New Releases by Una McCormack

The September/October 2016 issue of Hugo Award winning Uncanny Magazine. Featuring new fiction by Carmen Maria Machado, Tim Pratt, Sarah Pinsker, E. Lily Yu, and Ferrett Steinmetz, reprinted fiction by Sofia Samatar, essays by Mary Anne Mohanraj, Una McCormack, Aidan Moher, and Dominik Parisien, poetry by S. Qiouyi Lu, Ada Hoffmann, and Sonya Taaffe, interviews with Carmen Maria Machado and Sarah Pinsker by Deborah Stanish, a cover by Kirbi Fagan, and an editoral by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas.

An original adventure tying in to the ninth season of Doctor Who, the spectacular hit series from BBC Television, featuring the new 12th Doctor as played by Peter Capaldi. “The Grail is a story, a myth! It didn’t exist on your world! It can’t exist here!” The city-state of Varuz is failing. Duke Aurelian is the last of his line, his capital is crumbling, and the armies of his enemy, Duke Conrad, are poised beyond the mountains to invade. Aurelian is preparing to gamble everything on one last battle. So when a holy man, the Doctor, comes to Varuz from beyond the mountains, Aurelian asks for his blessing in the war. But all is not what it seems in Varuz. The city-guard have lasers for swords, and the halls are lit by electric candlelight. Aurelian’s beloved wife, Guena, and his most trusted knight, Bernhardt, seem to be plotting to overthrow their Duke, and Clara finds herself drawn into their intrigue... Will the Doctor stop Aurelian from going to war? Will Clara’s involvement in the plot against the Duke be discovered? Why is Conrad’s ambassador so nervous? And who are the ancient and weary knights who arrive in Varuz claiming to be on a quest for the Holy Grail…?

Clarkesworld is a Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning science fiction and fantasy magazine. Each month we bring you a mix of fiction (new and classic works), articles, interviews and art. Our September 2015 issue (#108) contains: Original Fiction by Robert Reed ("Cremulator"), Erica L. Satifka ("Loving Grace"), Bao Shu ("Preserve Her Memory"), Elizabeth Bourne ("The Algebra of Events"), and Benjanun Sriduangkaew ("The Occidental Bride"). Reprints by Tom Purdom ("Canary Land") and Una McCormack ("Sea Change"). Non-fiction by Dan Kobolt (The Next Generation of DNA Sequencing), an interview with Seth Dickinson, an Another Word column by Jason Heller, and an editorial by Neil Clarke.

The growing threat of the dimension-invading Weird has driven the Expansion government to outright paranoia. Mandatory telepathic testing is introduced, and the colony Braun’s World – following reports of a new Weird portal opening – is destroyed from orbit, at an unimaginable cost in lives. Delia Walker, a senior analyst in the Expansion’s intelligence bureau and a holdout of the pragmatic old guard, protests the oppressive new policies and is drummed out. Sure there’s a better way, she charters the decrepit freighter the Baba Yaga and heads into the lawless “Satan’s Reach,” following rumours of a world where humans and the Weird live peacefully side by side. Hunted by the Bureau, Walker, her pilot Yershov, and Failt – a Vetch child stowaway, fleeing slavery – will uncover secrets about both the Weird and the Expansion; secrets that could prevent catastrophic war...

The Tears of Isis: Russell Courtland prophesied the world would end on Tuesday. No-one was more surprised than he was when it did.

"The entire sector is waiting to see what the newly reopened Bajoran wormhole will mean for the shifting political landscape in the Alpha Quadrant. On Deep Space 9, Captain Ro Laren is suddenly drawn into the affairs of the People of the Open Sky, who have come to the station in search of sanctuary. Despite Deep Space 9''s new CMO, Doctor Beverly Crusher, offer the People aid. But when Dr. Crusher''s highly secure files are accessed without permission--the same files that hold the secrets of the Shedai, a race whose powerful but half-understood scientific secrets solved the Andorian catastrophe--the People seem the likeliest suspects. As tensions rise on the station, the science vessel Athene Donald arrives as part of its journey of exploration. The brainchild of Doctor Katherine Pulaski, this ship is crewed by different species from the Khitomer Accords and the Typhon Pact. Pulaski''s hope is that science will do what diplomacy has not: help the great powers put aside their hostilities and work together. But when the Athene Donald is summarily stopped in her voyage by the powerful vessel of a hitherto unknown species, Pulaski begins to wonder--will this first contact bring her crew togetehr or tear them all apart?"--Page 4 of cover.

The second original novel in the electrifying The Next Generation/Deep Space Nine crossover event! Cardassia Prime is home to a prideful people who, for centuries, forged alliances with those they believed would strengthen them and their place in the Alpha Quadrant, and expanded their empire at great cost to other worlds. For generations, dissenting voices were silenced by either fear or an early grave. When their wartime ally, the Dominion, suddenly turned on them, seeking to transform Cardassia into a tomb for every last member of their race, their old adversary—the United Federation of Planets— put an end to the carnage, and even now works to help rebuild Cardassia Prime. To celebrate this alliance, the Castellan of the Cardassian Union is to welcome the Federation president to Cardassia Prime. As a symbol of this deepening friendship, the U.S.S. Enterprise-E is tasked to carry the Cardassian ambassador to the Federation back home. For his part, Ambassador Elim Garak is working with Captain Jean-Luc Picard to oversee the diplomatic reception that will commemorate the last of Starfleet’s personnel finally leaving the homeworld. However, there are malevolent forces at work, who even now strive to “restore Cardassia to its proper place and glory,” and are willing to do anything to achieve their goal....

Three thrilling novels set in the universe of Star Trek: The Next Generation! Plagues of Night In the wake of the final Borg invasion, which destroyed entire worlds, cost the lives of sixty-three billion people, and struck a crippling blow to Starfleet, six nations adversarial to the United Federation of Planets—the Romulan Star Empire, the Breen Confederacy, the Tholian Assembly, the Gorn Hegemony, the Tzenkethi Coalition, and the Holy Order of the Kinshaya—joined ranks to form the Typhon Pact. For almost three years, the Federation and the Klingon Empire, allied under the Khitomer Accords, have contended with the nascent coalition on a predominantly cold-war footing. But as Starfleet rebuilds itself, factions within the Typhon Pact grow restive, concerned about their own inability to develop a quantum slipstream drive to match that of the Federation. Will leaders such as UFP President Bacco and RSE Praetor Kamemor bring about a lasting peace across the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, or will the cold war between the two alliances deepen, and perhaps even lead to an all-out shooting war? Raise the Dawn After the disastrous events in the Bajoran system, Captain Benjamin Sisko must confront the consequences of the recent choices he has made in his life. At the same time, the United Federation of Planets and its Khitomer Accords allies have come to the brink of war with the Typhon Pact. While factions within the Pact unsuccessfully used the recent gestures of goodwill—the opening of borders and a joint Federation-Romulan exploratory mission—to develop quantum-slipstream drive, they have not given up their goals. Employing a broad range of assets, from Romulus to Cardassia, from Ab-Tzenketh to Bajor, they embark on a dangerous new plan to acquire the technology they need to take control of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. While UFP President Bacco and Romulan Praetor Kamemor work feverishly to reestablish peace, Captains Sisko, Jean-Luc Picard, and Ro Laren stand on the front lines of the conflict...even as a new danger threatens the Bajoran wormhole as it once more becomes a flashpoint of galactic history. Brinkmanship The Venette Convention has always remained independent, but it is about to become the flashpoint for a tense military standoff between the two power blocs now dominating interstellar space—the United Federation of Planets and the recently formed Typhon Pact. The Venetan government turns to the Typhon Pact’s Tzenkethi Coalition for protection in the new order, and has agreed to allow three of their supply bases for Tzenkethi use. But these bases—if militarized—would put Tzenkethi weapons unacceptably close to Federation, Cardassian, and Ferengi space. While Captain Ezri Dax and the crew of the U.S.S. Aventine are sent to investigate exactly what is happening at one of the Venette bases, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the U.S.S. Enterprise are assigned to a diplomatic mission sent to the Venette homeworld in order to broker a mutually acceptable resolution. But the Cardassian delegates don’t seem particularly keen on using diplomacy to resolve the situation, which soon spirals out of control toward all-out war. . .

At the turning point of the Dominion War, Captain Benjamin Sisko, facing certain defeat by the overwhelming and relentless forces of the Dominion, initiated a secret plan to secure the aid of the Romulans, the Federation''s longtime adversaries. What began as a desperate attempt to save lives became a descent into an abyss of deception, moral compromise and outright criminal acts, as Sisko became compelled to sacrifice every ideal he believed in - in order to preserve those same ideals. In HOLLOW MEN the aftermath of those events is explored as Sisko returns to Earth to answer for his actions. But to his surprise, no one intends to punish him. The course he took is viewed instead as a necessary and lesser evil which may yet prove to be the salvation of the Federation way of life. But Sisko''s own conscience haunts him, and as he continues to seek some kind of penance for what he has done, opportunists within Starfleet itself set in motion a scheme which uses his actions as a springboard from which the Federation will emerge from the war as an imperial power.

CARDASSIA. Ravaged by the Dominion War which its leaders helped to begin, this once proud and xenophobic planet is the last place Miles and Keiko O''Brien thought they would build a life. But Cardassia''s struggle to make itself anew and to throw off the legacy of its imperial past is hampered by those who prefer the old traditions. Una McCormick weaves a tale which brilliantly captures a world of contradictions: the need to atone and the steely darkness that share the Cardassian soul. ANDOR. From one of the best-known worlds in the Star Trek universe to one of the least. Heather Jarman brings the exotic Andor suberbly to life, with its four sexes, its complex social dilemmas and its ancient, mysterious past.

''As long as people have lived here, they''ve gone out of their way to avoid the woods...'' Two teenage girls disappear into an ancient wood, a foreboding and malevolent presence both now and in the past. The modern motorway bends to avoid it, as did the old Roman road. In 1917 the Doctor and Amy are desperate to find out what''s happened to Rory, who''s vanished too. But something is waiting for them in the woods. Something that''s been there for thousands of years. Something that is now waking up. A thrilling, all-new adventure featuring the Doctor, Amy and Rory, as played by Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill in the spectacular hit Doctor Who series from BBC Television.

''They called it Enamour. It turned minds, sold merchandise, and swayed elections. And it did its job far too well...'' In the city-state of Geath, the King lives in a golden hall, and the people want for nothing. Everyone is happy and everyone is rich. Or so it seems. When the Doctor, Amy and Rory look beneath the surface, they discover a city of secrets. In dark corners, strange creatures are stirring. At the heart of the hall, a great metal dragon oozes gold. Then the Herald appears, demanding the return of her treasure... And next come the gunships. The battle for possession of the treasure has begun, and only the Doctor and his friends can save the people of the city from being destroyed in the crossfire of an ancient civil war. But will the King surrender his new-found wealth? Or will he fight to keep it...? A thrilling fantasy adventure featuring the Doctor, Amy and Rory, as played by Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill in the spectacular hit Doctor Who series from BBC Television.

Requiems for the Departed Irish Crime, Irish Myths. It has been said before, that every story has already been told. Maybe so. But if you''ve got the gift of the gab, you can tell the same tale as often as you like and still give it a life of its own every time. Requiems for the Departed flaunts that gift seventeen times over. The children of Conchobar are back to their old mischievous ways; ancient Celtic royalty and druids and banshees are set loose in the new Irish underbelly. Requiems for the Departed contains seventeen short stories, inspired by Irish mythology, from some of the finest contemporary writers in the business.

Continuing the post-television Deep Space Nine saga, this original novel shows the fall of the Cardassian empire as seen through the eyes of a young man with a foot in two worlds. Rugal is an orphaned Cardassian who has been raised by the people his race once conquered, the Bajorans. Reluctantly repatriated to Cardassia as a teenager, Rugal becomes the living witness to the downfall of the proud people to whom he was born, first by the invading Klingons, then during the Cardassians’ unholy pact with the Dominion—a partnership that culminated in a near-genocide. Through it all, Rugal’s singular perspective illuminates the choices that brought the Cardassians to their ruin...even as he learns that the Cardassian soul is not as easy to understand as he imagined.

At the turning point of the Dominion War, Captain Benjamin Sisko of Starbase Deep Space 9 ™, facing certain defeat by the relentless forces of the Jem''Hadar and the Cardassians, went through with a secret plan to secure the aid of the Federation''s longtime adversaries, the Romulans. What began as a desperate attempt to save lives became a descent into an abyss of deception, moral compromises, and outright criminal acts, as Sisko sacrificed every ideal he held dear in order to preserve the civilization that espoused those selfsame principles. Now the aftermath of that choice is revealed for the first time as Sisko is summoned to Earth to take part in the first Allied talks to come out of the Federation''s new partnership with the Romulans. But Sisko''s conscience weighs heavily on him, compelling him to seek some kind of penance for what he has done...while elements within Starfleet itself set in motion a scheme to use Elim Garak as a pawn against a human political dissident who may hold the key to the outcome of the war. HOLLOW MEN A TALE OF THE DOMINION WAR

Within every federation and every empire, behind every hero and every villain, there are the worlds that define them. In the aftermath of Unity and in the daring tradition of Spock''s World, The Final Reflection, and A Stitch in Time, the civilizations most closely tied to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine can now be experienced as never before...in tales both sweeping and intimate, reflective and prophetic, eerily familiar and utterly alien. CARDASSIA: The last world ravaged by the Dominion War is also the last on which Miles O''Brien ever imagined building a life. As he joins in the reconstruction of Cardassia''s infrastructure, his wife Keiko spearheads the planet''s difficult agricultural renewal. But Cardassia''s struggle to remake itself—from the fledgling democracy backed by Elim Garak to the people''s rediscovery of their own spiritual past—is not without opposition, as the outside efforts to help rebuild its civilization come under attack by those who reject any alien influence. ANDOR: On the eve of a great celebration of their ancient past, the unusual and mysterious Andorians, a species with four sexes, must decide just how much they are willing to sacrifice in order to ensure their survival. Biological necessity clashes with personal ethics; cultural obligation vies with love—and Ensign Thirishar ch''Thane returns home to the planet he forswore, to face not only the consequences of his choices, but a clandestine plan to alter the very nature of his kind.