Stephen Crawford is trying to finish his PhD dissertation when he's transported to a magical land he's previously only experienced through gaming. With a strange new capability that causes him to capture (and remove from existence) places, things, and people, he's trying to make sense of his situation and make his way back to Earth.

"Early Adopter" is a collection of short stories from the edge of human progress. Eight stories hold dark mirrors to our own world—experience thought-provoking sci-fi, technologic tragedy, and pulse-pounding thrillers. To Run Again: Dr. Laura Brandie is ready to change the world. She's the lead researcher behind the KSE, a revolutionary cure for paralysis and neurodegenerative conditions. And now, by good fortune, she's found the perfect candidate for her first human trial: a man who suffers from locked-in syndrome.

The first of its kind. The robot teen Alex has his mysterious past and amazing abilities to overcome any challenge in life. This series is a coming of age hero story about a boy who develops amazing robotic powers and discovers the joys of life, family, friends, and school. The series picks up when a nefarious corporation out to retake him enters the fray.

Chase had it all planned out. Do a little time in one of the emperor's jails, say a four-year stretch, for getting rid of some trash that no one would miss, and when he got out, the path to leadership would be wide open. Unfortunately, his bastard of a father, the same one who left his mother to die in poverty and him to run wild on the streets, took an interest. Seeing him sitting on the bench when his case went to court was a shock. But not as big a shock as being sentenced to ten years in the Imperial Navy.

Sorry... Really? Thrust? Anyway, Danny Kendrick was a down-on-his luck performer who always struggled to find his place. He certainly never wanted to be a hero. He just hoped to earn a living doing what he loved. That all changes when he pisses off the wrong guy and gets sucked into a fantasy realm straight out of a Renaissance Fair. Getting used to a new world is tough. It's even tougher when you're surrounded by axe-wielding barbarians, super hot elf assassins, strange magic, and a jaded System that doesn't appear interested in being charged with yet another companion.

Once, Master Commander Carter Rose was the Union’s secret weapon. An augmented, bio-engineered officer in command of the most powerful warship ever devised by human minds, Rose brought them victory against the post-human Aternien Empire. Then they cast him aside. A century later, humanity’s enemy has returned, hell-bent on revenge, and the Union's only hope is the man they had forsaken.

Convicted of a minor traffic violation, Rev Pelletier is conscripted into the Perseus Union Marine Corps...for up to a 30-year term of service. Anxious to get back to his civilian life and job, Rev opts for a shorter term as a Marine Raider taking the fight to the enemy. But with extremely high mortality rates, can he and his friends survive until their term of service is over?

Two centuries after the Confederation staved off an invasion by the robotic Locusts, Captain Jack Romanoff faces mandatory retirement from an ever-shrinking navy. Actions speak louder than words. The Confederation doesn’t think the Locusts are coming back. But what if the politicians are wrong?

A decade ago, a devastating bioweapon changed the face of humanity. Innocent people were turned into ravenous creatures driven by a relentless urge for destruction. Now the survivors struggle to rebuild their lives in the remains of a shattered America.

Abner Fortis joined the International Space Marine Corps for two reasons: to escape a life of drudgery building biodomes for his father’s company and to pay off several billion credits in student loans, which the ISMC promised to do. Every Space Marine starts out as a cherry, though, and Abner is no different. When he makes his first combat drop, or cherry drop, he’s a know-nothing second lieutenant added to the mission roster as an afterthought.

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.

Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet.

Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down.

The complete adventures of the Curran siblings. Recommended to fans of witchcraft, epic fantasy, or something a little different. No Artificial Intelligence technologies were utilized in the creating of this work.

The year is 2701. Following a near-fatal disaster, roughneck freelancer Roman Matthews becomes unwittingly trapped at the center of a harrowing conspiracy. Hunted by Deorum’s government, the Coalition for Prosperity, Roman must use his deadly skillset to survive against all odds.

Chronicler Tsai Yini monitors the tachyon communication system, which transmits data faster than the speed of light. When classified results from an astrobiologist's research are leaked to her, she cannot believe what she reads. The report reveals that intelligent life forms exist on a tropical planet in the Gliese system. Their civilization is still in its infancy but revolves around an artifact of unknown origin that seems to influence their body chemistry.

Sometimes a farmer can turn a profit by diversifying his crops . . . Tom Savage and Gwen Wilder have a farm hand now, Silas Vick. And Silas has some ideas of new things they can grow out here. That might be good, since a lot of stuff got destroyed recently, meaning they'll have to wait on more equipment from Lute before continuing experiments. Tom's got other responsibilities, too, with a list that seems to be growing along with the farm. At least Lisa’s capabilities are expanding, with greater communications and teleportation capabilities. Meanwhile, Wink and Jinxie have more smuggling ...

Darcie was taking her young child Tristan to rejoin her husband Lujan in the Enach system when nonhuman slavers attacked and captured their transport. Darcie escaped with Tristan in a lifepod and touched down on Ganwold, a primitive planet controlled by their long-time enemy. Unfortunately, due to a malfunction in the lightskip drive, they’d also accidentally jumped several years forward in time and can’t expect to be rescued, so Tristan grows to manhood hiding among the alien ganan.

The Dervan Empire has at last triumphed over Volanus, putting the great city to the torch, its treasures looted, temples defiled, and fields sown with salt. What little remains of Volanus is scattered across the empire, its wealth plundered and its survivors sold into slavery. It is an absolute victory for the Dervans in every way but one. Hanuvar, last and greatest general of Volanus, still lives. He now travels the length of the Dervan Empire that conquered his homeland, driven by a singular purpose—to find what remains of his people who were carried into slavery across the empire.

An ancient derelict yields some unexpected small surprises, and the crew acquires some unusual new crew members. Mee Keralatazaku, the rather troublesome ruler of the planet Kanpripticon, has them take her to a very strange and secretive location. When they return, all hell breaks loose as the Kipitz try to kill Mee Keralatazaku and everyone else on Kanpripticon. She, who must not be annoyed, is now very, very angry.

When Navy Seal, Jacob Carter is assigned to an experimental mission, he’ll protect the crew at all costs. But nothing could have prepared him for the effect of the ship’s cloaking device, or his disintegration into the spiritual side of our world. Stripped of the finite, and plunged into a terrifying existence, can he survive the enemies determined to kill him?

The Sol System is a powder keg waiting for a spark. Corporal James Aurelius didn’t sign up for this. Fancy hotels, powerful politicians, and… guard duty. Two years into his enlistment and the young marine has yet to see combat, while all his buddies from boot camp have done at least one tour in the war that raged with the Caliphate back on Terra.

The year is 2081. Earth is recovering from a devastating nuclear war. An age of technological advancement. A find at the bottom of the Ocean. A man driven by a dream. The time for humanity to reach to the stars is now. A find provides Tomas Klein with the tools to speed up his timetable and execute his plans. He will reach for the stars, the only question is will humanity follow? Adrian Farkas an orphan boy, is given opportunity to change his bleak future. To go to space, and shape the future of all mankind. Will he rise up to the challenge?

Fiery and determined, Madison Justice navigates the depths of space, searching for her father and a place to call home. Expelled from the Naval Academy for her unyielding sense of justice, she now forges her own path as a freelance mercenary. But the void is vast and unforgiving. To find her father, the elusive captain of the Gypsy Rose, Madison must prove her mettle in a realm where morality is a luxury few can afford. Harassed by rivals and entangled in the schemes of a ruthless commander, she fights to keep her conscience intact.

Carter Ash wakes up with no memories in a virtual basic training. All the recruits will die within the next six weeks. Lucky for them, they’ve all got three lives. He’s assigned to a squad with his goofy friend and another captivating cadet, Iris. They have to keep each other alive as long as possible because when they die, they get assigned their permanent character class. And everyone in the squad wants a valuable class, ideally the kind where you don’t get killed immediately.

Antonious King has been selected to beta-test what promises to be the best VR MMO of 2038. As one of three hundred in the "Ascendant Program" he'll take part in a bloody civil war between the King of the Gods, Ignacious and the God-Hero Auren, granted powerful relics, artifacts, and a near-immortal body. What's the catch? There's no Logging out. There is no game.

In his mother’s last letter, she wrote, “Find me. Save me.” And Will Kwan had heard those words before. He’d heard them in a video game. Solar Prime Augmented Reality Park, or SPARK, is a theme park for gamers: a sprawling virtual reality complex with quests and games that appeal to all ages. But beneath the surface, SPARK harbors many a secret. When sixteen-year-old Will has to escape the foster system, SPARK is his destination. “Find me. Save me.” What had his mother meant?

Only in an insane world would a young wizard find herself battling monsters and automatons one day and returning to Convocation Academy to cram for finals the next. But this is the world Alise Phel lives in. Like it or not, Alise must face the consequences of ditching out a second time and dealing with the crushing workload assigned to her as a punishment. Worse yet, succeeding at the Academy means Alise must learn to master her powerful and unusual magic—the same magic that caused her to accidentally murder her own mother.