Showing results by author "Paul McAuley" in All Categories

It's 200,000 years in the future. Humanity is extinct, the ruins of its cities fossilised beneath sediments deposited by rising oceans. After a civilisation of intelligent bears collapsed when a plague turned them into crazed killers, their former slaves, descendants of raccoons who call themselves the people and worship Mother Earth, have driven the last of the former masters northward and built a new civilisation.

The 21st century. Europe is divided between the First World bourgeoisie, made rich by nanotechnology and the cheap versatile slave labour of genetically engineered Dolls, and the Fourth World of refugees and homeless displaced by war and economic upheaval. In London, Alex Sharkey is trying to make his mark as a designer of psychoactive viruses whilst staying one step ahead of the police and the Triad gangs.

The aliens are here. And they want to help. The extraordinary new project from one of the country's most acclaimed and consistently brilliant SF novelists of the last 30 years. The Jackaroo have given humanity 15 worlds and the means to reach them. They're a chance to start over, but they're also littered with ruins and artifacts left by the Jackaroos' previous clients.

On a giant artificial world surrounding an artificial sun, one man - a lucidor, a keeper of the peace, a policeman - is on the hunt. His target was responsible for an atrocity, but is too valuable to the government to be truly punished. Instead he has been sent to the frontlines of the war, to use his unique talents on the enemy. So the lucidor has ignored orders, deserted from his job, left his home and thrown his life away, in order to finally claim justice.

An unabridged audio collection spotlighting the "best of the best" hard science fiction stories published in 2016 by current and emerging masters of the genre, edited by Allan Kaster, as narrated by top voice talents.

Humanity's future has been disrupted and shaped by the mysterious alien Jackaroo. We spread to the planets they gave us, and we discovered the ruins of a dozen previous civilisations. All previous clients of the Jackaroo, all dead. So far we have escaped that fate - but we have also escaped from the Jackaroos' planets and begun to explore the galaxy. The discovery of ancient spaceships and the unlocking of their mysteries has led to a new way of life. But humanity's failings and conflicts are always with us.

A rejuvenated spy, Ben Lo, is sent on a mission to one of Neptune's moons, where he encounters his ex-wife. As Ben Lo's assignment progresses, his finds his memory is not what it should be, and the mission proceeds with high-tech intrigue and counter-intrigue. This story is part of the author's Quiet War series.

Here is an unabridged audio collection of the "best of the best" science fiction short stories published in 2009 by current and emerging masters of the genre, as narrated by top voice talents. In "Erosion",l by Ian Creasey, a man tests the limits of his exo-suit prior to leaving a dying earth. In "As Women Fight", by Sara Genge, a hunter has no time to train for a fight to inhabit his wife's body in a society of body-switchers....

An unabridged audio collection of the "best of the best" science fiction stories published in 2012 by current and emerging masters of the genre, edited by Allan Kaster, as narrated by top voice talents.

Il futuro è sempre più presente nelle nostre vite, non solo nelle anticipazioni cinematografiche e letterarie ma anche nel quotidiano: dalla medicina ai trasporti, dall'informazione all'intrattenimento, i cambiamenti si susseguono a ritmo incessante dando l'impressione di vivere già in un'anteprima del domani. La seconda raccolta di "Storie dal domani" - con i migliori racconti della collana Future Fiction del 2015 - rappresenta un’ottima selezione di tali cambiamenti e novità, dando luogo a scenari imprevisti oppure considerati fantascienza solo qualche anno fa.

Questa è la storia di Evan, dalla sua infanzia trascorsa tra esperimenti sui cuccioli, passando per un lavoro come spia per una multinazionale biotecnologica, fino alla fama intergalattica della vecchiaia.

Il caso o il destino mette nelle mani del giovane Rocket Boy una pistola davvero unica e speciale, dotata di un'IA che però minaccia di trasformare la vita stessa del ragazzo. Alla fine chi finirà per usare chi?

La prima raccolta di racconti di Future Fiction: Cosa succede a una casa dotata d'intelligenza artificiale quando perde l'inquilino di cui è innamorata? Qual è la coppia perfetta in una versione tecnologicamente avanzata del gioco del corteggiamento? Quanti segreti si nascondono nella villa di Aethra dove si creano "soggetti d'arte" al cui interno è intrappolata una copia senziente della padrona di casa?

Fin du XXIe siècle. Suite aux ravages causés par le réchauffement climatique, la péninsule Antarctique héberge désormais les populations survivantes. Un groupe d'activistes a génétiquement modifié l'écosystème afin de survivre, avant de faire de même pour ses propres enfants. Austral Morales Ferrado est une husky : une personne modifiée pour s'adapter au climat impitoyable du pôle Sud, redoutée et méprisée par la majeure partie de la population. Elle a été détenue, puis surveillante d'un camp de travail, avant de frayer avec un criminel.

An unabridged audio collection spotlighting the "best of the best" science fiction stories published in 2016 by current and emerging masters of the genre, edited by Allan Kaster, as narrated by top voice talents.

An unabridged audio collection of the "best of the best" science fiction stories written in 2011 by current and emerging masters of the genre, edited by Allan Kaster, as narrated by top voice talents. In "Dying Young," by Peter M. Ball, cyborgs, clones, and post-humans collide with a dragon bent on revenge in a post-apocalyptic space western. In "Canterbury Hollow," by Chris Lawson, two lovers on a planet orbiting a killer sun share their few remaining weeks together before they die....

Everyone makes mistakes. Some have greater consequences than others. That's what we learn when listening to Paul J. McAuley's science fiction short, How We Lost the Moon. This unabridged reading is available in audio exclusively from audible.com.