System Fiction

Jonah of the Jove-Run by Ray Bradbury is a poignant, thought-provoking science fiction novella that explores the fragile boundary between human intuition and machine precision in the age of space exploration. Set in a future where humanity has colonized Mars and pushes onward toward Jupiter, the story centers on Nibley—an aging, underestimated navigator whose instinctive grasp of cosmic movement defies the cold logic of computers.

Defense Mech by Ray Bradbury is a haunting and psychologically rich science fiction short story that explores the fragile boundary between reality and illusion. Set during a tense voyage from Earth to Mars, the narrative follows Halloway, a deeply anxious man whose terror of space threatens both his sanity and the mission itself. In a desperate bid to protect him, the ship’s psychiatrist deploys an experimental psychological “defense mechanism,” constructing an artificial reality in which Halloway believes he never left Earth.

Set amid an endless interstellar conflict, the narrative follows Sam Burnett, a weary coroner aboard the morgue ship Constellation, whose grim task is to retrieve and preserve the bodies of fallen soldiers drifting through space. As moral duty collides with personal conscience, Burnett is forced to reckon with the futility of violence, the machinery of war, and the humanity lost in its wake.

The Played trilogy includes the complete scorching romance between tech millionaire Adam Drake and proud geek-girl Mia Strong, from their first meeting under scandalous circumstances to love of a lifetime. This box set contains the first three books in the Gaming The System series.

Gilbert Gosseyn n'est plus une victime. Grâce à sa maîtrise du A, il a appris à se servir de son cerveau second et est bien décidé à démasquer les acteurs obscurs d'un complot dont les ramifications ne cessent de s'étendre. Une partie d'échecs cosmique dont l'enjeu n'est autre que la survie du système solaire... Se révèlent ainsi deux des participants de ce jeu mortel qui se trame aux quatre coins de la galaxie : Enro le rouge, dictateur arriviste du plus grand empire, et le disciple, ombre fantomatique sans scrupules.

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. The Empire is up to something. Warren and his cohort of unlikely heroes have just discovered that the game has been stacked against them. Someone really wants to harvest Earth's resources... And Warren just might know what that resource is... Turns out that Earth has an abundance of a particular mineral that just might make it the richest planet... well, anywhere. If they survive the games, that is.

Ten years ago, the world changed. The System brought dungeons and monsters to earth. Billions were lost. While most try to rebuild, Claire chooses to take revenge on the people who took advantage of orphans in the chaos—100 names, 100 targets. In this often brutal story about a world in chaos, Claire will kill every target on her list. No matter what it takes.

Will's latest adventure with his transformer robot Planetron starts with a tricky math problem that leads them to some of the wonders in the Milky Way Galaxy: triple-star systems, exploding suns, huge nebulas, and strange pulsars.

Black Hound of Death plunges into the heart of Southern-gothic horror with one of Robert E. Howard’s most chilling tales. Set in the shadow-soaked pinelands of the American South, this story follows Kirby Garfield, a man racing against time to warn Richard Brent of a threat worse than any escaped convict: a monstrous being born of betrayal and ancient terror.

Every story has a beginning and an end. What lies between these two points is the journey. Crossing the Rubicon is the story of seven remarkable teens as they survive the unbelievable. What started out as a simple weekend trip exploring the Chungo caves, became a journey which took them back 275 years in time, had them cross multiple continents, and stretched them to their limits.

In the fog-shrouded streets of Edwardian London, legendary detective Sherlock Holmes is drawn into a deceptively simple case: an elderly widow receives a mysterious offer to buy her home—the very house called Three Gables—along with every item of its furniture, so long as nothing may ever leave it. What follows is a twist-laden investigation involving a murdered diplomat’s secret manuscript, hired thugs, a glamorous widow with something to hide, and Watson silently watching the game unfold at Baker Street.

A revolution is afoot in Sparta! And not just any revolution: an industrial revolution. Water wheels and mechanical hammers have come to replace primitive labor. That means more ploughs in the fields and more arms for the soldiers. After all, the enemy grows by the day, too.

THE TOP TEN SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Could the courts really order the death of your innocent baby? Was there an illegal immigrant who couldn't be deported because he had a pet cat? Are unelected judges truly enemies of the people? Most of us think the law is only relevant to criminals, if we...

They found ruins. Now they must build a future — or die trying. When Edwin and his weary band of survivors stumble upon the abandoned village of Greenreach, they uncover more than just ash and rubble. Signs of a brutal goblin raid mark the land — but so does the opportunity to start again. Armed with a mysterious Stronghold Stone and guided by a game-like System interface only he can see, Edwin has one shot to turn these ruins into a stronghold. But the village still hides secrets... and possibly traps left by those who came before. Goblins. Tragedy. A defiled shrine.

"For a woman who thinks of herself as a New Yorker at this point, I buy a lot of clothes from companies named things like Shrimp & Grits. Why? Because identity is complicated." Elizabeth Passarella is content with being complicated. She grew up in Memphis in a conservative Republican family with...

The battle for Sar rages on. The Alliance offensive has failed, ammunition is running out, and only nuclear weapons have saved the players from utter obliteration. Ivan Susanin, also known as Vasily, found himself in a Lich trap and escaped by a miracle. Yet the mission continues as long as the return card has not been used. He can still return and find a way to reverse this seemingly hopeless situation. Retreat is not an option—the fate of two worlds rests in his hands. Victory or death!

Colony 76 is silent. Distracted by civil war, its mother planet Kasian has been unable to reconnect. Until now. Catina, an Acolyte stuck within her Tests, spearheads a mission of mercy. Though each crew member has their own motives for being there, they must all band together to make it home.

Journey into the mind-bending world of Philip K. Dick's "The Skull," a short story that masterfully blends time travel with moral ambiguity. When a prisoner is offered freedom for a mysterious assignment in the past, he stumbles upon revelations that challenge everything he believes about destiny and choice. This captivating tale showcases Dick's signature style—weaving philosophical questions with psychological tension and reality-warping concepts that leave listeners questioning everything.

My new life in the states and dream job as a game tester just hit a massive snag. If I don't want immediate deportation on my to-do list, I need help, stat. Quickest solution - marry Lucas Walker, my cranky and oh-so-annoying coworker. Still, this can work. We’ll have rules and have to stick to them. I won’t think about his muscled arms or how stupid handsome he is even while he pushes all my hot buttons. It’s a marriage on paper only. I need to remember that.

Glitches are appearing across the Minecraft server. Blocks are flickering unexpectedly and randomly disappearing. To make matters worse, villagers are claiming that their entire villages have mysteriously vanished, and they desperately need Gameknight999's help. What's causing the server to overload and glitch, and where have all the NPCs gone? The User-that-is-not-a-user suspects the two questions are related, and that somehow Herobrine's henchmen are responsible.