Alien Contact Fiction

Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade his mind in the war. And one of humanity’s heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers. Eighty years ago, Earth was destroyed by an alien enemy. Many escaped, but millions more died. So mankind created enhanced humans ­such as Idris - who could communicate mind-to-mind with our aggressors. Then these ‘Architects’ simply disappeared, and Idris and his kind became obsolete.

Commander David Bryce returned from his mission, successful, with a derelict alien ship that wasn’t as empty as predicted. With the assistance of an old ally, David is hell-bent on stopping the invasion before it begins. There’s just one problem; the Signal is hidden somewhere on Earth. Atlas Donovan is the only man capable of helping them, and it’s unclear whether he can trust the ORB employees. One thing is clear: Aliens have been to Earth, and from the looks of it, not just a single race. There were two.

In the midst of an interstellar war, Yun Tianming found himself on the front lines. Riddled with cancer, he chose to end his life, only to find himself flash frozen and launched into space where the Trisolaran First Fleet awaited. Captured and tortured beyond endurance for decades, Yun eventually succumbed to helping the aliens subjugate humanity in order to save Earth from complete destruction.

Fleeing Earth after an alien invasion, the human race stands on the threshold of evolution. Their new home is Luna, a moon colony blessed with creature comforts, prolonged lifespans, digital memories, and instant sex changes. But the people of Luna are bored, restless, suicidal - and so is the computer that monitors their existence.

Humanity is on the brink of annihilation. Only one man can turn the tide. For centuries, we explored the stars and settled new worlds. But a mysterious alien threat emerged, launching devastating attacks and seizing entire star systems. Every fifty years they come, silent and relentless, before disappearing again into the dark. And as they close in on humanity’s home worlds, one more defeat could mean total extinction.

I've never spent a day without my mate since arriving on the ice planet. I'm happy and in love, and we have a beautiful child together. All that changed when the world shook. My mate nearly died. He wakes up from his coma...and he can't remember me. Or our son. Every memory of the past two years is gone. And that changes everything between us. How can I love someone that doesn't remember me? How can I not, when I know he's still my mate underneath it all?

He needs me to play the role of fake fiancée to appease his family of tentacle-tailed cops. I'll keep up the charade as long as I need if it means being reunited with Abraxas and Rurik. It shouldn't be too hard, right? To play pretend…My life force is now inextricably tied to handsome, gun-totin' Officer Hyt. But do you know what happens if my new in-laws find out that I'm mated to three different males? Intergalactic war, that's what.

As a newcomer to the alien tribe, I've struggled to find my place. It might be because I'm a tad headstrong at times. And yes, I might have thrown a few things at people's heads. But I had a good reason to pitch a fit - my shy sister was stolen away right under my nose. Of course, now she's back and mated. Everyone's happy...except me. I need...affection. Attention. Okay, I'm lonely. Really lonely. Strangely enough, the only person that I think understands what I'm going through is the same blue-skinned brute that stole my sister. It's wrong to hook up with him, even as a mindless fling.

The Carls just appeared. Coming home from work at three a.m., 23-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship - like a 10-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor - April and her friend Andy make a video with it, which Andy uploads Online. The next day April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world - everywhere from Beijing to Buenos Aires - and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense media spotlight.

A Fire Upon the Deep is the big, breakout book that fulfills the promise of Vinge's career to date: a gripping tale of galactic war told on a cosmic scale. Thousands of years hence, many races inhabit a universe where a mind's potential is determined by its location in space, from superintelligent entities in the Transcend, to the limited minds of the Unthinking Depths, where only simple creatures and technology can function.

In the far reaches of the solar system, the outer planets - billions of miles from Earth, unknown for millennia - are being settled. Neptune, the ice giant, is swathed in clouds of hydrogen, helium, and methane and circled by rings of rock and dust. Three years ago, Ilona Magyr’s father, Miklos, disappeared while exploring the seas of Neptune. Everyone believes he is dead - crushed, frozen, or boiled alive in Neptune’s turbulent seas.

I might be the only unmated female in my tribe, but it doesn't mean I've given my heart. I'm waiting. I want resonance, and I won't settle for anything less. But when an alien ship lands and a handsome stranger steps out, I know he's the one. His name's Mardok, and he's fascinatingly different - and distractingly appealing. But Mardok can't stay on the ice planet, and he says he can take me with him.

Sikthand hadn't planned to take the stubborn little human hostage. But with political tensions at an all-time high, he had no choice. He would unflinchingly use her as a bargaining chip to secure better relations with the new Tremantian ruler. He would not, however, fall prey to her charms. When Sophia and Sikthand realize how far their enemies are willing to go to grab galactic power, they're forced into an unlikely alliance-and possibly a marriage of convenience-to protect their people. It's a good plan, too, if they don't do anything irrational along the way. Like falling in love.

For years, writers and filmmakers have speculated about the possibility of the Earth being invaded by aliens from another planet. But what if the aliens have been watching us, infiltrating us via human collaborators or even surgically altering themselves to look human?

On a little-known planet, Archmage Varic Vallenar casts a grand spell to empower himself with the magical abilities of his alternate selves. The ritual works too well, granting Varic not only the magic but also the memories from six lives. Including their gruesome deaths. Now, Varic has power greater than any wizard in galactic history, but he knows that won’t be enough. The enemies he faced in those alternate lives were apocalyptic in scale. Terrors of technology and magic. Nothing that he, or anyone, can defeat.

Earth seceded from its suzerains' state and declared independence. Naturally, such a bold move did not go unnoticed by its powerful neighbors in space, who had aggressive plans for the inhabitable yet overly self-reliant planet. With black clouds gathering and the term of safety growing ever shorter, positive lines of the probable future for Earth's humanity and its allies were nowhere to be seen despite all Gnat the Devourer's efforts and unique abilities.

For two years in deep space, the freighter Demeter and a small crew have collected botanical life from other planets. It's a lesson in patience and hell. Mechanics Ensign Raina is ready to jump ship, if only because her abusive ex is also aboard, as well as her overbearing boss. It's only after a foreign biological creature sneaks aboard and wreaks havoc on the ship and crew that Raina must find her grit - and maybe create a gadget or two - to survive...that is, if the crew members don't lose their sanity and turn on each other in the process.

Joyce's life is mapped out: dead end job, after dead end job, until she is dead. At least, that is until Kede Tria - a Doshan alien - shows up and takes her away from it all. Literally. He's overbearing, possessive, sexy as hell, and everything she never knew she wanted in a man, er, alien. Of course, life happens and she discovers Death by Chocolate isn't just a dessert, it's a reality. Good thing Kede is there to save her...by making her Doshan.

After thousands of years searching, humans stand on the verge of first contact with an alien race. There are two human groups: the Qeng Ho, a culture of free traders, and the Emergents, a ruthless society based on the technological enslavement of minds. The group that opens trade with the aliens will reap unimaginable riches.

In December, 1999, a multinational team journeys out to the stars, to the most awesome encounter in human history. Who, or what, is out there?