Human Space

Who are we, and how did we get here? These are two of the most fundamental and far-reaching questions facing scientists and cosmologists alike and have rested at the center of human intellectual endeavor since its beginning. They are questions that stretch across numerous disciplines. Philosophy, theology, evolutionary biology, and mathematics are just some of the fields looking to explain the emergence of human life.

Drawing on a variety of sources from film, literature, and popular culture, and analyzing different historical moments, including the establishment of the Wilderness Act in 1964 and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Finney reveals the perceived and real ways in which nature and the environment are racialized in America. Looking toward the future, she also highlights the work of African Americans who are opening doors to greater participation in environmental and conservation concerns.

Random Facts You Should Know: WTF Edition is jam-packed with fun and strange facts that you will be itching to unpack in any conversation to impress those around you. Whether you enjoy listening through these by yourself, with a partner, or with a group, you are bound to lose track of time while having a laugh and learning something new.

Alias Space and Other Stories is the first fiction collection from Nebula Award-winning writer Kelly Robson, who vaulted onto the science fiction, fantasy, and horror stage in 2015, earning spots in multiple year's best anthologies. This volume collects Robson's best stories to date, along with exciting new work, and notes to accompany each piece. Robson's stories are noted for their compassion, humanity, humor, rigor, and joy.

They once thought dark energy was the ultimate power in the universe. They were mistaken. And now a desperate race is underway to be the first to discover how The Formation helped create life in the universe. But with the power to create life also comes the power to destroy it. This was power even the wise and ancient Aris knew was too great for them to possess. Now imagine what it could do in the hands of a mere mortal...such as Adam Cain.

An ancient Roman temple terraforming Mars. An android longing for his human wife. Will their epic clash bring Earth to its knees? Android Y1 is heartbroken. He was once a neuroscientist who uploaded his own brain to study it. Now he hates watching his human self take his wife and son for granted while he’s cut off from his loved ones. And just when he’s ready to end it all, his secret lab—home to the only artificial brains in existence—is sold to the high priestess of a Roman temple focused on using them as forced labor in a Martian settlement.

The ancient Aris helped created nearly all advanced life in the galaxy. But they weren't alone. Now the long lost Children of the Aris have resurfaced, freed from their Quantum prison. And now, they're on a mission to reconstitute their race, supplanting all other life in the Milky Way. And to that end they need the mysterious Formation device. To get it, they've kidnapped the super mutants, Panur and Lila. Little do they know, Panur is no longer immortal and he will surely die if Adam Cain and his friends can't find him and Adam's daughter, Lila, in time.

Mysteries and mayhem are abundant in the Dead Zone, keeping Marshal Adam Cain and his deputy, Riyad Tarazi, hopping from one crisis to another. Everyone has secrets, but not everyone is prepared to keep them hidden. With a hundred Dead Worlds laid bare, some of those secrets are becoming known, and the resulting scandals are throwing the Dead Zone into turmoil. And then when the theft-proof Expansion Credit System bank in Balamar is robbed, old friends and enemies appear, leading Adam and Riyad on a whirlwind adventure.

In an effort to improve relations with the Earth, the Colonial Union has invited a contingent of diplomats from that planet to observe Ambassador Abumwe negotiate a trade deal with an alien species. Then something very bad happens to one of the Earthings, and with that, the relationship between humanity’s two factions is on the cusp of disruption once more. It’s a race to find out what really happened, and who is to blame. "The Observers" is a tale from John Scalzi's The Human Division, a series of self-contained but interrelated short stories set in the Old Man's War universe.

Albert Birnbaum was once one of the biggest political talk show hosts around, but these days he’s watching his career enter a death spiral. A stranger offers a solution to his woes, promising to put him back on top. It’s everything Birnbaum wants, but is there a catch? And does Birnbaum actually care if there is? "A Voice in the Wilderness" is a tale from John Scalzi's The Human Division, a series of self-contained but interrelated short stories set in the Old Man's War universe.

Superhuman terror incidents are on the rise, riots are breaking out everywhere like a plague spreading across the face of the world, and the unknown enemy still stalks the world. However, Pierson and Hale are determined to bring down the monster that caused this turmoil, no matter what it takes. With violence exploding on all sides, when given a clear shot at the source of the chaos, they determine to take their chance. Hale will throw every bit of power he has at the very source that granted him his strength, backed by a world thrown into chaos looking for someone, anyone, to blame.

The ancient Aris service module Kanan is on a mad quest for galactic domination and only Adam Cain and his friends (both new and old) can stop him. However, with the return of the immortal mutant geniuses Panur and Lila, Kanan may have met his match. The tension, the excitement, the stakes...all rise in Dark Energy, as this latest threat to the galaxy comes to a head.

This is the movie Con-Air in Space...as only Adam Cain can live it. He's simply hitching a ride aboard a Unidor Prisoner Transport when everything goes to Hell. Now it's Adam Cain against...everyone. Too bad for...everyone.

When Adam Cain's old bounty-hunting friends, Summer, Monty, and Tidus, show up searching for the most-wanted fugitive in the galaxy, their efforts are thwarted by another old friend, Copernicus Smith. The deep-cover spy has his own reason for finding the fugitive, and it's not to earn the million-credit bounty offered for his capture. The elusive alien absconded with billions of credits from his homeworld just before the Mad Aris Kracion irradiated the planet. And now it seems as though the entire galaxy is looking for him.

It was supposed to be a peace conference, designed to bring the galaxy back down from the brink of war. But why they picked Capt. Cain's Bar & Grill as the location of the high-level talks is anyone's guess. And now a deadly conspiracy reveals itself, leaving Adam, along with the other Humans on Liave-3, running for their lives, accused of a political assassination they didn't commit. Now a desperate race is underway to find the alien assassin so they can clear their names and bring the real leaders of the conspiracy to justice. Can they do it? Really? You have to ask.

With the clock ticking to total destruction of the universe, Adam Cain and Company race to find the imprisoned Last Aris, an insane creature they've run into before: Kracion! He's the key to saving . . . everything. But will he help? Will he care if the universe dies? And in the meantime, the evil Te'moc is still on the warpath, seeking to assimilate both Summer Rains and the super-mutant Panur—who's a little preoccupied at the time. And to top it all off, the Sol-Kor have reached the point of no return in their search for their missing Queen-J'nae.

CDF Lieutenant Harry Wilson has one simple task: Watch an ambassador’s dog while the diplomat is conducting sensitive negotiations with an alien race. But you know dogs - always getting into something. And when this dog gets into something that could launch an alien civil war, Wilson has to find a way to solve the conflict, fast, or be the one in the Colonial Union’s doghouse. "The Dog King" is a tale from John Scalzi's The Human Division, a series of self-contained but interrelated short stories set in the Old Man's War universe.

The Klin. It's a name that has invoked fear throughout the galaxy for over four thousand years. Now the evil aliens are back and more powerful and deadlier than ever. And this time it's the Klin against the entire galaxy, not just the species who have pissed them off. Leading an army of billions of killer robots and a fleet of invincible starships, the Klin are determined to be the last species standing in a war that reaches from one end of the Milky Way to the other.

With the question lingering what happened to the evil Mad Aris Kracion, Adam and his team are preparing to follow the clues to an answer. But first, Adam takes a quick detour to help a stranded Summer, Monty, and Tidus get off the planet Sasin, the most dangerous place in the galaxy. It's a no big deal mission which quickly devolves into the beginning of the greatest challenge for Adam and his team. Both Adam and Summer are going through strange and not so subtle changes; Adam from the mind meld he did with the super mutant Panur, and Summer from her contact with the Essence of J'nae.

The story of the Klin comes full circle. After failing to conquer the Expansion—again—the aliens set their sights once again on Earth and the human race. This time, they're bringing their deadly subcutaneous microchips to get the race to do their bidding. But when things go horribly wrong, the Klin have to look at alternatives. When Adam Cain and Copernicus Smith inadvertently discover the Klin's sinister plot on Earth, they're shocked to find that the truth is hard to believe. And now our reluctant heroes must find the Klin surrogates and prevent the takeover.