Epic Space Opera

With a diverse selection of stories chosen by series editor John Joseph Adams and guest editor Rebecca Roanhorse, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2022 explores the ever-expanding and changing world of contemporary science fiction and fantasy.

Eighteen-year-old recluse Sam van Oen lives with his aunt near Charleston, South Carolina. He takes online college courses, works in technical support, and tries not to remember the freak storm that killed his parents 10 years ago. But never leaving the house fuels his anxiety, and his hoarding brings up memories he doesn’t want to have.

Hailed as Star Wars meets Dungeons and Dragons, Space Knight is set in a galaxy of impending darkness. The quest for answers pulls our alcoholic hero through all edges of the multiverse. In a mix of chaos theory and full throttle emotion, our Jacob encounters classic monsters, love, loss, new acquaintances, and old friends along the way.

Michael Hollister killed his father 88 times to avenge the dark acts visited upon him. When he was sent to Hartfield Academy, he adopted an entirely new family, including a brother, Max. Almost 40 years after he arrived at the academy, Michael and Max still live their quiet life where they shape boys into men and men into soldiers. A trip to the war memorials in Washington D.C. turns out to be too much for Max and he begins to fade. Max has always depended on Michael for everything, but in the end, who is really depending on who?

A magnificent combination of space opera and epic fantasy quest in the beloved science fantasy tradition of Andre Norton and C. J. Cherryh, author Jo Clayton’s masterful Diadem Saga begins with an unforgettable tale of destiny, self-discovery, survival, and an extraordinary young woman’s coming of age in a world that is not her own.

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.

Chaining the Lady is the second Cluster book. Melody, a product of Flint and the Andromedan's mating in Cluster, must save the Milky Way Galaxy and create a place where creatures can transfer without limitations. Melody must survive in worlds unknown and alien to her, and she does that where others fail when her aura augments her skills and abilities.

Their work complete, Kyle and his guild leave Tolsa. The rebellion against Arndale is spreading, the economy is destroyed. They took everyone with them when they fled the doomed world, including their new allies the M-Wolves. Kyle wants to begin his final missions: rescue his familiar, meet Motaki’s mech challenge, and save the Denti homeworld. Yet, Kyle is nowhere near ready, and he knows it. They must upgrade and train every possible second, or everything will be lost. Arndale has other plans, and attacks the orphans on Cinna forcing Kyle to reverse course.

Near the border between two kingdoms, a vessel full of innocent passengers is destroyed. While the extent of the impending retaliation is unknown, its inevitability is not. Galactic war is approaching. In a seedy bar in a distant corner of the solar system, a knight clad entirely in green armor puts forth a grisly challenge. The only person to accept the knight’s game is a woman who spends her time drinking and thieving. These two acts, occurring in different parts of the galaxy, both lead to the same spot: The planet that will soon fall under attack.

As the mysterious signal coming from the waystations counts down, only one thing is for certain: something is coming, and if the fractured factions of the galaxy can’t find a way to stand against it together, it may be the end for them all.

After the encounter with the merciless Ezeroc on Absalom Delta, Grace Gushiken and Nathan Chevell make a run for home. They have a new mission: to warn humanity. Aliens are real. And they are already among us. The crew of the free trader Tyche are hunted by men in black, fearsome fighters who share the Ezeroc’s powers. When the Tyche lands on Earth the ship’s placed on lockdown. Her crew are scattered and on the run. Without their ship or friends, Grace and Nate have no escape.

Grace Gushiken is a grifter and a liar. Worse, she's an esper, an abhorrent creation of the Old Empire, on the run from the Republic's justice. Nathan Chevell captains the free trader Tyche. He's no pirate, but he's no white knight either. There’s no business in helping strays. Thrown together on a mission to the edge of space, they find the doomed planet Absalom Delta deserted, its people enslaved by the insect-like Ezeroc. The aliens have descended like locusts on humanity, consuming all in their path. No one is safe. Even the Republic Navy is powerless against them.

Rafe thought once he found all the artifacts, he'd finally understand, and the prophecy would set him free. Instead, he finds himself leading what remains of the Rhomanii clans into the far reaches of the unknown, looking for...he doesn't know what. But the pirate in him sure hopes it involves treasure. So much is riding on this gamble he's taking, and the voices in his head aren't helping matters. Compounding the problem? Not everybody wants him to succeed.

After narrowly escaping Aleron’s monster, Tashon is left with a connection to the fourth dimension that grants him new insights and grand visions. What he sees leads to the discovery of two living, intelligent species on Aethera. One believes in pacifism above all else, while the other thinks Aethera belongs to them alone.

Barcus is a working stiff looking for a good paycheck. When the Ventura and its crew enter orbit for a scheduled planet survey, the ship activates an automated defense system protecting the planet. Although the Ventura is destroyed in the attack, Barcus alone survives the harrowing fall to the remote planet surface. He struggles to remain alive and sane and to discover why everyone he knew and loved on the Ventura was deliberately murdered.

The populations on several worlds have discovered themselves to be but part of a galaxy filled with other sentients. Book 4 of the Galactic Mage series begins a new phase of existence for the people of those worlds, and it follows the lives of Altin and Orli, Roberto, Queen Karroll, Blue Fire, Shadesbreath, and, of course, Pernie as they begin to discover what roles they have in the redefined universe.

A small band of pilots fight against a seemingly unstoppable alien empire in this thrilling space opera. Commander Lanoe's skills made him a hero of the interplanetary civil war, but he was left with nothing except battle scars and painful memories. But now he faces the greatest threat mankind...

A tech soldier of the Intergalactic Empire is called upon to fight an army of orcs, trolls, ogres, and magic users in order to help a young boy regain his throne on Earth’s sister planet in the magic dimension. Wizard Scout Richard Shepard and his battle computer Nickelo find themselves teleported by a mysterious being known only as "the One" to the magical world of Portalis.

Boss, a loner, loved to dive derelict spacecraft adrift in the blackness of space...But one day, she found a ship that would change everything - an ancient Dignity Vessel - and aboard the ship, the mysterious and dangerous Stealth Tech. Now, years after discovering that first ship, Boss has put together a large company that finds Dignity Vessels and finds "loose" stealth technology. Following a hunch, Boss and her team come to investigate the city of Vaycehn, where 14 archeologists have died exploring the endless caves below the city.

Reasonspace is in shambles after the disappearance of all magical creatures. Without faster-than-light travel, supply and communication routes have dried up, leaving humankind stranded and starving. Cowboy Jim and his complement of Reason soldiers search for the relocated Bala using the only surviving FTL drive. On their new utopian planet, the Bala are on the brink of civil war between those who want peace under old-fashioned unicorn rule and those who seek revenge on their human oppressors. Only Captain Jenny and her brain parasite can stop the Reason plan to enslave the Bala again.