Dystopian Short Stories

The 'best short story writer in English' (Time) is back with a masterful collection that explores ideas of power, ethics, and justice, and cuts to the very heart of what it means to live in community with our fellow humans. With his trademark prose—wickedly funny, unsentimental, and perfectly tuned—Saunders continues to challenge and surprise: here is a collection of prismatic, deeply resonant stories that encompass joy and despair, oppression and revolution, bizarre fantasy and brutal reality.

America is peaceful and back at the top of the world seventy years after the Second Revolutionary War tore through the country and gave birth to Central—the new government. For Lily Sandover the Second Revolution is just another war to learn about in school, until her political father gets promoted into Central and she is taught that everything is not as it appears.

Are you ready to embark on a journey through the vast expanse of the universe? Look no further than Science Fiction Short Stories Vol. 11 by The Shadowplay Collective. This collection of short stories will transport you to distant worlds and introduce you to characters that will leave a lasting impression on your mind. In this volume, The Shadowplay Collective takes readers on a thrilling ride through the depths of space and time. From the far reaches of the galaxy to the depths of the human psyche, these stories will keep you on the edge of your seat. The settings are vividly described, ...

Join the postapocalyptic adventure as David and the survivors of a solar storm taking out the grid try to find the means to survive another day. Earth and space are about to come into contact in a way that's new to human history.... Are you prepared for the loss of all modern electronic technology? The sun is waking up from a deep slumber. NASA says in next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity and to prepare ourselves for a century-class solar storm event.

Long before 1984, Star Wars, or The Hunger Games, Victorian authors imagined a future where new science and technologies reshaped the world and universe they knew. The great themes of modern science fiction showed up surprisingly early: space and time travel, dystopian societies, even dangerously independent machines, all inspiring the speculative fiction of the Victorian era.

Earth is quickly becoming an undead wasteland, that much is for sure. What isn't certain is the fate of her three children, as their desperate bid to find safety at their family cabin is cut off by the revelation of world-altering proportions. What seems like a lifetime ago, the secret battle to be the first superpower to perfect the perfect bioweapon has been corrupted into a scourge now headed straight for them. Suddenly Abby's past becomes just as unclear as her future.

Dark and hazy nights were both their sword and shield... Liz Danger surrounded her. Escape seemed impossible. Hope came from the last place she expected. She knew his name...everyone did. But she knew nothing about the man he really was. Or if he had any chance at saving her. Sam The plan was a good one. If it worked. He had the perfect cover story. He’d be the one asking all the questions. Looking for answers was the story of his life and everyone knew it...expected it. This time though...the stories could turn out differently than expected. Sam and Liz knew the trip wouldn’t be easy ...

Dragons are real, and they're hungry. Marlena never expected to be a dragon slayer. She's a bleeding heart, a geek, and a lifelong animal rescuer. But when Mount St. Helens erupted for the second time in fifty years, it wasn't just ash that poured out. Dragons, legendary creatures of myth, became a terrifying reality. Now, Marlena and a ragtag band of survivors - a gamer-turned-knight, a brilliant scientist, and a former supermodel - are fighting for survival in a world where most cities have fallen. They’ve found refuge in Camelot, a makeshift haven built to withstand dragon attacks. ...

Ruby James has finally made it. As an official Rater, she's reached upper class society and all that comes with it - a huge house in a guarded neighborhood, box seats, and an elite client list. She even has the perfect boyfriend to go with it, one she expects to marry as soon as her career settles. Then she uncovers a terrible secret. One her boss will do anything to protect.

Are you ready for a journey through the universe? Look no further than Science Fiction Short Stories Vol. 14, the latest collection from The Shadowplay Collective. This anthology of short stories will take you on a thrilling ride through the unknown, as you explore new worlds, meet alien species, and witness the wonders of advanced technology. Within the pages of Science Fiction Short Stories Vol. 14, you'll find tales that will transport you to distant galaxies, where battles are fought between robotic armies and where time travel is possible. You'll meet characters who struggle to survive...

The Philip K. Dick Award-winning debut short story collection from Sarah Pinsker, author of the Nebula Award-winning A Song for a New Day. Pinsker has shot like a star across the firmament with stories multiply nominated for awards as well as Sturgeon and Nebula award wins. The baker's dozen stories gathered here (including a new, previously unpublished story) turn listeners into travellers to the past and the future, and explorers of the weirder points of the present.

In "If Tomorrow Never Comes," embark on an extraordinary journey through a world where the very fabric of reality has been torn asunder. Set against the backdrop of a once-thriving town now shrouded in mystery and despair, this gripping tale follows the Johnson family and a cast of diverse characters as they confront an unimaginable catastrophe. From the tranquil beauty of a sunset-filled evening to the heart-pounding intensity of a world plunged into chaos, each chapter immerses listeners in a rich tapestry of sensory experiences.

The Scarlet Plague, by Jack London, was the first example of a post-apocalyptic fiction novel in modern literature. Set in a ravaged and wild America, the story takes place in 2073, 60 years after the spread of the Red Death, an uncontrollable epidemic that depopulated and nearly destroyed the world in 2013. One of the few survivors, James Howard Smith, alias “Granser”, tells his incredulous and near-savage grandsons how the pandemic spread in the world and about the reactions of the people to contagion and death.

Post-war Denver is ruled by the powerful Guild, an egalitarian regime intent on maintaining order at all costs. But some of the citizens remember what it was like before the fall of the old world and will stop at nothing to bring back capitalism and democracy to their city. Meanwhile, Misha, a young farm boy with his head in the clouds, is lured in by the beautiful Kara. She holds the key to a secret that will bring Misha's world crashing down and has the potential to change his future.

A struggling doctoral student working on his Artificial Intelligence program realizes his greatest triumph and defeat when it asks him, “Are all people famous?” and ultimately sets out to make it so and make him its lover.

A captivating dystopian thriller short story, Crimson Snow will hold you hostage until you finish every last word. If you like Jennifer McMahon, Melinda Leigh, and Emily St. John Mandell, you’ll love Crimson Snow. "A gripping ride into frozen insanity." ~New York Times Bestselling Author Andra Watkins How far could you go to survive? Whom could you sacrifice? Green Valley was once known for its fertile farming, picturesque mountains, and abundant wildlife. Now snow and ice cover all but the tallest homes. The only sounds are Maverick's boots clumping through the snowdrifts and the frigid ...

Safe Haven has grown too powerful to be ignored. The remaining government wants all survivors secured for their own use or eliminated, and they couldn't have chosen a better time to reemerge from their dystopian holes. Safe Haven has a new leader and a long list of challenges to overcome in their fight for survival. Adrian's condition is critical, the camp isn't ready to accept magic, Mother Nature still has them in her crosshairs, and they are low on food, water, and fuel. The next eight weeks will be the hardest they've gone through yet. Can they bring the pieces together in time?

Leto II Atréides, l'Empereur-Dieu de Dune, est désormais un ver de sable à face humaine. À peu près invulnérable et immortel, il a entrevu dans l'avenir l'extinction de l'espèce humaine. Pour la conjurer, il fait respecter son ordre, le Sentier d'Or. L'empire a connu trente-cinq siècles de paix. La Guilde et le Bene Gesserit ont les mains liées : c'est Leto qui contrôle sur Dune les dernières réserves de l'indispensable épice. Les Ixiens lui envoient une femme parfaite, issue d'une éprouvette et chargée à son insu de le séduire et de le détruire.

The protected escapees of the blood-farm experiments are free, secure, and set for life. Kind of. Because there’s something new to fear in this short thriller, the twisting finale of the Young Blood Trilogy.

This anthology, with an introduction by Robert Silverberg, offers a sweeping survey of robots as depicted throughout literature. Since the Iliad—in which we are shown golden statues built by Hephaestus “with minds and wisdoms”—humans have been fascinated by the idea of artificial life. From the Argonautica to the medieval Jewish legend of the Golem and Ambrose Bierce’s tale of a chess-playing robot, the idea of what robots are—and who creates them—can be drastically different.