"Journey across the stars of the Imperial Radch universe. Listen to the words of the Old Gods that ruled The Raven Tower. Learn the secrets of the mysterious Lake of Souls. And so much more, in this masterfully wide-ranging and immersive short fiction collection from award-winning author Ann Leckie"--

After the death of Ingvar Tench, one of Panoply's most dangerous operatives, Prefect Tom Dreyfus, riddled with guilt, is plunged into a deadly conspiracy and pitted against an old enemy who refuses to die.

Zenya was a teenager when she ran away from home to join the Mecha God's warrior sect. She was determined to earn her copper wings and protect the people and city she loved. Under the strict tutelage of a mercurial, charismatic leader, Zenya became Winged Zemolai. But after twenty-six years of service, Zemolai is disillusioned with her role as an enforcer in an increasingly fascist state. After one tragic act of mercy, she is cast out and loses everything...

War heroes aren't usually called out of semi-retirement and sent to the far reaches of the galaxy for a routine investigation. So when Colonel Carl Butler answers the call from an old and powerful friend, he knows it's something big--and he's not being told the whole story. A high councilor's son has gone MIA out of Cappa Base, the space station orbiting a battle-ravaged planet. The young lieutenant had been wounded and evacuated--but there's no record...

"The accident came quickly. With no warning. In the dead of night, a precipitous plunge into a freezing river trapped everyone inside the bus. It was then that Army veteran John Reiff's life came to an end. Extinguished in the sudden rush of frigid water. There was no expectation of survival. None. Let alone waking up beneath blinding hospital lights. Struggling to move, or see, or even breathe. But the doctors assure him that everything is normal....

"Kee Ildez has been many things: hacker, soldier, bounty hunter. She never expected to be a hero, but when a shadowy group of traitors starts trying to goad the galaxy's two superpowers into instigating an interstellar war, Kee throws herself into the search to find out who is responsible--and stop them. Digging up hidden information is her job, so hunting traitors should be a piece of cake, but the primary suspect spent years in the military, and...

"Following his mission on Cappa, Colonel Carl Butler returns to a mixed reception. To some he is a do-or-die war hero. To the other half of the galaxy he's a pariah. Forced into retirement, he has resettled on Talca Four where he's now Deputy VP of Corporate Security, protecting a high-tech military company on the corporate battlefield - at least, that's what the job description says. Really, he's just there to impress clients and investors. It's...

Ostracized or incarcerated her whole life, seventeen-year-old Juliette is freed on the condition that she use her horrific abilities in support of The Reestablishment, a postapocalyptic dictatorship, but Adam, the only person ever to show her affection, offers hope of a better future. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon. Adam, the only person ever to show her affection,...

Yokohama Station has swallowed 99% of mainland Japan. With help from Keiha Nijo of the Dodger Alliance, Hiroto has followed the Professor’s whispered intimations to Exit 42 in the mountainous interior of Yokohama Station. There, in the heart of the beast, an ancient monitor flickers to life, and an image of the Professor in his youth, a haunting digital simulacrum, awakens from its slumber. And just nearby, there is a button—one that, when pressed,...

In a future where the world is roughly divided into two factions, the Pacific League of Nations and the Atlantic Division of Nations, tensions are high as each side waits for the other to make a move. But neither side is prepared for a powerful third party that has apparently been an influential presence on Earth for thousands of years, and just might be making a reappearance very soon. With the realization that a highly intelligent alien race has...