Maggie Wallace was tired of her life, and her two-timing boyfriend Fred. But although she'd been thinking about an upgrade, the last person she'd expected to find was a really hot starship captain who was just visiting Earth on a vacation; and she sure hadn't planned on plowing right into the guy with her semi truck. Lobo refused to go to a hospital, and consequently Maggie was forced to patch the guy up on her own. And as fate would have it, she just happened to mix some of his blood with her own, forming a bond that left the pair so hot and bothered they just had to seal the deal. Will Maggie leaving the planet with Lobo be the change she was looking for?
Donna and Dedron are beginning to settle into a new life together on planet Earth when they get the call about a new mission that they are needed for as members of the Defense Squad. The Remoir, despite having suffered a great defeat at the hands of the squad, are attacking innocent settlements yet again. However, when Dedron and Donna arrive at the base for a briefing, they find a message has been left for them from Perbron, the new commander of the Remoir forces. Perbron is ready to seek revenge for the defeat of his father, and he threatens to kidnap family members of all of the Defense Squad members. Although the Defense Squad’s mission is to gather intelligence about the Remoirs’ next move, Donna takes it upon herself to leave and check on her mother. Dedron goes with her, making them deserters from the Defense Squad. Can Dedron and Donna stop Perbron’s revenge by preventing him from kidnapping their loved ones? Or will they succumb to Perbron’s plan to watch each member of the Defense Squad face combat with Remoir soldiers?
This is an amazing collection of some of the best short fiction ever written in the SF genre, by an author acclaimed as 'the mastersinger of space opera' THE TIMES. With an introduction by noted SF critic Johnathan Strahan, this collection of twenty short stories, novellettes and novellas includes MINLA'S FLOWERS, SIGNAL TO NOISE, TROIKA, and seven previous uncollected stories, including TRAUMA POD, THE WATER THIEF and IN BABELSBERG. Alastair Reynolds has won the Sidewise Award and been nominated for The Hugo Awards for his short fiction. One of the most thought-provoking and accomplished short-fiction writers of our time, this collection is a delight for all SF readers
Strange things sometimes happen to ordinary people as they go about their everyday lives. Two men are stalked across a golf course by a seemingly sentient bank of fog. A veterinarian comes face-to-face with strange interdimensional creatures. A young couple walk into the past. A former police officer travels out of body to a vast mansion in another reality. Alien abductions, hauntings, psychokinetic powers, and more populate the pages of Beyond Strange. The stories we’ve picked—sent to us over the years—are astonishing by any reckoning and address a fundamental issue: the existence of a more expansive reality beyond the one we ordinarily experience.
A polite race of telepathic killer aliens, a ten-second world conquest, and one teenage boy collide in this wry, gutsy adventure. (Ages 14 and up) Jesse is in history class when a formidable, efficient race of aliens quietly takes over the earth in less time than it takes him to brush his teeth. Most humans simply fall asleep and never wake up. In moments, everyone Jesse knows and loves is gone, and he finds that he is now a slave to an inept alien leader. On the bright side, Jesse discovers he’s developing telepathic powers, and he’s not the only one. Soon he’s forging new friendships and feeling unexpectedly hopeful. When a mysterious girl appears in his dreams, talking about escaping, Jesse begins to think the aliens may not be invincible after all. But if Jesse and his friends succeed, is there anywhere left to go? Brian Yansky offers a funny, grim novel packed with everything boys and sci-fi fans love: aliens, humor, action, and a healthy dose of triumph.
From the author of Exhalation, an award-winning short story collection that blends "absorbing storytelling with meditations on the universe, being, time and space ... raises questions about the nature of reality and what it is to be human" (The New York Times). Stories of Your Life and Others delivers dual delights of the very, very strange and the heartbreakingly familiar, often presenting characters who must confront sudden change—the inevitable rise of automatons or the appearance of aliens—with some sense of normalcy. With sharp intelligence and humor, Chiang examines what it means to be alive in a world marked by uncertainty, but also by beauty and wonder. An award-winning collection from one of today's most lauded writers, Stories of Your Life and Others is a contemporary classic. Includes “Story of Your Life”—the basis for the major motion picture Arrival
"She wasn't dreaming, in a coma, having a mental breakdown, or in hell. She was abducted by aliens." An intolerable order. Before Commander Torek Renaar can return to active duty, he's ordered to purchase an animal companion to help relieve his PTSD symptoms. But having been a caretaker for and lost a loved one, keeping even one little human alive is a challenge he feels doomed to fail. It doesn't help that his animal companion is the newest, most exotic breed on the market, demanding constant attention, daily grooming, and delicate handling. If she doesn't die first in his incompetent care, she'll be the death of him. A desperate charade. After witnessing the murder of her domestication specialist, Delaney McCormick allows her new owner to treat her like the pet he believes her to be. If anyone suspects she's more intelligent than a golden retriever, her murder would be next. She endures the humiliation of being washed, the tediousness of being trained to "sit" and "come," and the intrigue of hearing private conversations. But in Torek's care, she finds something unexpected on this antarctic planet, something she never had in all her years on Earth while house-hopping between foster families: a home. A deadly secret. As companionship grows to love, must Delaney continue the charade, acting like an animal and hiding from the murderer waiting on her misstep? Or can she trust Torek with her secrets, even if the truth threatens everything he holds dear-and both their lives?
The quest for extraterrestrial life doesn't happen only in science fiction. This book describes the startling discoveries being made in the very real science of astrobiology, an intriguing new field that blends astronomy, biology, and geology to explore the possibility of life on other planets. Jeffrey Bennett takes readers beyond UFOs to discuss some of the tantalizing questions astrobiologists grapple with every day: What is life and how does it begin? What makes a planet or moon habitable? Is there life on Mars or elsewhere in the solar system? How can life be recognized on distant worlds? Is it likely to be microbial, more biologically complex--or even intelligent? What would such a discovery mean for life here on Earth? Come along on this scientific adventure and learn the astonishing implications of discoveries made in this field for the future of the human race. Bennett, who believes that "science is a way of helping people come to agreement," explains how the search for extraterrestrial life can help bridge the divide that sometimes exists between science and religion, defuse public rancor over the teaching of evolution, and quiet the debate over global warming. He likens humanity today to a troubled adolescent teetering on the edge between self-destruction and a future of virtually limitless possibilities. Beyond UFOs shows why the very quest to find alien life can help us to grow up as a species and chart a course for the stars. In a new afterword, Bennett shares the most recent developments in extrasolar research, and discusses how they might further our quest to find alien life.
Being kidnapped by aliens is only the start of Jade's problems. Thankfully, her rescuers, an alien race known as the Clecanians, are willing to protect her, but she has to stay on their planet for one year and respect the rules of their culture--including choosing a husband. Jade refuses at first but decides to play along until she can find a way back to Earth.Theo, a scarred mercenary who prefers a life of solitude, is stunned when Jade selects him as her husband. After years of being passed over, he never imagined he would be chosen and neither did anyone else. Only one explanation makes sense?the curvy enticing female must be a spy, and Theo's determined to break her cover using any means necessary.As Jade and Theo are forced to spend time together, their chemistry becomes undeniable. But neither can afford to bring love into the equation, especially since Jade seems determined to go home. After all, she can't possibly stay here, right?
Skillfully combining complex science with finely executed prose, these edgy, award-winning tales explore the always-shifting border between the known and the alien. The beauty and peril of technology and the passion and penalties of conviction merge in stories that are by turns dark, satiric, bold, and introspective. A seemingly humanized monster from John Carpenter’s The Thing reveals the true villains in an Antarctic showdown. An artificial intelligence shields a biologically-enhanced prodigy from her overwhelmed parents. A deep-sea diver discovers that her true nature lies not within the confines of her mission but in the depths of her psyche. A court psychologist analyzes a psychotic graduate student who has learned to reprogram reality itself. A father tries to hold his broken family together in the wake of an ongoing assault by sentient rainstorms. Gorgeously saturnine and exceptionally powerful, these collected fictions are both intensely thought-provoking and impossible to forget.
