Books like 'Downward Cycle'
Readers who enjoyed Downward Cycle by J.K. Franks also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
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Exhalation by Ted Chiang
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsalternate cover for this ISBN can be found hereThe universe began as an enormous breath being held.From the acclaimed author of Stories of Your Life and Others — the basis for the Academy Award-nominated film Arrival — comes a ground-breaking new collection of short fiction: nine stunningly original, provocative, and poignant stories...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction 21st-century action-adventure adult ai aliens alternate-history -
![Dust by Hugh Howey]()
Dust by Hugh Howey
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsWool introduced the world of the silo. Shift told the story of its creation. Dust will describe its downfall. The residents of Silo 18 have a new mayor and the chance of a new beginning. But just as they regain their footing, their gravest threat emerges: Silo 1, and the men who brought Earth into ruin. But power, politics, and the survival of the human race are complex...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic survival action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book -
![Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson]()
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsCryptonomicon zooms all over the world, careening conspiratorially back and forth between two time periods—World War II and the present. Our 1940s heroes are the brilliant mathematician Lawrence Waterhouse, crypt analyst extraordinaire, and gung-ho, morphine-addicted marine Bobby Shaftoe...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history asia audiobook -
![I, Robot by Isaac Asimov]()
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 76 ratingsThey mustn't harm a human being, they must obey human orders, and they must protect their own existence...but only so long as that doesn't violate rules one and two. With these Three Laws of Robotics, humanity embarked on a bold new era of evolution that would open up enormous possibilities - and unforeseen risks...Categorized as:
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![The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal]()
The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsMary Robinette Kowal continues her award-winning Lady Astronaut series, which began with The Calculating Stars and The Fated Sky, with The Relentless Moon.The Earth is coming to the boiling point as the climate disaster of the Meteor strike becomes more and more clear, but the political situation is already overheated. Riots and sabotage plague the space program...Categorized as:
apocalyptic crime dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook -
![Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang]()
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsTed Chiang's first published story, "Tower of Babylon," won the Nebula Award in 1990. Subsequent stories have won the Asimov's SF Magazine reader poll, a second Nebula Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and the Sidewise Award for alternate history. He won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1992. Story for story, he is the most honored young writer in modern SF...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction 20th-century 21st-century action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history -
![The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal]()
The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsThe Fated Sky continued the grand sweep of alternate history begun in The Calculating Stars. It is 1961, and the International Aerospace Coalition has established a colony on the moon. Elma York, the noted Lady Astronaut, is working on rotation, flying shuttles on the moon and returning regularly to Earth.But humanity must get a foothold on Mars... -
![The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov]()
The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 47 ratingsOne of Isaac Asimov's SF masterpieces, this stand-alone novel is a monument of the flowering of SF in the 20th century. It is widely regarded as Asimov's single best SF novel and one every SF fan should read.Andrew Harlan is an Eternal, a member of the elite of the future...Categorized as:
dystopia 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book classics -
![Anathem by Neal Stephenson]()
Anathem by Neal Stephenson
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsFraa Erasmas is a young avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the outside "saecular" world by ancient stone, honored traditions, and complex rituals. Over the centuries, cities and governments have risen and fallen beyond the concent's walls... -
![How Firm a Foundation by David Weber]()
How Firm a Foundation by David Weber
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Charisian Empire, born in war, has always known it must fight for its very survival. What most of its subjects don't know even now, however, is how much more it's fighting for. Emperor Cayleb, Empress Sharleyan, Merlin Athrawes, and their innermost circle of most trusted advisers do know...Categorized as:
dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult ai alternate-history audiobook book -
![Osiris by Ralph Kern, Michael Kramer]()
Osiris by Ralph Kern, Michael Kramer
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBeyond the apocalypse, humanity's future is being decided.It's been three months since the cruise ship M/S Atlantica arrived in a hostile new world.The survivors dream of building a home, but just as their hopes rise, they learn the true cost of saving thousands of people from catastrophe.Conrad Wakefield, the architect of the Locus project, killed billions...Categorized as:
dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult ai alternate-history assassinations audiobook -
![Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber]()
Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsHumanity pushed its way to the stars - and encountered the Gbaba, a ruthless alien race that nearly wiped us out.Earth and her colonies are now smoldering ruins, and the few survivors have fled to distant, Earth-like Safehold, to try to rebuild...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult ai aliens alternate-history -
![Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds]()
Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsLate in the twenty-sixth century, the human race has advanced enough to accidentally trigger the Inhibitors - alien killing machines designed to detect intelligent life and destroy it. The only hope for humanity lies in the recovery of a secret cache of doomsday weapons -and a renegade named Clavain who is determined to find them...Categorized as:
dystopia post-apocalyptic 21st-century action-adventure adult ai aliens alternate-history -
![1637: No Peace Beyond the Line by Eric Flint, Charles E. Gannon]()
1637: No Peace Beyond the Line by Eric Flint, Charles E. Gannon
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTHE BATTLE FOR THE NEW WORLD IS A FIGHT TO THE FINISH! A NEW RING OF FIRE NOVEL BY BEST-SELLING WRITING TEAM ERIC FLINT AND CHARLES E. GANNONA New Day in the New WorldIt’s 1637 in the Caribbean. Commander Eddie Cantrell and his ally and friend Admiral Martin Tromp start it off with some nasty surprises for Spain, whose centuries-long exploitation and rapine of the New World has run unchecked...Categorized as:
survival action-adventure adult alternate-history alternate-universe book fiction hard-sci-fi -
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![The Lure of Infinity by Stan C. Smith]()
The Lure of Infinity by Stan C. Smith
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSome worlds are better left alone.Infinity Fowler has been fighting all her life. As a child, she had to fight for survival. Then she fought professionally. But when humans obtained the technology to bridge to alternate versions of Earth, she saw a chance for a new life. She signed up to become a bridger—an elite fighter and survival expert who protects tourists bridging to alternate worlds...Categorized as:
post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history book coming-of-age fiction -
![The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal]()
The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThirty years ago, Elma York led the expedition that paved the way to life on Mars. For years she's been longing to go back up there, to once more explore the stars. But there are few opportunities for an aging astronaut, even the famous Lady Astronaut of Mars. When her chance finally comes, it may be too late...Categorized as:
post-apocalyptic 21st-century action-adventure adult alternate-history book exploration family -
![A Pivot in Time by Douglas E. Richards]()
A Pivot in Time by Douglas E. Richards
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsKelly, Justin, and Otto return in a riveting near-future thriller. From the million-copy New York Times best-selling author."Richards is an extraordinary writer" (Dean Koontz) who can "keep you turning the pages all night long". (Douglas Preston)The Enigma Cube is an alien object of unlimited power, with technology that can catapult civilization to dizzying heights - or destroy it entirely... -
![Augmented by James D. Prescott]()
Augmented by James D. Prescott
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBreathable air on Earth is running out and no one knows why. A mysterious discovery nearly thirty million years old may hold the answer.To find it, a glaciologist and the inventor of a cutting-edge brain implant will need to work together...Categorized as:
dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history audiobook book -
![San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant]()
San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt was the summer of 2014, and the true horrors of the Rising were only just beginning to reveal themselves. Fans from all over the world gathered in San Diego, California for the annual comic book and media convention, planning to forget about the troubling rumors of new diseases and walking dead by immersing themselves in a familiar environment...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book dark -
![A Mighty Fortress by David Weber]()
A Mighty Fortress by David Weber
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsYoung Cayleb Ahrmahk has accomplished things few people could even dream of. Not yet even thirty years old, he’s won the most crushing naval victories in human history. He’s smashed a hostile alliance of no less than five princedoms and won the hand of the beautiful young Queen Sharleyan of Chisholm...Categorized as:
dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult ai aliens alternate-history audiobook -
![By Schism Rent Asunder by David Weber]()
By Schism Rent Asunder by David Weber
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe world has changed. The mercantile kingdom of Charis has prevailed over the alliance designed to exterminate it. Armed with better sailing vessels, better guns and better devices of all sorts, Charis faced the combined navies of the rest of the world at Darcos Sound and Armageddon Reef, and broke them...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult ai alternate-history audiobook -
![Like a Mighty Army by David Weber]()
Like a Mighty Army by David Weber
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFor centuries, the world of Safehold, last redoubt of the human race, lay under the unchallenged rule of the Church of God Awaiting. The Church permitted nothing new-no new inventions, no new understandings of the world...Categorized as:
apocalyptic post-apocalyptic survival action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book -
![By Heresies Distressed by David Weber]()
By Heresies Distressed by David Weber
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsNow the battle for the soul of the planet Safehold has begun.The Kingdom of Charis and the Kingdom of Chisholm have joined together, pledged to stand against the tyranny of a corrupt Church. The youthful Queen Sharleyan of Chisholm has wed King Cayleb of Charis, forging a single dynasty, a single empire, dedicated to the defense of human freedom...Categorized as:
dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult ai alternate-history audiobook book -
![Extinction Crisis by James D. Prescott]()
Extinction Crisis by James D. Prescott
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsExtinction Crisis is the third and final book in the series! With the doomsday ship only days away from impacting the Earth, humanity's demise seems all but assured. In every corner of the world, news of the impending destruction has led to chaos, looting and the collapse of the rule of law...Categorized as:
apocalyptic post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history audiobook book -
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![Purgatory's Shore by Taylor Anderson]()
Purgatory's Shore by Taylor Anderson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOn their way to fight in the Mexican-American War, a group of American soldiers are swept away to a strange and deadly alternate Earth in this thrilling new adventure set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Destroyermen series.The United States, 1847...Categorized as:
survival action-adventure adult alternate-history book fiction hard-sci-fi historical-fiction -
![Midst Toil and Tribulation by David Weber]()
Midst Toil and Tribulation by David Weber
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsDavid Weber's New York Times bestselling Safehold series of military Science Fiction adventure, which began with Off Armageddon Reef, continues with Midst Toil and TribulationWAR AND FAMINEOnce the Church of God Awaiting dominated all the kingdoms of Safehold...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult ai alternate-history audiobook -
![Extinction Countdown by James D. Prescott]()
Extinction Countdown by James D. Prescott
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsThe greatest discovery in human history may also be our last.Dr. Jack Greer's startling discovery beneath the Gulf of Mexico proved to the world we were not alone in the universe. But when images from the Voyager One space probe reveal an alien doomsday ship hurtling toward the earth, the human race seems marked for extinction...Categorized as:
apocalyptic post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history audiobook book -
![First Contact by Dean M. Cole]()
First Contact by Dean M. Cole
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the Bestselling Author of Solitude!As part of the Greatest Generation, Major Anthony Spinelli, a World War II fighter pilot, flew into combat to save his family and keep them free. Two years later, he lost them in the blink of an eye, leaving Tony rudderless and without purpose...Categorized as:
apocalyptic post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history audiobook book -
![The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin, Ken Liu]()
The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin, Ken Liu
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 47 ratingsThe Three-Body Problem is the first chance for English-speaking readers to experience the Hugo Award-winning phenomenon from China's most beloved science fiction author, Liu Cixin.Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia 21st-century action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history audiobook -
![Europe at Dawn by Dave Hutchinson]()
Europe at Dawn by Dave Hutchinson
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAlice works at the Scottish Embassy in Tallinn in Estonia as a member of the Cultural Section. When two men bring her the jewelled skull of a Scottish saint her world gets turned on its head, and she becomes the latest recruit to Les Coureurs des Bois.On a Greek island Benno is just one of hundreds of refuges dreaming of a new life in Continental Europe... -
![Unfathomed by Ralph Kern]()
Unfathomed by Ralph Kern
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe M/S Atlantica, one of the most advanced cruise ships in the world, is lost. Land has disappeared. Fuel, food and hope begin to dwindle. After months recuperating in hospital, US Marine Jack Cohen hoped a Caribbean cruise would help him recover from the horrific injuries he sustained fighting in the Middle East...Categorized as:
dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult ai alternate-history assassinations audiobook -
![Zeroglyph by Vance Pravat]()
Zeroglyph by Vance Pravat
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEx Machina meets Rear Window in a mind-bending sci-fi thriller about machine morality.Raphael is the holy grail of AI: a superintelligent robot that’s been programmed to be the perfect moral being. Or at least that’s what Andy, its creator, believes... -
![Outland by Dennis E. Taylor]()
Outland by Dennis E. Taylor
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsWhen the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, it's up to six college students and their experimental physics project to prevent the end of civilization. When an experiment to study quantum uncertainty goes spectacularly wrong, physics student Bill Rustad and his friends find that they have accidentally created an inter-dimensional portal...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia humor post-apocalyptic survival action-adventure adult alternate-history -
![Manhattan In Reverse by Peter F. Hamilton]()
Manhattan In Reverse by Peter F. Hamilton
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThis is a collection of short stories from the master of space opera. Peter Hamilton takes us on a journey from a murder mystery in an alternative Oxford in the 1800s to a story featuring Paula Myo, Deputy Director of the Intersolar Commonwealth's Serious Crimes Directorate...Categorized as:
crime action-adventure adult alternate-history anthologies audiobook fiction hard-sci-fi -
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![Revelations by Robert Storey]()
Revelations by Robert Storey
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsHidden deep beneath a remote desert is our planet’s biggest secret. Sarah Morgan’s only mistake? Finding it.The world holds its breath as the colossal asteroid 2011 AG5 hurtles towards the earth. As humanity is faced with extinction, archaeologist Sarah Morgan is in a race against time to uncover a secret that has been buried for millennia: that an advanced ancestor once populated the earth...Categorized as:
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![The Expert System’s Champion by Adrian Tchaikovsky]()
The Expert System’s Champion by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsIt’s been ten years since Handry was wrenched away from his family and friends, forced to wander a world he no longer understood. But with the help of the Ancients, he has cobbled together a life, of sorts, for himself and his fellow outcasts... -
![The Reformer by S.M. Stirling, David Drake]()
The Reformer by S.M. Stirling, David Drake
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAfter the collapse of the galactic Web, civilizations crumbled and chaos reigned on thousands of planets. Only on planet Bellevue was there a difference. There, a Fleet Battle Computer named Center had survived from the old civilization... -
![1635: Music and Murder by David Carrico]()
1635: Music and Murder by David Carrico
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratings1635: Murder and Music.Music . . .It's been said that musicians live for the next new sound. Well, the musicians of Europe were presented with the biggest new sound ever when the Ring of Fire brought the future back to 1631...Categorized as:
crime action-adventure adult alternate-history alternate-universe anthologies assassins audiobook -
![Dawn for a Distant Earth by L.E. Modesitt Jr.]()
Dawn for a Distant Earth by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsL. E. Modesitt, Jr's first major work was The Forever Hero trilogy of SF adventure novels published as paperback originals in the 1980s, of which Dawn for a Distant Earth was the first title in the series. Thousands of years in the future, Earth is a desolate ruin...Categorized as:
post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book fiction hard-sci-fi -
![Multitude by Dean M. Cole]()
Multitude by Dean M. Cole
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsSequel to Solitude - ABR Listeners Choice: Best Sci-Fi of 2018 Following the incredible events of Solitude, Vaughn and Angela must probe the depths of space and time to unravel and perhaps even reverse the enigma of humanity's disappearance. But first, they must get past themselves. If you enjoyed Solitude, you'll love the action and plot twists in this apocalyptic epic...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history audiobook -
![1637: The Volga Rules by Eric Flint, Paula Goodlett]()
1637: The Volga Rules by Eric Flint, Paula Goodlett
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNEW ENTRY IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING, GENRE-DEFINING ALTERNATE HISTORY SERIES. It’s been five years since a cosmic incident known as The Ring of Fire transported the modern day town of Grantville, West Virginia, through time and space to 17th century Europe. The course of world history has been forever altered. And Mother Russia is no exception... -
![Extinction Code by James D. Prescott]()
Extinction Code by James D. Prescott
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWe were wrong about the origins of our species. For eons, the truth has remained hidden. Until now... Geophysicist Jack Greer believes he may finally have found the resting place of the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago...Categorized as:
dystopia post-apocalyptic 21st-century action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history audiobook -
![The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal]()
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsOn a cold spring night in 1952, a huge meteorite fell to earth and obliterated much of the east coast of the United States, including Washington D.C. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render the earth inhospitable for humanity, as the last such meteorite did for the dinosaurs... -
![Limbo by Dima Zales, Anna Zaires]()
Limbo by Dima Zales, Anna Zaires
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsYesterday, I learned all of Oasis’s secrets—or so I thought. As a new danger arises, the long-awaited Birth Day celebration turns into a nightmare, and this time, there may be no escape.In Oasis, nothing is what it seems...Categorized as:
dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book classics coming-of-age -
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![The Probability Broach by L. Neil Smith]()
The Probability Broach by L. Neil Smith
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDenver detective Win Bear, on the trail of a murderer, discovers much more than a killer. He accidentally stumbles upon the probability broach, a portal to a myriad of worlds--some wildly different from, others disconcertingly similar to our own...Categorized as:
dystopia 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history book cyberpunk fiction -
![1636: The China Venture by Eric Flint, Iver P. Cooper]()
1636: The China Venture by Eric Flint, Iver P. Cooper
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Ring of Fire Series Continues! The United States of Europe finds itself embroiled in international intrigue, as the uptimers attempt to establish an embassy in Ming Dynasty era China...Categorized as:
survival action-adventure adult alternate-history book early-modern fiction hard-sci-fi -
![The Genome Project by Aaron Hodges]()
The Genome Project by Aaron Hodges
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRunaway teenager Liz wants nothing more than an ordinary life. But when she’s abducted off the streets, Liz learns her government has other plans. In a future ruled by a ruthless dictator, there’s no place for the weak, and she’s spirited away to a facility deep in the Californian mountains. There, Liz wakes in a cage – and she’s not alone...Categorized as:
dystopia action-adventure alternate-history book dark fiction genetic-engineering hard-sci-fi -
![Macaque Attack! by Gareth L. Powell]()
Macaque Attack! by Gareth L. Powell
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Spitfire pilot monkey Ack-Ack Macaque faces a world on the brink in this adventure, the conclusion to his astonishing trilogy... -
![Century Rain by Alastair Reynolds]()
Century Rain by Alastair Reynolds
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThree hundred years from now, Earth has been rendered uninhabitable due to the technological catastrophe known as the Nanocaust. Archaeologist Verity Auger specializes in the exploration of its surviving landscape. Now, her expertise is required for a far greater purpose...Categorized as:
apocalyptic crime dystopia post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult alternate-history archaeology -
![Wireless by Charles Stross]()
Wireless by Charles Stross
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsScience fiction guru Charles Stross "sizzles with ideas" ("Denver Post") in his first major short story collection...Categorized as:
humor action-adventure adult alternate-history anthologies audiobook cyberpunk fiction
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