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A Post-Apocalyptic Family Survival Story of Strength, Family, Resilience, and the Unbreakable Will to Live “When the world goes dark, how far would you go to protect your family?” Nestled deep in the remote pines, the Callahan family thought they were ready for anything. Years of preparation, isolation, and sacrifice had hardened them for survival. But nothing could prepare them for this, a complete blackout, no power, no communication, and no one coming to help. As their supplies run low and their emotional bonds are tested, trust, resilience, and hard choices become their only currency. Can they hold on to hope when the world outside starts to unravel? Last Light is a gripping, post-apocalyptic story about family, endurance, and the courage it takes to survive when everything else is stripped away. ✔️ Perfect for fans of One Second After, Edge of Collapse, Borrowed World, and Station Eleven ✔️ Clean, emotional, and family-driven survival fiction with a strong female perspective ✔️ First in a thrilling new series, discover where the Pines will take you |
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Space Ants: Never Say Die by Eric Kay Survival amidst the rings of a gas giant means that life must adapt or die. Luckily, Space Ants never say die!Space Never Say Die is a collection of serialized short stories following one colony. Each segment zooms in on a single ant from different castes—from tireless handmaidens and brave scouts to valiant soldiers and the indomitable queen mother—as they explore, extract, expand, and sometimes exterminate the deadly threats lurking in the gas giant's ring system. Join the ants as they navigate the perils of deep impacts, dehydration, and the constant threat of rival colonies. Witness their rise from the brink of extinction to becoming a dominant force in their orbit. Space Never Say Die is a sci-fi adventure like nothing you've read before. |
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Loyalty to the Max by Maya Darjani Max Dupont stars in his own standalone adventure in the second installment of the Broken Union series, taking place one year after Ancient as the Stars. Captain Maxime Dupont of the Earth Union is a rogue. A maverick. A clear-headed arbitrator of right and wrong– rules be damned. But even Max stumbles when he encounters his latest challenge. The Union is collaborating with former enemy Mars to fix the collapse of interstellar travel–but at the cost of vulnerable citizens. Max has to figure out where his loyalties lie–and if treason is a price he's willing to pay for doing the right thing. Meanwhile... Lieutenant Ren Yilmaz has finally found a crew. A home. A rewarding career, on the ESS Knight. But Ren gets drawn into a web of espionage. Her captain, Max, has shady dealings with anti-Union rebel groups and assigns her shipmates off-the-books tasks. It's Ren's duty as an officer to investigate. But snooping can be disastrous. Not only would she be betraying her newfound family, but Ren has secrets too–and if she digs too far, her own past as a spy could get spectacularly exposed. As tensions mount, the choices Max and Ren make will test their loyalty not only to the Union, but to each other--and the crew they call family. |
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Arcanoforge: Midnight Metropolis by Caroline Barnard-Smith A genetically modified thief. A cursed electric ghost. A downloaded daemon. In a neon-drenched dystopia, she’s the glitch in the system. Tattiana the Blood Seer plies her odious trade in Noctara—a festering wart clinging to the blackened hide of a lightless planet. Tattie just wants to break sky and leave Noctara behind, but the fungus-choked metropolis isn’t done with her yet. Tattie’s one-time lover reappears, packing an illegal implant and begging for help she refuses to give. Then her co-worker makes a pact with a tentacled daemon, and their grimy back-alley club is shuttered for good. With few options left and a disgruntled electrical ghost to feed, Tattie accepts a lucrative gig from the cryptic Verna Shade. The payoff? Enough credits to buy her own space bucket and punch a permanent exit hole in the stratosphere. The job should be easy: break into a vault patrolled by the N.E.X.’s emotionless grunt army and steal Noctara’s most closely guarded secrets. But nothing’s easy on this cursed ball of dirt. Failure could get her exiled, husked, or killed. Success would shatter the planet’s fragile hold on peace. Armed with the dire blood magicks of the Arcanoforge, Tattie is done hiding. It’s Noctara's turn to bleed. |
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The Wish of a Dragon by JD Rivers Otar comes to on a dingy space station and discovers two things: First, he's missing a good chunk of his memories. Second, Andres, his lover, has disappeared. Before he can retrace his steps, a knock at the door demands a debt be repaid—one Otar can't remember. Captain Veil Dreamcatcher is in search of the dragons with only ruins to guide him. Otar agrees to help in exchange for a reduced debt and information about Andres. On their travels, Otar realizes Veil is as adrift in this world as he is. Both are on a quest for the impossible: finding the ones they have loved and lost. All the while, the shadows are watching with red glowing eyes. |
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A Seething Heart: Ophelia Requited by T.O. Tate SHOW ME THE STEEP AND THORNY WAY TO HEAVEN On the unpredictable waters of the Great Lakes, the cargo ship Squall sails from port to port in a world torn apart by a mysterious illness. Orris is an oddity, born wrapped in thorny vines that have lain silent inside their body for decades. Since then, they’ve dedicated their life to caring for those in the last stages of a mysterious illness known as sliversickness, well aware that someday soon, they too will die. After the death of the Squall’s captain under suspicious circumstances, Orris finds themself in the middle of a struggle for power between their lover Hunter and his stepfather Charles. Rumors of ghosts creep through the Squall’s passageways, and Hunter’s behavior becomes more and more erratic. Everyone looks to Orris to help him, worried that he, like so many others, has fallen ill. But as vines begin to stir inside their chest, Hunter kills Orris’s father, leaving vengeance as their only option. |
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It's You, Isn't It? by Antony Paschos Who are the heirs to the colony? On the world of Terra-Octa, colonists Avra, her sister, and their friend Penko are the first to catch sight of a massive guardian of the native trees producing Chloron, vital to building the colony. Three years later, the colony is destroyed by an uprising of chlorobots, powered by that same resource. But all is not as it seems. What at first is a childhood memory to Avra turns deadly as her alien caretaker reveals herself to be more than Avra could understand. At the same time, her father, the general, firms his grasp on how the colony is run. Told in the past and the present, Avra’s story unravels in time and meaning until she finally understands her family, her blossoming romance with Penko, her alien caretaker, the origins of life, and the betrayal at the base of the colony. Get ready for It’s You, Isn’t It? by Antony Paschos! |
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Isaac by Allee Mead When Eleanor Lane, estranged from her family, makes the drive to her deceased father’s house to arrange his funeral, she discovers Isaac, a care-bot. Isaac had been caring for her father ever since the incident six years ago, when her father, confused, accidentally cut her with a kitchen knife. Eleanor convinces her sister to let her take the care-bot home, beginning a new relationship with him despite herself. As she learns more about Isaac, she also discovers a caring, sensitive person in the android. He fills the void in her life created from her fear of connecting with others, and starts to reconnect Eleanor to how her fathers, John and Javi, met and fell in love. But is Isaac a replacement for human contact? For that matter, what is Isaac? A simple programmed construct, or a person who can grow and learn? Explore love, community, and what it means to be human in Allee Mead’s debut book, Isaac. |
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Lesbians in Space: Where No Man Has Gone Before by Edited by J.S. Fields, William C. Tracy, Heather Tracy Peanut butter and chocolate. Cheese and wine. Sex and rock n' roll. History is full of great pairings. Get ready for your new Lesbians and Space! Join a host of intrepid explorers heading to the outer reaches of the galaxy, exploring planets, space stations, strange new worlds and interesting aliens. Launch into stories that span the cosmos, covering Space Opera, Xenobiology, Space Stations, Adventure, and Spaceships! From spaceship mechanics to intergalactic colony queens, heists, smugglers, gods, and sentient planets, Lesbians in Space explores the galaxy from the unique perspective of the lesfic world, blending the best of sapphic literature with modern sci-fi and space opera tropes. With stories Mary Robinette Kowal, Seanan McGuire, Travis Baldree, Emma Newman, MK Hardy, Ashleigh Martin, Nathan Chu, Stewart C Baker, Kayla Whittle, Joel Glover, Caye Marsh, Kira Neu, Jes Honard, Scarlet Passmore, Sylvie Althoff, Jasmine Gower, Siena Buchanan, Beáta Fülöp, Danielle Woolhead, J.S. Fields, and Heather Tracy |
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Only a Chapter by Heather Tracy A call to change a lifetime… Clare O’Donnell is in a dead-end relationship with her girlfriend, until she receives a phone call that changes her life—literally. In one timeline, her biopsy results are positive for cancer. In another timeline, her results are benign. In one timeline, the faceless person she has romantic dreams of becomes masculine. In the other timeline, they become feminine. Her world begins to diverge, sending Clare on differing journeys of self-discovery and romance. In both, her dreams seem to show what might happen, and she realizes they all started after she survived the fatal car crash that took her parents. There is one constant: that no matter the challenges she faces, this is only a chapter of her life. Explore how one phone call could change your life forever. |
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The Celeste Files by Sienna Eggler Difficult clients, questionable technological advances, and the much despised holiday of love torments our protagonist, Ryn Casler. Detective Winters surprises Ryn with yet another case outside their wheelhouse: a missing dog. The pooch in question is Celeste, beloved Doberman, once ensnared in a custody battle. But the police have better use of their time than searching for the pup, allegedly stolen from a high-rise apartment with no signs of forced entry. A reluctant Ryn accepts, thinking it would be a nice change of pace from their stressful case log—but this dog quickly becomes the bane of their existence. Especially when Celeste’s tracker is found at the bottom of the Cuyahoga River… “Just what the hell have you gotten me into this time, Detective?” |
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Vividwater by Jacqueline Owens In a future world, only a few hydrospheres, like AotearoaNZ, have enough drinkable water, nearly all sold overseas. Alex is a mnemopath, a professional memory machine, at the main water trading bureau, WaiOra. Her job isn’t noble, selling water overseas while locals die of thirst. But she needed a job, and the extra water allowance. Her humdrum life, struggling to earn enough water to live, is upended when her great love comes back to AotearoaNZ, after fifteen years in China. Alex’s world is transformed to one of excitement, danger and a relationship she has to hide. |
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Speculative Shorts: Stories that fell out of my brain by Cait Gordon From the award-winning author of Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space... A nonbinary Alice accidentally enters their own clubbing wonderland because of a smiley app and Bong Guy. An autistic writing instructor who hates ABA but loves ABBA becomes an unexpected hero. A "silent" mermaid-siren noted for keeping the sea safe from poachers is guided to a Lander who might not be like the others. A disabled space pilot couriers precious cargo for the Network while trying to evade the eugenics-based brigade who wants to keep people like her "safe at home." A descendant of Frankenstein's monster is having her sweet sixteen party, but her mother's gift stops the teen in her rollators tracks. Explore these stories and more in this collection of fifteen tales of queer life, disability, romance, power, defiance, and resilience. Advanced praise: "Cait Gordon writes with infectious joy and energy, and with a sense of humour that is never far from the surface even in the darkest moments." Kate Heartfield, Prix Aurora Award-winning author of The Embroidered Book "Speculative Shorts is a fun, delicious taste of the range of Cait's spice-rack of writing skills, and she blends together those elements incredibly.” Derek Newman-Stille, Prix Aurora Award winner of the digital humanities hub, Speculating Canada |
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Kai Mercer was made to race and born to win. A three-time galactic champion, Kai dominates every track he hits. But after years of standing on the podium, the thrill is fading, and the trophies have lost their shine. All he wants is one thing: a challenge fierce enough to reignite his fire. But they say you should be careful what you wish for . . . Rev Arathiel is a rookie with stars in his eyes and a mission heavier than any trophy. An endangered alien whose skin glows like a supernova, Rev has clawed his way up from illegal street races to the prestigious Astro Space League. Racing isn’t just a game to him—it’s the key to a better future for his people. When Rev starts disrupting Kai’s perfect season, their rivalry ignites more than just speed and skill. With the championship hanging in the balance, neither expects the boundaries between competition and connection to blur . . . or their hearts to race for more than just the finish line. Hyperspeed is an MM sci-fi racing romance with rivals to lovers, opposites attract, and an ego bigger than Jupiter. Perfect for fans of Formula 1, this is the first instalment in a series of interconnected standalones. Expect high-speed races, adorable first times, and some creative uses of prehensile tails. |
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Eight Arms to Hold Me by Joshua Mertz Eight Arms To Hold Me is an alien invasion tale with epic battles, a dash of romance, intrigue, laughs, and a fascinating and endearing octopus hero. It blends actual science in the science fiction with the old school thrill of ray gun wielding space crabs. A rollicking adventure. |
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Bright City, Shattered by Millie Abecassis Reine just started her job as head of security at Clean Crystal Corporation (C3) when Isaline, a brilliant technician and the CEO’s niece, is found dead in the crystal’s Core Room. Chief Executive Max Caldwell and Detective Inspector Novau are convinced Isaline was murdered by another employee, dismissing theories of a safety accident. They claim the crystal, powering Bright City’s clean energy, is harmless. But Reine, haunted by Isaline’s fear when she warned her away from the crystal, suspects otherwise. Isaline knew something, and Reine is determined to uncover the truth. The problem is: she needs her job at C3 to support her family, and Max Caldwell won’t tolerate Reine’s eagerness to investigate Isaline’s death as a potential accident. A retro-futurist vision of life in an isolated metropolis, Bright City, Shattered is a gripping mystery of lies, loyalty, and the relentless pursuit of truth. |
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Shadow Sentinel: A Genetic Engineering Thriller by Rex Flint Monsters aren't born. They're made. Wrongfully discharged Air Force investigator Archer Lucas thought his career was over ... until he got an offer he couldn't refuse: join the Shadow Sentinels, an elite, secret team tasked with threats too terrifying and too bizarre for ordinary forces. His first mission plunges him deep into the eerie Appalachian woods, into Tall Pines, Georgia, a town haunted by dark legends and sudden, unexplained disappearances. Locals whisper of the legendary Wampus Cat, but the truth is infinitely darker: a powerful biotech firm has unleashed genetically engineered predators, and they're hunting the townspeople for sport. As a catastrophic flood isolates the town, Archer and his team face off against horrifying creatures born from science gone wrong, corrupt government conspiracies, and a chilling corporate cover-up reaching the highest levels of power. The only ally Archer can truly trust is A.L.I.C.E., a mysterious AI with secrets of her own. In a battle between nightmare and reality, truth and lies, Archer must rely on his instincts and confront his darkest fears if he hopes to survive the night. Shadow Sentinel is Michael Crichton's scientific dread fused with Stephen King's bone-chilling suspense, delivering heart-pounding action and relentless terror that keeps you breathless until the final page. If you love: Thrillers like Jurassic Park, The Terminal List, and Relentless Edge-of-your-seat horror like The Troop and The Ruins Deep-state conspiracies, military secrets, and unstoppable monsters …then you'll devour Shadow Sentinel in one unforgettable sitting. Lock your doors. Keep the lights on. The hunt begins now. |
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Bite Sized Fiction by Robbie Sheerin This collection features five sci-fi stories, from cops hunting humanoid robots in Blade Runners 2039, to the shocking truth behind the Titanic in Ships Colliding in the Night. In Defrosting H.G. Wells, the legendary author is thrust 200 years into the future, awakening on a human-colonized planet—and questioning what became of Earth and its inhabitants. The other five tales explore the intricacies of the human mind and heart: aging parents, childhood trauma, and mental health. A daughter is haunted by her controlling mother in Just Ignore Me. In The Incredible Broken Mind, a retired naval officer recalls the Black Plague with incredible detail, but not everything is what it appears. Concerns and Sandcastles captures a child's quiet worry about his parents’ love, while What Dangers Lay Beyond That Barrier of Mahogany Wood delves into the isolated world of a man battling agoraphobia. Award-winning writer Robbie Sheerin weaves humor, pathos, and surprise into every story—each one a twist-filled journey through imagination and emotion. |
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Tales From Another Dimension by Robbie Sheerin Tales from another dimension is a strange and fantastical collection of ten short stories. Robbie Sheerin is inspired by classic Sci-fi, invoking nightmarish twists and turns with each story. Travel to another dimension and meet strange characters, sometimes human, and at times not so human. They will make you question the solidity of the earth and mankind. Explore prejudice, fear, imagination, kindness, empathy, and human frailty. |
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The Orb inspires and ignites the imagination with its explosive twists and intriguing characters. This epic tale transcends the boundaries of the universe, exploring the depths of human nature and the unyielding quest for truth and justice. The Galactic Realm, a vast and omnipotent empire, its governance is supreme but with all empires, they have their detractors. The Ceithern, a group of rebels and outsiders, have long sought to disrupt the Realm's tyranny. Led by a wise-cracking ex-soldier and his ingenious girlfriend, they team up with a brilliant, albeit eccentric scientist and his loyal robot companion. Each member brings their unique skills and quirks to their mission, united by a common goal: to steal the Orb and dismantle the Realm's oppressive rule. Their theft of the Orb causes the Realm to activate two elite agents, known for their relentless pursuit and cunning, to retrieve the stolen relic before the great Realm summit. Their journey takes them across diverse planets, each with its own challenges and dangers. From the icy tundra’s of Zardo to the sprawling deserts of Casis, the cat-and-mouse game intensifies, with both sides displaying remarkable ingenuity and resilience. But not all is as it seems as this story unfolds. History, identities and goals all shift. Everyone has a reason to fight. At its core, The Orb is a story of human development and the indomitable spirit to overcome insurmountable odds. It delves into the essence of what it means to be flawed yet strive for greatness, to face one's demons while fighting for a just cause. The characters' journeys reflect the universal struggle for identity, purpose, and redemption. This story is not just a thrilling adventure across the galaxy but also a profound exploration of the human condition. It challenges readers to reflect on their own journeys, their values, and the battles they face, both within and beyond. Through its rich narrative and dynamic characters, The Orb leaves an enduring impact, a testament to the power of storytelling to transform and inspire. |
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Iara's Crossing by Diana L. Pomeroy First published in March 2022 via Barnes and Noble, Lulu Press and Ko-fi, Iara’s Crossing is a riveting tale about a feathered dinosaur discovering herself, her purpose, and the power of love as she crosses an entire continent to stop invasive tyrants from destroying the hub of her kind. Action-adventure, high fantasy, and dinosaur paleontology converge in this one-of-a-kind story that will leave you wanting to know more until the very end. |
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Blood of Drakgar: Bound by Freedom by Nadine Luis The Dominion rules. The rebels bleed. The extremists burn. And the Drakgar are awakening. The galaxy is crumbling under the Dominion’s rule. Worshiping a Sentient AI Core as a god, the Dominion crushes all who resist. The rebels fight for freedom, while the extremists will burn the galaxy to end the Dominion’s reign. Rakasa wants no part of their war. As a former slave and pit fighter, her freedom is the only thing she’ll burn the stars to protect. But when her mentor is captured, she’s thrust into a mission with a rogue smuggler whose secrets could ruin them both. What was supposed to be a simple job shatters into chaos. The deeper Rakasa dives into the mission, the more she senses a connection to the force buried within her bloodline—a power both deadly and divine. Now, hunted by the Dominion, shadowed by rebels, and stalked by extremists, Rakasa must choose: keep running from what she is—or embrace it and carve her own fate. If you love sci-fi fantasy romance books with action-packed adventure, slow-burn romance, found family, and strong heroine, Blood of Drakgar is your next obsession. Perfect for readers of space opera, science fiction fantasy, and fantasy fiction for adults, this is a high-stakes blend of sci fi and fantasy, and action-adventure fiction books that hits like Red Rising and Gideon the Ninth—with a dragon-shaped twist. |
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Body Rocker Jaz (Earth Scout, #2) by Matthew Thompson The war on Spectra rages on, and the heat is rising – both on Earth and in Cyan-Amber’s life. Still inhabiting Jaz’s body, she’s rocking Camden’s pubs with Scouts, but when a beloved companion goes missing, her grief threatens the band’s future. Chas pushes for a record deal, Kel battles virtual foes, and Todd’s misguided attempts to shed his posh image create more problems than solutions. But Jaz’s biggest challenge arrives in the form of an emissary from Spectra – sent to bring Cyan-Amber home to face the consequences of her desertion. Will Scouts rise to fame or fall apart under the pressure of two worlds colliding? In the end, the band’s greatest battle may not be for the stage but for their very survival. |
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On Impact (Reliance Sinclair #2) by Heather Texle They turned me into a weapon. Now I’m the only one who can stop them. When an assassin kills a Ritruvian official using an illegal bionic weapon, the galaxy teeters on the edge of war. My team must locate the remaining weapons and shut down Tazza Industries, the company that developed them. I have history with Tazza. Six months ago, they used me as a test subject, implanting a cutting-edge chip into my brain designed for espionage and covert operations. Instead of killing me, it gave me a deadly advantage—and a purpose. To take them down and avoid an interplanetary war, I’ll need to confront my darkest fears—and trust the lethal skills I never wanted. |
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Sacrificing Serenity by Holly Ash What would you sacrifice to keep your kids healthy? With the rollback of environmental regulations, clean drinking water has become a luxury for the rich. A year after the death of her husband, single mother Reggie Stone is barely holding things together. Her nonprofit construction company has run out of funding, her son is being bullied at school, and with the rising cost of bottled water it’s becoming harder by the day to provide her kids with food, water, and a safe place to live. Fueled by desperation, she calls in the one advantage she swore she would never take and moves them to Serenity, the original Sanctuary City, an experimental town surrounded by a smart grid that filters out all pollutants. The only downside is the Sanctuary Cities are run by Reggie’s estranged parents whose love and approval has always been dependent on how well their children preform in the sciences. Reggie assumes the blunt disapproval and passive aggressive comments from her parents are the worst she’ll have to deal with, but she soon realizes things aren’t what they seem in the city. Unexplained gaps in the residents’ memories sets Reggie off on a mission to discover what’s really going on inside the smart grid before her children lose all their memories of their father. |
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How I Hacked the Moon by R. A. Dines At the first coding academy on the moon, constant surveillance doesn't stop the smartest misfits from plotting their escape—even though it may cost them their freedom. Life is boring on the moon. Even with stewed grubs for lunch, regular spacewalks, low-oxygen drills, and skydiving sims. Not that 13-year-old Moon Girl minds — for the first time she has a best friend and AI coding to occupy her anxious mind. Even with 6x less gravity on the moon, the past four years living at the prestigious Lunar Coding Complex run by the sinister Big Smile Corp, have been more stable than her life ever was on Earth. The problem with a charismatic best friend, however, is that she’s a magnet for trouble. The friends attempt (and fail) to hack the school’s core database, catching the attention of a group of rebel hackers led by Dovrin, Moon Girl’s long-time crush. When Dovrin invites her to join his crew, Moon Girl is thrilled at the chance to spend more time with him and prove her skills as a hacker. But as she gets in deeper with the rebels and closer with Dovrin, she realizes she’s jeopardizing the only friendship she’s ever had. So when she discovers Big Smile Corp’s dangerous secret that threatens the lives of everyone she loves, she’s not sure where to turn. Even if Moon Girl and Dovrin accomplish their mission, will they safely be able to return to Earth? And if they fail, what price will Big Smile Corp make them pay? Fans of The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera will enjoy How I Hacked the Moon, a thrilling adventure for ages 10 to adult. |
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Aminta never fit in. Not with her research, not with her style, not with this world. But when a breakthrough discovery is made beneath the pyramids of Egypt, the Machine begins to stir, and she must follow the pull – or risk losing everything she loves... including herself. Part love story, part apocalyptic adventure, part metaphysical thriller, part psychedelic voyage into the unknown – The Pull is a haunting, transcendent and touching journey about memory, sacrifice, and what it means to choose your own fate – even when the world is ending. |
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Circle for the Earth by Daphne Singingtree When a mysterious thunderclap transports a 30-mile circle of South Dakota—including a casino resort, small towns, and two Lakota reservations—back to the year 1791, a new nation is born. Rooted in Indigenous values and armed with 21st-century knowledge, the people of the Circle must navigate a world of colonial empires, ecological collapse, and the threat of genocide. As leadership falls to Rose Chasing Hawk, a hospitality manager turned head of state, the survivors face impossible choices: How much technology should they share? Who can they trust? And how do they protect the Earth while rewriting history? A time-travel saga of survival, sovereignty, and reimagined futures. |
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Kawokee Right to Belong by Reid Minnich and Stacy Bender Born to human parents, Max has never seen another Kawokee. Hungry for acceptance, he steps out into a world where he is seen as a dangerous animal because of his foxlike appearance and the virus he carries. Encouraged by finding a friend, he ventures into a public place and is almost killed. The incident thrusts him into the social spotlight where he becomes both villain and a hero. Between these violent titanic forces, he must fight for the right to belong. |
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Kawokee by Reid Minnich and Stacy Bender Jasmine Char is infected with the Kaw virus spreading through humanity on all inhabited worlds. For her, the desperate mission to the Kawokee world to find a cure is a one-way journey. While the other scientists look for a chemical cure from the safety of orbit, Jasmine believes the cure is in the culture of the primitive, fox-like natives. But the Kawokee have been decimated and their culture all but lost due to human interference. Can Jasmine discover a cure before the Kawokee disappear along with the entire human race |
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"That's it. That's all I had. I kept pulling the lever of the slot machine in my mind to come up with another word, but all I could think was charred charred charred, as if it was the jackpot. Billows of steam ascended from the black rubble of the dining hall. The carnage of the building littered the snow in a perfect little half-circle around the foundation." After being in online school for the last four years, Scottlin Vincino starts his Junior year at a new private boarding school an hour from home. It should have been similar to any other in-person school-- but alas, they had everything Scottlin didn't. A mark. He'll have to keep it a secret, but it gets tricky when you have a knack for ending up in the infirmary... Whether it be for the hot boy you just met, or you're swept up in one of the freak accidents at the school that seem to just keep happening. Scott will have to juggle his sexuality, his grades, and his new friends all while solving the mystery of what is happening to his new academy. |
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I am the one of the end, the world maker, and the god breaker. Time is unraveling and Earth is doomed to wander the dark of space, unmoored from the galaxy itself. Galiaro’s plan for humanity’s escape to another dimension has failed and his dark matter robot creations, Beetro and Curse, were imprisoned in a nanoscopic black hole. Now, the entire planet is blighted by drought, the oceans heave beyond their bounds, and thousands are dispossessed. The end of the cosmos was foreseen by an ancient Alchean prophet named Othel. Thousands of years ago, Othel left behind the Dark Earth prophecy for the planet to survive the calamity. Now, the fellowship of Dark Theory—the drunken astrocyst Galiaro, Arym of the underground cult, thief Miree, time traveler Hawera, and the street rat Ribcage—must pick up the breadcrumbs of the ancient prophet’s quest to save Earth. Separately, they traverse the dying world and learn alarming news—the dark matter robots, Curse and Beetro, have escaped their black hole prison. Once parallel world enemies, the two robot brothers now have an uneasy alliance, and with an advantage… Curse already knows the prophecy. He has seen it before, used it before, and destroyed his own world with its power. Now on the cusp of annihilation, whoever wields the Dark Earth prophecy will unleash the cosmic power that could save—or doom—reality itself. |
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Dark Kingdom (Dark Law Book #2) by Wick Welker Warrior at birth. Warrior at death. Dark Theory is real. The universe is expanding without Earth, dooming it to wander the void alone. Resources are dwindling and war festers across the blighted planet. Ria, a cyborg slave, is commanded by an implanted governor chipto track down dark matter, which may hold the key to restoring Earth's place in the cosmos. Ria travels with Haldane, a hardened warrior from a parallel dimension. Together, they traverse the horrors of the wastelands, finally reaching the fabled Fifth Kingdom. There, they find a nightmarish prison state of dark matter mines ruled by an iron-fisted despot. To achieve their goal, Ria and Haldane must fight to not only win the key to the dark matter mines, but also the hearts of an enslaved people. The fate of the universe, and Ria’s freedom, rests on who wins the Fifth Kingdom—and what they do with it. |
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Zoi by Jane Mondrup At the age of five, Amira watched footage of the first zoi specimen arriving in our solar system, and she became instantly fascinated with the huge, cell-like creature floating among the stars. Decades later, she and three other astronauts have taken residence in a zoi as it continues its voyage through space. They have no way of steering its course. Communicating with their non-sentient host is limited to signals of physical needs. And while the zoi meets those needs, it also exposes its passengers to hormonal and even genetic alterations. Now, as masses of biological material start growing on each astronaut, their interstellar journey begins a new stage--one with far-reaching consequences both for the humans and the zois. |
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Adventures in Bodily Autonomy: Exploring Reproductive Rights in Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror by Nisi Shawl, Elizabeth Bear, Annalee Newitz, Ellen Klages, Cecilia Tan, Jaymee Goh, Raven Belasco, Kathleen Alcalá, Tara Campbell, Cynthia Gralla, K Ibura, Helena MarĂa Viramontes, Sonya Taaffe, Anya De Niro The fourteen tales in Adventures in Bodily Autonomy flow across alternate universes and through space and time to consider the issues of reproductive justice through a fresh perspectives. There is an adventure here for everyone. An astronaut on her way to Mars discovers she’s pregnant — can she keep her baby? Bee-like entities try to force a human to be their queen. In1930s Philly, a vampire offers a novel form of birth control. From a ghost, lessons learned too late. Women who cannot find a comfortable fit in their mythic realities. Future worlds where reproductive choices are different, but individual choice and external battles for that choice are just as real. Adventures in Bodily Autonomy will be released on October 16th, 2023, a date important in the history of women’s healthcare rights. On October 16, 1916, in Brooklyn, New York, Margaret Sanger opened the country’s first birth control clinic. Just nine days later police shut down the clinic, and Sanger served 30 days in prison. For over 50 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels — including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and postpartum care, and paid family leave—for every body. Authors include Kathleen Alcalá ~ Elizabeth Bear ~ Raven Belasco ~ Tara Campbell ~ Anya De Niro ~ Jaymee Goh ~ Cynthia Gralla ~ K Ibura ~ Ellen Klages Annalee Newitz ~ Nisi Shawl ~ Sonya Taaffe ~ Cecilia Tan ~ Helena MarĂa Viramontes One hundred percent of the royalties of Adventures in Bodily Autonomy are being donated to Reproductive Freedom for All to help them continue their vital fight for women’s bodily autonomy and basic human rights. “So satisfying to read a volume of new speculative fiction stories centered on women’s experience, women’s lives, women’s choices! You’ll find a pleasurable variety here: hard sf, fantasy, ghosts, vampires, horror, sweet lyricism and steel-edged noir — stories from well-known names, and stories from writers you've never encountered before. I guarantee that at least one story in this volume will make you punch the air in triumph, and another will work its way into your dreams, and not let go.” —Elizabeth Lynn, World Fantasy Award Winner “This anthology will be a breath of fresh air ins the ongoing fight for the right of women to control and make decisions about their own bodies.” —Chinelo Onwualu, author of “What The Dead Man Said” “Adventures in Bodily Autonomy is a fresh and bold collection. In our current political climate, these stories and imaginings are desperately needed.” —Myriam Gurba, author of Mean |
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The key to the future is a book from the past. The world is a frozen wasteland. Oskar and his sister Mitzi are fleeing south, trying to escape the Northern Raiders who have slaughtered their people. They find sanctuary in a strange city where they are made welcome. But the Northern Raiders have followed, and the city is besieged. Oskar joins with his new-found friends and takes up arms to help them defend their home. But then he discovers an old diary hidden away in the library. The diary was written at the time of the city’s foundation and reveals the truth about what happened all those years ago – and what caused the world to freeze. Oskar soon realises that there is more than one way for him to save this city. |
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Wraith and the Revolution by A.J. Calvin Kye Verex is trapped. Due to a fluke of genetics, the decisions of the galaxy’s elite, and a lack of finances, he’s stuck on his polluted and noxious home world indefinitely. And it’s slowly killing him. Then his more fortunate sister returns one day, bringing the promise of salvation. Kelsey has always hoped to find the means to pull him out of his desperate cycle of survival, but it has taken years. Now, she has a plan, one that will cure his genetic condition and clear him for interstellar travel. The catch? He has to sign over his very existence – and a portion of his humanity – to Zylar Inc., the galaxy’s most prominent and notorious corporation, in exchange for the necessary treatment. Is his cure worth the cost? |
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The Kiss Catastrophe by Raima Larter It is 2071, 29 years after Earth's Great Climate Catastrophe. Syd, a chemist at a powerful mega-corporation, meets Jake who takes her to a cave that contains a portal to another planet, Cascadia, an oceanic world suffering its own climate crisis. Meanwhile on Cascadia, Ruddy, a poet employed by the Ministry of Poetry is pursued by resistance forces of an enslaved minority, the In-Between, who see him as the key to their deliverance. An explosion strands him and an In-Betweener scientist on Earth and the four must join forces to save both planets from their climate crises. |
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Apocalypse got you down? Lines at the supermarket and rush hour traffic might be non-existent, but avoiding those pesky, flesh-eating undead can sure be a hassle. Find out what others are doing to cope with the zombie blues in nine short stories with a slightly quirky look at life in the apocalypse. A disgraced psychologist observes and records holiday shoppers' increasingly disturbing behavior in "Stress of the Season.” A horror film actress finds her true calling after the walking dead become a reality in "Diary of a Professional Screamer." An undead socialite refuses to give up being chic, though it may be harder to get reservations at the more fashionable restaurants in "And Her Little Dog, Too." A Chicago bluesman carries an axe of another kind in "Jasper Wills and the Zombie Blues." |
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In a little town in Indiana, in a place called the Zombie Café a possible solution to survive the apocalypse is brewing. Meanwhile, scattered across the country, a roller rink deejay, a handful of college students, and an English teacher walk into the zombie apocalypse.... If you're hungry for the drama of the zombie apocalypse served with a side of humor put this book on your menu. |
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King of the Dead: A zombie romance by Ryana Hunter Almost a decade after the fall of man, the undead rule the world, and somehow Renee is still alive. Only a teenager when the apocalypse started, she watched everyone around her die. What she doesn’t realize to the king of the dead is she’s a ghost from the past. So, when his horde takes the city and he sees her, Zane doesn’t hesitate to seek her out. Without knowing it, she is the reason he became the monster he is. Given a second chance, he makes her his own. He’s devastated when she doesn’t remember him, but he can’t let her go, not this time. Zane will stop at nothing to make her his queen. She had given up when Zane found her, but she’s furious he forced her to become his prisoner. When Renee learns the key that might save humanity and destroy the zombies, it breathes a new purpose into her existence. However, to understand the secrets of the king of the dead, she has to get close to him. They discover they are bound by more than circumstance, that life and death may not be what they believe, and they can be reborn through love. Together they can create the Kingdom of the Dead. |
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A chef, a choir boy and a newly minted office grunt are ripped away from their everyday lives and landed on a deserted island. They do not know each other or where they are. Nor why they hear a large computer voice that informs them “The world that you know is not available right now. Rebooting world now.” All they know is that nothing is as it seems and everything keeps changing. Available free on the Nightlight Podcast |
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Attack of the 50ft Trans Woman by Caledonia Fife Lily Watson will do anything to transition, so when a shady biotech company offers her an experimental gene-editing gender change for free, she jumps at the chance. It means the end of her marriage, but she is prepared to live with that. She isn’t prepared for the radiation mutating her edited DNA, causing Lily to grow to an astounding FIFTY FEET! Now the biotech company wants her dead, genital-obsessed cultists are whipping up a public fear of her, the media has labelled her a terrorist for the crime of being a (really, really) tall woman, the police are after her for stealing her own DNA, and the government has sent the army to kill her. She’s big and she’s angry Fine, if they think she’s a threat, she’ll be a threat. She sets out for Downing Street, with death, destruction and murderous mayhem on her mind. When she is given the opportunity to affect meaningful change for trans people, she must choose if that is more important than her lust for vengeance… #GiantTransLivesMatter |
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Trails: Pit Miners by Gail Brown The middens of the ancestors slowly empty. The last few usable pieces are found. Only a generation since KlaPit mine was abandoned, the new mine at Shells is almost empty. Buried dangers emerge from the bottoms of the pit mines. Forgotten fears told as campfire tales emerge in their spectral forms. Rusty worries her life skill is at an end. She has no other interest, than being the dig leader following Zella. Ambrena feels threatened that her life skill will be less valued as Tanna's daughters grow up. Every mistake is magnified as if it were life threatening. Corandra fears her ancestors have cursed her. Corandra knows they don't want her. Everything she touches crumbles. The box she found spreads a devastating illness. She abandons her villa for a cure. Corandra feels abandoned by her older friends, Ambrena and Rusty, as they embrace their life skills. The only person who notices her anymore is her verbal sparring partner, Henry. Or so she thinks. Will Corandra forgive herself? Will she allow others to forgive her for the damage her ancestors committed? When she has to choose between saving Ambrena and Rusty, or saving Henry, how will she decide? What will that decision mean to the future of the Pit Miners? Will Ambrena and Rusty find the cure they so desperately seek? Is it even what they think it is? Will the battle in the Grass Sea lead to peace, or the forgotten specter of war? |
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Trails: First Generation by Gail Brown A devastating cascade of earthquakes strike New Mexico's forgotten fault lines. Quakes spread across the continent. Fumeroles emerge in unknown hotspots. The Earth shakes and begins the process of opening the Rio Sea, where once, in prehistory, a great ocean thrived. Oceans heave as the Ring of Fire bursts with increased activity. Continental plates shift, rip apart, and bounce against each other. Oceans heave as the Ring of Fire bursts with increased activity. Disaster builds on disaster. Continental plates shift, rip apart, and bounce into each other. Everyone thought Arizona and New Mexico would be forever safe from earthquakes, volcanoes, and shifting water tables. Only, they aren't. As the continental plates shift, so do the lives of Amber and Alex as they struggle to find firm ground in the altered landscape. Aftershocks spread through the land, changing communities, forcing most to flee for their lives. The world as Amber and Alex knew crumbles around them. Family and friends missing. Communication relays fail. There is no power, or phone service, with remaining fuel reserved for military missions. Society as they knew it, teeters on the brink of collapse. Established communities melt apart, as walls between human population groups soar. Men, women, and cultures clash as if they had never learned to live together in peace. Together, survivors must build a future in a tangled environment of fear, hunger, cold, and desolation. |
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Galataria's Echoes by Gail Brown Galataria teeters on the brink of destruction. At least, the human population does. The rest of the world has been rescued. At what cost? Earth stumbles along the path to the Devolution War Galataria fought generations ago. Dreams begin to cross the dimensional boundary between Galataria and Earth. Dreams of people and places that don't match the lived experiences of the receivers. For Kalara and Leonard on Galataria, the dreams appear like nightmares, a haunt of a past best forgotten. For Shalin and Jendal, the dreams of Galataria are peaceful and serene. A beauty in life they have never seen. Stress builds in both worlds. Although the connection falters, it soon becomes the only way to save Galataria. Ties bind them together, between worlds. Bringing a bit of both worlds across the bridge into the other. Both worlds are threatened with ideas, and a life most don't recognize, and many fear. |
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Concurrent Earths by Gail Brown Explore worlds, not quite as you know them. Alternative Earths, or human-like beings on other planets. Other times, history has changed. A forgotten past. An unreached future. A dream of places that may, or may not, be. Various short stories that stir the soul, and grasp at long forgotten details, which beg to be heard again. Concurrent Earths contains 40 short stories of Earth, or almost Earth, that may, or may not, exist. These stories reach to us across the stars. They share a thought, a dream, or a hope. Stories that touch the heart and soul. Whether a single individual, a community, or a society, each story delves into specific situations, and how they might benefit society. Or, how they might go wrong. Very wrong. |
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Terraform Charlie by Edge O. Erin Humans are destroying the Earth and need a new home. After years of work and fighting those determined to stop him, terraforming scientist Charlie Kehler and his dedicated team have the solution-sowing life in the primordial soup of Nova Terra. A planet in the Alpha Centauri star system, Nova Terra is the destination for Shia and her fellow colonists and home to the indigenous Manots. How do two peoples with a common ancestor react when they meet? When Charlie seeded life on Nova Terra thousands of years previously, he feared things could go monstrously wrong. As the lives of the two races collide, will they choose war... or peace? Was Charlie right? |