Because mankind has all but destroyed Earth's ecosystem, we are forced to find homes on new worlds. Seven colony ships have already been launched to new planets. Six of them have been colonized, and ship seven is still on the way to its new home world.We are the eighth colony ship to be launched from Earth toward another star system. In our case we're being sent to SAO 85632, some 94 light years from Earth. We launch tomorrow, Thursday, February 29, 2424, through a man-made directe...

Jack Phylbin and Ted Rankin begin an unexpected adventure when they go spelunking in an old water well on Jack's ranch that suddenly went dry.Their lives are forever changed.What they find when they enter the well, will affect them, and all of mankind, as some of what they discover is revealed to the world. The age-old question of "Are we alone?" is finally answered.But there are those who would use the discoveries for their own gain & power, and those who would kee...

Fredric Brown (1906-1972) is perhaps best remembered for his use of humor and his mastery of the "short-short" form (these days called flash fiction) -- stories of one to three pages, often with ingenious plotting devices and surprise endings. (He also wrote excellent short stories and novels.) This volume contains 27 of his stories, including the classics "The Waveries," "Honeymoon in Hell," "Cartoonist," and many more!Included are:THE WAVERIESOBEDIENCEALL G...

With hundreds of police officers lining the street across from the cemetery on one side, and 3,000 Hells Angels attending a funeral and a shooting at the same service inside the cemetery, the resulting traffic jam between the two sides made for an interesting Saturday afternoon on October 15, 2011.This essay IS NOT an account of the funeral for Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew and the subsequent shooting that took place inside the cemetery. This is about what happened outside the cemeter...

A thrilling tale of a futuristic space odyssey, with a stellar plot set in an intriguing time. The story begins when a young astrophysicist fi nds an anomaly in the solar system that could signal the beginning of the end of the world. Dr. Dia Vu is stricken with a brain aneurysm while in the process of trying to warn mankind of the impending disaster and is put into a cryogenic state to protect her until she can be treated and served. Her preservation allows her to be a part of the quest f...

Here are 25 stories of science fiction that push the envelope, by the biggest names in an emerging new crop of high-tech futuristic SF - including Charles Stross, Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, Peter Hamilton and Neal Asher. High-tech SF has made a significant comeback in the last decade, as bestselling authors successfully blend the super-science of 'hard science fiction' with real characters in an understandable scenario. It is perhaps a reflection of how technologically controlled our ...

At the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California—one of the nation's premier nuclear-weapons design facilities—high-level physicists operate within heavy security to model and test new warhead designs. But politics can be just as dangerous as the weapons they design, and with gigantic budgets on the line, scientific egos, and personality clashes, research can turn deadly. When a prominent and abrasive nuclear-weapons researcher is murdered inside a Top Security zone, FBI investi...

Are we alone? From War of the Worlds to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, ET to Close Encounters, creators of science fiction have always eagerly speculated on just how the story of alien contact would play out. Editor Marty Halpern has gathered together some of the best stories of the last 30 years, by today's most exciting genre writers, weaving a tapestry that covers a broad range of scenarios: from the insidious, to the violent, to the transcendent.

In the new millennium, what secrets lay beyond the far reaches of the universe? What mysteries belie the truths we once held to be self-evident? The world of science fiction has long been a porthole into the realities of tomorrow, blurring the line between life and art. Now, in The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fourth Annual Collection, the very best SF authors explore ideas of a new world. This venerable collection brings together award-winning authors and masters of the fi...

The Martian by Andy Weir | Digest & ReviewAstronaut Mark Watney becomes one of the first people ever to walk on Mars. The question now is will he be the first person to perish on the planet? He is believed to have died in a severe dust storm while on a manned mission to Mars. The search for him is aborted, and he is left behind by his crew members when they escape Mars and return to Earth. However, Watney survives the storm but finds himself on his own and abandoned on the...

So you want a hot rod. What kind? How will you use it? The author's only car is a hot rod 1962 Chevrolet Nova. This day's action is on a race track, but involves social life, introspection, values, technique, and outright fun.

In Ancient Aliens on Mars II, New York Times bestselling author Mike Bara returns the reader to Mars to examine the enduring mysteries of the Red Planet. Building on the case made in Ancient Aliens on Mars and using data acquired from sophisticated new scientific instruments like the Mars Odyssey THEMIS infrared imager, Bara shows that the region of Cydonia overlays a vast underground city full of enormous structures and devices that may still be operating. He peels back the layers of mystery...