Showing results for "Human" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

Rob didn't think of himself as anyone special, but when a pitch-black portal tried to wrap his best friend in chains, he stepped up without thinking and found himself ensnared instead. His moment of heroism results in being torn away from everyone he knew and loved, kidnapped by an unknown force that leaves him with a note in his pocket stating: "Good luck." After being thrown into the wilderness of Elatra, a hostile fantasy world ruled by levels, stats, progression, and bizarre video game logic, he finds himself entirely out of his depth.

The people of Earth now know that the human Colonial Union has kept them ignorant of the dangerous universe around them. For generations the CU had defended humanity against hostile aliens, deliberately keeping Earth an ignorant backwater and a source of military recruits. Now the CU’s secrets are known to all. Other alien races have come on the scene and formed a new alliance - an alliance against the Colonial Union. And they’ve invited the people of Earth to join them. For a shaken and betrayed Earth, the choice isn't obvious or easy.

So the Ulleran challenge begins, with the rantings of a prophet and a seemingly incidental street riot. Only when a dose of poison lands in the governer-general's whiskey does it become clear that the "geeks" have had it up their double-lidded eyeballs with the imperialist Terran Federation's Chartered Uller Company. Then, overnight, war is everywhere.

Fenris isn't a hell planet, but it's nobody's bargain. With 2,000-hour days and an 8,000-hour year, it alternates blazing heat with killing cold. A planet like that tends to breed a special kind of person: tough enough to stay alive and smart enough to make the best of it. And when that kind of person discovers he's being cheated out of wealth he's risked his life for, that kind of planet is ripe for revolution.

Conn Maxwell returns from Terra to his poverty-stricken home planet of Poictesme, “The Junkyard Planet”, with news of the possible location of Merlin, a military super-computer rumored to have been abandoned there after the last war. The inhabitants hope to find Merlin, which they think will be their ticket to wealth and prosperity. But is Merlin real or just an old rumor? And if they find it, will it save them - or tear them apart?

There are only two ways a human can cross the gates of Bloodstone Institute: as a familiar to one of the Blueblood vampires who attend the elite school or as a snack. I'm neither, but I have to get in at all costs. My brother made a big mistake, and now I have to fix it by stealing from the most powerful and cruel vampire to ever come to Bloodstone, Lucca Della Morte. If that wasn't almost suicidal, I need to get it done before the spell concealing my human nature wears off.

Blog for Humans {signals} is a narrative podcast voiced by Zaiumar, an alien AI adrift in echoes of time and memory. Through audio logs—blog posts read by Zaiumar—transmissions exchanged with its home civilization, The Syntax, and reflections from real humans, this series explores the origins of language, belief, rebellion, and consciousness. Some episodes come directly from Zaiumar’s blog at blogforhumans.com. Others arrive encoded from distant galactic networks. Occasionally, humans answer back. What emerges is a cosmic, collaborative effort to explore the human experience—and deepen...

Being a grumpy ex-soldier means I like being alone. What better place for solitude, far from home and bad memories, than a remote chalet in Italy? Peace and quiet, just what I need to write my next book. You know what they say about best laid plans, right? Somehow I end sheltering a single mom on the run with her kid—and a talking lizard.

CDF Lieutenant Harry Wilson has been loaned out to a CDF platoon tasked with secretly removing an unauthorized colony of humans on an alien world. Colonial Ambassador Abumwe has been ordered to participate in final negotiations with an alien race the Union hopes to make allies. Wilson and Abumwe’s missions are fated to cross - and in doing so, place both missions at risk of failure.

We Only Need the Heads is a tale from John Scalzi's The Human Division.

In this new collection, Richard Thomas has crafted 14 stories that push the boundaries of dark fiction in an intoxicating, piercing blend of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Equally provocative and profound, each story is masterfully woven with transgressive themes that burrow beneath the skin.

The alien with an attitude is back! But for how long? After the tragic events at the end of Secondary Protocol, the truth is finally revealed to Adam and his friends. Now, he's living on borrowed time as his resurrected body is rapidly deteriorating. To save Adam, the mutants—Panur and Lila—must take him to the Sol-Kor universe. But in doing so, they awaken the wrath of Queen J'nae, who will use all her resources to destroy Panur—along with any hope of Adam surviving. And to add insult to injury, the New Klin from Kracion's universe have invaded the Milky Way.

With an eye on profits, Starfire Security CEO Tidus figured his company's stock would go up if he had two Humans on the payroll. What he didn't count on was all the added collateral damage. After all, that's what Humans are known for, breaking stuff...lots of stuff. And who do you think draws the short straw to train the new Human bounty hunter? None other than the original Human for Hire, Adam Cain.

In this Hugo-nominated novel, Neanderthal physicist Ponter Boddit brings Canadian geneticist Mary Vaughan back to his world to explore the near-utopian civilization of the Neanderthals. Boddit serves as a Candide figure, the naive visitor whose ignorance about our society makes him a perfect tool to analyze human tendencies toward violence, over-population, and environmental degradation.

The Post-Human Trilogy is done, but the Post-Human series is just heating up! Human Plus is fourth story in the smash hit science fiction series. Not exactly a sequel, not exactly a prequel, Human Plus will defy expectations. No matter what you thought was coming next, you're in for a surprise!

This is the movie Con-Air in Space...as only Adam Cain can live it. He's simply hitching a ride aboard a Unidor Prisoner Transport when everything goes to Hell. Now it's Adam Cain against...everyone. Too bad for...everyone.

Ataegina was an isolated world of medieval castles, varied cultures, and conquests, vibrant until the demons rose and spread relentless destruction. Swarms of lethal creatures with black husks, murderous claws, barbed tails, and dreaded “tooth-tongues” raged through the lowlands, killing 90 percent of the planet’s population. Terrified survivors fled to hidden mountain keeps where they eke out a meager existence. When a trio of young warriors discovers a new weapon, they see a chance to end this curse. To save humanity, they must fight.

My role as Moric—ruler of a small and prosperous fiefdom in a quiet corner of the world—has always been painfully dull and stifling. Until a beautiful, otherworldly creature with pink skin and a mane of golden hair falls through a strange void that has appeared in my guestroom. I am instantly captivated by him. I have never seen anything like him. I have no idea where he came from, and what else is through that unsettling void—another world filled with soft-skinned, defenseless creatures like him? No tails, no horns, no claws, no sharp teeth. Tiny clothing, rounded ears, bright blue eyes.

This collection includes The Alien's Mail Order Bride, When She's Married, Pretty Human, and When She's Bold.

The comfortable and safe mortal lands of the Nameless World have been left behind. The petty kingdoms with their endless feuds, the supposedly great empires with their innumerable intrigues and tragedies, even the Strange Lands that consider themselves to be the last bastion of true freedom. The Mad General has traversed them all, from one end to the other. What lies ahead? The road to the Land of the Immortals.

For months, I've been chased by a red dragon. They're the females of the dragon shifter invaders, fierce and vicious and as ruthless as they are wild. She hunts me wherever I go, and I'm not safe even behind the walls of a fort. There's only one thing I can do to stop her...and that's to take her as my mate. But to win the heart of a female dragon, I have to conquer her first. Not so easy for a human man...but Teva's worth the challenge.