The playground, like childhood itself, is a nightmare of torment and vulnerability; Charles fears his sensitive son will be destroyed there just as he almost was so many years ago.Underhill's sister Carol, who has moved in to help raise the young boy after his mother passed away, feels differently. The playground, she believes, is preparation for life, Jim will survive the experience, she feels, and he will be the better for it and more equipped to deal with the rigor and obligation of adult existence.Underhill is caught between his own fear and his sister's invocation of reason and feels paralyzed. A mysterious boy calls out to him from the playground, and seems to know all too well why Underhill is there and what the source of his agony really is. A mysterious Manager also lurks to whom the strange boy directs Underhill. An agreement can be made perhaps this is what the boy tells Underhill. Perhaps Jim can be spared the playground, but of course, a substitute must be found.

    Many have tried. All have failed.This climbing season finds three teams making their bid up this murderous peak. And one man among them will discover these ugly truths: There are fates worse than death. There are fates worse than obscurity. To be remembered forever can be its own curse.

    "The green hills of Earth" is the fascinating tale of the Blind Singer of the Spaceways, a legend from Marsopolis to the Jovian asteroids. Jake Pemberton is a "Space jockey" on the regular run from Earth to the moon-- when disaster strikes, it takes guts to ride his ship home safely.~~~Warner Audio Publishing : 2145.Duration: 70 mins.Reader: Colin Fox.

    Its mission: to guard a vast shipment of grain from Earth to the planet Safenesthome.Its Captain is called Ace. She seems a little unsure of herself. In fact, some might almost think she was new to the job...Its medical officer is called simply ‘The Doctor’, and he’s perhaps not all he seems either.When mysterious ships target the Vancouver, Ace and the Doctor are pushed to the limit. Meanwhile, there’s something nasty in the grain containers. And it’s not very happy...

    The coat. It was elegant. It was beautiful. It was so close that he could have reached out and touched it.And it was unquestionably his.

    Former cop. Former Army Ranger. Currently the top-kick of Echo Team, an elite squad of first-class shooters who roll out to face down the world’s most dangerous terrorists. Not fanatics with explosive vests or political hostage takers. Joe and his team square off against terrorists who have the most advanced and exotic weapons of mass destruction. Designer bioweapons. Cutting edge transgenics. Real mad scientist stuff.If they have to call Joe Ledger – it’s already hit the fan.JOE LEDGER: SPECIAL OPS collects several of the Ledger short stories and presents two brand new tales exclusive to this volume. Bonus features include character profiles and a never-before-published glimpse behind the scenes of the Department of Military Sciences.Join the Hunt!Includes:CountdownZero ToleranceDeep, DarkMaterial WitnessChangelingMad ScienceArtifactThe Handyman Gets OutBorrowed PowerInside the DMS (Character Profiles)and:Joe Ledger Reading ChronologyInterview with Ray Porter (The voice of Joe Ledger!)About the Author

    This stately home in the depths of Devon has been the site of many an apparition. And now people are turning up dead. The ghosts are wild in the forest. But the Doctor doesn’t believe in ghosts.The TARDIS follows a twist in the vortex to the village of Staffham in 1977 and discovers something is very wrong with time. But spectral highwaymen and cavaliers are the least of the Doctor’s worries.For the Grange is owned by the sinister Jalnik, and Jalnik has a scheme two thousand years in the making. Only the Doctor and Leela stand between him and the destruction of history itself. It’s the biggest adventure of their lives – but do they have the time?The Valley of DeathA century after his Great-Grandfather Cornelius vanished in the Amazon rainforest, Edward Perkins is journeying to the depths of the jungle to find out what became of his ancestor’s lost expedition. Intrigued by what appears to be a description of a crashed spacecraft in the diaries of that first voyage, the Doctor and Leela join him on his quest. But when their plane runs into trouble and ends up crash landing, everyone gets more than they bargained for.The jungle is filled with giant creatures and angry tribesmen, all ready to attack. But in the famed lost city of the Maygor tribe, something far, far worse is lurking. Something with an offer to make to mankind. Who are the Lurons and can they be trusted? Will the Doctor defeat the plans of the malevolent Godrin or will he become just another victim of the legendary Valley of Death?

    Peter Venkman is trapped in 1886, and his only chance to return to present-day Earth and free all of humanity from the Rule of Kozar'Rai has him teaming with a very unexpected (and very beautiful) ally

    But now, it seems to describe the real world of cell phones, Blackberries and iPods, and its prediction of terrible things to come isn't so easy to shrug off. Leiber sets the tale in a future when "missiles are on the prowl," and most people live underground. George Gusterson is a writer with crazy ideas -- one being, he still lives on the surface. For another, he imagines a gizmo that would remind him of things like when to turn on the TV. George's mere whim inspires an actual gadget called the Tickler, just a "wire recorder and clock" at first, but then . . . it whispers constantly through an earphone. It instills positive thinking. It injects drugs. It makes decisions. It weights 28 pounds. And it won't get off. Only Gusterson understands what "the little fellow perched on your shoulder" is really saying, one word: Obey! And only Gusterson knows what to say back, if it's not too late.

    Bujold’s "work remains among the most enjoyable and rewarding in contemporary SF” – Publishers WeeklyContains "Barter", which was first published in The Twilight Zone Magazine, March/April 1985. "Garage Sale", which was first published in American Fantasy, Spring 1987. "The Hole Truth", first published in The Twilight Zone Magazine, December 1986. "Dreamweaver's Dilemma", first published in Dreamweaver's Dilemma, 1995. "Aftermaths" (epilogue to Shards of Honor), which first appeared in Far Frontiers, Vol. V, Spring 1986.

    Badass, honorable, and able to go toe to toe with the best whiskey drinker this side of Tennessee, but when NASA comes to recruit her for a daring space rescue, she'll find herself among a motley crew of the supernatural world. Their goal is simple, keep the evil lord Zug of space planet Maverick from acquiring the Gideon cube and using its immense power to rain down destruction on earth. Sounds easy right? Well, it would be if not for the niggling thirty-six hour timeline that started yesterday...

    He'll have free board, use of the company horse, and being dead isn’t even compulsory. In fact, it's a dream job - until he discovers that it can be a killer on his love life... Wyrd Sisters Three witches meet on a blasted heath. A king is cruelly murdered. A child heir and the kingdom’s crown are both missing. But Granny Weatherwax finds that meddling in royal politics is a lot more complicated than certain playwrights would have you believe... Guards! Guards! In Ankh-Morpork, the Haves and the Have-Nots are about fall out. Again. The Night Watch’s Captain Vimes is used to this but when the Have-Nots find the key to a lethal, dormant weapon that even they don’t understand, he knows it’s time so sober up. Eric When precocious young Eric Thursley summons a demon from the loathsome pit to fulfil his every wish, he wants what everyone wants – immortality, to rule the world, and have the most beautiful woman love him. Instead he gets Rincewind, the Disc’s most incompetent wizard. Small Gods On the Discworld, Gods are as numerous as herring roe, all elbowing for space at the top. In such a competitive environment, you need an acolyte, and fast. For the Great God Om, Brutha is the Chosen One, or at least the only One available… Night Watch Living in the past is hard. Dying in the past is incredibly easy, especially when there is a serial killer on the loose who targets coppers. Commander Sam Vimes of the City Watch is back in his own rough, tough past, and he has a job to do.***Bonus Story*** In addition to these Discworld novels, this collection will also include a full-cast dramatisation of Only You Can Save Mankind , from the Johnny Maxwell series. As an alien fleet crosses his computer screen, Johnny prepares to blow the ScreeWee into a million pieces...'The voice cast is fantastic' - StarburstDuration: 13 hours 15 minutes approx.15 CDs

    The only problem is Otto doesn't want it. He wants to be a fisherman. When company policies force unwelcome changes onto his life and threaten even the security of the village, Otto discovers that being a shaman isn't optional.Jimmy Pirano is caught between the devil and the deep green sea when new production quotas are handed down from corporate headquarters. Locked into a century of existing practice, Jimmy is forced to find new ways to fish and new places to do it in or face the very real possibility that Pirano Fisheries will lose the St. Cloud franchise.Join Otto, Richard, and Rachel Krugg as they struggle with what it means to be the son of a shaman. Cast off with Jimmy, Tony, and Casey as they navigate the shoals and shallows of corporate fishery along the South Coast.

    Here she is discovered by the Doctor and the reasonably brutal warlord Grayvorn. Together - with a peculiar nun they pick up en route - they must travel the forests and swamps of this ghastly world in Iris's double decker bus in order to tussle - to the death - with a horde of flesh-eating zombies for a mysterious and holy relic of unfathomable value and questionable pedigree. But what is the Mother Superior's part in all this?Chronological Placement: This story takes place during the television adventure, Frontios.

    Never before published stories about monsters, deadly combat tech, treachery, and honor:Big Plush by Aaron Allston—The Dollgangers, artificial people made in mankind's image, take up arms in a desperate bid to win their freedom.Comrades in Arms by Kevin J. Anderson—A damaged cyborg soldier and an enemy alien fighter turn their backs on the war and try to escape. But the human and alien governments can't tolerate the two deserters working together, so they join forces to hunt them down.Shores of the Infinite by Loren L. Coleman—Separated from command & control, Combat Assault Suit troopers force a beachhead to liberate a new planet from the cyborg threat.The Black Ship by B.V. Larson—A human settlement on the deadliest planet ever colonized clings to life … but today new invaders are coming down from the stars.Out There by Michael A. Stackpole—The Qian have discovered humanity and welcomed them into their star-spanning empire. The benefits they offer humanity are many, and they don't want much in return: just the best human pilots available to take apart a most diabolical enemy.