Columbus Day: Expeditionary Force, Book 1

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The aliens attacked in 2039. And by 2040, we'd lost. Exiled from Earth--to Ganymede, Europa, the clouds of Venus, the tunnels of Ceres, every god-forsaken rock in the solar system--we scratched out a hard existence. We were beaten. All hope Read more

War Dogs

An epic interstellar tale of war from a master of science fiction. One more tour on the red. Maybe my last. They made their presence on Earth known thirteen years ago. Providing technology and scientific insights far beyond what mankind was Read more

Columbus Day
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Published: 2017-09-18
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We were fighting on the wrong side, of a war we couldn’t win. And that was the good news.The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM!

There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits.When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang starships jumping in to hammer the Ruhar, we thought we were saved.

The UN Expeditionary Force hitched a ride on Kristang ships to fight the Ruhar, wherever our new allies thought we could be useful. So, I went from fighting with the US Army in Nigeria, to fighting in space. It was lies, all of it. We shouldn’t even be fighting the Ruhar, they aren’t our enemy, our allies are.I’d better start at the beginning….

Against a dark background by Iain m. banks

Against a Dark Background
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Published: 1995
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From science fiction master Iain M. Banks comes a standalone adventure of one woman on the run in an isolated galaxy.  Sharrow was once the leader of a personality-attuned combat team in one of the sporadic little commercial wars in the civilization based around the planet Golter. Now she is hunted by the Huhsz, a religious cult which believes that she is the last obstacle before the faith's apotheosis, and her only hope of escape…

The Gap Cycle The Real Story: The Gap into Conflict Book 1

The Real Story
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Published: 1992-01
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Angus Thermopyle was an ore pirate and a murderer; even the most disreputable asteroid pilots of Delta Sector stayed locked out of his way.  Those who didn’t ended up in the lockup–or dead.  But when Thermopyle arrived at Mallory’s Bar & Sleep with a gorgeous woman by his side the regulars had to take notice.  Her name was Morn Hyland, and she had been a police officer–until she met up with Thermopyle.

But one person in Mallorys Bar wasn’t intimidated.  Nick Succorso had his own reputation as a bold pirate and he had a sleek frigate fitted for deep space.  Everyone knew that Thermopyle and Succorso were on a collision course.  What nobody expected was how quickly it would be over–or how devastating victory would be.  It was common enough example of rivalry and revenge–or so everyone thought.  The REAL story was something entirely different.

In The Real Story, Stephen R. Donaldson takes us to a remarkably detailed world of faster-than-light travel, politics, betrayal, and a shadowy presence just outside our view to tell the fiercest, most profound story he has ever writt

Worlds Long Lost

Worlds Long Lost
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Published: 2023-11-28
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STORIES OF ANCIENT ALIEN ARTIFACTS FROM THE TOP NAMES IN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY THE UNIVERSE IS OLDER AND MORE ALIEN THAN WE CAN EVER UNDERSTAND We were not alone. The farther we push into the universe, the more obvious it becomes.

The signs are everywhere: canals and pyramids on Mars, old roads on the moons of Jupiter, ruined cities on worlds about the nearer stars. The galaxy once teemed with life, or so it seems. Which begs the question: What happened to it all? These stories explore the ruins of lost civilizations, solve ancient mysteries . . . and awaken horrors from beyond the dawn of time.

Featuring stories by Orson Scott Card, Griffin Barber, Adam Oyebanji, Jessica Maguire, Patrick Chiles, and an all-new entry in the Sun Eater universe from editor Christopher Ruocchio. Join us for your next adventure to Worlds Long Lost!

“Editors Christopher Ruocchio and Sean CW Korsgaard have given fans of this venerable genre something special… Worlds Long Lost definitely has something for everyone who loves a touch of the crawling chaos.” —The Wall Street Journal “Ruocchio (the Sun Eater series) and Korsgaard bring together 14 mind-bending and often disturbing tales of ancient extraterrestrial civilizations throughout the universe . . . Full of creepy flights of imagination and thought-provoking science, this will be a hit with fans of first contact sci-fi.”

Childhood’s End By Arthur C. Clarke

Childhood's End
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Published: 2001-07-03
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The inspiration for the Syfy miniseries. Childhood’s End is one of the defining legacies of Arthur C. Clarke, the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey and many other groundbreaking works. Since its publication in 1953, this prescient novel about first contact gone wrong has come to be regarded not only as a science fiction classic but as a literary thriller of the highest order.

Spaceships have suddenly appeared in the skies above every city on the planet. Inside is an intellectually, technologically, and militarily superior alien race known as the Overlords.

At first, their demands seem benevolent: unify Earth, eliminate poverty, end war. But at what cost? To those who resist, it’s clear that the Overlords have an agenda of their own. Has their arrival marked the end of humankind . . . or the beginning?

Praise for Childhood’s End “A first-rate tour de force.”—The New York Times “Frighteningly logical, believable, and grimly prophetic . . . Clarke is a master.”—Los Angeles Times “There has been nothing like it for years; partly for the actual invention, but partly because here we meet a modern author who understands that there may be things that have a higher claim on humanity than its own ‘survival.’ ”—C. S. Lewis “As a science fiction writer, Clarke has all the essentials.”—Jeremy Bernstein, The New Yorker

Nightside The Long Sun: The First Volume of the Book of the Long Sun

Nightside the Long Sun
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Published: 1993
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Nightside the Long Sun is the beginning of the science-fiction masterpiece from Gene Wolfe Book of the Long Sun.

Life on The Whorl, and the struggles and triumphs of Patera Silk to satisfy the demands of the gods, will captivate listeners yearning for something new and different in science fiction, for the magic of the future.

Enormous in breadth and scope, Wolfe’s ambitious new work opens out into a world of wonders, of gods and humans, aliens and machines, and mysterious adventures far out in space and deep inside the human spirit. It is set on a ship-world whose origins are shrouded in legend, ruled by strange gods who appear infrequently to their worshippers on large screens, and peopled by a human race changed by eons of time, yet familiar.

Shadow & Claw: The First Half of The Book of the New Sun

Shadow & Claw
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Published: 2021-06-08
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“The Book of the New Sun is unanimously acclaimed as Gene Wolfe’s most remarkable work, hailed as “a masterpiece of science fantasy comparable in importance to the major works of Tolkien and Lewis” by Publishers Weekly. Shadow & Claw brings together the first two books of the tetralogy in one volume:

The Shadow of the Torturer is the tale of young Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession — showing mercy toward his victim.

Ursula K. Le Guin said, “Magic stuff … a masterpiece … the best science fiction I’ve read in years!” The Claw of the Conciliator continues the saga of Severian, banished from his home, as he undertakes a mythic quest to discover the awesome power of an ancient relic, and learn the truth about his hidden destiny.

Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

Aurora
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Published: 2015-07-07
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A major new novel from one of science fiction’s most powerful voices, AURORA tells the incredible story of our first voyage beyond the solar system.

Brilliantly imagined and beautifully told, it is the work of a writer at the height of his powers. Our voyage from Earth began generations ago. Now, we approach our new home. AURORA.

Orphans of the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein

Orphans of the Sky
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Published: 2001
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The Jordan Foundation sponsored the Proxima Centauri Expedition in 2119, in attempt to reach the nearer stars of the galaxy. But that was far in the mythic past.

The original purpose of the Ship epic voyage has long been forgotten, and gor generations the ginat spaceship, lost between the stars, is the only world that the people aboard have known. A strange civilization has evolved, with its own superstitions, savage religion, rigid class structure and mutant outcasts. Then, one young man discovers the truth about the Ship and changes everything, for ever…

Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton

Fallen Dragon
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Published: 2009-12-14
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In the distant future, corporations have become sustainable communities with their own militaries, and corporate goals have essentially replaced political ideology. On a youthful, rebellious impulse, Lawrence joined the military of a corporation that he now recognizes to be ruthless and exploitative.

His only hope for escape is to earn enough money to buy his place in a better corporation. When his platoon is sent to a distant colony to quell a local resistance effort, it seems like a stroke of amazing fortune, and Lawrence plans to rob the colony of their fabled gemstone, the Fallen Dragon, to get the money he needs.

However, he soon discovers that the Fallen Dragon is not a gemstone at all, but an alien life form that the local colonists have been protecting since it crashed in their area. Now, Lawrence has to decide if he will steal the alien to exploit the use of its inherent biotechnical processes — which far exceed anything humans are capable of — or if he will help the Resistance get the alien home.