Visionary Fiction

It was a hard sell, but Cameron had convinced Heather to return to the exoplanet Sang-Morang - where he had hoped they could experience the wonder of this majestic corner of the universe, together. The spacecraft Primion was flight-ready and the immense creature - the Minal Loth - seemed content to follow him wherever he went. And he still had the old Ford pickup truck, gassed up, and ready to explore more of that alien landscape. But Cameron’s well-intentioned plan turns out to be one of his very worst.

Für Frieda, eine englische Primatenforscherin, sind Tiger nichts als wilde Tiere, fremd und roh in ihrer Aggression. Aber seit sie in einem kleinen Zoo in Devon arbeitet, begegnet sie den Wildkatzen täglich. Nach und nach beginnt sie sich für das Wesen der Tiger zu interessieren; dann, sie zu verstehen, und schließlich, sie zu lieben.

In 1930s Japanese-occupied Korea, Lee Woo-cheol was a running prodigy and a contender for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. But he would have had to run under the Japanese flag. Nearly a century later, his granddaughter is living in Japan and training to run a marathon herself. She summons Korean shamans to hold an intense, transcendent ritual to connect with Lee Woo-cheol.

A landmark in contemporary Spanish literature, Agustin Fernandez Mallo’s Nocilla Trilogy - Nocilla Dream, Nocilla Lab, and Nocilla Experience - presents multiple narratives of people and places that reflect America and the world in the digital age of the 21st century.

In this epic, mythical debut novel, a newly-wed couple escapes the busy confusion of their homeland for a distant and almost-uninhabited lakeshore. They plan to live there simply, to fish the lake, to trap the nearby woods, and build a house upon the dirt between where they can raise a family. But as their every pregnancy fails, the child-obsessed husband begins to rage at this new world: the song-spun objects somehow created by his wife’s beautiful singing voice, the giant and sentient bear that rules the beasts of the woods, the second moon weighing down the fabric of their starless sky, and the labyrinth of memory dug into the earth beneath their house.

From the moment we become aware of our own existence, the question of what happens after death looms over us like an ever-present shadow. It's a question that has perplexed philosophers, theologians, and everyday individuals for millennia. Throughout my own journey, this question has been a persistent companion, guiding my thoughts and fueling my curiosity.

The Dalai Lama's cat is back - older, a bit wiser and as curious as ever. In this audiobook, the Dalai Lama sets for his lovable feline companion the task of investigating the art of purring. Whether it's the humorous insights gained from a visiting Ivy League Psychology Professor, the extraordinary research of a world-famous biologist, or the life-changing revelations of a mystical yogi, His Holiness's cat encounters a wealth of wisdom about happiness.

Disenchanted with her personal life and faced with mounting career pressures, 39-year-old Michelle Black dreams of escape. But the high-octane finance professional and mother of two is ashamed to admit the depth of her struggles. Michelle’s frustration intensifies when her fumbling attempts to ask for help go unheeded. Then, work goes from bad to worse. Desperate to relieve the bleakness inside, Michelle turns to unspoken addictions and dangerous behaviors for a balm to her wounded soul. When the band-aids fail, what can she do next?

Vanja, an information assistant, is sent from her home city of Essre to the austere, wintry colony of Amatka with an assignment to collect intelligence for the government. Immediately she feels that something strange is going on: People act oddly in Amatka, and citizens are monitored for signs of subversion.

Otto Binder: The Life and Work of a Comic Book and Science Fiction Visionary chronicles the career of Otto Binder, from pulp magazine author to writer of Supergirl, Captain Marvel, and Superman comics. As the originator of the first sentient robot in literature ("I, Robot," published in Amazing Stories in 1939 and predating Isaac Asimov's collection of the same name), Binder's effect on science fiction was profound.

Moving on from the trauma of combat in Afghanistan, former Green Beret Captain Sam Dale has just begun to settle down in his hometown of Castle Rock, Colorado. Now the owner of several small businesses, he is unaware that his world is about to be turned upside down. The call comes in at 2:30 a.m. The skies outside have opened up, unleashing a torrential rainstorm. Sam’s small towing company is being tasked with the retrieval of some kind of crashed aircraft.

On the verge of adulthood, Rafi attends the Lyceum, a school for the psionically gifted. Rafi possesses mental abilities that might benefit people . . . or control them. Some wish to help Rafi wield his powers responsibly; others see him as a threat to be contained. Rafi’s only freedom at the Lyceum is Wallrunning: a game of speed and agility played on vast vertical surfaces riddled with variable gravity fields. Serendipity and Ntenman are also students at the Lyceum, but unlike Rafi they come from communities where such abilities are valued.

Inspired by his own childhood experience as a patient at Primary Children’s Hospital, the late Roy Bates leaves us a tale of courage, forgiveness, and love. Katherine Wilson struggles to believe that God’s love is within her reach, until her daughter is diagnosed with leukemia. Distraught and desperate, Katherine finds understanding and peace from the most unexpected places.

Liza, an orphan girl living on the cold streets of London in 1834, is able to rise above her squalid surroundings to bring joy to the lives of others. Although only 11, she displays amazing courage as she cares for a younger child and ekes out a bare existence through the approaching winter, guided by the wisdom embodied in letters left to her by her mother. When Liza meets a wealthy gentleman, her mysterious, almost magical manner causes him to re-examine his own life.

In this action-packed sequel to City of Dark Magic, we find musicologist Sarah Weston in Vienna in search of a cure for her friend Pollina, who is now gravely ill and who may not have much time left. Meanwhile, Nicolas Pertusato, in London in search of an ancient alchemical cure for the girl, discovers an old enemy is one step ahead of him. In Prague, Prince Max tries to unravel the strange reappearance of a long-dead saint while being pursued by a seductive red-headed historian with dark motives of her own.

Nabokov’s fourth novel, The Eye, is as much a farcical detective story as it is a profoundly refractive tale about the vicissitudes of identities and appearances. Smurov, a lovelorn, excruciatingly self-conscious Russian émigré living in pre-war Berlin, commits suicide after being humiliated by a jealous husband, only to suffer even greater indignities in the afterlife as he searches for proof of his existence among fellow émigrés who are too distracted to pay him any heed.

At the heart of the book is Bill Gray, a famous reclusive writer who escapes the failed novel he has been working on for many years and enters the world of political violence, a nightscape of Semtex explosives and hostages locked in basement rooms. Bill's dangerous passage leaves two people stranded: his brilliant, fixated assistant, Scott; and the strange young woman who is Scott's lover - and Bill's.

Once the most deeply cherished book in English-speaking households other than Bible itself, John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim's Progress is the allegorical tale of Christian the pilgrim on his journey to the Celestial City. Along the way, Christian encounters both worthy companions and dreadful adversaries. Although this book was written more than three hundred years ago, this stirring spiritual narrative still bears the power to challenge and encourage readers on their own spiritual journeys.

Vampires, ghosts, and other horrors abound in this collection of 19th-century fantastic literature, selected and edited by Italo Calvino, a 20th-century master of the speculative.

El autor presentaba la edición italiana de este libro, que tuvo un éxito extraordinario, con estas palabras: Ésta no es una novela. Ni siquiera es un cuento. Ésta es una historia. Empieza con un hombre que atraviesa el mundo, y acaba con un lago que permanece inmóvil, en una jornada de viento. El hombre se llama Hervé Joncour. El lago, no se sabe. Se podría decir que es una historia de amor. Pero si solamente fuera eso, no habría valido la pena contarla. En ella están entremezclados deseos, y dolores, que no tienen un nombre exacto que los designe. Esto es algo muy antiguo.