Showing results by narrator "Mikael Naramore" in All Categories

Among the scattered fringe cities bordering the Cienbal desert, the true name of the Monster of Karth is spoken only in whispers...RAZ I'SYUL ARRO. A sellsword of the utmost caliber, Raz is a killer of paramount skill and highest regard. Towering tall even amongst the atherian, he is the only of his kind to live free in the "civilized" confines of mankind's varied cultures. He has no need of loyalties, his sole affections pledged to the gold crowns that buy his time and skills.

Six months have passed since the release of Nexus 5. The world is a different, more dangerous place. In the USA, the freedom fighters of the Post-Human Liberation Front use Nexus to turn men and women into human time bombs aimed at the President and his allies. The first blows in the war between human and post-human have been struck.

If Nick James is right, the Tipperary solar system is about to become the busiest trading hub in the galaxy. To sweeten the pot, the cloud-city of Lèger Nuage is offering free warehouse space to qualified traders. Of course, nothing's as simple as it seems. Just like Earth's Old West, the Tipperary system is as full of promise as it is Buccaneers who are happy to prey on the weak. No one expects it to be easy, but deceit, piracy, and murder kindle the pioneering spirit in each of them.

When you are old enough to finally become an Earth Mars citizen, everything should be perfect. Right? Not for Liam Hoffen. He's stuck on a mining asteroid called Colony 40, helping his father work a claim that is never going to pay out. His best friend, Nick James is set for life in James' Rental business and Liam just discovered that the girl he's known forever thinks he's pretty great and now she's leaving for the Mars Naval Academy.

When out-of-shape IT technician Roen wakes up and starts hearing voices in his head, he naturally assumes he’s losing it. He isn’t. As of last night, he has a passenger in his brain - an ancient alien life-form called Tao, whose race crash-landed on Earth before the first fish crawled out of the oceans. Over the millennia his people have trained human heroes to be great leaders, to advance our species at a rate far beyond what it would have achieved on its own. Split into two opposing factions - the peace-loving, but under-represented Prophus, and the savage, powerful Genjix - the aliens have been in a state of civil war for centuries.

Anton Chekhov is now justly celebrated as one of Russia’s greatest writers, but this reputation was hard won in his time. His work consistently challenged expectations, and his insights were not always easy to see. The continued relevance of his stories, however, has shown that Chekhov was ahead of his time, and the nine short stories collected here showcase his very best writing.

Against all odds, four friends have advanced the sciences, influenced world media, and created a world government. But the aliens are coming. Will it be enough? Can Nick, David, Cindy, and Jake save the Earth, or will they be wiped out with the rest of humanity? It will take a colony ship, battlecruisers, a mission to Mars, exosuits, and casinos on the moon. They have all looked toward the future since they were 16 years old.... But the future is now.

In booming postwar Brooklyn, the Nowak Piano Company is an American success story. There is just one problem: the Nowak’s only son, David. A handsome kid and shy like his mother, David struggles with neuroses. If not for his only friend, Marianne, David’s life would be intolerable. When David inherits the piano company at just 18 and Marianne breaks things off, David sells the company and travels around the world. In Taiwan, his life changes when he meets the daughter of a local madame - beautiful, sharp-tongued Daisy.

Albert Jenkins and his friends have enjoyed several months of peace, which is why when a Rosengul spaceship crash-lands into his new house, he's not exactly surprised. From the wreckage, a pair of ordinarily reclusive small Rosengul emerge and spin a tale of kidnapping and deceit. Of course, AJ, not always the most sensitive, asks the pertinent question of how that involves him and his friends. The simple answer is that AJ and crew have developed a reputation of getting things done, probably because his methods skirt Galactic Empire rules.

When a man’s body is discovered in a Swiss glacier thirty years after he went missing, his son, Foster Treherne, hopes he’ll finally have closure on what happened to the father he never met. But then the autopsy reveals signs of a struggle, and what was assumed to be a tragic accident suddenly looks more sinister. Foster tracks down his father’s old friends, but when he starts to ask questions it becomes clear that there’s something they don’t want to tell him.

It started as a simple heist. It went to hell from there. On a space station orbiting a pale blue sun, a package changes hands. Data too sensitive to transmit will be exposed for one brief moment. The client is paying a crazy sum - if the job is clean. That’s not going to happen. Instead, the galaxy’s unluckiest crew of outlaws will have to put all their resources into salvaging what they can from the job. Even if it’s only avoiding blame for the fallout.

Soria Coinblade has a simple task in mind: to find the twin of the lover she has been denied in the other world. What she finds instead is a path beset by pirates and mercenaries. Trained in the mystical arts of two worlds, she won’t back down from any challenge. But her troubles don’t end when she finally chases down the love of her life. The two of them embark on a new quest with implications for the world they both call their second home.

Space station Echo Niner remained neutral in the Earth/Mars civil war. For a pair of fugitives on the run from both sides, it sounded like the perfect place to regroup. But Eric and Jessie Ramsey barely set foot aboard Echo Niner before getting embroiled in local disputes.

Tartarus is a dangerous place, every child knows that. But when a new soul finds his way there with no memories and no name, he gets to learn the harsh truth firsthand. Who is he? Why is he there? Why are entities beyond his understanding taking a personal interest in him? And why does everyone have a level? He doesn't know, but he's going to find out, even if it kills him.

Retiring peacefully in Genshin Valley was never an option for Danzen Ravja, regardless of his intentions. To prevent any more attacks on the defenseless valley he now calls home, Danzen and his yokai companions head west to address the Diyu Brotherhood head-on, to face down two honorable assassins and even more with no honor at all.

The When Swords Fall Silent anthology showcases the imaginations and talents of more than a dozen of the best modern science-fiction and fantasy authors, with each tale centered around one or more characters burdened with a bloody task they will see to completion no matter the cost. Every story takes you for a vicious ride through a world of shadow and death, each as unique in perspective and execution as the contracts carried out within.

Danger grows in Myriatos, from without and within. Arche stumbles through his new trade while Lyssa tries to live for both herself and the village. Dissident whispers arise, casting doubts and spreading fears. Monsters are more familiar than expected and the gods are taking direct interest. Mistakes are weighed in blood.

In 1955, on a visit to South Africa, Robert Ardrey became aware of the growing evidence that man had evolved on the African continent from carnivorous, predatory stock - ones who had also, long before man, achieved the use of weapons. A dramatist, Ardrey's interest in the African discoveries sprang less from purely scientific grounds than from the radical new light they cast on the eternal question: Why do we behave as we do? Are we naturally inclined towards war and weapons?

Everyone needs help occasionally - even supers with amazing powers - and Jim (aka Kid Sensation) is no exception. Having previously received aid from a young psychic named Rudi, Jim feels obligated to return to the favor and rescue her from the federal facility where she's being held. But breaking into a top-secret, heavily-fortified government installation is never a walk in the park, especially when said installation has top-of-the-line security systems, trigger-happy guards, and its own team of formidable supers. It will take a bold and audacious plan to get Jim inside.

In this captivating collection from the Shaanxi region, considered the cradle of Chinese civilization, twenty disparate and unique voices come together to show a China caught between new-world advancements and old-world traditions. From the homeland of China’s first dynasty and the world-famous terra-cotta warriors, these tales show rugged rural life colliding with fast-paced city life; hollow arranged marriages juxtaposed with torrid forbidden love affairs; and the vanity of newly minted millionaires clashing with the desperation of the poor.