Synopsis
Nine dazzling science-fiction tales await the intrepid reader: eight short stories and a novella.
"Action, science fiction, mystery, and a whole lot more await the eager reader. ... If you love books that get to the point fast, you will like this one." – Readers' Favorite Reviews
"Masterfully blends sci-fi wonders and ethical conundrums, crafting a universe that captivates and challenges the imagination." – Reader Views Reviews
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Blood / Music: In the dark corridors of a forbidden city, a young rebel races to escape her pursuers and certain death. Her only hope: the experimental nanochem drug she just stole from a secret government lab, the drug she must now use on herself.
Thanksgiving Day, 10:13 am, Eastern Standard Time: The enormous Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons suddenly all become self-aware. Our hero soon finds himself clinging desperately atop one as it rampages along Sixth Avenue, but that is just the start of his adventure.
Fireworks and a Kiss at the End of Time: The universe is dying. Its life flashes before our eyes. Only one man truly understands what it all means, that there is still hope after all, and maybe there's a chance to undo past mistakes.
The Day of the Return of the Faces: The strange epidemic began at the same time all around the world. No one could recognize faces anymore. Except for one woman. She had been "face-blind" for decades but now can truly see.
Installation #17: Javan joins his school's Explorative Art Corp in hopes of impressing the fetching and elusive Astrene, only to find himself trapped within a very odd art installation on a very curious world called Earth.
Memento Vitae (or Lunch atop a Skyscraper):With an onrushing comet certain to destroy Earth, a doomed architect fights to save the soul of an innocent boy, his digital soul, that is.
Ellie: Matías never truly understood his young wife Ellie—her moods, her mysteries, her sorrows, her secrets—not until the Watchers came, and especially not until after they left.
The Final Burn: Three unlucky travelers are trapped aboard a spacecraft as it spirals down toward a deadly planet. Their only hope: one must sacrifice himself so the others can escape. Complicating the situation: the three form an old-fashioned love triangle.
Tressia: Reeves and Tess Saunders join a mission to the distant world of Tressia. It's a chance to put a painful past behind and stake their claim to a bright future. Seemingly benign, the planet turns deadly and soon they're in a fight for survival that will challenge their courage and wits—and their loyalty to one another—and ultimately their very humanity.
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An excerpt from The Day of the Return of the Faces:
The epidemic began more or less at the same time all around the world.
No one could recognize faces anymore. I was in the main departure terminal at the international airport in Rio de Janeiro when it happened, and what happened was panic. Husbands could no longer recognize their wives. Children could no longer recognize their parents. Parents couldn’t recognize their own kids. The Polícia Federal, armed with machine guns, could no longer recognize one another.
Face blindness: the uncanny condition in which you can look at a once-familiar face, a close friend, a wife, a husband, and yet try as you might, you simply can’t recognize their face. Yet you can recognize the person’s clothes and their eyeglasses, necklaces and rings, purses and handbags, their hairstyle, and everything else about them except the face.
Failing to recognize them, you assume they’re an imposter. They are a lie.
Already, violent arguments were breaking out...
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