This volume assembles 2 novels and 4 shorter works -- almost 500 pages of classic fiction -- by 3-time Hugo Award-winner Clifford D. Simak. Included are:TIME QUARRY [novel]EMPIRE [novel]THE STREET THAT WASN'T THERE [short story]THE WORLD THAT COULDN'T BE [novelet]HELLHOUNDS OF THE COSMOS [short story]PROJECT MASTODON [short story]If you enjoy this book, search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see the more than 100 other entries in the series, covering science fiction, modern authors, mysteries, westerns, classics, adventure stories, and much, much more! (Sort by publication date to see the most recent entries.)

    When journalist Lex Falk gets himself chipped into the brain of a combat soldier, he thinks he has the ultimate scoop - a report from the forbidden front line of a distant planetary war, live to the living rooms of Earth. When the soldier is killed, however, Lex has to take over the body and somehow get himself back to safety once more... broadcasting all the way.Heart-stopping combat science fiction from the million-selling Warhammer 40,000 author.File Under: Science Fiction [ Future Warefare | Chipped-In | Anything For a Story | Get Out Alive! ]

    Millions dead in a matter of days, billions in a matter of weeks. Yet somehow through the destruction and rubble Lenny Brewster has staked his claim on survival. A former Special Forces soldier, a current womanizing alcoholic and a hardcore survivalist, Lenny is a conflicted man. He doesn't care much for this world, but he'll be damned if he leaves it quietly.Follow Lenny and company as they fight against insurmountable odds, knowing that tomorrow is never guaranteed. This tale of survival will push the limits and display the harsh realities of apocalyptic scenarios. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.What are your worst fears? Would you be ready if one day they became true?The Doomsday Playbook is a series of stories set in a fictional world, employing real world tactics. Prepping isn't a fad, it's a way of life and for Lenny Brewster, it's the only reason he's still breathing.

    . .The doomed crew of a starship follow their blind, mad captain on a quest into deepest space to joust with destiny, eternity, and God Himself . . .Now and Forever is a bold new work from an incomparable artist whose stories have reshaped America's literary landscape; two bewitching novellas that have never before appeared in print—each distinctly different, yet uniquely Bradbury—demonstrating the breathtaking range of the master's talent and the irrepressible vitality of his mind, spirit, and heart.In Somewhere a Band Is Playing, a writer is drawn by poetry and dreams to tiny Summerton, Arizona, a community hidden in plain view, where no small children play, and where the residents never seem to age. Enchanted by its powerful rural magic—and by a beautiful, enigmatic lady who bears the name of an Egyptian queen—the writer sets out to uncover Summerton's mysteries before the inevitable arrival of a ruthless destruction.With Leviathan '99, the author who once colonized Mars returns to the cosmos to brilliantly reimagine Herman Melville's classic masterwork of obsession and the sea, transforming a great whale into a worlds-devouring comet. In the year 2099, fledgling astronaut Ishmael Hunnicut Jones boards the Cetus 7, placing his fate in the hands of a relentless madman who is blindly chasing the celestial monster's tail. And in the merciless void, a crew of earthborn and alien star-travelers will face a divine judgment, and an "enemy" wielding the most fearsome weapon of all . . . Time.More than a half century into his remarkable career, Ray Bradbury continues to delight and astound with grand visions, lyrical prose, and provocative thought. Rich in poetry, wonder, imagination, and truth, here is proof positive that the words and stories of the inimitable Bradbury will live on . . . Now and Forever.

     The war that even wizards dread begins with A Shadow of All Night Falling. Across the mountains called Dragon's Teeth, beyond the chill reach of the werewind and the fires of the world's beginning, above the walls of the castle Fangdred, stands Wind Tower, from which the Star Rider calls forth the war that even wizards dread. A war fought for a love. The love of a woman called Nepanthe, princess to the storm kings. . . . When the leaves turn blood and the wind turns bone, it is time. A time for doing things dark and strange; the time of October's Baby. The princess bears a child to the winged thing and the cries are heard far beyond the peaks of Dragon's Teeth. Nepanthe and Mocker wait, but for what, they do not know. At Empire's end, Mocker finds old friends in the halls of death. Nepanthe finds new lovers in the fields of blood and bone, while the war-child wields the sword of truth. The Star Rider's dread secret is at last revealed, where All Darkness Met. And so it ends. Though end is but a wizard-word for new beginnings. . . .

    Each annotation includes audio from the new unabridged recording of Heir to the Empire to enhance their comments. The biggest event in the history of Star Wars books, Heir to the Empire follows the adventures of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia after they led the Rebel Alliance to victory in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.Five years after the Death Star was destroyed and Darth Vader and the Emperor were defeated, the galaxy is struggling to heal the wounds of war, Princess Leia and Han Solo are married and expecting twins, and Luke Skywalker has become the first in a long-awaited line of new Jedi Knights.But thousands of light-years away, the last of the Emperor’s warlords—the brilliant and deadly Grand Admiral Thrawn—has taken command of the shattered Imperial fleet, readied it for war, and pointed it at the fragile heart of the New Republic. For this dark warrior has made two vital discoveries that could destroy everything the courageous men and women of the Rebel Alliance fought so hard to create.The explosive confrontation that results is a towering epic of action, invention, mystery, and spectacle on a galactic scale—in short, a story worthy of the name Star Wars.

    It is a peaceful reign, held by compact and not by conquest. Again and again, when rebellion threatens the Terran Peace, the natives of the rebellious world have turned against their own people and sided with the men of Terra; not from fear, but from a sense of dedication. There has never been open war. The battle for these worlds is fought in the minds of a few men who stand between worlds; bound to one world by interest, loyalties and allegiance; bound to the other by love. Such a world is Wolf. Such a man was Race Cargill of the Terran Secret Service… At one time Race Cargill had been the best Terran Intelligence agent on the complex and mysterious planet of Wolf. He had repeatedly imperiled his life amongst the half-human and non-human creatures of the sullen world. And he had repeatedly accomplished the fantastic missions until his name was emblazoned with glory. But that had all seemingly ended. For six long years he'd sat behind a boring desk inside the fenced-in Terran Headquarters, cut off there ever since he and a rival had scarred and ripped each other in blood-feud. But when The Door Through Space swung suddenly open, the feud was on again—and with it a plot designed to check and destroy the Terran Empire.

    But the Gbaba can detect the emissions of an industrial civilization, so the human rulers of Safehold have taken extraordinary measures: with mind control and hidden high technology, they've built a religion in which every Safeholdian believes, a religion designed to keep Safehold society medieval forever.800 years pass. In a hidden chamber on Safehold, an android from the far human past awakens. This "rebirth" was set in motion centuries before, by a faction that opposed shackling humanity with a concocted religion. Via automated recordings, "Nimue" - or, rather, the android with the memories of Lieutenant Commander Nimue Alban - is told her fate: she will emerge into Safeholdian society, suitably disguised, and begin the process of provoking the technological progress which the Church of God Awaiting has worked for centuries to prevent.Nothing about this will be easy. To better deal with a medieval society, "Nimue" takes a new gender and a new name, "Merlin." His formidable powers and access to caches of hidden high technology will need to be carefully concealed. And he'll need to find a base of operations, a Safeholdian country that's just a little more freewheeling, a little less orthodox, a little more open to the new.And thus Merlin comes to Charis, a mid-sized kingdom with a talent for naval warfare. He plans to make the acquaintance of King Haarahld and Crown Prince Cayleb, and maybe, just maybe, kick off a new era of invention. Which is bound to draw the attention of the Church...and, inevitably, lead to war.

    He’s an unemployed dropout who makes his money fighting in bars and taking a cut of the winnings from the touts. Having never lost a fight, Seb is addicted to the adrenaline of the duel. So when he makes a promise to leave brawling behind, his world’s turned on its head. Especially when he finds himself with no money on a hostile planet where the fighting pits offer more than Seb has ever won before. Trapped and with no way out, Seb must decide whether to fight or not. Every decision he makes with his fists seems to throw his life into deeper chaos, but he’s already hit rock bottom. With the smell of blood and sweat from the fighting pits in his nostrils, Seb watches the current champion. The hairs on the back of his neck raise. He can win. He can claim the purse. But, if he steps into the ring, it won’t end with the last punch. If Seb fights again, he knows his life will spiral out of control ... The Black Hole is a fast-paced, planet-hopping, space opera adventure.

    Five fantasy novels set in the magical world of Lyra

    At the urging of Whorl’s religious leader, Patera Silk, the people left the ship for an uncertain future on Blue – a world already inhabited by the inhumi, blood-drinking aliens who take human form.Now The Book of the Short Sun carries the story forward to the years after the great exodus, to let Horn, narrator of the earlier work, tell his own story.Horn and his family have made a decent life for themselves on Blue, though crime, pollution and poverty have become so rampant in the city of New Viron that he is called upon to find Patera Silk. Horn must go to the still-orbiting Whorl and convince his old friend and mentor to return to Blue, for the legendary hero is the only one who can restore order and lead them to prosperity. But Horn isn’t even sure Silk still lives.Setting sail in a small boat, the aging Horn embarks on a long and difficult journey across the planet, trying to get to the Whorl. With the undine Seawrack, his adopted inhumi son, Krait, and his eldest son, Sinew, Horn makes it to the last working lander – only to be highjacked to the jungles of Green, where the inhumi imprison the passengers as slaves. There, he encounters the mysterious alien Neighbors who were once native to Blue, but whom the inhumi have all but exterminated. Horn joins their fight for freedom, is fatally wounded… and finds himself on another world, wearing a different body.As his inability to find Silk weighs heavily on his mind, Horn is further tormented by the fact that his new body bears a striking resemblance to the lost Caldé. In the end, he will have to answer a troubling question: has he truly failed in his sworn task, or has he become the very man he sought?Includes:On Blue's WatersIn Green's JunglesReturn To The Whorl

    She's Fisher. They're cops, patrolling the mean streets of the ancient city misnamed Haven, a sinister place where demons, thieves, sorcerers, and murderers own the night and anything can be bought-except justice.

    Dedicated to the arts and sciences, the Institute seems an unlikely target for an invasion, but it proves easy pickings when the Crusade comes from beyond, determined to impose its harsh, unbending Truth on all the worlds of the Federation. Armed with weaponized gravity, the alien Crusaders will stop at nothing to rescue the universe from its myriad beliefs . . . even if it means warping the mind and soul of every sentient being they encounter. Responding to an urgent distress signal, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise soon find themselves in conflict with the Crusade, and facing individual challenges. When Kirk and Spock are transported to the Crusade’s distant homeland to confront the source of the invasion, Sulu finds himself trapped behind enemy lines, while Lieutenant Uhura is faced with possibly the most difficult decisions of her career.As the Crusade sets its sights beyond Ephrata IV, it is up to the Enterprise and its besieged crew to keep freedom of thought from being crushed beneath the weight of worlds!

    His higher ups want her eliminated. He simply wants her. The alpha side of him demands he claim her—that is, if she’ll have him. After all, he’s what she fears most—a wolf shifter. But there is more to Peren than even she’s aware of and the enemy is closer than anyone imagined. Critical Intelligence Roi Majors, wolf-shifter and second in command of the I-Ops, is having a hard time believing that Intel can only get half the information needed to bring down an underground ring of vampires with big-spending backers who are hell-bent on creating a race of supernaturals with multiple strands of DNA in them. When he finds himself paired with the one woman in the world who seems immune to his self-proclaimed charms, he can’t wait to see her to safety and then bid her good riddance. He never counted on falling in love with her. And he sure in the hell never counted on her claiming to be an agent with a branch of the government no human should know about. Radar Deception Dr. Thaddeus Green survived a werepanther attack long ago, leaving him immortal and a member of the I-Ops team. He’s dedicated his life to genetics and to serving his country. After his mutated DNA led to the death of his loved one, he vowed to never let anyone close to his heart again. Try as he might, Green is unable to stop the mystical pull to the tall, leggy blonde with a sharp tongue and an even worse bite. Thinking Melanie is suffering from mating withdrawal, Green is prepared to do what he must to assure her survival, even if it means claiming her for himself, regardless of his need to protect his heart. Little does Green know that fate has been preparing him for Melanie Daly all his unnaturally long life. Strategic Vulnerability Held prisoner in a remote testing facility in the middle of the Brazilian rain forest, subjected to torture and abuse, shape-shifter and alpha male Wilson Rousseau has long since given up hope of being rescued. Days blend together until he can’t help but long for death. Saved from his isolated hell by a female’s distress call, he feels an instant connection to her. Kimberly thought she was taking a trip to South America to study indigenous plant life. She had no idea she was playing into the hands of a madman whose goal is to create a genetically altered army of super-soldiers. When she finds herself locked in a cell with Wilson, a man who would give his life to save hers, there is an instant attraction. But the dark secrets surrounding their imprisonment may change their lives forever. Can they find a way to beat the odds and be together, or will the madman win?

    Winston K. Marks (1915-1979) is one such unjustly forgotten author.Included here are 12 science fiction stories, published between 1953 and 1959, representing some of his best work:THE WATER EATER (1953)UNBEGOTTEN CHILD (1953)…SO THEY BAKED A CAKE (1954)BACKLASH (1954)TABBY (1954)BREEDER REACTION (1954)FORSYTE'S RETREAT (1954)MATE IN TWO MOVES (1954)THE TEST COLONY (1954)BROWN JOHN’S BODY (1955)THE MIND DIGGER (1958)THE DEADLY DAUGHTERS (1958)If you enjoy this book, search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see the more than 100 other entries in the series, covering science fiction, modern authors, mysteries, westerns, classics, adventure stories, and much, much more!