"Did you ever wonder at the lonely life the bird in a cuckoo clock has to lead --" wrote the editor of Fantastic Universe in January, 1954, blurbing this tale "-- that it might possibly love and hate just as easily as a real animal of flesh and blood? Philip Dick used that idea for this brief fantasy tale. We're sure that after reading it you'll give cuckoo clocks more respect."

When he won a trip to the moon, Benny Love never thought that his vacation would involve battling aliens determined to destroy Earth. He and his friends in the Moon Platoon are able to fight off the first wave of attacks, but their genius leader Elijah West has now gone missing. And Earth is still in very real danger. As Benny and the gang gear up for the aliens’ next attacks, they discover that Elijah’s research partner, who’s long been presumed dead, is actually alive and living on the dark side of the moon. He knows things about the aliens that can help the Moon Platoon defeat them—but can he be trusted? They don’t have long to decide, because the aliens are on their way—and they’re coming for Benny and his friends first.

Ballantine/Del Rey #36259, 1992. Stated First Edition in fine condition.

Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin has protected the human race from monster storms, been killed, reborn as a Djinn, and then restored to her original form. Now she's throwing the dice to stop an infinitely powerful, deeply disturbed kid-who is holed up in a Vegas hotel-from bringing on a new ice age.

Locked in a maximum security facility, an inmate opens a unique dialogue with the prison's Artificial Intelligence. He begins teaching it how to understand and interpret art using methods the A.I. can easily understand. But does the prisoner have a hidden agenda, and is the knowledge he offers worth the risk?After their peaceful village, Riverbell, is raided by the foul monstrous skex, brothers Logan and Corbin Walker find themselves caught in a race against time, desperate to warn the capitol before the dangerous skex arrive to wreak the same havoc upon the unsuspecting people of Fal. Never could they imagine, that this would only be the very beginning of their unforgettable journey, when Logan is suddenly exiled from the kingdom for a crime he did not commit. On the run, doggedly avoiding his own brother, sent to pursue the wanted criminal, can Logan Walker possibly hope to stay free long enough to unravel the Secrets of the Elders? And So the Fourth Age of Acadia begins... The World of Acadia Ages long past, forced to abandon the surface, mankind descended inside the core of their planet, fleeing an impending xenocide at the hands of the mighty Jotnar invaders and settling a new homeland among the deep forests in the wide caverns of Vanidriell, under the light of the Great Crystal Baetylus.

An assassin whose every fibre has been augmented for the sole purpose of murder may finally have found something he cannot kill...Saul Gramatix knew it would come to this. He had foreseen it. The reason he knew wasn’t rooted in divination or prescience on his part. The reason was actually quite simple. He had seen a small fragment of the artefact fly off in the blast when he attempted to destroy it. He had picked up its wild trail on his retinal display. At the time, however, he thought it too small to attempt and find. He had presumed it would not be picked up on any scanner. He should have known better. He should have damn well known better. But when he goes back to retrieve what he was sent to destroy, the true intentions of his contractor are revealed.[A story with events proceeding those of "Mindforger"]

A mission to Bermuda goes terribly wrong and Sgt. McGraw finds himself with only one person left in his team: the stuffy anthropologist unsuited for fieldwork.Can they complete their mission before the greenskins get to them? Based upon the tongue-in-cheek 1950's themed boardgame (Mars vs Earth), this *short story* follows "Duke" McGraw & Dr. Bonnie Hill at the tail-end of their doomed mission.A mission to Bermuda goes terribly wrong and Sgt. McGraw finds himself with only one person left in his team: the stuffy anthropologist unsuited for field work.Can they complete their mission before the greenskins get to them? Based upon the tongue-in-cheek 1950's themed board game (Mars vs Earth), this *short story* follows "Duke" McGraw & Dr. Bonnie Hill at the tail-end of their doomed Bermuda mission to disrupt Martian communications.

The nether reaches of E.A. Wicklund's mind play host to 33 hilarious and bizarre flash fiction stories. Fans of Humor, Science Fiction, and Urban Fantasy will enjoy these short but fun tales.The nether reaches of E.A. Wicklund's mind play host to 33 hilarious and bizarre flash fiction stories. Fans of Humor, Science Fiction, and Urban Fantasy will enjoy these short but fun tales. In this volume you will find things like - When magic returns to the world, a do-it-yourself spell caster finds a spell on the internet. Things go wrong from there in "The Wonderful Wolfen." - A pair of rednecks go hunting and become the hunted in "Survival of the Scaredest." - A little bird flies into a fireplace and discovers the disadvantages of self-starting charcoal in, "Lousy Charcoal." - A rapper learns a painful lesson from sweet Jenny in "One Thing Better."Many more stories, and two limericks, may be found in the strange and wonderful tales of: The Nether Mind.

Rick Hayden and Laura Fanning of Panacea return in this next thriller by F. Paul Wilson and come across another impossible medical scenario--the gene that makes us human. Or does it? Rick's brother, Keith, a prominent zoologist at NYU, suddenly liquidates his assets and walks out of his job never to be seen again. The only clues they have are his brother's book which mentions "the God Gene"--a gene found only in primates that spontaneously appears in the evolutionary record and controls brain development--and the mysterious death of odd, blue-eyed primate brought back from East Africa. Rick and Laura's search takes them to an uncharted island off the coast of Mozambique and the edge of evolutionary science. The ICE Sequence Series 1. Panacea 2. The God Gene

His name is Myhr—rhymes with purr!—he's half-man, half-cat, and all-adventure, traveling the multi-verse with Terrin, a twisted wizard who's into techno-raves and obscene T-shirt art. Displaced from Earth by a travel spell gone bad, they're heading home, bouncing from one bizarre planet after another. Their latest hasty escape has landed them on a world with a lethal magic problem. While Myhr sings Beatle tunes for their supper, Terrin tries to get them an astral Plane road map - only there's a catch. All the magic has vanished from Rumpock City, along with nearly all the magicians, the catastrophe linked to an uncanny black fog that rolls through town each night. Trying to pick up clues, Myhr is picked up himself by the gorgeous lady Filima, a devious and not-so-very-bereaved widow in need of a fall-cat. It's up to Myhr to find where the magic went before Terrin's own powers are drained dry, leaving him worse than dead and the rest of the planet going to Hell in an express-mail handbasket.

by Tobias S. Buckell , Jonathan Goff, Nicolas Bouvier (Illustrator), Robert McLees, Karen Traviss , Kevin Grace, Eric Raab, Frank O'Connor , Fred Van Lente , Tessa Kum, Gabriel Garza (Illustrator), Eric S. Nylund , Jeff VanderMeer , B. K. Evenson, Robt McLees … When humanity expanded beyond the safety of Earth to new stars and horizons, they never dreamed what dangers they would encounter there.   When the alien juggernaut known as the Covenant declared holy war upon the fragile human empire, millions of lives were lost—but, millions of heroes rose to the challenge.   In such a far-reaching conflict, not many of the stories of these heroes, both human and alien, have a chance to become legend.   This collection holds eleven stories that dive into the depths of the vast Halo universe, not only from the perspective of those who fought and died to save humanity, but also those who vowed to wipe humanity out of existence.

School Bully, Benson Beutweiler makes a new friend and discovers a brave new world. Short story.Benson Beutweiler enjoys beating the tar our of Kirby Tyler every day until he meets the new kid in school. For some reason, no one else seems able to see him. When Benson asks why, he learns about a whole new world. Short story.

This is the story of the first computer enhanced human. David Klein was attached to a computer at birth and has amassed all the knowledge of humanity, with the ability to use it. Unfortunately, knowledge and intelligence is different from wisdom.This book tells David's story from college to manhood.From birth, David Klein had been linked to a computer. As an infant, he was oblivious to the external world. When he awoke at age four, he quickly made up for time lost. David was hyper-brilliant in all forms of intelligence, except with how to deal with real people. He knew that if people knew of the illegal operation, or his computer link-up, he’d be branded a monster. He is different! His father had often fled one-step ahead of authorities. David had been hidden away at home for the first sixteen years of his life, where he seldom talked to any human, other than his father. His father decides that it was now time to leave the safety of home and learn to interact with the ‘rabble’ by sending him to a small liberal arts college.David attempts, with occasional success, to hide how much he knows, which includes all the collective knowledge of humanity. The boy’s real focus is how to find women. The first was the wrong one at the right time and the second was the right one at the wrong time. Having escaped the boredom of introductory classes, David unlocks the secrets of gravity, along with many others. He solves humanity’s problems, while avoiding their assassins and defenders of the status quo. He learns the meaning of sharing, love, and helping others. He tries to forget he’s a monster.David and his family usher in the next and final age of mankind.

Simeon prepares to begin the revolution, as Nicholas races towards the city to warn him that the rebellions plans are known.It’s been a year since the initial outbreak of the zombie apocalypse, and for the survivors in the suburbs of Philadelphia, everything is about to change. When a mysterious man shows up at the gate of their safe zone, proclaiming to have “a product of vital interest and importance”, more than a few residents wanted answers, including Connor. Venturing to the nearby Chemcorp facility, survivors throughout the region gather and are introduced to a chemist named Abe Morrow . . . and to a product that would change everything.

Making Mars is the story of Dirk, a kid who applies his additive manufacturing, robotics, and programming expertise to survive on Mars.Making Mars is the story of Dirk, a kid who applies his additive manufacturing, robotics, and programming expertise to survive on Mars. After 100 years of terraforming, Mars is barely habitable. Dirk leaves his life in Hawaii and heads to Mars to help with the building of the Space Elevator that will transform the logistics of Martian life. However, the job is less straightforward than he expected - when not busy at the Crane Farm, managing deliveries of Space Elevator parts, (and narrowly escaping being crushed by stray packages hurling toward him at 3000 miles an hour) the mysterious operations of the local bureaucrats make his life difficult. Forced to use all of his making, hacking and parkour skills to stay one step ahead, he formulates a plan of his own to make life on Mars more fun. Unfortunately, the idea has unforeseen, and devastating, consequences. Will Dirk and his friends be able to fabricate a solution before it is too late? Inspire the budding STEM expert in your life with this exciting adventure that demonstrates the utility of developing an engineering mind and skill set in every chapter.