stories in and

Utopia

Utopia by Marie-HÊlène Lebeault

SPSFC 2024

A Clean YA Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Adventure Three extraordinary teenagers, each an outcast in their worlds, unite to reshape the destiny of a utopian society. Ryn, who couldn’t adapt to life under the sea, Eira, born above the clouds but unable to breathe the thin air, and Aiden, rejected by the subterranean civilization, embarks on a thrilling journey to Vancouver’s utopia. They’ll challenge the elders, confront hidden truths, and discover the power of unity in a fast-paced young adult sci-fi adventure that explores the boundaries of human resilience, and the promise of a better world. Utopia is a What Happens Next? novel developed from the Under the Iceshort story.


Twilight Divide

Twilight Divide by Melanie Bokstad Horev

SPSFC 2024

In a world where hope has been scorched by fire and forgotten gods, Nour fights to survive. She’s a warrior, a sister, and a survivor in the brutal wasteland of Aridex. But when she discovers a long-hidden truth about her family, her life becomes a race against time. A prophecy, whispered through time, binds her to a destiny she never wanted. She must choose: protect her brother, the only family she has left, or embrace a fate that could save or destroy them all. The Day Blazers, a ruthless force with blades thirsty for blood, hunt her across the desert. And from the ruins of the old world, monstrous night creatures rise, their hunger as ancient as the wasteland itself. Can Nour find the strength to stand against the darkness and save her people, or will the desert bury their dreams beneath the sand and grit they were born in?


Time Travel Rescue: Escape from the 21st Century

Time Travel Rescue: Escape from the 21st Century by Tom Kranz

SPSFC 2024

“WE LIVE IN A WASTELAND”–Rick Twenty third century Earth is barely hanging on. Climate ignorance and environmental abuse have diminished the population by 48%. Land masses are a toxic sprawl. Five companies run what’s left. WHAT TO DO? A world class hacker and an altruistic citizen go back in time to stop the Earth’s destruction by the forces of 21st century evil.


The Unceasing Mistress

The Unceasing Mistress by Casey White

SPSFC 2024

In the sprawling, decrepit world-city of Cascartia, you’re only as strong as the people you surround yourself with. When Niall Torson passed through the enclave of Lorellan looking to freelance, he found an oasis of calm, a safe haven from the scavengers and enterprising murderers of the outside world. All thanks to Lorellan’s enigmatic leader – the White Lady. While her bold reign keeps the enclave safe, the Lady is erratic, her judgements swift and brutal. When she pushes her last aide off a cliff for wasting resources, a replacement is the next order of business – and Niall finds his diligent efforts rewarded with an unexpected, very much unwanted promotion. Refusing the dictator is usually a good way to wind up at the bottom of the cliff yourself, though, so Niall sets himself to the impossible task of keeping his mistress happy while plotting his escape. With his peek behind the curtain comes the realization there’s more to the White Lady than he ever knew – and that the world threatens Lorellan more than its citizens suspect. But is the cure worse than the poison?


The Scotty!

The Scotty! by Eric J. Hildeman

SPSFC 2024

The Scotty is a device which transforms matter into energy and then energy back into matter, just like Scotty used to do on Star Trek, hence its name. But the harsh reality is that this is no mere transportation device. Taken to its logical conclusion, it is a technology which gives its user the powers of an absolute god! And as the old saying goes, power corrupts.


The Sakura Element

The Sakura Element by S. C. Vincent

SPSFC 2024

When tradition means damnation, and the future is the past… Alia Academia – school for the elite. Genetically modified Oka Latellay faces discrimination orchestrated by fellow student Allen Debois. Allen enforces a caste system by the Purveyors of Tradition, keeping modified people in the bottom rung of society. But Oka’s gumption inspires him to start a fencing tourney where everything is at stake. If she loses, her life in high society is over. But if she wins, so ends the bullying of all mods in the school. Oka struggles with her fencing bouts and growing feelings for Allen as he reveals there is more to him than the cold cruelty he portrays. Simultaneously, Allen is torn between adoration for Oka and the Purveyors of Tradition influence. Choosing the former could risk his family’s wealth and good name. Little do the two know how much their struggles intertwine when Allen’s friend begins to vie for Oka’s affections, and Allen finds himself blackmailed about his family’s past. In a post-World War world where society functions on sleight of hand and discrimination, Oka and Allen must find the one thing that will save them. Love.


The Parallels

The Parallels by Keyla Damaer

SPSFC 2024

Some people say to never trust a spy A militia officer on the hunt for a murderer. A scientist with the key to humanity’s future. A girl in a glass tank with no memory. One seeking justice. One seeking fame. One seeking answers. With the galaxy on the brink of war, time is not on their side. Join them in their battle for survival.


The Minority Rule

The Minority Rule by Alexia Muelle-Rushbrook

SPSFC 2024

Years of greed and war devastated most of Earth. Now largely infertile, the remnants of the world have been united under one strict, unwavering power focused on Earth’s guardianship as well as humanity’s prosperity. Maia believes in the established order, yet as a budding young scientist, she also wants more than the decreed roles of housewife to a stranger, egg donor, and mother. As family and state force Maia into submission, she resigns herself to a life of compliance until she unexpectedly meets two vastly different women. Discovering they both hold secrets, Maia questions if she can keep silent, even if revealing the truth threatens to irrevocably challenge the foundations of her existence. Silence may not be golden – but it is safer.


The Long Home of the Soul

The Long Home of the Soul by J. Carl Denton

SPSFC 2024

In the year 2095, when one of the most powerful men in the world is brutally murdered, Coleman Hawkins, a burned out Atlanta MetroPol detective struggling with PTSD, is tasked with finding the killer. His investigation leads him face to face with the endgame of global economic disparity, and to a secret too terrible to be believed, too horrible to be ignored.


The Last Knight

The Last Knight by Spencer Russell Smith

SPSFC 2024

Her husband was murdered, her rebellion left in shambles, and the factions have begun to turn on one another in the chaos. Only one thing is certain: their world is dying and their only chance of survival is together. Sometimes, the darkest circumstances force individuals to greatness. Sometimes, they leave them broken. And so, hiding beneath their world’s eternal sun, hunted by the God King’s undead supersoldiers, the Remnant of those who fought for the goddess that destroyed the world, work to forge the shattered factions of their rebellion into a unified force that can escape their doomed world. Estingai, last of the legendary Knights Reborn must somehow convince the bickering leaders to work together, steal resources from the God King’s empire so they might live another day, and uncover the spy that betrayed them so she can avenge her husband. Can Estingai overcome her grief and be the woman the rebellion needs her to be? Can she become the Last Knight?


The First Herald

The First Herald by Carol T. Luna

SPSFC 2024

What price would you pay to protect your country? When his city burned around him, Zacharias Eld swore on his life it would never happen again. Sworn in as the First Herald, there is no camera he cannot access, no idle chatter he cannot hear. No secrets he cannot unearth. But a break-in at a lab reveals the hole in the network he spent seven years to build. Worse, the evidence is contaminated, the suspects missing, and the innocent refuse to speak. Zach soon finds himself in a world he thought he had purged years ago, festering in the shadows he once scoured. As the layers of the conspiracy peel back, so too, does the safety of Zach those around him. Either Zach finds the culprit or he will witness the fall of the city he’d spent his life to protect.


The Faithless and the Damned

The Faithless and the Damned by Sev Romero

SPSFC 2024

When the world is on fire, justice eventually comes for all. As temperatures and water lines rise, a revolution led by the young and desperate dispenses bloody vengeance against what remains of the establishment. The Daughters of Adrestia send anxious teen Ava to execute a notorious climate criminal—but the job does not go to plan and Ava is forced to flee. Elsewhere in the decaying city, grieving widower Victor agrees to deliver a mysterious young boy to a shadowy sect, however, the boy escapes, placing Victor in danger. Ava crosses paths with the runaway boy and he joins her on the run. Victor pursues them, but discovers more ominous threats have also joined the hunt. A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues across the back roads and towns that litter the smouldering Australian landscape. To survive, Ava must fight to find her resolve, while Victor must confront his convictions. And as the chase intensifies to its feverish conclusion, both must decide whose side they are on before the world burns down around them. The Faithless and the Damned is a gripping, provocative dystopian thriller by the award-winning Australian speculative fiction author Sev Romero.


The Dream of the Forest

The Dream of the Forest by Stjepan Varesevac Cobets

SPSFC 2024

More than one hundred years have passed since the cataclysm. The year is 2197 and Earth’s surviving inhabitants now live in heavenly cities above the clouds, unwilling to descend back to the unstable surface. Helen is a lawyer whose life is seemingly perfect, complete with career, partner and plans for a family. But she soon discovers that it is all an illusion. A car accident turns her life in a different direction and she finds herself on the Earth’s surface, in a forested world utterly foreign to her. Is it true that Earth cannot sustain life? What if the truth was entirely different? What if there were survivors — and how would Helen return to her own world?


The Correct Order

The Correct Order by Trish Taylor

SPSFC 2024

THE CORRECT ORDER With women in control, life is better, but not for everyone. After the defeat of a repressive regime, women under the Correct Order enjoy safer and better lives. The AI entity BELLA dispenses harsh penalties to those breaking the rules. Men found guilty of crimes against women are sent to the Resort, where they undergo demasculation—a surgical penalty. Seventeen-year-old Emily, daughter of a high-ranking Order leader, is about to embark on her dream career as a surgeon. But doubts creep in as BELLA’s judgments hit close to home. As Emily learns the truth about the Resort, she questions her career choice and everything she believed about the Correct Order.


The Collective: Science is Stranger Than Fiction

The Collective: Science is Stranger Than Fiction by J. F. Olazabal

SPSFC 2024

Science says the Collective is the perfect society, where every day is sunny, and no wind blows. Science says all the animals are gone. Science says the accident in the fields couldn’t have happened… …but Science is stranger than fiction. Iago is an accomplished young Operator, harvesting corn in the name of the Collective – a hi-tech orphanage thousands of miles from civilization. After a chance encounter with Javier and Kraken – a pair of wayward boys who have escaped a brutal prison known as the Village – Iago is beginning to question his reality. Now, he must survive the cruelties of the Protocol, and discover the terrible secrets of the Collective: a long-dead trillionaire with a grim warning, a super-mind that controls fate, and a plague that kills only men.


The Artificial Structure Formerly Known as the Moon

The Artificial Structure Formerly Known as the Moon by I. K. Stokbaek

SPSFC 2024

The Order of the Demolition has one objective – destroy the broken world. And Darlan dreams of joining them. His zeal and willingness to do anything takes him far from the abandoned school that has sheltered him throughout his young life. In a world where AI has enhanced some people and replaced others, the Indigents have no purpose and nothing to look forward to. Marianne accepts her fate. She is in all ways the last person one would expect to lead a revolution – until the Order of the Demolition involves an innocent in its schemes, and beliefs come tumbling down. Sabine’s uncle runs the Space Ladder Project. Her father is a prominent politician fitted with a brain chip. Her only friend is the governing AI – the Order of the Demolition’s main target.


Proliferation

Proliferation by Erik A. Otto

SPSFC 2024

Population centers have been leveled and society has regressed to a pre-industrialized state. An advanced city rises from the ashes, enabling the rebirth of more such cities, each one subtly different, the result of an experiment in finding the best machine-governed utopia. Sovereign forces mobilize to exploit their power, and others, to contain them. At the heart of this struggle is an unlikely pair; a dejected anthropologist whose life’s work has finally become useful, and a snarky pirate forced to serve a monastic cult. To survive, they must not only navigate escalating conflict, but also understand the broader implications of the rising machine cities for all of humanity.


Neon Noir

Neon Noir by Nina Voss

SPSFC 2024

Cybernetic addiction plagues the populace of Cyber City, the post-apocalyptic metropolis of neon grime and crime. The government promises a tech-free ‘Utopia’ for the Virgins, a small community rejecting body modification technology. But before the invitation goes public, the Virgins begin to disappear. Xia, a lawbreaking freelancer with a haunting past, is the first to notice the strange vanishings. As she puts the pieces together, she reveals a sinister plot: someone is kidnapping Virgins and using their bodies to escape to the promised Utopia. Teaming up with Mai, a Virgin prostitute, Xia’s mission shifts from providing simple protection as a means for money into an impossible endeavor: helping the Virgins escape the city. This mission puts them at odds with both the mysterious Virgin body snatchers and Cyber City’s government—two threats that could end in fates worse than death. As the unlikely duo embark on the impossible, they discover secrets more shocking than the plasma dome that traps the city within.


Navvy Dreams

Navvy Dreams by H. M. H. Murray

SPSFC 2024

TAKE A JOB. FALL IN LOVE. TRY NOT TO BLOW UP SUNS! My name’s Polla Ottrava. I’m a registered smuggler and hotshot hyperspace pilot with a navigational symbiote (“navvy”) implanted in my arm. Its name is Second. With dear Second, I’m the best pilot I know (probably). Without, I’m just a farmgirl from a backwater planet who’s moved back in with her folks. Between the lover I abandoned and the crime boss I cheated, I had no choice. In my twenty-eight years I’ve made a lot of bad calls, but that’s relative, isn’t it? I mean, I’ve never blown up a binary star with space magic. I’ve never harnessed a fleet of alien ships and used ’em to terrorize perfectly respectable arms dealers, either. I’ve also never unleashed a shapeshifting biophage, nor ended even one civilization. The woman who did all that was Ledas-stinking-Starfire. Ledas: the rebel Kamen-lord, spoiled Terran princeling, and failed revolutionary. A year ago, someone killed her. Now her widower’s ravaging planets. I guess for revenge. Who cares? This isn’t her stinking story… It’s MINE. I’m Polla Ottrava. I’ve taken a job I wasn’t allowed to refuse. My employers are war criminals who swear they’re saving the galaxy. They say I’m the only one who can fly their bloodship. They say we’re heroes. They say they’ll pay me. They say a lot of crap. Only some of it’s true…


Malkontent

Malkontent by Io Wallace

SPSFC 2024

In a near-future America torn apart by corporate warfare and social unrest, an unlikely antihero might be the lesser evil. Warner Vogel’s life in a corporate dystopia isn’t as bad as it could be: his name blazes in blue neon atop a skyscraper. As heir to the omnipotent VogelCorp, his life should be idyllic, but a brutal encounter with an insurgent fifteen years ago cost him an eye and much of his sanity. Now, he lives for his secret projects and his distractions in seedy nightclubs, but his only desire is revenge. Freya is a genetic marvel—a supersoldier from the legendary Unit Six, engineered for violence and conditioned to enjoy it. When her mission at the VogelCorp vault goes catastrophically wrong, she ends up in a titanium cage with a hole in her skull. Her escape hinges on one thing: helping Warner exact revenge on Nero, her former handler. As they unite, they uncover a shared enemy and a common goal—to dismantle Unit Six and end the decades-long war ravaging their states. As their journey unfolds, Warner is forced to question everything he knows: the loyalties of those closest to him, the integrity of his country, and his own humanity. How far will he go for vengeance—and the greater good?


Kemper’s House

Kemper’s House by Frank Saverio

SPSFC 2024

What if the cost of first contact was leaving behind a world you’d never recognize upon return? On the heels of discovering interstellar travel, humanity has stumbled upon the first signs of intelligent life in another system. Captain Adrian Kemper is selected to lead the expedition to Kyra-2B in order to make first contact with the Kyrans. He departs a world struggling to deal with overpopulation, knowing that the realities of space travel will mean the Earth he eventually returns to will no longer be home. Even the stone cottage he loves may not remain. Despite this, Kemper accepts the mission. He leads an elite crew of optimistic scientists on a journey that will traverse hundreds of light years before reaching an alien world. What they find is truly unexpected.


KARA

KARA by Peter Beard

SPSFC 2024

For over ten years Kara was a Hunter—the highly trained individuals with the ability and resources to find people, no-matter where they tried to hide. But after killing her best friend in a tragic accident, her world collapsed in on itself, and Kara spiralled. Recovering, and keen for a distraction to keep her mind from wandering, Kara turned her attention to something that had intrigued her for as long as she could remember—to the mysterious symbol on her wrist. Determined to learn more, she began a hunt of a different kind—a hunt for answers. But three years of searching yielded little information, and she began losing hope of ever discovering the truth. But then, unexpectedly, she receives an anonymous message—a message pointing her to a highly secretive prison on the outskirts of the Kuiper Belt. What she finds changes everything, and leads her down a path that puts her, and the people around her, in danger. Can she learn the origins around the strange marking, all whilst unravelling a sinister plot that threatens to send a peaceful world back into chaos?


Hauler

Hauler by Eric Kruger

SPSFC 2024

Governments have fallen. Corporations control the world. Now their eyes are on Mars. But Benjamin Drake is about to ruin everyone’s plans. Earth is no longer made up of countries and nations. Every bit of land has been privatized, and most of it is owned by five big corporations. Life is hard, and people are struggling. Crime is rampant, and they send serious offenders to Mars to help with the terraforming. Benjamin Drake is a happy-go-lucky truck driver (or hauler) with an uncomplicated life, hauling cargo around the world in his Hydrostar, until a run of bad decisions leaves him without work. Down on his luck and desperate for a contract, he makes a decision that he instantly regrets. As Drake gets caught in a tug of war between a mining mogul and the world’s most ruthless security force, he suddenly finds himself with a truck full of stolen cargo, and decisions need to be made. But who can he trust? After a big professional blunder, Lt. Lily Wells plots a way to get her career back on track as one of Penta Corporations’ top security officers. But when Wells ends up on a murder case, she uncovers something much bigger. One on the run and the other on the hunt, Drake and Wells cross paths, at odds and supposedly enemies. But could their alliance be the only way out alive? Set in the near-future, Hauler is the first book in the Benjamin Drake adventure series, filled with witty dialogue, flawed heroes, and plenty of bad decisions.


Exoputians

Exoputians by AJ Pagan IV

SPSFC 2024

As the Second American Civil War wanes, Mary the Exoputian awaits her chance to contact the Folbulae—a highly advanced species of extraterrestrial, only to be hunted down by the dictator of the Sovereign States of America, Vladimir Booth. With rising tides and thawing tundra, the Exoputians—a new species of human genetically created to live in Space and communicate with the Folbulae, land in the Republic of Texas following a missile strike on their Space station. Mary and the other Exoputians learn of the lies their progenitor taught them, training the Space-bred crew to use their novel communication to cure the planet they’d never set foot on. As Mary and the others road trip through racially segregated America, they encounter multiple attempts on their lives to follow through with their once-mission of saving the planet from the climate crisis. Discover with Mary what’s worth saving on a planet prepared to destroy her entire species.


EAT: The Sum

EAT: The Sum by Jesse Brown

SPSFC 2024

“A chunk of white rested inside the dip of her collarbone. She fished it out and flicked it away, its rattle echoing as it bounced under a display table, alerting her to the silence. The ringing in her ears had finally stopped. The mask and goggles were long gone; fallen off in her haste. Pointless to wear them now, anyway…” Caede wants to complete her master’s degree, refresh her dating profile, and finally join the land of the living. Instead, she wakes up on a cold, wet pavement, surrounded by dead bodies and ferocious monsters. Kai waits anxiously for his sister to return from the world’s longest night shift. Ravi hides under a desk in his office, and Efia lays unconscious in a garage. Jonathan, recently dumped and drinking himself to death in an empty flat, is waiting for the end to come… until a grizzly attack sends him stumbling into the path of Caede, and all the horrors of an apocalyptic London.


Bleeding Mars

Bleeding Mars by Asher J. Quazar

SPSFC 2024

Dezi doesn’t own the clothes on his back or the blood in his veins. He’s a college dropout working a dead-end job on the most backwater planet humanity has ever colonized. He’d always dreamed of traveling the system, but when he’s framed for a facility malfunction, he’s forced to flee to the capital of Mars—a city teeming with gangs and space-age aristocracy. He manages to land a job at a luxury casino where a VIP selects him as his regular host. Umbra is a perennial, one of the few wealthy enough to extend their lives through a blood-based medical process, and he might be Dezi’s ticket to paying off his bounty, but the immortal is as eccentric as he is generous. He claims to be an authentic vampire, and his appetites have Dezi questioning whether he might just be telling the truth. As Dezi falls headfirst into a web of seduction and deceit, he must decide what he’s willing to do to survive a city where the weak end up as blood bags.


CY-LNK

CY-LNK by Kai Surr

SPSFC 2024

In 2140 the strange had become the norm. Human life has been transformed by the cy-lnk cognitive implant that connects the physical brain to the ‘Online Environment’. On board the first manned trip to colonize Proxima Centauri B, all is not well. Chief Engineer Gus Salatin and Science Officer Dr Lilian Garcia are among the few who refused to have ‘the operation’. They believe the company is using cy-lnk to control the crew’s thoughts. As the ship passes through the Keiper Belt on its way out of our solar system, chaos erupts. A mysterious planet suddenly appears, the crew begin hallucinating, and a terrifying secret about their destination is revealed. Brace for a oddly believable, darkly humorous, and hopeful read.


Company Assassin

Company Assassin by Claudia Blood

SPSFC 2024

Time is coming apart at the seams, and a tech-savvy teenage orphan is the only one who can save the past and the future… Turning eighteen in the orphanage on Kalecca means starvation for those who aren’t hired into a Family, so no one is celebrating Duff Roman’s big day. Outside the Family compounds lies the jungle. And in the jungle lies death. And Relics—the only real currency on Planet Kalecca. The orphans are Duff’s family, and he’s sacrificed everything to keep the orphanage running, even his chance to move on. But without him to bring in extra money, the orphans will starve under the Company’s control. Duff’s only chance to save them is to find a spot on an independent crew and hopefully find a Relic to sell. When a seemingly chance encounter with Z, leader of the most feared independent crew, offers Duff his opportunity to score a Relic, it also gives Z a chance to relieve the guilt he feels over his past. But a Company assassin has plans to lay waste to Duff’s future and destroy the people he cares about the most…


Children of the Fall

Children of the Fall by H. S. Down

SPSFC 2024

Hypatia is a companion child, a cyborg with the consciousness of a child, designed to help her non-verbal human sister, Alexandra, navigate the world. When a flash knocks out the power and a civil war erupts, the sisters are forced to travel through powerless cities and dangerous country roads in search of refuge on the eastern coast of the United States. Realizing that without access to a charging station it’s only a matter of time before her battery fails, Hypatia must deliver Alexandra to safety before it’s too late. Yet, as Hypatia and Alexandra encounter other companion children that have gone berserk, Hypatia begins to suspect the flash may have done more than just take out the power. Can Alexandra trust her sister, and is Hypatia exactly what she seems?


Blood Sacrifice

Blood Sacrifice by Q. Turner

SPSFC 2024

Welcome to the Isulum Empire. Inflation is high, trust in the government is low, and unrest is growing. Here, oligarchs live offshore on superyachts with their pleasure androids, far from tax obligations and the crumbling, crime-ridden city center. The rest of the population retreats into the digital world of Parallel, a sanctuary that offers daily respite from the real world. Many of Parallel’s users have rallied around the speaker Rita Shor, who challenges the empire’s class division and the injustices faced by women. Shor and her followers adamantly oppose the radical ideologies of another charismatic speaker, Doctor Gagarin Sokolo, who promotes extreme misogyny in an effort to address the empire’s declining birth rate. Neither Shor nor Sokolo realize that in the depths of Parallel, a team of hackers is working hard to unite their disparate followers under a singular purpose: to dismantle the Isulum Empire. As Shor and Sokolo’s lives become further intertwined, the empire’s fate rests in their hands. But the price of victory may prove far greater than they ever imagined.


ASH

ASH by Grace Walker

SPSFC 2024

The mission was supposed to be simple: go to Xeiryn, complete the objective, and leave—before it’s too late. Of course, that’s where everything fell apart. Kade, an underworld operative, fights for survival on Xeiryn—a planet on the edge of the galaxy where crime syndicates control the only antidote to the deadly atmosphere. With no other choice as a human, he is caught serving the syndicates under his protector, a woman called Ash. However, when her secret against the syndicates is revealed, their world is torn apart. After a devastating separation, Kade is forced into a struggle for survival in a new galaxy. Working with a crew of mercenaries, he has only one goal: Find his way back to Ash. When a powerful client offers the crew a secretive mission to Xeiryn, Kade can’t resist the opportunity that could lead him back to Ash. But the mission quickly becomes the least of his worries when Kade and his sharpshooter comrade Xiara suspect their assignment isn’t at all what it seems. Now, torn between his past and his future, Kade has to face the bitter reality of what it will take to find Ash and if she is truly everything he once believed.


All Hope of Becoming Human

All Hope of Becoming Human by Lonnie Busch

SPSFC 2024

The world is about to change in unimaginable ways… Earthquakes rock the planet, revealing massive metallic objects and vast subterranean graveyards. One such location is in the Arizona desert. Scientists believe this incredible discovery may hold answers to the origins of man, but when the site is suddenly shut down due to seismic activity, one researcher knows she must return. Assistant archaeologist Rebecca Duccati sneaks into the compound alone, and will have to dig deep to find clues in these strange underground caves and tunnels. The work is dangerous and frightening, but she feels a connection to this bizarre phenomenon that even she isn’t fully aware of yet. FBI Special Agent Demzey knows nothing about archaeology; his specialty— anomalous crimes, the fringe edge of the aberrant and the unknown. Demzey is investigating a recent rash of vicious and brutal murders, the clues surrounding the killings both disturbing and inexplicable. He and his assistant Connie Wegman catch a break when they discover remains of two monstrous creatures unknown to science, believed to be a race of aliens responsible for attacks on humans across the globe. With the death toll ticking ever higher, scientists and intelligence agencies on every continent search for the source of these vicious creatures, until the combined efforts of Duccati and Demzey begin to unravel the mystery, though what they uncover could spell the end for the human race.


A Universe Upon Us

A Universe Upon Us by Marc DeGeorge

SPSFC 2024

When Ceri boarded the colony ship with her parents, they were escaping the destruction on Earth. They’d sleep in stasis for a thousand years, then wake on their new home, free from the ravages of war. But for Ceri, it was not to be. The adults of the Stratford stole her childhood and replaced it with terror. For seven years, they forced her and her squad to fight against a rival faction. They were called the enemy, but just like her, they were children, trying to survive. One day, Efa, her squad mate and friend, confesses a forbidden love that can only be considered treason. Ceri is furious, but also confused. They were like sisters. Why had Efa kept this from her? The reason forces Ceri into a choice. Should she do what Efa asks, or risk losing the only person on the ship she could trust?


A Quiet Universe

A Quiet Universe by Kay F. Atkinson

SPSFC 2024

CERHA is a fabricant, and her job is simple: keep Annalise Fletcher safe, a role she performs dutifully and without fail, as she was designed to. Neither she nor her charge expected that this routine assignment could lead to love, but when feelings begin to bloom, neither see fit to stand in their way, and the two find themselves leading a shared life where both must walk a tightrope, precariously balancing between duty, and what domestic bliss is woven into the spaces remaining. For a time, they are as close to happy as they can manage. Then Annalise vanishes away to the embattled starship ‘Upon Silver Tides’, leaving a cryptic warning in her wake, and CERHA finds herself frantically in pursuit, on an illegal mission to save her objective-turned-lover and bring her home alive. She isn’t sure what she’ll find. But what awaits is a web ensnaring both wayward lovers, far more tangled than either could possibly know, and lurking upon this forsaken vessel is a descent into insanity that will force CERHA to confront the bleak truth at the heart of her function.


Imitari

Imitari by Jenna McLeod

SPSFC 2024

“Earth’s time has run out. You must leave this decaying cradle.” With only a few words, Orinious Xaiv’s deliberately small world is altered forever when he’s named Exim, the leader-elect of the Imitari. A theocratic group of genetically altered beings presiding over the dying Earth. As a “Named,” Orinious receives an impossible task: to recover the lost seeds of mankind. Without them, all is destined for failure, resulting in not only his death – but that of all. Setting out with him on this mission is Veyra, one of the rare Chimaera with an elevated position among the Imitari. An elite personal enforcer, infamous for her ruthlessness and violent nature. She’s ordered to leave her master’s side to protect Orinious – no matter the cost. Forced to work together to survive, they’re confronted by gut-wrenching realizations about themselves, their world, and the true purpose of their mission. Unlikely friendships emerge and a forbidden romance dares to gasp, all while brutal attacks, unrelenting chaos, and bitter deception challenge them at every turn. Tracking down the seeds is only the beginning. Imitari is the first book in the exhilarating dystopian sci-fi ALTERA DOMI Series.


Horizon

Horizon by David W. Adams

SPSFC 2024

There is no salvation among the stars… With every known planet, colony or settlement mostly ruined or completely destroyed, a desperate crew of humans onboard the starship Odyssey, hear rumours of a mythical phenomenon called the Horizon. This magical place on the edge of known space is believed to transport those who traverse it, back in time to the moment they were at their happiest. With only death, heartache and baron wastelands surrounding them, the crew head toward the Horizon. However to reach this phenomenon, they must cross the Expanse – a 30 day trip through entirely empty space. No light, no stars, no planets… nothing. At least that’s what they think.


Beautiful World Part 1

Beautiful World Part 1 by Bill Sharrock

In a broken future, ink-like stains have appeared on people's skin splitting the world in two. Now the beautiful people all wear masks and live in a luxurious haven kingdom where strict beauty laws are enforced. The others, ‘stainers’, are segregated to a lawless life in the Outlands ruled by chaos and warlords. But when Chesterman, a mysterious, ruthless leader from the north rises to power with plans to bring the kingdom to its knees, people will have to find out what they truly want to live for beneath their masks. Beautiful World is a grand scale story of Anna, Barvarik, Talessa and the individuals who will shape destruction, hope, terror and change to a future where only the most beautiful can sit at its apex.


A Spectre in the Stream

A Spectre in the Stream by Simon Tull

SPSFC 2024

In a world gone mad with bloodlust, can a girl with a fragmented past use her inner monster to save a boy from undying predators? Earth, post-Apocalypse. Prisma longs to understand herself. Two centuries after humanity died, the claustrophobic immortal is grateful she’s not driven by the thirst for blood plaguing every other enslaved survivor. But when she encounters a strange boy with a cryptic message about her origins, she fears his existence has made them both a deadly target. As Prisma’s violently protective alter-ego gives her remarkable abilities, she and her curious companion track his mysterious origins through their decaying city and its virtual twin. But she’s horrified to learn of a vicious truth that sends her split personality into dangerous denial when a psychotic assassin and a desperate bounty hunter close in for the kill. Can she unearth the secret that will renew their stricken planet’s hope? A Spectre in the Stream is the edge-of-your-seat first book in The Slip Saga science fiction fantasy series. If you like gritty characters, violent action, and dark-edged humour, then you’ll love Simon Tull’s fast-paced adventure.


The Grandmaster's Gamble

The Grandmaster's Gamble by Paul G. Zareith

SPSFC 2024

An unparalleled academic genius of his generation - Norman has a bright future ahead. While he may be the rising star of the famed Illustrious Academy, in the brutally competitive Irvanian socio-political landscape, opportunist vultures lurk at every corner and no tactic is too low. The biggest obstacle in the way of his grand ambitions though, is an ancient alien parasite that has made his body its nest. Oh, and there is also the problem of a high profile murder investigation that is likely to destroy his career. Will Norman be able to reassert control over his life? Or will he succumb in his pursuit of the forgotten arts of soul harvesting and become something else... Find out in this grimdark cyberpunk fantasy. Sometimes being the best among the best is still not good enough.


Life Remains

Life Remains by Niranjan

To choose what is right would bring him in conflict with the vampires, but can he avert his eyes yet again when a child needs his help? In a world where Vampires make the rules, the hunters are bound by the terms of an ancient agreement and the witches are hunted. Ken is a vampire hunter having an affair with the vampire, Frederick. Navigating a relationship with a vampire while trying to help those he terrorises is not easy. If Frederick finds out what he’s doing, their relationship isn’t the only thing in jeopardy. When a situation arises when Frederick’s ward, Mabel, needs his help, Ken knows his actions will pit him against Frederick. With his very life at stake, will he choose to do the right thing or follow the path of least resistance yet again? Life Remains is a queer, paranormal, dystopian fantasy novel with morally grey characters, found family and themes of redemption and making the right choice. If you love dystopian worlds with vampires, hunters, and witches, you will love this book.


Merittown

Merittown by Uilleam Whitedale

First book of The Lillian Rebellion. Lillian Gillespie is not the everyday grade school teacher she thinks she is. After learning that she is an ultra-creative empath, whose father had her reassigned after she was deemed defective as a child, Lillian flees her recently-capitalized, gaslighting partner, pursuing a relationship with an old school friend, unaware of how controlled her life has been. Her father is also not who he seems and seeks to persuade her to return to her former life, but it is a cage she cannot abide, needing to be free. As she develops her gifts, she is joined by two young empaths who seek her out through feelings. Discovering that she is an empath among empaths and being threatened by the oligarchical class who fear her, she and her friends decide to run to Old New York City, a dangerous journey under the watch of the meta-panopticon. With the help of another powerful empath, they achieve their destination… and the fight against the ruling class begins.


Of Friction

Of Friction by S.J. Lee

SPSFC 2024

Decades of hostilities. A chance for peace. Caught between belligerent groups, will this operation be her last? Sam "Valkyrie" Ryan is reeling. Struggling with her brother's recent decision to make their next assignment his last, the recon specialist fights to change his mind. But she has no time to process her emotions when they're tasked to protect a pivotal reconciliation summit between the Altered and Humans from human-supremacist terrorists. Distracted by a charming female medic, the golden-haired marine struggles to stay focused as events quickly unravel. And with the conflict becoming dangerously unpredictable, secrets from the past catch Sam by surprise as she uncovers a plot to destroy all of humanity. Can she stop a violent and oppressive history from spiraling into a catastrophic future? Of Friction is the fast-paced first book in the Altered Earth dystopian military speculative fiction series. If you like strong women, tense action, and slow-burn LGBTQ+ relationships, then you'll love S.J. Lee's gripping story.


The Biohunter

The Biohunter by Ingrid Moon

When a monster hunter's last mission is to capture a wasteland girl, his only chance of survival is to turn the hunt around. Hunt the monsters of the wasteland. Bring them back alive. Retire. Ninety years after the devastating global "Fracture," the biosphere has collapsed. The few remaining cities, once bastions of human survival, have become fortresses of power ruled by ruthless corporations. Axel Mercer, a former soldier, explores the hostile plains to recover organisms for scientific research. But the corporations who run civilization want more. As his last mission, Mercer is sent to recover a specimen that could bring eternal life to the corporate elites. He learns this organism is not a monster, but a teen girl—a wasteland fighter hardened by a life of survival. Her spirit and fierce determination challenge everything Mercer has believed about his job, his future, and his questionable past. In a world where power is worth more than life itself, Mercer must decide which side of the fight he belongs on—and what kind of future is worth fighting for. An action-packed dystopian novel with a simple premise, crazy twists, cruel desires, a pinch of humor, and all the blood and violence of an edge-of-your-seat action movie.


The Scorching: The World in My Hands

The Scorching: The World in My Hands by Nick Snape

A lonely PA, a rebellious teenager, two ordinary people on a deadly journey to save humanity. The world is heading towards global collapse as The Scorching takes full effect. Salvation vessels orbit the Earth, waiting to transport the chosen few away from danger and to start again; ten plantships grown by an alien species for the wealthiest and most powerful, or those lucky enough to be selected by lottery. The rest remain behind, their future dependent on the Drathken finding a solution to Earth’s problems. Jenna, Personal Assistant to a prominent oil mogul, feels privileged to be among the saved, never questioning her good fortune. While Seth suffers, forced to leave his friends behind as his family takes their place aboard their luxurious ship. Yet not all is well on board. Dark secrets lurk in the corridors and depths of their respective ships, dragging Jenna and Seth into a world of malice and violence they thought they had left far behind. "Immersive and approachable sci-fi, and one that won’t easily be forgotten." Literary Titan


Transference

Transference by Ian Patterson

SPSFC 2024

Nicholas Fiveboroughs is a Sicko, someone that takes on others' illnesses. In a city where diseases can be transferred, the rich buy longer lives without pain, and the poor get a short life of constant sickness. Maybe it was fate, or maybe someone is looking out for him, but after Nicholas barely survives his latest affliction, he gets the chance to try and change things. To finally stop the whole disease transfer network. Tensions escalate as Nicholas infiltrates a higher society he doesn’t understand, and starts to fall for the very person he needs to manipulate to be successful. And between run-ins with a talking animal and genetically modified humans, the world around him just keeps getting stranger. Can Nicholas tear down the disease transfer architecture? And can he do it without losing his own humanity along the way?


The Neons

The Neons by Dylan Wiseman

A girl has gone missing—nothing unusual for the corrupt, crime-filled megacity of Xi, where biotechnical mods make everyone as unique and dangerous as their imaginations allow. Soon enough, no one will remember that the girl ever existed. At least, that’s what Chance believes, until a duo of ambitious bounty hunters snatch him from his mundane day-to-day in the slums and introduce him to the shiny, secretive world of Xi’s rich and powerful. Meanwhile, in the city’s sparkling high-rises, a pair of siblings witness a murder and are forced into the violent bowels of the city, hunting for answers as they are hunted by a killer. A hard-punching, fast-paced cyberpunk fantasy, The Neons follows an ensemble cast of unlikely heroes as they untangle the wires of a twisted mystery and uncover a reality inhabited by cybernetic deities, android angels, and the resurrected demons of their own past lives.


Paris at Nightfall

Paris at Nightfall by Merlina Garance

In an early 20th century Paris emptied of its population and surveilled by the army, two men are trying to survive. Would that include falling in love? Jules has been surviving off of preserves he scavenges out in the city when he leaves his hideout at night. He never knew why one day, the Army hauled the whole town’s population into vans and evacuated the city. He only knows he’s the only one left behind. Or so he thought. When he runs into a blond aristocrat with nice hands on an outing, his world is turned upside down once again... The ebook is only available, for free, through the author's newsletter.


Unbreakable Bonds

Unbreakable Bonds by Marc Wisdom

In a world ravaged by the devastating "Squeeze" virus, two groups of survivors fight for hope and a future. Lance and Gwen, a young couple immune to the virus, find themselves prisoners in a ruthless government facility, subjected to cruel experiments in the search for a cure. As they plan a daring escape with fellow inmates, they discover a growing resistance movement that could change everything. Meanwhile, Michael and John lead a diverse group of survivors on a perilous journey north, chasing rumors of a safe haven. Battling hostile forces, dwindling supplies, and their own doubts, they forge a makeshift family bound by shared struggles and unwavering loyalty. As both groups face unimaginable challenges, they must confront the true cost of survival in a world where trust is a luxury and hope is a lifeline. "Unbreakable Bonds" is a gripping tale of resilience, love, and the indomitable human spirit in the face of overwhelming odds.


AVA

AVA by Lydia Baker

First, they came for the city and we allowed it, they put up the Barrier and we stayed quiet, silenced by the fear of what was beyond. Our elderly were next and still we didn’t cry out; then they came for the women, removed their fertility and stole our future, so I hid. I became Alec and I turned my back on my true self, Ava. 
Ava can’t live as Alec any longer, the lie is killing her, destroying all that she is.
The world beyond MTech’s Barrier calls to her and she can’t ignore it. She has to know what, if anything, survived the terrible day that tore her family apart fourteen years ago.

But what if the Outside is far more dangerous than anything Ava has ever faced on the Inside?
Ava is set in a dystopian future, where individual rights are being eroded and the population live under a dome barrier that they have been told is for their protection. But, what is outside? Is escape possible and even if it is, will it be a death sentence?


Nameless

Nameless by Alexander Way-B

Nameless - Born in a dusty workhouse, a mere product of his oppressive environment, that is until he discovers that there's another world beyond the shelves & windows of his toil - But who is he, & does he have the right to freedom?


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