City Come A Walkin

Stu Cole is struggling to keep his nightclub, Club Anesthesia, afloat in the face of mob harassment when he's visited by a manifestation of the city of San Francisco, crystallized into a single enigmatic being. This amoral superhero leads him on a terrifying journey through the rock and roll demimonde as they struggle to save the city.

Zero is a young film maker who believes his whole life and career are mapped out before him. That is, until the night he and his friends walk into a rock club ... and are caught in a dazzling trap that spans worlds. They are dropped onto a dreamlike planet whose surrealistic beauty cannot hide its grotesque reality. Fool's Hope a world, so stunningly bizarre, nightmares are irrelevant. Here, abductees both human and alien are pitted against a neverending succession of hellish parasites, carnivores, shape-changers, and symbiotes. Yet the greatest enemy of all could be human. When former professor Harmon Fiskle is transformed by the Current a roving mutagenic force he is freed to pursue his megalomaniacal nature. He advocates a depraved policy of social Darwinism, and forges a grotesque alliance of Twists: men and women who have sacrificed their own humanity to become monstrous mutations of their former selves. With an entire world at stake, only Zero can solve the mystery of Fool's Hope ... if it isn't already too late.

In a secret government lab somewhere in Nevada, a young scientist cowers in darkness–waiting, listening, and calculating his chances of surviving the unspeakable carnage that has left him trapped and alone. Or almost alone. Soon after, a covert military operation “cleanses” all traces of a top-secret project gone horrifically wrong. Three years later, it begins again–when the quiet of a warm autumn night in a sleepy California town is shattered by a streak of light across the sky, the thunder of impact, and the unleashing of something insidious. Spreading, multiplying, and transforming everything in its path, this diabolical intelligence will not be denied until the townsfolk–and eventually, all living things–are conquered. Until they are all crawling. . . .

“A thrill-packed” blend of science fiction and apocalyptic thriller from the veteran horror writer and author of Halo: Broken Circle (Metro Silicon Valley). Judgment Day has arrived, and it’s stranger than anyone could have predicted. . . . Jim Swift, a reporter for the Sacramento Bee, is determined to get to the bottom of the recent bizarre global occurrences that seem to be more in the realm of outlandish conspiracy theories than real-life facts. People who once trafficked in slaves, war, cruelty, and death are suddenly experiencing strange visions and reexamining their lives. But the inexplicable rehabilitation of humanity’s worst evildoers is only the beginning. As Jim sets out on a frantic search for his lost daughter, he must traverse a world reduced to the chaos of fear and uncertainty—for the end of everything we’ve ever known will be at hand once the Adjusters arrive from the stars. The Other End, John Shirley’s brilliant and biting apocalyptic thriller, is the veteran author’s answer to the bestselling Left Behind novels. A magnificent amalgam of science fiction, horror, satire, and heart-pounding adventure, it’s a stunning and thought-provoking tale of righteous redemption in a dystopian near-future.

Everyone already knows that. But the General of an army of Psycho Soldiers takes on this planetary hell headfirst, planning to enslave all of the Borderlands. And that General . . . is a Goddess. The General Goddess, Gynella, is a cunning maniac who uses the dark science of the vile Dr. Vialle to control a growing army of bandits and malcontents. Only four people stand in Gynella’s way. Roland. Mordecai. Brick. And . . . Daphne. Daphne?! Better known as Kuller the Killer, she was once the galaxy’s most effective assassin for organized crime—until her forced retirement on this abandoned wasteland of a world. Roland is one of the toughest fighters in the Borderlands, and Mordecai is the best shot in four solar systems—all the two really want is to get to the Crystalisks, harvest some Eridium, get rich, and leave the planet for the nearest intergalactic party. But there are nightmarish creatures to deal with: Varkids and Skags and Threshers. Worse, Gynella is still in their way. Brick—a pile of walking muscle who lives to smash his enemies, could be their ally or their enemy . . . but you’d definitely rather have him on your side. As for Daphne Kuller? Don't make her mad. Just . . . don’t. If you want to hear about the whole thing, take a ride on the bus to Fyrestone with Marcus. Because Marcus has a tale to tell you . . . an untold story of the Borderlands.

The second volume in the trilogy—“a complex, bizarre, and unique vision of the near future with a kaleidoscopic mix of politics, pop, and paranoia” (Bruce Sterling, author of The Hacker Crackdown). World War Three continues. A nuclear strike has laid waste to much of Europe. And the fascists and fundamentalists of the Second Alliance are diligently working on Project Total Eclipse—a nightmare scenario that seeks to establish the SA’s control over a much wider territory through a takeover of the first orbiting space colony in human history. And they are running out of patience with the New Resistance—technologically skilled guerillas who are the only ones standing in the way of their grand plans for apartheid and world domination . . . This extraordinary trilogy, which anticipated such phenomena as surveillance drones and the rising threat of right-wing authoritarianism, is a riveting saga of out-of-control corporate power, a near-future world riven by rage and fear, and the need for individuals to stand up and fight back if they want to hold on to their freedom. “Vivid, dense, powerful imagery . . . hard to put down.” —The Washington Post

“An allegory for our time, full of creepy splendorand excitement . . . Demons is a brave and smart book. Read it if you dare.”—San Francisco Bay Guardian “Demons is funny, outrageous, and frightening, and, as a metaphor for our times, it works frighteningly well.”—Rocky Mountain News In a future uncomfortably close to the present day, the apocalypse has surpassed all expectations. Hideous demons roam the streets in an orgy of terror, drawing pleasure from torturing humans as sadistically as possible. Ira, a young San Francisco artist, becomes involved with a strange group of scientists and philosophers desperately trying to end the bloody siege. But the most shocking revelation is yet to come. . . . Praise for Demons “Barely street-legal, Shirley’s Bosch-like visions mark him out as perhaps the closest thing contemporary American fantasy has to a genuine ‘outsider artist.’”—William Gibson “John Shirley is an adventurer, returning from dark and troubled regions with visionary tales to tell. I heartily recommend a journey with John Shirley at your side.”—Clive Barker “John Shirley writes like a runaway train. . . . Intensely suspenseful, visionary, surreal, and every bit as gritty and immediate and believable as a police report, this book will scare you, dazzle you, and delight you.”—Tim Powers

A near-future where technology and ancient spiritual secrets merge into something very strange... something as strange as a silicon embrace. America has suffered ecological breakdown and the Second Civil War. But the balkanization of the U.S.—along with humanity's secret history and what has really been going on in Area 51 and UFOs for decades—are all part of a startling convergence which will transform humanity... or destroy it. * * * Reviews: "John Shirley has written the best novel of his career. Mature yet youthfully indignant, spiritually insightful yet carnally streetwise, his new book is aboil with ideas and action, full of keen-eyed speculations for the future and daring revisions of history."—Asimov's "Silicon Embrace is at once sly, sad eloquent, gonzo, mystic, surreal, and all-American, mixing the pulpiest Sci-Fi with true literary sophistication. A new gem from John Shirley.—Locus "Angels and aliens alike figure in this metaphysical SF novel from proto-cyberpunker Shirley, who here throws UFOs, black helicopters, several major biblical figures and spiritual transcendence into the early 21st century... it's clear that the author is having fun tying together disparate UFO, conspiracy and New Age myths; readers will have fun watching him do the tying, too."—Publishers Weekly