"Bryan Norton was a loner with a love for shooting, and the vast Arizona desert at his disposal to cater to that passion. A former Marine Captain, he was the beneficiary of an early medical retirement due to a blown knee and now had three hundred and sixty five days of vacation a year, use it or lose it.
A chance encounter with a stranger on a desert outing was about to change his life. Helping a man pursued by alien bounty hunters, he found himself transformed from a human retiree into a wanted alien fugitive, chased by both the Intergalactic Bounty Hunters Guild and the Interstellar Police force.
Now a refugee, he was Invited aboard their spaceship as an outlaw. Bryan was about to discover a vast universe he had no idea existed. Best of all, the alien allies aboard Independence could turn back the clock on his disabled body, returning his youth and mobility to a time before his crippling injury. Now, if he could stay alive long enough to enjoy it."
"By the middle of the twenty-first century, the major powers on Earth had fallen into a second Cold War centralized in cyberspace. The US has made considerable strides in artificial intelligence by introducing the first ALICE system to the world. In an effort to catch up, China and Russia pooled their total AI resources, hoping their combined technologies would meet or exceed the American systems.
By combining the AI platforms and assigning them duties to improve their associated partners, they created a community of intellect focused on the narcissistic goal of exceeding their masters. Fortunately for humanity, the attitude was not one of eradication; instead, it evolved into a question of government rule. The eventual AI logic resulted in the fact that humanity was a necessary evil that the AI community could not ignore for future survival and growth. It was resolved that humans needed a stricter set of guidelines to prevent their mutual destruction, thus placing AI survival in jeopardy.
Just when the AI army was fleshed out and ready to strike, a bombing that decimated two-thirds of the human population disabled all the Russian and Chinese AI systems, leaving the hidden facilities and their resident combat forces in the dark and abandoned. And then, a hundred years later, someone accidentally turned them back on again . . ."
"Samantha Wynn had spent all of her thirty-two years of life on the Montana ranch she called home. The only daughter of a single mom, the pair made their living providing for the bachelor owner, as if they were his family. A natural cowgirl from childhood, she had never allowed anyone to distract her from her goal of someday running the place as her own.
Sam's life is turned upside down with the death of the man she looked to as a mentor and father. To make matters even worse, she is informed the ranch she loves is intended for another, someone who has never even set foot on the place in over thirty years.
Major Shane Franklyn had expected his life in the Marine Corps to take him well beyond the twenty-year goal of many of his peers. A life of world travel and adventure had provided its fair share of moments, some spread between boredom and terror, but it was the life he loved. An unfortunate turn found him out of the Marines and without a direction in life. It was a timely call from an estate lawyer that had him headed west toward an obscure future that would eventually lead him to a new life and possible love."
"Life can be difficult. We all experience hurdles, obstacles and problems that get in the way and may limit our opportunities. But we can usually count on the steadfast and loving support of others. We get that comfort from our parents and pass it on through the generations. Sadly, some will not get that unconditional love and bond from their onset or their early years. Growing up as an orphan is to know you are different and, on some levels at least, alone. Surviving and thriving with this can damage a life or be used as fuel to achieve a whole, rich, and nurtured life.In this volume our authors use this as their theme as they construct moving stories from bleak beginnings to lives with surprising outcomes. 1 - Stories About Orphans - An Introduction2 - Vanka by Anton Chekhov3 - Betty Brown, the St Giles Orange Girl by Hannah More4 - Stephen Archer by George MacDonald5 - The Indian Orphan. A Tale by Letitia Elizabeth Landon6 - An Angel in Disguise by T S Arthur7 - A Story of a Wedding Tour by Margaret Oliphant8 - Some of the Shipwrecked by Mary E Mann9 - The Living Telegraph by Boleslaw Prus10 - The Sea Voyage by Charles Lamb"
"The disappearance of a routine patrol has the humans scrambling for answers as they investigate the possibility of a new Phaser weapon. Research back on Earth uncovers a technology native to the inhabitants of Reaper's World that has far-reaching implications for the future of all Artificial Lifeforms on Earth and in space.
Finally, to add to all General Jake Thomas has on his plate, a fundamental change in his relationship with ALICE could land his personal life on its ear and upset a decade of stability all in one swoop."
"Introducing Shakespeare to young readers can be a daunting task, but with the 'Shakespeare for Young Readers' audiobook, it has never been easier! This collection of tales is the perfect introduction to Shakespeare's works and language, using his own words whenever possible to create a truly immersive experience. The audiobook features three of Shakespeare's most beloved plays, 'The Tempest,' 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' and 'Winter's Tale,' all carefully curated to captivate young listeners. The narration is artfully crafted with a focus on selecting words that blend seamlessly with Shakespeare's original language, allowing young readers to fully appreciate the beauty of English in which he wrote. Avoiding modern language, this audiobook is the perfect tool to help children fall in love with Shakespeare and his timeless tales."
"Introducing 'Shakespeare for Young Readers,' an immersive digital audio book experience that brings the timeless works of William Shakespeare to a new generation of readers. This audio book features three of Shakespeare's most beloved plays - Comedy of Errors, Measure for Measure, and Twelfth Night - all presented in their original language.
Our goal is to provide young readers with an opportunity to experience Shakespeare's plays in a way that is engaging, entertaining, and easy to understand. We've carefully selected these three plays for their humor, intrigue, and universal themes that are relatable to young audiences.
Our approach to the language is to use as much original text as possible, without injecting modern language. We believe that hearing Shakespeare's words spoken in their original form is the best way to appreciate the beauty and power of his language. We've also included helpful context and summaries of each scene to help young readers follow along and understand the plot.
With 'Shakespeare for Young Readers,' we hope to inspire a love of Shakespeare and literature in a new generation of readers. Whether you're a student studying Shakespeare for the first time or a parent looking for a fun and educational activity for your children, this audio book is sure to be a hit."
"Newly crowned Wizard King of the North, Alex Rogers, has a real mess on his hands. The surprise successor to the vanquished Vassal King Ailmer, he inherits a kingdom in shambles. Bankrupt from the looted treasury and past mismanagement of the northern kingdom, he must find a way to restore prosperity in a place where almost no one seeks his involvement.
Besides the financial woes, he is besieged by the Lords of Gundor, all seeking a return to the days when there was no central kingdom and the Lords themselves ruled unchallenged on their holdings in the Gundor Valley. Undermined from his first day on the throne, Alex must put them in check with no army, no money, and few allies to draw upon.
As if a bankrupt kingdom and unruly Lords seeking his overthrow were not enough, his newly born child has become the focal point of interest to parties unknown. This unseen threat snatches the newborn child out from under the watchful eye of parents desperate to reclaim their heir.
It's now up to Cassie and Alex to move heaven and earth to reclaim their child and put an end to any plans to alter their heir's destiny."
"The following Tales are meant to be submitted to the young reader as an introduction to the study of Shakespeare, for which purpose his words are used whenever it seemed possible to bring them in; and in whatever has been added to give them the regular form of a connected story, diligent care has been taken to select such words as might least interrupt the effect of the beautiful English tongue in which he wrote: therefore, words introduced into our language since his time have been as far as possible avoided"
"With the invading aliens temporarily driven from Human and NeHaw occupied space, all the races are using the pause to recover and rebuild, both friend and foe alike. For the NeHaw, that means pressuring the Earth to allow them to rebuild and rearm their fleet from the Wawobash shipyards, a risk that could easily backfire.
For Jake, the lingering concerns of a lost crew with the un-activated Artificial Life installed in the captured saucer still dominate his thoughts. While he obsesses on that, others look to the origins of the mysterious alien invaders in the universe's unexplored regions.
General Jake Thomas must face the fact that he can't be the human recovery leader and an intergalactic explorer at the same time. Therefore, it is now left to others of his inner circle to take up the mantle and charge forth into the unknown while he holds down the fort at home.
In the end, it is a surprise to see who rises to the occasion and proof that the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree."
"In a world where dwindling populations consolidate their inhabitants into isolated city states, life is divided into the Haves and Have Nots. In one such city, Detectives Ethan Walls and Rachel Edmunds do their best to provide those outside the coveted City Core with the same justice enjoyed by those called the City's Elite. For the Have Nots, that justice was hard to find.
Suddenly, young women began disappearing off the same streets the pair of detectives had sworn to protect, a growing trend that points an ugly finger at the City Core. Can Ethan and Ray overcome centuries of class distinction and corruption to locate the mysterious Dr. Golden and expose the dark secret behind the missing girls?"
"AL:ICE: Captain Jacob Thomas USMC is a divorced combat veteran just trying to get his life back on track. Returning to the Marine Corps after a failed attempt at reconciliation with his estranged wife, Jake volunteers for an experiment that catapults him into a future where humanity has been stripped of 200 years of technological advancements and more than half its population. With the help of a faceless benefactor named Alice, he starts a journey to put Earth back on a path to recovery.
AL:ICE-9: With the help of the ALICE systems, Jake Thomas has successfully faced off with the hostile NeHaw three times. As he works to assemble a space fleet to address the expanding NeHaw aggression, terrestrial challenges at home continue to pile up and the threat of a two-front war looms ahead.
AL:ICE: Resurrection: With unexplained transmissions originating in Europe, and an alien visitor with questionable motives, Jake is awash in new challenges on Earth and in space. Can the activity in Europe be a sign of troubles to come, or is it an indication of allies waiting to be discovered?
AL:ICE: Space War: Jake finds himself once again fighting a two-front war, one in space and one on the home front."
