Imagine if you had the ability to change your appearance at will. To alter the color of your hair, eyes, lips, and nails; maybe even your skin? Perhaps give yourself a tan, freckles, or a tattoo. And then swap it again, all in the blink of an eye.What if you could change your clothes to anything you wanted – that dress you saw in the window; those boots you just couldn’t afford – all with a simple thought?Suppose your senses were perfect. Better than perfect. You could see and hear and smell more acutely than you ever thought possible. On occasion, you could even glimpse into the future.You were stronger. Healthier.You were a Princess. An heir to a Kingdom in a beautiful land.What if the most powerful warriors in the land wanted you dead, and would stop at nothing to kill you?In Princess of the Gods: Descendant, a peaceful Kingdom is turned upside down when a teenage Princess discovers her true lineage: She comes from an ancient bloodline that traces straight back to the Old Gods.But this makes her a threat to the New Gods.After an attack on her home destroys the world she knows, every moment of her life becomes a fight for survival.Armed with a pair of energy weapons powerful enough to cut into solid stone – and the ability to change her clothing and appearance with a simple thought – the girl fights back, knowing that it's the only way she’ll ever be able to save her Kingdom.But will her energy blades and superhuman powers be enough to save her from the forces that want her dead?

    Jamie and his mother have returned to his mother’s home, Aurellius—a world where dragons, dwarves, elves, and other so-called mythological creatures actually exist. It is a world created by the leader of the Dragons, Dragonith, and his mate, Gwenith. Even though life on Aurellius is not the ideal that Dragonith and Gwenith had envisioned, it is still far better than Earth, where the nine races have wreaked havoc and exploited Earth’s people. But now a movement, led by a group called The Sisterhood, would seize the powerful “Dragon’s Heart” in order to gain total control of Aurellius. Jamie is unwittingly being drawn into this struggle, with his very life at stake. In order to survive, he must learn many skills that he can only learn in Stonebriar Academy. However, competition to enter Stonebriar Academy is grueling, and only one hundred students will be granted admission. And gaining admission is Jamie’s only hope if he is to survive against the Sisterhood. Jamie desperately wants to be admitted to Stonebriar, not only to give himself a fighting chance against the Sisterhood but also so that he might learn something that a few short months ago he didn’t even know existed—how to fly with a Dragon.

    Tessa De Santis's child-free marriage in inner-city Sydney is ordered and comfortable, and she likes it that way. When tragedy strikes and her childhood friend Skye Whittaker dies, Tess is bound to honour a promise to become foster-mother to Skye's ten-year-old daughter, Grace, throwing her life upside down. Leaving her husband and work-driven life behind, Tess travels to an isolated property where the realities of her friend's life - and death - hit hard. The idyllic landscape and an unexpected form of therapy ease her fears, and her relationship with Grace begins to blossom. But a secret from her earlier life with Skye refuses to remain hidden, and Tess is forced into a decision that will either right the wrongs of the past, or completely destroy her future.Cross My Heart is a haunting story of guilt, redemption and friendship set in the beautiful central west of New South Wales.

    

    That warning was the only thing protecting the child. Why? Perhaps because he was abandoned without parents or AI-implants, when almost everyone else has them. Perhaps because the rest of humanity is connected mind-to-mind to compete with pure robotic AIs, but bio-extremists see deadly threat in his power. Or perhaps because they wonder at the mystery of his origins when humankind reaches for the stars, only to find something out there watching, and waiting. All Adam wishes for is what most teenagers want: a home, to find out who he is, maybe even some friends & family. But forces at work in our little corner of the galaxy ensure he’ll be forced on to a journey that is far more exciting - and dangerous - than he ever could have imagined. “…truly brings about the question of what you define as "human"...one of the best sci-fi novels I've read!" (–C Hsu, ‘Ethereal Pages’.)What Readers Say About “ADAM” (from 133 reviews Amazon.uk, and 311 ratings Goodreads):★★★★★ ‘Wonderfully crafted sc-fi…if A.K.Stone isn't a pseudonym for an already acknowledged master of the sci-fi genre, then I have to say that I am amazed…The quality of the plotting and writing is superb…filled with complex imagery and concepts….extraordinary vision...’★★★★★ ‘Fabulous…A great journey from the first chapter to the last, with great character development.’★★★★★ ‘A wonderfully rich sci fi, full of twists and fascinating technology, a great read…’★★★★★ ‘Excellent…This book is as good as it gets…’★★★★★ ‘engaging, imaginative and beautifully written.’ ★★★★★ ‘Clever, different, gripping…’★★★★★ ‘Awesome story!! a very magical and detailed reality. The reading flows and the more you go on, the more you want to read.’★★★★★ ‘Science Fiction of the first order.’★★★★★ ‘Every so often you come across a little known book where it seems a crime that it should be unknown and this gem is one of those books.’★★★★★ ‘Excellent…big galaxy spanning story, with a lot of heart and soul.’★★★★★ ‘Couldn’t put it down…a plot that twists and turns, taking you on an exciting and sometimes emotional journey.’★★★★★ ‘This is literature, a beautifully crafted novel…One to savour,…’★★★★★ ‘Great Great read…I’m a really fussy sci-fi reader and this ticked all the boxes.’★★★★★ ‘Absorbing and thought provoking, Adam pulled me into to its world and stayed with me long after I had finished the book.’★★★★★ ‘Brilliant, Aliens, AI and a mystery. Tell me there is a book 2!!’ ★★★★★ ‘Excellent. Brilliant plot. Wonderful language. Amazing ideas and tech…’★★★★★ ‘Fantastic What a great book. Very different from the normal. Intelligent and fascinating. A real page turner!’★★★★★ ‘The ultimate underdog story …gargantuan space ships…and an enemy that will make humans, Aliens and AIs quake!! Read this!’★★★★★ ‘Best this year. Why is this not a film? Great read , could not put down, mysterious and thought-provoking. Get your teeth into this adventure.’

    Madeleine and her mother have run away from their former life, under mysterious circumstances, and settled in a rainy corner of Cambridge (in our world).Elliot, on the other hand, is in search of his father, who disappeared on the night his uncle was found dead. The talk in the town of Bonfire (in the Kingdom of Cello) is that Elliot's dad may have killed his brother and run away with the Physics teacher. But Elliot refuses to believe it. And he is determined to find both his dad and the truth.As Madeleine and Elliot move closer to unraveling their mysteries, they begin to exchange messages across worlds -- through an accidental gap that hasn't appeared in centuries. But even greater mysteries are unfolding on both sides of the gap: dangerous weather phenomena called "color storms;" a strange fascination with Isaac Newton; the myth of the "Butterfly Child," whose appearance could end the droughts of Cello; and some unexpected kisses...

    You’d think that would be a good thing, but in truth, not so much. You see, a Protected World is a sentry world. One located along the edge of human space, there to sound the alarm if there’s an alien invasion. A world that is marginally habitable, so unlikely to be a target, yet well connected to the rest of humanity, so able to sound the alarm.And that’s the real problem. Marginally habitable worlds can’t support a significant population. And for the few of us that live here, it’s difficult to scrape out a living.You might ask why anyone would want to live in such a place. I ask that question all the time. The short answer is that these worlds were given away to anyone that had the means to claim and settle them. A lot of adventurers couldn’t resist the opportunity. My grandfather, six generations back, was one of those people.There are many stories about my ancestral grandfather. He was apparently quite a character, eccentric as well. Many of his sayings are built deeply into our culture, and most involve the number six. Spend a day in town and you’re likely to hear them. ‘Better to do one thing well than six things poorly.’ Or ‘better to have six good days than one good week.’Of his many sayings, there’s the one my mother quotes all the time. ‘The sixth son of the sixth generation will stand above them all.’Well, it turns out that I’m the sixth son of the sixth generation. My father, and all his forefathers, were first sons of first sons down the line from the great Jared Daan. I was my father’s sixth son. Sixth son of the sixth most direct connection to our founder. My parents gave me the name of my ancestor, Jared Daan. I’m the first to bear that name since the great man passed. My mother says I’m destined for greatness. I think that’s crazy talk. But my five brothers hate me for it.

    That was always going to be complicated since he was a Prince of the Realm. Complicated turned into almost impossible when the Empress is attacked. What is a simple lieutenant supposed to do with his mother in a coma, a seemingly invincible enemy on the offensive, a darkness from the past stirring and his paranoid older brother trying to assassinate him. The lieutenant remembers his oath and with a former spy, a handful of Marines, his uncle and most importantly, his father, decides to defend the Empire from all enemies whether foreign or domestic.

    Hidden in its vast superstructure is a murderous creature that severs the right hands of its victims. A rebellious young aviatrix and a secretive scavenger boy are about to come face to face with a robotic Stalker that is terrifyingly out of control.

    They say that vengeance is a dish best served cold, but to the men and woman who went with him over the border to deliver that vengeance, it was dish served hot, and out of the barrel of a gun and cannon, and from the air. Yet in victory came defeat as he found three hundred years later in the world he woke up in. One far different from the one he'd left behind when he went into cold sleep. Now he had to find a place in this strange new world, one without the means to wage war against an alien race raping the planet of its young people. First, he had to build an army, navy and air force from scratch while fending off attacks from the aliens and the secret government that wanted to put him and his men back into cold sleep or the grave.

    An evolution of the smartphone, the bracelets promised an easier life. Instead, they have come to control it. Two years ago, Maggie Stevens watched helplessly as one of the people she loves most was taken from her, shattering her world as she knew it. Now, Maggie is ready. And Quentin Mercer – heir to the M-Corp empire – has become key to Maggie’s plan. But as the pieces of her dangerous design fall into place, could Quentin’s involvement destroy everything she’s fought for? In a world full of broken promises, the ones Maggie must keep could be the most heartbreaking.

    And she has strange powers. What can feed her challenge-addiction now? Fighting crime? There is plenty of it.

    We had been alone there so long on that tiny island, in that tiny church.But in the night, I couldn’t bear it.My chest beat like wings.Identical twin sisters Summer and Winter live alone on a remote island, sheltered from a destroyed world. They survive on rations stockpiled by their father and spend their days deep in their mother’s collection of classic literature—until a mysterious stranger upends their carefully constructed reality.At first, Edward is a welcome distraction. But who is he really, and why has he come? As love blooms and the world stops spinning, the secrets of the girls’ past begin to unravel and escape is the only option.A sumptuously written novel of love and grief; of sisterly affection and the ultimate sacrifice; of technological progress and climate catastrophe; of an enigmatic bear and a talking whale—The End of the World Is Bigger than Love is unlike anything you’ve read before.

    Earth Prime is the first of two collections of aftermath stories set in the distant future of the Earth Girl trilogy (Earth Girl, Earth Star, and Earth Flight).This collection is set immediately after Earth Flight, and focuses on Jarra, Fian, and the other archaeologists before they head to excavate the alien ruins on Fortuna.Full Contents List:-The End, and the New Beginning – Jarra Tell Morrath (Revised collected edition of the serial previously published on the author’s website.)I Will Be Right Here Waiting – Fian Eklund (Novelette)Twenty Seconds in Ark – Dalmora Rostha (Short story)Full Circle – Lecturer Dannel Playdon (Novelette)Raw Material – Krath Karman (Short story)Balance of Power – Amalie Roche (Novelette)The Real Jerez Rivera – Jerez Rivera (Novelette)Year End 2788 – Lecturer Dannel Playdon (A related short story set eleven months earlier.)

    Many play for power and fame; others play to escape the pain and loneliness of real life. One boy, paralyzed at birth, knows no other world. For Ben Shepherd, Verdia is home. The Shepherd is Verdia’s most famous and mysterious blacksmith, constructing armor and weapons for elite and wealthy players while hiding from public view. Players ponder the Shepherd’s true identity, and Ben creates his masterpieces in isolation. Ben discovers friendship in the form of an enormous white wolf - a creature unique in all of Verdia. As news of the boy and his wolf spreads, Ben becomes the target of greed, envy, and fear; Ben’s tranquil life is shattered. A band of strangers, united by compassion, will battle a perilous landscape and unrelenting enemies to deliver the Shepherd and his wolf to a new home. To succeed, they must enlist the help of an enemy - a player who is as powerful as he is hated. They will discover that a small group of friends can face impossible odds, and that a hero can hide beneath a villain’s mask.