Rogue Squadron


Michael A. Stackpole - 1996
    They are the X-wing fighters. And as the struggle rages across the vastness of space, the fearless men and women who pilot them risk both their lives and their machines. Their mission: to defend the Rebel Alliance against a still-powerful and battle-hardened Imperial foe in a last-ditch effort to control the stars!Its very name strikes fear into enemy hearts. So when Rebel hero Wedge Antilles rebuilds the legendary Rogue Squadron, he seeks out only the best -- the most skilled, the most daring X-wing pilots. Through arduous training and dangerous missions, he weeds out the weak from the strong, assembling a group of hard-bitten warriors willing to fight, ready to die. Antilles knows the grim truth: that even with the best X-wing jockeys in the galaxy, many will not survive their near-suicidal missions. But when Rogue Squadron is ordered to assist in the assault on the heavily fortified Imperial stronghold of Black Moon, even the bravest must wonder if any at all will survive. . . .

Relics


Michael Jan Friedman - 1992
    Enterprise(TM) NCC 1701-D." Missing in space for seventy-five years, Scotty manages to survive against incredible odds, only to be found by the crew of the "Starship Enterprise(TM) ." Though rescued, Scotty soon finds himself lost in a world that he barely recognizes, a world that has passed him by...But the adventure is not over for Captain Scott who must do the impossible when the new "U.S.S. Enterprise(TM) " faces a very old danger in a remote sector of space. This time, Captain Picard and his crew will need more than all of their courage and all of their skills to save the great Starship from destruction. This time, they will need a miracle worker.

Expendable


James Alan Gardner - 1997
    The ugly, the flawed, the misfit, the deformed, they are the unwanted, flung to the farthest corners of the galaxy to investigate hostile planets and strange, vicious creatures. Out there, there are a thousand different -- and terrible -- ways to die. Festina Ramos belongs to the well-trained, always-dwindling ranks of ECMs (Expendable Crew Members). Now she and her partner, Yarrun Derigha, have been ordered to escort the unstable Admiral Chee to Melaquin -- the feared "Planet of No Return"-- which has swallowed up countless Explorers before them without a trace.Obviously, this is meant to be the last mission for Ramos and Derigha. But it won't be, if Festina can help it.

Exiles: The Uplift Storm Trilogy


David Brin - 2013
    

Hardwired


Walter Jon Williams - 1986
    According to Locus, Hardwired is Walter Jon Williams's "best book to date".Ex-fighter pilot Cowboy, "hardwired" via skull sockets directly to his lethal electronic hardware, teams up with Sarah, an equally cyborized gun-for-hire, to make a last stab at independence from the rapacious Orbitals.

Tales of the Dying Earth


Jack Vance - 1998
    Jack Vance is one of the most remarkable talents ever to grace the world of science fiction. His unique, stylish voice has been beloved by generations of readers. Some of his enduring classics are the 1950 novel The Dying Earth and its sequels, The Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel's Saga, and Rialto the Marvelous.

The Stars, Like Dust


Isaac Asimov - 1951
    A radiation bomb planted in his dorm room changed him from an innocent student at the University of Earth to a marked man, fleeing desperately from an unknown assassin.He soon discovers that, many light-years away, his father, the highly respected Rancher of Widemos, has been murdered. Stunned, grief-stricken, and outraged, Biron is determined to uncover the reasons behind his father’s death, and becomes entangled in an intricate saga of rebellion, political intrigue, and espionage.The mystery takes him deep into space where he finds himself in a relentless struggle with the power-mad despots of Tyrann. Now it is not just a case of life or death for Biron, but a question of freedom for the galaxy.

Those Who Watch


Robert Silverberg - 1967
    It also the most unusual love story ever written.VORNEEN—the seducer, in the shell of an Apollo who came out of nowhere into the life of Kathryn MasonGLAIR—the perfect woman, an empty form who filled the hours of Tom FaulknerMIRTIN—otherworldly friend and mentor to an 11-year-old Indian boy who accepted the extraordinary on faithONLY THREE HUMANS WOULD EVER KNOW that the blinding flash in the sky on that night in 1982 was an exploding flying saucer. Only they would learn the truth about THOSE WHO WATCH—about the alien beings who came to this world in a crash landing from the stars.

Proxima


Stephen Baxter - 2013
    The age of star formation is long past. Yet there is life here, feeding off the energies of the stellar remnants, and there is mind, a tremendous galaxy-spanning intelligence each of whose thoughts lasts a hundred thousand years. And this mind cradles memories of a long-gone age when a more compact universe was full of light... The 27th century: Proxima Centauri, an undistinguished red dwarf star, is the nearest star to our sun. How would it be to live on such a world?

Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days


Alastair Reynolds - 2003
    . . Alastair Reynolds burst onto the SF scene with the Arthur C. Clarke Award-shortlisted REVELATION SPACE, British Science Fiction Award-winning CHASM CITY, and REDEMPTION ARK. Now experience the phenomenal imagination and breathtaking vision of 'The most exciting space opera writer working today' (Locus) in these two tales of high adventure set in the same universe as his novels. The title story, 'Diamond Dogs', tells of a group of mercenaries trying to unravel the mystery of a particularly inhospitable alien tower on a distant world; 'Turquoise Days' is about Naqi, who has devoted her life to studying the alien Pattern Jugglers.

Galactic Bounty


William C. Dietz - 1986
    A treacherous navy captain plans to sell military secrets to the alien Il Ronn. The only man who can stop him is Sam McCade -- an interstellar bounty hunter with a score to settle.Betrayed by his friends, stalked by his enemies, McCade is the only one standing between a terrifying alien threat -- and the unimaginable devastation of the Terran Empire...

Berserkers: The Beginning


Fred Saberhagen - 1998
    Gigantic intelligent machines are set loose to destroy all life, with only one branch of humanity, descended from a world called Earth, to stand in their way.

Northworld Trilogy


David Drake - 1999
    Neither a soul nor a message returned. The fourth time, the Rulers sent a single man: Nils Hansen.Commissioner Hansen had a mind that saw the shortest path to each task's completion and a ruthless determination to do what the task required. The cost - to himself and whoever happened to be in the way - didn't matter. Hanson's Special Units had kept his planet safe from the most sophisticated and violent criminals in the galaxy. Now Hansen was being sent to penetrate a spacetime enigma which had made gods or demons of the first humans to discover it. He would succeed or die.Northworld: a place of slashing violence and mystic transformationNorthworld: a place of treachery and dazzling beautyNorthworld: a place of honor, of faith, and of love.Hansen's iron will and strong arm confront godlike power and godlike cunning while a galaxy trembles for the outcome. And if Hansen dies - he will not die alone!

War Dragons


L.A. Graf - 1998
    Sometimes a brawl may break out but it's all in the family, more or less. Just remember, the first round of drinks is always paid for with a story...even beyond the final frontier. Captain James T. Kirk must join forces with Captain Hikaru Sulu, new commander of the U.S.S. Excelsior, to resolve a simmering political situation in a distant star system. For more than twenty years, the ancient enmity between Nykkus and Anjiri has resisted the best efforts of Federation diplomats. Now Kirk and Sulu have one last chance to end the bloodshed -- before it erupts into a full-scale interstellar war!

Jedi Search


Kevin J. Anderson - 1994
    In this time of turmoil and discovery, an extraordinary new Star Wars saga begins....While Luke Skywalker takes the first step toward setting up an academy to train a new order of Jedi Knights, Han Solo and Chewbacca are taken prisoner on the planet Kessel and forced to work in the fathomless depths of a spice mine. But when Han and Chewie break away, they flee desperately to a secret Imperial research laboratory surrounded by a cluster of black holes--and go from one danger to a far greater one....On Kessel, Luke picks up the trail of his two friends, only to come face-to-face with a weapon so awesome, it can wipe out an entire solar system. It is a death ship called the Sun Crusher, invented by a reclusive genius and piloted by none other than Han himself...