Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

Annie has always had high hopes for her future. But the reality of her life just isn’t measuring up. She loves her fiancé, Greg–doesn’t she? She’s going to get her degree and open her own business–won’t she? Then, a strange old woman shows up outside her house, and she seems to know a lot about Annie. An awful lot. Annie could tell the old woman to get lost. Yet there’s something about her Annie just can’t shake. And what she learns could change her life forever–but is it the life she envisioned?

For some it’s an opportunity. For others it’s a moment to question their faith: In God, in science, in everything. Still others try to keep the world running in the face of absurdity and uncertainty. And then there are the billions looking to the sky and wondering how a thing that was always just there is now... something absolutely impossible.

Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet.

The universe is a dangerous place, a fact violently brought home to Frank Compton for perhaps the thousandth time when a stranger delivering a message dies right in front of him. An operative for Western Alliance Intelligence until his whistle-blowing activities got him fired, Compton is now being sought out by the Spiders, the robotic alien beings responsible for the upkeep and operation of the Quadrail transportation system, which connects the galaxy's twelve inhabited empires.

Timothy Zahn shows an unparalleled mastership of science fiction in the fifteen tales gathered here. "The Price of Survival" features an alien ship that arrives in our solar system without hostile intentions but with a desperate need whose fulfillment could destroy humanity. "The Giftie Gie Us" tells the story of two lonely survivors who find love among the ruins of a post-apocalyptic United States. And in "Pawn's Gambit," a human and his alien opponent face off over a game that will decide which one of them will return home.

For years Gregory Roarke and his Kadolian partner Selene have worked for the ultra-secret Icarus Group, hunting for the mysterious Icari teleportation portals so valued by the Commonwealth. But their job has now come to a wrenching end. The two of them are fugitives, sought by the Commonwealth, the rival Patth, and the remnant of the ancient Ammei who once controlled the portals and who hunger for a return to those days of glory. All three groups want Selene and her unique ability to understand and deal with Icari technology.

Shadows of the Empire illuminates the shadowy outlines of a criminal conspiracy that exists in the background of the events in the movies, ruled by a character new to us. Prince Xizor is a mastermind of evil who dares to oppose one of the best-known fictional villains of all time: Darth Vader. The story involves all the featured Star Wars movie characters, plus Emperor Palpatine and, of course, Lord Vader himself.

After engaging in bloody warfare against each other, two alien races—the Greens and the Grays—take refuge on Earth, both believing their home and their enemy destroyed. For seventy-five years, they have been passing as humans, living peacefully—until each side discovers the other has survived. Now, in order to avoid another destructive conflict, these extraterrestrial rivals have united and agreed that a sacrifice must be made . . . On a dark and cold October night in Manhattan's Riverside Park, a strange ceremony is about to begin.

When the people of Waxahachie, Texas wake to find themselves cut off from the rest of the world and surrounded by an unfamiliar and dangerous wilderness, they must work together to survive and unravel the cause of the mysterious "seam".

For some it’s an opportunity. For others it’s a moment to question their faith: In God, in science, in everything. Still others try to keep the world running in the face of absurdity and uncertainty. And then there are the billions looking to the sky and wondering how a thing that was always just there is now... something absolutely impossible.

It is a dark and dangerous time for the galaxy, and the Jedi of the High Republic must face their greatest trials yet. Over a year has passed since the destruction of the Starlight Beacon space station, and hopeful Jedi-in-training—including Tep Tep and Kildo from Escape from Valo—must work with Ram Jamoram and a few new friends to overcome their fears . . . and stop the monsters that threaten the very existence of the Jedi. Even the most reluctant listeners won’t be able to put this down!

Hundreds of years after the end of the world, the Appalachian community of Iron Hollow finds itself beset by demons. Such horrors are common these days in the outlands, where most folks die young—if they don’t turn into monsters first. When a legendary knight is summoned to hunt down the latest unearthly beast to haunt their woods, the town’s new oral historian, Shrike, has more reason than most to be concerned. Because that demon was her wife. And while Shrike is certain that May still recognizes her—that May is still herself, somewhere beneath it all—she can’t prove it.

A tactical nuclear weapon is stolen from an Indian research facility, setting off a chain of events that spans the globe. Those behind the heist plan to use it to take out thousands of innocent people—all to assure death of a single man who they believe is too dangerous to be left alive. What are the lives of thousands compared to the safety of the world?