1012 results for "Science Fiction"

A Rock and a Hard Place

Peter David,Dave Stern
Under the best circumstances, terraforming is a tough, dangerous task that pits the hardiest of pioneers against an unforgiving environment. When the terraformers on the planet Paradise fall behind schedule, commander Riker is given temporary leave from the U.S.S. Enterprise(TM) and sent to assist. Riker's replacement on the Starship Enterprise is a volatile officer named Stone whose behavior soon raises questions about his ability and his judgment. Meanwhile, Commander Riker has become enmeshed in a life and struggle with Paradise's brutal landscape. However, he soon learns that not all of the planet's dangers are natural in origin -- as he comes face to face with Paradise's greatest danger and most hideous secret.
Pocket Books/Star Trek 1990 244 pages

One small hop

Rosenberg, Madelyn
Ahab Goldstein is a seventh-grader living in an United States (specifically Maine) where the environment has turned toxic, and the corrupt Environmental Police Force is in control, limiting access to natural resources like gas and water, issuing fines, and transporting "fragile" species (pretty much all of them) to the Center for Species Rehabilitation in New Arcadia (a dubious refuge at best); so when Ahab and his friends find a real live bullfrog on an island in the toxic harbor, possibly the last one in America, they are faced with a choice--turn it over (NO!), leave it alone, or bike to Canada to find it a mate.
Scholastic Press 2021 241 pages

The Heir Apparent

Joel Rosenberg
Karl Cullinane and his fellow Earth--exiles Andrea, Ahira, Walter and Lou had succeeded beyond their wildest expectations in the years since a wizard's spell hadd cast them into an alternate world where magic and dragons were real. Now Karl was Emperor and his son Jason was of an age to begin learning the realities if war and leadership. And with the aid of dwarves, elves, humans, and one sarcastic dragon, Karl and his friends had freed many from the evil specter of slavery and were pledged to fight till slavery was at an end. But their actions had made them some extremely powerful enemies, chief among whom was Ahrmin of the Slaver's Guild. And for Ahrmin the time of final reckoning had at last arrived. With or without the aid of the Guild, he would draw sword and take blood vengeance on Karl and Jason Cullinane and all they held dear.......
New American Library 1987 319 pages

Wheelers

Ian Stewart,Jack Cohen
In 2270, archaeologist Prudence Odingo returns to Earth with news of a bizarre discovery of hundreds of ancient wheeled artifacts beneath the icy surface of Callisto, the eighth moon of Jupiter. The wheelers come to life just as several of Jupiter's moons change orbit, causing a comet to hurtle toward Earth. An expedition reveals that Jupiter is inhabited by an alien race that has declared war on humanity. Now, Prudence must discover why.
Warner Books 2001 498 pages

Mutant

Henry Kuttner
The Big Blow-up left huge radioactive sores (the graves of cities) all over the face of the Earth. In time, from some of the women who had been near these shunned areas, the first totally hairless babies began to be born. Their difference was not at first noticeable. But eventually, they became known as "Baldies," with another new and terrifying difference: the Baldies were telepathic! From then on they were hated by normal humans, and sometimes hunted like animals. These five stories are the saga of their struggle for survival and their desperate search to find a safe means to give the power of telepathy to humans, so both kinds might live peacefully side-by-side. NOTE: The original Gnome press version lists Lewis Padgett as the author which is the pen-name for the writing team of C. L. Moore and Henry Kuttner. Contents: The Piper's Son (1945) Three Blind Mice (1945) The Lion and the Unicorn (1945) Beggars in Velvet (1945) Humpty Dumpty (1953)
RosettaBooks 2010 191 pages

Household Gods

Judith Tarr,Harry Turtledove
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.
Macmillan 2000-07-15 672 pages

The Best of Harry Harrison

Harry Harrison
Anthology of Harrison's previously published magazine stories The Street's of Ashkelon, Captain Honario Harpplayer,R.N., Rescue Operation, At Last, The True Story of Frankenstein, I always do what Teddy Says, Portrait of the Artist, Not Me, Not Amos Cabot, Mute Milton, A Criminal Act, Waiting Place, If, I Have My Vigil, From Fanaticism or For Reward, By the Falls, The Ever-Branching Tree, Brave Newer World, Roommates, The Mothballed Spaceship, An Honest Day;s Work and Space Rats of the C.C.C.
Pocket Books 1976 302 pages

Stars and Stripes Triumphant

Harry Harrison
In England, Irish-born citizens are being herded into prison camps. On the high seas, a furious British Navy is seizing American cargo ships bound for Europe. And on the Thames, a new weapon of unparalleled destructive force is sailing toward an impregnable city–spearheaded by a daring act of espionage. For U.S. president Abraham Lincoln, Britain’s Queen Victoria, Lord Palmerston, and a loyal opposition, a day of reckoning is at hand . . . and so is history’s most astounding battle. Harry Harrison’s series of alternate history, based on the U.S. Civil War, stands as a provocative work of imagination, drama, and brilliant historical insight. Now in the thrilling finale, Harrisontells a stunning, action-packed story of America’s rapidly growing military might being locked, loaded, and aimed at the heart of England itself. For the two countries that share a language and a heritage, the conflict began at the dawn of the U.S. Civil War. Just as America was about to tear itself to pieces, Britain itself committed an act of war by seizing a U.S. packet ship. In retaliation, the Confederate States rejoined the Union and took up arms against England. Repulsing a British invasion, and defeating her majesty’s army first in Canada, then in Mexico, then in Ireland, American pride and power swelled. Britain, like a wounded lion, howled in shame and anger. Now, Queen Victoria’s empire is more dangerous than ever before, turning against the Irish on her own soil, flexing her naval might, and all but forcing a weary President Lincoln to authorize the next step in a headlong journey toward war. A tale of daring and strategy, Stars and Stripes Triumphant explores how arrogance turns superpowers into victims, how regional conflicts can explode into world wars, and how the personalities of a few men and women can change the course of history itself–for better or for worse. From the Hardcover edition.
Ballantine Books 2003 304 pages

Fantastic Stories of the Imagination

Warren Lapine,Harlan Ellison,Mike Resnick
Hugo and World Fantasy Award nominated editor Warren Lapine celebrates twenty years in genre publishing with his latest effort, Fantastic Stories of the Imagination. This anthology contains fourteen nicely varied stories by some of the top names in genre publishing and several new up-and-comers. Included are Harlan Ellison, Mike Resnick, Barry B. Longyear, Kelly McCullough, Shariann Lewitt, Tom Piccirilli, Trent Zelazny, Sharon Lee, Steve Miller, and many others. The stories range from edgy cyberpunk to urban fantasy, and they'll stay with you long after you've closed the book. Explore what it means to be human and experience the depth of despair and heights of joy that come along it. These stories do not disappoint.-SF Scope
Wilder Publications 2012-04 328 pages

George R. R. Martin Presents Wild Cards: Pairing Up An Anthology

George R. R. Martin
Superheroes and villains do battle over the human heart in this delightful anthology featuring all-new stories from a wide range of contributors, all set in the Wild Cards universe, where an alien virus mutates some and grants superpowers to others, created by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Game of Thrones . An alien virus ravages the world, its results as random as a hand of cards. Those infected either draw the black queen and die, draw an ace and receive superpowers, or draw the joker and are bizarrely mutated. Nevertheless, human nature reigns supreme. And one of the most enduring human drives is the search for love. Aces and jokers alike both want to find it, or have lost it . . . or perhaps just want to use it for personal gain. Crazy, unconventional, touching, strange, and oh-so-familiar, this is love, Wild Cards-style. Within these stories: • A jewel thief seduces a popular actor just so she can track down a long-lost treasure. • A teenager trapped in the body of a giant snail attempts to win his love à la Cyrano de Bergerac. • A man discovers his purpose in life after meeting a beautiful butterfly woman. • A young hero who has been awarded the hideous name of Hero McHeroface finds some solace in the arms of an astrologer hiding her own unique powers. Pairing Up is the Wild Cards take on love—finding it, seeking it, losing it, or achieving it—as aces and jokers enter into the highest-stake game of all: gambling on their heart's desire. With stories by Kevin Andrew Murphy • Christopher Rowe • Marko Kloos • Melinda M. Snodgrass • Bradley Denton • Walton Simons • Peter Newman • Gwenda Bond • David Anthony Durham • Edited by George R. R. Martin
Random House Worlds 2024-04-09 448 pages