The Age Of Zeus (72 page)

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Authors: James Lovegrove

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BOOK: The Age Of Zeus
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"That bother you?"

"Not as much as it might have. I wanted revenge badly, so badly, but maybe it was better that I didn't get it."

"Better for you," Ramsay said. "Better for your soul."

"Right. But still I'm left with this feeling of,
So what was that all about then?
"

"You did your bit, and the Olympians got what was coming to them. Guess it doesn't matter who from, long as they got it. The only one who didn't really deserve to die was Argus, but that was necessary."

"A mercy, almost."

"Yeah. And soon as he was pulled off his machinery, NORAD got back control of its nukes, and so did all the world's other missile commands - Russia, France, and so on. Big whoop all round when his firewalls suddenly went down. 'Hooray, we can blow up the planet again, if we want to.'"

"Only, we won't, will we?" Sam said. "We're grown-up enough as a race, aren't we? We can manage things for ourselves. We certainly don't need self-styled gods lording it over us, telling us how to behave and treating us like infants. We're capable of making sure humankind carries on and prospers. Aren't we?"

"Hell if I know," said Ramsay. He jerked a thumb at the L-Day celebrants. "But maybe that's what all this is in aid of, and why it should carry on year after year, even become an official event. Long as people remember what they were liberated from, they'll do their best to enjoy the freedom and make sure it continues. We've been slaves a while. Freed slaves tend to treasure what they've gained."

A soft burble from the stroller was followed by the sound of small limbs furiously shifting.

"Ah," said Sam. "Nap time's over."

She unfastened straps and hauled a pudgy, clammy eighteen-month-old out of the stroller and onto her lap.

William Dai Ramsay rolled a sleepy eye at his mother, and then at his father. His light-brown face set into a grumpy pout, and he nuzzled against Sam's breast with a sigh that sounded far too heartfelt and careworn for one so young. He'd been named after his paternal grandfather. Sam had lobbied to have Dai as his first name, but Ramsay had vetoed this. "Sounds too morbid," he'd said. So William it was, Will for short.

Ramsay stroked his son's head, with just a hint of wistfulness, briefly recollecting another small boy, another head of dark nappy curls like this one.

"You wake up in your own sweet time, kiddo," he said, and kissed Will's crown.

In response, Will just snuffled, and Sam hugged him close, feeling the heat radiating off him and inhaling the mix of milk and sweat that was his unique, heady musk.

Will.

Her Will.

Will, Will, Will.

What more fitting name to give to the future?

Acknowledgements

Profuse thanks are due to: Gary Main and Johnny Reade, for technical advice relating to, respectively, military helicopters and riot policing; the fine folks at "new" Solaris, principally Jonathan Oliver, David Moore, Jennifer-Anne Hill and Ben Smith; Marek Okon for another awesome cover; and Eric Brown, Liz de Jager, Ron Fortgang, Tim Mitchell and Andy Remic for continued support and encouragement.

 

THE AGE OF RA
Eric Brown

The Ancient Egyptian gods have defeated all the other pantheons and claimed dominion over the earth, dividing it into warring factions. Lt. David Westwynter, a British soldier, stumbles into Freegypt, the only place to have remained independent of the gods’ influence. There, he encounters the followers of a humanist leader known as the Lightbringer, who has vowed to rid mankind of the shackles of divine oppression. As the world heads towards an apocalyptic battle, there is far more to this freedom fighter than it seems...

 

SOLARIS
[email protected]
www.solarisbooks.com

 

SHINE
Edited By Jetse De Vries

A collection of near-future, optimistic SF stories where some of the genre’s brightest stars and most exciting new talents portray the possible roads to a better tomorrow. Definitely not a plethora of Pollyannas (but neither a barrage of dystopias), SHINE will show that positive change is far from being a foregone conclusion, but needs to be hard fought, innovative, robust and imaginative.

Let´s make our tomorrows SHINE.

 

SOLARIS
[email protected]
www.solarisbooks.com

 

THE CULLED
Simon Spurrier

 

He made a stand against the end of the world…

The Blight arose from nowhere. It swept across the bickering nations like the End of Times and spared only those with a single fortuitous blood type.

Hot-headed religion and territorial savagery rule the cities now. Somewhere amidst the chaos a damaged man receives a signal, and with it the tiniest flicker of hope. The chance to rediscover the humanity he lost, long ago, in the blood and filth and horror of The Cull.

 

The Afterblight Chronicles is an exciting series of high-action post-apocalypse fiction set in a world ruled by crazed gangs and strange cults.

 

ABADDON BOOKS
[email protected]
www.abaddonbooks.com

 

CIRCUS OF SINS
Natasha Rhodes

When young vampire-hunter Kayla Steele is bitten by a werewolf, she thinks it’s the end of her world. However, little does she know that the real end of the world is not that far away. Master vampire Harlequin has made a deal with the Devil and is now planning to commit the ultimate sin – killing an angel – which will trigger an ancient curse and bring about war in Heaven.

If that happens, it will be the end of mankind forever. Kayla’s only hope now lies in a mysterious stranger named Niki, who knows where the angel is being kept. Together, they must rescue the angel before midnight on Sunday in order to stave off Armageddon. But unless Niki is who he claims to be, the stakes just got one hell of a lot higher…

 

SOLARIS
[email protected]
www.solarisbooks.com

Title

 

Indicia

 

Dedication

 

Prologue: Corsica

 

PART 1 Three Months Earlier

 

1. The Chicagoan

 

2. On Bleaney Island

 

3. The Barracuda

 

4. Regis Landesman

 

5. Dropout

 

6. Titan

 

7. Practical Demo

 

8. Pairing Off

 

9. Bolder and Boulder

 

10. Breakthrough

 

11. Superior Fucked-Up-Mess

 

12. Poseidon Passing

 

13. Mistakes

 

14. CallSigns

 

15. Blue Eros Mythoporn

 

16. the Cyclops

 

17. The Prothero Stare

 

18. Stratospherically Remote

 

19. The Everglades

 

20. Champagne

 

21. Operation: Three Lions

 

22. The Griffin

 

23. The Sphinx

 

24. The Chimera

 

25. Man-Lion Dream

 

26. Repercussions

 

27. Lost Landmarks

 

28. Monstercide

 

29. The Gorgons

 

30. Bruges

 

31. The Agonides Cup

 

32. The Minotaur

 

33. Haut-Pietra

 

34. Lakeside Encounter

 

35. Cul-De-Sac

 

36. Cronos

 

37. Unarmed

 

38. Bulls And Bullies

 

39. Non-Acrobatic

 

40. Rumblings Of Belligerence

 

41. Public Works

 

42. The New Labours Of Hercules

 

43. Oscillo-Knives

 

44. Ambushing The Ambushers

 

45. Run

 

46. The Myrmidon Protocol

 

47. Media Paste

 

48. Detective Work

 

49. Minotaur On The Loose

 

50. Xander

 

51. Well And Truly Snookered

 

PART 2 One Month Later

 

52. Cold Turkey In Kensai Rise

 

53. Drifting Ships

 

54. The Lotus Eaters

 

55. Congress

 

56. The Call

 

57. Di Prothero

 

58. Prodigal Daughter

 

59. Raid On Bleaney

 

60. Screamers And Rumblers

 

61. A View From On High

 

62. Olympus

 

63. Argus

 

64. The Mundane Lives Of Gods

 

65. Crates

 

66. Martyrs

 

67. The Shrine Of Apotheosis

 

68. An Audacious Lie

 

69. Council Of War

 

70. Three Days

 

71. Return Of The Titans

 

72. Fantasia Of Ghoulishness

 

73. Cerberus And Typhon

 

74. Talos

 

75. Amphitheatre

 

76. Apollo Appalled

 

77. Swimming-Pool Jellyfish

 

78. Gods' End

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