Sci Fi - Robots/Androids Genre

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Summary: Welcome to the last of the great flying Cities! It’s 9172, YE (Year of the Empire), and the future has forgotten its past. Soaring miles over the Earth, Autumn, the sole surviving flying city, is filled to the brim with the manifold forms of humankind: from Human Plus “floor models” to the oppressed and disfranchised underclasses doing their dirty work and every imaginable variation between. Valerius Bakhoum is a washed-up private eye and street hustler scraping by in Autumn. Late on his rent, fetishized and reviled for his imperfect genetics, stuck in the quicksand of his own heritage, Valerius is trying desperately to wrap up his too-short life when a mythical relic of humanity’s fog-shrouded past walks in and hires him to do one last job. What starts out as Valerius just taking a stranger’s money quickly turns into the biggest and most dangerous mystery he’s ever tried to crack – and Valerius is running out of time to solve it. Now Autumn’s abandoned history – and the monsters and heroes that adorn it – are emerging from the shadows to threaten the few remaining things Valerius holds dear. Can the burned-out detective navigate the labyrinth of lies and maze of blind faith around him to save the City of Autumn from its greatest myth and deadliest threat as he navigates his feelings for his newest client, the handsome golem Alejandro?

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Summary: Teens and their giant robots search for a new home for mankind, but the planet they discover belongs to the dragons. Two hundred years after the Climate Wars left Earth uninhabitable, Johari and his giant robot companion lead a squad of scouts on a quest for a new Goldilocks planet to settle the remnants of the human race. When one of the scouts and his bot go down in a hostile wilderness, Johari's fight to save them reveals complex behavior in the dragon-like dominant species. The scout team fragments as Johari strives to rescue his friends and discover the truth about the aliens. If he's right, mankind will lose its best hope for a home — or sacrifice its own humanity.

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Summary: The thrilling Voidstrider Saga continues... Shan Taishan dedicated his life to protecting Mars as an Officer of the Fleet. But now an enemy no one can see has come to the Red Planet, and it's up to Shan to save his sister and his homeworld - or see Mars fall forever! Prominent Martians have gone missing - only to turn up again days later, seemingly changed. Government leaders forward policies they'd never have supported before, and the Fleet itself seems riddled with traitors. There's a conspiracy at work, one which threatens to turn Mars into a brutal dictatorship. With his friends gone off to Eros - glittering asteroid city of sin - in search of the enigmatic Djinn, it's up to Shan alone to unravel the mystery and save his world. And when he learns the truth at last, Shan Taishan will be forced to make a terrible sacrifice -- or see his world lost forever!

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Summary: Androids & Aliens is Scott's third short story collection - eight sci fi and sci-fantasy shorts that run the gamut from cyborgs to (comedic) alien invasions: Rise: The rise in sea levels caused by climate change swallowed Venice beneath the lagoon half a century ago. But what if we could bring it back? Ping: I was a real estate agent by day, and a museum curator in the evening at a sci-fi museum. What I saw one night changed everything. What the Rain Brings: Miriam struggles to make a living in post-climate-change Vancouver. But her friend Catalina has it even worse in the Arizona desert. So Miri hatches a plan. High Seven: Zan dreams of making full reals - immersive live virtual reality skins - but his low score may doom him to a life of cheap coding. Full Real: Dek's given up his life of spying for the city. But one more case awaits him. Will he regret it more if he takes it, or turns it down? Shit City: The Bay Area is being walloped by a hurricane, and seventeen-year-old Jason Vasquez has been relocated to a refugee city in the Nevada Desert. Will it be temporary shelter, or change his life? Firedrake: Kerry has always wondered about his deadly powers. But a mysterious bunch of violet roses starts him on the path to discovery - even if he's not sure he's going to like what he finds. The Last Human Heart: I'm one of the Remainers, the few cyborg humans still living on this busted planet. But if my still-human heart finally gives out, I may not live to find out the truth about who I am. This is the first time all of these stories have all been collected in one place, and the first publication of the Pacific Climate Tryptich - What the Rain Brings, High Seven, and Full Real - in any form.

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Summary: Charlie’s life force is fading. His only hope is an aged martial arts master in the remote reaches of China who, as far as Cappa can tell, doesn’t like him very much. While Charlie and Cappa are away from Z-Tech, William has been raising an empire of his own — one determined to crush any who interfere with his plans for world domination. Worse, he’s sided with the only other organization who had almost succeeded in erasing Z-Tech from the global market, pitting Anne and her friends in a desperate struggle for survival. The enemy has the advantage of numbers, but Z-Tech has Zima — a one-person army in her own right. Only time will tell if she’s enough to offset the overwhelming forces set against Z-Tech, and if San Francisco will survive their battle.

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Summary: An ancient evil in Anne's head aims to ruin her tranquil life and end humanity. It must be Tuesday. A house of her own with a white picket fence, complete with a loving partner, Anne Perrin finally has the life of her dreams — including the job she always wanted and a caring family to share it all with. But every Eden has its Pandora’s Box. Anne’s personal heaven is marred by a malevolent presence in her head who, if given a choice, would use her to usher in a dark age, ending humanity as she knows it. The only thing holding it at bay is an unpredictable computer implant in her chest that seems to have its own agenda. Two unexpected visitors turn Anne’s delicate world upside down in completely different ways — one better than she could have ever hoped, one catastrophically terrible — pitting Anne in a nightmare battle against the very people she holds dearest: her family.

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Summary: Ancient evil meets modern-day waitress — and a mysterious organization known as Z-Tech. Anne Perrin is resigned to a life driven by an adolescent trauma — a strict routine, no socializing (outside of the safety of her waitressing job), and no romantic relationships. Determined to change her life before it’s too late, Anne’s first date in a decade turns into a struggle of life-and-death, plunging her into a world she didn’t know existed, where super-science may be humanity’s only hope against an ancient threat.

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Summary: A vampire hunter has his sights on Anne Perrin, threatening to unleash the very evil she and her friends are fighting to contain. Robbing Anne of her pulse hasn’t stopped her from living un-life to its fullest: she’s balancing two relationships, has returned to her waitress job, and is trying her best to not eat her customers. But Calum sees through her disguise, and no amount of charm can dissuade him from eradicating Anne and everyone like her from the face of the Earth. While Charlie is out of the country seeking help from the one person who might be able to save his life, Anne is abducted, leaving the rest of the Z-Tech crew with the desperate task of finding her before the vampire hunters finish her off — or a grief-stricken Zima destroys the city looking for her lost love. But Anne’s abduction could be just the first part of a larger, darker plan that may unwittingly unleash the very plague Calum seeks to prevent.

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Summary: The Fantastical Romances You’ve Been Craving Hugo Finalist Janice L. Newman presents a touching trio of romances in a speculative vein. From the edge of space, to the shadows of the paranormal, to the marvels of the mystic: At First Contact: A germaphobe and an android are assigned a mission to survey a planet together. Will they discover new life or a new love? Ghosted: Leo is searching for the soul that used to haunt his grandmother’s house. Did Will ghost him? A Touch of Magic: What if love could alter the fabric of existence? A fraught romance between two teachers just might be helped along by a touch of magic.

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Summary: ::The Seignso have our own plans for the remains of Genghis Khan.:: Alien warmongers have cloned an ancient emperor to lead an unstoppable army. Gifted with superhuman powers and advanced technology, he sets his sights on his home planet, Earth, and then... the stars! However, countermeasures have already been set in place. A young Iowa farm boy, oblivious to his powers or destiny, is thrust into a battle that will decide the fate of humanity against the new and improved Genghis Khan! A thrilling, interstellar adventure from the author of The Weller and War of the Worlds: Goliath!

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Summary: In a condemned hotel, an intelligence operation to retrieve a DNA-altering bioweapon goes horribly wrong, sparking a scandal that could bring down an agency ... and a city along with it. Adasha Denali resolves disputes for Naion—using words, not weapons. But with her agency under fire and her mentor fed to the wolves, she’ll have to get her hands dirty. Racing to discover who’s undermining Naion’s security and why, Adasha runs headlong into corporate mercs, an engineered spy, and a man losing his mind to a new form of intelligence. Meanwhile, the once-great immersion hacker Neon Nik is on the ugly side of broke, struggling to pay off circling loan sharks. When he inherits a piece of advanced tech that throws him into Adasha’s path, threats of dismemberment become the least of his problems. Now he’s got a vortex of hired killers on his heels and a decision to make: sell out or suit up.

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Summary: Clarity (noun) Four definitions to inspire writers around the world and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell: 1) Coherent and intelligible 2) Transparent or pure 3) Attaining certainty about something 4) Easy to see or hear Clarity 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: In the early 21st century, Rowan is fighting a secret war against alien pirates bent on subjugating all of mankind. At least, that's what she thinks. In reality, it's a thousand years later, Earth has long been part of an interstellar and interspecies republic, and she's a character on Angel Black, an e-entertainment that allows viewers a complete sensory experience through her perspective. Who needs actors when you can clone famous performers and splice in some alien DNA? Since studio clones have no rights, their lives and experiences can be tailor-made for the program. It's just too bad the clones don't know that. Ryan Chandler was a decorated war hero until he was cloned to save his life. His career options died with his original body and the best job he can get is a technician on Angel Black. He's planning to escape to a newly colonized system when Rowan is scheduled to be killed off. With help from unexpected allies, Ryan stages Rowan's rescue, but getting her off the set is only the beginning. To succeed, they must evade a manhunt supported by the state that fears Rowan's liberation might be the triggering event of a clone rights movement that could cost the establishment billions and shake the foundations of human society. Can two clones find their freedom in a society that treats them as second-class citizens?

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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: Life after the Crash. Over a century after the end of the Earth, life goes on in Redemption, the sole remaining Lunar colony, and possibly the last outpost of humankind in the Solar System. But with an existential threat burrowing its way into the Moon's core, humanity must recolonize the homeworld. Twenty brave dropnauts set off on a mission to explore the empty planet. Four of them—Rai, Hera, Ghost and Tien—have trained for two-and-a-half years for the Return. They're bound for Martinez Base, just outside the Old Earth city of San Francisco. But what awaits them there will turn their assumptions upside down—and in the process, either save or destroy what's left of humanity.

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Summary: It’s the find of a lifetime – an ancient alien spaceship hanging in a forgotten corner of space. For Song this could change everything. She’s got as many problems with her finances as she does in her marriage, but maybe at last her passion for wreck-diving will pay off. One piece of unknown tech could set her whole crew up for life. The ship conforms to nothing in their records and dwarfs the largest human vessels. Battle-scarred and old before humanity ever reached the stars, it’s a mausoleum of an unknown, long-dead species. And it’s just winked at her.

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Summary: An Artificial Superintelligence bent on destroying humanity. A mech warrior determined to stop it. No one is safe. Not before, not now, not ever. Jedidiah Martin survived the AI apocalypse that almost destroyed America. He was there when they took down Isaac, the superintelligence responsible for nearly ending humanity. But is Isaac dead for good? From the ashes, a new threat has emerged. The people from a neighboring town are missing, as is Jedidiah’s nephew, Blake. All hell is about to break loose. With his band of mechanized warriors, Jedidiah sets out to find answers. But the questions keep coming: Is Isaac back from the grave? What does he want with Blake? Will he try to finish humanity for good this time?

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Summary: Seasoned, strange, and dangerously clever Some invitations are impossible to refuse. When Ajay and Kylie are invited to a dinner party hosted by one of the wealthiest women around, Ajay sees it as an opportunity to dig into her past. He needs to find what shady business she’s been up to and how dangerous she really is. Never mind that she’s Kylie’s grandmother. What starts out as a dinner party turns quickly to trouble when a guest is murdered. Was the killer the billionaire socialite, the odd chef, or one of the other guests? Ajay needs to cut through the complex connections between the reluctant guests, because one of them is a killer–but they aren’t the only one. Too old to learn decent manners? Maybe. Too old to solve a murder? Not this grandfather.

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Summary: RETURN TO THE MEAN STREETS OF AUTUMN Valerius Bakhoum is dead and buried. Too bad he’s still flat broke and behind on the rent. Unsure what to do with himself—and of who he is—Valerius resumes his career as a detective by taking up the oldest case in his files: where do the children go? Throughout his own youth on the streets of Autumn, last of the Great Flying Cities, Valerius knew his fellow runaways disappeared from back alleys and other hiding places more than anyone realized. Street kids even had a myth to explain it: the Gotchas, who steal urchins away in the night. With nothing but time on his hands, Valerius dives in head-first to settle the question once and for all and runs smack into a more pressing mystery: who killed one of Valerius’ former lovers? And do they know Valerius is still alive? Stalk the shadows of Autumn’s hidden places by Valerius Bakhoum’s side as he shines a light on secrets both sacred and profane, ones with shockingly personal connections to who he was—and who he might become. New Life in Autumn is the sequel to the Manly Wade Wellman Award-winning A Fall in Autumn.

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Summary: Althea struggles to adapt to an unexpected twist in her life—not being kidnapped in six whole months. The strange police from the faraway city claim the abilities she thought of as magic are really ‘psionics,’ and say she is far stronger than anyone they have ever seen. Despite their curiosity, they let her remain in the Badlands to protect her from an evil they call corporations. Of course, Althea knows all too well how powerful her healing gift is. For most of her life, she’d been a prize taken in raids. Tribes have killed to own her, and she let them. But the Prophet is done being passive. Having a family changes everything. No longer afraid to use her powers to protect herself, Althea refuses to be taken again… even when corporate mercenaries find her.