Showing results for "Systems" in Literature & Fiction

All Systems Red is the tense first science fiction adventure novella in Martha Wells' series The Murderbot Diaries. For fans of Westworld, Ex Machina, Ann Leckie's Imperial Raadch series, or Iain M. Banks' Culture novels. The main character is a deadly security droid that has bucked its restrictive programming and is balanced between contemplative self-discovery and an idle instinct to kill all humans.

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern. On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid—a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.”

Wrench is a Fixer. Someone born to maintain, fix, and correct any and every issue that could go wrong in the habitat he lives in. Someone who makes sure he and his fellow humans can remain on display and entertain their owners as any good human pet would. At least, that’s what he was born to be. He’s taken a different route and joined a resistance faction to help free humanity to become more than just pets to an alien race.

Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize. But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters.

"Narrator Eric Mok makes this wonderfully inventive and diverse fantasy eminently accessible... Mok's Kai is appealing and relatable--he sounds simultaneously young and resigned, weary of death and pain and betrayal and yet still hopeful for something better. Listeners will hope we get more of...

After an unfortunate accident, Handry is forced to wander a world he doesn't understand, searching for meaning. He soon discovers that the life he thought he knew is far stranger than he could even possibly imagine. Can an unlikely savior provide the answers to the questions he barely comprehends?

Someone born to maintain, fix, and correct any and every issue that could go wrong in the Habitat that he lives in to make sure he and his fellow humans can remain on display and entertain their owners as any good human pet would. Or at least, that's what he was born to be. Now, after getting a second chance along with a superpower that lets him alter anything and everything in regard to his own body, he's trying to fix his life. To live his life for himself with the goal of actually enjoying it, all while being thrust ever deeper into a situation he didn't expect.

Meet Tanjihiro Chae Wong, a scarred man with no past. A nomad. A simple cabbage farmer with an ominous black gauntlet living happily with his family...or is he? Unbeknownst to everyone, he keeps a secret. Not only of his identity, but what he is, and what he can do. Keeping to the shadows as he stays out of the war he never wanted to be a part of and lives a life of...peace.

A propulsive thriller starring Jack Rowan, Siena Kelly and Iain de Caestecker. All three series of this fast-paced thriller from award-winning writer Ben Lewis, performed by a stellar cast – it will have you gripped from the first episode. When Jake signs up to a personal training programme...

The heroes Terry Fairway once idolized have turned against him, hunting him down at every turn. His grandfather, the ruthless S-ranked necromancer who rules the city, watches from his throne as the people starve and suffer. Vampires stalk the streets unchecked, feeding on the innocent without fear of reprisal. Terry always believed his family were the good guys, but Wichita isn't a city of heroes or villains—it's a city of power. And if power is all that matters, then power is what Terry will seize.

From the breakout SFF superstar author of Murderbot comes the remarkable sequel to the USA Today and Sunday Times bestselling novel, Witch King. A fantasy of epic scope, Queen Demon is a story of power and friendship, of trust and betrayal, and of the families we choose. Dahin, a beloved member...

Humanity has colonized over 500 planets under the not-always-benevolent administration of the Federation of Planetary States via the FED Army and Navy. Longstanding grievances over economic exploitation by Earth-based companies have grown into a full-scale rebellion, and attempted secession has been tried by many of the more successful colonies. The Rebels believe a peaceful separation is possible. The FEDs believe an easy and swift military resolution is available.

The Willows by Algernon Blackwood is a haunting masterpiece of early supernatural fiction, blending psychological horror with the eerie majesty of nature.

The end of the world is always a nightmare. But when it comes with the System, then it's not a nightmare for everyone. Not everybody is ready to fall into despair and come to terms with their fate as zombie food. Some people are ready to keep fighting however they can. Take Kasp as an example of one of those people. The end of the world was no nightmare for him. In fact, when the zombies and the System showed up, it brought new meaning to his life along with exciting new adventures!

When decorated military pilot Shawna Bright is convicted of a heinous crime and incarcerated, she is determined to prove her innocence. However, flying the getaway ship during a prison break wrecks that hope. Forced to land on the terrifying Xeno-ridden planet, PK-L7, Shawna must survive both ravenous alien-zombies and a crew of dangerous criminals. When they discover Xenos with cybernetic implants, Shawna uncovers a deadly plan to wreak havoc across the universe. She must do everything in her power to stop it—even if she goes down in history as one of the bad guys.

Terrell wasn't raised in the corrupt streets of Detroit. After being abused and left for dead by his violent, psychotic father, he was raised by his aunt and uncle in a loving home in the suburbs. But he never lost touch with his mother, whose selfish scheming sparked the fire that led to that fateful night when Terrell became disabled. Now that he's an adult, his tainted bloodline has other plans for the wheelchair-bound teenager.

Eine handvoll Außenseiter macht sich auf die Suche nach einem mysteriösen Alien-Schiff. Der abenteuerliche Sci-Fi-Roman in den Weiten des Sonnensystems. Auf der Marskolonie Adventiva wird Ray von seinem narzisstischen Vater zum Militärdienst gezwungen. Er entkommt schließlich der Unterdrückung und schlägt sich zu den Raumstationen im Sonnensystem durch. Dort trifft er auf einen Mann der Erde, der nach einem verschollenen außerirdischen Schiff sucht.

Before he was the super confident, snarky AI saving Siv Gendin and his friends’ bacon on a regular basis, Silky worked with his first human companion, Eyana Ora, an Empathic Services agent. This was the mission where it all began. Two centuries before the Fall of the Benevolence. A simple covert mission to spy on the Krixis, a telepathic alien race, turns into a desperate bid to save mankind when Silky and Eyana uncover a plot to use a secret super-weapon. But the weapon, a lost piece of ancient technology, holds secrets that neither side expected.

Dubbed “Dewey Decimal” for his desire to reorganize the library’s stock, he gets by as bagman and muscle for New York City’s unscrupulous district attorney. He takes no pleasure in this kind of civic dirty work. He’d be perfectly content alone among his books. But this is not in the cards, as the DA calls on Dewey for a seemingly straightforward union-busting job.