Showing results by narrator "Alex Boyles" in All Categories

The Book of Revelation, the Maya, Nostradamus - humans have speculated about the end since, well, the beginning. In this book, we look at several “end of the world” scenarios - or at least, things that could make human life really difficult.

Garbage comes to life as animated creatures called junklets, wreaking havoc in elementary schools. Specially trained kids from the magical School of Garbage are sent to stop the rise of the trash monsters. With the school’s magical janitorial supplies—brooms that can fly, toilet plungers that can reverse gravity, and mops that can capture anything in their strings—the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

Adam O’Connor is no stranger to trouble. His most recent stunt—setting off firecrackers in a teacher’s car—has landed him a school suspension. But even Adam can’t have predicted the brand of trouble that awaits him when he’s yanked to 2345 to attend an historic meeting between humans and the warlike K’lugu and Devlins. Will he display the “grit” that only a select few in his generation possess? Will he become the hero that he is destined to be?

As part of a desperate battle to save an imperiled twenty-fourth-century Earth, four teenagers from the planet’s past join forces on a mission to the edge of the solar system to a small scientific base overrun with cute but dangerous alien pests.

The nuclear bomb ushered in a new age. The rules of warfare had to change when one act might end civilization. In this audiobook, The Changing Face of War, we examine the technologies being developed or adapted for war and defense - and what these innovations mean for the way nations (and non-state antagonists) conduct military or security operations.

In science fiction, artificial intelligence takes the shape of computers that can speak like people, think for themselves, and sometimes act against us. Reality of course is vastly different, though in many ways computers surpass their fictional counterparts. This book reviews work in the field and covers topics from chess-playing to quantum computing. The writers tackle how to make computers more powerful, how we define consciousness, what the hard problems are, and even how computers might be built once the limits of silicon chips have been reached.

Drawn by the promise of adventure and wealth, Titus Bass joins an expedition to Spanish California, where the ranchos have horses and mules in abundance. Their plan is to steal the livestock and drive it back east across the great Mojave Desert to sell to fur traders for top dollar. But pursuit by formidable Mexican soldiers and an attack by fierce Digger Indians take their toll on Bass and his fellow raiders.

The wild and free world of the mountain man is quickly fading into the past. For Titus Bass, leading his family north to winter with the Crow people, the journey is a sad one. He must save an old friend from death and rescue his daughter Magpie from cutthroat traders. He will try to free a wagon train of innocents from its unscrupulous leader, and he will try to come to terms with his long–lost daughter Amanda, bound for a new home in a faraway land Bass himself will never see.

Traveling with his wife and infant daughter, Titus Bass heads north into Crow territory. But what should have been a joyous reunion with his wife’s people turns to tragedy when Bass’s family is kidnapped by the warring Blackfoot. A deadly outbreak of smallpox, brought west by the white man, threatens both Indian nations with annihilation. And another kind of epidemic—this one of greed—brought by two powerful, profit-hungry trading outfits will determine the fate not only of free trappers like Titus Bass—but also the destiny of the entire nation.

Crack in the Sky continues the development of the young Titus Bass as he gradually learns the lore of the mountain man. From a raucous rendezvous of trappers to a searing fight with Comanche, from a frigid winter’s chill to the angry heat of a chase with horse thieves, Titus Bass’s West comes alive in this remarkable novel—and in its final scene, Titus Bass will meet young Josiah Paddock and form the deep friendship explored in Carry the Wind.

It’s 2336, and the future needs heroes! They must reach back in time to find them. What if they come for you? In 2336 there is no war, no pollution, no disease, no crime—but utopia has a price.

James sells toys. He’s a workaholic and he’s made a very good living, even if his wife and four children don’t appreciate it. Truth is, his marriage is falling apart and he barely recognizes his kids. So when James’s youngest daughter, seven-year-old Reba, asks God for a Christmas miracle to “fix” her family, something most unexpected happens—unexpected and horrible. The Christmas tree catches fire and the house burns down, taking with it all of their possessions.

Something is wrong with Liam. He collapses during soccer practice, he can’t stay awake in class, and he’s starting to see a ghostly white fox that disappears into smoke. His parents and teachers accuse him of being lazy and staying up too late, but he knows it’s something worse. He feels like he’s disappearing bit by bit: his strength, his skills, his mind. No one believes him except for Alaina, a friend and self-proclaimed expert in fantasy and fairy tales. She’s seen this sort of thing before and believes Liam has been cursed with a powerful sleeping spell.

Assemble Artifacts: A short story magazine that assembles a thrilling new mix of stories from genres including horror, science-fiction, comedy, and suspense. Buried at the heart of every story in the magazine is a unique artifact, an object that has inspired our storytellers to create a big idea, an irresistible question, a new immersive world, or a sense of wonder. Includes “Nothing Was Already Here” by April Wolfe, “Labyrinth Loop” by Isabel J. Kim, “Divine” by Michael Griffo, “Dismantle” by Joshua Sky, “The Twelve Gates Barber Shop” by K.T. Jayne, and “Refrain” by Gretchen McNeil.

In Buffalo Palace, the young Titus Bass sights and then sets out into the vast Rocky Mountain country. This is where he has his initial experiences with trapping beaver, surviving the freezing winter, fighting fierce Indians and even fiercer fellow mountain men, and celebrating at the hard-earned summer rendezvous. Most memorably, we walk with Titus as he first sees the immense herd which originally fueled his wanderlust and which now feeds, clothes, and houses the frontier’s pioneers, when he reaches the country lovingly called the “Buffalo Palace.”

Graysen Foxx is no stranger to the mysteries hidden in Ordinary Elementary—the bat-filled tunnels, the secret passageways, the underground chambers, and the sticky spiderwebs—and he’s on the hunt for a creepy old painting that will guarantee his victory in the school’s Halloween room contest. But finding and claiming the painting is only the beginning of a wild adventure filled with puzzles that will put Graysen’s treasure-hunting skills to the test. When Graysen finds a mysterious symbol on the back of a dusty spelling bee medal, the discovery spreads like creamy peanut butter.

Landon Murphy never imagined he would spend his summer battling the animated trash monster known as the Megalajunk, and he is eager to continue studying from the wizard-like janitors at the School of Garbage. He’ll need to improve his skills with magical pushbrooms and plungers now that the Thingamajunks have gone rogue. When two Thingamajunks show up at Landon’s mother’s wedding, Landon is desperate to save his family. Using the lock he kept after defeating the Megalajunk, Landon accidentally triggers his own temporary transformation into the trash leviathan.