Heather Masri, editor of Science Fiction: Stories and Contexts, has prepared an anthology that recognizes, and is designed to meet, the needs of students and instructors in an introductory survey course in science fiction.Grouped into major themes, her comprehensive selection of fiction — enjoyable and captivating stories, notable for their literary, philosophical, and cultural richness — are by classic and emerging writers from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. The stories are uniquely complemented by contextual documents that suggest the scholarly, theoretical, and historical currents that drove the development of the genre, and informative editorial matter that contributes to the book’s flexibility for instructors and usefulness for students.

    Magnius is one of them: an evolutionary offshoot of mankind known for their psychic abilities and tendency to murder in order to utilize their power. Despite using his telekinesis sparingly, his secret makes it back to his childhood tutor. She murdered his best friend's father in cold blood, giving him every reason to run away before his abilities manifested. Now with the hope he'll join her cause to strike down humanity, she sends an assassin to bring him home. Of course, that doesn’t mean he needs to bring him in one piece.As a consequence of his double life, Magnius faces divorce, bankruptcy, and death—but not necessarily in that order. In his flight to survive, he meets Amii Martin, a woman who recently lost her memory in a laboratory accident. She implores him for help rescuing the only man with ties to her past after relations with a benevolent alien race take a tragic turn. The last thing Magnius needs is to get mixed up in an ugly war, but in order to escape the clutches of his nefarious mentor and save Amii’s father, he’s willing to risk it or die trying.Astra: Synchronicity is a science-fiction thriller that will appeal to readers who enjoy the work of C. J. Cherryh and also those who fell in love with the romance of The Time Traveler's Wife.

    On the world is a cathedral, ancient and run down – but with an icon at its heart, a warrior-woman with a bloodied rose on her chest. Is this a symbol that Saint Mina, founder of the Order, once walked on this world? Augusta is determined to find out…

    Jerry Cornelius, a time traveler who is able to assume many identities, must prey on others to maintain his image stability.

    In the near future of Robert Charles Wilson's The Affinities, this process is supercharged by new analytic technologies: genetic, brain-mapping, behavioral. To join one of the twenty-two Affinities is to change one's life. It's like family, and more than family. Your fellow members aren't just like you, and they aren't just people who are likely to like you. They're also the people with whom you can best cooperate in all areas of life, creative, interpersonal, even financial.At loose ends both professional and personal, young Adam Fisk takes the suite of tests to see whether he qualifies for any of the Affinities and finds that he's a match for one of the largest, the one called Tau. It's utopian--at first. His problems resolve themselves as he becomes part of a global network of people dedicated to helping one another, to helping him, but as the differing Affinities put their new powers to the test, they begin to rapidly chip away at the power of governments, of global corporations, and of all the institutions of the old world; then, with dreadful inevitability, the different Affinities begin to go to war with one another.

    It is the journey of Johan Kipper, a reluctant soldier in illy's tercio as he collides with the fact of Grantville's existence. Johan decides he doesn't want to be a soldier anymore. So he becomes what he thinks is a swrvant to entrepreneur David Bartley and the Higgins family. They actually treat him like a person, in stark contrast to how he has been treated all his life by the royalty and nobility of his own time. Johan returns this genuine caring with love and loyalty as he watches David grow into manhood and he grows as a man.

    Despite trying to fight back, there is nothing the young Leefe can do to save his family and friends. But he doesn't have to. The Imperial Marines arrive in the nick of time, and they hate slavers. Three tri-years later, when the new emperor issues a proclamation to integrate the imperial military with non-human citizens, Leefe is among the first to volunteer. Integration to resurrect the empire as a force for good is challenged by centuries of prejudice against the "dung races." Leefe and the other Wyntonans only want to prove their worth and fight for the empire, but their greatest battles are closer to home. With threats to the empire from both within and without, this grand experiment has the potential to save it . . . or tear it apart.

    1 business writerChanakya was one of the best strategic thinkers of the world. In the fourth century BC, he wrote the Arthashastra, an unrivalled political treatise that has since been used by leaders across the globe. In Inside Chanakya’s Mind, for the first time, Radhakrishnan Pillai, the bestselling author of Corporate Chanakya, will distill Chanakya’s age-old wisdom on how to think to the masses through his practical and innovative approach.

     Thanksgiving, 2075. Shadowrunning vampire-mage Rick “Red” Lang used to make his living hunting dangerous insect spirits and twisted mages, but when he awakens after twelve years of involuntary hibernation, he finds the rest of the world has gotten even stranger. Red begins piecing together what had happened during his lost time—and who put him under in the first place. But as he journeys through the neon-drenched ruins of Chicago and its augmented facades, Red uncovers an even larger plot involving eldritch forces seeking to invade from beyond our reality. He teams up with the few allies he can trust—Pretty, a beautiful ghoul, and Slim, a hacker extraordinaire—as they head into the middle of multiple schemes and power plays surrounding a dangerous new conflict threatening to shatter the uneasy peace into all-consuming chaos.

    

    How does mankind react knowing of the imminent destruction of the Earth, before, during and after.

    Now, J.R. Dunn completes one of his final novels. LEE STRIKES BACK! After a terrible setback at Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee does not retreat across the Potomac and his ultimate surrender at Appomattox. Instead, he turns the tables on Union General George Meade with a vicious counterattack that sets the Union Army on its heels. While Lee sets across Pennsylvania in a dazzling war of maneuver, a crazed actor closes in on President Abraham Lincoln. Standing in his way is Major Steve Thorne, a thoughtful lawyer-turned-soldier fighting for the Union and his own self-respect, and Cassandra Baird, a young woman whose courage is only surpassed by her determination to teach emancipated slaves to read and write, and so ensure their freedom. Opposing them is Colonel Corey Wade, a brave Confederate officer who is just as determined to fight to the death for his honor and that of his state. And, in the end, the fate of a nation may come down to a freed slave named Hadrian, a man with an iron resolve never to return to bondage. The time has come to strike a blow for liberty—or go down swinging! At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). About Germanica: “Conroy captures the intricacies of WWII with an eye for historical nuance, and he crafts a believable alternate ending to the war. . . . [T]he story is buoyed by Conroy’s effective snapshot of the era.”—Publishers Weekly “[A] gripping alternate World War II saga . . .”—Library Journal About Rising Sun: “Conroy extrapolates a new and militarily plausible direction for WWII . . . A thrilling adventure.”—Booklist About Himmler’s War: “[Conroy] adds a personal touch to alternate history by describing events through the eyes of fictional characters serving on the front lines. VERDICT: Historical accuracy in the midst of creative speculation makes this piece of alternate history believable.”—Library Journal Robert Conroy was the author of a run of hugely popular alternate history novels, including Himmler’s War, Rising Sun, 1920: America's Great War, Liberty: 1784, 1864: Custer in Chains, and Germanica for Baen Books. His 1942, which is set within a Japanese conquest of Hawaii, won the prestigious Sidewise Award for alternate histories. Conroy lived for many years in southeastern Michigan. J.R. Dunn is the author of time travel novels This Side of Judgment, Days of Cain—widely hailed as one of the most powerful time travel novels to deal with the Holocaust—and Full Tide of Night. He was the long-time associate editor ofThe International Military Encyclopedia and is now an editor at The American Thinker. His nonfiction appears regularly on Baen.com

    In the service of the Empire, he has killed more people than anyone in the history of Humanity, to save a hundred times as many. He died centuries ago, but they re-activate his recorded personality whenever a new threat appears. When the crisis is over, they expect he will meekly return to oblivion. He has other ideas. The chronicle of Bland reveals secrets of the history of the star-spanning Third Imperium and spans 400 years from early Imperium (about year 300) through the mid-post Civil War period (about year 700) touching known and unknown events you may have encountered in your own reading of the Imperium: everyday events, political intrigue, deadly dangers, Arbellatra, Capital, Encyclopediopolis, the Karand's Palace, and a Tigress-class Dreadnought. If you know the Traveller science-fiction role-playing game, then some of this is already familiar; if not, no matter; this story introduces the vast human-dominated interstellar empire of the far future in ways only the designer and chronicler of this particular universe can.

    And when I applied for the job, I really, really needed a change, but maybe I should have paid a little more attention.Because I didn't expect to be whisked across the universe, into the arms of a huge teal and purple alien.Who thinks I'm his mate.Oops?Alien Explorer's Mate is a stand alone science fiction romance set in the Starlight Matchmaking world, filled with adventure, romance and one fluffy purple kitten.

     Let yourself be carried away to a grandiose SciFi world. With this COMPLETE collection you are holding all four Betania Breed SciFi romance novels in your hands – and mysterious background material is included. In over 800 pages, you will be up close and personal on an adventurous and dramatic voyage through the universe. The Captive Betania Breed Book One I am one of the few people who hasn’t given up the fight against the Sethari yet. I would rather die than surrender to the aliens who have enslaved us humans for more than one hundred years. Then the unthinkable happens: I am awarded to the leader of the aliens, so I can bear him healthy, viable children. I am prepared for anything, except this one thing – that this merciless warrior, with his strange eyes and scaly skin, would awaken feelings in me... The Prey Betania Breed Book Two Johar is the most merciless and successful bounty hunter there is. His reputation is legendary, for he has never let any prey slip through his fingers. His creator’s beautiful daughter hates Johar and lets him feel it every waking minute. But Johar knows something about her that nobody else knows. Not even she herself... The book takes place a few months after the events of book 1. The Human Betania Breed Book Three Talon Delkhari was the mightiest warlord of his people, until he dared to contradict his king. Instead of granting him an honorable death in the fight against their enemies, the king made him his chamberlain. His newest conquest is from Earth. He won her in a game, and Talon is supposed to deliver her safely to his bed. An easy assignment for someone like Talon. That’s what he thought, anyway, until this human woman awakens the predator lurking under his skin… The book takes place a few years after the events of book 2. The Dragon Betania Breed Book Four The fourth volume takes place shortly after the events in book 3. Coran Burke is an elite undercover agent from Earth. The tough and emotionless fighter has never failed. His new mission leads him to Dassuria where he is pursuing a dangerous dragon lord. At the center of his investigation is a woman who has a lot to hide - but despite her entanglement with the dragon lord, Coran can’t get her out of his head... Dark. Powerful. Sexy. This will be a ride you won't want to miss. * * * A SciFi Alien Alpha Romance Collection. Book 1-4 of the Betania Breed Series. * * * Warning: Intended for mature audiences only. Length: Total over 800+ pages