Obsidian Worlds brings together his 11 best-selling sci-fi shorts into a mind-bending philosophical anthology.In Your Averaged Joe, a man’s headache is large enough to hold the multiverse. Q46F is an obsessive-compulsive android who finds love in a zombie-embroiled apocalypse. The end of the world isn’t all that bad – The Experience Machine will fulfil your every desire (and some you hadn’t considered). A sex bot dares to dream of freedom in Dinner with Flexi. But mind what you eat, because The Photons in the Cheese Are Lost. Don’t fret though: The Cryo Killer guarantees that your death will be painless, or your money back when you’re thawed. Unless, that is, you’re The Man with Two Legs.Plug into Obsidian Worlds for these and other immersive stories, including the hilarious Time-Traveling Chicken Sexer. Your brain will never be the same again.

    This edition contains the original introduction by Theodore Sturgeon and the original foreword by Harlan Ellison, along with a brief update comment by Ellison that was added in the 1983 edition. Among Ellison's more famous stories, two consistently noted as among his very best ever are the title story and the volume's concluding one, Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes.Since Ellison himself strongly resists categorization of his work, we won't call them science fiction, or SF, or speculative fiction or horror or anything else except compelling reading experiences that are sui generis. They could only have been written by Harlan Ellison and they are incomparably original.CONTENTS"I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream""Big Sam Was My Friend""Eyes of Dust""World of the Myth""Lonelyache""Delusion for Dragonslayer""Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes"

    She erred in not considering commercial and political consequences. Now, someone wants to steal or bury her research and, perhaps, her with it. With no way to fight this unknown foe, Jaswinder knows she has but one chance—complete her research and publish. To do that, she has to stay alive and stay free. Pilot Johannes Yrden desires a courtesan, someone to keep him company on the 8 month trip to the planet Liberty and back. He wants someone not from the Yrden Family spaceship and to hell with his brother, Captain Matt Yrden, who believes the TransPlanetary Corporations will stock his line-up with spies. Yrden's plan runs afoul of circumstance, which throws him together with one 'Jazz Saro', a woman on the run. Forced to run with her, Yrden allows her to convince him to sign her on as courtesan. He needs a companion; she needs a ship, a place to hide. It seems a simple enough arrangement. Jaswinder thinks she's found her perfect solution: a hiding place in hyperspace, where she can complete her research using the ship as her laboratory. Unfortunately, she hasn't reckoned on the possibility of one of her pursuers booking passage, forcing her to maintain the fiction of her alias. The pilot's family, with troubles of their own, grow suspicious and it becomes apparent she cannot complete her research openly. That leaves her the choice: Do what she needs to do to in order to save Jaswinder's life or become Jazz Saro.

    Radicalized is the story of a desperate husband, a darknet forum and the birth of a violent uprising against the US health care system.The final story, The Masque of the Red Death, tracks an uber-wealthy survivalist and his followers as they hole up and attempt to ride out the collapse of society.

    New frontiers discovered. What it means to be human reimagined.Dreams of tomorrow become reality in this third collection of bestselling authors and newly emerging writers from Sci-Fi Bridge. From the inner worlds of unforgettable characters to alien planets at the farthest reaches of our galaxy and beyond, our writers examine the human experience from within and without. They hold up a mirror to the human experience. Who are we as a species? Who do we want to be? How do we achieve that greatest vision of ourselves for us and our children?You'll wonder at the possibilities of what we can accomplish together. You might even come to believe that a better tomorrow can be more than a dream....Foreword by Chris Fox"Centurion" by M.G. Herron"Geospermia" by Patty Jansen"Storming the Norse Wind" by M.D. Cooper"The Far Side of Psyche" by Rhett C. Bruno"Sparkle Ship Shine" by Hall & Beaulieu"Latecomers" by Chris Ward"Fool's Gold" by Zen DiPietro"The Tribe" by Andreas Christensen"The Theta Patient" by Chris Dietzel"The Last Ship" by Chris Pourteau"Taken For a Walk" by Justin Sloan"Playing Doctor" by Robert Jeschonek"Awaken Me, Paper Robot!" by A.K. Meek"Refurbished" by Artie Cabrera"Steel's First Temper" by David VanDyke"Siren Song" by Jon Frater"Digital Commander" by J.S. Morin"Little Blue" by Chris ReherWant to know more about Sci-Fi Bridge? Visit our site at scifibridge.com and subscribe to receive giveaways and great Sci-Fi deals straight to your inbox.

    This book is guaranteed to horrify you in the best way possible. Open it up, turn the page, and take a journey to a world consumed with mystery in madness.

    An alien race simultaneously slaughters Commonwealth diplomats and command officers while attacking a partially completed Fifth Foreign Legion fortress. The surviving troops try to reach the League's primary base, where they plan to consolidate and attack the aliens (in Book #2).

    Martin’s Introduction to Warriors:“People have been telling stories about warriors for as long as they have been telling stories. Since Homer first sang the wrath of Achilles and the ancient Sumerians set down their tales of Gilgamesh, warriors, soldiers, and fighters have fascinated us; they are a part of every culture, every literary tradition, every genre. All Quiet on the Western Front, From Here to Eternity, and The Red Badge of Courage have become part of our literary canon, taught in classrooms all around the country and the world.Our contributors make up an all-star lineup of award-winning and bestselling writers, representing a dozen different publishers and as many genres. We asked each of them for the same thing — a story about a warrior. Some chose to write in the genre they’re best known for. Some decided to try something different. You will find warriors of every shape, size, and color in these pages, warriors from every epoch of human history, from yesterday and today and tomorrow, and from worlds that never were. Some of the stories will make you sad, some will make you laugh, and many will keep you on the edge of your seat.” Every story in this volume appears hre for the first time. Included are a long novella from the world of Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, a new tale of Lord John by Diana Gabaldon, an Emberverse story by S.M. Stirling, a Forever Peace sory by Joe Haldeman, and a long story of humanity at bay by David Weber. Also present are original tales by David Ball, Peter S. Beagle, Lawrence Block, Gardner Dozois, Robin Hobb, Cecelia Holland, Joe R. Lansdale, David Morrell, Naomi Novik, James Rollins, Steven Saylor, Robert Silverberg, Carrie Vaughn, Howard Waldrop, and Tad Williams.Many of these writers are bestsellers. All of them are storytellers of the highest quality. Together they make a volume of unforgettable reading.Contents:- Introduction: Stories from the Spinner Rack by George R.R. Martin- The King of Norway by Cecelia Holland- Forever Bound by Joe Haldeman- The Triumph by Robin Hobb- Clean Slate by Lawrence Block- And Ministers of Grace by Tad Williams- Soldierin' by Joe R. Lansdale- Dirae by Peter S. Beagle- The Custom of the Army by Diana Gabaldon- Seven Years from Home by Naomi Novik- The Eagle and the Rabbit by Steven Saylor- The Pit by James Rollins- Out of the Dark by David Weber- The Girls from Avenger by Carrie Vaughn- Ancient Ways by S.M. Stirling- Ninieslando by Howard Waldrop- Recidivist by Gardner Dozois- My Name is Legion by David Morrell- Defenders of the Frontier by Robert Silverberg- The Scroll by David Ball- The Mystery Knight: A Tale of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin

    He suddenly stirs, asks his assistant for paper and pen, then scribbles something down. Minutes later, he dies. History tells us that Einstein jotted down equations that night. But struggling scholar Jacob Morgan believes that history is wrong. He’s convinced that Einstein wrote a deathbed confession that night—a secret that the great scientist didn’t want to take to his grave. Jacob has spent his entire adult life obsessively hunting down that secret—with nothing to show for it but the scorn of his colleagues and the tattered remnants of a once-promising teaching career. But now, thanks to a lucky break, Jacob has a chance to get his life back on track. His appointment as an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia is a fresh start, and he’s vowed to end his pursuit of Einstein’s secret. Until history chooses this moment to deliver him one more clue. A clue that leads him to an impossible and unbelievable discovery: Time travel. And so begins the last leg of Jacob’s desperate quest, one where history is not only changeable—it’s changing. All by itself. And if Jacob doesn’t rescue Einstein’s secret, everything that he’s ever known will disappear forever.

    Before they can go home, they will visit Foreverland, an alternate reality that will heal their minds.Reed dreams of a girl that tells him to resist Foreverland. He doesn’t remember her name, but knows he once loved her. He’ll have to endure great suffering and trust his dream. And trust he’s not insane.Danny Boy, the new arrival, meets Reed’s dream girl inside Foreverland. She’s stuck in the fantasy land that no kid can resist. Where every heart’s desire is satisfied. Why should anyone care how Foreverland works?

    I had existed whole years without her, but that was all it had been. An existence. A book with no words."Tom Hazard has just moved back to London, his old home, to settle down and become a high school history teacher. And on his first day at school, he meets a captivating French teacher at his school who seems fascinated by him. But Tom has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. Tom has lived history--performing with Shakespeare, exploring the high seas with Captain Cook, and sharing cocktails with Fitzgerald. Now, he just wants an ordinary life.Unfortunately for Tom, the Albatross Society, the secretive group which protects people like Tom, has one rule: Never fall in love. As painful memories of his past and the erratic behavior of the Society's watchful leader threaten to derail his new life and romance, the one thing he can't have just happens to be the one thing that might save him. Tom will have to decide once and for all whether to remain stuck in the past, or finally begin living in the present.How to Stop Time tells a love story across the ages--and for the ages--about a man lost in time, the woman who could save him, and the lifetimes it can take to learn how to live. It is a bighearted, wildly original novel about losing and finding yourself, the inevitability of change, and how with enough time to learn, we just might find happiness.Soon to be a major motion picture starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

    It is an ambitious story that confirms Sean Stewart's growing reputation as "a new voice as distinctive as any in SF" (Robert Charles Wilson).

    The citizens are organized. Everyone's been notified and assigned a duty. The problem is . . . no one knows for sure how it will end.Energy-hungry Mages are the most likely culprit. They travel toward a single location from every corner of the continent. Fueled by the two suns, each Mage holds the power of an element: air, earth, fire, metal, water, or ether. They harness their powers to draw energy from the most readily available resource: humans.Ashara has been assigned to the Ethereal task force, made up of human ether manipulators and directed by Loken, a young man with whom she has a complicated past. Loken and Ashara bond over a common goal: to stop the Mages from occupying their home and gaining more energy than they can contain. But soon, they begin to suspect that the future of the world may depend on Ashara's death.

    He finds an unlikely confidante in Rosie, an inquisitive young neighbor who, while chasing after Lytten's cat one day, stumbles through a doorway in his cellar and into a stunning and unfamiliar bucolic landscape—remarkably like the fantasy world Lytten is writing about. There she meets a young boy named Jay who is about to embark on a journey that will change both their lives. Elsewhere, in a distopian society where progress is controlled by a corrupt ruling elite, the brilliant scientist Angela Meerson has discovered the potential of a powerful new machine. When the authorities come knocking, she will make an important decision—one that will reverberate through all these different lives and worlds.

    Money, fame, power. He had created a multibillion dollar company from almost nothing and turned Ryan's Future technology inc into one of the forefronts of technological innovation.He had it all, yet he gambled it all on a crackpot idea that Earth had it's own wormhole.He'd proven it too, and now he was in for the adventure of his life. No, he wasn't going to sit back and let others go in his stead, he was going to be on the forefront of this grand adventure.To move mankind one step further closer to the stars.He'd found adventure all right, all that and more as he found his team cut off, trapped in the middle of an invasion.Princess Deidra and her younger Sister Zara were having a series of bad days. When the neighboring kingdom suddenly invaded they found themselves on the front lines and swiftly in danger. But will the dashing Gaijin save them? Save them from the wilds of their world, the invaders, and more importantly, themselves?Princess Deidra isn't so sure she wants to be saved!