Серебряная Снежинка

In Lammas Night a young weaver of spells is persuaded to bide a while in a small village, to make their village spells and keep the Dark at bay. As part of their persuasion, the villagers have given her the house of her predecessor. Not knowing that his spirit lingers there, she unwittingly breaks the spell that laid him. Now, a half-seen phantom courts her. He is either her lover for all time, the only she will ever know- or a wicked spirits' seeming, the aim of which is to entrap her in a fate unspeakable.

Will she call him to her or banish him forever? Now is the time of choosing, the Witching on Lammas Night. Magic Dark and Light are in perfect balance. She begins the casting of her spell....

Stories include:

"Introduction" by Josepha Sherman

"Lammas Night" by Mercedes Lackey

"Hallowmas Night" by Mercedes Lackey

"Harvest of Souls" by Doranna Durgin

"The Heart of the Grove" by Ardath Mayhar

"Miranda" by Ru Emerson

"Demonheart" by Mark Shepherd

"Sunflower" by Jody Lynn Nye

"Summer Storms" by Christie Golden

"A Choice of Many" by Mark Garland

"The Captive Song" by Jospha Sherman

"Midsummer Folly" by Elisabeth Waters

"The Mage, the Maiden and the Hag" by S.M. Stirling and Jan Stirling

"The Road Taken" by Laura Anne Gilman

"A Wandering of Wizard-Kind" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

"Circle of Ashes" by Stephanie D. Shaver

"A Choice of Dawns" by Susan Schwartz

"Miranda's Tale" by Jason Henderson

"Lady of Rock" by Diana L. Paxson

"Before" by Gael Baudino

and

• “The Lucky Strike”: When is chosen over to drop the first atomic bomb, fate takes an unexpected turn in Kim Stanley Robinson’s gripping tale.

• “Bring the Jubilee”: Ward Moore’s novella masterpiece offers a rebel victory at Gettysburg which changes the course of the Civil War… and all of American history.

• “Through Road No Wither”: After Hitler’s victory in World War II, two Nazi officers confront their destiny in Greg Bear’s apocalyptic vision of the future.

• “All the Myriad Ways”: Murder or suicide, Ambrose Harmon’s death leads the police down an infinite number of pathways in Larry Niven’s brilliant and defining tale of alternatives and consequences.

• “Mozart in Mirrorshades”: Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner explore a terrifying era as the future crashes into the past–with disastrous results.

…as well as works by Poul Anderson • Gregory Benford • Jack L. Chalker • Nicholas A. DiChario • Brad Linaweaver • William Sanders • Susan Shwartz • Allen Steele • and Harry Turtledove himself!

The definitive collection: fourteen seminal alternate history tales drawing readers into a universe of dramatic possibility and endless wonder

Napoleon is in New Orleans in William Sanders's «Empire»; the German Empire thrives in 1929 in Harry Turtledove's "Uncle Alf"; Pancho Villa's about to become the vice-president in S.M. Stirling and Richard Foss's «Compadres»; and General Patton gets a new diary in Roland J. Green's "George Patton Slept Here." In II, a collection of 13 wild speculations for those who enjoy specifically military alternative histories, Harry (Colonization: Aftershocks) also gathers stories from the likes of Chris Bunch, Michael F. Flynn and Susan Shwartz.