Shapers of Worlds Volume II: Science fiction and fantasy by authors featured on the Aurora Award-winning podcast The Worldshapers: 2

Explore twenty-four imaginative tales crafted by some of todays best writers of science fiction and fantasy all guests on Aurora Award-winning podcast The Worldshapers during its second year including international bestsellers and winners of every major award in the field as well as newer authors just beginning what promise to be stellar careers.There are brand-new stories from Kelley Armstrong Marie Brennan Garth Nix Candas Jane Dorsey Jeremy Szal Edward Willett Bryan Thomas Schmidt Lisa Foiles Susan Forest Matthew Hughes Heli Kennedy Helen Dale Adria Laycraft Edward Savio Lisa Kessler Ira Nayman James Alan Gardner and Tim Pratt plus fiction by Jeffrey A. Carver David D. Levine Carrie Vaughn Nancy Kress Barbara Hambly and S.M. Stirling.A woman seeking the power to see the evil hiding within others regrets receiving it. Letters written by a wizard in the past threaten a queens reign in the present. Competing for Earth a human wrestler faces an alien shapeshifter in an interstellar tournament. A guide in Tibet must weigh the good of his people when asked to lead a westerner to the fabled realm of Shangri. An activist imprisoned for illegal genetic modification works with the materials at hand and the threads of the multiverse to make the world-aworld at least-a better place. A demonic agent sent to help a human turns the tables on his summoner.Like the cabinets of curiosities created by collectors of the sixteenth century Shapers of Worlds Volume II displays a varied array of thought-provoking delights: tales of humour and sorrow darkness and light and hope and despair that are full of adventure full of life and sometimes full of regret. There are stories set in alternate histories in possible futures near and far and in the here-and-now taking place on Earth on distant planets or in fantastic realms. All arise from the innate need of human beings to create to imagine . . . to shape worlds.Praise for Shapers of Worlds (Volume I): One of the most wide-ranging volumes Ive encountered in terms of sub-genre. Its rather like a speculative fiction buffet offering steampunk fantasy military fiction magic space opera post-apocalyptic hard science fiction and others . . . Inventive and varied the collection has a lot to offer for those seeking an interesting entertaining and thought-provoking read. - Lisa Timpf The Future Fire