Rag and Bone


Priya Sharma - 2013
    Colorful, disturbing, and moving as Tom maneuvers warily between the masters he serves and the poor from whom he scavenges.At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

The Adjacent


Christopher Priest - 2013
    IRGB is a nation living in the aftermath of a bizarre and terrifying terrorist atrocity - hundreds of thousands were wiped out when a vast triangle of west London was instantly annihilated. The authorities think the terrorist attack and the death of Tarent's wife are somehow connected. A century earlier, a stage magician is sent to the Western Front on a secret mission to render British reconnaissance aircraft invisible to the enemy. On his journey to the trenches he meets the visionary who believes that this will be the war to end all wars. In 1943, a woman pilot from Poland tells a young RAF technician of her escape from the Nazis, and her desperate need to return home. In the present day, a theoretical physicist stands in his English garden and creates the first adjacency. THE ADJACENT is a novel where nothing is quite as it seems. Where fiction and history intersect, where every version of reality is suspect, where truth and falsehood lie closely adjacent to one another. It shows why Christopher Priest is one of our greatest writers.

The Emperor's Men 1: Arrival


Dirk van den Boom - 2010
    But near Portugal the old ship encounters a mysterious phenomenon, and the crew unexpectedly finds itself in the Mediterranean, 1500 years in the past, at a historical moment: It’s the year 378, the beginning of the end of the Western Roman Empire, the start of Völkerwanderung…the crew of the Saarbrücken decides that to survive they must make friends of the Romans. They had been the Kaiser’s men in the 20th century, and now, in the past, another emperor might need their services…

The Curious Case of the Werewolf That Wasn't


Gail Carriger - 2014
    What is his real mission and will his Aunt Archangelica approve of his treatment of her cat?In this short story, New York Times Bestselling Author Gail Carriger uses her comedic voice to delve into the history of one of her most beloved characters. If you have ever wondered about Alexia's father, this will give you a glimpse into his adventures and character.This story was first published in The Book of the Dead, a Jurassic London anthology.

Empire Games


Charles Stross - 2017
    It's seventeen years since the Revolution overthrew the last king of the New British Empire, and the newly-reconstituted North American Commonwealth is developing rapidly, on course to defeat the French and bring democracy to a troubled world. But Miriam Burgeson, commissioner in charge of the shadowy Ministry of Intertemporal Research and Intelligence—the paratime espionage agency tasked with catalyzing the Commonwealth's great leap forward--has a problem. For years, she's warned everyone: "The Americans are coming." Now their drones arrive in the middle of a succession crisis—the leader of the American Commonwealth is dying and the vultures are circling. In another timeline, the U.S. has recruited Rita, Miriam's estranged daughter, to spy across timelines and bring down any remaining world-walkers who might threaten national security. But her handlers are keeping information from her.Two nuclear superpowers are set on a collision course. Two increasingly desperate paratime espionage agencies are fumbling around in the dark, trying to find a solution to the first contact problem that doesn't result in a nuclear holocaust. And two women—a mother and her long-lost, adopted daughter—are about to find themselves on opposite sides of the confrontation.

The Angel of Khan el-Khalili


P. Djèlí Clark - 2017
    A girl visits a bazaar in Cairo, seeking a favor from a mysterious angelic being.This story first appeared in the anthology Clockwork Cairo: Steampunk Tales of Egypt.

Search for the Light


Rosemary Noble - 2014
    Sentenced to transportation she has to grow up fast to survive prison, the long journey and then life as an assigned servant in Van Diemen's Land of the 1820s. She is sustained by real friendships with other prisoners, Sarah and Helen. Can anyone of them overcome the pitfalls of convict life to become pioneering settlers of modern day Tasmania?

As the Last I May Know


S.L. Huang - 2019
    An alternate history short story looking at decisions and consequences, and what it takes to pull the trigger.Winner of the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Short Story.

The Litany of Earth


Ruthanna Emrys - 2014
    They took her history, her home, her family, her god. They tried to take the sea. Now, years later, when she is just beginning to rebuild a life, an agent of that government intrudes on her life again, with an offer she wishes she could refuse. "The Litany of Earth" is a dark fantasy story inspired by the Lovecraft mythos.

Time Was


Ian McDonald - 2018
    Brought together by a secret project designed to hide British targets from German radar, the two founded a love that could not be revealed. When the project went wrong, Tom and Ben vanished into nothingness, presumed dead. Their bodies were never found.Now the two are lost in time, hunting each other across decades, leaving clues in books of poetry and trying to make their disparate timelines overlap.

The Years of Rice and Salt


Kim Stanley Robinson - 2002
    History teaches us that a third of Europe's population was destroyed. But what if? What if the plague killed 99 percent of the population instead? How would the world have changed? This is a look at the history that could have been: a history that stretches across centuries, a history that sees dynasties and nations rise and crumble, a history that spans horrible famine and magnificent innovation. These are the years of rice and salt.

How Few Remain


Harry Turtledove - 1997
    It was an epoch of glory and success, of disaster and despair...1881: A generation after the South won the Civil War, America writhed once more in the bloody throes of battle. Furious over the annexation of key Mexican territory, the United States declared total war against the Confederate States of America once again. But this was a new kind of war, fought on a lawless frontier where the blue and gray battled not only each other but the Apache, the outlaw, the French, and the English. As Confederate General Stonewall Jackson again demonstrated his military expertise, the North struggled to find a leader who could prove his equal. In the Second War Between the States, the times, the stakes, and the battle lines had changed--and so would history...

The Shield: a novel


Nachman Kataczinsky - 2014
    M. Stirlings’s Island in the Sea of Time. Twenty-first century Israel finds itself transferred to 1941 days before Nazi Germany plans to attack the Soviet Union. Opportunities abound for changing history and the population – including terrorists, tourists, diplomats, and pacifists – has divergent goals. Everything is debated and every action has unpredictable consequences. The Shield follows an extended family as they adapt to their changed world. The businessman sees opportunities, his son in the army faces new enemies, and the cousin visiting from America is confused and angry. The Israeli government, a fractious coalition with diverse goals, struggles to protection the population in a world they only think they understand. Fun reading for fans of alternate history and time-travel fiction – highly recommended!

Murder on the Orient Elite


Larry Correia - 2014
    "Heavy" Jake Sullivan is summoned by his oddest ally, Dr. Wells, to stop the bombing of a new ultra-luxury airship. Amid the glitz, the gambling, and the high-society types, Sullivan races time to hunt for the saboteur. But surrounded by a blimp-full of Germans, Russians, Imperium Iron Guard, and other magical enemies - where can he even begin?Murder on the Orient Elite is available free through 01/01/15.

The Queen of All Crows


Rod Duncan - 2018
    The nations of the world are bound together in an alliance of collective security, overseen by the International Patent Office.When airships start disappearing in the middle of the Atlantic, the Patent Office is desperate to discover what has happened. Forbidden to operate beyond the territorial waters of member nations, they send spies to investigate in secret.One of those spies is Elizabeth Barnabus. She must overcome her dislike of the controlling Patent Office, disguise herself as a man, and take to the sea in search of the floating nation of pirates who threaten the world order.