Before the Dawn


Max Allan Collins - 2002
    Never-before-told tales of action and adventure revealing the early days of Dark Angel!Los Angeles, 2019. Large sections of Tinseltown are in Richter-scale ruins in the aftermath of the Pulse and a devastating earthquake. Surviving among a ragtag pack of street kids, agile as a cat, and an expert thief, Max steals from the rich and gives to Moody, her mentor in crime and leader of the gang. But with no real family to speak of, Max longs for her missing "brothers and sisters" from Manticore, the covert agency with a sinister history of militaristic manipulation and control.By chance, Max sees a news story on TV about a dissident cyberjournalist in Seattle, known to everyone as "Eyes Only." The police are searching for his accomplice, a young rebel whose image flashes on the screen. Max immediately recognizes Seth, one of her Manticore siblings. She mounts her motorcycle and hightails it north. What she rides into is an elaborate web of betrayal, greed, revenge, and selfless heroism that will only further fuel her quest to uncover the secrets of her past—and seize hope for the future....

Empire


Michael R. Hicks - 2009
    Nightmarish female warriors with blue skin, fangs, and razor sharp talons, the Kreelans have technology that is millennia beyond that of the Confederation, yet they seek out close combat with sword and claw, fighting and dying to honor their god-like Empress. Captured and enslaved, Reza must live like his enemies in a grand experiment to see if humans have souls, and if one may be the key to unlocking an ages old curse upon the Kreelan race. Enduring the brutal conditions of Kreelan life, Reza and a young warrior named Esah-Zhurah find themselves bound together by fate and a prophecy foretold millennia before they were born.

Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel


James Luceno - 2016
    For years the Republic and the Separatists have battled across the stars, each building more and more deadly technology in an attempt to win the war. As a member of Chancellor Palpatine’s top secret Death Star project, Orson Krennic is determined to develop a superweapon before their enemies can. And an old friend of Krennic’s, the brilliant scientist Galen Erso, could be the key.Galen’s energy-focused research has captured the attention of both Krennic and his foes, making the scientist a crucial pawn in the galactic conflict. But after Krennic rescues Galen, his wife, Lyra, and their young daughter, Jyn, from Separatist kidnappers, the Erso family is deeply in Krennic’s debt. Krennic then offers Galen an extraordinary opportunity: to continue his scientific studies with every resource put utterly at his disposal. While Galen and Lyra believe that his energy research will be used purely in altruistic ways, Krennic has other plans that will finally make the Death Star a reality. Trapped in their benefactor’s tightening grasp, the Ersos must untangle Krennic’s web of deception to save themselves and the galaxy itself.

Big Damn Hero


James Lovegrove - 2018
    Yet the Browncoats had held the valley for weeks against all odds, before being ordered to lay down their arms. Command stated they refused to send in airpower because the ground war was "too hot." But the soldiers who were there insist that was not true...While picking up a new cargo on Persephone, Captain Malcolm Reynolds is kidnapped by a bunch of embittered veteran Browncoats who suspect him of sabotaging the Independents during the war. As the rest of the crew struggle to locate him, Mal is placed on trial for his life, fighting compelling evidence that someone did indeed betray them to the Alliance all those years ago. As old comrades and old rivals crawl out of the woodwork, Mal must prove his innocence, but his captors are desperate and destitute, and will settle for nothing less than the culprit's blood.

Revan


Drew Karpyshyn - 2011
    A Jedi who left Coruscant to defeat Mandalorians and returned a disciple of the dark side, bent on destroying the Republic. The Jedi Council gave Revan his life back, but the price of redemption was high. His memories have been erased. All that’s left are nightmares and deep, abiding fear.What exactly happened beyond the Outer Rim? Revan can’t quite remember, yet can’t entirely forget. Somehow he stumbled across a terrible secret that threatens the very existence of the Republic. With no idea what it is, or how to stop it, Revan may very well fail, for he’s never faced a more powerful and diabolic enemy. But only death can stop him from trying.

The Games


Ted Kosmatka - 2012
     NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLYSet in an amoral future where genetically engineered monstrosities fight each other to the death in an Olympic event, The Games envisions a harrowing world that may arrive sooner than you think.   Silas Williams is the brilliant geneticist in charge of preparing the U.S. entry into the Olympic Gladiator competition, an internationally sanctioned bloodsport with only one rule: no human DNA is permitted in the design of the entrants. Silas lives and breathes genetics; his designs have led the United States to the gold in every previous event. But the other countries are catching up. Now, desperate for an edge in the upcoming Games, Silas’s boss engages an experimental supercomputer to design the genetic code for a gladiator that cannot be beaten.   The result is a highly specialized killing machine, its genome never before seen on earth. Not even Silas, with all his genius and experience, can understand the horror he had a hand in making. And no one, he fears, can anticipate the consequences of entrusting the act of creation to a computer’s cold logic.   Now Silas races to understand what the computer has wrought, aided by a beautiful xenobiologist, Vidonia João. Yet as the fast-growing gladiator demonstrates preternatural strength, speed, and—most disquietingly—intelligence, Silas and Vidonia find their scientific curiosity giving way to a most unexpected emotion: sheer terror.Praise for The Games   “Blends the best of Crichton and Koontz.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)   “Outstanding . . . very like something Michael Crichton might have written . . . [a] bold mix of horror and SF . . . Expect big things from [Ted] Kosmatka.”—Booklist (starred review)   “Kosmatka successfully captures the thrill of groundbreaking technology. . . . The pleasure of his polished, action-packed storytelling is deepened by strong character development. This near-future SF thriller . . . seems destined for the big screen.”—Library Journal (starred review)

Alien vs. Predator: Thrill of the Hunt


Mike Kennedy - 2004
    Acid blood. Armored skin. Razor-sharp teeth. No mercy. In the depths of a rain forest, another creature hunted us. Perfect camouflage. Fearsome weapons. Brutal methods. No conscience. In 2004, these monsters clashed on Earth in the greatest battle the universe has ever known. But far in the future, long after a technological catastrophe that started a second Dark Age, all memory of these two species has been forgotten. And when Mankind again reaches for the stars, we will discover that, truly, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Once again, Man is caught in the middle of a deadly struggle.

Fortune's Rising


Sara King - 2012
    Only one ship survived.It only survived because it found a vast swath of alien planets, all terraformed, all utterly abandoned. Alien megastructures cold and lifeless. Alien vehicles left in panicked lines, sealed from the inside, no corpses within. Empty space stations, with no one to run them but the dust. Resources everywhere, ripe for the taking.But Fortune is different. Of all the planets colonized by humans after the chaos of Migration, this single, jungle-infested colony on the very edge of the known universe holds the key to the alien collapse…and to humanity’s survival. Everywhere else, advanced alien ruins mar every surface, every planetoid, every debris ring and asteroid, but of the creatures that made them, there is no sign. On Fortune, something survives…Unfortunately for humanity, while time is running out, a rebellion is brewing, one that could save our species—or consign it to dust like the aliens that came before us. Now, seven hundred years after our first brush with extinction, the fate of the human race once again rests on the shoulders of a few: a seven-year-old sociopath and her combat-gifted big sister, a man who’s dreamed of the future, an infamous smuggler, and a Coalition pilot sworn to destroy the rebel cause.This time, however, the stakes are higher. For lurking on Fortune is a secret.An epic, post-apocalyptic science fiction adventure that will make you hold your breath, cry, curse the powers that be, and in the end question what, exactly, it means to be human. *FOR CURRENT FANS OF THE OUTER BOUNDS SERIES: This is the THIRD edition of Outer Bounds 1: Fortune's Rising. To celebrate the return of the Outer Bounds' series to its creator, Sara King added a bonus 17,500 word novella to this edition detailing Anna's rescue of Milar from the Nephyrs, as well as some fantastic book-derived art by bestselling graphic artist Lance MacCarty. It also has timeline fixes and minor edits to better synch it with the rest of the series. Plus it just looks cooler.

Aliens: Bug Hunt


Jonathan Maberry - 2017
    Here are fifteen all-new stories of such “close encounters,” written by many of today’s most extraordinary authors.Set during the events of all four Alien™ films, sending the Marines to alien worlds, to derelict space settlements, and into the nests of the universe’s most dangerous monsters, these adventures are guaranteed to send the blood racing—One way or another.CHANCE ENCOUNTER by Paul KupperbergREAPER by Dan AbnettBROKEN by Rachel CaineRECLAMATION by Yvonne NavarroBLOWBACK by Christopher GoldenEXTERMINATORS by Matt ForbeckNO GOOD DEED by Ray GartonZERO TO HERO by Weston OchseDARK MOTHER by David FarlandEPISODE 22 by Larry CorreiaDEEP BACKGROUND by Keith R.A. DeCandidoEMPTY NEST by Brian KeeneDARKNESS FALLS by Heather GrahamHUGS TO DIE FOR by Mike Resnick and Marina J. LostetterDEEP BLACK by Jonathan MaberryDISTRESSED by James A. MooreDANGEROUS PREY by Scott SiglerSPITE by Tim Lebbon

Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers


Grant Naylor - 1989
    But Lister didn't have a choice. All he remembered was going on a birthday celebration pub crawl through London. When he came to his senses again, with nothing in his pockets but a passport in the name of Emily Berkenstein.So he did the only thing he could. Amazed to discover they would actually hire him, he joined the space corps----and found himself aboard Red Dwarf, a spaceship as big as a small city that, six or seven years from now, would get him back to Earth. What Lister couldn't forsee was that he'd inadvertently signed up for a one--way jaunt three million years into the future---a future which would see him the last living member of the human race, with only a hologram crew mate and a highly evolved cat for company. Of course, that was before the ship broke the light barrier and things began to get really weird...

Fate of the Jedi: Outcast


Aaron Allston - 2009
    From all corners, politicians, power brokers, and military leaders converge on Coruscant for a crucial summit to restore order, negotiate differences, and determine the future of their unified worlds. But even more critical, and far more uncertain, is the future of the Jedi.In a shocking move, Chief of State Natasi Daala orders the arrest of Luke Skywalker for failing to prevent Jacen Solo's turn to the dark side and his subsequent reign of terror as a Sith Lord. But it's only the first blow in an anti-Jedi backlash fueled by a hostile government and suspicious public. When Jedi Knight Valin Horn, scion of a politically influential family, suffers a mysterious psychotic break and becomes a dangerous fugitive, the Jedi become the target of a media-driven witch hunt. Facing conviction on the damning charges, Luke has only one choice. He must strike a bargain with the calculating Daala: his freedom in exchange for his exile -- from Coruscant and from the Jedi Order.Now, though forbidden to intervene in Jedi affairs, Luke is determined to keep history from being repeated. With his son, Ben, at his side, Luke sets out to unravel the shocking truth behind Jacen Solo's corruption and downfall. But the secrets he uncovers among the enigmatic Force mystics of the distant world Dorin may bring his quest -- and life as he knows it -- to a sudden end. And all the while, another Jedi Knight, consumed by the same madness as Valin Horn, is headed for Coruscant on a fearsome mission that could doom the Jedi Order . . . and devastate the entire galaxy.

The New Rebellion


Kristine Kathryn Rusch - 1996
    It is a deed that rivals the terrifying power of the Death Star, the long-destroyed weapon of the defeated Empire. But where did it happen? And how? And why? Then death comes to Coruscant itself. As Leia, head of the New Republic, prepares to address the Senate, a massive explosion rocks the meeting hall, decimating the Senate's ranks. Leia survives and recovers, only to be faced with calls to resign from office. Even worse, some of the Senators lay the blame for the attack on Han Solo.As Leia works desperately to clear Han's name, Han and Chewbacca journey to the lawless asteroids of Smuggler's Run to track down rumors of a secret plot against the New Republic. And Luke goes in search of Brakiss, a former Jedi student who has turned his considerable talents to the dark side of the Force and might well have been involved in the unexplained deaths of millions that so disturbed Luke and Leia.But Brakiss is only a small part of the carnage taking place on Coruscant and elsewhere. Luke is being stalked by a master of the dark side who is determined to rule as the next Emperor. Luke, Leia, and Leia's Jedi children are targeted to die. Then billions will follow, in a holocaust unequaled in galactic history.

Ambush at Corellia


Roger MacBride Allen - 1995
    One thing is clear: the five inhabited worlds of the sector are on the brink of civil war and the once peaceful coexistence of the three leading races -- human, Selonian, and Drallan --  has come to an end.

Aliens: Nightmare Asylum


Mark Verheiden - 1990
    But their return to the solar system made them refugees once more, fleeing earth and its alien infestation in a desperate attempt to stay alive. Now, in an otherwise unmanned military transport, they hurtle through space, destination: unknown, while in the cargo hold they carry with them a legacy of death they thought they'd left behind

Precipice


John Jackson Miller - 2009
    It is an offense punishable by death-and a fate to which Commander Yaru Korsin will not succumb. But on a crucial run to deliver troops and precious crystals to a combat hotspot in the Sith's war against the Republic, Korsin and the crew of the mining ship Omen are ambushed by a Jedi starfighter. And when the Sith craft crash-lands, torn and crippled, on a desolate alien planet, the hard-bitten captain finds himself at odds with desperate survivors on the brink of mutiny-and his own vengeful half brother, who's bent on seizing command. No matter the cost, Korsin vows that it will not be his blood and bones left behind on this unknown world. For the way of the Sith leaves little room for compromise-and none at all for mercy.