If Corps Tech Sergeant Aly Erikson wants to survive another day, she will have to give up everything: her identity, her rank, her attachment to her brothers-in-arms, and most of all, her guilt. After doing her duty as a member of a ground infantry squad tasked with “neutralizing” an insurrection by non-citizens on a mining planet, Erikson realizes that everything she thought the Corps stood for, thought she stood for, is crumbling away. Where is the honor, the justice, the spirit of law? When the enemies are nothing more than outclassed and outgunned dregs of the Algol System’s forgotten people, being part of their execution squad has put her as far from the ideals of justice as Erikson can imagine. Haunted by their ghosts, she struggles to maintain her military bearing until even that is suddenly ripped away in an act of terrorism that sends her, her brother, Tech Sergeant David Erikson, and another Corpsmember, Rebecca Soltznin, on the run on a hostile planet. Forced for the first time in ten years to blend in with a civilian population, the three are faced with a single choice: regroup with their brothers-in-arms or become deserters. For Aly, it’s easy; why go back to being a cog in the death machine the Corps is becoming? But for the other two, the price for making the wrong decision may be higher than they’re willing to pay. On the run, under attack from the scavengers who plague the system, and out of options, the three face conflict from every direction. If they can’t find a way to fight together, their chances for survival are less than zero. And for one of them, the best solution may come down to one simple act: betrayal. In this prequel to the popular Spectras Arise Trilogy, readers get an intimate look into the events that led Aly and David Erikson on their path from decorated and dedicated soldiers to black-market arms smugglers, and ultimately, to rebels against the Political and Capital Administration of the Advanced Worlds.

    Campbell Award for Best New Writer, Locus Awards for Best Novella and Best Critic, and numerous other awards. Twenty-four of his 30 books are still in print, in 10 languages. His short work has appeared in magazines around the planet, from Omni and Analog to Xhurnal Izobretatel i Rationalizator (Moscow), and in numerous anthologies. His most recent books are the novels Callahan's Key, and The Free Lunch.Contents:God Is an Iron (1979)In the Olden Days (1984)Local Champ (1979)Melancholy Elephants (1982)Not Fade Away (1982)Orphans of Eden (1996)Rubber Soul (1982)Soul Search (1979)Stardance (1977) with Jeanne RobinsonThe Magnificent Conspiracy (1977)

    WESTLAKE A SCIENCE FICTION WRITER? Everyone knows him as the mystery writer who published books like The Hook (2000), Bad News 2001, and Put a Lid on It (2002) under his own name, Donald E. Westlake, and of course that he was also Richard Stark and a number of other favorite authors. But a science fiction writer? -- Really? -- You bet he was, early on in his career. (He even wrote one SF novel -- Anarchaos, in 1966, as "Curt Clark.") He also wrote quite a bit of short SF, like this weird little SF mystery that first graced the pages of Amazing in 1963.

     Starving and locked in a war with hostile aliens, the Terran Empire needs fresh real estate or humanity will face extinction. Jaeger Orleans is sent by the mysterious Farseer Cartel to steal a blueprint for a sustainable human colony on the ice world Solitude. A chance for humans to leave a long history of mistakes behind and begin again. Sent to a brutal desert prison for withholding the information from the Terran Corps, Jaeger is in a race against time to find Solitude and lead humanity to a brighter future.

    This story appears in the anthology Make Shift: Dispatches from the Post-Pandemic Future, edited by Gideon Lichfield and available for pre-order from The MIT Press.Content advisory: Discussion of pandemics, near-drowning

    The sharp corners and twists are taken at speed, leaving you to grip the edge of your seat! Continue your journey now,Go beyond Time itself...

    The car is packed to capacity, and as midnight approaches, a family flees the city in a fit of panic and paranoid, conflicting emotions. The ensuing journey spans decades and offers a sharp-eyed perspective on a hardscrabble future, as a boy jettisons his family and all other ties in order to survive as a journeyman in an uncertain landscape. By turns led by love, larceny, and a new sexual order, he must avoid capture and imprisonment, starvation, pandemic, and some particularly bad weather. In Things We Didn’t See Coming, Steven Amsterdam links together nine luminous narratives through the mind of one peripatetic and resourceful wanderer who always has one eye on the exit door and the other on a future that shifts more drastically and more often than anyone would like to imagine.

    When Kimball comes upon twelve-year-old Thayet, she's been stuck on a rock in a river of bugs for two days, no food, no water, and no way back.This is an excerpt from 7th Sigma.

    Then she ends up in the middle of a kidnapping gone wrong and must use her all her skills to save herself, and the young boy who brings back painful memories of her past. This is a science fiction short story that originally appeared in Mirror Shards: Volume One.

    By day, he teaches literature. At night, he steals it. Adam is a plagiarist, an expert reader with an eye for great works. He prowls simulated worlds perusing virtual texts, looking for the next big thing. And when he finds it, he memorizes it page by page, line by line, word for word. And then he brings it back to his world. But what happens when these virtual worlds begin to seem more real than his own? What happens when the people within them mean more to him than flesh and blood? What happens when a living thing falls in love with someone who does not actually exist?

    In these labors, there is one friend that they can count on, day in and day out . . . he’s a constant companion in their headsets with the Smack and Crack, Sno Bro, and other music they love, as well offering a seemingly endless stream of friendship and encouragement: the morning DJ on Company Radio Channel D, Robin Whitlake. But, Robin is more than a warm human voice in the endless night, he is a man with a heroic, yet deadly and dangerous secret past that could condemn him to death at any time. Disfigured and aging rapidly, he must work harder and harder to project the youth and vitality that he brings to his broadcasts, all the while wondering when and if his past will catch up with him. On 14 January 2314, it did. A disaster in the mining colony brings the heroic and deadly elements of Robin’s past into sudden collision. Not only must he decide whether to subject himself to possible execution, Robin has to call upon all his professionalism as a broadcaster, the skills he spent decades honing in his former life, and the Morse code abilities of a red-headed, pig-tailed Space Scout named Elaine, in a desperate “Hail Mary” improvisation with thousands of innocent lives hanging in the balance. Good Morning Vendemiatrix is an 8800 word stand-alone novelette set in the “Man of War” universe. Fans of Honsinger’s other work will recognize the setting and be treated to a cameo appearance by a familiar character, while new readers will not find themselves “lost in space.” It is a humorous and exciting piece of shorter fiction written to be enjoyed by all Science Fiction readers.

    Some mutations are worse than others.Ebola, one of the most feared of the hemorrhagic diseases, has begun spreading across the borders of West African countries. The CDC and the World Health Organization have admitted they are losing control over the disease. Some hint at a possible worldwide pandemic.At exactly this point in time, Emma Johnson graduates from nursing school. She takes a job in an Ebola treatment camp inside Liberia, West Africa. The camp is state-of-the-art. It's run by the CDC and the World Health Organization, and protected by the U.S. military.Emma uncovers a secret about this facility: medical experimentation is being conducted along with treatment. Whether or not Emma ever manages to escape the camp, she's determined to get the story out. She has intimate knowledge of a biological horror being secretly unleashed upon the world.Mutation Z: The Ebola Zombies is the first book in the Mutation Z series. NOVELETTE. GENRES: Zombie Fiction, Apocalyptic Science Fiction, Conspiracy Fiction, Horror.“It looked like exactly the kind of book that I'm interested in and I was right! I read it in a single sitting, as I couldn't possibly put it down, and it was the realism that hooked me from the start...I am VERY excited to hear that this novelette will be growing into a series! Especially because of the ending that leaves you with buggy eyes and an impressive jaw gape.” – Rebecca Engelmann, Sister Sinister Speaks Blog“The plot sucked me in, as it was well done and believable. This take on the pandemic angle was well done, and…interesting to see a zombie outbreak from start. I have to say this kept me on the edge of my seat, and made me want to wash my hands repeatedly.” – Shandy Jo at Mama Knows Books“Marilyn Peake is well known for pushing the envelope of sci-fi writing, and this offering is no different. Starkly relevant, this zombie short reads like a case file, a diary of a witness to this apocalypse, plausibly believable as far as zombie fiction goes, and as it is one of my favourite genres, I have read a lot!” – Rachel Dove, Kindle Book Reviewer“Wow. Powerful writing whisks you away, drops you into a dirty, steamy camp in West Africa, and bombards you with conspiracies, horror, and real life characters who could walk off the pages.” – Laura, FUONLYKNEW Blog“One of the best parts about Mutation Z was the virus itself. Not only is it scary because it deals with Ebola but also because it only works during the full moon. Any other time of day and those injected with the serum would seem just as normal as you or me making them perfect carriers or weapons to spread the virus far and wide.” – Kristin at Blood, Sweat and Books“This conspiracy, horror novella scared the bejesus out of me. It started out fast and never let up. Every time I turned around, something was there to creep me out. I mean, think about it, a highly infectious disease is lurking, just waiting for you to make a mistake. A conspiracy is operating behind closed doors and when Emma stumbles in there is no turning back. I love this series and would highly recommend it to all horror lovers.” – Sherry Fundin, Blogger and Reviewer

    Having abandoned his insane primarch and brothers many years ago, he doesn’t know what he’s done wrong, but he’s sure he doesn’t want to be captured. What will happen when he discovers that his Legion has fallen into heresy? And where will his loyalties lie?Learn the fate of the Chief Librarian of the XIII Legion, former servant of Konrad Curze. The first Horus Heresy Night Lords story from John French is both an insight into changes that have taken place within the XIII Legion over the course of the Great Crusade, and a fascinating glimpse into the underworld slums of ancient Terra itself.

    Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 20. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Cyberiad (Polish: ) is a series of short stories by Stanisaw Lem. The Polish version was first published in 1967, with an English translation appearing in 1974. The main protagonists of the series are Trurl and Klapaucius, the "constructors." The vast majority of characters are either robots, or intelligent machines. The stories focus on problems of the individual and society, as well as on the vain search for human happiness through technological means. Two of these stories were included in the book The Mind's I. Trurl and Klapaucius are brilliant (robotic) engineers, called "constructors" (because they can construct practically anything at will), capable of almost God-like exploits. For instance, on one occasion Trurl creates an entity capable of extracting accurate information from the random motion of gas particles, which he calls a "Demon of the Second Kind." He describes the "Demon of the First Kind" as a Maxwell's demon. On another, the two constructors re-arrange stars near their home planet in order to advertise. The duo are best friends and rivals. When they are not busy constructing revolutionary mechanisms at home, they travel the universe, aiding those in need. Although the characters are firmly established as good and righteous, they take no shame in accepting handsome rewards for their services. If rewards were promised and not delivered, the constructors may even severely punish those who deceived them. The universe of The Cyberiad is pseudo-Medieval. There are kingdoms, knights, princesses, and even dragons in abundance. Robots are usually anthropomorphic, to the point of being divided into sexes. Love and marriage are possibl...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=59380

     This year’s Nebula winners are Ursula Vernon, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Nancy Kress, and Jeff VanderMeer, with Alaya Dawn Johnson winning the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Book.