Showing results by narrator "Mikael Naramore" in All Categories

In a rarified world of scientific research, a revolution has been brewing. Its activists are not anarchists, but rather Nobel Laureates in physics and economics and pony-tailed graduates, mathematicians, and computer scientists from all over the world. They have formed an iconoclastic think-tank and their radical idea is to create a new science: complexity. They want to know how a primordial soup of simple molecules managed to turn itself into the first living cell--and what the origin of life some four billion years ago can tell us about the process of technological innovation today.

The When Swords Fall Silent anthology showcases the imaginations and talents of more than a dozen of the best modern science-fiction and fantasy authors, with each tale centered around one or more characters burdened with a bloody task they will see to completion no matter the cost. Every story takes you for a vicious ride through a world of shadow and death, each as unique in perspective and execution as the contracts carried out within.

For millennia, the Weave, an alliance of species, have fought to resist the telepathic Amplitur, who strive to unite all self-aware life-forms in their great "Purpose." The Weave is slowly losing ground, but for both sides, warfare focuses more on outthinking and outmaneuvering your foe than destruction. In fact, most regard violence as hideously barbaric, and even the thought of harming another sentient being is beyond imagining.

In Sons of Cain - a book that fills the gap between dry academic studies and sensationalized true crime - investigative historian Peter Vronsky examines our understanding of serial killing from its prehistoric anthropological evolutionary dimensions in the pre-civilization era (c. 15,000 BC) to today. Delving further back into human history and deeper into the human psyche than Serial Killers - Vronsky's 2004 book, which has been called "the definitive history of the phenomenon of serial murder" - he focuses strictly on sexual serial killers.

Curator Dr. Louisa Hancock left behind Maine and her troubled past for Philadelphia and a job at a prominent museum. Just when it seems that Louisa’s new life is safe from her dark secrets, the body of a museum intern is found - the victim of a brutal and baffling murder. Louisa realizes this is no random crime. And when another intern goes missing, the abduction is linked to the only man who has ever tempted Louisa’s heart - Conor Sullivan, the owner of a Philly sports bar.

Albert Jenkins and his friends have enjoyed several months of peace, which is why when a Rosengul spaceship crash-lands into his new house, he's not exactly surprised. From the wreckage, a pair of ordinarily reclusive small Rosengul emerge and spin a tale of kidnapping and deceit. Of course, AJ, not always the most sensitive, asks the pertinent question of how that involves him and his friends. The simple answer is that AJ and crew have developed a reputation of getting things done, probably because his methods skirt Galactic Empire rules.

Among the scattered fringe cities bordering the Cienbal desert, the true name of the Monster of Karth is spoken only in whispers...RAZ I'SYUL ARRO. A sellsword of the utmost caliber, Raz is a killer of paramount skill and highest regard. Towering tall even amongst the atherian, he is the only of his kind to live free in the "civilized" confines of mankind's varied cultures. He has no need of loyalties, his sole affections pledged to the gold crowns that buy his time and skills.

Two dozen tales of future shock and twisted history from an undisputed king of cyberpunk science fiction, including Nebula Award finalists “Sunken Garden” and “Dori Bangs.”

The High Citadel cannot be seen to harbor a killer. This is a simple truth, and one that Raz i’Syul Arro has little choice but to respect. As the winter storms fall away in favor of the North’s pleasant summer months, Raz finds himself having once more to face the cruelties of the world with spear and sword in hand. For the first time, though, the Monster no longer walks his path alone. Syrah Brahnt, Priestess of Laor and adopted daughter of the former High Priest of Cyurgi ‘Di himself, has joined him on his journey.

With 50,000 freed slaves at their back, Raz i'Syul Arro and Syrah Brahnt leave the savannahs of Perce behind. Karesh Syl is no more. Karesh Nan burns in their wake. Beyond the border before them the South looms, ready and waiting, and together Raz and Syrah pray they are prepared for the great offense they must now undertake against the fringe cities.

Knocking at death’s door. Bargaining for a second chance. Seems like a heck of a way to find out about an alien invasion.... Vietnam vet Albert Jenkins is battling a bulging waistline and a passion for drink. So when a towering pile of scrap rocket parts falls and crushes the stubborn curmudgeon, he thinks it’s finally the end. But just as he’s about to take one final breath, a snarky alien parasite offers him a deal: His life in return for sharing his body.

Luke Tavares has dreamed of joining the vast gaming guilds of the hypernet. After recently graduating high school, his parents have given him the same ultimatum as his siblings: He has one month to get a job to pay for his air, gravity, and water aboard the Dahlia. The freighter needs more hands, but Luke doesn’t want to be a trader-ship engineer. In Sphere World, he can mine asteroids, build bots, and make weapons to fuel the system-wide war between nodes.

A political journalist and activist, Cousins was also a professor of medical humanities at UCLA, where he studied the biochemistry of human emotions and their relationship to healing. When Cousins was hospitalized with a debilitating collagen illness, he decided to take his health into his own hands. Cousins and his doctor combated the disease together by creating a regimen of laughter and vitamin C specifically calibrated to his needs. Against all odds, the treatment worked, proving to Cousins that a positive attitude was key to his improvement.

Albert Jenkins never cared much for bureaucrats and politicians. So, when the Galactic Congress refuses to act on the illegal invasion of Earth by parasitic aliens, he does what any self-respecting vet would do - he steals a spaceship. But when AJ and a snarky pop culture-loving alien companion are pursued by space cops, he does the only rational thing he can come up with. He strategically crash-lands on a junkyard moon.

In a world where everyone has a superpower, his was being a geek. Cue was perfectly happy working as a tech super in the dingy basement of Seattle's Superhero Office. Or at least he was until he got mixed up with a machine that could increase superpowers, foreign agents, and a fire-wielding gang of criminals. Now he's dodging fireballs and using his power to change old tech into something that can keep him alive. Luckily, he has a knack for being a hero.

In the shadows of forgotten ruins and hidden temples, Mark Lockheed, a government archaeologist, is about to embark on an adventure that will defy the boundaries of history and myth. Tired of his life among the sea of suits, Mark's world is turned upside down when a lifelong obsession with the Holy Grail throws him into the heart of a mystery that has confounded scholars and adventurers for centuries.

On a warm Florida evening, Karen Gregory saw a familiar face at her door. What the beautiful young woman could not know was that she was staring into the eyes of her killer - a savage monster who would rape her, stab her to death, and leave her battered body on the floor outside the bedroom. Detectives frantically sifting through the evidence were tormented by one disturbing question after another....

The US Army’s Zebra Company has been tasked with an impossible, secret mission to establish a presence on planet Fimil Prime. With a no-holds-barred budget, and the help of friendly alien allies, Mission Black Turtle is launched, sending the fortress-class Angry Arc and 200 of Earth’s finest soldiers into the great unknown. A living embodiment of SNAFU, the mission falls off the rails when the highly advanced Quarr challenge Zebra Company’s arrival by fielding a host of genetically engineered warriors to ruin the day.

Freshly unemployed gamer Arnold O'Connor is short on cash and facing eviction. When an indie game developer advertises looking for participants in a brain study to help revolutionize enemy AI, he's not thinking about the benefits to his hobby, just his bank account. But things get weird once the trials start. Neuroscientists monitor his brain waves as Connor performs a variety of tasks, culminating in venturing into a testing version of the very game they're hoping to develop. The tests mess with his sense of reality, seeing things he can't touch and deafened to some sounds but not others.

Alex knows he is a cliché. After all, a vampire pining for a human girl? He might as well put on a Team Edward shirt and call it a day. Still, despite his werewolf best friend's constant comments about 'Glittering chests,' he can't help himself. So, when his crush announces that she is leaving his online class to return to Green Lake Academy, he decides to throw good sense away and follow.