First published 2014
Machine intelligences debate recreating extinct humans as Earth's sun slowly expands. A billion years have passed since humanity vanished, and vast artificial minds must decide whether to restore their creators or let the species remain buried in time. Meanwhile, in another distant future, a lone artist struggles to create beauty while hostile aliens systematically destroy human defenses across the galaxy. At the universe's final moments, a desperate husband launches himself through space and time to save his dying wife from oblivion. These five original novellas span ten thousand years to billions of years ahead, each confronting humanity with cosmic forces that dwarf individual lives. The stories tackle the largest questions of evolution, cosmology, and survival while maintaining rigorous scientific grounding. From the recreation of extinct species to challenges against psychohistory's foundations, each tale examines what remains essentially human when faced with the vast scales of cosmic time and space.
Genres: science-fiction, space-opera, speculative-fiction, hard-science-fiction
Vibes: epic, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, time-travel
Period: Billion Years, Ten Thousand Years, Final Moments
16 pages · MP3 CD · Skyboat Media and Blackstone Audio