The Reality Dysfunction


Peter F. Hamilton - 1996
    Hundreds of colonized planets scattered across the galaxy host a multitude of prosperous and wildly diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has pushed evolution far beyond nature's boundaries, defeating disease and producing extraordinary spaceborn creatures. Huge fleets of sentient trader starships thrive on the wealth created by the industrialization of entire star systems. And throughout inhabited space the Confederation Navy keeps the peace. A true golden age is within our grasp.But now something has gone catastrophically wrong. On a primitive colony planet a renegade criminal's chance encounter with an utterly alien entity unleashes the most primal of all our fears. An extinct race which inhabited the galaxy aeons ago called it "The Reality Dysfunction." It is the nightmare which has prowled beside us since the beginning of history.

Crusade + Other Stories: Great Fiction from the Dark Imperium


Dan AbnettSteve Parker - 2017
    In a galaxy riven by eternal war, they and the other armies of the Imperium are all that stand between mankind and damnation.Their ship damaged by warp storms, the Ultramarines of strike force Cassian make for Kalides Prime. They hope to find safe harbour to repair their craft before rejoining the Indomitus Crusade. Instead, the Primaris Space Marines discover a world reduced to rot and ruin by the plague-ridden warriors of the Death Guard.Also within this book is a host of awesome short stories to give you a flavour of the many warring armies that exist within the worlds of Warhammer 40,000The Lightning Tower by Dan AbnettYarrick: Sarcophagus by David AnnandaleExtinction by Aaron Dembski-BowdenA Sanctuary of Wyrms by Peter FehervariThe Purity of Ignorance by John FrenchThe Word of the Silent King by L.J. GouldingThe Lost King by Robbie MacNivenCulling the Horde by Steve ParkerThe Zheng Cipher by Josh ReynoldsRed & Black by James SwallowHonour of the Third by Gav ThorpeHowl of the Banshee by Gav Thorpe

On Basilisk Station


David Weber - 1992
    Her demoralized crew blames her for their ship's humiliating posting to an out-of-the-way picket station. The aborigines of the system's only habitable planet are smoking homicide-inducing hallucinogens. Parliament isn't sure it wants to keep the place; the major local industry is smuggling, the merchant cartels want her head; the star-conquering, so-called "Republic" of Haven is Up to Something; and Honor Harrington has a single, over-age light cruiser with an armament that doesn't work to police the entire star system.But the people out to get her have made one mistake.They've made her mad!

A Talent for War


Jack McDevitt - 1989
    But now, one man believes Sim was a fraud, and Alex must follow the legend into the heart of the alien galaxy to confront a truth far stranger than any fiction.

Odyssey One


Evan Currie - 2011
    Assigned the task of blazing man's first trail into that great unknown, Captain Eric Weston and the crew of the NAC Odyssey launch on a mission destined to make history.Past the bounds of comfort, they encounter horrors and wonders beyond their imagining, with people and monsters beyond reckoning.Odyssey One is the first voyage of the NAC Odyssey and its crew, and the beginnings of a Military Science Fiction Epic that combines both old school space opera, and modern storytelling in one great, exhilarating adventure.Odyssey One is a 150,000 word novel.

Deathwatch: Xenos Hunters


Christian DunnPeter Fehervari - 2012
    Equipped by the Ordo Xenos of the Inquisition, Deathwatch Space Marines possess war gear purposely designed for the destruction of all aliens. In the gauntleted fists of these black-armoured warriors does the sanctity of mankind rest, in their hearts the iron will to vanquish every alien predator and wipe them from the face of the galaxy.Deathwatch: Xenos Hunters is one of our classic Direct Exclusive anthologies containing 11 short stories about the Deathwatch Space Marines, and now includes Last Watch by L J Goulding. Machine Spirit by Nick Kyme The Infinite Tableau by Anthony Reynolds Headhunted by Steve Parker Rackinruin by Braden Campbell Weaponsmith by Ben Counter The Vorago Fastness by David Annandale Fearful Symmetries by Rob Sanders A Sanctuary of Wyrms by Peter Fehervari Exhumed by Steve Parker The Alien Hunters by Andy Chambers Last Watch by L J Goulding

Earth Alone


Daniel Arenson - 2016
    They came to destroy us. Fifty years ago, bloodthirsty aliens devastated the Earth. Most of humanity perished. We fell into darkness. But now we rise from the ashes. Now we fight back. Marco Emery was born into the war. After his mother is killed, he joins the Human Defense Force, Earth's ragtag army. Emery must survive basic training, become a soldier, and finally face the aliens in battle. Against the alien onslaught, Earth stands alone. But we will fight. We will rise. We will win.

Flesh of Cretacia


Andy Smillie - 2012
    Chapter Master Amit leads his warriors to a feral world in pursuit of orks, but discovers something far more ancient and deadly in the depths of the jungle. Already battle-weary, the Flesh Tearers must master the dark legacy of their primarch Sanguinius if they are to prevail... and perhaps find a world worthy of being called their home.

Aftershocks


Marko Kloos - 2019
    Amid an uneasy alliance to maintain economies, resources, and populations, Aden Robertson reemerges. After devoting twelve years of his life to the reviled losing side, with the blood of half a million casualties on his hands, Aden is looking for a way to move on. He’s not the only one.A naval officer has borne witness to inconceivable attacks on a salvaged fleet. A sergeant with the occupation forces is treading increasingly hostile ground. And a young woman, thrust into responsibility as vice president of her family’s raw materials empire, faces a threat she never anticipated.Now, on the cusp of an explosive and wide-reaching insurrection, Aden plunges once again into the brutal life he longed to forget. He’s been on the wrong side of war before. But this time, the new enemy has yet to reveal themselves…or their dangerous endgame.

Let the Galaxy Burn


Marc GascoigneGraham McNeill - 2006
    By popular demand, we've gathered up the best sf short stories ever written for the Black Library into one massive volume, and added some brand new tales! Warhammer 40,000 fans will be keen to get their hands on classic stories that have been unavailable for a while, and all readers will enjoy the range and variety on offer in this high-value volume.

Earth Strike


Ian Douglas - 2010
    Now the creatures known as humans are near this momentous turning point.But an armed threat is approaching from deepest space, determined to prevent humankind from crossing over that boundary—by total annihilation if necessary.To the Sh'daar, the driving technologies of transcendent change are anathema and must be obliterated from the universe—along with those who would employ them. As their great warships destroy everything in their path en route to the Sol system, the human Confederation government falls into dangerous disarray.There is but one hope, and it rests with a rogue Navy Admiral, commander of the kilometer-long star carrier America, as he leads his courageous fighters deep into enemy space towards humankind's greatest conflict—and quite possibly its last.