Showing results by author "Steven J Pemberton" in All Categories

Sam Grainger, rocket scientist, gets a phone call from his wife Jennie one evening. Which would be perfectly normal if she hadn't been dead for over a year. Sam's convinced the call is a hoax, but before he can investigate, a much larger mystery presents itself - parts of the world have started to vanish, and Sam is asked to join a team to investigate. Once he's reunited with Jennie, Sam learns that the world isn't what he thought it was - and neither are he and she. Worse, some very ruthless people are determined to make sure the secret doesn't go any further.

It's been 40 years since Tiwan's father convinced a dragon to save their village. Now the dragons are back, and they want Tiwan's help in a war against an enemy in their world's oceans. But she's just a child, so what could she do? The dragons threaten to invade the humans' world if they lose the war. Tiwan reluctantly agrees to go on a spying mission for them, even though she risks being lost in the dragons' world forever.

Captain Tagahra of the Kyer Altamar Watch has a lot of missing people to find. He doesn't expect one of them to be a wizard who's escaped from the city's prison, leaving a dead priest in his place. He learns the disappearances might be part of a plan by the evil God Zorian to take control of the city, and his orders are to help with the defenses. But how do you defend against something you don't believe in?

Somewhere beneath the teeming streets of the city of Molkolin lies a legendary well that reveals the true purpose of anyone who drinks from it. The wizard Adramal and her father believe it holds a secret that will help them defeat the evil god Zorian. Galdrakh, the well's owner, has closed it to all visitors. Galdrakh's aunts believe the well really belongs to them and hire Adramal to prove it. The city authorities suspect Galdrakh is smuggling a magical dust used in the colored glass that is the foundation of the city's fortune and recruit Adramal's father to help.

A hilarious and heart-warming tale for children and grown-ups of all ages. What Simon wanted for his seventh birthday was a set of action figures from Planet Patrol, his favourite cartoon. What he got was a tatty, second-hand teddy bear. What Simon doesn't know is that the teddy bear is alive and can do magic. What the bear doesn't know is that he's not as good at magic as he thinks he is. When the bear tries to grant a wish for Simon, everything goes wrong, and poor Simon's life is turned inside out, upside down, and sideways. Will things ever go back to the way they were?

Apprentice wizard Adramal is now a detective with the City Watch. But someone wants her dead - during a routine investigation, she is poisoned, and only her magic and quick thinking save her life. Her father suspects followers of the evil god Zorian are to blame. He insists Adramal leave for the island kingdom of Salmar, beyond Zorian's influence, while the Watch investigates. The Salmarian priests trick her into revealing herself as a wizard and sentence her to death for practicing magic.

Teacher Iko has a problem with pirates: They keep raiding his village, taking whatever they want. Dusty documents in the archives suggest a last-chance solution: summon a dragon to destroy them. Of course everyone knows dragons don't exist, so Iko is as surprised as anyone else when the summoning works.

When apprentice wizard Adramal moves to a new school to complete her training, she discovers that several ritual murders have been committed by magic, threatening the fabric of the world. The evidence points to the killer being one of Adramal’s teachers, and the City Watch recruit her to go undercover to unmask the murderer. Can she find what she needs before the killer strikes again or – worse – without blowing her cover and putting her own life in danger?

A time-travelling biologist is stranded when a giant fish eats her homing beacon. Two ancient beings create a new star to make themselves worthy in the eyes of their ancestors. The curator of the oldest museum in the galaxy finds out the truth behind its most famous exhibit. These are just a few of the tales that await you in Racing the Storm and Other Stories, a collection of 13 short science fiction stories - some thought-provoking, some poignant, some just plain weird.