Short Stories Science

People have been telling stories about warriors for as long as they have been telling stories... Our contributors make up an all-star lineup of award-winning and bestselling writers, representing a dozen different publishers and as many genres. We asked each of them for the same thing - a story about a warrior. Some chose to write in the genre they’re best known for. Some decided to try something different. You will find warriors of every shape, size, and color here....

Viewed by many as the greatest science fiction writer on any planet, Philip K. Dick has written some of the most intriguing, original, and thought-provoking fiction of our time. This collection includes "The Minority Report," "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," "Paycheck," "Second Variety," and "The Eyes Have It."

In this short story collection of courage, adventure, and magic, heroes—ordinary people who do the right thing—bravely step forward. But running toward danger might cost them everything.

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

Ryan doesn’t remember much about his life before becoming a dungeon core. Only that he had a bit of a disagreement with the church—something to do with a beheading? Now reborn, Ryan begins to arm his darkness dungeon with devious traps, bestial zombies and ill-named skeletal creations, without doing anything too evil. Well, mostly. Some adventurers just deserve a stalactite to the head.

Dave has been wandering through life for a long time. His day job bores him, and he never seems to be able to meet his family's expectations. The only escape he's ever had is his love of MMORPGs. But when he becomes the subject of a test without even knowing it, he's transported into a game-world called Eloria with no escape.

Every Christmas, for reasons which seem good at the time - especially after an eggnog or two - Max and the others leap into the nearest pod and indulge in their illegal Christmas jump. It's a tradition. This year, however, just to be different, they find themselves part of someone else's illegal Christmas jump. It's time to don a spacesuit and bring your own urine!

The only thing Benji lacks more than ambition is luck. And his new job has to be the lowest of the low. But something is stirring in the zero-footprint economy of New St. Louis. And Benji’s about to find himself chin deep in the muck! This story was originally published in the Hugo Award-nominated METAtropolis.

N. K. Jemisin is one of the most powerful and acclaimed speculative fiction authors of our time. In the first collection of her evocative short fiction, Jemisin equally challenges and delights listeners with thought-provoking narratives of destruction, rebirth, and redemption.

When the Colonial Marines set out after their deadliest prey, the Xenomorphs, it's what Corporal Hicks calls a bug hunt - kill or be killed. Here are fifteen all-new stories of such "close encounters", written by many of today's most extraordinary authors. Set during the events of all four Alien films, sending the Marines to alien worlds, to derelict space settlements, and into the nests of the universe's most dangerous monsters, these adventures are guaranteed to send the blood racing - one way or another.

For Fox, Caleb, Gage and the other residents of Hawkins Hollow, the number seven portends doom - ever since, as boys, they freed a demon trapped for centuries when their blood spilled upon The Pagan Stone.

The world was brought to its knees by the zombie virus. But humanity has risen from the ashes and has begun to rebuild. Courageous men and women have kindled a fire of hope in the darkness. But mere survival is not enough. The real challenge is how to keep that future alive. How to not just survive, not just to rebuild, but actually thrive. To tell the universe that mankind can take whatever nature throws against us and not back down.

Nadine is the only witch of her kind. With unique powerful abilities, she's a prime contender to sit on the witch's council, yet she's anything but welcome. A haunting family curse threatens to force her out of her magical college, and revealing her greatest secret may lead to the destruction of her people. Lucas is the only warlock of his generation destined to ferry the souls of the dead. Accepting his dark gift is as brutal as investigating the coven's mysteries. He's prepared to fight the darkness alone, until he receives a warning beyond the grave from Nadine's mother.

Monster Hunter International may have had its roots in the United States of America, but there are plenty of monsters in the big old world. And wherever there are monsters, humans will need monster hunters. Here then, stories of the things that go bump in the night and the men and women who bump back—focusing on the myths, legends, and folklore of Czechia, by Czech authors. Includes a new short story by Larry Correia.

“Deluge” is a stand-alone backstory of two characters from the Paternus trilogy. In this short story, myths, fables, and legends from around the world are combined to recount the adventures of Fintán mac Bóchra and Myrddin Wyllt in ancient Ireland and tell the “true” tale of the global disaster known as the Great Flood.

Barsoom Series Collection: 7 John Carter Stories is an audiobook collection of seven novels/stories of John Carter by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It will transport you to a fascinating new world unlike any other. Join John Carter as he finds himself on another planet beyond his deepest imagination - Mars, with almost a complete lack of resources.

In “The Center for Immortality Research,” a low-level employee runs herself ragged planning a fancy gala for donors, only to be blamed for a crime she witnessed during the event, under the noses of the mysterious celebrity benefactors hoping to live forever. But she can’t be fired—no one can. In “One More Kiss, Dear,” a tender, one-sided love blooms in the AI-elevator of an apartment complex; as in, the elevator develops a profound affection for one of the residents.

As the Emperor travels the galaxy at the head of his Great Crusade, few events are as important as rediscovering his scattered sons, the Primarchs, and bestowing them as the masters of their Legions. United, a Legion becomes a reflection of its Primarch, both in his strengths and his flaws. For the Twelfth Legion, once the War Hounds and now the World Eaters, the line between strength and flaw is almost impossible to separate.

Pass through fairy tales into the magic of invisible worlds in these opulent stories by a beloved fantasy icon and author of the classic Riddlemaster trilogy.

For Megan Wolford, life as she knew it came to an end after the world was decimated by an EMP. Now, she does her best to survive and protect her daughter, Caitlin. But when the young girl falls ill with a mysterious virus, Meghan must leave the safety of their home and embark on a dangerous journey to forage for medical supplies.