Apocalyptic Science Fiction

After a grueling trip, Ben, Joel, Allie, her mother, Sandy, and Gunner have reached their destination on the Eastern shore of Maryland. Ben is reunited with his two younger children who have been surviving with the help of their ailing grandfather, Jack, and his dog, Sam. But reaching Jack’s farm doesn’t guarantee their safety, however, and the struggle to survive continues.

The system came. The apocalypse ended. Now new worlds have merged with Earth. For Bain Lee, it means leveling his Ocularist class beyond its previous limits. With this strange class and the ability to see into the inner workings of the system, he may find the magic skills needed to earn his redemption. Not only that, but he might discover the secret behind the system itself.

Caleb Webb is the dictionary definition of disadvantaged, and surviving on his own is nothing new. When the apocalypse hits, his rugged skill set for staying alive on the mean streets of Los Angeles comes in handy. Unfortunately, he's on a collision course with the worst criminal cartel in the city, unless someone intervenes.

With a second chance ahead of them and the moonshiner’s compound in the rearview mirror, Ben and his crew can resume their cross-country trek to Colorado. Or can they? Three newly rescued acquaintances and another canine companion complicate their life on the road. And the addition of two more vehicles to their west bound convoy only adds to Ben’s responsibilities. Making matters worse, the open road quickly proves more hostile than they remember.

It's the mid-21st century. The oceans are rising, the world's population is growing, terrorist organizations are running rampant, and it has become readily apparent that humanity's destructive nature is at the heart of the matter. When all faith in humanity seems lost, a startling proposal is announced: Solomon Chavez, the mysterious son of the world's first trillionaire, announces that he, backed by a consortium of governments and wealthy donors, will build an interstellar starship.

When an accident kicks Sean Lawrence forward in time, he finds himself square in the apocalyptic end-times. The world is doomed, and he only has a mysterious guidebook, a leather jacket, and a homemade knife to keep him company. He could spend his days grinding low-level mobs, gathering rat pelts, and waiting for a chance to escape. Or he could rise up, slay dragons, and fight against the odds. Faced with a choice between the dead-end life he's been living and the possibility of greatness, Sean has to decide if he's willing to risk his life and more for a chance to save Earth itself.

Things go from bad to worse for Ben and his crew as they struggle to push on toward Colorado. Unfortunately, due to Emma’s deteriorating health, they’re forced to alter their plans. But a delay might not be their biggest problem. Battling the elements and their own physical limits proves to be almost as treacherous as the roving gangs of highway bandits that lurk in the shadows, looking to prey upon the weak or unprepared. It’s more important than ever to remain vigilant.

Shining Smith returns, taking on the “Dark Riders,” a paramilitary group motorcycle gang searching for Gov. political power, military connections, and alien tech. The Dark Riders are closing in on Shining’s secrets and, while she would rather nest in her new roadhouse, Shining must protect her own, once again taking the battle to the enemy.

At long last, humanity has moved beyond Earth and begun seeding new worlds. Colonies extend across the solar system, from Luna to Mars to Saturn's satellite Titan. Even Jupiter's moon Europa has become home to a couple thousand brave souls willing to risk their lives adapting to its frozen and deadly landscape.

In 2007, the Center for Automation in Nanobiotech (CAN) outlined the hardware and software platforms that would one day allow robots smaller than human cells to make medical diagnoses, conduct repairs, and even self-propagate. In the same year, the CBS network re-aired a program about the effects of propranolol on sufferers of extreme trauma. A simple pill, it had been discovered, could wipe out the memory of any traumatic event. At almost the same moment in humanity’s broad history, mankind discovered the means for bringing about its utter downfall. And the ability to forget it ever happened.

Mason Lot is in-house counsel for Poseidon, a major Wall Street firm that serves as a front company for the National Security State. His job pays well and gives him insight into the corrupt shadow government, but it can't help with his problems at home. Mason assumed that the hefty price tag for his daughter’s private school would buy him a pass from the insanity plaguing New York’s public school system. Nevertheless, indoctrinated by propaganda, Wynter wants to transition into being a boy. When Mason refuses to pay for the procedure, Wynter turns to the state for help.

Fueled by memories of a fallen world and revenge, Nick takes on a quest to take down the all-powerful [Admin]. Armed with nothing more than his grit, his experience, and an unyielding will, his every decision becomes a high-stakes gamble in a world changed by the coming of the system. Powerful and otherworldly foes obstruct his path, their strength formidable enough to pulverize any ordinary man. But Nick is far from ordinary. He embodies humanity's best hope to overcome the catastrophe known as System Fall and to challenge the [Admin].

It was just a random mutation - one of a billion that happen in viruses every day. But this one was different. It exploded out of Somalia and spread across the oceans before anybody thought to look up from their cell phones to see what was going on. The infected breathed the virus into the air around them, spreading it through the cities faster than anyone thought possible. Hospitals were overwhelmed. Police lines crumbled. Quarantine sites disintegrated. Cities started to collapse.

Ominous obelisks land on Earth with a single message: Join the games to give humanity a fighting chance to survive... Or roll over and die. Too bad for them, Warren isn't the rolling-over type. Cancer may be kicking Warren's a$$, but he's not about to let aliens destroy his home and everything he loves (which is mostly just his dog, Buck). Besides, what does he have to lose? Better to die with sword in hand, bleeding out from a head wound than in some hospital bed...

With The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 3, award-winning editor Neil Clarke provides a year-in-review and 27 of the best stories published by both new and established authors in 2017.

Navigating through one storm builds courage for the next. Spencer and his faithful Labrador Retriever, Finn, continue their quest to reach his girlfriend, Kate, in Stuart, Florida, before she becomes another casualty of the chaos caused by the EMPs that have crippled the eastern seaboard and possibly the country. Leaving Marathon, Florida, in lawless turmoil behind them, Spencer, and his newly minted crew, consisting of Rob, Natalie, and their daughter Maya, soon realize the open ocean is no safe haven.

JD Duncan loved his family and preferred a quiet life. But when coordinated terrorist attacks cripple the nation’s infrastructure, he is twenty miles from home as the country begins to unravel. Power fails. Communication goes dark. Law enforcement vanishes. By the time JD reaches his family, civilization is already falling apart.

How do you stage a mutiny when you're only awake one day in a million? How do you conspire when your tiny handful of potential allies changes with each job shift? How do you engage an enemy that never sleeps, that sees through your eyes and hears through your ears, and relentlessly, honestly, only wants what's best for you? Trapped aboard the starship Eriophora, Sunday Ahzmundin is about to discover the components of any successful revolution: conspiracy, code - and unavoidable casualties.

A small mountain town is isolated by a snowstorm as an ancient evil, gone pandemic, turns the residents into the living dead. Almost overnight the town becomes a snowy tomb of the roaming, hungry infected. Stranded by the weather, hiding, a small group of survivors follows the progress of the disease as society around them and around the world begins to break down. Determined to escape, they find that the normal rules of civilization don't apply anymore. Will they be able to adapt to this strange, hungry new world?

For Lance, the incursion of monsters and a magical shop isn't as much of an apocalypse as an inconvenience. Coming back from archery practice, Lance and his club are in the right place and right time to deal some mayhem for the spawning monsters. But just killing them as they come out of the portals isn't enough. They're going to have to go in and finish the job.