sci fi s-z

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Summary: Oberon is unique among the Common Worlds - a half-world with a strange past and an uncertain future. Jameson Havercamp and Xander Kinnson are thrust into the middle of a world-ending event and have to scramble to save the world - and themselves. Along the way, they peel back the layers of the onion to discover secrets wrapped in secrets that will eventually take them to where it all started - and may provide the key to saving Oberon and everyone on it. SKYTHANE Jameson Havercamp, a psych from a conservative religious colony, has come to Oberon—unique among the Common Worlds—in search of a rare substance called pith. He’s guided through the wilds on his quest by Xander Kinnson, a handsome, cocky skythane with a troubled past. Neither knows that Oberon is facing imminent destruction. Even as the world starts to fall apart around them, they have no idea what’s coming—or the bond that will develop between them as they race to avert a cataclysm. Together, they will journey to uncover the secrets of this strange and singular world, even as it takes them beyond the bounds of reality itself to discover what truly binds them. LANDER 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? ITHANI Time is running out. After saving the world twice, Xander, Jameson and friends plunge headlong into a new crisis. The ithani―the aliens who broke the world―have reawakened from their hundred millennia-long slumber. When Xander and Jameson disappear in a flash, an already fractured world is thrown into chaos. The ithani plans, laid a hundred thousand years before, are finally coming to pass, and they threaten all life on Erro. Venin and Alix go on a desperate search for their missing and find more than they bargained for. And Quince, Robin and Jessa discover a secret as old as the skythane themselves. Will alien technology, unexpected help from the distant past, destiny and some good old-fashioned firepower be enough to defeat an enemy with the ability to split a world? The final battle of the epic science fiction adventure that began in Skythane will decide the fate of lander and skythane alike. And in the north, the ithani rise….

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Summary: Liminal Sky chronicles humankind's first journey to the stars. The first three books - the Ariadne Cycle - cover the creation and launch of Ariadne (aka Forever) as she was grown from seed on an asteroid and then launched across the interstellar void. The books are told in epic fashion, with each broken into three parts that span generations. THE STARK DIVIDE Some stories are epic. The Earth is in a state of collapse, with wars breaking out over resources and an environment pushed to the edge by human greed. Three living generation ships have been built with a combination of genetic mastery, artificial intelligence, technology, and raw materials harvested from the asteroid belt. This is the story of one of them—43 Ariadne, or Forever, as her inhabitants call her—a living world that carries the remaining hopes of humanity, and the three generations of scientists, engineers, and explorers working to colonize her. From her humble beginnings as a seedling saved from disaster to the start of her journey across the void of space toward a new home for the human race, The Stark Divide tells the tales of the world, the people who made her, and the few who will become something altogether beyond human. Humankind has just taken its first step toward the stars. THE RISING TIDE The Earth is dead. Five years after the Collapse, the remnants of humanity travel through the stars inside Forever: a living, ever-evolving, self-contained generation ship. When Eddy Tremaine and Andrissa “Andy” Hammond find a hidden world-within-a-world under the mountains, the discovery triggers a chain of events that could fundamentally alter or extinguish life as they know it, culminate in the takeover of the world mind, and end free will for humankind. Eddy, Andy, and a handful of other unlikely heroes must find the courage and ingenuity to stand against the rising tide. Otherwise they might be living through the end days of human history. THE SHORELESS SEA Rise of the Inthworld. The fight for the future isn’t over yet. It could lead to a new beginning, or it might spell the end for the last vestiges of humankind. The generation ship Forever has left Earth behind, but a piece of the old civilization lives on in the Inthworld—a virtual realm that retains memories of Earth's technological wonders and vices. Lilith leads the uprising, and if she sets its inhabitants free, they could destroy Forever. But during the ship's long voyage, humanity has evolved. Liminals with the ability to connect with the world mind and the Inthworld provide a glimmer of hope as they face not only Lilith’s minions, but the mistrust of their own kind as homotypicals fear what they can't understand. The invasion must be stopped, the Inthworld healed, sothe people of Forever can let go of their past and embrace their future.

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Summary: LIFE IS GOOD FOR A MIDDLE-AGED COUNTRY NOBLE… At least Riven kan Ingan thinks so. A few things could be better, of course, such as his volatile relationship with eldest son, Val, but his estate is prospering, his other children are still obedient, and his beloved Barbara is as feisty as ever. Even the barbaric Ghermians have settled peacefully within Francovia’s borders. Too soon, the bubble of contentment bursts. When a new margrave comes to power, civil war looms, turning native Francovians against its foreign-born citizens. Morling Ledeval demands an oath of loyalty from his subjects, and Riven is forced to make a choice. Will he risk home and family to follow a madman or become a traitor to the country he loves?

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Summary: Jey awakens to find himself in the care of a handsome stranger - a cheff from one of the mouuntain tribes, enemies of his own people. Afraid for his life, Jey has no choice but to let the man take care of him and his broken leg. Avain is on his Aud'ling - his coming-of-age test that requires him to spend a couple months alone, away from his own people. When he finds the steader trapped under his aur with a broken leg, he knows he has to help. But not being allowed to speak during his test makes things... difficult. The two of them will have to come to an understanding if they're not going to kill one another. And Avain has a secret to share with Jey, one that that will change his life forever.

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Summary: The old Gods declared the kan Ingans would rule the galaxy for three thousand years, but now, the Gods are gone, and the last of the three thousand years is drawing to a close... Deröés kan Ingan's throne is coveted by all. He's the ruler of the known galaxy. Hundreds of suitors have come, but not one of them has captured his heart... until a mysterious woman named Elizabeth Sheffield. Only, love is far from her intention. She wants his power, and so too does his nephew, his only heir, who fears this new Queen may steal what is rightfully his. And beyond them all is a vast empire of people that don't view an outsider like Elizabeth as worthy of ruling anything. Scheming, intrigue, war ... If you liked the characters from Firefly, with the passion and planetary intrigue of Pandora, and the action from The Tomorrow War, try Twilight of the GodChosen.

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Summary: Riven kan Ingan may have married his beloved Barbara. He may have become a noble by the margrave’s grace but the gods aren’t finished with him. Not yet. Though Riven admits married life makes him a lovestruck fool, he refuses to be the cuckold when he returns from battle to find his wife pregnant with a child he couldn’t have sired. In a fury at her supposed infidelity, he dares the gods’ wrath and abandons her, only to become the scapegoat when a blood curse strikes his people. Haunted by Barbara’s memory, Riven begins a quest to find the one who cursed him. He’ll return to the land of his birth, unearth long-hidden family secrets, and suffer more loss and grief. Only when his pride is ground to dust and he’s dependent upon an old enemy’s mercy will he be free to rid himself of the blood curse.

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Summary: Saoirse Kenneally is on a mission to save the people of a distant world. But first, she has some problems of her own to deal with. Saoirse is an alcoholic and an addict who has been disowned by her family. None of the rehabs she has been in will take her back. And she just woke up in jail. Again. To avoid doing time she commits to a two-year term of off-planet service, one that will take her to Saturn's moon Titan and then to a faraway star. The first hurdle is making it through training because Saoirse has a way of finding trouble even when she's trying to behave. Then she's posted to Titan, where every move she makes leads her deeper into a web of corruption, interstellar drug smuggling, violence, and power politics that is likely to end in disaster. Can a twenty-year old woman with a checkered past, a tenuous grip on sobriety, and an on-again off-again relationship with the truth save an entire world from a bloody power grab? And can she save herself in the bargain?

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Summary: A fresh start, a queer social liberal dream, and a planet that wants to kill you. Carving out a life on Mars is no easy feat. With Earth in the throes of a devastating pandemic, autistic scientist Devon and her fellow colonists are faced with the momentous task of establishing a new society – one that learns from the past and prioritises sustainability over short-term gain. Noble aspirations are easier said than done, though – especially when the entire planet wants to kill you. Grappling with the realities of human nature and with their batteries slowly dying, the colony’s 150 women and 10 men must overcome their differences to create a lasting community. But things aren’t always what they seem and maybe the colonists aren’t as alone as they thought… Perfect for fans of Mary Robinette Kowal’s ‘Lady Astronaut’ series and the writing styles of Robert J. Sawyer and Becky Chambers. This thought-provoking sci-fi novel blends classic science fiction ideas with neurodiverse and LGBTQIA+ themes.

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Summary: Vampires and werewolves live long lives. The Sleepless City saga might have ended but the story continues…   Welcome to the Vampire Guard, where legend and myth meet science and technology.   Vampires make the best spies. Throw a smart-mouthed werewolf in with three vampires, mix well, and The Vampire Guard's newest team is bound to become one of their greatest assets. Super spies with a full range of skills. Warrior, hacker, thief, and scientist.  They get in, do the job and get out before the bad guys ever know what hit them. Forge, Blair, Declan, and Lucas are thrust into the world of high-tech spies and top-secret espionage conspiracies. Recruited into the world’s most elite and secret organization with one singular mission. Protect those who can’t defend themselves from ruin. Life becomes complicated when an impending Presidential visit to their town, Boggslake, throws them headlong into the world of the vampires and werewolves of the Vampire Guard. Very quickly they uncover and confront a werewolf terrorist organization known as the Qiguan.   Together they must thwart an assassination attempt on the open waters of Lake Superior while tracking a previously unknown biological weapon controlled by the Qiguan—a weapon which may very well mean death for one of them.  

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Summary: By his own admission, Riven kan Ingan is a non-believer, denying the existence of magic or religion. He may have been raised by the Margrave of Francovia, but as the son of a barbarian sellsword, he’s never allowed to forget his foreign ancestry. Determined to fulfill the prophecy that he’s to become a king, Riven schemes to hurry his destiny along by marrying the margrave’s daughter, Aleza. Unfortunately, the gods of Arcanis, insulted by his denial of their existence, have other plans. When Aleza is kidnapped by the sorcerer Mahldimir Djaan-Baih, Riven swears a bloodseek oath to rescue her. The princess is restored to her, father but there’s no Happily Ever After for the young skeptic. Thanks to the gods, Riven falls in love with a woman he can’t have. There’s nothing he can do to forget her and no way he can claim her…and this punishment is just the beginning.

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Summary: Aegis Alight (2020 Collection) is a free collection of twelve stories published in each month of 2020. These are stories of other worlds, other places. Stories of creatures helping, of cryptids descending from otherness to join those in need. The stories can be read on Ava Kelly's website or on their Patreon. The collection is available for download as an .epub file.

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Summary: An intriguing collection of short stories, from Space Opera to harder sf. Life can be hard when your papers suddenly aren’t valid anymore and you are forced to leave your home for another planet. How do you cope? Friendly aliens come in all shapes, as do the ones you don’t want in your mind. You will find some futuristic social science and a speculative one thrown in for good measure. The characters are younger and some are older, some are strange and some perhaps, are more familiar. This collection of short stories reveals capable humans, intriguing aliens, and new areas of trade.

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Summary: A prophecy to a 16-year-old blacksmith’s son sends Trygare kan Ingan from his home in the Cymenean glyns, armed only with his father’s sword. Being GodChosen isn’t easy. The woman he wants doesn’t want him ; the man who should be his best friend thinks him laughable, and everyone ridicules his youth, to say nothing of his glyndweller accent. Slaying a dragon and defending the country from invaders changes their minds, and things are going nicely, but then the gods interfere… Tragedy strikes, sending Trygare to a foreign land where his true destiny lies… …to become the ancestor of a dynasty that will rule his planet for three thousand years.

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Summary: Time is running out. After saving the world twice, Xander, Jameson and friends plunge headlong into a new crisis. The ithani―the aliens who broke the world―have reawakened from their hundred millennia-long slumber. When Xander and Jameson disappear in a flash, an already fractured world is thrown into chaos. The ithani plans, laid a hundred thousand years before, are finally coming to pass, and they threaten all life on Erro. Venin and Alix go on a desperate search for their missing and find more than they bargained for. And Quince, Robin and Jessa discover a secret as old as the skythane themselves. Will alien technology, unexpected help from the distant past, destiny and some good old-fashioned firepower be enough to defeat an enemy with the ability to split a world? The final battle of the epic science fiction adventure that began in Skythane will decide the fate of lander and skythane alike. And in the north, the ithani rise….

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Summary:   "Everything I knew about the Were was wrong" A Were of no fixed form, a Random, able to Turn into any warm-blooded creature it sees... A young Random whose failure to Turn forces him into taking his destiny into his own hands and becoming full Lycan in the name of pride and fury, learning things he never thought were possible... A true Shifter, the wild card, Turning into anything he chooses at will... First Jazz Marsh Turns into something unprecedented, throwing her family and the Were authorities into a spin. Then her brother Mal, frustrated beyond reason by his own delayed Turn, takes matters into his own hands and chooses his own destiny, inflitrating the shadowy Lycan clan in order to help expiate his perceived guilt in his older sister's death. He's helped by his friend, Chalky, a true Shifter who is capable of Turning into anything he pleases unconstrained by the rules of Were kind. Together, they work to turn back a shattering tragedy, solve a conspiracy-shrouded mystery rooted in their own kind, and work to preserve their own existence against a rising tide of superstition and hatred. All they wanted to do, in the end, was save a life. Instead... they started a war.

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Summary: Zeke is a hermit in his late forties who lives a quiet life in a small cabin in the Western Montana mountains, a few miles outside of Thompson Falls. He’s gotten used to being alone since the end of the world, and has everything he needs. Everything but someone to talk to. Nathan is a younger man on a cross-country trek, searching the country for someone... anyone still alive. Saddled with a ghost from his old life and a case of OCD, he stumbles upon Thompson Falls and a pack of rabid dogs. Rescued by Zeke, he has to figure out how to be human again. And with Christmas just a week away, both men have to figure out if there’s something left to be hopeful for, and if they might have a future together.

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Summary: It was a last adventure…a final fling… Sinbad sh’en Singh, patriarch of the Clan sh’en Singh, has finally gone off the Deep End—at least that’s what his children think. Fed up with the younger generation’s condescending ways, he’s resigned as CEO of sh’en Singh Shipping, and with youngest son, Mal, and grandson, Lynx, is sailing away on a sentimental journey. Retracing the steps of that fateful first voyage he made with his beloved Andi, all Sin expects to worry about is dodging old girlfriends, renewing the acquaintance of former comrades-in-crime—if any are still around, that is—and keeping the boys sober. When Mal disappears, the light-hearted cruise becomes a deadly manhunt. A frantic father searches for his missing son with one goal in mind: Find Mal and punish the ones who took him.

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Summary: There are worlds out there with a past. A past that is only poorly understood. The Song worlds are in that category. What are they? Why are they? What do they tell us about the rest of us? Should we investigate them or should we avoid them? What if our world was visited by the Song? Maybe that is not strong enough. What if ours is the result of a visitation by the Song. More to the point, what if they achieved what they wanted with us? What if it all went wrong? What category does the world of Forest come under? The inhabitants there only number a few thousand and they face numerous perils. Were they ever visited by the Song? Shanlee the story teller has been given the world to investigate. What is she in for? She has other things on her mind. She left the love of her life behind when she took this investigation on. Will she be waiting for her when Shanlee returns home? If she returns home? The people of Forest, the Kekimelu, have been deserted by their spirits but have not lost their beliefs. A young song writer decides he is going to ask the Song's representative on Forest some hard questions. The answers he gets may not be what he hopes for.

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Summary: An Imperial prince can only hide for so long—but his solution of a hastily invented engagement could backfire spectacularly. Marsh Kensinger's work as the utility mechanic for Bremen Station keeps his life interesting - but never quite as interesting as finding a pilot still hidden inside a hibernation drawer in what should have been a salvage craft. He knows he shouldn't get involved, but the Altairian Imperial crest on the private craft and the semi-conscious pilot's odd questions pique his always-whirling curiosity. Still unattached at a concerning age for an imperial son, Prince Shiro Shinohara hadn't been running from the endless, mind-numbing rounds of omiai his mother, the Empress, had mandated. Not exactly. He'd just wanted a break from persistent suitors at the family retreat on Ceti Tau. The short respite becomes a panicked flight for his life when one of the suitors stalking him attacks the family compound. Worried for the soldiers he was forced to leave behind, afraid there's a conspiracy to kidnap him, Shiro confides in the handsome mechanic who found him and in a moment of panic, concocts the fiction of a serious relationship with Marsh. It's only until Shiro's people can reach him and he can press charges back home. Marsh is willing to play along and Shiro's just going to have to keep himself together and not, under any circumstances, fall for the wonderful, generous man who refuses to stop helping him.

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Summary: Sometimes the world needs saving twice. 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?