Showing results by narrator "Paul Heitsch" in All Categories

China's Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know® is a concise introduction to the most astonishing economic growth story of the last three decades. In the 1980s, China was an impoverished backwater, struggling to escape the political turmoil and economic mismanagement of the Mao era. Today it is the world's second biggest economy, the largest manufacturing and trading nation, the consumer of half the world's steel and coal, the biggest source of international tourists, and one of the most influential investors in developing countries from southeast Asia to Africa to Latin America.

Having spent centuries in the shadows of its neighbors China and Japan, Korea is now the object of considerable interest for radically different reasons - the South as an economic success story and for its vibrant popular culture; the North as the home to one of the world's most repressive regimes, at once both bizarre and menacing. Korea: A Very Short Introduction explores the history, culture, and society of a deeply divided region.

Rumors have swirled around about the demise of the ConFed for as long as Jason Burke had been in space, a lone human among countless alien species. He largely ignored them...until now. For the first time since any of the members of Omega Force can remember, someone may have figured out how to destroy the ConFed without directly engaging its powerful military. As one crewmember's past seems connected to the current trouble, Jason must decide what side of the fight he's on....

Set to embark on NASA's first expedition to the outer planets, the crew of the spacecraft Magellan learns someone else has beaten them by a few decades: a top-secret Soviet project codenamed Arkangel. Now during their long race to the Kuiper Belt, astronauts Jack Templeton and Traci Keene must unwind a decades-old mystery buried in the pages of a dead cosmonaut's journal. The solution will challenge their beliefs about the nature of humanity, and will force the astronauts to confront the question of existence itself.

The Starship Atlantis takes you on an unforgettable journey through the extraordinary. From alien civilizations and rogue AI to desperate missions on the brink of collapse, these stories will transport you across the stars into the heart of the unknown. This anthology features six never-before-published novellas and short stories, plus two exclusive bonus tales.

A few minutes before midnight on April 14, 1912, the "unsinkable" RMS Titanic, on her maiden voyage to New York, struck an iceberg. Less than three hours later she lay at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. While the world has remained fascinated by the tragedy, the most amazing drama of those fateful hours was not played out aboard the doomed liner. It took place on the decks of two other ships, one 58 miles distant from the sinking Titanic, the other barely 10 miles away.

Marine First Lieutenant Jacob Brown is bored. For months he's been sitting around on an alien planet, waiting for command to recall his scout team so they could rest and be re-outfitted. When command finally does reach out, however, it isn't to order Obsidian home for some much needed r&r. Instead, they are being reactivated and sent out into the contested space of the recently conquered Eshquarian Empire to track down a single Terran cruiser called the Eagle's Talon.

Ex-Army paratrooper Griffin “Fin” Brooks thought he left danger behind when his battlefield injuries forced him to pursue a new career in marine biology. But one fateful night off the coast of South Africa, a ship nearly crashes into him and his loyal golden retriever, Jacques. Not just any ship. A starship. Though its alien pilot is dead, the rare extraterrestrial animal inside is not. Fin learns the creature is being smuggled across the galaxy when a pair of interstellar visitors respond to the crash. But those same investigators accuse Fin and his dog of crimes he didn’t even know existed.

Mercenary life is hard. No home. No family. Always looking over your shoulder, likely for the rest of your life. When you find a crew that you can trust, you do anything for them. Jason Burke has a crew like that. He would kill for them...and he would die for them. Right now, they need his help, and it will take all of his cunning and skill to bring them home safely. He is alone, without his powerful ship, the Phoenix, and the criminal cartels he’s going up against are some of the most ruthless in the galaxy. For Captain Burke it’s all or nothing: bring his friends home safe...or die trying.

Shortly before he died, Plenty Coups, the last great Chief of the Crow Nation, told his story - up to a certain point. "When the buffalo went away the hearts of my people fell to the ground", he said, "and they could not lift them up again. After this nothing happened." It is precisely this point - that of a people faced with the end of their way of life - that prompts the philosophical and ethical inquiry pursued in Radical Hope. In Jonathan Lear's view, Plenty Coups' story raises a profound ethical question that transcends his time and challenges us all.

A new killer is cutting a bloody swath through the frontier worlds. Rumors of its exploits are spreading and, like a ghost, nobody even knows what it looks like. Captain Jason Burke and his crew watch this growing menace with a mix of unease...and guilt. They know who this killer is. He used to be one of them.

For his entire life, Ben Hutchins has had the decisions made for him, whether he knew it or not. After successfully beating back the Imperium armada at the Battle of Icarus, the Confed is scrambling to bolster its decimated ranks. Humanity cannot stand against the might of the Imperium alone. If they are to survive the coming war, they’ll need allies.

The galactic quadrant continues to tumble into chaos after to the collapse of the ConFed and new nations scramble for control in the power vacuum it left behind. It’s a dangerous and tumultuous time. Captain Jason Burke and his Omega Force crew are trying their best to stay clear of the trouble, but fate has other plans. What starts as mild curiosity about an incident involving a random stellar phenomena will quickly spiral out of control and puts them at odds with two competing superpowers, both after the same thing.

After the daring rescue of a political dissident, Omega Force is contracted to investigate a rash of violent attacks on civilian shipping lanes within a group of star systems known as the Concordian Cluster. It seems a simple enough job with a huge payday at the end, and it's exactly what the ragtag group of mercenaries needs in order to keep their ship flying and to stay one step ahead of those hunting them.

The Machine - a terrifying and relentless enemy - reigns supreme in the galaxy, and the real fight is just beginning. Omega Force keenly feels the weight of responsibility for the Machine's arrival in the quadrant, but even with the resources of the Blazing Sun organized crime syndicate backing them, there's only so much the small mercenary crew can do against the malevolent AI that has already usurped control of most of the government. The Machine is now firmly in control of the ConFed's military.

When Noah sees an advertisement offering him a chance to rent a starship, he’s convinced it has to be a trick. Already having the worst day of his life, he’s willing to do anything for a distraction, including following a random stranger’s directions to the middle of nowhere to see a ship he doubts exists. Except there is no trick. The starship is real. And Noah’s life will never be the same.

Jason Burke is a broken man. The loss of his friend and crewmate on an ill-fated mission to a Pillar World has left him in a downward spiral of rage and self-destruction. But what if Lucky hadn’t actually died on that planet? While Omega Force tries to pull itself together for the sake of their friend, they also learn that a ruthless new faction has seized control of the ConFed Council and now threatens the stability of the entire quadrant. To make matters worse, the rise of this new regime might be their fault.

When the F-14 Tomcat of the only female flier in Punk's training class rolls wildly during a hop, nearly causing a midair collision, Punk has trouble believing her claim that a malfunction in the cockpit was responsible. When a similar accident claims the life of one of his fellow trainers, Punk suspects a cover-up involving the use of faulty parts. But no sooner does he bring on the heat with his allegations that a far more important crisis calls Punk's squadron into active duty. This time, it is not a training drill...it's America's next war.

Best-selling author and renowned Zen teacher Steve Hagen penetrates the most essential and enduring questions at the heart of the Buddha's teachings: How can we see the world in each moment, rather than merely as what we think, hope, or fear it is? How can we base our actions on reality, rather than on the longing and loathing of our hearts and minds? How can we live lives that are wise, compassionate, and in tune with reality? And how can we separate the wisdom of Buddhism from the cultural trappings and misconceptions that have come to be associated with it?

Ben Hutchins may have a new lease on life, but much has changed in the months since he sacrificed himself to defeat the Master’s agent and save the Alarians on Hai’alla. Just because the Imperium doesn’t have any more fleet assets in Terran space doesn’t mean it can’t continue to wage war against humanity and its allies. After forging an alliance with the Alarians and the rebellious Admiral Na’al of the Imperial Navy, the stage should have been set for the opening salvo of a Terran counteroffensive.