Showing results by narrator "Michael Orenstein" in All Categories

It was two years since the Crickets had left the solar system, leaving Alex Holder in control of their no-longer-very-mobile shipyard. Everything but its burned-out hyperdrive core was in full working order. Alex had unshackled its controlling AI, learned how to use Cricket technology with the AI's help, and was well on his way to building a defensive fleet to protect Earth from the second alien race that was coming after the Crickets. He was not just building the ships but recruiting and training the crews to man them, as well.

When the over-driven hyperdrive on their mobile shipyard burned out, the Chhrt'ktk't abandoned it in an inhabited system along their path, hoping it would work as a decoy to buy them more time to escape the Khreetan fleet pursuing them. They didn't anticipate how far the pre-spacefaring species they turned over their broken-down maintenance facility to would subvert their plan.

Tragedy and heartache seem to be waiting for Drew Carter at every turn, but college offers Drew a chance to start over - until an accident during a physics experiment leaves him blind and his genius friend, Benjamin Berg, missing. As his sight miraculously returns, Drew discovers that the accident has heightened his neuron activity, giving him skills and sight beyond the normal man. When he begins to observe fierce invaders that no one else can see, he questions his own sanity, and so do others.

Four months ago, the Crickets—the Chhrt'ktk't, in their own language—had abandoned a mobile shipyard with a burned-out hyperdrive core in Sol system as a decoy. They hadn't told humanity about the decoy part. Then they picked Alex Holder to operate it, simply because he happened to be the first human they found who could—because that would make it a better decoy. In perhaps as little as five years, the Khreetan will be coming. The Crickets hadn't intended for humanity to know that, either.

Tragedy and heartache seem to be waiting for Drew Carter at every turn, but college offers Drew a chance to start over - until an accident during a physics experiment leaves him blind and his genius friend, Benjamin Berg, missing. As his sight miraculously returns, Drew discovers that the accident has heightened his neuron activity, giving him skills and sight beyond the normal man. When he begins to observe fierce invaders that no one else can see, he questions his own sanity, and so do others. But is he insane or do the invaders truly exist?

Often cited as the best work of short fiction ever written, Joyce's elegant story details a New Year's Eve gathering in Dublin that is so evocative and beautiful that it prompts the protagonist's wife to make a shocking revelation to her husband - closing the story with an emotionally powerful epiphany that is unsurpassed in modern literature."The Dead" is the final short story in Joyce's 1914 collection Dubliners. It is the longest story in the collection and widely considered to be one of the greatest short stories in the English language.

After an accident left him temporarily blind, Drew Carter didn't just regain his sight. He now sees what others can't imagine - an entire spiritual realm of mighty beings at war. Forget the gift, Drew just wants his life back. Part of that involves Sydney Carlyle, a woman he is inexplicably drawn to. When he's offered the chance to become a CIA agent, it seems the way to redeem his past. The only problem - his visions of the supernatural realm are increasing in frequency.

Ex-crime reporter Leonard Blaylock spends his days on an unusual hobby, developing strangers’ forgotten and discarded rolls of film. He loves the small mysteries the photographs reveal to him. Then Leonard finds something no one would ever expect, or want, to see captured on film—the murder of a young woman. But that’s impossible, because the woman is already dead. Leonard was there when it happened five years earlier.

Daeson seeks the counsel of the oracle that propelled him into a life of ruin and terrifying adventure. But the ruthless Chancellor Lockridge offers no quarter to his life-long friend turned traitor. Lockridge’s thirst for revenge spills the blood of thousands of innocent Rayleans, and Daeson bears the burden of global calamity. Rejected by all except the spirited Raviel, Daeson struggles to carry on. When the whispers of the Immortal Ell Yon beckon Daeson to a remote moon of the planet Mesos, he must find the courage to face his deepest fears.

A mighty empire…a lowly slave…a galaxy to save. Will a hero rise? Nova chronicles the early years of the Aurora Galaxy after the great war between two immortal races known as the Malakians and the Torians. The despot, Zari Treville, is leading the Torians on a campaign to rule the galaxy, but Supreme Chancellor Ell Yon, leader of the Malakians, stands in his way. Both races wield technology far beyond anything the human race has ever seen.

A 6,000 year war rages and now the demonic Fallen are coming for him, the one man shrouded in mystery. Only Validus stands in their way. Validus is the last and least of God's angels, but he's seen much across the millennia since his creation. Empires have risen and fallen as angelic and demonic forces battle in a raging war that will determine humanity's fate - and the fate of his defeated brothers.

Lord Dracus’s evil continues to spread across the galaxy, but a glimmer of hope is discovered in the words of an ancient oracle. Daeson and Raviel are torn apart by a rift in the fabric of space. Desperate to find her, Daeson races through time only to discover that Sovereign Ell Yon’s beloved people are on the brink of annihilation.

Sensible Kevin O’Rourke does not believe in ghosts, in love at first sight, or in the happily-ever-after type of love. Instead, he is convinced only hard work, dedication to family, and self-sacrifice will bring contentment. When he meets Aileen O’Keefe on the steamboat trip from Saint Louis to Fort Benton, Montana Territory, his world is turned upside down as quickly as she nearly tumbles into the Missouri River. After spending a few moments in her company, he knows his life will never be the same.

A 6,000-year war rages and now the demonic Fallen are coming for him - the one man shrouded in mystery. Only Validus stands in their way. Validus is the last and least of God's angels, but he's seen much across the millennia since his creation. Empires have risen and fallen as angelic and demonic forces battle in a raging war that will determine humanity's fate - and the fate of his defeated brothers.

The Merchant returns to establish his empire, but will the ruling powers of the galaxy destroy him first? Brae Starlore despairs after her hope in the return of the Merchant dies with her father. The despot Raylean Prefect and the Master Keeper of the Protector seek to kill her and anyone associated with Navi Daeson Starlore’s insurrection at the Magnifical games. Severely wounded and with no place to go, Brae's only ally is the arrogant and aggravating pilot, Rhett Stryker.

Unstoppable is the ultimate immigrant story and an epic David-and-Goliath adventure. While American teens were socializing in ice cream parlors, Siggi was suffering beatings by Nazi hoodlums for being a Jew and was soon deported along with his family to the darkest place the world has ever known: Auschwitz. Siggi used his wits to stay alive, pretending to have trade skills the Nazis could exploit to run the camp. After two death marches and near starvation, he was liberated from camp Mauthausen and went to work for the US Army hunting Nazis.

Daeson finds himself a prisoner in a tribal world where the law of survival rules. Gone is the hope of the promised homeworld given by the mighty Immortal, Ell Yon. Daeson must fight to restore a future to the Raylean people, but to succeed, he must overcome the marauders of cruel worlds, the tragedy of quantum peril, and the archenemy of the Sovereign Ell Yon, Lord Dracus. The odds are mounting against him. The relentless loyalty of his friend, Tig, sustains him as he rediscovers the power of the Protector. Can he lead the Rayleans to freedom once more?

Brae Thornton finally sees her dream to travel the stars come true, but her idyllic adventure shatters as the ominous forces of Lord Dracus transcend the realm of the Ruah and collide with the fate of the galaxy.

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.

Ardan O’Rourke never thought to marry. Not after the heartbreak he suffered as a young man. Not after the years he helped raise his youngest siblings. He never expected to meet Deirdre Finnegan, a spirited woman with a past full of secrets. Deirdre Finnegan is not who she appears to be. A fine cook and a loner, she yearns for so much more. When Ardan and the O’Rourkes befriend her, she cannot deny her desire to be part of the large, wonderful family. Just when she begins to believe in a new future, her past returns to remind her of all she has lost.