Ronald D. Ferguson – författare

An impressive joint project, this outstanding new anthology brings the best of Chinese and English-language science fiction in a mediation on the theme of Exploration in Space. New, emerging, established and much-lauded writers from both cultures are brought together to demonstrate that technology and humanity when they work together bring challenges, joy and benefits to all of humankind. From Bao Shu comes 'A Trip to the End', from Allen Stroud 'The First', from He Xi 'Never Meet Again in Life', from Amdi Silvestri 'A Minuet of Corpses' and under the guiding eye of Patrick Parrinder (President of the H.G. Wells society) and Yao Haijun (celebrated editor of Science Fiction World in China) thirteen authors create a series of worlds which will enthral and entertain.

One hundred years after the first man walked on the Moon, climate change and overpopulation make civilization on Earth increasingly difficult, and the planets and moons in our solar system provide inadequate havens. The technological genius, Alastair McCleod, proposes a Prometheus-like solution. He wants to give humankind a new kind of fire, the stars, and as the richest man in the solar system, he devotes his influence, prestige, and wealth to implementing his solution. His Proposal is as controversial as it is simple:      "e;We don't have the technology to take ourselves to the stars, and so instead, we will send the dead and the unborn."e; The Prometheus Proposal is the saga of the McLeod family quest to reach the stars.

A Novelette, a Novella, and a Short Story Go into a Bar: Wizards and Wizdom. Erick is good with a sword, but he does not have the temperament to lead, and he refuses to follow. His military instructor counsels Erick that his best career choice is studying to become a wizard. All he needs is an agreeable mentor who can stay focused.A Terrible Myth Take. Kurt follows his younger brother through a rabbit hole that transports them into a primitive, alternate reality. Unable to return home, Kurt takes up the sword and tries to sort out whether he is the Chosen One. If he is, perhaps he can defeat the evil wizard and save eight interlinked worlds from disaster. Unfortunately, his quest bears little resemblance to any of the myths he knows or the epic movies he has seen.The Unicorn Dilemma. The forest dragon likes the crunchy flavor of knights after they have been flame roasted inside their armor. Perhaps a unicorn can sway the dragon's tastes to something more eclectic.

A New Novella* Plus Four Reprint Short Stories, Eavesdropping at the Keyhole to Forever:Eavesdropping at the Keyhole to Forever: Wally uses his Mozart program to eavesdrop on conversations that other folks aren't meant to hear. It ain't ethical, but it's a living until he hears stuff that threatens his life and the life of the woman he loves.  The Accidental-System Programmer's Guide to Unplanned Magic: The world has grown too complex for simple magic spells to control all the variables, but suppose you design an AI computer program to supervise the nitpicky details.  What could go wrong?Cross-wired: Want to acquire a new skill? Why not piggyback on the mind of an expert to learn the way? That's great until you make the mistake of mind-surfing in a killer's wake.  The Jogging Alien's Guide to Weight-loss Dating: An alien invasion? Never fear, it's just a galactic entrepreneur figuring out a new way to make some big bucks on Earth ... on second thought, run for the hills. Lover's Moon: Although they were both volunteers in the Lunar Revolution, they had never met until his mission against the Earth became a one-way trip to annihilation. Then she had to be the one to talk him home.

—Leadership is the ability to convince followers to fight and die to enhance the leader's wealth and power. Two years after the derath of Charlemagne in 814, a disastrous encounter with the Danes injures Roger Martel, a Carolingian knight, and strands him on the western shore of Britannia. As a result of his leaders' incompetence, he loses faith in Kings, Emperors, and other great Lairds and resolves never to return to the Carolingian Empire. After he recovers, he tracks east to find his old battle companion Drogo. He locates Drogo in the Valley of Strathnith where the old knight has taken up the defense of a small community against Viking invaders. Never one to avoid a fight, Roger joins them and soon finds himself accepted as the leader. Reluctantly, he takes the job while telling himself that he does so only to protect his friends, not become a great Laird himself. Unfortunately, wealth and power are seductive. "e;Plus que nous avons, plus que nous voulons. The more we have, the more we want."e;—Roger Martel Mature Subject Matter.Marked by Thor is a Rogue Knight alternate history adventure.Note: The Rogue Knight series is not populated with gods from Norse Mythology. The Mark of Thor is a characteristic skin burn caused by a lightning strike.

Does tasking an AI with learning to become a fiction writing assistant set it on the pathway to sentience? When Henri Kourtney agrees to ferry torg-hunting tourists to the wilderness of a backwoods planet, he postpones his ambition to explore the stars. Henri hopes the expedition allows him time to get to know the cute girl from Earth and maybe land him an interstellar berth with her astrophysicist cousin. He doesn't expect that his angry ex-girlfriend will join the trip, that the tourists are more interested in satellite-image planetography than torg, that torg are not native to the planet, or that his new AI digital assistant's constant bickering over the writing style of his journal is the birth pang of sentience. The biggest surprise is that a mineral-encrusted artifact conceals a purpose as mundane as a subway token, and that all their lives will depend on whether the cosmic subway still runs.  —The dreams you imagine are not always as good as the reality you get. Wobbling Star is a coming-of-age interstellar adventure and romance.

—Unbridled power corrupts, but what halter provides the bridle?Magic has a price, and the price for difficult magic is rapid aging. Because cold iron short-circuits controlled magic, wizards in the Age of Magic struggle to find a new source of power to compete against the dawning Age of Iron. Without a new source of power for the wizards, cold steel dooms the Age of Magic and the Age of Iron will ascend.When Junak the Hunter attempts to save his wife from marauding slavers, an explosion of wild magic burns away his right hand. With the aid of a wizard recently released from an imprisoning stasis, Junak's hand regenerates, but not to its original condition. Instead, the hand acquires a quicksilver sheen, and the magical power from Junak's hand flows into any steel weapon that he wields. Magic was never able to bend iron to its will before. Will Junak's new ability allow him to reunite his family or simply make him a wildcard tool that wizards can wield to topple a kingdom?Junak Silverhand is Book 1 in the Age of Magic / Age of Iron series.

"e;Don't worry about what you sees on de other side of the Möbius Window because it only gots one side."e;      In 1914, fifty years after a forgotten cabal of wizards stalemated the Civil War and overthrew the incompetent Confederacy to establish the Southern Alliance Monarchy, twenty-two-year-old Lieutenant Maximillian Bontemps saves the newly crowned, teenaged King John from a sniper in Asheville by knocking the boy onto his royal ass. Angry that Max dared touch Him, the King dismisses Max from His Royal Guard. Dejected, Max returns home to New Orleans to start a private Security Services business.     New Orleans is the last bastion of wizardry in the south. For Max's first security job, a young woman hires him to guard her mother, a prominent witch. Claims about magic have never impressed Max because he's never seen it work, but he is broke, and the daughter has compelling blue eyes. Leave it to a beautiful woman to draw Max into a whirlwind of greed, corruption, and a plot to usurp the boy King. The View Through the Möbius Window is an alternate history of magic, intrigue, and romance.

The Last Starship from 51 Pegasi d—Going home is not an option.          When planetary revolt and the collapsing interstellar Empire threaten to isolate three million colonists on Chrysaor of the 51 Pegasi system, thin resources provide only a few vessels for loyalist to return to the safety of the Emperor's Law on Earth. As a result, not all who want to escape will be able to go home. The SS Atvadis will be the last starship to leave Chrysaor.          Against this backdrop, the soon-to-be-ex governor attempts to quell the ambition of a rebellious local general, who happens to be his ex-wife. The exiled blacksheep cousin of the Emperor unwillingly inherits the command of the local naval base when all higher ranking personnel evacuate. And someone seeks to influence the outcome of the changing government by activating a seventy-eight year-old sleeper assassin. The paths of these competitors intersect while awaiting the imminent departure of The Last Starship from 51 Pegasi D. As a bonus, this book also includes four previously published stories:Intent to Occupy—It's not where you go; it's who you go with.Philosophy—You need more than luck to survive an interplanetary war. You need a philosophy.His Brother was an Only Child—Nothing like the comfort of close family in difficult times.Hire Education—Behind on your student loan? Don't let them repossess your education.

THE OASIS AT THE EDGE OF FOREVER: One woman's journeyServiced by a crew of 22, the Starship Aspiration transports 527 colonists and sufficient supplies to plant a new colony on the garden planet Optimism, which is located at the fringe of human exploration in a star system 53 light years from Earth. Because a starship can't land on a planet, the Aspiration conveys a shuttle, the Hope, to ferry colonists and cargo to Optimism.An unexpected nova misdirects the Starship Aspiration to a star system 200 light years from the nearest jump gate. Stranded in an unexplored system, the crew and colonists of the Aspiration have no way to return to civilization and no hope of rescue….

Sorcery on the Sunset Express (PG13, an alternate history fantasy)In 1913, detective Brandi Mueller, a feisty physicist who doesn't believe in magic, and Jerry Guidry, her ex-Ranger partner in the New Republic of Texas, confront murder, mystery, and New Orleans magic when a missing girl entangles them with serial train robberies in which cash payrolls disappear from inside a locked safe. Brandi and Jerry must unmask imposters, navigate the intrigues of a family of wizards, unravel two murders, and survive a fireball attack during a raucous ride on the Sunset Express.