Robots Fantasy

He sought to flee his tragic past, but when Thomas Usher hears a clockwork voice on the phone, and sees ever-more disturbing visions in a derelict warehouse, Usher realises that he has to return home - for the sake of his own sanity. Meanwhile, a deadly figure from Usher's past threatens to undermine the very fabric of reality. Gary McMahon’s short fiction has appeared in numerous acclaimed magazines and anthologies in the UK and US and has been reprinted in yearly “Best of” collections.

It is 2050. The USA has just been sold to the highest bidders. Detective Pete Shah is a Memory Association Specialist with the NYPD - he reads the last thoughts of murder victims. When he himself is arrested for murder, though, the secrets he brings to light threaten to bring the city to its knees. No one here gets out alive.

The two magicians came to take Vegas. Now it’s taking them back. When two college freshmen decide to use Spring Break making magic on the gambling tables of Las Vegas, little do they imagine that Vegas harbours a dark magical secret of its own…the whole place is run by magic, and an undead Harry Houdini is in charge. Matt Forbeck has worked full-time on fiction and games since 1989. His work has been published in at least a dozen different languages.

Marvo is a stage magician. His magic is real. Marvo grows up without knowing his parents, without knowing his heritage, without knowing much about life. The magicians have always been with us, since the beginning of civilisation. They fill our heads with the mist, keeping us from witnessing the stark reality of existence. But are things so bad that Marvo will bring it down on all of us, forever? Marvo begins to understand those around him, and his place in the world; he discovers that his remarkable powers can be put to good, or to evil.

Botanica is an island, but almost all of the island is taken up by the Tree. Lillah has come of age and is now ready to leave her community and walk the tree for five years, learning all Botanica has to teach her. Can Lillah keep the huge secret she has been entrusted with, or will she have to resort to breaking the oldest taboo on Botanica?

It will take more than angels and demons to stop him. Reporter Spencer Finch is embroiled in the hunt for a missing book, encountering along the way cat burglars and mobsters, hackers and mysterious monks. At the same time, he's trying to make sense of the legacy left to him by his late grandfather, a chest of what appear to be pulp magazines from the golden age of fantasy fiction.

Chonrad, Lord of Barle, comes to the fortified temple of Heartwood for the Congressus peace talks, which Heartwood’s holy knights have called in an attempt to stave off war in Anguis. But the Arbor, Heartwood’s holy tree, is failing, and because the land and its people are one, it is imperative the nations try to make peace.

Twelve-year-old Ethan Blackwood has always known exactly what he wants - to win the state soccer championship, get into the best high school, and become an astronaut. Then he meets Madison and Felix, who tell him something... insane. They claim that fifty years ago, aliens took over the Earth, and everyone past the age of puberty is under their mind control. Ethan doesn’t believe it. But then he sees for himself the aliens’ monster bug robots and the incredible way Madison and Felix have learned to fight them. So Ethan Blackwood has a choice....

Having long since replaced humans in the back hallways and servants' quarters of the ultra-wealthy, new models are acquired, render their service, then are quietly deactivated when obsolete. But then we gave them the ability to learn. One household is about to find out that, while Asimov's laws are immutable, humans are about to experience an uprising of a different sort. This first, surprisingly heartfelt episode of a new series puts the listener in the shoes of the the soulless who serve.

Everything in New Braintree was efficient, comfortable, and convenient, but tightly controlled by PACE, a technology provider with dark ambitions of global dominance. And their proposed justice robot, MAX, is more of a politician than a judge, and lacks even simulated ethics. Railas, now fully operational, is the only alternative. He cannot be intimidated or bribed, and he was created to work against tyranny. His team has high hopes to restore justice and defeat PACE. But while Railas and his team investigate MAX and his motives, he finds something worse.

Transistor Rodeo, the world's first all-robot rodeo, travels to Hollywood, making its grand debut in a televised spectacle seen around the globe. But when a city-wide power failure causes a massive blackout in L.A., dozens of robot cowboys and android animals - including a life-size mechanical T-Rex - escape into the night! Now it's up to Cal Carpenter, a washed-up former rodeo star and his young son, Dean, to round up all the runaway robots before something very terrible happens.

The very best person to catch your killer...is you. In the near future, scientists solve the problem of mortality by learning how to back up and restore a person's memories into a vat-bred clone. When Secret Service agent Ronan Doonan is brutally murdered, he's brought back from the dead one more time to hunt his killer, but this time those who wanted him dead are much closer to home. Matt Forbeck has worked full-time on fiction and games since 1989. His work has been published in at least a dozen different languages.

Thomas Usher has a terrible gift. Following a car crash in which his wife and daughter are killed, he can see the recently departed, and it's not usually a pretty sight. When he is called to investigate the violent death of the daughter of a prominent local gangster, Usher's world is torn apart once more. For the barriers between this world and the next are not as immutable as once he believed.

A serial killer stalks Chicago. A gorgeous cop is on his trail. And someone else is watching, someone who will decide who lives...and who dies. The Angel of Death for Chicago makes sure all his souls meet a fitting end. But when a gruesome serial killer strikes, the Angel must make a startling choice. He falls in love with the cop on the killer's trail, and has to choose between divinity and humanity. But to do that he must face the biggest terror of all - who he really is.

Mum and Dad have left—gone to Mars, and they’re never coming back. Freedom at last! But this isn’t one of Dad’s weird jokes; it’s REAL. It’s up to 10-year-old Eliza and her genius little brother, Johnnie, to find out what’s going on, and launch a rescue. Can they handle vampire squids, a suspicious villain, a secret island full of traps and a trip into space? And—more importantly—will they ever get their parents back?

Was fliegt wie ein Flugzeug, schwimmt im Wasser wie ein Schiff und hupt wie ein Auto? Genau, es ist das Fliewatüüt! Erfinder Tobbi und Erbauer Robbi machen sich mit diesem vielseitigen und wunderbaren Fahrzeug auf eine abenteuerliche Reise.

In the year 2085, Benny Love is pretty used to surviving on what he and his family can scavenge on Earth. But when he wins a scholarship for a life-changing trip to visit the Lunar Taj, the first-ever resort on the moon, Benny thinks he finally has a chance to give his family a better life. Benny can't wait to fly his very own Space Runner, practice reverse bungee jumping, and explore craters on the dark side of the moon.

What could be better than a party with your friends in New York City? In the year 2035? The future is bright. In fact the future is already here! But this future, unfortunately, is filled with kidnappings and killings, described herein with dark humor and satire. Demon humor. Demon satire.

Abbey Mei Otis's short stories are contemporary fiction at its strongest: taking apart the supposed equality that is clearly just not there, putting humans under an alien microscope, putting humans under government control, and more. Otis has long been fascinated in using strange situations to explore dynamics of power, oppression, and grief, and the 12 stories collected here are at once a striking indictment of the present and a powerful warning about the future.

「僕は人間じゃない。ロボットなんだ」ユーモアと優しさに満ちた、幻想的なタッチで描かれる青春小説。第1回CRUNCHNOVELS新人賞 大賞作家デビュー作