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Inclination by William Shunn
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The Speed of Sound
Eric Bernt - 2018
Resident Eddie Parks’s contribution is nothing less than extraordinary: an “echo box” that can re-create never-recorded sounds using acoustic archeology.All Eddie wants is to hear his late mother’s voice. But what he’s created is inadvertently posing a threat to national security.To Harmony House’s shadowy government backers and radical extremists, the echo box is the ultimate intelligence asset—an end to the very concept of secrecy. Now for Eddie and the compassionate Dr. Skylar Drummond, the true nature of the institution is becoming chillingly clear.As ruthless competing enemies close in on Eddie and his miraculous machine, Skylar risks all to take him on the run. Because once that prize is won, Eddie Parks will no longer be considered a “special person” but a dangerous redundancy. An inconvenient echo that must be silenced.
Infomocracy
Malka Ann Older - 2016
The corporate coalition party Heritage has won the last two elections. With another election on the horizon, the Supermajority is in tight contention, and everything's on the line.With power comes corruption. For Ken, this is his chance to do right by the idealistic Policy1st party and get a steady job in the big leagues. For Domaine, the election represents another staging ground in his ongoing struggle against the pax democratica. For Mishima, a dangerous Information operative, the whole situation is a puzzle: how do you keep the wheels running on the biggest political experiment of all time, when so many have so much to gain?Infomocracy is Malka Older's debut novel.
Embassytown
China Miéville - 2011
She cannot speak the Ariekei tongue, but she is an indelible part of it, having long ago been made a figure of speech, a living simile in their language.When distant political machinations deliver a new ambassador to Arieka, the fragile equilibrium between humans and aliens is violently upset. Catastrophe looms, and Avice is torn between competing loyalties—to a husband she no longer loves, to a system she no longer trusts, and to her place in a language she cannot speak yet speaks through her.
The Quantum Thief
Hannu Rajaniemi - 2010
Just another day in the Dilemma Prison. Rescued by the mysterious Mieli and her flirtatious spacecraft, Jean is taken to the Oubliette, the Moving City of Mars, where time is a currency, memories are treasures, and a moon-turned-singularity lights the night. Meanwhile, investigator Isidore Beautrelet, called in to investigate the murder of a chocolatier, finds himself on the trail of an arch-criminal, a man named le Flambeur...Indeed, in his many lives, the entity called Jean le Flambeur has been a thief, a confidence artist, a posthuman mind-burgler, and more. His origins are shrouded in mystery, but his deeds are known throughout the Heterarchy, from breaking into the vast Zeusbrains of the Inner System to stealing rare Earth antiques from the aristocrats of Mars. In his last exploit, he managed the supreme feat of hiding the truth about himself from the one person in the solar system hardest to hide from: himself. Now he has the chance to regain himself in all his power—in exchange for finishing the one heist he never quite managed.The Quantum Thief is a breathtaking joyride through the solar system several centuries hence, a world of marching cities, ubiquitous public-key encryption, people who communicate via shared memory, and a race of hyper-advanced humans who originated as an MMORPG guild. But for all its wonders, The Quantum Thief is also a story powered by very human motives of betrayal, jealousy, and revenge.
The Martian
Andy Weir - 2011
Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills — and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit — he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?
The Digital Effect
Steve Perry - 1997
Lee". He's helping a young lady whose boyfriend put his head in a stamping press. The Corporation calls it suicide. His lady friend calls it murder. Gil figures this rotating garbage can is rotten to the core. And now he has to flush it out, level by level before his discreet inquiries get him permanently spaced without a suit.
The Doll: A Jack Nightingale Short Story
Stephen Leather - 2017
But when a child's doll appears in the middle of the road, the vacation comes to an abrupt end and Nightingale finds himself fighting for his life. The Doll is a fast-paced supernatural story about 10,000 words long.
Wilson's War
T.S. Paul - 2016
Athena Lee's Quirky AI. Wilson has his origin story revealed at long last. Discover why he wants a Cat. Ever wonder why Hannibal Lee is afraid of the Farm? Meet lots of new characters and visit a few of our friends. Follow Wilson's adventures as he has fun at the expense of others. Taking advantage of Humans is too easy. Plotting Galaxy Domination is more fun. Prepare to Get down and Get Funky as the Hits just keep on coming!
The Methuselah Treatment
T.C. Powell - 2015
Not everyone can. Who decides? Desperate to save his daughter from a mysterious sickness, Daniel applies for the Methuselah Treatment. If she gets it, his daughter won’t just recover, she’ll live forever. But the drug is tightly controlled, and only the special, the talented, and the truly deserving ever receive it. There is nothing special about Daniel’s destitute ten- year-old girl—or is there?
Earthless
Jason Letts - 2016
It wasn't an alien spacefleet firing from above. It was a bomb planted in the center of the planet before humanity even existed. In an instant, the human population dropped from 11 billion to 1,066. I'm Loris Roderick, set to take command of the Magellan space station. I didn't know I was to become the de facto leader of our species when its survival hung by a thread. We should run, hide in some corner of the galaxy to eke out what existence we can. But I'd rather we get our revenge. Earthless is the first book in the Survivors series and is 60,000 words long. Sightless: The Survivors Series #2 is now available for Pre-Order!
Rocannon's World
Ursula K. Le Guin - 1966
Earth scientist Rocannon is on that world, and he sees his friends murdered and his spaceship destroyed. Marooned among alien peoples, he leads the battle to free this new world - and finds that legends grow around him even as he fights.
The Dragon Keeper
Robin Hobb - 2009
The Traders have forgotten their promises, weary of the labor and expense of tending earthbound dragons who were hatched weak and deformed by a river turned toxic. If neglected, the creatures will rampage--or die--so it is decreed that they must move farther upriver toward Kelsingra, the mythical homeland whose location is locked deep within the dragons' uncertain ancestral memories.Thymara, an unschooled forest girl, and Alise, wife of an unloving and wealthy Trader, are among the disparate group entrusted with escorting the dragons to their new home. And on an extraordinary odyssey with no promise of return, many lessons will be learned--as dragons and tenders alike experience hardships, betrayals . . . and joys beyond their wildest imaginings.
Little Fuzzy
H. Beam Piper - 1962
Their charter was for a Class III uninhabited planet, which Zarathustra was, and it meant they owned the planet lock stock and barrel. They exploited it, developed it and reaped the huge profits from it without interference from the Colonial Government. Then Jack Holloway, a sunstone prospector, appeared on the scene with his family of Fuzzies and the passionate conviction that they were not cute animals but little people.
The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Volume 5: We Can Remember It For You Wholesale
Philip K. Dick - 1987
Disch- The Little Black Box (1964)- The War With the Fnools (1964)- A Game of Unchance (1964)- Precious Artifact (1964)- Retreat Syndrome (1965)- A Terran Odyssey (1987)- Your Appointment Will Be Yesterday (1966)- Holy Quarrel (1966)- We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (1966)- Not by Its Cover (1968)- Return Match (1967)- Faith of Our Fathers (1967)- The Story to End All Stories (1968)- The Electric Ant (1969)- Cadbury, the Beaver Who Lacked (1987)- A Little Something for Us Tempunauts (1974)- The Pre-Persons (1974)- The Eye of the Sibyl (1987)- The Day Mr. Computer Fell Out of Its Tree (1987)- The Exit Door Leads In (1979)- Chains of Air, Web of Aether (1980)- Strange Memories of Death (1984)- I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon (1980, variant of Frozen Journey)- Rautavaara's Case (1980)- The Alien Mind (1981)- NotesFront cover illustration by Chris Moore
The Big Front Yard (Astounding Science Fiction. Vol. LXII. No. 2. October 1958)
Clifford D. Simak - 1958
The situation get stranger when his dog Towser finds a buried ship in the woods.- Winner of 1959 Hugo Award for Best NoveletteSubsequently published in a number of anthologies.