title: Crystal Nights and Other Stories
author:  Greg Egan 
description: Subterranean offers readers a representative sampling of Hugo winner Egan's distinctive hard SF, drawing from previously uncollected stories. Two of the nine stories are from the 1990s, two from the early 2000s and five postdating Egan's hiatus from writing while he campaigned for refugee human rights in Australia. Steadfastly reductionist, Egan nevertheless makes room for the moral implications of the treatment of refugees in Lost Continent, while Crystal Nights offers a pointed critique of technologists enthused by the idea of enslaved creations. Unfortunately, Egan can be heavy-handed at times, as in Oracle, where the character Jack serves as a straw-man version of C.S. Lewis. More conventional SF puzzle stories like Hot Rock and Tap and a forcefully worded introduction on the ethics of artificial intelligence round out the volume. <i>(Sept.)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  ![cover](cover.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  THE SCIONEER
  
  
  Published by Peter
  
  
  Bouvier at Smashwords
  
  
  Copyright 2011 Peter
  
  
  Bouvier
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
  For Abigail
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
  Cover art designed by
  
  
  Steve Clement-Large at
  [www.mydogateart.blogspot.com](http://www.mydogateart.blogspot.com/)
  
  
  Special thanks to
  
  
  Martin Moth
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
  Smashwords Edition,
  
  
  License Notes
  
  
  Thank you for
  
  
  downloading this free ebook. You are welcome to share it with your
  
  
  friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for
  
  
  non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete
  
  
  original form. Thank you for your support.
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
  Chapter 1
  
  
  Lek
  
  
  Gorski had waited too
  
  
  long. Twenty years too long to be precise. He pressed his forehead
  
  
  against the cool windowpane of his high-rise flat and tried to
  
  
  recall better times. He thought about Crystal. Where was she
  
  
  tonight? Dancing in The Shangri-La perhaps, or working upstairs in
  
  
  the Swinging Hammocks. The city lights of London beckoned 