Science Fiction

From the acclaimed authors of the runaway New York Times bestseller 2034 comes an explosive work of speculative fiction about a radical leap forward in artificial intelligence that combines with America’s violent partisan divide to create an existential threat to the country - and the world.

Combining a deep understanding of AI, biotech and the possibility of a coming singularity, along with their signature geopolitical sophistication, Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis have once again written a visionary work. 2054 is a novel that reads like a thriller even as it demands that we consider the trajectory of our society and its potentially calamitous destination.

The body of Frank Poole, lost for thousands of years since the computer HAL caused his death en route to Jupiter, is retrieved, revived - and enhanced. In this final sequel, the terrifying truth about the ultimate purpose of the Monoliths, is a mystery only Poole can resolve.

On a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from the beings that only look human, who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan may be her only hope.

Lady Sharrow was once the fearless leader of a combat team in one of the sporadic little commercial wars in the vicinity of the planet Golter. Now she is hunted by the Huhsz - a religious cult hellbent on assassinating her - and her only hope of escape is to ­find the last of the apocalyptically powerful Lazy Guns before the Huhsz track her down.

Her journey through the exotic Golterian system is a destructive and savage odyssey into her past, and that of her family and of the system itself.

Philosopher, pacifist, psychonaut and prophet, Aldous Huxley was one of the 20^th century's pre-eminent intellectuals and writers. The author of over 50 books, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize nine times, and elected Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature in 1962, a year before his death.

Known for his mordant satire and visionary ideas, Huxley spanned the period from post-First World War disillusionment to mid-century mysticism, and the works in this collection reflect his literary evolution.

Valentine Cunningham presents, with contributions from Sybille Bedford, Lord Jenkins, Sir Stephen Spender, Gavin Ewart, Julian Symons and Lewis Wolpert, and archive recordings of Huxley, his brother Julian and contemporaries.

The story is set 100 years from now when the European Union is leader of the free world.

30 years after the first instalment of Douglas Adams' 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy', Eoin Colfer transports Arthur, Zaphod and Marvin to pastures new.Arthur has finally made it home to Earth, but that does not mean he has escaped his fate.

Mega City One it's a powder keg waiting to blow on its best day. There isn't a moment when tensions aren't running high and the City isn't ready to crack. But there's something new going on something, something bad it's a block war. It's Block Mania and no one is immune, not even the Judges. But this is all prelude to invasion. The East-Meg One Sov's have infected Mega City One with Block-Mania to throw the city into massive, bloody turf wars. There are troops on the ground, bombs are dropping and the Mega City One is on fire. And the Judges are drawing the line and Mega City One is about to burn. Apocalypse War tells the on the ground stories of the Judges in Mega City One during the events of epic Block Mania and Apocalyse War story arch.

With the Cielcin united under one banner, the Sollan Empire stands alone after the betrayal of the Commonwealth. The Prophet-King of the Cielcin has sent its armies to burn the worlds of men, and worse, there are rumours... whispers that Hadrian Marlowe is dead, killed in the fighting. But it is not so.

Hadrian survived with the help of the witch, Valka, and together they escaped the net of the enemy having learned a terrible truth: the gods that the Cielcin worship are real and will not rest until the universe is dark and cold. What is more, the Emperor himself is in danger. The Prophet-King has learned to track his movements as he travels along the borders of Imperial space. Now the Cielcin legions are closing in, their swords poised to strike off the head of all mankind. 

Murder forces the unlikeliest of allies. On the eve of the planet Ileri's historic vote to join the Commonwealth, the assassination of a government minister threatens to shatter everything.

Private investigator Noo Okereke and spy Meiko Ogawa join forces with police chief Toiwa to investigate - and discover clues that point disturbingly toward a threat humanity thought they had escaped. A threat that could destroy Ileri and spark an interplanetary war... unless the disparate team can work together to solve the mystery.

Like every child in Is-Land, all Astra Ordott wants is to do her National Service and defend her Gaian homeland from Non-Lander 'infiltrators'. But if she is to survive, Astra must learn to deal with truths about Is-Land, Non-Land and the secret web of adult relationships that surrounds her.

Their Gaze Was Green - With the Earth under threat from Venusian terrorists, can clean-cut space heroes Jack and Chip thwart their evil, tentacled nemeses?

And Mother Makes Millions - A dashing male stranger enters a dystopian world where human women have become infertile. Is he really humanity's saviour, or does he have a sinister agenda?

I've Got Your Number - Cal Newton goes from hero to zero when his unique, numbered ID gets copied. Can he defeat his evil alter ego, Anti-Cal, and take back his life?

Land of Plenty - In tomorrow's world, all human food is delivered in sealed mag-cans to the residents of Mars. But what if the tin-openers fail, and people are forced to eat deadly leftovers?

Unstoppable! - When the interstellar Jupiter Express hurtles out of control towards Earth, it's up to ace galactic survey explorer Biff Morrow to save the day...

Night of the Cicadas - A mad scientist has created a new breed of huge, mutant, people-eating bugs, intent on taking over the world. Could this be the end for humankind?

The story of a time-travelling teenager, Marty McFly, and his scientist friend, Emmett Brown. Marty takes a trip back to the past and Brown’s job is to return him to 1985 without altering the course of time.

Sequel to 'Back to the Future' (3218); Marty's further trips into the future cause difficulties.

Further adventures of Marty and the professor. Sequel to: 'Back to the Future Book 2 (3459);

When Chen's parents are incinerated before his eyes by a blast of ball lightning, he devotes his life to cracking the secret of this mysterious natural phenomenon. The more he learns, the more he comes to realize that ball lightning is just the tip of an entirely new frontier in particle physics. Although Chen's quest provides a purpose for his lonely life, his reasons for chasing this elusive quarry come into conflict with soldiers and scientists who have motives of their own.

A galaxy-spanning story and comics' first bona fide feminist space opera, The Ballad of Halo Jones is the first true epic to grace the bibliography of arguably the greatest comic book writer the world has ever known.

Bored and frustrated with her life in 50th-century leisure-ghetto housing estate 'The Hoop', 18-year-old everywoman Halo Jones yearns for the infinite sights and sounds of the universe. Pledging to escape on a fantastic voyage, she sets in motion events unimaginable; a spell on a luxury space-liner, a brush with an interstellar war - Halo Jones faces hardship and adventure in the name of freedom in the limitless cosmos.

Born into the lowest class of society, Flora 717 is a sanitation bee. While mutant bees are usually destroyed, Flora is reassigned to feed the newborns, and then becomes a forager, before finally finding her way into the Queen's inner sanctum. But Flora's instinct to serve is overshadowed by a desire...

Orphaned as a baby, nineteen-year-old Signa has been raised by a string of guardians, each more interested in her wealth than her well-being - and each has met an untimely end. Her remaining relatives are the elusive Hawthornes, an eccentric family living at Thorn Grove, an estate both glittering and gloomy.

Its patriarch mourns his late wife through wild parties, while his son grapples for control of the family's waning reputation and his daughter suffers from a mysterious illness. But when their mother's restless spirit appears claiming she was poisoned, Signa realizes that the family she depends on could be in grave danger, and enlists the help of a surly stable boy to hunt down the killer.

Signa's best chance of uncovering the murderer, though, is an alliance with Death himself, a fascinating, dangerous shadow who has never been far from her side. Though he's made her life a living hell, Death shows Signa that their growing connection may be more powerful - and more irresistible - than she ever dared imagine.

A giant black cloud that comes towards Earth, causing widespread panic and death. A select group of scientists and astronomers - including the dignified Astronomer Royal Dr Marlowe and the maverick, eccentric Professor Kingsly - engage in a mad race to understand and communicate with the cloud, battling against trigger happy politicians.

Calla knows how the lottery works. Everyone does. On the day of your first bleed, you report to the station to learn what kind of woman you will be. A white ticket grants you children. A blue ticket grants you freedom. You are relieved of the terrible burden of choice. And, once you've taken your ticket, there is no going back. But what if the life you're given is the wrong one?

London, 2049. Full body transplants on sale here: the more you pay, the better the body. But can an expensive upgrade really fulfil the life-changing expectations of demoralised mortician Caroline McAleese?

Caroline is desperate to be promoted to the sales team - but she's overweight and over 40, and in a world where attractiveness is prioritised ahead of intelligence, her prospects are slim. Then she hits the jackpot in the Citizens' Lottery, and gets the chance to trade up to the perfect new body: one that's young, lithe and beautiful. It's a dream come true for Caroline - until she starts to experience teething problems.

Her behaviours begin to change, and she is haunted by violent dreams. She's not alone in her new body, and no longer in control. What shadows have been left by her body's former inhabitant?

In the middle of a market in India, a man’s shadow disappears. As rolling twenty-four-hour news coverage tries to explain the event, more cases are discovered. The phenomenon spreads like a plague as people learn the true cost of their lost part: their memories. But no-one could have guessed at what you gain when you lose your shadow: the power of magic.

SAND. A hostile world of burning sun.

Outlines of several once-busy cities shimmer on the horizon. Now empty of inhabitants, their buildings lie in ruins.

In the distance a group of people - a family - walk towards us.

Ahead lies shelter: a 'shuck' the family call home and which they know they must reach before the light fails, as to be out after dark is to invite danger and almost certain death.

To survive in this alien world of shifting sand, they must find an object hidden in or near water. But other families want it too. And they are willing to fight to the death to make it theirs.

It is beginning to rain in Fairfax County, Virginia when McKenzie Strathie wakes up. An ordinary teenage girl living an ordinary life - except that the previous night she found a sand-lizard in her bed, and now she's beginning to question everything around her, especially who she really is ...

Two very different worlds featuring a group of extraordinary characters driven to the very limit of their endurance in a place where only the strongest will survive.

Prophesies on the future of mankind, which may perhaps come to pass. The world of Bernard Marx and Lenina Crowne is one where human beings are brewed from test tubes and then conditioned to accept the duties of their predestined castes in society.

In infinite parallel universes, there's a version of you who already has everything you've ever wanted. But 24 year old drop-out Bridge is paralysed, by all the other lives she could have lived, the choices she could have made, and now, whoever she's supposed to be in the wake of her mother's premature death. They've always had a complicated relationship. Jo was the teenage runaway turned maverick neuroscientist who threw everything away chasing after an impossibility - a mysterious artefact - the dreamworm - that allows you to switch between realities. And now she's dead and any chance of reconciliation with her.

But is Jo really gone... or only in this universe? When Bridge and her best friend Dom stumble on the dreamworm, that does indeed open the doors to other worlds, otherselves, she becomes convinced her mom is lost out there. But the dreamworm is more dangerous than she can imagine, and she's not the only one hunting across time and space.

Late 21st century and Earth has been reduced to an uninhabited wasteland. What was left of humanity was evacuated into overpopulated space stations, or 'Habitats'. A hotbed for crime and strange new religious sects, the Habitat Security Division has no shortage of work.

No-nonsense Investigator Bridget Kurtis soon finds herself embroiled in a life or death struggle with a sinister cult, and what she uncovers has disturbing implications for the future of the human race...

Book 2 of The Expanse series. Sequel to 'Leviathan Wakes' (10540). On one of Jupiter's moons, a single super-soldier attacks, slaughtering soldiers of Earth and Mars. The race is on to discover whether this is the vanguard of an alien army, or if the danger lies closer to home.

Welcome to Chain-Gang All-Stars, the popular and highly controversial programme inside America's prison system. In packed arenas, watched by millions of live-stream viewers, prisoners compete as gladiators for the ultimate prize: their freedom. Fan favourites Loretta Thurwar and Hamara 'Hurricane Staxxx' Stacker are teammates and lovers.

Thurwar is nearing the end of her time on the circuit, free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares for her final encounters, as protestors gather at the gates, and as the programme's corporate owners stack the odds against her - will the price be simply too high?

Planet Dune has been destroyed; only pockets of resistance remain with the opposition mainly from the Bene Gesserit co-ordinated from their still undiscovered home world. Chapter House. There is a new Scattering being planned and they still hold one asset which has not fallen into enemy hands: they have sandworms, offspring of one giant worm that was rescued from Dune before the end, and in the specially prepared desert they work to turn it into a wasteland.  Book 6 of series.

Paul Atreides has been succeeded by his twin children Leto and Ghanima, under the regency of his sister Alia. But all is not well in the Empire; a harsh tyranny has been established under the fanatical direction of the Fremen disciples. On Arrakis itself, much has changed. A slow ecological transformation has brought vast areas of greenery and even stretches of open water. The sand-worms are vanishing and this spells disaster for the planet.  Book 3 of series.

In 2021 infertility has spread like a plague, and no babies have been born for a quarter of a century anywhere in the inhabited world. The middle aged try to sustain normality under the rule of the Warden of England. Theo Faron, Oxford historian, meets a group challenging the regime, and he is drawn into unimaginable horrors. Some explicit sexual content.

Matthew's parents thought he was just going through a phase of talking to himself, and they waited for him to get over it. Then Matthew started doing things he couldn't do before, like counting in binary-code mathematics. So he told them about Chocky - the person who lived inside his head.

There are 22 candidates. There are 12 seats.

The last interstellar colony ship is down to its final batch of humans after the robots in charge unhelpfully deleted the rest. But rebooting a species and training them for the arduous task of colonisation isn't easy - especially when the planet below is filled with monsters, the humans are more interested in asking questions than learning, and the robots are all programmed to kill each other. But the fate of humanity rests on creating a new civilization on the planet below, and there are twelve seats on the lander. Will manipulation or loyalty save the day?

David Strom’s son, his niece, Rosalind, and their friends have their own secret aberration which would label them as mutants. As they grow older it becomes more difficult to conceal their differences. They have to face a stark choice: wait for discovery or flee to the terrifying Badlands.

When the cryptic Parallax puzzle appears online, it quickly becomes the world's most talked-about conundrum. A complex, multi-level cipher, it has the brightest minds on the planet baffled: but who created it, and why? Sixteen-year-old Sabrina is obsessed with cracking it - but when she does, she discovers it isn't a game. Caught up in a sinister global conspiracy, she becomes involved with a mysterious international task force, and is recruited to hunt down a serial killer who may not be from this world. Joined by geeky New Yorker Benny, the second solver of the Parallax, Sabrina embarks on a dangerous journey that turns her world upside down and sees her questioning her past, her parentage, and everything she's ever known...NB: Contains very strong language and violent scenes