Additional bonus material also included: Marie Lu’s Life Before Legend, original short stories offering a sneak peek at the lives of Day and June before they met.

    Veronica Roth's debut is a gripping dystopian tale of electrifying choices, powerful consequences, unexpected romance, and a deeply flawed "perfect society." Includes bonus materials by Veronica Roth.Insurgent: One choice can destroy you. The second bestseller continues the dystopian thrill ride. As war surges in the factions all around her, Tris attempts to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. Includes bonus materials by Veronica Roth.Allegiant: One choice will define you. The explosive conclusion to the #1 New York Times bestselling Divergent trilogy reveals the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers. Includes bonus materials by Veronica Roth.Four: A Divergent Collection: A companion volume to the worldwide bestselling Divergent series, told from the perspective of Tobias. The four pieces included—"The Transfer," "The Initiate," "The Son," and "The Traitor"—plus three additional scenes, give readers a fascinating glimpse into the history and heart of Tobias, and set the stage for the epic saga of the Divergent trilogy.And don't miss The Fates Divide, Veronica Roth's powerful sequel to the bestselling Carve the Mark!

    Cinder will be available January 3, 2012. Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl…. Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. Become a fan at: http://www.facebook.com/lunarchronicles

    Nobody talks about what happened. Such are the silo taboos.Now, nearly two hundred years later, the people of the Silo will get a chance to learn more about that distant uprising.They'll get to start one of their own...

    From the trilogy's darker themes of violence and social control to fashion and weaponry, the collection's exploration of the Hunger Games reveals exactly how rich, and how perilous, protagonist Katniss' world really is.• How does the way the Games affect the brain explain Haymitch's drinking, Annie's distraction, and Wiress' speech problems?• What does the rebellion have in common with the War on Terror?• Why isn't the answer to "Peeta or Gale?" as interesting as the question itself?• What should Panem have learned from the fates of other hedonistic societies throughout history and what can we?The Girl Who Was On Fire covers all three books in the Hunger Games trilogy.

    The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

    6, life is carefully choreographed. School, study, and the occasional visit with his friend and classmate Safu. One fateful day, however, he takes a misstep, sheltering an injured boy his age from a typhoon. Known only as Rat, this boy is a VC – a fugitive living outside the computerized tapestry of city control – and helping him will throw Shion’s life into chaos and start him down a path to discovering the appalling secrets behind the superficial perfection of No. 6.

    After the revolution, stability returns for most of the citizens of the European Administration. Revolution has delivered a little more freedom, if not as much as its architects hoped. Some, however, are finding that change also brings more complications and fresh dangers.For Para-investigator Val Toreth, the Investigation and Interrogation Division isn't quite the home it used to be. With a reduced investigation team, fractured relationships, and political uncertainly about the future, the last thing he needs is trouble from someone else's family, or unexpected news from his own. Keir Warrick has enough to deal with, too, as financial uncertainty threatens his virtual reality corporation. SimTech might turn out to be the least of his worries, though, as a family reconciliation turns into a fight for survival. Someone is tying up loose ends, and if Warrick digs too deep for the truth, could he become one of them? The personal becomes political and professional, as family history delivers present danger. And even a socio-analyst can learn something new about family values--for certain values of family. The seventh book in the Administration series contains the novel Family Values and two further short stories set in the near-future dystopia of New London.

    On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

    Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.Alternate Cover edition for ISBN 9780399256752

    With only one good candidate available, Mayor Jahns and Deputy Mames set off for the Down Deep to recruit her in person. Along the way, they discover much about each other, troubling news about this candidate, and stumble upon fractured alliances that could spell the doom of a silo they've worked long years to protect.

    They've lived there so long, there are only legends about people living anywhere else. Such a life requires rules. Strict rules. There are things that must not be discussed. Like going outside. Never mention you might like going outside.Or you'll get what you wish for.

    That is the way of the people of Quill. Each year, all the thirteen-year-olds are labeled as Wanted, Necessary, or Unwanted. Wanteds get more schooling and train to join the Quillitary. Necessaries keep the farms running. Unwanteds are set for elimination. It’s hard for Alex to leave behind his twin, Aaron, a Wanted, but he makes peace with his fate—until he discovers that instead of a “death farm,” what awaits him is a magical place called Artimé. There, Alex and his fellow Unwanteds are encouraged to cultivate their creative abilities and use them magically. Everything Alex has ever known changes before his eyes, and it’s a wondrous transformation. But it’s a rare, unique occurrence for twins to be divided between Wanted and Unwanted, and as Alex and Aaron's bond stretches across their separation, a threat arises for the survival of Artim that will pit brother against brother in an ultimate magical battle.

    Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

    We cured cancer. We cured the common cold. We died.This is the story of how we rose.When will you rise?Countdown is a novella set in the world of Feed. Word count: ~19,500

    Louisa is nervous about being sent away to a boarding school -- but she's excited, too. And she has her best friend, Maddie, to keep her company. The girls have to pretend to be twin sisters, which Louisa thinks just adds to the adventure! Country Manor School isn't all excitement, though. Louisa isn't sure how she feels about her new roommates: athletic but snobby Rosie and everything's-a-conspiracy Evelyn. Even Maddie seems different away from home, quiet and worried all the time. Still, Louisa loves CMS -- the survival skills classes, the fresh air. She doesn't even miss not having a TV, or the internet, or any contact with home. It's for their own safety, after all. Or is it?

    When sixteen-year-old Katniss learns that her little sister has been chosen, she steps up to fight in her place and the games begin.The Hunger Games Companion takes readers behind the scenes and includes fascinating background facts about the action in all three books, a revealing biography of the author, and amazing insights into the series' main themes and features - from the nature of evil, to weaponry and rebellions, to surviving the end of the world. It's everything fans have been hungering for since the very first book!This book is not authorized by Suzanne Collins, Scholastic Press or anyone involved in the Hunger Games movie.

    Hephaestus Books represents a new publishing paradigm, allowing disparate content sources to be curated into cohesive, relevant, and informative books. To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lexicon in the sharing of human knowledge. This particular book is a collaboration focused on American post-apocalyptic novels.

    Do your job, stay out of the way and don't dream of anything better. Because as every Scrub knows, there are no other options.Until Trella—the Queen of the Pipes, as some call her—gets involved with a revolution that will rock her world….Trella was just doing a favor for a friend—her only friend. Hiding an injured man from the Pop Cops seemed easy enough—though dangerous. But then she discovered that the myths of Outside might be real….Being Inside's hero only left Trella with more work. Ducking those responsibilities, she continued to explore her stark world—and found something she never expected. Strangers. From Outside…

    FDR's New Deal has redefined American politics. Taxes are at an all-time high. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has brought a fear of total annihilation. The rise of secret government agencies and sanctions on business has many watching their backs. America's sense of freedom is diminishing . . . and many are desperate to take that freedom back.Among them is a great dreamer, an immigrant who pulled himself from the depths of poverty to become one of the wealthiest and admired men in the world. That man is Andrew Ryan, and he believed that great men and women deserve better. And so he set out to create the impossible, a utopia free from government, censorship, and moral restrictions on science--where what you give is what you get. He created Rapture---the shining city below the sea.But as we all know, this utopia suffered a great tragedy. This is the story of how it all came to be . . .and how it all ended.

    Her entire world confined to its spaces, she's never thought to dream of what lies beyond its doors. So when her mother goes missing, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland long enough to find her are slim.Then Aria meets an outsider named Perry. He's searching for someone too. He's also wild—a savage—but might be her best hope at staying alive.If they can survive, they are each other's best hope for finding answers.

    Humanity is cornered, and lives in despair. Rentaro and Enju face constant danger in their work as a team anti-Gastrea specialists known as "Civil Security." If the daily fight against oblivion weren't enough, they'll soon face a threat that could destroy all of Tokyo...

    Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet.For Alex, being left alone for the weekend means having the freedom to play computer games and hang out with his friends without hassle from his mother. Then the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, plunging his hometown into a nightmare of darkness, ash, and violence. Alex begins a harrowing trek to search for his family and finds help in Darla, a travel partner he meets along the way. Together they must find the strength and skills to survive and outlast an epic disaster.

    The pilots cannot be raised.When the hatch above the wing finally clicks open, it soon becomes clear that everyone on board is dead – although there is no sign of any trauma or struggle. Ephraim Goodweather and his team from the Center for Disease Control must work quickly to establish the cause of this strange occurrence before panic spreads.THE FALL: Humans have been displaced at the top of the food chain, and now understand – to their outright horror – what it is to be not the consumer, but the consumed.Ephraim Goodweather, director of the New York office of the Centers for Disease control, is one of the few humans who understands what is really happening. Vampires have arrived in New York City, and their condition is contagious. If they cannot be contained, the entire world is at risk of infection…THE NIGHT ETERNAL: After the blasts, it was all over. Nuclear Winter has settled upon the earth. Except for one hour of sunlight a day, the whole world is plunged into darkness. It is a near-perfect environment for vampires. They have won. It is their time.Almost every single man, woman and child has been enslaved in vast camps across the globe. Like animals, they are farmed, harvested for the sick pleasure of the Master Race.Almost, but not all. Somewhere out there, hiding for their lives, is a desperate network of free humans, continue the seemingly hopeless resistance. Everyday people, with no other options – among them Dr Ephraim Goodweather, his son Zack, the veteran exterminator Vassily, and former gangbanger Gus.To be free, they need a miracle, they need divine intervention. But Salvation can be a twisted game – one in which they may be played like pawns in a battle of Good and Evil. And at what cost…?

    She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. In Glitches, a short prequel story to Cinder, we see the results of that illness play out, and the emotional toll that takes on Cinder. Something that may, or may not, be a glitch…

    The Wars are over and the CommWall is in place, blocking communication with what remains of other continents. The women are content to have great education, choice careers, and glamorous hair. Best of all, when every girl turns seventeen she’s given her Like; an adorable, perfect spouse tailor-made just for her.Everyone looks forward to the day she gets her Like, and Morgan Waters is no exception—until she accidentally stays out past curfew and stumbles across someone who appears to be a Like but claims to be a man. Morgan’s perfect world crumbles down around her in the midst of a forbidden romance, forcing her to deal with the realization that her life may not be so flawless after all.

    Parents and loved ones of these people, most of whom were children, were forced to turn them in upon penalty of death. Formed to keep the institutions secure, the Committee for the Protection of a Free Society now rules these institutions with an iron fist.The granddaughter of one the Committee members, Addison Wade has lived her life wary of the institutions and all they represent. A woman of secrets, she is forced to turn to Safe Dawn, one of the facilities designed to hold conditioned people, when her nephew is kidnapped and, despite her best efforts, cannot be recovered. She knows the last thing anyone in 'Safe Dawn' will want to do is to help a Wade with any problems, but she is desperate and out of options.Spencer Lewis is famous for being the premier conditioned ‘locator.’ There's no one he can't find and he has a soft spot for missing children. But, Spencer has been through a trauma and locating Jeremy Wade may be dangerous both to himself and to those around him. In addition, he takes one look at ice cold Addison Wade and wants nothing more than to knock her down a peg. Never having turned down an opportunity to help a child, he reluctantly agrees to help recover Jeremy.In a world where nothing is as it seems and every person they encounter has his own agenda, Addison and Spencer will find that the only people they can trust are each other. But how can anyone fall in love living in a world that wants you dead just for being born?

    A scavenger in a post-apocalyptic America where long-distance travel can be deadly to the few who attempt it, Ivy is a rare commodity--fertile woman untouched by the epidemic "Empty Cradle." When she's ambushed and nearly killed thanks to an offer of trust she shouldn't have extended, the villagers who save her demand a hefty price in return-a baby born of her womb. She may have tumbled out of the frying pan and into the fire. Corey Sanderson, a farmboy who's eager to escape his bleak rural existence at all costs, proves to be Ivy's salvation. She agrees to take him on a treacherous 2,300-mile trek through hostile terrain to deliver a mysterious piece of cargo. For the injured Ivy to complete this nearly impossible task, she's got to trust Corey, but his youthful enthusiasm makes him both an asset and a liability in a world of scarce supplies, determined bandits, equipment-stealing gleaners, and mutated, half-human "biters." The other passengers Ivy takes on-a traveling historian with a mysterious past, a cheerfully abrasive mercenary and her deer-shapeshifter companion-add their own unique complications. Though she's the driver and travel-master, Ivy quickly learns that getting her cargo to its destination isn't going to happen without their help.

    Standing between this total apocalypse of humanity and their chance for survival is 19 year old Remy Martin.A warrior in her own right, trained to think on her feet and kill if the situation requires, she is flanked by her older brother and younger sister. Together, they devise a plan to take back the streets. Against the wishes of their father, who commands the resistance forces, they venture into unknown realms of the supernatural in a race against time with the fate of the entire world in their young hands.Join them on their mission into darkness where death lies around every corner, it is virtually impossible to distinguish your enemies from your allies, and a single mistake could result in the annihilation of everyone you’ve ever known and loved.

    Short flashback that occurs between "The Scorch Trials" and "The Death Cure."

    Their parents are gone, and it seems everyone on earth has disappeared as well. Worse, the electricity is off. Surrounded by darkness, their differences no longer matter; they are the sole survivors of an alien attack and the last hope for humanity. But in the black of night, can they outrun the hulking creatures with the glowing red eyes?Priya is the exotic girl who says what she thinks. Will was a star athlete before the attack. They find Trevor and Aiyana, the twins; Alex and Ricardo, the tough guys; and finally, Lindsey, the innocent. Together, the seven of them are the last humans on earth-but are they really humans at all? They have no idea that the government has known of the incoming alien attack for decades; to prepare they created special children with very special abilities.The chosen seven are part alien and part human, and they exist to fight off the otherworldly forces, threatening to conquer the planet. But with such differing personalities, will the seven be able to put their pride be-hind and work together? They must move beyond the grief of lost friends and family and find the strength to go on; if they don't, the world will die, taken over by monstrous creatures that can smell your fear.

    In the aftermath, American civilians are left to run, hide, die or fight, pushing through all weakness in their effort to stay alive. Fighting against all odds, seventeen year old Fallon and twelve year old Emery struggle through a nightmare they can't wake from in order to save their younger siblings. Collecting others along the way, and enduring obstacles unfathomable in their innocence, the kids trek cross country to reach The Safe Zone, a fortified area rumored to be set up in the south. Fallon and his friends aren't even sure there is a Safe Zone though. They could be running for nothing. Never remaining in one place for too long in their attempt to avoid bombings and capture, the kids fight against attack, the elements, sickness and their overwhelming sense of desperation, pushing each other to the limit as they struggle to survive this land of devastation.

    Living with her aunt, uncle, and cousins in Portland, Maine, Lena Haloway is very much looking forward to being cured and living a safe, predictable life. She watched love destroy her mother and isn't about to make the same mistake.But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena meets enigmatic Alex, a boy from the "Wilds" who lives under the government's radar. What will happen if they do the unthinkable and fall in love?

    After escaping the tyranny of Marysvale, John quickly learns that old prejudices are alive in Alyth as well. When the villagers learn of his gifts, new enemies rage with old. However, a darker evil lurks in the shadows of the quiet village--one that threatens to consume John and all who live free. In order to save himself and those he loves, John must first defend the very people who seek his life.

    She has the opportunity to get into a boxing ring and fight her oppressor, to face the man that altered her, to beat him down with all of her rage. This is the way things are now, society given the chance to take on the murderers, the rapists, those that have tainted their lives, hurt their family, destroyed what was innocent and pure. Preparing to go to battle, Belle taps into her true identity, and changes, a warrior entering battle, unwilling to hesitate, ready to kill. Length: 7000 words(Originally published in Murky Depths #15 as a shorter version.)

    The United States, already weakened by internal strife, becomes the target of an international terror plot. A series of attacks results in thousands of casualties and disables the country's core infrastructure. The combination of economic hardship and the staggering blow of the terror attacks results in a collapse of the government.This is a realistic story of how an average, middle class couple survives the cascading events brought on by international politics, high tech military actions and the eventual downfall of society. All of their survival skills are tested during the action packed expedition in a world that resembles the American West of 200 years past.Holding Their Own II: The IndependentsHolding Their Own III: Pedestals of Ash

    Gail's "American Tragedy in Trilogy." The reader is propelled from Manhattan boardrooms to European capitals to Middle East laboratories to Church chanceries and confessionals. Step into these pages and follow Fr. John Sweeney and the families he serves as they struggle to live their Catholic faith in a world that grows more hostile with every turn of the page. Gail throws back the veil on the architecture of the Life Sciences Revolution and its carefully planned milestones from the abortifacients pill to in-vitro fertilization to embryonic stem cell testing, and ultimately, to the very door of the Transhumanist project itself. You will see something of your own soul in these characters as they struggle to survive the great apostasy and navigate their way to the Church's promised New Springtime.

    Read sneak peeks of the hottest dystopian books around, including Divergent by Veronica Roth, Gone by Michael Grant, Delirium by Lauren Oliver, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, Variant by Robison Wells, Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi, Eve by Anna Carey, and Partials by Dan Wells.

    Hephaestus Books represents a new publishing paradigm, allowing disparate content sources to be curated into cohesive, relevant, and informative books. To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lexicon in the sharing of human knowledge. This particular book is a collaboration focused on Novels by Margaret Peterson Haddix.

    To some he is the Traitor of Haven, and to others the Saviour of Summerhill, but most know him simply as T93. In 22nd century Haven, where the Director's power is absolute and the citizens are slaves in all but name, Sethric Chun is certain he is about to die. His lover has been executed for mysterious reasons, and his merit tally is sinking so quickly he will be recycled in a matter of weeks. If it weren't for the bomb in his satchel, Chun would be out of options. With his single act of sabotage, Chun becomes the catalyst for events that culminate in a cataclysmic battle for the future of the region.

    Times are hard and the great die off from starvation and disease for most Americans has already begun. We find ourselves now regaled and intrigued with an amusing story about how an old southern prepper met a beleaguered former Japanese restaurant owner under fearful circumstances in this apocalyptic world. The odd couple are forced to team up in order survive food shortages, old age, armed marauders and life in general as they plot a course to bug out of their current situation. Walt and Yoshi don’t have much in common and their humorous misunderstandings are many, yet somehow, they find they are kindred spirits and will face come what may together. This is book one of the “Senior Survival” series.

    But what is the Corridor, and why was he brought to it?It’s a place of mystery, wonder, and heart-stopping danger. It will test him and push him both mentally and physically. His only companion is the girl whose voice he hears inside his head, explaining the rules he must follow if he hopes to escape.But there is much more to this extraordinary place than Troy could ever imagine. The Corridor’s true purpose — the biggest mystery of all — is revealed only to those who make it to the end.

    So is his son, Ethan. Now, the only thing keeping Holt going is the desire to either rescue his missing son from the zombies or, more likely, remove him permanently from their ranks.A phone call is cut short just as Ethan defies his father and goes looking for his mother. Holt fights his way to the hospital and finds it under siege. He and other survivors eventually form two teams, each with a drastically different purpose. One saves people, the other eliminates everything in their way. The teams are constantly at odds, as are Holt and the arrogant head of the hospital, his ghoulish lead researcher in tow. Holt is understandably obsessed with finding his son, but can't ignore the simple fact that people are looking to him for leadership. If he's not perfect, people will die. During his search, he discovers a new breed of zombie and a frightening hidden agenda, but he doesn't do it alone. His team is with him every step of the way.The skills he learned in the military help keep him and others alive, but he's no superhero. Holt is only a man, physically and mentally exhausted, who lives at his limits simply because that's what a father does. Ethan, unmistakably his father's son, has his own story to tell, as well. It begins with a movie date a few feet from Patient Zero.

    Suddenly, the Ancient has grown clever and bold, and the Dance has begun to fail. Now fire is running rampant in the village of Annam, where the Delvers mine the precious containment stone that is the only other safeguard against fire. Only Jetta ak'Kal, a failed master, and her partner, the most inept journeyman in all of the Fire Clans, stand in its way. To Jetta's horror, fire isn't the only danger in Annam. Windriders live there, masters of air, the Ancient's most deadly fuel. With danger riding on every breath of wind, if Jetta fails, no place will be safe from the deadly firestorm...

    Fox may be the smartest man in the world, but he is also his own worst enemy. His daughter, Ashley, is a cybernetic killing-machine, programmed to protect her younger brother. When Dr. Fox becomes a threat to national security, Ashley and Geoff are on the run, and not from the enemy but towards them.Three hundred years into the future, man has mastered gravity and cities float among the clouds, but chains of greed and violence still shackle mankind.At thirteen years old, Dr. Andrew Fox invented a healing gel that revolutionized medicine, throwing him onto the world stage. He devoted himself to improving life for everyone, but as much as he achieved, he was unable to lift the human heart, not even his own.Fearing for the future, Dr. Fox concentrates the bulk of his genetic and cybernetic understanding into the creation of his children. His daughter, Ashley, is a lethally programmed bodyguard for her younger brother, Geoff, who was designed to be entrusted with Dr. Fox's greatest invention, an artificial intelligence called the Micronix.When Dr. Fox refuses to share a new weapon with the government, he is declared a 'threat to national security,' and charged with treason. Now his children are on the run for their lives, and only one thing is certain; nothing is going according to plan.

    Spanning centuries and continents, this wild-eyed family saga jumps generationally if erratically down the family tree, beginning in 18th century Hungary with the forbidden love affair of manor tutor Péter Montgolfier and lunatic scullery maid Theresa Seyfert, and ending more than two centuries years later in a futuristic L.A. and New York with controversial performance artist Vic Ray and highly intelligent talking chimp Reggie.

    Your world is coming to an end. Could you do what's necessary to survive? Would you even want to survive? Would you be able to face horrors like the undead relentlessly pounding at your door, and murderous extra-terrestrials with the extinction of the human race as their one and only goal? How about deadly plagues that ravage entire populations or even your own human brethren turning to your flesh as a last ditch source of food? These are only a few of the many horrors that await you inside these pages. Inspired by the works of David Moody, UK Author of "Hater" and "Autumn," you will now face the terrors of a dystopian world through the eyes of those who witnessed the end. These tales will leave you as alone and terrified as those who told them. You have been warned.

    The stories range from hopeful realism to the dystopian side of speculative fiction. Each story twists and turns through darkness and light, settling somewhere in the shadowy area of day to day life.

    But they never planned for how many there would be, or how much control people would want over their offspring's genetic makeup.Kea was an exile before she was born. Grown from an embryo that was rejected for having autism-spectrum genes, she has been raised on a starship full of Earth's unwanted children. When a sudden discovery threatens their plan to find a home, Kea must join with other rejects to save the ship from its own government. For more info about this book, go to: http://www.erikahammerschmidt.com/kea...

    After years of war ravage the globe and decimate humanity, civilization is revitalized in the city of New Arcadia, a cybernetic playground where longevity treatments promise near immortality. Detective Cyrus, fond of fedoras and narcotics, is hired by Benji MacDowell, heir-apparent to an eugenics empire, to find MacDowell's long-lost biological father. Employing his network of shady contacts within the underbelly of the city, Cyrus uncovers a murderous web of corporate corruption and political conspiracy with ties to the old Order, a tyrannical organization whose sole intent was perfecting the next generation of genetically engineered soldiers. Now Cyrus knows too much and finds himself caught in the cross-hairs of super-soldier assassins while the dark secrets of his past snap at his heels, forcing him to confront the truth he's been running from... and discover his own terrifying purpose.

    Born in the aftermath, Jimmy was the first child from a human experiment to demonstrate unnatural abilities at a very young age. In the same incident that tore his family apart, he found his salvation and surrogate father in the tribe's leader, Henri Smith.Now Henri's daughter from the Neutral Territory has arrived in the Southlands, stirring up memories of a girl Jimmy once worked to protect-- memories tied to another child of Henri's whose arrival precipitated an event that would define his adult life.**This is a novella (only about 80 pages in ebook form).**

    The phrase had been repeated throughout Alexandria's life. A person's rank on their assessment test determined everything. Their job, where they lived, and even who they could marry. At least that's what Alexandria thought before she received the results. Alexandria's assessment elevates her to fast-tracker status, but Byron, her best friend turned true love, isn’t as lucky. His results sink him to the lowest possible rank and a guaranteed life of hardship and misery. Everything Alexandria believed is a lie. Fast-trackers run the country. Anger one of them and your whole world could fall apart. Anger one of them and the people you love suffer. Disillusioned, Alexandria plunges herself into the fast-tracker's world in hopes of helping Byron. But can she help Byron before she completely loses herself to the allure of their lifestyle?

    To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lexicon in the sharing of human knowledge. This particular book contains chapters focused on Novels by Margaret Peterson Haddix, and The Shadow Children Sequence.

    Immortal and ignorant, their end came at the hooves of their daughters, Celestia and Luna, who sought to build a better future for ponykind.Now ponykind’s old gods have returned.Twilight Sparkle is trapped inside her own mind, slave to a cruel and impulsive consciousness built from everything she is not. Powerless and voiceless, she must find a way to stop the being that calls itself Nihilus from destroying everything she holds dear.Luna is tasked with assembling the remaining Elements of Harmony in hopes of freeing their leader. For if ponykind is to have any hope, it is in Twilight Sparkle. And if Twilight Sparkle is to have any hope, it is in her five friends.Facing her father in mortal combat, Celestia must do everything she can to ensure that ponykind has the tools to survive before she falls. With inevitable defeat bearing down upon her, she makes the first move in the oldest and deadliest game known to creation.

    In a starred review, Publishers Weekly had this to say about BRAVE NEW WORLDS: "Familiar classics by such luminaries as Shirley Jackson, Ursula K. Le Guin, and J.G. Ballard rub shoulders with new standouts in this dark anthology of 33 dystopian futures and alternate worlds. In Joseph Paul Haines’s “Ten with a Flag,” a government uses confusion to manipulate the governed. Sarah Langan’s “Independence Day” shows a tyrannical future U.S. through a teenager’s eyes. Matt Williamson’s “Sacrament” offers the torturer’s perspective on his “art.” Adam-Troy Castro’s “Of a Sweet Slow Dance in the Wake of Temporary Dogs” asks how much of our souls we would surrender for nine days of guaranteed happiness plus one of horror. Grinding inevitability runs through Vylar Kaftan’s interactive “Civilization.” Most of the stories are bleak, many are hopeless, and all serve as powerful warnings of what we may let ourselves become.”

    We work hard to provide for them. We struggle to put food on the table and to care for them when they are sick.What if all of that changed? What if those we cared for were inflicted with some horrible disease that we could not understand? What if that disease did not kill, but liberate, pitting you against your loved ones?In a small Midwestern town, the world as we know it is about to come to an abrupt end. Sheila has picked this moment in time to return to her hometown. Upon arriving, she finds the small community lying in ruins and she begins the struggle of discerning what has happened to her family, her friends, the people she grew up with. Her only clue is a single letter, left behind by a man named Marty.Soon, Sheila catches up to Marty. And with the world around them left in decimation, they band together with other survivors in search of escaping the destruction. But everything is not what it seems.The government has played a role in this destruction. What things did our government do in secret, nearly right under our noses, to bring an alien invasion to Earth?The answer to this question begins with Marty; the only survivor in their group who appears to have any knowledge of what has unfolded. Marty recalls his past, both distant and recent. He relays a story of great loss to his newfound confidants and in doing so, brings to mind many new questions.Marty is not the only one that knows of these horrors. Each of them must face the truth of the people they were before this destruction and the person they will need to become in order to confront this terror.What secrets lie among these friends? Has the government found a means of invading even this small group? And what of Marty’s brother? What is his role in the future of the Earth? What things will need to be done to ensure he doesn’t succeed?As their plight becomes hopeless, they are forced to take the battle to their enemy and strike at the heart of the matter. Here Marty must confront his brother. But will it come too late? And will Marty be able to drown out his memories and do what he must to save his friends?Join this ragtag group as they take on an alien invasion unlike any other. Discover what these aliens want and the lengths they will go to get it. Learn of Marty’s relationship with his brother, how close they were, how much they depended upon each other. See what Marty does to protect that brotherly bond.Who of you will fight with Marty and Sheila in order to protect everything we cherish in this thriller? Prepare yourself. Only you can determine the future of the Earth.

    The name evokes flames and chaos, and a mythic hero who will one day change the world. Young Kinner - betrayed by those he loves and sentenced to die - knows only one thing: in a world where women hold all the power and men are nothing but property, heroes are hard to come by.Determined to find a life on his own terms, he flees execution only to discover he knows nothing about survival. Used to relying on others, he dreams of rescue. Instead of the Weathercock, what he gets is Rai and Bayna, mercenary soldiers on the run from the determined (and increasingly psychotic) Commander Remeg.The last thing they need is to play nursemaid to a half-grown whelp, but a madwoman's dark secret soon ties their fates. For a while, things actually go their way until further treachery casts a dark wing over the travelers. Alone once more, Kinner must discover within the bravery and skill to save not only himself, but also his friends.And what of Weathercock? Can someone who doesn't even exist appear when Kinner needs him most?

    That may be a never-ending debate. But what if it were completely misunderstood about WHO gets raptured? What if the famous verse in Matthew 24 about two men standing in a field, was upside-down? What if it was the wicked who got "taken"? What if it was the righteous who were "left behind"? Author Michael O'Brien makes a fascinating hard-to-refute case for this future event

    The secluded city is ruled by “The Remnant” which strictly bars its citizen’s individuality and freedom of speech. Haleigh, the main character who is clairvoyant, is sent by her doctor to a school called the Winter Clinic where she is grouped with other non-conforming students to persuade each of them to submit to The Remnant’s requirements. Soon, Haleigh and her new found friends are on a fast and exhilarating journey discovering a new world outside the shroud. Throughout the book aspects of freedom, nature and art are celebrated as though seen or experienced for the first time.

    Think Bruce Willis meets Mel Gibson with a dash of Chow Yun Fat and directed by James Cameron, leading toward a last-page punchline like a kick in the head. Buckle your safety harness for this nonstop, in-your-face ride.Times are tough in the economic downturn of the late 2040s. Angel, an ex-prostitute-turned-assassin, has just killed her ex-boyfriend without making a dime on it. Camaro, a courier, is wanted by the Feds for smuggling coffee and evading pursuit. And Haiwee, once the greatest hacker on the planet, has ruined her body with the drugs used to enhance her reflexes and is destitute with no reputation left to cash in upon. So when a billionaire offers them a big paycheck to retrieve one of three collectible bottles and destroy the other two, the three young mercenaries don’t ask questions. In pursuit of their contract they travel to central Australia to face a local crime lord, to Brazil where they must deal with a pedophile Bishop of the United Catholic Church, to the flooded waterways of London, and even to the King’s palace of Borlovia, all in pursuit of the elusive TIS bottles. Aided by Mikio, a cybernetic ninja, and Tatiana, an artificial intelligence, the heroes risk life and limb for one big fat payday. If they fail, the billionaire will hold them accountable for all their expenses, essentially enslaving them.

    The streets are a dangerous place; watch over your shoulder while you walk or you may just find out what I'm talking about. Horrors lurk in the shadows, evil prickles the back of your neck, you know someone is watching you, waiting until you've long forgotten that gut feeling... waiting to catch you off guard. Friends can't help you, although they may try. I watch them fall around me and I wonder how we got here. How did we enter this hell?Nowhere is safe in the neighborhood. Clay and his gang, the Locals, can't walk the streets alone these days. Fighting for everything and nothing at all, the Locals struggle on the streets trying to build a safe life around each other. Haker and his followers, another neighborhood gang, have set a vendetta against them, trying to tear down their protection; but the Locals aren't backing down - they're going down swinging. Clay's life will never be the same when a chain of events turns deadly and leaves all of the Locals changed forever.

    Mankind is on the brink of extinction. A deadly plague sweeps the globe like a tsunami causing the dead to rise and prey on the living. When there s no more room in Hell is a horror/action set in a post apocalyptic world filled with suspense, drama, humour, grief and action. While one brother fights his way home through the horrors and confusion of a savage landscape from the Meat Grinder that is Iraq, the other finds himself as the leader of a rag-tag band of survivors striving to survive against the onslaught of the dead.

    Dan Kelley finds himself in such a place, alone in a society whose over reliance on science and technology has led to the near-extinction of the human race. Dan and his friends face their challenges assuming the tactics of their tormentors, with fists flying. With their backs to the wall, they pull a strategic retreat into the wilderness where things are seen more clearly. Realizing a more rational plan, redemption begins to unfold. Join Dan on his journey down this fractured road as he overcomes obstacles, finds love and compassion, and discovers himself with the help of a phenomenon the world has apparently forgotten about. Are there answers or just a strong wind?

    You'll learn about the tools and techniques you need to improve your gun or even build one entirely from scratch. Reid Coffield, Steven Matthews and other SGN writers show you the tricks of the trade that will help you complete one-of-a-kind projects that will amaze your friends.

    Hephaestus Books represents a new publishing paradigm, allowing disparate content sources to be curated into cohesive, relevant, and informative books. To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lexicon in the sharing of human knowledge. This particular book is a collaboration focused on Vertigo graphic novels.

    

    Not just her life...but her very being: "You don't know me, but I work for your Social Network. This morning we had visitors from Homeland Security and they demanded that we turn over to them all information pertaining to your account. This message will be deleted in 20 minutes and all traces of it will disappear. Hopefully they will not detect it before then. I do not dare leave it on here longer than that. I can only hope you get the message in time. Overhearing the conversations of these men I realize that you are in grave danger. You must leave your home immediately. Go somewhere safe...they are coming to pick you up. They also mentioned obtaining information concerning all your phone contacts. This means they will have records of everyone that you have on your contact list on your Social Network as well as your phone. Find a place to go that you will not be traced if possible. I am a follower of your blog or I would have had no idea who you were or what serious danger you were in. May God keep you safe. A Friend." Her story begins with these words: "It wasn't supposed to be this way. Who would have thought... that a woman in her fifties would find herself hiding here, in this secret room, quietly locked away in the home of a member of the underground resistance? Underground resistance... Heaven Forbid! I still can't believe we live in a time where such a thing even exists!" What she encounters next should be a wake-up call to all of us here in America! The last decade in American history has been full of surprises. What has happened to our country? Who is behind it? Why is it being allowed to occur? What can we expect next? Are you in danger? A must read for those who realize that the United States is changing...Fast! Although this book is fictional, it is based on facts. Facts that you need to know. Facts that will surprise, enlighten, and bring into focus the 'big picture'...what is happening here is no longer a nationalistic problem...its scope is worldwide. And your life depends on knowing what that picture is. Time is running out for you to be aware and prepare yourself for what is occurring. Be prepared to be surprised!

    The Soviet Union has won the Cold War and occupies most of the former United States, now referred to as Soviet America. A fledgling American insurgency commits acts of random sabotage and sporadic bombing attacks against the Soviet occupiers and their collaborators. Two MIT professors of astrophysics, Paul deVere and former Special Operations Officer Lewis Ginter, have discovered a subatomic particle that accelerates matter to speeds faster than light, thereby opening wormholes in time. They create an Accelechron, which makes it possible to propel a human through a wormhole. Working with fellow resistance activists from New England, they develop a daring plan to go back to the early 1960s to alter the course of American history. As the time travelers scheme to avoid the watchful eyes of Soviet intelligence agents Igor Rostov and Natasha Nikitin, they find themselves increasingly distrusted by their fellow resistance leaders. When they finally make their daring attempt, they must confront not only history, but also their own pasts.

    Evgenii Zamiatin's work is a lens through which the issues pertaining to utopian literature can be examined. Zamiatin established the cultural coordinates of dystopia in imaginative literature. Among the virtues of Zamiatin's novel are the tropes later to be found in the dystopian works following in the wake of Zamiatin. The dialectical perspective on We reflects the author's intent and also the reason that We is the essential 20th century dystopia - in that the same dialectical process motivated the creation of the Soviet Union.

    But now she was alone in the open to face the unknown. Would she find a place among those seeking to rebuild civilization? Cover art and illustrations by Katrin Orav.Book 1: It is the year 2048. Karen, orphaned at 14, leaves the only home she has ever known to make her way into a devastated world that may hold no place for her. Book 2: Karen Rutledge, age fourteen, lost her father. He was the only human being she had ever known. Thrown into a world that little resembled the books and magazines of her childhood, she made her way to a valley inhabited by farmers and found a place among them. But there were others in her world who were not farmers and preyed upon farmers and "Pilgrims." The valley was attacked and successfully defended itself; weakened by their losses, the people of Starvation Creek took stock. Would they be able to rebuild? And what if the marauders returned? Book 3: The people of the valley must fight a war for survival in the midst of fire, drought, and famine. Will they be able to stay, or must they join the ranks of the ragged Pilgrims?

    There he takes it into his head to steal a winning ticket worth 250 million dollars and suddenly he finds himself on the run, a fugitive in the rainforest with a price on his head. All he has is the money and an incomprehensible set of instructions from his oddball friend Kaddie...

    Facing seemingly insurmountable challenges, they must find a way to co-exist or perish. Not knowing the reason for the population's devastation, they simply call it 'The Event'. In the struggle to survive, new leaders emerge to change the course of civilization for better or worse. Those fortunate enough to have survived The Event must begin by taking care of the basic needs of shelter, food, safety, and first-aid. To complicate matters, they must solve those problems without computers, communication systems, or even the most basic means of travel. At times the complications seem insurmountable but giving up is not an option.THE END begins immediately after THE EVENT, when the nation changes from a population of 307,000,000 people to only a few thousand spread out over the entire country and follows the survivors through the first chaotic days until the end of the first year. Each day brings new discoveries, dangers, and hope.

    he's dealing with some of the country's most damaged, deprived and difficult youngsters.Given his own background (he suffered from drug addiction and near-alcoholism in his teenage years and early 20s) and his liberal disposition (he's a Guardian-reading vegetarian socialist with a first-class degree in Politics, Philosophy and Sociology and a Masters in International Relations) it ought to be a match made in heave.But then reality intrudes. Generation F is the first book to reveal the unvarnished truth about life in Britain's care homes and supported housing projects.Winston Smith spends his working day wrestling with the problems of damaged youngsters, violent thugs and teenage criminals. He is confronted at every turn by irresponsible parents, incompetent police officers and pointless, expensive bureaucracy.His writing is controversial, angry and edgy - and it made him the runaway winner of the 2010 Orwell Prize.'A shocking and often funny account of life in the madhouse.'The Sunday Times ‘A devastating book exposing the truth about the anarchy in this country’s care homes’The Daily Mail'We could have agonised for hours and then passed Winston Smith over as too difficult, too dark, too much of a risk but we were charged with judging the best. Winston Smith’s blog was the clear and unanimous choice of the judging panel. There is a directness and clarity to his philippics that left them in our thoughts long after we had finished reading, but that was not enough. What carried the day with us was his passion and conviction that we should know what wrongs had been done in our names in some of those places where most of us choose not to look.Orwell Prize Judges

    an Unfinished is resurrected to what he believes is his one chance to point the finger at his accused killer.He remembers the final details of his life; his boring job as a mattress salesman, the Dame he had high hopes for and the Mug who took his life.Once brought back from the dead and taken to court, this Unfinished could never have imagined what was awaiting him.Set in a world that is our future, giving homage to 1940's detective noir stories, "The Unfinished" serves up a twist ending that will leave you wanting to follow his story to the end.

    Dick was one of the most popular science fiction novelists of the 20th century, but the contradictory and wily writer has troubled critics who attempt encompassing explanations of his work. This book examines Dick's writing through the lens of ontological uncertainty, providing a comparative map of his oeuvre, tracing both the interior connections between books and his allusive intertextuality. Topics covered include time travel, alternate worlds, androids and simulacra, finite subjective realities and schizophrenia. Twenty novels are explored in detail, including titles that have received scant critical attention. Some of his most important short stories and two of his realist novels are also examined, providing a general introduction to Dick's body of work.