System Fiction

An interdisciplinary work that brings life writing scholarship into conversation with prison studies and law and literature studies, Prison Life Writing theorizes how life writing works in prison, explains literature’s complicated entanglements with institutional power, and demonstrates the political and aesthetic innovations of one of America’s most fascinating literary genres.

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.

Derek Cooper is a retro gamer. His small flat is full to the brim with consoles, game cartridges, hulking great tube TVs, retro merchandise, and every handheld gaming device you can think of, and then some. They make him happy, so why not? When he decides his collection could do with an addition in the form of a real-life, full-size, good old-fashioned arcade cabinet, he can't possibly know what adventures lie ahead of him after he drags the heavy monolith out of a cellar in Watford to his flat and then painstakingly rebuilds the dud electronics, bringing it back to life.

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.

This darkly humorous short story transports listeners to an overcrowded future where anti-aging drugs have created a society where nobody dies and multiple generations are forced to cohabitate. Follow the dysfunctional Ford family as they navigate life under the iron rule of 172-year-old Gramps, whose possession of the family apartment gives him absolute power. When young Lou plots to overthrow the family hierarchy, chaos ensues.

The World of Loreston was Erick Brighton's favorite video game. He'd become one of the top players and constantly stayed up all night, competing in tournaments and avoiding any real commitments besides feeding his two plants. However, one night when he awoke, he was no longer in his house in front of his computer but surrounded by Goblins, beautiful women, and enough supplies to build a tower from the ground to the moon. Turning into a Lord, one of the individuals gifted with the ability to create structures, he starts out as a lowly serf.

On a small planet, an unknown presence was stirring. With no physical body, all of its previous memories messed up and without a clear name, our MC starts his journey. Fused on its soul a strange system that will help him be stronger on this strange unknown new world. To claim back all that has been stripped away, he must first generate a body. For this, the system reveals that it needs to collect sufficient XP points by absorbing forces, death auras, regaining fundamental skills like talking, and weapon wielding to go on dangerous missions. One kill equals one death point.

Q: When is a planet not a planet? Scientists have argued for years over the answer to this question. And central to their debate has been Pluto, the tiny orb circling the Sun at the outermost reaches of our solar system. Then on August 24, 2006, a group of astronomers made a big announcement: Pluto could no longer be considered a planet.

Self-confessed perfectionist Paige Thomas isn't used to failing. But when a critical error in romantic judgment sends all her big city career dreams crashing down, she scrambles to find a job - any job - to make ends meet.

“Keep Your Shape” by Robert Sheckley is a thought-provoking science fiction short story from the early 1950s that blends satire, social commentary, and classic sci-fi themes. The tale follows Pid, a shape-shifting alien from the Grom species, on a mission to Earth using advanced Displacer technology. As the Grom crew confronts both the alien terrain and their own internal conflicts, the story dives into questions of conformity, identity, and rebellion against rigid societal roles.

First published in the early 1950s, the story follows beings from across the universe—especially Morran and Lingman—as they seek out the enigmatic Answerer, a near-omniscient entity designed to reveal the answers to any question. But as the seekers discover, the quality of the answer depends entirely on the quality of the question.

Dive into the captivating world of Frank Herbert beyond Dune with this immersive audiobook edition of 'Missing Link.' A brilliant exploration of humanity's evolution and potential, Herbert's masterful novella challenges listeners with profound questions about our species' future. Follow the expedition of Lewis Orne as he investigates an emerging civilization that may hold the key to mankind's next evolutionary step.

Hey, you! Adam and I are organizing a holiday retreat this winter for all our friends. We are so excited to invite you, too. We've rented a place in the mountains. There will be skiing, other snow sports, and all kinds of fun. The whole gang will be there: Jordan and April, William and Jenna, Lucas and Katya, Heath, and of course, Adam and me. Please come along with us! It’ll be epic.

Fool and Jackal returned, triumphant from their latest mission. As a reward, they get to babysit a spoiled rich kid as he levels up and maybe becomes a valuable asset. An easy job, until the Armageddon cultists showed up.

Three women. Five Kids. One House. A debut novel that has been shortlisted for the Comedy Women in Print Prize 2020, perfect for fans of "Why Mummy Drinks" and "Has Anyone Seen My Sex Life?" Erica knows her suggestion sounds extreme, but when her nanny leaves without notice, she's desperate... When she and Louise to move into Polly's enormous but run-down house, they must admit that life's much easier when the childcare and workload is shared.

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.

An undercover CIA officer discovers that the company he is investigating produces an artificial intelligence product that manipulates the behavior of the general public, and he must prove it to the media or be killed by a powerful corporation that has its own military.

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.

Morning in Whitehorse, and everything is normal. All too normal. A girlfriend who loves him; an evening at the farmer’s market in Shipyard’s Park. Idyllic, relaxing, peaceful. What more could a man want? John Lee isn’t sure, but stray thoughts intrude, and memories of a different time, a different place, a different world keep intruding. Angst-ridden, exhausting memories of a world of pain and struggle. Nothing like the paradise he lives in. Now, if only John wasn’t so attracted to them.

Dive into the hauntingly unforgettable classic sci-fi tale, Time Enough at Last, by Lynn Venable. This thought-provoking story, famously adapted into The Twilight Zone, explores themes of solitude, irony, and the fragile balance between time and desire. Follow Henry Bemis, a book lover longing for peace and quiet, as his world changes in an instant—offering him all the time he ever wanted…but at a devastating cost.