System Fiction

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.

All Vanessa Williams wanted for the holidays was to escape the demands of her parents’ social schedules and find a comfortable place to work on her book. Having the opportunity to do so while enjoying the comforts of a cabin on an alien world seemed like the perfect way to pass the season. Plans change, however, when her shuttle crashes in the inhospitable mountains and she finds herself waiting out the storm in an alien castle with a male whose burning gold eyes promise forbidden pleasures.

The end of the world is always a nightmare. But when it comes with the System, then it's not a nightmare for everyone. Not everybody is ready to fall into despair and come to terms with their fate as zombie food. Some people are ready to keep fighting however they can. Take Kasp as an example of one of those people. The end of the world was no nightmare for him. In fact, when the zombies and the System showed up, it brought new meaning to his life along with exciting new adventures!

The vampires that once haunted Wichita are gone, reduced to ash. But Terry’s real war is only beginning. Topeka is burning, caught in the ruthless crossfire of S-ranked tyrants locked in a game of conquest. While the city suffers, the supers wage war.

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.

The Problem of Thor Bridge by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is one of the most dramatic Sherlock Holmes mysteries, blending jealousy, deception, and tragedy into a gripping tale of deduction.

Having survived the trials of the dungeon and embraced the unbridled magic of Premar, Knox has ascended from a humble woodcutter to the revered Titan of Light. But with great power comes even greater challenges. As the guardian of new lands under the Titan System, Knox must navigate a treacherous path filled with monsters that lurk in the shadows, cunning pirates seeking to plunder his domain, and an onslaught of the undead threatening to overrun his territories.

Fueled by memories of a fallen world and revenge, Nick takes on a quest to take down the all-powerful [Admin]. Armed with nothing more than his grit, his experience, and an unyielding will, his every decision becomes a high-stakes gamble in a world changed by the coming of the system. Powerful and otherworldly foes obstruct his path, their strength formidable enough to pulverize any ordinary man. But Nick is far from ordinary. He embodies humanity's best hope to overcome the catastrophe known as System Fall and to challenge the [Admin].

Planet Earth burns in nuclear flame. But The System was kind and wise enough to transfer all its little humans into a new world. Everyone has been granted a new name, a starting bonus, and a rousing kick up the backside. Some got a sword, some a crown, and me . . . A potato?! How am I supposed to take over the world with this thing? System, are you sure you're so kind and wise after all?

Meet Tanjihiro Chae Wong, a scarred man with no past. A nomad. A simple cabbage farmer with an ominous black gauntlet living happily with his family...or is he? Unbeknownst to everyone, he keeps a secret. Not only of his identity, but what he is, and what he can do. Keeping to the shadows as he stays out of the war he never wanted to be a part of and lives a life of...peace.

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.

I was in my garage, when the space elves addressed the whole world. They didn't call themselves space elves, of course, but most humans struggled to pronounce Khjurhnalva. They had a message for us: Forces that had eradicated their species' males were heading for Earth. The space elves offered us access to the System, as cooperation was vital to the survival of both our species. I, Mathew, know all of the above is bullshit. I saw the truth with my own eyes, heard it from their beautiful, deceitful mouths. No one believes me, though. A planet-wide, survival reality show? Ridiculous.

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.

They couldn’t afford a ship or a fleet...and now they have a whole system to defend! Harmon Tomeral, along with friends Clip, Zerith, and the artificial intelligence Jayneen, were heroes. They’d brought back the battlecruiser Salvage Title from an unknown system and had defeated the alien Squilla and saved their home system of Tretrayon, not once, but twice. But now they have a system of their own, and the Bith are about to open it up to the galaxy at large.

In 2014, the ESA spacecraft Rosetta lands a small probe named Philae on 67P, a Jupiter-family comet. The lander goes radio-silent two years later. Suddenly, in 2026, scientists receive new transmissions from the comet. Motivated by findings that are initially sensational but soon turn frightening, NASA dispatches a crewed spacecraft to the comet. But as the ship approaches the mysterious celestial body, the connection to the astronauts soon breaks. Now it seems nothing can be done anymore to stop the looming dark danger that threatens Earth....

Marc and his party are seeking the sarcophagus that they were sent on a quest to find, only to discover that it is now protected by far more than just the Guardian they'd been told would await them. When they return to Any Port, Marc discovers that Bastet's obsession with Beggar has reached new heights, forcing Beggar and Marc into taking action to foil Bastet's plan to kidnap the raccoon.

Quinn may have retrieved the necessary power and books for the Library to open, but her to-do list is still three miles long. Armed with Librarian assistants, Quinn must replenish the Library's catalog, open the other six branches of the Library, and figure out what is going on with the Library and its manifestation.

Last I remember I was saving my high school crush from the path of an oncoming truck. Now I'm a skin-and-bones weakling wearing nothing but my hospital gown. Oh yeah, the world is also full of monsters, and I'm the only human left. It turns out a godlike System evacuated humanity but decided to leave the vegetable in the bed. I could crawl into a corner and wait to get eaten by a kobold, but after years of being asleep, I have a new appreciation for feeling alive. I'll have to find the tenacity to survive, the courage to fight, and the strength to face some dark truths about myself.

After an unfortunate accident, Handry is forced to wander a world he doesn't understand, searching for meaning. He soon discovers that the life he thought he knew is far stranger than he could even possibly imagine. Can an unlikely savior provide the answers to the questions he barely comprehends?

The Commander of Champions thrives in this environment. His powers can only grow stronger from here. Commander Jay Luckrun has a lot of names. One of those names is Beheader of the 72 Immortals. Everywhere he goes, many people and creatures are afraid of him for what he's achieved with his overpowered magic. Their fear is so great that Jay and his pantheon are facing the greatest fight Earth has ever witnessed—A war with the USA.