29 hilarious science fiction & fantasy stories from some of today's best speculative writers. Inside you'll find: - A zombear - Tweeting aliens - Down-on-their-luck vampires - Time-twisting belly dancers - Moon Nazis - Stoned computers - Omnivorous sex-maniac pandas - and a spell-casting Albert Einstein Views: 10
The Fall Crafters Fair has barely begun in Shipshewana when murder strikes the small town once again ---this time on the property of Daisy's Quilt Shop. It will take all of the sleuthing skills Deborah Yoder and Callie Harper possess to catch the perpetrator. But the stakes are higher than ever before, since the material witness is their best friend's child. Everyone will have to go on a journey of faith deep into the heart of God's grace. Views: 10
Fantasy. 174171 words long. First published by Headline Book Publishing in 1994 Views: 10
Jimm Juree was a crime reporter for the Chiang Mai Daily Mail with a somewhat eccentric family – a mother who might be drifting mentally; a grandfather – a retired cop – who rarely talks; a younger brother obsessed with body-building, and a transgendered, former beauty pageant queen, former older brother. When Jimm is forced to follow her family to a rural village on the coast of Southern Thailand, she’s convinced her career – maybe her life – is over. So when a van containing the skeletal remains of two hippies, one of them wearing a hat, is inexplicably unearthed in a local farmer’s field, Jimm is thrilled. Shortly thereafter an abbot at a local Buddhist temple is viciously murdered, with the temple’s monk and nun the only suspects.· · · Suddenly Jimm’s new life becomes somewhat more promising – and a lot more deadly. And if Jimm is to make the most of this opportunity, and unravel the mysteries that underlie these inexplicable events, it will take luck, perseverance, and the help of her entire family. Views: 10
Murder, deception and the long shadow of Moriarty. All in a day's work for the great Sherlock Holmes.The unpublished manuscripts of Dr John Watson, concealed for years in the depths of a Charing Cross bank vault, are now brought to light. Sherlock Holmes and his faithful friend and biographer must solve cases as complex as any they have known before. Some may even bring them face to face with old enemies from the past, figures left behind in the mists of the Reichenbach Falls . . .A widow with three hands slips out of a church door . . . A farmer lies dead in a barn, his son accused of his murder . . . A skeleton with a silver locket is unearthed in a back garden. What do they have in common? The famous resident of 221B Baker Street. A brand new cache of original cases displays the master of the art of deduction at his intriguing best, proving that the game is still very much afoot. Views: 10
Melissa and Dobie can't believe they're in detention together. They hate each other, and couldn't be more different! Rebellious Dobie despises her wealthy background and has just lost the chance to be a professional dancer. Melissa is smart, sensible, and always doing her best to compensate for a life on the run with her alcoholic mother. Yet in between the anger and disappointment there's common ground. Once, they both had dreams - what went wrong? They forge an unlikely friendship that gives both of them the strength not to give up on their dreams. But circumstance, and the past, conspire to challenge their resolve right through to the dramatic climax of the story. Bone Song is a compelling, harrowing, yet moving page-turner. With two narrators, two engaging voices, and two intertwined personal stories, it delves right to the heart of two young, broken lives, against a back-drop of family turmoil, abuse, cynicism, jealousy, love and hate. Gritty, honest, hard-hitting, often... Views: 10
“As long as there is money to be made, there will be Wildcatters” — Dave DuncanThroughout human history wildcatters, the first great explorers and prospectors to lay claim to newly discovered lands, have marched to the beat of a different drummer — motivated by a deep yearning to be the first to walk on uncharted land and benefit from treasures yet to be discovered.In the future, wildcatters in space will travel to exoplanets, located in The Big Nothing, to search for new chemicals which, when transformed into pharmaceuticals, might bring untold wealth and fame to the individuals and corporations that stake their claim for exclusive exploitation rights.Such is the quest of the crew of the independent starship Golden Hind, whose mission is to travel a year and a half to “Cacafuego”, beat the larger corporations to the exoplanets’ resources, and strike it rich for themselves.But will a yellow warning flag, already planted above the planet, stop them? Or will the Golden Hind’s prospector foray to the planet’s surface, possibly never to return alive?Wildcatter is a raucous tale of mystery, greed and passion, told by master story teller Dave Duncan, once himself a real wildcatter!Review“What an excellent read! This book is fast paced and gripping. It is set in a well thought out world with interesting and complex characters in a challenging situation. It is a feast for the imagination - thoughtful with parallels in modern life on the nature of race and prejudice.”— Wayne Harris“...when you’re looking for a good adventure, Dave Duncan is a sure thing. Mostly in fantasy, but he can certainly do SF as well, & Pock’s World is a good example of his sly & fast paced plotting, his ability to construct intriguingly different worlds, & his knack for quick & entertaining characterization & dialogue. All in all, it’s a fun read, with just a little hidden kick of ethical philosophizing about the future of post-humanity (although he’d never use such a term).”— Eclectic Ruckus“Prolific Canadian author Dave Duncan provides an interesting view of people and landscapes in Pock’s World. Some aspects resemble human adaptations of Paul McAuley’s The Quiet War and Gardens of the Sun. Duncan adds his own touch with super intelligent aliens created from human genomes. Because of one discovered on Pock’s World, the galaxy space agency, STARS, plans to sterilize the planet and kill all the people on it to stop the aliens polluting the galaxy.”— Mel Jacob“Dave Duncan writes rollicking adventure novels filled with subtle characterization and made bitter-sweet by an underlying darkness. Without striving for grand effects or momentous meetings between genres, he has produced one excellent book after another.”— Locus“Dave Duncan has long been one of the great unsung figures of Canadian fantasy and science fiction, graced with a fertile imagination, a prolific output, and keen writerly skills. With this new novel, Duncan again forges a bold new world, populated with varied and complex characters, distinctive cultures, and a complex system of mythology and science.”— Quill and Quire“Duncan writes with unusual flair, drawing upon folklore, myth, and his gift for creating ingenious plots.”— Year’s Best Fantasy and HorrorFrom the AuthorI was a wildcatter once. To say that this book is based on my own experience would be obvious rubbish. Nevertheless, many years ago, I worked for a succession of small "independent" oil companies, which explored for petroleum, competing against "majors," meaning multinationals with vastly greater resources. Strangely, the Goliaths did not always win. There was a lot of luck in wildcatting, which originally meant hunting for oil and gas "out among the wildcats", far from any known fields. I had some modest success, and the money I made then helped support me when I left geology for a writing career. I met a lot of fascinating characters. I saw some of the bare-knuckle gold-rush style towns that grew up near any important discovery. The tie-in to this story is that people do not change. If interstellar travel ever develops along the lines I suggest, then it will surely attract the same sort of gamblers. If there are riches to be found among the stars, then wildcatters will be out there. Views: 10
Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!Based on the epic videogame from BioWare and LucasArtsThe Sith Empire is in flux. The Emperor is missing, presumed dead, and an ambitious Sith lord's attempt to seize the throne has ended fatally. Still, Darth Karrid, commander of the fearsome Imperial battle cruiser Ascendant Spear, continues her relentless efforts to achieve total Sith domination of the galaxy.But Karrid's ruthless determination is more than matched in the steely resolve of Theron Shan, whose unfinished business with the Empire could change the course of the war for good. Though the son of a Jedi master, Theron does not wield the Force--but like his renowned mother, the spirit of rebellion is in his blood. As a top covert agent for the Republic, he... Views: 10
'They have bayonets,' whispered Ralph. 'This is no parade drill.' We drew back more tightly into the shadow. A soldier beat his fist on the door. David Bellamy fears the strange new land of New South Wales, its inhabitants and its wild creatures. He fears the Governor himself: the swearing, cursing Governor Bligh. Then on the anniversary of British settlement in Sydney, 26th January, 1808, David and his new friends, Kitty and Ralph, witness the military march on Government House from the streets of Sydney Town. Views: 10
