Aliens visit a middle-aged couple to bring them an otherworldly message.Life altering reality, hidden in plain sight.Ralph has a problem. The Grand Council of Atlantis, the council who rules the twelve hominid tribes, has chosen his apprentice for him. This unusual move has one obstacle. She doesn't know what it means to be Atlantean.Cerita Guzman is the oldest child in a struggling, single parent home. She doesn't have time for world shattering reality to interfere with life. She has work, school, siblings, her mom, the house and now, of all things, Atlantis wants her time too. How is that even possible?James has lived among the homo-sapiens, on the surface, for most of his life. He's training though, to serve his people in Atlantis. His heart is torn when his master knight requests him to bring in the young woman selected by the Grand Council to train with him. She's in a lot of his classes. She's beautiful. She's human. When Atlantis calls, he listens.As Cerita resists the call to serve Atlantis, James must find a way to help her accept the truth about the world around her, about herself. He does. He forces her to activate her internal nanites. She's forced to accept whole new hominid species exist. If that's not enough, she's also forced to accept she's one of them, when her nanites come to life, and she opens a wormhole into space.Join Cerita, James, and Ralph on the first adventure into the world of Atlantis. Knight's of the Immortals is a Young Adult Scifi - Adventure that's loved by readers of all ages. Knight's Apprentice is free. Download it so you can start reading today.

More clever science experiments, funny jokes, and robot hijinks await readers in book four of the New York Times bestselling Frank Einstein chapter book series from the mad scientist team of Jon Scieszka and Brian Biggs. The perfect combination to engage and entertain readers, the series features real science facts with adventure and humor, making these books ideal for STEM education. This latest installment examines the quest to unlock the power behind the science of “all connected life.” Kid-genius and inventor Frank Einstein loves figuring out how the world works by creating household contraptions that are part science, part imagination, and definitely unusual. In the series opener, an uneventful experiment in his garage-lab, a lightning storm, and a flash of electricity bring Frank’s inventions—the robots Klink and Klank—to life! Not exactly the ideal lab partners, the wisecracking Klink and the overly expressive Klank nonetheless help Frank attempt to perfect his inventions. In the fourth book in the series, Frank—along with his best friend, Watson, and Klink and Klank—once again finds himself in competition with his classmate and archrival T. Edison and his sign-language-speaking sidekick, Mr. Chimp, over Frank’s newest invention: the EvoBlaster Belt, which allows the user to evolve and devolve into other forms of life, blasting from one species to another. Integrating real science facts with wacky humor, a silly cast of characters, and science fiction, this uniquely engaging series is an irresistible chemical reaction for middle-grade readers. With easy-to-read language and graphic illustrations on almost every page, this chapter book series is a must for reluctant readers. The Frank Einstein series encourages middle-grade readers to question the way things work and to discover how they, too, can experiment with science. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews raves, “This buoyant, tongue-in-cheek celebration of the impulse to ‘keep asking questions and finding your own answers’ fires on all cylinders,” while Publishers Weekly says that the series “proves that science can be as fun as it is important and useful.” Read all the books in the New York Times bestselling Frank Einstein series: Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor (Book 1), Frank Einstein and the Electro-Finger (Book 2), Frank Einstein and the BrainTurbo (Book 3), and Frank Einstein and the EvoBlaster Belt (Book 4). Visit frankeinsteinbooks.com for more information.

Two never-before-published stories from the archives of one of science fiction’s all-time masters The novella “A Necessary Being” showcases Octavia E. Butler’s ability to create alien yet fully believable “others.” Tahneh’s father was a Hao, one of a dwindling race whose leadership abilities render them so valuable that their members are captured and forced to govern. When her father dies, Tahneh steps into his place, both chief and prisoner, and for twenty years has ruled without ever meeting another of her kind. She bears her loneliness privately until the day that a Hao youth is spotted wandering into her territory. As her warriors sharpen their weapons, Tahneh must choose between imprisoning the newcomer—and living the rest of her life alone. The second story in this volume, “Childminder,” was commissioned by Harlan Ellison for his legendary (and never-published) anthology The Last Dangerous Visions™. A disaffected telepath connects with a young girl in a desperate attempt to help her harness her growing powers. But in the richly evocative fiction of Octavia E. Butler, mentorship is a rocky path, and every lesson comes at a price.

An Erica Joan Stark story.Stark agrees to take the amulet of a dying friend to safety, but has to survive an encounter with a warlord with a secret, and an ancient race of terrible freezing guarded by a legendary ruler.A Gender Switch Adventure.Jessi hung up the phone. That was the fifth time she tried calling home with no answer. She had just started eating lunch when she remembered she had forgotten to call home. It was something she would never forgive herself for.It was something she would never forgive herself for…It wasn’t until lunchtime that Jessi remembered to call home. No answer. She tried calling several times while she ate her lunch. Still no answer. She closed her eyes and rested her arms and head on her desk. She breathed deeply, wishing she had remembered to call earlier. Until Forever is a story of a young family that is torn apart by the devastating effects of alcoholism. Can healing take place in a relationship when an unforgivable act is committed? Will Jessi's pain and Mark's guilt keep them apart forever, or will unforeseen circumstances bind them together? Author BioDarlene Shortridge attended Alderson Broaddus College as a voice major. She found she was more passionate about her writing classes than her vocal classes. She left college early and since that time has written various projects such as Bible School Curriculum and poetry. She has also written and recorded a CD of original music. She lives abroad with her husband and two children. Until Forever is her first novel.

Four alien starships attack without provocation, destroy an 8-ship Peacemaker team in six savage minutes. Officially no survivors - Lord Stewart Cavanaugh asks fighter pilot Adam Quinn to rescue son Commander Pheylan Cavanaugh. Quinn assembles elite Copperheads like himself, minds united with ships, who will return home as heroes or traitors, if at all.

Before tragedy left her crippled, Artemis “Temi” Sidaris was a world-class tennis player at the height of her career. The sport was her passion, her dream, and all she ever wanted to do. Fighting monsters… was not part of the plan. But when a pair of pointy-eared strangers offers to heal her injury if she’s willing to wield a powerful sword to protect humanity… how can she resist?

It is 2400 years in the future and Serus Blackwell is a policeman. His job, though, is not to uphold the law, but to kill political targets within the Syndicate, the centralized government on Mars. Follow Serus in this short story that sparks the beginning of the end, for a future that is darker than you think.As night falls on Midsummer's Eve, Elliot joins the noteworthy of Neppon society as they gather for the city's gala ball. All does not go as smoothly as planned however, as the first hints of a plot against the Roscans casts its shadow across our stage.*The city of Neppon drifts through the shallows, where the walls circling the mortal realm are thin. Here the daemons gather out of the surrounding night, drawn by its promise of candle flame warmth.As the election for the city's mayoral office approaches, one man stands head and shoulders above the other candidates. His reputation is as a bastion for all that is good and honest, in a world beset from all sides by horrors. But Jaret Roscan carries a secret. A secret that could bring ruin to his political career, and chaos to his beloved city.One person carries the key to his salvation. The question is, will they come forward in his hour of need?Harlem's Deck; a story in instalments. Keep your hand close to your chest...*Read this if you enjoy the work of Joe Abercrombie or Scott Lynch, or love watching Tru Blood or Battlestar Galactica.

Winner of six Nebula and two Hugo awards for her fiction, Connie Willis is acclaimed for her gifted imagination and bold invention. Here are eleven of her finest stories, surprising tales in which the impossible becomes real, the real becomes impossible, and strangeness lurks at every turn. The end of the world comes not with a bang but a series of whimpers over many years in "The Last of the Winnebagos." The terror of pain and dying gives birth to a startling truth about the nature of the stars, a principle known as the "Schwarzschild Radius." In "Spice Pogrom," an outrageous colony in outer space becomes the setting for a screwball comedy of bizarre complications, mistaken identities, far-too-friendly aliens--and even true love.  From the Paperback edition.

As mankind faces its deadliest battle, two young women must unite to prevent the forces of evil destroying the world as we know it. But theirs is no ordinary alliance, for these two women live at opposite ends of history, until fate brings them together and their destinies are inextricably intertwined. Leoni, a troubled teen from 21st Century Los Angeles, finds everything she's ever known thrown into disarray when a drug overdose catapults her into a parallel dimension.There she meets Ria, who is also suspended on the edge of time. Ria's world is violent and desolate in a way Leoni has never experienced - but only together can they stop the powerful demon Sulpa, the Eater of Souls.The embodiment of pure evil, Sulpa is preparing to perpetrate one final, horrific act of unspeakable wickedness, after which nothing will be able to stand in the way of his ultimate goal: the annihilation of mankind. Only Leoni and Ria can stop him...

The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do—and they are just as determined to stay together. Within the confines of a cave they're using as a makeshift refuge, they struggle to reconcile their people, Dwellers and Outsiders, who are united only in their hatred of their desperate situation. Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. Then Roar arrives in a grief-stricken fury, endangering all with his need for revenge. Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble an unlikely team for an impossible rescue mission. Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival--he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most. In this final book in her earth-shattering Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi raises the stakes to their absolute limit and brings her epic love story to an unforgettable close.

A sci/fi, futuristic tale of people taking freedom into their own hands on a world riddled with EM storms that have destroyed all the basic necessities we take for granted: things like the radio and the cell-phone.The only tech that works are the old-fashioned kind: steam and gas.This is a free short story that originally appeared in Twit Publishing Presents: PULP! Winter/Spring 2012.

From the aftermath of HG Wells Martian invasion, to the sad fate of the universe's last Platitudeypus this brief selection of short stories includes giggles, murder, vinyl records and a peculiar solution for unemployment.Reporter Nadia Maverick takes an adventure through the underbelly of her town where she discovers that even the criminal life she had been reporting on isn't quite like it seemed. Things turn bad for Nadia when in the middle of an investigation the tables are turned and she becomes the one under the watchful eye of Mr. A. Everyone becomes a suspect when Nadia turns up missing.Who will be there to set her free?Read and see.

Denek and Crim are at it again in this prequel to Freedom - this time taking on the meaning of Choice. As before, they bring their unique approach to philosophy with them, sure to make any academic cringe in disapproval: it’s theory versus practice and force-projection instead of analytical referencing – strangely thought provoking and yet thoroughly disrespectful at the same time.A little girl named An, struggles with her own loneliness and its effect upon her life by one day inviting another girl from school to the park for a picnic. The ensuing events devastate An.

It’s Christmas night in the Southern California town of Santa Ana. While families pack up gifts and clear messy dinner tables, an older brother and his sister sight-see the festive neighborhood. Their world’s turned upside down by the arrival of alien spaceships. Neighbors and family members are corralled by invaders, leaving it to Gracie and her brother to aid their captured community.Harry, an air conditioning repairman, and his son Frank have journeyed to a fishing bungalow on the Rio Mayo, fulfilling a prior promise Harry made to his son. Frank has returned to Arizona from Chicago where he worked at a Naval hospital during World War Two. Their early-morning encounter with a Mayo Indian brings the father and son into conflict when Frank refuses to believe the man's story. Will they resolve their differences or remain at odds?

When one man can't steal her heart, She gives it to five of them. Restless and uncertain, Diana Mallory has no idea what path in life she wants to take. Unable to choose between marriage, pursuing a career, or spending her life praying with the Sisters of the Universe, Diana struggles with the course of her future. But when she's thrown through a black hole, her choices all vanish. Suddenly, her only focus is surviving life on the ice planet. Life on a strange planet isn't as it seems. With five men vying for her heart and body, Diana grapples with her feelings for each of them. Each man stirs feelings and desire within her--a yearning she's never known before. Although the men were not prepared for the woman who crashed into their lives, they'll do anything for her--even share her. Now it's up to Diana to embrace the beauty and love that each of them provide, while learning that the universe doesn't believe in happy endings. Can the men find a way to love her and still protect her from the danger lurking outside the galaxy? Reverse Harem, Intense