Download or read book Beyond the Colors of Darkness and Other Exotica written by Brian Stableford and published by Wildside Press LLC. This book was released on 2009-07-01 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eleven stories of science fiction and fantasy by a master writer of the fantastic, including four tales published for the first time.
Download or read book War Games written by Brian Stableford and published by Wildside Press LLC. This book was released on 2012-05-15 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout the centuries that have passed since humans first ventured into interstellar space, they have been at war with the alien Veich. The human race has, in consequence, been fully militarized, its educational system being a form of military training--which includes, among other disciplines, the elimination of fear from the human psyche. Attitudes to the war have, however, been colored by the gradual discovery of relics revealing that it is echoing an earlier interstellar conflict whose antagonists have completely disappeared, victors and vanquished alike. On a neglected continent of an unimportant world, ex-sergeant Remy and other human and Veich deserters have joined forces to form a mercenary company that places its expert skills at the disposal of the dominant indigenes. This refuge from the greater war is, however, disrupted when archeologists on another world discover evidence that there might be significant relics of the earlier war buried in the inhospitable heart of the continent, where barbarian tribes are currently massing for a religious war. Remy has no alternative but to revert to working for his own race, knowing that whatever he enables them to find, or even if they find nothing at all, his own life will be in grave peril, and that nothing will ever be the same again.... Great military SF! Also published as Optiman.
Download or read book Streaking written by Brian Stableford and published by Wildside Press LLC. This book was released on 2011-11-14 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For hundreds of years the male members of the Kilcannon family have considered themselves to be the beneficiaries of distortions in the statistical distribution of chance, associating their most fortunate windfalls with visual distortions that they call “streaks.” This belief has led to the accumulation of a vast heritage of superstitions—rules which, if broken, might allegedly terminate the privilege. The current heir, Canny Kilcannon, is anxious to dispose of this burden, but is unsure as to how far he can go in tempting fate. When his father dies, his life is further complicated when a female beneficiary of a similar centuries-old lucky streak reveals herself to him. Lissa suggests that they attempt the ultimate experiment—to test the boundaries of their gift. Can they succeed? Or will they bring down upon them the “black lightning” of which both of their traditions warn? A truly compelling tale of luck and probability in the real world. BRIAN STABLEFORD has written and edited almost 200 volumes of science fiction, horror, fantasy, literary criticism, and reference, among others, many of them being published by the Borgo Press Imprint of Wildside Press. He lives and works in England.
Download or read book Journey to the Core of Creation written by Brian Stableford and published by Wildside Press LLC. This book was released on 2011-11-04 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is 1847, and Paris is edging closer to its next revolution, but something is also astir inside Mont Dragon in the Ardèche. This is a place of annual pilgrimage for a band of enigmatic nomads, and also a place of interest to the ambitious Bishop of Viviers. In spite of his distaste for travel, Auguste Dupin makes the long southward journey, in the hope that he might be able to help an old friend, the evolutionist Claude Guérande. Guérande believes that he has made discoveries in the caves of Mont Dragon that might cast new light on the origin of humankind, and of life itself. Over the years, however, not everyone who has gone into the caves has come out again, and not everyone who has come out has been unaltered...and 1847 promises to be a critical year, more dangerous than any before it. And when the bizarre flameflower begins to bloom, everything changes! Another great tale in the Auguste Dupin series.
Download or read book The Quintessence of August written by Brian Stableford and published by Wildside Press LLC. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During an August heat-wave, the Comte de Saint-Germain seeks the help of detective Auguste Dupin. Someone--or someTHING--is trying to kill him! The Comte has inherited a magical cello and a mysterious sealed box. A psychic vampire (an "egregore") intends to use the cello and a magical musical composition to steal another soul. Can Dupin and his faithful companion unravel the puzzle in time to save the Comte?
Download or read book Valdemar s Daughter The Mad Trist Wildside Double 10 written by Brian Stableford and published by Wildside Press LLC. This book was released on 2010-10-01 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the tradition of the old "Ace Doubles" (flip one book over to read the second title), here is the tenth Wildside Double: VALDEMAR'S DAUGHTER: A ROMANCE OF MESMERISM, by Brian Stableford Following the sad demise of Ernest Valdemar, as related in the story by Edgar Allan Poe, his mortal remains are sent to his daughter in Paris--but go astray--and detective Auguste Dupin must track them down. The Comte de Saint-Germain seems implicated in the mystery. Meanwhile, the great writer Balzac lies at death's door, convinced that only Valdemar's body can save him. Will Dupin thwart his adversary in the nick of time? THE MAD TRIST: A ROMANCE OF BIBLIOMANIA, by Brian Stableford The Comte de Saint-Germain has come into possession of The Mad Trist, the book from which Edgar Allan Poe and Roderick Usher read aloud before the collapse recorded in "The Fall of the House of Usher." He intends it as a gift to detective Auguste Dupin, but Dupin's friend, Richard Carstairs, cannot deliver the volume immediately. Richard is unintimidated by the prospect of reading a supposedly cursed book--after all, Dupin has a whole shelf full of them! A classic tale of horror.
Download or read book Salome and other Decadent Fantasies written by Brian Stableford and published by Wildside Press LLC. This book was released on 2011-11-15 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Decadent literature is intrinsically and proudly a literature of moral challenge; it is sceptical, cynical, and satirical. It recognizes that everyday morality does not work either in practical or in psychological terms, and is therefore a sham, but that ideal morality is -- not necessarily unfortunately -- unattainable. This volume collects the best of Brian Stableford's decadent work, including: "Salome," "O For a Fiery Gloom and Thee," "The Last Worshipper of Proteus," "The Evil That Men Do," "Ebony Eyes," "The Fisherman's Child," "The Storyteller's Tale," "The Unluckiest Thief," "The Flowers in the Forest," "The Mandrake Garden," and "Chanterelle."
Download or read book Sheena and Other Gothic Tales written by Brian Stableford and published by Wildside Press LLC. This book was released on 2013-12-06 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sheena is a vampire from Leeds who works in a call center, and has a dark secret that even she doesn't know about. Her boyfriend has to discover it the hard way, alas. Like the other two vampire stories included in the book, both of which feature vampire babies, "Sheena" is a love story, which shares the life-enhancing attributes common to all love stories. Here are ten tales of the fantastic, the horrific, and the gothic, including: "Rose, Crowned with Thorns," "Rent," "Tenebrio," "Behind the Wheel," "Innocent Blood," "Emptiness," "The Woman in the Mirror," "Regression," "Heartbreaker," and "Sheena." Great reading by a great writer!
Download or read book Halcyon Drift written by Brian M. Stableford and published by Wildside Press LLC. This book was released on 2018-03-26 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a galactic culture that extends from quasi-Utopian worlds like New Alexandria to vermin-infested slums like Old Earth, starship pilots have become the great romantic heroes of the day. When Star-Pilot Grainger is rescued from a shipwreck, he finds himself pressed into reluctant service to fly the Hooded Swan, the prototype of a new kind of interstellar ship. He's also picked up an alien parasite that's determined to share his brain. Under these dire circumstances, can Grainger possibly stay out of trouble? Not a chance!
Download or read book Jaunting on the Scoriac Tempests and Other Essays on Fantastic Literature written by Brian Stableford and published by Wildside Press LLC. This book was released on 2009-03-01 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this new collection of essays, well-known critic Brian Stableford presents twelve pieces on science-fiction and fantasy writers M. P. Shiel, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Humphry Davy, Robert Hunt, Vernon Lee, J. G. Ballard, James Morrow, Dean Koontz, and Terry Pratchett. Complete with detailed index.
Download or read book The Paradise Game written by Brian Stableford and published by Wildside Press LLC. This book was released on 2019-01-13 with total page 143 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a galactic culture that extends from quasi-utopian worlds like New Alexandria to the vermin-infested slums of Old Earth, the Star-Pilots are the great heroes of the day, and Grainger has become a legend in his own time. Pharos is paradise--or so it appears. But the champions of commerce want to package and sell the planet, and the conservationists want to stop them. Grainger's employer, Titus Charlot, is enlisted to negotiate a settlement, but the game is rigged. Charlot needs the Star-Pilot's help, but there seems to be nothing he can do--until the planet's ecosystem takes a hand, and "paradise" suddenly turns deadly! Hooded Swan, Book 4.
Download or read book Gothic Grotesques written by Brian Stableford and published by Wildside Press LLC. This book was released on 2009-03-01 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ten essays on horror fiction, Gothic rock music, science fiction, and fantasy, by a master critic and fiction writer. Complete with index.
Download or read book Steampunk II Steampunk Reloaded written by Ann VanderMeer and published by Tachyon Publications. This book was released on 2010-11-15 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gentle Readers, after the outraged letters following our first volume, I would be remiss not to warn you. The handsome tome of classic and original fiction, nonfiction, and illustrations is perhaps even more shocking than its predecessor. And yet, I see that your curiosity is piqued, so.... Enter the Scintillating Clockpunk Gear-o-Torium: Herein dwell the breathless adventures that you secretly seek. Gaze upon the rebellious Mecha-Ostrich, the seductive Steam Dancer, the intrepid Mssrs. Balfour and Meriwether, and the hithertofore undefeated Cast-Iron Kid. Experience the Delights of the Chrononaut Odditorium: An esteemed panel of self-appointed experts, under pain of ridicule, will reveal Top Secret Historical Enticements. Be dazzled by the first English translation of the quintessential Steampunk story “Flying Fish Prometheus” by Vilhelm Bergsøe. Oooh and Ahhh at the Subculture Contraptor Lounge: Authoress of the Parasol Protectorate Gail Carriger gaily holds forth on the fashionable subjects of fashion, fiction, and more. The Steampunk Workshop founder Jake von Slatt’s “Steampunk Manifesto” shares his musings amusing and profound on the future of Steam. Look Upon Our Brass-Plated Wonders: From the rough streets of modern-day Manchester, world-famous adventurer John Coulthart provides the near-tactile visual experience of this elaborative tome. He is joined by the likes of the artistes Secret Agent Ramona Szczerba (a.k.a. Winona Cookie) and Lovereaftian maestro Eric Orchard. Meet the Masterminds: Editors Extraordinaire Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, the well-known literary vagabonds and mesmerists, do fully guarantee your satisfaction. However, the publisher does regret that the VanderMeers have become mysteriously unavailable to respond to any grievances. It’s Steampunk—and it’s reloaded.
Download or read book Yesterday Never Dies written by Brian Stableford and published by Wildside Press LLC. This book was released on 2013-07-30 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At an 1847 revival of Meyerbeer’s opera Robert le Diable, the ghost of Blaise Thibodeaux, the author of La Résonance du temps, appears in one of the boxes, just as Thibodeaux had predicted to Auguste Dupin that it would, thirteen years before. Unfortunately, Dupin is unable to attend the performance, leaving his uninformed friend and narrator Reynolds to try to make sense of the apparition and all the confusing circumstances surrounding it. Once Dupin has returned to the intellectual fray, however, and pulled the multitudinous threads of possibility together, seven individuals must set forth for the forest of Fontainebleau in the dead of night in order to bring the "temporal resonance" that Thibodeaux had earlier attempted to produce to its full fruition, hoping at least to understand why he wanted to do so--although the Comte de Saint-Germain, apparently in control for once, has much greater ambitions than that... Another riveting entry in this ongoing historical fantasy series.
Download or read book A Glimpse of Infinity written by Brian Stableford and published by Wildside Press LLC. This book was released on 2013-08-05 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The masters of the Euchronian Millennium are panicking. The fabric of their ideal society on the platform built over the Earth has been ripped, and the order that they hold so precious seems to be teetering on the brink of collapse. In order to save it, the Hegemon has decided to obliterate all life in the perpetually covered Underworld of Earth from which the threat comes--but his followers are of two minds as to whether that's even possible, let alone justifiable. As the opposition grows, the plan goes forward--but then the Underworld begins to fight back, and everything's thrown into chaos: a chaos with which the citizens of a supposedly ideal society are simply not equipped to deal. Meanwhile, in the Underworld, the fight for survival goes on, as bitterly and ruthlessly as ever. The smashing conclusion to The Realms of Tartarus Trilogy!
Download or read book Nature s Shift written by Brian Stableford and published by Wildside Press LLC. This book was released on 2011-09-09 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Peter Bell the Third, accidentally named from the title of a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, is called upon to renew his old friendship with Rowland Usher, who was deliberately named after the protagonist of a story by Edgar Allan Poe. In the new House of Usher that Rowland is growing in the Orinoco Delta, Usher explains the scientific work in genetics that he’s doing there to Peter, while they both mourn Rowland’s dead twin sister, Magdalen, who has apparently committed suicide for reasons that no one quite understands. As a scientist, Peter is inevitably convinced, when he discovers Magdalen’s “ghost” haunting the house, that the haunting can only be figurative and symbolic—but that does not make it any less meaningful, or problematic. A marvelous new novel in this long-running series by a master of biological extrapolation.
Download or read book Critical Threshold written by Brian Stableford and published by Wildside Press LLC. This book was released on 2011-09-09 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They call them the “rat-catchers.” They’re the crew of the spaceship Daedalus, which an economically destitute Earth has dispatched on a mission to re-establish contact with its far-flung, long-lost colonies in space. Alex Alexander, the ship’s biologist, together with his staff, must help solve the mysteries of human and alien ecosystems that he encounters light-years from home. Dendra is a stable world, covered by a huge, unchanging forest—except that nothing living can really be free of change. The planet has no seasons, but its animal life still undergoes life-cycles involving birth, maturation, metamorphosis, and death. The Earth colony sent to tame the world has failed, at least in the terms expected of it, and seems beyond redemption; but the crew of the Daedalus still has to find out exactly why and how the program has gone wrong. Provided, of course, that they can survive the investigation itself!
