The return of an ancient galactic threat Selene and Ondo piece together the secrets of Concordance’s ascension to galactic domination, and the truth of what it was Vulpis encountered at the heart of the galaxy three hundred years previously. They uncover an ancient threat to all life – a threat that Concordance seems intent on reawakening to complete its genocidal aims. But they also follow another trail – one left for them by someone or something unknown, a hidden intelligence seemingly guiding them to hopes of a possible salvation. But each time they unearth a new fragment of the puzzle, Concordance are waiting, its ships and miraculous technology unleashed against them…

A hidden trail among the stars The galaxy is in flames under the harsh theocratic rule of Concordance, the culture that once thrived among the stars reduced to scattered fragments. Selene Ada, last survivor of an obliterated planet, joins forces with the mysterious renegade, Ondo Lagan. Together they attempt to unravel the mystery of Concordance’s rapid rise to galactic domination. They follow a trail of shattered starship hulks and ancient alien ruins, with the ships of the enemy always one step behind. But it’s only when they find the mythical planet of Coronade that they uncover the true scale of the destruction Concordance is capable of unleashing…

The wheels of the great machine turn again… Three years after the destruction of Engn, Finn is awoken by a shattering earthquake. As the people of the valley flee the ruins, rumours circulate that the machinery of Engn is working once more. Finn is haunted by the thought that Connor desperately needed him to do something. Uncovering buried secrets, Finn sees he has to return to the wreckage of Engn to find the answers to his questions. To him, the events of the Clockwork War are history, but he learns that others are still fighting the ancient battle. For them, the machinery of Engn and its mysterious purpose are at the heart of everything. Diane refuses to come with him, thinking he needs to put the past behind him. But then Engn’s line-of-sight signals start to broadcast again…

Some secrets are best left buried… Simms is a genehunter, paid to track down the DNA of the famous and infamous of history for his clients’ private collections. What they do with the DNA isn’t his problem – even if they are using it to create illegal clones. He walks a line, pulled in many different directions at once. The law, competing genehunters, ex-lovers, religious nuts and anti-genehunter crazies. But when he works the Boneyard case he discovers that, sometimes, you have to decide which side of the line you’re on. And when he starts to uncover the truth of his own origins he begins to question everything he is and does…

Lost in the great machine… Finn’s childhood in the valley is idyllic, but across the plains lies a threat. Engn is an ever-growing, steam-powered fortress that needs a never-ending supply of workers. Generation after generation have been taken away, escorted into its depths by the mysterious and terrifying ironclads, never to return. The Masters of Engn first take Finn’s sister, then his best friend, Connor. Finn thinks he, at least, is safe – until the day the ironclads come to haul him away, too. Yet all is not lost. In the peace of the valley Finn and Connor made a pact: a promise to join the mythical wreckers and end Engn’s tyranny. But now on his own, lost and broken in the vastness of Engn, Finn begins to have doubts. Is Connor really working to destroy Engn? Or has he become part of the machine?

A constellation of wondrous stars… Other Worlds collects together fifty-two science fiction and fantasy stories that graced the pages of some of the planet’s finest speculative fiction magazines and anthologies between 2012 and 2018. Starships and sorcerers, aliens and demons, space exploration and forbidden magics throng these pages, in stories that are thrilling, amusing, thought-provoking, terrifying and delightful. Other worlds await…