Two novellas present differing futures. In LAND'S END by Lauren Dane we see a country guarded against anarchy outside garrisoned towns, with a highway linking Silver Cliffs to Shelter City. Loyal is a guard of the shipment of foodstuffs and other goods, and he sees Verity Coleman on these trips along the Land's End highway, a widow who keeps the rooming house. Self-sufficiency in areas like food growing and solar power is very important but the travellers also bring eagerly sought-after news.

This erotic tale puts two characters in each other's orbit who keep having fantasies about each other and not mentioning their desires; I wondered why one of them couldn't say something? Verity had to marry at fourteen but now as an adult widow she has rights and property. Brigands prowl the highway and Loyal could find battle on any trip. This time however he receives reports that the brigands are massing, ready to attack the town. Maybe it's the imminence of danger that convinces the two lonely people to break down the barriers, and then they can't get enough of each other. This is an adult romance which harks back to tough pioneer days but is set forward in time.

BY THE SEA OF SAND by Megan Hart shows the planet Sheir. Life is hard and resources meager. Giant whale creatures, reminiscent of sandworms in 'Dune', live under the gritty sea, and oil from their bodies helps to sustain the human settlers. Teila keeps a lighthouse and is pressured to take in convalescents from an ongoing war. One such, a bio- engineered soldier, is brought to her; he is burned, scarred and lacking memories. Even so he has barely woken up when they are making love, which didn't ring true with me. Teila recognises this man as her supposedly dead husband, but if she tells him so before he remembers by himself, it could destroy his mind and turn him into one of the enemy.

Cue plenty of bedroom scenes as the seriously injured warrior has not enough energy to stand up but plenty when lying down. There are simple robots and native worlders to flesh out the picture as Teila keeps demonstrating her love for a man who has nightmares and remembers nothing of their life. In THERE ALL ALONG we have two intensely atmospheric tales of warriors and strong women, not the usual fare but suitable for those who like to combine SF and adult romances.