Worlds of Light & Darkness

A haunted father who discovers a place where incomplete things—and people—are made whole. A mischievous satyr who hatches a plan to set loose chaos on a global scale. A workaholic witch in search of her kitty companion. Invasive technology to rewrite the human brain. Dragon slayers. Zombies. Time travelers. Ice skaters. These twenty short stories stretch across multiple universes and beyond death—and yet, they remain intimate, personal, emotional. They demonstrate the strength of the human spirit to find hope and seek a better tomorrow in even the darkest times. A selection of the best speculative fiction from DreamForge and Space & Time literary magazines, these are the stories we need today as we struggle through a pandemic, divisive politics, rampant misinformation, a belligerent defiance of facts and science, and new technologies that are already spiraling beyond our control. Read, my friends… and take hope. This short story anthology includes: Answered Prayers By Scott Edelman Pioneer By Mark Gallacher The Ghost of a Smile By John Jos. Miller The Spiral Ranch By Sarena Ulibarri An Infinite Number By David Amburgey Sing! & Remember By Lauren C. Teffeau A Sip of Pombé By Gustavo Bondoni Born from Memory By Jane Lindskold Tea with Gibbons By Tyler Tork The Weight of Mountains By L. Deni Colter Sapiens By Davide Mana The Dead Don’t Dream By Gordon Linzner Collecting Violet By Austin Gragg Humani By John Palisano Joy of Life By Alessandro Manzetti Artifact By Jonathan Maberry The Feline, the Witch, and the Universe By Jennifer Shelby Hands of a Toolmaker By Eric Del Carlo A Farewell to Worms By John Linwood Grant A Glass Darkly By Ian Rogers