This book presents the best of them: pipe-smoking robots, clairvoyant pennies, zoo jailbreaks, literary cannibals, corned beef in space, revolving squirrels, disappearing Scottish lighthouse keepers, reincarnated pussycats, dueling Churchills, horse spectacles, onrushing molasses, and hundreds more. Plus the obscure words, odd inventions, puzzles and paradoxes that have made the website a quirky favorite with millions of readers -- hundreds of examples of the marvelous, the diverting, and the strange, now in a portable format to occupy your idle hours.

    The word is out that the legendary city of Danvar has been found, and every diver, brigand, and pirate with a sarfer is racing to find it. But out in the dunes there's only one inarguable fact... The sand don't care, and it never did. Dunes Over Danvar is a short story set in New York Times Bestselling Author Hugh Howey's world of SAND, and is written and published with the permission of Hugh Howey.

    But, as his ship decimates planet after planet, he finds his sympathies swinging toward their defeated enemies. Sergeant Anki Paro, a Luthian Marine, has been anxiously awaiting the call to deploy. As the last line of defense against the crushing Greshian forces, she hopes the time has finally come for her world to stand against tyranny. However, as her society prepares for imminent destruction, questions of misplaced loyalties lead Anki to wonder if the world she is trying to save has any real intentions of surviving. As Brendle's and Anki's worlds collide, they find themselves in an unlikely alliance to try to stop the full might of the Greshian Empire before there's nothing left to fight for. A stolen ship, a mission on the line, enemies at every turn... After four months in hiding, Brendle Quin can't delay his mission any longer. His ship, the Replicade, is held together with failing patches, and he needs to make repairs in a port. Unfortunately, the nearest world with proper facilities is situated deep in Greshian-owned enemy territory. The Greshian colony of Farax is a safe hold for piracy in the region, and none is more vile than Crase Tuin, a man known for trafficking people and weapons across the Alorian Galaxy. He has a reputation as the only pirate never to lose a ship--with the exception of the Replicade. When Crase finds the Replicade, he vows to claim the lives of those who stole her. But Brendle won't go down without a fight. Nothing has stopped the Greshian Empire's expanse, but all hope isn't lost... The illusion of peace shrouds a hidden darkness. Just as the crew of the Replicade are getting settled on a seemingly tranquil world, they encounter a young girl with special abilities--and she's being hunted by a secret, powerful organization that will stop at nothing to have her. When Anki and Brendle intervene to help the girl, they are caught in the organization's crosshairs. The crew must make a decision: give into the looming threat of the organization, or die fighting to protect her. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Commander Ilium Gyl has taken command of a Greshian scout ship. A breach in protocol raises questions of his loyalty to the Greshian Empire, leading to a power struggle as a rebellion sparks in a distant sector of the Alorian Galaxy. His ambitions may cripple the Greshian Fleet, or he might just be the empire's savior. The Alorian Wars is a space opera series, filled with political intrigue and shrouded in mystery, is sure to please fans of "The Expanse", "Dark Matter", "Firefly", and "Killjoys". Join the war today!

    From the advent of photography in the 19th and into the 20th century, medical students, often in secrecy, took photographs of themselves with the cadavers that they dissected: their first patients. Featuring 138 of these historic photographs and illuminating essays by two experts on the subject, Dissection reveals a startling piece of American history. Sherwin Nuland, MD, said this is "a truly unique and important book [that] documents a period in medical education in a way that is matched by no other existing contribution." And Mary Roach said Dissection "is the most extraordinary book I have ever seen--the perfect coffee table book for all the households where I'd most like to be invited for coffee."

    Four action-packed books in one box set! The last world war is over. But humanity's fight for survival is only just beginning… In the dying days of the Trade Wars, Earth lay in ruins. Her cities burned, her fields smoldered and her people starved. Yet whilst the politicians squabbled, one squad of Jarheads did their duty. Heroes to a man (and woman), Quinn's Marines followed orders, even the deep black, secret peace mission kind. And it got them locked away. For good. For the Marines, peace meant a life sentence breaking rocks on Uranus' most distant moon. But when a meteor strike unleashes an alien intelligence bent on taking over the human race, only the Jarheads can save it. The only problem is their prison is two and a half billion kilometers from Earth on a good day. Oh, and their fellow inmates want them dead... Hey, nobody ever said saving the world would be easy. Fugitive Marines 1-4 contains: Breakout Wanted Lockdown Uprising

    This collection of evocative and powerful poems from the pages of his phenomenal bestseller Dune echoes the richness found in Herbert's epic sagas of sandworms and mystical power struggles on the planet Arrakis.

    The individual books in this series have accumulated a total of over 1,800 5-star reviews. Heroic and not so heroic men and women plus their loyal Artificially Intelligent allies fight and die to prevent humanity's extermination at the hands of a shockingly xenophobic alien race. But is there something more going on here than just an irrational alien race lashing out without provocation? One man's uncontrollable, precognitive visions lead him to believe that humans and the xenophobic aliens are just pawns in a much larger conflict and the real stakes are nothing less than the future of all life in the galaxy. If he can use his visions to keep humanity alive long enough, he may be able to figure out the mystery before it's too late. This Omnibus edition also includes sample chapters of the Synchronicity War universe stand-alone novel The Retro War. You can read Part 1 of the Sync War series for free to try it out before buying this ebook. All 4 parts are also available as audiobooks from Audible.com. Genre categories: Space fleet, galactic empire, space opera, alien invasion, first contact,time travel

    In the Military, if you screw up, you either get busted or promoted. Sergeant Phelan Oscar Piran, formally of the Galactic Council Marine Corps, discovers that both can happen. If it wasn't difficult enough trouble being the oldest Ensign in the Galactic Council Navy, call sign J-Pop, the Druids have plans for him. He's not a Druid, having failed the Ritual, but his parents are Druids. ‘On Station’ is an adventure encompassing a Galactic Empire, Space Cats, Martial Arts, Marines, Navy Aviators and the unfolding story of the Galactic Council Realm. ‘On Station’ is the 1st book in the series with ‘On Duty’ and ‘On Guard’ continuing the story of Phelan Oscar Piran and the Galactic Council Realm.

    

    Over a thousand pages of heart-pounding sci-fi action. One great price. With over a hundred thousand books sold and borrowed, the Argonauts series has been one of the best-selling sagas published on Amazon over the past year. For fans of military science fiction and space opera alike, this bundle contains the first three novels: Bug Hunt, You Are Prey, and Alien Empress. In this compelling set, Rade Galaal and his elite team of mercenaries enter the fray to deal with an alien infestation, infiltrate a stone-age civilization, and defend an extraterrestrial homeworld. Download this unique bundle today, because there's never been a better time to hunt some bugs.

     Perc Alexander is one of the rare humans who can shift into an animal, in his case the form of an extinct cat. As a professional athlete who trained his body for years before the shifter revelation, he doesn’t think much about this new ability. Not until the NFL suspends him for being a shifter. Never one to give up easily, he works within the system to fight shifter discrimination in professional sports.Perc knew arguing the suspension would make him a target. What he didn’t expect was being knocked out and abducted by an outfit running an illegal operation involving shifters. He finds out just how far his animal instincts will go to save himself and others from their brutal abductors. In the aftermath he questions if he could have done more, saved more if he fully embraced his cat sooner. Still reeling from survivor's guilt and guided by a newfound sense of purpose, Percival is determined to fight for his career and shifter rights, more so now that he understands how high the costs may be. He knows for certain he is more than a football player and cat shifter. It’s time the rest of the world learned that as well, no matter what it costs him.

    Anyone is welcome to read it, of course, but it is primarily intended for those who’ve read either or both of the United Federation Marine Corps and/or the United Federation Marines’ Lysander Twins series. Unlike the other books in both series, there is no combat action in the story. Regardless, I hope it is a fitting conclusion before the UFMC universe continues a century in the future from where these two series left off.

    It's a choice.The United Galactic Government is mired in a decade-long war for control of a key planet. Weakened by overextension and political intrigue, they could lose everything.When a child of privilege gives up everything to enlist and fight for what is right, he learns what it means to become part of a team. He encounters refugees, aliens he never expected to empathize with, and the loss of comrades. In the end he must develop the courage to stand up, not only to aliens and governments, but his own family.

    The climactic engagement of this war, Operation Repulse, took place from August 2063 to February 2064, and was the most significant clash of arms on European soil in four hundred years.

    This chart-topping 2014 album release from Lana Del Rey is presented in piano/vocal/guitar arrangements for all 11 songs: Brooklyn Baby * Cruel World * Money Power Glory * Old Money * The Other Woman * Pretty When You Cry * Sad Girl * Ultraviolence * West Coast * and more.