A great collection of short speculative fiction.Twenty-three authors selected by co-editors Rhonda Parrish and Greg BechtelNevertheless (Tesseracts Twenty-one) is a collection of optimistic speculative fiction stories, each optimistic in a slightly different way. These stories explore the optimism that drives us to seek out new worlds, that inspires us to sacrifice for others or fuels us to just keep going when everything seems lost and in so doing turn the idea upside down and inside out.One of the best reasons for doing an anthology of optimistic future this year was because no matter which side of the political or social spectrum you land on, it's been a tough year. Nevertheless we try to remain optimistic. Nevertheless, we don't give up. Nevertheless, yes, we persist. The stories in this anthology of optimistic SF are some of the darkest optimistic stories you'll ever read but, nevertheless, they are optimistic. And powerful.Featuring stories and poems by: James Bambury, Meghan Bell, Gavin Bradley, Ryan Henson Creighton, Darrel Duckworth, Dorianne Emmerton, Pat Flewwelling, Stephen Geigen-Miller, Jason M. Harley, Kate Heartfield, R. W. Hodgson, Jerri Jerreat, Jason Lane, Buzz Lanthier-Rogers, Alison McBain, Michael Milne, Fiona Moore, Ursula Pflug, Michael Reid, S. L. Saboviec, Lisa Timpf, Leslie Van Zwol, Natalia YanchakEdited by Rhonda Parrish and Greg BechtelRhonda Parrish is driven by a desire to do All The Things. She founded and ran Niteblade Magazine, is an Assistant Editor at World Weaver Press and is the editor of several anthologies including, most recently, Mrs. Claus and Equus. In addition, Rhonda is a writer whose work has been in publications such as Tesseracts 17: Speculating Canada from Coast to Coast and Imaginarium: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing (2012 & 2015). Her most recent book is Haunted Hospitals, which she co-wrote with Mark Leslie.Greg Bechtel's occasionally prize-winning stories and essays have appeared in a variety of magazines and anthologies, including Avenue Edmonton, The Fiddlehead, Prairie Fire, two previous Tesseracts anthologies, and Imaginarium 4: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing. His first story collection, Boundary Problems, won the Alberta Book of the Year Award for trade fiction and was a finalist for the ReLit Award, the William L. Crawford Fantasy Award, and the City of Edmonton Robert Kroetsch Book Prize.Greg currently lives in Edmonton, Alberta where, as of this writing, he is serving for his second year as Writer in Residence for the Alberta Branch of the Canadian Authors Association. He also teaches English Literature, Writing Studies, and Creative Writing at the University of Alberta, where he completed his PhD on Canadian syncretic fantasy.Add this anthology to your Tesseracts collection now.
Four years after the Corvou war, the battle for Humanity''s future goes on.Drew Townsend and his surviving crew are back in business, aboard a new and improved Daisy Hub and with a new mission, one that will cement Humanity''s place among the stars - but it could take years to complete.Earth Intelligence operatives have been sent to Stragon to protect the Terran colony there by heading off an impending civil war - but good and bad keep changing places, and appearances cannot be trusted.And on Earth, the Reformation has had dangerous consequences for Barry Novak and Juno Vargas, as they struggle to neutralize an old enemy - but the truth isn''t what they thought it was.In the 25th century, the past is a puzzle, the present is a minefield ... and the future is a mirror, wherein Earth''s true identity lies.
In Mark Patton''s "The Haunting of Westminster Abbey," you get a madcap romp through British history, metaphysics, zoology, various London landmarks. And puns. Lots of puns."The Haunting of Westminster Abbey" is an original fiction that intelligently combines royal history, psychopathology and stories deeply rooted in popular culture."It''s a fun, wild, ghost story that I was sorry to see end. I really enjoyed it quite a lot. 5 out of 5 stars." - Emily, amazon"As a neuroscientist, I was fascinated by the way the author parts from a serious mental illness and develops an interesting and historically sound theme that, not only, explains the problem in a whimsical way and posts different ways of containing it (my favorite is "Absinthe"), but also reaches out to the most defiant questions that we all have." - Clemens BauerAbout the Story:The foundation of Westminster Abbey rests upon what was once an island - an island that was holy to the Celts and the Romans long before the first Christian Church was built upon it in the eighth century. The church is now home to a community of dead monarchs, nobles, scientists, composers, soldiers, authors, poets and politicians buried within the Abbey. And their ghosts are all under the command of Reverend Poda-Pirudi.As if leading the dead isn''t challenging enough for the good Reverend, he invites a hapless architect, Wallace Butterfield, to visit him at his office in the Triforium of Westminster Abbey with a promise to pay for some much-needed work.Butterfield, who thinks it''s the offer of a lifetime, believes he is finally moving up in the world - even though the meeting is scheduled at Westminster''s Triforium in the middle of the night!Unbeknownst to the architect, a coven of absinthe-drinking witches conspires to intervene in Butterfield''s strange meetings with the Reverend. They want what Butterfield has (though Butterfield doesn''t know what it is) and they are willing to do anything (kidnapping, torture, even burning him at the stake) to get it.Set inside Westminster Abbey, England''s enduring symbol of unity and crowned culture, a community of ghosts, whose remains rest inside the iconic building, arise at the bidding of a strange cleric.The book is well researched and incorporates many of the legends associated with the abbey.ABOUT THE AUTHOR:At nineteen Mark Patton shipped aboard the Research Vessel Chain as a helmsman for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. By his mid-twenties he was flying out of Otis Air Force Base for the National Marine Fisheries Service on weekly North Atlantic Fisheries patrols. After graduating from Northeastern University, he became a roughneck for Delta Drilling in the Texas oil patch. He left Texas to become a police officer and later a head of Natural Resources on Cape Cod. Now retired, he devotes his time between the mountains of northern New Hampshire and his home on Cape Cod, where with his cellist wife, he composes music and pursues his longtime passion for writing.PRAISE:"This read is an amazing and fascinating read!" - Amazon Customer"The closest comparison I can think of is "The Brentford Trilogy " by Robert Rankin, although the finale has distinct echoes of Douglas Adams." - jonxboyThe Haunting of Westminster Abbey is an excellent adventure into the bizarre world and mind of the author. Highly Recommended.
MY NAME IS SHERLOCK HOLMES.IT IS MY BUSINESS TO KNOW WHAT OTHERS DO NOT.In the dark lurk horrible secrets. Long buried and hidden from prying eyes are the twilight tales of the living and the dead - and those that are neither. The stink of a Paris morgue, the curve of a devil's footprint, forbidden pages torn from an infernal tome, madness in a dead woman's stare, a lost voice from beneath the waves, and the cold indifference of an insect's feeding all hold cryptic clues. From the comfort of the Seine to the chill blast of arctic winds, from candlelit monasteries to the callous and uncaring streets of Las Vegas are found arcane stories of men, monsters, and their evil...Gaslight Arcanum includes works by:Stephen Volk, Christopher Fowler, Kim Newman, Paul Kane, Simon K. Unsworth, Tom English, Tony Richards, William Meikle, Fred Saberhagen, Kevin Cockle, Lawrence C. Connolly, and Simon Clark.About the editors:Charles Prepolec has contributed articles and reviews to All Hallows, Sherlock Magazine, Scarlet Street, and Canadian Holmes. An active Sherlockian for more than 20 years with The Singular Society of the Baker Street Dozen, Charles lives in Calgary with his wife Kristen and their cat Karma.J. R. Campbell's fiction has appeared in a wide variety of publications including Spinetingler Magazine, Wax Romantic and Challenging Destiny. From time to time his writing can also be heard on radio's Imagination Theater and The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.About the cover artist:Dave Elsey has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to create memorable characters using make up: from the fantastical creatures in the television series Farscape to his planet-wrangling skills in The Little Shop of Horrors. Dave is the cover artist for the Australian comic book The Dark Detective: Sherlock Holmes, and he recently won an Oscar for his special FX work for the movie The Wolfman.About the Interior Artists:Mike Mignola is an American comic book artist and writer, famous for creating the comic book series Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics. He has also worked for animation projects such as Atlantis: The Lost Empire and the adaptation of his one shot comic book, The Amazing Screw-On Head.Luke Eidenschink is a 2009 winner of the International Illustrators of the Future Award. His work includes book and magazine illustration, custom design, fine art, and most recently graphic novel illustration.About the Series: - Book 1: Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales of Sherlock Holmes - Book 2: Gaslight Grotesque: Nightmare Tales of Sherlock Holmes - Book 3: Gaslight Arcanum: Uncanny Tales of Sherlock Holmes - Book 4: Gaslight Gothic: Strange Tales of Sherlock HolmesThese anthologies have received critical acclaim from prominent reviewers such as National Post, Library Journal, Booklist, Globe & Mail, etc.
En route to colonize the extrasolar planet Tau Ceti III...Donn Cardenio, damaged veteran of Earth's disastrous first interstellar war, and two hundred fellow Caretakers are charged with caring for a quarter million embryos en route to colonize the extrasolar planet Tau Ceti III.Cardenio considers this assignment a chance to redeem himself from the ravages of the past great war.But, when one of his Caretaker colleagues snaps, Cardenio is forced to begin an investigation that leads to more questions than answers - questions about his relationship with his lover, his own past, and the nature of the mission he's on.Unfortunately for Cardenio, nothing is as it appears. His fellow Caretakers do not share his reverence for the lives in their charge; friends and lovers hide vital truths; and his enemies and rivals become allies.By the end of the mission, Donn Cardenio will confront the terrible reality of what he's done to determine how the future will unfold.
The essence of the Seven Deadly Sins (Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Pride, Sloth and Wrath) are captured in this anthology of flash fiction (fiction of extreme brevity) stories!Written by four amazing writers, their flurry of words and polished sentences reveal each of the 'sins' in a manner unique to each author. Some stories reveal the entrapment in a single scene, others exposed the characters' fall from grace over a longer period of time.Over all these short stories accomplish their mission and show off the seven deadly sins in a style that is easy to read and hard not to enjoy.
Driven by duty towards a dreamless death…By the time she's sixteen, the town's Dreamer has long ago given up her own life. She only dreams for others now, every morning delivering up to them the divine guidance that comes to her in the night. In exchange, they treat the Dreamer like their queen. All her bodily needs are provided, but love and relationships are forbidden to her. Now something unexpected is happening. Something entirely new. A foreign man has come to the village, wearing a scarlet vest and a gold finger-ring that is far, far too good for a mere Water-Bearer. His strange amber eyes have found the Dreamer's and she longs to be free. But maybe freedom isn't the only cost of being the Dreamer: When her dreams begin to question the authority of the self-serving Chief Interpreter, will she survive his fury? Or will he quietly entomb her in the Dreamer's Chamber, clearing her away like so much litter to make room for a hapless new young girl to take her place? Her fate will be kept as silent as the sacred Garden that is her prison. Unless she can find a way to give voice to her own dreams.---"Dreamers transports the reader to a distant land where you can feel the yarn beneath your fingers and taste the sweet water left by a secret friend. Williams spins a moving and eloquent tale of love and dreaming, rich with well-observed details of how people live, work, scheme and hope. She writes with the resonant voice of the story-teller, drawing you in to share this beautiful dream." - Elaine Isaak
A misguided experiment. A devastated world. A chance for rebirth.In a world decimated by a killer virus, an isolated mountain community is left more dysfunctional than dystopian.Small town. Big secrets. A place where...neighbors still look out for neighbors,a feisty senior sasses the man who controls the town,a doctor finds a unique use for local bullies.and the lives of three strangers unexpectedly intertwine...Martha, a reclusive doctor seeking a solution to the mystery of the pandemic,Jake, a cab driver seeking his birth mother,Sophie, a young, desperate pregnant woman seeking safe haven from abuse.Brought together by violence, these unlikely friends forge an alliance that may help reshape the world.
The most dangerous race in the galaxy is the race against time.And the second most dangerous race? The Galactic Great Council believes it's the Humans. However, as the captain and officers of the Earth ship Marco Polo are about to find out, Humanity has plenty of competition for that title.While visiting Kula'as, Captain Takamura and his crew are recruited by aliens for a covert mission. The Thryggians may be close to breaking out of their pocket universe using a psi-powered heavy ship left over from an ancient war. If they succeed in activating the ship, they'll be unstoppable. Can a bickering bunch of Humans and aliens work together to find and steal the vessel before it is too late?
Book your ticket now for a trip to the future, the past, and the timeslips in between.Through the eloquent prose and imaginings of eighteen tellers of tales, we are pleased to present to you a collection of stories-on-a-train that will transport you to tantalizing worlds that you simply cannot imagine.Perhaps no other anthology in-living-memory encapsulates such wholehearted, ill fated, poignant, and even hallucinogenic stories with such grace and balance as those contained in this volume.These stories span the genres of literary fiction, steampunk, space opera, futurism, tragedy, magical realism, slipstream, horror, comedy, urban fantasy and more.In all, a sizzling collection, curated by Neil Enock (who is a train aficionado, podcaster, screenwriter and filmmaker), presenting high-voltage, off-the-rail entertainments that are feature rich with characters who are: schemers, dreamers, adventurers, lovers, detectives, rogues, and more; and whose human weaknesses always seem to get the better of them.Showcased in this single collection are eighteen trail blazers tasked to escort you on your inimitable journey:Jason Lane, David Worsick, Liam Hogan, Christine Hanolsy, Gavin Bradley, Michael Johnstone, Dwain Campbell, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Peter Hargraves, Melodie Leclerc, Rachel Leidenfrost , Nick Svolos, Maurice Forrester, Kendall Eifler, Samuel Marzioli, Neil Enock, Laurie Stewart, Kim Solem.The stories offered will delight you with such surprising humor and stinging tragedy, you will be compelled to read them all in one sitting.DO NOT DELAY. DO NOT BE LEFT BEHIND. THIS TRAIN LEAVES PROMPTLY ON TIME.*Note: These stories are also suitable to read while waiting for a train.
There is nothing new in the world except the history we do not know.Alchemy and Artifacts (Tesseracts Twenty-Two) is a collection of twenty-three amazing stories based on historical artifacts combined with fantastic historical fiction.The stories meld culture, concept and incident into a rich collection of 'what if' speculations that provide warnings yet revel in the cultural celebrations we continue to observe today. They are the touchstones that resonate with all who listen to and learn from the past.For, once the instigators are dead, the wars ended, and the political machines decayed, only artifacts remain. And it's through these cultural artifacts that we glimpse the possibility of what may have occurred in the past and may yet occur in the future.You are invited to delve into the motivations behind the events of the past, the quests for power, the fights against repression, and the sacrifices to a greater cause -- human dramas that reflect the worst and best of who we are -- to see what satisfaction comes from sudden insight and awe.Featuring works by these Canadian writers:Colleen Anderson, Lara Apps, Leslie Brown, Katherine Cameron, Chris Patrick Carolan, Geoff Gander & Fiona Plunkett, Bev Geddes, Mary-Jean Harris, Geoffrey Hart, Kate Heartfield, R. W. Hodgson, Kurt Kirchmeier, Jason Lane, Halli Lilburn, Cat McDonald, Tony Pi, Mike Rimar, Bianca Sayan, Holly Schofield, Michael Skeet, Erik Jon Spigel, Liz Westbrook-Trenholm, Michal WojcikThe stories in Alchemy and Artifacts (Tesseracts Twenty-Two) nourish those who wander in today's wilderness, and who, without the benefit of the past, are destined to plunge blindly along a path of ignorance, destroying all that has been, everything that is true and beautiful and that which nourishes our global community.
Selected as one of the year's most compelling debut novels for Kobo's Emerging Writer Prize, Shadow Stitcher is guaranteed to deliight.This fast paced Noir mystery has a great cast of easily identifiable characters, a plot both easy to follow and intriguing, and an ending that will leave you satisfied.-----"...a rollicking mystery with a fascinating setting, a magical world with a hardboiled edge. For a novel with noir leanings, it's a surprisingly bright read; light, airy, and joyous, as if it's been sprinkled with fairy dust." - Ilana Lucas-----About the book:Basil Stark isn't the man he once was. A reformed pirate and private detective, he walks the line between criminal and hero, living in the corners of what was once the island of Neverland, its magic slowly fading into the new world of the 1950s. But when a routine missing-persons case turns into a murder investigation, Basil finds himself pulled into a tale of organized crime, murder, unstitched shadows and dangerous espionage. With only a handful of fellow outcasts and a stubborn determination to bring a killer to justice, will he survive the many people who want him dead?-----"...a mystery that was complex and satisfying without being convoluted just for the sake of it, a twist that felt earned and didn't come entirely out of left-field, characters who were interesting and whose motivations slowly unspooled in a really satisfying way, and just the right balance of magic and grime." - Wren Handman-----About the Author:Misha Handman has been involved in writing for most of his life. He started by writing comics for his friends in elementary school and was promptly drawn into the artistic world by their approval, moving on to produce short stories and collaborative works. He has lived in cities across Canada, including Victoria, Ottawa, and Toronto, and refuses to pick a favourite no matter how much his friends bother him about it. For now, Victoria is his home.Praise:"I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone looking for an easy-to-read story that blends mystery, fantasy, action, and a little splash of romance, and I eagerly await the next Everland Mystery." - Jonathan MillerShadow Stitcher is a must read Noir-Fantasy Novel!
Dirty, dangerous, pristine, and opulent - welcome to West Marque.The sun is slowly setting on the golden age of chivalry in West Marque. The kings are gone, replaced by Marshals. The ‘knights of the realm’ – the Fifth Wheel - no longer wear suits of armor or carry gilded swords. They wear badges and carry guns on their hips. Their old enemies, the Dead Priests, are ghosts of the past.John Gray, a member of the order of the Fifth Wheel, is hard on the heels of the nefarious gambler James Gallant. However, his pursuit is interrupted when unexplained orders arrive summoning him to Jonah’s Sword for an Oath Swearing.That Call marks the dawn of a new conflict for the High Seat of West Marque, a conflict that threatens to awaken the ghosts of the past and mark the end of the Order of the Fifth Wheel.
Cloaked in gothic shadows, soaked in blood, darkness descends on the world of Sherlock Holmes."I have heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heart."Vengeance from beyond, forbidden passions and sadistic cruelty draw the great detective and his faithful companions into storms of madness and otherworldly violence which threaten to cloud the clarity of logic. Facing the eldritch reach of ancient talismans and arcane science, from the streets of London and Paris to the loneliest of manor houses, the great detective battles the weird and uncanny. Can steadfast reason hold against unspeakable terror when Sherlock Holmes can no longer eliminate the impossible? Follow the great detective through ten new tales of terror as he doggedly pursues investigations leading him to the edge of reason and beyond!Contributions by:David Stuart Davies, Lyndsay Faye, Nancy Holder, Mark A. Latham, James Lovegrove, Mark Morris, Charles Prepolec, Josh Reynolds, Angela Slatter, Kevin P. Thornton, and Stephen Volk.
Madness engulfs an oil platformA remote deep-sea oil drill blows apart, pushing the cash-strapped energy company that owns it toward bankruptcy. Madness and murder engulf the oil platform. A probe shows intelligent life on the deepest sea floor, evolved from long-lived cephalopods to whom the oil is sacred. Though peaceful, they will defend the oil at all costs. Alerted to the intentions of previously unknown humans the undersea intelligence is pushed toward a conflict that could destroy both civilizations.
Magic awakens in early America. The Red Wraith is born.Cast into exile by his tribe for being spawn of human and spirit, Naysin is lost in a world of change as pale men from the sea arrive to plunder the riches of the New World. Guided only by the devious facets of his spirit father, Naysin has no choice but to master his powers to survive the destruction of his people. But the nature of those talents is both light and dark.And so the legend of the Red Wraith begins.On the island of Bimshire, Naysin inspires a slave rebellion before abandoning it; near his former home, he marches European settlers to their deaths; and in the forests of Edgeland, he ends a battle by massacring both sides. Such acts cause much of the New World to see him as an indigenous monster who delights in butchering white innocents. The infamy is well-earned, but when Naysin encounters a group of fellow magic-users, he realizes he may yet have a chance to set things right.He just has to conquer the only thing that ensures his survival: the dual facets of his father. ---An intriguing coming of age fantasy novel set in early American history, The Red Wraith will appeal to older young adult readers and fans of Sabaa Tahir's 'An Ember in the Ashes' and Jacqueline Carey's 'Kushiel's Legacy' series.
Mad Science? Obsession? Folly?Telesensation agent Justin Bremer studies time - specifically the effects of journeying through it. His assignment, funded by a mysterious organization, 'Les Charges de L'Affaires,' is to observe the timeline of a young Victorian scientist who lived approximately 2000 years in the past.Equipped with an AI neural-interface, Bremer carefully documents the experiments of Dr. Petronella Sage and her archeologist friend Erasmus Savant. The Doctor, while investigating the effects of electricity on human flesh, becomes obsessed by the curious and vivid shared hallucinations induced after she and Savant are accidentally electrocuted.Each fantastical adventure (which they call a 'transmigration') takes the intrepid duo into the unimaginable lives of persons and places throughout history.Justin Bremer observes and dutifully records it all.Uncover the secrets of transmigration in this steampunk adventure like no other.Praise:"From the first page, I was enchanted by Eddie Louise's debut novel, Transmigrations. I was immediately immersed and wanting more, eagerly turning pages for I was captivated by the rich world-building and the futuristic science that combined to create a breathtaking, five-star Steampunk adventure." - Merrie Destefano, author of Shade: The Re-Imagining of Mary Shelley's FrankensteinAbout the Author:Eddie Louise has always been a yarn-spinner, dream-weaver, and a teller of tales. She lives in sunny Southern California where she makes a living as a ghostwriter and writes in a variety of genres including science fiction, young adult fiction, English-as-a-Second-Language textbooks, and the monthly speculative fiction audio-drama "The Tales of Sage and Savant."TransMIGRATIONS is the first installment of a must-read new Steampunk adventure series!
Corporate espionage, cults, faeries.It's 2133, and Earth has rebuilt after a global catastrophe.Megacities, wireless tech, and augmented humans are all commonplace. What isn't common, is Kraft. Kraft sees monsters. This tends to get him in trouble, especially when the rest of the world doesn't believe they exist. For Kraft, even an easy job like cleaning a corporation's computer system involves a dark cult, a battle with faeries, and a computer virus that reaches into the real world. --- "A lot of what I believe makes Endless Hunger stand out is how it deals with the multiple genres it spans. The world that New Montreal exists in is built upon sci-fi technologies (Wireless communication, smart clothing, advanced security), but Kraft is dealing with fantasy problems (Faeries, vampires, wizards). Rather than juxtaposing the elements of science and magic, my work looks at the parallels. It sees how those parts of each genre can mix to create something new." - Kevin Weir, author --- "Weir's debut is a riveting, genre-blending adventure that will keep you guessing on every page." -- Jodi McIsaac, author
13 original Arthurian tales set against a landscape of magic, cruelty, and destiny...Many were called. Few remembered.Ruled by Arthur, the Once and Future King, these Knights took their place next to those who would become legend. Lancelot. Galahad. Tristan. Yet Kingdoms are not shaped by myths but by courage and belief...Arkin. Tor. Brannon - Each earned their place at the Round Table but to fulfill their destiny of glory they must discover the truths within.For no false knight can complete a true quest.Set against a landscape of magic, cruelty and destiny, By the Light of Camelot includes 13 original Arthurian tales by award-winning authors Shannon Allen, Colleen Anderson, Renee Bennett, J. R. Campbell, M. K. Hume, William Meikle, R. Overwater, Fiona Patton, Diana L. Paxson, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Wendy Wagner, Lawrence Watt-Evans, Jane Yolen."Valiant Knights who are driven by the code of Camelot as they ride across a wide arc of story where you are sure to find damsels who are not always in distress, peril and creatures that lurk in the dark. A collection of Tales that rework the magic of Camelot for the 21st century reader." - The editors
Earth's ancient past is coming home to roost, and it's making Barry Novak, the Chief of Operations of the Earth Intelligence Service, very nervous. First, a document written in an alien language surfaces at an archaeological site on Earth. Then, a Stragori defector approaches Novak, offering another old document in exchange for sanctuary. This one was stolen from the alien's home world. Once decoded, the document's contents are mind-blowing. Finally, an old enemy switches sides, bringing with him information that fills in the gaps and, if true, could rewrite the very definition of Humanity. Earth isn't yet ready to learn these truths. Making them public would cause worldwide xenophobia. So, Novak does the only thing he can think of. He sends them as far away as he can-to Daisy Hub. In this eagerly awaited sequel to The Genius Asylum, long buried secrets arrive aboard the space station, carried by a mysterious one-eyed man who calls himself Max Karlov and claims to have been assigned there. But there are things happening on Daisy Hub that need to be kept "in the family", and too many unanswered questions about this new crew member. Determined to unravel Karlov's story, Townsend and his crew of maverick geniuses start digging for the truth. What they discover will shake them to their core.
She has a tail. Normal is relative.Kellan is a shape-shifter and a member of a secret society, the Sankhain, who protect a fountain of youth hidden in an invisible forest outside Madison, Wisconsin. When a stranger asks Kellan for her help with some documents, documents which shouldn't exist, about the Sankhain, Kellan uses her unique sense of smell to follow the trail, which leads to the very heart of the Sankhain. What Kellan uncovers will shake her world to its core.
Book Two in the Terminal City SagaNow a certified necromancer, Mason Cross is on his way to Winter's End, a hidden academy in the north and a refuge from the world.But Mason has an agenda, one he hasn't shared with his companions-who consequently may no longer be his companions in a few days.And that may not even be their biggest problem. There's an even greater threat no one sees coming.
"I know where the Angel of Death plague originated, and so does every other 'patient' who left Thrygg that day…"Fourteen years ago, Thryggian scientists permitted a mass escape of test subjects from their laboratory on Thrygg, including Abner Dedrick, the youngest member of the powerful Forrand-Dedrick family on Earth. These patients all thought they'd been receiving an unapproved longevity treatment. In fact, they'd been infected with a bio-engineered virus and their escape was the first step in a horrific experiment.Now the day of reckoning is approaching. The plague unleashed on the galaxy by the Thryggians has finally been brought under control and they're on trial for this and other scientific crimes. The viral strain Abner was carrying has wiped out an entire Human colony. Only his young daughter Lania and his voice log - a damning piece of evidence if brought before the tribunal - have survived. Aboard the Earth ship that rescues Lania is Ixbeth Minegar, a lone alien who becomes convinced that Lania is part of a prophecy that could spell life or death for Ixbeth's entire race.The Thryggians are not going down quietly. They've broken planetary confinement and are determined to find and eliminate any evidence against them, even if it means entering Earth space and destroying Earth ships. Fortunately, the one carrying Abner Dedrick's log has an alien or two up its sleeve…
Asteroid belt miner Collier South is on the brink. The once-exciting frontier of space has been overtaken by corporate creep, and he stands as one of the last independent beltrunners in the system. Almost squeezed out of the only life he's ever known by impersonal conglomerates and a vindictive ex-lover, he's desperate for a strike. But what he finds this time has the power to change his life forever. Worse, it has the power to change the fate of the entire system, and the corporations are on a hunt to pry it from his stubborn fingers.
Blue collar Science Fiction....Running a starship repo company isn't easy or cheap. It's just an endless string of fuel costs, ship maintenance, legal red tape, unhappy debt bailers, shady associates and uncooperative dock officials from one end of the galaxy to the other.Nathan Teller owns and operates Milky Way Repossessions, a company that tracks down and repossesses starships. And although he's only managing to break even on his debt, he wouldn't trade it for anything. (His ex-wife holds that against him. No surprise there.)When Nathan and his crew successfully steal a freighter from the clutches of a particularly tenacious and corrupt dock official, he earns the respect of their high profile employer. Opportunity seems a sure thing.Nathan should be happy. But when that lucrative job op turns into a ransom delivery for a starship crew being held hostage by a cult, he suddenly finds himself pursued by a self-immolating loan shark hell bent on collecting a gambling debt.How will it all turn out? You never know. Especially when Nathan and his Starship repo agents are up against a cult and the mob...
Wanted: Translator for first contact.Immediate opening. Danger pay allowance. "The Rosetta Man is an intriguing alien first contact novel-with non-verbal aliens." - Nicole Luiken About the book: When aliens finally make first contact, they abduct Estlin Hume from his home and take him across the globe to act as translator - too bad he has no idea what they're saying. Estlin Hume lives in Twin Butte, Alberta surrounded by a horde of affectionate squirrels. His involuntary squirrel-attracting talent leaves him evicted, expelled, fired and near penniless until two aliens arrive and adopt him as their translator. Yanked around the world at the center of the first contact crisis, Estlin finds his new employers incomprehensible. As he faces the ultimate language barrier, unsympathetic military forces converging in the South Pacific keep threatening to kill the messenger. The question on everyone's mind is why are the aliens here? But Estlin's starting to think we'll happily blow ourselves up in the process of finding that out. About the Author: Claire McCague is a writer, scientist, and folk musician who fabricates nanostructured materials by day and spins words into scripts and books as the stars rise. She lives and doesn't sleep much in British Columbia. Claire McCague has spent time playing with focused electron beams, femtosecond laser beams, neutron beams and plain, old x-rays. She has a doctorate in chemistry, achieved explicitly to support her arts habits, and spends her days trying to save the world through development of nanostructured materials for sustainable energy conversion systems. Claire performs regularly with the Sybaritic String Band and her plays have been featured in festivals across Canada. "What makes The Rosetta Man stand-out? An unusually dense squirrel population for sci-fi. It's light-hearted, accessible sci-fi with exotic present day settings and a pair of aliens who are focused on observing the revealing chaos their visit creates." - Claire McCague, author A perfect sci-fi romp for fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!
WHO CAN HELP... when a word decides to get up and leave your holy book? when you're a mayor and your city is literally crumbling around you? when the evil Haman, villain of the Purim story, seems to have arisen from the dead to terrorize your town? Eliezer ben-Avraham, wizard, Kabbalist, and kvetch, not only can but must help. Because he poked around in areas of forbidden knowledge, he is obliged to wander the world and use the powers he gained to perform good deeds-mitzvot-for anybody who asks, no matter how bizarre the task. Ably assisted by his trusty but cynical steed, Melech, Eliezer does what he can, although transforming into a bird and flying around is difficult when you have arthritis in your shoulder. Humorous, philosophical, and very weird, Eliezer's adventures as he makes his rounds demonstrate how important it is to be generous with your gifts, even to the craziest goyim.
HavenPort: Population 492 A town with no roads in or out. Deputy Hank McCarthy has just moved his family into the remote Alaskan town to replace the local Sheriff. He doesn't think a small sleepy town like HavenPort will offer much in the way of excitement but, considering what he's running from, he's more than happy about that. New York City ballet dancer Emma Hudson is running from something too. Unlike Hank, she's not sure what she'll find in HavenPort, especially when supernatural terrors begin to haunt her dreams, and sometimes her waking hours. The people of HavenPort claim it's no cause for concern. No need to act crazy. She knows what crazy is like. When Hank and Emma share a daytime terror they begin to see there's more to this town than they know. Unfortunately for them it's already too late. Their paths are chosen. There's no way out of HavenPort. A supernatural sci-fi thriller, Bedlam Lost delivers for fans of Dean Koontz and J. J. Abrams' LOST. Step into this story and you might not be able to leave.
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