検索キーワード： 制作 "Recorded Books" SF・ファンタジー

Extreme sub-zero temperatures suffocate the surface. Frozen structures of bygone eras span across massive ice-wastes. And the survivors closely guard any technology rediscovered within them. The only escape from the deadly climate is beneath the surface, but that doesn't mean it's safe... Monstrous machines lurk in the depths. Unhinged demigods war against them, dying over and over, treating it all like a game. The depths themselves shift over time, more contraption than rock.

Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance and Other Stories is Tobias S. Buckell's seventh short fiction collection and is comprised of 15 stories, several of which are original to the collection or were previously only available through his Patreon. This collection ranges from galactic adventures to intimate explorations of humanity—sometimes in the same story—rich with a sense of wonder and deft storytelling.

High above a jungle-planet float the last refuges of humanity—plant-made civilizations held together by tradition, technology, and arcane science. In these living cities, architects are revered above anyone else. If not for their ability to psychically manipulate the architecture, the cities would plunge into the devastating earthrage storms below. Charismatic, powerful, mystical, Iravan is one such architect. In his city, his word is nearly law. His abilities are his identity, but to Ahilya, his wife, they are a way for survival to be reliant on the privileged few.

In 2488, Battle Quest, an arrow shooting, sword fighting, magic slinging live action RPG, is the most popular sport in the universe. Tal works in a trash dump by day and fights in a street samurai pit by night. He dreams of becoming a Battle Quest pro to pull his sisters and grandmother from the slums. Problem is he’s too short, too broke, and his highlight vid-reel has more fails than an ogre’s got warts.

The Lucians have faltered in their fight against the cruel Ascendant overlord, Cef. Now, a handful of survivors from a failed liberation campaign have been called to a Final Challenge in a madman’s arena. For Rylan, Geeta, Scott and Aila, this may be their only opportunity to make peace with those they love. It will certainly be their last, best chance to save mankind from an endless cycle of genocidal slaughter.

Gideon Sable—master thief, con artist and self-proclaimed vigilante—faces a challenge he can't refuse. His client, the former Head of the British Rocketry Group, Professor Neil Sharpe, wants him to break into the Preserve. Once inside, Gideon and his crew of supernatural misfits can get any mystical artefact they desire out of the Preserve's collection. The catch? To reach it, they must go through the treacherous Box Tunnel complex and not only face trained guards and booby traps but steal something that can't normally be stolen—a ghost!

Denied a dog, a baby, and even a faithful boyfriend, Cat decides that she needs a snake: a glistening, writhing creature that can be worn like “jewelry, living jewelry.” But when the budding social influencer finally gives in to impulse, buying a Burmese python from a local pet shop, she sets in motion a chain of increasingly dire events that culminates in one of the most memorable denouements in recent fiction, one that ensnares her entire family, from her eco-obsessed parents, Ottilie and Frank, to her frat-boy-turned-husband, Todd.

The Hive Mind has deceived the Americans and the Thacians into believing they had the strategy that would destroy it once and for all…and instead, they opened the gates through to Thacia and, from there, into the United States. And the demons streamed through by the tens of thousands, too many for artillery and air support to drive them back. The Army and Air Force keep pouring on the hurt, but it’s only a matter of time until they’re forced to do the unthinkable…nuke an American city.

American Book Award-winning author Tananarive Due's second collection of stories ranges from horror to science fiction to suspense. From the mysterious, magical town of Gracetown to the aftermath of a pandemic to the reaches of the far future, Due's stories all share a sense of dread and fear balanced with heart and hope. In some of these stories, the monster is racism itself; others address the monster within, or other universal struggles set against the supernatural or surreal. All of them are written with Due's trademark attention to detail and deep characterization.

A year after the evets of Fugitive's Vow, the worst of Rett's wounds are healed. His recovery came at a high cost, leaving Ridge indebted to a mage of dubious integrity. Rett is functional, but he remains scarred and bitter, and self-loathing over his damaged mind and body strains his bond with Ridge. When the mage Ridge owes assigns him a quest to cancel his debt, Rett fears betrayal, though Ridge has no choice but to comply.

Humanity's only colony in the distant Archimedes system is in turmoil... Contact with Earth has been lost for generations and mysterious waves of disappearing colonists have been shaking the five moons for decades. When suddenly a wormhole appears in the middle of the system, the Union Navy faces an ancient danger from the darkness of deep space. A merciless war erupts, and Jeremy Brandt, Captain of the UNS Concordia, is sent through the wormhole to confront the mysterious enemy.

Eric Banyon, also known as Bedlam's Bard, managed to rescue his young brother Magnus from what seemed to be a killer demon (in Mad Maudlin), but now he must rescue Magnus again, this time from their tyrannical parents. Eric does not look forward to the battle, but is confident he can gain custody. His financial sources are virtually unlimited, his friend Ria Llewellyn heads the most high-powered law firm in New York, and in a pinch he and his friends can use magic powers, even flummoxing a DNA test, if it comes to that.

The battle has ended, but the pantheon has survived at a terrible cost. Bereft of both Gurthghol and Vkar’s throne, they’re now weaker and more defenseless than ever. Yet even as the pantheon seek their footing, three new gods will be added to the family, further disrupting the former order. And then there are the others—both inside the pantheon and out—eager for more power, who will make their moves for greater glory and dominion in this time of divine recovery and realignment. Plots and plotters, schemers and plans—all will have their day and way.

As a descendant of the Chinese god of medicine, Elle was destined to be a doctor. Instead, she’s underemployed as a magical calligrapher at the fairy temp agency. She and her older brother are in hiding from their younger brother, who seeks their deaths to gain their god’s favor. Safety means an order of invisibility with a side of no attachments at the No Fun Allowed store. Elle only relaxes around her client Luc, to whom she’s gotten attached. Oops.

Glenn Redwood has longed to become an Adventurer since he was a young boy, and has focused every waking moment since he turned 14 on leveling and growing stronger. Answering the challenge of the Gods of Luxtera, he has fought Monsters to prove himself again and again. He has earned the right to travel the world and protect its people... but the Gods have other plans. After they choose Glenn to become a Town Guard, he is charged with protecting his small town and everyone within.

1868. The Boshin War is about to break out. A 16-year-old Japanese girl, Atsuko grew up in the neighborhoods of Aizu City, in the shadow of her brother Ibuka. Promised to an arranged marriage, the young girl hides a secret: she wields weapons just as well as her brother, whose talent with the sword actually masks an insurmountable fear of combat. When war is declared, Ibuka must leave to fight alongside their father for the honor of the family. Defying the tradition forbidding women to take part in battles and wanting to protect her brother, Atsuko enlists in secret as a simple soldier.

After her girlfriend breaks up with her for being too emotionally stifled, Jo Miller is trying to become more expressive. But then her boss calls her into his office for a private meeting and sexually assaults her. His parting words are, “you won't want to talk about this Jo. You think you do now, but trust me, you won’t.” Jo had been ready to go straight to the police, but every time she tries to talk about what happened, live insects crawl up her throat and into her mouth.

Constantinople, 867–A murderous plot is afoot. Assisted by the Order of the Ancients, the emperor schemes to assassinate his son and throw the city into chaos. In response, the Hidden Ones have dispatched Assassin acolyte Hytham to join his mentor, Basim Ibn Ishaq, to infiltrate the palace and foil the emperor’s plan. But that is not his only mission… Hytham’s brotherhood have entrusted him with uncovering where Basim’s true loyalties lie and whether the master Assassin’s personal obsessions outweigh his sense of duty.

Sir Crabby McCrabbington, Lord of the Coast and High Crab of the Realm, thought he had escaped the dungeon... Only to enter claw first into a wider conflict. Unknown to the rest of the Arthos, the dungeon monsters have fought an unending undersea war against CORRUPTION. A conflict that is steadily progressing.

The Ascendant Humans have conquered Earth and banished mankind to a distant star. There, the refugees war in space over the resources rationed to them. In an orbital habitat, Commander Rylan Shaw labors against the inter-colony arms trafficking when an informant gives him horrific news. The ruthless cartel boss, Lilith, has stockpiled weapons of mass destruction. Worse, she has permission from the Wardens, humanity's robot overlords, to unleash them upon the system.