The ruins of Sol System have been empty for thousands of years. A place of death and mystery, it is shunned by all--until now.DEADLINE TO DESTRUCTION:Renegade intelligence agent Morgan Roche arrives hot on the heels of the clone warriors--enemies she has been charged by the High Humans to stop before they destroy everything. What she finds--the largest fleet assembled in half a million years, with no central authority, no-one in charge--threatens to stretch her resources beyond their limit.There, under the light of the star called Sol, Morgan Roche will uncover the final truth about the AI called The Box, about the man called Adoni Cane, and about the High Human called the Crescend. That truth will cost her dearly… “Space opera of the ambitious, galaxy-spanning sort” --New York Review of SF“Space opera, like its grand musical cousin, couldn't exist without duplicity, ambition, lust, stupidity, and greed, and by the time the fat lady sings, whole worlds can be laid waste - and, oddly enough, it's this recognition of pain and evil as the generating forces of adventure that make A Dark Imbalance so satisfying.” --Locus“A story that twists and turns back on itself and keeps the reader always off-balance. There is danger, adventure and a labyrinth of loyalties. Excellent.” --SF SiteWinner of the Aurealis Award.(Formerly published as A DARK IMBALANCE)ReviewFilled with action as well as intriguing ideas. -- Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author

A suspenseful middle-grade fantasy full of mystery, twists and skulduggery from the author of the critically acclaimed Her Perilous Mansion.When Athelbert Fan is thrown in jail for thievery, his daughter, Penny, is convinced he has been framed. Someone else must have stolen the gold cup from the crabby magistrate's home and put it in with her father's tools. But who could it be? Setting out to prove his innocence, Penny forms an unlikely foursome with the magistrate's son, a young traveller and a magical scribe's apprentice. Soon they discover even more crimes - and it's always the rich being burgled and the poor being blamed. Before long the whole town is in uproar, until a mysterious inspector arrives ... but can he be trusted? It's up to the young quartet to untangle the truth and put things right.

Morgan Roche is a renegade, fleeing the agents she used to work for in the Commonwealth of Empires. Her quest to understand Adoni Cane has led her to a terrible truth. He is one of a breed of genetically enhanced warriors that once terrorized the galaxy. And there might be more of them, waking up to begin fighting anew. AN INTERSTELLAR TRAP: A whole solar system has disappeared, wiped from the universe in an attempt to snare just one super-soldier like Cane. In an attempt to come to grips with her enemy, Morgan Roche and The Box travel willingly into the trap, but find themselves ensnared in ever-thicker tangles of deception and intrigue. Who is The Box, and is what its agenda, really? The answer will rock Roche_s world right down to the foundations. _I'm not sure what an Evergence is, but finding out promises to provide hours of fun._ --Locus _Genre-savvy and capably written, full of adventure and Asimovian imperial vistas_ --Asimov's _Full of adventure of Asimovian imperial vistas. Delivers tons of action_Offers wide-screen baroque plotting never out-of-control. With echoes of vintage Jack Williamson and Poul Anderson, as well as Niven, Asimov, and Vinge, Williams and Dix proudly continue a vital tradition in SF._ --Analog Nominated for the Aurealis Award.

In an emotionally compelling tale crackling with originality, when a teen musician goes deaf, his quest to create an entirely new form of music brings him to a deeper understanding of his relationship to the hearing world, of himself, and of the girl he meets along the way.

Revolution spreads like wildfire though humanity's interstellar empire, sparked by the opening of Geodesica and the destruction of an entire inhabited system. But who was ultimately responsible? And who will pay the price?Melilah Awad and Palmer Eogan delve deeper into Geodesica's ancient alien labyrinth than anyone has ever dared, hoping to unravel its secrets before the hunter-killers from Earth bring them down. Former Exarch of Bedlam, Isaac Forge Deangelis, finds his grip on sanity slipping as his very reason for existing is ripped from him. While a rebel Exarch and Palmer Horsfall, grieving for her lost sister, form an alliance that might tear humanity's interstellar empire apart....

The year is 2438. Humanity has migrated to the stars in discrete waves, driven by evolving technologies and new ways of being human. The far-flung Arc Systems struggle under the yoke of their newest rulers—Exarchs from Sol, whose monopoly on faster-than-light communication gives them absolute control of a growing interstellar empire.But humans weren't the first to conquer the stars, and the discovery of an alien artifact promising transport between systems threatens to undermine the Exarchs' power. Revolutionary leader Melilah Awad seeks an alliance to unlock Geodesica's secrets with VOIDship pilot Palmer Eogan, a lover she lost to the Dark more than two centuries earlier. What they find could be more dangerous than anyone—human or more than human—could imagine....

The mind-bending conclusion to the Twinmaker series, perfect for fans of the Uglies series, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Sean Williams. Clair's world has been destroyed—again. The only remaining hope of saving her friends is for her and Q to enter the Yard, the digital world of Ant Wallace's creation. The rules there are the same as those of the real world: Water is real; fire is real; death is real. But in the Yard there are two Clair Hills, and their very existence causes cracks that steadily widen.Getting inside is the easy part. Once there, she has to earn the trust of her friends, including the girl who started it all—her best friend, Libby. Together they must fight their way through the digital and political minefield in the hope of saving the world once and for all. And this time Clair has to get it right . . . or lose everything.

Morgan Roche is a renegade, fleeing the agents she used to work for in the Commonwealth of Empires. Her quest to understand Adoni Cane has led her to a terrible truth. He is one of a breed of genetically enhanced warriors that once terrorized the galaxy. And there might be more of them, waking up to begin fighting anew. AN INTERSTELLAR TRAP: A whole solar system has disappeared, wiped from the universe in an attempt to snare just one super-soldier like Cane. In an attempt to come to grips with her enemy, Morgan Roche and The Box travel willingly into the trap, but find themselves ensnared in ever-thicker tangles of deception and intrigue. Who is The Box, and is what its agenda, really? The answer will rock Roche_s world right down to the foundations. _I'm not sure what an Evergence is, but finding out promises to provide hours of fun._ --Locus _Genre-savvy and capably written, full of adventure and Asimovian imperial vistas_ --Asimov's _Full of adventure of Asimovian imperial vistas. Delivers tons of action_Offers wide-screen baroque plotting never out-of-control. With echoes of vintage Jack Williamson and Poul Anderson, as well as Niven, Asimov, and Vinge, Williams and Dix proudly continue a vital tradition in SF._ --Analog Nominated for the Aurealis Award.

Morgan Roche, commander in the intelligence arm of the Commonwealth Empires, has been charged with protecting the AI known as The Box on a secret voyage across the galaxy. But en route her ship is ambushed by the Dato Bloc, and she is forced to crash-land on a nearby prison planet. MAROONED ON SCIACCA_S WORLD: Battling deadly inmates and treacherous guards, she fights her way through a hostile environment toward her only hope of escape, the mysterious Adoni Cane at her side. A genetically enhanced warrior with a past not even he can fathom, he could be the savior of the human race, or its downfall--but either way, Morgan Roche won_t survive without him_ _THE PRODIGAL SUN is a close-knit personal story told on a galaxy-sized canvas. Filled with action as well as intriguing ideas._ --Kevin J Anderson _With echoes of vintage Jack Williamson and Poul Anderson, as well as Niven, Asimov and Vinge, Williams and Dix proudly continue a vital tradition, proving SF as diverse a field as ever._ --Asimov's _[A] very satisfying classic Golden Age-style yarn_. strongly recommended_ --Locus _Space opera of the ambitious, galaxy-spanning sort... fast and furious action._ --New York Review of SF

Science Fiction/Fantasy. 60907 words long. First published in DDP, 2006

On an alien world a very long way from home, Peter Alander is going out of his mind.The Frank Tipler is just one of a thousand survey vessels sent out into the bubble of space surrounding Earth, seeking habitable worlds and signs of advanced life. Its crew has stumbled across artifacts left behind by a benevolent trader species, but the decision to study them is fraught with danger and uncertainty. The Tipler's crew consists of forty flawed electronic copies of human beings, some of them profoundly damaged—and Earth stopped responding to signals over a century ago.Caught between madness and political machinations, Alander stands on the brink of what might be the greatest discovery humanity has ever made—and a gift that humanity can’t afford to accept.

Not just an epic videogame from BioWare and LucasArts, Star Wars: The Old Republic™ spawned a New York Times bestselling series of novels—which are now together in one electrifying ebook bundle. Fatal Alliance, Deceived, Revan, and Annihilation tell four daringly original stories of Jedi and Sith that embody this unique, beloved era in Star Wars Legends storytelling. . . . FATAL ALLIANCE by Sean Williams From across the galaxy they've come: a Jedi Padawan, an ex-trooper drummed out of the Republic's elite Blackstar Squad, and a mysterious Mandalorian. An extraordinary auction has drawn them all together, in quest of a prize whose value may be the wealth of a world itself. None intend to leave empty-handed. All have secrets, desires, and schemes. And nothing could ever unite them as allies—except the truth about the deadly danger of the object they covet. But can Sith and Jedi, Republic and...

High-stakes action combines with issues of friendship and body image in this timely and thought-provoking exploration of the intersection of technology and identity. You can be Improved.... In a near-future world in which technology can transport you anywhere instantly, can a coded note enable you to change your body—to become taller, stronger, more beautiful? Clair is pretty sure the offer is too good to be true. But her best friend, Libby, is determined to give it a try, longing for a new, improved version of herself. What starts as Libby’s dream turns into Clair’s nightmare when Libby falls foul of a deadly trap. With the help of Jesse, the school freak, and a mysterious—but powerful—stranger called Q, Clair’s attempt to protect Libby leads her to an unimagined world of conspiracies and cover-ups. Soon her own life is at risk, and Clair is chased across the world in a desperate race against time. Action and danger fuel Sean Williams’ tale of technology, identity, and the lengths to which one girl will go to save her best friend.

The Jedi move one step closer to saving the embattled galaxy-- only to confront a formidable wall of resistance. The harrowing search for Zonama Sekot is finally over for Luke Skywalker, Jacen Solo, and the others aboard the Jade Shadow. But joy turns to alarm when the living planet sends a defiant message: it refuses to follow them back to a galaxy full of war, exploitation, and misery.While Luke works feverishly to persuade the elusive planet to reconsider, the Yuuzhan Vong launches a full-scale attack aimed at the heart of the new alliance. Sent to defend a major communications base, Han and Leia find themselves hopelessly outnumbered. Reinforcements are just too far away to help before everything is destroyed. So the courageous pair must now fight an unrelenting battle against staggering odds. Whether they actually survive is another matter. . . . Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars...

The first book of a major fantasy series from New York Times bestselling authors Garth Nix and Sean Williams, in which twins find that they must act as wards against a threatening evil. 'Come to us, Troubletwisters, join us ... welcome, most welcome!' When their home mysteriously explodes around their ears, twins Jack and Jaide are sent to stay with a grandmother they have never met, in a town they have never heard of. Portland might seem boring and quiet, but it soon becomes apparent that Grandma X is more than a little eccentric, and there are very strange happenings in the town. Talking cats, swarms of cockroaches, a miniature tornado trashing their room - the twins are about to find out what it means to be a troubletwister! Something growing Something read Something living Someone dead

In a glacial lake at the top of the world‚ salvation and destruction await ... Haunted by a ghost from the future‚ Shilly and her man?kin allies are drawn into the snowbound mountains on a mission to save the world. Yod‚ trapped by the Castillo twins in the Void Beneath‚ may finally be breaking free. Hard on Shilly's heels are Sal and his father‚ and an uneasy alliance of Sky Wardens‚ Panic and foresters. The stakes are high as ancient forces struggle for ascendancy‚ including the strange and alien glast‚ and a dragon with its own agenda. If the Goddess rises from her Tomb‚ the fate of the Ice Eaters will be sealed and they will kill anyone who tries to get in their way . . .

Issue Two of Volume Nine of the Review of Australian Fiction. This issue contains new short fiction by Sean Williams and Deborah Biancotti.

Second Book of the Change: The Sky Warden & The Sun Sal's life has been thrown into turmoil and he is on the run, from more than one pursuer, it appears. He is accompanied by his new-found friend Shilly and he's not entirely sure where he wants to go-but Shilly is. She wants to find her teacher Lodo's old teacher, the Mage Van Haasteren, which means they must head north to the Interior, where Sal's mother was born. The journey is over rugged, mountainous country on the Old Line and it's dangerous. The Sky Warden Shom Behenna is after them and they must risk all top reach the Divide and get across to the other side, not even knowing if the Stone Mages will help them. "Magical and mesmerizing, The Stone Mage & The Sea is a story to disappear into, whether you're 15 or 50. --Kim Wilkins, author of Angel of Ruin. "Sean Williams' The Stone Mage & The Sea is an alchemical blend of elemental magic, tragic romance and the coming of age of a young boy. Poised between Earthsea and Mad Max, the magic of fantasy meets the wonder of science fiction." --Jonathan Strahan

In a dystopic world after nuclear war, the American city of Kennedy has walled itself off from the decline of the former USA. Determined to continue as a functioning metropolis, Kennedy strictly patrols its boundaries and struggles to maintain the semblance of a modern city. Now, 40 years after the end of the war, Kennedy is in crisis. Technologies are failing and replacements and repairs are not forthcoming. It is within this atmosphere of technological and social stagnation that news of a Re-United States of America emerges - a RUSA that wants Kennedy to rejoin. But not everybody in Kennedy agrees with re-assimilation, and a series of political assassinations and data thefts begin. As the deadline for reunification looms, Phil Roads, the investigator assigned to solve the killings and robberies, is under increasing pressure. Caught between murderous opposing forces, and with dangerous secrets emerging from his past, his own life and career are on the line.

In the far future, in the aftermath of a mysterious galactic catastrophe, a false prophet comes face to face with his greatest adversary yet: a man who thinks he's god, and might very well be right. While the battle for Earth rages around them, they face off, one wanting to conquer the world and the other to redeem it, and the victory may well decide the future of the galaxy, and of humanity itself.

The Divide is flooded, at great cost of human - and inhuman - life. Far from home, Sal, Shilly and Skender seek the source of the deluge in the legendary Hanging Mountains, traveling in a magical ship of bone. New threats await them in the fog forests of the Panic, and new tests of their friendship. Caught in a conflict that erupts between two long-forgotten civilizations, they struggle to discern ally from foe, and to find trust when it is needed most. In their wake comes the Homunculus, vessel and prison of the Castillo twins - sole, strange survivors of the catastrophe that changed the world forever, a thousand years ago. Their mission is paramount, their urgency contagious. Something much darker and deadlier than the Swarm is stirring in the heart of the mountains. And for Habryn Kail, already assumed dead by his masters, it might really be the finish of him, this time ...

On the brink of extinction, a suicide mission is humanity’s last hope.The Gifts of an alien race called the Spinners gave Peter Alander hope for the future of humanity. All the Gifts did, though, was draw down the wrath of the Starfish, another alien race apparently intent on wiping out all forms of competition. Caught between the two, humanity faces the hard decision of evolving into something else entirely simply to survive.As their new alien allies prepare to leave human space forever, a handful of survivors band together to make one last attempt to communicate with their enemies. A single ship will leap into the very heart of the Starfish fleet, attempting to find reason where none exists...

Private detective Jonah McEwen is wanted for murder. Someone has been killing women who resemble Marylin Blaylock, his former colleague and ex-lover. The latest grisly discovery is right on his doorstep. He is the obvious suspect.The problem? He has been in a coma for three years - a coma he has no memory of entering. And there's worse to come.Using matter transporter technology, or "d-mat," a serial killer know only as the Twinmaker has been brutally torturing and killing perfect facsimiles of his victims and leaving the originals alive. As legal arguments rage about whether this even constitutes murder, Jonah finds himself in the awkward position of defending his innocence when his own exact copy might actually be guilty.Set in a time where the lines between human and machine are increasingly blurred, The Resurrected Man explores the future of terrorism, law enforcement, and globe-spanning conspiracies. A perfect blend of suspense and science fiction,...

As the bloodied and weary galaxy faces battle once more, the Jedi take on the formidable task of bringing the last of the Empire into the light. . . .From the ashes of the New Republic--torn to shreds by the savage Yuuzhan Vong forces--the newly formed Galactic Alliance has risen, determined to bring peace to the entire galaxy. But first the Yuuzhan Vong must be contained once and for all. And so Luke Skywalker seeks a world long lost to legend: Zonama Sekot, a sentient planet believed to have repelled an invasion by the Yuuzhan Vong decades ago. Deciphering the enigmatic secrets of Zonama Sekot just might turn the tides of a relentless war.Aboard the Jade Shadow, Luke, his wife Mara, Jacen Solo, and other Jedi head off into the Unknown Regions, where rumors and clues suggest Zonama Sekot might be found. Yet the mission has barely begun when the searchers stumble into a horrific battle. The Imperial Remnant, in retreat from the mighty Yuuzhan Vong,...

"The Sith always betray one another. . . . I'm sure you'll learn that soon enough."The overthrow of the Republic is complete. The Separatist forces have been smashed, the Jedi Council nearly decimated, and the rest of the Order all but destroyed. Now absolute power rests in the iron fist of Darth Sidious--the cunning Sith lord better known as the former Senator, now Emperor, Palpatine. But more remains to be done. Pockets of resistance in the galaxy must still be defeated and missing Jedi accounted for . . . and dealt with. These crucial tasks fall to the Emperor's ruthless enforcer, Darth Vader. In turn, the Dark Lord has groomed a lethal apprentice entrusted with a top-secret mission: to comb the galaxy and dispatch the last of his masters' enemies, thereby punctuating the dark side's victory with the Jedi's doom.Since childhood, Vader's nameless agent has known only the cold, mercenary creed of the Sith. His past is a void; his present, the carrying out of...

The ruins of Sol System have been empty for thousands of years. A place of death and mystery, it is shunned by all--until now.DEADLINE TO DESTRUCTION:Renegade intelligence agent Morgan Roche arrives hot on the heels of the clone warriors--enemies she has been charged by the High Humans to stop before they destroy everything. What she finds--the largest fleet assembled in half a million years, with no central authority, no-one in charge--threatens to stretch her resources beyond their limit.There, under the light of the star called Sol, Morgan Roche will uncover the final truth about the AI called The Box, about the man called Adoni Cane, and about the High Human called the Crescend. That truth will cost her dearly… “Space opera of the ambitious, galaxy-spanning sort” --New York Review of SF“Space opera, like its grand musical cousin, couldn't exist without duplicity, ambition, lust, stupidity, and greed, and by the time the fat lady sings, whole worlds can be laid waste - and, oddly enough, it's this recognition of pain and evil as the generating forces of adventure that make A Dark Imbalance so satisfying.” --Locus“A story that twists and turns back on itself and keeps the reader always off-balance. There is danger, adventure and a labyrinth of loyalties. Excellent.” --SF SiteWinner of the Aurealis Award.(Formerly published as A DARK IMBALANCE)ReviewFilled with action as well as intriguing ideas. -- Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author

The sole survivors of the human race... and their time is running out.In the wake of Earth’s fall, Peter Alander has just one choice: to use the alien Gifts left behind on his distant colony world to warn other missions of their impending demise, a second wave of alien ships, this time intent on destroying everything in their path. Without the Gifts, humanity would have no hope at all--although no one truly understands them, and it is becoming increasingly certain that the very use of them is what draws the enemy on.Out of the dark comes help from an entirely unexpected quarter. Peter Alander and his fellow survivors are not the only victims of the terrible Starfish. But what if the cost of that help is too high? What if the price is humanity itself?

WINNER OF THE AUREALIS AWARD. "Sean Williams is without doubt the premier Australian speculative fiction writer of the age." - Aurealis An award-winning 15-year retrospective collection of award-winning fiction by the New York Times-best-selling writer.

M. T. Anderson meets Cory Doctorow in the exciting sequel to Twinmaker, from #1 New York Times bestseller Sean Williams, who also coauthors the Troubletwisters series with Garth Nix.Clair and Jesse have barely been reunited when the world is plunged into its biggest crisis since the Water Wars. The d-mat network is broken. The world has ground to a halt. People are trapped, injured, dying. It's the end of the world as Clair knows it—and it's partly her fault. Now she's been enlisted to track down her friend Q, the rogue AI who repeatedly saved her life—and who is the key to fixing the system. Targeted by dupes, abandoned by her friends, and caught in a web of lies that strike at the very essence of who she is, Clair quickly finds powerful and dangerous allies. But if she helps them, will she be leading her friend straight into a trap? Caught between pro- and anti-d-mat philosophies, in a world on the brink of all-out war, Clair must decide where she...

Swift and deadly, the Yuuzhan Vong have blasted their way across the galaxy--and now stand on the threshold of total victory. Yet a courageous few still dare to oppose them. . . . Rife with hostile cultures and outright enemies, the Unknown Regions holds many perils for Luke Skywalker and the Jedi, searching for Zonama Sekot, the living planet that may hold the key to dealing once and for all with the Yuuzhan Vong. Meanwhile, on the edge of the galaxy and in the heart of a trusted ally, old enemies are stirring. The Yuuzhan Vong have inflamed long-forgotten vendettas that are even now building up to crisis point. And as Han and Leia journey on their quest to knit the unraveling galaxy back together, betrayal and deception await them. . . . Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the...