Showing results for "Bear" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

A girl and her father live close to the land in the shadow of a lone mountain. They possess a few remnants of civilization: some books, a pane of glass, a set of flint and steel, a comb. The father teaches the girl how to fish and hunt, the secrets of the seasons and the stars. He is preparing her for an adulthood in harmony with nature, for they are the last of humankind. But when the girl finds herself alone in an unknown landscape, it is a bear that will lead her back home through a vast wilderness that offers the greatest lessons of all, if she can only learn to listen.

My ex-husband broke my heart by asking for an open marriage. Then I found out he had already been sleeping with someone else. So I dumped his butt and moved out. In the process, I found myself in the arms of four smoking-hot strangers. They pull out all the stops, lavishing me with all of the attention I’d been missing out on. But these guys have a secret. Am I going to be able to cope with the truth when it comes out, or is it going to be too much to bear?

Adrian Cross was never supposed to walk back into my life—especially not looking like that. Towering. Tattooed. With eyes that burn hotter than his tattoo gun. He's my brother's best friend. A polar bear shifter. My lifelong crush. And the new artist filling in at our shop while Magnus is out. He says I'm his fated mate. That he's known since we were kids. He says that he's waited long enough and he's done pretending.

Armed camps of eco-survivalists battle purveyors of technology in this exclusive, original production featuring five sci-fi masters and five all-star narrators.

Mars. The red planet. A new frontier for humanity: a civilisation where humans can live in peace, lord and master of all they survey. But this isn't Space City from those old science-fiction books. It's more like Hell City, built into and from a huge crater. There's a big silk canopy over it, feeding out atmosphere as we generate it, little by little, because we can't breathe the air here. I guess it's a perfect place to live, if you want to live on Mars. At some point I must have wanted to live on Mars, because here I am.

Perhaps it wasn't from our time, perhaps it wasn't even from our universe, but the arrival of the 300-kilometer long stone was the answer to humanity's desperate plea to end the threat of nuclear war. Inside the deep recesses of the stone lies Thistledown: the remnants of a human society, versed in English, Russian and Chinese. The artifacts of this familiar people foretell a great Death caused by the ravages of war, but the government and scientists are unable to decide how to use this knowledge.

My life is a mess, and so is my house, but I'm a good teacher, right? So why are some of my best students going off the rails? I meant to ring their uncles to let them know what was going on. But not like this. I drunkenly dump out all of my problems down the phone line, thinking it was my bestie on the other end.

Jendara is a woman of many roles: trader, pirate, islander - and mother. Having left behind her life of piracy, Jendara and her young son, Kran, are back in her native Ironbound Archipelago, looking to make an honest living as seaborne traders. But when Kran goes missing and the threat of a goblin attack looms, Jendara has no choice but to take up her ax once more if she wants to save her new friends - and her son.

How does the stranger know Cadie’s real name – and why she’s on the run – and what it all has to do with the Ukrainian mob? He’s offering her freedom from possessions and a totally new way of life. But he wants just this one little favor… This story was originally published in the Hugo Award-nominated METAtropolis.

The whole world is falling apart. Bashorg, the demon, and the Beast, a dragon, are summoning all their power to rage against the Abyss, the prison their divine essences have been trapped in. Leg Ondo and his team must pull off the impossible once again. But how are they going to save the planet with Beatrice Shiv, a beautiful young girl, causing problems for Liara Slick, Leg's betrothed? How are they going to save the world if they can't even get along? The time has come for Leg Ondo to remember his true past as a valg.

Fifty years hence, in the sleek modern city of Bangalore, a scientist working on revolutionary bioengineering techniques has been discovered inside his own locked home, his body converted into a neat toroidal package of meat. It's up to Police Sub-Inspector Ferron to unearth the victim's complicated past and solve the crime, despite the best efforts of the mastermind behind the murder, aliens beaming signals from the Andromeda Galaxy, her overbearing mother, and the intricacies of dealing with the only witness - an adorable parrot-cat.

In the Bangalore, India, of the 2070s, a young woman who is internet-famous enters an empty police station and tells the virtual assistant that her life is in danger. When she disappears out of her own apartment, it's up to Police Sub-Inspector Ferron and her partner to determine whether a crime has even been committed. In a world of enhanced tech and extreme interconnectedness, can someone truly disappear?

Jack, Kirii, and Fade are industrial spies hired to steal a genome. But when they board the Seastead Long, even these experienced operatives aren't prepared for what they find. This story was first published in METAtropolis: Green Space, the third entry in Audible's original series.

This sequel to the Hugo and Audie Award nominated METAtropolis features interconnected stories by today’s top writers of speculative fiction – performed by a galaxy of Star Trek stars. As the mid-20th century approaches, the Pacific Northwest has been transformed - politically, economically, and ecologically - into the new reality of Cascadia. Conspiracies and secrets threaten the tenuous threads of society. And the End of Days seems nearer than ever.

In the sixth decade of the 21st century, Earth has been transformed. Nanotechnology has been perfected, giving humans the ability to change their environment and themselves down to the cellular level. And the study of the mind has brought a revolution in human psychotherapy and artificial intelligence. It's a sane and perfect world. Almost.

Deep in the forest, a cop-for-hire investigates a gruesome murder – as she tries to forget an operation gone so wrong that her marriage, to her partner, lies in ruins. She teams with an Interpol agent tracking an exotic species smuggling operation tied to the killing. What they find leads them to a hidden compound - and two rather unusual children. This story was originally published in the Audie Award-winning METAtropolis: Cascadia.

Not long ago, all Belissar wanted was to be left in peace to tend his apiaries. But that ended when Ruckanos, the brutish son of the local lord, slaughtered his village to make way for his new tower. Rescued by a bee—who happened to be a core—the one-time beekeeper then became king of his own bee realm. Belissar quickly learned how to thrive not only as a leader but as a fighter, using his winged minions to battle the dreaded Hunger that threatens all life. Now, aided by the mystical bear folk who share their knowledge and wisdom with him, he must continue to grow.

On September 28th, a geologist working in Death Valley finds a mysterious new cinder cone in very well-mapped area. On October 1, the government of Australia announces the discovery of an enormous granite mountain. Like the cinder cone, it wasn't there six months ago.

Something is happening to planet Earth, and the truth is too terrifying to contemplate

As METAtropolis: Green Space moves into the 22nd Century, human social evolution is heading in new directions after the Green Crash and the subsequent Green Renaissance. Nearly everyone who cares to participate in the wired world has become part of the "Internet of things", a virtual environment mapped across all aspects of the natural experience. At the same time, the serious back-to-the-land types have embraced a full-on paleo lifestyle, including genetically engineering themselves and their offspring.

I was young and naive when I fell hard for bad boy Grizz, a shifter who was hot enough to melt my good girl heart. Big mistake. Because when good girls are naughty, they end up pregnant. Now I’m back in Forest Heights to care for my aunt with my son Rainer — the son I’ve been raising on my own for nine years because gruff, tough Grizz didn’t believe our baby was possible.