sci fi – greenpunk

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Summary: Home, a place where we belong and are safe and loved. Home, the house in which we grew up, a neighborhood, a culture, even a country. Home is a state of mind, it is a place of the heart, and in the heart. Finding home, coming home, and bringing home the one we love is a journey, a journey that can be a dangerous adventure. For the lovers in these stories, adventures can include quests and fighting dragons and demons, past and present, physical as well as mental and emotional. Rocket launchers need to be dodged, the Wild Hunt needs to be outrun. For some of the lovers here, home has been lost, or they have been forced to leave, as is too common for LGBT+ youth. In this collection queer positive speculative fiction stories, explore the idea of what and where home is in the lives of these lovers. Will they survive their quests, defeat their monsters? Will they find a place to call home?  

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Summary: Sometimes, we get second chances -- at love, to make things right, to say good-bye the way it should have been said. Darian promised his dying husband Randy he would go through with the plan to teach summer school in Bath, England. Randy insisted; it was always Darian’s dream to live in England, go, do it. But once there, in Tintagel, on a street in Coverack, a small Cornish seaside village, Darian sees Randy. Grief can make us see things, right? So Darian tells himself, until the man whom he buried, whose ashes he carried with him to England, sits down beside him on a bench in front of Bath Abbey, with screaming seagulls nearby. It seems the dead can come back. But why and how? Has Randy come to take Darian with him? Or is something else going?

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Summary: Two people find themselves in a quandary: Aderri, a powerful dragon shifter with some light defensive magic, and Ellys, a half-elven swordswoman for hire, one of the best across the six nations. When Aderri gets news that she must come home for the naming ceremony of a new hatchling, she's forced to hire Ellys and her telepathic steed, Roccotári, to see her safely there. Of course, things are never as simple as they seem. Not only do they have to traverse the land between two kingdoms on the brink of war, but Aderri's Clan expects her to return with a romantic interest. So, for the added promise of triple Ellys's normal fee, the half-elf agrees to pretend to be Aderri's suitor. Ellys and Aderri have to convince a Clan full of magical mixed-shifters for a week that creatures of differing elements can burn with the flames of love, without actually lying. A situation made even more difficult by a matchmaking mare, steamy baths, and an innkeeper with mischief on the mind. Caught between the weight of the past and expectations of the future, they must find their true destiny within the heat of fire.

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Summary: One starship, six friends, 10,000 lives in the balance. Hugo Award Finalist Gideon Marcus has done it again with this second installment in The Kitra Saga. Sirena is a thrilling YA space adventure, unusually hopeful and optimistic in a sea of grimdark, dystopian releases. Enhanced with beautiful illustrations, fans of Becky Chambers’ Wayfarers and Emily Skrutskie’s Bonds of Brass will adore Sirena. Young captain-for-hire Kitra Yilmaz has gotten her first contract: escort the mysterious Princess of Atlántida beyond the Frontier and find her a new world. It’s a risky job, fraught with the threat of pirates, dangerous squatters, and rising romantic tensions. Still, Kitra and her crew are up for anything – until they find a lush world, perfect for settlement…with an enormous ghost ship already in orbit. What secret does the crippled vessel hide? And is Kitra ready to take responsibility for its precious cargo? With illustrations by Hugo Finalist Lorelei Esther.

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Summary: African-descended USians are finally obtaining reparations—underwater. Plunge into the action of a visionary future by the award-winning author of Everfair, with narration by LeVar Burton (Star Trek: The Next Generation). Five miles off the South Carolina coast, Darden and Catherina are getting their promised forty acres, all of it undersea. Like every Black “mer,” they’ve been experimentally modified to adapt to their new subaquatic home—and have met with extreme resistance from white supremacists. Darden has an inspired plan for resolution. For both those on land and the webbed bottom-dwellers below, Darden is hoping to change the wave of the future. Nisi Shawl’s 2043 . . . (A Merman I Should Turn to Be) is part of Black Stars, a multi-dimensional collection of speculative fiction from Black authors. Each story is a world much like our own. Read or listen to them in a single sitting.

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Summary: Strange magics plucked Jenna from Earth to a new world and a new body. But now darker forces threaten the new life she’s come to love. She risked everything to defend her kingdom and friends, struggling to channel chaotic Power to defeat a demonspawn king. They won that fight, but the war was only beginning. Now, one by one, the neighboring kingdoms are falling silent, under attack from monsters that shouldn’t exist and from within their own people. The cuari who protect and guide this world have suddenly vanished, and the chaotic plane—the source of all magic—is failing. Jenna is in the body of a Guardian, channeling the voice of a long-lost god, and tasked with averting the coming apocalypse, but this time, magic and destiny might not save the day. Separated from Prince Corin—Storm, who she might love if she had a free moment—and seeking a missing magic book, she’ll be hunted by deadly enemies and haunted by visions of what will happen if she fails while her friends are pushed the limits of their bravery and hope. If she can’t figure out how to end the attacks, free the cuari, and save the chaotic plane, this world will fall—and so will all the others.

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Summary: "5 Stars - This action-packed adventure will fully immerse the reader... any fan of science fiction or action-adventure would enjoy this book." - Reader's Favorite "...a gifted story that is exceptionally compelling." - D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review "5 Stars - ... something both sci-fi and fantasy fans will enjoy." - Jim's Sci-Fi Blog Even gods have secrets... On planet Vastire, worth is set by the sins of one's ancestors. Good families rise to the elite and the wicked fall into poverty. Unfortunately for sixteen-year-old Darynn Mark, his father incited a revolution. Now, Darynn scrounges his way through life in the slums. When Vastire is surrounded by an embargo, it gets even harder to survive. That all changes when an alien ship slips through the embargo, seeking Darynn with an offer: finish the revolution and the embargo ends. He might have a chance thanks to mysterious magic powers, and his two companions: clairvoyant crush Fyra and soldierly alien Kaylaa. Cutthroat killers, mystical beasts, Vampires, power-hungry priests and lords, and self-serving spies stand in their way. If the three of them can crack his father's secret, maybe they can end the embargo and save the poor. If not, another poor orphan will be added to the growing piles of dead.

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Summary: Escaping intergalactic kidnappers has never been quite so ridiculous. When Lem and her faithful dog, Spock, retreat from the city for a few days of hiking in Algonquin Park, the last thing they expect is to be kidnapped by aliens. No, scratch that. The last thing they expect is to be kidnapped by a bunch of strangely adorable intergalactic bounty hunters aboard a ship called the Teapot. After Lem falls in with an unlikely group of allies – including a talking horse, a sarcastic robot, an overly anxious giant parrot, and a cloud of sentient glitter gas – the gang must devise a cunning plan to escape their captors and make it back home safely. But things won’t be as easy as they first seem. Lost in deep space and running out of fuel, this chaotic crew are faced with the daunting task of navigating an alien planet, breaking into a space station, and discovering the real reason they’re all there… Packed with preposterous scenarios, quirky characters, and oodles of humour, The Left Hand of Dog tackles complex subjects such as gender, the need to belong, and the importance of honest communication. Perfect for fans of Charlie Jane Anders’ Victories Greater than Death – especially ones who enjoy endless references to Red Dwarf, Star Trek, and Doctor Who. This book will show you that the universe is a very strange place indeed. Scroll up and grab your copy now!

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Summary: Werewolves, vampires, and King Arthur converge in the Lavender Valley.  Living safely in a valley set aside for them and protected by magic under a peace negotiated by King Arthur, the blood song and Lunae have left the past behind, seemingly. A prophecy has promised that a girl will be born of a certain family line and that she will give incredible power to her mate. Stella is of the right line, but she carries the blood of both sides, half vampire, half werewolf.  She's half outcast with the wolves that raised her.  She's been told all her life that she can't be the girl of prophecy, that she'll never be good enough to be the luna of the clan. Aurelius is the silver haired alpha. Raised in Camelot, Arthur expects the boy he raised to bring the wolves and the blood song into the civilized world. The only thing Aurelius has from his father is a letter telling him to marry Onyx. Stella and Aurelius have a forbidden love that is about to wreck the civilized world. Only on the NovelStar app, first six chapters free! Come read a world where chivalry meets wild instinct!

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Summary: Life on Amargosa was supposed to be quiet for Cui Yun, better known by her call sign Suicide. But when a baby is dropped on her doorstep, the mother's disappearance leads her across the galaxy to a world of Neanderthals, a colony devoted to Marilyn Monroe as a goddess, and a planet still in a post-apocalypse and rife with monster plants. She and her protege will find themselves above the galactic plain facing down an enemy that wants control of human evolution itself. Suicide Run marks the return of one of TS Hottle's most popular characters. Find out where she came from, how she became a pilot, and why her call sign is 'Suicide".

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Summary: INK (NOUN) Five definitions to inspire writers around the world and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell: 1) A colored fluid used for writing 2) The action of signing a deal 3) A black liquid ejected by squid 4) Publicity in the written media 5) A slang word for tattoos Ink 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: James "Bodacious" Creed stopped a killer and helped bring peace to Santa Cruz, a coastal California city on the edge of the American frontier. Now, the undead lawman, resurrected with steam-based technology, takes on dangerous criminal cases as a private investigator. One night while riding by the wharf, Creed hears a gunshot. He and his coyote companion, Coconino, rush to the scene. In a forest clearing, he finds two dead men and a dying woman. Mechanical parts ring her neck and wrist, and as she whispers of her travails, the former Chinese slave dies in his arms. Someone in San Francisco is using illegal machinery to alter and control women like her. To hunt down the perpetrator, Creed travels to the City by the Bay. His journey takes him into the depths of Chinatown, reveals a secret society, and puts old and new friends in danger. How can Creed learn the truth before more women are changed, manipulated, or killed?

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Summary: What would you do to protect what’s yours? Donnie’s whole world changed the day he met Nate at The Stop, a cruising spot outside a small Texas town. Nate saw him, knew him, cared for him, and then one day, in an incomprehensible act of violence, Nate was taken from him. Broken but not beaten, Donnie steps into Nate’s role at The Stop with one goal in mind: find the man who murdered his lover and see justice served no matter the cost. “Breathless and brutal, THE STOP is an unflinching Texas revenge noir awash in moral complexity and the coded lives and languages of the marginalized. W. Dale Jordan’s insistent, riveting prose and imminently relatable cast of characters, force the reader to confront the inconvenient reality of who society chooses to preserve and defends against who is abandoned to slip through the cracks.”--Mark Wheaton, author of Emily Eternal "THE STOP by W. Dale Jordan is raw and honest and gripping. In this exciting suspense/revenge tale, Jordan explores an aspect of gay culture that is often overlooked, but he does so with compassion and a lack of judgement that humanizes his characters to a thrilling degree."--Mark Allan Gunnells, author of 2B and BEFORE HE WAKES

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Summary: Rules were made to be broken. From terraformed outposts to magical realms, journey to worlds where deadly plants, rampant biodiversity, or failed colonies have created irresistible opportunities for those brave enough to seize them. New worlds, found family, mystical secrets, and deadly science weave together in this lesbian-centric anthology focusing on a very different kind of first time—a first encounter with a world, or being, entirely unlike our own. If you like diverse stories with lesbian heroines practicing science, magic, and seduction, buy Distant Gardens today!

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Summary: Silas Thornwood's worst nightmare has come to life. Darien's familiar Pip is gravely injured, and Darien and Jasper have been kidnapped. Someone ruthless and violent is holding the man Silas loves prisoner, for purposes he doesn't want to imagine. Silas needs help from his friends to locate and rescue Darien. And when he does, those responsible― whether sorcerer, human, or demon― are going to be truly, utterly sorry…

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Summary: A princess on the run. A captain on the hunt for treasure. When their paths cross, will they be each other's salvation? Keola is a mermaid – and bound for marriage to a foreign human prince. Unable to face a life cut off from the ocean with a man she despises, she chooses freedom at a terrible cost. Posing as a human wavesinger to remain hidden from her pursuers, she finds work on the ship of the dashing captain Anaar Kahlani.Anaar is searching for a mythical treasure and believes that Keola is the key to finding it. Amidst the hunt for fame and fortune, Anaar begins to fall for the mysterious wavesinger. Confronted with a secret and a dangerous revelation, she must decide what price she is willing to pay for untold riches – and for love. When Keola’s past catches up with her, can they survive the oncoming storm together, or will the trials ahead demand more of them than they are willing to sacrifice?

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Summary: Once upon a time, two handsome young princes fell in love, faced down adversity, and lived happily-ever-after…until one romantic evening, they unwittingly ate a confection laced with a mind-wiping toxin. Crown Prince Efren of Zioneven blindsided Prince Marcelo of Sheburat when he used The Contingency Plan embedded in a peace treaty to marry the naïve young prince. Now, Marcelo is shocked again when he awakens in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar land, in the arms of a stranger who’s taking such liberties! Will that ignominious new beginning to their relationship doom their chances at rekindling their love? Or will Efren’s giddiness and the less formal surroundings of Zioneven propel them toward a more teasingly fun rapport? Marcelo and Efren have forgotten more than their love. On their journey home to Zioneven, their Best-Laid Plans went awry when Marcelo was abducted. Now, neither remembers the unexpected strength of character and ingenuity Marcelo manifested to survive his harrowing ordeal, or Efren’s frantic search for his new husband. Were Marcelo and Efren specifically targeted for the Forget-Me-Not poisoning, or were they the victims of a random assault? Is this new attack related to Marcelo’s abduction and his sister’s death? Will Marcelo revert to his old mild-mannered, unassuming self, or will he step up to prove he’s the same brave man his new family claims he is amid the fresh danger swirling around them? Keywords: prince, royalty, fantasy, memory loss, amnesia, novella, ebook

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Summary: From the vast lore surrounding King Arthur, Camelot, and the Knights of the Round Table, comes an anthology of gender-bent, race-bent, LGBTQIA+ inclusive retellings. Featuring stories by: Alexander Chee • Preeti Chhibber • Roshani Chokshi • Sive Doyle • Maria Dahvana Headley • Ausma Zehanat Khan • Daniel M. Lavery • Ken Liu • Sarah MacLean • Silvia Moreno-Garcia • Jessica Plummer • Anthony Rapp • Waubgeshig Rice • Alex Segura • Nisi Shawl • S. Zainab Williams Here you’ll find the Lady of the Lake reimagined as an albino Ugandan sorceress and the Lady of Shalott as a wealthy, isolated woman in futuristic Mexico City; you'll see Excalibur rediscovered as a baseball bat that grants a washed-up minor leaguer a fresh shot at glory and as a lost ceremonial drum that returns to a young First Nations boy the power and the dignity of his people. There are stories set in Gilded Age Chicago, '80s New York, twenty-first century Singapore, and space; there are lesbian lady knights, Arthur and Merlin reborn in the modern era for a second chance at saving the world and falling in love—even a coffee shop AU. Brave, bold, and groundbreaking, the stories in Sword Stone Table will bring fresh life to beloved myths and give long-time fans a chance to finally see themselves in their favorite legends.

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Summary: When the Action Girls, a trio of wannabe starlets from Hollywood, land a jungle adventure show, they think it’s their dream come true. But instead, they’re trafficked to the Congo for a sinister purpose. In the heart of Africa, a cult of mad scientists harbors a mad ambition: to create a new species of human-ape hybrid, mating human women with chimpanzees. But their experiments are failures, so they need to bring a steady supply of women to their jungle compound to keep their twisted fantasy alive. Will the Action Girls escape their bizarre and terrifying ordeal? Or will they fulfill the cult’s warped vision of humanity’s future to become broodmares birthing inhuman monsters? Find out in Jungle Jitters, a story not for the faint-hearted, the easily offended, or anyone who thinks human-ape hybrids are a good idea.

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Summary: When secrets and lies threaten the throne, can a fierce champion tame her passion in time to stop a cruel enemy’s ruthless march? Viking Warrior Princess Lena craves revenge. Hunting a killer after her husband is brutally slain, she discovers a shadowy traitor is at play behind the scenes, working to disrupt the balance of power. Placing her need for vengeance on hold when the king falls gravely ill, Lena leads an expedition to locate a fabled healer across a treacherous sea. Caitlin had been snatched from her home in Eire and sold into slavery. She prayed for a means of escape, and in storms Lena to her rescue. She is grateful, but realizes her feelings for Lena run far deeper. Mighty warrior Gunnar is loyal to the core. But when his lord orders him to sabotage the princess’s royal mission, he’s plagued by doubt, uncertain he’s fighting for the right side. Beset by a plethora of dangers and delays, Lena battles foes on every front, even within her own heart as her love for Caitlin grows. Gunnar must choose between honor and fealty, but in the end, will a traitor’s blade end all their lives? Viking Quest is a breathtaking historical fantasy novel. If you like principled characters, battles of conscience, and tender F/F romance, then you’ll love Edale Lane’s action-packed epic. Buy Viking Quest to destroy a fearsome foe today!