Without notice, an insane military Commander of the Reunified Soviet Empire releases every Soviet weapon simultaneously from the largest nuclear arsenal on earth. It is an all-or-nothing gamble to regain former glory and achieve instant domination of the planet. What he does not realize is that the automated nuclear defense systems of the West will retaliate instantly and doom the entire planet and its inhabitants to a complete destruction far worse than anyone's most hellish nightmare in an extinction level event. Aaron Seven has one chance to save a handful of humans trapped beneath the radioactive clouds of the planetary war, enveloped in the deadly blizzards of nuclear winter. Their only hope is if Seven can resurrect an antique rocket from a Kansas silo, get aboard the US Space Station, commandeer its interplanetary spacecraft and depart the earth forever. His desperate, impossible plan is to reach the only known facility left in the universe with a regenerative life support system - the American Mars colony on the Elysium Plain of the Red Planet. The only launch window for two years is about to close. With inadequate supplies and an unknown saboteur on board, Seven has no choice but to depart earth orbit for Mars. His time has run out... In this fast-paced Aaron Seven adventure - misfortune, time and the vast distances of interplanetary space conspire to wage war against Seven and his tiny cluster of survivors. Whether or not they survive the abyss of space and reach Mars will determine the fate of human survival on both planets.

Now that the news of Horus's Treachery is in the open, a time of testing has come. Some Legions have already declared allegiance to the Warmaster, while the loyalty of the others lies firmly with the Emperor. As Horus deploys his forces, loyalist Astartes learn that the Wordbearers are sending a fleet to Ultramar, home of the Ultramarines. Unless they can intercept and destroy it, the Ultramarines may suffer a blow from which they will never recover. Battle for the Abyss continues the epic tale of the Horus Heresy, a galactic civil war that threatened to bring about the extinction of humanity.

Engaging essays by an internationally prominent historian and theorist of theater set design

Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize * Poet Laureate of the United States * * A New York Times Notable Book of 2011 and New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * * A New Yorker, Library Journal and Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year * New poetry by the award-winning poet Tracy K. Smith, whose "lyric brilliance and political impulses never falter" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) You lie there kicking like a baby, waiting for God himself To lift you past the rungs of your crib. What Would your life say if it could talk? —from "No Fly Zone" With allusions to David Bowie and interplanetary travel, Life on Mars imagines a soundtrack for the universe to accompany the discoveries, failures, and oddities of human existence. In these brilliant new poems, Tracy K. Smith envisions a sci-fi future sucked clean of any real dangers, contemplates the dark matter that keeps people both close and distant, and revisits the kitschy concepts like "love" and "illness" now relegated to the Museum of Obsolescence. These poems reveal the realities of life lived here, on the ground, where a daughter is imprisoned in the basement by her own father, where celebrities and pop stars walk among us, and where the poet herself loses her father, one of the engineers who worked on the Hubble Space Telescope. With this remarkable third collection, Smith establishes herself among the best poets of her generation.

The earth has established twin bases on Mars. Two competing nations have founded their remote, interplanetary outposts on the red planet, separated by over two thousand kilometers of alien and hostile desert. Without warning, communications with the earth are suddenly and inexplicably lost. All systematized transmissions from earth have ceased. It is as though the earth has disappeared. Without warning or explanation, the colonists are alone in the universe. Survival on Mars is a synthesis of skill, intellect, courage as well as the most advanced technology ever developed. But in no one's blackest nightmare has anyone ever planned on permanently severing all links with the home planet. The thin barrier between life and death has just been sliced in two - and now the relatively small band of humans are no longer explorers, but now they are interplanetary castaways, waiting for a rescue that may never come. Now there are too many people and there is far too little to go around. It soon becomes apparent, they would have to fight one another to live - war on another planet becomes the only way out. Dennis Chamberland's Abyss of Elysium - Mars Wars - is filled with the full sweep of the most dramatic, high-tech, nail biting audacious adventure in the genre. Chamberland's style is characterized by a sustained extreme energy, high stakes and maximum passion, a fusion of the human drama and the technology that links the humans with an alien planet.

Sorcery of a Queen by Brian Naslund is a fast-paced adventure perfect for comic readers and fans of heroic fantasy They called her the Witch Queen... Driven from her kingdom, the would-be queen now seeks haven in the land of her mother, but Ashlyn will not stop until justice has been done. Determined to unlock the secret of powers long thought impossible, Ashlyn bends her will and intelligence to mastering the one thing people always accused her of, sorcery. Meanwhile, having learned the truth of his mutation, Bershad is a man on borrowed time. Never knowing when his healing powers will drive him to a self-destruction, he is determined to see Ashlyn restored to her throne and the creatures they both love safe. Dragons of Terra Series Blood of an Exile Sorcery of a Queen At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Eighteen-year-old Cas Leung struggles with her morality and her romantic relationship with fellow pirate Swift as she and the Minnow crew work to take down wild sea monsters, dubbed Hellbeasts, who are attacking ships and destroying the ocean ecosystem.

Highly illustrated account of the greatest moments of space exploration.