Tag: Fiction

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True Fiction

#1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Goldberg hits the ground running in a breakneck thriller where truth and fiction collide for the unluckiest writer alive.

When a passenger jet crashes onto the beaches of Waikiki, bestselling thriller writer Ian Ludlow knows the horrific tragedy wasn’t an accident.

Years before, the CIA enlisted Ian to dream up terrorism scenarios to prepare the government for nightmares they couldn’t imagine. Now one of those schemes has come true, and Ian is the only person alive who knows how it was done…and who is behind the plot. That makes him too dangerous to live.

Ian goes on the run, sweeping up an innocent bystander in his plight – Margo French, a dog walker and aspiring singer. They are pursued by assassins and an all-seeing global-intelligence network that won’t stop until Ian and Margo are dead. Ian has written thrillers like this before, but this time he doesn’t know how it’s going to end – or if he will be alive to find out.

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Seven Stones to Stand or Fall: A Collection of Outlander Fiction

The author presents a collection of seven short stories set in the Outlander universe, never before published together, including two original stories and featuring beloved character Jamie Fraser.

“Beseiged”: Protagonist is Lord John Grey, a secondary character in the Outlander novels and a main protagonist of the Lord John novels, Diana’s related series (never before published).

“A Fugitive Green”: Protagonist is Hal Grey, John’s brother (never before published).

“Virgins”: Protagonists are Jamie Fraser at age 19 and his friend and future brother-in-law, Ian Murray. (Originally published in the Tor Books anthology Dangerous Women in 2013. Dell published as an individual e-novella in 4/2016.)

“The Space Between”: Protagonist is Michael Murray, who is the son of Ian and Jenny Murray (Jenny is Jamie’s sister and a main character in her own right in both the books and TV show). (Originally published in the Tor anthology The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination in 2012 and as an individual e-novella by Dell in 4/2014.)

“A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows”: Tells the story of the parents of Roger Wakefield (a major character in the books, just introduced at the end of the second season of the show and will continue to grow in importance); features Claire’s husband, Frank Randall. (Originally published in the Gallery anthology Songs of Love and Death in 2010 and as an individual e-novella by Dell in 12/2012.)

“The Custom of the Army”: Protagonist is Lord John Grey. (Originally published in the Tor anthology Warriors (1) in 2010. Dell published as an e-novella in May 2012.)

“Lord John and the Plague of Zombies”: Protagonist is Lord John Grey. (Originally published in Ace anthology Down These Strange Streets in 2012. Dell published as an e-novella in 2013).

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Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi

The ex-planet Pluto has a few choice words about being thrown out of the solar system. A listing of alternate histories tells you all the various ways Hitler has died. A lawyer sues an interplanetary union for dangerous working conditions. And four artificial intelligences explain, in increasingly worrying detail, how they plan not to destroy humanity. Welcome to Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi.

These four stories, along with 14 other pieces, have one thing in common: They’re short, sharp, and to the point – science fiction in miniature, with none of the stories longer than 2,300 words. But in that short space exist entire universes, absurd situations, and the sort of futuristic humor that propelled Scalzi to a Hugo with his novel Redshirts. Not to mention yogurt taking over the world (as it would).

Spanning the years from 1991 to 2016, this collection is a quarter century of Scalzi at his briefest and best and features four never-before-published stories exclusive to this collection: “Morning Announcements at the Lucas Interspecies School for Troubled Youth”, “Your Smart Appliances Talk About You Behind Your Back”, “Important Holidays on Gronghu”, and “The AI Are Absolutely Positively Without a Doubt Not Here to End Humanity, Honest”.

John Scalzi is the New York Times best-selling author of Old Man’s War, Lock In, and Redshirts, among others. His work has won the Hugo and Locus Awards and been nominated for the Nebula and Campbell Awards. He lives in Ohio and online. He enjoys pie.

Full cast of narrators includes Oliver Wyman, Dina Pearlman, and Allyson Johnson.

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Stories of Inspiration: Historical Fiction Edition, Volume 1: Historical Fiction Writers Trace Their Journeys from Starting Point to Finished Work

Writers of historical fiction face a daunting creative challenge: that of shaping fresh and original stories from a verifiable and sometimes familiar past. Again and again, today’s gifted historical fiction authors meet that challenge brilliantly. But readers rarely get to see how they tackle such an intricate task, or what happens to transform the first glimmer of an idea and a set of historical facts into a complete and compelling work of fiction.

Featuring both new and established voices and evoking a dazzling variety of times and places, STORIES OF INSPIRATION: HISTORICAL FICTION EDITION invites 39 accomplished authors from the U.S., U.K. and beyond to take us behind the scenes of their often-surprising journeys from starting point to finished book.

Opening with a Preface by Eliot Pattison, the volume includes essays by Frances Brody, Elizabeth Brundage, Megan Chance, Gary Corby, Glen Craney, Rosemary Dronchi, Ellen Feldman, Suzanne Fox, Natalie S. Harnett, Bruce Holsinger, Andrew Hughes, J. Sydney Jones, M.R.C. Kasasian, Philip Kazan, Jennifer Kincheloe, Deryn Lake, Gene Lee, Joan Lennon, Michelle Lovric, Sarah McCoy, James McGee, Cindy Rinaman Marsch, Miranda Miller, Judith Claire Mitchell, Chris Nickson, J.L. Oakley, Charles Palliser, Alyssa Palombo, Ann Parker, Sue Purkiss, Celia Rees, Elizabeth Rosner, Steven Saylor, Sophie Schiller, Cam Terwilliger, Janet Todd, Bob van Laerhoven, and Josa Young.

The eras their works depict range from the Stone Age to the late 20th century, while the places encompass many of the globe’s most fascinating locations. Equally diverse are the questions the collection explores. Where do works of historical fiction find their starting points? How are those seeds refined into story? Why does one milieu or era resonate for an author when others do not? What are the gifts and challenges of using the past as source? How do blocks and other obstacles refine or even transform an initial concept? Where does historical accuracy end and fictional power begin? How do authors today make a given moment in history compelling to contemporary readers and use the past to illuminate the present? In a series of brief and richly informative essays, the authors of STORIES OF INSPIRATION: HISTORICAL FICTION EDITION muse on all of these issues and more.

Illuminating the work, process and personalities of exceptional authors from around the world; investigating the intricate ties between past and present, fact and fiction; and celebrating the nature of the creative process itself, STORIES OF INSPIRATION: HISTORICAL FICTION EDITION will appeal to readers of literature and fiction, lovers of history and travel, and writers seeking inspiration for their own work.