Bugs Fiction

Ruthless bankers are breathing down their necks, vengeful warlords are promising to pursue them across the galaxy, and now a mysterious new client wants Rade and his Argonauts to escort her to a frontier planet. Problem is, the new client won't reveal her cargo. It's probably something illegal. Well, Rade needs the money, so a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. They arrive to find the frontier colony strangely deserted. When the shit hits the fan and the Argonauts face a possible alien infestation, it's time to pull out the big guns.

Log-in or die. Those are the only choices left for Clay Hopewell. Infected with the ZERO virus, he has less than 24 hours before he bites the dust. With no cure available, there's only one option left: digitally reincarnate himself in the most advanced virtual reality game ever, the mysterious and newly released Arcane Kingdom Online. But cheating death and gaining immortality isn't that easy. If Clay survives the risky cognitive upload process, he'll still have to contend with a fantasy world teetering on the brink of crisis.

A college grad with the six-figure debt to prove it, Ethan Block views San Francisco as the place to be. Yet his job at hot new dating app DateDate is a far cry from what he envisioned. Instead of making the world a better place, he reviews flagged photo queues, overworked and stressed out. But that's about to change. Reeling from a breakup, Ethan decides to view his algorithmically matched soulmate on DateDate. He overrides the system and clicks on the profile. Then, he disappears. One minute, he’s in a windowless office, and the next, he’s in a field of grass, gasping for air.

Bees, ants, spiders, flies—all of the bugs—monitor two things: the health of planet Earth, and the planet's most influential inhabitants, the humans. Should humanity show signs of irreversibly killing Earth, the bugs will exterminate everyone. They'll then start the human experiment over with a fresh batch of people, thanks to the DNA collected by mosquitoes.

Sometimes I wonder what life was like before magic burst into existence, before the Magical War of 810 destroyed our world. What it was like before there were Wyrd Blood, or we were forced into hiding. And that's what I've been doing for years, hiding me and my crew. But that's about to end. My crew is starving and things are getting dire. When I get desperate enough to try and steal from Ryker, one of the toughest men around, things go bad and my Wyrd Blood origins are outed. But it's not all bad. Ryker can help keep me alive from the mysterious illness that's been plaguing me

The territory of Veelox has achieved perfect harmony. Fifteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon arrives on this territory in pursuit of the evil Saint Dane, but all is peaceful on Veelox - because it's deserted. The inhabitants have discovered a way to enter their own personal dream worlds, where they can be whomever they want, wherever they want. Their bodies lie in stasis while their minds escape to the dream realm.

For as long as she can remember, June Bug and her father have traveled the back roads of the country in their beat-up RV, spending many nights parked at Walmart. One morning, as she walks past the greeter at the front of the store, her eyes are drawn to the pictures of missing children, where she is shocked to see herself. This discovery begins a quest for the truth about her father, the mother he rarely speaks about, and ultimately herself.

‘We are now about to visit the most marvellous places and see the most wonderful things!’ This edition of James and the Giant Peach, part of The Roald Dahl Classic Collection, is perfect for Dahl fans old and new. So, enter a world where invention and mischief can be found throughout the book and where magic might be at the very tips of your fingers.

When the Colonial Marines set out after their deadliest prey, the Xenomorphs, it's what Corporal Hicks calls a bug hunt - kill or be killed. Here are fifteen all-new stories of such "close encounters", written by many of today's most extraordinary authors. Set during the events of all four Alien films, sending the Marines to alien worlds, to derelict space settlements, and into the nests of the universe's most dangerous monsters, these adventures are guaranteed to send the blood racing - one way or another.

Clay County Sheriff Rusty Price had been following the two killers since they galloped out of his town but kept out of sight until the sun set. In the low light, he closed the gap and planned to wait until they crawled into their bedrolls to take them down.

Mr. and Mrs. Mantis are out looking for food when they come across an egg. They know it will be a caterpillar soon, so they bring it home and wait for it to hatch. But when the caterpillar emerges, they are in for a surprise! The speedy red critter zooms away at high speed. The Mantises try to chase down their dinner, as more and more creatures set their sights on eating the nimble Ginger-Red Caterpillar. You’ve never experienced the story of "The Gingerbread Man" quite like this retelling for kids.

Summer, California, 1970s. Sally Samuelson is eight years old and the course of her family's life is about to change. When her golden-boy brother Ellis, just graduated from high school, drives up the coast with his two best friends, he promises to be back in a week. But he does not return. After Ellis's unexpected death, the world of the Samuelsons never spins on the same axis again - especially after Julia, Ellis's girlfriend, shows up pregnant on their doorstep.

There is a new girl at Billie's school, and Billie takes it upon herself to show her around, teach her the Biscuit Laws and remind her that, yes, two women can get married (after all, Billie's mums' wedding is the event of the year). But then suspicion sets in. The new girl seems very close to Billie's best friend, Layla. And doesn't she know a little too much about the latest big school heist - the theft of Mrs Robinson's purse?

When Gregor falls through a grate in the laundry room of his apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland, where spiders, rats, and cockroaches coexist uneasily with humans. This world is on the brink of war, and Gregor's arrival is no accident. A prophecy foretells that Gregor has a role to play in the Underland's uncertain future. Gregor wants no part of it, until he realizes it's the only way to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance.

'What are we to do about the bees?' asks the ant to the butterfly, in this gentle eco tale. For the first time in ant’s memory, butterfly has no words of comfort. A newly hatched butterfly thinks he has an answer, but it will require many wings and great cooperation. An uplifting story that brings new meaning to the phrase 'the butterfly effect'.

When the Colonial Marines set out after their deadliest prey, the Xenomorphs, it’s what Corporal Hicks calls a bug hunt—kill or be killed. Here are fifteen all-new stories of such “close encounters,” written by many of today’s most extraordinary authors. Set during the events of all four Alien films, sending the Marines to alien worlds, to derelict space settlements, and into the nests of the universe’s most dangerous monsters, these adventures are guaranteed to send the blood racing—one way or another.

Bliss and her mother have gone to pick blueberries. When Bliss follows a fluttering butterfly, she loses sight of her mother. Will Bliss find her way back?

Contents: - Washington Irving. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Edgar Allan Poe. The Gold Bug - Herman Melville. Bartleby, the Scrivener - Bret Harte. The Luck of Roaring Camp - Leo Tolstoy. The Death of Ivan Ilyich - Fyodor Dostoevsky. The Dream of a Ridiculous Man - Rudyard Kipling. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi - Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The Yellow Wallpaper - Anton Chekhov. The Lady with the Dog - D.H. Lawrence. The Prussian Officer - James Joyce. Araby - Ivan Turgenev. First Love.

Five strands of high-voltage wire, 200 yards of bare ground and double barbed wire fences patrolled by armed guards with dogs separated Mordon Research Centre from the outside world. Yet behind the locked doors of E block, a scientist lies dead, and a new toxin of terrifying power has vanished.

In this trickster tale from Africa, Annasi learns the value of being a good host. He also learns the truth of the old saying, "What goes around comes around."