Heart's Blood

      Jane Yolen
     Heart's Blood

Jakkin risks everything -- freedom, dragon Heart's Blood, even his life -- to rescue beloved Akki who vanished months ago in rebel cell on former prison planet Austar IV. He must become rebel spy Three for mysterious Senator Golden and carry an explosive satchel to the dragon pits. In this game he will lose no matter how well he plays.

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    Busted Flush

      George R. R. Martin
     Busted Flush

In 1946, an alien virus that rewrites human DNA was accidentally unleashed in the skies over New York City. It killed ninety percent of those it infected.  Nine percent survived to mutate into tragically deformed creatures.  And one percent gained superpowers.  The Wild Cards shared-universe series, created and edited since 1987 by New York Times #1 bestseller George R. R. Martin ("The American Tolkien" --Time magazine) along with Melinda Snodgrass, is the tale of the history of the world since then—and of the heroes among the one percent. Now a new generation of heroes has taken its place on the world stage, its members crucial players in international events. At the United Nations, veteran ace John Fortune has assembled a team of young aces known as the Committee, to assist at trouble spots around the world–including a genocidal was in the Niger Delta, an invasion of zombies in hurricane ravaged New Orleans, and a freak nuclear explosion in a small Texas town.

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    A Lot Like Christmas: Stories

      Connie Willis
     A Lot Like Christmas: Stories

This new, expanded edition of Miracle and Other Christmas Stories features twelve brilliantly reimagined holiday tales, five of which are collected here for the first time. Christmas comes but once a year--which is too bad, because the stories in this dazzling collection are fun to read anytime. They put a speculative spin on the holiday, giving fans of acclaimed author Connie Willis a welcome gift and a dozen reasons to be of good cheer. Brimming with Willis's trademark insights and imagination, these heartwarming tales are full of humor, absurdity, human foibles, tragedy, joy, and hope. They both embrace and send up many of the best Christmas traditions, including the Christmas newsletter, Secret Santas, office parties, holiday pageants, and Christmas dinners (both elaborate and spare). There are Rockettes, the best and worst Christmas movies, modern-day Magi, Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come--and the triumph of generosity over greed. Like the timeless classics we return to year after year, these stories affirm our faith in love, magic, and the wonder of the season. Stories included: - Miracles - All About Emily - Inn - All Seated on the Ground - In Coppelius's Toyshop - Adaptation - deck.halls@bought/holly - Cat's Paw - Now Showing - Newsletter - Epiphany - Just Like the Ones We Used to Know

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    Munmun

      Jesse Andrews
     Munmun

In an alternate reality a lot like our world, every person’s physical size is directly proportional to their wealth. The poorest of the poor are the size of rats, and billionaires are the size of skyscrapers. Warner and his sister Prayer are destitute—and tiny. Their size is not just demeaning, but dangerous: day and night they face mortal dangers that bigger richer people don’t ever have to think about, from being mauled by cats to their house getting stepped on. There are no cars or phones built small enough for them, or schools or hospitals, for that matter—there’s no point, when no one that little has any purchasing power, and when salaried doctors and teachers would never fit in buildings so small. Warner and Prayer know their only hope is to scale up, but how can two littlepoors survive in a world built against them?

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    Utopia

      Lincoln Child
     Utopia

Fasten your seat belts–the white-knuckle thrills at Utopia, the world’s most fantastic theme park, escalate to nightmare proportions in this intricately imagined techno-thriller by New York Times bestselling author Lincoln Child. Rising out of the stony canyons of Nevada, Utopia is a world on the cutting edge of technology. A theme park attracting 65,000 visitors each day, its dazzling array of robots and futuristic holograms make it a worldwide sensation. But ominous mishaps are beginning to disrupt the once flawless technology. A friendly robot goes haywire, causing panic, and a popular roller coaster malfunctions, nearly killing a teenaged rider. Dr. Andrew Warne, the brilliant computer engineer who designed much of the park’s robotics, is summoned from the East Coast to get things back on track. On the day Warne arrives, however, Utopia is caught in the grip of something far more sinister. A group of ruthless criminals has infiltrated the park’s computerized infrastructure, giving them complete access to all of Utopia’s attractions and systems. Their communication begins with a simple and dire warning: If their demands are met, none of the 65,000 people in the park that day will ever know they were there; if not, chaos will descend, and every man, woman, and child will become a target. As one of the brains behind Utopia, Warne finds himself thrust into a role he never imagined–trying to save the lives of thousands of innocent people. And as the minutes tick away, Warne’s struggle to outsmart his opponents grows ever more urgent, for his only daughter is among the unsuspecting crowds in the park. Lincoln Child evokes the technological wonders of Utopia with such skill and precision it is hard to believe the park exists only in the pages of this extraordinary book. Like Jurassic Park, Utopia sweeps readers into a make-believe world of riveting suspense, technology, and adventure. UTOPIA -- Where technology dazzles–and then turns deadly! From the Hardcover edition.

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    Security

      Poul Anderson
     Security

In a world where Security is all-important, nothing can ever be secure. A mountain-climbing vacation may wind up in deep Space. Or loyalty may prove to be high treason. But it has its rewards. Please visit www.PhoenixPick.com for more great sci-fi.

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    A Scanner Darkly

      Philip K. Dick
     A Scanner Darkly

Bob Arctor is a dealer of the lethally addictive drug Substance D. Fred is the police agent assigned to tail and eventually bust him. To do so, Fred takes on the identity of a drug dealer named Bob Arctor. And since Substance D--which Arctor takes in massive doses--gradually splits the user's brain into two distinct, combative entities, Fred doesn't realize he is narcing on himself. Caustically funny, eerily accurate in its depiction of junkies, scam artists, and the walking brain-dead, Philip K. Dick's industrial-grade stress test of identity is as unnerving as it is enthralling. From the Trade Paperback edition.

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    Mission of Honor

      David Weber
     Mission of Honor

The Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Republic of Haven have been enemies for Honor Harrington's entire life, and she has paid a price for the victories she's achieved in that conflict. And now the unstoppable juggernaut of the mighty Solarian League is on a collision course with Manticore. The millions who have already died may have been only a foretaste of the billions of casualties just over the horizon, and Honor sees it coming. She's prepared to do anything, risk anything, to stop it, and she has a plan that may finally bring an end to the Havenite Wars and give even the Solarian League pause. But there are things not even Honor knows about. There are forces in play, hidden enemies in motion, all converging on the Star Kingdom of Manticore to crush the very life out of it, and Honor's worst nightmares fall short of the oncoming reality. But Manticore's enemies may not have thought of everything after all. Because if everything Honor Harrington loves is going down to destruction, it won't be going alone.

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    Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow

      James Rollins
     Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow

When a mysterious envelope arrives for Jake Ransom, he and his older sister, Kady, are plunged into a gripping chain of events. An artifact found by their parents—on the expedition from which they never returned—leads Jake and Kady to a strange world inhabited by a peculiar mix of long-lost civilizations, a world that may hold the key to their parents' disappearance. But even as they enter the gate to this extraordinary place, savage grackyls soar across the sky, diving to attack. Jake's new friends, the pretty Mayan girl Marika and the Roman Pindor, say the grackyls were created by an evil alchemist—the Skull King. And as Jake struggles to find a way home, it becomes obvious that what the Skull King wants most is Jake and Kady—dead or alive.

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    N-Space

      Larry Niven
     N-Space

On an L.A. talk show Arthur C. Clarke was once asked to name his favorite writer. His answer was "Larry Niven." Countless others agree. The Baltimore Sun and Kirkus Reviews have both dubbed Niven "the premier writer of hard SF," and Gregory Benford has hailed him as "the paradigm of SF personality of the last several decade." Now Larry Niven presents us with his undisputed masterwork. N-Space contains, very simply, the best SF of his career--marvelous fiction, a wealth of anecdotes and gossip, plus Niven's own special brand of wit and excitement. Contents: 1 • Introduction: The Maker of Worlds • (1990) • essay by Tom Clancy 3 • On Niven • (1992) • essay by Frederik Pohl and Steven Barnes and David Brin and John Hertz and Wendy All and Gregory Benford 15 • Dramatis Personae • (1990) • essay by Larry Niven 25 • Foreword: Playgrounds for the Mind • (1990) • essay by Larry Niven 31 • From World of Ptavvs (excerpt) • (1990) • shortfiction by Larry Niven 36 • Bordered in Black • (1966) • shortstory by Larry Niven 56 • Convergent Series • (1967) • shortstory by Larry Niven (variant of The Long Night) 62 • All the Myriad Ways • [Time Travel - Parallel Universe] • (1968) • shortstory by Larry Niven 73 • From A Gift From Earth (Excerpt) • (1990) • shortfiction by Larry Niven 90 • The Meddler • (1968) • novelette by Larry Niven 112 • Passerby • [State] • (1969) • shortstory by Larry Niven 126 • Down in Flames • (1969) • essay by Larry Niven 139 • From Ringworld (Excerpt) • (1990) • shortfiction by Larry Niven 148 • The Fourth Profession • (1971) • novelette by Larry Niven 195 • "Shall We Indulge in Rishathra?" • (1978) • shortfiction by Larry Niven 195 •  "Shall We Indulge in Rishathra?" • (1978) • interior artwork by William Rotsler 199 • Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex • (1969) • essay by Larry Niven 208 • Inconstant Moon • (1971) • novelette by Larry Niven 234 • What Can You Say About Chocolate Covered Manhole Covers? • (1971) • shortstory by Larry Niven 245 • Cloak of Anarchy • [Known Space] • (1972) • shortstory by Larry Niven 269 • From Protector (excerpt) • (1990) • shortfiction by Larry Niven 279 • The Hole Man • (1974) • shortstory by Larry Niven 293 • Night on Mispec Moor • [State] • (1974) • shortstory by Larry Niven 305 • Flare Time • (1978) • novella by Larry Niven 347 • The Locusts • (1979) • novelette by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes 389 • From The Mote in God's Eye (excerpt) • (1990) • shortfiction by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle 394 • Building the Mote in God's Eye • [A Step Farther Out] • (1976) • essay by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle 420 • Brenda • (1988) • novella by Larry Niven 465 • The Return of William Proxmire • (1989) • shortstory by Larry Niven 475 • The Tale of the Jinni and the Sisters • (1988) • shortstory by Larry Niven 491 • Madness Has Its Place • [Man-Kzin Wars] • (1990) • novelette by Larry Niven 519 • Niven's Laws (1990 version) • (1990) • essay by Larry Niven 528 • The Kiteman • [Integral Trees] • (1990) • novelette by Larry Niven 571 • The Alien in Our Minds • (1987) • essay by Larry Niven 580 • Space • (1990) • essay by Larry Niven 597 • Bibliography of Larry Niven • (1990) • essay by uncredited

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    Ascendant

      Jack Campbell
     Ascendant

A young fleet officer and a Marine stand together to defend their colony in the continuation of the powerful and action-packed Genesis Fleet saga from New York Times bestselling author Jack Campbell. In the three years since former fleet officer Rob Geary and former Marine Mele Darcy led improvised forces to repel attacks on the world of Glenlyon, Old Earth and the Old Colonies have continued to shrink their military forces. But open warfare erupts once again when Glenlyon tries to force open a trade route. Isolated and alone, Glenlyon places its hope in informal agreements with other worlds also facing attack. But fiercely independent worlds settled by people who wanted to escape higher authority don’t easily agree to such commitments. While politicians try to bring some kind of formal alliance into being, Geary and Darcy once again find themselves fighting desperately to defend their world, hoping they can hold out until help arrives. If it comes at all.

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    Cinq semaines en ballon. English

      Jules Verne
     Cinq semaines en ballon. English

: Este relato ostenta el orgullo de ser la primera obra del ciclo que el propio Julio Verne tituló "Viajes extraordinarios" y reúne ya la mayor parte de los elementos que han hecho de su autor un clásico indiscutible. Cuando Verne acabó "Cinco semanas en globo" (1862) era muy conciente de haber creado "una novela de una forma nueva". --This text refers to the Digital edition. --This text refers to the Digital edition.

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