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The Rest of the Robots is the third timeless, amazing and amusing volume of Isaac Asimov's robot stories, offering golden insights into robot thought processes. Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics have since been programmed into real computers the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and used as the outline for a legal robotic charter in Korea.
ROBOT TONY is the first robot designed to perform domestic duties by the US Robots and Mechanical Men Corporation. Is it Tony's fault that the lady of the house where he's field tested falls in love with him?
ROBOT AL was intended for shipment to a mining outfit on the moon. Instead, he's loose in the mountains of Virginia...building from scraps of junk his very own, very dangerous disintegrator.
ROBOT LENNY answers workaday questions in babytalk. So why is Dr Susan Calvin, the world's top robopsychologist, fascinated by this messed up specimen of an industrial robot? Views: 231
Second Subterranean Press Edition: revised to correct persistent typographical errors from initial omnibus publication by The Stars Our Destination.
Message from Barry Hughart:
"When I got out of Andover in the 1950s I suffered from fairly severe depression, but this was back when the only such term recognized by the medical profession was 'depressive' following 'manic' which was one bad gig until some genius renamed it 'bipolar disorder' and after that it couldn't harm a fly. Since I wasn't lucky enough to qualify for manic and clinical depression didn't exist they diagnosed schizophrenia and packed me off to a booby hatch. (Which was not entirely a bad thing. Man, the scene at Kings Count Psychotic Ward was like awesome!) Then I was promoted to a slightly less odorous asylum where Doctor Oscar Diethelm expounded upon the delights of going snickety-snick on my frontal lobes, and while it would take too long to explain I managed to escape to Columbia University. There I found myself groping through weird landscapes obscured by clouds of pot behind which pimpled prophets of the Beat Generation shrieked, 'Our minds destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical, naked, dragging through black streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, or what the fuck, something like that. Yo, daddy-o!' and I said to myself, 'Barry, you have found a home.'
"When I wafted back into the world a few years later my depression was still there but I was allowed to prove my sanity by blowing things up for the U.S. Air Force. No, not Vietnam. Planting ingenious and mostly illegal mine fields around the eternal DMZ in Korea. Time passed but not much else. I moved to the Arizona/Sonoran Desert where I could live quietly, surrounded on all sides by prickly pear, cat's claw, devil's horns, barrel cactus, jumping cactus, and illegal immigrants. I still occasionally dreamed of bright flashes followed by BOOM! which was a shame because I had other memories of the Far East: good memories, warm memories, and in 1977--ten years before Prozac--I decided to use those and whatever else I could come up with to create an alternate world into which I could creep on dark and stormy nights and pull over my head like a security blanket. So I read a lot and scribbled a lot and gradually the land of Li Kao began to take shape. But the first draft of Bridge of Birds didn't really work and I couldn't see what was wrong, so I dumped it into a drawer for a few years. Then one day I read Lin Yutang's The Importance of Understanding and found the prayer to a little girl that I mention in a footnote in the final version. It made me realize that while I'd invented good things like monsters and marvels and mayhem the book hadn't really been about anything. I opened the drawer. 'Okay!' I said to myself. 'This book is going to be about love.' And so it is, and so are ones that followed.
"Will there be more? I doubt it, and it's not because of bad sales and worse publishers. It's simply that I'd taken it as far as I could. Oh, I could come up with more ingenious plots and interesting characters and so on, but the Ox/Master Li format had become just that, a format, and no matter how well I wrote I'd just be repeating myself. Many writers are content to settle down with an endless if predictable series, but I'd be miserable, and so it was like deciding to quit smoking: cold turkey or forget about it, and I chose cold turkey. Anyway, it was a lot of fun while it lasted, and I hope Ox and Li Kao can continue to give fun to readers, and I most particularly hope that on dark and stormy nights some of those readers will be able to crawl into my alternate world and pull it over them like a security blanket.
"Farewell." Views: 231
Hugo Rune returns. And just in time, for the evil fairies of Brentford are planning to conquer the world. To publicise his mission, Hugo plans to kidnap the Queen while she addresses the world before a gig by the greatest rock band on earth, Gandhi's Hairdryer. Views: 231
A new addition to the multiple New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series. New York Times Best Selling Series Eric Flint and David Carrico serve up the latest entry in the best-selling alternate history saga of them all, the Ring of Fire!
After carving a place for itself in war-torn 17th century Europe, citizens of the modern town of Grantville, West Virginia take on a murderous conspiracy of operatic proportions in Magdeburg, the capital of the United States of Europe.
It is the year 1636. The United States of Europe, the new nation formed by an alliance between the King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and the West Virginians hurled back in time by a cosmic accident, is on the verge of civil war. His brain injured in the war with Poland, the USE's emperor Gustavus Adolphus is no longer in command. Enter Swedish chancellor Oxenstierna, a leader of aristocratic reaction against democracy. His goal, to assemble the forces of the hidebound ruling class in Berlin and drown the revolution in a bloodbath.
In Magdeburg, the capital of the USE, Mike Stearns' wife Rebecca Abrabanel is organizing popular resistance to Oxenstierna's plot. As part of the resistance, the American musician Marla Linder and her company of down-time musical partners are staging an opera that will celebrate the struggle against oppression. Princess Kristina, the heir to the USE's throne, is now residing in Magdeburg and is giving them her support and encouragement.
But another plot is underway--this one right in the heart of the capital itself, and with murder as its method. The only people standing in the way are a crippled boy and the boxing champion who befriended him, and an unlikely pair of policemen. Can the American detective Byron Chieske and his down-timer partner Gotthilf Hoch thwart the killers before they succeed in their goal?
About 1636: The Devil's Opera:
"Another engaging alternate history from a master of the genre" Booklist
". . . an old-style police-procedural mystery, set in 17th century Germany. . . . the threads . . . spin together . . . to weave an addictively entertaining story. . . . a strong addition to a fun series." Daily News of Galveston County
About Eric Flint's Ring of Fire series:
"This alternate history series is 'a landmark'" Booklist
"[Eric] Flint's 1632 universe seems to be inspiring a whole new crop of gifted alternate historians." Booklist
"reads like a technothriller set in the age of the Medicis" Publishers Weekly Views: 231
Doctors tell Raj that his son Emret won't survive his illness. As Raj struggles to prepare himself and Emret for the inevitable, he's confronted by Moslin, his son's nurse, who’s been filling Emret’s head with fairytales about heroic quests and powerful disease curing miracles. Emret now thinks that all he has to do is find the mythical Red Tree from the nurse's stories, and he'll live."...a delightfully honest and refreshing tale..." -Amazon Reviewer"...superbly written...full of life and personality..." -Amazon Reviewer"...a gripping fantasy tale that always seems to twist just when you think you know where it's headed." -Amazon Reviewer"A really cool read from an author that I'll be following in the future." -Amazon ReviewerDoctors tell Raj that his son Emret won't survive his illness. As Raj struggles to prepare himself and Emret for the inevitable, he's confronted by Moslin, his son's nurse, who’s been filling Emret’s head with fairytales about heroic quests and powerful disease curing miracles. Emret now thinks that all he has to do is find the mythical Red Tree from the nurse's stories, and he'll live.In an attempt to protect his son from further emotional damage, Raj asks Moslin to stay away from Emret. He returns hours later to find them both missing.He searches the fairytales for clues to where they may have gone and stumbles upon stories that, strangely, he already knows. He saw them in a vision just before his son disappeared. Views: 231
After sequestering herself to the tiny island of St. Simons, Georgia, Adelaide's plan to 'get normal' goes awry after a crackpot astrologist predicts she’ll meet with death. Now ghosts are appearing and Adelaide Graves is forced to admit that she has unwittingly acquired another gift.To Adelaide Graves, being empathic isn’t a gift, it’s a curse. Nothing could be worse than the barrage of emotions that are constantly seeping in, that is, until she starts seeing ghosts. Such gifts don’t go unnoticed by Reed Wallace, the island’s richest celebrity, who is quick to use his own gift to strong-arm Adelaide. Luckily, she’s half-immune to his unnatural charm, though not to his blackmail. Now his scheming has got her neck-deep in a dangerous race, desperate to find a demon diary, the key to unlocking another realm. Views: 230
Fourteen-year-old Emily Adams has special powers she doesn’t want, a spiteful aunt she can’t escape, and a primeval legacy she knows nothing about. But when an otherworldly being materializes, Emily discovers the true purpose of her magical blood and of the danger that threatens to annihilate her world.Can a teenage girl find the courage to face her true self in Emily's House?Fourteen-year-old Emily Adams has special powers she doesn’t want, a spiteful aunt she can’t escape, and a primeval legacy she knows nothing about. But when an otherworldly being materializes, Emily discovers the true purpose of her magical blood and of the danger that threatens to annihilate her world.Dormant for over a thousand years, an ancient evil has arisen. This time, it will destroy anyone – or anything – that stands in its way.With her two best friends by her side, Emily risks everything and embarks on a dangerous journey to Ireland and beyond where she unlocks the secrets of her Celtic ancestors. As the hour of world annihilation draws near, the fate of her friends, her family and her world lies in her hands.Can a teenage girl without hero credentials save the world? And will Emily find the courage to face her true self in Emily’s House?Join the Journey ...Gary Smails of BubbleCow Editing said:"I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed reading (and this is a rare comment to type!) this full manuscript. Overall a strong character-led narrative, one that is engaging, original and current." Views: 230
In a collection of new Riverworld stories, all the world's dead awaken in Riverworld and play out the grand saga of human history by a new set of rules along the banks of the ten-million-mile river.
Contents:
ix · Foreword · Philip José Farmer · fw
1 · Crossing the Dark River [Part 1 of 2] · Philip José Farmer · n. *
65 · A Hole in Hell · Dane Helstrom · ss *
73 · Graceland · Allen Steele · nv *
101 · Every Man a God · Mike Resnick & Barry N. Malzberg · nv *
141 · Blandings on Riverworld · Phillip C. Jennings · nv *
173 · Two Thieves · Harry Turtledove · nv *
207 · Fool’s Paradise · Ed Gorman · nv *
237 · The Merry Men of Riverworld · John Gregory Betancourt · na *
283 · Unfinished Business · Robert Weinberg · nv * Views: 230
Southwest Arizona, a century ago. An uneasy true exists between the remote frontier community of Picture City and the neighboring Apaches. That delicate peace is shredded when the bodies of two white men are found hideously mutilated. The angry townspeople are certain the "savages" have broken the treaty, but Billjohn Finley, the local Indian agent, fears that darker, more unholy forces may be at work. There's a tall, dark stranger in town, who rode in wearing the dead men's clothes. A stranger who may not be entirely human . . . .
Originally published as a mass-market Western in 1994, Shadow on the Sun has been out of print for years and was largely overlooked by horror fans and general readers. Now at last this forgotten tale of supernatural terror returns to chill the blood of Matheson's many fans. Views: 230
For readers of Keri Arthur’s bestselling Riley Jenson Guardian series comes a new sexy and exciting paranormal romance—the second novel in her acclaimed Myth and Magic series.
Mercy Reynolds is a reporter in the San Francisco Bay area, but she’s also more—and less—than human. Half woman, half air dragon, she’s a “draman”—unable to shift shape but still able to unleash fiery energy. Now something will put her powers to the test.
Mercy’s friend Rainey has enlisted her help to solve her sister’s murder. Then a horrible accident claims Rainey’s life, leaving Mercy only five days to find the killer: If Mercy fails, according to dragon law, Rainey’s soul will be doomed to roam the earth for eternity. But how can Mercy help when she herself is a target? With nowhere else to turn, she must join forces with a sexy stranger—the mysterious man they call “Muerte,” or death itself, who’s as irresistible as he is treacherous. But can even Death keep Mercy alive for long enough to find her answers? Views: 230
A standalone epic fantasy novella starring Sal the Cacophony, who Pierce Brown called a "protagonist for the ages," from Sam Sykes' widely acclaimed Seven Blades in Black and Ten Arrows of Iron. Sal the Cacophony does not make friends. When you have a magic gun, a trusty blade and rogue mages to hunt, you don't need them. Sal the Cacophony makes enemies. And when her hunt leads to a town on the edge of nowhere, she finds them in spades: an unassuming mage with a secret, a vengeful bandit queen with ideals and steel to spare, and a colossal, centuries-old beast who has decided now is the best time to migrate.Sal the Cacophony could be their savior. But as everyone eventually learns, Sal's "salvation" is usually worse. Views: 230
