In the end they burned the people. Karen was only nine when it started. Five years later she is watching the smoke rise from her parent's cremation with her younger brother and sister. She needs to find them somewhere safe. It won't be easy. Food is scarce. Militias round up the survivors to take them to death camps. Helicopters and drones patrol the sky on search and destroy missions. Rebels roam the countryside pillaging from the innocent for the supposed greater good, and vile opportunists prey on the weakest of the survivors. She has to get them off the mainland to a place the Loop hasn't touched. She knows where to go. It's a five hundred mile journey. It seems impossible. She doesn't know if they can make it. She calls it Shetland.

    Organic life forms are all but obliterated, and the human race is reduced to a tiny fraction of its population. This event is known as the Ruin. But five centuries later, humanity still survives. Cloudwalkers tells the story of Conn Brataich, a young man who lives a privileged life above the cloudbank, relying on his noble heritage—and the abilities it provides—to guide him through his beautiful but treacherous realm in the New York skylands, and Misty Casper, a Grounder who lives an arduous and somber life hundreds of feet below in the former subway tunnels of crumbling midtown Manhattan. Their two cultures live in uneasy, segregated codependence, rarely interacting until late one fall evening when, mysteriously, an experienced Cloudwalker of noble blood falls five hundred feet to his death. Conn is sent to recover the body in secret, but he doesn’t expect to encounter Misty on the dangerous streets of the dying city. Their chance encounter triggers a domino effect that throws them both headlong into a struggle for their very survival. Conn and Misty soon discover that only by working together can they succeed, but first they’ll have to put aside their preconceived notions about one another. Dark forces, long thought to have been expunged, have returned and are threatening to destroy both their ways of life. Through love, loss, and the looming threat of war, Misty and Conn will be forced to face their greatest fears for the sake of their very world and each other.

    The richest and luckiest players of the video game "Thousand Tales" get their minds uploaded to its virtual paradise world, while Stan can barely buy a handheld console. Instead of sulking he plays, and grows, becoming a skilled craftsman and seafaring explorer. The game's ruling AI, Ludo, helps him find the hope and inspiration missing from his real life. When the AI starts asking for favors and having him reach out between the real and digital worlds, Stan has a chance to turn his life into an actual adventure. But first he needs to earn the most valuable prize of all: his freedom. "Crafter's Passion" is part of the emerging "LitRPG" or "GameLit" genre, combining science fiction with the world of gaming. ----- On Island East-2 stood Stan, in the dungeon, with the rickety raft. He dragged it out to the beach, scavenged more wood and some interesting shells, and paddled his way back west. The raft disintegrated just as he got within sight of East-1. He held onto a chunk of wood to help him float but couldn't carry the rest in his pack. All he could do was start swimming! A scary fish swerved into his path but he managed to detour until it lost interest. Finally he sprawled onto the beach with a bunch of stat penalties for being wet and tired. Belatedly he realized, "I probably ruined everything in my backpack." A note said, [Nearly everything you're carrying is safe, like coins and a sealed bottle, but that can be a problem with other items. There are several ways to get waterproofing.] That sounded reasonable. He'd assumed that jumping into the water with a load of items was harmless, but that was his own fault. "Fine." He headed west to Central Island across the bridge. So far he just had that crude backpack full of loot, and he couldn't carry much more without a better pack. He looked over the junky resources he'd scavenged, then the items he'd looted off his party members' bodies. None of the equipment was listed as magical, and the item descriptions were starting to give him more serious labels like [Crude Wooden Bow] for Alaya's weapon. Even he could probably make something better with a little practice. He could make something better! That could be fun. Besides, he'd swiped this gear from people he'd agreed to help, so maybe he could replace or upgrade the stuff by way of apology. Stan headed over to the Crown & Tail's workbench to give it a try. Along the way he jumped around for the fun of bounding up the sunny shore. He tapped the bench of tools and tried to fix up some items, but it buzzed at him. [Equipment repairs require access to improved crafting stations.] The bartender directed him to the "maker workshop" a ways inland from the beach. It looked like an old fort, a squat wooden cabin surrounded by a spiky wall of logs. Why not a giant golden palace? Probably it had been built by the players using the game's own physics. That was pretty neat. He walked right in through the open gate. Inside was a craftsman's playground. Saws, drills and other tools covered some of the tables. A whole corner was devoted to colorful glassware and bubbling fluids. A green-robed figure was busy at that alchemy station, pouring beakers one into another and making puffs of steam. The only other person here was a smith in a leather apron and goggles, making a pleasant rhythmic ringing of metal. Behind him loomed a forge where slabs of metal were glowing cherry-red. Stan looked around and asked, "Is this stuff open to the community?" The alchemist turned around.

    The people around him have cast aside fighting and warfare. They haven't needed them--until now.Reznik is charged with tracking down a band of ruthless killers and finding a kidnapped doctor. He finds himself honor-bound to do what is right for the people who brought him back from the dead. A peaceful people are depending on him to do what is right. Can he live up to their expectations, even when he finds out that his new body has an expiration date?Extensis Vitae is a gritty, post-apocalyptic science fiction adventure.

    Brownstone books 13-18 (including Vax Humana, One Epic Ring, Spontaneous Justice, Shadow of the Ring, The Horsemen Gather, War of the Four Worlds)Vax Humana: James was raised by some good men. What would have happened if twisted cultists like the Brotherhood had found him instead of Fathers McCartney and Thomas? It's time to find out more about the Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone.James isn't from Earth or Oriceran. Where he is from has been a question for years.Will we find out now, or will those who seek to kill what James can become win in the end? One Epic Ring: “But you haven’t taken brain damage. I don’t want to have to take the time to get to know you again. The first time was exhausting enough...” Brownstone accepts a simple job and pisses off the most dangerous criminal in LA.Shay is approached by a powerful billionaire, one who knows her past.Now, Brownstone is ready to provide a beat down, but Shay is asking him for help. Does he stay in LA or fly (something he doesn't like to do) to Cambodia? Spontaneous Justice There is nothing to fear but the Vax Forerunner himself. Or is that something only aliens fear? Brownstone is at to a fever pitch to understand Shay and create something epic, so he makes a decision to ask someone hundreds of years old.The fight of his life and for his life is about to occur. Will he have a future when all is said and done? Shadow of the Ring James achieved something epic with his proposal. Now it is Shay’s turn. In planning the wedding, the tomb raider soon finds she sympathizes with what James had to go through. How does someone top something so special?The world’s mightiest class-six bounty hunter believes he’s conquered his amulet. The symbiont’s dark whispers no longer push him out of control, but a new enemy has decided LA should be his stomping grounds and threatens to break through James’ hard-earned discipline. The Horsemen Gather Barbecue is life.  Everything else is just details.With his life settling into a comfortable routine and the criminals of Los Angeles finally accepting his power, James ponders a future of family and food rather than kicking bounties through walls.  Can a bounty hunter be happy as a pitmaster? James’ idle thoughts of retirement are put on hold when a rogue group of government agents decides to go after the man they feel is the greatest threat to the country.  War of the Four Worlds The government and the underworld have finally learned their lesson about not taking on James Brownstone, but some enemies will never learn.  Some enemies can only be destroyed. James and Shay’s wedding is fast approaching, as is the bounty hunter’s semi-retirement. He’s ready to replace butt-kicking with barbecue, convinced he can have a life filled with something other than constant violence.

    Unlike the millions before her, she survives. Afraid she is a carrier of the disease, Alice abandons her family and disappears into what remains of the world. Bodies litter the streets. Cities lie in waste. The government ceases to exist. What the Withering doesn't destroy, the Clan kills, cleansing the world of those they hold responsible. Those like Alice.Then one night Alice meets Brandon. He brings word of a rural town untouched by the sickness. He promises a future. He reminds her of what it means to feel... of what it means to love.Yet the Clan is watching. They're always watching.

    Excuse me. Mage. The Council hates it when I use that term. I'm a Healer and Lightning Mage, which means I have the ability to cheat death and fry my enemies with a flick of my wrist.Feeling the oppression from the Council of Mage and Magical Affairs to use me for my Healer ability, I yearn for independence. Yet even when a detective stops by my video game store late one night and informs me that I'm a suspect of a recent murder, the Council continues to pursue me. With the help of my magical gamer friends and hot new boyfriend, I must go undercover to find the mage responsible before another body I'm connected to ends up dead. Not only do I battle external enemies throughout the city of Blackwood, but evidence mounts that necromancy and dark magic are at play.It will require all my magic training to stop the unknown foe from killing more innocent people and clear my name before the lure of dark magic grabs me, too.

    As a citizen of the United Federation of Nations that means a mandatory death sentence simply because he turned sixty years old. Referred to as "retirement," it's one of the desperate steps the government has taken to curb overpopulation. Retirement is a widely accepted fact of life on a dying planet ruled by a tyrannical government. Hank's execution goes ahead as planned but state sponsored euthanasia isn't what it seems. The Reed family learns what really happens to retirees when secrets the UFN keep from the public start to unravel.This book is intended to be read by adults and may be unsuitable for children under 17. Contains indecent language and descriptions of graphic violence.

    Watch them grow up during a halcyon past, an everyday present, and a dystopian future. And be prepared to be amazed.Inspired by the occupations of Palestine, Kurdistan and Tibet, and by the corporate occupation of the west, ‘Occupied’ is a haunting glance into a society which is a little too familiar for comfort. It truly is a unique piece of literary fiction…

    The seas have risen, the skies have darkened and the American Midwest has become a desert. A handful of corporations own and operate the country and food is used as a means of oppression. The year is 2074. America is now a third-world nation and China, with its prosperous and burgeoning middle class, is the leader of the Free World. Against this backdrop, a devastating raid by the wealthy ruling class on a stronghold of rebels fighting against the system inadvertently unites two enemies in a forbidden love that threatens to tear their worlds apart. Carlin Pheney, a decorated military pilot and member of the upper class, is captured by Aelena Hall, a veteran leader of the food wars. Together, they become fugitives on the run from a military industrial complex headed by Carlin’s father. Aided by strangers and betrayed by friends, they are swept up in an unstoppable global catastrophe. When Aelena is captured and thrown into the Federal Torture Chamber on Guantanamo Island, Carlin devises a desperate plan for her impossible escape from the water-bound prison. Mystery and suspense pursue the two lovers across the oceans and around the world to a wild and newborn land. Here, if they hope to survive, they must face a terrible battle to colonize a new America and give birth to a nation. In the tradition of literature with science fiction and political overtones that includes Nineteen Eighty-Four, Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451 comes one of the best new books of the year, the dystopian thriller 2076: A Revolutionary Tale—a book about a tomorrow ruled by the plutocrats of today.

    Restless, insatiably curious, Anna learns to read, and in this ancient city, famous for its libraries, she finds a book, the story of Aethon, who longs to be turned into a bird so that he can fly to a utopian paradise in the sky. This she reads to her ailing sister as the walls of the only place she has known are bombarded in the great siege of Constantinople. Outside the walls is Omeir, a village boy, miles from home, conscripted with his beloved oxen into the invading army. His path and Anna’s will cross.Five hundred years later, in a library in Idaho, octogenarian Zeno, who learned Greek as a prisoner of war, rehearses five children in a play adaptation of Aethon’s story, preserved against all odds through centuries. Tucked among the library shelves is a bomb, planted by a troubled, idealistic teenager, Seymour. This is another siege. And in a not-so-distant future, on the interstellar ship Argos, Konstance is alone in a vault, copying on scraps of sacking the story of Aethon, told to her by her father. She has never set foot on our planet.

    

    In the time since, the Kingdom of Vishni has known quiet, and the Swarm beyond the mountains has grown in strength and numbers. Now, with the Time of Prophecy at hand, dark forces move to fulfil ancient visions. Two men, born to poverty but bearing the blood of those ancient Mages, will rise to decide the fate of both Swarm and Kingdom as the fires of this ancient conflict rise anew.

    Whether it's a curse or a blessing, Karom can't be sure, but his absence from these disasters has left him with crushing guilt—and a belief that fate has singled him out for invincibility. Karom's affliction consumes everyone around him, from his best friend, Lloyd, to his girlfriend, Gita, who hopes that a trip to India will help him find peace. It is in Delhi that he meets Gita's grandmother, Kamini—a quirky but wise woman with secrets of her own. At first Karom dismisses Kamini, but little does he realize that she will ultimately lead him to the clarity he's been looking for. Spanning the globe from New York to India, Where Earth Meets Water is a stunning portrait of a quest for human understanding, and a wise exploration of grief, survival and love in all its forms.

    Behind the walls high civic order prevails. In the forgotten spaces between, where garbage gathers and disease festers, Shalini must search for Leila, the daughter she lost one tragic summer sixteen years ago. Skirting surveillance systems and thuggish Repeaters, Shalini—once wealthy, with perhaps a wayward past; now a misfit, pushed to the margins—is propelled only by her search. What follows is a story of longing, faith and most of all loss. With its unflinching gaze on class, privilege and the choices that today confront us and its startling, almost prophetic vision of the world—Leila announces Prayaag Akbar as a remarkable new voice in Indian fiction.