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The Metal Smile
by Damon KnightDo not fold, bend or mutilate was how our cybernetic society began, how will it end? The varied answers to that question have proved to be fertile ground for some of the greatest science fiction imaginations. But perhaps we shouldn't look too closely into the future of cybernetics. It may be that the survival capacity of thinking machines is greater than that of the maker ... This collection of short science fiction stories includes: The New Father Christmas by Brian Aldiss, Answer by Fredric Brown, Fool's Mate by Robert Sheckley, Quixote and the Windmill by Poul Anderson, Two-handed Engine by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore, First to Serve by Algis Budrys, I Made You by Walter Miller, Monkey Wrench by Gordon Dickson, Imposter by Philip K. Dick, Someday by Isaac Asimov, Short in the Chest by Idris Seabright, Nightmare Number Three by Stephen Vincent Benet
Metal Swarm
by Kevin J. AndersonThe alien hydrogues have been defeated, driven back into the cores of their gas-giant planets by an alliance of the Earth Defence Forces, the ancient Ildiran Empire, the gypsy-like Roamer clans and gigantic living 'treeships'. The various factions try to recover - but the deep-seated wounds may prove fatal. The Hansa's brutal Chairman Basil Wenceslas struggles to crush any resistance even as King Peter breaks away to form his own new Confederation among the green priests on Theroc, the Roamer clans and an ever-growing number of colonies who have declared their independence. Like jackals smelling wounded prey, swarms of ancient black robots built by the lost insectoid Klikiss race continue their depredations on helpless worlds with stolen Earth battleships. A race of terrifying fiery elementals, the faeros, has joined with an Ildiran madman to declare war against all life. And the original, voracious Klikiss race - long thought to be extinct - have returned, intent on conquering their former worlds and willing to annihilate anyone who happens to be in the way.
Metal Swarm
by Kevin J. AndersonThe alien hydrogues have been defeated, driven back into the cores of their gas-giant planets by an alliance of the Earth Defence Forces, the ancient Ildiran Empire, the gypsy-like Roamer clans and gigantic living 'treeships'. The various factions try to recover - but the deep-seated wounds may prove fatal. The Hansa's brutal Chairman Basil Wenceslas struggles to crush any resistance even as King Peter breaks away to form his own new Confederation among the green priests on Theroc, the Roamer clans and an ever-growing number of colonies who have declared their independence. Like jackals smelling wounded prey, swarms of ancient black robots built by the lost insectoid Klikiss race continue their depredations on helpless worlds with stolen Earth battleships. A race of terrifying fiery elementals, the faeros, has joined with an Ildiran madman to declare war against all life. And the original, voracious Klikiss race - long thought to be extinct - have returned, intent on conquering their former worlds and willing to annihilate anyone who happens to be in the way.
Metal Swarm: The Saga of Seven Suns, Book 6 (The Saga of Seven Suns #6)
by Kevin J. AndersonIn the aftermath of a devastating war, swarms of ancient black robots built by the lost insectoid Klikiss race continue their depredations on helpless worlds with stolen and heavily armed Earth battleships.Among the humans, the Hansa's brutal Chairman struggles to crush any resistance even as King Peter breaks away to form his own new Confederation among the colonies who have declared their independence.And meanwhile, the original, voracious Klikiss race, long thought to be extinct, has returned, intent on conquering their former worlds and willing to annihilate anyone in the way.
Metallic Love
by Tanith LeeTwelve years have passed since the end of The Silver Metal Lover. Silver -- the robot with a soul whom Jane had fallen in love with -- has been melted down, and Jane has moved on. Loren is a slum child, abandoned by her mother and raised by the religious cult, the Apocalytes. One day, she discovers an illegal copy of Jane's book -- the story of Jane and Silver's love that has become a cult classic -- and it changes her life. Motivated by her desire to taste the life that Jane and Silver had, she runs away...
Metallic Love
by Tanith LeeAs an orphan growing up in the slums, Loren read her clandestine copy of Jane's Story over and over, relishing every word. But Loren is no Jane. Savvy and street-smart, Loren could never be stirred by a man of metal, her passion never ignited by an almost-human - even one designed for pleasure. Still, when the META corporation does the unthinkable and brings back updated versions of robots past-Loren knows she must see Silver. And just like Jane, it is love at first sight. But Silver is now Verlis. If he was perfection before, he is now like a god. Yet he is more human than his creators think - or fear. While Loren doesn't quite trust him, she will follow her twice-born lover into a battle to control his own destiny - one that will reveal to her the most astonishing illusion of all.
MetalMark
by Ella DrakeRevenge may kill her...but love may kill them all. Prince to a dying planet, Lye the Keeper has made a deal with the devil. For the price of his blood, the Drianti Syndicate offer a seat on their council...and put the end to their decade-long occupation of his planet within his grasp. Working with the Syndicate feels like betraying everything he's worked for these last ten years, but it pales in comparison to the pain of his monthly mating imperative. The red-haired temptress who lands in his path holds the key to Lye's freedom--and an end to his pain--but the price is too high. Touching her would defile the royal line that ends with him. The lure to possess her, however, proves irresistible. Privateer Jazzelina Eval will do anything to bring down the Syndicate, anything from robbing spaceships to kidnapping a prince. Anything but settle down and give up the revenge game. Or bed a mark who's made a deal with her enemy. But once she has Lye in her hands, she can't let him go...even if the price of keeping him is war. WARNING: Explicit content, exploding space ships, and creepy biomechanical bugs61,000 Words
Metamorfosi al cel
by Mathias MalzieuUna faula que ens parla del poder de la vida i de l'amor. Tots tenim somnis, el del jove Tom «Hematoma» Cloudman és volar. Per això, Tom és acròbata -hi ha qui diu que és el pitjor acròbata del món- i especialista en escenes de risc, ja que així se sent més a prop del cel. Entre salts i piruetes el seu cos es desgasta, fins que un dia li detecten una malaltia greu. Però el destí de Tom no és com el de qualsevol altre i, si l'acompanyem, sabrem que poc després, en un dels desús passejos nocturns per la clínica, coneix una criatura fascinant, meitat dona i meitat ocell, i se n'enamora fulminantment. Pobre Tom!, el que no sap és que aquesta criatura té la clau del seu destí. La dona ocell li proposa un tracte: «Jo puc convertir-te en ocell i curar-te, però hauràs d'assumir-ne totesles conseqüències. Per activar la metamorfosi has de fer-me l'amor.La metamorfosi podria salvar-te la vida. O no.» Si Tom és fidel als seus sentiments haurà de fer un pas irreversible, transformar-se i abandonar la vida humana per viure una nova aventura... i és que, en què estem disposats a convertir-nos per amor? La crítica ha dit...«Un dels llibres més captivadors de la temporada.»El País
Metamorfosi Digitale
by Claudio Pardo MolinaSiamo in un secolo in cui la civiltà celebra il progresso della tecnologia digitale e la sua interferenza in tutte le interazioni umane. L'elettronica è diventata parte della nostra vita come una benedizione, che ci avvicina sempre più a ciò che supponiamo siano i poteri di Dio. Questa storia parla della vita di Gabriel Kafka, un giovane qualsiasi, che un giorno si risveglia fisicamente trasformato in un essere digitale mostruoso, e che cerca di inserirsi in una famiglia che lo apprezza solo per quello che può contribuire economicamente Nel mezzo di questo cambiamento fisico, e di fronte a una società piena di interessi superficiali, come il potere e la fama, cerca di rispondere alla domanda: cosa ci rende umani? Le nostre azioni, le nostre emozioni o il nostro corpo?
Metamorfosis en el cielo
by Mathias MalzieuUna fábula que nos habla del poder de la vida y del amor. Todos tenemos sueños, y el del joven Tom «Hematoma» Cloudman es volar. Por eso es acróbata -algunos dicen que el peor acróbata del mundo- y especialista en escenas de riesgo, pues así se siente más cerca del cielo. Entre saltos y piruetas su cuerpo se desgasta, hasta que un día le detectan una grave enfermedad. Pero el destino de Tom no es el de cualquiera, y si le acompañamos veremos que poco después, en uno de sus paseos nocturnos por la clínica, conoce a una fascinante criatura, mitad mujer y mitad pájaro, de quien cae fulminantemente enamorado. ¡Pobre Tom! Lo que no sabe es que esa criatura tiene la llave de su destino. La mujer pájaro le propone un trato: «Yo puedo convertirte en pájaro y curarte, aunque tienes que asumir todas lasconsecuencias. Para activar tu metamorfosis, tienes que hacerme el amor.La metamorfosis del amor podría salvar tu vida. O no.» Si Tom es fiel a sus sentimientos, tendrá que dar un paso irreversible: transformarse y abandonar la vida humana por una nueva aventura... y es que, ¿en qué estamos dispuestos a convertirnos por amor? La crítica ha dicho...«Uno de los libros más cautivadores de la temporada.»El País
Metamorphosis
by James P. BlaylockMETAMORPHOSIS is collection of three short stories, written by three young students in collaboration by James P. Blaylock for a class taught by Tim Powers, who provides the introduction.Mirrors, shadows, and secret rooms: the houses in which we dwell are sometimes much stranger than they seem to be, as are the people we think we know. Here are three stories of haunted places that stand waiting for you to enter, their windows shuttered, but their doors unlocked.REVIEWSCoauthored by Blaylock and a trio of his high school students, these three reflective short-short stories employing Blaylock's signature nostalgic prose are individually strong in technique, but weakened by thematic similarities. The eccentric hero of Adriana Campoy's lighthearted "Stone Eggs" uncovers an entryway into a fantastic world while house-sitting for his uncle. In Brittany Cox's well-written but unexciting "P-38," Anderson revisits his imperfect childhood by assembling a model airplane from his father's former shop. Alex Haniford's "Houses" hurtles toward darkness when Michael returns home for his mother's funeral and accidentally unearths the chilling secret behind his father's spiraling dementia. While Tim Powers offers a short foreword and William Ashbless (Powers and Blaylock's joint nom de plume) provides a whimsical afterword, readers will recognize both as padding and be left wanting more real content. (Apr.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Metamorphosis
by Franz KafkaThe Metamorphosis is a novella written by Franz Kafka which was first published in 1915. Gregor Samsa awakes one morning to find himself transformed into a gigantic insect. The story follows Gregor's attempts to adjust to his new reality while maintaining relationships with his family.
Metamorphosis (Cold Equations)
by Jean LorrahUnexplained gravitational disturbances summon Captain Picard and the Starship EnterpriseTM to the planet Elysia, and the android Lieutenant Commander Data to a date with destiny. For on this alien world, he is drawn into an impossible quest, leading him to consequences both heartwarming and disastrous, as he finally dares to pursue his fondest desire: to become human.
Metaphase (Starfarers #3)
by Vonda N. McintyreThe third installment in the Starfarers series finds J. D. Sauvage and the crew preparing to meet the reclusive alien ""squidmoth,"" who presents them with a dubious offer for which they must risk everything.
Metaplanetary: A Novel of Interplanetary Civil War
by Tony DanielFree download! Peruse "The Metaplanetary Gazetteer," created by the author especially for this PerfectBound e-book.Once or twice in a score of years, the boundlessly inventive realm of speculative fiction reveals a vision of tomorrow that dwarfs everything that came before. These are the dreams of the Asimovs and the Heinleins, the Bears and the Brins. Now Tony Daniel brilliantly dreams the future -- and reinvents humanity itself -- in an epic chronicle of civil war and transcendence that plays out on an enormous stage encompassing the solar system in its entirety -- its asteroids, its comets, and all its people, transmuted into astounding forms and living astonishing lives.MetaplanetaryThe human race has extended itself into the far reaches of our solar system -- and, in doing so, has developed into something remarkable and diverse and perhaps transcendent. The inner system of the Met -- with its worlds connected by a vast living network of cables -- is supported by the repression and enslavement of humanity's progeny, nanotechnological artificial intelligences -- beings whom the tyrant Amés has declared non-human. There is tolerance and sanctuary in the outer system beyond the Jovian frontier. Yet few of the oppressed ever make it post the dictator's well-patrolled boundaries.But the longing for freedom cannot be denied, whatever the risk.A priest of the mystical religion called the Greentree Way senses catastrophe approaching. A vision foretells that the future of our bitterly divided solar system rests in the hands of a mysterious man of destiny and doom who has vanished into the backwater of the Met in search of his lost love. But the priest is not the only one who grasps this man's importance. The despot Am$eacute;s is after the some quarry -- and until now there has been no power in the inner solar system willing to oppose Amés and his fearsome minions.But now a line has been drawn of Neptune's moon Triton. Roger Sherman, a retired military commander from Earth's West Point and a Greentree ally, will not let Amés prevail. Though dwarfed by the strength and wealth of the Met, the cosmos under Sherman's jurisdiction will remain free at all cost -- though defiance will ensure the unspeakable onslaught of the dictator Amés's wrath -- a rage that will soon ravage the solar system. A rage that will plunge all of humankind into the fury of total war.With Metaplanetary, author Tony Daniel fulfills the great promise of his critically acclaimed earlier works. A new master has reached for the stars, with a stunning speculative masterwork of enormous scope and conceptual daring -- an adventure of grand victories and horrific villainy, both human and meta-human alike.
Metawars: The Complete Series
by Kelly MedingNow available together as an ebook boxed set, four action-packed urban fantasy novels (Trance, Changeling, Tempest, and Chimera) about an X-Men-like group of young people with superpowers. In a future America thate(tm)s been devastated by battles between Rangers (Metas using their powers for good), Banes (Metas using their power to wreak havoc), and the military, the now-grown surviving children of Rangers are regranted powers by a mysterious force. Facing threats from every side, the Metas must work together to keep the peace.
MetaWars: Book 2
by Jeff NortonThe Changsphere offers a safe haven for the Uploaded, and with more processing power than the Southern Corner could ever offer, the Uploaded begin to grow, develop, and yearn to be alive again. With the Changsphere offering competition to the Metasphere, more and more avatars take up residency in it. But the Uploaded begin to prey on live avatars, infecting them, and their users, with their personalities and becoming reborn in the real world. The dead are rising. Now reborn into the real world, the once dead avatars will not let anyone shut down the Changsphere - the source of their rebirth. Meanwhile, Jonah, Sam, and Axel struggle to keep the Metasphere safe from Granger's assault on the Western Corner, which is housed in the old subway lines under New York City. But Jonah struggles with whether they are doing the right thing: in fighting Granger, they face a more dangerous virtual world, where millions of Uploaded now roam freely, stalking users for their virtual avatars and their real bodies.
MetaWars: Book 1
by Jeff NortonJonah Delacroix can't stand the real world - so he lives most of his life inside a global computer-based virtual world called the Metasphere, where everyone is represented by an avatar. When he discovers the avatar of his dead father, and assumes his online identity, a series of events are unleashed that compel Jonah to race across the real world with a secret society to protect the freedom of all mankind...
Meteor Madness: Book 12 (Frankie's Magic Football #12)
by Frank LampardFrankie and his team love playing football. There's always time for a game - especially in space!When Frankie and his friends climb into a broken Galaxy Quest ride, the shuttle sends them flying beyond the stars! Can Frankie and his team win a game against aliens, and save their new friends from a meteor? Frankie needs to win like never before!
Method Man
by Method Man Sanford GreeneAn ancient evil of unfathomable power plots the unspeakable--the destruction of the mortal realm and beyond. Man's only hope lies in Peerless Poe, a hard-luck private eye with a taste for booze and a magnetic attraction to danger. A former member of the clandestine Order of the Sacred Method, Poe must forge an uneasy alliance with those who exploited him against enemy bent on global annihilation. This unholy threat wears a woman's face and wields dark energies capable of destroying normal men. But Poe hasn't been normal in years. The Order saw to that. Poe is scarred. Poe is transformed. Poe is . . . Method Man.
Methuselah's Children (Heinlein's Future History)
by Robert HeinleinAfter the fall of the American Ayatollahs as foretold in Stranger in a Strange Land and chronicled in Revolt in 2100, the United States of America at last fulfills the promise inherent in its first Revolution: for the first time in human history there is a nation with Liberty and Justice for All. No one may seize or harm the person or property of another, or invade his privacy, or force him to do his bidding. Americans are fiercely proud of their re-won liberties and the blood it cost them: nothing could make them forswear those truths they hold self-evident. Nothing except the promise of immortality...
Methuselah's Children (Gateway Essentials #481)
by Robert A. HeinleinAfter the fall of the American Ayatollahs as foretold in Stranger in a Strange Land and chronicled in Revolt in 2100, the United States of America at last fulfills the promise inherent in its first Revolution: for the first time in human history there is a nation with Liberty and Justice for All.No one may seize or harm the person or property of another, or invade his privacy, or force him to do his bidding. Americans are fiercely proud of their re-won liberties and the blood it cost them: nothing could make them forswear those truths they hold self-evident. Nothing except the promise of immortality...
Metiendo la pata (Martin Moone #Volumen 1)
by Chris O'Dowd Nick V. MurphyNo es fácil encontrar al amigo ideal... ¡aunque sea imaginario!Descúbrelo con este primer libro de «Martin Moone», la serie que vende más de 2000 ejemplares a la semana en Inglaterra. Martin está cansado de ser el único chico de su familia, ¡y es que no es fácil convivir con tres hermanas! Desesperado por conseguir a alguien que le guíe en su sosa vida, decide seguir el consejo de su amigo Padraic y tener, como él, un amigo imaginario. Pero claro, conseguir el amigo imaginario ideal no es tan fácil. Su primer intento es Loopy Lou, que es bastante tonto, hiperactivo y escribe unas canciones de rap lamentables, así que Martin decide descartarlo. El segundo intento será Sean «Alerta» Murphy, una amigo imaginario al que le apasiona hacer el vago y tiene la cabeza llena de pájaros. No cabe duda, Sean es el compañero perfecto para guiar a Martin a través de los peligros de la vida, pero parece que Loopy Lou está un pocoofendido y no desaparecerá tan fácilmente...
Metro 2033
by Dmitry GlukhovskyThe year is 2033. The world has been reduced to rubble. Humanity is nearly extinct. The half-destroyed cities have become uninhabitable through radiation. Beyond their boundaries, they say, lie endless burned-out deserts and the remains of splintered forests. Survivors still remember the past greatness of humankind. But the last remains of civilisation have already become a distant memory, the stuff of myth and legend.More than 20 years have passed since the last plane took off from the earth. Rusted railways lead into emptiness. The ether is void and the airwaves echo to a soulless howling where previously the frequencies were full of news from Tokyo, New York, Buenos Aires. Man has handed over stewardship of the earth to new life-forms. Mutated by radiation, they are better adapted to the new world. Man's time is over.A few score thousand survivors live on, not knowing whether they are the only ones left on earth. They live in the Moscow Metro - the biggest air-raid shelter ever built. It is humanity's last refuge. Stations have become mini-statelets, their people uniting around ideas, religions, water-filters - or the simple need to repulse an enemy incursion. It is a world without a tomorrow, with no room for dreams, plans, hopes. Feelings have given way to instinct - the most important of which is survival. Survival at any price.VDNKh is the northernmost inhabited station on its line. It was one of the Metro's best stations and still remains secure. But now a new and terrible threat has appeared. Artyom, a young man living in VDNKh, is given the task of penetrating to the heart of the Metro, to the legendary Polis, to alert everyone to the awful danger and to get help. He holds the future of his native station in his hands, the whole Metro - and maybe the whole of humanity.
Metro 2033: The novels that inspired the bestselling games
by Dmitry GlukhovskyThe basis of three bestselling computer games Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light, and Metro: Exodus. The year is 2033. The world has been reduced to rubble. Humanity is nearly extinct. The half-destroyed cities have become uninhabitable through radiation. Beyond their boundaries, they say, lie endless burned-out deserts and the remains of splintered forests. Survivors still remember the past greatness of humankind. But the last remains of civilisation have already become a distant memory, the stuff of myth and legend.More than 20 years have passed since the last plane took off from the earth. Rusted railways lead into emptiness. The ether is void and the airwaves echo to a soulless howling where previously the frequencies were full of news from Tokyo, New York, Buenos Aires. Man has handed over stewardship of the earth to new life-forms. Mutated by radiation, they are better adapted to the new world. Man's time is over.A few score thousand survivors live on, not knowing whether they are the only ones left on earth. They live in the Moscow Metro - the biggest air-raid shelter ever built. It is humanity's last refuge. Stations have become mini-statelets, their people uniting around ideas, religions, water-filters - or the simple need to repulse an enemy incursion. It is a world without a tomorrow, with no room for dreams, plans, hopes. Feelings have given way to instinct - the most important of which is survival. Survival at any price.VDNKh is the northernmost inhabited station on its line. It was one of the Metro's best stations and still remains secure. But now a new and terrible threat has appeared. Artyom, a young man living in VDNKh, is given the task of penetrating to the heart of the Metro, to the legendary Polis, to alert everyone to the awful danger and to get help. He holds the future of his native station in his hands, the whole Metro - and maybe the whole of humanity.