sci fi – dystopian & post apocalyptic

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Summary: For fans of Dungeons and Dragons and Hopeful Dark Fantasy. The adventure continues amid the thieves, spies and politics of Roviere. Birger and his team are on a deadline. A vast invasion fleet is due in five days. However, much must be done before Birger's team can escape and infighting threatens to rip them asunder. To make matters worse, several powerful villains, including Ulfhild, are in town, with their sights locked on another Piece of Divinity. From the quintri Technomancers, who combine magic and technology, to the political battlefield within the Verdantfield Stadium, Roviere's rich landscape provides a myriad of challenges. How will Birger rebuild his team, secure an escape from Roviere while battling against demons, vampires and dark magic? This fast-paced action adventure, about a thief, turned spy and his team of misfits, will have you on the edge of your seat all the way. Grab your copy now.

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Summary: The Height of Land follows the quest of a young man torn between spiritual longing and commitment to his community’s survival in a harsh landscape. Red sacrifices everything to study the long-lost words of the gods. He does not know that he is reading the poetry of Lucille Clifton, Ḥáfiẓ, and Walt Whitman, as well as the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible, and the Tao Te Ching. In a world reborn from catastrophe, these ancient texts take on new meanings. To seek such things is to court peril. Belief in the gods is forbidden. But Red is desperate to know the gods. And he is not searching alone. Forsaking all that is familiar, Red pledges himself to a clandestine church in the city and falls in love with the charismatic priest. But Red may lose both love and faith in defying the church for the sake of a friend. Have the gods truly abandoned the earth, or just Red? What kind of answer can he receive when he has lost the words to ask?

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Summary: The Library is dying. Ryn is finally working in the Ancestral Library, a childhood dream and a way to find her birth parentage. But the magic of the Library is being sabotaged, allowing pests, water damage and worse, while hostile Ancestor Houses are vying to move the books from the location they’ve occupied for a thousand years. Rumors of a secret society bent on sabotage, with only the words “Kill the roots, take the fruits,” leads Ryn and her stepbrother Zo on a chase across Waatch and the ancestor Islands. Three items are a danger to the Library: a rock, and sword, and a branch. Though Ryn has hated being an Ordinary her whole life, it seems the Ordinaries of Waatch, disdained by the Ancestor descendants, might hold the true key to the Library. They might be the only way for Ryn to find the saboteur and items, and save the Library along with any hope of finding her birth family.

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Summary: The Lady in White and the Hunter of Night is Helvensgate's most beloved children's tale. It tells of two lovers, blessed by magic, whose quest ended with them sleeping for centuries, hand in hand, until they can be together once more. All of it is wrong. A thousand years ago, Adecca was sent away to serve the spirits of the dead; Mikael was exiled after being cursed by the Wood. They were each other's best and only friends—or so Adecca thought—until, with one unexpected kiss, Mikael enchanted them both with eternal sleep. Now Adecca has awakened, and the world is nothing like she remembers. The empire's machines move of their own volition, a man-eating forest is growing into the city, and conflicts between the empress and the engineering guilds is spiraling out of control. Still, Adecca could have everything she ever wanted—a home among people, actual friends!—and all she must do is ignore the supernatural mysteries writhing beneath Helvensgate and pretend she is madly in love with Mikael. Clearly something must be sacrificed for this world to be at peace. But does it always have to be her?

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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: Peace in the Sky Peace-in-the-Sky awakens, captive, after a brutal head injury. With her fractured memories, she knows only that she must protect her daughter Anissa. Even if Peace-in-the-Sky manages to escape the fierce wasteland tribe holding her captive, she and Anissa face a journey through a blasted landscape inhabited by warring peoples scrabbling for subsistence. To find safety, Peace-in-the-Sky must use her developing power of the pillars-of-flame to clear their path. As her memory reveals the secret of her true nature, her body and mind deteriorate. But nothing can stop her from delivering Anissa to the promised paradise of safety and plenty, even at the expense of her life. Station in the Sky Donna, once Peace-in-the-Sky, awakens aboard Station-in-the-Sky and rejoins a society that had been her home for thousands of years before knowing Anissa. But she soon discovers her fellow stationers have lost sight of their original mandate to protect Earth. Instead, their new plans will threaten all of Earth’s inhabitants. As her memories return, she becomes suspicious her head injury was actually an attack by another stationer. Framed as being faulty, Donna must navigate the eccentricities of the other stationers without being caught, and covertly assemble proof of their plans before they realize she will do anything to keep Earth safe from their meddling.

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Summary: The Great Forest and Other Love Stories  is a collection of short stories, with various settings, including an alien planet, an imaginary country, and places in Virginia, and the end of the world. These gay love stories explore the growth of relationships, and the negotiations of various complications and challenges.

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Summary: An unprecedented heat and humidity has fallen upon the city of Bridges. People are dying. Crops are failing. And the Inventors can't find the cause. With all she's learned in our previous chapter, Jacqui has what she needs to unravel the conspiracy against the Four Families. The plans that her old nemesis Jack Diamond has set into motion are all that stands in her way. She's ready to stop him. Warning: Bad language, alcoholism, mental illness, animal abuse/death, smoking, gun violence, rioting, infidelity, sexual situations. This series centers a crime family and is intended for adults. This is the eleventh chapter of a 13-part serial novel: * The Jacq of Spades * The Queen of Diamonds * The Ace of Clubs * The King of Hearts * The Ten of Spades * The Five of Diamonds * The Two of Hearts * The Three of Spades * The Knave of Hearts * The Four of Clubs * The Jack of Diamonds <-- you are here * Book 12 coming March 2026 * Book 13 scheduled for March 2028

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Summary: The chase is on for the soul of San Francisco! Norton, Iria, and Madge's grand plan has fallen through at every turn. Now they find themselves scrambling to improvise in a battle across time against a new and unexpected foe! Jaunt across the centuries by these scrappy heroes' sides as they dive headlong into eras both familiar and strange to each. With allies old and new, they must weave a magic spell on the fly to save their beloved city from the clutches of Mammon--and from something even worse!

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Summary: REAL ESTATE IS HELL - SOMETIMES LITERALLY Wedged between real estate speculators, startup bros, and gentrified neighborhoods, it’s gotten hard to get by in San Francisco and it’s getting harder all the time. Now two witches have decided the time has come to do something about it. Using all their arcane skills, Iria – tall, dark, and genderqueer – and their partner and mentor, Madge – the granddaughter of Chinese immigrants and a powerful magician – have summoned back to the world of the living one of San Francisco’s greatest eccentric heroes: Joshua Norton, self-declared Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. Binding him to themselves and to the city, Iria and Madge need Norton’s charisma and tireless dedication to the city to help them save San Francisco from a demon of greed. With an exciting combination of spell-slinging and derring-do, Norton and his modern-day patrons embark on a series of adventures across San Francisco’s past and present to save the city’s soul! THIS EDITION COLLECTS ALL FOUR VOLUMES IN ONE BOOK!

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Summary: 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 Harvard’s 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 “monsters” 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. For awesome post-apocalyptic action, where Earth is ruled by gargantuan crab beasts, get your copy of Empress of Dust today!

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Summary: Tormented by memories of past lives and a general distaste for structure, Sloane dropped out of a prestigious magic college to find themself. During their travels, they came across a curious little creature: a chatty spider that fit snugly in their hands. Unbeknownst to Sloane, this wasn’t a harmless garden or cellar spider. The spider had a thirst that mere flies couldn’t quench. It demanded blood and flesh, and when mice failed to suffice, moved on to bigger and dangerous prey. Sloane appeased it as best they could, but as the spider rapidly shot up in size, turned their focus from butcher shops to farms. Together, they concocted a plan to “solve” a manifested loss of cattle. The spider got a steady supply of food, and Sloane got street cred as a “monster slayer”. “What could possibly go wrong?” – Famous last words of any irresponsible pet owner. So now Sloane has a very real infestation to contend with, along with suspicious rangers and wannabe hunters edging in on their turf. “…I’m gonna need a bigger boot.”

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Summary: “IMMORTALITY BYTES: Digital Minds Don’t Get Hungry” — Genre: Science Fiction/Humor/Heist-Thriller Tagline: “Living forever... it's almost worth dying for.” One-line Story Pitch: “When an idealistic hacker’s ex-girlfriend nears inventing digital immortality, an indicted tycoon compels him to steal it.” Accolades: • Winner “Best Sci-Fi: Cyberpunk” — 7th Annual American Fiction Awards (2024) • Winner “Best Science Fiction” & "Best Political Fiction" — American Writing Awards (2024) • Winner “Best Humor/Satire” — Storytrade Awards (2024) • Semifinalist — Chanticleer's Cygnus Award for Best Science Fiction • Triple Finalist: Best Sci-Fi, Best Humor/Satire, & Best First Novel — IAN Book of the Year Awards (2024) Back Cover Blurb: In a not-so-distant future dominated by AI, universal basic income, and “subtirees” living pod-bound lives of leisure, idealistic, semi-slacker hacker Stu Reigns dreams of more. When Stu’s brilliant ex, Roxy Zhang, develops digital immortality, the world’s powerful elite scramble to secure their eternal existence. Enter Chuck Rosti, a merciless, terminally ill tycoon made more dangerous since he’s on the brink of conviction for massive fraud. His plan? Coerce Stu into helping get Roxy’s groundbreaking invention so “Feds can incarcerate my corpse.” Caught between a sick billionaire, a Russian mob, digital mind clones, and a shrewd, devout Southern matriarch, Stu gets tangled in a twisted, high-stakes, ‘inverted heist.’ But as betrayals mount and revenge includes murder, Stu and new allies must race to save lives and seek justice in humanity’s digital immortality. Fans of smart cyberpunk, like Neal Stephenson’s Snowcrash, or sci-fi with humor, as in Andy Weir’s The Martian or John Scalzi’s Redshirts, will love Immortality Bytes. Book Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul3KA2zT0aw Reviews: 1)  “Feels like an American Douglas Adams” — San Francisco Book Review 2) “A supercharged, high-stakes cyberpunk thriller.” — VERDICT:✓GET IT — Kirkus Reviews 3) “Perfect for anyone looking for a fun, easy read that combines sci-fi elements with a bit of social satire. Abrams’ sharp, witty prose and inventive world make it well worth the ride, especially for fans of snappy, humorous sci-fi." — 5-Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — Manhattan Book Review 4) “Dark humor and crisp dialogue drive the twisty storytelling” — ✓EDITOR'S PICK — Publishers Weekly's Booklife Reviews https://linktr.ee/immortalitybytes

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Summary: A collection of five speculative short stories by H. L. Moore, including award-winning tales Entente and No Place of Honour.

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Summary: Earth on the Cusp of the Twenty-Second Century Just think how the world has changed in the last seventy-six years. In 1948, scientists ran the first computer program, and "the Ultimate Car of the Future," the futuristic, three wheeled Davis Divan, debuted. Since then, a succession of inventions—the personal computer, the internet, the World Wide Web, smart phones and social media—have transformed every aspect of our lives. How might the next seventy-six years change us, in ways we can barely even begin to imagine, as culture, climate change, politics and technology continue to reshape the world? Earth in 2100 will be as unrecognizable to us as today would be to someone from 1948. Eighteen writers tackled this challenge, creating an amazing array of sci-fi possibilities. From emotional AI's to photosynthetic children, from virtual worlds to a post-urban society, our writers serve up compelling slices of life from an Earth that's just around the corner. So dive in and and take a wild ride into these amazing visions of our collective future.

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Summary: The fate of Lida looms. Agetha thought her fate was sealed, pushed to the edge of the colony to die. But with the revelation that the biomass is not only intelligent, but sentient, changes to colony are accelerating, threatening its very existence. Those who were controlled by the biomass once again have free will. Now, the human colonists are raising their voices and for the first time really influencing their new home. The planet-wide consciousness is slipping into a crisis of identity, when it doesn’t even have a sense of self. The wilds surrounding the colony are becoming increasingly unstable, and the colonists find themselves divided into those who have been touched by the biomass and those who are still wholly human. Can one small colony survive its inner conflicts as well as the titanic might of an entire planet?

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Summary: Fast-paced Action-Adventure for fans of D&D and hopeful dark fantasy. A reckless young thief lands himself in a team of misfit spies. Their mission, to stop an apocalyptic war bearing down on his home. But at what cost? Our hero, Birger, must pull off a reverse heist while confronting a magically enhanced giant and an army of greenskins. He relies on his endurance, wit, charm, and the unwavering support of his friends – both in battle and psychologically – to push through. What better place to find hope than in the darkness? This detailed high fantasy world was created through d&d and narrative tabletop war campaigns with real people.

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Summary: This horror collection graphic novel contains the following stories: “And They Lived Long Enough to Bury Their Dead” is a dark fantasy comic zine about a group of Gen X goth/punk folks growing older and processing the deaths of loved ones. A paranormal urban fantasy, it centers around Billie, a nonbinary African-American alternative rocker from Oakland who develops the psychic ability to see and communicate with ghosts. Their nesting partner, Davis, a formerly homeless African-American transgender man, their twin brother Sean, a ghostcat, and the ghost of their mother are other central characters. In the story Billie, Davis, and their Gen X circle of friends are coming to terms with aging, the declining health (and loss) of their parents, and adjusting to a new post-pandemic world. It is an urban fantasy taking place in Oakland and the San Francisco Bay Area “Agrippa” is a dystopic near-future tale that takes place in an unnamed industrialized nation very much like the United States. When foreign creditors demand that the nation repay its considerable international debt or face war it enacts the Dulcetta Reforms, ultra-restrictive laws establishing debtor’s prison, and causing a large number of people – many of them seniors – to go to jail or even face execution if not continuously working to pay off their personal debts to the government. Dr. Tine, an expert in geriatric medicine, is desperately searching for employment at the beginning of our tale, having lost her useful functioning in society as the elders she once treated were rounded up and hauled off to the prison camps. Things were so bad she didn't think they could possibly get any worse. How very wrong she was. Dreamworlds: Beyond Somnalia - the author is plagued by a series of increasing demands from their fictional characters who come to take over the writer's life.

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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: She escaped Spadros Manor, but her troubles are only beginning. Not even hostile mobs, assassins, drive-by shootings, and an explosive encounter with her worst enemy can stop private eye and mafia wife Jacqueline Spadros. She's on a quest to destroy the Red Dog Gang - before they destroy her. Dark, gritty, violent steampunk crime fiction which keeps you guessing to the very end. If you like crime fiction, noir, Victorian/historical, gritty steampunk, psychological thrillers, hardboiled mystery, hard sf, dystopian, or slow burn mafia romance you will love this series. If made into movies, this set would be rated R for bad language, graphic violence, smoking and alcohol use, pregnancy loss, child injury/murder, animal injury/death, and sexual content (Jacqui is married, after all). This digital box set comprises Act 2A of a 13 part serial novel, which brings us to the midpoint of the story. Included in this set: The King of Hearts: Part 4 of the Red Dog Conspiracy The Ten of Spades: Part 5 of the Red Dog Conspiracy The Five of Diamonds: Part 6 of the Red Dog Conspiracy The Two of Hearts: Part 7 of the Red Dog Conspiracy The Red Dog Conspiracy is one giant book - please read the first three books in the series (start with The Jacq of Spades, or read Red Dog Conspiracy Act 1) before beginning this set.