Showing results for "Systems" in Science Fiction

After a successful auction, the young Prince Edgar requested Derek’s help on an issue that concerned the safety of the entire Kingdom of Cydaria. A new, level 250 raid dungeon appeared, and Edgar needed the kingdom’s elite to help clear it before the unstable dungeon overflowed, or even worse, broke. Leaving his shop in the trusting hands of Malorie, and with everyone’s insistence that he go, Derek agreed to the prince’s request and joined him and the others on the raid. However, the dungeon wasn’t what anyone was expecting, and when they went inside, they found that it was a trial dungeon.

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.

Long Fang is stranded in a foreign world where proper cultivation has been replaced by annoying blue screens. He is confused and alone...but not for long. Completely ignoring the System, he forms a wholesome sect of followers to spread cultivation across the wild world. Blue screens do not take kindly to rejection, however, and Long Fang’s stubbornness soon finds him pitted against increasingly dangerous foes.

Ominous obelisks land on Earth with a single message: Join the games to give humanity a fighting chance to survive... Or roll over and die. Too bad for them, Warren isn't the rolling-over type. Cancer may be kicking Warren's a$$, but he's not about to let aliens destroy his home and everything he loves (which is mostly just his dog, Buck). Besides, what does he have to lose? Better to die with sword in hand, bleeding out from a head wound than in some hospital bed...

Fight, survive, adapt, and rely only on yourself. That is Derek’s creed and what's got him through the System Integration on Earth. Everything changed when the System came. Cute bunnies and beautiful butterflies became savage killing machines. Then the Invaders arrived with a single goal: to obtain ownership of this new habitable planet. War has raged ever since. None of this mattered much to Derek, aside from making living a little more perilous.

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.

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.”

After saving Manhattan from the alien Salvage System, Forge Warrior Chris Mason faces an impossible choice: become the Forerunners' champion or watch Earth fall. But first, he must tame the fiercest warriors in the galaxy—the Rax'Kull. And he'll have to do it without his powers. Transported to Zhark'Thul, an alien world of deadly creatures and bizarre landscapes, Chris discovers his salvaging abilities no longer function. Stripped back to level one, he and his team must survive the insect-like Rax'Kull who mark them as prey.

Savannah was unlike any city Derek had ever been to. For the first time since his arrival in Cydaria, Derek actually met a respectable city lord. Natalie Savannah and the city she ruled were much more than he’d imagined. With this combination, Derek made the decision to put down roots by building a shop from scratch and moving his people in. He was even able to get Silvi the beloved kitchen that she so desired, along with personally meeting Alanah Swan and learning new things about the new system he was thrown into—things that only someone who was truly strong would know.

The Worldbranch Throne has been claimed, but the Lunar Empress now looms over EBO. Her arrival heralds the start of a new era: a strange continent, powerful loot drops, and a catch-up event that drastically empowers those who have fallen behind the leveling curve.

En un futuro controlado por entidades corporativas donde el viaje espacial es posible, una compañía de seguros debe aprobar y abastecer todas las misiones planetarias. Los equipos de exploración tienen que ir acompañados de androides suministrados por las aseguradoras, por su propio bien. Pero en una sociedad donde los contratos se conceden al postor más bajo, la seguridad no es lo más importante.

Is our sun behaving differently from other stars? When an amateur astronomer discovers something strange on telescopic solar pictures, an explanation must be found. Is it merely artifact? Or has he found something totally unexpected? An expert international crew is hastily assembled, a spaceship is speedily repurposed, and the foursome is sent on the ride of their lives. What challenges will they face on this spur-of-the-moment mission to our central star?

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.

Corporate flameout Ned Altimer dreams of leaving his world behind. So, when Earthblood Online splashes onto the VRMMO scene, he dives in and never looks back. His advantages are twofold: exclusive access to the game’s three-day Head Start period, and a ridiculously handsome talking axe named Frank who has knowledge of the game’s deepest secrets...if the magnificent Frank ever feels like sharing them.

The world ends in a slew of blue notification boxes, bringing with it a game-like existence including monsters and Classes. Now, John has to make his way from Kluane National Park in the Yukon to Whitehorse through monster infested forests. But, that's not enough; because he'll need to help rebuild civilization itself around the System, aliens and monsters. And, as always, humanity will be its own greatest enemy.

SHOCKS Victoria lies in ruins. Claire defeated her best friend and biggest enemy. Now, she turns her eyes southward, toward the Olympic Peninsula, where the battle's survivors have fled. SHOCKS's director has an idea to weaponize Claire's power, and her best friend and father are traveling with them. Claire wants them back, and she wants that idea under wraps.

The Philip K. Dick Short Story Collection gathers some of the author’s most unsettling and visionary works—stories that helped define modern science fiction and inspired generations of writers, filmmakers, and thinkers. In this gripping volume, Philip K. Dick explores paranoia, identity, war, and perception through razor-sharp ideas and unforgettable twists.

Step into the visionary imagination of Ray Bradbury with this powerful collection of classic science fiction and speculative tales that helped define the Golden Age of the genre. The Selected Works of Ray Bradbury brings together seven unforgettable short stories that explore humanity’s hopes, fears, and moral crossroads against the vast backdrop of space, time, and the unknown.

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.

House Gracefall wasn’t anything like what Derek had imagined it would be. Instead of rage and anger at the loss of one of their young masters, House Gracefall showed humility and even apologized. Despite one noble house exemplifying honor and nobility, another awaited to reinforce the negative stereotypes that Derek had been anticipating all along. Somehow, out of all that, Derek made a new friend, a new business partner, and learned some secrets, while Silvi got her first taste of the real world of cooking and loved it.