His only hope for survival is to partner with an alien Artificial Intelligence named Alyssa. She is the brain of the most improbable star ship Gus has ever seen, part ancient sailing ship, part incredible star-faring vessel. But there is a catch. Alyssa’s first priority is to finish an epic yacht race that started twenty-eight thousand years ago. THE WORLD IS CAPTURED BY THE ALIEN DRAMA Every day Gus sends a video love letter to his wife via the lifeboat’s one-way subspace signal where it is automatically posted on YouTube. Few people care until another lifeboat crashes with two young women aboard, both of them celebrities. Their fame turns Gus into a worldwide phenomenon; everyone watches the three castaways fight to carve a life from the tiny island life even though they have little hope of rescue. When disaster threatens, Gus and the girls have no choice but to resurrect the crippled galleon. Their impossible task is to sail Alyssa across an alien sea and then fly her across unimaginable galactic reaches. WHEN ALYSSA FINALLY AGREES TO HELP, SPACE PIRATES STRIKE On live television, the public watches helplessly when a ship of vicious murderers attack the three survivors. The world grieves when the now-famous exiles go silent. At least until Earth's Space Navy reports they are under attack by a ship that is beyond imagination.

    IT FINDS A THIEF 5050 AD. Earth as we know it has been decimated. It is a radioactive wasteland. The few millions who survived, fled to Calara, a planet in the Icarus Galaxy, where they have established civilization. But, life on Calara hasn't turned out the way they wanted it. AI rule over them. Which wasn't the way humans saw how their lives turning out when they arrived on the new planet. They brought their ways and technology. They tried to colonize the other planets and stars in the galaxy. As humans have tended to do. Then, AI took over. But now, the humans are rebelling. Remember history? They need someone to rally around. To lead them. To show them the way. Enter Cade Stryker. Let's not glorify him. He is a thief. He sails Andy, short for Andromeda, his ship, in the farthest reaches of space. Trading with anyone, anywhere. Well, he calls it trade. Everyone else calls it smuggling. He thinks he is like Wyatt Earp. Because where he flies, is indeed like the Wild West. No rules. No borders. There's the small matter that Earp was a lawman. And Cade is a... let's not harp on that. So, Cade. He isn't in the hero business. No, sir. Cade is too smart for that. Because heroes have a short shelf life. And need to have noble intentions. Cade and noble don't go together. Nope. The fate of humans definitely Does Not lie in the hands of Cade Stryker. No way. Check out Ty Patterson's USA Today Bestselling Warriors Series The Warrior The Reluctant Warrior The Warrior Code The Warrior's Debt Boxset 1, Books 1-4 Flay Behind You Hunting You Zero Boxset 2, Books 5-8 Death Club Trigger Break Scorched Earth RUN!

    Shielded from humanity, the Otherside is watched over by the BTCO, a highly secret government agency, whose members all possess 'The Knack', a genetic anomaly that allows them to see this other world. Franklyn 'Bermuda' Jones is the BTCO's finest agent, the only human to have passed to the Otherside and returned. Gifted with the ability to physically interact with both worlds, Bermuda reluctantly stands between both worlds, pining for the life he had to leave behind and the daughter he can no longer see. Teamed with Argyle, an enigmatic Otherside warrior, Bermuda is assigned the case of a missing woman who has vanished under mysterious circumstances.As Bermuda delves further into the disappearance, he uncovers a threat that could destroy the truce between two worlds...and finds himself in a race against time to safeguard humanity's very existence. Discover a new world in this fast-paced urban fantasy packed with thrills, action and the odd one liner.

    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.

    Stalin’s War told the story of the build up to war, and now Truman’s War tells the story of two superpowers at war in the devastated landscape of post-war Germany that soon spreads across the globe. The drama opens with a massive series of attacks across a four hundred mile front as Marshal Zhukov’s powerful Red Army launches Operation Stalin’s Revenge against the ill-prepared Allied armies. The American and British armies having never faced such a powerful foe are sent reeling back from the opening attacks as entire units are soon overwhelmed by the advancing Soviet forces. The relatively untried American President is forced to grapple with the realization that the United States is threatened with its most deadly enemy in its history and a choice must be made…fight or retreat across the Atlantic in disgrace. Will President Truman rise to the occasion or instead falter and fail to live up to the exalted legacy of his predecessor. Massive battles in the air, land, and sea break out as Allied forces strike back but at an appalling cost. Massive pitched battles from Hamburg to Pilsen try to stem the Soviet onslaught, but victorious Soviet tanks push hard for the Rhine to secure a swift victory ever mindful they are up against the clock trying to win before American atomic arms can be brought to bear. Heroes emerge while others fall in disgrace unable to stand up to a new type of war, a total war unlike any the Allied armies ever thought possible. Truman’s War tells the story through the lives and actions of numerous historical figures from Truman, Churchill, Eisenhower, Patton, Montgomery, Bradley and countless others while also focusing on the great Soviets figures of the era, Stalin, Zhukov, Khrushchev, Rokossovsky, Chuikov, and others. Plus, numerous lesser known historical figures play their parts and fictional characters are also introduced to play important roles in the drama that plays out page-by-page until we reach the stunning conclusion setting up the third and final volume of the World in Flames trilogy.

     The world is still reeling from the devastation of the final battle between the world’s strongest metahumans. Empire City has been left in shambles as it struggles to rebuild. Overnight, the world’s metabands, mysterious bracelets that offer their owner’s superhuman powers and abilities, have all ceased working. Guilt ridden over his possible hand in all of this, the masked vigilante Midnight has hung up his cowl. Instead of fighting crime, he now spends his sleepless nights searching for clues to recover the device that might be responsible for all of it before it can fall into the wrong hands. Along the way he meets Amanda Khan, a teenage girl with a metahuman history in search of her missing friend. Both find the clues to what they’re both searching for lead them to The Receptive, a secretive cult which offers a path to meta humanity to its most loyal followers and may just hold the answers to the missing device. Don't forget to check out the other books in the Meta series, including Meta, The Second Wave and Rise of The Circle.

    Intrusive thoughts begin invading John's mind. And the swirling blue liquid injected into their veins each night does not seem like part of any legitimate study.As the true motive for the research facility is revealed, John's focus shifts from his crippling insomnia to his own horrific imprisonment. Can he and his fellow subjects escape the facility alive, or are they doomed like all the test subjects before them?

    Its biggest divergence from the real city is that it--along with most other large urban centers--has a team of superheroes to protect it against unusual threats with which the conventional forces of law and order would have problems.Goon Squad: Year One offers three action-packed volumes in a single collection: Goon Squad, Vol. 1: Special Talents"The New Girl""Nightclubbing""By the Water, by the Grave""Changes""No-No Dojo""Exterminating Angel"Goon Squad, Vol. 2: Without Sin"A Star in Strange Ways""Holy Fool""Dead Man Tells Tale""A Brief History of the Goon Squad""Tale of Terror""Pomona Island"Goon Squad, Vol. 3: Old Enemies"Life during Wartime""Red Wolf, Red Wolf, Does Whatever a Red Wolf Can""Shadow of the Vivisector""The Man from Switzerland""The End of the Year Show"

     Last week I had an IQ so low that I sometimes forgot how to get home, and could barely stumble through sentences. This week I am the owner of the most advanced space station in the known universe and I wield powers that can alter reality itself. If I have the energy that my power is dependent upon... You see I get more energy every day, it's a set amount. I can stockpile it or burn it all up on one giant "upgrade" as I like to call it. This power comes from one of the wishes I made, yes, on a magical genie's lamp. I know that sounds crazy. So what do a Viking woman from 800AD, a U.S. Army combat veteran, and a fat gaming nerd have in common? Well, they're my team, and if I can save up enough energy I can use my new power to give them superpowers of their own. That's the plan at least. The problem with my plan is that I have some shadow organization looking for me. They'll kill me, my family, my friends, and everyone I have ever loved to get the lamp. What do they want? As far as I can tell they want to rewrite our universe into some kind of communist paradise where freewill comes second to safety and the government. I have to find some way to keep the lamp from the organization going after it that involves more than just hiding up in my space station. I refuse to be a hermit coward. I also have an ingrained need to help people, and now I have the power to do that. I have more resources at my disposal than any law enforcement agency on earth, and a team of people willing to help me. I want to be a hero, but I have no idea what I'm doing. Did I mention I was a barely functioning idiot last week? Content Warning: This book contains foul language, mild gore, and fictional politics.

    A galactic empire of a quarter of a million worlds stumbles across the Earth. Their philosophy on life is totally unexpected. With the help of intelligent automatons, they've turned a reviled political system into a utopia for the masses, but are they a force for good or evil? A Daragnen university graduate, Yol Rummy Blin Breganin, discovers that Earth failed in its attempt to join the Federation, and, for some unknown reason, members are forever banned from visiting or contacting the planet. Rummy had never heard of a whole world being outlawed. Perhaps it would be sensible to leave well enough alone but no, he decides to investigate… FEDERATION is the first in a series of near-future, hard science-fiction novels by Tony Harmsworth, the First Contact specialist. Immerse yourself in humankind’s cultural and economic dilemma by buying FEDERATION today.

    That was, of course, because they didn’t know that Camp Tekonichia was home to boundless spirit energy, three very bored ghosts, and a powerful magic spell on the verge of completion. Now, these three will have to race against time and an ancient evil trying to stop the whole world from turning into a haven for restless spirits. Aided only by a mysterious medium and the camp’s resident ghosts, none of them have a clue how they’re supposed to save the world. Especially since they only have until sunrise to do it.

    The Counter-Cultivation division investigates, the elite Black Corpses are sent in for the kill. None are spared. Mercy does not exist.But did the cultivators really bring the War of Tribulation? Are they actually responsible for the Heavenly Curse? Are they truly the bloodthirsty psychopaths the government paints them to be?Wang Fan, a homicide detective, believes that officers like himself are tasked with championing the rights of the common citizens. But when a seemingly routine case goes awry, he finds himself dragged into the darkness of the cultivation world. By the time he realizes the Black Corpses have their sniper rifles aimed at the back of his head, Wang Fan has no choice.He has to fight the system to survive.

    It is thus embarrassing when he is run over by a bus. It is even more embarrassing when he, and atheist, realises there is an afterlife…Resurrected on a huge flat plain, he is forced to play a deadly game. Moved as a pawn to the whim of the Gods in a fight to the death with warriors from all ages of earth’s history. Killed again and again only to be resurrected.The General, the Grim Reaper and Anubis are some of the strange beings who direct this grisly entertainment. Is it real or only in his decaying mind. Who is the Clown? It there anywhere to escape to?To retain his sanity, he must believe there is an end; an escape; a purpose. A thought-provoking story leading to an action filled climax that challenges our accepted beliefs…

     After the unfortunate events that took place in Britain, Jacob Hunter is no longer certain of many things, but this ill-fated truth is one he understands implicitly. Having spent months battling his addiction to the all-powerful blue orb, a device capable of traveling through time but equally adept at breaking a man’s mind, Jacob has finally succumbed to it. Once aided by loyal companions and the woman he loves, Jacob has abandoned everyone he has ever trusted, his mind warped by the orb’s influence. However, recently given new clues concerning the orb’s potential, Jacob departs for Rome, where he now knows a second orb lay hidden, waiting to be reunited with the orb he already possesses. Accompanied only by Rome’s manipulative empress, Agrippina the Younger, the pair journey to Rome where they hope to discover the secret to the orb’s power, but a destructive truth lies behind what they seek, one he may not be fully prepared to combat… But Jacob is not the only one about to embark on a daring quest. Having been abandoned and left without direction in the hinterlands of ancient Britain, Jacob’s sister, Diana, must find it in herself to rally Jacob’s jilted friends and corral an enraged Helena, the woman he loves, who carries her own mysterious secret after her life was miraculously saved at the brink of death. Unprepared for the responsibility suddenly thrust on her by Jacob's disappearance, Diana understands that she and her friends must find him before it's too late. Clouded and perverted though his mind may be, she knows her brother all too well. Jacob, tormented and driven beyond rationality, is prepared to sacrifice everything to find the lost orb. Including his life...

    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.