The golden age of expansion, of exploration. Stories of new and vibrant civilizations growing, reaching out…and sometimes fighting desperately for the future. Empires Ascendant brings 6 masters of military science fiction and space opera together in one volume of all new, original material. Shadow of Purple Jay Allan One honorable man. Altharic Vennalus is a general, and a loyal servant of the Republic. He has battled endlessly, fighting to preserve the Republic from the usurpers who would topple it. The civil wars that have raged for three decades are nearly at an end. But peace is an elusive dream, and pain and loss will drive Altharic to places he couldn’t have imagined. In the end, he will be faced with answering one burning question. What is the cost of his honor? The Thousand Colors of Night Daniel Arenson A strange signal comes from deep space. A folk song from hundreds of light-years away. A song where there should be only silence. One starship flies to investigate. It finds a mystery that will change humanity forever. Banshee’s Last Scream Jason Anspach and Nick Cole From the world of Galaxy's Edge: When a Dark Ops legionnaire is found dead under suspicious circumstances, his fellow operatives employ the notorious bounty hunter Tyrus Rechs to find those responsible and make them pay for their actions. But Rechs uncovers a sinister plot much bigger than a simple murder. Jason Anspach & Nick Cole deliver the first original Galaxy's Edge short story ever to appear in an anthology… Banshee’s Last Scream! The Ganymede Arbitration JN Chaney In 2833, Arbiters Wojtek Dimek and Gabriel Anderson are sent to contain an escalating genocide on Ganymede. Jovian Alliance Prime Minister Frank Wallace directs a campaign of systematic murder on the frozen moon. The Arbiters board Wallace’s ship to take the Prime Minister into custody, only to find themselves at ground zero of a coup, and they must now fight to reach extraction against overwhelming military forces in an increasingly volatile situation. Demons at War JN Chaney A Republic war in paradise. A Marine faced with the ultimate decision. Sergeant Magnus pictured the beach covered with bikini-clad women working on their tans. Instead, it has been overrun by those who would see him dead. Outnumbered and surrounded, Magnus must find a way to keep his unit alive against an unrelenting enemy from the ocean. It's time to do what he does best. Rogue Factions Joshua Dalzelle All 3 of the warring nations of humanity had finally agreed to meet and discuss an end to the slaughter that had gone on for centuries. Could this really be the end of a conflict that had taken millions of lives and left economies on the verge of collapse? As the 3 delegations meet on neutral ground to discuss the chance for peace, not everyone is happy that the war could be ending. Soon, multiple assault forces, smuggled into the conference in secret, engage each other. Who will dictate the future of humanity, those who want war without end, or those who want to forge all of humanity into a mighty empire? Acheron Rising Ken Lozito Lt. Commander Elias Browning's military career was over, or so he thought. When a secret research colony is discovered by a ruthless enemy, Elias must take command of a small battlegroup.

    

    Blending into the background suits her well as long as she can read. A less than clandestine adventure into the Duke's library creates a friendship she could never have imagined.Andres, Duke of Northumberland, wasn't expecting to find a stowaway in his library during the opening ball of the season but she intrigued him none the less. The more time he spends with her, the more he looks forward to seeing her. Perhaps it's time to take a wife after all.Does a wallflower with no means deserve a happily ever after?** Please Note: This is not a Georgette Heyer type ‘Traditional Regency Romance’ and as such is labeled under Historic Romance. Certain aspects of the book do not align with traditional Regency styling. It is simply a sweet romance that takes place between 1810 – 1820.

    The River of Fate twists through the universe, holding the course of all lives and destinies.A chance event causes three souls to collide within the River, memories from each coalescing into one individual, who is reborn by a command so powerful it warps reality itself.Finding himself alone, Verse must discover who he is and develop the strength to survive in a world where cultivation is the only law.Fortunately, he's good at that.*In this story, you can expect Xianxia-style immortal cultivation, reincarnation, a focus on jade and sunset magic, sects, alchemy, formations, ancient races, and a hero who is evolving and changing to become more than he was before.

    They would kick the villain’s ass. Look cool. Get the girl, or even all of the girls. Perhaps even the guys! It is current year after all.What happens when a cosmic entity born of the human desire to parody mainstream organized religion decides to grant such a wish purely on a whim? A bizarre cross-world waifu harem collecting Litrpg adventure, that’s what!Join Scott Ambrose as he comes to terms with his strange new life in the Shattered Earth, a realm separate from our own where multiple versions of Earth have blended together with pop-culture and dank Internet memes to create an ever-increasing set of worlds to explore, many of which appear at first glance to be parodies of popular anime and games!See what lies in store for the man who got what he wished for without realizing just what it would mean if that wish ever came true.Touch greatness. Witness the truth. Anime waifus await!This work of parody Gamelit features commentary on the nature of certain characters, storylines, and what the Internet fandoms have done to them. A legendary game for the ages, where the only one keeping score is the player himself! However, this story does also feature graphic violence and occasional sexual shenanigans. Adult humor abounds, and immature humor is even more apparent!

    All 5 books contain curvy females who come into their own and alpha dragonborn shifters with a hunger for passion and insatiable desires. Book 1 – Saved by a Dragon Book 2 – Healed by a Dragon Book 3 – Loved by a Dragon Book 4 – Married to a Dragon Book 5 – Baby for a Dragon Warning: Explicit love scenes, epic battles, and piles of sexy shifters. Intended for mature readers only.

    The city is theirs to enjoy as Jack struggles to pursue a writing career and Chloe works downtown, applying herself to the world of high finance. While Jack aspires to be the perfect husband, his own self-doubts and Chloe's office flirtations cast shadows. Jealousy and misbehavior undermine their notions of themselves and of each other, and their lives take on uncomfortable parallels with the volatile, chaotic existence of their raffish, menacing neighbors. In the intense heat of one Chicago summer, Jack and Chloe's marriage roils into a queasy chemistry of vanity, lust, and greed. Thompson writes with piercing insight and emotional truth, setting off literary fireworks.

    

    He failed before, he will not fail again.An 80-year-old Mage-Emperor is murdered by his closest companions because of his own vanity and thirst for power. He is reborn into a fantasy Japan-like world as a baby. Using his vast knowledge of magic and strategy from his previous life, he aims to become this new world's most powerful warrior: the Kensei. This reincarnation story features the use of enchanted tattoos crafted from Magical Beasts, martial arts, empire-building, and light cultivation elements. The Main Character is hyper-intelligent and hyper-competent.

    The son of Neptune and a mortal woman, he’s spent millennia as an outcast of both worlds. As king of the ocean, all Julian wants to do is protect the denizens deep and drown the humans for their crimes against sea creatures. He doesn’t care about the Consortium of Chaos’s new jobs as “heroes.” He still hates everyone, which is kinda unfortunate since he’s just become the one person responsible for keeping the world safe. He’d probably just ignore the human’s plight and go for a swim, except the beautiful woman he’s been searching for for years has shown up to help fix his “image problems.” Which means Julian might have to actually pretend to be a hero, after all. Bridget: Bridget is a public relations specialist. Kind of. She’s not exactly at the top of her field, but she’s giving it her best shot. The curvy, average, dateless human is going to help Julian and his bizarre group of semi-insane, super-powered friends reach their full potential as heroes. And not JUST because he’s the handsomest man she’s ever seen. Years ago, Julian saved her life. In an age where good guys and bad guys seem way too much alike, Julian is the only person she’s ever seen act heroically. He can do anything. He just needs to believe that. …And stop telling all the humans that he’s going to conquer the planet. …And maybe not worry so much about seafood restaurants murdering his underwater subjects. …And actually pay attention to all the people trying to take over the city. New enemies are rising and nearly everyone else in the Consortium is MIA. Now, it’s up to Julian and the Consortium members who are too old, weird, evil, or headless to be invited on the REAL missions to save the city. Except they suck at it. Humans are whining about the death-toll, the Consortiums screw-ups are all over the news, and their evil garage sale isn’t helping to pay the bills. Bridget’s going to fix all that. She’s determined to make the world see them for the heroes they are. Julian’s certainly willing to go along with her ideas, no matter how many public appearances he has to make at elementary schools and shopping malls. He knows he’s a villain and he couldn’t care less about what the rest of humanity thinks, but he sure loves the idea of being a hero to Bridget.

    His latest case is intriguing and he gets perhaps a little too involved. Libby Richmond doesn’t believe in ghosts, messages from beyond the grave or any other superstitious nonsense – but when she returns to the old Derbyshire farmhouse to nurse her Great Aunt Lillian through the last stages of terminal illness, she finds all her beliefs turned upside down. Lil wants to discover the truth behind a long-ago family scandal before she dies – and Libby finds herself being drawn in until she too is obsessed with the outcome. Decima Watkins was hanged in 1859 for poisoning three of her older sisters. Now it seems she wants revenge! Libby realizes that there can be no happy ending to this story. Either Decima was a pathetic victim of her father’s fury and a gross miscarriage of justice, or she was the cold-blooded murderess of her own siblings. Whatever the truth, she appears to be taking out her anger on Libby, even managing to inflict physical harm on her hapless descendant. But what is really happening at Hill Farm? Libby has upset quite a few people by supporting Lil when the general opinion is that she should go quietly to a hospice and die there. Is the culprit one of those angry with Libby’s interference? Is it Brendan, the boyfriend she dumped to run off to Derbyshire to be with Lil? Or is Libby simply losing her grip on reality? DI Piper is the one who has to discover the truth when he arrests her and listens to her incredible tale.

    A golden opportunity. A nightmare he can’t escape.If Arthur Mallory plays one more steaming pile of garbage disguised as a virtual role-playing game, he might hang up his gaming hat for good. When he discovers the new “deep dive” game Worlds Unbound, he decides it might be worth a try. If it sucks, he'll just return it the next day and cancel the financing.The game is everything he could have wanted, even without elves or dwarves or character creation. The magic system has him hooked.He’s willing to overlook the mangled sleep schedule and crippling nightmares if it means feeling that power running through his veins. But when an accident leaves his headset broken, he realizes he might be cut off from the magic – and the game – for good.He’s not going to let that happen.

    However, unlike in works of fantasy, no beautiful girl barges into his life, no secret organization knocks on his door, and in fact, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happens at all. Eventually forced to come face to face with the reality that his life would remain unremarkable, he snaps and decides to make the extraordinary happen with his own hands! Follow along as he creates it all: a secret organization filled with espers, forces of darkness that threaten the world, protagonists, heroines, rivals, action, romance, and so much more!If *you* had almighty telekinesis, what would *you* do?

     Before they leave, Joshua’s father gives him the Binding of the Seeker, which grants him powers for discovering new places, new races…and secrets. They’ve saved every penny from their apprenticeships to buy an old building, but not just any old building. This was a heroes’ guild once; a place where mighty warriors and powerful mages trained, ready to answer the calls of townsfolk in trouble. For a price, of course. Benjen and Joshua are desperate to restore it to what it once was. The only problems? An unwelcome surprise is waiting for them at the guildhouse…and good heroes are hard to find.