Science fiction's most beloved writers--including David Brin, Orson Scott Card, Joe Haldeman, Gregory Benford, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Anne McCaffrey--revisit the remarkable worlds they've made famous in this stellar collection of all-new stories.

Far Horizon by Tony Park, the author of Red Earth, is a full-throttle international thriller that will engross fans of Clive Cussler. Mike Williams is leading a supposedly carefree life as an overland tour guide in Africa. But just a year ago, the former Australian Army officer had endured the brutal death of his girlfriend at the hands of ivory hunters in Mozambique. Now the South African Police are on the murderers' trail and need Mike's help. But he has a truckload of tourists who have no idea what has been asked of him . . . although one passenger has her suspicions. Following a chase through some of Africa's most spectacular locations, Mike gets his shot at revenge . . . but at what cost?

Beyond the Far Horizon is based upon the true life story of Alexander Henry, abrave and adventurous young man who, as a fur trader, dared to risk his life andfortune on the vast lakes and in dark forests of the Great Lakes frontier. Henryslife, far from the comforts of the American colonies he left behind, was so dangerousthat he was no stranger to the threat of death. As he pursued his fur trade venture duringthe years between 1760 and 1765, he nearly drowned, starved, and froze to death, andon several occasions, barely escaped being killed by hostile Indians. He was lost, alonein the winter forest, had escaped the charge of a great bear, and was taken prisoner inan Indian attack. Henry survived and prospered not only by his own strength and courage but also withthe love and support of his adopted Indian family. Not only did he share the risk andhardships of his family but also came to know and respect the enduring beauty andharmony of Ojibwe culture.

The tall ship Sofia sank off New Zealand’s North Island in February 1982, stranding its crew on disabled life rafts for five days. They struggled to survive as any realistic hope of rescue dwindled. Just a few years earlier, Pamela Sisman Bitterman was a naïve swabbie looking for adventure, signing on with a sailing co-operative taking this sixty-year-old, 123-foot, three-masted gaff-topsail schooner around the globe. The aged Baltic trader had been rescued from a wooden boat graveyard in Sweden and reincarnated as a floating commune in the 1960s. By the time Sofia went down, Bitterman had become an able seaman, promoted first to bos’un and then acting first mate, immersing herself in this life of a tall ship sailor, world traveler, and survivor.

As the English Civil War reaches its bloody climax, three women must fight for survival in the captivating conclusion of the Broken Kingdom series. Summer, 1643. With neither side prepared to back down, King Charles I and Parliament continue to wage a ruthless and gory war where no one is safe. Even away from the battlefields, daily life is a burden and three women struggle on with uncertain futures. Caroline Pendleton, a young widow, must fend for herself in central London, where tensions run at an all-time high, food is scarce and she is forced to share her home with Scottish soldiers. Meanwhile, Lucy Hay, the beautiful Countess of Carlisle, juggles her conflicting allegiances to both Crown and Parliament, in the hope that she might avoid exile, or worse. And then there is Queen Henrietta Maria, who is more unpopular than she’s ever been. Now that Parliament’s troops are determined to have her head, she faces exile to France once again ... but will her pregnancy scupper her escape?

Over the past century and a half, a wealth of evidence has emerged that is consistent, at least, with the hypothesis of life after death. -Near-death experiences -Deathbed visions -Mediumship -Apparitions -Past-life memories, and memories of a between-lives state Yet even those who are inclined to take this evidence seriously may struggle to make sense of it. How can the idea of an afterlife be integrated into our everyday experience? How can we connect the seemingly nebulous notion of postmortem survival with the hard, tangible reality of life on earth? Through metaphors, images, and analogies-illustrated with dozens of documented cases drawn from the literature of parapsychology-this book suggests ways of looking at life beyond death, not as a baffling anomaly, but as a logical extension of our experience of reality here and now. The hope is that we can learn to see reports of an afterlife as something more than mere ghost stories ... and to sharpen the focus of our gaze on "The Far Horizon."