City Under the Stars

A tale of hope in the midst of dystopia by the Nebula Award–winning authors—an expansion of their novella The City of God.

God was in his Heaven—which was fifteen miles away, due east.


Far in Earth's future, in a post-utopian hellhole, Hanson works ten solid back-breaking hours a day, shoveling endless mountains of coal, within sight of the iridescent wall that separates what's left of humanity from their gods.


One day, after a tragedy of his own making, Hanson leaves the city, not knowing what he will do or how he will survive in the wilderness without work. He finds himself drawn to the wall, to the elusive promise of God. And when the impossible happens, he steps through, into the city beyond.


The impossible was only the beginning.

City Under the Stars completes a journey undertaken by Gardner Dozois and Michael Swanwick when they published the novella The City of God. Over two decades later, the two realized there was more to the story, and began the work of expanding it. Now, after Gardner Dozois' tragic passing in 2018, the story can be told in full.