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

My Life: An Ex-Quarterback's Adventures In The Galactic Empire


Colin Alexander - 2015
    "Engines are out. Our course is whatever it was when we were hit, but I can't figure it out because the computer and the instruments are smashed. We have enough power and control to keep a minimal shield up and keep the lights on in here. Most of the lifts are out because there has been too much structural twisting. I will leave weapons to Fire Control." "None worth mentioning," Ruoni put in. "What do you want to do, Command?" It reminded me of the line I would hear on third and thirty-four when the coach asked me what I wanted to call. This is the story of Danny Troy, a has-been pro quarterback in desperate need of a fresh start. So, when he gets a bizarre job offer to be a space pirate, he takes it. A chance brawl on the ship leads him to a damsel in distress. He rescues her only to find she is a lot more than he bargained for. Danny’s idea is to see her safely home and collect a (big) reward. However, the damsel, Jaenna by name, has other ideas. The pair careen across the spiral arm from one adventure to the next, while Danny’s “career” grows to pirate captain and finally to a warlord who holds the fate of galactic civilization in his hands. What decision is Danny going to make? And what is he going to do about the girl? This is an action-packed, space opera, with a dash of American football added to the mix.

Witch World Saga 1-3: The Original Three Books


Andre Norton - 2017
     Witch World The first book in the classic Witch World saga by beloved fantasy and science fiction author Andre Norton. Simon Tregarth, a man on the run, escapes from our world into another, where magic still has power. He finds new purpose in the service of Estcarp, whose witches use their ancient knowledge of magic to protect their home. But a new threat is rising: the mysterious Kolder, who possess powers and technology unlike anything known in the Witch World. It will take Simon and the forces of Estcarp all their might, their courage, and their magic to drive back the insurmountable enemy. Web of the Witch World Fantasy and science fiction Grand Master Andre Norton’s Witch World saga continues in Web of the Witch World. After repulsing the Kolder, the land of Estcarp is safe, until a sudden disappearance sends Simon Tregarth and his allies on a quest to stop an enigmatic new danger. Though the Kolder were defeated before, they rise again with a vengeance, and their plot is even more sinister than before. From Karsten in the south to the swamps of Tor to the Kolder’s impenetrable stronghold and beyond, Simon must fight to stop the invaders of his adopted home once and for all. Year of the Unicorn Year Of the Unicorn returns to Andre Norton’s Witch World with a tale of adventure and magic. The orphan Gillan grew up in an abbey in High Hallack, always knowing she was different and never feeling at home. When the lords of High Hallack pledge twelve brides to the Were Riders in exchange for their protection, Gillan is faced with an opportunity few would consider: to take the place of one of the twelve chosen women and go off to parts unknown to marry one of these strange wild men. But Gillan leaps at the chance to leave the only home she has ever known in the hopes of finding something she was meant to do. And her rare gift to see through illusions that fool others will prove vital in a journey where nothing is as it seems.

Cornelius Chronicles V02


Michael Moorcock - 1986
    Jerry Cornelius, a time traveler who is able to assume many identities, must prey on others to maintain his image stability.

Diamond Age, or, Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson Summary & Study Guide


BookRags - 2011
    89 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more – everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Diamond Age, or, Young Lady's Illustrated Primer.

The Ninth


Benjamin Schramm - 2014
    In the fallout of the devastation, a boy is found in the wreckage of a fortress from the Great War. The strongest of the Weavers, ones who can sense emotions in others, is dispatched to monitor the child. As the boy matures it becomes evident there is a dangerous power within him. Relocated to an academy on the edge of the Commonwealth, Brent is put to the test to determine if he is the greatest threat humanity has ever encountered. As his every move is observed and scrutinized he’ll have to face the exams of instructors, attempts on his life, and the wrath of the young Weavers.

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…

Centuries


A.A. Attanasio - 1997
    Genetic manipulation and artificial intelligence shape an astounding destiny for our species. With these wondrous changes come unexpected new truths of heart and mind that challenge the very definition of human—and that threaten not only our existence but the universe itself as our surprising powers—both miraculous and monstrous—evolve through the centuries.

A Dead God Dancing


Ann Maxwell - 1979
    Now it was a chill, arid wasteland, with its remaining inhabitants clustered on a great ice mountain. And in a few, short solar cycles its sun would blaze into a deadly super-nova.

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.

The Lodestone Trilogy


Mark Whiteway - 2011
    The combined 360,000 word epic is available for a limited period only.Lose yourself in the astounding world of Kelanni!

In the Company of Others


Julie E. Czerneda - 2001
    The one thing they didn't find was intelligent life. And so the terraforming of worlds began, with eager immigrant families temporarily housed in space stations till their new home planets were ready.But the technicians made one all-important mistake by introducing the alien Quill to worlds where they did not belong. The Quill were supposed to be destroyed when the crews finished their work, but some survived, multiplied, and mutated till they were no longer harmless. They were deadly.Suddenly mankind was in retreat, leaving colonists stranded in space. In the ensuing chaos many stations failed. For the survivors, the only hope lay in finding a way to wipe out the Quill. Earth scientist, Dr. Gail Smith thought one special human, Aaron Pardell, might hold the answer. Found as a baby and raised by a stationer in the "Outsider" settlement that clung to Thromburg Station, Aaron may have survived Quill contact. Still, finding Aaron and winning his help might be the least of Dr Smith's problems...

The Stardance Trilogy


Spider Robinson - 1997
    Stardance: Shara Drummond was a gifted dancer and a brilliant choreographer, but could not pursue her dream of dancing on Earth, so she went to space, creating a new art form in three dimensions. And when the aliens arrived, there was only one way to prove that the human race deserved not just to survive, but to reach the stars. The only hope was Shara, with her stardance. Starseed: Years later, another dancer of genius faced the end of her career when her body failed her, and Rain McLeod followed Shara into space. If she joined with a symbiotic lifeform that would let her live without artificial protection in the vacuum of space, she would take a quantum leap in human evolution. Starmind: Rand Porter has been offered the job of a lifetime, as a shaper of visual effects and music for the world's most famous zero-gravity dance company in High Orbit. But his beloved novelist wife Rhea Paixao has her roots sunk deep in the Earth, in her beloved Cape Cod. And as they wrestle with their private dilemma, bizarre things-small miracles-are beginning to occur everywhere on Earth and throughout the entire Solar System. The human race-and its evolutionary successors, the space-dwelling Stardancers-find themselves approaching the terrifying cusp of their shared destiny, an appointment made for them a million years ago, a make-or-break point beyond which nothing, anywhere, can ever be the same again.

Seer's Blood


Doranna Durgin - 2000
    Blaine Kendricks thinks the strangers have come to Shadow Hollers to trade, but he is dead wrong, and as the invasion proceeds, he is recruited by a magician to participate in a dangerous game.

Version Control


Dexter Palmer - 2016
    She spends her days working in customer support for the internet dating site where she first met her husband. But she has a strange, persistent sense that everything around her is somewhat off-kilter: she constantly feels as if she has walked into a room and forgotten what she intended to do there; on TV, the President seems to be the wrong person in the wrong place; her dreams are full of disquiet. Meanwhile, her husband's decade-long dedication to his invention, the causality violation device (which he would greatly prefer you not call a “time machine”) has effectively stalled his career and made him a laughingstock in the physics community. But he may be closer to success than either of them knows or can possibly imagine.Version Control is about a possible near future, but it’s also about the way we live now. It’s about smart phones and self-driving cars and what we believe about the people we meet on the Internet. It’s about a couple, Rebecca and Philip, who have experienced a tragedy, and about how they help — and fail to help — each other through it.