Winner of the Specturm Award. Often compared to Ursula Le Guinn s ground-breaking "The Left Hand of Darkness," "Dark Water s Embrace" is a fascinating look at issues of human (and alien) sexuality. Stephen Leigh creates a rich world with elaborate care and uses this alien backdrop to delve into issues of survival, sexuality and the meaning of life itself. ***** The fact is that Stephen Leigh s new novel is a fine piece of work and one that deserves to reach a wide readership. NY Review of Science Fiction*****"

Originally Published as 'Thunder Rift.' *** "Replete with adventure, mystery, and sociological conflict."-Publishers Weekly *** First contact was never supposed to be like this. * A sudden rift appears in near-earth space, causing electronic components to permanently fail and cause total chaos. As Earth's fragile technological society disintegrates, no one can answer the obvious question-what is the rift, and who or what has created it. * A new generation comes to age attempting to answer these questions, and Taria Spears, an anthropologist, is selected as part of the crew on the exploratory...

There is a certain magic growing up with life-long friends. The charmed existence became almost dream-like with two young boys growing up in a small neighborhood surrounded by an old, dense forest. **** But what happens when fantasies start becoming all too real? Grotesque and bloody rites give rise to a fey and magical girl who threatens to destroy the last remnants of the boys' idyllic childhood existence...whose mere presence may set the jealous boys at each other's throats. **** Hidden among the trees they know so well, Rob and Mark confront a grim, violent solution to their problems....