Science Fiction Monsters

She spends her days chasing around her high-energy, half-shifter toddler and her nights working full-time trying to make ends meet. Oh, and add in the absolute cluster of a situation her ex dumped in her lap on his way out? Well, that's just icing on the cake. With virtually no options left, Emerson heads for Haven, a sanctuary city for monsters and humans alike. Survival means taking a job at The Monster's Den—a club that caters to the inhuman residents of her new home. But freedom comes with complications of its own.

"Perfect deadpan marks the opening of Ali Simpson’s The Monster'" writes Susan Merrell of The Southampton Review in her introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading.

Syl, an archmage who tirelessly fought the monsters spilling from the magical Gates and Towers, yearns for a life free from the chaos of battle. When he is assigned to an Aurian magic academy to guard an undercover princess, he is happy to be no more than an unremarkable class three student with dismal practical scores. Right up until people start trying to kill them both.

Luna Thorn’s past is a mystery...even to herself. She arrived in Detroit amid a swirl of lights and magic. She had no memory of where she came from. No idea why she was there. Years later, she’s established herself as a force to be reckoned with on the Detroit magical scene. She ingratiated herself with the local reapers. She set up a community called the Cathedral to help those who had been displaced from their homes and families, declaring that nobody would fall through the cracks. Still, doubt remains.

The sweeping romance of Passenger meets the dark fantasy edge of This Savage Song in this stunning contemporary fantasy debut from Vanessa Len, where the line between monster and hero is razor thin.

When a missing person case lands in the lap of Black Knight Investigations, Jimmy Black and his partner, Greg Knightwood, jump back into action - until their missing person rises as an uncontrollable vampire and all signs point to a supernatural coup orchestrated by an unknown vampire of immense power. With the case going sideways, more missing girls, and a new cop in town way too curious about Jimmy's perennial youth, life in Charlotte is about to get interesting again.

Candour, the mysterious spymaster, has devious plans and Melody Delaney is about to throw a spanner in the works with her volatile temper along with her undying devotion to her friends. Where there’s trouble, there’s also opportunity. If Josh can persuade her to join his team, she would add a new dimension to their monster hunting capabilities. If only Josh could navigate the perilous water of Mythelore’s political houses while adding to his team, he might still get his dream.

The God of Death is tired of dealing with the living, so he’s decided everyone should die. And he’s found allies. The Berru, an empire of dark mages, has unleashed a terrifying army of monstrous lyksvight upon everyone with a pulse. While the wealthy and powerful, the kings and queens, abandon the dying world, one group of misfits says no more. Through dogged determination and the ability to bind souls to their dead bodies, Aaslo and his friends fight on.

In Monsters, Inc., join monsters Mike and Sulley on a wild adventure that takes them from the Scare Floor at Monsters, Inc., all the way to the dangerous human world. Joined by the human child, Boo, the best friends must return the little girl before an evil plot prevents her from ever going home.

Life is finally going right for Lazarus Kerrigan, necromancer and Pale Horseman. Business is booming, and no gods have tried to kill him for a whole month. But the past is catching up to him. There's a serial killer on the loose in New Orleans, one that targets children and leaves behind only bones. When the case develops eerie similarities to his sister's murder, Laz knows the police are in over their heads. They need help, and the dead aren't talking. Well, except for the ghost of a 200-year-old pirate, and Laz doesn't like what he has to say.

They say fire rained from the sky for seven days signaling the arrival of the monsters. They say humanity fought hard to beat them. They say the celestials saved us. They say a lot of things. Me? I deal in the present. In scouting for useful things and keeping my team alive outside the protective walls of our base. I might not have a fancy monster-killing blade like the Sweepers do, but I've avoided getting my face eaten off so far, so I call that a win. But when my base is taken by monsters, my scout skills are the only thing standing between imminent demise and survival.

Dolli had a very hands-off approach to ruling her once booming village. She preferred to use her alchemical skills to brew a nice cup of tea and keep whiny petitioners off her lawn with Wendigo repellant. But she pays the price for her apathy when her neglected village transforms into a Dungeon, making it fair game for any Hero with a lust for loot.

Despite all of the odds, Joan achieved the impossible. She reset the timeline, saved her family – and destroyed the hero, Nick. But her success has come at a terrible cost. She alone remembers what happened. Now, Aaron, her hard-won friend – and maybe more – is an enemy, trying to kill her. And Nick, the boy she loved, is a stranger who doesn’t even know her name. Only Joan remembers that a greater and more dangerous enemy is still out there. When a deadly attack forces Joan back into the monster world, she finds herself on the run with Nick – as Aaron closes in.

After surviving an encounter with the Beast, the pinnacle of power in the Nexeus, Salvos decides she still needs to get stronger. But power does not come easy, especially at the higher levels. Fortunately for Salvos, she has made an enemy out of the Demon King himself, and she will take advantage of his animosity towards her. If the Deathsquad Hunters want to come for her head? She will welcome them with open arms.

When a horrific loss throws Monster High into a state of grave upheaval, Draculaura and the other ghouls find themselves coping in different ways. For her part, the chaos at school is making Draculaura sick. She finds escape only by slipping away to the cemetery to pore over her mom's old journals. It's there that she meets Poe. If her ghoulfriends find out she's fallen for a normie, they'll freak. And if Poe discovers she's a vampire, his monster-hunting dad may have a stake in the matter.

The hot, dominant vampire god and I have a bad history together, one I can’t remember and he can’t let go. I won’t deny the scorching heat and attraction between us, but I’ll be a fool to surrender to Marlowe’s seductive and destructive power. And we have a bigger problem. War, the third horseman who refused to leave Earth, has set his sight on me. If Marlowe can’t forgive my sins and I can’t trust him again, War will take me and terror will reign on Earth.

Ben is really coming into his title of Draco Rex. Not only has he discovered a new species of dragon, but now Jemma has bonded to the baby fire-breather named Tirian. And there are more dragons out there just waiting to be found.

In the shadows of Area 51's clandestine labs, the unthinkable has been unleashed: creatures engineered to decimate armies now roam free. Driven by a scientist's ambition, these beasts defy the bounds of nature, but at what cost? When ethical lines blur into oblivion, one scientist's desperate flight for survival awakens the beasts' taste for freedom. As they veer toward Alamo, Nevada, carving a swathe of carnage, the military scrambles to contain an error too fatal to admit. Created to be unstoppable on the battlefield, these creatures are unbound by human constraints, sowing fear with ...

In the aftermath of the pandemic, humanity is on the cusp of extinction as the mutant undead sweep throughout the world. The deadly virus has created a new predator that is far more intelligent and ruthless than anything mankind has ever faced. And the threat from the alphas is increasing as they evolve. Epidemiologist Selene Munroe comes up with a daring solution for gaining a foothold against the deadly virus, but will it be enough to save the human race before it’s too late? On another front, CIA operative Will Reisner and his team need to join forces with an unlikely ally to prevent ...

His name is Taylor McFadden, survivor of eighty-three trips into the ZOO. Now he's retired, and yet his country still needs his skills to save people in the country he calls home.