sci fi – first contact

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Summary: Tangents & Tachyons is Scott's second anthology - six sci fi and sci-fantasy shorts that run the gamut from time travel to hopepunk and retro spec fic: Eventide: Tanner Black awakes to find himself in his own study, staring out the window at the end of the Universe. But who brought him there, and why? Chinatown: Deryn lives in an old San Francisco department store with his girlfriend Gracie, and scrapes by with his talent as a dreamcaster for the Chinese overlords. But what if a dream could change the world? Across the Transom: What if someone or something took over your body on an urgent mission to save your world? Pareidolia: Simon's not like other college kids. His mind can rearrange random patterns to reveal the images lurking inside. But where did his strange gift come from? And what if there are others like him out there too? Lamplighter: Fen has a crush on his friend Lewin, who's in a competing guild. But when the world goes dark, only a little illumination can save it. And only Fen, Lewin and their friend Alissa can light the spark. A Liminal Sky short. Prolepsis: Sean is the closeted twenty-five-year-old editor of an 80's sci-fi 'zine called Prolepsis. When an unabashedly queer story arrives from a mysterious writer, it blows open Sean's closet door, and offers him the chance to change the world - and the future. Plus two flash fiction stories – The System and The Frog Prince, never before published. This is the first time all of these stories have all been collected in one place.

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Summary: The Fantastical Romances You’ve Been Craving Hugo Finalist Janice L. Newman presents a touching trio of romances in a speculative vein. From the edge of space, to the shadows of the paranormal, to the marvels of the mystic: At First Contact: A germaphobe and an android are assigned a mission to survey a planet together. Will they discover new life or a new love? Ghosted: Leo is searching for the soul that used to haunt his grandmother’s house. Did Will ghost him? A Touch of Magic: What if love could alter the fabric of existence? A fraught romance between two teachers just might be helped along by a touch of magic.

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Summary: It appears out of nowhere—one moment the sky is empty, the next, there’s a rent in the fabric of space itself. And nothing in the system will ever be the same.  In the far reaches of the Rim Mountains, itinerant field-scientist Aran Romeu is searching desperately for the cure to an incurable disease—one that’s slowly killing his best friend. He’s sworn to do whatever it takes to find it. But when the portal opens, and something comes through, he realizes that ‘whatever it takes’ will involve travelling into the uncharted space beyond the portal. And he’s not the only one after the cure, and willing to do whatever it takes to get to it first … In the weighty halls of government, Chief Justice Alba Espina is preparing a political gamble that could change the shape of the system itself. The appearance of the portal shatters her carefully-laid plans and hands her political rival a weapon he could use destroy her—unless she can delay him with the promise of a diplomatic mission through the portal. But the stakes of the mission are higher than just her personal ambition. If her diplomatic mission doesn’t succeed, it might just spell the end of humanity itself. In a remote spaceport, Savina Moya, the system's most talented assassin-for-hire, is on the run again after her latest murder. But when a deadly government agent is sent after her, with instructions to bring her back dead or alive, the diplomatic mission heading into the portal may hold the key to Savina’s survival—if she’s brave enough, or desperate enough, to take it. No one knows what’s beyond the portal. And as the three of them are drawn inexorably together in uncharted space, with no idea who is an ally and who is an enemy—it’s an open question if any of them will live long enough to find out. 

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Summary: What lies hidden inside the Martian Red Weed and what is the secret of the lake on the moon? When the first Martian cylinder crash lands in England, Ogilvy the astronomer barely survives the deadly heat ray from the attack by aliens. While recovering in hospital he discovers that Martian Red Weed is key to the alien technology and sends vital evidence to scientists in France on board HMS Thunder Child, but the ship is attacked by a Martian tripod. Years later in 1919, in the aftermath of World War 1 and Spanish influenza, a sinister plague emerges on Earth from the long forgotten Red Weed, and it threatens all life on our planet with global extinction. Ogilvy suggests a daring and risky plan to combat the devastating alien menace, involving alternate history timelines. He persuades other original War Of The Worlds characters to participate, but how on earth can they locate the secret weapon hidden by the Martians at the lake on the moon? If you're a fan of The War Of The Worlds, you won't want to miss this compelling continuation of the H.G. Wells alien invasion novel in the gripping second volume of The Martian Diaries science fiction series. Available in paperback, ebook and award-winning audiobook featuring original music and sound effects. Text versions feature a bonus chapter not included in the audiobook version. Bronze medal winner in the Readers Choice Awards 2020 Winner of 5 awards in the 2020 Los Angeles Science Fiction Film Awards, Audio Drama category, together with volume 1 The Day Of The Martians. WHAT PEOPLE HAVE SAID ABOUT THE AUDIO VERSION “I sat spellbound while listening to this...as I’ve always been convinced nobody could ever out-rank the original War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, but he has succeeded in giving us this astonishing follow-up.” Breakaway Reviews "The storyline is mesmerizing, and Mr Wilburson has done a magnificent job of melding his story with the original War of the Worlds." Readers Favorite Reviews “I am in awe. I finished the audiobook an emotional wreck, especially after the epilogue...and cannot wait for episode three, Gateway to Mars." Goodreads reviewer “Author Wilburson's trilogy is an enthralling companion to H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds. The Lake On The Moon is an audiobook treat, highly recommended!” Veronica Cline Barton - Mystery & Suspense author

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Summary: The War Of The Worlds continues.... The terror of the coming of the Martians is all but a distant memory, a bad dream that has faded with time. All George Wells wants is a quiet suburban life – but at breakfast one morning his newspaper reports the shocking discovery of a Martian cylinder, found intact and unopened, and carefully transported to London. Could it be from the first alien invasion and after more than seven years are there Martians still alive inside? But even worse, he soon learns that vengeance seeking Martians and their tripod fighting machines are already on their way back. This time they are armed with a doomsday weapon, able to destroy all bacteria and completely annihilate Earth. The countless numbers of their projectiles form a huge green comet and invasion day will be just before Christmas. The first attack by aliens was enough for any lifetime, but who would expect to be involved with two? Can George and his wife escape this new Martian apocalypse and how will our planet survive a second time? The Day Of The Martians continues the iconic Mars novel by H.G. Wells, in this exciting action adventure – the first volume of The Martian Diaries science fiction series. If you're a fan of The War Of The Worlds you won't want to miss this award-winning 3 part continuation. Get the ebook or paperback today or check out the action-packed audio version featuring original music and sound effects. The paperback features exclusive additional material not included in the other versions. It's the back story of Ogilvy the astronomer in the form of  his personal diary entries for the whole momentous year of 1913, and the second Martian invasion. Bronze medallist in the Readers Favorite 2024 International Book Awards (Fiction Audiobooks category) Winner of 5 awards in the 2020 Los Angeles Science Fiction Film Festival, Audio Drama category, together with volume 2 Lake On The Moon. WHAT PEOPLE HAVE SAID ABOUT THE AUDIO VERSION “...a wonderfully executed tribute to H.G. Wells.” Readers Favorite 5 stars “...sometimes in life, amongst all the boring stuff, something comes along to shake up your life and make you grateful for other people’s creations.” Breakaway Reviews “A splendid sequel.” C.A. Powell, science fiction author of The Last Days Of Thunder Child “A little diamond from Mars!” Goodreads reviewer

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Summary: Stop a murder, save two planets! Who she is: Sibyl Blue, single mom, undercover detective, and damn good at her job. What she wants: to solve the mysterious benzale murders, prevent more teenage deaths, and maybe find her long-lost husband. How she’ll get it: seduce a millionaire, catch a ride on his spaceship, and crack the case at the edge of the known galaxy.  

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Summary: Oberon is unique among the Common Worlds - a half-world with a strange past and an uncertain future. Jameson Havercamp and Xander Kinnson are thrust into the middle of a world-ending event and have to scramble to save the world - and themselves. Along the way, they peel back the layers of the onion to discover secrets wrapped in secrets that will eventually take them to where it all started - and may provide the key to saving Oberon and everyone on it. SKYTHANE Jameson Havercamp, a psych from a conservative religious colony, has come to Oberon—unique among the Common Worlds—in search of a rare substance called pith. He’s guided through the wilds on his quest by Xander Kinnson, a handsome, cocky skythane with a troubled past. Neither knows that Oberon is facing imminent destruction. Even as the world starts to fall apart around them, they have no idea what’s coming—or the bond that will develop between them as they race to avert a cataclysm. Together, they will journey to uncover the secrets of this strange and singular world, even as it takes them beyond the bounds of reality itself to discover what truly binds them. LANDER The world needs saving, again. Xander and Jameson thought they’d fulfilled their destiny when they brought the worlds of Oberon and Titania back together, but their short-lived moment of triumph is over. Reunification has thrown the world into chaos. A great storm ravaged Xander's kingdom of Gaelan, leaving the winged skythane people struggling to survive. Their old enemy, Obercorp, is biding its time, waiting to strike. And to the north, a dangerous new adversary gathers strength, while an unexpected ally awaits them. In the midst of it all, Xander’s ex Alix returns, and Xander and Jameson discover that their love for each other may have been drug-induced. Are they truly destined for each other, or is what they feel artificial? And can they face an even greater challenge when their world needs them most? ITHANI Time is running out. After saving the world twice, Xander, Jameson and friends plunge headlong into a new crisis. The ithani―the aliens who broke the world―have reawakened from their hundred millennia-long slumber. When Xander and Jameson disappear in a flash, an already fractured world is thrown into chaos. The ithani plans, laid a hundred thousand years before, are finally coming to pass, and they threaten all life on Erro. Venin and Alix go on a desperate search for their missing and find more than they bargained for. And Quince, Robin and Jessa discover a secret as old as the skythane themselves. Will alien technology, unexpected help from the distant past, destiny and some good old-fashioned firepower be enough to defeat an enemy with the ability to split a world? The final battle of the epic science fiction adventure that began in Skythane will decide the fate of lander and skythane alike. And in the north, the ithani rise….

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Summary: Time is running out. After saving the world twice, Xander, Jameson and friends plunge headlong into a new crisis. The ithani―the aliens who broke the world―have reawakened from their hundred millennia-long slumber. When Xander and Jameson disappear in a flash, an already fractured world is thrown into chaos. The ithani plans, laid a hundred thousand years before, are finally coming to pass, and they threaten all life on Erro. Venin and Alix go on a desperate search for their missing and find more than they bargained for. And Quince, Robin and Jessa discover a secret as old as the skythane themselves. Will alien technology, unexpected help from the distant past, destiny and some good old-fashioned firepower be enough to defeat an enemy with the ability to split a world? The final battle of the epic science fiction adventure that began in Skythane will decide the fate of lander and skythane alike. And in the north, the ithani rise….

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Summary: The Dissolution is here. It is both an end, and a beginning. "Science fantasy with fantastic queer rep" -J.S. Fields, Author of the Ardulum Series The Dissolution has begun. Sam is finally reunited with Enos and Inas, only to see his new home under siege by beings that dissolve reality at a single touch. Even as they battle their personal demons, the three apprentices must also fight to save their home. Enos lashes out at those she loves, plagued by voices she’s consumed, and Inas must risk his sanity to access ancient memories of the Nether. Sam must learn how he uniquely affects the Symphony, but there is little time to master what usually takes a lifetime. The Nether is leaderless and the Assembly is in chaos. The three apprentices must counter an invasion by aliens who rip the Symphony, and the very universe, apart. Ancient antagonists will resurface, a battle must be fought, and the secrets of the Nether and the universe will be laid bare in this final book of the Dissolution Cycle. If you like epic fantasy, space opera and music-based magic, you'll love William C. Tracy's Dissolution Cycle. Download Fall of the Imperium today and discover the diverse cultures, genders, and alien species of an epic science fantasy space opera! The Dissolution Cycle (Epic Space Opera, LGBT): Book 1: The Seeds of Dissolution Book 2: Facets of the Nether Book 3: Fall of the Imperium Book 4: Tales of the Dissolutionverse (Novella collection)

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Summary: The Parada had been lost for almost two hundred years before they recovered the ship, drifting in stygian interstellar darkness, and brought her home again. But that was not the miracle. The miracle was that the crew was still alive. That was also the problem. Six crew members went out on the Parada, Earth’s first starship. All contact was lost, and the ship vanished for almost two centuries. When the Parada’s successor found the drifting ship and somehow managed to bring it home, the six crew members were not only still alive but barely older, due to the time dilation effects of near-FTL travel. Their return was a miracle – but it could not be revealed to the waiting world. The problem was, six individuals went out to the stars. More than seventy fractured personalities came back. Psychologist Stella Froud and Jesuit Father Philip Carter were recruited as part of the team assembled to investigate the mystery, and to try and help the Parada’s crew understand their condition and possibly reverse it. What they discovered was a deepening mystery, and very soon they found themselves forced to take sides in a conflict that nobody could have possibly predicted. Their world would never be the same again.

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Summary: The Dissolution approaches, and all will change. "Science fantasy with fantastic queer rep" -J.S. Fields, Author of the Ardulum Series The Dissolution approaches. Sam has saved the Assembly of Species, but at a terrible cost. Locked in his apartment, his memories gone and his best friend abducted, he is once again crippled with anxiety. Meanwhile, Enos struggles to free her brother from imprisonment, alone for the first time in her life. Her true species has been revealed, and there are hints the deadliest of her kind survived an ancient war. But the Nether contains more secrets. A musical chime disrupts daily life, signaling changes to its very fabric. To solve this mystery, Sam must face his anxiety and confront truths about his memories and unique abilities. Only then can he save his friends from the machinations of the Life Coalition, by understanding the reality behind the Facets of the Nether. If you like epic fantasy, space opera and music-based magic, you'll love William C. Tracy's Dissolution Cycle. Download Facets of the Nether today and discover the diverse cultures, genders, and alien species of an epic science fantasy space opera! The Dissolution Cycle (Epic Space Opera, LGBT): Book 1: The Seeds of Dissolution Book 2: Facets of the Nether Book 3: Fall of the Imperium Book 4: Tales of the Dissolutionverse (Novella collection)

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Summary: Flee. Scatter. Take your mates and your offspring and run. The escape pods fall to Earth one by one over the course of weeks, a mysterious and diverse alien diaspora, each pod containing a different alien race and leaving the world's governments scrambling to deal with this unexpected immigration. Serge Kosygin, still grieving and isolated after his husband's death, watches events with gray disinterest until one day he witnesses a pod crash for himself while driving home. Two of the alien visitors have died, but one survives, badly injured, and Serge is determined that if this alien is also going to die, it won't be under the harsh lights of a government facility. Devastated by the loss of his life mates in their desperate effort to reach safety, the knowledge that Een is the last Aalana in this sector of the galaxy only compounds his sorrow. He wakes in an alien dwelling under the care of one of the native dominant builder species, a being who appears to share nothing with Een besides a bipedal structure. Slowly, with the help of his patient and kind host, he discovers they are more similar than he imagined as they share harmonies and his host assists him with language acquisition. Their tentative first contact soon evolves into a deepening friendship, a balm for two grief-weary souls. They'll need each other and their growing bond for the troubles lurking just ahead. Publisher's Note: Eating Stars was previously published as part of Meteor Strike: Serge & Een as a novelette. It has undergone extensive rewrites and edits with over 10,000 words of new content added.

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Summary: MIKE CHRISTOPHER RETURNS TO EARTH TO BATTLE AN OLD NEMESIS! Mike Christopher, an artificial Human spurned and abused by much of Earth society, left Earth to become a Galactic explorer. Now, 25 years later, he returns to battle the Jenregar, an alien enemy he's fought before. But the key to defeating the alien threat also presents a soul-crushing moral dilemma!

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Summary: Chanda Kasmira devotes years of her life and career to saving the inhabitants of the planet Splendor from the planet's coming destruction. Her latest effort fails. Life on Splendor faces more danger than ever before. Disheartened, Chanda places herself into a "long sleep," intending to awaken decades later to a brighter future for Splendor and its people. She doesn't. Instead, an even more difficult path lies ahead after CHANDA'S AWAKENING.

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Summary: Two star systems are colliding... ...And Mike Christopher of the Earth starship Asaph Hall is rushing to unlock their secrets. But two alien races on the journey are keeping their own potentially deadly secrets. It doesn't help that the love of Mike's life can't handle the emotional stress of being near him, and that he has to give the Earth ambassador on-the-job training!

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Summary: A man arrives at his new job. A woman lets one last customer into her shop. Two teens sneak away to a party. These all sound normal. But these simple actions are on worlds that it's unlikely you've seen before. Twenty short stories bring you twenty weird worlds you won't soon forget.

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Summary: Planet H Man has toppled under the coup of the century and Mex must choose. Will she settled for her retirement fund or politicians too young to take seriously? Planet Hyman is at a loss as their new and callous leader takes a sabbatical, she has found her "pleasure dome" and while she learns there is more to life than a new manifesto, a coup rises to the occasion. With Mex hungover in Scotland there is little to stand in their way apart from a hippy colony too chilled to care, a reporter with no scruples, and a missing set of batteries.  The coup has plans to runs things the “proletarian way” they are young, idealistic, and haven’t tasted luxury yet. They almost make it, grab the operations room, when their new and callous leader arises from her pleasure dome and grabs back her throne.  Will Mex pick up her leathers and defend the coupe, or return to her planet to recuperate from a Scottish “good night out”? Rebel Without A Crew is the quirky third book in the Planet Hy Man science fiction comedy series. If you like high-mileage heroines, fast-paced satire, and meticulously crafted universes, then you’ll love Kerrie Noor’s otherworldly farce.

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Summary: A galaxy in peril The story begun in The Reefs of Time continues. The time-tides caused by Karellia’s defenses have brought the malicious Mindaru AI out of the deep past into the present, threatening Bandicut and Li-Jared, who have arrived at the backwater planet—Li-Jared’s homeworld—to find it on the brink of interplanetary war. Somehow they must forge a peace between Karellia and its neighboring world if the Mindaru threat is to be broken. Back on Shipworld, Ik and Julie Stone risk their lives a second time to stop the Mindaru at their source: a planet near the galactic core, a billion years in the past. Can Antares, the beautiful humanoid who also loves Bandicut, help them? What of Bria the gokat? And Amaduse, the most influential librarian in Shipworld? And in the deep time of the galaxy’s early history, by the light of a million suns, the Mindaru do hideous things to an innocent species. The Mindaru plan for the altered creatures bears momentous possibilities even the deadly AI cannot predict. Time is critical. Time is elastic. And time is running out. Conclusion of the unmissable two-part “Out of Time” sequence begun in The Reefs of Time, from Jeffrey A. Carver, Nebula-nominated author of Eternity's End. PRAISE FOR THE REEFS OF TIME / CRUCIBLE OF TIME: “Classic science fiction with engaging characters and richly imagined worlds!” —Greg Bear; author of The Unfinished Land and The War Dogs Trilogy “Jeffrey A. Carver’s remarkable long-awaited duology The Reefs of Time / Crucible of Time is a welcome addition to The Chaos Chronicles, certifying his continuing mastery of action and adventure at the boundaries of space opera and hard SF.” —Steve Miller, co-author of The Liaden Universe “There are giant, and brilliant, concepts in these books... If you haven’t read it you’re in for a whale of a ride! I, personally, will have to pick up more of Jeffrey Carver—not just this series—because I’ve become a fan of his world/galaxy-spanning imagination! I highly recommend these books.” —Steve Fahnestalk, Amazing Stories Magazine

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Summary: The starstream is beautiful. But beauty turns deadly when an ancient AI bent on destruction uses it to travel uptime, to our near-future. The Mindaru are dead. Or so exiled-Earthman John Bandicut and his alien companions believe, when they return to Shipworld after saving the Orion Nebula and countless inhabited worlds. But now another horde from this ancient and malicious AI colony is swarming toward the present from its birthplace deep in the past. Their opening: a temporal disturbance in the starstream, a hyperspatial thoroughfare used by myriad civilizations. The disturbance emanates from the planetary defenses of nearby Karellia, whose people know nothing of the starstream or the galaxy-threatening Mindaru. Only Bandicut and his friends have the knowledge and experience to act. But several of Bandicut’s company have gone missing. Bandicut and Li-Jared must team with the pandimensional Ruall and her gokat—the oddest aliens Bandicut has met since the shadow-people—and journey to Karellia to find a way to cut off the timestream. Meanwhile, on Shipworld, the "missing" Ik meets another human of Earth—a former lover of Bandicut’s—and embarks with her on a perilous mission far back into deep time, seeking a way to stop the Mindaru at their source. The Chaos Chronicles returns at last in The Reefs of Time, part one of a heartstopping, two-part adventure. Concluded in Crucible of Time—from Nebula-nominated Jeffrey A. Carver! PRAISE FOR THE REEFS OF TIME / CRUCIBLE OF TIME: "Classic science fiction with engaging characters and richly imagined worlds!" --Greg Bear; author of The Unfinished Land and The War Dogs Trilogy "Jeffrey A. Carver's remarkable long-awaited duology The Reefs of Time / Crucible of Time is a welcome addition to The Chaos Chronicles, certifying his continuing mastery of action and adventure at the boundaries of space opera and hard SF." --Steve Miller, co-author of The Liaden Universe "Rich, dignified prose wedded to excellent and imaginative storytelling on the grandest scale. If you've grown weary of the hasty, hyperkinetic stories and styles that typify so many other independently-published novels, come home to Jeffrey Carver's timeless and triumphant The Reefs of Time." --Charles E. Gannon, author of the Caine Riordan world "Mind-blowing in its complexity... I settled in to enjoy a wild ride." --Ann Tonsor Zeddies, author of Riders of Leviathan and Steel Helix "Underpins its stunning science fiction and character-driven narrative with a strong theme of 'coming home'... As narratives intertwine at separate ends of the timescale, Carver's talent for weaving incredible technology and worldbuilding with meaningful character moments is a standout." --Terence MacManus, Aurealis Magazine PRAISE FOR THE CHAOS CHRONICLES: "Remarkably expansive vision." --Analog "Masterfully captures the joy of exploration." -- Publishers Weekly "Master craftsman of compelling hard science fiction." -- Booklist One of the best SF novels of the year -- Science Fiction Chronicle "A dazzling, thrilling, innovative space opera." --Kirkus "Fertile imagination and... a host of engagingly sympathetic characters." --Library Journal

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Summary: In Sacrum Umbra you were treated to tales from the shadows, the literary darkness that lives within all of us. Here you will find tales of another sort, the type you might find in the less wholesome end of the collective unconscious and the very depths of the gut. From stories of childhood gone horribly wrong to sex and madness with an impossible cost, this is where you'll find the more gruesome end of the spectrum.