Worlds Long Lost

STORIES OF ANCIENT ALIEN ARTIFACTS FROM THE TOP NAMES IN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY

THE UNIVERSE IS OLDER AND MORE ALIEN THAN WE CAN EVER UNDERSTAND

We were not alone. The farther we push into the universe, the more obvious it becomes. The signs are everywhere: canals and pyramids on Mars, old roads on the moons of Jupiter, ruined cities on worlds about the nearer stars. The galaxy once teemed with life, or so it seems. Which begs the question: What happened to it all?

These stories explore the ruins of lost civilizations, solve ancient mysteries . . . and awaken horrors from beyond the dawn of time.

Featuring stories by Orson Scott Card, Griffin Barber, Adam Oyebanji, Jessica Maguire, Patrick Chiles, and an all-new entry in the Sun Eater universe from editor Christopher Ruocchio. Join us for your next adventure to Worlds Long Lost!

Praise for Worlds Long Lost:
"Editors Christopher Ruocchio and Sean CW Korsgaard have given fans of this venerable genre something special… Worlds Long Lost definitely has something for everyone who loves a touch of the crawling chaos." —The Wall Street Journal

"Ruocchio (the Sun Eater series) and Korsgaard bring together 14 mind-bending and often disturbing tales of ancient extraterrestrial civilizations throughout the universe . . . Full of creepy flights of imagination and thought-provoking science, this will be a hit with fans of first contact sci-fi." —Publishers Weekly

"Ruocchio and Korsgaard have shown themselves to have the taste and the discernment of master vintners, going through the grapevine of the science fiction genre to find the sweetest berries. Worlds Long Lost is no mere vinegar, but the finest vintage you can find today. If science fiction were wine, this anthology sparkles, both like champagne, and like the stars in the heavens." —Warped Factor

"Readers are treated to tales of wonder and horror of ancient alien civilizations, from mischievous youngsters to curses of long-lost gods… For readers looking to escape to another galaxy, prepare to be rocketed to Worlds Long Lost." —Portland Book Review

"Fourteen new stories involving the discovery of ancient alien artifacts, on Earth or elsewhere in the universe, appear in this anthology. The pieces range from intellectual puzzles to tales of adventure, with a fair amount of horror thrown into the mix." —Tangent Online

“Worlds Long Lost delivers on its promise to take you out of this world.” —Upstream Reviews

About Star Destroyers, coedited by Christopher Ruocchio:
“. . . spectacular space battles and alien contacts . . . themes of military ethics, the uses of artificial intelligence, and the limits of the capacity of the human mind. . . . it is the human interactions and decisions that ultimately drive the stories. . . . will appeal to fans of military and hard science fiction and any readers fascinated by the possibilities of space travel.” —Booklist

“. . . stories of giant spaceships at war, at peace, and in the often-gray areas between. . . . a worthy addition to a long tradition of ship-based fiction, and its authors portray captains, arcane astrogators, and civilian child passengers with equal depth. It’s recommended for fans of military SF and space adventure.” —Publishers Weekly

“. . . you’d probably expect some tight, action-filled space opera stories of giant space battles . . . and there’s some of that. But there are also espionage stories, rescue missions, political conflicts, alternate histories, even a few humorous tales. . . . each author took the premise in a different direction . . . if I had to identify one common feature to all the stories, it would be that they’re all fun. . . . Like it says, big ships blowing things up. What’s not to like?” —Analog

About Sword & Planet, edited by Christopher Ruocchio:
". . . the wide mix of stories, and the surprising places they go make this anthology a particular joy from start to finish . . . offers a glimpse into everything that made stories like these a popular standby since the pulp era, with enough creativity, variety and talent showcased to prove that there's still plenty of life in the century-old genre . . . I recommend it heartily." —Analog

"Sword & Planet breathes new life into a genre that many understandably felt was left moldering in the grave. It’s old-school wonder with twenty-first century polish—what’s not to like?" —Warped Factor

Christopher Ruocchio is the author of The Sun Eater, a space opera fantasy series, as well as a former assistant editor at Baen Books, where he has edited several anthologies. He is a graduate of North Carolina State University, where he studied English Rhetoric and the Classics. Christopher has been writing since he was eight and sold his first novel, Empire of Silence, at twenty-two. To date, his books have been published in five languages.

Christopher lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife, Jenna.

Sean CW Korsgaard is a US Army veteran, award-winning photojournalist and freelance reporter, and an assistant editor and media relations manager at Baen Books. 

As a reporter, he’s had over fifteen hundred articles published across dozens of newspapers in Virginia over the past seven years, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Daily Press, and nationally, in outlets ranging from The New York Times to io9 to VFW Magazine, and most recently, as a columnist for Analog Science Fiction & Fact. His work has seen him interview two U.S. Presidents, walk the grounds of Auschwitz beside Holocaust survivors, party with Swedish metal bands, get caught in the thick of riots, and even be attacked by a shark. He was a finalist for the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award and Writers of the Future, and recently saw the publication of his first anthology, Worlds Long Lost, and his first published short story, “Black Box.”

A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, Sean lives in Richmond, Virginia, with his wife and son, and is always looking for his next great adventure and his next big byline.