The leader of the Alliance’s military, the ancient and ambitious Admiral Kotma, has it out for her. On top of that, she’s started wondering what the point of all these years of loneliness has been. All that goes out the window in one split-second. As she cruises near the edge of alliance space a torpedo rocks her ship—the first in a while—and instead of fighting back, her entire crew shuts down. Explosions rip through the hull, and suddenly, instead of being in charge of a star ship crew, Liz is hanging on to life by her fingertips, and is apparently, the only one. A deep, commanding voice crackles through the busted communicator of her ship. Whoever’s at the other end insists he’s going to get her out of the wreck, and from what Liz can hear, he isn’t going to take no for an answer. Like she has any choice. Between being sucked dry by the vacuum of space and being taken by someone she doesn’t know? Liz’ll take her chances. Lakshin Sang is the heir to an empire he doesn’t want. The only life he’s ever known has been one among the stars. As the stalwart, cocky, and obnoxiously sexy captain of the Lakshin Empire’s flagship, he’s spent his life exploring the fringes of the universe. But now that he’s got Liz on board, he’s starting to wonder if there isn’t more to life than adventure…and he can’t stop staring at her, no matter how hard he tries. This star-faring novel of love, loss, adventure and romance asks—can love bloom in the most unlikely place, between the most unlikely pair? Will Liz and Sang survive two armies, and a terrible darkness pursuing them, or will they be TRAPPED IN THE STARS?

    Toby has been waiting for years to finally get his chance to see the game, but after server problems and issues with the download he only has a few minutes to do so before real life calls. And nothing seems to go right. His first glimpses of the world leave him confused, and it turns out he isn’t alone. Someone has broken into the server and changed things to suit themselves. Everyone has only one character, one life, and an impossible goal: make it to the end in a week. Everyone is mortal, and everyone is a killer. It’s open season on other players. The man who usurped the world chose Toby to be the champion of this cause, despite his lack of knowledge of game… or perhaps because of it. He is given a terrible weapon, the only one capable of setting things right. Yet he is just as mortal as everyone else. Or worse, as his character remains in the world even if he logs out. But with the future of their hard work on the line, the developers are not about to sit out of this fight. Their game, their reputation, and their very company are on the line. With Toby’s help they take up the challenge and fight to reclaim their world.

    Following the sinking of the Jacinto at the conclusion of Volume 2, the Gears have fled to the island of Vectes where they struggle to defend the last remnants of humankind from The Stranded and a new menace, The Lambent—a deadly, mutating lifeform .Collects issues #14-24 of Gears of War.

    

    Halo: The Essential Visual Guide delves even deeper into the phenomenon that is Halo. Covering material from Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo Wars, and the latest game, Halo: ODST, the book provides amazing images and insightful information making you feel as if you yourself are part of the game! (c)2011 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    

    The truth is magic'ae the universe can be crafted with a simple working of your will. Mages have taught this truth throughout the ages, but the proponents of technology have crushed the mystic masters. Join the last stand in the war for reality.Mage: The Ascension places you in the midst of supernatural intrigues and inner struggles. The more secrets you learn, the more important your wisdom and power become. Mage drags spirituality and metaphysics screaming through the streets of a postmodern nightmare.The heroes of Mage: The Ascension, revised in the tradition of Vampire: The Masquerade, have lost their war for reality -- but the struggle continues in this quintessential volume. All of the Traditions are updated and elaborated upon, along with the history of mages in the World of Darkness. Explore the revised rules for the Spheres, Resonance and Paradox. See the devastating changes that signal the end for the Ascension War.

    -- The book that was confiscated by the Secret Service because they thought it contained hacking secrets (It doesn't)-- Nominated for the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Supplement.

    This book, lavishly illustrated in full colour, contains extensive background information on the Imperium as it stood at the end of the Great Crusade. Also detailed are the histories of the four Legions who took part: the Sons of Horus, Emperor's Children, World Eaters and Death Guard and an extensive campaign system. This book also contains a complete Space Marine Legion Crusade Army list as well as games rules for the Primarchs of the four Legions, super-heavy vehicles and special characters featured in the story.

    This limited edition hardback version collects two new World of Warcraft novellas from the point of view of the Alliance (Elegy, by Christie Golden) and the Horde (A Good War, by Robert Brooks). These two tales explore the Horde and the Alliance versions of a fateful event, but only you can decide which faction tells it best. Each story includes original artwork exclusive to this edition.

    

    After they recover an NBN executive’s PAD at a protest in Broadcast Square, it seems Lana Rael and her friends, Johnny and Tim, might finally have their chance to discover the truth behind NBN’s saccharine and explosively popular franchise, Sunshine Junction.But when the aspiring activists stumble into the corporation’s all­ seeing eye, they find themselves in the limelight—and not in the way they hoped.As camdrones begin to follow them through the megacity and broadcast their every move on live threedee, Lana and her friends will have to ask themselves just how much they’re willing to sacrifice to fight the corps. Is making a difference worth risking their privacy, their lifestyle, or their lives?Fans of media giant NBN, its colorful programs, and its high-profile characters gain unparalleled access to the megacorp's HQ in Leigh Alexander's Monitor. As the media-focused megacorp responds to the threat posed by a trio of wannabe activists, we learn more about such popular characters as Jackson Howard, Victoria Jenkins, and Dinosaurus.Meanwhile, as the protagonists have their privacy stripped away, they lose control of their lives. Their actions become increasingly desperate and surprising. As they look for ways to retaliate, will their lives spiral into total anarchy? Will they regain control of the context that defines them? And who is responsible for their suffering? In Monitor, the truth is malleable, and learning how to shape it is paramount.In addition to its 96 pages of fiction, the hardcover edition of Monitor comes with a sixteen-page full color insert with setting information on activism in the Android future, NBN's Global Adaptive Entertainment, MegaBuy, and the future of marketing.

    What plans has the Red Hulk been hiding from everyone? And what does all of this have to do with the Cosmic Hulk robot? This tale by Jeff Parker and Carlos Rodrigues reveals all!Collects Fall Of The Hulks: Red Hulk #1-4 and material from Incredible Hulk #606-608.

    He has "a lover in every port and a gun in every tentacle"! Blasto the Hanar Spectre, the most beloved action hero in the galaxy, makes his comics debut with a nonstop thrill-ride of white-knuckle excitement! Blasto serves justice on an explosive platter in this top secret mission to the planet Virmire—accompanied by the beautiful and deadly asari Cerulean Star!

    The ship contains an experimental quantum device, lost while en route to a research colony on Europa. On Earth, powerful corporate forces are moving to resume unrestricted, inter-AI communications, their objective being to gain complete dominion over the colonized solar system. But the outer worlds are mobilizing to prevent them from achieving their objective, a fight back which is being led by Solomon, a sentient quantum intelligence (QI), also on Europa. However, once word of the crew’s discovery gets out, they soon realize that ownership of this technology could fundamentally change the balance of power within the solar system, and they now find themselves at the very nexus of a system-wide conflict. Their fight for survival plays out across the solar system, from the mining outposts of the asteroid belt to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and from the great Martian city of Jezero to the irradiated wastelands on Earth. This is an epic tale of humanity’s struggle for survival and meaning in a time when artificial intelligence has finally out-paced our own ability to control it. About The Belt: The story is set a century or so into the future where humanity has colonized most of the inner solar system. The asteroid belt (The Belt) is now a hive of mining activity and ships ply the trade routes to Earth and Mars. The technology depicted, for the most part, is what I consider to be technically plausible, although I do stretch it a little with quantum entanglement. That said, you won’t need a calculator or a slide-rule to enjoy the story.