Specimen

      Shay Savage
     Specimen

I awaken in a laboratory. I don’t know who I am. I’m inexplicably drawn to the doctor who cares for me. She tells me I’ve been altered, that I’m stronger and faster, that I’ll be a key component in a war between corporations. She says I volunteered for this. She says I volunteered to be transformed, but I have no way of knowing if what she says is true. Something isn’t right. My memories have been taken, wiped clean, but dreams begin to slip into my conscious mind. I can’t let anyone know when that happens, or they’ll remove my memories again. Somewhere inside of me, I know I need to remember something important. I’m fighting a war I don’t understand, and the one woman I rely on can’t be trusted.

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    Grantville Gazette VI

      Eric Flint
     Grantville Gazette VI

This edition of the Grantville Gazette Volume 6 is derived directly from the online edition at http://www.grantvillegazette.com. Stories include: A Taste of Home by Chris Racciato Federico and Ginger by Iver P. Cooper Recycling by Philip Schillawski and John Rigby Old Folks' Music by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett Mightier than the Sword by Jay Robison Grantville is Different by Russ Rittgers The Woman Shall Not Wear That by Virginia DeMarce Live Free by Karen Bergstralh The Dalai Lama's Electric Buddha by Victor Klimov The Doctor Gribbleflotz Chronicles, Part 1: Calling Dr. Phil by Kerryn Offord Dr. Phil's Amazing Lightning Crystal by Kerryn Offord Dr. Phil's Aeolian Transformers by Kerryn Offord and Rick Boatright Exegesis and Interpretation of Up-timer Printed Matter by Francis Turner Bouncing Back: Bringing Rubber to Grantville by Iver P. Cooper On the Design, Construction and Maintenance of Wooden Aircraft by Jerry Hollombe The Jews of 1632 by Douglas W. Jones

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    Freeing the Prisoner: Kindred Tales

      Evangeline Anderson
     Freeing the Prisoner: Kindred Tales

A warrior taken prisoner, held in chains without hope... A princess fascinated by the strange alien male... When Dani slips into the prisoner's cell to learn more about him, she doesn't expect to fall in love! But, Kyron is a Touch Kindred… Able to Touch her even though his hands are chained... Will he also Touch her heart? Will Dani help him escape? Find out in Freeing the Prisoner… Kyron is a Touch Kindred, able to physically touch others with the power of his mind and Touch sense, but he has sworn a solemn vow to use his power only for good. When he is captured and held prisoner on the small planet of Goshan Prime, his resolve is sorely tested. He's beaten, starved, and kept constantly chained. There's only one bright spot - a girl who slips into his cell because she's curious... Dannella is a Princess of the Blood. Raised to be a proper lady, she knows that one day she will be given in marriage to a male who will act as both her husband and owner. Females aren't valued in Goshan society and she has little control over her own life. Despite her restrictive upbringing, Dani rebels and finds her way into the cell occupied by the strange new warrior, a Kindred so huge he dwarfs every other male she's ever known! Kyron shows her his Touch sense and gives her pleasure she's never dreamed of, even though he is chained in his cell. Dani finds herself falling for the big Kindred. But then, the unthinkable happens - a marriage is announced and time has suddenly grown short. Now she and Ky are one the run, trying to escape from a life which has become a prison for them both. But in order to gain their freedom, Ky must break his sacred oath. Will it cost him his love and his life? Read Freeing the Prisoner to find out… Author's Note: Freeing the Prisoner is a Kindred Tales Novel set in the Brides of the Kindred universe

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    The Yississ War

      Shawn O'Toole
     The Yississ War

“…a modern masterpiece.” -- Jason Kehe, WiredA demon living in rotting flesh commands an army of zombies and shapeless monsters. A mortal man and an army of clone women fight to stop them.“…a modern masterpiece.” -- Jason Kehe, WiredA demon's army grows as her monsters turn the living into hordes of living death. The Army of Four and the Virgin Army join together to resist. A mortal man, mystical creatures and mass-produced clone women battle zombies, cyborgs and shapeless horrors. Their war is a suspenseful tale of high adventure.

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    The Trial of Tompa Lee

      Edward Hoornaert
     The Trial of Tompa Lee

Tompa Lee, a street girl who's clawed her way up to the lowest rung of the Space Navy, becomes a pawn of interplanetary politics when she's framed for murder on another planet. Now only her enemies can save her from alien injustice.A WomanTompa Lee is a homeless 'street meat' who has clawed her way up to the bottom-most rung of the Space Navy . . . but her dream job plummets into a nightmare when she's framed for mass murder on an alien planet.A ManDante Roussel is the Navy policemen who surrenders Tompa to the Shons . . . but he is horrified to learn that their justice requires trial-by-combat, so Tompa must conquer three hundred accusers.AN ALIENAwmit is an old, lower-class Shon who is the sole witness to Tompa's innocence . . . but to prove it, he must find the valor and the strength to fight to the death at her side.AN UNFAIR TRIALCan Tompa learn to trust and love not only a member of the alien race that wants to slaughter her . . . but also the policeman who betrayed her to cruel alien justice?

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    The Void of Mist and Thunder

      James Dashner
     The Void of Mist and Thunder

Suspense meets sacrifice in the action-packed conclusion to New York Times bestselling author James Dashner’s 13th Reality series. Atticus Higginbottom—aka Tick—has known all along that when the battle for every reality is on the line, his role will be a crucial one. But he never could have imagined how this final challenge would go down. While Tick’s friends Paul, Sofia, and Sato work together with the Realitants to fight the newest and biggest threat to the very fabric of all that exists, Tick finds himself alone with the villains responsible for the damage: Mistress Jane and Reginald Chu. Each character faces unimaginable choices and death-defying odds in this breathless conclusion to a quirky, clever series. Ultimately, it will take a stunning sacrifice to save the day….

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    Swan Knight's Son

      John C. Wright
     Swan Knight's Son

Gilberic Parzival Moth is a strange and lonely boy who has grown up without a father, raised by a single mother who moves from town to town in fear of something she will not name. His only friends are animals, with whom he has always been able to speak. But when he awakens one night at the Thirteenth Hour, and sees for the first time the cruel reality of the secret rule of Elf over Man, he begins to learn about his true heritage, the heritage of Twilight. And when his mother finally tells him the terrible truth of her past, he must choose whether to continue running with her in fear, or learning how to fight against ancient powers that are ageless, soulless, and ultimately damned. SWAN KNIGHT'S SON is the first book of THE GREEN KNIGHT'S SQUIRE, the first volume of MOTH & COBWEB, an astonishing new series about magical worlds of Day, Night, and Twilight by John C. Wright. John C. Wright is one of the living grandmasters of science fiction and the author of THE GOLDEN AGE, AWAKE IN THE NIGHT LAND, and IRON CHAMBER OF MEMORY, to name just three of his exceptional books. He has been nominated for the Nebula Award, for the Hugo Award, and his novel SOMEWHITHER won the 2016 Dragon Award for Best Science Fiction Novel at Dragoncon.

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    Behemoth: B-Max

      Peter Watts
     Behemoth: B-Max

Starfish lit the fuse. Maelstrom was the explosion. But five years into the aftermath, things aren't quite so simple as they once seemed... Lenie Clarke--rifter, avenger, amphibious deep-sea cyborg--has destroyed the world. Once exploited for her psychological addiction to dangerous environments, she emerged in the wake of a nuclear blast to serve up vendetta from the ocean floor. The horror she unleashed--an ancient, apocalyptic microbe called ßehemoth--has been free in the world for half a decade now, devouring the biosphere from the bottom up. North America lies in ruins beneath the thumb of an omnipotent psychopath. Digital monsters have taken Clarke's name, wreaking havoc throughout the decimated remnants of something that was once called Internet. Governments have fallen across the globe; warlords and suicide cults rise from the ashes, pledging fealty to the Meltdown Madonna. All because five years ago, Lenie Clarke had a score to settle. But she has learned something in the meantime: she destroyed the world for a fallacy. Now, cowering at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, rifters and the technoindustrial "corpses" who created them hide from a world in its death throes. But they cannot hide forever: something is tracking them, down amongst the lightless cliffs and trenches of the Midatlantic Ridge. The consequences of past acts reach inexorably towards the very bottom of the world, and Lenie Clarke must finally confront the mess she made. Redemption doesn't come easy with the blood of a world on your hands. But even after five years in purgatory, Lenie Clarke is still Lenie Clarke. There will be consequences for anyone who gets in her way-and worse ones, perhaps, if she succeeds. . . . Behemoth: ß-Max is the first of two volumes. The story will conclude in ßehemoth: Seppuku.

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    Planet of the Apes

      Pierre Boulle
     Planet of the Apes

"I am confiding this manuscript to space, not with the intention of saving myself, but to help, perhaps, to avert the appalling scourge that is menacing the human race. Lord have pity on us!" With these words, Pierre Boulle hurtles teh reader onto the Planet of the Apes. In this simian world, civilization is turned upside down: apes are men and men are apes; apes rule and men run wild; apes think, speak, produce, wear clothes, and men are speechless, naked, exhibited at fairs, used for biological research. On the planet of the apes, man, having reached to apotheosis of his genius, has become inert. To this planet come a journalist and a scientist. The scientist is put into a zoo, the journalist into a laboratory. Only the journalist retains the spiritual strength and creative intelligence to try to save himself, to fight the appalling scourge, to remain a man. Out of this situation, Pierre Boulle has woven a tale as harrowing, bizarre, and meaningful as any in the brilliant roster of this master storyteller. With his cutomary wit, irony, and disciplined intellect and style, the author of The Bridge Over the River Kwai tells a swiftly moving story dealing with man's conflicts, and takes the reader into a suspenseful and strangely fascinating orbit.

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    Halo: The Cole Protocol

      Tobias S. Buckell
     Halo: The Cole Protocol

In the first, desperate days of the Human-Covenant War, the UNSC has enacted the Cole Protocol to safeguard Earth and its Inner Colonies from discovery by a merciless alien foe. Many are called upon to rid the universe of lingering navigation data that would reveal the location of Earth. Among them is Navy Lieutenant Jacob Keyes. Thrust back into action after being sidelined, Keyes is saddled with a top secret mission by ONI. One that will take him deep behind enemy lines, to a corner of the universe where nothing is as it seems. Out beyond the Outer Colonies lies the planet Hesiod, a gas giant surrounded by a vast asteroid belt. As the Covenant continues to glass the human occupied planets near Hesiod, many of the survivors, helped by a stronghold of human Insurrectionists, are fleeing to the asteroid belt for refuge. They have transformed the tumbling satellites into a tenuous, yet ingenious, settlement known as the Rubble--and have come face-to-face with a Covenant settlement of Kig-Yar . . . yet somehow survived. News of this unlikely treaty has spread to the warring sides. Luckily for the UNSC, this uneasy alliance is in the path of the Spartan Gray Team, a three-man renegade squad whose simple task is to wreak havoc from behind enemy lines in any way they see fit. But the Prophets have also sent their best---an ambitious and ruthless Elite, whose quest for nobility and rank is matched only by his brutality . . . and who will do anything to secure his Ascendancy and walk the Path.

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    The Fallen Legacies

      Pittacus Lore
     The Fallen Legacies

Before Number Four, there were One, Two, and Three. Until now we've only known that the Mogadorians caught Number One in Malaysia. Number Two in England. And Number Three in Kenya. But all of that is about to change. . . . In I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: The Fallen Legacies, you'll learn the true story behind these ill-fated members of the Garde. Before they were murdered by the Mogadorians, before Number Four was next, they were all just kids on an alien planet called Earth—discovering their powers, trying to stay hidden, and running for their lives.

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    Breaking Down

      Lelanthran Krishna Manickum
     Breaking Down

It happens to all of us ... our ride breaks down and we have to pull over and fix the damn thing. It even happens to astronauts, although in the case of spacecraft it does at least mean that the passengers cannot be terrorised by the owner into getting out and pushing.It happens to all of us ... our ride breaks down and we have to pull over and fix the damn thing. It even happens to astronauts, although in the case of spacecraft it does at least mean that the passengers cannot be terrorised by the owner into getting out and pushing.The astronaut had landed his crippled craft on an alien surface filled with all the terrors of the unknown (and the slightly less scary terrors previously encountered). Luckily, this hero has no problems, as the locals are mostly harmless, and anyway the Space Exploration Corporation has strict policies about getting eaten on remote planets. One of the locals, however, decides to make contact.

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    Sickeningly Human: Advena

      Nicholas Blakeman
     Sickeningly Human: Advena

A Nicholas Blakeman classic short story: Watch a bewildered security guard as he follows instructions from a secretive supervisor, sees terrors mysteriously gawking at him in the darkness and finds out something that lurks quietly in all our subconscious.Nicholas Blakeman takes us on yet another terrifying and horrifically realistic ride, that will make you ask questions passed "what if?".Cheeps the Chick is a gorgeous illustrated children's book about a silly little baby chicken named Cheeps. Cheeps is very adventurous and loves to explore! One day he decides to find out what is on the other side of the fence (with the help of his best friend, Chuck). Little do they know, there's a fox nearby. What happens next? The illustrations in the kid's picture book are optimized to be superior quality and vivid for tablets and e-readers to improve the story and bring it to life for early and beginner readers!This is an excellent read for beginning and early readers.This book is great for a quick bedtime story or a cute tale to be read aloud with friends and family.* Excellent for early and beginning readers* Great for reading aloud with friends and family* Cute short story that is great for a quick bedtime story* Big and beautiful illustrations for kidsThis books is especially great for traveling, waiting rooms, and reading aloud at home!

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    The Feast of Stevens

      Kristen Stieffel
     The Feast of Stevens

On a space station far from Earth, animal liberationists inadvertently jeopardize thirty-eight innocent turkeys. The station’s cook, Stevens, ensures the fowl shall not have died in vain.In this science fiction Christmas comedy, cultures clash, hearts are won, and dinner is served.Love on the Way, is a story of two people with no names, in fact is the story of every common ordinary individual, story where no connection exists between two people but still somehow or the other they feel there's something between them, not knowing what exactly it is, are they made for each other or are just another couple lost in each others dream surrounded by crowd.These is the story of two people both look at each other, smile at each other, there heart knows the other is also having same feeling but in reality they don't even know if their is saying the truth.And then the revelation of life and its effect on these two lifes.Constructed on a the plot of a real incident, a story that will touch your heart and compel you to read through the last line.

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