Since the Great Calamity of February 14th, 2016, population rates have been dwindling. The cause: Mother Nature. A brilliant scientist juggles her relationships with her grouchy mentor and her new team leader as she strives to create artificial life. Will humanity get in its own way in its quest to save itself from extinction?Chris is nervous, yet excited about his job interview. He has no idea that he's about to be introduced to a company where magic and technology blend together seamlessly. When he experiences the power stored in the company's mysterious cubes, he wants the job at Rune Corp more than ever. But first he must prove that he's the best applicant for the position and be willing to fight for it in ways he's never dreamed before possible.

Seven science fiction and horror tales populate this collection of stories, in addition to a true tale from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and other extras. In the novelette, "The Net", the trust of a young boy in his father is tested to the limit when both become the target of an alien hacker.Seven science fiction and horror tales populate this collection of stories, in addition to a true tale from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and other extras. In the novelette, "The Net", the trust of a young boy in his father is tested to the limit when both become the target of an alien hacker. A young couple enjoying an evening stroll on a back country road in Pennsylvania discover that love can be all consuming in "The Porch." Scientist, Jason Reed, wants to save the planet from an over-population of insects, but that becomes secondary to saving a homeless woman who has been infected with a deadly infestation by the very people who are supposed to be helping her in "Dominant Species."

A short story from The DPA Declassified Files. David is just your average man until a chance encounter with a young lady changes him forever.A short story from The DPA Declassified Files. David is just your average man until a chance encounter with a young lady changes him forever.Written by Pat Griffith, who brought you Trespassing and Linchpin. Set in the same world where Elbie. As entities made of pure energy, the Elbie must have human hosts to survive on Earth. For some people, being a host is a great benefit. For others, it is a nightmare.

Aiden and Marlaina Wilson had no idea how the first zombie was born in the Amish city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It had happened in a matter of hours. They went from clean cut kids to their hands dripping with blood. They smashed the zombie's heads using clubs and baseball bats as they ran wildly through their city's streets, seeking refuge from the blood splatter and those dead hungry faces.Aiden and Marlaina Wilson had no idea how the first zombie was born in the Amish city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It had happened in a matter of hours. Thousands of their school friends were killed. Their blood flew against the walls. They became the walking dead. They stumbled about tearing out throats. They tossed their friends' intestines against the walls. Then, they stuffed their mouths with their innards. As they did so, they attacked Aiden and Marlaina again and again. Could their lives and love survive the terrifying seconds that barely separated the living from the stumbling zombie dead in this new nightmare world? Their hands dripping with blood, they bashed in zombie heads using clubs and baseball bats as they ran wildly through their city's streets, seeking refuge from the approaching blood splatter. Hiding in the woods, searching desperately for safer places, they fought their way through the emerging hordes of blood hungry zombies.

In the perfect society, a Leaders role is never questioned.His guidance is everywhere, his love all encompassing.But if you betray your beloved country? His imagination is unparalleled.Welcome to the magical town of Cottontail Pines, where animals talk, and there is always a friend around the corner. In this new story called “Blacky’s Birthday,” Blacky the skunk wakes up on his special day expecting to be lavished with attention… and cake. Unfortunately, nobody seems to want to talk to him at all, and worst of all… no cake! Have all of Blacky’s friends decided not to like him anymore? And most importantly, will he never, ever get to eat any cake?! Find out what happens in this cute new story by T.K. Wade.

Bob is a Process Server, a functionary. Worse, he's a "Smith," lowest on society's rung in 2253. Well, almost: the poor bastards on Earth have it worse than anyone, addicted to the immersive MultiNet and doomed to pointless lives working for the Big Six Corps. Now Bob's been given a job, to deliver a summons to a bureaucrat halfway across the Galaxy - but death, deception and adventure await...Bob is a Process Server, a functionary. Worse, he's a "Smith," lowest on society's rung in 2253. Well, almost: the poor bastards on Earth have it worse than anyone, addicted to the immersive MultiNet and doomed to pointless lives working for the Big Six Corps. Now Bob's been given a job, to deliver a summons to a bureaucrat halfway across the Galaxy - but death, deception and adventure await...The Process Server is a dystopian sci-fi adventure that deals with themes of belief, loyalty and social conflict as Process Server Bob Smith crosses three galaxies to solve a murder mystery. From epic space battles to the cyberpunk world that exists on Old Earth, it's the adventure of three lifetimes.

This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.

3 of 8. When rummaging behind some maintenance access panels Casparian discovers some hidden containers and failing to tell the authorities she becomes prime suspect of a smuggling scheme aboard the station for which she will be expelled from the Academy and sent away from the station. Will she escape being caught? Are the accusations against her true? Or is it all part of something much bigger?Latium 310 BC. In book 9 of his famous History of Rome Livy tells how the Romans, drained by their expansionist war against the Samnites in the south, were in need of a victory and rich booty. The most alluring prey within easy reach were the wealthy Etruscans just to their north but these were protected by the impenetrable barrier of the Cimina Mountains, reputedly haunted by evil spirits and demons. Marcus Fabius Cesus, brother to one of the consuls for the year and a well-known general, volunteers to seek a path through the wilderness. In Livy’s words“He had been brought up in Caere, and was thoroughly conversant with the Etruscan language and literature. There is authority for asserting that at that time Roman boys were, as a rule, instructed in Etruscan literature as they now are in Greek, but I think the probability is that there was something remarkable about the man who displayed such boldness in disguising himself and mingling with the enemy. He is said to have been accompanied by only one servant, and during their journey they only made brief inquiries as to the nature of the country and the names of its leading men, lest they should make some startling blunder in conversing with the natives and so be found out. They went disguised as shepherds, with their rustic weapons, each carrying two bills and two heavy javelins. But neither their familiarity with the language nor the fashion of their dress nor their implements afforded them so much protection as the impossibility of believing that any stranger would enter the Ciminian forest.”This is the tale of Marcus’ extraordinary journey; the tale of his slave, Janu, and his love for Orphea; the tale of the mysterious origins of the Etruscan race; the tale of the immortal priestesses, daughters of the god Arius, waiting to fulfill their sacred mission; the tale of Hanibald, the middle-eastern mystic who seeks religious solace in his lonely hermitage; but most of all it is the tale of the Etruscan civilisation’s swansong.Pier Isa della Rupe is steeped in the lore of her native Cimina mountains and this book is the fruit of careful research, accurate down to the last detail. But scholarship fades into the background as the reader is swept along on a torrent of rich, descriptive language perhaps rare in our minimalist-inspired age. This is no dry history but a visionary tale, a magical evocation of a place and its people, an inspired flow of words which I personally found an intense pleasure to translate. I hope that many people will be able to have the pleasure of reading it.PIER ISA DELLA RUPEETRUSCAN SWAN SONGCHAPTER 1Legend has it that Thetia, the famous Sybil of the Sacred Forests of the Cimina mountains, lived isolated from the world for thousands of years in a dark, windswept cavern under the gaunt Acqua Zita crag to the north of the Cimini Mountain chain. Her only companions were wolves, bears and a beautiful white lion that her mother, the nymph Athea, had given her. Her den was an intricate labyrinth of tunnels hollowed out of the volcanic rock which stretched down to where a hot spring bubbled from the bowels of the earth. Among her collection of archaic documents written on palm leaves an ancient roll was found, half scorched, which claimed in mysterious verse that the world was created from the Cimina mountains.

The mysterious Shroud of Turin has provoked controversy for centuries. Many believe it is the authentic burial cloth of Christ. Many believe it is a forgery. What if, however, there could be a final proof beyond any doubt that it was genuine? What if that proof went terribly, horribly wrong for us all? If you were told such a story by a barely glimpsed stranger, would you, should you, believe it?After Tina crosses paths with Damon Blackdart, she discovers that her soul houses another, dormant soul, Trinity, Damon’s Beloved, who died centuries ago. Damon tries to draw Trinity forward and when he succeeds, Tina befriends her and learns that Damon is part of the Lueeshareteers (Bloodeaters), powerful creatures old as time itself, whose three clans live in seeming peace and rule the world from shadows. After she is swept from Damon’s grasp by the Dumes, Trinity’s children, she also learns that vampires are not at the top of the food chain.Excerpt:Damon went up the stairs and stopped three stairs beneath her. “You better get back to your room and put on some slippers. You are going to get a cold running around barefoot.”Was he joking or being serious? Not that Tina cared. The only thing she cared about was getting out of this house, away from him and from that creature. “I know what you must be thinking.” He stepped up.She stepped back.“What is he going to do?” He advanced on her.She maintained the distance of three stairs between them. “Is he going to hurt me?” Damon took another step up. “Is he going to rape or even kill me?” She had run out of stairs. She turned on her heel and was about to run down the hallway, when she bumped into something. She looked up and there he was, standing before her. “How did you --”He grabbed her arm, holding her in place. “But you see, if I intended to do any of that, I would have done it already.”“Then what do you want with me?” She tried to wiggle her arm out of his grasp. “You have something that I want.” His fingers crawled up her arm. “Something very special.”“What?”He smiled down on her, a soft, friendly smile that made him look like an innocent young boy. “Stay here, you have nothing to return to.” He gently caressed her shoulder. “I have been in your mind, I have seen how you live. Looking for a job, worrying about when the money your grandmother left you runs out and in the meantime trying to live as modestly as you can. I even felt your loneliness. Is this life?”Tina looked at those green eyes that knowingly waited for her reply. A beautiful face, such an innocent smile, but there was cruelty behind it, she could feel it, but she could also feel that that cruelty wasn’t directed at her, that if he conveyed any feeling at all toward her, it was... fondness. “Will you let me go, if I ask you to?”“I’m sorry, I can’t do that.”Why had she even asked? She bit her lip, chewing on it, before she spoke. “But what do you want? What is so special that I have and you want?”“A fragment of your soul.”

An ancient alien probe is discovered drifting in deep space and is taken aboard the battleship, 'Temperance'. Although it poses no military threat, the offensive nature of the symbols etched on the craft's hull, might just be enough to provoke a war.99.9% of boys born in Oadford are destined to fish, farm or build. Stan Pike falls into the other 0.1%. Not all boys are born equal. Stan Pike is the son of a fisherman, who lives with his father and elder brother in the remote fishing village of Oadford, set beneath the ominous looking Mount Smouldotion, home to the terrifying dragon, Gordon the Gruesome. Gordon created mayhem for the townsfolk for decades, but has not been seen for nearly a hundred years. All this changes however, when Stan, his elder brother Edgar and his best friend Marvin enter Gordon's lair, and an unfortunate blunder from the kind hearted but dim witted Marvin awakens the dragon, resulting in the devastating destruction of Oadford..The only way to save Stan's town is to find the mystical Emerald of Foundation, a magical emerald with the ability to construct anything. Stan joins a quest of brave town folk in the hunt to find the Emerald, but they are not alone in seeking the prize. Gustavo, the evil wizard, leads a fierce goblin army to the Emerald's resting place, as he seeks it to ensure world domination.The resulting race for the Emerald results in betrayal, sacrifice, heart break, booby traps, mass battles and heart pounding encounters, and is not to be missed!

Wondrous beings inhabit these woods - creatures born of mythic fable and the mortal subconscious: a snow woman beckons; a scientist succumbs to an age-old madness, tale-tellers weave extraordinary yarns of terrifying primal power. Explore a dark and secret place where daemons roam, where conjurers work their awesome pagan magic in eight stunning short stories of exhilarating imagination by the acclaimed author of Lavondyss and the World Fantasy Award-winning classic Mythago Wood.

Laurence M. Janifer was a 20th century American author best known for writing science fiction works that appeared in various magazines and other publications.

Chapter 7 : Animebot The night continues. After the most mind-blowing race of all time, all head for the Prave. It's party time, but the fun gets completely out of control, for both Nayaa and Andee, in such an extreme way that it alters the paths of their lives forever.Lightship Chronicles is a young adult adventure set on a mysterious world. Carpatia is a harsh desert land, but one with spectacular vistas and populated by two very different yet resilient people, the Carpati and the Bitani. Both believe in competing myths of their history. Myths of great ancient battles fought over by a clan of mysterious Sacred Warriors against magical Light-Fairies. Under the glowing warmth of their red-giant sun, it's easy for the Carpati to believe in their beautiful myths. They spend most of their long 36 hour days living a simple farming lifestyle in the Township built on the lower slopes of the mighty Table Mountain. The Bitani meanwhile rule over the Carpati from their futuristic city atop the massive pillar-like tabletop of a mountain, and have a very different, and quite mysterious perspective. For the Carpati the only respite from the drudgery of their simple days are the monthly lightship races. The hovering lightships speed at more than 700kph over a 600km course that runs up the sides of mesas, through the canyons of the Crags, over the 10m waves of the Great Salt sea, over the Long Straight, the Dunes, and through the Eastern Hills and its many giant Baobab threes. It's a spectacular race unlike anything else and the favorite pastime of Andee and his little brother Mykee. Both dream of being lightship pilots while watching the race from their favorite hangout, the 1000m high Outcrop overlooking The Crags. Join the adventure now, because this is growing into an epic tale years into the making. Visit LightshipChronicles.com for more in depth details of the race circuit, including images of the course, the outcrop, and the lightships.

The international sensation Iain M. Banks offers readers a deeply imaginative, wittily satirical tale, proving once again that he is "a talent to be reckoned with" ("Locus"). In "Excession", the Culture's espionage and dirty tricks section orders Diplomat Byr Gen-Hofoen to steal the soul of a long-dead starship captain. By accepting the mission, Byr irrevocably plunges himself into a conspiracy: one that could either lead the universe into an age of peace or to the brink of annihilation.

It has always been John Omally's secret ambition to become a rock star. In his youth he mastered air guitar and wardrobe-mirror posing, but he lacked that certain something. Talent. But at last an opportunity has arisen for John to get into 'The Industry'. A band called Gandhi's Hairdryer are looking for a manager, so all John has to do is persuade them that he is the new Brian Epstein. It should be a piece of cake. But - and there's always a but - there is something rather odd about this band. Something other-worldly. It might be the lead singer, whose voice has the power to heal. Might she be an angel, perhaps? Or could she be the Devil in disguise? Because, after all, the Devil does have all the best tunes. And this is Brentford. In this, his final offering of the twentieth century, Robert Rankin returns to the town of his birth, the friends of his youth and one of the loves of his life: Rock Music.