System Fiction

From a veteran insider with over 20 years’ experience in the US Foreign Service comes a taut, insightful thriller of global intrigue and behind-the-scenes international politics. Sam Trainor’s career of overseas work coupled with a penchant for being outspoken has left him on the outside of the competitive Washington establishment. Formerly the top South Asia expert in the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Trainor has moved to the private sector, working as an analyst for the consulting firm Argus Systems.

Das Wettrennen ums Land ist vorbei. Zwei Jahre nach der Ankunft des Systems auf der Erde bleibt nur noch ein begrenztes Gebiet, das sich abzustecken lohnt und die Gruppen außerirdischer Neuankömmlinge fallen in einem mörderischen Ringen um die Kontrolle übereinander her.

Sky Fielder is a typical college student, except that she is a product of the foster-care system, lives in a halfway house, and meets with her caseworker on a weekly basis. While failing to balance her grades and erratic social life, she receives a call from a hospital, asking her to make medical decisions for her brother Ben—who died more than a decade before. The call must be a scam, and besides, Sky has a new life now. None of her classmates know about her desperate and feral childhood in West Texas.

Es ist über ein Jahr her, seit das System auf der Erde erschien und dabei gleichermaßen Blut und Monster mit sich brachte. Nachdem John und sein Team Whitehorse verlassen haben, reisen sie nach British Columbia, wo ihnen neue Gefahren durch Außerirdische und Menschen drohen. Angesichts neuer Herausforderungen und neuer Feinde versuchen John und seine Freunde, menschliche Siedlungen in Nordamerika aus der galaktischen Kontrolle zu befreien.

Are your curious kids always quizzing you about the solar system and our neighboring planets? This fun and exciting adventure will give your child an easy-to-understand introduction to our planetary neighbors and our solar system and help you avoid the dreaded barrage of "why?" We call them 21st-century fairy tales/science-based fairy tales.

It’s been four months since Janelle Tenner stopped the Earth’s destruction with the help of Ben, the boy who resurrected her after she died. Ben is gone now - disappeared through a portal to his home world. Even though Ben broke her heart, Janelle refuses to believe it when Interverse Agent Taylor Barclay tells her Ben is suspected of running a human-trafficking ring across several universes. She vows to uncover the true culprit and rescue the people who have been sold into slavery on alternate Earths - not to mention find Ben and prove his innocence.

A hundred millennia has passed since the events of Iron Gods. The Spin is dying, and its few inhabitants live unknowingly in the relative paradise of one of hundreds of virtual realities - "vrealities" - or they scrape a living out of remains of the real world. As the vrealities drain the last resources of the Spin, a rebellion which could kill millions sparks and gains momentum. In a remote star system, an ancient insectoid called Skarbo the Horologist has studied The Spin for several lifetimes. Himself near to death, he makes a final journey to see the object of his studies.

A bounty hunting survivor. A Galactic dark elf. A woman who has given up her humanity to become something more. These stories and more are available in the first short story anthology for the System Apocalypse, covering year one on Earth. When the world ends, humanity steps up, finding new ways to survive in a world with Classes, magic and monsters. The anthology features exciting, new stories by five new writers and a new, never publicly released short story by Tao Wong.

A young woman struggles to finish her PhD on stars and galaxies. Instead, she obsessively tracks the experience of her own body, listening to its functions and rhythms, finally locating in its patterns the beginning of illness and instability. As she discovers the precarity of her self, she begins to turn her attention to the distant orbits of her family members, each moving away from the familial system and each so different in their experiences, but somehow made similar in their shared history of illness and trauma, both political and personal.

In the fog-laden streets of Lindrad, Janis, a skilled assassin known for her stealth and precision, is accustomed to lurking in the shadows and eliminating targets without a second thought. But when a mysterious, scarred man offers her an unorthodox job—to protect rather than kill—she finds herself ensnared in a web of intrigue and danger she never expected. Bound by a contract to safeguard Marric Norst, a name unfamiliar yet crucial to forces far greater than she can comprehend, Janis must navigate treacherous alliances and ruthless adversaries. As she delves deeper into this perilous ...

Ein Sonnensystem im intergalaktischen Leerraum, das es so nicht geben dürfte, und eine fremde Hinterlassenschaft, die ganze Galaxien verwüsten kann. Eine aus unterschiedlichen Spezies zusammengesetzte Expedition soll dieses Geheimnis ergründen, doch nicht jeder Teilnehmer spielt mit offenen Karten. Jason Wu, ein Angehöriger der Sentient Alliance, und Leya Mamoa, eine ehemalige Raumsoldatin, werden in diese Ereignisse verstrickt und zu Schlüsselfiguren im Kampf um die Milchstraße. Sie könnten das Schicksal der Galaxis entscheiden - wenn sie eine gefährliche Reise ins Unbekannte wagen.

In the heart of the scorching Arizona desert, a man ensnared in the web of an oppressive justice system that thrives on officials, driven by power and relentless pursuit, inflicting harm while casting shadows of despair over those they are meant to supervise. Cook is confronted with the harsh realities of a system designed to control and break, rather than rehabilitate. This true story recounts rouge officers hellbent on destroying his rebuilt life after leaving San Quentin, as well as a viral vendetta across state lines.

System X is the continuation of the saga bearing The Elementals name. Which will lead us to visit hostile and dangerous worlds in different galactic eras, in pursuit of essential knowledge lost at the dawn of the world’s creation. To do so, several different species’ generations will sacrifice everything in the tireless search for the vital answers, which would jeopardize the unavoidable civilizations’ disappearance at the end of sidereal times. When all light and heat have extinguished in space System X In The Elementals saga’s first part called, The Endless Dark Ocean, a group of ...

In the System Apocalypse, a single title can make or break a build. And in the entire Galactic System, there are Title Seekers, those who make it their life quest to acquire the most unusual and rare titles possible. Earth, a new Dungeon World offers multiple possibilities. Not least among them, the one from a familiar set of golden arches. For the Kyaz, it’s a chance in a million to get a rare title. If he can manage to evade the machinations of a fellow Title Seeker and trust his human sidekick, Xi Ping.

In its oppressive atmosphere of fog, mist, and mud, nothing conjures up the dreary days of November and its "implacable" weather like the celebrated opening of Bleak House. The plot concerns a long-running legal dispute (Jarndyce and Jarndyce) that has far-reaching consequences for all involved. Dickens' assault on the flaws of the British judiciary system is based in part on his own experiences as a law clerk.

Journey into the mind-bending world of Philip K. Dick's "The Skull," a short story that masterfully blends time travel with moral ambiguity. When a prisoner is offered freedom for a mysterious assignment in the past, he stumbles upon revelations that challenge everything he believes about destiny and choice. This captivating tale showcases Dick's signature style—weaving philosophical questions with psychological tension and reality-warping concepts that leave listeners questioning everything.

The final book in the landmark Cazalet Chronicles, recently broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It is the 1950s and as the Cazalets' beloved matriarch, the Duchy, passes away, she takes with her the last remnants of a world - of great houses and servants, of class and tradition - in which the Cazalets have thrived. Louise, now divorced, becomes entangled in a painful affair; while Polly and Clary must balance marriage and motherhood with their own ideas and ambitions.

Set in the 24th century, System Chain is the story of two small-time smugglers: Owen, a quick witted, fast-talker who would rather avoid a fight and his wife, Jaqueline, an ex-navy specialist. When Owen's best friend, Dan, contacts them out of the blue with a seemingly low risk deal, they both reluctantly agree. However, when they meet Rolland White, a small-time gangster with someone to impress, they quickly realize something is amiss. A misunderstanding leads the deal to go south and Owen is forced to bluff his way out of the situation.

In a world where Steampunk and Clockwork technologies are a part of history, Tobias Wong has just inherited one of the most powerful invention in history; a System. With it, Tobias can finally embark on his dream to be a battlesuit designer. But can an advanced weapon designer flourish in cyberpunk Singapore?

Julia has landed a fresh start—at a 'pan-European' restaurant. 'Imagine that,' says her mother. 'I'm imagining.' Nick is flirting with sobriety, and nobody else. Did you know: adults his age are now more likely to live with their parents than a romantic partner? Life should have started to take shape by now—but instead, we're trying on new versions of ourselves, swiping left and right, and searching for a convincing answer to that question: 'what do you do?'