Hard Science Fiction

SHORT STORY: Living in a flooded lighthouse is probably illegal, but no one has come to kick her out, so she keeps furtively tending the oyster beds and feeding the crows. But when a storm brings an unexpected, and unwelcome, visitor, her time in this final refuge might be at an end. Planting the Shell-Bones is one of six short solarpunk stories in the Halfway to Better collection. If you enjoyed the optimistic climate solutions in Kim Stanley Robinson's Ministry for the Future or the cozy cooperative future in Becky Chambers' Monk and Robot series, you will enjoy Halfway to Better.

SHORT STORY: At the bottom of the sea, a trawler crawls across an abyssal plain, carefully cleaning microplastics off the ancient mineral-rich nodules, when the crew finds something that shouldn't be possible. Slimy Things Did Crawl is one of six short solarpunk stories in the Halfway to Better collection.

SHORT STORY: A sister in the far future, when we no longer burn things for fuel, finds a forbidden thing that would make the perfect gift. The Day We Stopped Burning is one of six short solarpunk stories in the Halfway to Better collection. If you enjoyed the optimistic climate solutions in Kim Stanley Robinson's Ministry for the Future or the cozy cooperative future in Becky Chambers' Monk and Robot series, you will enjoy Halfway to Better.

Tomorrow’s Hope: A journey of exploration and hope builds on the themes reminiscent of classic Science Fiction written by the greats of the 1960’s. Inspired by the works of Ben Bova, Isaac Asimov, Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Heinlein, Robert Silverberg, and more, we dive into worlds that could be just around the corner.

In the heart of the Pacific lies a mysterious island, shrouded in secrecy and guarded by the enigmatic Gordon McMillan, the world's wealthiest and most elusive genius. Once a titan of the technological realm, McMillan's sudden retreat from the world's stage three years ago left many puzzled minds wondering about his intentions. Little did they know, his seclusion was merely a prelude to an audacious experiment that would alter the course of human history.

With the seizure of an advanced freighter and its strategic cargo, James Van Wert is assigned to a combat vessel that possesses a groundbreaking new technology which the Fleet hopes will stop the insurgency. But James must first battle command infighting and the technological challenges of getting an untried ship ready for action, while the freighter captives travel to the heart of the enemy cabal to fight for their very lives.

The best steel is forged by the hottest fires and under the greatest pressures. So too, have the Kurdish Peshmerga been shaped by thousands of years of warfare and oppression. Now, for the first time in history, they have their own nation, and its a chance to live, grow, and develop as a unified people. But they are surrounded by hostile dictatorships intent on the destruction of their young republic.

Far into humanity's distant future, Naga, a whimsical superintelligent being, finds herself reborn. Her trusty companion Apollo – a quantum quintessence with an uncanny ability to predict the future - helps her throw a birthday party of cosmic proportions. Naga's children – Tartarus, Gaia, Iapetus and Mnemosyne – have mixed feelings about their newly reborn mother and about each other. Remembering their own trials and tribunals, they rediscover themselves and take a stab at understanding consciousnesses, complexity and what it means to be alive.

After their adventures in Nepal, Professor Elliot Brand and Nepalese agent Ashra Shah want to enjoy their summer in London together. But when Ashra is called back into action, her new mission leads to an ancient mystery that might be the greatest threat she and Elliot have ever faced.

Lux keeps inventing things or adapting alien tech (ancient tech to the aliens) because the active alien civilizations they discover through portals and probes have gone through cycles of war, decline, and rebirth several times. Lux further develops the portals using discovered alien tech. Earth empties refugee camps the UN was running (1,200,000) and sends them with a military escort for their "safety." The military sends many ships for escort duty with orders to take over the colony and use the refugees as a labor force.

Jacob Westergren, an expert in his field of study, gets paid to research the most sickening parasites known to man. But, even when he looks at the most appalling of the species, he does not see the intrusive ugliness that humanity does, he sees himself. He sees a vessel by which to purge himself of an amalgam of detestable emotions. Emboldened by promising experimentation, Jacob is anxious to unburden himself by sharing his emotional parasite, in physical form, with the rest of the world.

Charlotte Kensett: A woman born without the ability to feel empathy for others. The perfect recruit for British intelligence, although not all is as it seems. Finding herself the pawn in a high-stakes political game, Kensett must go on the run as she is branded a traitor by the country she serves.

The Star is an 1897 apocalyptic short story by H. G. Wells. Here is an impressive story based on the inter-action of planetary bodies and of the sun upon them. A great star is seen approaching the earth. At first it is only an object of interest to the general public, but there is an astronomer on the earth, who is watching each phase and making mathematical calculations, for he knows the intimate relation of gravitation between bodies and the effect on rotating bodies of the same force from an outside source. He fears all sorts of wreckage on our earth.

With the Borman suddenly out of commission and far beyond reach, cislunar space begins falling into chaos as critical satellites fail and valuable lunar mineral shipments begin disappearing in transit. Nothing is as it seems, and Marshall Hunter and the rest of the crew suspect none of it is by coincidence.

The year was 2034; the world had transformed into a digital utopia. Once a tool to simplify tasks, technology had become society's very fabric. Artificial intelligence managed everything from climate control to global finance, and virtual reality was the preferred mode of travel. Humanity has achieved unprecedented levels of efficiency and comfort. Yet, beneath this sleek veneer of progress, a digital storm was brewing.