Like millions of others, Roger Birch's family depend on ad-viewing income for their survival. Unlike millions of others, the events of one evening leave Roger aware of the government's real reason for investing in Funscreen. With HD cameras hidden behind a 60-inch glass veil, the answer was staring him in the face all along. Every family has a Funscreen. The question is... who's watching who?Like millions of others, Roger Birch and his family depend on ad-viewing income for their survival.Unlike millions of others, the events of one uncomfortable evening leave Roger aware of the government's shadier reasons for investing in Funscreen. With high-definition cameras hidden behind a 60-inch glass veil, the answer was staring him in the face all along.Every family has a Funscreen on their wall. The question is... who's watching who?[Funscreen is a satirical/sci-fi short story of 6,500 words (approx. 22 standard pages)]A unique take on the increasing commercialisation of home life and the apparent trend towards 24-hour surveillance, Funscreen is a standalone spin-off from the dystopian novel Sycamore.Praise for Sycamore: "A brilliant and relevant sci-fi from a debut author... interesting and matrix-like""Dystopian fans should not miss this one" "Great idea from the author... 1984 for the Facebook generation"

In the virtual reality game Heir Apparent, there are way too many ways to get killed--and Giannine seems to be finding them all. Which is a darn shame, because unless she can get the magic ring, locate the stolen treasure, answer the dwarf's dumb riddles, impress the head-chopping statue, charm the army of ghosts, fend off the barbarians, and defeat the man-eating dragon, she'll never win. And she has to, because losing means she'll die--for real this time.

A young harling comes of age in the ruined City of Ghosts, unaware of his heritage and the secrets his father has kept for so long. In the city of Immanion, Calanthe has ousted Thiede from power and a new age has dawned for Wraeththukind; the reverberations of its arrival shake every corner of the earth. In the wake of this event, a remarkable child is conceived, affected by weird energies to become something more than the sum of his parents. The Tigron, Pellaz, is faced with the dilemma that something huge and terrifying threatens the new race of Wraeththu, just as it is trying to establish itself in the ruins of human civilisation. It is a threat from beyond earthly reality, and it is searching for avatars to work in its name. The Forest of Gebaddon is about to spew forth its captives, the disempowered Varrs. Their leader, Ponclast, is about to be transformed into a foe worthy of taking on the Tigron himself. The warring factions of Wraeththu must unite to protect their world, and Pellaz must venture into unimaginable new territories. Will he make the ultimate sacrifice to protect his people?

Elbryan and Pony--soul mates from childhood who grew even closer over time--fervently hope that the tide of darkness is at last receding from the land of Corona. Yet if evil is on the retreat, why are hordes of goblins and bloody-capped powries slashing their way ever-deeper into civilized lands? A sinister threat now looms over Corona, for the power of the demon dactyl was not entirely vanquished by the sacrifice of the monk Avelyn Desbris. Instead, its darkness has infiltrated the most sacred of places--as a once-admired spiritual leader rededicates his life to the most vicious, most insidious revenge against the forces of good. There may be no stopping the spread of the malignant evil . .

Second Landing is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by F. L. (Floyd L.) Wallace is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of F. L. (Floyd L.) Wallace then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.

The Observers is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by G. L. Vandenburg is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of G. L. Vandenburg then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.

The world is going to end. Faith doesn't know it yet; she has enough trouble with the world as it is.This is the last week of Faith's normal life, before a bomb over the city sends her world into a tailspin that changes everything.This is a picture of the girl that once was, before the bomb went off and changed everything.After betrayal by her best friend, Faith MacIntyre starts a new blog, trying to turn the page to a brighter future. She makes war with terribly normal foes: an ex-boyfriend who broke her heart; a retail job in Christmas crowds; an intimate mistake with an old friend. She doesn't know that the end of the world is coming. She doesn't know about the fight for sanity and survival that will be thrust upon her.Soon, Faith will be wishing that boyfriends, customers and cash registers are all she has to worry about. Soon, this blog will be all she has left of her current life.

Megan Pritchard survived the zombie apocalypse, but that was only the beginning of her problems. When a rival group of survivors led by a psychopathic ex-submarine commander threatens the fragile existence she has carved out in the southern Arizona desert, she must face her own mortality once again – or die trying.Megan Pritchard survived the zombie apocalypse, but that was only the beginning of her problems. When a rival group of survivors led by a psychopathic ex-submarine commander threatens the fragile existence she has carved out in the southern Arizona desert, she must face her own mortality once again – or die trying.The Elements of the Undead:Fire: The CollapseAir: Mortal ChoiceEarth: Desperate MeasuresWater: The End of UsCoop: An Elements of the Undead ShortThe Elements of the Undead Omnibus (Books One-Three)

A short story about a vivacious young physicist and mathematician named Kristine, who has devoted her life to science. Hallucinations cause her to seek help from a social worker named Paul and she's terrified when she hears a questionable diagnosis of schizophrenia. Her path leads her to a place where perspective is all that's real, and sanity is nothing more than the limit of what we believe.A short story about a vivacious young physicist and mathematician named Kristine, who has devoted her life to science. Her newly found love for meditation and yoga bring hallucinations that frighten her enough to seek the help of a social worker named Paul Ghent. She fears the worst when she is handed a possible diagnosis of schizophrenia, but the diagnosis as with all things in life, is uncertain. Kristine's scientific mind drives her personal need to find a definite answer that ends in what seems to be the impossible. Taking her therapist on her journey into what could only be her delusion, they both find out the truth about her. It's the lesson that perspective is all that's real, and sanity is nothing more than the limit of what we believe.

A powerful, affecting and hilarious deep-dive into human behavior in an intimate and epic story of science, society, sex, and survival, set in the early 1990s, from one of the greatest American novelists today. It is 1994, and in the desert near Tillman, Arizona, forty miles from Tucson, a grand experiment involving the future of humanity is underway. As climate change threatens the earth, eight scientists, four men and four women dubbed the “Terranauts,” have been selected to live under glass in E2, a prototype of a possible off-earth colony. Their sealed, three-acre compound comprises five biomes—rainforest, savanna, desert, ocean and marsh—and enough wildlife, water, and vegetation to sustain them. Closely monitored by an all-seeing Mission Control, this New Eden is the brainchild of eco-visionary Jeremiah Reed, aka G.C.—“God the Creator”—for whom the project is both an adventure in scientific discovery and a momentous publicity stunt. In addition to their roles as medics, farmers, biologists, and survivalists, his young, strapping Terranauts must impress watchful visitors and a skeptical media curious to see if E2’s environment will somehow be compromised, forcing the Ecosphere’s seal to be broken—and ending the mission in failure. As the Terranauts face increased scrutiny and a host of disasters, both natural and of their own making, their mantra: “Nothing in, nothing out,” becomes a dangerously ferocious rallying cry. Told through three distinct narrators—Dawn Chapman, the mission’s pretty young ecologist; Linda Ryu, her bitter, scheming best friend passed over for E2; and Ramsay Roothorp, E2’s sexually irrepressible Wildman—The Terranauts brings to life an electrifying, pressured world in which connected lives are uncontrollably pushed to the breaking point. With characteristic humor and acerbic wit, T. C. Boyle indelibly inhabits the perspectives of the various players in this survivalist game, probing their motivations and illuminating their integrity and fragility to illustrate the inherent fallibility of human nature itself.

Being assassinated once may be an accident. Being assassinated twice is enemy action. Aeneas Tell of the House of Tell is one of the youngest Lords of Creation. His family rules the Nine Worlds through its control of the ultra-advanced technology that has permitted the colonization of the entire solar System. More gods than men, the Lords of Creation have cheated Death itself. But even a quasi-immortal god will take exception to being assassinated. Twice. Especially when the assassin turns out to be a someone he thought was a friend.

Suppose that a few of our present inventions had been made earlier, and others not discovered at all? How would the last century have evolved differently? This is the story of Oswald Bastable, a Victorian captain who found himself in such alternate worlds. It is based on notes handed down to Michael Moorcock from his great-grandfather. It's a story of a world of empires secured by airships, and a Chinese genius who invented the means of overthrowing the West's power!

Winner of the Nebula and Hugo Awards, David Brin brings his bestselling Uplift series to a magnificent conclusion with his most imaginative and powerful novel to date--the shattering epic of a universe poised on the brink of revelation...or annihilation. The brutal enemy that has relentlessly pursued them for centuries has arrived. Now the fugitive settlers of Jijo--both human and alien--brace for a final confrontation. The Jijoans' only hope is the Earthship Streaker, crewed by uplifted dolphins and commanded by an untested human. Yet more than just the fate of Jijo hangs in the balance. For Streaker carries a cargo of ancient artifacts that may unlock the secret of those who first brought intelligent life to the Galaxies. Many believe a dire prophecy has come to pass: an age of terrifying changes that could end Galactic civilization. As dozens of white dwarf stars stand ready to explode, the survival of sentient life in the universe rests on the most improbable dream of all--that age-old antagonists of different races can at last recognize the unity of all consciousness.

Tales of science fiction and adventure from the Hugo Award–winning author of Way Station and *City. The long and prolific career of Clifford D. Simak cemented him as one of the formative voices of the science fiction and fantasy genre. The third writer to be named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, his literary legacy stands alongside those of Robert A. Heinlein and Ray Bradbury. This striking collection of nine tales showcases Simak’s ability to take the everyday and turn it into something truly compelling, taking readers on a long journey in a very short time. In “Dusty Zebra,” Joe discovers a portal that allows him to exchange everyday objects with an entity he can neither see nor hear, and soon learns that one man’s treasure may be another dimension’s trash. In “Retrograde Evolution,” an interplanetary trading vessel tries to figure out how to deal with a remote society that has suddenly decided to become far less civilized. And in “Project Mastodon,” an unusual ambassador from an unheard-of country offers amazing opportunities in a place the modern world can never compete with: the past. Simak’s mastery of the short form is on display in these and six other stories. Each story includes an introduction by David W. Wixon, literary executor of the Clifford D. Simak estate and editor of this ebook.*

Reach for the Stars: We now accept space travel as a reality, but what of a city in space, built on an ever suspended platform? When young Joe Kenmore came to the little desert town of Bootstrap to install pilot gyros in the top secret Space Platform project he hadn't bargained on sabotage or murder or love. But Joe soon learned that ruthless agents were determined to wreck the project.