The Five Worlds of humanity were powerless to stop Prime Cornelian, High Leader of Mars, from decimating Venus with his legions of plasma soldiers. Now he turns to the settled moon of Saturn under the control of Wrath-Pei. Millions of lives face a horrible fate as the forces of these two madmen battle each other across the vastness of space...

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.

Something vital is missing from David Hero's comfortable, ordinary existence. One day is much like the next, simple, predictable...boring. But the nights! Each night David Hero finds himself transported to a marvelous world where brave men and women battle terrible creatures possessed of cruel, dark powers.

Earth has been destroyed, the entire solar system turned to dust by a cataclysmic event known as the Fracture. Now, the last survivors of humanity live on vast arkships drifting through the Cluster, doing what they can to survive in a hostile ever-changing environment. When the arkship Obsidian is attacked, Wynn awakes in an escape pod fleeing from a huge space battle, unable to remember who he is. Hunted by a killer robot, the forces of a rival arkship, and the Church of the Infinite, Wynn must survive long enough to unlock his lost memories, discover who is behind the attack and take his revenge.

On the day that Aldair found that his world had abruptly turned upside-down, his history-changing quest began. And he did not even then know that it was to be a quest. Aldair had been a true acolyte of the faith when it happened. And then, he found himself an accursed outcast, the one against whom all hands were raised. His only friends were those who had been his most vicious enemies. His only course led to the lands of horror. And his final goal had to be that most forbidden of all lands, the dwelling place of the dead, that island of total terror known as Albion.

1967: Chestnut Circle is an average suburban community inhabited by ordinary people - teenagers, housewives, retirees. Seventeen-year-old Nick Blake's only major worries are homework, high school, and how to date the pretty girl across the way. Then a fierce storm strikes the neighborhood and, overnight, all of Chestnut Circle is transported to an enchanted realm unlike anything its residents have ever known.

Because Petty Officer Logan Miller saved Ambassador William's daughter, Kaylee, he was tasked with escorting her through the rough streets of Montlake. Little did he know a simple assignment would morph into a race across the galaxy. If he wants to get her to safety, Miller must avoid pirates, the Imperial Navy, and the hazards of deep space. All while keeping a decrepit starship from blowing up along the way. Kaylee Williams desperately needs to get to Taurus. The future of the Empire rests with the secret information she carries.

What if the entire universe were the creation of alien minds? After an unfortunate spaceship accident, the hedonistic human Lutt Hansen, Jr., finds himself sharing his body and mind with a naïve alien dreamer. Together the two must survive dangers, schemes, and assassination attempts - but can they survive each other?

The Colony ship Marathon left a dying Earth on a generation's long voyage to another planet. Inside its giant biomes were people who would spend their entire lives during that flight. They knew that their descendants would be the people who would arrive at the destination world. During the long journey, something went wrong. Something else was on the Marathon. This adventure chronicles the life of one habitat dweller named Kalju, as he becomes aware of his role in what is taking place. 

If one looks too long into the abyss, the abyss looks back. Drangar Ralgon has been avoiding the abyss's gaze for far too long and now he turns to face it. For 100 years the young kingdom of Danastaer has thrived in peace. Now their northern neighbor, mighty Chanastardh, has begun a cunning invasion. Thrust into events far beyond his control, the mercenary Drangar Ralgon flees his solitary life as a shepherd to evade the coming war and take responsibility for his crimes. In Dunthiochagh, Danastaer's oldest city, the holy warrior Kildanor uncovers the enemy's plans for invasion.

Nath Dragon triumphed over his greatest foe, Gorn Grattack, bringing peace and order back to the world of Nalzambor...mostly. Now, bored with ruling from the dragon throne, Nath and his dwarven comrade Brenwar Bolderguild, set out to solve one of the greatest mysteries of all. Who and where is Nath's mother? Does she even exist? Is she imprisoned?

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.

Welcome to the world of Nalzambor... Nath is a special warrior. He is a man destined to be a dragon. In order to become a dragon, he must save the dragons. For countless years Nath has been on a quest to become a dragon, but his meddling with the other races tends to get in the way. The way of men is not the way of Nath Dragon his father has warned him. Yet, Nath, unable to control his fascination of the world men, elves, dwarves and even the despised orcs, tends to get caught up in their affairs. To earn his scales, there is a high road he must follow.

Far in the Northern wilds where no humans regularly frequent, a young man is left alone when his parents are murdered suddenly and unexpectedly. Now, without friends, family, or even supplies, he embarks on a journey to find out who targeted his parents - and upon whom he needs to enact his revenge.  

John's dead...but his biggest challenges have only just begun. Hell has a problem. Two actually. The souls of Sandy Logan and Ian (Cher) Noble are missing and the fate of the Universe is at stake. John's deal to regain his life sounds easy. Until he discovers Sandy and Ian have both been reincarnated as pigeons and could be anywhere on Earth. What's more they died trying to stop the Prime Minister unleashing Emorfed on the unsuspecting public, a substance designed to remove human emotions.