Showing results by author "Tony Bertauski" in All Categories

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.

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.

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.

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....

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.

The Annihilation of Foreverland: When kids awaken on an island, they're told there was an accident. Before they can go home, they will visit Foreverland, an alternate reality that will heal their minds. Foreverland Is Dead: Six teenage girls wake with no memories. One of them is in a brick mansion. The others are in a cabin, their heads shaved. Slashes mark the cabin wall like someone has been counting. Hundreds of them. Ashes of Foreverland: Tyler Ballard was in prison when his son created a dreamworld called Foreverland....

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.

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.

Christmas is hot. When Kandi’s dad gets a mysterious call, they fly to a tropical island where the buildings are enormous and the rooms empty. Kandi meets a boy living all alone in one of the empty resorts. When he goes missing, she enlists the help of the technological wonders that haunt the island to find him. What she uncovers is a much deeper mystery that will affect more than just Christmas. The world doesn’t know it yet, but Santa Claus is missing.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The entire Socket Greeny trilogy ( Discovery, Training, and Legend) follows a white-haired teenager that discovers he's part of an evolved human race, how he trains to understand his true self, and the legendary conclusion of his true nature.

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?

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.

Book 3 in the Socket trilogy. The Paladin Nation is rebuilding. Socket Greeny is leading them into a new era of compassion and understanding. But when Pike returns, Socket discovers nothing is what he expected, that his life has been planned from the beginning. He is faced with ultimate betrayal. In the end, he won't be asked to save the world. It'll be the entire universe.

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.