Mindgames: Fool's Mate


Neal Asher - 2013
    It is thus embarrassing when he is run over by a bus. It is even more embarrassing when he, and atheist, realises there is an afterlife…Resurrected on a huge flat plain, he is forced to play a deadly game. Moved as a pawn to the whim of the Gods in a fight to the death with warriors from all ages of earth’s history. Killed again and again only to be resurrected.The General, the Grim Reaper and Anubis are some of the strange beings who direct this grisly entertainment. Is it real or only in his decaying mind. Who is the Clown? It there anywhere to escape to?To retain his sanity, he must believe there is an end; an escape; a purpose. A thought-provoking story leading to an action filled climax that challenges our accepted beliefs…

The Complete Last War Series


Ryan Schow - 2018
    A society in decline, however, can sometimes fare worse than a society under assault. Caught in the killing fields and forced to fight, these remarkable people will attempt the impossible: they’ll try to escape a world now backsliding into a nightmarish landscape more reminiscent of the stone ages than the once famed coastal state of California.

Cyborgs!


Vaughn Heppner - 2014
    Then, everything went wrong until only the Space Marines were left. Alone in the dark, outnumbered and outgunned by the cyborgs waiting for them on the methane-ice surface of Tyche, the hour of desperation has arrived. As requested by many DOOM STAR readers, this story has been released as a single title. CYBORGS! is a stand-alone NOVELLA, which means it’s SHORTER and CHEAPER than your typical Doom Star book. Previously published in the anthology Planetary Assault, CYBORGS! is the tale of Mule, a Space Marine sniper on an lonely mission, years away from any reinforcements. Earth’s future rests on his cunning and resolve.

The Infinity Affliction


Evan Currie - 2020
    and infinite horror. If it can happen, it not only will, but it has... and it is happening even at this moment. Wars rage across dimensions, in an endless cycle of destruction and rebirth.One war has come here, to Earth, now... and no one is ready for the results.Who wants to live forever?

Without Rhythm


P.S. Power - 2012
    Left to fend for herself, all hope gone, she happens upon a helpless woman being attacked and tries her best to stop it.Breaking a few laws in the process.Now she has a choice, either learn to be an apprentice Guardian until things settle down, or learn to survive on the streets.The decision is easy, since eating is far more pleasant than starvation, or so she assumes. Being a Guardian is a lot more than she bargained for however and with each passing day it become far more obvious that something is very wrong with the world.Because people have started to worship the technologies of the past, and as a Guardian, no matter how new, it's up to her to stop them.Before they destroy the world.

The Hunters of Vermin


H. Paul Honsinger - 2017
    For reasons Max barely understands, the Vaaach decide that they have an obligation to train him to be a Vaaach warrior, or at least as close as a puny, fruit-eating human can come.     Max finds himself on a strange, unknown world, under the tutelage of a nine-foot tall, carnivorous Vaaach drill instructor, learning an alien way of fighting, and stalking and making war. Not only is the training like nothing Max has ever imagined, there's the small matter of the final exam: a real mission involving real combat against real Krag with the life or death of an entire Union naval task force hanging in the balance. Max is going to have to find resources of cunning, creativity, strength, endurance, and courage far beyond his years if he's going to survive and save thousands of his comrades who--unknown to them--are depending on the slender thread of the young officer's abilities for their very survival.      The Hunters of Vermin is a short novel (just over 62,500 words, slightly longer than such classic novels as Lord of the Flies and All Quiet on the Western Front), that can be read as a stand-alone adventure or as a part of the longer series of Max Robichaux space tales. Readers who have never met Max Robichaux or encountered Honsinger's fiction before will find a thrilling, self-contained adventure. Fans of Honsinger's other books will gain interesting insight into the events that helped make Max Robichaux the officer we meet in the "Man of War" series, as this novel covers events immediately after the conclusion of the novella Deadly Nightshade and twelve years before the beginning of the "Man of War" Series.     This novel packs everything Honsinger's readers expect--realistically staged combat, deep character development, believable aliens, and the thrill of deep space adventure--into a compact package. The Hunters of Vermin is a military coming-of-age story in the vein of the early Horatio Hornblower books, but set centuries in the future against the backdrop of an interstellar war that threatens the survival of the human race.

Enigma (The Belt, #4)


Gerald M. Kilby - 2020
    

Scimitar's Glory (Swordships Odyssey)


Dietmar Arthur Wehr - 2018
    7th Fleet discovers that one of those races is moving to attack. In a moment of panic, the commanding admiral orders the fleet to attempt a risky jump through hyperspace. They miss hitting their target star’s gravity well and end up deep in unexplored space with a shockingly long trip home and not nearly enough food to last that long. With war now raging in their home systems, the officers of 7th Fleet must find a way to put aside their egos, ambitions and fears in order to make it back, and they know that not all of them will. Scimitar’s Glory is the first book in a new, fast-paced, action-packed military SF series: Swordships Odyssey. The second book, Excalibur's Quest, is already available for pre-order. Excerpt: With a long, risky jump like this, Dejanus would have expected Corregidor’s astrogational AI to take at least ten minutes to aim the ship as precisely as possible to the distant star’s center. She was therefore surprised and somewhat alarmed when the flagship signaled to the rest of the fleet that they could start to match her trajectory after only half that time. “Goddammit, what’s the rush?” she said to Koenig who was the only other human on the Bridge. “There’s no possible way the Jab fleet can catch us before we jump, even if we take another hour to do it. Why not take a few extra minutes to get the most accurate trajectory possible?” When it became clear that Koenig had nothing to say, she continued. “Astro, I want you to check the flagship’s alignment with Alpha9 while we match vectors. Let me know if you think the flagship’s vector could be better.” That extra task delayed Excalibur’s alignment, and therefore she became the last ship in the fleet to signal her readiness for the jump. “Fleet Commander on Tac2, Commander,” said the com AI. Dejanus switched channels to her Command Pod. “Excalibur Actual speaking,” said Dejanus in the formal form of address that ship COs normally didn’t bother with. “What’s taking your Astro so long to get aligned, Commander?” Rostov didn’t bother to hide his annoyance. “Just double-checking the overall jump trajectory, Admiral.” Dejanus thought she heard Rostov swear under his breath, but it could have been her imagination. “You tell your Astro that if Excalibur isn’t aligned in the next two minutes, I’ll order him replaced and transferred to a cargo hauler. FC out!” The astro AI managed to get the ship aligned within the deadline to no one’s surprise. With all ships in the fleet now aligned perfectly with the flagship and jump velocity attained, the order was given to enter hyperspace. It was 131.3 hours later when both Koenig and Dejanus were on the Bridge again watching the jump chronometer countdown to the second when the ship should drop back down into normal space. Koenig watched the countdown clock hit zero and then start counting up again. After ten more seconds, Dejanus began shaking her head. She had a horrified expression on her face. “We’ve missed. That bastard has killed us all.” Genre categories: space fleet, military SF, space opera, galactic empire, alien invasion, first contact, space exploration.

Heaven's Fist Box Set


Justin Bell - 2019
     An unprecedented terrorist attack rips apart the Gregory family, trapping them on opposite sides of the world. As Marilyn struggles to keep her three children alive and out of harms way, Marcus fights to stay alive in the middle of a war-torn region, all while searching for answer to a global catastrophe that threatens the lives of his family - and the world. Heaven's Fist is a near-future, what-if tale of a frightening apocalyptic future told through a gripping, roller coaster lens. Following a cataclysmic event that destroys the network of satellites in orbit around the earth and activates dozens of orbital kinetic bombardment weapons, cities across the globe are reduced to rubble and the status quo is changed as governments fall and millions die all in the blink of an eye. At 40,000 words or more per book, Heaven's Fist was originally produced and released on a bi-weekly schedule. This series covers the period immediately before, during and after a devastating apocalyptic event sweeps across the world. This series asks a simple question: If the worst were to happen, would you be able to survive? Written as a collaboration between Justin Bell and Mike Kraus, this post-apocalyptic thriller is a gripping ride that takes a unique look at the post-apoc genre and will leave you breathless with every turn of the page.

Theft of Fire


Michael Edelson - 2017
    The mission to destroy a domestic terrorist cell in possession of a nuclear bomb sounds like the opportunity he is looking for, until he realizes that his targets are not terrorists, and that what they have is something infinitely more dangerous than a bomb. On the run with Dr. Grace Llewellyn and the device she calls Prometheus, Markus finds himself pitted against the full might of US intelligence and military forces as they mount the biggest manhunt ever conducted on American soil. He quickly learns that Prometheus represents a technological advancement so profound that it can alter the course of history. But there is another such device already in play, and he, Grace and Prometheus are all that stand between it and the end of human civilization as we know it.

Solar Winter (Survival EMP Book 2)


Rob Lopez - 2018
    Rick’s family and friends face a bleak future. Winter’s coming, and with it the greatest test they’ve ever had to face together. With no supplies, and nowhere safe to bug out to, they’re starting from zero. Forgotten skills have to be relearned, and improvised solutions are needed just to stay alive. But time is running out. With each passing week come troubling signs of a more immediate threat than hunger. Dangerous foes lurk nearby, and Rick’s tiny group cannot stay hidden forever. Ready or not, the time will come when they have to fight. Or be annihilated. Solar Winter is Book 2 of an EMP, post-apocalyptic series about family survival and the challenges it entails. Contains moderate language and graphic action scenes.

The Dark Roads


Wayne Lemmons - 2016
     A group of men including Richie, Buddy, and the unlikely Elvis resolve that times are way too hot in Miami, Florida and decide to trek out, on their own, as far to the north as they can make it. Richie, who is the leader of their faction, suggests Alaska as the most favorable destination and the journey begins. They find themselves navigating the U.S. and Canadian Highways through long and lonely nights, sleeping in underground dwellings to avoid the deadly radiation of the daylight hours. Throughout their travels they scavenge limited supplies in department stores and gas stations in order to sate thirst, hunger, and the need for ammunition to protect against the looming threat of human nature. As the three life-long friends make their way toward Alaska, they encounter new friends in the form of a strong, but damaged, woman who will hold them even closer together, a young girl and her substitute father, and an improbable stray cat. They find grave dangers in the forms of a loving father and his two seemingly innocent daughters, groups of cannibals and the people trying to avoid them, and a lack of easily procured supplies that have met the same fate as the charred plants and animals of the globe. The sun, though the most obvious hazard to their journey, is seemingly the easiest to overcome. Only determination, cunning, and loyalty to each other can ensure their survival in this savage existence.

The Days That Remain


Wayne Wightman - 2014
    Forests and cities have burned, rainfall is erratic, and shortages occur everywhere. Then it gets worse. In just one day, Allen's life turns upside down and everyone and everything is taken away from him, except for his dog. In his trek across an abandoned America to a place of refuge, he meets murderers and heroes, travels through empty cities and blackened forests, and crosses paths with the shadowy 404 group. In a world without the restraints of society, where people can be what they want to be, he meets the vicious, the peculiar, and the strangely beautiful--and his life changes. The Days That Remain is about surviving in a world too new to have an instruction book, where instant decisions can have life or death consequences. It is about the world we may leave to our children. 112,000 words. About Wayne Wightman's Fiction: John Brunner, the legend himself: “Wayne Wightman is agreeable company, both in person and via the printed page. As to the former, I’m afraid you will have to wait the chance to make his acquaintance…. As to the latter, however, now’s your chance.” Orson Scott Card, Hugo and Nebula winner: “[Wayne Wightman is] …one of the names I[‘ve] learned to look for…. He…is a romantic whose stories confess his belief that individuals can be larger than life, that their decisions can change the world around them.” Best Story of the Year 2011 awarded to Wayne Wightman's “Brutal Interlude” by Orson Scott Card's online magazine The Intergalactic Medicine Show. Richard Paul Russo, Philip K. Dick Award winner: “One of Wightman’s great strengths is his willingness to go to the edge. He pulls no punches, whether the story is serious or violent or manic. You can count on him to take you places other writers shy away from.” Lewis Shiner, writer par excellence and editor: “Wayne Wightman… has produced an impressive series of connected stories… full of manic energy, rich in colors and emotions.” Ed Ferman, editor of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction: “He writes top quality sf and fantasy, humor and horror, and he never forgets to tell a compelling tale.”

Flight of the Javelin: The Complete Series: A Space Opera Box Set


Rachel Aukes - 2021
    

Supernova


Doug Dandridge - 2015
    Not all the action occurs on the main front. Space is too big for that kind of restriction. The Klassekians are a gifted race, with an ability which could help the Empire in its war against the Ca'cadasans. Just entering space, the species is still torn apart by religious and nationalistic schisms. They are on the verge of a nuclear war. And that is the least of their problems. For six light months from their star system is a blue giant, and the timer on its life is just about to hit zero. Exploration Command ships discover the civilization, and it is soon apparent that this is one that needs saving. But saving the six billion people on the planet is a daunting task, especially with a killing wave of radiation a year and a half away, six months after the blue giant explodes. And one of the main religious factions of the planet sees their destruction as a cause for celebration, the return of their God. Now the humans must not only battle time, but the politics and religious fanaticism of a fatalistic people who do not desire rescue, and are determined to stop those who do. Add to this the mysterious alien artifacts that rise from surface to above the atmosphere, and the mission becomes interesting in the most hazardous manner. And in the darkness, wait things that humanity thought they were well rid of, probing the human fleet, and threatening the great Empire base at Bolthole.