Worlds Near and Far — Kay Kenyon

Of starships, aliens, and butterflies. Collected in this volume are stories set in space and at home--as far as Alpha Centauri and as close as a town near you. In space, we'll walk the decks of a generation ship, visit a starship graveyard and test-drive quantum teleportation. On the home planet we'll watch gargoyles come to life, meet aliens who offer far-flung tourism, ride on the shoulders of an avatar, and enter a new green world where metal and plastic bow down to the seeds of time. There will also be a butterfly.

"Kenyon writes beautifully, her characters are multilayered, and her extrasolar worlds are real and nuanced while at the same time truly alien." --Robert J. Sawyer