Yet his heart is immersed in another universe, influenced by another culture, and lost to a woman not of his world. And to take a Terran wife such as scholar Anne Davis is to risk both his honor and reputation--not to mention the lives of loved ones."Scout's Progress"--Aelliana Caylon is a brilliant mathematician, revered by pilots for the life-saving revisions she brought to the ven'Tura Piloting Tables. Despite this, her home life is terrifying, as the target of her elder brother's spite and her mother's indifference. Convinced that she has no recourse, Aelliana endures, until, on a dare, she plays a game of chance and wins a spaceship. Suddenly she has a way to escape her drab life - if she can qualify as a pilot, and survive her brother's abuse."Conflict of Honors"--Declared legally dead by a High Priestess of the Goddess and abandoned by her mother, Priscilla Delacroix has roamed the galaxy for ten years, surviving and becoming a woman of extraordinary skills. Now, she's been betrayed and abandoned once again, left on a distant planet by the Liaden starship on which she had been an important officer. But she's not alone: starship captain Shan yos'Galan has his own score to settle with the same enemy and is about to offer her an alliance.

    They are the Avengers, and they want it known they're here to stay. But when Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants threaten to destroy several major cities unless their demands for mutant supremacy are met, the Avengers are forced to quit looking to the future, and start hoping to live through the day!

    The fifty-two stories and critical introductions are organized chronologically as well as thematically for classroom use. Filled with luminous ideas, otherworldly adventures, and startling futuristic speculations, these stories will appeal to all readers as they chart the emergence and evolution of science fiction as a modern literary genre. They also provide a fascinating look at how our Western technoculture has imaginatively expressed its hopes and fears from the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century to the digital age of today. A free online teacher's guide accompanies the anthology and offers access to a host of pedagogical aids for using this book in an academic setting.The stories in this anthology have been selected and introduced by the editors of Science Fiction Studies, the world's most respected journal for the critical study of science fiction.

    Yet when villainous forces behind the mysterious keywork reveal hard hiting truth's behind the couple's real nature, a battle begins that crosses all worlds!

    She likes Facebook, gossiping and plenty of sleep. So when she and her brother, Joe, are invited to stay with their 'loony' Uncle Percy at his stately home, she thinks it’ll be the worst summer ever. What she doesn't realise is that Bowen Hall is also home to a baby Triceratops, two Sabre-tooth tigers and the mythic hero, Will Scarlet... 'The Time Hunters' is a thrilling adventure that takes Becky, Joe, Uncle Percy and Will on a quest through time to find the legendary Golden Fleece. The Clock is ticking....

    From Mikhail Gorbachev to Alfred Hitchcock to David Bowie, Bradbury’s sway on contemporary culture is towering. Acclaimed biographer and Bradbury scholar Sam Weller has spent more than a decade interviewing the author; the fascinating conversations that emerge cast a high-definition portrait of a creative genius and a futurist who longs for yesterday. Listen to the Echoes: The Ray Bradbury Interviews is the definitive collection of interviews with an American icon.

    Freddy Anderson used that ability working to save the world from a world ending disaster. However, the human race is now at war. Aliens have attacked and captured many of our top people including Freddy Anderson and are headed back to their home world. They are trying to extract from his mind information that will help them understand how the humans destroyed their greatest ship and how to annihilate the entire human race.

    Unfortunately for him, Hawk, Hummer, Honey, and Happy West did not leave on a whim, and they have no intention of returning quietly. With the help of the powerful Government-Civilian Alliance, Oliver and his handler Emily must track down the truants before they can wreak havoc across the southwestern United States. Submit now, dear children. The state demands it.

    This subsequent career in the family business was tough: marked by war, mutiny and attempted assassination. But then her home was attacked and her parents killed - their trading empire left in ruins. Now she must save what is left of the family and the business, with few friends and too few assets. She must make full use of her hard-won experience to not just survive, but to restore the shattered fortunes of the Vatta family and their allies. Now, Kylara Vatta, space-trader and sometime privateer, has destined herself for a dangerous and unpredictable future. She will muster an interplanetary taskforce and forge them into a lethal weapon: one that the pirates who destroyed her family will never forget...

    But when the Sandrisson Drive activated, every automated system crashed, the nuclear reactor itself shut down, and only the reflexes and training of a racing pilot saved the test vessel Holy Grail from crashing into the impossible wall that had appeared before them, a wall which is just part of a monstrous enclosure surrounding a space twenty thousand kilometers across. With all artificial intelligences inert and their reactor dead, they had to find some other source of power to reactivate the Sandrisson Drive and—hopefully—take them home.            And that was only the beginning. As Ariane, Dr. Simon Sandrisson, darkly enigmatic power engineer Marc C. DuQuesne, and the rest of the Holy Grail's crew explore the immense artifact, they discover that they are not alone; they have entered a place the alien inhabitants call “The Arena,” and there is no way out without joining one of the alien factions . . . or winning recognition as a faction in their own right, playing by the Arena's rules – and by the Arena's rules, one failed challenge could mean death or worse – perhaps for the entire human race.            Surrounded by alien factions, each with its own secret plans and motivations, some wielding powers so strange as to be magical, Ariane sets out to beat the Arena at its own game. With DuQuesne's strategies, Sandrisson's genius, and her own unyielding determination, she's going to bring the Holy Grail home – even if she has to beat every faction in the Arena to do it!

    Some are spirits of place - of water and air and fire and earth. Some are greater than these. And some are human.Bramble: A village girl whom no one living can tame, forced to flee her home for a crime she did not commit.Ash: A safeguarder's apprentice who must kill for an employer he cannot escape.Saker: An enchanter who will not rest until the land is returned to his people.As their three stories unfold, along with the stories of those whose lives they touch, it becomes clear that they are bound together in ways that not even a stonecaster could have foreseen - by their past, their future, and their blood.This omnibus edition includes all three novels - Blood Ties, Deep Water, and Full Circle - together for the first time.

    Powerful forces employ the “Old Magic” of New Orleans in an attempt to thwart her efforts and end her life. Eloise is familiar with this kind of mission, having worked on disasters throughout the world. But the evil she encounters in New Orleans, both human and paranormal, will force her to rethink her abilities and rely on faith. The Paranormal Research and Containment Division (PRCD) is a covert agency under the auspices of the Department of Defense, whose mission is to investigate paranormal incidents and maintain public safety. PRCD units are often sent in after catastrophic events occur to help spirits bound to the place of death move to the next life. This “cleansing” opens the area for future human residents without residual paranormal sensations.

    The exciting military career she hoped for never got off the ground but Ky Vatta ended up seeing plenty of combat when she took the helm of one of the commercial transport vessels in her family's fleet...and steered it into a full-blown war. Now the lessons she learned in that trial by fire are about to pay off: because this time, the war has come to her. To be exact, someone unknown has launched a full-throttle offensive against Vatta Transport Ltd., Ky's father's interstellar shipping empire. In short order, most of Ky's family is killed, and subsequent attacks sever vital lines of communication, leaving Ky fighting, in every sense, to survive.Determined to identify the ruthless mystery enemy and avenge her family's name, Ky needs not only firepower but information. And she gets both in spades from the band of stranded mercenaries she hooks up with, from her black-sheep cousin, Stella, who's been leading a secret life, and from Stella's roguish ex-lover, Rafe. Together they struggle to penetrate the tangled web of political intrigue that's wreaking havoc within InterStellar Communications, whose effective operation their own livelihoods and perhaps lives depend on.But the infighting proves to be infectious, and it isn't long before Ky's hired military muscle are turning their suspicions on the enigmatic Rafe, whose wealth of knowledge about ISC's clashing factions and startling new technologies has begun to make him smell like a rat...or a mole. With swift, violent destruction a very real possibility, the last thing Ky needs is a crew divided against itself and she's prepared to take whatever measures are necessary to ensure that Vatta stays in business, as well as in one piece.What she's not prepared for is the shocking truth behind the terror and a confrontation with murderous treachery from a source as unexpected as it is unrelenting. (Part 2 of 2)

    The brilliantly unorthodox Kylara Vatta, black-sheep scion of Vatta Transport Ltd., one of the galaxy's wealthiest merchant houses, is a heroine like no other, blessed with a killer instinct for business and for battle. Now, in the aftermath of cold-blooded assassinations that have left her parents dead and the Vatta shipping empire shattered, Kylara faces her greatest challenge yet.There is a time for grief and a time for revenge. This is decidedly the latter. Placing her cousin Stella in command of the trading vessel Gary Tobai, Ky embarks aboard the captured pirate ship Fair Kaleen on a twofold mission: to salvage the family business and to punish those responsible for the killings...before they strike again.Since the network providing instantaneous communication between star systems has been sabotaged, news is hard to come by and available information impossible to trust. But as she travels from system to system, with Stella a step behind, Ky pieces together the clues and discovers a conspiracy of terrifying scope, breathtaking audacity, and utter ruthlessness.The only hope the independent systems and merchants have against this powerful enemy is to band together. Unfortunately, because she commands a ship known to belong to a notorious pirate - her own relative Osman Vatta, whom she killed for his part in her parents' deaths - Ky is met with suspicion, if not outright hostility. Rumors swirl about her intent, her very identity. Soon even Stella begins to question her cousin's decisions and her authority to make them.Meanwhile, the conspiracy Ky hunts is hunting her in turn, with agents insinuated into every space station, every planetary government, every arm of the military, and every merchant house - including her own. Before she can take the fight to the enemy, Kylara must survive a deadly minefield of deception and betrayal. (Part 2 of 2)

    In ancient China a young girl trains with a great master for many years, learning the principles of kung fu and becoming a skilled and honorable warrior.

    Corfe Cear-Inaf, now a colonel, is given a ragtag command of ill-equipped savages and sent on a hopeless mission by a jealous King who expects him to fail.Richard Hawkwood and Lord Murad return bearing news of horror on a savage new continent, with something terrible lurking in the hold.The Church is tearing itself apart, even as the champions of truth fight to bring peace between Ramusian and Merduk; but in the far West, a terrible new threat is rearing its head...Century of the Soldier collects the final three books in Paul Kearney’s explosive The Monarchies of God series, revised and expanded for this edition: The Iron Wars, The Second Empire and Ships From The West.

    This subsequent career in the family business was tough: marked by war, mutiny and attempted assassination. But then her home was attacked and her parents killed - their trading empire left in ruins. Now she must save what is left of the family and the business, with few friends and too few assets. She must make full use of her hard-won experience to not just survive, but to restore the shattered fortunes of the Vatta family and their allies. Now, Kylara Vatta, space-trader and sometime privateer, has destined herself for a dangerous and unpredictable future. She will muster an interplanetary taskforce and forge them into a lethal weapon: one that the pirates who destroyed her family will never forget...

    Worshiped as gods for their wisdom and power, they corrupted the realm of the physical and forever altered the course of history. Amidst the chaos of a dying world, a lone voice foretold the awakening of a warrior who would bring an end to this evil perpetrated against all of creation. But with the cataclysmic destruction of earth and rebirth of humanity, the prophecy went unfulfilled and eventually faded from the memory of our kind-until now! The physical dimension is fractured. What remain now are numerous fragmented worlds moving simultaneously through time, sharing a common history, connected only by a guarded portal. On a parallel earth, a child is rescued from prison and trained in the arts of war by a mystical order of clerics. When he returns to his home in search of his family, he becomes entangled in a brutal conspiracy to gain control of the Empire. Racing to unravel the secrecy of the enemy's identity and motive, he is haunted by the memories of his past and drawn by the destiny that awaits him. In his debut novel, Jason Tesar delves into the heart of an ancient legend, launching an epic saga that will journey from earth's mythological past to its post-apocalyptic future, blending the genres of fantasy, sci-fi, and military/political suspense.

    They and several heroes of future space flight take on and do the impossible, build a program to explore and settle the red planet in a very short time period. Along the way they dig up old and invent new technology to overcome the many problems facing them. Mario and his wife are forced to take his brother's place when he is viciously attacked moments before launch. The team must overcome many problems, weather, radiation, and politics to get the colony started. Along the way they must divert an asteroid which has some far reaching consequences. Mankind will never be the same after the Mario brothers come on the scene!

    I was both absorbed by the novel, by its lyrical prose that reads like a song, and moved by the storyline of a man whose love is so strong, even death cannot stop it. The Hambledown Dream is at times gritty, but it's real and life affirming, filled with poignant longing. It's an emotional book that pulls you in by the heartstrings."—Carolina Valdez Miller, authorAustralian Denny Banister had it all; a successful career, a passion for the guitar, and Sonya - the love of his life. Tragically, Denny is struck down with inoperable cancer. Andy DeVries has almost nothing; alienated from his family, moving through a dangerous Chicago underworld dealing in drugs, battling addiction while keeping a wavering hold on the only thing that matters to him: a place at a prestigious conservatory for classical guitar in Chicago. As Andy recovers from a near fatal overdose, he is plagued by dreams - memories of a love he has never felt, and a life he's never lived. Driven by the need for redemption and by the love for a woman he's never met, he begins a quest to find her, knowing her only by the memories of a stranger and the dreams of a place called Hambledown...Be sure to also read Dean Mayes' other novels:Gifts of the PeramangkThe Artisan HeartThe Recipient

    There's also a score to be settled and payback to be meted out for the obliteration of the Vatta Transport dynasty, and the slaughter of Ky's family. But the enemy have their own escalation efforts under way, including the placement of covert agents among the allies with whom Ky and the surviving Vattas are collaborating in the war effort.

    Most were taken prisoner by Cuban armed forces. Fearing another U.S. invasion of its new ally, the Soviet Union sneaked into Cuba strategic missiles tipped with nuclear warheads and Soviet troops armed with tactical nuclear weapons. However, a U-2 spy plane flight would soon find the Soviet missile sites, thus sparking the famous missile crisis. For thirteen terrifying days, the world watched nervously as the two superpowers moved toward escalation, holding the world 's fate in their hands. Finally, Nikita Khrushchev blinked. He agreed to withdraw the weapons from Cuba in return for John F. Kennedy 's pledge not to invade the island.But what if it had not turned out this way? What if the U-2 flight had been delayed? If the confrontation had set off a nuclear war, what would have happened to the United States and Soviet Union in 1962? What kind of account would a historian have written in a world scarred by nuclear war?Eric G. Swedin draws on research made available after the Soviet Union 's collapse to examine what could have happened. Top U.S. military officers all urged stronger action against Cuba than the naval blockade, including a bombing campaign and even a full-scale invasion. Unknown to the Americans, meanwhile, the Soviet Union had tactical nuclear weapons in Cuba and were prepared to use them.The 1962 crisis had many possible outcomes. Positing an alternate history helps us better appreciate the dangers of that tense time. Such counterfactual speculation shows what the Cuban missile crisis could have wrought and how it was truly one of the most important moments of the twentieth century.

    The brilliantly unorthodox Kylara Vatta, black-sheep scion of Vatta Transport Ltd., one of the galaxy's wealthiest merchant houses, is a heroine like no other, blessed with a killer instinct for business and for battle. Now, in the aftermath of cold-blooded assassinations that have left her parents dead and the Vatta shipping empire shattered, Kylara faces her greatest challenge yet.There is a time for grief and a time for revenge. This is decidedly the latter. Placing her cousin Stella in command of the trading vessel Gary Tobai, Ky embarks aboard the captured pirate ship Fair Kaleen on a twofold mission: to salvage the family business and to punish those responsible for the killings...before they strike again.Since the network providing instantaneous communication between star systems has been sabotaged, news is hard to come by and available information impossible to trust. But as she travels from system to system, with Stella a step behind, Ky pieces together the clues and discovers a conspiracy of terrifying scope, breathtaking audacity, and utter ruthlessness.The only hope the independent systems and merchants have against this powerful enemy is to band together. Unfortunately, because she commands a ship known to belong to a notorious pirate - her own relative Osman Vatta, whom she killed for his part in her parents' deaths - Ky is met with suspicion, if not outright hostility. Rumors swirl about her intent, her very identity. Soon even Stella begins to question her cousin's decisions and her authority to make them.Meanwhile, the conspiracy Ky hunts is hunting her in turn, with agents insinuated into every space station, every planetary government, every arm of the military, and every merchant house - including her own. Before she can take the fight to the enemy, Kylara must survive a deadly minefield of deception and betrayal. (Part 1 of 2)

    That is what the aliens had warned Mitch Chambers a year ago. It wasn't like it was anything new, mankind had always been teetering on the edge of extinction. But when aliens visit, you listened. They gave him and nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine other people a year to prepare before they are transplanted to another world. Mitch didn't even consider going to the media or the government, they would have laughed him right into an asylum. No, Mitch knew he would have to do it the hard way, pull mankind up by the bootstraps. Bootstrap colony.

    Lovecraft are in one giant collection with an easy to navigate table of contents.At the Mountains of MadnessThe Call of CthulhuThe Case of Charles Dexter WardThe Color Out of SpaceDarknessThe Dream Quest of Unknown KadathThe Dreams in the Witch-HouseThe Dunwich HorrorHerbert West: ReanimatorThe Horror at Red HookThe Horror in the MuseumHypnosImprisoned with the PharaohsThe Lurking FearThe Other GodsThe Shadow Out of TimeThe Shadow Over InnsmouthShunned HouseThe Thing on the DoorstepThrough the Gates of the Silver Key

    Along the way, the children discover that they cannot rescue their mother without rescuing themselves first. Sometimes frightening, sometimes funny, and often heartbreaking, "Assam and Darjeeling" tells the story of a brother and sister who have to go through hell together in order to learn the true meaning of family.

    Caught in their ancient and complex bond, Sarah glimpses the world as it might be......and her choices will ravage a city. This is the story of London burning in 1666--the Year of Miracles.

    The book follows the trajectory of Morgaine (often called Morgan Le Fay or Morgan of the Fairies in other works), a priestess fighting to save her matriarchal Celtic culture in a country where patriarchal Christianity threatens to destroy the pagan way of life. The book follows the lives of Gwenhwyfar, Viviane, Morgause, Igraine and other women who are often marginalized in Arthurian retellings. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are supporting rather than main characters. The Mists of Avalon is in stark contrast to other retellings of the Arthurian tales, which consistently paint Morgaine as a distant, one-dimensional evil witch or sorceress, with no real explanation given (or required) for her antipathy.

    When forced into the role of Keeper of the Ravens, she must break the bonds of her cruel mother, confront a powerful shape-shifter who threatens to destroy the village, and solve the mystery of her past.

    Love wants. It wants like hunger and suffocation. It wants like gravity."Vampires run in packs here, and they're not easy to avoid if they want you. Bette, Jay, and their friends, other smart, talented, angry, punk musicians, artists, and high-school misfits, tangle with the Wolf House as they join with &mdash and sometimes fight against &mdash the toughest vampire hunters in town, a band called Remember the Stars, who rock the local club scene and then fight the vampire gangs after the show.Blake, the leader of the Wolf House, finds them all endlessly entertaining. They don't care what he thinks. He'll die, or they'll die trying. And one after another, they die."Everyone dies. Everything changes. Those are just the truths of the world. Everyone changes.""Electrifying. Chilling. Enthralling. Amazing. One of the truest young voices I ve ever heard, with a plot that keeps you stuck to the pages and stops the breath in your throat.. This is a writer who will go farther than perhaps even she imagines. L.J. Smith, author of "The Vampire Diaries series"Mary Borsellino 's The Wolf House introduces readers to a group of smart, hip, snarky, young friends who like to eat pizza, gossip, watch horror movies, and, oh yeah, hang out with vampires. Just your typical high school students. Nancy A. Collins, author of the "Vamps" seriesMary Borsellino is one of the up-and-coming writers of this generation, regardless of genre. As it happens, she writes some of the very best vampire fiction in the vast sea of vamplit that is out there. Narrelle Harris, author of "The Opposite of Life"Mary does characterisation like she is wielding a sympathetic, observant scalpel. Karen Healey, author of "Guardian of the Dead"

    In this lavish volume, Ben Boos welcomes us to a land of his own creation, a land replete with beings of fantasy and folklore, including elves, dwarves, minotaurs, hobgoblins, and undead horrors. From the windy forests where elves and healers dwell to the misty coastal fortresses of Paladins and the towering libraries of Mages, each mysterious region comes alive in Ben Boos’s extraordinary art and descriptive text. Filled with exquisite detail on every page, this is an absorbing and inspiring fantasy experience not to be missed.

    Between right and wrong. Between Texas and Mexico. The first is a joke to Dodd Raines, the second a payday. Then there's the borders he's made. Between himself and his estranged daughter, the border patrol agent. Between himself and his one-time employers. And there's another border, one he cares about even less than the Rio Grande: the border between life and death. Used to, the shadow Dodd Raines cast when he stood dripping from that water - it was the shadow of a fugitive. But now that fugitive's coming home, and the shadow he's casting? It's got rabbit ears. Listen, you can hear the chupacabras padding along beside him - their new master. He's that big guy in the hood, slouching out by the gas pumps. Walking north, for justice. Austin's never seen anything like Dodd Raines, and never will again. Get ready.

    But neither are what they appear to be...In the space of one day the world has gone topsy-turvy. A viral outbreak is bringing the dead to life. Ashley discovers strength and abilities she never dreamed she had when she becomes drawn into the struggle against the walking dead as part of an elite zombie hunting unit. Her new squad leader? Gabriel, who is shouldering more than a few secrets of his own. Between fighting with zombies and fighting with Gabriel, Ashley is about to learn the true meaning of drop-dead gorgeous.

    She is certain that Naryfel, a shadowy figure from her past, has returned and is concentrating the full force of her hate on Jen's family. But how will she strike? A knife in the dark? An attack from her legions? Or with the dark arts and twisted creatures she commands with sinister cunning? Wyndano's Cloak may be Jen's only hope. If she can only trust that she has what it takes to use it. A tale of madness, friendship, and courage, Wyndano's Cloak reveals the transformative power of love and forgiveness, and the terrible consequences of denying who you really are.

    Later: Enter Another.” In the “locations” between these captivating stories you’ll find exciting and richly rewarding tales by some of today’s best-known SF writers and several of its most talented newcomers. Each of these stories has something that Asimov’s is rightly famous for—strong and deeply moving characters that face their futures head on. Whether they’re a jazz musician on a starship, the spirit of H.L. Mencken tangling with a twenty-first century medium, or the new personality of a wayward teenager trying to stake a claim on a body that is and sort of isn’t hers, they must all find their way in uncharted territory. You can join them on their journey. Turn the electronic page and enter a future. A little later, you can enter another.

    . ."In The Baby Killers, Jay Lake restages mankind's Fall from Grace as an alternate-history steampunk fable. Written in a style of rambunctious Victoriana-that-never-was, this novella is set in Philadelphia in 1907, when that city serves as the seat of the British Dominion of the Americas, and as a Pandora's Box of sin and vice. The Governor-General has a taste for violating innocents, while the good Dr. Scholes uses them to fashion his mechanized agents of Justice. The Gollinoster, a feminine incarnation of angry retribution, wanders beneath the city streets - and an undying creature of ancient destruction is rushing to meet her. Villains and heroes (categories that overlap significantly) battle in a story of debauchery, degradation, radical experimentation, mad metaphysics . . . and a farting Frenchman.Both popular culture and actual history are mined here to create a tale in which the use of idealized technology meets our darkest desires . . . and the result is positively electric.

    Instead he gets a case that will bring him face to fang with crazed, blood-craving halfdead, a trio of vengeful Troll warriors, and Mama Hog’s unpredictable brand of backstreet magic. Oh, and the possible resurgence of the Troll War that nearly wiped humanity out a decade ago. Through Rannit’s narrow alleys and mean streets, Markhat runs to stay one step ahead of disaster, all the while ignoring Mama Hog’s dire warnings that this time, the head that rolls could be his own!Dead Man’s Rain Markhat is a finder by trade, charged with the post-war task of tracking down missing sons and fathers who’d fought in the War but remained missing after the Truce. But now it’s ten years on after the war, and about all he’s finding is trouble. This time, trouble comes in the form of a rich widow with a problem. Her dearly departed husband, Ebed Merlat, keeps ambling back from the grave for nocturnal visits. Markhat saw a lot during the war, but he’s never seen anyone, rich or poor, rise from the grave and go tromping around the landscape. But for the right price, he’s willing to look into it. As a storm gathers and night falls, Markhat finds darker things than even murder lurk amid the shadows of House Merlat.

    While his violent past haunts him, his present is consumed by savage road pirates, grotesque mutants, and private armies. He is fully prepared to handle any of them, but there are still things even the weller fears: the boogeymen of the wastes… distillers.

    Its destination? Nowhere. The illegally-born must live out their lives inside this computerized train. Admin wills it so. But young Garland, an Orphan musician, seeks a different destination. Freedom.

    Beam Piper. This ebook includes an active table of contents for easy navigation.Novels:Little FuzzyFour-Day PlanetLone Star PlanetMurder in the GunroomTime CrimeUller UprisingThe Cosmic ComputerSpace VikingNull-ABCShort Stories:Crossroads of DestinyDearestFlight From TomorrowGenesisGraveyard of DreamsHe Walked Around the HorsesHunter PatrolLast EnemyMinistry of DisturbanceNaudsonceOmnilingualOomphel in the SkyOperation RSVPA Slave is a SlaveDay of the MoronPolice OperationRebel RaiderTemple TroubleThe AnswerThe Edge of the KnifeThe KeeperThe MercenariesThe ReturnTime and Time Again

    He and his friends are forced to flee for their lives. Learning to pilot the ship by fits and starts, they embark on a desperate mission to rescue Jason's abducted parents and prevent an alien invasion of Earth. The journey takes him halfway across the galaxy, where he must confront bizarre and deadly creatures, escape from a toxic region of space called the Vuhndalac Pit, and evade capture by a powerful alien leader intent on destroying him. Hidden somewhere among the stars is device of great power, the remnant of an ancient, long-dead civilization whose technology is so mysterious it works as if by magic. Jason must find this talisman -- before it is too late. If he is the Heir of Elam, the one person in the entire universe who can claim it, he will be able use it to rescue his parents and save his planet. If he is not, touching it will be the last thing he ever does!

    He uses the god-like Void's powers to access an alien dimension to create never-failing batteries, and sets out to take over the world for the greater good. Meanwhile, others on the team aren't adjusting to the stuffy suit-and-tie lifestyle so well as Grifter begins wishing he could go back to kicking butt. So even though he's a Vice President in the new WildCats endeavor, he routinely disappears to do so until he breaks his back and decides to train a mild-mannered accountant to take his place! The top superteam in the WildStorm Universe continues turning traditional genre tropes on their ears with this exciting new direction that fans have been clamoring for for years!

    Yet as with any idea, not every monster can be a winner. Or can it?With Misfit Monsters Redeemed, Paizo Publishing has taken 10 of the most notoriously bad monsters in RPG history—the lamest, most hated, and flat-out silliest creatures in the genre—and attempted to make them fun allies and adversaries for players and Game Masters alike. Each monster comes complete with updated statistics for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, lengthy ecologies explaining how the monsters behave and why they are the way they are, tips on how Game Masters can use them in a campaign, notes on how to fit the monsters into the world of the Pathfinder campaign setting or your own home game, and more.Inside this 64-page book, you'll find monsters such as:- Flumphs, everyone's favorite flying jellyfish monster, come from the stars to warn innocent civilizations of the cosmic horrors lurking in the darkness.- Disenchanters, the blue-furred camels who live to prey on adventurers' magical gear.- Flail snails, the magic-warping gastropods who weave slowly through the subterranean Darklands, writing epic poetry with their slime trails.- Doom-screeching dire corbies, the bird-headed terrors of the darkest caverns.- Lurking rays, the stealthy ambush predators that are really three manta-like monsters in one: the executioner's hood, the trapper, and the lurker above.- Adherers, those sticky, mummy-like monstrosities whose wrappings of flayed skin are the scarred relics of a horrible experiment by phase spiders from the Ethereal Plane.- Other loveable losers like the delver, the lava child, the tojanida, and of course, the infamous wolf-in-sheep's-clothing!Cover art by Vinrod Rams

    Once she would have given her very soul to Ketrick DeSardon, but after a few, short weeks of tender romance and phenomenal sex, the dashing Starfleet captain left her in a storm of heartache. Now she’s strictly business, a clinical psychologist on her way to the top. Is she troubled by the unexpected assignment aboard DeSardon’s warship? Not a bit. Darkly seductive DeSardon is running from his feelings, hiding dangerous secrets. Unbekno

    A mighty world of magic and wonder approaches a global turning point, and a global war. Young Mark finds himself at the center of an intense whirlwind of adventure, romance, and action that will transform the world of Kellaran in only seven days! A passionately acclaimed High Fantasy Epic! Uses American Imperial (Standard) measurement units.New Professionally Published Edition! Features greatly improved cover art and graphics, better maps, new appendices including a recurring character list with descriptions and first appearance notes, proofreading by six editors to eliminate every typo, and professional editing including chapter breaks.Kellaran is a mighty world many times larger than the Earth, its technology is almost entirely magical, and it is home to many modern and advanced societies. The humans, unicorns, dragons, elves, dwarves, giants, gnomes, selkies, and gargoyles each have their own powerful nations, and the precarious peace is about to be shattered yet again.Many fantasy novels have central events that are supposed to affect the entire world, yet they are only described as affecting a part of one continent. Blessings Of A Curse is a story with true global scope; an epic of world-changing events, all interacting in a frantic global crisis.It's a book that is cheering and emotionally uplifting. It seldom seems emotionally dark, though it sometimes deals with tragic events.The magic in the story is self-consistent, and is as consistent as possible with real physics and physical constants.This novel contains adult themes, and deals with issues of sexuality. It is not recommended for those under 14 years of age.Many of the readers of this fantasy series also loved this author's science fiction series. Even many who had never read or enjoyed science fiction before were so impressed with The Nexus Of Kellaran Series that they then tried The Rational Future Series, and loved it just as much. The first two books of The Rational Future Series; People Of The Tiger and Hunters In The Sky, are available now.Wayne Edward Clarke has been a professional musician, an inventor, a bio-sociological engineer, a gardener, and an author of fantasy, science fiction, erotica, and non-fiction books. He recently formed a fully staffed publishing company; Wayne Edward Clarke Publishing, which will soon be publishing other new and talented authors. 5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book, May 28, 2012 By Paulsub63 - See all my reviewsThis review is from: Blessings Of A Curse - Metric Pro. Edition (The Nexus Of Kellaran Series) (Kindle Edition) This book was incredible. A I read it, I was immersed in another world. The main character's evolution from a total neophyte to an accomplished master kept me riveted, and I was hooked. I have also read the second book in the series and I am anxiously awaiting the final book.This book, series and author will expand your horizons. Please give the book a try and you too will come to know what makes his writing so addictive. 5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best i've had the pleasure of reading, April 16, 2012 By HjÃrtur Þorgeirsson - See all my reviewsThis review is from: Blessings Of A Curse - USA Pro EditionThis is my first review I've done on Amazon and it's mainly because I haven't felt compelled to until now. Grave unjustice would be done to this incredible author if someone doesn't comment on how f-ing awesome this book truly is. Let me put it this way, only two books have I read that I enjoyed more than this book! Truly a modern masterpiece.5.

    Routinely citizens are quarantined and then reintegrated into society in rituals marked by a haunting brutality. The infected and the healthy alike are quarantined. In a culture that has retreated from urbanism into a more pastoral society, the woman who nurtures spiders and the man who spins hemp exist alongside the mass acceptance of sexual promiscuity. Conn delivers a compelling portrait of a calamitous era, one tormented by pestilence, disease, violence, and post–late capitalism. An unflinching look at a world impossible to situate in time, The Fixed Stars is mythic and darkly magical.

    Within the walls of the ancient, ruined fortress, refugees and criminals from every nation disappear into the swirling crowds of gangs and monsters. Here leech-covered bloatmages haggle with religious zealots who sew their own lips shut, while naga crime lords squeeze self-mutilating troll prophets for protection money. And these are just the city’s anarchic residents, not the fearsome beasts barely contained in the mysterious dungeons beneath the streets, held at bay by the elite rangers known as the Duskwardens. Welcome to the City of Strangers, a haven of freedom and independence—assuming you survive.Inside this book, you’ll find:- Detailed gazetteers for all 11 of the city’s districts, from the fabled Balconies of Bis to the necromantic paradise of Ankar-Te.- A history of the city and the bizarre, ruined monument that houses it.- Thorough briefings on the most important gangs and factions within the city, such as the golem-crafting Ardoc family and the abolitionist Freemen, as well as how they interact with each other.- The bloatmage prestige class, in which spellcasters use their own blood to empower their spells—but at a terrible price.- Statistics for the caulborn, a mysterious new race of telepathic, memory-eating monsters.- A layer-by-layer guide to the dungeons beneath the city, and the echoes of lost races and magic that still guard them.- New magic items, random encounter tables, and more.Cover art by Alberto Dal Lago

    Zeppelins fill the air, steam power vehicles battle horses for space on the roads and bodies lay strewn through the wreckage of the Sisters of the Merciful Truth Convent, innocent victims of a local turf war. Three sisters, raised in the convent, emerge from the horror to find their lives of family and devotion over, and their separate lives of crime about to begin. In lawless times, where faith and love battle doubt and hate, Justice now sees the world from behind the barrel of a gun. She falls in with a handsome and mysterious miscreant as she attempts to carve a place in the ruined world and search for her lost sisters. But when her life of crime catches up to her, Justice will learn the meaning of true love, and family ties.

    One Tuesday evening in July, he went to sleep expecting tomorrow to be Wednesday, but when he woke up the next morning it was Thursday instead. A frightening and confusing day ensued with Dylan trying to figure out whether he was losing his mind or the victim of some cosmic prank. If struggling to come to terms with his new reality on his surreal Thursday wasn't enough of an ordeal, late in the afternoon, just as his anxiety was finally beginning to subside, a voice from the past he'd hoped never to hear again added a terrifying new dimension to his situation. Dylan had once been a warrior in the battle against nuclear terrorism. A sleeper since the months following nine-eleven, he has suddenly been activated to help combat a new, deadly threat. His nerves in a shambles, he finally drops off to sleep hoping he'll wake up to find Thursday was a dream.When, after his harrowing Thursday, he awakens on the Wednesday morning he thought he'd missed, he doesn't know what to believe. He cannot believe Thursday's events were coincidental. He must be living his days out of order for a reason -- some powerful, unknown entity has cast him in a role he never asked for, and everything he holds dear may be at stake. He "knows" he will continue to live Thursdays before Wednesdays until he figures out how to use the unique perspective that gives him to avert a disaster that may be global in scope.

    Twenty years before Clytus Rillion took his mercenary troop into the Nektine Mountains to find a cure for his dying son, his career as a Tat'Sujen had just begun. This is a tale of how he met his best friend and Leftenant, Ragnor De'haln.

    Two decades later, the success of human settlement of Mars and the life of a young girl hinge on the secret of what happened to the Ares III mission...In 2051, Mars is a growing outpost of humanity, and 14-year-old settler Amber Jacobsen is a minor interplanetary celebrity – 'the First Kid on Mars'. Pioneering Mars is hard, unglamorous work, though, and Amber secretly wishes she were just an ordinary girl living on Earth.When her family’s homestead is destroyed in an apparent accident, the Jacobsens relocate to an independent settlement located on the northern fringes of Noctis Labyrinthus, a vast and largely unexplored canyonland. Their new home promises new opportunities, and Amber looks forward to being just another member of the community. Instead, the other settlers dismiss her as a burdensome child and refuse to accept her as the responsible young adult she has become.In order to prove the value of her unique knowledge and perspective, Amber vows to uncover the fate of the Ares III mission, whose loss had largely been forgotten in the rush of the Martian settlement boom. But this seemingly harmless challenge thrusts her into a deadly conflict: those who know the truth will kill to keep it hidden, while those who destroyed her family’s homestead would use the secret to secure their dominance over all of Mars.In solving the mystery, Amber could destroy everything the Martian settlers have worked to create.

    Beset by greenskins, and hampered on all sides by the ambitions of rival magnates, he is soon fighting to keep the fractious province together. But the rot runs deep. Powerful forces in Altdorf seem determined to see him fail, and suspicion falls on even his most trusted allies. When all is at its bleakest, the mark of Chaos and the full horror of his task is finally revealed. Alone, doubted by those closest to him, this will be Schwarzhelm's greatest ever challenge, one on which the destiny of the Empire itself depends.

    While he wrote in the same language of aliens and spaceships as many of his contemporaries, he used his works as a mirror in which he showed us a reflection of society with all its flaws and foibles. Best known for his novels such a The 10th Victim, Immortality, Inc., and The Status Civilization, he also was a fine writer of short stories. Resurrected Press has collected some of the best of these from the 50’s including "Warrior Race", "The Leech", "Watchbird", "Warm", "Diplomatic Immunity", "The Hour of Battle", "Besides Still Waters", "Keep Your Shape", "One Man’s Poison", 'Ask a Foolish Question", "Cost of Living", "Death Wish Forever".

    This Halcyon Classics ebook collection contains seven classic science fiction tales by science fiction author and publisher Lester Del Rey, including POLICE YOUR PLANET and THE SKY IS FALLING.This ebook is DRM free and includes an active table of contents for easy navigation.Contents:Badge of InfamyDead RingerPolice Your PlanetThe Sky is FallingVictoryLet 'Em Breathe SpacePursuitThis unexpurgated edition contains the complete text, with minor errors and omissions corrected.

    Linebarger was a noted East Asia scholar and expert in psychological warfare.Linebarger also employed the literary pseudonyms "Carmichael Smith" (for his political thriller Atomsk), "Anthony Bearden" (for his poetry) and "Felix C. Forrest" (for the novels Ria and Carola)."Scanners Live in Vain" was Linebarger's first published SF story as an adult (his short story "War No. 81-Q," which he wrote at age 15 was published in his high school magazine), and the first appearance of the Cordwainer Smith pen name. It was written in 1945, and had been rejected by a number of magazines before its acceptance and publication in Fantasy Book in 1950. It was in that obscure magazine that it was noticed by SF writer Frederik Pohl who, impressed with the story's powerful imagery and style, subsequently re-published it in 1952 in the more widely read anthology Beyond the End of Time.

    StraussAsimov's Science Fiction, March 2010, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Whole No. 410)Sheila Williams, editorCover art by Donato Giancola

    This volume includes the Transformers Movie Prequel, Movie Adaptation, and the sequel, The Reign of Starscream.

    There, Aaron discovers a strange, alien species and amazing machines and technology left in a vast underground complex by a mysterious race called the Creators.Aaron soon falls under the irresistible, seductive spell of Nightsong, a green alien female with ominous and bewitching powers. However, an even greater danger rises. He will be forced to fight for the planet’s survival against a ruthless invasion of many ships to conquer and enslave the planet – just as Africa itself was once enslaved. Aaron knows it’s A Senseless Act of Beauty to try to reclaim his ancient warrior heritage and fight back against such overwhelming odds, but he knows he must try.

    This twisted group of stories both inflames and amuses. At ten bucks a pop, it is hard not to recommend its purchase." - Tangent Online review (http://tangentonline.com/index.php/pr...)

    Humankind carries the past as invisible baggage. Thirteen brilliant writers explore this, looking at Australia's cultural baggage through new and often disturbing eyes. Go On … Baggage explores layers and complexities that are oddly Australian. If you think Australian culture is all about neighbours and mateship, you may find Baggage distressing. What is Australia? What baggage do Australians carry? Pick up this book. Have a read. You know you want to.

    

    This comprehensive collection—the first to be translated into English—introduces a distinct and dynamic voice to the Anglophone world. In many ways, Châteaureynaud is France’s own Kurt Vonnegut, and his stories are as familiar as they are fantastic.A Life on Paper presents characters who struggle to communicate across the boundaries of the living and the dead, the past and the present, the real and the more-than-real. A young husband struggles with self-doubt and an ungainly set of angel wings in “Icarus Saved from the Skies,” even as his wife encourages him to embrace his transformation. In the title story, a father’s obsession with his daughter leads him to keep her life captured in 93,284 unchanging photographs. While Châteaureynaud’s stories examine the diffidence and cruelty we are sometimes capable of, they also highlight the humanity in the strangest of us and our deep appreciation for the mysterious.Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud is the author of eight novels and almost one hundred short stories, and he is a recipient of the prestigious Prix Renaudot and the Bourse Goncourt de la nouvelle. His work has been translated into twelve languages.Edward Gauvin has published Châteaureynaud’s work in AGNI Online, Conjunctions, Words Without Borders, The Café Irreal, and The Brooklyn Rail. The recipient of a residency from the Banff International Literary Translation Centre, he translates graphic novels for Tokyopop, First Second Books, and Archaia Studios Press.

    T. Mitenko"Amelia Pillar's Etiquette for the Space Traveler" by Kristine Kathryn RuschPoetry"The Gears of New August" by Todd Hanks and Bruce Boston"Neosaur" by Robert BorskiDepartments"Editorial: Out of This World" by Sheila Williams"Reflections: The Search for Other Earths" by Robert Silverberg"On Books" by Paul Di Filippo"SF Conventional Calendar" by Erwin S. StraussAsimov's Science Fiction, July 2010, Vol. 34, No. 7 (Whole No. 414)Sheila Williams, editorCover art by Tomislav Tikulin