The apocalypse will come in A is for Apocalypse, but in a many different forms. Within these covers the apocalypse comes with fire, with a sigh, with tears, in technological code, with alien intervention. It comes with survival in a nightmare landscape, it demands human sacrifice, it stalks through the pages with bloodlust. It freezes, it explodes, it howls.In stories as varied as the trials humanity can endure, this anthology brings together an alphabet of possible world ...

As its name implies, True Confessions is a symposium of the most vivid romances of real life—irresistible masterpieces of realism. Its stories teem with dramatic situations that defy description; tear away the veils of pretense and paint the naked soul in indelible words of truth.These are stories based on fact, naturalistic stories describing intimate life—the lights and shadows, the frailties and falls, the perfect images of lives lived at the extremes of human experienc...

EVERYONE GOES HOMEShrapnel: The Official BattleTech Magazine is your true-north compass toward friendly lines during the blistering, do-or-die BattleMech combat of the 31st century and beyond!A Dispossessed MechWarrior stuck piloting a hovertank when her home is attacked must rein in her pride and jealousy when an entitled young MechWarrior is assigned to her unit. After an arrogant mistake meant someone never got to go home, a Cable’s Rangers lieu...

Clinical trials sit at the center of how new medical therapies move from early scientific promise to safe, effective, and available treatment. Every stage of that journey — designing a protocol, finding the right participants, monitoring their safety, analyzing the resulting evidence, and ultimately gaining regulatory approval — has traditionally depended on expert judgment applied to data that arrives slowly and in fragments. Artificial intelligence is changing what's possible at each of ...

ALL OR NOTHING...On 1 May 3052, twenty-five Galaxies from seven Clans clashed with twelve armies of ComStar’s Com Guards on the pastoral planet of Tukayyid. For twenty-one days, one of the largest campaigns in BattleMech warfare unfolded to decide the fate of the Inner Sphere.The Battle of Tukayyid is one of BattleTech’s most pivotal conflicts. Now, explore this crucial campaign through eight different points of view—from the enigmatic ComStar, whose relati...

HONOR. DESPERATION. JIHAD.Inhuman cybernetic soldiers invade a peaceful world, bringing terror and misery in the name of a new flag. A young soldier, part of the most maligned military machine in history, struggles to find meaning in his service. And the prince of a star-spanning empire discovers that not even he can protect the people he loves.Ten stories of combat, honor, betrayal, and death fill the pages of Front Lines: BattleCorps Anthology Volume ...

HENRI RENÉ ALBERT GUY DE MAUPASSANT (1850-93). The Necklace The Man with the Pale Eyes An Uncomfortable Bed Ghosts Fear The Confession The Horla PIERRE MILLE. The Miracle of Zobéide VILLIERS DE L'ISLE ADAM. The Torture by Hope ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN (1822-99) (1826-90). The Owl's Ear The Invisible Eye The Waters of Death HONORE DE BALZAC (1799-1850). Melmoth Reconciled The Conscript JEAN FRANCOIS MARIE AROUET DE VOLTAIRE (1694-1778). Zadig the Babylonian PEDRO DE ALARÇON. The Nail LUIGI CAPUANA...

A RELENTLESS, IMPLACABLE ENEMY...In 1990, Michael A. Stackpole's novel Lethal Heritage introduced readers to the Clans, genetically enhanced MechWarriors from beyond the Periphery who returned to the Inner Sphere to conquer the Successor States. With advanced BattleMechs and unstoppable skills, they crushed all who stood in their way—changing the BattleTech universe forever.Now, in Onslaught: Tales of the Clan Invasion!, seven stories have been gathered fr...

There are no damsels in distress here!A city guard in a world where sunlight is the greatest currency must choose between what’s done and what’s right when she meets a woman from the other side of the wall who’s caring for a strange brood. A teen girl is inducted into a secret society that slays mythological creatures. A woman and her daughter compete in a race where dragons pull chariots. A very special librarian guards a very special hoard. These and other stories of dragons and ...

COMBAT, HONOR, BETRAYAL, DEATHA man scrabbles to find the BattleMech that will make his fortune. A deadly tank gunner ponders the cost of his calling. An iconic battalion fights its last battle. And in the Deep Periphery, desperate stirrings of horrible weapons breed rumor and betrayal…Sixteen stories of combat, honor, betrayal, and death fill the pages of Weapons Free: BattleCorps Anthology Volume 3.Savvy readers will recognize now-familia...

Darkly funny, crisply written, and told entirely from the demon's gloriously snarky point of view, "Gotcha!" is a short story that delights in turning the horror genre inside out. It is a story about competence, consequence, and the ancient truth that some people are their own worst supernatural event. Y-tan-Nar has just finished ninety years of service with the genuinely skilled Goody Goodman and has earned a rest on hell's seventh level. Someone has other plans. Yanked without warning in...

THE WAR RAGES ON!Shrapnel: The Official BattleTech Magazine returns with more explosive BattleMech action from the 31st century! Experience tales of hard-won survival from the gaming world of Solaris VII, the wilds of the Deep Periphery, and the annals of Clan history. Dive deep into in-depth technology articles, technical readouts, conspiracy theories, war-game and role-playing adventures, and more—all from veteran BattleTech authors, fan favorites, and o...