Visionary Fiction

Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize laureate. His novel The Magic Mountain was first published in 1924, and is considered to be one of the most significant works of 20th century German literature. Mann uses a sanatorium in the Swiss Alps as a microcosm for Europe, which in the years leading up to 1914 was already displaying symptoms of its destructive and irrational mindset. Hans Castorp, an ordinary young man, arrives for a short visit to the sanatorium and ends up staying for seven years.

Unfortunately, when the Lady created the world of Timonde as her own private dollhouse, she condemned millions of people to the cruel rule of an evil empire and its dark god of death, Orcus. When he points out the horrors she's committed, the Lady decides she must submit herself to a thousand years of slumber, lest she damage the world more.

In a Berlin rooming house filled with an assortment of serio-comic Russian émigrés, Lev Ganin, a vigorous young officer poised between his past and his future, relives his first love affair. His memories of Mary are suffused with the freshness of youth and the idyllic ambience of pre-revolutionary Russia. In stark contrast is the decidedly unappealing boarder living in the room next to Ganin’s, who, he discovers, is Mary’s husband....

Haunted caves; an obese opportunistic warlord; strange voices ... As the war rages on, John Powers and his fellow pilgrims cross paths with a menacing obese warlord and his scheming assistant, with devastating consequences, and encounter haunted caves with iron doors and endless branches that lead to unknown destinations in time and space. Meanwhile, the voices continue to harangue John and pilgrim Bai Meiying to produce a son. Are the voices real? Why are they so insistent that John and Meiying have a child? Is John truly schizophrenic? Are the caves actually haunted? Who–or what–is ...

The setting is a comedy club in a small Israeli town. An audience that has come expecting an evening of amusement instead sees a comedian falling apart onstage - an act of disintegration, a man crumbling, as a matter of choice, before their eyes. They could get up and leave or boo and whistle and drive him from the stage, if they were not so drawn to glimpse his personal hell.

After Earth is decimated, the entire remaining human population is marooned on an unfamiliar beach. The enigmatic winged Orangemen leave the survivors with instructions to remake their society, basic tools and weapons, and a few thousand books, including Bibles in many languages. As two generations are born and raised, conflicting theories as to the nature of the apocalypse continue to simmer. Fifty years later, the arrival of a new family that shouldn't exist threatens the delicate peace holding humanity together.

In a time when prisons no longer contain inmates behind concrete and steel, the convicted serve their time while asleep, rehabilitating in virtual reality while blissfully unaware of their crimes. Roger Parker is a professional prison breaker, skilled at navigating these strange penal dream worlds and extracting those imprisoned there - for a price. Parker wants out of the game, but a powerful senator, desperate to save his son, convinces Parker to pull one last job.

A former pro-footballer fallen from grace and bitter with his eventual fate, Johnny Bullet commits a horrible crime in the name of revenge. Running from his demons through a foreboding countryside, he hopes to escape his future, only to find it at the very far away ends of it all. He did a bad thing and then he wished himself away. Be careful what you wish for.

There’s no place like home...but they’re not headed to Kansas. The Sanctuary is the hidden home of the Golden Circle-a sect of powerful mages. It’s a sacred place of learning, magic, and deep secrets. When Tristan discovers his father, Connor Montague is being held prisoner, he vows to return to the Sanctuary and release him. There’s only one problem. The Sanctuary has been taken over by Mage Oliver. An Elder who has unleashed the magistrates and promises to destroy Tristan the moment he steps foot on the mountain.

With Mahnes defeated, Monty and Simon must now face the entity behind the attacks. They must face one of the old gods…Chaos.There’s only one slight problem—they aren’t strong enough.

Meet Simon Strong, an immortal detective about to enjoy a night out on the town. He’s planned this date for weeks and tonight is the night. When Tristan Montague, Simon’s partner and resident cranky mage, advises Simon against this course of action, Simon declares his freedom to see whomever he chooses. There’s only one problem. Her name is Michiko and she doesn’t share well.

In the beginning, before time ticked and planets spun, there was light—pure, unshaped, singing its essence into the void. From this light bloomed the Celestara Nebula, the birthplace of the stars. Here, amidst stardust and ancient whispers, the universe breathes life into Seed Star Children—rare souls meant to guide the cosmic balance. Among them was one unlike any other... Lyra. Born not just from the stars, but of their longing for hope, Lyra pulsed with the old melodies of creation. She was an old soul in a young form, brimming with intuition and wonder. The celestial realm watched ...

Toren Daniels vanished eight months back, and his wife and kids have moved on - with more than a little relief. Toren was a good man but carried a raging temper that often exploded without warning. So when he shows up on their doorstep out of the blue, they're shocked to see him alive. But more shocked to see he's changed. Radically. His anger is gone. He's oddly patient. Kind. Fun. Toren has no clue where he's been but knows he's been utterly transformed. He focuses on three things: Finding out where he's been. Finding out how it happened. And winning back his family.

Death is already approaching; it feels like it can't be much longer now. The virus had me on the ropes even before the bone dagger in my side sped the process along. The betrayal of one of the members of my team, together with the Feathered Serpent's attack, should have been the final events of my life....

Returning to the Yucatan wasn’t what Hank had in mind when he and Nicole discussed taking time away from their mind-numbing research inside ATLAS headquarters. Nevertheless, the two archaeologists are asked to travel to Chichen Itza and investigate the last thing they were trained for, something a bit over their heads professionally. A murder has been committed, witnessed by one of their trusted contacts. Once they arrive and the whole story revealed, Hank and Nicole quickly understand why they, in particular, were called. A secret has been uncovered, one that Ponce de Leon failed to find...

A collection of essays and short stories that will burn into your mind.

After one death-defying adventure after another, he's ready for some well-deserved downtime. So he's gone to a hot beach in Mareta, a sleepy fishing village in southern Portugal. The year is 1964. He hopes only to flirt with bikinied tourists and drink cold Sagres beers. But two things seem to follow Matt wherever and whenever he goes. A chance to help someone in need, and trouble-trouble-trouble.

Where the Ley Lines Meet is what happens when the mystical misfits and their alien brethren are recalled to earth to reunite and save the world. The storylines and characters fans have come to love in the prior four books reappear in this continuation and conclusion of The Claire Saga. Or is it?

Read by award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti, this short story by Philip K. Dick takes us where the powers of earth had finally exterminated the last of the horrible tribes of mutant freaks spawned by atomic war. Menace to homo sapien supremacy was about ended - but not quite. For out of the countryside, came a great golden, godlike youth whose extraordinary mutant powers, combining the world's oldest and newest methods of survival, promised a new and superior type of mankind.

Conspirators plot to explode a train carrying nerve gas. A perfect servant suddenly reveals himself to be the insidious Dr. Fu Manchu. Science-fantasy wars, racism, corporate capitalism, drug addiction, and various medical and psychiatric horrors all play their parts in this mosaic, experimental novel. Here is William S. Burroughs at his coruscating and hilarious best.