Sci Fi - Dystopian & Post-Apocalyptic Genre

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Summary: Welcome to the last of the great flying Cities! It’s 9172, YE (Year of the Empire), and the future has forgotten its past. Soaring miles over the Earth, Autumn, the sole surviving flying city, is filled to the brim with the manifold forms of humankind: from Human Plus “floor models” to the oppressed and disfranchised underclasses doing their dirty work and every imaginable variation between. Valerius Bakhoum is a washed-up private eye and street hustler scraping by in Autumn. Late on his rent, fetishized and reviled for his imperfect genetics, stuck in the quicksand of his own heritage, Valerius is trying desperately to wrap up his too-short life when a mythical relic of humanity’s fog-shrouded past walks in and hires him to do one last job. What starts out as Valerius just taking a stranger’s money quickly turns into the biggest and most dangerous mystery he’s ever tried to crack – and Valerius is running out of time to solve it. Now Autumn’s abandoned history – and the monsters and heroes that adorn it – are emerging from the shadows to threaten the few remaining things Valerius holds dear. Can the burned-out detective navigate the labyrinth of lies and maze of blind faith around him to save the City of Autumn from its greatest myth and deadliest threat as he navigates his feelings for his newest client, the handsome golem Alejandro?

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Summary: Kat Wallace is on a mission. After escaping tortuous enslavement, she sets her sights on ending the human trafficking that has flourished in 24th century Earth. Adopted by the leader of the pirate nation of Bosch, Kat Wallace is determined to prove herself as a member of the Bosch Pirate Force and use her skills to avenge her enslavement and free other thralls. But unexpected love and a test of loyalty threaten to rob her of what she wants most: a home.

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Summary: Disaster narrowly averted. New alliances and old enemies. Fentor's foes are advancing. His hairline is receding. His uniform is ... cheaply dyed. Mere weeks ago, the elves had been his bitterest enemies. Now, against all odds, his conscience had forced him to switch sides and save them from obliteration (although, they still didn't really like him much). With few supplies, few friends, little time, and a world to save, Fentor will have to find a way to build a rebellious movement. Also, if there's time, find a hat—or scarf, or something—to hide his rapidly retreating follicles. **** Fentor was sent stumbling back, obliged to match every forceful, wild, yet well-timed swing directed at him. All refinement forgotten, he did his best to simply fend off the onslaught and keep his balance. He made every effort not to kill his attackers. They did not extend the same courtesy to him. “It’s very rude to try and kill someone who’s showing you mercy, you know!” Fentor said, panting heavily. “Hear that, Cartín? A lesson in manners from Lord Lonochy himself!” “Well, I’ve never been more honored,” the Norimandian replied, in a voice so dry and droning that even Fentor almost snickered. “What about ‘All life cares for all life?’ Does that mean nothing to you?” Fentor asked. “Call this the exception that proves the rule!” Cartín said, punctuating his words with several quick thrusts. “But this is so dreadfully unfair! I’m one of the good people now!” Fentor pouted. **** Hiding from Elatea and her Greycoats. Desperately recruiting equally desperate crooks, runaways and ne'er-do-wells. Lacking any semblance of a plan or cohesion, but making up for it with bravado and panache. The war with elves continues, the same as ever, but Fentor knows that if he doesn't act soon, everything will change forever.

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Summary: By his own admission, Riven kan Ingan is a non-believer, denying the existence of magic or religion. He may have been raised by the Margrave of Francovia, but as the son of a barbarian sellsword, he’s never allowed to forget his foreign ancestry. Determined to fulfill the prophecy that he’s to become a king, Riven schemes to hurry his destiny along by marrying the margrave’s daughter, Aleza. Unfortunately, the gods of Arcanis, insulted by his denial of their existence, have other plans. When Aleza is kidnapped by the sorcerer Mahldimir Djaan-Baih, Riven swears a bloodseek oath to rescue her. The princess is restored to her, father but there’s no Happily Ever After for the young skeptic. Thanks to the gods, Riven falls in love with a woman he can’t have. There’s nothing he can do to forget her and no way he can claim her…and this punishment is just the beginning.

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Summary: Androids & Aliens is Scott's third short story collection - eight sci fi and sci-fantasy shorts that run the gamut from cyborgs to (comedic) alien invasions: Rise: The rise in sea levels caused by climate change swallowed Venice beneath the lagoon half a century ago. But what if we could bring it back? Ping: I was a real estate agent by day, and a museum curator in the evening at a sci-fi museum. What I saw one night changed everything. What the Rain Brings: Miriam struggles to make a living in post-climate-change Vancouver. But her friend Catalina has it even worse in the Arizona desert. So Miri hatches a plan. High Seven: Zan dreams of making full reals - immersive live virtual reality skins - but his low score may doom him to a life of cheap coding. Full Real: Dek's given up his life of spying for the city. But one more case awaits him. Will he regret it more if he takes it, or turns it down? Shit City: The Bay Area is being walloped by a hurricane, and seventeen-year-old Jason Vasquez has been relocated to a refugee city in the Nevada Desert. Will it be temporary shelter, or change his life? Firedrake: Kerry has always wondered about his deadly powers. But a mysterious bunch of violet roses starts him on the path to discovery - even if he's not sure he's going to like what he finds. The Last Human Heart: I'm one of the Remainers, the few cyborg humans still living on this busted planet. But if my still-human heart finally gives out, I may not live to find out the truth about who I am. This is the first time all of these stories have all been collected in one place, and the first publication of the Pacific Climate Tryptich - What the Rain Brings, High Seven, and Full Real - in any form.

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Summary: When a change in collective conscious sends the Outsiders, a group of aliens, to the shadows below the city, humans reason that the demonization of their peers is simply more “humane.” There’s no question, nor doubt. Just acceptance. Lydia had embraced that sense of “truth” for as long as she can remember. The daughter of a powerful governor, she has been able to live her life with more comforts than most. Comforts can be suffocating, though, and when the opportunity to teach Outsider children in their private, “humane” community becomes available, she takes it. What she finds beneath the city is far from the truth she had grown to know. There she meets Alessia, an Outsider with the knowledge and will to shake the foundation of all those who walk above ground. The two find a new and unexpected connection despite a complete disconnect from the technological world. Or perhaps in spite of it. Still, it takes a lot more than an immutable connection to change the world. Lydia, Alessia, and a small group of Outsiders must navigate a system of corruption, falsehoods, and twists none of them ever saw coming, all while holding on to the hope to come out alive in the end. But it’s a risk worth taking, and a future worth fighting for.

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Summary: BLACK TIDE: Awakening of the Key  by Debbie Bishop (Author), Mike S. Miller (Illustrator) @debbiebishop_ 5.0 out of 5 stars   (3) COMPLEX PLOT WITH MANY CHARACTERS - Part Sci-fi, part fantasy, with elements of covert intrigue and superhero action, Black Tide is one of the more multifaceted stories I've read in quite a long time. The art by Mike S. Miller is first-rate and very smooth. If you like in-depth, elaborate storylines, then this is unquestionably a book you'll want to read. It's rare that you get a comic series this complex today. Reviewed by Tim Janson Atlantis is now a myth, and the Atlanteans would like to keep it that way. Living secretly among us, their elite Black Ops team tries to protect us from supervillains from ancient times. As leader of the most covert black ops team in the world, Justin has devoted his life to saving others. Captured on a mission, he discovers that he was once the most powerful villain of Atlantis. After its demise 12,000 years ago, survivors recreated Atlantis and regenerated their higher beings who had been killed in the war. Villonious survived, but since they feared him, he was put in stasis and hidden from those who would free him. His love, Kaila, never gave up trying to find him. When she finally nearly succeeds, the heirarchy blocks his memories so he will not remember how to use his powers then forces him to be reborn. Now, on a mission to solve the mystery of a series of international murders, he is reunited with his enemies. In a weird twist of fate, he triggers the same series of events that led to the destruction of his ancient land. He is a changed man who remembers nothing of his past. But how he deals with the present will either save us or destroy us all.

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Summary: Enter The Game is where it all begins for Justin. As the teenage son of an International Special Forces agent, Justin has seen the dangers in the world first hand. He's been to more high schools than he can count and can't talk to a girl to save his life. But now, when his dad is left for dead by the powers who employ him Justin must somehow find the courage to locate and rescue him by himself. To do it, he will have to infiltrate the Deceivers - the most covert and deadly Black Ops organization in the world. Based on the popular comic book Black Tide. The fascinating story combines science, history, technology, myth, metaphysics and tales of Atlantis with some of the same issues we face in our world today. Unlike the comic book, this novel is set in Justin’s formative teen years. Justin is an old soul and he is haunted by nightmares from what he thinks might be his previous life. If it was, can he forgive himself? How does a soldier go on after violence?

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Summary: LIFE IS GOOD FOR A MIDDLE-AGED COUNTRY NOBLE… At least Riven kan Ingan thinks so. A few things could be better, of course, such as his volatile relationship with eldest son, Val, but his estate is prospering, his other children are still obedient, and his beloved Barbara is as feisty as ever. Even the barbaric Ghermians have settled peacefully within Francovia’s borders. Too soon, the bubble of contentment bursts. When a new margrave comes to power, civil war looms, turning native Francovians against its foreign-born citizens. Morling Ledeval demands an oath of loyalty from his subjects, and Riven is forced to make a choice. Will he risk home and family to follow a madman or become a traitor to the country he loves?

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Summary: Alessia is an Outsider—a member of the not-quite-human community that has recently been released from their underground prison. Shortly after their liberation, Alessia is given an ultimatum: obey all the United Earth Alliance’s demands, or her mother will forever remain a hostage—a mother she’d believed dead for fifteen years. Reluctantly, she agrees, though she has no idea what those demands may be or how she will balance her obligations to the UEA with her responsibilities to her people and her family. As the UEA tightens its grip on humans and Outsiders alike, it becomes clear that meaningful social change will not be possible without a revolution. Alessia and her peers embark on a mission to discover just how far the government is willing to go to maintain their monopoly on power. What Alessia and her comrades discover, however, goes much deeper than they’d ever anticipated. Who are the Outsiders, really? What secrets of their destiny lay hidden within a top-secret space station? And why are the Outsiders linked to an emerging disease the UEA seems desperate to keep secret?  As they delve deeper, it isn’t only Alessia’s identity that will be called into question, but the fate of the entire planet.

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Summary: A young man sold into servitude has his loyalties tested in ways he never imagined. Raised in an orphanage in Dickens, Daniel doesn't know who his parents were, where he comes from, or even his last name. Like all orphans, on his 16th birthday, he's sold to the highest bidder. Not knowing where he's going, who's bought him, or what they even want with him, Daniel embarks on an adventure he never thought he'd take. He finds love, a family, and a secure future - yet in a split second, makes a decision he ends up regretting the rest of his life. Brothers begins fifteen years before the Red Dog Conspiracy series. Warning: Language, smoking, use of alcohol and drugs, attempted suicide by hanging, M/M underage sexuality with consent issues, forced servitude, blood, gun violence, a man being beaten by a horsewhip, murder, discussion of child prostitution, underage M/F sexuality with age gap (female older).

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Summary: RELEASING IN AUDIOBOOK FORMAT APRIL 26TH, 2021 Colton is a trans man living in a climate-changed world. He plies the canals that used to be city streets, earning a living taking tourists on illicit journeys through San Francisco's flooded edges beneath the imposing bulk of the Wall. Tris is an elf who comes through the veil to the City by the Bay - the Caille - on a coming of age pilgrimage called the Cailleadhama. He is searching for his brother Laris, who went missing after crossing through the Caille years before. The two men find they have common cause, and together they set off to find Laris in a world transformed by the twin forces of greed and climate change. And in the end, they find out more than they ever expected, both about the warming world and their own selves. Note: This story was originally published in the "Myths Untold: Faery" anthology from Wilde City Press. It is presented here in its original form.

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Summary: In the wake of a worsening climate crisis, magic runs rampant and demons roam across the Canadian prairies. A long-dead god stirs in the Pacific Ocean, while the wilderness is choked by invasive, screaming grass. The Cascade has shattered political stability, leaving a scandal-plagued government clinging to power in Ottawa. As catastrophe looms ahead, a precognitive rainman, Ian Mallory, stands between run-of-the-mill corruption and a nightmarish, dystopian future. It is up to a diverse and unlikely band of activists, scientists, journalists, and one underpaid, emoji-spell wielding intern to save their beleaguered country from its own worst impulses

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Summary: Todd and Nick Ruger are on the run after narrowly escaping the war in New Colorado, where they were implicated in the assassination of Chancellor Shaffer. Todd is gravely ill and Nick has serious injuries, but that's the least of their problems. They're alone with dwindling supplies and facing the harsh winter bearing down on them far north in Yellowknife Protectorate. Just when it seems they're trapped between the proverbial rock and hard place, they are offered refuge with a doctor in the isolated town of Elk's Ridge. As they heal, they're offered a fresh start in Elk's Ridge. But just as they begin to rebuild their lives, tragedy strikes. Victor Raleigh, the new Vice-Chancellor of New Colorado, knows all about Nick's psychic abilities, and he'll settle for nothing less than total control over Nick. He's aligned himself with a vicious creature, a type of psychic vampire capable of wielding control over individuals such as Nick. When Nick is betrayed and captured, Todd sees no alternative but to head back into the war zone to rescue him. Will Nick be the same man Todd loves after Raleigh's pet psychic vampire is through with him? Can Nick accept the fact Todd can love him after what Raleigh forces him to do, or will his guilt consume and destroy him?

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Summary: Fourteen-year-old Samantha spends her days exploring the shallow reef behind her island home. With her world locked in a battle against rising seas, scientists deploy genetically modified corals to rebuild reefs and protect the coastline. No one expects the reefs to be a hotbed of evolution, but they are. When an octopus flows off a rock in her lagoon, Samantha is startled. When he purposefully arranges pieces of coral on the sand, trying to communicate, she is shocked. How she responds may determine the fate of life on Earth. The year is 2045, and fourteen-year-old Samantha lives in a world where ocean levels are rising, destroying coastal cities and swallowing islands. Millions of displaced people are homeless. The planet is in a climate tailspin that threatens civilization. Researchers deployed genetically modified corals that can grow in warmer waters. They aimed to sequester carbon dioxide and stabilize the climate. The successful project produced an extensive barrier reef system along the coasts of Georgia and Florida. Samantha lives on a research island off the coast of Georgia with her scientist parents. She becomes obsessed with the ocean, spending all her time exploring the reef. One day, she encounters an octopus attempting to communicate with her. The story dives deep into an exploration of species’ intelligence and the quest to save the planet.

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Summary: Every night the monsters hunt. A city that is the whole world: Theosophy and her companions in the City militia do their best to protect the civilians from the monsters, but they keep crawling from the Rift and there’s nowhere to run. Theosophy knows she’ll die fighting. It’s the best kind of death she’s seen, and at least she can save lives in the meantime. They say the Scarred carve you up while you’re still alive. A village in the shadow of a forest: Refugees from the border whisper about the oncoming Scarred, but Briony can’t convince her brother to relocate his children to safety. Briony will do anything to protect them. She owes them that much, even if it means turning to forbidden magic. When Theosophy and Briony accidentally make contact across the boundaries of their worlds, they realize that solutions might finally be within reach. A world beyond the City would give Theosophy’s people an escape, and the City’s warriors could help Briony protect her family from the Scarred. Each woman sees in the other a strength she lacks—and maybe something more. All they need to do is find a way across the dimensions to each other before their enemies close in.

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Summary: Clarity (noun) Four definitions to inspire writers around the world and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell: 1) Coherent and intelligible 2) Transparent or pure 3) Attaining certainty about something 4) Easy to see or hear Clarity features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi.

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Summary: After a job gone wrong, Special Agent Olgo is trapped within the bowels of Mars with no means of escape. The device that imprisons the trauma within them is about to fail, and the past terrors kept hidden by it must be contained for Olgo’s sanity and everyone's safety. From the darkness comes a tiny voice, and a tinier hope: "Hello?" *** The first book in the ‘Cold Rush' Verse follows Agent Olgo as their corporate masters give them what could be their big break: a mission to Mars. But trying to change the working conditions in the planet's underground cities proves more challenging than the agent could have imagined. When a wearable device Olgo uses to block emotions begins to fail, an unlikely friendship changes everything as Olgo struggles to prevent spilling more blood on the Red Planet.

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Summary: It seemed so simple, cross a train yard, hop a train and Todd and Nick would be free, on their way home to Elk’s Ridge in Yellowknife. Nothing is ever simple or easy for the Ruger men, however. Captured by Vice-Chancellor Raleigh, Todd is imprisoned, leaving Nick alone and seeking a way to free his mate. Help comes from an unlikely and unexpected ally. Todd’s freedom places the Rugers yet again into the Chancellor’s debt. He sends them on a fact finding mission to the small village of Eldrid, the same village where Nick was raised a slave. There they discover how past events led to their present society, the origins of sentries and slaves and what made some of them so special. They also uncover a conspiracy spear-headed by Vice-Chancellor Raleigh. An attempt at stopping him isn’t as successful as they’d hoped when old enemies are confronted. The realities of war, and why some people don’t survive, are hard lessons for both Todd and Nick to learn. Through firefights, explosions and a vicious attack from a seemingly unbeatable supernatural being, one thing is reinforced over and over—the most important thing each one has is each other. Will they survive or join an ever growing list of casualties?

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Summary: The pandemic came and the world changed. Lives have changed; work has changed. The boundaries between reality and fantasy have become as blurred as those between life and work. Corporate Catharsis: The Work From Home Edition explores the impact of the COVID pandemic on everyone's personal and professional lives through speculative fiction. Featuring stories by Alicia Adams, Antaeus, Pauline Barmby, Steven D. Brewer, Dominick Cancilla, Adrienne Canino, Graham J. Darling, Derek Des Anges, Manny Frishberg, Alex Grehy, Jon Hansen, Alexa Kellow, Jack Nash, Helen Obermeier, Frank Sawielijew, William Shaw, Steve Soult, N.L. Sweeney, Kimberley Wall, and Richard Zaric.