A group of elite operatives is dispatched to locate him and it stumbles across his monumental creation. Through a few bizarre twists of fate, an unlikely hero emerges in a struggle that could mark the beginning of a new era. "An important moment in history is like a beam of light. Some people see it and rush to it like moths. Other people just happen to discover that the beam of light is shining upon them."

    When research suggests how to harness brain evolution, a hunt ensues for a missing link―one that allows to design humans with skills that prodigies of old would have envied.As germline engineering and biological enhancement have become routine, ancient doubts have emerged under new guises: Who are we? Is there a purpose to life? Why is there so much suffering? When faith and science fail to answer these questions, personal greed and national interest quickly fill the void. But gene selection is expensive, and many are excluded from its benefits. The stage is set for tribalism and social discontent on a scale without precedent, and those caught in the fray, whether by choice or by chance, must play roles not always to their liking in the struggle of all creatures against the arbitrariness of existence.

    Now, the Confederation's crises are spawned from within, and one brave woman struggles against all odds to keep mankind united amidst a hailstorm of rebellion, war, and moral declination.* * * * *The Lucani Ibron have yet to return, but all is not well within the Alpha Sector. Internal strife, terrorism, and ever-escalating conflicts with several neighboring species have spread the Confederation's resources dangerously thin. Captain Anastasia Mason, together with an eclectic group of humanity's most decorated heroes, struggles to hold the Confederation together against powerful forces that threaten to rip it apart at its very core. Then, at what appears to be mankind’s most desperate hour, an old enemy returns from a ten-year hiatus, casting humanity to the brink of civil war... and outright annihilation.

    Alternate cover edition for B01MU10N5THow can one unwilling human save the galaxy? Can Mark stay alive, defeat a psychopathic reptile whose armies are set to overwhelm all the free civilizations in the galaxy? And will he get the girl of his dreams? Maybe not, but he’ll have a damn good try! And how did he become allied to the most powerful race in the universe?

    Everyone around him is dead. He has no idea where he is, or who shot him and his squad down.He soon discovers he’s on one of the moons orbiting Mars, not far from the main colony and his transport back to Earth. Two members of a mining team stationed on the moon come out to investigate. They take Miller back to their base where he manages to send out a call for help.He has ninety minutes to wait for rescue.But those ninety minutes are going to feel like a lifetime.Miller quickly realises that something in the station is wrong.There seems to be more to this place than meets the eye.Strange and unsettling events suggest things are not quite as they appear.As the minutes until his rescue tick by and he begins to finally figure out what is going on, Miller is forced to confront echoes from his past as well as his deepest fears in a situation that is becoming more terrifying by the second.And he soon learns that some nightmares don’t stop when you wake up.

    It’s the best possible memorial for Zachary Hill and everything he thought was awesome. Tracy and Genesse did a fantastic job finishing this excellent book filled with samurai robots, evil megacorporations, jetpacks, espionage, hacker battles, anime fights, cyber nukes, bullet bikes—all with a badass, headbanging, horn-throwing, stage-diving soundtrack, blessed by the goddess of heavy metal herself. I loved it.”—Larry Correia, NYT bestselling author of HOUSE OF ASSASSINS “A hard-rocking literary mosh pit about a heavy-metal android who becomes both the hero and villain of a brutal cyberpunk thriller. Sakura is loaded with more computers, guns, music, and hard-edged futurism than any five other books working together, and it gives you both barrels straight to the face. STOP HOGGING ALL THE AWESOME, SAKURA; LET THE REST OF US HAVE SOME.”—Dan Wells, NYT bestselling author of BLUESCREEN “Sakura: Intellectual Property lands like a power chord from a world-class rock opera. From the first chapter, we are card-carrying members of the Sakura fan club. The story is tighter than a lead guitarist’s E string and twice as resonant. Any fan of outstanding science fiction will be rocked. Just press ‘play’ on Sakura.”—Michael Darling, #1 Amazon Bestselling Author of GOT LUCK“ Sakura is a myth-tinted, hard-rock Japanese cyberpunk thriller that starts with a bang and gets louder. Full of mystery, mayhem, guitars, and swagger, recommended for readers who like THINGS THAT ARE AWESOME.”—D.J. Butler, author of WITCHY EYE “Heavy metal with hints of Ghost in the Shell, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and the Illuminati. It’s a super fun ride.”—Joe Monson, coeditor of TRACE THE STARS “A cybernetic tour de force starring a plucky heavy-metal heroine—in which we find out if music really can save us all.”—Julie Frost, award-winning author of the PACK DYNAMICS series "A stunning book, and not only because of its fast-paced, action-driven story, thrilling plot twists, gorgeous illustrations, and meticulously crafted playlists that engage the readers’ senses in ways other books never could. What makes this volume so exceptional is its capacity to make the readers interrogate both their own humanity and the personhood of others, to delve deep into the different and surprising aspects of being human and experience the wide spectrum of ways in which we show up in the world: imperfect, flawed, and broken, yes, but also brave, glorious, and alive in more ways than one. This work teaches us that the soul is never lost but may be hiding in the most unexpected of places, patiently waiting to be rediscovered and recognized for what it is: a “spiritual electricity,” as Rilke describes it. This is a book not to be missed.——Dr. Masha Shukovich, multiple award winning author “A high-octane story, fueled by rocket-grade heavy metal. Sakura: Intellectual Property tells a high-tech tale of intrigue, action, and rock and roll. The main character, an android/rock star/Manchurian candidate, is written in vivid 3-D. This book is a page-turner from beginning to end. It reads like a full-stack Marshall amplifier. If I could, I would plug my guitar right into this book and shake down the rafters.” —Craig Nybo, author, musician, and creator of CHOPS: THE OFFICIAL GUIDEBOOK TO AN ALTERNATE ROCK AND ROLL UNIVERSE SAKURA is the most famous android rock star of all time.

    Department of Homeland Security. Gathered under the cover of HackerCon in Washington DC—a place for security experts, penetration testers, and technology geeks to meet and discuss the latest hacks and exploits—this group of renegades plot their attack on the federal government for its objectionable security practices. Thought provoking and entertaining, this fast-paced adventure is based on years of research in the hacker community, addresses many contemporary social issues, and provides an overview of how hacking really works.

    His grandmother died, his ex-fiancee was trying to take his daughter away, the snow was coming down, and he was on his way back from Ohio. Then something happened. As he stops at a rest stop in northwest Ohio, the power goes out. Not just the lights, but the cars, phones, and everything else that made up everyday life. He has to get home, and he has no idea how to do it. Stuck in the snow amid a cataclysmic event that no one can precisely explain, he sets out to help not only himself, but those trapped with him. He has to find a way to travel the 300+ miles home, and he needs to do it fast. His family at home is saddled with problems of their own, and they have no way of knowing what has happened to him. As the world slowly spirals out of control, Ben must try to make it home...or die trying. From the bestselling author of the Six Feet From Hell and Refuge From the Dead series comes a realistic take on TEOTWAWKI - the end of the world as we know it. No zombies this time, just pure survival.

    Nothing like it had ever been seen before---a twenty-billion square mile blot on the surface of the sun, and growing. Dr. Morris Tyler at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff has a theory that might explain what's happening, and the news isn't good. Which is why he's under surveillance after having been told to keep his theory to himself. Keeping his theory under wraps isn't easy, not when a gorgeous reporter for Parsec magazine, Gail Dionne, has him in her sights, out to get a story. Tyler's well-ordered world spins out of control when all these forces converge on him, and the world begins to grow colder as the sun . . . goes . . . out.

    DETAILED ANALYSIS reveals their strengths and weaknesses, and how to use them to maximum effect.GRIPPING ARTWORK makes This guide a MUST-HAVE Collectible for any Call of Duty fan.ACHIEVEMENT and TROPHY ROSTERS describe how to earn rewards and unlock SPECIAL features and items.Exclusive MAPS illustrate the levels and pinpoint mission-critical items and locations.UNCOMPROMISING MULTIPLAYER coverage provides expert tactics for every type of Co-Op, Team-Based, and Head-to-Head play mode.

    They say that vengeance is a dish best served cold, but to the men and woman who went with him over the border to deliver that vengeance, it was dish served hot, and out of the barrel of a gun and cannon, and from the air. Yet in victory came defeat as he found three hundred years later in the world he woke up in. One far different from the one he'd left behind when he went into cold sleep. Now he had to find a place in this strange new world, one without the means to wage war against an alien race raping the planet of its young people. First, he had to build an army, navy and air force from scratch while fending off attacks from the aliens and the secret government that wanted to put him and his men back into cold sleep or the grave.

    6 days to run from a virus devouring all life on earth. 6 days to survive.Microbiologist Jess Keller thought it was the worst day of her life. She had lost the only job she ever had, but twenty-four hours later she and her husband, were fighting to keep her family alive.

     On Earth, Jack Bullage survives a horrendous car accident. Reporter Louise Harding has a score to settle with Jack. She investigates all the options, even the most unbelievable ones. How did he get to be so lucky? The Gadium have the answers. They know why Jack is special. It’s just evolution; he’s developing the ability to ‘ride the parallels.’ This could herald Earth's Emergence, a new era, an end to its isolation in the galaxy – but Gadium approval is not assured and Jack may be evolving too fast for their plans. ------ www.nickmlloyd.com ------

    As star empires clash, these epic wars are won and lost by BattleMechs, 30-foot-tall humanoid metal titans bristling with lasers, autocannons and dozens of other lethal weapons; enough firepower to level entire city blocks. Your elite force of MechWarriors drives these juggernauts into battle, proudly holding your faction s flag high, intent on expanding the power and glory of your realm. At their beck and call are the support units of armored vehicles, power armored infantry, aerospace fighters and more, wielded by a MechWarrior's skillful command to aid him in ultimate victory. Will they become legends, or forgotten casualties? Only your skill and luck will determine their fate! October of 2006 sees the unveiling of a whole new look and presentation for Classic BattleTech. The basic rules and concepts of the game have not changed: thirty-foot tall metal titans of doom piloted by feudal MechWarrior knights firing lightning bolts, coherent lasers and autocannons in an orgy of destruction across a futuristic landscape of thousands of worlds. These concepts have made Classic BattleTech/MechWarrior one of the most successful science fiction lines ever created, spawning millions of sold MechWarrior PC games, almost a hundred full-length novels, more than ten million sold MechWarrior: Dark Age Collectable Miniatures Game figures, comic books, toys, a cartoon, virtual reality centers, over five-thousand fan-based websites and more. Yet it all began with the original board game, which still conveys all the best the universe has to offer, presented in a whole new way with the publication of the first in a new series of core rulebooks, Total Warfare. TOTAL WARFARE The product of more than twenty years of gaming experience, Total Warfare presents the rules of the Classic BattleTech game system as never before. For the first time, all the rules for various units that have a direct impact

    But when a terrified woman falls through his bathroom ceiling, he's forced back into a life of gunfights, double agents and paranormal research. The secret he's been keeping for nearly four decades might reunite him with his lost love, or kill millions.This new short story by John August falls into the genre of paranoid "spy-fi" popularized by writers like Jorge Luis Borges and shows like The Prisoner and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.== What Others Say =="I really dug the story. Gave it a glance just to see, got totally hooked, and blazed on through to the end."-- Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, The Yiddish Policemen's Union) "The Variant" is both a good, fun, smart story and an interesting experiment in indie self-publishing for fiction."-- John Gruber, daringfireball.net== About the Author ==An excerpt of The Variant is available at johnaugust.com/variant About the AuthorJohn August is the screenwriter of eight feature films, including Go, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Corpse Bride. He wrote and directed the 2007 movie The Nines.He can be found on Twitter, @johnaugust