A Star-Wheeled Sky


Brad R. Torgersen - 2018
    The problem: there are a finite number of Waypoint nodes—and the burgeoning population of humans is hemmed in as a result. Furthermore, humanity is divided into contending Starstates. One of the strongest is based on an oligarchy ruling families, but still mostly democratic. The other is a totalitarian nightmare. War seems inevitable. Now a new Waypoint appears. Might it lead to the long-lost creators of the Waywork? If so, there may be knowledge and technology that will tip the balance in the coming war.  Three people race to make it to the new Waypoint—and beyond. These include Wyodreth Antagean, the reluctant son of an interstellar shipping magnate, Lady Garsina Oswight, the daring daughter of a royal family, and Zuri Mikton, a disgraced flag officer seeking redemption. They are facing an implacable foe in Golsubril Vex, a merciless, but highly effective, autocrat from the Waywork’s most brutal regime. Vex is determined to control the new Waypoint and whatever revelation or power lies on the other side.  Now humanity’s fate—to live in freedom or endless dictatorship—depends on just what that revelation might be.  And who gets there first. About A Star-Wheeled Sky: “. . . offers a fresh take on interstellar conflict. . . .Torgersen provides a fast-paced, exciting adventure, pitting two determined and capable opponents against each other. . . . marvelous science fiction entertainment.”—Daily News of Galveston County About Chaplain's War: "Torgersen mixes the spiritual aspects of the book with subtlety, integrating questions about God and faith into the story organically. The result is thought provoking questions arising as part of an entertaining story . . . Torgersen [also] doesn't shy away from conflict, violence, or space battles."—Futures Past and Present "Solid hard SF with the frisson of well thought through action. Much to enjoy!"—Gregory Benford, multiple Nebula award-winning creator of the Galactic Center saga About Brad R. Torgersen: "Brad Torgersen can write something technical and complex, yet still give it real emotional depth. He's one of the most talented authors I've ever read."—Larry Correia "Brad R. Torgersen shows why he's going to be a power in this field for years to come."—Mike Resnick "Brad Torgersen is a writer who's done a lot and come up the hard way... and the depth of his writing shows it, especially in understanding the nuts and bolts of technology and the souls of those who use it." —L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

Lord of Janissaries


Jerry Pournelle - 2015
    A modern soldier is transported by aliens to a world filled with warriors through the ages including medieval knights, Roman soldiers. His task: survival.JanissariesSome days it just didn't pay to be a soldier. Captain Rick Galloway and his men had been talked into volunteering for a dangeorus mission--only to be ruthlessly abandoned when faceless CIA higher-ups pulled the plug on the operation. They were cut off in hostile teritory, with local troops and their Cuban "advisors" rapidly closing in. And then the alien spaceship landed...Clan and Crown and Storms of VictoryHe didn't want to conquer the world. He had to. Captain Rick Galloway, formerly of the US Army, more recently a mercenary commander, was now Lord Rick on the planet Tran. Rescued by an alien spaceship from certain death when a mercenary assignment went sour, he and his men were dropped on a world distant from Earth, but inhabited by humans transplanted in the past from medieval Europe, from Imperial Rome, and from other now-vanished nations.Now the time of the Demon Star approaches, whose close approach and fierce heat will render much of Tran uninhabitable. To survive this fiery apocalypse, the warring nations of Tran must be united. Lord Rick doesn't want to conquer the world, but the alternative is certain extinction!At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).About Janissaries:"On the cover... is the clain 'No. 1 Adventure Novel of the Year.' And well it might be." - Milwaukee JournalJerry Pournelle is a reigning master of military science fiction, author of the series of novels about John Christian Falkenberg and his legion of interstellar mercenaries, and many other works, such as Janissaries, Exiles to Glory, High Justice, King David's Spaceship, Starswarm, and others. With Larry Niven he has collaborated on a string of bestselling novels, including Lucifer's Hammer, The Mote in God's Eye, Footfall, and many more. He holds advanced degrees in psychology, statistics, engineering, and political science, and has been involved professionally in all these fields. He and his wife live in Los Angeles.Roland J. Green has worked as a full-time writer and reviewer since he sold his first novel, Wandor's Ride, in 1973. Green's most prominent works are his military action adventures of the future, including the Starcruiser Shenandoah series, the Peace Company series, and Voyage to Eneh (2003). He is the coauthor of Tran with Jerry Pournelle.

Going Interstellar


Les JohnsonMike Resnick - 2012
    It may be that we have to get out of Dodge before the lights go out on Earth.  How can we accomplish this? Wonderful questions.  Now get ready for some answers.  Here is the science behind interstellar propulsion: reports from top tier scientists and engineers on starflight propulsion techniques that use only means and methods that we currently know are scientifically possible. Here are in-depth essays on antimatter containment, solar sails, and fusion propulsion. And the human consequences?  Here is speculation by a magnificent array of award-winning SF writers on what an interstellar voyage might look like, might feel like—might be like.  It’s an all-star cast abounding with Hugo and Nebula award winners: Ben Bova, Mike Resnick, Jack McDevitt, Michael Bishop, Sarah Hoyt and more. Comprehensive Teacher's Guide available.

Shooting the Rift


Alex Stewart - 2016
    Space opera with a bang, as a young castout is caught up in an interstellar war.DISOWNED IN A HARSH GALAXYCast out by his family and exiled from the Rimward Commonwealth, Simon Forrester must make a new life for himself as an apprentice to the powerful Commerce Guild. But others aboard the merchant vessel Stacked Deck have a hidden agenda that might lead directly to interstellar war. Now with rising tensions between the Commonwealth and the neighboring League of Democracies threatening to erupt into open war, Simon finds himself forced to choose between old and new loyalties, with the fate of an empire at stake!

One Day on Mars


Travis S. Taylor - 2007
    The formerly red planet--now in danger of again becoming red, "blood" red--would never be the same, nor would the human race. It was one day that changed the course of history for the Solar System, raging from hand-to-hand combat to piloted armored mecha suits clashing to an enormous space battle, with dedicated heroes on both sides of the conflict wondering if they were doing the right thing--and if they would live to see another day. And wondering, as well, if the spark of this new war, that would eventually reach across whole star systems, would bring them peace One Day on Mars.

Dark Victory: A Novel of Alien Resistance


Brendan DuBois - 2016
    From two time Shamus Award winner Brendan DuBois comes a terrifying and original tale of a world populated mostly by teens, who are fighting to save their lives . . . and the future of planet Earth.A decade ago, the alien Creepers came to Earth, dropping asteroids to drown our coastal cities, detonating nuclear weapons overhead to destroy our communications, power and computer systems, and to set up their network of killer stealth satellites to kill anything on our planet that used modern technology. In a matter of days, Earth was driven back to a nineteenth century existence. Then the war really began, as the Creepers descended and set up domed bases that were impervious to everything save a nuclear bomb.For ten years then, the battered and surviving members of humanity have fought against the Creepers and their mechanized exoskeletons, until something unexpected has happened: a chance for victory. Sixteen-year-old Randy Knox has the usual problems of a teenage boy: getting along with his father, dating his sweetheart, and trying not to fail his junior year of high school. But Randy also has other demands on his time, as a sergeant in the N.H. National Guard, attached to the U.S. Army, and fighting the invading Creepers. Randy has dim memories of a time of electric lights, laptop computers, television screens and above all, plenty of food at every meal. On his twelfth birthday, he enlisted in the Army to carry on the fight, since most of the world’s adults have been killed off and it’s up to the younger generations to serve. But now, as a veteran of the Creeper war and with his K-9 partner Thor, Randy has learned to focus on the essentials: the best way to kill a Creeper, scrounge through abandoned buildings for old canned goods, and to avoid being turned into “barbecue bait.” He has earned the Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts, and the Combat Infantryman Badge. Endless war is all he knows. But now change has drastically come to his life. The current President of the United States has announced that scattered remnants of the Air Force have destroyed the Creeper’s Orbital Base, ensuring victory over the alien invaders. Those surviving Creepers on the Earth’s surface will be hunted down and exterminated, as a weary and wary population celebrates victory. Yet Randy is assigned a new mission: to escort a secret representative from the Governor of New Hampshire to the nation’s capital, to meet with the President. And at the last moment, a fellow teen soldier—the beautiful Serena Coulson and her mute younger brother Buddy—are assigned to join Randy. This secretive mission proves to be the most dangerous assignment of his life, as Randy tries to protect his charges from rampaging Creepers and criminal humans. And as he fights to reach the capitol with a vital mission, Randy learns that all of his skills in combating aliens may not be enough to survive the dark conspiracies of his fellow humans.

A Liaden Universe Constellation: Volume 1


Sharon Lee - 2013
    Seventeen short tales of the Liaden Universe® brought together for the first time. Space opera and romance on a grand scale in a galaxy full of interstellar trading clans. The nationally best-selling Liaden Universe® novels are treasured by space opera aficionados for their wit, world-building, strong characterizations, tender romance, and edge-of-the-chair action.Since 1995, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller also created shorter tales, illuminating additional facets of the Liaden experience. Here is a vast tapestry of tales of the scouts, artists, traders, priestesses, sleight of hand magicians, andpilots who fill the Liaden Universe® with the excitement, action, and romance that readers of the hit series have come to adore.Contents:To cut an edge --A day at the races --Where the goddess sends --A spell for the lost --Moonphase --Pilot of Korval --Breatha's duty --The wine of memory --Certain symmetry --Balance of trade --A choice of weapons --Changeling --A matter of dreams --Phoenix --Naratha's shadow --Heirloom --Sweet waters --

Guardian of Night


Tony Daniel - 2012
    A Sci-Fi novel of Earth versus the strongest power in the Galaxy.

Redliners


David Drake - 1996
    They had too many screaming memories to be fit for combat again, but they were far too dangerous to themselves and others to be returned to civilian life.The bureaucracy that administered human affairs arranged a final mission with the same ruthless efficiency as it conducted the war against the Kalendru. C41 would guard a colony being sent to a hell planet. If the troops succeeded, they might be ready to return to human society.When the mission went horribly wrong, Art Farrell and his troops found their lives on the line as never before, protecting civilians to whom bureaucratic injustice was a new experience. And there was one more thing...A story of soldiers and civilians,of hope and, possibly, redemption.

Rats, Bats & Vats


Dave Freer - 2000
    Rats with human speech, but with rat priorities: sex, food and strong drink. And the bats were revolutionaries planning to throw off the human yoke -- with high explosive. Then there was the girl they'd rescued. Rich. Beautiful. With a passionate crush on her "heroic" rescuer. Her entourage was a screwball Alien tutor, and a cyber-uplifted lemurlike pet galago with delusions of being the world's greatest lover. Of course things only got worse. Seven rats, five bats, a galago, two humans, a sea-urchin-like alien and an elderly vineyard tractor without brakes...against several million inimical aliens. He was going to die. Mind you, not dying could be even more terrible. That girl might get him.

Treasure Planet


Hal Colebatch - 2014
    “Ah, the wealth o’ the treasure planet be beyond the dreams of Man or the hopes o’ Kzin!” On Wunderland, a generation after Liberation, memories of the bloody kzin conquest and Occupation have faded, and men and kzin live largely in peace. But the fabulous treasure of the kzin pirates, hidden on a distant world, remains a magnet for freebooters. Young Peter Cartwright and his kzinrett friend Marthar receive information and map from a most unlikely source and soon themselves fighting the most ruthless pirates in Known Space for an unimaginable prize.About the Man-Kzin War Series:“[The Man-Kzin Wars series is] excellent . . .gripping . . .and expands well on Larry Niven’s universe. . . .” –Locus

Grand Central Arena


Ryk E. Spoor - 2010
    But when the Sandrisson Drive activated, every automated system crashed, the nuclear reactor itself shut down, and only the reflexes and training of a racing pilot saved the test vessel Holy Grail from crashing into the impossible wall that had appeared before them, a wall which is just part of a monstrous enclosure surrounding a space twenty thousand kilometers across. With all artificial intelligences inert and their reactor dead, they had to find some other source of power to reactivate the Sandrisson Drive and—hopefully—take them home.            And that was only the beginning. As Ariane, Dr. Simon Sandrisson, darkly enigmatic power engineer Marc C. DuQuesne, and the rest of the Holy Grail's crew explore the immense artifact, they discover that they are not alone; they have entered a place the alien inhabitants call “The Arena,” and there is no way out without joining one of the alien factions . . . or winning recognition as a faction in their own right, playing by the Arena's rules – and by the Arena's rules, one failed challenge could mean death or worse – perhaps for the entire human race.            Surrounded by alien factions, each with its own secret plans and motivations, some wielding powers so strange as to be magical, Ariane sets out to beat the Arena at its own game. With DuQuesne's strategies, Sandrisson's genius, and her own unyielding determination, she's going to bring the Holy Grail home – even if she has to beat every faction in the Arena to do it!

More Than Honor


David Weber - 1998
    Weber is joined in Honor's universe by two leading science fiction writers, David Drake and S.M. Stirling.

The Mammoth Book of SF Wars


Ian Watson - 2012
    So what will future wars be like? And what will cause them: religion, politics, resources, refugees, or advanced weaponry itself? Watson and Whates present a collection of gripping SF stories which explores a daunting gamut of possible future conflicts: nuclear tactics and enhanced soldiery, terrorism and cyberware, intelligent robotic machines and even war with aliens.

Interstellar Patrol


Christopher Anvil - 2003
    They had their own invention with them-an emotional amplifier, which could cause anyone to feel a heightened emotion, but this wasn't useful at first. If they heightened the locals' sense of pride, they took pride in becoming better criminals. So they pretended to be the Royal Legions, sent by a distant star kingdom in pursuit of an all-powerful villain who was hiding on the planet. Things were going better than they could have hoped, and the planet was rapidly becoming civilized . . . and then the real Royal flagship showed up. They thought they were doomed-but instead they were told they had shown just the type of initiative and intelligence that the new arrivals were looking for. So they were inducted into the Interstellar Patrol. And that was just the beginning. . . .