Law & Order meets Men in Black in this graphic novel adaptation of an unproduced TV pilot script by the author of A Game of Thrones—a never-before-seen story brought to life for the first time! SECOND CITY. FIRST CONTACT. Ten years ago, representatives from an interstellar collective of 314 alien species landed on Earth, inviting us to become number 315. Now, after seemingly endless delays, the Starport in Chicago is operational, a destination for diplomats, merchants, and tourists alike. Inside, visitors are governed by intergalactic treaty. Outside, the streets belong to Chicago’s finest. Charlie Baker, newly promoted to the squad that oversees the Starport district, is eager to put to practical use his enthusiasm for all things extraterrestrial; he just never expected to arrive on his first day in the back of a police cruiser. Lieutenant Bobbi Kelleher is married to the job, which often puts her in conflict with Lyhanne Nhar-Lys, security champion of Starport and one of the galaxy’s fiercest warriors. Undercover with a gang of anti-alien extremists, Detective Aaron Stein has no problem mixing business with pleasure—until he stumbles upon evidence of a plot to assassinate a controversial trade envoy with a cache of stolen ray guns. Now the Chicago PD must stop these nutjobs before they piss off the entire universe. Based on a TV pilot script written by George R. R. Martin in 1994 and adapted and illustrated by Hugo Award–nominated artist Raya Golden, this bold and brilliant graphic novel adaptation at last brings Martin’s singular vision to rollicking life. With all the intrigue, ingenuity, and atmosphere that made A Game of Thrones a worldwide phenomenon, Starport launches a new chapter in the career of a sci-fi/fantasy superstar.

Co-author, John M. Ford, is Minnesota author.

Build your next game on a bigger scale with Pro HTML5 Games. This book teaches you the essentials of advanced game programming in HTML5. You’ll learn techniques that you can transfer to any area of HTML5 game development to make your own professional HTML5 games! Led by an expert game programmer, you’ll build two complete games in HTML5: a strategy puzzle game based on the Box2d physics engine and in the style of Angry Birds and a real-time strategy (RTS) game complete with units, buildings, path-finding, artificial intelligence, and multiplayer support. In the process, you’ll learn how to do the following: Create realistic physics in your game by incorporating the Box2d physics engine Design large worlds with lots of characters and let users interact with them Use sprite sheets, panning, parallax scrolling, and sound effects to build a more polished game Incorporate pathfinding and steering to help characters navigate through your world Create challenging levels with intelligent enemies by using decision trees, state machines, and scripted events Add multiplayer in your games using Node.js and the WebSocket API This book will help you take your HTML5/JavaScript programming experience to the next level. It gives you the knowledge and skills you need to develop more complex, bolder games and become an HTML5 games pro.

Cepheus Light is a set of rules for playing classic science fiction games. It includes rules on creating characters, resolving actions, fighting other creatures, and engaging in space battles, generating worlds, handling the risks of interstellar speculative trading, exploring new worlds, and many other activities. While rules-light and designed for fast, action-packed play rather than an accurate simulation of reality, Cepheus Light encompasses a wide variety of rules and materials for building a science-fiction universe and playing in it. Cepheus Light draws its inspiration from old-school science-fiction roleplaying games. It shares a lot of similarities with these games. Material from older rules sets and those created with Cepheus Light, the Cepheus Engine Core, and old-school sci-fi roleplaying games are easily compatible with only a moderate amount of adjustment. The future awaits! Compatible with the Cepheus Engine System Reference Document and other OGL 2D6 Sci Fi games.