Ember doesn't have time to mourn. She's got big plans - save the oppressed flickers, rescue Stefan, and bring the Empire to its knees. But she soon discovers that her ability has a terrible, unthinkable cost. Can Ember choose between the man she loves and the Empire she hates? Stefan has succeeded in helping Ember escape. His grandmother's prophecy is being fulfilled, and he's ready to face execution for his part in it. But when he uncovers the Union's deadly secret, Stefan realizes he must survive long enough to find the Union's base and warn Ember - before she pays with her life.

Treena is nervous for Rating Day. A single number will brand her forever - a valuable citizen, or a pathetic waste of space. Her top-Rated boyfriend is confident their scores will coincide so they can attend the academy together. But when the big day arrives, her true number shocks everyone.

Daith's father is dead. His death caused a rip in the galaxy's peace. The remains of his army are fighting to restore it. But Daith knows nothing of this. Her memories have been stolen. She has been kidnapped. All she knows is that she has unparalleled abilities that could help end the devastation. Except without her past, how can she know if she's on the right side? Time is running out, and Daith must choose - to search for who she was, or use her gifts to restore order.

Too long to be a short story, too short to be a novel - welcome to the surprisingly potent world of the novelette. The award-winning magazine Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show has been an online haven for this powerful form of storytelling since 2005. Now its editors have selected their all-time favorite science fiction novelettes from the magazine's eight-year history and reprinted them together in one big book of listening pleasure.

Kendro, King of the Aonise, can do nothing to prevent their sun from collapsing, consuming their home planet, Letháo, in a single fiery blast. Running out of time and options, he evacuates the entire population, setting off into the unknown galaxy in four crowded ships. Under constant danger from their ancient enemy, the Zefron, treasonous dissent seeps into his inner circle. Threatened inside and out, Kendro struggles with whom to trust, until a mysterious vision finally brings hope to the distraught king.

No communication. Limited power. An unbreakable will to survive. A violent blast of solar magnetic radiation plunges much of Earth into darkness. From the decaying orbit of the powerless ISS to a devolving Southeast Texas neighborhood and a secret doomsday bunker buried deep underneath the Colorado Rockies, The SpaceMan Chronicles tells the story of a stranded astronaut, his family and friends on the ground, and a shadowy conspiracy to rebuild the world in the shape of a new society.

In the far future, mankind lives safe and secure behind the Chronos Ring - an automatic defense system that encircles the area of space occupied by human beings. The Ring keeps out all of humanity's enemies - in particular, a vicious race of reptilians known as the Parsnaak. On the outer fringe of human-occupied space is the planet Muse, an entire world dedicated and established as a colossal museum - a storehouse of antiquities and relics from the ancient histories of both men and aliens.

Hero or villain. A choice that every Icon, a person born with powers, eventually has to make if they don’t want to live a life of mediocrity. For most Icons the decision is easy. Just do what your parents did. Then, there is Hunter Monroe. A powerful young Icon born from the unimaginable union of a hero and villain. Seventeen years later Hunter is seen as a half-breed abomination by some, and as a certified powerhouse by others. With his time at Purgatory Academy, the premier institute for Icons, coming to an end, Hunter must embark on a two year internship with a supergroup.

Former Captain of the Confederate Fleet, Terenze Milos is the hero of the Locusta-Vanga wars, said to have brought the galaxy back from the brink of extinction. Now he lives in obscurity, running a freight operation on the derelict ship Endeavor. When Captain Milos recognizes the unmistakable signs of deadly Locustan technology in a salvaged fighter craft - the Stryker - he sounds a warning. But the Confederacy isn't listening....

When Talia Lyons was just a child, her parents were murdered before her eyes. Offered a choice between accepting their fate and exacting revenge, Talia trains to become one of the country's deadliest assassins in order to kill the man responsible for their deaths: Ian Crane. Luckily, Talia was born with a gift - the ability to read and influence the minds of others.

Having saved humanity from an invading alien armada, Ian Lotus finds himself not rewarded but once again on the run -- struggling to stay one step ahead of a galactic government intent on his capture.

Razer Station is one of the most notorious stations in the galaxy. Criminals, con artists, freaks, rebels, junkies, and smugglers inhabit the space station that floats at the outer edge of civilization. It's Roak's kind of place. But, Roak isn't on Razer for a little R&R; he's there on a job. For Roak, it should be an easy job- track down an old tech that has been targeted by several corporations and deliver the tech to the corporations. Except Razer Station is never that accommodating and Roak's easy job quickly turns into a nightmare battle for survival and a race across the station before it all goes up in flames.

With the fate of entire civilisations at risk, the galactic battleground makes for unusual alliances and unexpected passions as two women from very different worlds join forces. When Commodore Rae Jacelon of the Gamma VI space station apprehends the alluring but dangerous Kellen O'Dal, it is the start of an unlikely alliance and a breathtaking attraction. Against all advice, Jacelon decides to trust the mysterious O'Dal, risking her career and her life, and a daring intergalactic romance ensues, set against the backdrop of a space adventure filled with suspense.

The Empyrean is the only home 15-year-old Waverly has ever known. Part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space, she and her boyfriend, Kieran, will be pioneers of New Earth. Waverly knows she must marry young in order to have children who can carry on the mission, and Kieran, the handsome captain-to-be, has everything Waverly could want in a husband. Everyone is sure he’s the best choice. Still, there’s a part of Waverly that wants more from life than marriage.

Kia stands alone against an intergalactic empire. With everything she loves destroyed, she wants revenge. When invading forces annex the planet Emankora, Kia’s family is murdered, and she is sentenced to slavery in the asteroid mines. Surviving the harsh treacherous conditions takes grit and tenacity, but when the emperor’s son tours the facility, she inadvertently saves his life.