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Summary: A collection of five speculative short stories by H. L. Moore, including award-winning tales Entente and No Place of Honour.
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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: What happens when an AI assistant is always whispering in your ear? Does hacking into the structure of reality help you get a prom date? When your world is dying, how far are you willing to go to save its people? What is the nature of identity, and who are you, anyway? Flashes in Time explores these questions and more in sixteen imaginative short stories set atop a fourfold table of science fiction and fantasy, contemporary and far off. A diverse cast of characters explores the limits of what it means to be human, and what our choices make of us. From darkness to light and lingering in between, the scenarios and thought experiments take the reader on a journey with surprising yet inevitable twists.
Word Count: 120000
Summary: War between the stars... It was started and fought by an AI. Few humans even knew there was a war at all. But now people are dying—and the AI wants it to stop. But a war is easier to start than to stop, and the computer can't alter its course without outside help. When the Gnostic Control System searches for co-conspirators, it chooses its friends carefully. Pali: a brooding public relations director. Ramo: a flamboyant senso-dancer, who prefers a musical jamdam to serious conversation. Sage: a systems designer for whom the AI rapture-field is realer than life. And three of the alien Ell: Harybdartt, who would rather die with dignity than betray his people; Lingrhetta, who tries to unravel the meaning of human dance and music, pain and love; and Moramaharta, the binder, who must persuade his fellow decision-makers to risk everything for the sake of a fragile bridge of understanding across the stars. A thought-provoking novel from the award-winning author of Eternity’s End and The Chaos Chronicles, and recipient of the Frank Herbert Lifetime Achievement Award for science fiction writing. REVIEWS: “The story is meaty and satisfying. I enjoyed this one greatly.” —Analog Science Fiction “An absorbing, suspenseful novel of first contact and interstellar war. It’s a complex book, requiring concentration from the reader, and is well worth the effort.”—Aboriginal SF “A lively dance of ideas—first contact, interstellar war, artificial intelligence, alien culture—and it moves at a rapid pace, from Earth through cyberspace to the Horsehead Nebula, and various points between. It’s well-worth the trip ticket.” —Roger Zelazny
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Summary: Aric kan Ingan is an Exile... Stripped of title, wealth, and citizenship for treason against the Arcanian Empire, a crime of which he is innocent. For a decade, he’s wandered the Emeraunt Galaxy, haunted by fear of instant death, while earning barely enough to survive, performing chores no self-respecting citizen would touch. Destitute and addicted to the two most powerful illegal substances in the galaxy, he finds only one path left open: He enlists as a guard for a Terran mining colony. From his point of view, he’s now hit rock-bottom. Life among aliens is bad enough, but life with Terrans is near-unbearable for the prejudiced former prince whose pride is currently wallowing in the mud…until Aric meets two people who become a special part of his life. Susan Moran is the company physician, a woman with secrets of her own. Miles Sheffield is his former mistress’ brother, a young, brash, wet-behind-the-ears Terran, who is as shocked as Aric when he becomes the Exile’s best friend, especially since their first meeting ended, not with a handshake, but with a fist to the jaw. With Susan and Miles, Aric will experience friendship, passion, and grief, and eventually make a decision affecting the future of the entire galaxy as he unknowingly takes another step in the ancient prophecy of the GodChosen.
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Summary: The five princesses of Bellarossa have lost their parents and must now abide under the control of the man responsible. But they have their art. They have each other. And still, they hold on to hope. They do what they can to ease the suffering of their kingdom under an unfeeling King and his cruel Admiral. But when a mysterious Renegade Mage arrives with powers of skill and magic, perhaps—perhaps, there is more that can be done. In memory and celebration of author Jubilee Cho, 1998-2024. Author royalties will be donated to Los Angeles-area efforts dedicated to directly supporting LGBTQIAP+ people in crisis.
Word Count: 66500
Summary: Aviana Aquila does not have much, but she does have structure. No home but whatever she is currently assigned to, no family, and the closest to a relationship she has is a not very clandestine affair with her emotionally inhibited commanding officer, with whom she dreams to run away. As an Imperial soldier, ever on deployment, she knows she may die at any moment. As a commander, she knows she will need to order people to their deaths. After years on years, she is dull to all of that, existing to exist. But when an Alliance Admiral comes aboard on what was just supposed to be a routine mission, her structured semblance of a life is completely overturned. The Admiral is not a normal being, and possibly insane. Yet her presence may save Aviana in more ways than one and make her rediscover the woman she loves. A stand-alone book in the Worlds of the PACT universe.
Word Count: 78164
Summary: Ismat’s dating life is terrible, and a lot of it has to do with honesty. Not that he doesn’t want to be honest, he just can’t – or it will ruin his life. He can’t tell anyone he works for the Dominion Security Bureau counter-terrorism division; he can’t tell his date who his father is, even if he knows them, and he most definitely can’t tell them how he actually feels about the gender he has to wear. A possible security breach in the Bureau means that he and his immediate boss are the only people who can be trusted with a case. Things rapidly become more complicated as the Bureau’s Director pulls two foreign agents into the mix. More complicated than others because Ismat finds one of them very attractive, something which he would rather the agent not know. Unfortunately – she’s telepathic. When the investigation leads them to a women-only charity event, Ismat finds some use for the dresses kept in the back of the closet and finds out that having a partner who knows what you think is not such a bad thing. A stand-alone book set in the Worlds of the PACT universe.
Word Count: 49504
Summary: What if the side quest is really the main quest? Divine, a healer of the Goddess of Souls, has chased the thief who stole her talisman across half of Trelvania. The talisman is the key to accessing her magic well, and without it, she is powerless. While chasing her betrayer, former girlfriend, and servant of the Goddess of Condemnation, Divine meets Saph, a flirty tavern owner with an eyepatch and a proposition. Saph will help Divine locate her talisman if Divine helps her complete a mysterious quest in a chest. Inspired by RPGs and set in scenic autumn, prepare for an adventure with gods and goddesses, deceitful exes, axe throwing, and fantastical creatures. Can Divine learn to trust again and find romance in the middle of finding her magic?
Word Count: 74061
Summary: Peace in the Sky Peace-in-the-Sky awakens, captive, after a brutal head injury. With her fractured memories, she knows only that she must protect her daughter Anissa. Even if Peace-in-the-Sky manages to escape the fierce wasteland tribe holding her captive, she and Anissa face a journey through a blasted landscape inhabited by warring peoples scrabbling for subsistence. To find safety, Peace-in-the-Sky must use her developing power of the pillars-of-flame to clear their path. As her memory reveals the secret of her true nature, her body and mind deteriorate. But nothing can stop her from delivering Anissa to the promised paradise of safety and plenty, even at the expense of her life. Station in the Sky Donna, once Peace-in-the-Sky, awakens aboard Station-in-the-Sky and rejoins a society that had been her home for thousands of years before knowing Anissa. But she soon discovers her fellow stationers have lost sight of their original mandate to protect Earth. Instead, their new plans will threaten all of Earth’s inhabitants. As her memories return, she becomes suspicious her head injury was actually an attack by another stationer. Framed as being faulty, Donna must navigate the eccentricities of the other stationers without being caught, and covertly assemble proof of their plans before they realize she will do anything to keep Earth safe from their meddling.
Word Count: 87700
Summary: What magic does the Library hold? Adopted at birth by a loving family of magic users, fifteen year old Ryn desperately wants to fit in, but the law is clear: only those with documented bloodlines use magic. If Ryn’s birth parents remain unknown, she will be denied the use of magic along with the knowledge and training those ancestors could provide. When Ryn receives an unexpected invitation to search for her legacy in the closely guarded ancestral Library, she leaps at the chance. With its odd passageways and hidden treacherous rooms, the Library holds powerful knowledge, keys to ancient mysteries, and potentially, Ryn’s heritage. To her dismay Ryn’s quest is thwarted by the very tutor who committed to mentoring her. Time is short, and access to the Library will end with her tutor’s departure. If Ryn can’t find her heritage before she comes of age, her chance to become a magic user will disappear. Find out what happens in The Slayer's Magic by C.J. Hosack! Genres: Epic Fantasy / Young Adult / Fantasy Adventure / Gay / LGBT Market: YA, Adult
Word Count: 108540
Summary: The Library is dying. Ryn is finally working in the Ancestral Library, a childhood dream and a way to find her birth parentage. But the magic of the Library is being sabotaged, allowing pests, water damage and worse, while hostile Ancestor Houses are vying to move the books from the location they’ve occupied for a thousand years. Rumors of a secret society bent on sabotage, with only the words “Kill the roots, take the fruits,” leads Ryn and her stepbrother Zo on a chase across Waatch and the ancestor Islands. Three items are a danger to the Library: a rock, and sword, and a branch. Though Ryn has hated being an Ordinary her whole life, it seems the Ordinaries of Waatch, disdained by the Ancestor descendants, might hold the true key to the Library. They might be the only way for Ryn to find the saboteur and items, and save the Library along with any hope of finding her birth family.
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Summary: The immortal King Glëa po’Lon is rebuilding the Kingdom of Xol after his hard-won victory ended a civil war. While he plans for perpetual reign, he grapples with the prospect of outliving his aging friends. Meanwhile, distant foes are on the move seeking to challenge his place on the throne. A defeated rebel, Ravel po'Marn, is scarred by talons of an unearthly creature. While struggling to delay her transformation into an inhuman monstrosity, she is also bound by family honor to join her younger brother Candor on his quest for vengeance against the king. With her very humanity at risk, she must do whatever she can to protect her brother… even from himself.
Word Count: 101000
Summary: With a click, the bread fell into the toaster. One circuit fired the heating coils. Others monitored bread temperature and color. Yet another circuit was quite unlike all the rest— as exotic as it was sinister; when it activated, 368 people would die. In the 22nd century, the justice system is airtight in the domed city of Arcadia. Human error has been removed. Yet somehow, a well-intentioned young kleptomaniac named Rainville falls through the cracks and is wrongfully convicted of mass murder. He is exiled to Wychwood Prison, a crumbling necropolis beyond the dome where the dead outnumber the living, where the inmates are also the guards. News of the crime follows him, and he becomes a marked man. Rainville’s only hope for survival is becoming the first inmate in history to escape Wychwood. Can he do it? The fate of Arcadia depends on it.
Word Count: 27000
Summary: Runa, alone, survives the massacre. But a traitorous mage has captured her king’s essence—his vital energy, linked to a long line of wolf-shifter rulers. Unless Runa can recover that power by dawn, the mage will command not only her, but also her kindred. Yet Runa is the weakest of the pack. Her quest will fail unless she finds help, and the dark winter woods is deserted but for a small dog and a young soldier. Prince Paolo is eager for adventure and stirred to action by Runa’s ordeal. As they learn to respect each other’s unique skills, attraction blossoms. But the mage is a trusted figure from Paolo’s past. And he’s filled his lair with marvelous steam-powered machinery and ambitious plans for the prince’s future. Paolo can’t help but have second thoughts about Runa’s story and must choose between his promise to Runa and the life he’d hardly dared to envision. Can Runa recover the king’s essence and protect her kindred? The answers lie in the wolf’s very heart.
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Summary: What happens when you're face-to-face with a truth that shakes you? Do you accept it, or pretend it was never there? Award-winning author Mark A. Rayner smudges the lines between realist and fabulist, literary and speculative in this collection of stories that examines this question-what Homer called passing through The Gates of Polished Horn. We discover the cruelty of creating synthetic consciousness. A woman is worried that her husband is having an affair but discovers it's much, much worse. A time traveler uncovers a reality-bending fact while observing the death of Socrates. Waldo, of Where's Waldo fame, has an existential crisis. A traveling salesperson is killed on the highway, and this is just the start of his journey through the gates. Infused with comic insight and tragic vision, this collection invites readers into new realities thattouch on our shared humanity.
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Summary: Em is a twelve-year-old girl in a floating community off the Gulf Coast. Kaya is a political activist in a terrifying prison. They are pen pals. A wistful message in a bottle ends up in the hands of an imprisoned activist, who writes back. Em and Kaya are both living precarious lives, at the mercy of societal, natural, and perhaps supernatural forces beyond their control. Through their letters, they encourage and inspire one another—eventually to acts of great heroism.
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Summary: Blind seamstress Grazia has an ambitious plan to create a ballgown that can make music, but to do so, she must make a dangerous bargain with a fairy weaver.
Word Count: 78000
Summary: “A must-read for fans of strange, surreal horror.” —The New York Times In a frozen tundra, one man fights for redemption as monstrous creatures ravage a community already struggling to survive. Sebastian Pana is a “sin-eater,” a shaman-like figure who can absolve the dead of their transgressions before they move on to the afterlife. But when Sebastian’s small arctic town is invaded by hideous, otherworldly beasts, he must wage battle with them the only way he knows how: by unleashing the power of sin itself. From an author who has been compared to Lovecraft, Bradbury, and Gaiman, Incarnate is a masterpiece of contemporary arctic horror—both an epic confrontation between the forces of good and evil and a profoundly redemptive tale about our eternal quest for forgiveness.
Word Count: 101000
Summary: Comma is a robot—but to survive, she must pass as an intelligent, caring, human adult. Otherwise, the anti-AI extremists who destroyed the supercomputer she once inhabited—leaving her with only 1 percent of her sentient memories—will eliminate her for good. When a university professor is murdered, Comma becomes the prime suspect. Because her robot form is university property, she will be erased while her creator and mother figure stand trial for murder. She can’t let that happen, but how far will she go to save herself? With time running out, Comma must uncover the real killer and expose the anti-AI extremists who want her dead. If she fails, it won’t just be the end of her—but the ruin of her found family and potentially the end of robotic sentience itself. For fans of Murderbot Diaries, Monk and Robot, Klara of the Sun, and sapphic science fiction. This novel takes you on adventure, where you’ll experience mystery, suspense, and a bit of romance. An AI that feels so real you’re in her silicone skin.
