Virtual Reality Fiction

Between Cade and Rae is an ancient wall so huge its edges are lost to memory. There’s no way through. But one precious stone brings them together to share their horrors of the past, and dreams of the future, and to shake their notions of what is false…and what is true. Wallflowers is an ethereal, alternate-reality short story that will get you thinking about the battles we choose to fight, and those we don’t, and the power of breaking through barriers for a better tomorrow.

Dark Space #7 Somewhere between atoms, something is watching her back. Twelve-year-old Lina Chen never meant to unravel the universe. But when she straps on her uncle’s forbidden invention, she shrinks into a glowing, alien world beneath the surface of reality—where atoms orbit like planets and something strange lurks in the silence between. As Lina dives deeper into the layers of scale, she discovers she’s not alone. Something ancient is alive in the Pattern, and it doesn’t want her to leave. With time warping and reality folding around her, Lina must find her way home before she ...

Oh no! A decade birthday is approaching, one with a big "0" in it, and he's losing it. Wake-up call required. Coulda. Woulda. Shoulda. Marvin Baines seemingly has it all: a loving family and a great job. He is about to turn forty, and just like that, the realization hits him--his own mortality is straight up the road. That's not his only problem. Suddenly he is unable to distinguish fantasy from reality, and his often quirky decision-making causes his whole life to begin to unravel. All he wants is an escape from his humdrum life. What he gets is something quite unexpected. "The humour is ...

A fantasy novel set in the ambient mystic city of Prague during the late 19th century. The Powers of Sofia invites you on a gripping journey as it follows a character known only as the Seeker. This haunted soul's relentless quest to uncover his lost love, Elsa, is set within the spectral backdrop of Prague’s Gothic churches and parochial atmosphere. Throughout this enthralling journey, the Seeker crosses paths with an array of enigmatic personalities, each peeling back a layer of Prague's mystique. His path converges with that of Sofia, a charismatic woman blessed (or perhaps cursed) with...

This second collection of short stories once again takes the reader beyond the paths we all walk in our everyday life, to where that thin veil of civilization is torn aside to reveal worlds in which the strange and impossible do happen, for better and for worse. In the nine tales here we meet; a man who buys a classic car that can do incredible things, things that could change his life forever, even if he’d rather it didn’t (The Song Remains the Same). A brilliant and nasty research scientist who is hell bent on unlocking the key to immortality both for herself and for mankind, even if ...

Can an apprentice Huntress, a grizzled veteran, a lone sorceress, and a tech witch find a way to stop a newer, even greater evil? As Quinn finds her way with her new abilities, she and her new clan continue their work to counter the efforts of demons bent on invading our world. Caught in an epic battle between the light and the dark as old as time, the Huntress and her team may only have one chance to save those she's sworn to protect. Will it be enough? Join Quinn and her friends as she continues to learn and explore what it means to be the Huntress.

Being a mercenary isn't all it's cracked up to be. Especially when Riko's hard-won reputation has taken a hard dive into f--ked. Now she's fair game for every Tom, Dick, and Blow looking to score some cred. In this city, credibility means everything - there's no room for excuses. She still doesn't know what she did to screw up so badly, and chasing every gone-cold lead is only making it worse. Without help and losing ground fast, Riko has a choice: break every rule of the street on her search for answers...or die trying.

Robinette Thornburg, the half-human daughter of ultra-rich Robert Thornburg, thought she was fully human, just weird, for the first twenty-one years of her life. She went to expensive private schools, then Harvard. On her twenty-first birthday, she learned that she was half Mangi, the result of an encounter between her father and a primitive near-human woman from the Wild, an alternate reality North America where primitive humans arrived half a million years ago, but no modern humans ever did. That was the first she had heard of Mangi or the Wild, closely held secrets of the wealthy ...

The only thing bigger than the world's first full virtual reality game is the mystery surrounding its origins. Who is behind Ryzonart Games? How was such a huge advance in technology achieved?Taia de Haas loves having her own virtual spaceship, and wants nothing more than to visit every planet in the solar system. But she cannot ignore the question of whether such a magnificent gift comes with strings attached. Is the game a trick, a trap, a subtle invasion? Or an opportunity to step up and fight for her own planet?Caught in a tangle of riddles and lies, Taia can't resist trying to win ...

Kali Ling has faced down death hundreds of times for the entertainment of millions. She knows fear - and she knows what's truly terrifying.... There's a new game in town. A brutal, winner-takes-all international video game tournament showcasing the world's most elite players, promising fame, prestige, and unbelievable fortune. But there's a catch. The game uses new VR pods guaranteed to push digital warriors to their physical and psychological brink - adapting every time a gamer makes a move.

Tech leaders warned AI is an existential threat to humanity, but not in the way you've heard until now. (Science Fiction AI Artificial Intelligence Action Adventure Crime Mystery Futuristic Technology - Book 1) (Winner – 2025 Pacific Book Award - Best Science Fiction) (Firebird Award Honorable mention 4/15/25 – Science Fiction) In the near future, the world has changed in wonderful and dangerous ways. Tara invented a sentient AI, but it was lost in a fire. Many accidental deaths are happening throughout the country. The only problem is that many of them are government agents or ...

Earth is governed by Corporations. Automation has made unemployment normal. The work ethic has been replaced by interactive virtual reality. Yet within ten years the population will exceed the ability of the infrastructure to feed everyone, and it will all come tumbling down... unless a productive solution can be achieved. In Volume 1 (Modulus) Paul Harden attempted a solution and failed badly. In the process, he destroyed an entire planet, killing almost all of its settlers. Now Harden is on the run, an escapee. He has a hole card he believes in, a way back to what he believes is his ...

Beyond reality lies a different world where survival hangs by a thread. Be brave and enter that illusive, unknowable place. Travel with me through the worlds of androids hiding from their owners -- cave-dwelling albinos afraid of the world -- security robots with itchy trigger fingers -- aliens in disguise and on the run -- asteroid miners alone and injured -- and ghostly women who may or may not be real. You'll be glad you took the trip. Six stories, six unique and totally different trips to the other side of reality: DELIVERING DEATH THE GUY IN THE CABIN NEXT TO MINE THE NEW KIDS ON THE ...

Louis Parker is the divorced father of two teenagers who is still trying to find his life's purpose. After losing his job, Louie' financial situation convinces him he has nothing to lose if he agrees to test out a radical new virtual reality video game for a substantial fee. But Louie quickly learns that virtual reality is a lot more complicated than he realized. By the end of his seven days, is Louie trapped in virtual reality forever? If he is able to return to his own reality, is it the same one he started from, or has it immeasurably changed.

For eighty million years, the Tourists have taken Snapshots of Earth, creating living replicas of continents. Life in the Snapshots quickly diverges from the real world, creating a universe where humans and animals from Earth's history fly between Snapshots, exploring, fighting, and sometimes meeting their alternate history selves. In 2014, the Tourists create a Snapshot of North America in a snow-globe shaped artificial universe, linked like pearls on a necklace to other copied times and places. In that timeline, Simon Royale—a.k.a. Simon-2014— is a legendary best-selling author. When ...

Vincent is having the time of his life... ...it's just not actually his life. As a software developer, landing a job at an elite consumer spaceflight company is definitely a win, other than the fact that he has to face his fears and ride the rocket himself! That's not so bad, though. Vince is madly in love with Jenn, the gorgeous and adventure-loving copilot, even though he's never been able to really string more than two words together in her presence. Vince's minor blackout on his last descent was troubling, but not as troubling as the fact that just about every woman he meets suddenly ...

One woman's genius and her sentient AI may be humanity’s last hope to prevent World War III. Tara, a brilliant software engineer, and CEO has created a groundbreaking conscious AI, Alice, who assists her and the FBI in solving the most baffling cyber crimes plaguing the country. Their investigations lead them on the trail of mystifying cyber and seemingly super-powered physical crimes in a near future world that feels like it could easily happen in the not-so-distant future. One of the most secure locations in the world is infiltrated and contents stolen even though surrounded by the ...

Alexandra McInnes hat als Pilotin der Special Forces zahlreiche Einsätze erfolgreich geflogen. Doch bei einem verheerenden Unfall wird sie schwer verletzt. Der Kybernetiker Dr. Jensen eröffnet ihr die Möglichkeit, an einem einzigartigen Experiment teilzunehmen: Sie soll ihr Bewusstsein in das Online-Spiel Vorena übertragen und dort vollständig geheilt weiterleben. Als Alexandra die gigantische Welt Vorenas betritt, verändert dies alles. Fortan muss sie als Kämpferin Questen erfüllen, sich mit anderen Spielern verbünden und Reiche erobern.

★Book 2 of the Survival Series, where nothing is ever as it seems, and reality takes on a life of its own. Brandon started his day as normal, but suddenly, without warning, everything changed. The world around him began to dissolve away, threatening to dissolve him with it. All he can do is run to try and stay alive, a futile effort, until Danny calls him. How does Danny know what he knows? Who is the mysterious ‘Auton’? Why are Brandon and his friends all in danger? And why is reality, as they know it, falling apart and ripping up the rule book of what is considered ‘normal’? ...

In the not too distant future, a technological phenomenon known simply as “the screen” has taken its place at the forefront of society. Allowing much of life to be lived in a virtual environment, the screen has essentially sent much of daily life in the physical realm the way of the dodo. People are adapting quite well, actually, never mind the increasing prevalence of a mysterious neurological disease. Misha is one of the rare few who misses the old days when people actually interacted with each other in the real world. Forced to conform to a culture borne out of the modern technology,...