System Fiction

While the Australian master Gerald Murnane’s reputation rests largely on his longer works of fiction, his short stories stand among the most brilliant and idiosyncratic uses of the form since Borges, Beckett, and Nabokov. Brutal, comic, obscene, and crystalline, Stream System runs from the haunting “Land Deal”, which imagines the colonization of Australia and the ultimate vengeance of its indigenous people as a series of nested dreams to “Finger Web”, which tells a quietly terrifying, fractal tale of the scars of war and the roots of misogyny.

Captain Picard has never encountered an opponent more powerful than Q, a being from another continuum who is dangerous, obnoxious, mysterious, and seemingly all-powerful. But now, Trelane has tapped in to an awesome power source that makes him more powerful than the entire continuum. Q warns that Trelane has become unspeakably dangerous - this time the stakes are all of creation. Read by John de Lancie.

The battle for paradise has begun. Starfleet has discovered a secret that could transform the future of the entire Federation - a secret that presents Picard and his crew with an agonizing moral dilemma. Faced with orders he cannot obey and a crisis he cannot ignore, Picard finds himself torn between his conscience and his uniform.

Meet Tanjihiro Chae Wong, a scarred man with no past. A nomad. A simple cabbage farmer with an ominous black gauntlet living happily with his family... Or is he? Unbeknownst to everyone he keeps a secret. Not only of his identity, but what he is, and what he can do. Keeping to the shadows as he stays out of the war he never wanted to be a part of and lives a life of... Peace.

Immortality comes at a steep price. Faced with a heartrending loss, Lox walks down a dark path. He knew there would be a cost for immortality, but he didn’t know he would have to face it so soon.

New beginnings... Everyone craves them, but few have the resolution to go through. And yet John decided to live as a mortal. For his wife, for his daughter. He was willing to give up everything to achieve peace and avoid what he had already suffered in the past. But peace is temporary. How long can it be maintained? Enjoy this seventh issue of The Idle System, just a step away from the last book in the series. If you are ever to live life in another world, you might want to learn what John has to offer.

It's been 10 years since Handry was wrenched away from his family and friends, forced to wander a world he no longer understood. But with the help of the Ancients, he has cobbled together a life, of sorts, for himself and his fellow outcasts. Wandering from village to village, welcoming the folk that the townships abandon, fighting the monsters the villagers cannot - or dare not - his ever-growing band of misfits has become the stuff of legend, a story told by parents to keep unruly children in line.

When Mia Strong, proud geek girl and popular gaming blogger, auctions off her virginity online, she knows she'll make waves. But what she will not be making is a love connection. Her rules are set in stone: One night. No further contact.

Ten years ago, the world changed. The System brought dungeons and monsters to earth. Billions were lost. While most try to rebuild, Claire chooses to take revenge on the people who took advantage of orphans in the chaos—100 names, 100 targets. In this often brutal story about a world in chaos, Claire will kill every target on her list. No matter what it takes.

Fie abides by one rule: Look after your own. Her Crow caste of undertakers and mercy-killers takes more abuse than coin, but when they’re called to collect royal dead, she’s hoping they’ll find the payout of a lifetime. When Crown Prince Jasimir turns out to have faked his death, Fie’s ready to cut her losses - and perhaps his throat. But he offers a wager that she can’t refuse: Protect him from a ruthless queen, and he’ll protect the Crows when he reigns.

Finding his way back to Earth through a portal, John returns to a very changed world. The shackles of galactic control have bound Earth and humanity ever tighter to the system. Now, John has to find a way to free Earth from galactic control while battling stronger, more powerful enemies. And worst of all, he will need to indulge in politics. Good thing he's got a new class and new allies.

Having survived the trials of the dungeon and embraced the unbridled magic of Premar, Knox has ascended from a humble woodcutter to the revered Titan of Light. But with great power comes even greater challenges. As the guardian of new lands under the Titan System, Knox must navigate a treacherous path filled with monsters that lurk in the shadows, cunning pirates seeking to plunder his domain, and an onslaught of the undead threatening to overrun his territories.

The U.S.S. Enterprise is the site for a wedding that will unite two powerful rival families of the Tizarin. But Captain Picard's happiness is soon cut short by the arrival of Lwaxana Troi, the nagging mother of ship's counsellor Deanna Troi, and the notorious, all-powerful Q, who has come to examine and challenge the human concept of love. Read by Majel Barrett and John de Lancie!

The System said: "everything the sun touches is yours!" Lord Leo's a simple guy, so he took the System's word for it. It's not for nothing that Major is running drills with the new recruits, Third is sharpening his trusty sapper shovel, and boar-riding Peter is digging the earth with a honed hoof.

A powerful tale that explores an untold turning point in the ongoing saga of Spock and the world of Vulcan, Vulcan's Heart goes from Spock's bonding rite in 2329 to a covert mission at the heart of the Romulan Empire in 2344. Read by Tim Russ!

Pantheon Leader Jay Luckrun has experienced the loss of friends and enemies alike. But he continues marching forward to conquer new challenges and bring vengeance against the System Admins. His magic has grown stronger. His gravity has greater reach. And the dungeons of an invasive pantheon of goblins are up next on the chopping block. Follow Jay as he develops his own unique path and finally gets some revenge upon the evil System Admins. He might have to lose his humanity along the way. But that's a plus. He'll gain greater power that's more paradoxical than expected.

One Tuesday changes everything for Robert Williams. A cosmic entity known as the System arrives, selecting him—a suburban father and engineer—as Earth's sole representative for integration. He has six months to say goodbye to his family before being exiled to another universe for over 400 years. Guided by an AI companion and gifted with powerful starting perks, Robert must navigate a new reality defined by levels, skills, magic, and dungeon crawls.

A clock hangs over the head of every mortal. Counting down to the inescapable day that the Goddess of Death claims them. That is the way of the world. The natural cycle of mortals. The Gods, however, were said to live for forever. To exist so far outside of the natural laws of the universe that even their crimes can't be punished. But Knell Coba, at great cost, realizes this is nothing but another lie.

Benjamin's life was perfect. He'd just graduated from college and landed his dream job; he was finally ready to make his own way in life. However, before he could do that, he and his buddies decided to go on one last camping trip that changed everything. Suddenly, the five of them were ripped from their campsite on Earth by powerful magics, brought face-to-face with the might of the rune mages, and forced to become pawns in larger schemes.

Long Fang is stranded in a foreign world where proper cultivation has been replaced by annoying blue screens. He is confused and alone...but not for long. Completely ignoring the System, he forms a wholesome sect of followers to spread cultivation across the wild world. Blue screens do not take kindly to rejection, however, and Long Fang’s stubbornness soon finds him pitted against increasingly dangerous foes. To overcome the System tribulations, he must quickly grow stronger and wiser.... But first, he needs to get past that one annoying town guard.