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Swan Songs: The Complete "Hooded Swan" Collection by Brian M. Stableford
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UPGRADE: Book 2 of the Obsolescence Trilogy
Chris Muhlenfeld - 2018
Super-intelligence. Upgrades. In book two of The Obsolescence Trilogy, James, Alexa, and the rest of the survivors are coming to terms with the dizzying new reality that they’ve been forced to live in. They soon discover that everyone still alive must face a seemingly impossible choice: either betray their very humanity to survive or watch civilization retreat into a stone age before dwindling out of existence altogether. Set in the near future, Upgrade is the second book in The Obsolescence Trilogy. Plausible, fast-paced and full of rich, insightful characters, this sci-fi thriller will keep you up well past your bedtime! Continue your journey through the world of obsolescence today!
Gnarl!
Rudy Rucker - 2000
The companion volume to Seek!, Rucker's selected nonfiction, Gnarl! brings together three dozen of the writer's best science fiction short stories. His first major story collection in 17 years, the volume includes a number of previously unanthologized stories, including tales cowritten with Marc Laidlaw, Paul Di Filippo, and Bruce Sterling. Classics such as "The Fifty-Seventh Franz Kafka," a timely meditation on the paradoxes of cloning, are side by side with works of pseudomemoir like "The Indian Rope Trick Explained." The Rucker formula - cutting-edge physics, a wild but perversely logical imagination, and a decidedly punk attitude - illuminates this new collection.
Inadvertent Adventures
Loren K. Jones - 2016
Shanghaied after he thought his luck had changed for the better, Sterling Stevenson was finding his luck changing in totally unexpected ways. Now called Silver Garand, the navigator of the small trade vessel Jolly Jane, his luck was leading him from one inadvertent adventure to another.
Hail! Hail!
Harry Turtledove - 2018
Fresh from Duck Soup (1933), Julius, Leonard, Arthur and Herbert Marx - or as the world knows them, Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo - are transported by a freak electrical storm to Nacogdoches, Texas in the year 1826. Landing in the midst of the Fredonian Rebellion (the first attempt by settlers in Texas to secede from Mexico) and into the company of the only other Jewish person in town, they are in deep dreck. Falling in with Stephen F. Austin and inadvertently filling his head with knowledge of what is to come, our heroes risk tampering with the future of Texas, and perhaps the entire U.S.A., in their quest to return to their own time. Will they find their way back? Or will they be doomed to live out their lives without indoor plumbing?
Stargate Atlantis: Perchance to Dream
Sally Malcolm - 2008
After a disastrous mission, Beckett brought back to Atlantis with a broken leg - and a bad case of amnesia... but that's the least of his troubles..Cared for by Dr Gilbert, Beckett watches as a strange affliction overcomes his friends, one by one members of the Atlantis crew are brought in unconsious and unresponsive yet with no sign of trauma....
Sleeping Duty
Laura Montgomery - 2015
While they slept, the starship went through the wrong fold in space and settled for a different world, a wild world. Three centuries after the founding of a colony on the uncharted planet, Gilead awakens to find humanity slipped back to medieval tech and a feudal structure. Worse, the king who wants Gilead awake won’t let Gilead awaken his wife.
Emergence
Nick M. Lloyd - 2014
On Earth, Jack Bullage survives a horrendous car accident. Reporter Louise Harding has a score to settle with Jack. She investigates all the options, even the most unbelievable ones. How did he get to be so lucky? The Gadium have the answers. They know why Jack is special. It’s just evolution; he’s developing the ability to ‘ride the parallels.’ This could herald Earth's Emergence, a new era, an end to its isolation in the galaxy – but Gadium approval is not assured and Jack may be evolving too fast for their plans. ------ www.nickmlloyd.com ------
The Warlock Enlarged
Christopher Stasheff
Its five continents and numerous small islands were covered with rain forest and inhabited by amphibians and hordes of insects—very much like Terra during its Carboniferous Era. One large island was noticeably different, however, It had been terraformed by human colonists centuries earlier…colonists who had abandoned technology in order to re-create the medieval/renaissance culture of Old Earth, right down to the belief in magic and witches. And on Gramarye, those beliefs were not merely archaic superstitions; they were facts of life.Rod Gallowglass, agent for the Society for the Conversion of Extraterrestrial Nascent Totalitarianisms (SCENT, for short), had sniffed out the Lost Colony—and been amazed to discover it was a communications gold mine: a segment of the population were genuine espers. No matter that, in this particular anachronistic setting, they were known as witches and warlocks; they were telepaths, and with their ability to communicate instantaneously, regardless of distance, they would be invaluable to the Decentralized Democratic Tribunal which had created SCENT.It was Rod’s job to steer them gently in the right direction…to see that Gramarye’s monarchy gradually evolved among democratic lines. And, aided by an old family retainer named Fess—an antique robot whose brain he had placed in a black steel horse’s body—the agent was doing quite well. He had earned the Crown’s respect and, in recognition of his “powers,” been awarded the title “High Warlock.” He had also married a beautiful, gifted witch, and together they had begun a family—strange as it was to raise children who were capable of levitation and telekinesis, among other adorable tricks.But if Gramarye had strategic value for the DDT, it was equally important to the opponents of democracy. With all of the technology at their command—resources unknown on Gramarye—and no scruples about using it to distort the colony’s natural development, Rod’s enemies had a powerful advantage. And their insidious attacks could take any form. How, for instance, was a space-age Warlock supposed to combat deadly, real-life bogeymen…?It’s fast-paced fun and adventure—three complete novels in one volume: King Kobold Revived, The Warlock Unlocked and The Warlock Enraged.
The Lost Gunboat Captain
J.D. Oppenheim - 2017
Alone in the cold black with 36 hours of oxygen. Jolo Vargas, Federation Gunboat Captain, is trapped in a runaway escape pod zooming towards Federation space. But will he be dead before he gets there? He's in a tight spot. But he's a war hero, just the type of man who could work his way out of this jam. But there's just one little problem. He doesn't remember who he is. Will he find out his identity and his place in the universe, or will he run out of air on the edge of Fed space?
Time Salvager
Wesley Chu - 2015
In his time, Earth is a toxic, abandoned world and humans have fled into the outer solar system to survive, eking out a fragile, doomed existence among the other planets and their moons. Those responsible for delaying humanity’s demise believe time travel holds the key, and they have identified James, troubled though he is, as one of a select and expendable few ideally suited for the most dangerous job in history. James is a chronman, undertaking missions into Earth's past to recover resources and treasure without altering the timeline. The laws governing use of time travel are absolute; break any one of them and, one way or another, your life is over. Most chronmen never reach old age; the stress of each jump through time, compounded by the risk to themselves and to the future, means that many chronmen rapidly reach their breaking point, and James Griffin-Mars is nearing his.On a final mission that is to secure his retirement, James meets Elise Kim, an intriguing scientist from a previous century, who is fated to die during the destruction of an oceanic rig. Against his training and his common sense, and in violation of the chronmen’s highest law, James brings Elise back to the future with him, saving her life, but turning them both into fugitives. Remaining free means losing themselves in the wild and poisonous wastes of Earth, somehow finding allies, and perhaps discovering what hope may yet remain for humanity's home world.
Knox's Irregulars
J. Wesley Bush - 2011
They think in slogans and talk in bullets. Such men can’t be reasoned with, only fought . . ."Randal Knox never wanted to be a leader. But as the firstborn son of the Prime Minister, he seemed fated to a life in politics. Fleeing his family's plans, Randal enlists with the armored infantry, thinking he'll be safe on the snowy border with neighboring Abkhenazia.When followers of the Prophet take control of Abkhenazia, his haven turns to hell. A vast army of zealots invades New Geneva, routing its tiny defense force and sending the remnants fleeing for their lives. Randal is forced to take charge of a small band of survivors, sheltering them in the mountain city of Providence.With Providence under the iron rule of Colonel Gregor Tsepashin, Randal faces a choice. Will he hide safely in catacombs beneath the city, or embrace his calling? The militia cells are scattered. His only allies are a turncoat Abkhenazi, a mad Belorussian immigrant, a beautiful but green medic, and a handful of armored infantry. It will take everything he has to lead his people to freedom. REVIEWS:"J. Wesley Bush has accomplished the impossible: he has blended high tech savvy, geopolitics, philosophical and theological details, humor, gritty war action and romance all in a thrilling and mind-expanding read." - Shawn Doud"Best of all is the quality of the writing: it's smooth, polished, and consistently good throughout. The dialogue is realistic, the pacing is smart, and the sprinkling of wry humor is funny without ever jeopardizing the overall seriousness of the story." - Corey P.
Sullivan's War: The Omnibus Edition
Michael K. Rose - 2012
When he's assigned to the case, Agent Frank Allen soon discovers that the man responsible, Rick Sullivan, is not yet finished killing. But Allen will also discover that Rick Sullivan is not the man he appears to be, and the war he's fighting, a war to rid his home planet of its oppressive government, is not his only battle. As Allen pursues Sullivan across the known galaxy, he begins to question his own beliefs and loyalties. Will Allen be able to stop Rick Sullivan before he kills again? Does he really want to? As their lives become increasingly intertwined, both men realize they must face truths about themselves that neither of them are prepared for. And some of those truths will have consequences that neither of them could have ever imagined.
UnHappenings
Edward Aubry - 2015
His first girlfriend disappears the day after their first kiss with no indication she ever existed. This retroactive change is the first of many only he seems to notice.Several years later, when Nigel is visited by two people from his future, he hopes they can explain why the past keeps rewriting itself around him. But the enigmatic young guide shares very little, and the haggard, incoherent, elderly version of himself is even less reliable. His search for answers takes him fifty-two years forward in time, where he finds himself stranded and alone.And then he meets Helen.Brilliant, hilarious and beautiful, she captivates him. But Nigel’s relationships always unhappen, and if they get close it could be fatal for her. Worse, according to the young guide, just by entering Helen’s life, Nigel has already set into motion events that will have catastrophic consequences. In his efforts to reverse this, and to find a way to remain with Helen, he discovers the disturbing truth about the unhappenings, and the role he and his future self have played all along.
Cannibal Gold
Chuck Dixon - 2013
Now a team of scientists is trapped in a world they were not prepared for and can never return from.Their only hope lies in quartet of former US Army Rangers willing to travel to prehistoric Nevada and face unknown horrors and impossibleodds bring them home from Bad Times. New York Times bestselling author Chuck Dixon presents the first in a new original science fiction series featuring the kind of action, breakneck pacing and suspense that millions of readers around the world have come to expect. Following up on his Kindle sensation series of SEAL Team 6 books, Chuck creates a new cast of characters and a new universe of adventure starting here with Cannibal Gold.
The Book of the Short Sun: On Blue's Waters/In Green's Jungles/Return to the Whorl
Gene Wolfe - 2001
At the urging of Whorl’s religious leader, Patera Silk, the people left the ship for an uncertain future on Blue – a world already inhabited by the inhumi, blood-drinking aliens who take human form.Now The Book of the Short Sun carries the story forward to the years after the great exodus, to let Horn, narrator of the earlier work, tell his own story.Horn and his family have made a decent life for themselves on Blue, though crime, pollution and poverty have become so rampant in the city of New Viron that he is called upon to find Patera Silk. Horn must go to the still-orbiting Whorl and convince his old friend and mentor to return to Blue, for the legendary hero is the only one who can restore order and lead them to prosperity. But Horn isn’t even sure Silk still lives.Setting sail in a small boat, the aging Horn embarks on a long and difficult journey across the planet, trying to get to the Whorl. With the undine Seawrack, his adopted inhumi son, Krait, and his eldest son, Sinew, Horn makes it to the last working lander – only to be highjacked to the jungles of Green, where the inhumi imprison the passengers as slaves. There, he encounters the mysterious alien Neighbors who were once native to Blue, but whom the inhumi have all but exterminated. Horn joins their fight for freedom, is fatally wounded… and finds himself on another world, wearing a different body.As his inability to find Silk weighs heavily on his mind, Horn is further tormented by the fact that his new body bears a striking resemblance to the lost Caldé. In the end, he will have to answer a troubling question: has he truly failed in his sworn task, or has he become the very man he sought?Includes:On Blue's WatersIn Green's JunglesReturn To The Whorl