Horror

[close] As a faithful Mormon, Soren Johansson has always believed he’ll be reunited with his loved ones in an eternal hereafter. Then, he dies. Soren wakes to find himself cast by a God he has never heard of into a Hell whose dimensions he can barely grasp: a vast library he can only escape from by finding the book that contains the story of his life.

In this haunting existential novella, author, philosopher, and ecologist Steven L. Peck explores a subversive vision of eternity, taking the reader on a journey through the afterlife of a world where everything everyone believed in turns out to be wrong.

“An irresistible invention. Peck has somehow squeezed all of human experience, not to mention near-infinite expanses of space and time, into one miraculously slim novella. You won’t be able to stop thinking about this book.” -- Ken Jennings, author of Brainiac and Maphead

“The central conceit is brilliant ... Peck has a flair for capturing the yearnings of the human spirit, hell-bound or no.” - By Common Consent [close]

[close] Win a signed Advanced Release Copy of Bone Machine!
The Libra Robotics and Cybernetics Corporation robots have done the impossible. War, poverty, and slavery are nearly extinct. Worldwide employment is at an all time high. And the new workers’ paradigm: a four to six hour work day. The robots take care of the rest, acting as a personal substitute—like a clone, with all of your skills and abilities. Nearly everyone can spend time with family, pursue artistic and athletic ventures, become entrepreneurs—or anything else they’d like to do. Everyone except those working for Libra Corp.
Grayson Cornel doesn’t sleep much anymore. His life is in shambles. His father is teetering on death. He was recently promoted by Libra Corp, but his predecessor, Zoe Asher is wanted for murder and is now targeting him. On top of that, his first assignment in his new position has ended in disaster.
The last of the world’s sweatshops in Haiti had finally placed an order for Libra Corp robots, and it was Grayson’s job to make sure that the order was filled. But when the robots arrived, something went horribly wrong. They disappeared, leaving only dead bodies in their wake. No Libra Corp robot had ever killed anyone before, so Grayson is sent to Haiti to figure out what went wrong.
What he discovers begins to unravel a dark secret Libra Corp has been keeping from the public. Something so shocking that Grayson risks ending utopia to put a stop to it.
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[close] "The Deacon’s Tale" is the story of Cai Rui, Task Force Commander of the infamous “Black Section” of the Sol Force Intelligence Corps and a loyal Archdeacon of the Roman Catholic Church. Charged to investigate a brutal massacre of Catholic converts on a distant alien world, Cai Rui finds himself on the trail of a killer who can threaten not only his life, but his very soul. As a brutal new race emerges from the shadows, one man will be tested to the extremes of courage and faith by an enemy who dares to call himself…”The Deacon”.

The Kthonia Press edition of this novel includes a revised text and five new Appendices on the races of the Sword of the Stars universe.

“Sword of the Stars. I have played almost nothing else for a week... I had a fever this weekend, and I experienced dreams about the game that were so gripping, so true to life, and in their way terrifying, that I now believe the future described in the Sword of the Stars wiki to be the accurately predicted future of our galaxy.” --Tycho Brahe, Penny Arcade
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