Battleground Mars
Battleground Mars By Eric SchneiderChapter OneThe ship finally blasted off from New Houston Spaceport, leaving a trail of vapor in its wake, together with his old life. Rahm felt an overwhelming sense of relief as they left be...
Science Fiction
Battle Earth X
Battle Earth X By Nick S. ThomasThis is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trad...
War World X Takeover
War World X Takeover By John F. CarrACKNOWLEDGEMENTSOnce again, thanks go to Jerry Pournelle for allowing me to expand and create new stories in the War World/Empire of Man future history. Secondly, I’d like to thank Don...
Timestorm
Timestorm By Julie CrossCHAPTER ONEDAY 1I stood in front of the cell staring at … well … staring at me. The caged, unshaven, animal version of me. The way he looked, not at me but through me, brought on the sudden self-a...
The Outback Stars
The Outback Stars By Sandra McDonaldPROLOGUEDespite the protective suit shielding her from flames, Lieu-tenant Jodenny Scott expected to die very soon. The prospect should have alarmed her, but on some dim, exhausted level, she s...
The Gardener
The Gardener By S.A._BodeenPROLOGUETHE VIDEOTAPE OF MY FATHER WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE SEEN by me, and were it not for a chow mix ripping apart half my face, the man might have remained only a mysterious void. But it was that...
Space Opera
Space Opera By Rich HortonTo my fellow Boeing employees:some of us are working to make some of this stuff possible.Space OperaThen and NowRich HortonThe term space opera was coined by the late great writer/fan Wilson (Bob) Tuck...
Saucer The Conquest
Saucer The Conquest By Stephen CoontsTo all those dreamers who looked at the moon and wanted to goPROLOGUEJULY 1947The train eased slowly out of the blackness of the desert night into the spotlights. As the three locomotives h...
Saucer
Saucer By Stephen CoontsThere are at least 100 billion stars in the Milky Way.CHAPTER ONERip Cantrell was holding the stadia rod, trying to blink away the sweat trickling into his eyes, when a bright flash of light caught his...
Lines of Departure
Lines of Departure By Marko KloosSometimes, the old sergeants talk about the Good Old Days.There once was a blessed and mythical time when military service was a desirable job—a ticket to a low-risk career, access to decent f...
Flying the Storm
Flying the Storm By C. S. Arnot1.SevastopolIt was always the same for Aiden. For some reason, in that calm time after his first bottle of beer but before tasting his second, he’d get very reflective. Brooding, almost. He...
Easter Island
Easter Island By Jennifer VanderbesFor my parents and my brotherOne evening, as Hau Maka lay beneath the full moon on the island Marae-toe-hau, he had a dream.The dream soul of Hau Maka flew toward the rising sun and she pas...
Was Once a Hero
Was Once a Hero - By Edward McKeown※ Dedication ※"To my love and my inspiration, Schelly Keefer."Introduction by Janet Morris, author and editor: Edward McKeown intends to rock you and sock you with his new novel, "Was Once...
Voyage Across the Stars
Voyage Across the Stars - By David DrakeCHAPTER ONEA hologram of a tank, bow-on as it plowed through a brushfire, filled most of the wall behind President Hammer’s desk. Either by chance or through Hammer’s deliberat...
Victories of the Space Marines
Victories of the Space Marines - By Christian DunnRUNESChris WraightBaldr Svelok slammed hard into the acid-laced rock. His plate crunched against the stone, sending warning runes flashing across his helm-feed. Instinct told him a...
Velvet Dogma
Velvet Dogma - By Weston OchseAcknowledgmentsThanks also to Chris Golden and Julie Barrett for giving me the nudge and for loving the idea. Thanks to a host of readers including Nanci Kalanta and Kevin Mcalonan for making it ...
Tuf Voyaging
Tuf Voyaging - By George R. R. MartinPrologueCATALOG SIXITEM NUMBER 37433-800912-5442894SHANDELLOR CENTER FOR THEADVANCEMENT OFCULTURE AND KNOWLEDGEXENOANTHROPOLOGY DIVISIONitem description: crystal voice codingitem found: H’ro Brana...
Trafalgar
Trafalgar - By Angelica GorodischerToHugo GorodischerPlus loin que le fleuve qui gronde,Plus loin que les vaste foreêsPlus loin que la gorge profonde,Je fuirais, je courrais, j’irais’.Victor HugoMEDRANO, TRAFALGAR: Bo...
Tome of Fire
Tome of Fire - By Nick KymeWARHAMMER 40,000IT IS THE 41ST MILLENNIUM. FOR MORE THAN A HUNDRED CENTURIES THE EMPEROR HAS SAT IMMOBILE ON THE GOLDEN THRONE OF EARTH. HE IS THE MASTER OF MANKIND BY THE WILL OF THE GODS, AND ...
To Snatch a Thief
To Snatch a Thief - By Hazel CottonPROLOGUE‘Here, I’ve brought you bread,’ he said, a sudden irritation crossing his face as the child stepped back. It wiped a gutter-slimed hand across its mouth, hesitated.&lsqu...
Those That Wake
Those That Wake - By Jesse KarpPART 1MALMAL LOOKED IN THE MIRROR and saw a road map of mistakes. Scars traced a fractured route down his face, splintering across his torso. The worn paths were interrupted by fresh welts and...
This_Shared_Dream
This Shared Dream - By Kathleen Ann GoonanEliani HadntzTIMESTREAM ONEJuly 1890, North of St. Petersburg, RussiaYEARS AFTERWARD, Eliani realized that the meadow and the small country dacha belonged to her St. Petersburg grandmother....
The Trilisk Supersedure
The Trilisk Supersedure - By Michael McCloskeyPrologueJack DeVries scanned the alien landscape from the overhang that concealed his tiny starship. Chigran Callnir Four looked like a combination of a rocky highland and a jungle. H...
The Serene Invasion
The Serene Invasion - By Eric BrownONECHAPTER ONEON THE DAY everything changed, Sally Walsh finished what was to be her last shift at the Kallani medical centre – though she didn’t know that at the time – and...
The Savage Boy
The Savage Boy - By Nick ColeIntermezzoFor those who have read and lovedThe Old Man and the Wasteland,you will find this novel a bit different.This time the apocalypse is personal.I thank you in advance for this brief indulgen...
The Ruins of Arlandia
The Ruins of Arlandia - By William WoodACKNOWLEDGMENTSTo my family, for your love and constant encouragement. To my lovely wife, thank you for helping me achieve my dream. For reading and rereading the many versions and rewrite...
The Lucifer Sanction
The Lucifer Sanction - By Jason DenaroCHAPTER ONE The Dig SiteAndermatt, Switzerland January 4 2044 10:04 A: MA dismal day. Drizzle.Gray Swiss skies surrender to a broad canvasof cerulean blue, a perfect backdrop for the snow-la...
The Lost Girl
The Lost Girl - By Sangu MandannaPART ONE1OtherI remember being in town with Mina Ma. I must have been about ten. She wanted to buy a lottery ticket, and I stood outside the corner store and looked in the window of the to...
The Legend of Earth
The Legend of Earth - By T.R. HarrisChapter 1He dreamed of killing Humans….In his dream, the ground before him was littered with the bloody remains of hundreds of dead Humans, splayed about in an open field on Klinmon, his ...
The Last Jedi
The Last Jedi - By Michael ReavesPART ONEVaster Than EmpiresOneSakiyan freighter Far Ranger requesting clearance for departure.I-Five’s mimicry of Tuden Sal’s gruff voice was flawless. No one listening—or, more to the p...
The Last Horizon
The Last Horizon - By Anthony HartigChapter 1NikkiI think back to the evening it started at Kurlie’s place--Curly’s Tavern. A dingy, soot-stained brick structure lost among the third rate pawn shops, liquor stores, and...
The Heretic (General)
The Heretic (General) - By David DrakePART ONE: The Scout1Bows and muskets, blood and dust— six-year-old Abel Dashian sing-songed as he played in the yard of the temple storehouse. The afternoon was hot and humid, and the air...
The Grim Company
The Grim Company - By Luke ScullFor YesicaA Tyrant’s WagerThe wind whipped the flag of the warship swaying at anchor, the stylized ‘M’ wrought in silver thread on a black background proudly proclaiming her the ...
The Greater Good
The Greater Good - By Sandy MitchellWARHAMMER 40,000IT IS THE 41ST MILLENNIUM. FOR MORE THAN A HUNDRED CENTURIES THE EMPEROR HAS SAT IMMOBILE ON THE GOLDEN THRONE OF EARTH. HE IS THE MASTER OF MANKIND BY THE WILL OF THE GOD...
The Great Betrayal
The Great Betrayal - By Michael G. ThomasCHAPTER ONEThe four racial groups of the Helions purported to represent all of their culture. The ANS Conqueror Incident of 360CC, however, revealed a massive underclass known as the Zat...
The Games
The Games - By Ted KosmatkaPROLOGUEThe boy lay motionless in the tube as the machine moved all around him. He held his breath and concentrated on the pinging, trying to clear his head like the white coats told him.Look into...
The Eleventh Plague
The Eleventh Plague - By Jeff HirschPART ONEONEI was sitting at the edge of the clearing, trying not to stare at the body on the ground in front of me. Dad had said we’d be done before dark, but it had been hours s...
The Darwin Elevator
The Darwin Elevator - By Jason HoughChapter OneAbove the Indian Ocean12.JAN.2283Blood streamed down the inside of the tiny vial and pooled at the bottom. A finger, the source of the fluid, knocked against the glass with a dull...
The Curve of the Earth
The Curve of the Earth - By Simon Morden1Petrovitch wanted to be alone, to worry and to brood, but he was part of the Freezone collective and that meant never having to be alone again. Company was built in, through the lin...
The Complete Atopia Chronicles
The Complete Atopia Chronicles - By Matthew Mather~ Blue Skies ~Book 1:Olympia Onassis1Identity: Olympia OnassisNO! NO! YOUR other left! I yelled at the idiot behind the counter, gesturing towards the pack of cigarettes I wanted....
The Best of Kage Baker
The Best of Kage Baker - By Kage BakerNoble MoldFor a while I lived in this little town by the sea. Boy, it was a soft job. Santa Barbara had become civilized by then: no more Indian rebellions, no more pirates storming u...
The Assault
The Assault - By Brian FalknerPROLOGUETHIS IS NOT A HISTORY BOOK.The achievements of 4th Reconnaissance Team (designation: Angel) of the Allied Combined Operations Group, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, from November 2030 through July...
The Age of Scorpio
The Affinity Bridge - By George Mann1A Long Time After the LossThe deep-space salvage tug looked like it was made of hundreds of years of patched-together scrap parts. The original parts of the ship were buried underneath layers of barely functioning detritus. It was a scavenger ship, a space-going parasite that fed on the misfortunes of o...
The Affinity Bridge
The Affinity Bridge - By George MannPrologueIndia,August 1901The flies. Always the damn flies.Harrison slapped at the insects buzzing incessantly around his face and checked his rifle for the fifth time that hour. The heat was p...
Take the All-Mart!
Take the All-Mart! - By J. I. GrecoCHAPTER 1: A SUNDAY DRIVE, WITH CANNIBALSThe tricked-out, inch-thick depleted uranium armor-scaled ‘73 Dodge Swinger called the Festering Wound hauled ass through the Wasteland down the cra...
Swimming Upstream
Swimming Upstream - By Ruth Mancini1I once read that the end of a relationship is like being involved in a road traffic accident. Which is quite fitting really, given what happened. Only you’d probably think of an accide...
Sunset of the Gods
Sunset of the Gods - By Steve WhiteCHAPTER ONEEven on Old Earth, nothing was forever unchanging, as Jason Thanou had better reason than most to know—not even on the island of Corfu, however much it might seem to drift down...
Star Wars The Old Republic Fatal Allianc
Star Wars The Old Republic Fatal Allianc - By Sean WilliamsTHE LIGHT STAR cruiser looked deceptively insignificant against the backdrop of the galaxy. To the keen eye of a pirate, however, it displayed several desirable qualitie...
Star Wars Riptide
Star Wars Riptide - By Paul S. KempA long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.…THE PRESENTJADEN FOUND HIMSELF ON HIS KNEES, THE ROOM SPINNING. Blood leaked from his right temple, spattered the floor in little crimson circles....
Star Wars Dawn of the Jedi, Into the Voi
Star Wars Dawn of the Jedi, Into the Voi - By Tim LebbonCHAPTER ONEDARK MATTERSEven at the beginning of our journey I feel like a rock in the river of the Force. Lanoree is a fish carried by that river, feeding from it, ...
Star Trek Into Darkness
Star Trek Into Darkness - By Alan Dean FosterICLASS-M PLANETNIBIRUIt seemed as if not just the supervolcano, but every square meter of solid ground on the planet was on the verge of shaking itself apart. The serpentine smoke ...
Stalin's Hammer Rome
Stalin's Hammer Rome - By John BirminghamPrologueApril 13, 1955: Central SiberiaJoseph Stalin knew he was being watched. He closed his eyes and adjusted the soft, red blanket that covered his legs, like a child hiding under...
Son of Sedonia
Son of Sedonia - By Ben ChaneyPROLOGUEJOGUN’S SHOULDER BAG swung wide as one of the grown-ups knocked into it. He stumbled on his scrawny, six-year-old legs in the dusty Falari Market street. Might as well have been invi...
Solaris
Solaris - By Stanislaw LemNewcomerAt nineteen hundred hours ship’s time I climbed down the metal ladder past...
Snodgrass and Other Illusions
Snodgrass and Other Illusions - By Ian R. MacLeodINTRODUCTIONIT’S NEVER A GOOD idea to look back. The past isn’t just a foreign country—it’s a dangerous territory where it’s all too easy to get lost in m...
Shift (Omnibus)
Shift (Omnibus) - By Hugh HoweyAbout the AuthorHugh Howey spent eight years living on boats and working as a yacht captain for the rich and famous. It wasn’t until the love of his life carried him away from these vagab...
Seven Point Eight The First Chronicle
Seven Point Eight The First Chronicle - By Marie A. HarbonPrelude to OdysseyRoom 104October 1988The London underground was a sinister place to be when being followed, especially for a woman travelling alone. Whoever stalked her ...
Ruin
Ruin - By N.M. MartinezOneThey call it a waiting room. This isn't a waiting room. It's a holding cell.I lay on my side curled up in a ball on the hard mattress. The stiff threads of the wool blanket scratch at my ...
Quicksilver (Carolrhoda Ya)
Quicksilver (Carolrhoda Ya) - By R.J. AndersonPROLOGUE: Aliasing(The distortion that results when a reconstructed signal is different from the original)On June 7, the year I turned sixteen, I vanished without a trace.On September ...
Possession
Possession - By Elana Johnson1.Good girls don’t walk with boys. Even if they’re good boys—and Zenn is the best. He strolled next to me, all military with his hands clasped behind his back, wearing the black uniform...
Portal (Boundary) (ARC)
Portal (Boundary) (ARC) - By Eric FlintChapter 1.I still have no answers.That was the thing that kept him here now in an office lit mostly by the ruddy glow of Mars swinging regularly by. Nicholas Glendale was used to having...
My Soul to Keep
My Soul to Keep - By Sean HaydenPrologueEver have one of those bad ideas just pop into your head? You know the ones. They seem like a great idea at the time, but if you had stopped to think about it a moment…I'm tal...
Maniacs The Krittika Conflict
Maniacs The Krittika Conflict - By Nick S. ThomasChapter 1Sharini II, Deneb System.FROM THE WIKIWORLD ENTRY -A former mining colony now occupied by smugglers, thieves, and others who have fled or been banished from worlds of Th...
Lightspeed Year One
Lightspeed Year One - By Stephen KingINTRODUCTIONJohn Joseph AdamsWelcome to Lightspeed: Year One!For those of you not already familiar with Lightspeed, some background may be in order: Lightspeed is an online magazine (www.lightsp...
Land and Overland Omnibus
Land and Overland Omnibus - By Bob ShawPART IShadow at NoonCHAPTER 1It had become obvious to Toller Maraquine and some others watching on the ground that the airship was heading into danger, but—incredibly—its captain appeared...
Know Thine Enemy
Know Thine Enemy - By Rosalie StantonPrologueNatchez, Mississippi. 1873Hallowed ground felt no different from regular ground. He didn't know why that always surprised him.He shouldn't have come here, but he couldn't keep...
John Gone (The Diaspora Trilogy)
John Gone (The Diaspora Trilogy) - By Michael KayattaChapter 1It was the sort of glare that would have bothered most people, shimmering and flickering against the afternoon sun as clouds moved past, refusing to let anyone forge...
Issue In Doubt
Issue In Doubt - By David ShermanPROLOG: FIRST CONTACTMcKinzie Elevator Base, Outside Millerton,Semi-Autonomous World TroySamuel Rogers jerked when he heard the beeping of the proximity alert. He spun in his chair to look at the...
Isle of Man
Isle of Man - By Ryan WinfieldPart OneCHAPTER 1Picking up the PiecesI never meant to kill Hannah’s family.Or Jimmy’s either. And although I didn’t kill them myself, at least not directly, I can’t help but...
Invasion California
Invasion California - By Vaughn HeppnerPrefaceInvasion: California is a story about disastrous events. It postulates a world teetering on the brink of starvation due to glacial cooling.It is a what if story. What if the farmable...
Impostor
Impostor - By Jill HathawayChapter OneThe dream always goes like this:I’m in the passenger seat of a car, racing down the interstate. The smell of gasoline stings my nostrils. My lips are moving, and sound is coming out,...
Icons
Icons - By Margaret StohlPROLOGUETHE DAYOne tiny gray dot, no bigger than a freckle, marks the inside of the baby’s chubby arm. It slips in and out of view as she cries, waving her yellow rubber duck back and forth.Her...
I Am Automaton
I Am Automaton - By Edward P. CardilloPart IDanger and OpportunityChapter 1Tijuana, MexicoCommand Sergeant Major Peter Birdsall and his squad of ten were baking in a beat-up, unmarked van parked on the street. The men were hot,...
Humanity Gone After the Plague
Humanity Gone After the Plague - By Derek DeremerPrologueSo this is what the world has become.Bullets continue to tear through the other side of the car. The small explosions and ricochets cement my feet tighter to the asphalt...
House of Steel The Honorverse Companion
House of Steel The Honorverse Companion - By David WeberDecember 1844 PDLIEUTENANT R. WINTON—Commander Janofsky (Commerce Protection and Societal Disintegration, Proceedings, No. 3673) is to be commended for the clarity with which...
Heart of Iron
Heart of Iron - By Bec McMasterOneLondon, 1879Fog clung to the Thames like a lightskirt to a rich patron. Here and there, gaslight gleamed, flashing will-o’-the-wisp in the shrouding pea soup mist. It was the perfect nigh...
Grail
Grail - By Elizabeth Bear1when the world endedIn action how like an angel, in apprehension how likea god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals—and yet, to me,what is this quintessence of dust?—WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, ...
Flight
Flight - By Lindsay LeggettChapter OneCool wind runs through my hair as I stand in the ruins of what was once a large and prosperous city. The buildings that used to tower so ominously are now rusted and broken, torn down ...
Farside
Farside - By Ben BovaLOBBERTrudy Yost was understandably nervous as the ballistic rocket hurtled high above the barren, pockmarked lunar plain.The liftoff had been a shock. Trudy had dutifully strapped herself into her seat and ...
Extensis Vitae
Extensis Vitae - By Gregory MattixChapter 1Can you hear me? a distant voice asked. Are you awake? You’ve been injured… There was an accident. You are going to recover, but you may feel disoriented for a while.Somewhere ...
Edge of Infinity
Edge of Infinity - By Jonathan StrahanINTRODUCTIONWELCOME TO THE Fourth Generation of science fiction.A year or so ago I was working on Engineering Infinity, a collection of stories intended to interrogate what hard science ficti...
Eden's Hammer
Eden's Hammer - By Lloyd TackittCHAPTER 1MARCH 2, MID DAYHE ARRIVED IN THE VILLAGE with a crushing sense of foreboding gnawing at his gut. It had been eating him inside out the entire three weeks of the trip. Roman had ...
Earthfall
Earthfall - By Stephen KnightThe woman’s face is still mostly smooth. The only signs of her true age are an array of laugh lines that crinkle whenever she smiles, which she does quite a bit, finding something humorous i...
Desolate The Complete Trilogy
Desolate The Complete Trilogy - By Robert BrummPart One - Desolate1If one were to fly a plane over the South Shetland Islands, just off the northwest side of the Antarctic Peninsula, one might notice a small horseshoe shaped ...
Deceived
Deceived - By Paul S. KempA long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.…FATMAN SHIVERED, her metal groaning, as Zeerid pushed her through Ord Mantell’s atmosphere. Friction turned the air to fire, and Zeerid watched the or...
Darth Plagueis
Darth Plagueis - By James LucenoPROLOGUEA tremor took hold of the planet.Sprung from death, it unleashed itself in a powerful wave, at once burrowing deep into the world’s core and radiating through its saccharine atmospher...
Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan)
Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) - By W.J. MayChapter 1TatùA lifespan is spent, seeking success and happiness. People chase after dreams, careers, ambitions, faith, partners, and money; all in the hope of finding t...
Daring
Daring - By Mike ShepherdAcknowledgmentsAs so often is the case, Sir Winston Churchill said it best. Now, this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.Eight book...
Crysis Escalation
Crysis Escalation - By Gavin G. SmithChance – Part 1Airfield, CELL cobalt mining support depot, upper Podkamennaya Tunguska River, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Siberia, Russian Federation, 2025Walker tried to blink away the tears. Many ...
Credence Foundation
Credence Foundation - By Marco GuardaChapter OneEverything was flooded in a delicate shade of indigo blue. Not too dark, not too bright, it blended the right amount of blue and purple, producing that peculiar frequency of the ...
Consolidati
Consolidati - By W. Bjorn1Shadow enfolded this house in the Outskirts of London. The streets forking their way around the structure were dusty, without electricity, without so much as a rat to scurry in their corners. Like a ...
Close Liaisons
Close Liaisons - By Anna ZairesPrologueFive Years EarlierMr. President, they’re all waiting for you.The President of the United States of America looked up wearily and shut the folder lying on his desk. He had slept poorly...
Cloner A Sci-Fi Novel About Human Clonin
Cloner A Sci-Fi Novel About Human Clonin - By Emma LorantCHAPTER 1It was when she found the four-leaf clover that Lisa Wildmore knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she’d give birth to twins. What Lisa did not, coul...
Blood of Asaheim
Blood of Asaheim - By Chris WraightPrologueBlood rose in his gorge, foaming and flecked with bone, spilling from split lips and over cracked fangs. He stumbled down the walkway, feeling metal struts flex and snap under his lim...
Blackjack Wayward
Blackjack Wayward - By Ben BequerPrologueBack to Shard WorldAn egg-salad sandwich.That’s how long it took the jury to find me guilty on all charges.After both closing arguments, the judges gave the jury a series of instruc...
Beginnings
Beginnings - By David WeberFour days out from Hygeia, August 12, 2352 AD (250 PD)The ship's youngest rating, Brian Lewis, sighed so heavily that the inside of his faceplate fogged for a moment. So, that's it, Skipper. ...
Apollo's Outcasts
Apollo's Outcasts - By Allen SteeleOn my sixteenth birthday, I went to the Moon."Jamey, wake up." My father&#...
And What of Earth
And What of Earth - By Stuart CollingsPrologueJuly 17, 2013 #17 Thorn Road, Jewel NebraskaThe gangly blonde teenage girl gingerly stepped up onto the porch and took her usual place on the swing chair. Seconds later, a slightly...
An Eighty Percent Solution
An Eighty Percent Solution - By Thomas GondolfiDefine ObjectiveTony edged his oversized body out of the ever-present Northwest drizzle onto a lift-bus more crowded than E. coli on an agar plate. He ran his sand-colored hands ab...
All Men of Genius
All Men of Genius - By Lev AC RosenAuthor’s NoteTHIS novel is a work of fiction. Even though it may contain characters eerily similar to historical figures, who also happen to share their names, it should in no way be...