fiction River readers make the call in this latest volume of Fiction River Presents. From a reluctant warrior fighting a battle in her own backyard, to a man coming to terms with the racial inequality of his youth, to a romance blooming out of adversity, Readers' Choice offers up favorite stories from the first four years of Fiction River. Spanning genre lines from historical mystery to science fiction to Regency romance, this volume proves why Adventures Fantastic says: "[Fiction River] is one of the best and most exciting publications in the field today."

Fiction River Presents: Readers' Choice - Fiction River Presents, #6

A god-touched vigilante... Ultimate power... A battlefield of pure magic. SAGA OF THE GOD-TOUCHED MAGE: Volume 5-Volume 8:Herein lies the final four novellas of an eight-part sword and sorcery serial that follows a mage apprentice, Garrick, as he's provided power that is much greater than he can understand. Written in a dark, gritty style that is part Michael Moorcock, part Indiana Jones, the true depth of Garrick's situation unfolds into a fast-paced adventure full of heart, plot twists, and political intrigue between magical orders, governments, and god-like powers that cross the Thousand Worlds of All Existence."A riveting tale of magic, death, destiny, and power."- David B. Coe/D. B. JacksonAuthor of the Thieftaker Chronicles"Fast-paced, elegant, and brutal. Impossible to put down."- Amy Sterling CasilNebula Nominated Author of Female Science Fiction WriterThe works contained in this set are:Volume 5: PAWN OF THE PLANEWALKER While the Koradictine order hatches a breathtaking plan to reclaim their glory, the machinations of Garrick's god-like superior take him to Rastella, a cold and distant plane that is ruled by a man who has stolen control of the plane's magic. Can Garrick return to his own plane in time to save those he loves? Volume 6: CHANGING OF THE GUARDThe Koradictine order has kidnapped the boy Garrick had taken under wing. His vow to retrieve the boy takes him on a trail that leads through demonic underplanes and mystical time warps. Meanwhile, the Lectodinian order launches a winter offensive designed to gain control of magic across Adruin. Volume 7: LORD OF THE FREEBORNDorfort evicts Garrick's Freeborn mages, so his first task is to find them a new home. The Freeborn are a flighty collection, though, filled with independent and opinionated members as well as those who are not above treachery to get their way. Unknown to Garrick, a renegade Koradictine mage who has her own ties to the planewalkers is making her last-gasp effort to remain in power--and this time Garrick himself is the target. Volume 8: LORDS OF EXISTENCEGarrick is marked for death by the Lords of Existence and retreats to a sanctuary deep inside the ruins of Arderveer. The Lectodinian order prepares to storm the plane. Garrick confronts his own humanity, leaders who refuse to see the truth, and the most powerful planewalkers themselves as he takes his fight all the way into All of Existence.

Saga of the God-Touched Mage (Vol 5-8) - Saga of the God-Touched Mage

Strap yourself into the cockpit and follow along as John C. Bodin and Ron Collins take you on seven hot laps around the Indy 500's past and future!"Neighbors on Gasoline Alley" - A team from Betelgeuse runs into a mysterious problem. What's a fellow crew to do but lend a hand?"Speeding" - A famous chronumentary director will go to any length necessary to capture the secrets of one of the most horrific accidents in Indy history, including returning to 1964."Oh-oh!" - It's 1969 and shape-shifting aliens from Tau Ceti are out to rig the most wagered upon event in the known universe.  It's up to a vice cop from outta this world to avoid the fickle finger of fate."Ghost of a Chance" - A racer from the far future returns to the speedway hoping to find the roots of her humanity behind the wheel of a turbine racer, circa 1967."Do Android Drivers Dream of Electric Flags" - A past champion down on his luck discovers the first self-sentient AI who loves to drive. Who's in charge here? As long as they go fast, will it matter? "Speedway Fever" - When Bug decides to sabotage a foreign race team with new tech, Kenny has to decide how far friendship goes."The Day the Track Stood Still" - Drivers and cars always have special relationships, but Buddy's is more special than most.  He'll find out just how much when the B'rada come to town with plans to take home something beyond the Borg-Warner trophy.

Seven Days in May

Yesterday is death. Today is decay. Tomorrow is discovery. The Ambassador MissionDrinks on a BeachTomorrow in All the WorldsFighting the RealmsSpace Tyrants from the VoidEyes Flashing Blue and Brown and GreenGoliath's SlingBugsOn edge, with weird!A collection of eight wild, wicked, pulpy short stories from the mind of one of science fiction's more versatile writers, all from the pages of Boundary Shock Quarterly (on edge, with weird!)."Once you see how amazing this project can be, go back and pick up the whole Boundary Shock Quarterly series so you can get introduced to a dozen other lunatics and their adventures. I promise you will not be bored."Blaze Ward, Editor, Boundary Shock Quarterly

Tomorrow in All the Worlds

What would happen if the DNA of Roy Hobbs, Casey at the Bat, and Henry Skrimshander got mixed up with Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson, then the whole concoction was thrown into a blender and set on "comic book?"Welcome to baseball, PEBA style. Where the game is global and growing, and where you'll find scandal, love, mystical powers, ghosts, and even perhaps a Russian spy and a Japanese inspector or two. In other words, anything can and does happen. LET'S PLAY THREE! is a boxed set of all three volumes in the PEBA Chronicles (two novels and a short story). It includes: - See the PEBA on $25 a Day - The Mysterious Case of Shojiro Sano's Bats - Chasing the Setting Sun. These stories are like Robert Coover's Universal Baseball Association would be if everything in it was real. Or in an alternate history line. Or a comic book. Or not not. Who can tell?"If you love baseball, you're going to love See the PEBA on $25 a Day." - John Rodriquez, Commissioner of the Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance

Let's Play Three

"I wanted to write science fiction, and The Novel and Short Story Market laid out facts about the market for such tales . the fields were lush, the game most definitely afoot. I mean, seriously. Add up all that space and you get literally thousands of short stories being published every year. How hard could it be? That peal of rolling thunder you hear is the combined laughter of every writer on the planet."  So goes award-winning SF author Ron Collins's sometimes humorous, sometimes heart-warming, but always true-to-the-bone ode to a life spent writing the short story. Specifically, the science fiction short story. Using experience built through thirty years of publishing short fiction, Collins touches on every facet of a writing career, beginning with "Why the Short Story?" and progressing to "The Only Truth" that matters-as well as "The Second Only Truth" that matters. Inside, you'll consider the difference between short stories and novels, partake in a few reader cookies, and even discover the only reason a new writer should decide to join a critique group. And then there's Write Club. We can't forget Write Club, now, can we? Other topics include: Careers vs. Real JobsFinding Your BeatSpeed vs. QualityStalled WritersThe World of EditorsShort Fiction and the Indie WorldAnd a lot more! All discussed with a personal touch that illuminates a life devoted to writing-and reading-short. If you write short stories, or simply love reading them, this is the book for you.

On Writing (and Reading!) Short

Alban Arthan. Winterfest. The end of the old year, the birth of the next. Katazarra, once the Lord's favorite, has been locked in Fae Realm for longer than memory recalls. Then comes James, a human new to the Realm. A prize, not yet bound. A toy given to Katazarra such that she will bind him. If she fails, the Lord's penalty will be severe. If she succeeds, it could be worse.  FIRST RAYS OF NEW SUN is a short story by bestselling Science Fiction and Dark Fantasy author Ron Collins.

First Rays of New Sun

The doping scandal, the egos, the money. Everyone remembers how the face of baseball changed back in 2006--how it all just collapsed. But, of course, baseball itself would not die. How could it? And after a season or two of discontent up sprang the Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance (PEBA). Today Casey Neal and his buddy Don-o are fresh-faced college graduates unencumbered by commitments like summer jobs or girl friends. On a lark, they tour every big-league park in the PEBA and find themselves caught up in a web of intrigue and scandal that once again threatens the very heart of professional baseball. Against all this Casey is trying to figure out who he's going to be in this world. And Don-o? Well, Don-o is something different all together now, isn't he?

See the PEBA on $25 a Day - PEBA Diaries, #1

Superstitions pervade every culture and belief system. Often, the origins of such superstitions elude their practitioners. The seventeen authors in this latest volume of Fiction River create their own superstitious tales in fascinating stories ranging from dark and moody to light and fun, from introspective and thought-provoking to high-ratcheted tension. Distinct and realistic elements of humanity, love, fear, family, friendship, life, and death provide unforgettable experiences that prove we all practice some form of superstition, whether we admit it or not.".fertile imaginations take these ideas to wild and wonderful directions."-Astro Guyz

Fiction River: Superstitious - Fiction River: An Original Anthology Magazine, #32

A dedicated officer. A dismissive command. Rebel factions breaking away. And-on a harsh, desolate planet-a sentient species, struggling to build a civilization. Stealing the Sun, a space-based Science Fiction series from frequent Analog contributor and bestselling Science Fiction author Ron Collins --- STARFLIGHTAbsence of evidence is not evidence of absence Everguard's mission: Establish a multidimensional gate inside Alpha Centauri A for Interstellar Command to fuel their new faster-than-light spaceships. Lieutenant Commander Torrance Black, career already on shaky grounds, finds himself facing questions. Did they just contact sentient life in the Centauri system? Will humankind sacrifice an entire alien species in their quest for the stars? What price is he willing to pay to see that they don't? --- STARBURSTFaster-than-light travel changes everything Casmir Francis commands Universe Three agents hidden across the Solar System. Together they stay a step ahead of the United Government. The game changes when the UG achieves faster-than-light travel and the ability to control the galaxy. To remain free Casmir's web of operatives must pull off the most audacious operation ever undertaken. Failure means Universe Three will be destroyed and Casmir will lose his family, his life, and the world of his dreams. Success could be worse. --- STARFALLA streak of light across a clouded sky A distant planet. A harsh and desolate surface shrouded in layers of poisonous clouds. A sentient species formed by generations fighting both themselves and the planet they live on. A blinding light burns through the sky before crashing into the farthest reaches of the desert lands. Families want to own it. Priests want to turn it to their favor. But Jafred E'Lar, his clan's representative to the Council, holds a terrible secret and another agenda altogether. --- "Ron Collins is one of our best hard science fiction writers-a novel from him is a major event. Enjoy!"Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-Winning Author of Quantum Night "Great characters I cared about, a kick-ass plot with surprising twists, great techie details, and a powerful story. Pick up Starburst. I guarantee you won't set it down until you've read every last word."Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Hugo Award-winning author of the Diving Universe "Ron Collins covers the spectrum with clear prose, compelling characters and settings, and a bright imagination."Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of ETERNITY'S MIND

Stealing the Sun: Books 1-3 - Stealing the Sun

Two arts, synchronousin waves of speculation. Together as One.¬­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­¬When Ron proposed this book of science fictional haiku, I was amused but skeptical. Haiku? Does he know what a haiku is? Can he even write poetry?Turns out he does know what a haiku is and he can write poetry. As I read along I was increasingly fascinated and delighted. The pairing of haiku and AI artwork is ingenious, truly more than the sum of its parts. And that's before you read Ron's short comments describing each pairing, adding extra depth, often with poignancy and humor. I found myself studying each piece of art to see if I could guess the subject of the haiku before reading it. And then returning to the artwork with the haiku now in mind before reading Ron's comments. You will not be surprised to find yourself sometimes disagreeing with Ron's interpretation or assessment of the resulting artwork. That's okay. Art, like beauty, is all in the eye of the beholder. I was even inspired to write my own haiku and generate an AI pairing, above. The wild-eyed look of Ron the science fiction author writing haiku is perfect! So, enjoy the book you have in your hands. Savor it. Let the combined beauty of the haiku and AI artwork do its magic.  Lisa Collins, editor

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