Download or read book When Gravity Fails written by George Effinger and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2012-03-05 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Gravity Fails, the first Marid novel, is set in a high-tech near-future featuring a divided USA and USSR, a world with mind-or mood-altering drugs for any purpose; brains enhanced by electronic hardware, with plug-in memory additions and modules offering the wearer new personalities (James Bond, celebrities); bodies shaped to perfection by surgery. Marid Audran, an unmodified and fairly honest street-survivor, lives in a decadent Arab ghetto, the Budayeen, and, against his best instincts, becomes involved in a series of inexplicable murders. Some seem like routine assassinations, carried out with an old-fashioned handgun by a man wearing a plug-in James Bond persona; others, involving whores, feature prolonged torture and horrible mutilations. The problem comes to the attention of Budayeen godfather Friedlander Bey, who makes Audran an offer he can't refuse. Audran submits to electronic brain enhancement in order to track down and deal with the killer or killers.
Download or read book The Budayeen Cycle written by George Alec Effinger and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2017-08-08 with total page 633 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The complete Hugo and Nebula Award–nominated cyberpunk trilogy by an author whose work is “wry and black and savage” (George R. R. Martin). Praised as “a perfect example of how exciting the subgenre can and should be,” George Alec Effinger’s Budayeen Cycle is a towering and timeless science fiction achievement that continues to amaze, shock, and captivate readers (SF Signal). When Gravity Fails: Set in a high-tech near future featuring an ascendant Muslim world and divided Western superpowers, this cult classic takes readers into a world with mind- or mood-altering drugs for any purpose, brains enhanced by electronic hardware, and surgically altered bodies. Street hustler Marîd Audran has always prided himself on his independence, free from commitments, connections, and even cybernetic modifications. But when a string of brutal murders lands him on the radar of Friedlander Bey, the most powerful and dangerous man in the decadent Arab ghetto, the Budayeen, Audran is forced to change his loner ways, or risk losing his life . . . A Fire in the Sun: Once a small-time smuggler, Marîd Audran has, to his chagrin, moved up in the ranks of the criminal underworld to become a lieutenant in Friedlander Bey’s shadowy empire. Tasked with being Bey’s eyes and ears inside local law enforcement, Audran finds himself tracking yet another serial killer through the streets of the Budayeen. And the closer he gets to his target, the more embroiled he becomes in the deadly political machinations hidden behind the city’s façade. The Exile Kiss: Marîd Audran is finally learning to appreciate the wealth and benefits that come from being on Friedlander Bey’s payroll when a powerful enemy does the unthinkable, and gets both Audran and Bey exiled from the Budayeen. Abandoned in the lifeless and lethal Arabian Desert, Audran and Bey have only one option: survive long enough to exact revenge on the man responsible.
Download or read book Budayeen Nights written by George Alec Effinger and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2014-04-29 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “brilliant collection” of short stories set in a “marvelously realized, imaginary Muslim city” from the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Long identified as a science fiction writer, except in his own eyes, George Alec Effinger had some of his biggest critical and commercial success with a series even he recognized and characterized as SF. Set in the marvelously realized, imaginary Muslim city of Budayeen, the three novels, When Gravity Fails, A Fire in the Sun and The Exile Kiss garnered rave reviews, award nominations and a wide readership. In addition, Effinger came to be recognized as one of the foundational writers of cyberpunk. Although the novels are perhaps how Budayeen and their hero, Marid Audran, are best known, there are a handful of shorter pieces that add to the vividly drawn and deeply authentic picture of an imagined world and seven short stories, the first part of an uncompleted novel and a story fragment add to the mental images of this exotic and yet somehow completely familiar city and world that Effinger created. This book was originally published by Golden Gryphon Press and comes with a Forword and story notes by Effinger's widow, Barbara Hambly. The lead story in this collection, "Schrodinger's Kitten," won the Hugo, Nebula and Seiun Awards.
Download or read book A Fire in the Sun written by George Alec Effinger and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Hugo Award–winning author returns to the futuristic, high-tech Middle East setting of When Gravity Falls in this “major science fiction epic” (Locus). In a world filled with so many puppets, strings tend to get tangled. In this follow-up to the groundbreaking cyberpunk novel When Gravity Fails, the Budayeen is still a very dangerous place, a high-tech Arabian ghetto where power and murder go hand in hand. Marid Audran used to be a low-level street hustler, relying on his wits and independence. Now he’s a cop planted in the force by Friedlander Bey, the powerful “godfather” of the Budayeen. Marid is supposed to simply be Bey’s envoy into the police, but as a series of grisly murders piles up—children, prostitutes, a fellow officer—he is drawn deeper and deeper into the city’s chaos. Would Marid give up all his newfound money and power to get out of this mess? Absolutely. If only he could. But answers are never that easy and choices are never completely one’s own in the Budayeen.
Download or read book The Exile Kiss written by George Alec Effinger and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a Nebula Award winner: A “phenomenal,” action-packed tale of crime, corruption, and cybernetics (Locus). Set in a divided near future, The Exile Kiss is author George Alec Effinger’s third book about the high-tech Arab ghetto called the Budayeen. It is a world filled with mind- or mood-altering drugs for any purpose; brains enhanced by electronic hardware, with plug-in memory additions and new personalities; and bodies shaped to perfection by surgery. Marid Audran, having risen from the rank of street hustler, is now an enforcer for Friedlander Bey, one of the most feared men in the Budayeen. But betrayal and exile send Marid and Bey out into the lifeless Arabian desert. Can they survive on their own? Will they make it back into hostile territory? Will they find their revenge? With this culmination of the sequence of Marid books, readers will quickly understand why this series is considered one of the great works of modern SF and a defining example of the cyber-punk genre.
Download or read book Cloud of Sparrows written by Takashi Matsuoka and published by Delacorte Press. This book was released on 2002-10-01 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Exotic, entertaining . . . [an] exceptional first novel.”—San Francisco Chronicle The year is 1861. After two centuries of isolation, Japan has opened its doors to the West. And as foreign ships threaten to rain destruction on the Shogun’s castle in Edo, a small group of American missionaries has arrived to spread the word of their God. They have yet to realize that their future in Japan has already been foreseen. For a young nobleman has dreamt that his life will be saved by an outsider in the New Year. . . and it is said that Lord Genji has the gift of prophecy. What happens next—when the handsome lord meets an appa rently reformed gunslinger and a woman in flight from her own destructive beauty—sets the stage for a remarkable adventure. For as this unlikely band embarks on a journey through a landscape bristling with danger, East and West, flesh and spirit, past and future, collide in ways no one—least of all Genji—could have imagined. Praise for Cloud of Sparrows “The book seizes you from start to finish.”—The Washington Post “Adventure-filled.”—Entertainment Weekly “Rich . . . with an ambitious, unexpected ending that cuts deeper than a samurai sword.”—San Francisco Chronicle
Download or read book The Aliens Who Knew I Mean Everything and Target Berlin written by George Alec Effinger and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A hilarious story of overly helpful aliens and a WWII alternate history tale from the Hugo Award–winning author of When Gravity Falls. These two short stories serve as a wonderful glimpse into the mind of multiple Hugo and Nebula Award nominee George Alec Effinger, a singular talent in the world of SF. In The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, Everything, benevolent aliens have arrived on Earth, sharing their knowledge but also their annoying, overbearing opinions about every little thing. Target: Berlin! offers an absurdist ride through an alternate version of World War II, in which Effinger has reshaped the aerial campaigns into battles by car.
Download or read book Medusa Uploaded written by Emily Devenport and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2018-05-01 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This sci-fit thriller about a rogue starship servant has “mysteries around every corner. . . . the end product is just as fantastic as one would hope” (Los Angeles Times). My name is Oichi Angelis, and I am a worm. They see me every day. They consider me harmless. And that’s the trick, isn’t it? A generation starship can hide many secrets. When an Executive clan suspects Oichi of insurgency and discreetly shoves her out an airlock, one of those secrets finds and rescues her. Officially dead, Oichi begins to rebalance power one assassination at a time and uncovers the shocking truth behind the generation starship and the Executive clans. “Readers will be riveted.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review “The first book in the Medusa Cycle does not disappoint.” —RT Book Reviews “A chilling tale of class warfare in deep space.” —Booklist “An enticing start to a new space opera .” —Library Journal “One of the best generation starship novels.” —SF Revu “The worlds . . . both physical and virtual, are richly detailed and gorgeously imagined.” —Kirkus Reviews “Disturbing, exciting, and frankly kind of mind-blowing.” —Annalee Newitz, author of Autonomous
Download or read book Fleet of Worlds written by Larry Niven and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2008-08-26 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A brand-new novel set in Niven's Known Space, two hundred years before the discovery of the Ringworld.
Download or read book The Birthgrave written by Tanith Lee and published by Astra Publishing House. This book was released on 2015-06-02 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A mysterious woman awakens in the heart of a dormant volcano. She comes forth into a brutal ancient world transformed by genocidal pestilence, fierce beauty, and cultural devastation. She has no memory of herself, and she could be anyone—mortal woman, demoness lover, last living heir to a long-gone race, or a goddess of destruction. Compelled by the terrifying Karrakaz to search for the mysterious Jade that is the answer to her secret self, she embarks on a journey of timeless wonder. Rediscover this realm of brilliant cruel beauty and seductive immortal ruins, of savage war and grand conquest, of falling stars and silver gods. This 40th anniversary edition of legendary fantastist Tanith Lee's debut novel includes its original introduction by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
Download or read book Beautiful Red written by M. Darusha Wehm and published by in potentia press. This book was released on 2009-06-09 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The future is boring. Technology has solved most of the world's most pressing problems, leaving people with tedious work and mundane play. Jack is a Security Officer Class 5, which sounds important, but isn't. However, her banal life as a cubicle worker by day and tinkerer by night is interrupted when she discovers that her employer's computer system has been invaded.
Download or read book Cybersexualities written by Jenny Wolmark and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cyberspace, the cyborg and cyberpunk have given feminists new imaginative possibilities for thinking about embodiment and identity in relation to technology. This is the first anthology of the key essays on these potent metaphors. Divided into three sections (Technology, Embodiment and Cyberspace; Cybersubjects: Cyborgs and Cyberpunks; Cyborg Futures), the book addresses different aspects of the human-technology interface. The extensive introduction surveys the ways cyborg and cyberspace metaphors have been used in relation to current critical theory and indicates the context for the specific essays. This is an invaluable guide for students studying any aspects of contemporary theory and culture.* Brings together in a unique collection the work of key authors in feminist and cyber theory* Demonstrates the wide range of contemporary critical work* Challenges constructions of gender, race and class* An extensive introduction surveys the ways cyborg and cyberspace metaphors have been used in relation to current critical theory* Brief section introductions indicate the context for the specific essays
Download or read book Sixty Days and Counting written by Kim Stanley Robinson and published by Spectra. This book was released on 2007-02-27 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the time Phil Chase is elected president, the world’s climate is far on its way to irreversible change. Food scarcity, housing shortages, diminishing medical care, and vanishing species are just some of the consequences. The erratic winter the Washington, D.C., area is experiencing is another grim reminder of a global weather pattern gone haywire: bone-chilling cold one day, balmy weather the next. But the president-elect remains optimistic and doesn’t intend to give up without a fight. A maverick in every sense of the word, Chase starts organizing the most ambitious plan to save the world from disaster since FDR–and assembling a team of top scientists and advisers to implement it. For Charlie Quibler, this means reentering the political fray full-time and giving up full-time care of his young son, Joe. For Frank Vanderwal, hampered by a brain injury, it means trying to protect the woman he loves from a vengeful ex and a rogue “black ops” agency not even the president can control–a task for which neither Frank’s work at the National Science Foundation nor his study of Tibetan Buddhism can prepare him. In a world where time is running out as quickly as its natural resources, where surveillance is almost total and freedom nearly nonexistent, the forecast for the Chase administration looks darker each passing day. For as the last–and most terrible–of natural disasters looms on the horizon, it will take a miracle to stop the clock . . . the kind of miracle that only dedicated men and women can bring about.
Download or read book The Baroque Cycle written by Neal Stephenson and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-08-12 with total page 2958 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Get all three novels in Neal Stephenson's New York Times bestselling "Baroque Cycle" in one e-book, including: Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World. This three-volume historical epic delivers intrigue, adventure, and excitement set against the political upheaval of the early 18th century.
Download or read book A Guide to Japanese Role Playing Games written by Bitmap Books and published by . This book was released on 2021-10-25 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book If at First Short Story written by Peter F. Hamilton and published by Del Rey. This book was released on 2011-06-20 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Peter F. Hamilton has proven himself a modern master of epic space opera, carrying the tradition of far-future empire building begun by Heinlein and Asimov into the new millennium. But Hamilton is also a master of the short story, and when he tackles one of science fiction’s most enduring themes—time travel—the result is as provocative as it is entertaining. It starts in 2007 with a break-in. The victim: Marcus Orthew, the financial and technological genius behind Orthanics, the computer company whose radical products have delivered a one-two punch to the industry, all but knocking PCs and Macs out of the ring. The perpetrator: a man obsessed with Orthew. Just another simple case of celebrity stalking—or so everyone assumes at first, including Metropolitan Police Chief Detective David Lanson. But when Lanson interviews the suspect, he makes a startling claim: Orthew is from the future. Or, rather, a future—a parallel timeline. Thus begins the ride of a lifetime for Lanson, as his pursuit of the facts tumbles him headlong down a rabbit hole—and the hunter finds himself hunted.
Download or read book The Sarah Zettel Collection written by Sarah Zettel and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2013-12-10 with total page 2000 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Four galaxy-spanning novels by an award-winning author with a “gift for creating fully realized cultures” (Booklist). In Fool’s War, Katmer Al Shei has done well with the starship Pasadena, cutting corners where necessary to keep her crew paid and her journeys profitable. But there are two things she will never skimp on: her crew—and her fool. For a long space journey, a certified Fool’s Guild clown is essential, to amuse, excite, and otherwise distract the crew from the drudgeries of interstellar flight. Her newest fool, Evelyn Dobbs, is a talented jester. But does she have enough wit to save mankind? In Playing God, the planet of the Dedelphi has been riven by war for two centuries. Though delicate, swanlike creatures, the planet’s natives are fierce in battle, and their ceaseless conflict has reduced their world to a wasteland. To save themselves and their world, the Dedelphi have forged a fragile peace and called for outside intervention. The Earth corporation Bioverse constructs a plan to heal the shattered planet. It’s the most ambitious engineering project the universe has ever seen, and if it backfires, the result will almost certainly be genocide. In The Quiet Invasion, Dr. Helen Failia is nearing middle age at eighty-three, but has lost none of her fighting spirit. The founder of Earth’s first fully functioning colony on Venus, she will do anything to ensure that the home she’s built and nurtured not only survives, but thrives. Despite her constant work, funding for the colony is running out, and she’s dreading telling the ten thousand colonists they must move to Earth, a world some of them have never even seen. When one of her probes returns with the unprecedented proof of an ancient alien artifact on the surface of Venus she cannot believe her luck. This is the first evidence that humanity is not alone, and the discovery will surely secure the research colony’s future. In Reclamation, Eric Born knows his way around the universe. He’s a quick-thinking merchant blessed with natural telekinetic skill. He’s also that rarest of creatures, a human being. Humans have been scattered across the universe, powerless and oppressed, dispersed so widely that no one knows what planet they first came from. Eric survives by selling his talents to the mysterious galactic tyrants known as the Rhudolant Vitae, but has never forgotten he belongs to the human race, and the distant world, the Realm of the Nameless Powers. The Realm may be a backwater, but Eric will do anything to protect his home from the merciless and powerful Vitae.
