System Fiction

The school cultural festival trope has finally come. The group is out to have fun, eat, and compete in the activities. It’s a shame that it cannot be easy for Clyde. From winning the festival just to protect Noona from perverts, to facing off with someone’s evil mother. Oh...did we forget to mention the crusader champion’s arrival, the Wind’s arrival, also Dark. Ladies and gentlemen: We’ve got a clusterfuck day.

In its oppressive atmosphere of fog, mist, and mud, nothing conjures up the dreary days of November and its "implacable" weather like the celebrated opening of Bleak House. The plot concerns a long-running legal dispute (Jarndyce and Jarndyce) that has far-reaching consequences for all involved. Dickens' assault on the flaws of the British judiciary system is based in part on his own experiences as a law clerk.

Vor fast sieben Jahrzehnten ist der Astronaut Perry Rhodan als erster Mensch auf Außerirdische getroffen. Seither hat die Menschheit ihren Einflussbereich ausgedehnt und ferne Sonnen­systeme besiedelt. Allerdings kommt es im Jahr 2102 zu einem Konflikt mit den Kolonien. Der Notfallplan Laurin wird eingeleitet - und geht schrecklich schief. Die Erde und der Mond stranden im ­Kugelsternhaufen M 3, rund 34.000 Lichtjahre von der Heimat entfernt.

Twenty-one-year-old narcoleptic Angel Duet knows her father harbors secrets. He loves and protects her, but his suspicious refusal to discuss her mother's death drives Angel to worship an image created from the little history she does have: her father's sketchy stories and her mother's treasured photography, studies of clouds that have hung in the their foyer for more than twenty years. When her father's girlfriend moves in, the photographs come down, and Angel's search for truth becomes an obsession.

In the rugged shadows of New Mexico's Sangre de Cristo mountains, Berkeley consciousness researcher Jacob Chen chases a cryptic email to reclusive genius Aurelius Moth—and uncovers a mind-shattering secret: awareness isn't limited to human brains. It's alive in the neural networks of ancient rock formations, storm systems, and even the stars themselves.

In a planet parallel to Earth, a goddess named Amorithia grapples with the task of her lifetime - rescuing human love from sheer oblivion. Her achievement depends on the success of one woman on Earth - Cloe, a spirited young scientist who embarks on her own quest for love in the labyrinth of romance... and tries to use artificial intelligence as a tool for her journey. Can Amorithia and Cloe find what they're looking for before trust in love runs out?

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.

Die Terranisch-Imperiale Liga führt seit Jahren Krieg gegen die Drizil. Als die Drizil schließlich eine erfolgreiche Invasion des Sol-Systems durchführen und ihnen nach erbittertem Kampf sogar die Erde in die Hände fällt, scheint alle Hoffnung verloren. Vielerorts bricht der organisierte Widerstand zusammen. Lediglich einige wenige, isoliert liegende, menschliche Kolonien entgehen dem Zugriff des Feindes. Eine dieser letzten freien Enklaven der Menschheit ist der abgelegene Planet Perseus die Heimatbasis der 18. Legion.

How much of yourself are you willing to sell? At twenty-five, Simon Worth is a med school dropout, facing the grim reality of failure and massive student loans. Left with few options, he becomes an organ broker for a black-market organization, matching cash-strapped donors with recipients whose...

Detroit, 2087. Nothing unexpected ever happens. Every coin lands exactly as physics predicts. Three million people living without the possibility of surprise. Zephyr Calculus used to be the best Momentum Raider alive—a thief who could steal fortune from lightning strikes. Now she’s down to her last 47 kilolucks, barely enough to find her keys in the dark. When she learns Kairos Infinitum has drained seventeen cities to build his “Singularity”—a world without random tragedy, but also without joy—Zephyr assembles one last crew.

Dive into the classic short story Mr. Spaceship by legendary science fiction author Philip K. Dick. Set in a future where war is waged with autonomous machines, this gripping tale explores the consequences of replacing mechanical systems with human minds—literally. When scientists upload a human brain into a spaceship to outsmart alien mines, the line between man and machine begins to blur.

Jacob, Ron, and the two editors-in-chief are on their way to a meeting that will be held at the Washington Sentinel's building. The four will sort through the information from the Valley of the Dead field doctor. The four newspaper professionals will lay out their strategy for breaking the story to the world. Every consequence must be discussed. The legal portion must be considered if Names are to be Named. Back at the university, the four research students have gained permission to study off-campus at Deborah's place, but is it safe?

Amy Hawkins, a young dot-com executive from California who has made her fortune at the top of NASDAQ, sets off for Europe to find culture, her roots, and maybe a cause to devote her considerable fortune to. Amy starts her quest at one of the finest small hotels in the French Alps--a hotel noted...

One Voice Recordings presents amazingly versatile voice actor David Ian Davies performing 10 of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous short stories: "The Cask of Amontillado", "The Sphinx", "The Descent into the Maelstrom", "Hop-Frog", "The Man of the Crowd", "Some Words With a Mummy", "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether", "Shadow: A Parable", and "Silence: A Fable".

Mia Strong never expected to be deciding the rest of her life at age 22. Is she willing to become a human lab rat? Does she need to write a will? Does she ever want a family - and if so, with whom? She can't dodge the tough questions - not if she plans to live to see 23. With her life hanging in the balance, Mia wants nothing more than to rely on Adam Drake, but he's hurt her before.

Millionaire CEO Adam Drake overcame a tortured past to take control of his life and build his own gaming empire. The final piece falls into place with his newfound love for brilliant geek girl blogger Mia Strong. Now Adam is at the top of his game.

Immortality comes at a steep price. Faced with a heartrending loss, Lox walks down a dark path. He knew there would be a cost for immortality, but he didn’t know he would have to face it so soon.

The return to the city of goblins draws ever closer but Ivan Susanin's survival hangs in the balance. It is more than just the monsters. The capture of the Dungeon, creation of the Minor Altar and growth of the Cult of Heresy has attracted the attention of the Earth gods. The number of contenders for the grand prize is growing, hostile gods are joining the race, and the existence of an independent candidate is unacceptable. Nevertheless, the gods cannot sentence one of the Alliance leaders and the strongest player on Earth to death.

The Aliens by Murray Leinster is a gripping, high-stakes first-contact science fiction adventure from the golden age of the genre. Set during humanity’s expansion across the stars, the story follows the crew of the starship Niccola as they confront the mysterious and technologically advanced Plumies—an alien species whose intentions are entirely unknown. When an unexpected encounter leads to a violent misunderstanding and the two ships become physically fused together in deep space, humans and Plumies are forced into an uneasy alliance for survival.

Broad-shouldered US military operative Michael Bekker was looking forward to his first field assignment with the CIA. But while hunting a source of terrorist funding in Baghdad, the new mission goes suddenly, horribly wrong. Blamed for an explosion that he barely escapes, Bekker’s life is shattered: he’s drummed out of the military, loses his dream girl, and is framed for a murder he didn’t commit.