First published 2009
This anthology explores the complexities of governing and living within massive interstellar societies. The collection examines what happens when galactic expansion collides with indigenous populations on distant worlds. Stories tackle the practical challenges of communication across vast cosmic distances and the problems created by relativistic travel. Authors investigate the social, religious, environmental, and technological implications of civilization on such an enormous scale. Contributors include Orson Scott Card with "Mazer in Prison," Lois McMaster Bujold's "Aftermaths," George R.R. Martin and George Guthridge's "Warship," Anne McCaffrey's "Ship Who Returned," and works by Harry Turtledove, Alastair Reynolds, Robert Silverberg, and others. Each story grapples with fundamental questions about power, identity, and survival when human ambition meets the infinite scope of space.
Genres: science-fiction, political-science, space-opera
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Space, Distant Worlds
Period: Future
379 pages · Paperback · Prime Books