"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.

    A short story from Franz Kafka, celebrated author of dark haunting tales of transformation and the horrors of life.Sometimes translated as "A Country Doctor."

    He announces he is the Lord of Misrule and appoints his Court of Fools.Very quickly odd things start to happen.Previously unseen magic is revealed, and paranormal characteristics are unveiled.And unfortunately, darker events occur, too.Unless Avery, Alex, and the other witches can find a solution, Yuletide may not be as joyous as they hoped.

    There smuggling, bribes, and a wild-west live-free-or-die attitude prevails and an eye-for-an-eye is the preferred method of retribution. For Zenaida, a child of the Rim, the death of her father requires retribution. But she must first learn how to survive while trying to track down her snow leopard's stolen litter and her father's killers. But unknown to her, her father's killers spared her for a reason—a secret that could mean her death if she discovers it.

     With the weight of his conscience growing by the mission and a fiancee who makes him want to be a better man, Carl Ramsey decides to try his hand at being one of the good guys. But there's a long line of enemies who won't forget so easily. Mission 13: Mission Inadvisable The Mobius crew gets a job offer so vile they not only turn it down, they set out to stop the secretive crime lord doing the hiring. Along the way, they manage to accidentally double-cross an old friend. Sometimes, no matter what you try, you're destined to be on the wrong side of the law. Mission 14: Moral and Orbital Decay Mort's son is on the run from the Convocation. He's fled to a remote mining station and looking for a quick ride from his father's old crew. But when magic gets out of hand, suddenly everyone's more concerned about stopping the space station from crashing into a planet than finding a fugitive. Mission 15: Planet Hustlers Pirates capture the stunnji homeworld, and Rai Kub's people turn to Carl Ramsey to find a way to convince them to leave. Carl's plan? A lot of fast talking, subterfuge, and the crookedest game of poker ever played. The stakes: the fate of a refugee planet. Mission 16: Eternity or Bust When your bride-to-be makes a simple request, a smart man makes it happen. When your outlaw fiancee wants her wedding on Earth, where most of the galaxy's top law enforcement agencies are headquartered, it's going to take bribery, back room deals, and ratting out some old associates. But Carl won't be able to live with himself unless he gets his friends out of the jam he puts them in. Bonus Short Story: For Old Time's Sake With retirement in full force, the crew of the Mobius take on a decidedly low-key villain: the interlopers who're looking to ruin their gig hustling simulator combat for free meals.

    Illustrator and writer's Carolyn Marie Castagna's first shared short story.A small icicle hanging from a roof peers inside a window at a small reading room, and learns about magical human qualities, and the importance of the one most special human feeling.

    Responding to the crash, the primitive earthlings discover the ship's commander Valerie Dunne is a 5,000-year-old woman from the future, forced to escape her nemesis, the Boecki, by hiding in the past. Soon they learn the fate of the future world now rests on this strange woman's ability to harness five Hesaurun rings - rings with the power to destroy, heal, and manipulate time - and somehow, to find a way to alter her own destiny.An epic Sci-Fi tale of good and evil, rescue and survival, betrayal and love, and a threat to mankind unlike anything the human race has ever faced, The Rings of Hesaurun: Book One burns with the scope and imagination of the greatest Fantasy novels of the golden age. Weaving in a huge cast of humans and aliens, Peter Harrett has crafted a galaxy for readers of the 21st century to believe in...immense, ancient, and mind-bending.

     But even in victory, the legacy of Obadiah Paine is not so easily washed away. His hidden lair yet remains, Dread Fortress Paine yet stands! Within it . . . none can be sure what monstrous acts are waiting to be uncovered or guess the number of Paine loyalists who linger. It falls on the shoulders of ESLED Strike Alpha to answer these questions and to seize Paine's hideout for the Elemental Learning Council. Led by spectromancer Ramses Lamprey, joined by civilian observer Tyson Bonnie, and aided by Council fixer Eva Reti, failure is not an option. This volume is a can't miss for Foul Mouth fans, acting as an action packed epilogue for "The Foul Mouth and the Pit of No Return" while priming many plot points for the next main volume and even those well beyond. Dread Fortress Paine must fall! THE KING HENRY TAPES Book 1 - "The Foul Mouth and the Fanged Lady" (released) Book 2 - "The Foul Mouth and the Cat Killing Coyotes" (released) Book 3 - "The Foul Mouth and the Troubled Boomworm" (released) Book 4 - "The Foul Mouth and the Headless Hunny" (released) Book 5 - "The Foul Mouth and the Mancy Martial Artist" (released) Book 5.5 - "King Henry and the Three Little Trips" (released) Book 6 - "The Foul Mouth and the Pit of No Return" (released) Book 6.5 - "Assault on Dread Fortress Paine" (released) Book 6.75 - "The Glassbreaker Goes Home" (forthcoming) Book 7 - "The Foul Mouth and the Runaway Rumble" (forthcoming)

    It has been one of the highest-rated sci-fi series on Amazon over the last three years. This bundle contains books 1 through 9--the complete series--and will captivate fans of science fiction, fantasy, thrillers, and cyberpunk. In this riveting nine-volume set, Hoodwink Cooper infiltrates a tyrannical alien regime and traverses multiple realities in a daring attempt to save his daughter from certain doom... There's only one problem. He might destroy the last living remnants of humanity in the process. This ultimate edition contains THE FOREVER GATE volumes one through nine. Strap yourself in, because the mind-bending thrill ride that explores what it means to be human has only just begun.

    He can see into the mind of everyone he meets - a useful ability when you're job is to destroy celebrities on live television.But when he stumbles upon a hundred-year-old photograph in which he sees himself as a boy, Elliot's gift spirals out of control.His only hope to retain his sanity lies in the hands of a group of misfits who claim to have lived before...and who know Elliot very well.Can Elliot discover the secret of the photograph, and of who he really is, before he loses his mind forever?

    You may see some of these characters and places again, but Wardstone has always been intended to remain a trilogy. Without further adieu, please enjoy the HUGE free sample of book one. Enjoy the journey, M.R. Mathias

    But the laws of our charter prevent me and I am bound by oath to obey those laws; laws made, not by our own Guild-mothers, but by men who fear what we might have to say to their women!

    His future is before him, but it is a new beginning he'd not counted on. An EMP changes the course of his life. Tomi leads his friend and other to a safe haven, but they must journey through a gauntlet of danger, betrayal and desolation. With a 90% die off rate, the once powerful United States becomes something medieval and lawless. Where desolation reigns.

    This science fiction adventure blends magic and technology with the adventures of Ruth, a normal human, pushed into extraordinary situations. Ruth’s transformation takes her from Earth to worlds and situations of which she never dreamed.

    For almost three years, the Federation and the Klingon Empire, allied under the Khitomer Accords, have contended with the nascent coalition on a predominantly cold-war footing. But as Starfleet rebuilds itself, factions within the Typhon Pact grow restive, concerned about their own inability to develop a quantum slipstream drive to match that of the Federation. Will leaders such as UFP President Bacco and RSE Praetor Kamemor bring about a lasting peace across the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, or will the cold war between the two alliances deepen, and perhaps even lead to an all-out shooting war? Raise the Dawn After the disastrous events in the Bajoran system, Captain Benjamin Sisko must confront the consequences of the recent choices he has made in his life. At the same time, the United Federation of Planets and its Khitomer Accords allies have come to the brink of war with the Typhon Pact. While factions within the Pact unsuccessfully used the recent gestures of goodwill—the opening of borders and a joint Federation-Romulan exploratory mission—to develop quantum-slipstream drive, they have not given up their goals. Employing a broad range of assets, from Romulus to Cardassia, from Ab-Tzenketh to Bajor, they embark on a dangerous new plan to acquire the technology they need to take control of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. While UFP President Bacco and Romulan Praetor Kamemor work feverishly to reestablish peace, Captains Sisko, Jean-Luc Picard, and Ro Laren stand on the front lines of the conflict...even as a new danger threatens the Bajoran wormhole as it once more becomes a flashpoint of galactic history. Brinkmanship The Venette Convention has always remained independent, but it is about to become the flashpoint for a tense military standoff between the two power blocs now dominating interstellar space—the United Federation of Planets and the recently formed Typhon Pact. The Venetan government turns to the Typhon Pact’s Tzenkethi Coalition for protection in the new order, and has agreed to allow three of their supply bases for Tzenkethi use. But these bases—if militarized—would put Tzenkethi weapons unacceptably close to Federation, Cardassian, and Ferengi space. While Captain Ezri Dax and the crew of the U.S.S. Aventine are sent to investigate exactly what is happening at one of the Venette bases, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the U.S.S. Enterprise are assigned to a diplomatic mission sent to the Venette homeworld in order to broker a mutually acceptable resolution. But the Cardassian delegates don’t seem particularly keen on using diplomacy to resolve the situation, which soon spirals out of control toward all-out war. . .