Superb interlinked collection of war-based short stories from a stunning author.

To get to the real story, you need to know more about these dark lands. This story, the one in this book here? The one that will introduce you to the twisted lands that serve up hideous monstrosities and evils as if they were Sunday dinner? This short story? It begins with a brother and sister. They live on a spider cattle farm in the Midwest, behind the Fence.And they're running home.FastTo get to the real story, you need to know more about these dark lands. This story, the one in this book here? The one that will introduce you to the twisted lands that serve up hideous monstrosities and evils as if they were Sunday dinner? This short story? It begins with a brother and sister. They live on a spider cattle farm in the Midwest, behind the First Fence, in the safest part of the most dangerous area of North America.And they're running home.Fast.

The acclaimed biographer details the life, reign, and impact of King Charles II of England, revealing him to have been far more serious, sensible, and competent than has been thought.

Prequel short story.Alturus Burk is set to inherit one of the most powerful items in the wolrd. Will he be able to handle his own greed?If you enjoy the story, please review it...it would mean a lot me.A Tale of Community and Corruption.2140 CEFor a Century the world has been ignorant of the life that dwells beyond Stone Hill Garrison.A community has thrived in the intervening years since The Great Pathogen, ever conscious they may one day be found by the slowly deteriorating old-world.Unknown to them, the Ministry of Defence suspects that not only is there life beyond the border, but a community able to manipulate and disperse the virus that wiped out a quarter of the world’s population a century before.The villagers carry out their lives while a countdown hangs over them, swiftly ticking to conclude in a violent and harrowing confrontation on the shores of Mortehoe.

Following the trials and troubles of a teenage girl's life changing journey from goatherd to warrior, in a future world devoid of men. Women rule here, and Tanya wants more than a life of drudgery and boredom. Will she get what she wishes for, or will she regret the day she left home?Following the trials and troubles of a teenage girl's life changing journey from goatherd to warrior, in a future world devoid of men. Women rule here, and Tanya wants more than a life of drudgery and boredom. Will she get what she wishes for, or will she regret the day she left home? Her life becomes very complicated with the arival of an unreliable time machine with six men on board, who are from the distant past and civil war breaks out between East and West.

Jennifer O'Malley has been separated from her husband and son by miles and a few lifetimes since awakening from Cryogenic sleep in a post-apocalyptic world. She is obsessed to the point of near desperation in her drive to reunite with them; traversing a dysfunctional world far removed from the vision of the founders of Camelot Enterprises.A lightning bolt rearranges his brain. He can kill flies by slowing their reaction time. He can move small items with his mind. The girls want to make a killing at the race track. Can he slow racehorses with his mind? A big-boob-blonde-bimbo distracts him as the trotters come down the home stretch.

A beautiful plantation home in Georgia's Appalachian region bears witness to a horrific murder and hosts a bloodthirsty demon hell-bent on vengeance.This is the first translation into English of the verse drama Germanicus by the Afrikaans poet N.P. Van Wyk Louw. The work was based on the first three chapters of the Annales of the Roman historiographer Tacitus. After the death of Emperor Augustus, his successor Tiberius’ adopted son Germanicus recoils from the cruelty inherent in imperial rule. In the end he helplessly acquiesces, finally welcoming his own death as a means of escape from the burden of empire. The drama has been considered a highlight in Afrikaans literature since its publication in 1956. Its interest lies in its amazing sweep of words, Louw’s sense of history and his portrayal of the inevitability of the corruption inherent in power. Louw’s great monologues dominate the debates between his main protagonists. His poetic Afrikaans had a grand eloquence that swept his audience along in a torrent of densely-argued meaning. Such conciseness offered severe challenges to the translator. Claassen’s colloquial translation manages to capture both the essence of Louw’s dramatic dialogues and the rhythmic cadences of the original poetry. The translator provides a lengthy Introduction, aimed at both a classical and a theatre-going readership, explaining the historical background and discussing Louw’s interpretation of Tacitus’ narrative and the constraints under which a translator works. A brief overview of the contents of the drama’s eight scenes is followed by a select bibliography.

Salvation is possible; starvation is averted, and hope is rising aboard Earthrise. Now: just as a future is possible, everything is threatened when Andrew lets himself be manipulated, and Peter makes his move for control.Paris, France 1793Growing up in the court of King Louis XVI, Genevieve enjoys a sheltered privileged life with the gardens of Versailles as her playground, until on the eve of her nineteenth birthday, the king is executed and all hell breaks loose. As family members and close friends fall prey to the Revolution, Genevieve turns to the one man who promises to help her; the shadowy figure in court, and friend to the elder brother that betrayed them all, but is Sebastian worthy of her trust or will he too betray her?Genevieve has a choice to make, one that will change her life forever. Go it alone and try to escape the murderous streets of Paris, or join Sebastian, forget her nightmares and start a new life… an immortal life?

Democracy, in this illustration, and in truth stands not as a form of government 'by for and of the people' rather a Plutocracy of wealth and power, defined along racial lines and furthering the interests of the citizenry only as happenstance as may benefit the long term interests of the ruling elite.The Citadel of the Almighty is, for all intents and purposes, the center of the world. Not only does it lie in the borderlands between the realms of the Skanda and the Arganian people, an oasis in an unhospitable river basin, it is also the holiest of holies, the sacred home of the United Church. Once already, war started here. If the world is to change again, here is where that change will begin.A washerwoman, unbeliever in the holiest place in the world. A soldier, rising through the ranks of the Church Guard. A troubadour, free spirit in a world of dogma. One of these is the voice that will write a new chapter in history.Introduction to the series.

Twenty-Four poems about Thoroughbred wagering ups and downs and some of the colorful and smitten individuals involved.A love story which spans a period of turmoil from the end of World War I to the end of the Second World War. A group of young people eagerly look forward to a new world without the hate and prejudice of war but during these years of peace, there is also anger, love and jealousy. However, just as acceptance is attained, international events take a turn for the worst and friends are ripped apart. Duty to one's country dictates how one has to live and behave but one young man has a secret, even his own family do not know. Can love triumph over suspicion and hate?

A man wakes up tied to a chair and gets told by two strangers that they will let him go if he gives them what they want.In the world of Mirmina, some people are born with special gifts. They have the ability to control the elements--Water, Fire, Wind, Earth, or Lightning. Endowed with these powers, Elementals must maintain the balance of nature or suffer the consequences: whirling hurricanes and great dust storms that ravage the land. When one Elemental becomes too powerful and seeks to unravel the balance, he inspires fear in the people of Mirmina. Hephaestus, a Fire Elemental, has built a kingdom in the mountains, and he has been killing Water Elementals. Now, he wants the spheres, the source of the Elementals' powers, and he will do whatever it takes to get them. When Sara discovers that she is the last surviving Water Elemental, she learns that she has two choices, to hide herself away forever or to face her enemy. She chooses to fight. Sara sets out on her journey with a group of brave companions. Together, they must battle Sphere Protectors, great beasts that guard the element spheres. Sara plans to stop Hephaestus before he gets the element spheres and uses them to force all other Elementals to their knees. But little does she know, there is a traitor in her midst who can undo everything. Debut author, L. M. Peralta, weaves a tale mystery, betrayal, and the misuse of power.

In this short story, Janna has moved to her third new school of the year. And this time, she finds herself wanting to do the unthinkable - Move! The entire town seems lost in a time warp. But she has no idea just how strange things will become once she finds out that she is destined to receive a gift that will make her very powerful. And what is with the mysterious - but cute - guy named Josh?The following is taken from intro story.Imagine that you loved Mike and Ike’s (the candy). You loved them so much that you would do anything to get them. In fact, you loved them so much that you would dream about them when you were at school. You couldn't wait until payday. That’s when your mom would give you your monthly allowance. Each month, when she would give you your $12.29 allowance, you’d race to the closest grocery store, head directly towards the candy aisle and grab yourself a handful of Mike and Ike boxes. You’d head to the checkout counter with your handful of Mike and Ikes. The checkout line seemed soooo slow every time you’d try to buy your M & I’s, but they were worth the wait. You finally made it to the front of the line and the clerk started ringing up your stash of candy. The clerk finally finished ringing them up and you whipped out your money and paid for them.They were yours now and no one could take them away from you. You ran home as fast as you could to add them to your already huge stash of M&I’s. You made it home and headed for your bedroom where your treasure was hidden where no one could find it. You head towards your top secret, highly confidential, enter at your own risk, camouflaged, hidden in a really, really, really tough and inaccessible compartment, for your eyes only place. You were so proud to have concealed the M&I’s in a place that only you and God could find. If you had the money, you would have put guard dogs, barbed wire and electric fences around it. But for now, you had to settle for a home-made booby trap system. This story is kinda what temptation is like. If you give in to temptation, eventually you will get burned. You will get trapped in a lifestyle of sin. If you play with temptation, eventually Satan will have you trapped. Satan makes you think that there are no consequences to playing with temptation. He will make you think that you can get away with it. But he will trap you if you give in. Eventually you will become a slave to that particular sin. This week we are going to study about temptation and what it is. Temptation itself is not a sin. It’s when you give in to the temptation that it is sin. If temptation was a sin, then Jesus would have sinned because He was tempted in every way just as we are. The difference is that He never gave in. But often we do. Especially when we play around with temptation.

Some stories end happily ever after, yet in places where reality thins, insanity thrives, and darkness lurks, there are no happily ever afters, just Dead Ends.Some stories end happily ever after, yet in places where reality thins, insanity thrives, and unimaginable monsters live, there are no happily ever afters, just Dead Ends. Introducing the City of West Creek, this series takes you through stories of the macabre, where darkness is at home, and evil is king.The stories within this collection include: Creeping Death, Blood Letting, Crickets, Tall Trees, The Harvest Moon, The Hunters, Looped, The Barking, and SequaWord count including afterword: over thirty five thousandIncludes terrifying situations, descriptions of violence and gore, and such mature themes.

After a fight with his wife, Peter returns home to find the house strangely quiet and his wife, Lilyan, acting in a way that he had not seen since they started dating years before. Forgiveness or something darker.Tristan Fairholm is an ordinary teenager who would give his own heart to save his brother. Suddenly his life is turned upside down when an earthquake hits his sleepy town of Valley City, North Dakota. He panics, and makes a fatal decision that lands him in court. While stuck in limbo at Juvie, he is cut off from his family, tormented by bullies, and treated like a criminal. Worst of all, no one believes him. After all, no one else felt the earthquake. Is he lying? Or are darker forces at play? The Last Day of Freedom is the first book in the young adult fantasy series, Natural Order.

As you fully consider the state of the action at the end of "The Legend of the Slave King", you'll remember that Joan & Alban face the scorching sands of the desert & the misery's sorrow that grow there. Above all that, Darvanian soldiers are closing in & the water supply is waning. Now Alban & Joan need more divine help as each will be gruelingly tested — perhaps beyond their breaking points!As you fully consider the state of the action at the end of the first book of the series, "The Legend of the Slave King”, Joan and Alban must continue to face the scorching sands of the desert known as the Verdis GranSecas and the misery's sorrow that grows there. In the process of trying to get free of the desert, Alban has uncovered a plot by Decebal to use his slaver caravan as a front to smuggle odd weaponry to the Darvanian Empire. Now, above all that, Darvanian soldiers are closing in more and more and the water supply is waning as the newly formed caravan's goal to stop the war between two kingdoms. Easy task? Not even close! Now Alban and Joan need help from above more than ever as each will be respectively tested beyond their strength in their own grueling trial by faith! Will they understand the things God wants them to learn? Telling you the answers now would be a mistake. The more you completely contemplate it, that’s only something for you to realize in your next adventure. Besides, that's naturally only your decision now!This series is best read from book one and continued in succession:Book One: The Legend of the Slave King Book Two: The Hope of Eternal SpringsBook Three: The Road Back to Effulgia

What to do when there's something happening out there, in the world, with mysterious apparitions and a new disease that threatens the entire city?There's something outside, over the street corner, inside the hospital... And it is using people, devouring them, invading society like a parasite...Dusk has fallen, Hildur is asleep, when granny arrives, for dinner. And she isn't a vegetarian.Caution: This is no lovey-dovey modern version of vampires. You are warned. It's also possibly the darkest of all stories in the series. Won't say more, because it'll be a spoiler.--Matilda Mathildis is a series of stories about Matilda, and about others who impact on her life.Each story is different, however they all come under the general umbrella of realistic fantasy: that is fantasy that could theoretically exist in the real world (sorry, no witches on broomsticks).Many of the stories are free. Those ebooks which aren’t have a free sample read, so kindly enjoy.

Jack Jackson vs The Midnight Army is the first part of a 4 book series which follows Jack and his friends on their adventures. A must for lovers of Harry potter, Roald Dahl and CS Lewis books.Jack is a lonely 10-year-old boy. He lives in the tiny village of Little Bottombump in an enormous old house with his dad.A chance meeting with a very strange and extremely old lady in the neighbouring village sees Jack whisked away to a new and dangerous World. A World where an evil force threatens the destruction of not only this planet, but also his own.As the new keeper of the powerful and mysterious Great Stone, Jack must quickly make new friends, learn new skills and take a stand.The future of the World is depending on him!Jack Jackson vs The Midnight Army is the first book in a four part series that follows the adventures of Jack and his friends as they battle the shadows of evil.

Aileen knew her son Bobby had always been a rebel and hated authority growing up. . But at 29, he found a woman she hoped would settle him down. Until the phone call came, saying that he had killed the mother of his children during one of their many violent fights when the knife she threatened him with with was turned on her during the struggle, causing her death.The day of Bobby's sentencing came and she arranged to work the evening shift at the Horsey. She refused Joyce's offer to accompany her to the courthouse. It was Aileen's intention of getting through the ordeal as quickly as possible with a minimal amount of stress. Flashbacks of Bobby's earlier years haunted her. All her efforts to help him ended in failure. She had asked herself many times where she went wrong, but deep down, she knew she hadn't. There were just those people who chose a different path than the one you hoped they would take.

St. Francis knew it, Bobby McGee learned it, and Andrew Thurston meets the realization head on.Eve is a nobody – just a dirty, mentally challenged homeless woman who stands on a street corner in her rags and "prophesies." But she knows exactly what she possesses, what most of those who pity her don't have."Eve's Refusal" is a Flannery O'Connor-esque short story of approximately 3,400 words.St. Francis knew it, Bobby McGee learned it, and Andrew Thurston meets the realization head on.Eve is a nobody – just a dirty, mentally challenged homeless woman who stands on a street corner in her rags and "prophesies." But she knows exactly what she possesses, what most of those who pity her don't have.Eve refuses to take advantage of the social programs and for a good reason. She refuses to submit to the medical procedure and the progress monitoring, preferring instead to keep what she has.Eve has an important lesson to teach Andrew Thurston, Director of the Social Equity and Rehabilitation Department, who is determined to help her. And it's a lesson he learns the hard way."Eve's Refusal" is a Flannery O'Connor-esque short story of approximately 3,400 words.

The Firstborn–the mysterious race of aliens who first became known to science fiction fans as the builders of the iconic black monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey–have inhabited legendary master of science fiction Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s writing for decades. With Time’s Eye and Sunstorm, the first two books in their acclaimed Time Odyssey series, Clarke and his brilliant co-author Stephen Baxter imagined a near-future in which the Firstborn seek to stop the advance of human civilization by employing a technology indistinguishable from magic. Their first act was the Discontinuity, in which Earth was carved into sections from different eras of history, restitched into a patchwork world, and renamed Mir. Mir’s inhabitants included such notables as Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and United Nations peacekeeper Bisesa Dutt. For reasons unknown to her, Bisesa entered into communication with an alien artifact of inscrutable purpose and godlike power–a power that eventually returned her to Earth. There, she played an instrumental role in humanity’s race against time to stop a doomsday event: a massive solar storm triggered by the alien Firstborn designed to eradicate all life from the planet. That fate was averted at an inconceivable price. Now, twenty-seven years later, the Firstborn are back. This time, they are pulling no punches: They have sent a “quantum bomb.” Speeding toward Earth, it is a device that human scientists can barely comprehend, that cannot be stopped or destroyed–and one that will obliterate Earth. Bisesa’s desperate quest for answers sends her first to Mars and then to Mir, which is itself threatened with extinction. The end seems inevitable. But as shocking new insights emerge into the nature of the Firstborn and their chilling plans for mankind, an unexpected ally appears from light-years away. From the Hardcover edition.

Science fiction icon Connie Willis brilliantly mixes a speculative plot, the wit of Nora Ephron, and the comedic flair of P. G. Wodehouse in Crosstalk, a genre-bending novel that pushes social media, smartphone technology, and twenty-four-hour availability to hilarious and chilling extremes as one young woman abruptly finds herself with way more connectivity than she ever desired. In the not-too-distant future, a simple outpatient procedure to increase empathy between romantic partners has become all the rage. And Briddey Flannigan is delighted when her boyfriend, Trent, suggests undergoing the operation prior to a marriage proposal - to enjoy better emotional connection and a perfect relationship with complete communication and understanding. But things don't quite work out as planned, and Briddey finds herself connected to someone else entirely - in a way far beyond what she signed up for. It is almost more than she can handle - especially when the stress of managing her all-too-eager-to-communicate-at-all-times family is already burdening her brain. But that's only the beginning. As things go from bad to worse, she begins to see the dark side of too much information, and to realize that love - and communication - are far more complicated than she ever imagined.