Showing results by publisher "Tantor Audio" in First Contact

Named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, Clifford D. Simak was a preeminent voice during the decades that established science fiction as a genre to be reckoned with. Held in the same esteem as fellow luminaries Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and Ray Bradbury, his novels continue to enthrall today's audiences. And his short fiction is still as gripping and surprising now as when it first entertained an entire generation of fans.

The Singularity enters the Federation. Its citizens are AIs. And no one knows how to treat them. From collaborations to master-slave, every relationship is different, when they shouldn't be. The AIs fight back, but on a level none of the other members understand. The fight starts slowly, but when the realization of what's happening hits too close to home, more extraordinary measures are called for. What is the legal framework in which everyone can coexist peacefully? Who better to build it than Rivka and the Magistrates?

Charlie Johns has been snatched from his home on Earth and delivered to the strange future world of Ledom. Technology has triumphed over hunger, overpopulation, pollution, and even time and space. But there is a change Charlie finds even more shocking: Gender is a thing of the past. Gone are the tensions between male and female. Gone is the human preoccupation with sex.

A planet in dispute. Farmers vs miners, and no one knows the full story. The Federation sends Rivka and her team to resolve a case of settlers squatting on a remote planet when the owners finally came calling. Not what it seems. Three generations of settlers and more. A planet that isn't as welcoming as it appears. Crops coming ripe. Miners ready to dig. Tempers flare as the sides face off. Until the Magistrate gets in the middle of it with all the firepower at her command—the law, a calm voice, and a good railgun.

Captain Thomas Baldwin has made a name for himself in a short period of time. The Statu have finally been defeated, and the Concord has Tom and his crew to thank for the victory. With the construction of more sophisticated cruise ships, offers are being extended to capable leaders. Commander Treena Starling must decide if she is happy staying on Constantine or if she'll captain her own. Ven Ittix is humbled to escort his people to their new home, the Ugna now full-fledged Concord partners, but a revelation is waiting for them when they arrive.

The Trans-Pacific Task Force is getting ready to deploy but they don't have what they need. Someone's been skimming. A contract won through mistruths. Incomplete payments limiting the army's readiness. Colonel Marcie Walton is angry and calling anyone who will answer. Magistrate Rivka Anoa is on the job and thrown into the middle of two shooting wars. Which way is up? Chaz and Dennicron explore a wider galaxy while Ankh and Floyd get some prime time. Rivka drops the gavel and delivers the judgments.

Amelia is fresh from her victory over ARC when a massive hurricane strikes New Orleans. In the aftermath, a pile of bodies is found and all evidence points to the Wraith as the perpetrator. Has the killer of evil lost her grip on reality and started murdering indiscriminately? Or is there something even more dangerous in the world than the Wraith? With every superhero in North America gunning for Madisun Dumas, Arsenal has to race against the clock and stand up to her own teammates to prove the vigilante's innocence.

Alien ambassadors are dying. The locals are in over their heads. Or are they turning a blind eye? The Magistrates band together to learn about the law, each other, and even themselves. They still need outside help to solve the case. Who do they call? And Barnabas stops by to refuel and spin a tale. More training for the Magistrates. But duty takes them away. Another Ambassador is brutally murdered. Rivka takes her team to find the perp and end the violence.

Captain Solair and the intrepid crew of the Ancestral Queen had no idea that when they rescued the human women aboard a derelict freighter, that their lives—and their loves—would change forever. As both crews learned to live together, they crushed the villains, grabbed the loot, and saved the day, all to live happily ever after with their mates. Now, however, Solair and the others discover that the greatest adventure of all lies ahead: parenthood. The beloved Kilgari and their feisty, brilliant human mates return for one final voyage.

Beginning with the unforgettable title story—a wry and chilling horror tale about cloning and alien invasion that inspired the classic teleplay "The Duplicate Man" from the television series The Outer Limits—Simak propels the listener on a breathtaking journey across the galaxies and into the future. He then enthralls us with the strange chronicle of twin siblings, one tied to the Earth, the other drawn to the stars; imaginings of a volatile reunion of two former enemies who must join forces on Jupiter's moon or face extinction; and the story of a house in the middle of nowhere.

London, 1977. Year of the Silver Jubilee, the Sex Pistols—and a spate of unexplained disappearances from across the academic world. Elizabeth Belfort, a young agent with a high-flying career and a low-flying marriage, is urgently dispatched to bring in an elusive government informant. But she soon finds herself drawn into the mysterious world of this informant and his family as they embark on a rescue mission. New horizons and new loves start to overturn her well-ordered life.

The super dreadnaught Atlas has returned from the dead, but something has gone very, very wrong. As it arrives over the skies of the AIC homeworld, terrorists unleash panic in the streets below. Soon, the Atlas commences an attack on the civilian population with devastating effect. As the scope of the attack - and the truth of what is behind it - becomes clear, panic spreads among the colonies and Earth alike.

For years, people have feared that sexual material removed from victims of alien abductions might lead to the creation of something that modern science considers impossible: hybrids of the alien and the human. They would think like aliens, but appear human, and be able to do something that full-blooded aliens can't: walk the earth freely.

Shipyard deaths. Labor complaints. Fear. Intimidation. Rivka gets called in to sort things out, investigate the safety issues, mediate the dispute. What she finds isn't a negotiation at all. She puts on her Magistrate hat and gets to work sorting out crimes made to look like accidents. Her biggest challenge is finding out who is honest. Rivka ends up in a court of law, prosecutor and defender, fighting both sides of a new and intricate legal question. When fists and firepower have to give way to intellect and reason, Rivka and her team must rise to the challenge.

Elasa contacts the very special Awares, folk who attune so perfectly to their environment that they can disappear, literally and figuratively. She needs to work with them to try to save Earth from being eaten by huge telepathic galactic maggots.

A troubled young woman is recruited by a race of ancient alien explorers to be their emissary to save the human race from extinction. The problem is that not everyone believes the world is doomed, and not everyone trusts the aliens' motives. Holly Burton will have to overcome opposition from world leaders, attacks by religious zealots, assassination attempts, intractable bureaucracies, and her own fears and doubts if she is to save the human race, not just from the coming apocalypse, but from itself.

Rydian Halt has defeated one of the immortal Alfur, the alien species that has ruled over humanity for generations. With newfound power burning in his veins, for a brief moment, anything seemed possible. Freedom for himself, for his people, for all of Talamh. Until the Haze struck. Now cast into the wildlands of Talamh, Rydian struggles for survival—and his very sanity. Each time he uses his new power, the Haze threatens, tearing at his mind. But without its aid, Rydian won't last a day against the beasts that stalk him.

In the title story, a man's newfound ability to walk in the past allows him to dwell among dinosaurs, saber-toothed tigers . . . and something even more timeless. In "Construction Shack," the first manned expedition to Pluto reveals that no matter how advanced aliens may be, even they don't always get everything right. And in "Univac 2200," the thin line between humans creating technology and humans becoming technology is about to be crossed-and there may be no going back.

Bishop is trapped deep inside Montana's Apex Valley along with his injured wife, a shotgun-wielding stranger named Colbrick, and a sneaking suspicion he's never making it back to Chicago. Things no man has seen before haunt the woods. Strange animal species creep behind pine trees, some of them with flashing red tags that blink faster and faster. Giant birds mimic the sound of humans and lord over the sky. Leaf-shaped creatures attack anything that moves and flash vivid colors across their glistening backs.

The twentieth century's so-called golden age of science fiction produced many great writers, yet none is greater than Clifford D. Simak, named Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America. His bold visions of and ingenious speculations about humankind's future, always enriched with empathy and a deep understanding of human strengths, foibles, and failings, have stood the test of time, remaining powerful, affecting, and relevant.