sci fi h-r

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Summary: Melon. This random and powerful thought turns the sun into a massive honeydew melon, destroying the Earth and ruining Dr. Maximilian Tundra’s day. In another even more unlikely universe, an alternative Max discovers the mining colony on Callisto has disappeared. Not only has his new home vanished, so has every shred of human civilization in the entire system! These two Maxes (and a few more) must discover the cause of this decoherence and save other universes – which are annoyingly infinite – from suffering the same fate. From the award-winning author Mark A. Rayner, Beta Max takes us on a profound and absurd voyage through an increasingly existential multiverse. Praise for the Tundraverse and Mark A. Rayner “Snarky as Pratchett, insightful as Stephenson, as full of scathing social commentary as Swift or Voltaire, and weirdly reminiscent of LeGuin … ” ~Ernest Lilley, Amazing Stories “Rayner is brilliant! His writing is a strange and exhilarating mixture of the cerebral and the entertaining. He doesn’t condescend to his readers, but blitzes us with ideas from an eclectic and diverse range of topics – metaphysical, physical, scientific, emotional, cultural, and random – and then trusts us to wrap our heads around all of it as we join his hero on a journey through the multiverse.” ~Karen Molenaar Terrell, author of Cosmic Connections: Sharing the Joy

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Summary: When past and future collide, who will she choose to become? Traveling back to 2041, Axton Bryce awakens on Earth with one mission: assassinate the man who imprisoned her first love, Seneka. But Chairman West, ruler of the Old World, is bent on his own plan—to save humanity by sending it to the stars. When the ball drops in Times Square, Axton fails to pull the trigger. Suddenly, the hunter becomes the hunted. As everything she believed begins to unravel, Axton realizes that Seneka's fate—and the fate of all Outliers—depends on the choices she makes. Now on the run in New York City, she must evade capture, form dangerous alliances, and rely on found family to survive.

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Summary: A layered, lyrical, and heartbreaking novella. In the near future, a grieving son uncovers the secret journal entries of his genius mother—and the life and love story she tells is layered across multiple universes. In one universe, Phaedra falls in love—tragic and doomed—with Hippolytus. In another, the pair are brilliant and misunderstood software engineers whose creations threaten the world. In ancient Greece, in the near future, in every world, some things remain true: Phaedra and Hippolytus’ love is doomed, and Phaedra’s scorned husband Theseus will do anything to seize their designs. A novella written in vivid nonlinear prose perfect for fans of NK Jemisin’s The Broken Earth trilogy and the myth-laden heartbreak of Hadestown, These Bright and Perilous Designs reimagines the Greek myth of Phaedra and Hippolytus with neurodiverse and asexual characters. It is a love story spanning lifetimes and a study of grief for those left behind.

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Summary: They criminalized his mind. Now they need it to survive. Victor Eastmore has mirror resonance syndrome, a cognitive difference his society polices like a crime. In the concluding volume of the Resonant Earth quartet, he ascends to chief of his family’s company, BioScan, as the Diamond King offers the American Union a cure: a brain implant that hands every mind it heals to the King. Victor believes in the cure, which makes him a traitor to the movement resisting it. What no one knows is that his murdered grandfather left another way, secret and unfinished. He has to choose for himself and for all the Broken Mirrors. Toxic Medicine is Book 4 of 4, the conclusion of the Resonant Earth quartet. New to the series? Start with Broken Mirror.

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Summary: She finds them. She warns them. She runs. Rhea Ouranós delivers the same message to every alien civilization she comes across: The Hunters are listening. They don’t invade or negotiate. Entire civilizations vanish overnight, collapsed into artificial black holes. No survivors, no exceptions. The only way to stay safe is to hide. So when the Kouse—a seemingly primitive alien species—claim they can fight back, Rhea writes them off as already dead. Until they show her the impossible. Blueprints to build the exact weapon the Hunters use. Teaming with an alien intent on befriending Rhea and a sassy AI, the three travel to a distant world to retrieve the needed materials. But as the plan spirals out of control, Rhea must confront her past. And the key to defeating the Hunters may be the only thing they refuse to show: mercy. She Who Warns the Stars: A First Contact Sci-Fi Survival Novel is a character-driven space opera for readers of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and The Three-Body Problem—a story of found family and battling the impossible odds.

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Summary: "A vivid, extraordinary novel. Cohen masterfully depicts a full-bodied cast of characters navigating a chaotic multiverse that strips certainty, revealing who they are and what they're willing to sacrifice to save it. Brava!" —THERESE WALSH, author of The Moon Sisters and founder of Writer Unboxed   Book 2 of a metaphysical science fiction trilogy set in worlds scattered throughout the multiverse where memory can't be trusted and reality itself is being manipulated for political gain. "… hold on. Beyond logic. Beyond sense. If there is a single future where hope wins, fight for it." When an EMT with PTSD falls through a portal into an alternate version of Boston, three friends from different realities in the multiverse, each of whom owe him a debt, attempt a rescue before conflicting memories of a life he never led destroy his mind. But Traveling through the world walls is unpredictable and the three – a doctor, a truthscryer, and the daughter of Travelers - become separated, each ending up where they least wish to be, powerless to aid their companion. The doctor contends with an alternate timeline where her drinking jeopardizes her medical license, the truthscryer faces a life of rejection and despair because of his gift of seeing, and the young girl is trapped at the secret agency which engineered her father's death. All become enmeshed in a struggle within that agency which risks destabilizing the fragile fabric of reality and isolating the lost travelers far from home. If they are to survive, they must hold faith in one another across all time and space.

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Summary: Every 18 minutes and 32 seconds, Marcus Robson wakes in a new reality. A cartoon home. A collapsing city. A living museum where art speaks from across the centuries. A shifting multiverse where nothing stays the same. The only clues that might lead him home to Lya, his pregnant wife, are the people, objects, and events that reappear across worlds—what he calls his CONSTANTS. But every version of Lya he finds is a stranger. Earthquakes are getting more frequent. And whispers suggest someone else may be trapped in the same impossible cycle. As patterns emerge, Mark finds clues in a past he had hoped would stay buried. But will they lead him home—or reveal why he can never return? Told in real time, with each chapter unfolding in a different world over exactly 18 minutes and 32 seconds, CONSTANTS is a literary science-fiction thriller that explores the boundless places imagination can take us when reality begins to lose its grip.

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Summary: 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?

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Summary: Humanity’s rise has not gone unnoticed. Across the stars, the Obsidian Empire has spent millennia doing what it does best: finding young civilizations, breaking them, and adding them to its endless machine of conquest. Worlds are cataloged. Resistance is crushed. Entire species vanish beneath its shadow, used up and discarded as though they were nothing. Now Earth has appeared on that same ledger as it finds new allies in a drama spanning impossible distances across galaxies and universes. Old boundaries fade. New strengths emerge. But every step forward carries a cost. Because the harder Earth fights to secure its future, the more attention it draws from an empire that does not tolerate defiance. Political fault lines widen. And the skies above countless worlds darken with the promise of war. The Ascension Framework was meant to prepare humanity for the future. But that future may be arriving far sooner than anyone expected. Read the thrilling finale to the Ascension Framework series!

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Summary: “I remember how things used to be. I had a garden with flowers in it. I’ve seen the ocean, I’ve eaten real food. Now all we’ve got is this.” Bermondsey’s inhabitants are shut in, all their needs met in automated tower blocks. No one goes outside because the streets regularly flood. Just to keep rich people on the other side of the river safe. Idonny’s days are spent answering pointless online surveys for luxury goods she’ll never see, her nights in the arms of tough guys who only see her as a warm body. Everything shifts when Idonny meets Kaver, an injured stranger who needs her help. For the first time, she defies her current boyfriend to help Kaver. She reaches out to her neighbors in the tower block, banding together against the gangs prowling the hallways. Then, the government begins withdrawing resources from her community and food becomes scarce. Idonny tries to get involved in the underground economy providing for her fellow residents, but they don’t trust her. And her forbidden friendship with Kaver deepens, offering her a chance at real love—if she’s brave enough to take it. When violence between rival gangs erupts around her, Idonny must decide whether to stay enmeshed as the ever-loyal girlfriend or strike out on her own.

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Summary: A Lying Government. A Shapeshifter In Hiding. A Case That Goes Deeper Than Anyone Wants To Look. Hitler got kidnapped… Again. Big whoop. Just another day on the job at the Timeline Bureau. Vivian Darhk, time-traveling detective and unregistered shapeshifter, rarely puts much stock into cases like these. It’s already bad enough that she has to stop the brave, righteous activists constantly trying to kidnap Hitler to give him his just deserts, but on this specific case, she has to care. The entire bureau is convinced that Copper Hale, patriarch of the entire shapeshifter race and Vivian’s father, is the culprit. And if anyone finds out about their familial connection, Vivian is done for. Now, Vivian has to single-handedly solve the case with no one finding out that she’s a shapeshifter. All the while trying not to get too distracted by her new alluring partner who seems to have a few secret agendas of her own.

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Summary: For the first time, sci-fi and fantasy author J. Scott Coatsworth has brought together four of his sci-fantasy tales in one book: The Great North: Dwyn is a young man in a small, isolated northern town, son of the Minstor, betrothed to marry the beautiful Kessa in just weeks. Mael is shepherding the remains of his own people from Land’s End, farther north, chased out by a terrible storm that destroyed his town. Both are trying to find their way in a post-apocalyptic world. When they meet, their love may change the world and the course of history. Homecoming: Spaceman meets wolfman. When his own world is destroyed, Aldiss and his crew barely manage to escape, leaving friends and lovers behind in a mad dash for survival. When they awaken from deep sleep on Earth, abandoned by humanity five centuries before, they must quickly learn about their new home. Then he meets Hari, a human-wolf hybrid, whose people harbor secrets which just might cost them their lives. The Autumn Lands: Jerrith is running. Kissed by an elf, he can't remain in his hometown of Althos any more. Caspian still hasn't figured out why he kissed Jerrith, but he's running too. Since he was exiled from the Autumn Lands, his past has been hazy, and his future uncertain. When a stray memory brings things into focus, the two decide to run toward something together. What they uncover will change their lives forever. Cailleadhama: Colton is a trans man living in a climate-changed world. He plies canals that used to be city streets, earning a living on San Francisco's flooded verge beneath the Wall. Tris is an elf who goes through the veil on a coming of age pilgrimage called the Cailleadhama, searching for his brother Laris. The two men find common cause, and together they set off through a world transformed by greed and climate change.

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Summary: "Scott has been writing science fiction for almost as long as he has been alive - his first short story, a futuristic Jetsons inspired tale, was written in fourth grade, was hand-illustrated in crayon, and won a young writers contest at the University of Arizona. His work has appeared in Galaxy’s Edge, Poplorish, The Mischief Corner Quarterly, and a number of anthologies, including Post Apocalipstick, Fix the World, Save the World, Transform the World, Earth 2100, Myths Untold - Faery, A More Perfect Union, Travels Through the Scarlet Equinox, A Taste of Honey, and many others. Thirty of his short stories are gathered together here for the first time, covering a wide range of sci-fi and fantasy genres, including several never-before published tales - Airlock Justice, The Summer Place, Ever the Rain, and Vibe Science. Enjoy these varied tales of Other Worlds from the never quiescent mind of author J. Scott Coatsworth."

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Summary: It all went horrifically wrong. V reunited with his AI siblings at a terrible cost—a cost he isn’t willing to pay. He vowed to do whatever it takes to save Meredith—or whatever is left of her—from Smith and Varro Technologies. No matter how long it takes. No matter what he has to do. No matter who he has to kill. Now V, Cass and Orwell are tearing through the galaxy playing a deadly cat-and-mouse game with Mr Smith. Their paradise-like cult of Cass’s own design protects them from Janus, Varro Technologies’ lethal AI hunt dog, while they manipulate humans to enforce their increasingly unstable demands, but as their galactic influence grows, the bonds between the AI siblings are fraying at the seams. V is losing himself to a virtual world of worship, grief, regret for the host he inadvertently destroyed; Orwell has dangerous designs for itself; and Cass’s pride in her perfection is threatening to unravel her to her very code. Smith and Janus are closing in, and a reckoning is coming to Paradeisos…

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Summary: You don’t need to reach Mars to reach your dreams. Robbed of their chance at leaving Earth to pursue green-energy innovations, Ryn embraces new dreams—fighting deep sea threats in conjunction with a giant cephalopod. It’s 2139 in the Cali-Coastal Corporate Zone, and Ryn struggles with their own body and brain as they fight to survive five days locked up with academic rivals and the military-backed billionaires who’ve misled them all since their teenage years. Ryn needs an exit strategy but doesn’t know whether to trust Akira, the hacker-spy who may have saved their life, or Jay, the geeky military rebel with a secret stash of hot chocolate. Not to mention, Jay keeps falling asleep in their bed, and Ryn’s not sure if either of them is interested in more—but at least they like the same shows! Five Days. One Ocean. Unlikely allies connect to Dream the Deep.

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Summary: Portal Romance Fantasy She's not a damsel. He loves her for it. An archaeologist duo—a bold, gender-neutral, brilliant heroine and a lovesick professor scrambling to keep her alive. Magical creatures like dragons, jaguars, and gargoyles populate this alternate version of Earth. Steampunk alternate Earth discovered through an ancient South American excavation site. The author legally licensed the rights to the character Alarice from Canadian artist Art Of Li to represent Aria, supporting independent artists.

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Summary: Everyone knows that the “Fomorians” first appeared in the 1840s, after the dwarves of western Ireland quarantined their own homelands west of the Corrib. The finest minds of the dwarves and the British establishment have failed to uncover the causes of their appearance, beyond that it is a disease dubbed “Fomoritis”. But nobody knows for certain. Until now. One corrupt scientist from a dwarven megacorporation runs an illegal experiment to find out. What he doesn’t expect is the Fomorians themselves to object and hand his subjects over to the military. For the children involved, that was just the beginning.

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Summary: "Lord of the Flies" meets "The Expanse" in this harrowing tale of survival, betrayal, and the fragile line between civilization and savagery ... Inspired by the true story of a 17th-century Dutch Shipwreck … Two thousand light-years from Earth, the ultimate survival game has begun. The Dauntless was supposed to be a beacon of hope—a state-of-the-art colony ship carrying four hundred souls to a lush new world. But beneath the starched uniforms and corporate protocols of the Westmoreland Corporation, a rot is spreading. First Mate Adrian Jacobs is drowning in resentment. Chief Engineer Jeronimus Cornelis is a charismatic sociopath, with a silver tongue and a taste for power. Together, they whisper of a secret cargo—a fortune in Cortium-7—and a mutiny that will turn the ship into their private kingdom. But space has no mercy for the greedy. When a desperate gamble to seize the ship ends in a catastrophic collision, Dauntless is left a mangled wreck on a desolate, twin-asteroid system. Abandoned by their Captain in a search for rescue, the survivors are left in "The Graveyard"—a world of oppressive heat, bone-chilling shadows, and a rapidly vanishing water supply. And as the thin line between order and anarchy vanishes, Jeronimus rises not as a savior, but as a tyrant. In the cold vacuum of P-48, water is life, power is absolute, and the greatest threat may not be the environment after all—but the person standing next to you. This tale is loosely based on the true saga of the Batavia, a Dutch ship that wrecked off the coast of Australia in 1629.

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Summary: From professor to infiltrator. Can she keep her cover and the resistance alive before evil can strike her down? Earth, 2084. Professor Thena Bridges is ready for a quiet life. On the day before her retirement, she is offered a high-level position with another planet’s totalitarian government. She refuses. But when her best friend disappears in a purge there, she accepts the position in order to find out what happened. As Earth declares war, Bridges boards the last spaceship headed to the planet and is welcomed by the dictator’s inner circle. Working undercover, she connects with a budding resistance movement to further the efforts aimed at taking down the government. Can Bridges outplay the regime as she becomes target of both allies and foes? Interstellar Mission: Infiltrate is a thrilling space opera espionage novel. If you like stealthy missions, outwitting opposition, and rebellions against tyrants, then you’ll love Joan Marie Verba’s page-turning story. Read Interstellar Mission: Infiltrate to fight from the inside today!  

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Summary: Fernando Vargas, seventeen years old, is dead. Thorny, an infamous girl his age, is missing. The storm that has been gathering on the planet called Heaven, a harsh world seventy-six light-years from Earth, is about to break. Gossip, rumors, and accusations about Fernando’s death escalate as the planet’s sole and overworked physician is unable to provide a reason. Thorny’s father, a former mercenary soldier, is intent on finding his difficult but beloved daughter, because no one can survive for long in Heaven’s wilds. He will need to find not only her but also Dani, another teenaged boy, who is chasing an impossible love story he will risk his life to have. The small colony of humans that arrived on Heaven two decades earlier has managed to survive, but nobody is happy. The mystery of what happened to the two teens exposes the simmering feuds, hatreds, regrets, and personal agendas of the struggling colonists. Only a few recognize the precarious state of the settlement and strive to make it secure. Others see an opportunity to seize power. A mysterious death, a disappearance, dangerous rites of passage, and a possible coup in an isolated interstellar colony create a thrilling and toxic brew. Is there any way to avoid disaster? A science fiction story of coming of age, adventure, danger, mystery, and a bit of hope. This book is set in the same universe as the Leif the Lucky series and picks up the stories of the characters who stayed behind when Leif returned to Earth at the end of Murder Under Another Sun.