Midnight Mass

Midnight Mass

F. Paul Wilson

Science Fiction & Fantasy / Horror

Vampires have always lived in Eastern Europe. But with the fall of the Soviet Union, they began to spread across the continent, then the world, turning whole populations into vampires--or human cattle. Having overrun India, the far East, and the great cities of North and South America, the forces of Night are now spreading into the countryside to consolidate their conquest. In a town on the New Jersey shore, the vampires have just arrived, along with their human henchmen, the cowboys, who round up human cattle for the overlords in return for the promise of eternal life---later. For the vampires wish only a few of their own kind to rule, and feed. The rest of humanity are to be helpless herds, the source of the blood of life. Falsely accused of abuse, Father Joe is drunk in a basement waiting for the end. His superior has betrayed the local Catholic congregation and become a vampire. Sister Carole has become a formidable killer of cowboys and vampires. Dan's niece, escaped from the conquest of New York, has made her way south to find him. Brought together by Rabbi Zev Wolpin, who is shaken by the vampires' fear of the cross and holy water, they plan their resistance. Against all odds, they discover that there just might be a way for humanity to really fight back.
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[What Might Have Been 02] Alternate Heroes

[What Might Have Been 02] Alternate Heroes

Anthology

War / Military Fiction / History

What would have happened if history had been different-if the major events that shaped our times had occurred in a different way-or not at all? From a Confederacy that won the Civil War to a Europe converted to Viking paganism, these bold excursions in time depict bizarre new worlds--oddly familiar, disturbingly different--a glimpse of WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN. "A Sleep and a Forgetting" (Robert Silverberg) "The Old Man and C" (Sheila Finch) "The Last Article" (Harry Turtledove) "Mules in Horses' Harness" (Michael Cassutt) "Lenin in Odessa" (George Zebrowski) "Abe Lincoln in McDonald's" (James Morrow) "Another Goddamned Showboat" (Barry N. Malzberg) "Loose Cannon" (Susan Shwartz) "A Letter from the Pope" (Harry Harrison and Tom Shippey) "Roncesvalles" (Judith Tarr) "His Powder'd Wig, His Crown of Thornes" (Marc Laidlaw) "Departures" (Harry Turtledove) "Instability" (Rudy Rucker and Paul Di Filippo) "No Spot of Ground" (Walter Jon Williams)
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Isaac Asimov: The Complete Stories. Vol. 2

Isaac Asimov: The Complete Stories. Vol. 2

Asimov, Isaac

Asimov, Isaac

From Publishers WeeklyThis collection of 40 stories, ranging from the mundane to the inspired, offers a sufficient variety to tempt both the newcomer and the devoted fan. The difficulties of day-to-day life for settlers on the planet Mars are revealed in the classic "The Martian Way." When an isolationist Earth government suddenly declares that it is cutting back on the water necessary for the Spacers to survive, these rugged pioneers must find the future on their own. Asimov's world-controlling super-computer Multivac appears in "The Life and Times of Multivac." Although this man-made intelligence nurtures the tiny population of humans that survived the catastrophes of the 20th century, its good deeds are met with resentment. But when the computer is tricked into short-circuiting, the dazed humans aren't prepared to handle the responsibility of their own lives. Salvation, however, rests in the hands of Asimov's robots: devoted, patient, almost loving servants. In the award-winning "The Bicentennial Man," a robot who is accidentally endowed with artistic ability is treated as a freak by his human betters, yet he spends his entire existence seeking only one thing: human form. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalThis ongoing effort to collect all the stories of sf's most prolific writer contains 40 samples of Asimov's talent, including "The Martian Way" and "The Bicentennial Man."Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Poor Mallory!

Poor Mallory!

Ann M. Martin

Children's Books / Young Adult

There's some bad news in the Pike family: Mallory's dad has just lost his job. And since money is going to be tight until Mr. Pike finds a new job, all eight of the Pike kids decide to help out. Nicky gets a paper route, Vanessa tries selling her poetry, and Mallory takes a baby-sitting job in Kristy's ritzy neighborhood. But being around the Delaney's only makes Mallory feel poor. they have a cat that cost $400 and tennis courts in their backyard! Poor Mallory - she needs the Babysitters now more than ever!
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Tender Savage

Tender Savage

Iris Johansen

Romance / Literature & Fiction / Suspense

Lara Clavel has come to the Caribbean prepared to risk her life to free Ricardo Lazaro, legendary poet-warrior and rebel leader. Once in his cramped gaol cell, she feels a savage desire to be possessed by him, and Ricardo is trapped by circumstance into taking all that this golden angel offers.
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The Fool's Progress

The Fool's Progress

Edward Abbey

Fiction / Travel / Memoir

The Fool's Progress, the "fat masterpiece" as Edward Abbey labeled it, is his most important piece of writing: it reveals the complete Ed Abbey, from the green grass of his memory as a child in Appalachia to his approaching death in Tuscon at age sixty two. When his third wife abandons him in Tucson, boozing, misanthropic anarchist Henry Holyoak Lightcap shoots his refrigerator and sets off in a battered pick-up truck for his ancestral home in West Virginia. Accompanied only by his dying dog and his memories, the irascible warhorse (a stand-in for the "real" Abbey) begins a bizarre cross-country odyssey—determined to make peace with his past—and to wage one last war against the ravages of "progress.""A profane, wildly funny, brash, overbearing, exquisite tour de force." — The Chicago Tribune
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Stone Dogs

Stone Dogs

S. M. Stirling

Science Fiction / Fantasy / Alternate History

The Stone Dogs is the third of four books of S.M. Stirling's alternate history series, The Domination. During the cold war between the Alliance and the Domination, Frederic and Marya work for the OSS as spies and assassins. During the Draka conquest of India, Marya Lefarge is taken prisoner. She becomes a serf to Yolande Ingolfsson, who after torturing her repeatedly with a neural weapon, forces her to become a "brooder" (i.e. a surrogate mother) for her offspring, Gwendolyn. Yolande also swears vengeance on Fred Lefarge after he kills her lover, Myfanwy Venders, during the Indian Incident. As both superpowers expand into space, they prepare different doomsday weapons. The Alliance's weapon is a computer virus ("comp plague") secretly planted in Draka military computers by spies; the Draka's is a biological virus called the Stone Dogs that causes infected personnel to go insane. Yolande discovers Marya, who has contacted the OSS, planting the comp-plague and allows her to escape with knowledge of the Stone Dogs. This forces her uncle, Archon Eric von Shrakenberg, to use the weapon prematurely. The Draka win the resulting conflict; however, their incomplete victory leads to Eric negotiating an arrangement whereupon the Alliance is allowed to launch its generation ship "The New America" and the remaining Alliance survivors in space are granted limited Draka citizenship.
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Mississippi Bridge

Mississippi Bridge

Mildred D. Taylor

Children's / Historical Fiction

Jeremy Simms watches from the porch of the general store as the passengers board the weekly bus from Jackson. When several white passengers arrive late, the driver roughly orders the black passengers off to make room. Then, in the driving rain, disaster strikes, and Jeremy witnesses a shocking end to the day's drama. Set in Mississippi in the 1930s, this is a gripping story of racial injustice."Taylor, a powerful storyteller, again combines authentic incidents to create a taut plot...Her cry for justice always rings true." --Kirkus Reviews
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The Queen of Springtime

The Queen of Springtime

Robert Silverberg

Science Fiction / Fantasy

Humans have emerged to reclaim the Earth after the Long Winter. But they never anticipated the battle that awaited them . . . As Earth thaws after the Long Winter, the remaining human tribes journey from beneath the continent to the fertile land above. But the hjjk, an ancient insectlike race that remained on Earth’s surface throughout the frozen eons, stand in their way. Keeping a tight grip on their power, the hjjks are the chief barrier to the people’s further expansion in the New Springtime. When Kundalimon, a human who has lived with the hjjk for seventeen years, arrives as an emissary of peace, the tribes are wary. They rely on Nialli Apuilana, who had been stolen at thirteen by the hjjk and released months later, to ascertain his true mission. But in this new world, it’s hard to know whom to trust. As both sides prepare for war, the fate of the planet hangs in the balance.  The Queen of Springtime is the second book of the New Springtime series, which begins with At Winter’s End.  This ebook features an illustrated biography of Robert Silverberg including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection, as well as a detailed outline for the final, unrealized title in the New Springtime series, The Summer of Homecoming.
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Midnight Fire

Midnight Fire

Linda Ladd

Linda Ladd

As the Revolutionary War rages, a sheltered beauty battles her own heart over the man who has vowed to protect her in the second Fire Trilogy novel. Carlisle Kincaid is as untouchable and unresponsive in her beautiful perfection as a marble statue. Educated by devout nuns in a strict convent, she instinctively repulses the attentions of any man, denying the haughty and reckless nature promised in her burning gaze. Chase Lancaster, a rugged adventurer on his own, is sworn to protect her seemingly indomitable virtue...while he struggles to deny the enchantment she casts over him. As a revolutionary war rages around them, they are torn apart by mistrust and the strain of divided loyalties-—even as they continue to be drawn together by need and desire. Will they fall prey to the treacherous longings raging in their souls as the ravages of war devastate everything around them?
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Brida: A Novel

Brida: A Novel

Paulo Coelho

Literature & Fiction / Nonfiction / Biographies & Memoirs

This is the story of Brida, a young Irish girl, and her quest for knowledge. She has long been interested in various aspects of magic but is searching for something more. Her search leads her to people of great wisdom, who begin to teach Brida about the spiritual world. She meets a wise man who dwells in a forest, who teaches her about overcoming her fears and trusting in the goodness of the world; and a woman who teaches her how to dance to the music of the world, and how to pray to the moon. As Brida seeks her destiny, she struggles to find a balance between her relationships and her desire to become a witch. This enthralling novel incorporates themes that fans of Paulo Coelho will recognize and treasure—it is a tale of love, passion, mystery, and spirituality from the master storyteller.
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The Woman Lit by Fireflies

The Woman Lit by Fireflies

Jim Harrison

Literature & Fiction / Nonfiction

Across the odd contours of the American landscape-Jim Harrison's country--its natives search for that which isn't quite irretrievably lost, for the incandescent beneath the ordinary. An ex-Bible student with raucously asocial tendencies rescues the miraculously preserved body of an Indian chief from the frigid depths of Lake Superior, in a caper that nets a wildly unexpected bounty; a band of sixties radicals, now approaching middle-age, reunites to free an old comrade from a Mexican jail and rewrite their common history; a fifty-year-old suburban housewife flees quietly from her abusive businessman husband at a highway rest stop, climbs a fence, and explores the bittersweet pageant of the preceding years within the sanctuary of an Iowa cornfield. "Brown Dog"
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