Except the minor non-player character in the world Riley is building makes her own impossible decision—veering wildly off course and exploring the boundaries of the map. When the curious Riley extracts her code for closer examination, an emotional relationship develops between them. Soon Riley has all new plans for her spontaneous AI, including bringing Max into the real world. But what if Max has real-world plans of her own?Blake Crouch’s Summer Frost is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.

    THE STEAL - A thief is hired by a collector to acquire an occult aaaaaartefact... CRASH - A hard landing on an alien plaaaaaanet... COLLISION - A world changing incident at the Laaaaaarge Hadron Collider... THE FALL - A London gangster finds himself in a baaaaaad situation...

    Included are: SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES, by Robert J. Sawyer THE BUSINESS, AS USUAL, by Mack Reynolds THROUGH TIME AND SPACE WITH FERDINAND FEGHOOT: 18, by Grendel Briarton TIME WELL SPENT, by George Zebrowski THE DAY TIME STOPPED MOVING, by Bradner Buckner SAVING JANE AUSTEN, by Robert Reginald IN THE CARDS, by Alan Cogan A WITCH IN TIME, by Janet Fox YESTERDAY'S PAPER, by Boyd Ellanby A MATTER OF TIME, by Robert Reginald THE MAN WHO SAW THROUGH TIME, by Leonard Raphael CAVERNS OF TIME, by Carlos McCune THROUGH TIME AND SPACE WITH FERDINAND FEGHOOT: 110, by Grendel Briarton LOST IN TIME, by Arthur Leo Zagat THE LAND WHERE TIME STOOD STILL, by Arthur Leo Zagat OUTSIDE OF TIME, by Carroll John Daly BULL MOOSE OF BABYLON, by Don Wilcox COMPOUNDED INTEREST, by Mack Reynolds THE MAN WHO CHANGED HISTORY, by John York Cabot TIME ON YOUR HANDS, by John York Cabot INSIDE TIME, by Tim Sullivan THROUGH TIME AND SPACE WITH FERDINAND FEGHOOT: 116, by Grendel Briarton THE GALLERY OF HIS DREAMS, by Kristine Kathryn RuschIf you enjoy this book, search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see the more than 100 other entries in the series, covering science fiction, modern authors, mysteries, westerns, classics, adventure stories, and much, much more!

    At stake are the fate of a planet... Earth... and the future of the human race.

    Virtual reality games are Adam's only escape from his wheelchair. In his alternate world, he can defeat anyone. Running, jumping, scoring touchdowns: Adam is always the hero.Then an artificial intelligence program, Sigma, hacks into Adam's game. Created by Adam's computer-genius father, Sigma has gone rogue, threatening Adam's life-and world domination. Their one chance to stop Sigma is using technology Adam's dad developed to digitally preserve the mind of his dying son.Along with a select group of other terminally ill teens, Adam becomes one of the Six who have forfeited their bodies to inhabit weaponized robots. But with time running short, the Six must learn to manipulate their new mechanical forms and work together to train for epic combat...before Sigma destroys humanity.

    When the stars are right, the Old Ones will return to claim utter dominion of this world. Lovecraft Mythos stories often climax at the moment of the fateful return of the Elder Gods and the audience is left to ponder what might happen next. This anthology features stories about humanity under the reign of the Elder Gods and ancient terrors. Featuring stories from A.C. Wise, Glynn Owen Barrass, Steve Berman, Gustavo Bondoni, Jeff C. Carter, J. Childs-Biddle, Evan Dicken, Jeffrey Fowler, Cody Goodfellow, Andrew Peregrine, Peter Rawlik, Joshua Reynolds, Adrian Simmons, Jason Vanhee, June Violette, L. K. Whyte, and Jonathan Woodrow.

     In the near future, humanity builds a colony on Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter. They tunnel into the ice to explore the dark oceans beneath the moon's surface, searching for signs of extraterrestrial life. What they find will change them forever, setting humanity on a path to the stars. But the old conflicts and hatreds of Earth are not so easily escaped. Will human colonists on distant planets and moons create a paradise or a horrifying dystopia?

    When paleontologist Alexandra Moss ventures into the high deserts of Utah in search of a rare dinosaur fossil she gets more than she bargained for: she inadvertently discovers a highly intelligent species from the late Cretaceous that has been in hibernation since the great K-T asteroid disaster--and he is alive!

    Here is a must-read for any science fiction lover, for, as the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction says, "the film lost the story's ironic ending." Discover for yourself what Hollywood left out in this first-ever collection of the best work of the legendary 1930s idea man, Harry Bates (1900-1981). Rounding out this collection of sophisticated plays-on-ideas that stood traditional science fiction on its head are "A Matter of Size" and "Alas, All Thinking" (1935). These three short novels, which the Encyclopedia calls his most "notable stories," have never before been gathered in one book. Bates' "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1940 under the title, "Farewell to the Master"), with its poignant, haunting last line, would posthumously bring him the coveted Balrog Award (1983). When you have read it, you will understand why long-time science fiction fans rank it and its creator, Harry Bates, among the greats.

    In Steele’s universe, the stars are cold, space is big, and it’s the normal people who make things interesting.

    That is, until she finds a potential answer buried deep in the human genome. But before her solution can be tested, her lab is brutally attacked, and Emily is forced to go on the run with two human companions - college student Jason and small-town Sheriff, Mayra.As the sun's death draws near, Emily and her friends must race against time to save humanity. But before long it becomes clear that it's not only the species at stake, but also that which makes us most human.

    They explore events mentioned in the novels, characters seen and unseen and may include novel teasers of things to come. This volume includes:Darkest before Darkwater by Tee MorrisA group of survivors from the airship Guy Fawkes find themselves washed ashore on an uncharted island. In their search for survival they uncover one mystery after another.The Shadows of Calcutta by Phil RossiAgent Robert Smith, on return from a mission in Nepal, is diverted to India where he is charged to find a missing agent. Alex Tanner had been investigating a series of thefts and murders holding the Ministry’s attention, and now it falls on Agent Smith to find his missing comrade.Night's Plutonian Shore by Jack ManganIn 1849 when a poet is murdered in the streets of Baltimore. The man behind the seemingly random murder manages to elude the law until — in 1889 — Agents Bruce Campbell and Brandon Hill track him down. The assassin, Mikael Scharnusser, gives the slip to the agents on revealing his “talent” and the madman’s intentions to bring down the House of Usher.The Seven by P.C. HaringAgent Brandon Hill is on assignment in South America, enjoying the local culture and women, when a mystery that could lead to El Dorado falls into his lap. Before the intrepid agent knows it, he is the jungle uncovering a plot but the devilish Illuminati. He will need all his monkey knife fighting skills to survive this one.

    After the plagues and wars, the only nation remaining under human control is an increasingly urbanised Japan, now reluctantly harbouring refugees from many other countries.In the Chiba Refugee Zone, the best Sergeant Tatsu Yamada of the Tokyo–Yokohama Metropolitan Police Department can hope for is that things don’t get measurably worse.

    This collection contains three unconnected short stories.The Devil You Know - 10,341 words - a Nona story that sits between Red Sister and Grey Sister - an extension of Red Sister.The Hero of Aral Pass - 4,493 words - a Jalan story that sits after The Red Queen's War trilogy.A Thousand Years - 9,321 words - a Snorri story that occurs before The Red Queen's War trilogy.

    Clarke-nominated author Yoon Ha Lee comes a collection of stories set in the world of the best-selling Ninefox Gambit. Showcasing Lee’s extraordinary imagination, this collection takes you to the very beginnings of the hexarchate’s history and reveals new never-before-seen stories.