Apocalyptic Fantasy

With little warning, a solar super flare erupts from the sun. A billion tons of superheated plasma hurtles through space toward Earth. As multiple solar storms strike Earth, transformers explode, the power grid fails, and communication networks collapse. Half the world goes dark, thrusting the planet into utter chaos. With society crumbling around them, the survivors must fight not only for their lives, but for everything they hold dear - hope amid devastation, justice in the face of depravity, and ultimately, the perseverance of the human spirit against all odds.

Hugh Howey is known for crafting riveting and immersive tales of boundless imagination. Now comes Machine Learning, an impressive collection of Howey's science fiction and fantasy short fiction, including three stories set in the world of Wool, two never-before-published tales written exclusively for this volume, and 15 additional stories collected here for the first time. These stories explore everything from artificial intelligence to parallel universes to video games, and each story is accompanied by an author's note.

Alors que le pays s’effondre, la ville de Fall Creek, dans le Michigan, lutte pour sa survie. Hannah, Liam et les autres ont enduré l’hiver brutal et des adversaires impitoyables, mais la menace n’a jamais été aussi sérieuse. Des ennemis de l’intérieur ont pris le contrôle de la ville, y compris le peu de nourriture qu’il reste. Isolés, dominés et au bord de la famine, les habitants de la ville sont confrontés à un choix désespéré. Pour être libres, les habitants de Fall Creek devront peut-être sacrifier plus qu’ils ne l’auraient jamais cru possible.

The world of man was brought to its knees with the zombie apocalypse. A hundred and fifty years have passed since man clawed and climbed his way back from the brink of extinction. Civilization has rebooted, man has begun to rebuild, creating new communities and society. It is on this fragile new shaky ground that a threat worse than the scourge of the dead has sprung... Once again, one man finds himself once thrust into the forefront of a war he wants nothing to do with and seemingly cannot win.

Malin Strom has been searching for Kase, her childhood sweetheart, since he was lost at the annual masquerade years ago. With her gift for stealing memories, Malin crosses more than one dangerous line to take secrets from those who know what goes on behind the curtain of the wicked festival. But when her brother is traded into the masquerade as punishment for using magic to hide Malin’s gift, her only chance to save him is to enlist the services of a brutal crook—the Nightrender—and he bears a striking resemblance to a face from the past.

Trois mois après qu’une attaque IEM a détruit le réseau électrique américain, la famine et la maladie ont tué des millions de personnes. Alors que la fin de l’hiver est enfin proche, la ville de Fall Creek, dans le Michigan, se trouve au bord du gouffre. Ils ont souffert et se sont sacrifiés. Mais pour se construire un avenir digne d’être vécu, ils devront affronter les ténèbres qui les habitent. Chacun doit prendre une décision : conserver son humanité ou opter pour la survie à tout prix.

Stopping disasters before they happen, battling against enemies on all sides, saving the lives of millions. The burdens Micheal must bear grow ever heavier as he fights against all odds to complete his mission: stop the apocalypse and save the human race from ultimate destruction. Come and listen to his journey as he gains new powers, greets new allies, and makes startling new discoveries, changing the history of humanity before it has even taken place.

Not too long from today, a new, highly contagious virus makes its way across the globe. Most who get sick experience nothing worse than flu, fever, and headaches. But for the unlucky one percent - and nearly five million souls in the United States alone - the disease causes "Lock In": Victims fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. The disease affects young, old, rich, poor, people of every color and creed. The world changes to meet the challenge.

A bounty hunting survivor. A Galactic dark elf. A woman who has given up her humanity to become something more. These stories and more are available in the first short story anthology for the System Apocalypse, covering year one on Earth. When the world ends, humanity steps up, finding new ways to survive in a world with Classes, magic and monsters. The anthology features exciting, new stories by five new writers and a new, never publicly released short story by Tao Wong.

Where the System demands obedience, Dean chooses rebellion. The System is expanding its reach, consuming countless worlds as it does. Those who do not die are converted into adventurers—thralls who feed its lust for endless violence and conquest. During a chance encounter with one of the System’s agents, Dean Williams is Activated, becoming one of the few on Earth with access to magic. Enhanced far beyond normal adventurers, his mission is simple: Complete quests. Earn rewards. Gain power.

Books and Bug are polar opposites, despite their friendship. Rumors on the road speak of a hospital in Washing D.C. Leading a small group of survivors, including pregnant women, the two travel in earnest to provide the soon-to-be mothers a safe place to deliver. Bug–a natural, charismatic leader–refuses to leave anyone behind while Books–a pragmatic social outsider–wishes not to be responsible for the safety of others. Together, they're exactly what this group needs to survive. But DC isn't exactly the safe haven they hoped for.

Leading astrophysicist Liam Jackson is participating in a scientist exchange program in Germany when a curveball of universal proportions is thrown at him. Planes fall from the sky, cars explode, and strange particles rain down from the heavens as monsters appear out of thin air. The laws of physics have changed in the world. The fundamental forces of the universe are behaving differently, and Liam needs to understand them if he wants to survive.

Cursed and dying, Thorn has landed at a crossroad. He can either give up and die, or walk a path he never wanted to touch. Reluctantly accepting that his only chance at life rests in corrupt magic, Thorn soon finds himself exploring a world of ancient mysteries, all while trying to hide his tracks from those who want to hunt him down. Pursued by bounty hunters intent on dragging him back in chains, Thorn soon discovers the plot is deeper than he thought. Even the Tardoff clan, one of the powerful challenger families, is intent on capturing him and extracting his knowledge of ancient runes.

They face more danger than they can deal with. They have no idea if they can win the race against time before one of them becomes critical. Meanwhile, back at home, a plan is hatched to overthrow a tyrannical ruler.

When an EMP hits, Mark must lead his wife from a lawless city to find their missing daughter. With no power or communication, danger is everywhere. Their only hope: Mark’s estranged brother and his secret off-grid homestead.

Set on the coast of South Carolina, an unknown infection has caused people to die and come back to life as reanimated corpses, attacking any living person. This is the story of the survival of one man who was the benefactor of a shelter that helped him to live through the onslaught of the infected dead.

The survivors have established a home, but they still have to face the brutality of human nature. Not only do they have to survive, but they must keep their humanity.

Will Kessler works a dead-end warehouse job in Tennessee, driving a forklift and unloading shipping containers. When he wakes up from a nap during his lunch break, he finds most of his co-workers have mutated into monsters, and they have turned the 50,000 square foot building into a war zone, murdering any other survivors. Alone and weaponless, Will must fight through the undead horde to secure the building and answer one question: Is he truly alone?

Before you knew him as the king or the Immortal, he was Commander Xavier “X” Rodriguez—with ninety-six dives under his belt, the most experienced Hell Diver on the airship known as the Hive. Time after time, he dived through the electrical storms, returning with parts to keep his home in the sky. Then, on a jump into Hades, the most hostile environment in North America, he sacrificed everything for mission and team. They returned to the airship with the fuel cells needed to keep the Hive running, but X was left behind.

Mega-City One, 2080. Judge Joe Dredd's first year on the streets as a full-eagle Judge. Bred for justice, trained in law, Dredd's no helpless rookie, but he's not the seasoned veteran we know either. Three tales follow the first adventures of the future city's greatest lawman. With an introduction by the Mighty Tharg!