The Twenty Years War left many deaths, wrecks, and secrets behind, after it's unexpectedly sudden end. Paul Stand runs a small salvage business with his wife and small crew, on his ship, the Trawler. His latest assignment is the tedious task of life boat recovery from a civilian ship shot down during the war. Paul and his crew, stumble on more than they bargained for when the escape pods lead them back to more than just a wreck, but a collection of war-era secrets that many would kill to keep secret.
Justin Grant, a professor at a Chris an based college in the Midwest is struggling to come to terms with the death of his wife and child. During a leave of absence he is hiking through the mountains near a friend's cabin in Kentucky. He looks up and watches as a man slowly floats towards the ground. He blinks then thinks; "Where is the parachute? Is that a halo?" Thoughts vanish as the man plummets the last hundred feet to the ground. Justin runs to where the broken man lies, carries him to the cabin, and soon finds out that the man recuperating on his sofa is not of this world. As the stranger's wounds heal, Justin and the man he now knows as Sandel talk of many things, and Justin finds that he likes this mysterious man. As Justin listens, the story his new friend tells threatens to shatter everything Justin has ever known and in me uncovers the greatest hoax ever perpetrated against mankind. Ernest Gibson lives in the Midwest, far enough away from a major city to enjoy small town living. Ernest is a graduate of Purdue University. He is a re red designer in the auto industry, he works part me in an electronics store only because his family, a er he spent a year and a half at home, told him to get his ass out of the house and do something. He is a lifelong seeker of knowledge and truth, and strives to help others do the same. The one thing that he finds most abhorrent is a closed mind. He has never grown out of the enjoyment of the playing the game of "What If." A er reading this book you will see that the "What Ifs" went crazy. It is a er all what brought this book to life.
An economic and social history of early New South Wales, told through the life stories of pioneer 19th century horsemen. Traces the origin and development of the horse in Australia and a special tribute to Australia's internationally acclaimed thoroughbred expert C. Bruce Lowe.
This books storyline is that of reptilians from the Andromeda Galaxy. The first earth ship to meet the reptilians was not a human ship but an advanced ship of the ancient and advanced race of the Vlar. The Vlar were a very high technology ancient race who expected to have no fear of the Snakes. However, the race of reptilians that were rapidly conquering all civilizations with which they came into contact were now a threat to all races, whatever their level of technology. A century ago, the Vlar never expected to be worried about the Snakes, as all civilizations called them. Their conquests had become so rapid and so had their takeover of advanced civilizations and their technology that they were now a threat to every being in the galaxy. The Vlar gave the earth humans some of their high-tech ships as a kind of last effort since they held the earth humans in such low regard. The Vlar thought of the earth humans as warlike, backward, and vicious animals who killed their own kind. However, there were very few options left open to the Vlar, so they gave the earth humans a few of their ships. The Snakes had millions of high-tech ships that carried thousands of Snake soldiers at several times the speed of light. The Vlar gave the earth humans a few dozen Vlar ships. The Snakes were over seven feet tall and weighed over five hundred pounds. They were equipped with fangs and claws like the Tyrannosaurus rex of old earth history. They liked to fight with hands or blade weapons to see the blood flow. They were cannibals in addition to being carnivores. They considered it honorable to eat your defeated foe, and they were not above eating their own children. The Snakes used massed ships in the millions to just roll over all the people they intended to conquer. It was expected of any failed Snake expeditions to commit suicide. The Snakes occupied over 1,400 planets and were continuing to conquer more as time went by. Apparently, none could stand before the Snakes. Could the small blue planet called earth have a chance to survive?
This issue, we have five mystery stories, three of which are originals—tales by Tracy Falenwolfe (thanks to Acquiring Editor Michael Bracken), Veronica Leigh, and Teel James Glenn—these last two names should be familiar to regular readers from previous issues. We also have a great modern tale by Jonathan Santlofer (thanks to Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman) and a classic pulp crime story set in the dark world of Las Vegas casinos by Bryce Walton. Plus, of course, a solve-it-yourself puzzler from Hal Charles. On the science fiction end, the Lancelot Biggs space opera series from Nelson Bond continues with “F-O-B Venus.” F-O-B was a more common term in early to mid 20th century. It stands for “Free on Board”—a term used in international shipping to indicate that the seller delivers the goods to a ship at a specified port, and the buyer assumes responsibility once the goods are on board and is responsible for shipping costs, insurance, and other expenses related to transporting the goods to their final destination. Rounding things out are a pair of novels: pulp action-adventure from Edmond Hamilton, then Lester del Rey’s classic tale of an atomic power plant heading toward meltdown. Great stuff. Here’s the complete lineup for #151— Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure: “Jamming at Jollies,” by Tracy Falenwolfe [Michael Bracken Presents short story] “The Case of the Carried-off Coins,” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery] “Lola,” by Jonathan Santlofer [Barb Goffman Presents short story] “Divine Discontent,” by Veronica Leigh [short story] “White Face, Blood Red,” by Teel James Glenn [short story] “Murderers Three,” by Bryce Walton [short story] Science Fiction & Fantasy: “F-O-B Venus,” by Nelson S. Bond [short story, Lancelot Biggs series] Outside the Universe, by Edmond Hamilton [novel] Nerves, by Lester del Rey [novel]
The Second Edmond Hamilton MEGAPACK collects 15 more classic fantasy and science fiction stories by the master of space opera. From the confines to Earth to the edges of the galaxy, this is a far-ranging collection of some of his most exciting and action-packed tales. Here are: THE STAR-STEALERS THE SEA HORROR OUTSIDE THE UNIVERSE THE LIFE-MASTERS THE COMET-DRIVERS THE UNIVERSE WRECKERS FORGOTTEN WORLD CITIES IN THE AIR COPYRIGHT INFORMATION COME HOME FROM EARTH TRANSURANIC BATTLE FOR THE STARS CITADEL OF THE STAR LORDS THE KNOWLEDGE MACHINE REQUIEM THE STAR-STEALERS If you enjoyed this ebook, search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press MEGAPACK" to see more than 400 other volumes in the best-selling series. Accept no substitutes or cheap imitations! Wildside's MEGAPACK® collections are always terrific values, covering science fiction, fantasy, mystery, western, horror, classic -- and much, much more.
The first novel in Mercedes Lackey's magical Elemental Masters series reimagines the fairy tale Snow White in a richly-detailed alternate Edwardian England Maya Witherspoon lived most of the first twenty-five years of her life in her native India. As the daughter of a prominent British physician and a Brahmin woman of the highest caste, she graduated from the University of Delhi as a Doctor of Medicine by the age of twenty-two. But the science of medicine was not Maya’s only heritage. For Maya’s aristocratic mother Surya was a sorceress—a former priestess of the mystical magics fueled by the powerful and fearsome pantheon of Indian gods. Though Maya felt the stirring of magic in her blood, her mother had repeatedly refused to train her. “I cannot,” she had said, her eyes dark with distress, whenever Maya asked. “Yours is the magic of your father’s blood, not mine....” Surya never had the chance to explain this enigmatic statement to her daughter before a mysterious illness claimed her life. Yet it was Maya’s father’s death shortly thereafter that confirmed her darkest suspicions. For her father was killed by the bite of a krait, a tiny venomous snake, and in the last hours of her mother’s life, Surya had warned Maya to beware “the serpent’s shadow.” Maya knew she must flee the land of her birth or face the same fate as her parents. In self-imposed exile in Edwardian London, Maya knew that she could not hide forever from the vindictive power that had murdered her parents. She knew in her heart that even a vast ocean couldn’t protect her from “the serpent’s shadow” that had so terrified her mother. Her only hope was to find a way to master her own magic: the magic of her father’s blood. But who would teach her? And could she learn enough to save her life by the time her relentless pursuers caught up with their prey?
The invasion of Korea by Japanese troops in May of 1592 was no ordinary military expedition: it was one of the decisive events in Asian history and the most tragic for the Korean peninsula until the mid-twentieth century. Japanese overlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi envisioned conquering Korea, Ming China, and eventually all of Asia; but Korea’s appeal to China’s Emperor Wanli for assistance triggered a six-year war involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers and encompassing the whole region. For Japan, the war was “a dragon’s head followed by a serpent’s tail”: an impressive beginning with no real ending. Kenneth M. Swope has undertaken the first full-length scholarly study in English of this important conflict. Drawing on Korean, Japanese, and especially Chinese sources, he corrects the Japan-centered perspective of previous accounts and depicts Wanli not as the self-indulgent ruler of received interpretations but rather one actively engaged in military affairs—and concerned especially with rescuing China’s client state of Korea. He puts the Ming in a more vigorous light, detailing Chinese siege warfare, the development and deployment of innovative military technologies, and the naval battles that marked the climax of the war. He also explains the war’s repercussions outside the military sphere—particularly the dynamics of intraregional diplomacy within the shadow of the Chinese tributary system. What Swope calls the First Great East Asian War marked both the emergence of Japan’s desire to extend its sphere of influence to the Chinese mainland and a military revival of China’s commitment to defending its interests in Northeast Asia. Swope’s account offers new insight not only into the history of warfare in Asia but also into a conflict that reverberates in international relations to this day.
Set in the same sprawling fantasy world as her FitzChivalry Farseer novels, Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders trilogy unravels the story of a once-thriving city, a glorious and mythic species facing extinction, and the clan whose destiny is intertwined with both. Prepare to be swept away in this breathtaking eBook bundle: SHIP OF MAGIC MAD SHIP SHIP OF DESTINY Bingtown is a hub of exotic trade and home to a merchant nobility famed for its liveships—rare vessels carved from wizardwood, which ripens magically into sentient awareness. Now the fortunes of one of Bingtown’s oldest families rest on the newly awakened liveship Vivacia. For Althea Vestrit, the ship is her rightful legacy. For Althea’s young nephew, wrenched from his religious studies and forced to serve aboard the ship, the Vivacia is a life sentence. But the fate of the ship—and the Vestrits—may ultimately lie in the hands of an outsider: the ruthless buccaneer captain Kennit, who plans to seize power over the Pirate Isles by capturing a liveship and bending it to his will. Praise for Robin Hobb and the Liveship Traders Trilogy “Fantasy as it ought to be written . . . Robin Hobb’s books are diamonds in a sea of zircons.”—George R. R. Martin “A truly extraordinary saga . . . The characterizations are consistently superb, and [Hobb] animates everything with love for and knowledge of the sea.”—Booklist “A major work of high fantasy, reading like a cross between Tolkien and Patrick O’Brian . . . one of the finest fantasy sagas to bridge the millennium.”—Publishers Weekly “Rich, complex . . . [Hobb’s] plotting is complex but tightly controlled, and her descriptive powers match her excellent visual imagination. But her chief virtue is that she delineates character extremely well.”—Interzone
