The aliens are Adjudicators, an ancient race whose ethos is to judge other species and reduce their survivors to a stone age existence.Tolvern sends a desperate message back to headquarters and retreats with her damaged ship to friendly systems. By the time she returns, the aliens have already invaded Alliance territory with a powerful fleet of star fortresses and accompanying dragoon ships, trapping and laying siege to the allied fleet.While repairing her ship, Tolvern cobbles together a squadron of damaged allied warships, former raiders, and the local survivors of an Adjudicator attack to drive off the alien fleet.The following books are included in this set:Alliance StarsAlliance ArmadaAlliance Insurgent

    Two genetically modified human babies have been taken to the Choten-Zan Monastery to be raised to adulthood. The ancient priests have agreed to teach them their best hand-to-hand combat techniques and develop their speed and reflexes. The two children are sent away on their eighteenth birthday with a small warship and space armor that was left for them by the one that delivered them to the Zan. That’s all they received when they left the Monastery and they do not know who they are or where they were born. They kidnap a Werstag Engineer on a planet where they are attacked by hundreds of Yellow Armored Warriors. He tells them that they are a species called human and that their attackers are from a civilization that destroyed their home world. Grant and Cinny decide that Earth’s destroyers must pay for their crime. But first they have to find an invincible warship named Orion’s Sword to make that happen. The Werstag tells them that they were created to be the Orion’s pilots and the Yellow Species knows the danger they represent. It’s a race to see if the Raiders can kill the two before they find the most powerful warship in the universe. The action is non-stop as the two young humans struggle against dark forces arrayed against them. Discovering their real enemy is a shock that forces them to reevaluate their determination to take revenge for Earth’s destruction. But revenge served hot has a way of getting out of hand. Excerpt from Nemesis-Revenge is Best Served Hot Cinny shook her head, “What is so special about us?” The woman looked at her and her eyes twinkled, “You and your companion are the ultimate product of genetic development. You are unique and only the two of you can activate the Orion. Anyone else who tried would die.” Whippet nodded, “They are very different from what I saw Tom could do.” The woman looked at him, “They are faster, stronger, and smarter than any being alive today.” She paused, “And they are not at their ultimate abilities…yet.” Grant sat down, “I’m not sure what you mean, ultimate abilities?” “Part of my programing is to start your development. The Choten-Zan could only take you so far; you probably noticed that you surpassed their abilities.” Cinny and Grant nodded. “The landing bay on this ship has devices to assist you to develop your skills. However, there is another place we need to visit first.” Grant nodded, “Where you left the genetically modified animals from Earth.” The woman smiled and shook her head, “You are incredibly smart. How did you figure that out?” “I saw the ancestors of the animals you chose on the first download and I’ve talked with them several times in the past.” The Hologram stared at Grant, “You what?” “The coordinates of the planet where you left them were still in the navigation log. We went to see what was there and ran into them.” “That was an incredibly dangerous thing to do.” “I had a blaster and they didn’t take the chance of attacking.” The woman slowly shook her head, “That blaster wouldn’t have fazed them and they knew it.” Grant stared at the Hologram and Cinny said, “You mean they could have killed us.” “Yes. I’m surprised they didn’t. Those animals are the most dangerous creatures in the universe. They were specifically designed to be used against the civilization attacking Earth.

    Her people have fled. And Mitch Ayers is having a real bad day. Fifty years ago, our home was dying. We identified worlds that might be able to support human life. We built Ark Ships: huge colonization vessels carrying thousands of crew. And we set out, not knowing if we could make it to the other side of the blackness, or whether there would be anything there if we did. Mitch wasn't supposed to have to care about any of this. He was supposed to be happily dreaming in stasis for another twenty years. That's until he wakes up on the Ark Ship Nansen, three light years off course, staring right up at the barrel of a gun. All around him, he hears the screams of the dying. Terrorists are wiping out the Nansen's crew while they sleep, and he's the only one who can do a damn thing about it. But ain't that always the way. Mitch knows the Nansen's crew might be the only humans left in the universe. The problem is, he quickly learns that humans aren't alone in the stars. Aliens aren't just out there, they're everywhere. And the first one he meets tries to sink its teeth into his neck... Mitch is a long way from home, and it's not just the aliens he's up against. It's the traitors within his own crew. Now humanity's fate rests on his shoulders. So he'll have to think fast...

    

    Comfort. Defend. There is no love lost between the Radial Marines and the Hospitaller Orphan Corps. So, when Sergeant Seavers learns a platoon of Marines will be tagging along for the drop down to the surface of Gimhae, he’s certain this will doom his chances at officer candidate training.As if that wasn’t enough for one mission, the colonists on Gimhae are acting skittish and uncharacteristically rude. Sgt Seavers isn’t used to this kind of behavior. Not from people his team of Hospitallers has come to save from the terraflu.Something’s amiss. Sgt Seavers can feel it. And it may have something to do with the smuggler ships hiding over the next hill.Rescue on Gimhae is the first book in the Stories of the Orphan Corps series. It is also a standalone story in the Hospitaller universe. There is no required sequence to the books in the Stories of the Orphan Corps series. Be the first on deck to experience the beginning of the adventures with the Orphan Corps. Buy it now!

    It seems like it’s going to be always the cakemaker, never the bride until charming photographer Noah arrives on the scene…Sowing Secrets tells the story of Fran, who seems to have it all with her lovely husband and cottage in the country. That is until ex-boyfriend Tom turns up and Fran’s perfect world is turned upside down.Life is sweet for chocolate maker Chloe in Chocolate Wishes. That is until the new vicar Raffy arrives in the village; Chloe’s first love and the man who broke her heart…

    But when a terrified woman falls through his bathroom ceiling, he's forced back into a life of gunfights, double agents and paranormal research. The secret he's been keeping for nearly four decades might reunite him with his lost love, or kill millions.This new short story by John August falls into the genre of paranoid "spy-fi" popularized by writers like Jorge Luis Borges and shows like The Prisoner and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.== What Others Say =="I really dug the story. Gave it a glance just to see, got totally hooked, and blazed on through to the end."-- Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, The Yiddish Policemen's Union) "The Variant" is both a good, fun, smart story and an interesting experiment in indie self-publishing for fiction."-- John Gruber, daringfireball.net== About the Author ==An excerpt of The Variant is available at johnaugust.com/variant About the AuthorJohn August is the screenwriter of eight feature films, including Go, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Corpse Bride. He wrote and directed the 2007 movie The Nines.He can be found on Twitter, @johnaugust

    Inexplicably, the explorer vanishes, and the object along with him. Nearby, the gears spin on a secret device, setting in motion a chain reaction that could avert a civilization-ending cataclysm. Known only to a select few, the machine must be protected.But watching from the shadows, a brilliant sociopath has plans of his own. . .____________________________________________AboutInspired by Crichton, Asimov, and Brown, “Cold Trap” has intense action, political intrigue, a deep central mystery, and a backdrop of science and high-tech gadgetry, a combination that is sure to resonate with fans of contemporary science fiction and techno-thrillers.____________________________________________ReviewsMelinda Hills for Readers' Favorite (5 Stars)"I really enjoyed the story! ... a well written tale of scientific discovery and political/economic maneuvering for world dominance ... Tremendous creativity and an in-depth look at exo-geology - the study of rocks and deposits on the surface of the moon and other 'space rocks' - create a realistic background for action involving the basic human emotions of love, greed, the desire for knowledge and the hunger for power."

    Award-winning author James Dashner’s The Maze Runner shows the influences of the author’s broad reading. It relates the story of the amnesiac Thomas as he is forced into the near-bucolic setting of the Glade, learns to navigate it and the labyrinthine Maze surrounding it and leads the people of the Glade from their bounded world into a broader outside world. It also presents a perspective on adolescence well worth discussing which this Analysis covers every detail that you would otherwise miss. The Maze Runner has features that recommend it for both adolescent readers and those who teach them which this Summary & Analysis helps to decipher increasing your understanding of the book more than ever. The former will find the dialogue and action engaging without neglect of character development. The latter will find a text that manages to play with the tropes of Golding’s Lord of the Flies (which Dashner reports as a direct influence on the book), offering a way to introduce that text and a venue for discussion of it. They present opportunities for readers to engage with underlying assumptions and attitudes, offering the chance for readers to understand themselves, the culture in which they live and the culture in which the writer writes which this Analysis covers. Each is a chance to better understand the world, and The Maze Runner does well to make such chances available. The book is well worth reading, both for its intended audience of young adults (inside and outside the classroom) and for a more general reading public. This Analysis of The Maze Runner fills the gap, making you understand more while enhancing your reading experience.

    R.J. Wright” The year is 2117. In the farthest reaches of Earth’s territorial space, a spree of depraved murders has local cattle ranchers fearing for their families. A fear, they will soon discover, that is more than justified. Apparently, John Gallic’s reputation proceeded his arrival to the fringe-world of Muleshoe. A reputation suggesting he be given a wide berth. As the new Territory Abettor, commonly referred to as a Frontier Marshal, Gallic would be there for the long haul. Formally titled Detective Chief Inspector of the Spatial Colonial Police—District 22—he’d investigated only the highest profile murders and was a rising star within the department. But that life was in the past. Gallic now provided an assortment of backwater law enforcement services to the burgeoning deep-space frontier territories. Sure, there was an occasional smalltime crime to investigate, but more often than not Gallic spent his days—commissioned by the big Interstellar banks—repossessing billionaire ranchers’ high-priced spacecraft. A glorified repo man. He was fine with that. It gave him spare time to do the one thing more important than anything else—find the murderer of his wife and child. Piloting his voluminous spacecraft, the Hound, Gallic arrives on Muleshoe expecting his latest assignment to be no different than the hundred other repo jobs he’s performed. Typically, no one gets in his way. Then a Vid-Message call comes in from D-22—the Hammer and Nails Killer is at it again. Right there within the frontier worlds. Soon, Gallic would be chasing the very same cunning serial killer who, mercilessly, stole his once-perfect life away from him. The line between prey and predator becomes blurred and the Galaxy Man will have no problem sacrificing himself to kill a killer.

    A galactic empire of a quarter of a million worlds stumbles across the Earth. Their philosophy on life is totally unexpected. With the help of intelligent automatons, they've turned a reviled political system into a utopia for the masses, but are they a force for good or evil? A Daragnen university graduate, Yol Rummy Blin Breganin, discovers that Earth failed in its attempt to join the Federation, and, for some unknown reason, members are forever banned from visiting or contacting the planet. Rummy had never heard of a whole world being outlawed. Perhaps it would be sensible to leave well enough alone but no, he decides to investigate… FEDERATION is the first in a series of near-future, hard science-fiction novels by Tony Harmsworth, the First Contact specialist. Immerse yourself in humankind’s cultural and economic dilemma by buying FEDERATION today.

    Lost in the wasteland, she faces warring factions, bloodthirsty creatures, and the endless burning sun. And then there’s Ari… who is she really? And can she trust this girl from the wasteland to lead her back to the city gates?One thing’s for sure, Starla’s once privileged life will never be the same.

    This volume assembles 2 novels and 4 shorter works -- almost 500 pages of classic fiction -- by 3-time Hugo Award-winner Clifford D. Simak. Included are:TIME QUARRY [novel]EMPIRE [novel]THE STREET THAT WASN'T THERE [short story]THE WORLD THAT COULDN'T BE [novelet]HELLHOUNDS OF THE COSMOS [short story]PROJECT MASTODON [short story]If you enjoy this book, search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see the more than 100 other entries in the series, covering science fiction, modern authors, mysteries, westerns, classics, adventure stories, and much, much more! (Sort by publication date to see the most recent entries.)

    But Commonwealth operative Simon Kovalic knows nothing ever goes to plan. So, when a duplicitous bounty hunter lives up to his reputation, Kovalic’s ready—just maybe not ready enough.Now he and his team must get offworld, before their enemies catch up with them…

    Enjoy full-throttle action and adventure.SurvivorWhen everyone runs, who will stand?Nova is a new recruit to the Jagged Maw: an elite bounty hunter guild.During a routine collection, she finds herself dragged into the middle of an alien uprising.The Ancients, merciless beings set on reclaiming the universe, have only one person left to stop them: Nova.She must battle the Ancients, time, and her sanity, in order to stop the annihilation of the human race.Fear the hero who has nothing left to lose.PilgrimAfter her encounter with the Ancients, Nova is more determined than ever to break free of the Confederacy.When she arrives on a planet that’s been silent for over one hundred and fifty years, she discovers that the planet is far from abandoned.In order to survive, Nova and her companions must fight.When a historical enemy emerges, there will be more than their lives at stake.HunterEver wanted to hunt a vampire?They're nothing compared to the lecheons Nova faces in this gripping action adventure.The blood-sucking lecheons are running rampant on Boullion Five and the police have been over-run.Nova is the only one who will take the job, but with deadly cunning, super reflexes, and a thirst for blood, the lecheons could prove too much, even for her.It will take her killer instinct to survive, and even that may not be enough.GamblerWhen Aart goes missing Nova is forced to travel back to her hated home planet of Tabryn.Her latest job to solve a casino heist takes her deep into the fetid underbelly of the corrupt planet, and faces from her past start to resurface.It will take all of her strength to stay afloat as the past tries to pull her back to where it all began.Discover the planet that made the bounty hunter in Book Four: Gambler.JusticeAfter the Ancients and the lecheons, Nova is looking for something simple, but life is never that easy.Murder, man-eating plants, and rumours of cannibalism from the Inner Galaxies all await Nova in Book 5: Justice.