Modern Science Fiction

Colin and Click are headed back from the Hellpocalypse timeline when things go sideways, and they end up somewhere they were never supposed to be. Soon Colin is recruited by none other than The Fat Man himself and tasked with saving Christmas in a small Texas town that's plagued by allies of Krampus. Is Santa really just a jolly old fat man? How much trouble can a few gankerl be? Do lederhosen make Colin's butt look fat? Can Colin save Christmas? Get answers to these questions and more in this wacky Christmas fantasy fiction installment in the Junkyard Druid Novellas series.

Morli is a prince on a mission - but he’d rather be baking. Baxter is a lonely production artist stuck in a pandemic lockdown. They are literally universes apart. But with a little help from a magic shop, a raven, and a dead great-aunt who was possibly a witch, Morli and Baxter are joined together on a cross-worlds adventure. Battling killer brambles in order to rescue an enchanted princess seems simple compared to their real challenges: Discovering their strengths and creating a future together.

Eddie Scarr, a modern facsimile of Scrooge, is angrier and more damaged than the original, but just as successful in his own milieu. He’s a Department for Work and Pensions enforcement officer whose sole reason for existing, it seems, is to make life as difficult as possible for would-be benefit fraudsters, and everyone else who crosses his path.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, unique tales inspired by traditional literary forms appeared frequently in socialist-leaning British periodicals, such as the Clarion, Labour Leader, and Social Democrat. Based on familiar genres, these stories were meant to entertain readers of all ages - and some challenged the conventional values promoted in children’s literature for the middle class. Acclaimed critic and author Michael Rosen brings together more than 40 of the best and most enduring examples of these stories in one beautiful volume.

When a woman with perfect memory sets out to solve a riddle, the threads she tugs on could bring a whole city crashing down. The God-King who made her is at risk, and his other servants will do anything to stop her. To become the God-King's Amanuensis, Manet had to master all seven perfections, developing her body and mind to the peak of human performance. She remembers everything that has happened to her, in absolute clarity, a gift that will surely drive her mad.

Long ago and far away (and somewhere south of France) lies the kingdom of Esquaveta. There, Princess Tullia is in nearly as much peril as her struggling kingdom. Esquaveta desperately needs to forge an alliance, and to that end, Tullia's father has arranged a marriage between her and an odious prince. However, one month before the "wedding of the century," Tullia falls in love with a lowly apprentice scribe. The king turns to Anatole, his much-maligned magician. Seventeen years earlier, when Anatole first came to the castle, he was regarded as something of a prodigy.

Lord Dunsany was the most influential writer in the genre that came to be known as fantasy, which his stories set trends for that continue to this day. In this collection you’ll find sixteen stories from the first and greatest master of the fantasy genre.

The Gods of Pegana was the book that marked the transition from imaginary creatures in the real world to the gods of imaginary world. Lord Dunsany was the most influential writer in the genre that came to be known as fantasy, of which his stories set trends for that continue to this day.

Python is a drifter, a vampire living his eternal life on the road and liking it that way. Beholden to nothing and certainly to no one. But such a lifestyle doesn’t come without creating enemies. Most notably, a pesky vampire hunter he cant seem to shake. When he stumbles upon a seemingly abandoned cabin the woods, Python sees the perfect escape and a place to hide.

Our new life in Scotland isn’t perfect, but somehow, being surrounded by the bewitching Highlands has kept the memory of our parents alive. But amongst the looming mountains, lush greenery, and murky lochs, there are hidden mysteries. Mysteries that may hold the key to both our past — and our future. And I’m more determined than ever to get to the bottom of the feud between the Duncan and Blackwood clans. But although things may seem oddly quiet, nothing stays that way when magic is involved.

A husband armed with a sword hacks apart his wife in a Denver grocery store. There are dozens of witnesses, and the crime is captured on the security cameras. To the police, it's an open-and-shut case. To Naomi, the daughter of the couple, it's evidence of dark magic. She hires her ex-lover, a private investigator named Jonathan Shade to prove her father is innocent.

Jason Lee kommt nach New York City, um die Sehenswürdigkeiten zu sehen. Doch seine Pläne ändern sich schnell, als das Apokalypse-Protokoll eingeleitet wird. Risse öffnen sich weltweit und entlassen Horden von Monstern auf eine panische Bevölkerung. Tore zu Dungeons erscheinen, gefüllt mit unermesslichen Reichtümern und Herausforderungen. Schließlich gibt es eine ominöse Ankündigung: Zufällig ausgewählte Individuen werden Erweckt – das heißt, sie werden mit Kräften und Fähigkeiten ausgestattet, um gegen die Monster zu kämpfen und ihre Mitmenschen zu schützen.

Cindi Ella Lass didn't have a career in Paris, Texas in mind when she graduated with a degree in fashion, but her grandmother's offer of a place to live (free rent!) entices her to the small town. When she arrives, she notices the most beautiful pair of crystal shoes in the shop next door...and she can't get them out of her head.

Victor Frankenstein learns how to create life and creates a being in the likeness of man, but larger and more powerful than the average man. Frankenstein rejects the creature, and lives to regret his desire to create life, after it kills his brother William. Frankenstein is a warning against the "over-reaching" of modern man and the Industrial Revolution, alluded to in the novel's subtitle, The Modern Prometheus.

Frankenstein is infused with some elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement and is also considered to be one of the earliest examples of science fiction. Includes introduction and commentary by Mary Shelley. Required reading for any fan of science fiction and horror genres. A classic.

A modern version of Pinocchio, marine Levi Woodyer - known as "Woody" to his special ops team - is on a medical discharge, a man with a haunted past, a painful present and an uncertain future. His father watches, powerless to help his son, as Levi slips further between the cracks, and troubled Levi doesn't seem to be too interested in helping himself. But when his father's simple bribe finally gets Levi out of the house to a physical therapy appointment, his encounter with former high school sweetheart, Linnea Fey, just might put him on the path to wholeness again.

Ernest Belfort Bax (1854-1926) was an English barrister, journalist, philosopher, rights advocate, and historian. In this essay, after dismissing St. Simonism, Fourierism, Owenism, and “Continental Nihilists”, Bax attempts to explain what modern socialism, taken broadly, really means. He outlines the three bases of modern socialism as the direction of industry by a democratic state instead of by private capitalists; as a universal Federal Republic to take the place of the present nationalist system; and in religion, a human ideal to take the place of theological cults.

In this modern retelling of a fairy tale classic, Goldie Lax is a safecracking prodigy who learned her craft from her father and her grandfather before him. When she pairs up with Richard Campbell, who can hack any system, together they make the perfect team, mixing both business and pleasure. When Goldie's grandfather, who survived the Holocaust only to end up in a nursing home in his 80s, tells her about a horrific crime that robbed a good friend of his family's inheritance, Goldie enlists Campbell's help.

In this modern version of the fairy tale classic, Peter finds his Wendy while looking for a rare book on 'shadow' in the library. After hearing Wendy's tale of woe, he invites her and her two little brothers, Michael and John, to come live at his house in south Florida - a place he calls Neverland. But although a large cross-dressing blonde named Tink - who lives with Peter and his band, The Lost Boys - isn't too happy about Wendy's arrival, it's Peter's nemesis, James Hook, who proves to be the new couple's greatest challenge.

This is a story from the "Great Ghost Stories" collection.