Thirteen-year-old Eli Papadapoulous is worried. Even though he's part of in the most powerful family in the world. Even though his grandfather founded InfiniCorp, the massive corporation that runs everything in the bustling dome-cities. Even though InfiniCorp ads and billboards are plastered everywhere, proclaiming: DON'T WORRY! INFINICORP IS TAKING CARE OF EVERYTHING! Recently, Eli noticed there's something wrong with the artificial sky. It keeps shorting out, displaying strange colors and random, pixellated images. And though the Department of Cool and Comfortable Air is working overtime, the dome-city is hotter than it's ever been. Eli has been raised to believe that the dome-cities are safe and comfortable; that the important thing is to keep working, keep consuming; that InfiniCorp knows better than he, and he should leave everything in their hands. But now he begins asking questions.

Goldie and her brother TJ grow up in a New England town, living with their mentally imbalanced mother. The biggest secret of their lives is that no one from the outside world knows what actually goes on inside their home. Their greatest fear is telling someone, however, they are terrified of the consequences. All they really want is a ‘normal’ mother who loves them and treats them like she cares, but that doesn’t happen. The day-to-day abuse that they experience is all too common. Their father works relentlessly and for most of the time is blinded by their mother’s actions. Fortunately they have a loving Grandmother who tries her best to help them deal with this insane behavior without actually getting involved. Her love for them is unrivaled, and she continues to be there for them at their time of need. With only the prospect of a bleak future, they are forced to consider a brighter alternative. Their days at school are met with equal torment; their mother – aka the Witch – holds a tight rein on everything they do and say: the church, how they dress, what they eat, and how they bathe. So, with few options other than to resort to drastic measures, Goldie and her brother decide to embark on a risky undertaking, which although dangerous, might prove to be their only salvation. The Mother, with albeit good intentions keeps excruciatingly tight control over every single, solitary thing in their lives. It becomes like the Witch is the warden and Goldie and TJ are her prisoners. This is how they manage their lives living this way and what eventually happens to them.

This sprawling, episodic novel by the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author is a “tour de force sci-fi outing . . . a wonderful read” (Fantasy Literature). 2077. With Earth reeling from centuries of unregulated population growth and environmental decimation, a new religion has taken root. The Vorsters worship science and the material world over all else, searching for the promise of immortality through new technology and the promise of heaven among the physical stars. But on Venus, a renegade sect has found its home. The Harmonists find the answers to life’s eternal questions in their own spirituality and in their own bodies, which have undergone genetic changes on Venus, giving them paranormal abilities. With humanity’s future at stake, religion becomes a political business, and both groups will have to face their motivations and manipulations when a shocking discovery threatens the balance of power in the universe. “The absorbing story of an overpopulated and economically depressed world clinging to the outcome of a religious schism for its salvation.” —sff180

"Pip, a young boy who can speak to fish, and his sister Kinchen set off on a great adventure, joined by twins with magical powers, refugees fleeing post-war Vietnam, and some helpful sea monsters"--

When is a sofa not a sofa? When it is the entry to another world . . . Nine-year-old Conor's day doesn't start well. His right arm seems to be missing! Then he appears to have grown horns. But it's the next event that proves fateful. His mum catches her skirt on a loose spring in the sofa. It's time to replace the sofa . . . obviously. But money is tight. So when Conor sees an old sofa bobbing in the tide as he walks to school, about to strand itself on the muddy shore, it seems like fate is working in his favour. But there's something very strange about this particular sofa . . .

When a repairman accidentally discovers a parallel universe, everyone sees it as an opportunity, whether as a way to ease Earth's overcrowding, set up a personal kingdom, or hide an inconvenient mistress. But when a civilization is found already living there, the people on this side of the crack are sent scrambling to discover their motives. Will these parallel humans come in peace, or are they just as corrupt and ill-intentioned as the people of this world?