Sci-Fi & Fantasy - Books

Hammer and Bolter: Issue 21

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

ABOUT HAMMER AND BOLTER Hammer & Bolter is Black Library’s monthly fiction magazine. Each issue is packed with all new short stories, serialised novels, previews and more.IN THIS ISSUE: Horus Heresy: Fear to Tread - Read a lengthy extract from the opening act of James Swallow's new Horus Heresy novel, and discover the origins of the curse borne by Sanguinius and the Blood Angels since their earliest days. The Shadow of the Beast - The Scythes of the Emperor face annihilation in this brand new Warhammer 40,000 story from Laurie Goulding. Can Reclusiarch Hornindal escape the vanguard of a tyranid hive fleet and save the Chapter's home world of Sotha? Gilead's Curse - Chapter Seven - Nik Vincent and Dan Abnett bring us the latest installment of the fantasy epic. The long-awaited confrontation with Gilead's vampiric nemesis erupts into open war, within the borders of the Empire. Dead Man's Party - A wealthy benefactor has pledged his entire fortune to the Knightly Order of Manann, in this tale from Josh Reynolds. With assassins lurking at every corner, can Dubnitz and Van Taal keep the old duffer alive long enough to collect? Born of Blood - Valkia the Bloody - The legend of the Gorequeen begins. In this exclusive extract from the novel by Sarah Cawkwell, witness Valkia take to the field of battle for the first time.

The Glass Box

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

“Echoes of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest reverberate through this cinematic tale…readers looking for an adrenaline-inducing resistance plot will find this worth their time.” —Publishers WeeklyFrom award-winning author J. Michael Straczynski, The Glass Box is a hard-hitting, fast paced sci-fi novel about the choices we make and the ramifications we face.Riley Diaz was born to fight back.When she’s incarcerated under the authority of a shadowy new defense act, Riley is sent to one of a growing number of American Renewal Centers (ARCs)—institutions modeled after psychiatric facilities—for mandatory reeducation.Forced therapy, involuntary medication, solitary confinement, restricted rations, and more are all in the ARC program’s bag of dirty tricks designed to break down dissidents. Give in, and you go free. Resist, and …Riley declares a one-woman war against the gaslighting and manipulation in a struggle to take down the ARC program and its white-coated collaborators. Despite being isolated and resented by her fellow inmates, Riley eventually wins their trust, and forms a heartfelt, life-and-death bond with a mysterious patient known only as Frankenstein, who is as enigmatic as his namesake.Sometimes breaking an unjust system starts with one person willing to stand up—when standing is the hardest thing in the world—and saying “no.” Riley Diaz is willing to stand behind that word, regardless of the cost, in order to put her fist through the Glass Box once and for all.Acclaimed creator J. Michael Straczynski takes the reader on a mesmerizing journey inspired by pressing contemporary issues, including our right to protest and the threats designed to undermine that right. Told with drama and heart, The Glass Box is a moving story that features a colorful and often eccentric cast of characters readers will fall in love with.

Star Trek: New Frontier

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

The ancient Thallonian Empire has collapsed, throwing an entire sector of the galaxy into chaos and unrest. Billions of sentient beings are faced with starvation, warfare, and worse. Faced with a tragedy of interstellar proportions, Starfleet assembles a new, handpicked crew to help where it can and report what it finds. Captain Mackenzie Calhoun, recommended by Jean-Luc Picard himself, takes command of the U.S.S. Excalibur, which is manned by Starfleet's best and brightest, including some old friends from Star TreK: The Next Generation and some of the most dynamic new characters ever to boldly go where no one has gone before! This special hardcover edition contains the first thrilling adventure that launched Star Trek into a new frontier. It also contains a pull-out full-color print of all of the characters and a special "minipedia" guide to the people, places, and things that make up the New Frontier universe!

Solar Lottery

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

From the acclaimed author of Ubik—in the future, Earth’s leader is randomly chosen by a computer, but some are unwilling to leave everything to chance.In 2203 anyone can become the ruler of the solar system. There are no elections, no interviews, no prerequisites whatsoever—it all comes down to the random turns of a giant wheel. But when a new Quizmaster takes over, the old one still keeps some rights, namely the right to hire an unending stream of assassins to attempt to kill the new leader.In the wake of the most recent change in leadership, employees of the former ruler scurry to find an assassin who can get past telepathic guards. But when one employee switches sides, troubling facts about the lottery system come to light, and it just might not be possible for anyone to win.“Built up with the detail of a Heinlein and the satire of a Kornbluth.”—Anthony Boucher, author of The Case of the Crumpled Knave

Plague Ship

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

This book is a science fiction novel. The main protagonist of the novel is Dane Thorson, Cargo-master-apprentice on the Free Trader rocket ship the Solar Queen. Free Traders take on trading contracts on remote and recently discovered planets, which can be dangerous and unpredictable. The Solar Queen has recently obtained a valuable trading contract on the planet Sargol and are building a relationship with one of the races on the planet, the cat-like Salariki. The process goes slowly till the Salariki discover that the Solar Queen is carrying catnip and other plants from Terra that are unknown on Sargol. The traders exchange what little of the plants they have for the rare and valuable Koros stones and collect a native red-colored wood to exchange at home. At the last minute the storm priests of the Salariki demand that the Solar Queen take a pre-paid contract to return within 6 months with more plants. A few days after leaving the planet, several members of the crew suffer from attacks, which start with severe headaches and end in a semi-coma state. Only 4 of the younger members of the crew are unaffected, including Dane Thorson. Upon exiting hyperspace on return to the vicinity of Terra, the crew discovers that they are pariah and have been declared a plague ship. On the short hop to earth, the crew discovers that pests have invaded the ship and are the cause of the illness. In a final bid to prove their case they kidnap a medic and present his evidence by video to a solar-system-wide audience, which is successful. In the meantime the rest of the crew have recovered, and after a final effort of negotiation the Solar Queen preserves its reputation by selling the contract with the Salariki to a large intergalactic trading company in exchange for credits and a quiet inter-solar mail route, which should lead to no more trouble.

Sostener el cielo

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Una impresionante colección de relatos del aclamado autor de El problema de los tres cuerpos. Ocho millones de lectores en todo el mundo.Libro del año del Financial Times.En Sostener el cielo, Cixin Liu nos lleva a través del tiempo y del espacio. De una comunidad rural en las montañas, donde unos estudiantes tienen que recurrir a la física para prevenir una invasión alienígena, a las minas de carbón de la región septentrional de China, en las que una nueva tecnología podría llegar a salvar vidas o a desatar un incendio que arderá durante siglos. De una época muy parecida a la nuestra, en la que ordenadores de supercuerdas predicen todos nuestros movimientos, a dentro de diez mil años, cuando la humanidad al fin haya conseguido empezar de cero. Y también hasta el mismísimo final del universo.Estos relatos, escritos entre 1999 y 2017 y que ahora aparecen publicados en castellano, vieron la luz durante décadas de grandes cambios en China y llevarán a los lectores a través del tiempo y del espacio, de la mano del escritor más visionario de la ciencia ficción del siglo XXI.La crítica ha dicho:«Tremendamente imaginativo.»Barack Obama«La respuesta de China a Arthur C. Clarke.»The New Yorker

Trisolaris – Die Trilogie

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Die Science-Fiction-Sensation aus China – alle drei Trisolaris-Romane in einem BandChina, Ende der 1960er-Jahre: Während im ganzen Land die Kulturrevolution tobt, beginnt eine kleine Gruppe von Astrophysikern, Politkommissaren und Ingenieuren ein streng geheimes Forschungsprojekt. Ihre Aufgabe: Signale ins All zu senden und noch vor allen anderen Nationen Kontakt mit Außerirdischen aufzunehmen. Fünfzig Jahre später wird diese Vision Wirklichkeit – auf eine so erschreckende, umwälzende und globale Weise, dass dieser Kontakt das Schicksal der Menschheit für immer verändern wird.Mit seinen Trisolaris-Romanen »Die drei Sonnen«, »Der dunkle Wald« und »Jenseits der Zeit« hat sich Cixin Liu als einer der kühnsten Denker in die internationale Literaturgeschichte eingeschrieben. Seine Romane haben weltweit Millionen Leserinnen und Leser begeistert – jetzt sind sie erstmals in einem Band versammelt.

Last Enemy

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Along the U-shaped table, the subdued clatter of dinnerware and the buzz of conversation was dying out; the soft music that drifted down from the overhead sound outlets seemed louder as the competing noises diminished. The feast was drawing to a close, and Dallona of Hadron fidgeted nervously with the stem of her wineglass as last-moment doubts assailed her. The man on Dallona's right added his voice. Like the others at the table, he was of medium stature, brown-skinned and dark-eyed, with a wide mouth, prominent cheekbones and a short, square jaw. Unlike the others, he was armed, with a knife and pistol on his belt, and on the breast of his black tunic he wore a scarlet oval patch on which a pair of black wings, with a tapering silver object between them had been superimposed.

Horusian Wars: Incarnation

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Darkness approaches Dominicus Prime, a literal Season of Night that brings with it portents, madness and strange happenings. Standing alone as a beacon against the darkness is the Monastery of the Last Candle, a temple to the holy light of the Emperor. As the bishops and the cardinals vie for power and influence, a crisis looms among the Pilgrim Drift who are starving in their droves. Discord is rife and there are whispers of a rising cult, one committed to blood and horror. Into this political powder keg comes Inquisitor Covenant and his followers. Drawn to the shrineworld by the prescience of the Emperor's Tarot, they come seeking the agents of the Triumverate, a sect of Horusians bent on power themselves. It is the belief of Covenant that these radicals seek an incarnation, nothing less than a divine vessel, a living saint. To what end, he can only surmise, but Covenant knows it cannot bode well. He must deny the Horusians at any cost. The fate of the very sector may be determined by it. Read it Because The epic story that began in Resurrection continues as Covenant faces a challenge that will test him body and soul.

Throne Of Light

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Dawn of Fire Book 4 Roboute Guilliman has broken the orkish advance that threatened Fenris, but an ancient foe has returned to threaten the very heart of humanity – the Segmentum Solar. READ IT BECAUSE Guy Haley continues the riveting story of the Indomitus Crusade as it sweeps across the galaxy, still reeling from the opening of the Great Rift. THE STORY The Indomitus Crusade continues its war across the stars. The primarch Roboute Guilliman has finally broken through the orkish threat bedevilling the sectors near Fenris, and makes ready to push on his bid to stabilise the Imperium Sanctus – but old and bitter foes stand in his way. Kor Phaeron, the Dark Cardinal, threatens the previously stable core of the Segmentum Solar. Waves of rebellion instigated by his infiltrating priests suggest an imminent, large-scale invasion by the Word Bearers Legion. Worse yet, the Dark Cardinal's warriors are targeting the Black Ships, threatening to starve Terra of the pyskers the Emperor needs to survive. Through this turbulent warzone Inquisitor Rostov continues his search for the Hand of Abaddon. Yet when strange, miraculous visions are traced back to the astropathic relay on Srinagar, his quest is diverted – for the visions foretell hope for the Imperium, a hope the fanatical worshippers of Chaos will do anything to snuff out... Written by Guy Haley

The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

From John D. MacDonald, one of the enduring American novelists of the twentieth century, comes a science fiction classic with a timeless premise. An aimless young man discovers a way to stop the world in its tracks—and that’s when his life truly begins.Introduction by Dean KoontzOnce an ordinary math teacher, Omar Krepps developed a knack for gambling, amassed a fabulous fortune, and spent the rest of his life traveling the world and giving away his millions. Upon his death, however, Krepps bequeaths nothing to his nephew and only living blood relative, Kirby Winter—nothing, that is, except an antique watch and a sealed letter to be opened after one year.But Kirby has much more in his possession than he realizes. The watch has the power to manipulate time. Not only does this revelation shed light on the mystery of his uncle’s life, it puts Kirby on the path to unimaginable wealth and a new lease on love . . . as well as a whole host of deadly troubles. Even in a universe where time is no issue, Kirby must tread carefully to stay one step ahead of danger.Praise for John D. MacDonald“To diggers a thousand years from now, the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb of Tutankhamen.”—Kurt Vonnegut“As a young writer, all I ever wanted was to touch readers as powerfully as John D. MacDonald touched me.”—Dean Koontz“John D. MacDonald was a writer way ahead of his time.”—John Saul

Second Variety

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Early victories by the USSR in a global nuclear war cause the United Nations government to retreat to the moon leaving behind troops and fierce autonomous robots called “Claws”, which reproduce and redesign themselves in unmanned subterranean factories. After six bloody years of conflict the Soviets call for an urgent conference and UN Major Joseph Hendricks sets out to meet them. Along the way he will discover what the Claws have been up to, and it isn’t good… - Second Variety was first published in the May 1953 edition of Space Science Fiction Magazine.

Ahriman Collection

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Cast from his Legion and spurned by his brothers, Ahriman is a wanderer. After his actions damned the Thousand Sons to an eternity as bodiless souls, he was magically exiled, unable to ever return home. This collection of tales follows Ahriman as he travels across the Eye of Terror and into the material universe, battling the servants of the Imperium and pawns of the Dark Gods alike as he plans his greatest scheme yet – redoing his Rubric and reversing the damage done to the Legion. This collection contains the novels Ahriman: Exile, Ahriman: Sorcerer and Ahriman: Unchanged and the anthology Ahriman: Exodus which includes the short stories ‘The Dead Oracle’, ‘Fortune’s Fool’, ‘Hounds of Wrath’, ‘The First Prince’, ‘Gates of Ruin’, ‘All is Dust’, ‘Hand of Dust’ and ‘King of Ashes’. Read it because It’s an epic saga of grand ambition that pits one of Warhammer 40,000’s greatest antiheroes against, well, pretty much the entire galaxy, including Space Marines, the Inquisition and his own brothers. Oh yeah, and the primarch Magnus the Red makes a significant appearance…

The Horus Heresy Collection VIII

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Un Omnibus L'Hérésie d'Horus Poursuivez votre collection avec les livres 25 à 27 de la série best-seller L'Hérésie d'Horus, disponible en un volume et en français pour la première fois. POURQUOI LIRE CE LIVRE Les Primarques de l'Empereur continuent de dessiner l'Hérésie d'Horus par leurs actions, et nombre d'histoires de tout l'Imperium étoffent les guerres qui font rage à travers la galaxie. DESCRIPTION Deux tandems de Primarques changent la galaxie ! Fulgrim et Perturabo joignent leurs forces pour une mission qui marquera l'apothéose de l'un et provoquera la fin de l'autre, tandis qu'Angron et Lorgar apportent la ruine aux Ultramarines au cours de leur Croisade de l'Ombre. Et le recueil Les Ombres de la Traîtrise explore des scènes de trahison à travers tout l'Imperium, depuis les champs de morts d'Isstvan V à la flotte de bataille des Iron Warriors où les Imperial Fists luttent pour leur survie, en passant par les salles du Palais Imperial lui-même, où Rogal Dorn réfléchit à l'avenir de l'Imperium. CONTIENT – Les Ombres de la Traîtrise, une anthologie rassemblant des nouvelles de Dan Abnett, Graham McNeill, John French, Gav Thorpe et Aaron Dembski-Bowden (édité par Christian Dunn & Nick Kyme) – L'Ange Exterminatus, de Graham McNeill – Félon, d'Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Invaders from the Infinite

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

The alien spaceship was unthinkably huge, enormously powerful, apparently irresistible. It came from the void and settle on Earth, striking awe into the hearts of all who saw it. Its burden, however, was not conquest - but a call for the brilliant team of scientists, Arcot, Wade and Morey, explorers of the islands of space. And what they learned was an offer of an alliance against an invading foe so powerful that no known force could turn back.John W. Campbell's Invaders from the Infinite is a veritable odyssey of the universe, exploring world after world, and uncovering cosmic secret after cosmic secret. Here is a classic novel of super-science that may never be surpassed.

Hellforged

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

The Space Marines are humanity’s champions, their loyalty to the Emperor beyond question. When a Chapter falls from grace, the Imperium will stop at nothing to hunt them down and exterminate them. Whilst fleeing the wrath of the Imperial Fists, the disgraced Soul Drinkers Chapter seek refuge in an uncharted region of space in the hope of taking on precious fuel for their battle-barge. Upon making landfall, they are confronted by the stark horror of a world devastated and stripped of all life. Only by finding survivors on another planet in the sector can Sarpedon and his battle-brothers get to the root of this terror. But soon the Soul Drinkers find themselves fighting for their very lives, against a deadly new enemy – the necrons!

The Skull

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

The plot centers around protagonist Conger, a man who is given a chance to get out of jail if he agrees to do a job: traveling back in time in order to kill a man who would later prove to change the world. Congers' target is a man who appeared in 1960 in a small town in the US, and who spawned a new religious movement which radically changed the world over the next few hundred years.

Jenseits der Zeit

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Ein halbes Jahrhundert nach der Entscheidungsschlacht hält der Waffenstillstand mit den Trisolariern immer noch stand. Die Hochtechnologie der Außerirdischen hat der Erde zu neuem Wohlstand verholfen, auch die Trisolarier haben dazugelernt, und eine friedliche Koexistenz scheint möglich. Der Frieden hat die Menschheit allerdings unvorsichtig werden lassen. Als mit Cheng Xin eine Raumfahrtingenieurin des 21. Jahrhunderts aus dem Kälteschlaf erwacht, bringt sie das Wissen um ein längst vergangenes Geheimprogramm in die neue Zeit. Wird die junge Frau den Frieden mit Trisolaris ins Wanken bringen – oder wird die Menschheit die letzte Chance ergreifen, sich weiterzuentwickeln?

Apex Magazine Issue 127

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Strange. Beautiful. Shocking. Surreal.APEX MAGAZINE is a digital dark science fiction and fantasy genre zine that features award-winning short fiction, essays, and interviews. Established in 2009, our fiction has won several Hugo and Nebula Awards.We publish every other month.Issue 127 contains the following short stories, essays, reviews, and interviews.EDITORIALMusings from Maryland: Editorial by Lesley ConnerORIGINAL FICTIONTo Seek Himself Again by Marie CrokeThis Shattered Vessel, Which Holds Only Grief by Izzy WassersteinIn Haskins by Carson WinterWhose Mortal Taste by Erin K. WagnerHank in the South Dakota Sun by Stephanie KranerI Call Upon the Night as Witness by Zahra MukhiCLASSIC FICTIONDogwood Stories by Nicole Givens KurtzThresher of Men by Michael BoatmanNONFICTIONAccost Me, SFF, and Waste My Time by Carlos HernandezThe Death of Captain Kirk: Why the Illusory Singularity of the White Hero Must Die by Gerald L. ColemanREVIEWSWords for Thought: Short Fiction Review by A.C. WiseHow to Get to Apocalypse and Other Disasters (Erica L. Satifka)The Necessity of Stars (E. Catherine Tobler)Whitesands (Johann Thorsson)The Martial Art of Writing and Other Essays (Alan Baxter)INTERVIEWSAn Interview with Author Marie Croke by Andrea JohnsonAn Interview with Author Erin K. Wagner by Andrea JohnsonAn Interview with Artist Magdalena Pagowska by Russ Dickerson

The Horus Heresy: Daemonology

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Chagrined by his defeat at the hands of Jaghatai Khan, Mortarion abandons the pursuit of the White Scars and instead leads the Death Guard in a spiteful, punitive rampage across the systems of the Prosperine empire. World after world has fallen to this horrific onslaught, and yet the insular and secretive primarch seems preoccupied by some other, unspoken goal. Finally, on Terathalion, the truth of Mortarion’s sinister heritage will be exposed, and the future of the XIV Legion will be written...Read it becauseThe Death Guard have already embraced treachery, but this story follows their Primarch as he continues upon the road that will eventually doom his Legion to a plague-wracked damnation.

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