Showing results by narrator "Vikas" in All Categories

Lacking health insurance when he was diagnosed with cancer, Shawn Speakman asked friends in the science fiction and fantasy writing community to donate short stories he could use to counter mounting medical debt. The result was Unfettered, an anthology offering tales from some of the best authors working today. Now, in Unfettered III, Speakman continues to pay forward the aid he received, raising money to combat medical debt for SF&F artists and authors.

At eight years old, Shulle has known only life in a small village with her loving but peculiar father. When Uncle Shebna offers shelter in Jerusalem in exchange for Shulle's help tutoring King Manasseh, Judah's five-year-old co-regent who displays the same peculiarities as her father, she's eager to experience the royal court. But Shulle soon realizes the limits of her father's strict adherence to Yahweh's Law when Uncle Shebna teaches her of the starry hosts and their power.

Tough. That's Freddy Martinez and his friend, Cara. They're not afraid of anything. But that was before they went exploring in Freddy's basement. Before they found the secret room. Before they found the bottle of Vampire Breath. Poor Freddy and Cara. They should have never opened that bottle of Vampire Breath. Because now there's a vampire in Freddy's basement. And he's very, very thirsty....

Many companies have used purpose as a corporate buzzword to appear virtuous internally and look good to the outside world. But a poor understanding of the importance of real purpose can have detrimental consequences for the profitability and sustainability of a business.

After killing one of the Elvraeth to save his friends, Rsiran finds a measure of peace, but fears that it will be short lived. When attacked using knives he forged, he is pulled into a struggle that he wants nothing to do with. Worse, friends have secrets they do not share, secrets that could place both he and Jessa in danger. Finding answers sends him Sliding throughout the city and beyond, testing his ability all while trying to understand the secret of the alloy that might be the key to their safety.

Famine. Death. War. Pestilence. These are the harbingers of the biblical apocalypse, of the end of the world. In science fiction the end is triggered by less figurative means: nuclear holocaust, biological warfare/pandemic, ecological disaster, or cosmological cataclysm.

With The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 3, award-winning editor Neil Clarke provides a year-in-review and 27 of the best stories published by both new and established authors in 2017.

I am the good girl, the one who does no wrong. Daughter of a ferocious and strong MC president, I know what protection feels like. Until one night changes everything - and not a single person in the world can protect me from it, not even my dad. Suffocating. Alone. Desperate. I let my problems live deep inside until there is no longer anywhere to run. I need an escape. Anything to make the pain go away. Trouble comes for me, and I don't fight it. I tried so hard to believe in what I was, but nobody understood.

In Nebula Award-winning author Sam J. Miller’s devastating debut short-fiction collection—featuring an introduction by Amal El-Mohtar—queer infatuation, inevitable heartbreak, and brutal revenge seamlessly intertwine. Whether innocent, guilty, or not even human, the boys, beasts, and men roaming through Miller’s gorgeously crafted worlds can destroy listeners, yet leave them wanting more.

In love and soon to be a father, Luke Carey has the life he's always wanted. That is until a mysterious, late-night phone call summons him to San Francisco. Luke's first daughter, whom he hasn't seen in six years, 14-year-old Danielle, needs him, and he's desperate to do anything he can to help. But coming back into Danielle's life means facing his ex-wife, Nora, and the explosive, violent drama of the life he left behind.

I suppose some of us have to get really dirty before we can become truly clean. I was allegedly South Dakota's most famous Old Lady. Sixteen years ago, I had survived my Old Man's murder. Never again. Never again will I surrender my heart. Never again will I sacrifice to the Club. But that all changed in one night. I came home and crashed into him, and my past and present blew up in my face.

In this third book of The Prince Warriors trilogy, the Prince Warriors finally receive their last piece of armor - the swords they were promised when they began their adventure in the unseen realm of Ahoratos. And none too soon, for they must face the ultimate enemy, one who is gathering his Forgers and creating unthinkable new evil to stop the Prince Warriors from winning any battle ever again.

While recovering from the physical and emotional wounds he sustained in Challenger's Hope, Nick Seafort is named as the liaison between the wealthy planters of Hope Nation and the United Nations Navy. The lurking, acid-spewing, fish-shaped aliens are a real threat, and everyone is on edge. When the fleet returns to Earth, dissent grows among the people of Hope Nation, who feel abandoned by the military and left at the mercy of the alien horde.

To be a Docile is to be kept, body and soul, for the uses of the owner of your contract. To be a Docile is to forget, to disappear, to hide inside your body from the horrors of your service. To be a Docile is to sell yourself to pay your parents' debts and buy your children's future. Elisha Wilder’s family has been ruined by debt, handed down to them from previous generations. His mother never recovered from the Dociline she took during her term as a Docile, so when Elisha decides to try and erase the family’s debt himself, he swears he will never take the drug.

With the whole of human history altered, Denny Younger may be the last rewinder in existence - and the last person on Earth with a chaser unit capable of time travel. While caring for his ailing sister, Denny must discover a way to recharge his device before he's left with no defense against a past that wants him dead. Before long, Denny notices a mysterious stranger following him - keeping tabs on Denny, his family, and his friends. Is Denny just paranoid?

Luck has always run in both directions for Naval Commandant Nicholas Seafort. While he has managed to save the Hope Nation colony from alien attack, he and his friends have paid a heavy price. Most recently his exploits have earned him a dignified position as an instructor at the United Nations Naval Academy. But as Seafort suspects, trouble isn't far behind. A return to Earth means a return to his roots, some of which he wishes would remain buried.

Omar knows his scholarship to Ghalib Academy Boarding School is a game changer, providing him - the son of a servant - with an opportunity to improve his station in life. He can't wait to experience all the school has to offer, especially science club and hopefully the soccer team; but when he arrives, his hopes are dashed. First-year scholarship students aren't allowed to join clubs or teams - and not only that, they have to earn their keep doing menial chores.

The seductive and relentless figure of Raymond Chandler's detective, Philip Marlowe, is vividly re-imagined in present-day Los Angeles. Here is a city of scheming Malibu actresses, ruthless gang members, virulent inequality and washed-out police. Acclaimed and award-winning novelist Joe Ide imagines a Marlowe very much of our time: he's a quiet, lonely and remarkably capable and confident private detective, though he lives beneath the shadow of his father, a once-decorated LAPD homicide detective, famous throughout the city, who's given in to drink after the death of Marlowe's mother.

Twenty-two-year-old Sullivan Meadows knew dating Akara and Banks would be complicated, but now that her relationship is public, everything has been put on blast.

If you had any ties to Marbella, it was impossible for you not to have heard the stories about Prince Elias and his debauchery. Every summer he arrived with his security detail and friends in tow and rented out a row of cottages near the water. Cottages that belonged to my family. Each of those summers, my parents sent me away - summer camp and later, boarding school. Anything to keep me away from the royals and their partying. I hadn’t been home in years, but when I finally come back for the summer, I see that not much has changed.