System Fiction

The Anime Trope System is back in a third action-packed, humor-packed adventure in Satovia. Clyde's next threat comes in the form of a classmate. While her descent occurs, the young man must deal with hornets (the monster girl kind); prepare to meet up with vampires; and even depose Alice's father, the demon lord, once and for all. One hell of a week, right?

The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge by Arthur Conan Doyle is one of Sherlock Holmes’s most atmospheric and chilling mysteries. When a wealthy Englishman receives a cryptic note inviting him to a secluded country estate, he soon finds himself entangled in a bizarre web of murder, deception, and superstition.

Lochlan Brady and his daughters have faced some of those dangers and worked to build a place where they and other survivors can start to rebuild civilization. The new world is one where power rules and Loch has found himself to be the most powerful around. It's thrust him into a position of responsibility for not just his daughters but all the other survivors. It's not one he wants but feels he has to take. They have shelter but now Loch and the other survivors must find sources of food and other resources needed to not just survive but to thrive in the Connected System.

SHOCKS Victoria lies in ruins. Claire defeated her best friend and biggest enemy. Now, she turns her eyes southward, toward the Olympic Peninsula, where the battle's survivors have fled. SHOCKS's director has an idea to weaponize Claire's power, and her best friend and father are traveling with them. Claire wants them back, and she wants that idea under wraps.

Born over a century after "The Rise", Jeff scavenges with his tyrannical mother for survival. Banned from cultivating freely, Jeff wants none of this life; his one objective is to join the immortal rankers as they attempt to climb the Northern Tower. On the day of his escape, a powerful guild attacks Leah’s group, and Jeff is thrown through a unique dungeon portal—a portal that hasn’t been used in nearly a hundred years. In the pursuit of Jeff’s ultimate goal, he must choose whether to follow the Church, join a guild, or try it all on his own.

Kieran Hart has just gone through a divorce and is starting over with a new job at a DNA discovery site. After finding out she’s adopted years earlier, she sends in her sample, hoping to find her birth parents. Instead, she finds herself in a police station being accused of a crime she didn’t commit because her DNA was a match to a homicide.

Claire has survived the devastating beginning of Merge Prime, imprisonment by the anomaly-hunting organization SHOCKS, and a trip to a dying world. Now reunited with her friends and family, and with her sister bonded to a powerful anomaly of her own, Claire must turn to unexpected allies if she wants to save their lives. The new leader of SHOCKS reaches out to her with a deal—and a way to fight back against the apocalypse. He believes that by combining several anomalies with Claire's unique, System-given powers, she can target worlds that are merged with Earth and break them free.

Elderly military veteran Volper had no idea what to expect when he entered the virtual world of Alpha Rome. But he now realizes that it’s not a game, after all. The number of times you can respawn by replicating in special capsules is limited and might one day run out. Volper has also had to take on a group of teenagers and has managed to turn them into a lethal combat squad. However, their success has not gone unnoticed, and the team has caught the attention of some powerful corporations.

To gain his Master Class, John Lee made a deal with the Erethran Empire. Now, the empire has come to collect on the debt, forcing him to appear in their capital after his last fight. Thrown into Galactic politics of a militarized, system-based society, John will have to weigh consequences of the decisions he's been asked to make and confront the warped reality of a system-created empire. When politics, self-interest, and a human's stubbornness collide, the very stars are threatened.

John Lee has left Earth behind him as he travels to the capital of the Galactic Council. Seeking rest and an answer to what the enigmatic System is, John plans to spend his time reading and researching on Irvina. But fate has other plans for the human Paladin. Faced with a new quest and a Galactic Society that is as unfair to its citizens as it was to Earth, John must decide if his desire for a quieter life outweighs his conscience.

Where life as we know it is impossible, the real adventure begins. Venus is a hostile planet, covered by active volcanoes, but NASA launches an expedition to search for life there anyway. Their specially developed airship cruises in the clouds of Venus to serve as a research platform for its four astronauts. When they discover dangerous activities on the glowing-hot surface, there can only be one explanation: A highly sophisticated life form must be at work.

When space travelers Click Hathaway and Irish Marnagan are stranded on a barren asteroid after a catastrophic crash, they find themselves surrounded by horrifying alien creatures seemingly conjured by a ruthless pirate named Gunther. As oxygen dwindles and terror mounts, the men begin to realize a chilling truth: the monsters may not be physical beings at all, but manifestations of their own fears made real through belief and suggestion.

Eloquent. Philosophical. Introspective. These are not the words usually associated with an autistic child. But in a remarkable display of courage and creativity, a boy named Tito has shattered stereotypes, and in The Mind Tree makes us question all of our previous assumptions about autism. For Tito is severely autistic and nearly nonverbal, and this is his story.

With more than 10 stories from exciting new voices and a few veterans of the universe, the second anthology highlights the lives and struggles of humanity's best and worst years after system advent.

In a desperate attempt to return to Kalli’s side, Melvin finds himself on a mysterious new planet. There he meets his father, the all-powerful wizard behind the M bloodline. Grounded by powerful magic that prevents him from leaving the planet, Melvin must piece together clues about his family’s past before it’s too late.

Leveling systems create overpowered main characters. Cooking systems create master chefs capable of conquering any stomach. Founder systems create monstrous sects from nothing. However, who creates the systems?

How much will you sacrifice to survive in a world turned game? When friends and family fall to monsters and aliens everyday, will you choose safety over freedom? These are the questions the survivors in the Yukon must ask themselves. New alien masters arrive, offering safety from ever stronger monsters in return for their freedom and future potential. Thrust into a position of power and influence by dint of his Levels, John must choose—not just for himself but Whitehorse itself. The price, however, might be more than he is willing to pay.

Slengral is summoned back to the Aglatha shinara by none other than queen matriarch, Zathexa—who happens to be his mother? With his sister and heir to the shinara dead, Slengrala is commanded to return home not only to fulfill his duty to mate and breed a new queen but to answer to the charges made against him.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “A world of invention and skulduggery, populated by the likes of Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla.”—Erik Larson “A model of superior historical fiction . . . an exciting, sometimes astonishing story.”—The Washington Post From Graham Moore, the...

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce is a gripping short story that masterfully blends psychological suspense with the brutal realities of war. Set during the American Civil War, the narrative follows Peyton Farquhar, a Southern planter condemned to hang from a railroad bridge for attempting to sabotage Union forces. As the noose tightens, Farquhar experiences a vivid and surreal escape that blurs the line between illusion and reality.