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Empress of Dust by Alex Kingsley There are monsters outside the city walls. Harvard is small, anxious, and plagued by a constant tremor, which is not an ideal combination for a desert scavenger. He and his crew are under constant threat of desertwalker attacks, and Harvard is nearly useless against them. When the biggest mistake of Harvardâs life separates him from his crew, he must learn the secrets of the desert beasts in order to survive the dangers of the dusts. Returning to Bastion with a surprising ally, Harvard is forced to choose between saving his crew or allying with the âmonstersâ who rescued him. Harvard never saw himself as a hero, but when the beasts of the dusts implore him to aid their rescue mission, he holds the lives of crabs and humans alike in his trembling hands. |
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It was just another rainy day in autumn when Freya's house fell into the sea. Freya isn't your average suburban school kid; she's a demigoddess. But even she can't hold back the sea. A storm sets Freya and her family adrift in a world where the weather comes with attitude, and rising sea levels are as much about personality clashes as climate change. Freya just wants to keep her cat fed and maybe find a friend. But with were-foxes in town, nothing is easy. |
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Turn Left at the Mooncrow Skeleton by Linda Raedisch âWelcome to Planet 5372, a uniquely dystopian world where the unlikely heroes include a handful of shambolic university students and their taciturn landlord. Raedischâs layered writing and photographic attention to detail make this slice-of-life archaeological adventure entirely believable.â âClarissa Simmens, author of Parallel Universe Cafe and Other Poems For the past two hundred years, the colonists marooned on Planet 5372 have been confined to a volcanic basin the size of New Jersey. Outside the Basin lie the uninhabitable (some say haunted) ruins known as the Outer Cities. Bored with campus life at the colonyâs only university, twenty-year-old Numi rents a room from Kelda, an uneducated, thirty-something carpenter whose movements are closely monitored by the âshinglesâ or neighborhood deputies. Numi doesnât mind running interference between the reserved Kelda and his rambunctious tenants, but the two can never be more than friends. Numiâs an up-and-coming academic, and Keldaâs a Tyrrhenian, a descendant of the manual laborers who cleared the toxic vegetation from the Basin. As Halloween approaches, Numi is still summoning the courage to confront Kelda with her suspicion that heâs mixed up in the black market trade in âmagical paraphernalia,â mysterious carved objects left behind by the planetâs indigenous, supposedly extinct inhabitants. Time runs out on Mischief Night when Kelda disappears, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Numi faces a decision. She can report her suspicions to the shingles, or she can follow her landlord to the one place she thought she could never go: the Outer Cities. |
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Time of the Cat by Tansy Rayner Roberts Itâs time to take history seriously. The cats and humans of Chronos College know that time travel is the best job in the world, and nothing bad can ever happen to them in the past⊠except that one time they lost a traveller. And that other time they lost a cat. Now they have a chance to make up for past mistakes by rescuing a long lost legend. If only they could convince Professor Boswell, the grumpiest marmalade tabby of all time, to join their mission to the Swinging Sixties, and save one of their own. (Plus pick up a missing piece or two of lost media along the way.) Join Ruthven, Boswell, Monterey and Lovelace on the most chaotic time travel adventure of their lives. Featuring special appearances by Cleopatra, Anne Boleyn, famous actress Fleur Shropshire, and the even more famous house where they filmed TV show Cramberleigh between 1964-1986. Time of the Cat is a cozy sci-fi romp through the centuries, featuring academic endnotes, epic friendships, and far more cat hair than is strictly necessary. If youâd rather use time travel to steal the pens of famous writers of history than stop to fill in the proper paperwork, then this is the novel for you. |
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Thrill Kings: Fragmented Sky by Rik Ty Youâre an interdimensional rescue worker. Actually, youâre a young test driver, but in hard times, you aim higher. One night in early summer, a Bleed Zone erupts along a California parkway. Strange creatures from other worlds rip through to ours. Your team has the means to set things right, and you get to work. As you are completing the mission, a shadow branch of the Army arrives, once again trying to capture your team and seize control of your technology. Itâs crazy. You hang back. Maybe you can make the soldiers see reason. Every one of them is roughly your age. It shouldnât be too hard⊠Itâs crazy hard. Youâre lucky to escape with your life. But in the encounter, you inadvertently supply the soldiers with information their commanding officer has been seeking. Now he has everything he needs to launch his end game. Heâs going to finish you quickly. Heâs going to play rough. And playing rough â with interdimensional technology â is not a good idea. The following 24 hours will steer us all âŠbetween a promised age of discovery⊠and the frantic collapse of traditional reality. |
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The Man Who Sold the World by Iain Benson James London is having a weird week. One minute, heâs dodging London traffic like a caffeinated squirrel, and the next, heâs knee-deep in Istanbulâs rubble, where a rogue chemistry experiment has gone disastrously right, turning the city into a tourist-free zone. Not that this is a first for himâsaving the world is just another bullet point on his CV. Enter D&D aficionado, Zee, a teenager (maybe) with a knack for shortcuts and a dad who thinks Ambrosia is more than just custard. Together, theyâre on a mission to stop a Turkish mobster in a gold lamĂ© tracksuit from turning copper into gold and the global economy into a grim joke. Oh, and thereâs the small matter of immortality on the line, because why not? Meanwhile, Detective Louise Sargant wants to solve a straightforward case of a shattered mirror on the Southbank. Instead, sheâs stuck dealing with colleagues who think her last name is the punchline to every joke, and she suspects beloved chef Nigella Lawson might be in danger. Packed with more twists than a politicianâs promises and enough irreverent humour to make you snort your coffee, âThe Man Who Sold the Worldâ is James Londonâs third outing and a wild ride through secret shortcuts, interdimensional mayhem, and one detectiveâs quest to avoid going completely bonkers. Perfect for fans of madcap adventures, this novel will have you questioning everything you thought you knew about alchemy, ancient myths, and the Turkish mafia. |
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The Great Ooflan From Corplop by Charlie D. Weisman Charlando is sent to Earth as a baby to escape the clutches of a secret society of cannibalistic Ooflan on his home planet of Corplop. During his long years of isolation with nothing but his spaceship to talk to, he develops a fascination with love and romance. His belief that his soulmate awaits him on Earth is all that keeps him sane. He arrives on a war-torn Earth to find Janet, a newly homeless alcoholic, blacked out on a park bench. Believing this to be his long-awaited soulmate, he pledges his undying devotion to her. Janet, too drunk to understand the profound opportunity with which she has been presented, asks Charlando for a sandwich. The pair depart from one another and embark on their own perilous adventures: Charlando on a mission to reunite with his beloved Janet, and Janet on a quest for inner peace in a world that is crumbling all around her. |
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The Collective: Science is Stranger Than Fiction by J. F. Olazabal 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 couldnât have happened⊠âŠbut Science is stranger than fiction. Iago is an accomplished young Operator, harvesting corn in the name of the Collective â a hi-tech orphanage thousands of miles from civilization. After a chance encounter with Javier and Kraken â a pair of wayward boys who have escaped a brutal prison known as the Village â 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. |
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Two galaxies. One microbe. Trillions at risk. When an unidentified microbe sweeps across Earth, curing all disease but crippling the global economy, heiress Aubrey Hope hatches a risky plan to save her familyâs pharmaceutical empire. To succeed, sheâll need the help of a brilliant microbiologist, a master hacker, and a pop star with a secret. In another galaxy, Matthai Valtrellin, unexpected heir to the high priesthood, is burdened by grief and duty. But when a bloodied alien claiming to be his mate teleports from the future, his world turns upside down. Caught between his obligations to her, his family, and the countless Valmoran citizens he is meant to lead, he finds himself torn between fate and destiny. But with the help of a luck-obsessed smuggler, an empathic politician who finds most people âinvariably intolerableâ, and a four-armed ex-gladiator, he may just find himself on a perilous journey to a mythical planet ⊠called Earth. As these complex characters navigate love, duty, and the weight of their choices, their paths intertwine in unexpected ways. Nothing is as it seems, and the truth could reshape two galaxies forever. Perfect for fans of the grand-scale world-building of Dune, the ragtag crew dynamics of Firefly, and the mind-bending twists of Black Mirror, The Valmoran Chronicles: Emergence is a thrilling space opera that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. |
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Kara is an outcast. A freak. A non-telepath. The only person to ever show her any kindness â Caethiid, is dead. Ever since the state informed her of Caethiidâs death, Karaâs life has been bleak, consisting of a tedious job, a small book collection and the painful memories of a love that never was. But Kara also harbours a dark secret. Within her is a terrible power, one thatâs manifested in times of great danger, with devastating consequences. When Caethiid miraculously reappears, Karaâs joy is short-lived. From across the galaxy, Caethiid has been listening to Karaâs thoughts. He knows her secret and he wants to use her power to overthrow the state. Kara finds herself trapped in his twisted game of psychological manipulation. As Caethiidâs ruthless nature is revealed, Kara realises the man she once knew may no longer exist. With Caethiidâs grip tightening, Kara begins to wonder whether she can trust her own mind, or whether everything she thought she knew was part of his plan all along. |
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Hi De Ho, Infecterino! by Andrew Marc Rowe Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out Larry Evans never asked for this, dude. As the front man for a rock band with the brand spankingest new deal with a major record label, the Irish-born Londoner was on the up and up. Finally, he could cease slinging pot to make ends meet and maybe â just maybe â make his father proud of him. One little âaccidentalâ fire and a faceful of sporulating destiny had another idea⊠Subject #30452 never really asked for it either. Not the injections from the strange men, not the development of sapience and self-awareness out of his easy-going life as a crow. Not to mention the fact that he was the sole one of his murdermates to have some kind of Cartesian epiphany in the California section of Parasol Industries. Escape â and revenge, served hot â might prove to be the first orders of business as brilliant bird of⊠opportunism. And what about Willy, the adult book shop worker who is trying to get clean from sex addiction? Or Hester, the brilliant scientist with the aesthetic challenges? Or Hector, the black ops Zen master? Or Constable Sheri Allston, the bobby who just happened to be thrust into a world of⊠Flesh-eating zombies that may or may not be tripping balls as they feast. There, I said it. Thanks to Parasol Industries, your friendly neighbourhood nefarious corporation on the government teat, some brand-new strain of fungus that is definitely not a derivative of jock itch and Albert Hoffmannâs beloved ergot is bringing humanity to the brink. But the brink of what? Will the monsters destroy us all? Will we use the nuclear option? Or is this all about⊠Evolution? |
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Against Fearful Lies by Vivian Moira Valentine In this second book in the series, Amelia Temple's world has changed. As a test subject to a shady government entity, it is 1954 and she has finally been given limited freedom to move around after being kept captive and studied since birth. That freedom came with a price, however. She now has friends, people she cares about. People who care about her. She has a girlfriend, but she manages to hide that fact, knowing how society would respond. And she has enemies, those who want to study her, dissect her, see what she is. Amelia is not sure what they will find. Something strange is going on at the hospital where her friend Ralph is being kept. And not a normal kind of strange, either. The kind of strange that means Ralph is no longer himself, the nurses at the hospital are keeping secrets, and somehow memories are stolen. In trying to save her friends, and herself, Amelia must not only deal with the creature now living inside her, but she must learn more about who she is and what, exactly, she is capable of. Because one thing has become clear: it's not just her and her friends' lives at stake... there are worlds within worlds and a universe of extranormal activity that just might depend on her. |
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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 doesnât 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? |
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Dragons of Dunmoray by Kate Kelly What can you see? Can you see dragons? Dragons have always been part of our world â only most of us cannot see them. Alba MacGregor can see the dragons. She thinks she is alone in this, or that maybe they are all in her head. But when she meets Al she realises, not only that the dragons are real, but that there are others like her, spread across the world. The dragons are stirring. Thereâs a war coming. A war that has been ongoing for millennia. Only Alba can break this cycle, but to do so she must first defeat a foe much closer to home and far more human. |
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Citrus Bravo by Christopher George Quick A tongue-in-cheek space adventure that plays to the lighter side of the genre. Take a break from hard-core Sci-Fi with Citrus Bravo! Embark on a cosmic odyssey with Arthur Bartlebee, a humble plumber aboard an aging space station named Citrus Bravo. Although Arthur would love more than anything to live out his simple days managing the pipes and drains of the station, he is quickly ripped away by a whirlwind of absurd events that place him smack dab in the center of an otherwordly conspiracy. Flanked by odd aliens and carefree cyborgs, Arthur is bewildered to find humanity's destiny lies in his less-than-capable hands. |
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Against The Stars by Christopher Hartland When an attempt to kiss his best friend becomes a prom night disaster, Elliot Doveâs confusion surrounding his sexuality is thrown into overdrive. Desperate for some clarity, Elliot turns to GlimpseTech, a company offering all over-sixteens a 44-second glimpse of what lies ahead. But Elliotâs Glimpse only makes him more confused, showing him in an intimate moment with Sebastian Glass, the âone gay kidâ in his year at school. Seb, meanwhile, hates Glimpses, and blames the technology for his dadâs absence. But unlike the protesters picket-lining GlimpseTech headquarters, Seb has other things to worry about, like his mumâs depression and the man showing up at his house demanding money. Then he bumps into Elliot, and bumps into him again, until it seems the universe is pulling them together. Despite the vast differences in their lives, Elliot and Seb find something they were missing in each other, and soon friendship blooms into something more. But tensions are growing in the outside world. Rumors of the so-called âLast Dayâââthe day beyond which no one has seen in their Glimpseââare causing widespread panic. With the end of the world an increasingly real prospect, a seemingly uncrossable class divide, and the secret of Elliotâs Glimpse a ticking time bomb, the universe may have other plans for Elliot and Seb. Against The Stars is an exploration of class, love, and destiny, perfect for fans of Adam Silveraâs They Both Die At The End. This speculative, queer romance will have readers desperate to know how things turn out, but if given the choice, would you glimpse ahead? â |
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"Gripping, visceral, and supremely unpredictable." - Nat Cassidy, author of Mary: An Awakening of Terror and Nestlings From Tyler Jones, author of MIDAS and BURN THE PLANS, one of Esquireâs Best Horror Books of 2022, comes a story of deep sea terror and cosmic horror. Struggling with the pressures of being a new father and the weight of regrets, Jamie Fletcher travels to Hawaii in hopes of connecting with his estranged brother, Eric. After a shocking act of violence, the brothers end up on a fishing boat--along with the captain and his son--in the middle of the ocean, where they encounter an uncanny and terrifying phenomenon that will signal a shift in the evolution of the world. |
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Never Steal from Dragons by Patrick Dugan Welcome to Hub! Just a few simple rules apply: 1. Never Steal from Dragons 2. See Rule #1 3. Never Work for Dragons In Hub, a city of treachery and deceit, Gelsey, a pixie, is one of the best thieves around. When a smash and grab assignment turns into a job interview with a powerful dragon, Gelsey finds herself a part of a crew including five more of the best criminals Hub has to offer. Her crew includes Silai, a con artist with a deadly secret. Kelthar, a mage whoâs bent on self-destruction. Aikila, a smuggler set on avenging her father's murder. Nyx, a hacker coming off a busted run, and Lorcan, a mercenary whose child is being held hostage. The dragon pulls all their strings, forcing them to accept an impossible job: break into a fortress nobody in all of Hubâs long history has ever cracked. And if they fail, theyâll end up dead one way or another. A wild mix of fairy tale and Cyberpunk that hits all the marks of classic crime capers. Reads like Elmore Leonard and Neil Stephenson playing D&D in a pixie-infested bar and having the time of their lives way past last call. Kat Richardson, Bestselling author of the Greywalker novels Dugan weaves an excellent heist story by blending the fantasy, cyberpunk, and even noir genres. The world building is top notch, including the lore which uses familiar creatures, but in new ways. This is the book for you if you enjoy cyberpunk, urban fantasy, heist stories, or any combination thereof! Bishop O'Connell Author of American Faerie Tale series and Two-Gun Witch |
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From a secret facility underneath the New Mexico desert, to the frozen moon of Enceladus in Saturn's rings, this historical science fiction thriller will entertain you from beginning to end. A year before the Spanish set foot on the YucatĂĄn shores, a handful of the strongest Aztec were selected for an important mission. Led by their greatest warrior, they raced to escape with the empireâs gold. Over five hundred years later, the treasure theyâd sworn to protect is found in a West Texas cave, putting anyone near it at great risk. In the future, no communications are private from the National Security Agency. A group of five must navigate the dangers that follow their discovery; the wrath of a biker gang, hellbent on revenge. A shadow government, wielding the power of highly trained soldiers and the unrelenting artificial intelligence of the world's smartest computer. |
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In The Garden Of Echo by H.S. Wolfe Echo and Ender have existed nearly as long as the earth itself. Theyâre hungry, in love, and indestructible. For centuries theyâve wandered across continents feeding from their favorite food source - humans. But the mess theyâve left in their wake starts their prey on the path of discovering that they are not what they seem. After being forced to curb their feeding and go into hiding, a tragic incident leads Echo and Ender to learn about what they are, and the power they are truly capable of. In The Garden Of Echo is an erotic botanical horror about two codependent monster of unknown origins born to torture the human race for their sins against the earth. Please see author's carrd for full TW's. |
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Can a rock band save the universe? After surviving everything the galaxy could throw at her over half a million years, the android Esmerelda did the only thing that made sense to her. She stole a state of the art, experimental starship with her best friend, and started a rock band. Together, they began to travel around the galaxy creating art and music while trying to move on from their respective pasts. When a strange couple beg for asylum after a gig, Esmerelda feels the galaxy pulling her back into a life of violence once again. She'd sworn to herself that she'd never go back to her life as an assassin, but when events threaten her new chosen family, Esmerelda must do what it takes to keep the people she loves safe. |
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A robot yearns to remember. A thief struggles to forget. A galaxy on the verge of collapse. On the fringe of a broken civilization, a robot awakens with no memories and only one directive: find his creator. But in the village of Korthe, Beetro finds only radioactive pestilence, famine, and Mireeâa tormented thief with dreams of retiring after her final score. Meanwhile, the fiefdom is plunged further into chaos when a new warlord seizes control, recasting serfs as refugees and leaving derelict robot peasants in his wake. With a shared interest in survival, Beetro and Miree team up to pull off an impossible castle heist: steal a single flake of dark matter, the worldâs most valuable and mysterious ore. But as they trek through the feudal wasteland in search of answers, they realize the true extent of the chaos surrounding them: the stars are disappearing from the sky and the entire galaxy is unraveling. As he uncovers his origin, Beetro discovers he may be the key to the salvation of the cosmosâor its destruction. Time, space, and loyalty become relative as he learns the real reason he was created. A mind-bending science fiction epic with the bones of a fantasy traveling quest, Dark Theory unfolds through a journey of betrayal, identity, and unlikely friendships in a world of darkness set at the edge of space and time. |
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A Dream of Waking Life by E. S. Fein HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF YOUR EXISTENCE? HOW MUCH WOULD YOU SACRIFICE FOR LOVE? When Matthew Willish wakes up on a cold steel floor unsure of how he got there, he begins desperately searching for answers. What Matthew doesn't realize, however, is that this is only the beginning of a journey that will ultimately send him searching other worlds for the answer to numerous profound questions, the most pressing being: is he living in reality or in a dream? Or is he just an insane man who desperately needs help? A Dream of Waking Life is a philosophical and psychological thriller that tells the story of one man's journey through space, time, and mind to not only discover his true identity but also the love of his lifeâa woman who keeps slipping through his fingers and into another reality. A thought-provoking meditation on the thin line between what is real and what is not, A Dream of Waking Life will leave readers questioning how far they would go to understand the nature of their own existence and how much they would sacrifice for love. |
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A Small Gray Dot by P.B. Cannon It is the year 2047 and twenty-five-year-old Tennessee Murray has realized his ambition to teach and his dream of publishing a book. He is preparing to marry the love of his life and things couldnât be better. Then one morning he steps out into foggy weather and finds the world has taken a turn for the extremely bad. In a matter of minutes, half the population of Earth dies in a horrible fashion. Itâs not an ultimate war or biological disaster, and no oversized meteorite hit the planet or any other such catastrophe. It is sudden, it is deadly, and it is inexplicable. Seven and a half years later, Tennessee, now a tracker in a diminished world that is limping along, sets out to find a missing young woman and makes a discovery that sheds light on the longstanding mystery. He also learns that a finale is in store for the remaining peoples of Earth. Could the fate of the world hinge on the actions of an ex-middle school English teacher? |