Showing results by author "Tony Bertauski" in All Categories

Get a triple dose of holiday sci-fi magic with all three novels, and discover how elven live on the North Pole, how reindeer fly, and what makes a snowman live. The Christmas stories you never heard as a kid.

In the early 1800s, Nicholas, Jessica, and Jon Santa attempt the first human trek to the North Pole and stumble upon an ancient race of people left over from the Ice Age. They are short, fat, and hairy. They slide across the ice on scaly soles and carve their homes in the ice that floats on the Arctic Ocean. The elven are adapted to life in the extreme cold. They are as wise as they are ancient. Their scientific advancements have yielded great inventions - time-stopping devices and gravitational spheres that build living snowmen and genetically-modified reindeer that leap great distances.

Sura is sixteen years old when she meets Mr. Frost. He's very short and very fat and he likes his room very, very cold. Some might say inhumanly cold. His first name isn't Jack, she's told. And that's all she needed to know. Mr. Frost's love for Christmas is over-the-top and slightly psychotic. And why not? He's made billions of dollars off the holiday he invented. Or so he claims. Rumor is he's an elven, but that's silly. Elven aren't real. And if they were, they wouldn't live in South Carolina.

When Tin’s family inherits an enormous rural estate, they discover the hidden treasures of Toyland. The eccentric mansion was built long ago by a toy magnate named Wallace Noel, a man made famous by his beloved Noel toys. Tin discovers an authentic-looking elf hat and knows what made his toys so special.

This is Ryder’s last stop. It’s a half million acre ranch and home to 40 teenagers. It’s also home to a famous and eccentric philanthropist with a peculiar obsession with the North Pole. His name is Billy “Big Game” Sinterklaas. But shortly after Ryder arrives, secret messages begin leading him to what’s really happening. Billy Big Game believes that Santa Claus is real. This is the year he proves it. He says there’s one Christmas story no one has ever heard, the legend of the biggest and baddest reindeer of them all, the one who leads the sleigh and protects the herd.

Jacob Marley is dead. His business partner, Eb Scrooge, is left to run Avocado, Inc., an innovative technology business, all alone. An introverted shut-in locked away in a Colorado mansion, he changes the company’s mission statement. Only his servant droids keep him company. Until the gifts arrive. Each Christmas, a messenger forces Eb to look at his life in hopes he will change. But change does not happen in a single night. And only Eb can make it happen. But who is sending the messengers?

Arthur woke up in a realm where fairy tales are born and Christmas never ends. Naturally, he thought he was dreaming. Who wouldn’t? This wasn’t his world. He had no idea how he got there, and even the natives were clueless about how or why a crosser came to Candyland. But there was a reason—there was always a reason. The kind-hearted natives tried to help Arthur find his way back home, but he’s quickly caught up in the endless battle between naughty and nice.

Work comes first for 16-year-old Socket Greeny's mother ever since his father died 11 years ago. Now, in this tech-driven futuristic society, he's zoned on energy drinks and living in virtual worlds. He doesn't know what his mom does for a living, but the bills get paid and the refrigerator is full, so why bother with details? His only real-world thrill is fighting. He doesn't always win, but that's not the point. Breaking skin is a reality rush. But worlds change. Socket starts hearing other people's thoughts. He thinks he's hallucinating, even when time seems to stop. But when his mom arrives at school, he knows it's for real.

The place didn’t feel like Christmas. Nothing did anymore. What Marie wanted, she couldn’t possibly have. A leaky air mattress and a self-absorbed aunt was all she got. But Christmas wasn’t about what you wanted; it was about what you needed. Godfather told her that. That was when he told her the tale of the nutcracker.

It started with a present. One Christmas morning, a mystery gift appeared under trees around the world. It was the exact same gift, inscribed with the maker’s initials in tiny letters: BT and Company. It was months before anyone knew exactly what the gift did. Avery Tannenbaum’s brother was one of the lucky few to receive one. It was on her birthday when the mysterious gifts came to life. A contest was announced. It was also on that very same day Avery’s grandmother passed away.

The Christmas adventures continue. The second volume of the holiday tales you never heard growing up! This bundle features Humbug; The Miser; and Ronin.

His real name is Christmas. It’s embarrassing. He’s been accepted into the Institute of Creative Mind, a prestigious institute for eccentrics, outliers, and gifted students. Christmas trees, ornaments, and lights decorate the castles. Presents are given out every month, and students are pitted against each other in creative challenges. Chris soon finds out, however, the stakes are high. The losers are expelled. This place is more than a demanding school for gifted students. Chris finds a clue in a textbook his first night, written in code. Run, run as fast as you can....

Great aunt Annie was a storyteller. It was mostly Christmas stories she told. No one had ever heard her tales about giant reindeer, living snowmen, and Santa Claus. There were no movies about them. No books. When she passed away, everyone thought they’d never hear such stories again. But she saved the best for the last.

A year has passed since the Paladin Nation was exposed to the public. Their mission is still to protect humanity from whatever may threaten them. Previously, it was the human duplications, but now that they've been extinguished their biggest challenge is dealing with the complications of public image.

Biomites are artificial stem cells that can replace any cell in your body. No more kidney failure, no severed spines or blood disease. No cancer. Pharmaceuticals become obsolete. With each dose of biomites, we become stronger, we become smarter and prettier. We become better. At what point are we no longer human? Jamie wants to be a halfskin. But Jamie's body is already 49.9% biomites. The rest is clay - her God-given organic cells. Any more biomites and she becomes a halfskin. And halfskins are shutdown.

Reed dreams of a girl that tells him to resist Foreverland. He doesn't remember her name, but knows he once loved her. He'll have to endure great suffering and trust his dream. And trust he's not insane. Danny Boy, the new arrival, meets Reed's dream girl inside Foreverland. She's stuck in the fantasy land that no kid can resist. Where every heart's desire is satisfied. Why should anyone care how Foreverland works?

Jamie wants to be a halfskin. Her life has become dull and pointless. If she had more biomites, the synthetic stems cells that promise hope and healing, she could take control of her life. But Jamie's body is already 49.9% biomites. The rest is clay-her God-given organic cells. Anymore biomites and she becomes a halfskin. And halfskins are shutdown. But there is a way. Black market biomites, called nixes, can't be detected by the government.

This is an introduction to the Foreverland trilogy, a mind-bending journey into the cyberspace of identity and greed. Thomas woke on an island. His arms and chest bleeding, legs exhausted, he hears his name called from the tropical jungle. They sound friendly. But a voice tells him to run. A voice inside his head. The old bastards were coming. The voice leads him to a hideout. In the days that follow, it shows him the dead body and the cells where they were keeping him. There are others like him. It’s not till the voice leads him to save one of the boys that the old bastards capture ...

Life hasn't been kind to Oliver Toye. As if juvenile diabetes wasn't enough, he's forced to live with his tyrannical grandmother at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in a snow-bound house. He spends his days doing chores and his nights listening to the forest rumble.

Hiro’s parents rearrange the furniture every December. They make space in the corner for something tall. They plug in string lights and leave them on the floor. Sometimes, they cut down a tree but don’t know what to do with it. It’s not just Hiro’s parents. Everyone does it. Come January, they all straighten up their living rooms and everything goes back to normal. They do this every year. No one knows why. Something’s missing, and they all feel it, but they never wonder what it is. And every year that passes, the world becomes colder and grayer. Until Hiro has a dream.