An alien craft the size of a cruise ship blips into space between the earth and the moon. It sends no messages. It responds to no calls. The people of earth panic, of course. The spacecraft settles on the moon and bides its time. It's right there, where anyone with a telescope can see it, but it's too far away for earth's nascent space programs to reach. And then, nothing happens. Frenzy fizzles to boredom. Everyone's attention turns back to their lives. Not that it matters, because the aliens are preparing for what's coming next, conquest. The Freedom's Fire Series Prequel - Freedom's Siege book 1 - Freedom's Fire book 2 - Freedom's Fury book 3 - Freedom's Fate book 4 - Freedom's Fist

    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

    Fighting alongside the Raven Guard Legion, Marcus Valerius of the Therion Cohort has long scorned those who seek to deify the Emperor, but a flash of inspiration leads him to question whether or not there are greater forces at work in the universe...

    And now he and his crew are living to regret his desperation. In Red Space the rules are different. Some things work, others don't. Best to stick close to the Church beacons. Don't get lost. Because there's something wrong about Red Space. Something beyond rational. Something vampyric...Long after The Loss mankind is different. We touch the world via neunonics. We are machines, we are animals, we are hybrids. But some things never change. A Killer is paid to kill, a Thief will steal countless lives. A Clone will find insanity, an Innocent a new horror. The Church knows we have kept our sins. Gavin Smith's new SF novel is an epic slam-bang ride through a terrifyingly different future.

    Here are 25 stories (plus a bonus interview with best-selling author George R.R. Martin) by some of the field's greatest authors. Included are:THE TRUE DARKNESS, by Pamela SargentPERMANENT FATAL ERRORS, by Jay LakeADJUSTMENT TEAM, by Philip K. DickROBOTS DON’T CRY, by Mike ResnickNO GREAT MAGIC, by Fritz LeiberESCAPE HATCH, by Brenda W. CloughBACKLASH, by Winston K. MarksTHE PICK-UP, by Lawrence Watt-EvansPOPULATION IMPLOSION, by Andrew J. OffuttWAY DOWN EAST, by Tim SullivanTHROUGH TIME AND SPACE WITH FERDINAND FEGHOOT: 28, by Grendel BriartonTO INVADE NEW YORK, by Irwin LewisTHEY WERE THE WIND, by C.J. HendersonSTOPOVER, by William GerkenCONSEQUENCES OF STEAM, by Michael HemmingsonOUTSIDE LOOKING IN, by Mark E. BurgessDEAD WORLD, by Jack DouglasNEFERTITI'S TENTH LIFE, by Mary A. TurzilloQUICKSILVER, by Lonni LeesAFTER ALL, by Robert ReginaldTHE BARBARIANS, by Algis BudrysEX MACHINA, by Cynthia WardMONKEY ON HIS BACK, by Charles V. De VetTHE SURVIVORS, by Tom GodwinTHROUGH TIME AND SPACE WITH FERDINAND FEGHOOT: 99, by Grendel BriartonSPEAKING WITH GEORGE R.R. MARTIN: Interview conducted by Darrell SchweitzerAnd don't forget to search this ebook store for "Wildside Megapack" to see more entries in this series, covering classic authors and subjects like mysteries, science fiction, westerns, ghost stories -- and much, much more!

    Dick award and was optioned by Hollywood. He followed this up with two further novels continuing the adventures of Takeshi Kovacs - BROKEN ANGELS and WOKEN FURIES. He also wrote two further standalone SF novels, MARKET FORCES and BLACK MAN (which won the Arthur C. Clarke award).All five of these novels are collected here as the perfect introduction to Richard's work, or a welcome reminder of his power as a writer. Richard has also written two computer games (CRYSIS 2 and SYNDICATE), comics for MARVEL and is currently working on a fantasy trilogy comprising OF THE STEEL REMAINS, THE COLD COMMANDS, THE DARK DEFILES.

    Now, years later, Han fights his way free. His goal: to become an Imperial Navy pilot. But first he needs hand-on experience flying spacecraft, and for that he takes a job on the planet Ylesia—a steaming world of religious fanaticism, illicit drugs, and alluring sensuality…where dreams are destroyed and escape is impossible. The Hutt Gambit - Once one of the Academy's brightest stars, Han Solo is now a fugitive from the Imperial Navy. But he has made a valuable friend in a former Wookiee slave named Chewbacca, who has sworn Han a life debt. Han will need all the help he can get. For the Ylesian Hutts have dispatched the dreaded bounty hunter Boba Fett to track down the man who already outsmarted them once. But Han and Chewie find themselves in even bigger trouble when they agree to lend their services to crime lords Jiliac and Jabba the Hutts. Suddenly the two smugglers are thrust into the middle of a battle between the might of the Empire and the treachery of their outlaw allies…a battle where even victory means death! Rebel Dawn - The Millennium Falcon is "the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy." So when Han Solo wins it in a game of sabacc, he and Chewbacca become kings of the smugglers—uncatchable and unstoppable. But with the Empire clamping down, Han knows his luck can't last. Still, when an old girlfriend who is now the leader of an insurgent Rebel group offers him a shot at an incredible fortune, Han can't resist. The plan seems a sure thing. The resistance will be light and the take enormous. Han and his friends will divide it equally with the Rebels. Too bad for Han that the planet of Ylesia is far from a pushover, that the Rebels have an agenda of their own, and that smuggler friends can often turn into enemies…quicker than lightspeed.Source: Wookieepedia