British Science Fiction

More than 50 years after publishing his first story, Hugo Award-winning author Asimov remains one of the great names in science fiction. Almost single-handedly he transformed the field from the romantic and Gothic legacy of Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs into the rational, clear-minded genre that exists today. This selection of some of Asimov's most enduring and unforgettable stories is read by the author himself. These vintage tales encompass the full range of Asimov's versatility, while displaying his puckish sense of humor.

Victoria-Margaret is the crown princess of the empire, a direct descendent of Victoria I, the queen who changed the course of history. The imperial tradition of genetically arranged matchmaking will soon guide Margaret into a politically advantageous marriage. But before she does her duty, she'll have one summer of freedom and privacy in a far corner of empire.

Shortly after moving into an old house Coraline discovers a big, carved, brown wooden door at the far corner of the drawing room. And it is locked. Curiosity runs riot in Coraline's mind and she unlocks the door to see what lies behind it. Disappointingly, it opens onto a brick wall. Days later, after exploring the rest of the house and garden, Coraline returns to the same mysterious door and opens it again. This time, however, there is a dark hallway in front of her.

On the day Jane Hartley’s online video series finally launches, she and Kai receive word that his younger half-sister, Delia, is missing. Gaining permission to search for her in Wales, Kai and Jane work together to find the teenage dragon-shifter before she winds up in the hands of the dragon hunters, or worse. As the danger amps up, Kai and Jane’s relationship is put to the ultimate test. Will Kai and his dragon choose Jane above all? Or will a ghost from Kai’s past end up tearing them apart?

Watch out - the Earth just fell into a dark sun's orbit! Or maybe you'd rather visit a theme park called Hell? These are just two of the strange and unnerving tales you'll find in this collection of great science fiction and fantasy stories.

Xar and Wish are on the final leg of their journey—first stop: the Mines of Unhappiness. Here, starvation is never far away for the magical creatures who toil in its horrible depths. Xar and Wish must escape and fast; Xar needs to take control of his ever-growing Witchstain, and Wish must achieve her destiny. But the Tazzelwurm is in their way, a grotesque monster who threatens to block every entrance. Time is not on their side, but the forests are calling them. Will their combined strength be enough for the biggest quest so far, to defeat the Kingwitch once and for all?

A short story companion to Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley, and Frankenstein 2035 by Kev Freeman. The journal written by Victor Frankenstein recording his final experiments leading to the recipe and creation of life. Experimentation and Findings of the Indulgence of Animal Electricity within the Stature of Man. I begin this journal with the anticipation that these records of my endeavors will sometime provide others with a foundation for further experimentation into the remarkability of the human spirit. Victor Frankenstein, September, 1792. Victor Frankenstein studied...

The dead are coming alive on an island in the North Atlantic Ocean. A bullet isn’t going to stop them. They feel no pain. Flesh-eating walkers have been taking sheep and cattle from the fields. A minor inconvenience until someone, or something, starts to organize them. A force of pure evil, building an army of undead offspring, planning the end of mankind. Only the ninjas are suitably skilled to identify the undead, understand them and cut off their heads. So few against so many. Will the human race survive? Featuring Ruby Barnes, John Baptist and D.I. Andy McAuliffe.

As two former enemies morph into something more, the Dragon Knights find out about Ivy's location and offer a reward for her death or capture. Will Stonefire be forced to give her up to protect their clan? Or, will Zain and Ivy be able to find a path where they can defeat the Knights and be together?

All non-Irish dragon-shifters are being banished from Ireland, and Brenna Rossi's only chance to stay with the clan she's grown to love is to mate one of the Irish dragons - Killian O'Shea. Even though he's lost his memory and and his dragon, she's drawn to him and looks forward to some no-strings-attached heat between the sheets. However, the more time she spends with him, the more she realizes that maybe she does want a future with Killian. The only question is whether or not there will be one.

Can’t fight the dead? Then run...The dead are rising and violently attacking people on the streets of the UK. Driven by an insatiable hunger for flesh, they attack anyone who dares to go out. Anna is trapped as the zombie apocalypse rages outside her front door. Desperate and alone, she must find a way to get to her children who are with her ex-partner. As Anna runs from the dead, she finds help from Rob and his 15-year-old brother, Jack, despite Rob’s better instincts. Together, they run the nightmare gauntlet that used to be their neighbourhood.

Nobody's supposed to see the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee before her Silver, yet Ben and Georgie do exactly that. Who in their right mind would agree to move into a mansion with their narcissistic ex-boss after stealing his job? Ben, apparently. When he joins Isaac’s Dungeons and Dragons party, the adventures begin in the cellar, but get disturbingly real when the players find a space-age capsule in the attic filled with vintage clothes and artefacts. The gang's first foray into the hermetically-sealed space ends in a mad scramble to escape before the computer initiates evacuation protocols...

How far would you go to make your dreams come true? On Hal Spacejock's home planet, efficient and highly intelligent robots have taken most of the jobs. Hal's one of the lucky ones, because he works as a cargo loader at a third-rate spaceport. Lucky perhaps, but not satisfied. Because instead of loading freighters, Hal wants to fly them, exploring the galaxy in his very own ship. But how can he possibly save for a spaceship? Hal can barely make rent, and he's hanging onto his job by his fingernails. It all seems like an impossible dream, until Hal intervenes in a one-sided fight in the ...

In this World War One alternate history novel by Jason Lambright, Private Bill Strohmeier, a light machine gunner in the 7th King’s Ohio Rifles Battalion, fights to save himself and his friends in the muck and blood of the deadly trenches of France and Belgium. Every day could be his last. Each bullet could have his name on it. As the heavens roar and the ground heaves with high explosives, can Bill and others in the 7th Ohio Rifles live and hold out against the Kaiser’s best? Does Bill survive this walk in hell?

Four sci-fi short stories where you'll find good computers, people who regret their past, and an explanation for something you're familiar with.

Tired of reporting the news but never investigating, Jane Hartley is determined to expose the truth of the Carlisle dragon hunters. While meeting with one of her sources, she spots the tall, blond dragonman she first saw three months ago back on Stonefire. When the dragonman warns her off, Jane becomes more determined than ever to find the truth before he does. With most of the threats to his clan under control, Kai Sutherland wants to find a way to take down the Carlisle hunters for good.

Nikki Gray has reason to hate the dragon hunters - they brutally murdered one of her friends a year ago. Not only that, they have caused havoc on several of the British dragon clans, injuring countless individuals. Determined to defeat the hunters by kidnaping their leader, Simon Bourne, she teams up with a human male in the British Special Forces. After six months of work, they're finally ready to carry out their mission and capture Bourne. However, one kiss derails their plans and changes their lives forever.

RAF tail gunner Harry Wakefield should have died in 1944. Trapped in a flaming bomber over Nazi Germany, he jumped without a parachute—and walked away without a scratch. Twenty years later, an earthquake shakes his remote mountain farm. Harry is convinced a plane has gone down—but what he finds up on the peak isn't a plane. It's something far more advanced. And not of this world. As shadowy government agents move in to bury the truth, Harry is faced with a stark choice.

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Saul David's comprehensive history, All the King's Men: The British Soldier from the Restoration to Waterloo, read by the actor Sean Barrett. "The British soldier," wrote a Prussian officer who served with Wellington, "is vigorous, well fed, by nature highly brave and intrepid, trained to the most vigorous discipline, and admirably well-armed...

The Ministry has always been part of our world, operating in the moral grey area of radical thought and revolutionary technology. It works to prevent intellectual contagion in an era where a dangerous thought can spread across the globe faster than a pandemic, and more virulently. Jacob Trials is one of their star agents, a man who has carried out actions both heroic and villainous, both necessary and brutal. He has given over his very body to the cause, with machinery that he barely understands adapting and enhancing him. When an unknown group starts hunting him with a viciousness he can ...