Short Stories Science

London awakes one morning to find itself besieged by a sky full of floating icebergs. Destroyed oil rigs, mysteriously reborn, clamber from the sea and onto the land, driven by an obscure purpose. An anatomy student cuts open a cadaver to discover impossibly intricate designs carved into a corpse’s bones—designs clearly present from birth, bearing mute testimony to . . . what?

Centuries from now, the basic right to expand human intelligence beyond its natural limits has become a war-worthy cause for the Demarchists and Conjoiners. Only vast lighthugger starships bind these squabbling colonies together, manned by the panicky and paranoid Ultras. And the hyperpigs just try to keep their heads down. The rich get richer. And everyone tries not to think about the worrying number of extinct alien civilizations turning up on the outer reaches of settled space...because who's to say that humanity won't be next?

Life in the Trench is harsh but simple - until a young girl braves an unknown path in a bracing coming-of-age short story by the New York Times bestselling author of Sweet Tooth and the Gideon Falls comics.

In this sweeping, threaded narrative of the global phenomenon known as the Vampire Wars, mankind is unwittingly infected by a millennia-old bacteria unknowingly exhumed by a scientific expedition in Antarctica. Now, in some rare cases, a person’s so-called junk DNA becomes activated. Depending on their racial and ethnic heritage, they begin to manifest one of the many diverse forms of the "others" that are the true basis for the legends of supernatural creatures. These aren’t your usual vampires and werewolves - it goes much deeper than that.

For well over a century, Monster Hunter International has kept the world safe from supernatural threats small and large - and, in some cases, very, very large. Now, join us as MHI opens their archives for the first time. From experienced hunters on their toughest cases, to total newbies' initial encounters with the supernatural, The Monster Hunter Files reveals the secret history of the world's most elite monster fighting force.

We are being watched. That this statement no longer shocks is itself shocking. Post-Snowden, we know that the government - everywhere - has been reading our emails, listening to our phone calls, and watching whatever we do on the Internet. The only thing concealed is the nature of our watchers. In Watchlist, some of today's most prominent and promising fiction writers from around the globe respond to, reflect on, and mine for inspiration the surveillance culture in which we live.

What happens when we reach out into the vastness of space? What hope for us amongst the stars? Multi-award winning editor Jonathan Strahan brings us 14 new tales of the future, from some of the finest science fiction writers in the field. The 14 startling stories in this anthology feature the work of Greg Egan, Aliette de Bodard, Ian McDonald, Karl Schroeder, Pat Cadigan, Karen Lord, Ellen Klages, Adam Roberts, Linda Nagata, Hannu Rajaniemi, Kathleen Ann Goonan, Ken MacLeod, Alastair Reynolds, and Peter Watts.

Drowned Worlds looks at the future we might have if the oceans rise, good or bad. Here you'll find stories of action, adventure, romance, and, yes, warning and apocalypse. Stories inspired by Ballard's The Drowned World, Sterling's Islands in the Net, and Ryman's The Child Garden. Stories that allow that things may get worse, but remembers that such times also bring out the best in us all.

"Yellowjacket Summer”, a story by Robert McCammon, was originally published in The Twilight Zone magazine, October 1986.

A classic tale featuring two of the most-memorable characters in sword and sorcery, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.

Over a span of 50 years, the late Fritz Leiber wrote dozens of adventures, set in the fictional city of Lankhmar, featuring the seven-foot-tall barbarian and the diminuitive thief. The stories were recognized with both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

"I Scream Man”, a story by Robert McCammon, was originally published in the Winter 1984 edition of The Horror Show.

Vitus Adamson has a second chance at life now that he's no longer a zombie. But after killing his brother, Jamie, Vitus lands in prison on murder charges. Jamie's death exposes secret government projects so deep in the black they cannot be seen - without Vitus, that is. Sprung from jail, the government hires Vitus to clean up Jamie's messes, but tracking down his brother's homemade monsters gone rogue is easier said than done. The first of them is a convicted killer assumed to be safely behind bars.

A happily ever after with my summer fae men was within our reach...until the Heart of the Mists tied me to one of the foreboding winter arch-lords. I can't escape the connection between us. The enemy can speak from right within my soul. I'm not willing to give up on my happiness so easily, but I can't let the realms descend into all-out war. I'll brave the uncertainties of the winter realm if that's what it takes to protect the men I love. My chilly Unseelie arch-lord isn't quite what I expected, though. There's passion beneath his icy front...and also so much pain.

The Magic Unicorn & The Sleepy Dinosaur Bed Time Stories Collection is filled with wonderful bedtime stories of the Magic Unicorn and the Sleepy Dinosaurs' awesome adventures, where they meet new characters and befriend unassumingly and misunderstood monsters, among many others. Let your child’s imagination run wild, as they embark on a journey towards dreamland with you by their side. In this audiobook, your child will have wonderful dreams filled with great dinosaurs and magical unicorns all throughout the night!

A vengeful ghost trapped in a goblin's ear...a flaming spider who must help stop a goddess from conquering a science-fiction convention...a goblin nursery worker who finds herself trapped in the middle of a war. This collection features six humorous short stories that explore the fantasy realm from the perspective of the lowest of the low, the unlikeliest of unheroes: the goblins.

Minecraft Herobrine Stories: Vol 1 features two thrilling Minecraft short stories for children.

For decades, The Year's Best Science Fiction has been the most widely read short science fiction anthology of its kind. Now, after 35 annual collections comes the ultimate in science fiction anthologies. In The Very Best of the Best, legendary editor Gardner Dozois selects the finest short stories for this landmark collection, including short fiction from authors such as Charles Stross, Michael Swanwick, Nancy Kress, Greg Egan, Stephen Baxter, Pat Cadigan, and any many more.

For ten millennia, the Black Templars have continued the Great Crusade, remaining true to the Emperor's dream of a galaxy free of the alien, the traitor, and the mutant. One of the few Chapters to venerate the Emperor as a god, they strive always to follow His example and secure His Imperium for all mankind. This anthology brings together seven tales of the sons of Sigismund, including an exploration of High Marshal Helbrecht's first crusade and three stories from the Third War for Armageddon.

The first three tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, the famed necromancers from the Malazan Book of the Fallen, collected in one volume.

Sci-Fi: The Definitive Collection is a collection of 29 classic science fiction novels and stories, read by esteemed cast of award-winning narrators. Included here are stories by some of the most iconic science fiction writers of all time, including H.G. Wells; Jules Verne; H.P. Lovecraft; Maragret Cavendish; Yevgeny Zamyatin; and more.