A darkly romantic story of magic, love, and suffering
No evil sorceress is born evil
Iskra wants magic and a home, but her magic keeps killing the people she loves. Just when happiness is finally with in her grasp, another wizard intervenes. Now, she needs to choose: rebuild her life again, or channel her destructive power into bloody revenge.
Aliens, androids, magic, destruction and romance, all mixed together in this quarter century of science fiction and fantasy stories from B. Morris Allen.
Includes the complete contents of the collections Metaphorosis, Start With Stones, and Tocsin, plus a few extras, and author’s notes for each story.
Contents
First Era – Waiting for Inspiration
Blind – Who says you’re not god?
Sacrifice – When you don’t stop for death.
Erm the Invincible – Sometimes, they’re not wrong.
Proteus’ Revenge – Words are tricky, mutable entities. Be nice to them.
Second Era – So That’s How It Works
Spring and the Arachnodactylist – It’s a warm, sunny day. Why not stay inside and read?
Metaphorosis – Never change, sweetheart. Not into that.
Manifest Destiny – In the city of prophecy, a hero arrives on the wings of destiny – just in time for his appointment.
The Digital Revival – Don’t point that at me, it has a nail in it.
Silver Lining – Why can’t the elder races just learn to get along?
One Fine Day in Asgard – What the gods do before twilight
The Matter of God – Just what are gods made of, anyway, and who makes them?
The First Assembly of God – Putting together a god is a delicate business. Especially if you don’t read the instructions.
All’s Fair – On the day before the last battle, the old powers rally for a final effort.
Drive Like Lightning … – After following an ancient trail into the territory of the deadly Mechanics, one woman and her ship must escape with vital information.
…Crash Like Thunder – The alien Mechanics attacked from nowhere and for no reason. Or did they?
Third Era – In Search of Misplaced Time
Maison d’Etre – Are you living someone else’s life? Should you be?
The Dark Distillery – Where does evil go when it’s gone?
Crash Boom Bang – A story at any length you like.
Parabolic – One man, one cave, an audience.
The Girl Who Just Went Wrong – And why she did it.
Dancing Through Winter – Having played all summer, the human race must dance all winter to stay warm.
Coup de Tart – The true story of the Knave of Hearts
At Stake – Condemned as a witch, a woman searches for one last sign of love.
House of Hope – Stone and timber make a house, and much, much more.
My Trip to the Awe Tanks – A young boy’s look at progress.
Palimpsest – Change is for the better. Isn’t it?
Tocsin – A lonely buoy stands guard.
Crust – Where do you go when the going gets painful? And how do you get back?
Start with Stones – If you look for magic under rocks, you might find something you don’t expect.
The Stone in the Sword – Some things TH White never quite got around to explaining.
Having played all summer, the human race must dance all winter to stay warm.
After the war, four people survive in a cavern – two adults, two children. But when young Jim learns the truth about his dead father, his small world begins to fall apart.
We danced in the darkness, my mother and I, stepping lightly from note to note. If we sometimes missed our footing, we caught each other before we fell. We could have turned on the lights, I suppose. The portable reactor on the lower level would last longer than either of …
Where do you go when the going gets painful? And how do you get back?
Between a rock and some very sharp objects – you’ve been captured by the Alliance, you’re mostly paralyzed, and there are some nasty tools hanging on the wall. What’s a simple signals analyst to do? And where’s your tough soldier brother when you need him?
This is a 6,300 word SHORT STORY.
WARNING:This is a graphic, literally visceral story about torture (albeit somewhat lighthearted). Definitely not suitable for children.
The bed was too short. Or, as my brother Archie would have said, I was too long. Archie was always ready with a joke. It seemed incongruous in a soldier built like a tank, but the members of his elite battalion said it took the stress away, helped them concentrate …
Are you living someone else’s life? Should you be?
Karen was a runaway who had survived the streets but finally run aground. The Existential Society offered a way out – a path to another life. But what would their offer cost her?