The Veils of Azlaroc


Fred Saberhagen - 1978
    yourself as a settler, living in a translucent "pocket" that makes your life an almost ageless state, as time in each pocket passes so slowly that senility and death are meaningless concepts. Your immortality has a price; you have free interaction only with those of your "generation"; you see settlers from ten years before as blurred outlines. And a settler from fifty years before can walk right through you!IMAGINE... yourself as a tourist, struck by the wonder of the shimmering planet, yet careful to heed the date of the next predicted veilfall, knowing that to be on Azlaroc at veilfall is to be there forever.IMAGINE... yourself as the one man on Azlaroc who knows for a certainty that, this time, veilfall will come early, and without warning!

SEAL Team Six: No More #1


Doug Murray - 2014
    His missions are classified. He is her best and last hope. When Randall ‘Flame’ O'Donnell is forced to leave the SEALs due to a traumatic head injury he received on a mission, he firmly believes his life to be over. Leaving the SEALs is painful and impossible; Flame is certain life cannot only never be the same, but he doesn't know how to live without them. Facing a lifetime as a nothing but a civilian, Flame finds himself considering things he never thought he would: like joining the private sector and getting a job. But this is no ordinary job. Partnering up with ex-CIA analyst and NSA agent Dana Morton, Flame finds himself reliving his SEAL days by becoming the muscle in an agency that investigates and protects. Although he worries that things will get boring, he quickly realizes that this job is anything but static. From the rescue mission of a German television crew, to the thwarting of multiple terrorist attacks in major American cities, Flame finds himself once again stoking the fires he thought were long dead. And having a gorgeous blonde partner doesn't exactly hurt! From Vietnam veteran and seasoned writer, Doug Murray, comes an epic tale of redemption and ass-kicking that digs deep into the psyche of a former SEAL whose glory days are far from over. Prologue from Dynamite's New eBook: SEAL TEAM SIX NO MORE: REKINDLED FLAME: Darkness surrounded Flame as he crouched with the front of his left shoulder just touching a wall of some kind, the familiar shape of an M4 cradled in his arms. Where the hell am I? he asked himself. What am I supposed to do? He shook his head—felt a familiar weight on it. Night vision! He fumbled for the boxy system, and pulled it down in front of his eyes. Now where’s that switch…? Something clicked under his questing fingers and everything changed. I’m in a big room of some kind. Flame studied the green-tinged one-dimensional reality that spread around him. Boxes and crates everywhere. He tapped the huge crate he’d thought was a wall. Big suckers… He shook his head. Supply dump, maybe... He glanced to his front. Looks like an access door up ahead there… He sensed movement somewhere behind him. Shit! Flame turned toward the movement, clicking off the safety of his M4 with automatic precision. Where did that come from? He strained eyes and ears for more information—anything that might tell him what he’d gotten himself into—but all he could hear was the hammering sound of rain hitting what must have been a metal roof. Any other subtler sound was all but inaudible against that cacophony. Flame stood completely still, eyes flicking from side to side, waiting for… What? Suddenly, he heard the familiar clatter of an AK-47 coming from somewhere behind him. Flame whirled toward the new sound, rifle barrel swiveling to bear. There was a flicker of movement. It came from that doorway! Flame raised the M4, aiming it at the doorjamb. As soon as the bastard sticks his head out to try again, I’ll take it off and… There was movement to his right as a tall, rather angular figure slid to a halt behind a large box of some kind. The figure waved to him… Re-Pete? The new arrival signaled to Flame that he was going to leapfrog forward and motioned for him to give covering fire. Flame reacted automatically, stroking the trigger of his M4 to produce carefully aimed three-round bursts.

A Fine and Private Place/The Last Unicorn


Peter S. Beagle - 1991
    Beagle and published in 1968. It follows the tale of a unicorn, who believes she is the last of her kind in the world and undertakes a quest to discover what has happened to the others. It has sold more than five million copies worldwide since its original publication, and has been translated into at least twenty languages. In 1987, Locus ranked The Last Unicorn number five among the 33 "All-Time Best Fantasy Novels", based on a poll of subscribers. The story begins with a group of human hunters passing through a forest in search of game. After days of coming up empty-handed, they begin to believe they are passing through a Unicorn's forest, where animals are kept safe by a magical aura. They resign themselves to hunting somewhere else; but, before they leave, one of the hunters calls out a warning to the Unicorn that she may be the last of her kind. This revelation disturbs the Unicorn, and though she initially dismisses it, eventually doubt and worry drive her to leave her forest. She travels through the land and discovers that humans no longer even recognize her; instead they see a pretty white mare. She is taken captive by a traveling carnival led by witch Mommy Fortuna, who uses magical spells to create the illusion that regular animals are in fact creatures of myth and legend. There are many more adventures and the book is a delight, as well as thought-provoking. A good read!!

Women and Other Monsters


Bernard Schaffer - 2011
    These are just some of the stories included in Bernard Schaffer's first collection, Women and Other Monsters. ***Vampires are assholes. They're not sparkly, reticent killers yearning for true love. They aren't gothic romantics who read poetry. They aren't even mysterious Romanians who turn into bats and terrorize the countryside. Really, they're just douche bags. - Room ServiceThus begins "Room Service," a dark comedy about a loser named Robbie who lives with his mom and dates a stripper. One night his girlfriend does a "private" with a suspiciously pasty customer and is never heard from again. As soon as Robbie figures out his girl was served up as a vampire Slurpee, he's out to exact revenge. Not that he has any clue how do it. But when you have nothing to lose and a bloodsucking freak to get even with, you don't mind improvising. ***Women and Other Monsters is the first collection of short stories by best-selling author Bernard Schaffer. Readers will have plenty more to feast on (nearly as much as Blake the vampire did in the story mentioned above), whether it's a Civil War Era woman too beloved by Death to die, or Ancient Astronauts who are only supposed to observe Earth, but instead tamper with humanity and trigger a history-altering event. Prepare to be seduced, surprised and sometimes horrified at the twists and turns that await as you venture into the darkness with Bernard Schaffer.***Women and Other Monsters is a short story collection recommended for fans of scary short stories, sexy short stories, superhero stories, secret agent short stories, horror stories and more.

The Universe Against Her


James H. Schmitz - 1964
    She could read, as well as change, human minds! In part I, she enjoys an extraordinary telepathic rapport with a feline non-human.Then her dreams become nightmares dominated by a weird "psionic traffic cop," and she realizes that further exercise of her powers could lead to trouble. Somehow, the interstellar government had found out about her, and had planted that "cop" in her mind to destroy her.Expansion of 2 previously published stories - "Novice" (1962) and "Undercurrents" (1964).