Systems Science

As a software developer from Texas, Tom thought he understood broken code. But when mysterious obelisks transform Earth into a glitch-riddled dungeon crawler, he discovers that debugging the apocalypse won't be as easy as turning it off and back on again. Their lifeline? Vending machines turned into miniature storefronts. These mechanical saviors dispensed everything from swords to shampoo—until they started dispensing death.

I’ve fought monsters big and small, but rebuilding civilization might be my toughest battle yet. We might have secured D.C., but that doesn’t mean the threats are over. This time, it’s more insidious and dangerous than we ever expected. I’m going to have to find a way to rebuild a community, develop infrastructure, keep on leveling, and save my people from a deadly, magical virus.

Everything is going according to plan. Ivan Susanin has successfully installed a beacon in the undead territory and returned home. The situation changes when the next mission to the city of goblins is delayed, while his home planet becomes the battleground. Monsters invade Earth, and Ivan must become one of the leaders and unite the players under his banner, albeit within the borders of his own country. If circumstances demand that he discloses his identity and cooperates with the authorities, so be it! Modern weapons and equipment, instructors, financing, and protection by law....

Long Fang is stranded in a foreign world where proper cultivation has been replaced by annoying blue screens. He is confused and alone...but not for long. Completely ignoring the System, he forms a wholesome sect of followers to spread cultivation across the wild world. Blue screens do not take kindly to rejection, however, and Long Fang’s stubbornness soon finds him pitted against increasingly dangerous foes. To overcome the System tribulations, he must quickly grow stronger and wiser.... But first, he needs to get past that one annoying town guard.

As Reeves shows, the growing separation between the upper middle class and everyone else can be seen in family structure, neighborhoods, attitudes, and lifestyle. Those at the top of the income ladder are becoming more effective at passing on their status to their children, reducing overall social mobility. The result is not just an economic divide but a fracturing of American society along class lines. Upper-middle-class children become upper-middle-class adults.

Full of unexpected twists and surprises, Restoration is a major turning point in the ongoing saga of Star Trek, New Frontier. Read by Joe Morton!

Because about four weeks ago, the world simply turned. One day we had iPhones and GoPros, Mickey Mouse and hamburgers. The next day we had magic and monsters. And us humans? We became players with levels, items, and classes. Pretty ironic considering how many times my parents told me to “quit gaming and experience real life” while I was growing up. And then real life grabbed us by the balls, and it was the gamers who were prepared.

Defeat the monsters, become the champion, save the survivors. A sliver of humanity abandons Earth, forced into the skies because genetically enhanced monsters rule the world. Will they persevere - or perish?

The American child welfare system is bent toward protecting adults, not children. Kids in danger are treated instrumentally to promote the rehabilitation of their parents, the welfare of their communities, and the social justice of their race and tribe. It is time to stop letting efforts to fix the child welfare system get derailed by activists who are concerned with race-matching, blood ties, and the abstract demands of social justice, and start asking the most important question: Where are the emotionally and financially stable, loving, and permanent homes where kids can thrive?

Devon Walker has had it rough lately. She kinda saved the game world - or, at least, earned the citizens of Aventalia a small respite from the demon attacks - but the wild magic she used had some devastating consequences, starting with a shattered landscape and the apparent vanishing of her settlement. Now, it's up to her to fix the problems, save her NPC friends, and lay plans to take the attack to the demon forces.

The Leviathan is dead. Humanity has won the global mission but the price has been too high. Japan is in ruins, Honshu lies partially underwater, and the capital has been destroyed. The country has been left without leadership and tens of millions have perished, while monsters continue to hunt down the survivors. Ivan Susanin heads to the submerged Toyo as part of an expedition to find the missing raven, help evacuate the civilians and slay as many monsters as possible. And that's only on the surface.

Peter Kraemer, a physics teacher with a passion for astronomy, makes a discovery that he himself can hardly believe: Stars disappear from one day to the next, with nothing left of them. The researchers he contacts provide reassuring and logical explanations for every single case. But when Peter determines that the mysterious process is approaching our home system, he becomes more and more anxious. He alone perceives the looming catastrophe. When he believes he has found a way to avert the impending disaster, he chooses to pull out all the stops.

American politics seems to grow more contentious and complicated by the day, and whether American democracy works well is hotly debated. Amidst all this roiling partisan argument and confusing claims and counterclaims, there has never been a greater need for an impartial primer on the basics of the American political system.

Discover William Tenn's brilliantly satirical science fiction classic Venus is a Man's World, where gender roles are hilariously reversed. In this thought-provoking tale, Earth's male population has been decimated by war, creating a society where men are rare, pampered commodities and women hold all positions of power.

The War on Cops exposes the truth about officer use of force and explodes the conceit of "mass incarceration". A rigorous analysis of data shows that crime, not race, drives police actions and prison rates. The growth of proactive policing in the 1990s, along with lengthened sentences for violent crime, saved thousands of minority lives. In fact, Mac Donald argues, no government agency is more dedicated to the proposition that "black lives matter" than today's data-driven, accountable police department.

In A Good Time to Be a Girl, Helena Morrissey sets out how we might achieve the next big breakthrough towards a truly inclusive modern society. Drawing on her experience as a City CEO, mother of nine, and founder of the influential 30% Club, which campaigns for gender-balanced UK company boards, her manifesto for new ways of working, living, loving and raising families is for everyone, not just women.

Do you need to learn how to use SQL in order to properly manage a database? Do you want to learn SQL programming without complicated explanations? SQL for Beginners: A Step by Step Guide to Learn SQL Programming and Database Management Systems is an easy to digest and fast-paced guide to learning Structured Query Language (SQL), which is the industry standard programming language for defining and analyzing data in databases. The audiobook will focus on how to use SQL in order to process your data and find out what it means.

Breeze through your nursing school and NCLEX testing exam and pass with ease. This book is set up so that you can take the test in the first section without answers and rationales. The second section includes the questions, answers, and rationales.

Commanders from six Star Trek crews are faced with the ultimate gamble, as they hurl themselves through a Gateway without any knowledge of what lay beyond. Each faces a personally unique challenge, struggling to find a way back to the ships and homes they left behind. Waiting behind at least one of the Gateways are the ageless Iconians, the primordial architects of the mysterious portals causing chaos throughout the Milky Way galaxy.

This book discusses how passive-aggressive behavior is rewarded. Techniques to ensure passive-aggressive behavior doesn’t interfere with workflow, how to take responsibility for your part of the interaction, and how to make sure you aren’t part of the problem. This discussion will cover three reasons why people behave passive-aggressively and help you learn how to respond professionally and effectively to the problem so that these individuals don’t wreak havoc in your workplace.