Models and Citizens by Andrew Sweet In the year 2185, models (or clones) do the jobs that others won’t. Failure to work is punishable by death. Ordell Bentley flees from the violence of the Human Pride Movement and discovers the death of his lover. Ordell chooses to escape rather than return to his life of forced-labor. Harper, his lover’s daughter, hides him from bounty hunters in her family home. Haunted by an unseen stalker, Ordell relies on Harper to help plan his refuge trip to Canada. The reward for Ordell’s capture steadily ticks upward… Can Ordell make it to freedom? Will his unlikely friendship with Harper prove to be his undoing? |
The Engineer by Darran M Handshaw Indie Recs Indie SFFOasis SPSFC 2022 "We are born in the shadow of fading memories and fallen dreams, living our days within the decaying bones of an age long gone." When the Engineer, Actaeon, arrives at Pyramid in the heart of Redemption, nothing goes according to plan. Mysterious raiders pursue him relentlessly across the shattered remains of the ancient metropolis, and the leaders of his homeland pay no heed to his ambitious ideas. Meanwhile, deep beneath Pyramid, a deadly creature stirs. And, when Actaeon meets a skilled young Knight Arbiter with brilliant blue eyes, he starts down a path he could never have imagined. The vast, fallen city of the Ancients is home to a new people who face the constant struggle to find resources needed to survive in the dangerous ruins. For the Engineer, however, Redemption is a treasure trove of technology, opportunity, and answers. But his unique skills make him a target for those who would use his talents to achieve their own dreams of power and control. In his endless quest for the truth, will Actaeon discover the fallen city’s greatest secrets? Or will he share the same fate as the Ancients of whom nothing remains but a whisper? One thing is certain: in Redemption, everything comes with a cost. |
Adam's Rings by Matthew D. White Adam lived an idyllic life, growing up in the rural United States. He showed promise as a student and held a fleeting dream throughout his existence that he would one day prove himself enough to travel to the stars, see the universe, leave footprints on the Martian soil and solve the greatest mysteries ever presented to mankind. But every breath of his life has been a lie. Adam has been grown in a machine on board a research station orbiting Saturn and designed to be its perfect operator. Had the experiment succeeded, he would have thought he launched from Earth as an astronaut and woken up on the far side never the wiser. Thanks to a catastrophic accident, he has arisen years early, without the training and development that would have allowed him to thrive and accept the calling. Adam has been provided the opportunity to live his greatest dream, although the circumstances are merely an illusion. As the arbiter of humanity's most ambitious research mission in history, will Adam accept his fate, strive against those who stole his early years of innocence, or fail in a fleeting attempt at survival, unprepared and alone in the crushing unforgiving wilderness of deep space? |