Showing results by author "Kevin Anderson" in All Categories

One hundred and ten centuries from now, humanity has spread across space. And all-powerful machines rule the humans who were once their masters. It began in the Time of Tyrants, when ambitious men and women used high-powered computers to seize control of the heart of the Old Empire including Earth itself. The tyrants translated their brains into mobile mechanical bodies and created a new race, the immortal man-machine hybrids called cymeks. 

Fleeing from the monstrous Honored Matres - dark counterparts of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood - Duncan Idaho, the military genius Bashar Miles Teg, a woman named Sheeana who can talk to sandworms, and a group of desperate refugees explore the boundaries of the universe. Aboard their sophisticated no-ship, they have used long-stored cells to resurrect heroes and villains from the past, including Paul Muad'Dib, in preparation for a final confrontation with a mysterious outside Enemy so great it can destroy even the terrible Honored Matres.

Paul Atreides is the man who overthrew a corrupt empire and then launched a terrible jihad across the galaxy, shedding the blood of trillions. The now-hated tyrant, the blind Emperor Paul Muad'Dib, has walked off into the endless desert of the planet Arrakis, known as Dune, leaving his turbulent empire without guidance. It's up to his mother, Jessica, with her daughter, Alia, the brave troubadour-warrior Gurney Halleck, the resurrected Duncan Idaho, the Fremen leader Stilgar, as well as Paul's wife-in-name and biographer, Princess Irulan, to try to hold an empire together. 

Leto Atreides, duke of Caladan and father of the Muad'Dib. While all know of his fall and the rise of his son, little is known about the quiet ruler of Caladan and his partner, Jessica. Or how a duke of an inconsequential planet earned an emperor's favour, the ire of House Harkonnen and set himself on a collision course with his own death. This is the story.

The Road to Dune is a compilation of material celebrating - and adding to - the epic Dune series. In this fascinating volume, the world's millions of Dune fans can now listen - at long last - to the unpublished chapters and scenes from the original Dune books; as well as correspondence with Frank Herbert relating to Dune, short stories by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson and also Spice Planet, an original novella by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, based on a detailed outline left by Frank Herbert.

It is 83 years after the last of the thinking machines were destroyed in the Battle of Corrin, after Faykan Butler established himself as the first emperor of a new imperium. War hero Vorian Atreides has turned his back on Salusa Secundus, flying off to parts unknown. Abulurd Harkonnen, convicted of cowardice, was sent away to live on gloomy Lankiveil, and his descendants continue to blame Vor for the downfall of their fortunes. 

Hunters of Dune finally meet the Enemy who followed the violent fanatics the Honored Matres back to their universe. The thinking machines vanquished by Serena Butler's jihad were not destroyed, only driven into exile - and now, tens of thousands of years later, they are back. Can the resurrected heroes onboard the Ithaca save our race from annihilation? 

Between the end of Frank Herbert's Dune and his next novel, Dune Messiah, lies a mystery: how a hero adored by a planet became a tyrant hated by a universe. Paul of Dune begins the story of those 12 fateful years and the wars of the jihad of Paul Muad'Dib. It is an epic of battle and betrayal; of love and idealism; of ambition and intrigue. Above all, it is the story of how Paul Atreides - who achieved absolute power when scarcely more than a boy - changes from an idealist into a dictator who is the prisoner of the bureaucrats and fanatics who surround him.

Lady Jessica, mother of Paul and consort to Leto Atreides, is torn from her home and her family. Her choices will shape an empire, but first the Lady of Caladan must reckon with her own betrayal of the Bene Gesserit. Refusing to become a pawn, she must decide if her loyalty to the Sisterhood is more important than the love of her own family.

It is the year 10,154 of the Imperial Calendar, and for four decades the planet Arrakis - called Dune by its inhabitants - has been ruled by the Harkonnen family. But the seeds of change have been sown. On Arrakis, an idealistic young planetologist, Pardot Kynes, goes out into the desert to learn the secrets of its giant sandworms and the priceless Spice they create. And on another planet, Caledon, young Leto Atreides is nearly ready to become duke. The blood feud between House Atreides and House Harkonnen is about to begin. 

An anthology celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Predator franchise, If It Bleeds includes 17 brand new, never-before-seen or heard stories featuring the Predators throughout space and time. Based entirely on the original films, novels, and comics, Predator: If It Bleeds reveals the Predators stalking prey in 12th-century Japan, ninth-century Viking Norway, World War I, Vietnam, the Civil War, Hurricane Katrina, and the modern day, as well as across the far reaches of future space.

Gilbertus Albans has founded the Mentat School, a place where humans can learn the efficient techniques of thinking machines. But Gilbertus walks an uneasy line between his own convictions and compromises in order to survive the Butlerian fanatics, led by the madman Manford Torondo and his Swordmaster Anari Idaho. Mother Superior Raquella attempts to rebuild her Sisterhood School on Wallach IX, with her most talented and ambitious student, Valya Harkonnen...who also has another goal - to exact revenge on Vorian Atreides.

Raised in the Imperial court and born to be a political bargaining chip, Irulan was sent at an early age to be trained as a Bene Gesserit Sister. As Princess Royal, she also learned important lessons from her father—the Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV. Now of marriageable age, Princess Irulan sees the machinations of the many factions vying for power. Meanwhile, on Arrakis, Chani—the daughter of Liet-Kynes, the Imperial Planetologist who serves under the harsh rule of House Harkonnen—is trained in the Fremen mystical ways by an ancient Reverend Mother.

In the world of speculative fiction… Your favorite authors… Have selected best new voices of the year.

The universal computer mind Omnius has retreated to its last stronghold, where it plots a devastating new strategy that could undo the victories of the Butlerian Jihad. The surviving Titans are creating new lieutenants to do their will when at last they return to attack the human beings they once ruled. In the years of peace too many of mankind have forgotten that their machine enemies never sleep. But some have forgotten nothing - and learned from their triumphs.

He is Paul Atreides. The son of Duke Leto and Lady Jessica, the heir of Caladan. He will become the fabled Muad'Dib. Before he set foot on the sands of Arrakis, Paul was forged into the young man who would become a great leader, a hero ... even a tyrant. Just as he turns fifteen years old, Paul is faced with turbulent crises on Caladan—political turmoil, as well as the unraveling of his family.

The culminating volume in The Saga of Seven Suns weaves together the myriad story lines in a spectacular grand finale. Galactic empires clash, elemental beings devastate whole planetary systems, and the factions of humanity are pitted against one another. Heroes rise and enemies make their last stands in the climax of an epic tale eight years in the making. The Saga of Seven Suns is one of the most colorful and spectacular science-fiction epics of the past decade.

The extermination of Earth is at hand. With his increasingly irrational leadership Basil Wenceslas, chairman of the Hansa, has driven humanity into a corner. His punitive treatment of the Hansa colonies and the Roamers, as well as his refusal to aid an embattled Theroc, have made enemies for the people of Earth.

For years, the alien Klikiss robots have pretended to be humanity's friends, but their seeming "help" allowed them to plant an insidious Trojan Horse throughout the Earth Defense Forces. Now, in the aftermath of a devastating war, swarms of ancient black robots built by the lost insectoid Klikiss race continue their depredations on helpless worlds with stolen and heavily armed Earth battleships.

The first battle was a victory. But the war is just beginning.... Earth is a radioactive ruin. But the initial campaign of the Butlerian Jihad has given new hope to mankind. Serena Butler, whose murdered child has become a symbol for oppressed humanity, inspires a war against the thinking computers led by Xavier Harkonnen and Vorian Atreides. But four of the Titans - murderous machines with human brains and human cunning - still remain. And the universal computer mind, Omnius, still wields most of its power.