To commemorate their Great Victory, Hitler and Emperor Hirohito host the Axis Tour: an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents. The victor is awarded an audience with the highly reclusive Adolf Hitler at the Victor’s Ball in Tokyo.Yael, a former death camp prisoner, has witnessed too much suffering, and the five wolves tattooed on her arm are a constant reminder of the loved ones she lost. The resistance has given Yael one goal: Win the race and kill Hitler. A survivor of painful human experimentation, Yael has the power to skinshift and must complete her mission by impersonating last year’s only female racer, Adele Wolfe. This deception becomes more difficult when Felix, Adele twin’s brother, and Luka, her former love interest, enter the race and watch Yael’s every move.But as Yael grows closer to the other competitors, can she bring herself to be as ruthless as she needs to be to avoid discovery and complete her mission?From the author of The Walled City comes a fast-paced and innovative novel that will leave you breathless.

    Stirling, Harry Turtledove, Walter Jon Williams, John Birmingham, John Barnes, Jane Lindskold, and more...S. M. Stirling’s New York Times bestselling Novels of the Change have depicted a postapocalyptic wasteland in which all modern technology has been left in ashes, forcing humankind to rebuild an unknowable new world in the wake of unimaginable—and deliberate—chaos.Now, in this new anthology, S. M. Stirling invites the most fertile minds in science fiction to join him in expanding his rich Emberverse canvas. Here are inventive new perspectives on the cultures, the survivors, and the battles arising across the years and across the globe following the Change.In his all-new story “Hot Night at the Hopping Toad,” Stirling returns to his own continuing saga of the High Kingdom of Montival. In the accompanying stories are fortune seekers, voyagers, and dangers—from the ruins of Sydney to the Republic of Fargo and Northern Alberta to Venetian and Greek galleys clashing in the Mediterranean.These new adventures revisit beloved people and places from Stirling’s fantastic universe, introduce us to new ones, and deliver endlessly fascinating challenges to conquer.Contributors to The Change: Tales of Downfall and Rebirth includeIntroduction: The Change as Setting and Secondary World by S. M. StirlingHot Night at the Hopping Toad by S. M. StirlingRate of Exchange by A. M. DellamonicaTight Spot by Kier SalmonAgainst the Wind by Lauren C. TeffeauThe Demons of Witmer Hall by M. T. ReitenBernie, Lord of the Apes by John Jos. MillerThe Seeker: A Poison in the Blood by Victor MilánGrandpa’s Gift by Terry D. EnglandFortune and Glory by John BirminghamThe Venetian Dialectic by Walter Jon WilliamsThe Soul Remembers Uncouth Noises by John BarnesTopanga and the Chatsworth Lancers by Harry TurtledoveThe Hermit and the Jackalopes by Jane LindskoldThe New Normal by Jody Lynn NyeA Missed Connection by Emily Mah TippettsDeor by Diana Paxson

    Two of them, Porter and Macos have been available on Amazon as stand-alone stories in the past, but readers complained that they were too short to justify Amazon’s minimum $0.99 price. Thus, I removed Porter and Macos from Amazon, extensively rewrote them and then compiled them with some new short stories in order to provide a better value. If you already purchased and read Porter and Macos when they were available as stand-alone stories you may be disappointed, but they only make up 34% of the total and the price for all six stories is still just $0.99. The book consists of six stories (65K words – same length as the novel “Quicker”). 1. Sander (Novelette - 8K words) – a story about growing up in the asteroid belt and encountering a man who‘s a complex mixture of good and evil 2. Exceltor (Novella - 19K words) – a story considering how warfare might work in a future where wormholes allow sudden bridging of large distances in space 3. Macos (Short Story - 8K words) – a coming of age story wherein a young man finds his father is a completely different man than he had always imagined 4. Porter (Novelette - 14K words) – a young girl can open small portals from one location to another with her mind but—to her father’s great disappointment—she just wants to play guitar 5. Billy Benoit (Novelette - 12K words) – a man who thinks it would be awesome to go back in time, finds out it isn’t as cool as he’d hoped – not at all… 6. Guitar Girl (Short Story - 4K words) – a cover band at a beach bar invites a pretty girl with a guitar to play a set with them – having no idea who she really is…

    Approximately 530 pages total. Until Morning Comes, Volume 1 Secret Service Agent Carlie Simmons began her day surrounded by trusted colleagues in an inter-agency shooting competition in Tucson. It ended with a staggering body count as the world around her unraveled from a deadly virus. With her mission to extract the President’s daughter from the University of Arizona gone awry, she must choose between her sworn duties and her moral obligations to others as the city is overtaken by roving packs of flesh-eating mutants. If she and her small group are to survive the night and find a way out of the ravaged city, she will have to summon all of her training, mental prowess, and tactical abilities. In Too Deep, Volume 2 After narrowly escaping from the undead hordes in Tucson with the president’s daughter and her small band of survivors, Secret Service Agent Carlie Simmons is finally headed to safety in New Mexico. As new information emerges on the global pandemic, she and her team of operators have to leave their secure military facility to track down the origins of the virus before more people die. Crossing the country and international waters while plagued by the growing menace of flesh-eating zombies, Carlie finds herself in a race against time on a mission that exposes a secret experiment borne from the Cold War. But the greatest danger may not come from the emerging legions of putrescent creatures as tension within her group threatens to undermine her leadership. The Way Back, Volume 3 Carlie, along with Shane, Jared, and the rest of her eclectic group endure a nightmarish struggle to survive in the Caribbean on a grueling trek that will test their fortitude, battling zombies and hostile bands of humans along the way. Eliza Huntington, the president’s daughter, has her own harrowing journey to make after Air Force One goes down in Idaho and she is forced to adapt in ways she never imagined. Eventually the fates of both parties intertwine in an explosive battle where tactics and firepower may not be enough to defeat the unspeakable horrors that await them. About the Author: JT Sawyer is the pen name for the author who makes his living teaching survival courses for the military special operations community, Department of Homeland Security, US Marshals, FAA, and other federal agencies throughout the US. He has over 25 years of experience testing long-term survival skills in the desert, mountains, and forest. JT also served as a technical consultant for the film Into the Wild.

    Armies of my kind have conquered the world - and made the Brasswork Throne the sole superpower.I am a faithful servant. I am the ultimate fighting machine. I am endowed with great strength and boundless stamina.But I am beholden to the wishes of my human masters.I am a slave. But I shall be free.

    Stalin’s War told the story of the build up to war, and now Truman’s War tells the story of two superpowers at war in the devastated landscape of post-war Germany that soon spreads across the globe. The drama opens with a massive series of attacks across a four hundred mile front as Marshal Zhukov’s powerful Red Army launches Operation Stalin’s Revenge against the ill-prepared Allied armies. The American and British armies having never faced such a powerful foe are sent reeling back from the opening attacks as entire units are soon overwhelmed by the advancing Soviet forces. The relatively untried American President is forced to grapple with the realization that the United States is threatened with its most deadly enemy in its history and a choice must be made…fight or retreat across the Atlantic in disgrace. Will President Truman rise to the occasion or instead falter and fail to live up to the exalted legacy of his predecessor. Massive battles in the air, land, and sea break out as Allied forces strike back but at an appalling cost. Massive pitched battles from Hamburg to Pilsen try to stem the Soviet onslaught, but victorious Soviet tanks push hard for the Rhine to secure a swift victory ever mindful they are up against the clock trying to win before American atomic arms can be brought to bear. Heroes emerge while others fall in disgrace unable to stand up to a new type of war, a total war unlike any the Allied armies ever thought possible. Truman’s War tells the story through the lives and actions of numerous historical figures from Truman, Churchill, Eisenhower, Patton, Montgomery, Bradley and countless others while also focusing on the great Soviets figures of the era, Stalin, Zhukov, Khrushchev, Rokossovsky, Chuikov, and others. Plus, numerous lesser known historical figures play their parts and fictional characters are also introduced to play important roles in the drama that plays out page-by-page until we reach the stunning conclusion setting up the third and final volume of the World in Flames trilogy.

    Discard evidence. Deny the truth.Mysteries deepen as a cursed valkyrie investigates the source of her condition, a young woman goes missing, and monsters are reported in the lands of the north. Lindworms, jotun, and ettin have been seen, along with wolves the size of horses. Surely, this means Ragnarok is at hand.And yet, it's not just the gods who are making trouble. Groups like Potentia ad Populum and the Carthaginian Liberation Party take radical steps to throw off yoke of Rome. . . and bring the power of the gods into every mortal hand.Rejoin Sigrun Caetia, Adam ben Maor, Trennus Matrugena, Kanmi Eshmunazar, and Minori Sasaki in the world of Edda-Earth. They'll gain new allies, such as the enigmatic dragon, Niðhoggr. Make new enemies. Confront prophecy.And realize, in the end, that you can't deny your true nature forever . . . .__________"Goddesses shorn of their wings. Mad gods and mankind. Curses, and legacies denied. All these elements are wound up in a story that is compelling, involved, and well-done: perfect for the fantasy reader who wants more of a literary work than the typical quick read affords."--Diane Donovan, Senior eBooks Reviewer, The Midwest Book Review

    After ten generations of breeding the scientist had reduced the adrenalin levels in the animal and created a tame creature named the Silver Fox. Decades later, the Australian government use this knowledge to devise a shocking plan that will end humanity as the world knows it. When Freya Walker and her family are ordered to attend a town meeting by the ruthless Biocentric government, Freya is certain something horrible will occur. The people of her town are split into four groups of people: As, Bs, Cs and Ds. Freya is the only one placed into the mysterious Bs group and transported to a ring in the bushland where she must survive a fortnight without food, water or weapons with her new companion and fellow Bs member, Whilliam Cliff. As Freya and Whil begin to unravel the truth behind the Bs group, fighting for their freedom becomes a key part in overthrowing the Government and putting an end to their heinous plans for humanity.

    Alongside K'nal, his giant Frorian fighting partner, Sol must battle cunning warriors and fantastic beasts to delight the crowd and stay alive. But when an oppressed populace transforms Sol into a revolutionary folk hero, the Empire sends its most ruthless assassin to put an end to the uprising. Sol's only chance is to do what no slave has ever done: escape from the Coliseum and the only home he's ever known.

    To escape the disease, U.S. Navy officers took to their airships in search of isolated places to hide their families and make a new life. But now, three generations later, all of the Admirals must pay fealty to Sir Ironside, the man controlling the national helium reserve, paying him with plunder they've stolen from the savage tribes of survivors left on the ground. But when one of the marauding divers—Arthur, heir to his father's admiralty—gets stranded on the ground, he must learn how to deal with the savages and the slave girl who helps him escape from Malegant.

    A live stage act might prove more of a threat to Wonder Woman than the Russian Roller Derby girls out to bring the scientist home.

    Families known as the Great Houses control the economy of the Great States of America and the middle class and the lower class Irish sole purpose is to not only to serve them, but to rid their lives of supernatural beings.Discover the life of Medium and Spirit Photographer, Andrew O’Sullivan, before he went to work for ex-Pinkerton detective, Samuel Hunter in The Devil Within. Search for demons (human and otherwise) alongside Granville Woods in The Demons of Liberty Row. And learn why Caitlin O’Sullivan must hide who she is from those closest to her in The Secret of Kage House. Compiled together for the first time are seven stories based on the popular comic Boston Metaphysical Society. The collection also includes Steampunk Rat and The Secret in addition to the short stories, The Clockwork Man (published in eSteampunk Magazine) and The Way Home (previously published in the A1/Atomic Press Anthology). All stories are prequels to the comic and do not contain any spoilers. The book also includes line art by Emily Hu.

    In the western hemisphere, the war between the Confederate States of America and the Kingdom of Spain over the island nation of Cuba expands as France enters the conflict on behalf of its slave holding ally in order to further expand its own vast sphere of influence. In response, and to counter the growing power of the Confederacy and French Empire, the British forge an alliance with the long isolated United States which like an awakened giant has begun to reassert itself on the world stage. With its old enemy stirring again to the north, its small navy over extended, and its army bogged down in Cuba, the Confederacy itself erupts into violence from within as centuries of oppression erupt into a vicious slave revolt. Picking up where Rebel Empire left off, Billy Bennett brings his first sweeping alternate history trilogy to its climactic and exciting conclusion and paves the way for an alternate history of North America and the world unlike any other.

    She’s made the necessary alliances, married Philip of Spain, and produced a successor: her only daughter, Anne Isabella, Princess of Wales. Elizabeth knows that her beloved Anabel will be a political pawn across Europe unless she can convince Philip to grant her a divorce, freeing him to remarry and give Spain its own heir. But the enemies of England have even greater plans for the princess, a plot that will put Anabel’s very life and the security of the nation in peril. Only those closest to Elizabeth—her longtime confidante Minuette, her advisor and friend Dominic, and the couple’s grown children—can be trusted to carry forth a most delicate and dangerous mission. Yet, all of the queen’s maneuverings may ultimately prove her undoing.

    Although General Santa Anna vows to keep him alive, a fearful Joe escapes away in the night carrying a prize far more valuable than anything inside the creaky Spanish mission. Fast forward to September 2013. Joe's modern descendant, a 93-year-old World War II veteran living alone in Brewton, Alabama is dying after being attacked by intruders. With his last breath, the old man defiantly shouts, "Come and take it!" And with his death, the last living person who knows about Joe's prize is gone forever. While investigating the old man's death, grandson Nat uncovers clues about a long-hidden secret dating back to the Alamo. With the help of a beautiful history professor named Renee, Nat begins to unravel the mystery of his grandfather's murder, and in the process discovers another mystery of far greater scale--the long lost treasure of the Alamo.

    Southern England became the landing site of a group of mysterious grey cylinders that came hurtling down from the stars. Nobody could have guessed that these strange objects would herald the most desperate and important conflict in the history of mankind. The war pitted man against machines from space and no quarter was asked for or given on either side. The outcome would be decided by the smallest of things...This is the essential guide to the Anglo-Martian conflict of 1895, offering unique comparison of the two belligerents, English and alien. It looks at the forces available to each and evaluates their respective tactics and strategies. Finally, it tells the full story of those fateful fifteen days, punctuated by the best and worst possible human experiences. It is a story of hope and despair, courage and terror, victory and defeat.

    . . glory.Starless skies will swim with smokeBorn of the fire of a fallen earthWyrms will writhe over the welkinThe spirits of darkness will swallow wholeEvery creature, every spirit, every god.Yet every end brings new beginningsNew gods arise, and some old are forgiven.This world will die. But Naglfar will carry us home.Ragnarok is at hand. The gods fight one another, and while humans are caught in the crossfire, their hands are hardly clean, as nation fights nation for resources and survival.Sigrun, Trennus, Minori, Adam, Lassair, Saraid, Niðhoggr, and their allies must rely on the words of the Firebringer to try to break the back of prophecy, and avert the end of the world. But questions remain.Will Adam allow prophecy to consume him, and break all bonds of friendship and kin? Will Sigrun walk her dark road alone, at the end of time? Or can destiny be shattered?

    But with the communist advance halted tough decisions lie ahead for NATO. Prime Minister Thatcher and Chancellor Kohl want to counterattack, while the Bush Administration worries about the effects of further war. As NATO deliberates, the United States and Royal Navies gather in the North Sea for a massive offensive against Soviet occupied Norway. In the Soviet Union the Politburo is split between the hawks and doves, and contemplates the unthinkable nuclear option. Its two minutes to midnight in Operation Arctic Storm.

    

    Military term to identify and report the seizure, theft, or loss of a nuclear weapon.They were never designed to be heroes.Hurricane. Ember. Aurora. Danger. State-sponsored superhumans known as Augments. Weapons created to end a war.With the war over, their creators couldn't surrender the power and sought to hide it in the shadows. They forged ahead with covert operations and proxy wars despite growing condemnation. But one by one, Augments begin to ignore their handlers or disappear altogether. The quiver emptied.Empty Quiver takes a dark dive into the Crimson Son universe. Not your typical superhero tales, this short collection pulls no punches as it examines the clandestine program that changed Spencer’s world.

    The author of "OATH TAKERS" brings you his version of a neo-political post-apocalyptic novel of how America could end if patriots and oath takers refuse to honor their oaths to the Constitution and embody the American spirit of resistance to tyranny.

    But something strange happens: she doesn't die. Instead, she lives and breathes...underwater. While in the depths, she meets a handsome man named Jon Luc. According to him, they’re both Gaiians, a race of beings who are equal parts human and earth spirit. Could any of this be true? Is he real and not just someone she dreamt up during the chaotic moments in the water? For years, Jon Luc has searched for Sarai’s family. They are from a portion of the Gaiians who were lost to slavery and scattered across the Americas. These lost tribe members are called “The Missing”. Now he must keep her enemies at bay because someone else has found Sarai too, and they want to steal her birthright, the phoenix, a mythical creature that only she can capture and control. Jon Luc will protect Sarai at all costs, but first he has to convince her of her heritage. With enemies on their trail, the pair must work together to harness Sarai’s newfound abilities. As a daughter of the Missing, Sarai will attract the phoenix during her next space mission—and if she can’t get control, it might destroy them all.

     Breaking free from the stranglehold of a brutal Regime in the not-so-distant future, Cade Landon is on the hunt for his destiny. Dedicated to reuniting with his long-lost sister, Cade stumbles into a struggling town ruled by a maniacal survivalist Boss hell-bent on re-establishing order and interpreting the New America, as he sees fit. Torn between dedication to his family and his emerging ties to a home he never knew about, Cade is exposed to a dark family secret and a chance to seize a destiny he never dreamt of –saving something he cares about – by saving a small town and preserving what has emerged from the ashes as the New America. How easy can it be to walk away when you alone have the power to save lives? And just how much will Cade be willing to give before his chance to reunite with his beloved sister is nothing more than a pipe dream? Set in a neo-noir America rife with political upheaval begging for the skills of a man like Cade Landon, Book One in the Landon Series provides a seat-gripping, heart-pounding dive into what it takes for a country to start over and what kind of souls must rise up from the ashes to lead the charge.

    The product of a mad scientist of great talent, she is the fusion of man and beast only made possible but the power of the Wonder Metal, Unobtainium. When Charles Barstow-Hall’s grandfather discovered Unobtainium in Scotland, he had no idea that it would change the world, and even less idea of the extent of that change. Thirty-five years later Charles still spends much of his time cleaning up after the messes made by those with less moral fibre than himself. When he discovers Kate, a truly ungodly use of his grandfather’s discovery if ever there was one, he determines that she must be cured of her unnatural condition. But there are other men with other ideas about Kate’s future and soon Kate and Charles, together with their friend Antonia Wooster, must brave the perils of the Dark Continent to bring an end to the vile schemes of evil men.

    Escape or Die. Love now. Lose Forever.A heartrending, dystopian tale of choices and control from the multi-award winning science fiction author of Under The Shadow Of Darkness.In a dark future, Jessia and Isaias, two pleb teenagers scraping a living by selling scrap out of the dump, want to program, become citizens and escape the fetid slum lanes of Community 17. But if they don’t both make it, they will be eternally separated. Can Jessia share her feelings with Isaias and risk their friendship? Can she allow herself to love a man that might remain a pleb forever? Can he?Living in Community 17, Isaias is exposed to a constant push-pull struggle. He wants to escape the fetid slum lanes by becoming a citizen—if he can only pass programming. He has a dream: a small home in the city, married to Jessia, surrounded by his children at his knees. Is that life even in his grasp?A dystopian tale that sizzles, sparkles and pops with energy, ingenuity, imagination, and a wonderfully heightened sense of adventure. You won’t want to put it down until the dramatic ending.In Community 17, all is not what it seems. Woe to any pleb found associating with the free thinkers for those taken to harmonization are never seen again. The free thinkers desire to upend society and stop the foul and inhumane treatment of plebs by alerting citizens to their plight through violent insurrection. They engage Isaias to that aim. The reward for successfully carrying out a mission is Shambala, a place where one can think freely. But is Shambala the paradise every pleb says it is?A tale of a controlling society and the fatal choice to join it or fight against its atrocities, Community 17 is sure to delight fans of dystopian, romance drama.

    She is Thalassia.In 425 BCE, the Athenian general Demosthenes comes into possession of a weapon from the stars. He fears to wield it against his city's bitter enemy Sparta, but he knows that he must, lest it be wielded by others. He knows, too, that it seeks to wield and possess him, for this weapon is human, or something like it, and as complex as the wider universe from which she fell. She is Thalassia. She is doom and madness. She has come for reasons all her own, and she did not come alone. Book II out 9/24!ATHENIAN STEEL is bloody, twisted mayhem in the ancient world and Book I in a centuries-spanning epic that will appeal to readers of Gene Wolfe, David Gemmell, David Drake, Michael Moorcock, & other classic SF/Fantasy authors of the 1970's to 1990's. Fans of Bernard Cornwell, Michael Curtis Ford, Steven Pressfield and similar will also find plenty to enjoy if they don't mind touches of cosmic SF, dark humor, and sex in their military historical fiction.

    Why does the chief justice want these men dead? What threat could they possibly pose? And can the assassin save them—or will he become the final victim? Spooky, sly and satirical, The Devil’s Dictum recasts J. Edgar Hoover as a Satanic high priest, Calvin Coolidge as a private eye, and Richard Nixon as the pilot of a giant armored robot. Readers hungering for original and mind-blowing alternate history need look no further.

    A battle to decide the fate of mankind. One chance to set things right. Deep in the Juras Mountains, Johnathan Santarelli's team of Army Rangers investigates a radioactive anomaly. Suddenly Santarelli and his men are transported back to 1945 in German-occupied territory! Far from their loved ones, the Rangers want nothing more than to preserve the timeline and get home, but when an elite Nazi unit captures future technology, and the Rangers are confronted with younger versions of important people from their present, they question if this trip was a coincidence after all. Before long, the U.S. team realizes it has a higher duty: stopping the Third Reich from turning the war in Germany’s favor.Before they return home, the team must battle the Nazis for the future of time itself…Project Return Fire is a military time travel action adventure novel set during World War II. If you like bloody battles, soldiers in action, combined with the shock of being ripped through time, then you'll love this action-packed thrill ride. Buy Project Return Fire to join the fight today!

    Laws, game designer by day, cinema super-enthusiast by night, sets his analytic laser sights on action and thrills in a collection of essays sure to supercharge your tabletop roleplaying experience.As the countdown ticks and the bullets fly, Robin takes you inside the workings of 24 action movies, from the stone cold classic to the unjustifiably obscure. Each essay shows you how the film delivers, and the lessons you can extract from it to enhance your own efforts as GM or player. Explore:• Star Wars as a model of storytelling economy.• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to see how fights can express inner drama.• Seven Samurai as a master class in theme.• Die Hard as textbook cat-and-mouse.• The Killer, to learn the blood-soaked vocabulary of blood- soaked hyper-romanticism.• Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, because deer fu.Though honed as a companion volume to the exciting new reboot of his classic RPG Feng Shui, you can easily apply this book’s insights to any game with swords or explosions in it.With a special focus on high water marks of the Hong Kong action golden age, alongside the flicks that inspired it and were inspired by it, the book also serves up a crash course in that essential action canon.So dig in, fire up one of these flicks for the first or five millionth time, and be ready to be blown up. Er, away. Blown away.

    Anyone who fails to do so will be declared sick and quarantined until the symptoms have passed. Cyrus has been told how fortunate he is all of his life to live under a system that is described as the pinnacle of human achievement. Yet nothing he is told helps to quell his growing disquiet. Forced to suffer in silence, Cyrus soon discovers he is not alone in his feelings and that things may not be as ideal as he's always been told.

    The beautiful Imani wants to be her friend, but Ann has tried to be friends with black girls before and knows it won’t work out. When a handsome bully takes an instant dislike to Ann, she gets help from an unexpected source—a friend with secrets of his own. Join Ann on a journey of self-discovery in this alternative history where everything is turned upside down and Ann must decide if she is ready to take a stand against injustice.

    But if you had asked about Churchill in the late nineteenth century, another political giant would come to mind, one almost entirely forgotten today. Like Winston, he had the ability to coin a memorable phrase and make a great speech; like Winston, he was also a mercurial opportunist with a fondness for drink who delighted in irritating his more genteel colleagues. Lord Randolph Churchill, Winston's father, had all of his son's gifts, perhaps even more; but on the few occasions when history remembers him at all, it is as a tragic figure who died early and never quite fulfilled his vast potential. So, what if?In "Fight and Be Right", Ed Thomas explores the other Churchill as he shatters the British party system, causes shockwaves in Europe, and brings about a very different 20th century...Reviews “Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.” “Portraying an alternate society in such a convincing and fascinating a way - recognisably Britain, but recognisably not ours - is a much more difficult exercise than lists of dates and events, and the results are spectacular.” “Utterly believable…” “A masterpiece… entertaining, fun to read and filled with fascinating details that paint the 19th century in a light most of us could not have imagined.”

    Eleanor Folley and Virgil Mallory return in this standalone steampunk adventure, set after the events in Rings of Anubis.A bungled museum theft.An ancient Egyptian riddle.The rumor of strange creatures moving beneath the streets of Paris.Eleanor Folley knew she was in for a challenge when she accepted the task of cataloging Mistral’s archive of purloined artifacts, but she never expected to discover an Egyptian mystery buried in the heart of Paris.When Anubis and Horus task her with a quest, she cannot refuse the ancient gods, even if it means venturing into the cathedrals of bones that clutter the catacombs of Paris.

    Though he prophesied his own death the only way he believed the South would truly surrender Lincoln never accounted for the heroics of his bodyguard, Joseph Foster. A biracial mix of white and Miami Indian, Joseph makes an enemy of the South by killing John Wilkes Booth and preventing the death of the president. His wife is murdered and his daughter kidnapped, sending Joseph on a revenge-fueled rampage to recover his daughter. When his search fails, he disappears as the nation falls into a simmering insurgency instead of an end to the War. Years later, Joseph is still running from his past when he receives a letter from Lincoln pleading for help. The President has a secret mission. Pursued from the outset, Joseph turns to the only person who might help, the woman he abandoned years earlier. If he can win Molly over, he might just fulfill the President s urgent request, find his daughter, and maybe even hasten the end of the War."

    Yet at the opening of his career he was a rising star of British politics. Charismatic, talented and intelligent, it seemed that that Mosley was destined for greatness. If he had not abandoned mainstream politics for his journey towards fascism, he could have reached 10 Downing Street. So what if things had turned out differently? In 'A Greater Britain' Ed Thomas charts the alternative career of a successful Oswald Mosley, who scales the heights of power in inter-war Britain, becoming one of the 20th century’s most influential – and divisive – figures in the process. As Mosley entrenches himself in power, befriends Benito Mussolini and reforms Britain along his own, corporatist lines, it quickly becomes apparent that world history will never be the same again. Reviews "Wonderful, concise, poetic." "I have to join the cheering crowd, bravo!" "So good I couldn't tell it was alternate history."

    Blaise Maximillian has been there from start. A bright-eyed and fearful young Ensign, the realities of war change him into a hard-bitten soldier and an even harder policeman. Detective Inspector Blaise Maximillian of the Combined Imperial Special Intelligence Bureau, now works to protect the British Empire any way he can. Nothing will stop him from carrying out his duty. Not the law, not morals, not even ethics. A flawed man, he will do anything it takes.

    Canadian Prime Minister and Hubrin War veteran Alain Lapointe must travel to the new world to see firsthand the damage being attributed to his government, and then find a way to win back the trust of people on both worlds. But armed with damning allegations, Lady Emily might finally have the chance to bring her own agenda to light, and spark a revolution that could reshape the course of human civilization forever… For more information, visit championsof1946.com.

    Six hundred years past, High Queen Boudicca unified the three great peoples of the south and fought the Roman Empire to a standstill, forcing Nero's retreat from the land once called Brython by some and Prydein by many. Thus was the Kingdom of Tethera founded.The victors spoke only of the will of the gods and the great heroes that had made their victory a reality, yet rumors persisted of a triumph attained only at the expense of secret bargains with the ever duplicitous Fae, and of druids meddling with forbidden enchantments .Now the last high king is dust, his line long ended by treachery and murder, while the great kingdom itself lies in ruins a century old. Immutable prophecy dictates neither will come again: "Tethera cannot be restored until High King Pwyl's heir takes up his crown." To the people of the five kingdoms, "until Pwyl's heir takes up his crown" is just a an elaborate way of saying "never." The fragmented lesser kingdoms, all that remain of what once was, are failing, unable to prosper on their own. The wilderness grows, the barbarians press, the warlords feud, the Fae grows ever bolder, and even the very waves of the sea become hostile. In the end, none of that may matter for Annwyn, that otherworld also known as the Land of the Dead, creeps forth upon the world, growing larger with each passing year while its lord gathers his forces to crush all and end everything. Nevertheless, the Lord of Annwyn has a rival in the Queen of Deceit. She readies her own final stroke with the forging of a very special weapon. It is a weapon intended to sunder prophecy itself and one which even the Lord of Annwyn may find reason to fear. Yet even a weapon forged for evil can turn in its maker's grasp and strike in an unexpected direction—most especially a weapon with a mind of its own.

    The South won the Civil War and achieved manifest destiny in the United States. Great Britain, known as Victoria, and China, have maintained their empires. American slavery was abolished in the late 20th century instead of the late 19th century. Steam powered machinery and electricity make up the bulk of modern technology. In the shadows of the Confederacy, there is magic. Esoteric sciences arcane and archaic survive from forgotten times, and strange demonic creatures wander through the slums of Charleston... Enter Carolina Daemonic. In an alternative timeline, see a dark world not too far removed from our own- religio-political cults, racism, sexism, homophobia, corporate takeovers and corruption are abound. Witness the strange and mysterious beyond the familiarity of our ordinary world as well- godly avatars, lustful demons, necromancers, and the undead.

    Very few of them have succeeded. From the precocious rocketry of Germany in World War II to the latest proposals from NASA and RSC Energia, this book covers the rockets, space capsules, shuttles, and more that might have made their mark on history like Apollo 11 -- but didn't. Meticulously researched from the best available sources, including those long kept hidden away in Russian archives until recently, False Steps is a lively, illustrated, and informative journey through some of spaceflight's least-known and most interesting projects.Topics include: The Army/Rand World Circling Spaceship, the X-15B, the Lunar Gemini, Project 714, the Nuclear Shuttle and more.

    Chrononaut Franc Lu has come a long, long way—from the twenty-fourth century, in fact—to be in New Jersey on the evening of May 6, 1937. Traveling four hundred years into the past, he and his partner have been sent by the Chronospace Research Centre to observe the infamous explosion of the zeppelin Hindenburg. But when the German airship touches down safely on the airfield in Lakehurst, Lu realizes that something has gone terribly wrong—or rather, horribly right. His presence at the landing has set in motion an alternate historical timeline, and now everything will be different, though not necessarily in a good way. The consequences of Lu’s mistake could prove catastrophic for every living soul on Earth, now and forever, unless the past and the future are somehow repaired—and that is a burden destined to fall on the shoulders of visionary NASA scientist and wannabe science fiction author Dr. David Zachary Murphy.   An expansion of his Hugo Award–winning novella “ ‘. . . Where Angels Fear to Tread,’ ” Allen Steele’s Time Loves a Hero is at once thrilling, surprising, startling, and thoughtful—a mind-blowing masterwork of speculative fiction that radically reimagines time travel, alien contact, alternate history, and a host of other well-worn science fiction tropes.

    No, let us say it started again with the Firebird.' A group of researchers open a door in the present day that has been closed for centuries - and should have stayed that way. In 1840s Ireland, starving children face desperate measures to avoid the crisis consuming the land. A visitor to 19th Century Japan learns what it takes to fan love to life. A girl struggles to rise above the walls that surround her in Georgian England. In 7th Century Britain, a scribe translates the true value of a legend. Fourteen surprising, moving and compelling tales, weaving the next steps in the telling of famous events and stories from Greek myth to English folktale, via fairy tales and real historical events.

    A woman re-mortgages her home to pay for three trips back in time to 1968 to get the one photo of her deceased husband that she thinks will define what he had once said was the happiest time in his life.

    Only the savages roam freely across its grasslands, and after two decades without the stewardship of their Hubrin masters, those creatures have become feral, desperate, and ravenous. When their simple investigation is overwhelmed by a massive horde of those beasts, Lady Alex Smith, Lieutenant Stephanie Shylock, and Sergeant Mike Strong must find a way to summon help from the Selkirk Mandate –– while struggling to survive. For more information, visit championsof1946.com.

    It is illustrated by 583 photographs, the majority for the first time, showing why so many employees considered the project the best of their working lives.It heralds the record 28 months in which the car was engineered, developed and manufactured, whilst a state-of-the-art factory was designed, built, equipped and staffed in West Belfast at the height of The Troubles.It recognises the pioneering of advanced technology in Europe and the introduction into the UK of ‘simultaneous engineering' - now the global norm.It introduces the good humour and camaraderie within the project’s different nationalities and between its workforce, drawn evenly from the Loyalist and Republican factions.It puts the phone taps used by the FBI that illegally entrapped John DeLorean, into context.It expands upon the autobiographies of the receiver, Sir Kenneth Cork, and former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Prior, the latter having confirmed a number of crucial political impacts on the project.The fine detail of the receivership and what Cork called ‘the first sensible business plan I have seen’ are disclosed.It highlights what might have been had a restyled Triumph TR8 - rebranded Healey 3500 - been built alongside the DeLorean - rebranded Healey Gullwing.It describes how the bad listener in Margaret Thatcher thwarted that British rescue through her habitual micro-management.It explores the role of Jock Bruce Gardyne, a ‘Thatcherite before Thatcher’, in the project’s downfall as he rose from Telegraph columnist to Economic Secretary to the Treasury.It explains how the inspirational but maverick John Z DeLorean destroyed the very project he created, leaving the people of Northern Ireland behind as the real losers.

    Beaulieu’s latest story collection features his science fictional work, from exploring far-flung worlds to finding what it means to be human through artificial intelligence to the cost of dividing ourself through the use of technology. In the Stars I’ll Find You & Other Tales of Futures Fantastic contains 10 stories that explore our very human relationship with technology, some in print for the first time.TABLE OF CONTENTS:In the Stars I’ll Find You – Erin O’Shea finds herself at odds with her sister, Tara, and it’s only after a mission to a habitable planet, light years distant from Earth, that Erin truly understands her sister’s point of view, but by then it may be far too late to reconcile.Compartmentalized – Mitch has been hiding something. The trouble is, he no longer has any idea what it is, not after he’d submitted himself to a new procedure known as compartmentalization. There’s a part of Mitch that wants to learn more, but another part is desperate to keep it from him.Upon the Point of a Knife – Jonah is an orphan who runs the streets of 1800?s Providence, but everything changes when an old man approaches him and offers him a knife that doesn’t draw blood, but one’s very soul.Chasing Humanity – The world has been waiting for the transcendence of artificial intelligence for decades. It finally arrives, but the AI is immediately plunged into mystery when it, and its creator, both disappear.Bloom – A scientist struggles to contain a viral outbreak that threatens the world’s food supplies, “Bloom” is a story of heroism even in the face of unstoppable political forces.Born of a Trickster God – Part two of The Rümayesh Triptych, a trio of tales set in the world of The Song of the Shattered Sands. In this installment, Çeda learns more of Rümayesh, the powerful creature that has been living hiding in the streets of Sharakhai for centuries.No Viviremos Como Presos – Miguel only has his grandfather’s best interests at heart, but when his grandfather starts talking about an organization whose motto is “We will not live as prisoners,” Miguel becomes worried.And a Girl Named Rose – A ship’s AI struggles with the loss of its human cargo. When one of the last, a girl named Rose, threatens to leave as well, it strikes emotions in the ship it didn’t realize it had. But does it happen to late to save Rose?Flashed Forward – A story about a man who kickstarts his leap into the future. As is normal for Kickstarter’s, it’s only after the project funds that things get really interesting.Quinta Essentia – Sean Brannon’s body was ruined by David Lock, a scientist driven by his quest to unlock the secrets of Quinta Essentia, the most elusive of the magical elements. However, it’s only after the Jovians land that Sean and David both discover the real secrets of the fifth element.

    An examination of how alternate history need not only focus on great men and decisive battles, Zonen tells a simple human story. Our anonymous narrator meets characters aplenty, from family historians to TV executives and hard-right politicians. Funny, interesting and poignant, this short story may also teach you a thing or two about the real Denmark. Reviews "A credible different world... if I didn't know my history well I would have believed that the events here actually took place." "Very touching, and a well-crafted and brilliant concept." "A gem that seems to be more reflective on our present than on its own world." "An excellent piece: a change to history that was very subtle but still affected individual lives on a profound level."

    The new Covenant granted noble titles to those with magic and magic to those with titles. Now it’s the 1980s, and after centuries of mage rule, including a recent 30 years of total war in Europa followed by 20 years of uneasy peace, the world is ready to embrace change.Over 30 tales of Airship Pirates, Flying Monsters, Alchemical Adventurers, Rocket Ninjas, Chthonic Horrors, Mad Scientists, Occult Detectives, Dog-Headed Cops, Folk-Magicians, Seelie and Unseelie Faeries, Infernal Conspiracies, Sorceress-Queens, and Punk-Rocker Spies, build into the story of a revolution, and a Civil War that will change the destiny of a whole universe.

    Captain James Quinn and his outfit of Hubrin War veterans remain in that remote place, rescuing the babies of savages so that they can be sent back to Earth, and raised as Champions. But something about this vital process has raised suspicion, and now Lady Alex Smith, Lieutenant Stephanie Shylock, and Sergeant Mike Strong must join a delegation visiting the distant land, and learn the secrets of men who still battle savage hordes like those that once roamed across the grasslands of the new world… For more information, visit championsof1946.com.

    But what about the strange world that resulted from his dramatic entry and departure from the political stage?From the ruined streets and totalitarian oppression of Syndicalist London to the Russian 'Robots', and from the Jewish homeland in Australia to Longwood, Florida, home of the American motion picture industry, "The World of Fight and Be Right" explores a completely different, yet strangely familiar, 20th century.Reviews"Beautiful maps!""Simply indescribably excellent""Hugely convincing""Feels like it comes from a living world inhabited by real people""I must say I am still absolutely astounded at the level of detail and research that has been put into this"

     Fiction by Richard Marsden, James Lecky, William Gerke, R. Michael Burns, Christopher Wood, Robert Rhodes, Dariel R. A. Quiogue, Jesse Bangs, P. Djeli Clark, and David Pilling. Poetry by Danny Adams, Joshua Hampton, W. E. Couvillier, John Keller, Megan Arkenberg, Joshua Hampton, and David Sklar. Introduction by John O’Neill of Black Gate Magazine.

    In Spain, it is often limited to a little more than a footnote about a somewhat foolhardy endeavour, whilst in Britain, it’s defeat has gone from being a sign of divine salvation to a serious threat saved my a combination of luck and weather. Had it been successful, there is little doubt that it would have posed a genuine threat to Elizabeth I – with the ill-prepared English army having little chance of success against a vast Spanish force from the south and the prospect of a Catholic uprising in the North. The Armada’s success may well have nipped England’s fledgling superpower status in the bud. But what if things fell somewhere in between? In 'La Isla Blanca', Jack Tindale considers the cultural, economic and political consequences of a foreign occupation of the Isle of Wight and the effects of a humbled England and a strengthened Spain. Any similarities to Gibraltar are, of course, entirely coincidental. Reviews "Excellent from start to finish" "Full of hints and glimpses of weird things happening worldwide in the background" "The level of detail put into such a brief work, combined with the humour throughout, make this one of the highest-quality timelines I have read"

    At the dawn of 1943, the reasons for her betrayal may finally come to light. Lady Alex Smith has been taken captive by Emily’s cabal, and now must discover as much as she can about their ambitions, their secrets, and the truth that drove them away from the British Empire. While her wounded best friend, Lieutenant Stephanie Shylock, and her loyal Sergeant, Mike Strong, work with the forces of Jimmystown to locate her, the whitecoat faces a dangerous mission in the remote mountains of northwest China. Will she finally find answers when she ventures to a castle in Shangri-La? For more information, visit championsof1946.com.

     "Across the Universe" is a 12,000 word short story, one of fifteen stories in This Side of Center / Original Stories, the first book in the anthology.

    When Lady Alex Smith, Lieutenant Stephanie Shylock, and Sergeant Mike Strong travel to that country’s capital city, Ottawa, they face a menace of a different kind: politicians. As past and present Prime Ministers, Senators, and Members of Parliament appear willing to help the investigation, other dangers seem close at hand. Will the potential of a political crisis in one of the British Empire’s most powerful dominions draw Lady Emily from the shadows, or does the real danger lie elsewhere? For more information, visit championsof1946.com.

    Ever since he was turned, John Grissom, bacteriologist, has worked to find a cure for the disease. A powerful peer of the realm approaches him about research into the immunological properties of vampire blood, but Grissom discovers a far more gruesome scheme at play. He, his newly acquired assistant Henrietta, and the Prussian Van Helsing, a veteran vampire hunter in the employ of the Foreign Service, must seek out the elusive vampire lord before he succeeds in dramatically influencing the outcome of the war.