Sci-Fi/UFO

//Sci-Fi/UFO
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  • A little more than a century from now, our world has been utterly transformed. After years of slowly overtaking the continent, rising floodwaters have obliterated America’s great coastal cities and then its heartland, leaving nothing but an archipelago of mountaintop colonies surrounded by a deep expanse of open water. Stubbornly independent Myra and her precocious seven-year-old daughter, Pearl, fish from their small boat, the Bird, visiting dry land only to trade for supplies and information in the few remaining outposts of civilization. For seven years, Myra has grieved the loss of her oldest daughter, Row, who was stolen by her father after a monstrous deluge overtook their home in Nebraska. Then, in a violent confrontation with a stranger, Myra suddenly discovers that Row was last seen in a far-off encampment near the Arctic Circle. Throwing aside her usual caution, Myra and Pearl embark on a perilous voyage into the icy northern seas, hoping against hope that Row will still be there. On their journey, Myra and Pearl join forces with a larger ship and Myra finds herself bonding with her fellow seekers who hope to build a safe haven together in this dangerous new world. But secrets, lust, and betrayals threaten their dream, and after their fortunes take a shocking—and bloody—turn, Myra can no longer ignore the question of whether saving Row is worth endangering Pearl and her fellow travelers.
  • A millennium into the future two advancements have altered the course of human history: the colonisation of the galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain. Like most people left behind on an over-populated Earth, New York City Detective Elijah Baley had little love for either the arrogant Spacers or their robotic companions. But when a prominent Spacer is murdered under mysterious circumstances, Baley is ordered to the Outer Worlds to help track down the killer. The relationship between Baley and his Spacer superiors, who distrusted all Earthmen, was strained from the start. Then he learned that they had assigned him a partner: R. Daneel Olivaw. Worst of all was that the "R" stood for robot - and his positronic partner was made in the image and likeness of the murder victim. Cover art by Dennis Rolfe.
  • Book IV of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. Arthur Dent finds love in the last place he would have expected to find it - but which 3,976,000,000 people find very familiar...and we discover God's Final Message to Mankind. Cover art by Gary Day-Ellison.
  • What do a dead cat, a computer whiz-kid, an Electric Monk who believes the world is pink, quantum mechanics, a 200-year-old Chronologist, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (poet) and pizza have in common? Apparently not much - until Dirk Gently, self-styled private investigator, sets out to prove the fundamental interconnectedness of all things by solving a mysterious murder, assisting a mysterious professor, unravelling a mysterious mystery and eating a lot of pizza - not to mention saving the human race from extinction along the way - at no extra charge. Cover art by Lionel Jeans.
  • Book III of  the Helliconia trilogy. Helliconia is a world at the end of a reign that has lasted nearly 2000 years. The glorious civilisation that blossomed during spring and summer has faded, and the dismal wasteland of winter is rapidly destroying the human race.  It is the chill at the end of the Great Year, the 2,500 year cycle in which each season gives way to a new oppressor. As winter approaches and the numbers of mankind dwindle, the barbaric phagors prepare to seize their chance and rule again. They will succeed - unless mankind can unite and stop them. Cover art by Tim Gill.

  • Divergent: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue - Candour (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful) and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is - she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are -and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves….or it might destroy her. Insurgent: One choice can transform you - or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves - and herself - while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so. Allegiant: The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered - fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she's known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories. But Tris's new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend to complexities of human nature - and of herself - while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love. Four: Two years before Beatrice Prior made her choice, the sixteen-year-old son of Abnegation's faction leader did the same. Tobias's transfer to Dauntless is a chance to begin again. Here, he will not be called the name his parents gave him. Here, he will not let fear turn him into a cowering child. Newly christened "Four," he discovers during initiation that he will succeed in Dauntless. Initiation is only the beginning, though; Four must claim his place in the Dauntless hierarchy. His decisions will affect future initiates as well as uncover secrets that could threaten his own future - and the future of the entire faction system. Two years later, Four is poised to take action, but the course is still unclear. The first new initiate who jumps into the net might change all that. With her, the way to righting their world might become clear. With her, it might become possible to be Tobias once again.
  • Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old human error are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills - and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit - he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him? This is not a novelisation of the film of the same name; this is the basis for the 2015 film. Cover shows Matt Damon as Mark Watney.
  • As a young parish priest, Aelwyn Roberts tried to satisfy his curiosity about ghosts and before he knew it, found himself enjoying the company of these people from the world of yesterday, even acting as a counsellor/social worker to many – and he can’t understand anyone being afraid of ghosts! Here he recounts some of his most interesting encounters and the assistance he obtained from mediums.
  • In the middle of the South Pacific, a thousand feet below the surface, a huge vessel is unearthed. Rushed to the scene is a team of American scientists who descend together into the depths to investigate the astonishing discovery. What they find defies their imaginations and mocks their attempts at logical explanation. It is a spaceship, but apparently it is undamaged by its fall from the sky. And, most startling, it appears to be at least three hundred years old...Has the ship come from an alien culture? From a different universe? From the future?  Why, initially, are there no creatures on the sea floor, and then suddenly, swarms of impossible animals of whole new species?  Who - or what - is transmitting messages onto the scientists' computer screen...messages that grow increasingly hostile? What is the giant, perfect, metallic sphere, clearly not made by man and seemingly impenetrable by him - that they find in the spaceship? And what - most crucially - is the erxtraordinary, terrifying power that threatens their undersea habitat, and then their very lives...
  • Liaden Universe 12. Plan B: Val Con yos'Phelium is a fugitive. The heir of Clan Korval is wanted by the covert Liaden agency known as the Department of the Interior, whose rulers have declared unofficial war against the entire clan. With only his love, Miri Robertson, by his side, Val Con plans a desperate gamble by forming an alliance with Clan Erob on the planet where Miri was born. But Val Con's cousin, Shan yos'Galan, can't wait for help that may never arrive. With enemy agents closing in, he invokes Plan B--setting in motion a series of events that will have dire consequences, not only for him and his life-mate, Priscilla Mendoza, but all of Liad... Liaden Universe 13. I Dare: On the run from the agents of the Department of the Interior, Val Con has been separated from Miri. Shan, Val Con's cousin, and Shan's life-mate Priscilla, continue to search for him, believing that he's the Clan's last hope for survival. But the DOI is attacking Clan Korval in a more subtle fashion. Pat Rin yos'Phelium--Val's ne'er-do-well, nearly identical cousin, gambler and shooter--is offered control of the clan. The DOI believes they can manipulate him into serving their agenda. They're so wrong...Cover art by Allan Pollack.  
  • Liaden Universe No 19. Star-trading Clan Korval - known to Terrans as the Tree-and-Dragon Family and to the locals simply as "the Dragon" - has been convicted of crimes against the homeworld. No matter that one of the "crimes" consisted of saving the elitist planet of Liad from very real internal threats, the Council of Clans wanted Korval heads to roll. Unfortunately for the Council, the Dragon's allies conspired to impose a milder punishment for saving the world: banishment, rather than execution. Now relocated to the free-for-all world of Surebleak, the Dragon is under contract to keep the Port Road open to all traffic, and to back the New Bosses in imposing law and order on a society originally based on larceny and assassination. This modest rustication is going surprisingly well, until Korval discovers that the enemy they'd sought to destroy...wasn't quite destroyed, and is more determined than ever to eradicate Korval. While the banishment killed no one initially, many of Korval’s trading allies are spooked, and some are reneging on ancient agreements, leaving the Dragon to make its own way. The clan’s efforts to stealthily recruit new allies is going haywire, and a secret death toll is rising even as the clan’s adherents endure increasing exposure to danger and deceit off-world. To make matters worse, an active portion of Surebleak's native population liked the Old Ways just fine, and are conspiring to take the New Bosses - and the Dragon - down, and are sure they have the firepower and people to do it. The exiled Dragon has to make an urgent choice - accept an alliance with criminals or face down each and every enemy in person, one by one.
  • Liaden Universe Publication Order 19. Beset by the angry remnants of the Department of the Interior, challenged at every turn by opportunists on their new homeworld of Surebleak, and somewhat low on funds, Clan Korval desperately needs to reestablish its position as one of the top trading clans in known space. To this end, Master Trader Shan yos'Galan, aboard Korval's premier trade ship, Dutiful Passage, is on a mission to establish new business associations and to build a strong primary route that links well with existing Loops and secondary routes. But re-establishing trade and preserving the lives of the few remaining members of the clan aren't all of Korval's problems. Matters come to a head as Dutiful Passage, accustomed to being welcomed and feted at those ports on its call-list, finds itself denied docking, and blacklisted, while agents of the DOI mount armed attacks on others of Korval's traders, under the very eyes of port security systems. Traveling with Dutiful Passage on this unsettling journey is Padi yos'Galan, the master trader's heir and his apprentice. Padi is eager to make up for time lost due to Korval's unpleasantness with the Department of the Interior. She is also keeping a secret so intense that her coming of age, and perhaps her very life, is threatened by it. Cover art by David Mattingly.
  • Liaden Universe 16. A stand-alone Liaden Universe tale. The kompani sees none as an enemy, and yet few as friend. The kompani exists in many places, living quietly in the shadows, thriving off the bounty that others have no wit to secure, nor skill to defend. Their private history is unwritten; their recall rooted in dance and dream. The humans of Clan Korval is in many ways the opposite of the kompani. The interstellar trading clan is wealthy in enemies, fortunate in friends. Korval protects itself with vigor, and teaches even its youngest children the art of war. And when representatives of Clan Korval arrive on the planet Surebleak where the kompani has lived secret and aloof, it seems to the kompani that they are borne by the very winds of change. Change can be a boon for in change lies opportunity. But the arrival of Clan Korval, establishing itself upon Surebleak with its friends, its enemies, and, most of all, its plans may bring catastrophe, changing the culture and the kompani, forever.  In this time of change, the lives of three people intersect - Kezzi, apprentice to the kompani's grandmother; Syl Vor, Clan Korval's youngest warrior; and Rys, a man without a world, or a past. Cover art by David B. Mattingly.
  • Omnibus volume: Santiago and The Return Of Santiago. Bandit, outlaw, known to all, seen by none, has he killed a thousand men? Murderer, madman, myth...Hiis legend as as great as the Galactic Rim itself, his trail as elusive as starlight in the great empty realms of space.  Rewards have been posted on half a million worlds.  His name is...Santiago. They hunt for him on the Galactic Rim, at the very edge of the Outer Frontier, where traders, miners, outlaws and misfits touch down on outpost worlds. They chase him at the Inner  Frontier, towards the core of the galaxy where the stars press so close together that night is as bright as day. They are bounty hunters, like Giles Sans Pitié, of the hard heart and steel fist; Sebastian Nightingale Cain, a disillusioned revolutionary turned professional killer; and the deadliest of the them all, the Angel. They are journalists, like Virtie MacKenzie, who will stoop to any means, including blackmail and murder, to get her story. They are connoisseurs of fine art, like the Jolly Swagman, who wants a few pieces said to be held by Santiago. They are poets and preachers, bandits and pundits, magnates and madmen, aliens and cyborgs - and they all want a piece of Santiago. And a merry chase it is. But just wait till they catch him! For Santiago is much more - and less - than they think. And a hundred years on, when a cunning burglar named Danny Briggs finds a long lost manuscript, Santiago will ride again... Cover art by Allan Pollack
  • The year is 2312. Scientific and technological advances have opened gateways to an extraordinary future. Earth is no longer humanity's only home; new habitats have been created throughout the solar system on moons, planets, and in between. But in this year, 2312, a sequence of events will force humanity to confront its past, its present, and its future. The first event takes place on Mercury, on the city of Terminator, itself a miracle of engineering on an unprecedented scale. It is an unexpected death, but one that might have been foreseen. For Swan Er Hong, it is an event that will change her life. Swan was once a woman who designed worlds. Now she will be led into a plot to destroy them.
  • Strange Vanishings: A long roll-call of ships found adrift from 1840 to 2003, their captains, crews and passengers lost without trace - and with no signs of struggle...and a doomed plane's final mystifying message.  Mystifying Murders: The Melbourne strangler who stole his victim's names...the blood-soaked peer....a killer identified by ESP...Sydney's shark arm mystery... Uncanny Occurences: Portraits of a long-dead couple grow in mould on an Oxford wall...an eerie glow from nowhere lights an Australian cemetery for 60 years. Hidden History: was Stalin poisoned to prevent nuclear war? Did Hitler kill his lover? Scientific Enigmas: What created the gigantic shadow on Mars? How did ancient mapmakers accurately depict a solar system invisible from Earth? And much, much more. Illustrated with black and white photographs.
  • A whisperjewel has summoned Dirk t’Larien to Worlorn, and a love he thinks he lost. But Worlorn isn’t the world Dirk imagined, and Gwen Delvano is no longer the woman he once knew. She is bound to another man, and to a dying planet that is trapped in twilight. Gwen needs Dirk’s protection, and he will do anything to keep her safe, even if it means challenging the barbaric man who has claimed her. But an impenetrable veil of secrecy surrounds them all, and it’s becoming impossible for Dirk to distinguish between his allies and his enemies. In this dangerous triangle, one is hurtling toward escape, another toward revenge, and the last toward a brutal, untimely demise. Cover art by Jim Burns.
  • Book II of World Of Tiers. Imagine a whole series of separate universes, made to suit the whims of a race of super-beings. Imagine these universes with their own laws, cultures, creatures, and ecologies - all existing solely to please the fancies of their individual master. Then imagine one such universe constructed as a diabolical trap to destroy a single person - the man called Robert Wolff, one of the race of universe-makers, and once of Earth. When the satanic Master-Lord, Urizen, kidnap's Wolff's wife, he forces Wolff to enter the deadly universe of ambushes, filled with every kind of tortuous snare that the evil mind of the Master-Lord can devise. Wolff has only his courage and his wits with which to combat this cosmic maze - unless he can perform a miracle, he and Chryseis are doomed.
  • Prisoner of war, optometrist, time traveller...these are the life roles of Billy Pilgrim, the hero of this moving, bitter and funny story of innocence faced with apocalypse. One of the world's great anti-war books, this centres on the infamous bombing of Dresden  during Word War II, Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we are afraid to know. Slaughterhouse-Five made Kurt Vonnegut a cult hero in American literature, a reputation that only strengthened over time, despite his being banned and censored by some libraries and schools for content and language. But it was precisely those elements of Vonnegut’s writing - the political edginess, the genre-bending inventiveness, the frank violence, the transgressive wit - that have inspired generations of readers not just to look differently at the world around them but to find the confidence to say something about it.
  • Book I of Hover Car Racer. In the world of the near future, the most popular sport in the world is hover car racing. Superfast and dangerous, it's heroes are the racers: part fighter pilot, part race car driver, all superstar. But to get to the Pro Circuit, you must first pass through the International Race School, a brutal cauldron of wild races on even wilder courses, where only the best of the best will survive...This is the story of Jason Chaser, a talented young racer selected to attend the Race School. He's younger than the other students. He's smaller. His trusty car, the Argonaut is older. But Jason Chaser is no ordinary racer. And as he races against the best drivers in the world he will learn that at Race School winning is everything, that not everyone in this world fights fair, and that you never ever have any friends on the track.  Cover: Crash Course by Pablo Raimondi.
  • Since his wife, Michelle, left seven years ago, Jeffy Coltrane has worked to maintain a normal life for himself and his eleven-year-old daughter, Amity, in Suavidad Beach. It’s a quiet life, until a local eccentric known as Spooky Ed shows up on their doorstep. Ed entrusts Jeffy with hiding a strange and dangerous object — something he calls “the key to everything” — and tells Jeffy that he must never use the device. But after a visit from a group of ominous men, Jeffy and Amity find themselves accidentally activating the key and discovering an extraordinary truth. The device allows them to jump between parallel planes at once familiar and bizarre, wondrous and terrifying. And Jeffy and Amity can’t help but wonder, could Michelle be just a click away? Jeffy and Amity aren’t the only ones interested in the device. A man with a dark purpose is in pursuit, determined to use its grand potential for profound evil. Unless Amity and Jeffy can outwit him, the place they call home may never be safe again.
  • Book III of Divergent. The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered - fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she's known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories. But Tris's new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend to complexities of human nature - and of herself - while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice and love.
  • Book I of Carve The Mark. In a galaxy powered by the current, everyone has a gift. Cyra is the sister of the brutal tyrant who rules the Shotet people. Cyra’s currentgift gives her pain and power — something her brother exploits, using her to torture his enemies. But Cyra is much more than just a blade in her brother’s hand: she is resilient, quick on her feet, and smarter than he knows.  Akos is the son of a farmer and an oracle from the frozen nation-planet of Thuvhe. Protected by his unusual currentgift, Akos is generous in spirit, and his loyalty to his family is limitless. Once Akos and his brother are captured by enemy Shotet soldiers, Akos is desperate to get his brother out alive — no matter what the cost. Then Akos is thrust into Cyra's world, and the enmity between their countries and families seems insurmountable. Will they help each other to survive, or will they destroy one another? Cover art by Jeff Huang.
  • The planet was called Pyrrus...a strange place where all the beasts, plants and natural elements were designed for one specific purpose: to destroy man. The settlers there were supermen...twice as strong as ordinary men and with milli-second reflexes. They had to be. For their business was murder...It was up to Jason dinAlt, interplanetary gambler, to discover why Pyrrus had become so hostile during man's brief habitation...Cover art by Peter Elson
  • Book V of the Dune Chronicles. Leto Atreides, the God Emperor of Dune, is dead. In the fifteen hundred years since his passing, the Empire has fallen into ruin. The great Scattering saw millions abandon the crumbling civilization and spread out beyond the reaches of known space. The planet Arrakis-now called Rakis-has reverted to its desert climate, and its great sandworms are dying. Now, the Lost Ones are returning home in pursuit of power. And as factions vie for control over the remnants of the Empire, a girl named Sheeana rises to prominence in the wastelands of Rakis, sending religious fervor throughout the galaxy. For she possesses the abilities of the Fremen sandriders-fulfilling a prophecy foretold by the late God Emperor...Cover art by Gerry Grace
  • You can't keep a good rat down, of course nor out of trouble. Jim and the lethal, lovely Angelina owe themselves a honeymoon and Paraiso-Aqui looks like the place. Settled long ago by voyagers from the southern continent of Earth (or Dirt as it was also known) Paraiso is warm and easy. But all is NOT well in paradise. The serpentine General Julio Zapilote is about to sail back into office in another rigged election and the chance to scupper him is too good for Jim to pass up. Corruption, bribery, graft and chicanery...as usual. Cover art by Peter Elson.
  • Medium is a heart-warming machine, designed to provide a connection with the dead.  Now all the world could reach their loved ones - at a price. Anything so emotionally loaded and carrying that kind of price tag could be a powerful political weapon. But no-one, not even the inventor, could guess at how terrible that price might become. Cover art by Peter Jones.