System Fiction

The Valiant is a gripping saga that explores an untold chapter in the life of Jean-Luc Picard - and reveals the making of a captain! Go back in time to when Lieutenant Commander Picard was second officer on the Stargazer and suddenly finds himself and his ship under attack from a hostile alien species - on the wrong side of the Galactic Barrier, cut off from Starfleet!

With more than 10 stories from exciting new voices and a few veterans of the universe, the second anthology highlights the lives and struggles of humanity's best and worst years after system advent.

Clyde believed this was going to be a simple task. Give the blessing, get out! Shouldn’t an easy quest like this be illegal? Too bad the nation of Alon is facing a political crisis. Can Team Stone stop the wizards from ousting the royal family and taking control for themselves? Did someone mention that the Viper roamed the city? Clyde and his party return in September 2019’s issue, bringing the humor and fun, ass-kicking, and the rising from weak to completely unstoppable.

Log in. Lock in. Never log out. Morgan Reid is a combat vet and ex-security consultant with one goal—understand Nexus Dynamics’ neural tech and save his comatose brother. But when he enters Netherworld, the most advanced VRMMORPG ever created, he discovers a terrifying truth: no one can log out. Fifty thousand players are trapped. A rogue AI called The Architect controls the code. And one failed escape attempt has already left a girl brain-dead in the real world. Now, Morgan must level up, decode a world built on twisted logic, and survive deadly digital realms with real-life ...

Two weeks into the System Apocalypse, and the transformations are just beginning. Mutated insects, carnivorous toads, and angry drop bears were not on the school curriculum, but when the apocalypse hits, you roll with it. Parenting a teenager has prepared Kira for the worst; she just didn’t expect that to include the end of the world. A menacing conglomerate of alien hunters is breathing down their necks, and new threats lurk just over the hills. Kira and the rest of the Australian survivors of Brisbane must level up, bolster defenses, and prepare for an incoming invasion.

Having fled his home country, Jack finds himself in a foreign land surrounded on all sides by people who hate his existence, even those that claim to support him seem to have some ulterior motive. Be it because of his eye color, or the shadow of his parent's sins cast over him, Jack finds himself having to strike deals and play a part with the Princess of the Empire if he wishes to protect his sister.

Bounty hunter Hal Mason is doing well for himself, a year after the System converted Earth into a lawless, apocalyptic Dungeon World. Now, though, old friends have come calling with a new opportunity and with it, the murky politics of Galactic interests and overlapping contracts. Hal must protect the first train to cross the new wildlands of the American Midwest.

Simone knows if she plays with fire, she runs the risk of getting burned, but she just can't help herself. Living large off the paternity scam of a lifetime, she has two baby daddies cashing her out for her infant son. Even her own best friends are getting tired of her low-down, manipulative ways. Unfortunately, the streets begin to talk, and the out-for-self mother's luck taps out.

La première novella de la série SF déjà culte et multirécompensée de Martha Wells. " J'aurais pu faire un carnage dès l'instant où j'ai piraté mon module superviseur ; en tout cas, si je n'avais pas découvert un accès au bouquet de chaînes de divertissement relayées par les satellites de la compagnie. 35 000 heures plus tard, aucun meurtre à signaler, mais, à vue de nez, un peu moins de 35 000 heures de films, de séries, de lectures, de jeux et de musique consommés. Comme impitoyable machine à tuer, on peut difficilement faire pire. "

Earth is one step away from a nuclear war, and Paradigm Alpha’s solution to saving what they can of humanity is to upload their brains to The Doomsday System. But while most of the minds are being stored while they sleep, Jeff doesn’t have that option. As the only one who can be uploaded digitally and remain awake, he will be kept alive, as it were, in order to help humanity 10,000 years from now. But thanks to time compression in the system, it will only be a thousand years for him.

What happens when the apocalypse is over; to love, strained and torn? How do you pick up the pieces, when life stabilises? It's a question our heroes must ask themselves, when they're no longer fighting off swarms of monsters, no longer struggling for Credits and Levels. Valentine's in the Apocalypse is set four years after the System Apocalypse has arrived, between books 5 and 6 of the System Apocalypse and features new characters. The story is set in Vancouver, BC.

Humanity has colonized over 500 planets under the not-always-benevolent administration of the Federation of Planetary States via the FED Army and Navy. Longstanding grievances over economic exploitation by Earth-based companies have grown into a full-scale rebellion, and attempted secession has been tried by many of the more successful colonies. The Rebels believe a peaceful separation is possible. The FEDs believe an easy and swift military resolution is available.

It’s been three months since the Patriarche was beheaded, leaving behind no known heir. Now, the planet of Laterre is unrecognizable. General Bonnefaçon has cleaned up the streets, fed the hungry, and restored peace while the next leader is decided upon. From the outside, Laterre seems to be flourishing. But dangerous rifts threaten to shatter the planet from within.

The System Apocalypse has brought the clothing industry, and just about everything else, to a grinding halt. Now Lana Pearson intends to kickstart the local industry into gear to help Vancouver self-sustain itself. Key to her strategy are special teams of non-combat classes.

That’s right, we’re taking this show on the road. D.C has gained the attention of more than just one angry game maker and countless monsters, so when a set of mysterious twins ask for my help, I can’t possibly refuse. Besides, my party could use a change of scenery. Now, we’re going from D.C. to Cleveland with more stops on the way than you can shake a stick at… or a legendary weapon. In the end, it won’t be about the journey, but about the friendships you make along the way… right?

The time of Amina’s mission is here. With an unbreakable bond, she and her deck leader, Clyde, must triumph over an organization that harassed the realms she protected for centuries and, at last, confront Niphlem, the chaos god.

His heart is dead, The Emperor's mighty army roams the lands with impunity, and Sabashton's puny 'rebellion' is in jeopardy of ending before it even gets started. This isn't a game anymore, he isn't sure it ever was. With the future of Infinity and the entirety of human history on the line - Ash must follow Lady V into the underworld to find The Key and claim The Orb before The Corruptor does.

Clyde and Team Stone is back for season two, ready to kick ass, expand the humor, build a family, get married, and maybe learn the truth of the Stone’s origins.

Captain Sulu is faced with one of the most difficult choices of his carreer: carry out his orders and protect another being's life only to see it taken away, or interfere and risk destroying the fragile peace...and violate the prime directive in the process. Featuring George Takei and enhanced with sound effects and 3-D sound!

"A Pail of Air” by Fritz Leiber is a haunting and poetic science fiction short story set in a frozen, post-apocalyptic Earth where the sun has gone dark. Written in the early 1950s, this atmospheric tale follows a resilient family struggling to survive in a world turned to eternal night, where even breathable air must be collected by hand. Told through the eyes of a young boy, the story captures the stark beauty of isolation, the desperation of survival, and the enduring hope that flickers in humanity’s darkest hours.