Imperial Earth

Imperial Earth is the fascinating odyssey of Duncan Makenzie, traveling from Titan, a moon of Saturn, to Earth, as a diplomatic guest of the United States for the celebration of its Quincentennial in the year 2276. Titan, an independent republic, was originally colonized from Earth three generations earlier. Duncan's initial challenge is to prepare, physically and intellectually, for the 500-million-mile trip to Earth. Once there, he is caught up in a sweep of new experiences, including the social and political whirl in Washington, a strange visit to a carefully preserved ancient city once prominent in the 20th century, and a search for and meeting with a woman he loved since she visited Titan years before.
Views: 491

King of the Fields

From the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Isaac Bashevis Singer, comes a fictional exploration of primitive history. Singer's novel portrays an era of superstition and violence in a country emerging from the darkness of savagery. Set in Poland in the dark ages, it describes the brutality, prejudice and subjugation that occur when hunter-gatherers and farmers struggle for supremacy over the land. Part parable of modern civilization, part fascinating historical novel, this modern myth is a philosophical examination of man and his beliefs, and reaffirms the author's reputation as a master of narrative invention.
Views: 485

Cradle

In 1994, the Marines test a new missile. After launch it mysteriously disappears. If it reaches civilian areas they'll be in big trouble. Carol Dawson, a journalist, is alerted by an unusual sight of whales in the Miami area & decides to write about it. Armed with equipment provided by her friend, Dr. Dale Michaels from the Miami Oceanographic Institute, she goes to investigate the rumors of a missing missile that could be behind the mysterious whale behavior. She hires the services of Nick Williams & Jefferson Troy, boat owners, so she can get to the Mexican Gulf to investigate. They find an unknown artifact. They have doubts about its nature, hoping it's part of a lost treasure. Old friends of Williams & Troy notice their discovery & want to steal it. In the story's background, the authors describe a submarine snake civilization on a planet called Canthor, & how they struggled to stay alive despite threats to their ecosystem. It's revealed that the artifact is actually a cradle that contains seeds with altered superhumans extracted from Earth millions of years ago & altered so they could live with other species--including the submarine snakes--on Earth. The spaceship that carries the cradle is manned by robots/cyborgs & has hidden itself on the ocean floor to make repairs. Dawson, Williams & Troy are asked to gather materials so the ship can be repaired & return to its mission. The ship...
Views: 485

Tug of War

Brody is tempted by an old lifestyle after a gentle afternoon with Karen turns ugly. But is her will strong enough to keep him from the excitement of that life?INSIDE — SPECIAL DAYTIME EMMY AWARDS NEWS EDITION — Here We Go Again: Eric Braeden Out? Why Y&R Is Writing Out Victor Newman During Contract Negotiations! Inside Sony’s New Battle With Daytime’s Biggest Superstar! DAYS Casts Eric Brady! Find Out Who’s Playing Sami’s Twin! Yep, Eileen Davidson IS DAYS-Bound! Inside the Sony Deal That Pissed Off Davidson! DAYS: Gay Storyline On The Backburner! Kirsten Storms Back On GH? Plus: Exclusive Interview: Jen Lilley On Losing Her Job! AMC/ONE LIFE To Live On? B&B’s Kay Alden: “I’d Love To Head Writer Y&R With Sally Sussman Morina!” Susan Lucci Headed to GH? Emmy Awards Roundup! This Just In: Joanna Johnson Out At B&B! And What That Means For Crystal Chappell! Why Adrienne Frantz Cleaned Out Her Dressing Room At B&B! Plus: Her Near-Death Experience! Guess Where Peter Reckell’s Moving To? Why GH’s Bradford Anderson Was Kicked Off The Emmy Red Carpet! GH Secret: Who Is Finola Hughes’s Newest Co-Star? Y&R’s Jess Walton Update! Latest on DAYS’s New Book! Which Vixen Is Headed Back To Y&R? Is Jackie MacInnes Wood Leaving B&B? Plus: Unbelievable Blind Items!
Views: 483

The Sound of Rebellion

The Colonial Defense Forces usually protect humanity from alien attack, but now the stability of the Colonial Union has been threatened, and Lieutenant Heather Lee and her squad are called to squash a rebellion on a colony world. It seems simple enoughbut theres a second act to the rebellion that finds Lee captive, alone, and armed with only her brains to survive.
Views: 474

The Darwin Strain

The authors of Hell's Gate and The Himalayan Codex deliver their third high-octane thriller—a page-turning blend of science, history, and suspense featuring zoologist and adventurer Captain R. J. MacCready."Looks like Schutt and Finch are filling the void left by the passing of Michael Crichton."—James Cameron, director/writer/explorerThough the fighting has stopped and Hitler is vanquished, a dangerous new war between America and the Soviet Union has begun. Invaluable in defeating the Nazis, accidental crypto-zoologist R. J. MacCready and Yanni Thorne, an indigenous Brazilian and expert in animal behavior, are working for the Pentagon once again. Sent to a mysterious Greek island in a remote corner of the Mediterranean, they are investigating rumors about a volcanic spring with "miraculous" healing properties that the locals say is guarded by sea monsters from ancient legends.The islanders believe that, like Fatima, the spring is a gift from God....
Views: 474

Bounded in a Nutshell

This is a short story, in the science fiction/horror genre. It is told in the first person. The narrator is in a kind of prison for the criminally insane. He is highly intelligent, but an extreme sociopath.The story opens in Melbourne in the mid 21st Century, as the world is on the brink of a calamitous nuclear conflict. Our hero, Simon Redhead, is a young university student who is unaware that his genetic make-up has conspired to make him a manifestation of the 'Everlasting Hero'. Simon is saved from the forces of evil that are also looking for him and taken to FirstWorld, where he learns about its history and the eternal battle between Law and Chaos into which he is to be thrust. FirstWorld is at the centre of the multiverse – perhaps an infinite number of dimensions that reflect the various probabilities of existence. Originally, there was a single universe and time was linear. We discover that Simon and another manifestation of the Everlasting Hero were responsible for the Sundering, which caused the formation of the multiverse. We are confronted with the possibility that Fate controls everything we do in life and that we have no control over our own actions.Simon finds a group of friends and colleagues to help him in his great quest. There’s a wizard (one of the last of the wise, created by the Great Old Ones to maintain the Balance), an elf, a dwarf, a human warrior, a being of currently uncertain parentage who is the Hero’s companion, and a strange fellow who is perhaps a bard and could be either a friend or a foe. There are possible friends and potential enemies around every turn. There’s a wizard turned evil, who is the main protagonist in Volume One, and there’s the big evil bad guy who won’t be vanquished (or will he?) until Volume Four.We follow two groups of this fellowship as they travel within FirstWorld and through the dimensions and have to overcome many challenges, as well as Simon’s individual journeys through time. Simon’s first quest is to find his Sword, a very powerful talisman, and learn how to control and use it. Others seek it too. When he finds it, there’s an internal moral struggle as to whether he should use its great power. After great soul searching and hiding away in the past, Simon realises that he must accept and face his destiny as the Everlasting Hero and he must use the Sword to save his friends and attempt to defeat the evil wizard, just when all seems lost.
Views: 473

Lasting Image

Memories are visions of a past unfulfilled. When time is spent creating reasons to remain in the past we cheat ourselves of the present. Walk in the light of the new day’s sun and find closure for those ends not tied tight. The memories left behind will not disappear they’ll just make the narrative more interesting.Memories are visions of a past left unfulfilled. When time is spent creating reasons to remain in the past, with those memories, we cheat ourselves of the present. Time slowly erodes opportunity as we wear a path from then to now, constantly furrowing a gap between what is and what might be. The reasons why a childhood trauma keeps calling you back or the tug of a melancholy heart from the one that got away or the man who sacrificed his life protecting you, all seemingly tie the present to the past. What happens when the connection is broken and the tired path is finally treaded no more? Walk in the light of the new day’s sun and find closure for those ends not tied tight. The memories left behind will not disappear they’ll just make the narrative more interesting.
Views: 471

The Aye-Aye and I

Alla fine degli anni Ottanta Gerald Durrell intraprende una spedizione in Madagascar per catturare qualche esemplare di aye-aye, un lemure caratteristico della zona, e garantirne la riproduzione: «Lasciare che un essere così sorprendente e complesso si estingua è impensabile quanto bruciare un Rembrandt, trasformare la Cappella Sistina in una discoteca...». Giunto nell’isola, che gli appare come il profilo di una omelette mal rivoltata, Durrell si mette subito sulle tracce dei misteriosi lemuri. E dopo una visita al mercato locale, dove, sotto gli ombrelloni bianchi fitti come un campo di funghi, sono appesi polli simili a piumini viventi, salva il primo esemplare, altrimenti destinato alle pentole di un’abile massaia indigena. Con il suo incantevole humour, Durrell sa trasformare ogni aspetto dell’indagine scientifica in avventura, in racconto: anche lo studio del vocabolario dei lemuri, con i loro «pop», i miagolii e le fusa gattesche, gli uggiolii canini e i ringhi da tigre. I protagonisti sono sempre gli animali, osservati con occhio ironico e ammirato: flemmatiche oche egiziane in completo di tweed, pappagalli sfavillanti come bigiotteria a buon mercato, felini che paiono incarnare la versione malgascia della Pantera Rosa. E lo stesso occhio amabile e divertito si posa sugli umani, descritti in un compulsivo shopping natalizio tra bancarelle di scimmie infiocchettate e maialini multicolori. Io e i lemuri è apparso per la prima volta nel 1992.
Views: 470

Redshirts

Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory. Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that: (1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces (2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations (3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed. Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.
Views: 465

Fatal Charm

He Was Tall, Dark and Dangerous...Not exactly the kind of man Amanda Vila was looking for as a father to her daughter. Then again, no other man had ever made her melt with desire--not like Tony Ramos. But Amanda always played by the rules--she couldn't possibly get romantically involved with a renegade lawman...a man of many faces....She Was Sexy, Sweet and Secretive...Tony had always relied on his sex appeal to get what he wanted from women. With other women it had been a game. With Amanda... But Tony would do anything to get his kidnapped daughter back, even if it meant seducing Amanda, the one woman who was somehow the key to his daughter's disappearance.
Views: 462