Chip was just an ordinary fella. In fact, there wasn’t anything special about him at all, or so he thought. It’s funny how life can change seemingly over lunch, and for Chip, when the smell of death began to emanate from his body, his life changed completely. After some convincing by his roommate, Mort, Chip reluctantly accepted that maybe, just maybe, he happened to be a necromancer – one who can raise and control the dead – which was a handy skill to have after his girlfriend was kidnapped by Mephisto, a former general of Hell’s army. The fact that the two events occurred on the same day must have been more than a coincidence.

Chip teams up with his roommate, who also happens to be a voodoo witch doctor, and a djinn who runs a local shop to stop the demon and save Chip’s girl… who turns out to be the personification of Mother Earth. Suffice it to say, it was a complicated day.

“People will be immersed in the concepts of translating other parallel universe ideas into visual/image interpretations of external quantum relativity theories.” —Stephen Hawking

What if the laws of physics as we understand them are incomplete, only half of the equations that explain reality? Mankind has been blinded by the light, searching for answers in the photonic (material) universe while the truths are concealed beyond the shutter speed of our biological cameras. One day, an image processor evolves. Schrödinger’s equation is finally interpreted correctly by Dr. Richard revealing that the dualistic imaginary solution prior thereto discarded by physicists is actually the key to mankind’s quest to answer the unanswerable. What happens to me after I die? What is the ultimate source and origin of creation? What is reality? Dr. Richard’s equations bring forth the darkness of the imaginary (non-matter) universes unraveling the mysteries of space-time giving mankind full comprehension of the miraculous nature of the essence of reality, the fourth state, Tetrastatum. Only, Dr. Richard is too late! The world we once knew has been destroyed by man’s greed and exists only in a thotonic, non-matter state. The only hope to restore the planet Earth is Dr. Tim Smith. In the material world that once existed, Tim Smith was the head of the Quantum Teleportation Program at DARPA and a “Time Smith” in the non-matter thotonic universes whose shadows persist. Unfortunately, mankind’s last hope, Dr. Smith is quite clearly, insane.

“I think therefore I am,” says Descartes’s thotonic skeleton of the past. Tetrastatum is the ultimate test of Descartes’s philosophical truth. We are transported through the tunnel of institutionalized insanity as helpless voyeurs perceiving existence through Smith’s eyes as a non-matter image freely flowing in all space-time universes. Dr. Smith’s complete mental meltdown takes us on a dualistic journey as a “Time Smith” exploring the meaning of reality and the human psyche.

A brilliantly imaginative talent makes her exciting debut with this epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic, in the tradition of Ken Liu’s Grace of Kings and N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy.

When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.

But surprises aren’t always good.

Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.

For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .

Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.

The thrilling history of the Targaryens comes to life in this masterly work by the author of A Song of Ice and Fire, the inspiration for HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones, House Targaryen—the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria—took up residence on Dragonstone. Fire & Blood begins their tale with the legendary Aegon the Conqueror, creator of the Iron Throne, and goes on to recount the generations of Targaryens who fought to hold that iconic seat, all the way up to the civil war that nearly tore their dynasty apart.

What really happened during the Dance of the Dragons? Why was it so deadly to visit Valyria after the Doom? What were Maegor the Cruel’s worst crimes? What was it like in Westeros when dragons ruled the skies? These are but a few of the questions answered in this essential chronicle, as related by a learned maester of the Citadel and featuring more than eighty all-new black-and-white illustrations by artist Doug Wheatley. Readers have glimpsed small parts of this narrative in such volumes as The World of Ice & Fire, but now, for the first time, the full tapestry of Targaryen history is revealed.

With all the scope and grandeur of Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Fire & Blood is the the first volume of the definitive two-part history of the Targaryens, giving readers a whole new appreciation for the dynamic, often bloody, and always fascinating history of Westeros.

Greek Accidents is a scintillating, suspense-filled and soul-searching sci-fi novella that features Two students, One rock and limitless powers. Two students touch a rock, which, unknown to them, as the ability to bestow and unlock unlimited power. The boy Brock has a chance to be relevant to his parents for the first time. The girl discovers the ability to walk after being in a wheelchair her whole life. Using these abilities cost them nothing, they discover except a trail of death in their wake. Discover what happens when you take two kids from a broken home and give them limitless powers. The question is what will they do and are their others out there.

Indebted to the Fae council, Hunter investigates crimes committed by Fae beings against humanity, as required by a treaty between the human and Fae worlds. Hunter is secretly building out a large retirement fund by operating an illicit business on the side.

When Hunter returns from a botched theft overseas, he finds out his business partner, George, has taken on a job from an untrustworthy leprechaun. His team must work together to find a monstrous unicorn, covered in a black moving liquid and surrounded by flames, who has destroyed the site of a new energy project and killed several humans, leaving empty holes in their chests.

Along the way, Hunter will have to take on the protection of two young men, Brad and Andy, who have no idea the Fae world exists. They’ll follow Hunter rather than risk being alone, meeting many friends, and many enemies they thought only existed in fairy tales.

“Interesting quirks and divided loyalties flesh out this first novel in which sf and mystery intersect in a well-crafted plot…Pedreira’s science thriller powerfully highlights the human politics and economics from the seemingly desolate expanse of the moon. It will attract readers who enjoyed Andy Weir’s lunar crime caper Artemis.” — Library Journal, starred review

A realistic and chilling vision of life on the Moon, where dust kills as easily as the vacuum of space…but murder is even quicker—a fast-paced, cinematic science fiction thriller, this debut novel combines the inventiveness of The Martian, the intrigue of The Expanse, and the thrills of Red Rising.

The Moon smells like gunpowder. Every lunar walker since Apollo 11 has noticed it: a burnt-metal scent that reminds them of war. Caden Dechert, the chief of the U.S. mining operation on the edge of the Sea of Serenity, thinks the smell is just a trick of the mind—a reminder of his harrowing days as a Marine in the war-torn Middle East back on Earth.

It’s 2072, and lunar helium-3 mining is powering the fusion reactors that are bringing Earth back from environmental disaster. But competing for the richest prize in the history of the world has destroyed the oldest rule in space: Safety for All. When a bomb kills one of Dechert’s diggers on Mare Serenitatis, the haunted veteran goes on the hunt to expose the culprit before more blood is spilled.

But as Dechert races to solve the first murder in the history of the Moon, he gets caught in the crosshairs of two global powers spoiling for a fight. Reluctant to be the match that lights this powder-keg, Dechert knows his life and those of his crew are meaningless to the politicians. Even worse, he knows the killer is still out there, hunting.

In his desperate attempts to save his crew and prevent the catastrophe he sees coming, the former Marine uncovers a dangerous conspiracy that, with one spark, can ignite a full lunar war, wipe out his team . . . and perhaps plunge the Earth back into darkness.

In the mountains of Pakistan, a high-tech mission aimed at preventing another nuke on US soil goes off the rails – with deadly results. At a Wall Street investment firm, a computer intelligence takes the first tentative steps to free itself from its digital restraints. In a basement workshop, an engineer sees visions of a god who instructs him to defend the human race – by any means necessary.

In Level Five, the debut near-future thriller by Nebula Award winner William Ledbetter, AIs battle for dominance, and nanotechnology is on the loose. And all that stands in the way of the coming apocalypse is a starry-eyed inventor who dreams of building a revolutionary new spacecraft and an intelligence agency desk jockey faced with the impossible choice of saving her daughter – or saving the world.

After the climate wars, a floating city is constructed in the Arctic Circle, a remarkable feat of mechanical and social engineering, complete with geothermal heating and sustainable energy. The city’s denizens have become accustomed to a roughshod new way of living, however, the city is starting to fray along the edges—crime and corruption have set in, the contradictions of incredible wealth alongside direst poverty are spawning unrest, and a new disease called “the breaks” is ravaging the population.

When a strange new visitor arrives—a woman riding an orca, with a polar bear at her side—the city is entranced. The “orcamancer,” as she’s known, very subtly brings together four people—each living on the periphery—to stage unprecedented acts of resistance. By banding together to save their city before it crumbles under the weight of its own decay, they will learn shocking truths about themselves.

Blackfish City is a remarkably urgent—and ultimately very hopeful—novel about political corruption, organized crime, technology run amok, the consequences of climate change, gender identity, and the unifying power of human connection.

Aubrey St. James is in trouble. She’s locked in a cell at a government black site. She doesn’t know where that site is or how the hell she got there. But she knows that it has something to do with the stranger she rescued from the river. Someone – or something – called Johnny.

Saul Tarson knows that the thing he’s locked up is dangerous, because it left a trail of six dead cops in its wake, all killed in a way that defies explanation. It is Saul’s sworn duty to get to the truth about Johnny before more people die – a lot more.

All Johnny wants is to return home. But he has a mission to fulfill first. And what he does in the next 20 hours will either save mankind – or bring it to its knees.

Johnny is the new breakneck science fiction thriller by Audible listener favorite D. J. Molles, New York Times best-selling author of The Remaining series.

Narrated by Marc Vietor with additional voices by Scott Aiello, Lauren Fortgang, Amanda Ronconi, Therese Plummer, and Josh Hurley.

They call him father, liberator, warlord, Slave King, Reaper. But he feels a boy as he falls toward the war-torn planet, his armor red, his army vast, his heart heavy. It is the tenth year of war and the thirty-third of his life.

A decade ago Darrow was the hero of the revolution he believed would break the chains of the Society. But the Rising has shattered everything: Instead of peace and freedom, it has brought endless war. Now he must risk all he has fought for on one last desperate mission. Darrow still believes he can save everyone, but can he save himself?

And throughout the worlds, other destinies entwine with Darrow’s to change his fate forever:

A young Red girl flees tragedy in her refugee camp, and achieves for herself a new life she could never have imagined.

An ex-soldier broken by grief is forced to steal the most valuable thing in the galaxy—or pay with his life.

And Lysander au Lune, the heir in exile to the Sovereign, wanders the stars with his mentor, Cassius, haunted by the loss of the world that Darrow transformed, and dreaming of what will rise from its ashes.

Red Rising was the story of the end of one universe. Iron Gold is the story of the creation of a new one. Witness the beginning of a stunning new saga of tragedy and triumph from masterly New York Times bestselling author Pierce Brown.

Six decades of fascinating stories from the legendary “colossus of science fiction” and creator of 2001: A Space Odyssey gathered in one compendium (The New Yorker).

Arthur C. Clarke, along with H. G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, and Robert A. Heinlein, was a definitive voice in twentieth century science fiction. A prophetic thinker, undersea explorer, and “one of the true geniuses of our time,” Clarke not only won the highest science fiction honors, the Nebula and Hugo Awards, but also received nominations for an Academy Award and the Nobel Peace Prize, and was knighted for his services to literature (Ray Bradbury).

Now, more than one hundred works of the sci-fi master’s short fiction are available in the “single-author collection of the decade” (Booklist, starred review). This definitive edition includes early work such as “Rescue Party” and “The Lion of Comarre,” classics like “The Nine Billion Names of God” and “The Sentinel” (which was the kernel of the later novel and movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey), and later works including “A Meeting with Medusa” and “The Hammer of God.”

Encapsulating one of the great science fiction careers of all time, this immense volume “displays the author’s fertile imagination and irrepressible enthusiasm for both good storytelling and impeccable science” (Library Journal).

“One of the most astounding imaginations ever encountered in print.” —The New York Times

“As his Collected Stories helps to demonstrate, there has been no popular writer since the days of C S Lewis and Charles Williams whose disposition is more nakedly apocalyptic, who takes greater pleasure in cradling eternity in the palm of his hand.” —The Guardian

A thrilling adventure in a world one step away from total subjugation by machines

After long years of war, the United States has sued for peace, yielding to a brutal coalition of nations ruled by fascist machines. One quarter of the country is under foreign occupation. Manhattan has been annexed by a weird robot monarchy, and in Tennessee, a permanent peace is being delicately negotiated between the battered remnants of the U.S. government and an envoy of implacable machines.
Canadian businessman Barry Simcoe arrives in occupied Chicago days before his hotel is attacked by a rogue war machine. In the aftermath, he meets a dedicated Russian medic with the occupying army, and 19 Black Winter, a badly damaged robot. Together they stumble on a machine conspiracy to unleash a horrific plague—and learn that the fabled American resistance is not as extinct as everyone believes. Simcoe races against time to prevent the extermination of all life on the continent . . . and uncover a secret that America’s machine conquerors are desperate to keep hidden.

Soarame has a pair of special eyes. He can see magic elements in this world, which are supposed to be invisible. This enviable gift of his could reveal the truth of the world, but it also put him in danger.

Many animals in this world possess magic power, so they are called “magimals” – dragons as an example. Soarame fortunately got a baby magimal as his best friend, but they got into troubles together – troubles that were a lot bigger than dragons.

Could they survive?

For thousands of years mankind had lived in harmony with nature. But that harmony is now lost as we continue to pollute and rape the planet for our own greed and material possession. We decimate areas of the natural world to feed and home an ever exploding population, and hunt animals in the name of sport, and for cruelty itself.

Now, something is happening to our species. Planet Earth is fighting back, and it’s taking away our advantage. Humankind’s intelligence. The World Health Organization must find out what is happening as acts of unprecedented violence sweep across the globe. But when Joceline Mercier, the head scientist, stumbles upon the answers, everything we thought we knew about our past and future changes.

With time almost up has she discovered the answers too late?

Is there anything that can be done to halt the devolution of a species?

Gaelin Lavahl knows three things about himself.
He’s a murderer.
He hasn’t been down the mountain before.
And he can never be a hero.
Yet the sleeping god in his magical staff knows better.
The cult destroying humanity must be stopped, and only
Gaelin can wield the staff.
The problem: first he needs to accept his true self—
the warrior he was meant to be.
But can he?
Find out in Song of Mornius.

Palace intrigue, dark magic, and terrifying secrets drive the beautifully written standalone novel Fire Dance, set in the world of Last Song Before Night.

Espionage, diplomacy, conspiracy, passion, and power are the sensuously choreographed steps of the soaring new high fantasy novel by Ilana C. Myer, one woman’s epic mission to stop a magical conflagration.

Lin, newly initiated in the art of otherwordly enchantments, is sent to aid her homeland’s allies against vicious attacks from the Fire Dancers: mysterious practitioners of strange and deadly magic. Forced to step into a dangerous waltz of tradition, treachery, and palace secrets, Lin must also race the ticking clock of her own rapidly dwindling life to learn the truth of the Fire Dancers’ war, and how she might prevent death on a scale too terrifying to contemplate.

Myer’s novel is a symphony of secret towers, desert winds, burning sands, blood and dust. Her prose soars, and fluid movements of the politically charged plot carry the reader toward a shocking crescendo.

Set in a dangerous near future world, The Book of M tells the captivating story of a group of ordinary people caught in an extraordinary catastrophe who risk everything to save the ones they love. It is a sweeping debut that illuminates the power that memories have not only on the heart, but on the world itself.

One afternoon at an outdoor market in India, a man’s shadow disappears—an occurrence science cannot explain. He is only the first. The phenomenon spreads like a plague, and while those afflicted gain a strange new power, it comes at a horrible price: the loss of all their memories.

Ory and his wife Max have escaped the Forgetting so far by hiding in an abandoned hotel deep in the woods. Their new life feels almost normal, until one day Max’s shadow disappears too.

Knowing that the more she forgets, the more dangerous she will become to Ory, Max runs away. But Ory refuses to give up the time they have left together. Desperate to find Max before her memory disappears completely, he follows her trail across a perilous, unrecognizable world, braving the threat of roaming bandits, the call to a new war being waged on the ruins of the capital, and the rise of a sinister cult that worships the shadowless.

As they journey, each searches for answers: for Ory, about love, about survival, about hope; and for Max, about a new force growing in the south that may hold the cure.

Like The Passage and Station Eleven, this haunting, thought-provoking, and beautiful novel explores fundamental questions of memory, connection, and what it means to be human in a world turned upside down.

Decades after global infanticide wiped out millions on the planet Ramah, deep scars remain in the hearts and minds of the survivors. Though the massacre is over, the merciless Necrogog legions who committed the atrocity still threaten multitudes of star systems, following their primary objective: to kill the promised Mantis messiah, whose birth mother is a member of the Holy Order, Marium Kahnet.

Jazrene Vallo, a member of the Order, lost her beloved family during the Necrogog attack. Now she devotes her life to her sisterhood, following the instructions of a divine messenger to restructure the Holy Order and keep at bay the enemies within the Ramah government who are seeking ways to prosecute her for war crimes. But her plans are interrupted when she receives a report regarding a group of wayward sisters who left Ramah seeking retribution against those responsible for the slaughter of their families, namely the Kravjin—the master sorcerers who orchestrated the attack on Ramah. Out of desperation, Jazrene hires the services of elite mercenaries to capture the deadly rogue sisters and return them to Ramah for assimilation back into the sisterhood. For if she can’t halt their mission, the Order will forever carry a shameful bloodstained blemish.
Unbeknownst to Jazrene Vallo, the wayward sisters have already set unimaginable destruction in motion that cannot be stopped.

After the Black War and ensuing chaos, John Thompson leads his California family to a safe haven in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and instructs his son’s and daughter’s families, in the east, to escape to the Appalachians. The Protectorate have laid siege to all large U.S. cities, leaving inhabitants to die of starvation and disease. Few, if any escape. Through John’s instructions, the families prepare for long-term exile during the Tribulation. It is their faith that led them to this preparation and prophesies that triggered their exodus.

Exiled in the mountains, both groups encounter hardships, fears, and dangers as they struggle for basic life necessities of water, food and shelter. Relationships are tested and prophesies witnessed are recalled. All are thankful for God’s abundant blessings and protection, yet a concern for the welfare of those three thousand miles away is unsettling. The realization that they may never be reunited make them question their decisions.
Survival depends on their ability to cope with nature, adjust to their new environment and defend against predators, both animal and human. Personal loss takes a toll on family members and emotions run high. Tragedy strikes as marauders discover the families’ sanctuaries, leaving survivors with sorrow, guilt, anger, and remorse.

Georgia was not a survivalist and she did not have a bug out plan. She was a happily married woman, at home with three children and their Boston Terriers. In an instant everything changed. The power went off, and no-one knew why. By nightfall, Nathan, her husband had still not returned. In time, the water stopped running. With only three days of food left in the house and dwindling water supplies, she has no choice but to flee Kansas City.

Their world changes dramatically, entering a post-apocalyptic age, with looting, rioting and violence becoming the norm. As they escape across country, Georgia has to overcome her fears and keep her loved ones safe. Together they face heart-wrenching decisions as they encounter the inconceivable.

Their journey leads them through a harsh new reality. The struggles and hardships that they endure, threaten their very existence, testing their loyalty, fortitude and love for each other in ways they could never have imagined.