Duncan Chalk is a monstrous media mogul with a vast appetite for other people's pain. He feeds off it, and carefully nurtures it in order to feed it to the public. It is inevitable that Chalk should home in on Minner Burris, a space traveller whose body was taken apart by alien surgeons and then put back together again - differently. Burris' pain is constant. And so is that of Lona Kelvin, used by scientists to supply eggs for 100 children and then ruthlessly discarded. Only an emotional vampire like Chalk can see the huge audience eager to watch a relationship develop between these two damaged people. And only Chalk can make it happen. First published in 1967

Nicole Gunther-Perrin is a modern young professional, proud of her legal skills but weary of the daily grind, of childcare, and of sexist coworkers and her deadbeat ex-husband. Then after one exceptionally awful day, she awakens to find herself in a different life, that of a widowed tavernkeeper on the Roman frontier around A.D. 170. Delighted at first, she quickly begins to realize that her new world is as complicated as her old one. Violence, dirt, adn pain are everywhere; slavery is commonplace, gladiators kill for sport, and drunkenness is taken for granted. Yet, somehow, people manage to face life everyday with humor and goodwill. No quitter, Nicole manages to adapt, despite endless worry about the fate of her children "back" in the twentieth century. Then plague sweeps through Carnuntum, followed by brutal war. Amidst pain and loss on a level she had never imagined, Nicole must find reserved of the sort of strength she had never known.

Kayla and Mishalla, two genetically engineered enslaved non-human (GENs), fall in love with higher-status boys, discover deep secrets about the creation of GENs, and in the process find out what it means to be human. Enslaved by their genetics. Oppressed by their creators. Fighting for their humanity. On rugged planet Loka, life for best friends Kayla and Mishalla is arduous at best. They are GENs, Genetically Engineered Non-humans, and in their strict caste system, GENs are at the bottom rung of society. GENs are gestated in a tank and sent to work as slaves as soon as they reach age fifteen. When Kayla is Assigned to care for Zul Manel, the patriarch of a trueborn family, she finds secrets and surprises--not least of which is her budding friendship with Zul's handsome great-grandson. Meanwhile, the children that Mishalla is Assigned to care for are being stolen in the middle of the night, and a strange lowborn boy is hanging around nearby. After weeks of toiling in their Assignments, mystifying circumstances enable Kayla and Mishalla to reunite. Together with the boys, they hatch a plan to save the disappearing children. Yet can GENs really trust humans? Both girls must put their lives and hearts at risk to crack open a sinister conspiracy, revealing secrets no one is ready to face. The first in a trilogy, Tankborn is a page-turning sci-fi thriller that will leave readers scrambling for the sequel! Check out the other titles in this series: TANKBORN * AWAKENING * REBELLION

Sometime in the twenty-third century, humanity went extinct, leaving only androids behind to fulfill humanity’s dreams. And, having learned well from their long-dead masters, they’ve established a hierarchical society—one with humanoid aristo rulers at the top and slave-chipped workers at the bottom, performing the lowly tasks all androids were originally created to do. Designed as a concubine for a species that hasn’t existed for two hundred years, femmebot Freya Nakamichi-47—one of the last of her kind still functioning—accepts a job from a stranger to deliver a package from mercury to Mars. Unfortunately, she’s just made herself a moving target for some very powerful, very determined humanoids desperate to retrieve the package’s contents…

Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to save the planet before 10 pm (9:30 on school nights)... It's Maximum Boy! It's April Fools! Over and over and over again... That's right, some evildoer is playing pranks across the entire country! There are whoopee cushions on school buses. Silly glasses on the faces of Mount Rushmore. This prankster is pulling off some pretty peculiar plots! But who better to put a stop to these childish stunts than our eleven-year old superhero? In fact, he's already got some suspects. Like Super Sid -- the all-too-perfect superhero that everyone loves to hate. Or could there be a new bully at the heart of all this mischief and mayhem? Maximum Boy is on the case!

Life can be hard as an orphan at Mending Hearts Children's Home, but Abicus Turne is no ordinary orphan. A nefarious trick that results in tragedy causes Abicus to discover his ability to 'slide back' in time and change the past. But he quickly learns that changing the past can have unintended consequences. At the Spring Festival, events spin out of control and expose a secret plot by enemies that would destroy the world. Aided by genius younger sister Binny, street-wise Bosh, and sweet-talking Kendra, Abicus and his fellow 'castaway' orphans race to open mysterious time locks hidden by his parents. Within them lies the key to saving their future. But can Abicus find it in time to also save their past?

Edenborn begins with a stark vision--a microbial apocalypse called Black Ep has wiped humanity from the globe, yet not all is lost. Six individuals have survived the epidemic and are now committed to the task of rebuilding a peaceful civilization. But not everyone shares the same vision, and soon two very different societies begin to form. As we follow a child from each 'family' someone - or something - begins to threaten their innocence. And as the mystery mounts, a mutated strain of Black Ep makes a deadly return. Now the architects who gave breath to this new world must scramble to protect their children from a two-front assault.

Champion procrastinator Kevin Larson has a history emergency--a 10-page report due tomorrow, and he hasn't written a word. He and his friends gather in his room to get the job done, but a series of freak accidents involving a cat, a website, and a mysterious blue light launch the four 7th-graders back to a California Gold Rush town in 1880. A girl named Sarah takes in the four timewrecked kids, at the risk of another beating by her stepfather. Kevin wants to help Sarah escape, but to do that he'll have to change the past. But if he chooses the wrong change, he and his friends may be trapped in 1880 forever.If you like time travel books that mix adventure with history, you'll love Timewrecked. Buy it today!

'The ultimate book for any Jennings or Gleitzman fan.' Kids Book Review Shortlisted - BILBY Children's Choice Awards 2002 - Prize for Writing for Young Adults Winner - KROC Children's Choice Awards 2000 - Prize for Writing for Young Adults Winner - YABBA Children's Choice Awards 1998 - Older Readers Winner - Dymock's Children's Choice Awards 1999 - Older Readers Winner - CROW Children's Choice Awards 1998 - Prize for Writing for Young Adults Winner - COOL Children's Choice Awards 1998 - Prize for Writing for Young Adults Something very weird is happening to Dawn and Rory. And it's not just their new step-family. Slurping slobberers want to suck their bones out. Strange steel sheep want to smash them to pieces. Giant frogs want to crunch them up. Cruel killer creepers want to squeeze the life out of them. Their parents can't help them. Dawn and Rory are on their own. It's wild. It's wacky. It's WICKED! With the perfect mix of humour and suspense, Wicked! will keep middle-grade readers on the edge of their seat as Rory and Dawn navigate the challenges of life, family ... and monsters! A must-read for any kid (or adult) who loves a good mix of creepy, funny and clever storytelling. ALL SIX PARTS IN ONE! Part 1- The Slobberers Part 2- Battering Rams Part 3- Croaked Part 4- Dead Ringer Part 5- The Creeper Part 6- Till Death Us Do Part ------------------ PRAISE FOR MORRIS GLEITZMAN 'Readers can't get enough of him.' The Independent 'A brilliantly funny writer' Sunday Telegraph 'A virtuoso demonstration of how you can make comedy out of the most unlikely subject' Sunday Times 'He is one of the finest examples of a writer who can make humour stem from the things that really matter in life.' The Guardian

From a distant world the invaders came. They were a race not unlike mankind but technologically advanced enough to impose their genocidal interests on Earth. In their wake nearly all of the human population is disintegrated, blanketing the surface of the planet in white dust. This holocaust is the ultimate waste of life, as the aliens discover the new world they have conquered and colonized is incompatible with their biology. Now scattered survivors, both human and alien, trudge through this post-apocalyptic wasteland: a power-hungry science fiction writer, a brilliant scientist losing his battle with schizophrenia, a man convinced he's the robot he portrayed on television in pre-invasion times, a recalcitrant hero who has proclaimed himself the son of God, a former boxer tortured by his past and the tribe of misfits who follow him, and a young girl chosen to bear the children of a new civilization in the last known settlement of humanity. Some are aimless, others purposeful, but all cling to survival and their own sanity, unaware their fates are intertwined. When Earth's champions gather, is there hope for a better world? No, definitely not.

It's the second decade of 21st Century Earth's 29th Configuration. Zack Carver, an alcoholic archeologist, discovers a craft, apparently built for flight, dating back amillion millennia. Carver teams up with Leslee Myles, an attorney, and a stunning, alien humanoid to battle the most malevolent forces in the universe, including bio-terrorists, shadow-military operatives, a renegade administration and Dax Wolf, a sociopath genius. However, the trio'smost daunting challenge is to outfox the Custodians-supreme beings who were born out of galactic cataclysm and whose sole purpose is to find civilizations that have reached their doom-point and then delete all evidence of their existence so that an entirely new life-form may emerge. As with Earth's previous 28 Configurations, the current 29th is rushing toward self-annihilation. Can Zack, Leslee and their otherworldly companion prevent the Custodians from activating the Null Quotient? Is it possible for the three heroes to convince the Nine Custodians to spare their blue-and-green planet and not revert it to the stardust that is the essential ingredient of the primordial slime?Philip Margo is a founding member of The Tokens, the vocal group that made the classic recording of The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Mr. Margo has worked as a record producer with eleven gold records to his credit, is a songwriter, television producer and writer and a personal manager for celebrities. He is currently writing the sequel to his novel and lives in Beverly Hills, California with his wife of forty-three years, Abbie. They are the proud parents and grandparents of three children and seven grandchildren.

Armchair Fiction presents extra large editions of classic science fiction double novels. The first novel is by sci-fi/fantasy master Frank Belknap Long, "Woman From Another Planet." This is the unusual and sensual story of David Loring, an artist, and his beautiful fiancée, Janice Reece. David loved Janice but the Martian Empire had a plan to entice David away from his beloved. With their plan for world domination at stake the Martians selected these two lovers' for their first attack. Together, David and Janice became involved in a highly emotional and physical conflict that broke through the barriers of outer space itself. Join renowned horror and sci-fi author Frank Belknap Long for a 1960 sci-fi tale he wrote for Chariot Books, a book company famous for their sexually provocative paperback novels. Although this tale is fairly tame by today's standards, it's interesting to see how Long weaves the elements of sex and science fiction together. The second novel is "Homecalling," by Judith Merril. The ship had crash landed on an alien world, burning to death the two parents of two small children on board. Although thoroughly jostled and bruised, Dee and her little brother Petey had somehow survived. Comprehending their horrible situation wasn't easy for a child of eight! But, gathering up all the courage she could muster, she set off exploring the area near the ship. What she found, was a large garden, and a lot of very big, ugly, and overly curious, bugs! Veteran science fiction author Judith Merril has presented here a fascinating and convincing picture of the thought-processes of a different species on a far-off world. It's a tale filled with unusual adventure and thought-provoking situations.

Stories deal with a mysterious child, a daydreamer, a mermaid, fortune telling, obsessive love, women writers, aliens, children and parents

Algorithmic Shapeshifting is the first poetry collection of Bogi Takács, winner of the Lambda award for editing Transcendent 2: The Year's Best Transgender Speculative Fiction, and finalist for the Hugo and Locus awards. The collection includes poems from the past decade and previously unpublished work. The scope of pieces extends from the present and past of Jewish life in Hungary and the United States to the far-future, outer-space reaches of the speculative—always with a sense of curiosity and wonder. “Bogi Takács is a poet of visceral exuberance and Talmudic invention. Moving as dazzlingly between genres as languages, e makes the reader eir kaleidoscope where ancient traditions, unenvisioned technologies, and children's toys tumble with ordinary, transcendent precision, imagining new ways of being and observing others signally extant. These poems draw blood and spark synapses, make dauntingly familiar and tenderly strange. You should let them change you.” Sonya Taaffe, author of Forget the Sleepless Shores “Bogi Takács's poetry is gleefully and unabashedly itself, pulling the reader through surreal worlds of visceral magic, body modification, political wit, and interpersonal devotion. Whether looking back into Talmudic history, forward into a science fictional psychic war, or sinking into the earth and growing flowers from its own eye sockets, "Algorithmic Shapeshifting" presents a voice that is consistently fresh, startling, and sincere.” Ada Hoffmann, author of The Outside

A nuclear accident ravages a small town outside of Chicago, resulting in a government quarantine isolating it from the rest of the world. A generation later, with the quarantine still in place, strange mutations have affected the minds of the town's children -- mutations which could either spell the next stage in human evolution, or something far more sinister. As the children's psychic powers begin to manifest themselves in more demented and destructive forms, the kids escape their compound. Now it is up to Shandy Johnson and her friends to track down the runaways. Possessing similar powers, Sandy and her friends find themselves facing increasingly frightening confrontations with their escaped peers. First published in 1964, Sunburst has lost neither its edge nor its relevance. Predating the near-misses and disasters at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, Gotlieb reminds us of the tremendous forces we have at our fingertips -- powers that humans use daily but do not fully comprehend.