Science Fiction Monsters

Sam Ryder's life already sucks, and it's about to get worse when he's fired from his dead-end job as a programmer. He's about to head home to escape into his favorite RPG, Alien Civilization, when he's offered a thrill ride on a death machine by a gorgeous woman straight out of one of his games. Before Sam can say "WTF?", he's been whisked away to a dark world of monsters and goddesses, his body transformed from Outcast to Warrior, the second level on a ladder that may eventually carry him all the way to Demigod.

Less than two months into his ten years of active-duty service to the Hegemony of Velvet Stars as an adept, and Desmond McLaughlin has already gotten himself embroiled in even more trouble. He's settled in just fine aboard his ship, the Fist of Defiance, and made plenty of friends. But it wouldn't be life if there weren't a few bad apples mixed in. Having clashed several times—once in a very physical fashion—with Adept Windracer, Desmond can only hope that the overly aggressive Uth'ra will stop trying to force him into the mold that she believes a male should occupy.

Earl Harbinger may be the leader of Monster Hunter International, but he's also got a secret. Nearly a century ago, Earl was cursed to be a werewolf. When Earl receives word that one of his oldest foes, a legendarily vicious werewolf that worked for the KGB, has mysteriously appeared in the remote woods of Michigan, he decides to take care of some unfinished business.

When Monster Hunter International's top hunter, Owen Zastava Pitt, was given a tip about some hunters who had gone missing in action, he didn't realize their rescue mission would snowball into the single biggest operation in MHI's history. Their men are being held prisoner in a horrific nightmare dimension, and the only way to reach them is through the radioactive ruins of a monster-infested war zone. As if that wasn't bad enough, it's also the home base of the powerful creature behind the devastating attacks on the Last Dragon and Copper Lake.

Gaia has an eldritch problem, and Cain is tasked with stopping it before it gets out of control. To do that, he'll have to make an uneasy alliance with a human black-ops organization called Aegis. Run by the US government, Aegis has the personnel and resources to stop an eldritch invasion in its tracks. The problem is, Aegis has been taking a short-term approach, blowing up eldritch wormholes as they form on Gaia rather than cutting them off at the source.

When hunters from around the world gather in Las Vegas for a conference, a creature left over from a World War Two weapons experiment wakes up and goes on a rampage across the desert. A not-so-friendly wager between the rival companies turns into a race to see who can bag the mysterious creature first. Only there is far more to this particular case than meets the eye, and as Hunters fall prey to their worst nightmares, Owen Zastava Pitt and the staff of Monster Hunter International have to stop an ancient god from turning Sin City into a literal hell on earth.

Michael, now a mildly popular Twitch streamer, yearns to return to the world of Minecraft so he can continue his adventure and fulfill his prophecy. When he is finally teleported back into the game, he gets more than he bargained for. With a village wide contest brewing and Herobrine making a play at the most powerful item in the world, things get hectic as soon as Michael comes back. Join Michael as he competes in the Contest of Champions Minecart Race where he has to go against the champion, Leo.

Zach grew in power and thrived in the post-Framework world. He became a respected leader, a shining example of what it meant to be good. But as the world ended, he had only one thought: to punish the monster that had killed the world long before the Framework ended it. Yet not even with his incredible power was he able to stand against the World Ender. His arrival in the new realty, the Infinite Realm, gives him the chance to grow stronger, to find the monster again-and make it pay.

For Chris Mason, working construction at the pinnacle of New York's skyline feels like being on top of the world—until that world is shattered when an otherworldly portal transforms Manhattan into a deadly fantasy realm. Chosen as a "salvager" by a mysterious System that has plagued humanity throughout history, Chris must now scavenge the ruins of his city for materials to craft weapons, armor, and shelter while the city continues to transform around him.

Dollitrice Grandmeir never thought her village would turn into a dungeon or that she’d battle a Kaiju overlord with the help of her giant tortoise. Now she’s got an all-new weirdness on her radar. The Twelve Days of Crisismas are coming, and without a special brew of eggnog, Taffy and the Ex-Mas Posse will transform into horrific Grumpus monsters, annihilating Dolli’s dungeon from the inside out.

One October morning, Laina gets the news that her brother has been shot and killed by Boston cops. But what looks like a case of police brutality soon reveals something much stranger. Monsters are real. And they want everyone to know it. As creatures from myth and legend come out of the shadows, seeking safety through visibility, their emergence sets off a chain of seemingly unrelated events. Members of a local werewolf pack are threatened into silence.

A towering genius who'd already solved the problem of death by making memory recording possible, Cassia leads a team of scientists and problem solvers to a station floating in the harsh winds of Saturn. Their mission: to grow interstellar ships using nanobots in the planet's material-rich environment. She called them "monsters" to help sell the project to a skeptical public. Little did she know how prophetic that name would become.

Monster Hunter International may have had its roots in the United States of America, but there are plenty of monsters in the big old world. And wherever there are monsters, humans will need monster hunters. Here then, stories of the things that go bump in the night and the men and women who bump back—focusing on the myths, legends, and folklore of Czechia, by Czech authors. Includes a new short story by Larry Correia.

Dianna is hellbent on revenge. As the last shred of her humanity is ripped from her, she decides to embrace her monstrous side and set the worlds alight. Samkiel alone refuses to believe that she has become the monster that everyone else sees, and he'll do anything in his power to save her from herself, even if it means losing her. With every realm now at risk from Kaden's army, and a myriad of new threats on the horizon, Samkiel can't afford to let his guard down. And as Dianna's thirst for blood only increases, he is running out of time to save them both.

A killer stalks the grimy streets of Whitechapel — but Scotland Yard seems determined to turn a blind eye. With one look at her best friend's corpse, Liz Sharp already knows the truth: the killer is a werewolf. No one important will hold a werewolf accountable — after all, the monsters rule Europe. Certainly, no one will believe a werewolf victim like Liz: the very scars that make her determined to investigate Sal’s death also condemn her as the sort of female who’d sell her blood for easy money.

Agent Franks of the U.S. Monster Control Bureau is a man of many parts - parts from other people, that is. Franks is nearly seven feet tall and all muscle. He's nearly indestructible. Plus he’s animated by a powerful alchemical substance and inhabited by a super-intelligent spirit more ancient than humanity itself. Good thing he’s on our side. More or less.

Hannah Miles navigates the etiquette of monster hunting through the parlours of a magical Regency England. This collection contains: Manners and Monsters, Galvanism and Ghouls, and Gossip and Gorgons.

War makes for strange alliances - and so it is for the free city of the Colonnade, which must turn to the Mother of Nightmares and her dynasty of monsters to defend themselves against the hordes of Chaos. The Colonnade, a free city, is the jewel of Ghur, obsessed with purity in a realm of bestial savagery. But now, it faces annihilation at the hands of an unstoppable beastherd. In a desperate gamble, Councillor Atella Reigehren requests the aid of a being anathema to the Colonnade. She seeks Lauka Vai, the Mother of Nightmares, and her dynasty of monsters, the Avengorii.

The path to godhood has been revealed. After befriending a new Primordial Spirit and learning of the secrets of power, Amber returns to the outside world. However, things aren’t peaceful, the encampment of knights is awaiting her, Oracle is making his move to destroy the capital, and another Primordial Spirit beckons her in the Great Desert. The world is in chaos, from a deadly plague to warring nations, and Amber will go through it all in pursuit of her goal.

Promoted early, Desmond McLaughlin and his mates are now full members of the Hegemony military, with all the rights and duties that rank includes. Given the benefits of achieving the rank of full adept early, Desmond and company elected to be deployed aboard the battlecruiser Fist of Defiance, a ship that just happened to be part of the Seventh Border Fleet. The same fleet headed by a certain admiral whose daughter was saved by Desmond and his girls.