Showing results by publisher "Orion Publishing Group Limited" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

Half a million years in the future, on a dead, war-ravaged world at the centre of the galaxy, there is a mile-high statue of Michael Poole. Poole, born on Earth in the fourth millennium, was one of mankind's most influential heroes. He was not a warrior, not an emperor. He was an engineer, a builder of wormhole transit systems. But Poole's work would ultimately lead to a vast and destructive conflict, a million-year war between humanity and the enigmatic, powerful aliens known as the Xeelee. The Xeelee won.

Michael Poole finds himself in a very strange landscape.... This is the centre of the Galaxy. And in a history without war with the humans, the Xeelee have had time to built an immense structure here. The Xeelee Belt has a radius 10,000 times Earth's orbital distance. It is a light-year in circumference. If it was set in the solar system, it would be out in the Oort Cloud, among the comets - but circling the sun. If it was at rest, it would have a surface area equivalent to about 30 billion Earths. But it is not at rest: it rotates at near light speed.

Isak is a white-eye, feared and despised in equal measure. Trapped in a life of poverty, hated and abused by his father, Isak dreams of escape, but when his chance comes, it isn't to a place in the army as he'd expected. Instead, the Gods have marked him out as heir-elect to the brooding Lord...

Once upon a time Jack set out to seek his fortune in the big city. But Jack gets a bit lost on the way, and when he finally comes to a big city, it is Toy City, formerly known as Toy Town. And there is a serial killer loose upon the streets.

Calling Major Tom is a funny, uplifting tale of friendship and community about a man who has given up on the world...but discovers in the most unlikely way that it might not have given up on him. We all know someone like Thomas. The grumpy next-door neighbour who complains to the residents' committee about the state of your front lawn. The man who tuts when you don't have the correct change at the checkout. The colleague who sends an all-company email when you accidentally use the last drop of milk.

Shortly after her 13th birthday, Ritva is sent away to Seili, an island in the far north of Finland. A former leper colony, Seili is now home to 'hopeless cases' - women the doctors call mad. But Ritva knows she doesn't belong there. As biting winter follows biting winter, she longs to be near to her sister and wonders why her father ever allowed her to be taken to this desolate place. Hope arrives in the form of Martta, a headstrong girl who becomes Ritva's only friend.

There's a new card in the Mercenary Deck - one Lynx isn't sure if he's happy to see or not. The assassin Toil now wears the Princess of Blood on her jacket, and even Lynx would admit she's a woman cloaked in chaos and bloodshed. Their new mission is to escort a dignitary to the pious and ancient city of Jarrazir - beneath which lies a fabled labyrinth. Having barely survived their last underground adventure the mercenaries aren't keen for another, but Toil has other plans. Under threat of siege and horrors rising from the labyrinth, even the Mercenary Deck may have to accept that Jarrazir's prohibition laws aren't their biggest problem.

Don't look back. That's where the danger lies. With Grace left reeling from choosing between Hayden and her family, she knows she needs to accept her decision. Meanwhile, as the youngest leader of Blackwing, Hayden is coping with the demands placed on him to keep the camp alive. Can he protect his friends from their violent rivals? And should he trust himself to do the right thing? Demand loyalty. Protect your family. Trust no one.

Labrys Town, home to a million humans cut off from the rest of the universe, has been invaded. Those who protected it have been deposed. The Relic Guild are scattered across the worlds of the Aelfir. Many of them are dead or dying. The Genii control everything. The war is almost over. Clara, a young woman barely able to control her werewolf side, has seen her friends and mentors killed in front of her. She is the last hope for Labrys Town.

From the critically acclaimed screenwriter of Doctor Strange and author of Sea of Rust and Queen of the Dark Things comes a hair-raising collection of short fiction that illuminates the strange, humorous, fantastical and downright diabolical that tantalise and terrorise us: demons, monsters, zombie dinosaurs and Death itself.

When Charm became Queen of Karisma, the Silversmith made her a precious gift. A bracelet. On it are fastened 13 silver amulets, called 'charms' in honour of the new queen. The bracelet is magic with the power to control the forces of nature and keep everything in balance. As long as Queen Charm, and she alone, has possession of the bracelet all will be well. And so it was until Zorgan, the evil magician, stole the bracelet and scattered the charms far and wide. Then there was chaos!

You fight, you kill, you steal, you lie...or you die. As war breaks out between Blackwing and Greystone, Grace's allegiance becomes clear. But that doesn't make her task any easier. Hayden knows that war is coming. That these raids are just the beginning, and there is something else coming for them. But can he save his camp and free himself at the same time? Welcome to the revolution.

This is the end of us all. For Hayden and Grace, the threat of war has become a reality. The world is running out of resources, driving the survivors to drastic, inhuman measures. Blackwing is the obvious target, and physical attacks from enemies are accompanied by the devastating mental turmoil that cannot be fought off with weapons. This is life impacted by war with enemies, allies and oneself. Now, not much is certain, but a few things are guaranteed: there will be pain. There will be death. There will be annihilation.