For too long, the Puppeteers have controlled the fate of worlds. Now Sigmund is pulling the strings . . . Covert agent Sigmund Ausfaller is Earth's secret weapon, humanity's best defense against all conspiracies, real and potential - and imaginary - of foes both human and alien. Who better than a brilliant paranoid to expose the devious plots of others? He may finally have met his match in Nessus, representative of the secretive Puppeteers, the elder race who wield vastly superior technologies. Nessus schemes in the shadows with Earth's traitors and adversaries, even after the race he reperesents abruptly vanishes from Known Space. As a paranoid, Sigmund had always known things would end horribly for him. Only the when, where, how, why, and by whom of it all had eluded him. That fog has begun to lift... But even Sigmund has never imagined how far his investigations will take him - or that his destiny is entwined with the fates of worlds.

The culminating volume in Richard Rhodes’s monumental and prizewinning history of nuclear weapons, offering the first comprehensive narrative of the challenges faced in a post–Cold War age. The past twenty years have transformed our relationship with nuclear weapons drastically. With extraordinary depth of knowledge and understanding, Rhodes makes clear how the five original nuclear powers—Russia, Great Britain, France, China, and especially the United States—have struggled with new realities. He shows us how the stage was set for a second tragic war when Iraq secretly destroyed its nuclear infrastructure and reveals the real reasons George W. Bush chose to fight a second war in Iraq. We see how the efforts of U.S. weapons labs laid the groundwork for nuclear consolidation in the former Soviet Union, how and why South Africa secretly built and then destroyed a small nuclear arsenal, and how Jimmy Carter’s private diplomacy prevented another Korean War. We also see how the present day represents a nuclear turning point and what hope exists for our future. Rhodes assesses the emerging threat of nuclear terrorism and offers advice on how our complicated relationships with North Korea and South Asia should evolve. Finally, he imagines what a post-nuclear world might look like, suggesting what might make it possible. Powerful and persuasive, The Twilight of the Bombs is an essential work of contemporary history. From the Hardcover edition.

One minute, she's New York heiress and art curator Magda Deacon, enraptured by the Highlander captured in an old portrait. The next, she's falling through time to 17th-century Scotland--and embarking on the most erotic journey of her life.

Return to Pleasure Island By Cory Doctorow

The balance between the sun and the fog crystals has been destroyed. The ancient peace between the crystal miners and traders has been usurped by the betrayal of the fog crystal's ancient protector. His desire for power will lead the world into death through conformity. How will the spreading fog be stopped and balance returned to the world?(3,737 words)Four decades had passed since the last Relic war ravished the oppositional lands of Windpass Isles and Gaedia – a war that ceased in a bloodied truce.Drewth is a Light Elemental and Commander knight under Western Gaedia’s lordship, Syndirin - a high wizard and the king’s Arbiter. Syndirin, with questionable and unclear motive, promotes Drewth as his apprentice, and commences the personal training of Drewth in the ways of magic. Drewth then becomes the unwitting subject of Syndirin’s experimental meddle with the mythical powers of Darkened Light, despite the danger, and despite what sacrifice.Torius, a castle knight in Southern Windpass Isles kingdom and Mundane-born, is taken captive by a conspiratorial clique under Lord Syndirin, where he discovers from these captors their insidious campaign to rekindle the long dead Relic war, in pursuit of Relic’s power.Enflamed by an unforgivable betrayal of Syndirin, vengeance transforms Drewth forever within – his Element undergoes a rare alteration, he turns renegade to Gaedia, and allies with Torius, the escaped prisoner of Syndirin’s clique. Together they battle for their lives out from the now enemy territory of Gaedia.They find themselves fatefully party to a band of peasant prisoners with rare abilities invoked from the trials they face in their likewise escape from the treasonous Arbiter, Syndirin.And if odds turn to favor in their fight for survival, there is still threat to hand of a devastating magic war, a campaign in itself to acquire both kingdom’s all-powerful Relics in the wake of their mutual destruction.

Skinner's Room is a short story by William Gibson originally composed for Visionary San Francisco, a 1990 museum exhibition exploring the future of San Francisco. It features the first appearance in Gibson's fiction of "the Bridge", which Gibson revisited as the setting of his acclaimed Bridge trilogy of novels. In the story, the Bridge is overrun by squatters, among them Skinner, who occupies a shack atop a bridgetower. An altered version of the story was published in Omni magazine and subsequently anthologized. "Skinner's Room" was nominated for the 1992 Locus Award for Best Short Story.

Rachel is falling apart. Literally. Her newest morph the ability to regenerate its limbs, but when Rachel demorphs there's a lot more Rachel than when she started out. One more Rachel, to be exact. Rachel is an okay person to have around. But two could be considered overkill. Especially two Rachels with completely opposite personalities: one is pathetically weak; one is super strong and super nasty.Now the Animorphs have to figure out a way to put Rachel back together again. Because if it's up to the "twins, " Rachel the weak will surrender to Visser Three. Rachel the super bold will try to single-handedly take him down. And twice the trouble may be twice as much as the other Animorphs and Ax can handle....

1855: The Industrial Revolution is in full and inexorable swing, powered by steam-driven cybernetic Engines.  Charles Babbage perfects his Analytical Engine and the computer age arrives a century ahead of its time.  And three extraordinary characters race toward a rendezvous with history—and the future: Sybil Gerard—a fallen woman, politician’s tart, daughter of a Luddite agitator Edward “Leviathan” Mallory—explorer and paleontologist Laurence Oliphant—diplomat, mystic, and spy. Their adventure begins with the discovery of a box of punched Engine cards of unknown origin and purpose.  Cards someone wants badly enough to kill for…. Part detective story, part historical thriller, The Difference Engine is the collaborative masterpiece by two of the most acclaimed science fiction authors writing today.  Provocative, compelling, intensely imagined, it is a startling extension of Gibson’s and Sterling’s unique visions—and the beginning of movement we know today as “steampunk!” From the Paperback edition.

In the sleepy English village of Midwich, a mysterious silver object appears and all the inhabitants fall unconscious. A day later the object is gone and everyone awakens unharmed – except that all the women in the village are discovered to be pregnant. The resultant children of Midwich do not belong to their parents: all are blonde, all are golden eyed. They grow up too fast and their minds exhibit frightening abilities that give them control over others and brings them into conflict with the villagers just as a chilling realisation dawns on the world outside... The Midwich Cuckoos is the classic tale of aliens in our midst, exploring how we respond when confronted by those who are innately superior to us in every conceivable way.

Jonah and Chip have barely adjusted to the discovery that they are actually the missing children of history when a time purist named JB sends them, along with Katherine and Alex, hurtling back in time to 1483. JB promises that if they can fix history, they can all return to their present-day lives. Now Chip and Alex have to reclaim their true identities—as the king and prince of England. But things get complicated when the four discover that according to the records, the princes were murdered. How can they fix history if it means that Chip and Alex will die? Margaret Peterson Haddix is the author of Found, the bestselling Shadow Children series, Uprising, Running Out of Time, and many more

In the final book of the Fault Lines Trilogy, the race is on to resurrect the murdered Fisher King of the American West and save the life of his successor from supernatural enemies Scott Crane, the Fisher King of the American West, is dead, killed by a possessed Janis Cordelia Plumtree. Crane’s lifeless but uncorrupted body now lies in state at the Solville apartment complex, protected from spirits and dark magic by powerful charms and watched over by Pete and Angelica Sullivan. The Sullivans’ adopted son, Koot Hoomie, is Crane’s most likely successor. But Koot is only thirteen years old, and unprepared to assume the magical role for which he is destined. The most advantageous path would be to revive the dead king, but that will require the cooperation of the young woman who killed him, and the aid of a newly widowed winemaker touched by the god Dionysus. And with the evil supernatural opposition massing powerfully all around them, continued death seems far more likely than Crane’s resurrection. Earthquake Weather concludes the astonishing Fault Lines Trilogy, which also includes Expiration Date and *Last Call. *

The Electroclan is facing a devastating loss: Michael is missing. What’s next? The battle on the island of Hades ended with a devastating explosion that left the island a smoking ruin and much of Hatch’s army dead. Hatch survived, however, and while his plans have certainly suffered a setback, he’s more determined than ever to bring the world’s governments under his control. But first, he wants to wipe out the resistance and capture the remaining members of the Electroclan. As Hatch’s forces storm into action, it seems nothing can stand in their way. The Electroclan is divided. The voice is captured, and Michael’s mother is being used as bait to lure the leader of the resistance out of hiding. Can anything—or anyone—stop the Elgen? Or is this the end?

Having finally mastered his astonishing psychic abilities, Edeard is dismayed to find that life in Makkathran is as challenging and dangerous as ever. There are always threats to quash and unrest to settle. He is coming to understand that he himself will have to pay a terrible price for Makkathran's peace and liberty. Inspired by Edeard, millions of Living Dream pilgrims embark on their pilgrimage, heading towards a new life within the Void that lies at the center of the galaxy. Their arrival will trigger a super-massive expansion of the Void, which will devour everything in it's path - ultimately the galaxy itself. For those who would stop the pilgrimage, time is running out. On the run and pursued by every Commonwealth faction, Second Dreamer Araminta realises she can no longer flee her destiny, and chooses a course of action that will not only confound Living Dream, but will also transform her in a way no-one could have expected.

SPRING HEELED JACK IS JUMPING BACK! It's 9 p.m. on February 15, 1860, and Charles Babbage, the British Empire's most brilliant scientist, performs an experiment. Within moments, blood red snow falls from the sky and Spring Heeled Jack pops out of thin air in London's Leicester Square. Though utterly disoriented and apparently insane, the strange creature is intent on one thing: hunting Sir Richard Francis Burton! Spring Heeled Jack isn't alone in his mental confusion. Burton can hardly function; he's experiencing one hallucination after another-visions of parallel realities and future history. Someone, or something, is trying to tell him about…what? When the revelation comes, it sends Burton and his companions on an expedition even the great explorer could never have imagined-a voyage through time itself into a twisted future where steam technology has made a resurgence and a despotic intelligence rules over the British Empire!

The Judas Valley By Randall Garrett, Robert Silverberg