The Best Science Fiction of the Year 12


Terry Carr - 1983
    Le Guin * 197 • Understanding Human Behavior • (1982) • novelette by Thomas M. Disch * 221 • Relativistic Effects • (1982) • novelette by Gregory Benford * 243 • Firewatch • [Time Travel] • (1982) • novelette by Connie Willis (aka Fire Watch) * 283 • The Wooing of Slowboat Sadie • [Springfield] • (1982) • shortstory by George Alec Effinger [as by O. Niemand ] * 293 • With the Original Cast • (1982) • novelette by Nancy Kress * 323 • When the Fathers Go • (1982) • novelette by Bruce McAllister * 351 • The Science Fiction Year (1982) • (1983) • essay by Charles N. Brown * 359 • Recommended Reading - 1982 • (1983) • essay by Terry Carr

The Chronicles of Engella Rhys


Paul Ian Cross - 2018
    The first few chapters are available as 'The Chronicles of Engella Rhys (Preview).' Would you sacrifice your future to save your past? Engella Rhys is alone, adrift and on the run. Pursued by a secret agency, known only as the Hunters, she must stay ahead to stay alive. As she travels through space-time using dangerously experimental technology, she only has one wish: to be reunited with her lost parents. After a close shave with a Hunter on the streets of New Shanghai, Engella escapes to find herself on a deserted beach. When she meets a kind stranger, who offers her food and shelter, Engella feels safe and protected for the first time in years. But who is this woman? And why did their paths cross at the most convenient of times? Engella soon discovers their lives are intertwined in more ways than she could ever imagine.

The New Yorker


NOT A BOOK - 1925
    The New Yorker offers a signature mix of reporting and commentary on politics, international affairs, and the arts, along with fiction, poetry, humor, and cartoons. Founded in 1925, The New Yorker has received more National Magazine Awards than any other magazine. Notable work in recent years includes coverage of the war on terror by George Packer, Jane Mayer, Lawrence Wright, Steve Coll, and Seymour M. Hersh; reports from the front lines of the Middle East by Jon Lee Anderson, Dexter Filkins, and Wendell Steavenson; Malcolm Gladwell on "the tipping point"; Anthony Lane on movies; James Wood on books; Elizabeth Kolbert on the environment; Atul Gawande on health care; fiction by Jonathan Franzen, Edwidge Danticat, Zadie Smith, and Haruki Murakami; humor by David Sedaris and Andy Borowitz; and cartoons by Roz Chast.

Cognition


Jacques St-Malo - 2019
    When research suggests how to harness brain evolution, a hunt ensues for a missing link―one that allows to design humans with skills that prodigies of old would have envied.As germline engineering and biological enhancement have become routine, ancient doubts have emerged under new guises: Who are we? Is there a purpose to life? Why is there so much suffering? When faith and science fail to answer these questions, personal greed and national interest quickly fill the void. But gene selection is expensive, and many are excluded from its benefits. The stage is set for tribalism and social discontent on a scale without precedent, and those caught in the fray, whether by choice or by chance, must play roles not always to their liking in the struggle of all creatures against the arbitrariness of existence.

The Bear That Fell From The Stars


Keith C. Blackmore - 2011
    On the night he decides to strike, his life, and his world, are forever changed. Alien scientists from across the cosmos, abduct and place Kazaka in deep storage for centuries. When they revive him with the intent to subject him to extraterrestrial evisceration, the ninja escapes. The shadow warrior then begins to hunt his captors, one by one, leading up to a battle that will shake the galaxy.The Bear That Fell From the StarsA different kind of alien terror. NOTE: This is a Novella of approx. 20,000 words, or about 60 pages.Science Fiction Fantasy and not hard SciFi.Some scenes of graphic violence.

Astonishing Times #1 (comiXology Originals)


Frank J. Barbiere - 2021
    

Showdown


Dan Moren - 2019
    But Commonwealth operative Simon Kovalic knows nothing ever goes to plan. So, when a duplicitous bounty hunter lives up to his reputation, Kovalic’s ready—just maybe not ready enough.Now he and his team must get offworld, before their enemies catch up with them…

Galaxy Bomb


Anthony James - 2019
    The Trivar rats and the life-draining Antaron have taken turns and now, their cruel overlords, the Scions, have joined the fight. As if the odds weren’t bad enough already. The Scions are savage, brutal and arrogant. They have brought with them a weapon beyond comprehension. If the Scions are not stopped, everyone will die. Captain Becky Keller is flying the refitted ES Devastator. It’s the only spaceship with the firepower to match the Scions in a one-on-one. Unfortunately, this enemy doesn’t fight fair. Neither does humanity. Not anymore. Deep in the Devastator’s hold, Lieutenant Joe Nation and his squad wait to try out the newest piece of untested Space Corps tech. If it works, they’ll have a chance to show the Scions exactly what happens when you push too hard. Some people push back. There is one question even victory will not answer. Is this midgame, endgame, or has the fight for survival only just begun? Galaxy Bomb is a high-action science fiction adventure involving massive space battles, overwhelming odds and exciting technologies. It continues the Transcended series and picks up straight after book 3: Far Strike.

The Super Olympian: Bloodhound (Shapechanger Tales)


Laer Carroll - 2012
    And she has strange powers. What can feed her challenge-addiction now? Fighting crime? There is plenty of it.

Rogue


David Ryker - 2019
    The best of the best. And now he's gone Rogue... His entire life, all James 'Red' Maddox has known is war. He was born on a dust rock called Genesis-526, conscripted into the Federation military with thousands of other recruits, and somehow stumbled into the Mech Corps. It was a moment that changed his life. Mech Corps pilots are the best of the best. They sit in the cockpit of iron beasts that tower into the sky, fighting alongside men and women who have been bred for their task since birth. Perfect reaction times. An almost inhuman level of concentration. The courage to throw themselves into the fight day after day, year after year, knowing that their mechs are sent into the crucible of the fight, into the heart of danger—and expected not just to survive, but to win... But Red is getting real tired of putting down rebellions on colony planets he's never heard of. Of pulverizing alien planets before he ever even learns their name. Of losing friends, lovers, and brothers in the service of an empire that doesn't care whether he lives or dies. Every man has his breaking point. And Red just found his...

The Last Builder


Simeon Graves - 2017
    We've spread to other galaxies and continue to thrive as a vast civilization. But calamity looms on the horizon. Little do our people know that a long-gestating killer, called The Keresian Virus, will soon decimate 99.99% of our population.  One of the few people aware of the government cover-up is Cutler Copeland. Not only is he immune to the virus, he's also a scout who's spent his life finding inhospitable planets with just the right attributes to facilitate terraforming into living ecosystems. But now, with his ex-wife dead, Cutler must return to Earth to fetch his teenage daughter, Kit, and somehow remain undetected by the government conspirators hellbent on stealing the secrets that will soon come into Cutler's possession.Will he succeed in reconnecting with his daughter, and get away just before the slaughter, or will his enemies track him down and use him for their own nefarious plans?P.S. Visit SimeonGraves.com to get a free copy of the never-to-be-published prequel to The Last Builder. ​

Agents of the Planetary Republic Books 1-10


Jaxon Reed - 2021
    Treaties are signed, trade is restored. But spies and diplomatic turmoil lead to a high-tech cold war of epic proportions. Ex Space Marine Gina Wilcox finds herself in a law enforcement career after the war, but life can be just as dangerous on the streets as the battlefield. Sleeper cells activate, assassinating government officials. Crime syndicates flourish. And a certain high-tech android has been stolen by the League, spirited off world for unknown purposes. Into this milieu a band of Marine outcasts join the fight. They spent more time in the brig than on the battlefield, yet racked up admirable wartime kill ratios. These renegades are quietly recruited by Republican Naval Intelligence to lead black ops against the League. Gina Wilcox will join their leader Commander Hamilton Wolf in a risky interstellar quest to retrieve an android who doesn’t even realize she’s not human. The fate of two civilizations hangs in the balance . . .

The Seafort Saga Books 1–3: Midshipman's Hope, Challenger's Hope, and Prisoner's Hope


David Feintuch - 2017
    Campbell Award–winning author: The original trilogy chronicling the military science fiction adventures of Nicholas Seafort. In a “splendid homage to the grand tradition of the old seafarer’s tale,” the Seafort Saga tells the story of an intergalactic captain’s journey through the galaxy (Roger MacBride Allen). Now, the first three installments of this epic series are available in one volume.  Midshipman’s Hope: The year is 2194. Seventeen-year-old Nicholas Seafort is a fresh recruit with the United Nations Naval Service, serving as midshipman onboard the UNS Hibernia. En route to the colony of Hope Nation, the ship answers a distress call—only to lose the senior command staff in a daring rescue attempt. The chain of command has elevated Seafort into a leadership role he never anticipated. Surrounded by resentful and potentially mutinous officers, Seafort earns his stripes throughout Hibernia’s voyage, but his real trial awaits at Hope Nation with a startling revelation for humanity.  Challenger’s Hope: Capt. Nicholas Seafort was in command of the UNS Challenger until he was assigned to Adm. Geoffrey Tremaine’s task force. Removed from his flagship, Seafort has been given the smaller UNS Portia, transporting colonists to the world of Detour. But an alien attack devastates both ships, leaving dozens of crewmen and passengers dead. Only UNS Challenger is in good enough condition to bring the survivors home—provided Seafort can regain and retain his captaincy.  Prisoner’s Hope: Nicholas Seafort’s disastrous mission as captain of the UNS Challenger cost him nearly everything. The aliens responsible for decimating the United Nations Naval fleet are still a threat to the colony world of Hope Nation, whose inhabitants feel abandoned as the navy returns to Earth. To save the colonists, Seafort will have to sacrifice everything he has left and commit an act of high treason that could result in his death sentence.

Six Seconds (Adrian Tarn)


E.R. Mason - 2020
    Adrian Tarn and R.J. Smith are persuaded to escort two scientists to a landing there to investigate. What they find has unexpected consequences for Earth and every person on it. Join Adrian Tarn, R.J. Smith, and Danica Donoro as they fight to close Pandora's box before Earth becomes a new asteroid belt.

Out of Time


Michael Stewart - 2015
    Searching for answers from his own past, James suddenly finds himself back in war torn Britain in December 1944 facing a new and very dangerous reality. James is enlisted as a member of an RAF bomber crew and is forced to face the horror of war in the skies over Nazi occupied Europe, an icy death in the English Channel and an execution at the hands of a crazed Gestapo officer. He also finds love amidst the drama of war and finally discovers that the reality of life on our world isn’t quite what we think it is.Out of time follows on from the extraordinary success of The Angel of Time by Michael Stewart. If you enjoy the thrill of historic war-time fiction coupled with a thought provoking twist. All sales during November will be donated to The Poppy Appeal!