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.

    As he blows out the candles on his cake, he makes a token wish. Three days later, to his utter astonishment, that wish comes true.All his problems solved, Kyle is busy counting his blessings when a gaunt pensioner turns up at his door unannounced. The stranger then confounds Kyle by claiming credit for his recent good fortune, followed by a bizarre declaration … when Edmund Wishkin grants a wish, there’s always a price to pay.Whether he believes the old man or not, Kyle is about to discover the true cost of a wish fulfilled.

    To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lexicon in the sharing of human knowledge. This particular book is a collaboration focused on Thursday Next series.

     Milton Frederick was originally abducted from his apartment to help defend one batch of pacifistic aliens called The Collective against another set of homicidal aliens called Heliothropes…but he never quite made it that far. Instead, during the process where his human consciousness was ripped from his body and inserted into a massive metal contraption called a Station Core, the ship that he was being transported on blew up and he was sent hurtling through space. Crash-landing on an unknown planet with just a foot-and-a-half tall, foul-mouthed, nanite-formed AI guide called ALANNA to tell him what happened, Milton has to come to terms with his new existence as a giant metal egg, defend his hazardously-in-need-of-repair outer shell from the dangerous local wildlife (including blood-thirsty squirrels), and manage the unique radiation spewing from his damaged internal reactor – all while figuring out how the heck to get off the planet. All of his work building a “dungeon” underground, defending it with makeshift traps, and filling it with small Combat Units may work well enough against the random beasts wandering around, but they’re next to useless when something else even more dangerous shows up knocking on his door: people. Not humans, of course, but the local equivalent – Proctans – who are similar enough to Milton’s original species…though with one major difference. They all have unique special abilities that looks suspiciously like “magic”. However, there is an even bigger threat that looms on the horizon not only for Milton, but all the Proctans as well… Contains LitRPG/GameLit elements such as level progression and experience, optional tables, no harems, and a heavy Dungeon Core emphasis. Note: The optional stat tables tend to skew the percentages toward the back of the eBook. The locations can be a tad deceptive; while this box set is 562,000 words, stat tables comprise less than 8% of that total word count.

    At the end of the last installment, Freya had led Gardener and his friends (Night, Ninja, Max, and Shelli) into an abandoned coal mine to hide out from the violent outpouring of people desperately trying to escape the Washington DC area. Autumn passes and their story resumes near winter's end. Gardener and his friends emerge from the mine and must come to grips with the horrors that took place while they were in safe hiding. Throughout the following months, they gather more and more people to them, growing from their small, tight band to a large Horde traveling across the country to a new home.

    How did he allow the other person to die? How did he help the other person to hang himself to death? He was terribly upset about this. The moment his eyes saw a rope in any form he used to remember everything.........

    A solitary fortress isolated in an endless sea. A city of secrets where the elite dominate with an iron fist and ambition ends at the city walls. Ordinarily the city is surrounded by water but one day a month when the moon is at its highest, the water recedes and uncovers the causeways linking the city to the outer towers. This is Moon-day, the time when the trades bring their specialities to market and the whole Citadel enjoy the celebrations the festival brings, so when the city’s stargazer predicts the water level will drop even further, nobody takes any notice.Soon enough and despite the people's indifference, the predictions are proved correct and as the sea falls it reveals secrets that have never been known before. Secrets that are at first exciting....then disturbing .....and ultimately.....terrifying

     ************************************************************* Book #1: Peace Warrior It’s the mid-21st century when Sergeant First Class Grant Justice is killed during an ambush on an enemy tank column. Six hundred years later, his body is retrieved from the frozen, arctic lake where he perished. Re-animated by a team of scientists, Grant awakens to a civilization that has abolished war. A civilization that has outlawed violence and cherishes Peace above all else. A civilization that has been enslaved by an alien race called the Minith. Grant is humankind’s final hope against the alien menace. He must be the… Peace Warrior. ************************************************************* Book #2: Peace Army It’s been six years since Grant Justice was brought back to life to help the Peaceful citizens of Earth defeat the Minith. Life should be good. The Minith are gone. Grant now has a loving wife and a remarkable son. He is a hero to the society that once shunned him. But Grant hasn’t been taking life easy. He’s been recruiting fighters away from Peace. He’s been cobbling together an army from the dregs of society and training them to fight. Which is a good thing, because another alien Mothership is heading their way. It will reach Earth in less than a week. Grant and his small army have been preparing for this day. They must be the… Peace Army. ************************************************************* Book #3: Peace World Reanimated after six hundred years, Grant Justice has become the leader of Earth's new army. Unwilling to sit back and wait for the next attack, Grant decides to take the fight to the enemy. He and a mothership full of his best fighters are headed toward Waa, the aliens' new home world. Unknown to Grant, a fleet of alien motherships is headed toward Earth—intent on punishing the planet for destroying Minith. Who will win the battle for supremacy—the alien slavers with a thirst for war, or the humans struggling to survive and save their way of life? Who will finally rule the… Peace World. ************************************************************* REVIEWS FOR THE PEACE WARRIOR TRILOGY "I'll get right to the point: Peace Warrior is a flawlessly-written science fiction adventure with sympathetic characters and a fast-paced plot. Though billed as military science fiction, Peace Warrior cuts across genres and subgenres by incorporating cultural issues of nature and nurture, war and peace. Complex heroes like Grant Justice and complex issues like these hit the page with the force of an alien mothership biting the dust. " Isabella Morales, The Scattering Blog "Steven Hawk has written a sci-fi masterpiece. Each of the three books is a great story in and of itself. Together they achieve greatness. Hawk writes with the straight-forward, action-driven style of Asimov, and at the same time brings an inventive, provocative point of view like Orson Scott Card. If you like great science fiction with compelling characters, you'll be glad you connected with this trilogy. You will get a real kick out of the hero and ancient warrior Grant Justice, and your perspective on the concept of "peace" will be stretched.

    Description:- The Three-Body Problem: 1967: Ye Wenjie witnesses Red Guards beat her father to death during China's Cultural Revolution. This singular event will shape not only the rest of her life but also the future of mankind. The Dark Forest: Imagine the universe as a forest, patrolled by numberless and nameless predators. In this forest, stealth is survival any civilisation that reveals its location is prey.Earth has. Now the predators are coming.Death's End: Half a century after the Doomsday Battle, the uneasy balance of Dark Forest Deterrence keeps the Trisolaran invaders at bay. Earth enjoys unprecedented prosperity due to the infusion of Trisolaran knowledge. The Wandering Earth: Half a century after the Doomsday Battle, the uneasy balance of Dark Forest Deterrence keeps the Trisolaran invaders at bay.Earth enjoys unprecedented prosperity due to the infusion of Trisolaran knowledge and, with human science advancing and the Trisolarans adopting Earth culture, it seems that the two civilizations can co-exist peacefully as equals without the terrible threat of mutually assured annihilation.

    But when you’re a living ringer for one of the country’s best-loved historical figures, privacy is hard to come by—especially when your face is on money. Across town, Norma Greenberg, one of the world’s many Marilyn Monroe clones, is struggling with identity issues of a different sort. It’s not easy going through life as a copy of the beautiful Norma Jeane Baker! When Abe is taken away by government agents eager to discover the secrets of his illustrious ancestor, Norma could be Abe’s last hope of escape—or, thanks to her kleptomania, his worst chance of recapture. With only their wits, a cigarette lighter, a bottle of perfume, and the disembodied arm of Richard Nixon, can Abe and Norma make it back to safety and anonymity? Advance Praise: “A gorgeous, funny romp along the seam between reality and artifice, fame and obscurity, history and Disney, Roufa has a deft, hilarious touch. This is a wry, gleeful take on the choice between destiny, authenticity, love, and the eternal call of the stovepipe hat.” – Dahlia Lithwick, Senior Editor, Slate “A perfect gem with terrifically simple and funny twists.” – Josh Kilmer-Purcell, New York Times bestselling author of I Am Not Myself These Days and The Bucolic Plague

     The Advanced Learning Online World (ALOW), have been running strongly for over a decade. Curing genetic and acquired diseases, restoring anatomy and organs. All the while the patient mentally plays within the fantasy world under a medically induced coma. James C. Corwell assumes his treatment as the left side of his body under goings restoration, due to a military accident. Just in time for CAMPAIGN! Where dungeon, raid, invasion and scenario all merge into three months of conquest, mayhem, and debauchery. Never an avid gamer, this loner must navigate his way through a world set upon role-play and politics. Can he do what has eluded him since birth, and make something of himself? To further add insult to injury, his brother purchases the Nobleman Package as a practical joke. James, aka Hedge Lord Jaeger Persik, turns to the past twenty eight years of life experience, and an unfamiliar creatures for help. Will this black sheep finally become part of a flock, with his uncommon way of thinking and his ability to adapt? Or will frustration and ignorance reign? Warning: This book contains scenes of graphic adult situations, language, and non-traditional relationship structures.

    Over time he has learned to accept his confinement. After all, it is no more than he deserves given the heinous nature of his previous crimes. However, when a new member of the nursing staff begins taking an interest in Tommy, he learns things previously kept from him: Like why he is being permanently dosed with meds. How, and why, his parents really died. And is it just a coincidence his earlier crimes occurred at the time of a full moon? Nurse Jenny informs Tommy about the true nature of his world: Secret Government cabals, and their plans for a New World Order; the murder of his parents, and facing up to the reality of his life as a werewolf. Then, when she thinks he is ready, she tells him the biggest secret of all: Nurse Jenny has a way out of Broad-lands. But, as is often the case, nothing comes without a price. What is the real motivation for her aiding Tommy's escape? A tale of horror that unfolds beneath the light of a full moon.

    They were beautiful crystals, cool and smooth. They opened doorways to magical realms, leading to escape, happiness, peace. But they exacted a terrible price for they were an incredible narcotic. After only a single use, they dragged you in, sucked your soul dry, leaving you to lingering death. — Where did they come from? And what really were they? For Gleia, Shounach, and Deel it had become a matter of desperate urgency, for each has lost someone to the Eyes, someone they could not forget. For them the source of these damnable jewels must be found and destroyed. Otherwise the Ranga Eyes would destroy them and all their world.

    Before he learns much about the current age, the Germans put him to work as a researcher in their occult research facility and as a teacher of conscripted young wizards. His research uncovers the existence of a malevolent artifact hidden in the facility. At its full potential, the artifact could allow the Germans to dominate the war, assuring their victory. He also finds the staff of the facility on the edge of madness, driven there by an insidious creature of dark magic. As the SS insinuates itself into the facility, Merlin may be the only one who can resist them and destroy the dangerous artifact before it's too late to save his students, himself, and the world.

    Following on from the success of his thriller, Ex Machina, Alex Garland returns to cerebral sci-fi with his adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer's cult novel -a tale of a biologist attempting to uncover the mystery of her husband's disappearance into a restricted zone.What she and her fellow scientists discover is a world populated by mysterious life forms that might offer answers, but which exposes them to madness and death.Beside the screenplay, the book also includes 20 pages of behind-the-scenes photos.