Epic Space Fantasy

We hide in shadows. Our planet is lost. We are the last humans, and we must go home. Two thousand years ago, aliens destroyed Earth. Our fleets shattered. Billions died. The last humans fled a burning planet, heading to the stars. Today we are still refugees. Hungry. Afraid. Our enemies hunt us everywhere. So we hide. On distant asteroids. In rundown space stations. In deep caves on frozen worlds. And we dream. Of green hills. Blue skies. Golden fields. We dream of Earth. And for the first time, we have hope.

An unabridged audio collection spotlighting the "best of the best" hard science fiction stories published in 2016 by current and emerging masters of the genre, edited by Allan Kaster, as narrated by top voice talents.

Vesta Colony has a problem: Aliens are snatching men until they disappear for good. Humanity's defensive forces are stretched too thin to help a distant outpost, and so, the desperate founders, as well as their investors, are given the bad option of recruiting the worst while bribing the rest.

Sul pianeta sbagliato, ma al momento giusto e per le ragioni migliori, Hadrian Marlowe intraprende una strada che non può che finire nel sangue. Fuggendo dal padre e da un futuro come torturatore, si ritrova bloccato su un mondo arretrato e bizzarro. Costretto a combattere come gladiatore e a destreggiarsi fra gli intrighi di una corte planetaria straniera, viene coinvolto in una guerra che non ha iniziato lui, per un Impero che non ama, contro un nemico che non potrà mai capire.

As Cluster opens, the alien envoy Pnotl of Sphere Knyfh seeks help from Sphere Sol in a shared galactic-level crisis: Galaxy Andromeda has discovered the secret of energy transfer and intends to use it to steal the basic energy of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Knyfh offers the secret of aura transfer on the understanding that Sphere Sol will spread the technology to help create a galactic coalition to find and defeat agents of Andromeda.

CONTENTS: Introduction; I Just Make Them Up, See; Someday; The Feeling of Power; Living Space; Satisfaction Guaranteed; The Last Question; Jokester; The Immortal Bard; Spell My Name With an "S"; The Ugly Little...

Captain Nathan Scott must decide whether to stand and fight to the end, or live to fight another day - even if it means the end of his world.

Paladins are supposed to exist in stories and games, right? That’s what galactic space smuggler Guy Sutherland thought, too. Now he’s a Paladin. It started when he held an ancient sword, brimming with strange magic. Things got weird after that, like stat screens listing his nifty skills and attributes. The planet of Faeheim is undergoing the same change. A wave of energy is changing the world, assigning classes and levels to the fae, turning animals into monsters, and spurring the empire to commit multiple atrocities.

Fate had made Owen Deathstalker a rebel hero in an empire choked by tyranny. Embracing his warrior lineage for the sake of freedom, he stoked the flames of revolution, gathering the forces that one day must strike against Imperial authority. That day has come. With his valiant compatriots Hazel d'Ark and Jack Random, Owen must now bring the uprising to a fiery conclusion.

After interstellar con man Rex Nihilo hijacks a cargo freighter on a whim, he decides that he, and his long-suffering robot sidekick Sasha, have found their calling as space pirates. But when the ship's cargo turns out to be a cryogenically frozen religious fanatic who holds the secret to a vast galactic conspiracy, Rex and Sasha find themselves on the run from real pirates - as well as agents of the oppressive Malarchy, crazy space cultists, and the Ursa Minor mafia. If Rex is going to get out of this jam alive, he might just have to save the galaxy - again.

Regan is back and has had enough of the war. Pushing himself and his forces, he works to put an end to the war that is raging on multiple fronts. At the same time, he sends his forces in the Beneath rumored to be home of the most powerful races on Murgin to find the missing Queen Louella. He quickly finds the Terra wave from Starfall had caused more of a mess than he originally thought, with the Beneath's political situation almost more of a mess than the surface.

For over 40 years, Glen Cook has been among the most well-known, influential, and widely respected authors in science fiction and fantasy. Through classic series such as The Black Company, Garrett P.I., the Dread Empire, Starfishers, Darkwar, and more, his gritty, down-to-earth style left an indelible impression on his listeners around the world, forever shifting the genre landscape and carving out his place as a pioneering icon.

Carina Lin grew up alone and friendless, a slum brat afraid of revealing her mage power. Her life changed when she was picked up by a merc band and taught how to kill. The band’s next mission is a doozy: rescue a kid taken hostage by one of the most powerful clans in the galactic sector. When Carina takes part, she finds she faces an impossible decision. To save the kid, she must cast, but if her secret gets out, she faces slavery and torture. She rolls the dice, opening possibilities she’d never dreamed of, but only if she survives the fallout.

Captain Hawk and his misfit crew discover the Empire’s sinister plot to invade Earth under the guise of false rebellion. Outgunned, outmatched, but never outsmarted, they rally to confront impossible odds. As Earth teeters on the brink of destruction, friendships will be tested, sacrifices demanded, and redemption sought amid the chaos of battle. Will the Starblade’s crew defy fate one more time, or is Earth doomed to fall to a merciless empire?

Deicide is one-part public service, one-part revenge . . . or at least that's why Lilith does it. An operative of the multiverse-spanning Eifni Organization, she travels to new worlds to clear out the local deities before they can eat everyone's souls. It's a tricky process, requiring advanced sociological science and an arsenal of tools weaponizing meaning itself. But a god once tried to eat her, and she's not one to easily forgive. When Lilith deploys to pre-industrial Theria, she finds their gods aren't willing to go quietly.

Stranded and drifting, Captain Xander Hawk and the battered Starblade face an impossible mission deep in enemy territory. With a failing ship held together by sheer determination, Hawk must rally his crew to strike a daring blow against the Kethorin Empire’s deadliest weapon yet: a planet-busting terror capable of wiping civilizations from existence.

In the last few months, Alex and his family have survived a rampaging alien attack and a murderous plot on behalf of the hardened criminal Lucius Serrano. Throughout that turmoil, the colony of Vesta has seen the return of peaceful days, but peace is an increasingly fleeting idea, especially when two representatives from the Directorate of Interstellar Research arrive in Vesta.

On the distant world of Cersi, Om'ray Aryl Sarc and her supporters have been exiled from the rest of their people. Finding refuge in the mountains, they work to rebuild the ruined village of Sona, even as they try to discover what happened to the original Sona Clan. But Sona has a history among all three of Cersi's races - a history that may soon threaten the future of Aryl's newly founded clan....

For Arthur, home isn't what it used to be. The threat his people are now obsessing about is gone, thanks to Merlin. And Arthur isn't the only one unhappy with their current assignment, which is partly based on the fact Merlin has vanished again. However, you should be careful what you wish for.

Michael Chatfield and Dawn Chapman present Book 5 of the Maraukian War series.