Showing results by narrator "Khristine Hvam" in All Categories

In 2015 the Quantum Bomb exploded. An accident at an atom-smasher has fractured reality and opened Earth - now called Otopia - to waves of immigration from other dimensions, home to demons, fairies, elves and elementals. It is now 2021 and Lila Black, a special operative condemned to live as a cyborg after losing her limbs on a dangerous mission, has been assigned as bodyguard to Zal, a charismatic elven rock star.

Diana's life was in a rut - she hated her job, she was perpetually single, and she needed a place to live. But then the perfect apartment came along. It seemed too good to be true - because it was. As it turns out, the apartment was already inhabited - by monsters.

In Rip-Off!, 13 of today’s best and most honored writers of speculative fiction face a challenge even they would be hard-pressed to conceive: Pick your favorite opening line from a classic piece of fiction (or even non-fiction) - then use it as the first sentence of an entirely original short story.

Losing game after game during softball season, the Bailey Batters wonder if their eccentric coach, who is continually wearing bandages because of many injuries, is really a mummy and has placed a curse on them.

This complete collection includes all of the published stories of Eudora Welty. There are 41 stories in all, including those in the earlier collections A Curtain of Green, The Wide Net, The Golden Apples, and The Bride of the Innisfallen, as well as previously uncollected stories.

As a high school sophomore, Aiden Kelly's biggest problems should be his failing grades, his abusive father, being a self-proclaimed loner, or getting pummeled by the football team. Instead, Aiden's number one dilemma is a guy named Tony, a senior who seems to know all sorts of things that should be impossible to know. Oh, and he may also be a sociopath. So, you know: No. Big. Deal.

Up until his diagnosis, Lane lived a fairly predictable life. But when he finds himself at a tuberculosis sanatorium called Latham House, he discovers an insular world with paradoxical rules, med sensors, and an eccentric yet utterly compelling confidante named Sadie - and life as Lane knows it will never be the same.

Tania has finally found a way to bring her Mortal and Faerie Worlds together, and at last, all seems right for the princess. But her idyllic peace is shattered when a Faerie baby falls ill, followed by more and more Faeries. Something is terribly wrong. Tania quickly joins forces with her sisters to find a cure for this dark plague, yet she soon realizes they need help from the Mortal World. Now with countless lives hanging in the balance, Tania makes a desperate move that will either save the land and people she has come to hold dear...or destroy their only chance for survival.

Two framed soldiers turned Liberators, an unhinged Vice-Admiral with mass murder on his mind, and a new rebellion. After deserting the Sarkonian Empire and stealing one of their best stealth ships, Alyss Cortez and Farah Shahi knew it would be like this. Always looking over their shoulder for a far-reaching enemy. But they aren't running or hiding. Instead, the pair are accepting search and rescue jobs and planning to take down Vice-Admiral-Kaska, antimission by antimission. Except that they didn't expect things to go so wrong.

They call her Traitor Kate. It’s a title Kate Brighton inherited from her father after he tried to assassinate the high king of Rime. Cast out of the nobility, Kate now works for the royal courier service. Only the most skilled ride for the Relay and only the fastest survive, for when night falls, the drakes - deadly flightless dragons - come out to hunt. Fortunately, Kate has a secret edge: She is a wilder, born with forbidden magic that allows her to influence the minds of animals.

Welcome to a world of wind and bone, songs and silence, betrayal and courage. Kirit Densira cannot wait to pass her wingtest and begin flying as a trader by her mother's side, being in service to her beloved home tower and exploring the skies beyond. When Kirit inadvertently breaks Tower Law, the city's secretive governing body, the Singers, demand that she become one of them instead. In an attempt to save her family from greater censure, Kirit must give up her dreams to throw herself into the dangerous training at the Spire.

World changes come fast and furious, and in the backcountry it is no different. The practice of "packing-it-out" - adopted to protect high-use areas and fragile ecosystems - is here to stay. We are now often urged or even required to haul our poop home. To assist with all this responsible human waste disposal, Kathleen Meyer discusses the latest in product innovations, from classy high-tech to inexpensive do-it-yourself.

Jenny's friends are lost one by one to a ghostly wolf and a phantom snake, instruments of the sinister but attractive Shadow Man, who has returned from the Shadow World with a deadly game called "Lambs and Monsters."

Born in shame. Cast from society. Shape-shifter/elf hybrid Forest must fight for any respect she can get. Targeted in her youth by a vampire noble who placed an illegal slave mark on her, she is forced to obey him no matter what. Slipping the grip of her master and abandoning the prejudice of Regia, her native world, Forest takes a job on Earth, guarding the portal, using her skills as a warrior to enforce Regia's laws. Now, called home for a black ops mission, Forest must put aside her own prejudice to transport the vampire prince, Syrus, through enemy territory in a time of war.

In the tradition of Michael Lewis and Tom Wolfe, a fascinating and frightening behind-the-scenes look at the interconnected cultures of hackers, security specialists, and law enforcement. A cybersecurity professional turned journalist, Kate Fazzini illuminates the many lies companies and governments tell us about our security, the lies criminals tell to get ahead, and the lies security leaders tell to make us think they are better at their jobs than they are.

Thirteen-year-old Savvy's three-point shot is deadly. But she gets pushed around on the basketball court. Her older sister, Callie, is on varsity cheerleading, but she's not light enough to be a flier - her coveted position. Both girls need to boost their level of competition to get into the action. How far are they willing to go to be the best?

A war is coming. The Solaris Initiative is gaining ground, and more supporters join the rebellion every day, but the Sarkonian Empire has major cards left to play. Alyss Cortez, soldier turned rebel, embarks on her most dangerous mission ever: infiltrating an ultra-elite military black site that holds the key to crippling the enemy. With no backup, memory, or clothes, she’ll have to use her wits to survive and stop a madman from taking control of the government.

Banished to Earth. Hunted by the queen's assassins. Forest must fight to find a way back to Regia. Lonely and brokenhearted, she waits for Syrus to break through her banishment. Syrus lives his days in anguish, trapped in a portal that goes nowhere. Separated by galaxies, Forest and Syrus' spiritual connection strains to the breaking point. As Regia's civil war ravages the land and the balance of power tips, the world will learn it's the Rune-dy pulling the strings.

Maylea Broadfeather is not a dragonrider like her parents. That small detail hasn’t stopped her from sneaking aboard Reigh’s latest mission, though. Why? Because she has a mission all her own: to rescue her childhood friend from a gruesome demise in the distant land of Nar’Haleen and prove that her family’s legacy of greatness hasn’t ended. But trying to fill her father’s shoes may cost Maylea more than she ever imagined—especially when the God of Life, Paligno, offers her power in exchange for loyalty in the divine war now looming on the horizon.

My name is Amelia Gray. I'm the Graveyard Queen. Restoring lost and abandoned cemeteries is my profession, but I'm starting to believe that my true calling is deciphering the riddles of the dead. Legend has it that Kroll Cemetery is a puzzle no one has ever been able to solve. For over half a century, the answer has remained hidden within the strange headstone inscriptions and intricate engravings. Because uncovering the mystery of that tiny, remote graveyard may come at a terrible price.