Download or read book The Golem of Deneb Seven and Other Stories written by Alex Shvartsman and published by UFO Publishing. This book was released on 2018-04-01 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 31 science fiction and fantasy short stories encompassing hard SF, fantasy humor, and everything in-between. * Refugees with a salvaged mech suit find that family ties are stronger than armor. * Two artificial intelligences in love turn the world into their playground. * Modern-day Dante is guided through hell by the ghost of Bob Marley. * Ancient gods and monsters stalk the halls of a 1920s night club. * A young woman must save her planet by committing an act of terror. * In the rekindled space race between the United States, Russia, and India, the winner might be the nation willing to sacrifice the most.

Download or read book Unidentified Funny Objects 7 written by Seanan McGuire and published by UFO Publishing. This book was released on 2018-09-25 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY, HUMOR The Unidentified Funny Objects series delivers an annual dose of funny, zany, and unusual science fiction and fantasy stories. All-new fiction from the genre's top voices! * A long time ago in a galaxy close enough not to violate any copyrights, the clone army fighting for the side of the evil empire is made up of a bunch of bros named Chad. * Can a couple of wise guys from New Jersey broker a sit down between two groups of warring aliens? * Witness an epic battle of mad science vs. dark magic. * US presidents elected in 1860 and 1960 were both assassinated. What's going to happen to whoever's elected in 2060? * Beware the dragon polite enough to return your drone after it breached the barriers between worlds and bonked him on the snout.

Download or read book Unidentified Funny Objects 8 written by Wendy Maas and published by UFO Publishing. This book was released on with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY, HUMOR The Unidentified Funny Objects series delivers an annual dose of funny, zany, and unusual science fiction and fantasy stories. All-new fiction from the genre's top voices! * Superheroes mired in government bureaucracy. * Cat cat-burglars. * Grandmotherly golems. * Literal-minded self-driving cars. * Evil overlords retired in Florida. * Indifferent aliens.

Download or read book The Cackle of Cthulhu written by Alex Shvartsman and published by Baen Books. This book was released on 2018-01-02 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: TOP AUTHORS POKE FUN AND PAY TRIBUTE TO H.P. LOVECRAFT'S CTHULHU MYTHOS. Knock, knock! Who’s there? Cthul. Cthul who? Exactly! I've come to tickle your funnybone. Oh, and also to eat your soul. In 1928, Weird Tales debuted “The Call of Cthulhu” by H.P. Lovecraft, and the Cthulhu Mythos was born. In the 90 years since, dozens of writers have dared play within HPL’s mind-blowing creation—but never with such terrifyingly funny results. Now top authors lampoon, parody, and subvert Lovecraft’s Mythos. See Cthulhu cut short his nap at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to invade North Korea! Watch the Unspeakable Eater of Souls solve crimes on the pulpy streets of Innsmouth! And speaking of largish Elder Gods, listen to a plastic Elvis doll dispense folksy advice straight from the heart of the Emperor of Dread! Again Ol’ Tentacle-Face is confronted by frail humans who dare defy the Incarnation of Ultimate Evil—but this time not by brave monster hunters and terrified villagers, but by fan fiction writers, clueless college students, and corporate lawyers (okay, we realize it’s hard to know who to root for in that confrontation). Twenty-three mirthful manifestations within the Cthulhu Mythos from best-selling and award-winning authors Neil Gaiman, Mike Resnick, Esther Friesner, Ken Liu, Jody Lynn Nye, Laura Resnick, Nick Mamatas, and many more! Guaranteed to leave you howling. Because if you look at it just right, there’s nothing funnier than a soul writhing in cosmic horror before a tentacled maw of malevolence. As HPL himself saith: “From even the greatest of horrors irony is seldom absent.” Praise for the Unidentified Funny Objects anthologies, edited by Alex Shvartsman: “This book is a delight. There are a lot of giggles here, and every now and then you’ll laugh your head off. This is a hoot from start to finish.”—Galaxy’s Edge “Shvartsman delivers a wonderful anthology and if you want to broaden your humorous SFF reading, Unidentified Funny Objects is a great place to start.”— A Fantastical Librarian Praise for Alex Shvartsman: “Shvartsman is an entertaining writer who can take on many voices and make them his.” –Locus “Alex Shvartsman’s comedy is bright and direct with clever dialogue of both the inner and outer sort.”—Tangent Online Complete Contributor List: Neil Gaiman Jody Lynn Nye Mike Resnick Ken Liu Nick Mamatas Esther Friesner David Vaughan Kevin Wetmore Shaenon K. Garrity Brian Trent Alex Shvartsman Rachael Klahn Jones Yvonne Navarro Scott Huggins Gini Koch Aidan Doyle Konstantine Paradias Amanda Helms Laura Resnick Matt Mikalatos Laura Pearlman Lucy A. Snyder Original stories by David Vaughan, Jody Lynn Nye, Mike Resnick, Brian Trent, Yvonne Navarro, G. Scott Huggins, Gini Koch, Aidan Doyle, Amanda Helms, Laura Resnick, Laura Pearlman, Lucy Snyder, and Nick Mamatas. Reprints by Esther Friesener, Kevin Wetmore, Shaenon K. Garrity, Alex Shvatsman, Ken Liu, Rachael K. Jones, Neil Gaiman, Konstantine Paradias, and Matt Mikalatos. **

Download or read book Unidentified Funny Objects 9 written by Simon R. Green and published by UFO Publishing. This book was released on with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Unidentified Funny Objects series delivers an annual dose of funny, zany, and unusual science fiction and fantasy stories. All-new fiction from the genre's top voices! In this volume you'll find: * Overworked fairies distributing swords. * Alien yeti slackers * Elf bakers * Absconded books * Superhero dance battles * Matchmakers ... in spaaace! This anthology contains the following stories: "The Hero of Small Things" by Amanda Saville "Chai Noon" by Esther Friesner "If Pages Could Blush" by Kyle A. Massa "The Time Loop Device is Counting Down" by Beth Goder "Crouching Swan Hidden Polka" by Jim C Hines "Sgt. Yeti" by Gini Koch "The Great Beyond Commands" by John Wiswell "The Second Wish" by James Beamon "These Three Aliens Walk into a Bar" by Simon R. Green "Our Most Sincere Apologies to the People of Brazil" by Jane Espenson "Liability Insurance Policy for Immortals, Cryptids, and Other Magical Beings: Annual Newsletter" by Tina Connolly "The Shadchen of Venus" by Lavie Tidhar "Cory Sucks" by Auston Habershaw "Sunnyside Daycare Employees' Chat Log, Post Alien Takeover" by Amanda Helms "Cooking Up Trouble" by C. Flynt "Right to Remain Silent" by Jody Lynn Nye "Auntie Elsie's Compleat Guide to Heartbreak" by Tim Pratt "The Troll Bridge" by Adam Gaylord "Do Gumshoes Dream of Electric Sleep" by Dave Vierling "Hell's Bureaucracy" by David Hankins "A Crisis of Fate" by Zach Shephard

Download or read book Funny Science Fiction written by Mike Resnick and published by UFO Publishing. This book was released on 2017-02-14 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seventeen of the funniest science fiction stories published in the past decade (2005-2015), featuring alien invasions, global conspiracies, time travel and even animal uprisings. Fiction by Hugo and Nebula award winners and nominees as well as talented newcomers. Stories were selected by the Unidentified Funny Objects series curator Alex Shvartsman.

Download or read book Vital The Future of Healthcare written by RM Ambrose and published by Vital Fiction. This book was released on 2021-12-31 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A powerful story can inspire both health workers and concerned readers to take heart and believe in our ability to cope with changing times." – David Brin, author of The Postman and EARTH "Let's make sure the future of healthcare isn't a dystopia!" – Annalee Newitz, author of Autonomous, The Future of Another Timeline, Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age, and Scatter, Adapt, and Remember "Compelling stories can inspire readers to take positive action to help stop this pandemic. It can inspire the next generation of doctors to be better healthcare providers." – Seanan McGuire (a.k.a., Mira Grant), author of the October Daye, InCryptid, Indexing, Parasitology, and Wayward Children series Our visions of the future - whether dark or hopeful, thrilling or mundane - have always challenged us to examine our world. How can we improve? What challenges will we face? Are we even ready? Top Science Fiction authors, collectively holding 25 Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Sturgeon awards (a few for Vital stories!), employ the power of engaging fiction to explore these questions and today's most critical issues in medicine. But Vital doesn't stop at speculation. Proceeds will be donated to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization, the global guardian of public health, coordinating the worldwide pandemic response. Read on to build a better future of Healthcare! Featuring stories by Paolo Bacigalupi, David Brin, Tananarive Due, Sally Wiener Grotta, Congyun ("Mu Ming") Gu, James Patrick Kelly, Justin C. Key, Seanan McGuire, Annalee Newitz, Julie Nováková, Lola Robles, Eric Schwitzgebel, Alex Shvartsman, Caroline M. Yoachim. Edited by RM Ambrose

Download or read book The Middling Affliction written by Alex Shvartsman and published by CAEZIK SF & Fantasy. This book was released on 2022-04-12 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Dresden Files meets American Gods in New York City. What would you do if you lost everything that mattered to you, as well as all means to protect yourself and others, but still had to save the day? Conrad Brent is about to find out. Conrad Brent protects the people of Brooklyn from monsters and magical threats. The snarky, wisecracking guardian also has a dangerous secret: he's one in a million - literally. Magical ability comes to about one in every 30,000 and can manifest at any age. Conrad is rarer than this, however. He's a middling, one of the half-gifted and totally despised. Most of the gifted community feels that middlings should be instantly killed. The few who don't flat out hate them still aren't excited to be around middlings. Meaning Conrad can't tell anyone, not even his best friends, what he really is. Conrad hides in plain sight by being a part of the volunteer Watch, those magically gifted who protect their cities from dangerous, arcane threats. And, to pay the bills, Conrad moonlights as a private detective and monster hunter for the gifted community. Which helps him keep up his personal fiction - that he's a magical version of Batman. Conrad does both jobs thanks to charms, artifacts, and his wits, along with copious amounts of coffee. But little does he know that events are about to change his life...forever. When Conrad discovers the Traveling Fair auction house has another middling who's just manifested her so-called powers on the auction block, he's determined to save her, regardless of risk. But what he finds out while doing so is even worse - the winning bidder works for a company that's just created the most dangerous chemical weapon to ever hit the magical community. Before Conrad can convince anyone at the Watch of the danger, he's exposed for what he really is. Now, stripped of rank, magical objects, friends and allies, Conrad has to try to save the world with only his wits. Thankfully though, no one's taken away his coffee.

Download or read book Eridani s Crown written by Alex Shvartsman and published by UFO Publishing. This book was released on 2019-10-22 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CURSED BY PROPHECY. CORRUPTED BY POWER. When Eridani's parents are murdered and their kingdom is seized by a traitorous duke, she plans to run. After she suffers yet another unendurable loss, the lure of revenge pulls her back. Eridani's brilliance as a strategist offers her a path to vengeance and the throne, but success may mean becoming everything she hates. To survive, she must sway religious zealots, outwit ambitious politicians, and confront bloodthirsty warlords, all with few allies and fewer resources. Yet the most menacing obstacle she must overcome is the prophecy uttered by a powerful sorceress: Everyone you know and trust will come to betray you. Praise for Eridani's Crown With a world as intricate as the titular magical artifact and a cast of characters as morally complex as figures from real history, Eridani’s Crown is a nuanced examination of the drive to acquire power and its distorting influence on our ideals. This epic fantasy will have you turning the pages deep into the night and move you in the manner only the grandest of tragedies can. — Ken Liu, Hugo Award-winning author of The Grace of Kings I loved this smoothly written story of an intelligent, resourceful young royal who has to grow up fast after treachery and tragedy put her in mortal danger. Eridani must summon all her courage and cunning, as well as some newfound ruthlessness, to survive and steer her own fate. Action, intrigue, personal conflicts, and plot reversals will keep you turning the pages of this tightly-woven tale. —Laura Resnick, Campbell Award-winning author of the Esther Diamond series Full of complicated characters and moral ambiguity, Eridani's Crown is a fascinating and haunting exploration of one woman's quest for power. Shvartsman gives us a compelling and nuanced look at the tragedy of Eridani's success that will keep you riveted. — Tina Connolly, Hugo Award-nominated author of Ironskin A gripping tale of empire and conquest and the crumbling of good intentions in the pursuit of power. Shvartsman takes all your expectations and turns them on their head. — David Walton, Campbell Award-winning author of Three Laws Lethal Neither grimdark nor heroic, Eridani's Crown is a unique mix, with just as much heart as it has pitiless depiction of human failings and foibles. — Charles E. Gannon, Nebula and Dragon Award-nominated author of Marque of Caine Shvartsman skillfully confronts the ways power can corrupt in this smart political fantasy. ... Tight plotting and an intricately crafted universe will keep readers hooked. — Publishers Weekly

Download or read book The Golem and Other Stories written by Brýn Grover and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a collection of fictional short stories which encompass tales of the macabre, sci-fi, fantasy, and gothic themes.

Download or read book The Tale of Ak and Humanity written by Yefim Zozulya and published by Tor Books. This book was released on 2022-01-26 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Tale of Ak and Humanity" is a Tor.com Original from sci-fi author Yefim Zozula. Citizens are distraught to learn of the latest decree from their leaders: each person is to be evaluated as to whether they deserve to live. Those found "unnecessary for life" will be asked to "leave life within 24 hours." Panic is alleviated when citizens learn that Ak, "a luminous person," will be in charge of the panels that are to evaluate citizens. Surely, only the "human rubbish" would be eliminated. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Download or read book The Storyteller s Thesaurus written by Troll Lord Games and published by Troll Lord Games. This book was released on 2015-04-30 with total page 551 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Writers, game designers, teachers, and students ~this is the book youve been waiting for! Written by storytellers for storytellers, this volume offers an entirely new approach to word finding. Browse the pages within to see what makes this book different:

Download or read book Explaining Cthulhu to Grandma and Other Stories written by Alex Shvartsman and published by UFO Publishing. This book was released on 2015-01-29 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 40 short stories by Alex Shvartsman, winner of the 2014 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction. * An elder god trapped in a pocket dimension turns up in the world's oldest magic pawn shop. * A cybernetically-enhanced assassin who can't feel pain faces a dangerous adversary. * A computer hacker and a mystic team up to break into the Book of Fate and change their futures. * Vatican investigators are called to examine a miracle on another planet. and much, much more! Each story includes author notes, written for this collection. Praise for "Explaining Cthulhu to Grandma": "Wit, sentiment, imagination--Alex Shvartsman's got them all." -Mike Resnick, Hugo award winner. "Fantastic variety and scope ... Prepare to be entertained, delighted and amazed." -Esther Friesner, Nebula award winner. "His stories feature tightly constructed, intricate, puzzle-like plots with clever banter and plenty of fresh, twisted pop culture references." -Ken Liu, Hugo and Nebula award winner "Full of intriguing ideas and wit." -Jody Lynn Nye, bestselling author "A wonderful collection of short stories that will make you laugh, think and feel." -Gini Koch, bestselling author "If you ever need to explain Cthulhu to your Grandma, this is the place to start." -Henry Gee, senior editor at Nature.

Download or read book H G Wells Secret Agent written by Alex Shvartsman and published by UFO Publishing. This book was released on 2015-07-02 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: H. G. Wells is a Victorian-era James Bond who must defend England and the world against time travelers, alien incursions and interdimensional threats (if he can learn quickly on the job, and survive the human foes he encounters, that is!) During his missions, Wells will team up with Anton Chekhov to foil an assassination plot against Prince Nicholas Romanov of Russia, oversee the construction of the giant antenna designed to detect alien invasion fleets (or, as we know it, the Eiffel Tower), rub shoulders with the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle, Marie Curie, Jules Verne and Annie Oakley, and risk everything to encourage cooperation among the world's most powerful intelligence agencies. This humorous steampunk novella is filled with Easter eggs and British pop-culture references, from The Beatles and Ian Fleming to Douglas Adams and Dr. Who.

Download or read book Homebody written by Orson Scott Card and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2013-03-05 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a beloved and bestselling master of speculative fiction comes this chilling tale of a soulful loner who must overcome demons from his past -- and the demons he unwittingly unleashes -- when he starts renovating a faded Southern mansion. As Homebody eloquently proves, no contemporary writer outshines Orson Scott Card in crafting unlikely heroes or in suffusing the everyday world with an otherworldly glow. Don Lark's cheery name belies his tragic past. When his alcoholic ex-wife killed their daughter in a car wreck, he retreated from the sort of settled, sociable lifestyle one takes for granted. Only the prospect of putting a roof over other people's heads seems to comfort Lark, and he goes from town to town, looking for dilapidated houses he can buy, restore and resell at a profit. In Greensboro, North Carolina, Lark finds his biggest challenge yet -- a huge, sturdy, gorgeous shell that's suffered almost a century of abuse at the hands of greedy landlords and transient tenants. As he sinks his teeth into this new project, Lark's new neighborhood starts to work its charms on him. He strikes up a romance with the wry real estate agent who sold him the house. His neighbors, two charming, chatty old ladies, ply him endlessly with delicious Southern cooking. Even Sylvie, the squatter Lark was once desperate to evict from the old house, is now growing on him. But when Lark unearths an old tunnel in the cellar, the house's enchantments start to turn ominous. Sylvie turns cantankerous, even dangerous. There's still a steady supply of food from next door, but it now comes laced with increasingly passionate pleas for Lark to vacate the house at once. In short, everybody seems to want to get rid of him. Whether this is for his own good or theirs, Lark digs in his heels for reasons even he's not sure of. He embarks on a struggle for his life -- and his friends'-- against a house with a past even more tragic than his own. If Lark wins, he gets the kind of home and community he's always dreamed of. If he loses, all is lost....

Download or read book Hunters Unlucky written by Abigail Hilton and published by . This book was released on 2014-07-04 with total page 692 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: He's not bigger. He's not faster. He's not meaner. So he'd better be smarter.Storm is born into a world of secrets - an island no one visits, names no one will say, and deaths that no one will talk about. The answers are locked in his species' troubled past, guarded by the fierce creasia cats. But when Storm's friends are threatened, he decides that he must act, pitting himself against the creasia to show that they can be resisted and outwitted. To prove his point, he must stay one step ahead of clever hunters, who have more to lose than Storm imagines.Hunters Unlucky is an animal story for anyone who loved Richard Adams's Watership Down, Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book, and Jack London's Call of the Wild. Kids who enjoyed Erin Hunter's Warriors books will also enjoy Hunters. The animals in this story do not carry swords, walk on two legs, or drink tea. They fight. They starve. Sometimes, they eat each other.

Download or read book The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction written by Arthur B. Evans and published by Wesleyan University Press. This book was released on 2010-08 with total page 787 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The best single-volume anthology of science fiction available—includes online teacher's guide The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction features over a 150 years' worth of the best science fiction ever collected in a single volume. The fifty-two stories and critical introductions are organized chronologically as well as thematically for classroom use. Filled with luminous ideas, otherworldly adventures, and startling futuristic speculations, these stories will appeal to all readers as they chart the emergence and evolution of science fiction as a modern literary genre. They also provide a fascinating look at how our Western technoculture has imaginatively expressed its hopes and fears from the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century to the digital age of today. A free online teacher's guide at http://sfanthology.site.wesleyan.edu/ accompanies the anthology and offers access to a host of pedagogical aids for using this book in an academic setting. The stories in this anthology have been selected and introduced by the editors of Science Fiction Studies, the world's most respected journal for the critical study of science fiction.