Hard Contact

Nearly 100,000 years after first contact with the machines that dominate the universe, only a few hundred humans survive. Trapped on Snowglade, a barren world near the center of the galaxy, Killeen and his child, Toby, of the Bishop Tribe, are primitive scavengers, homeless and hunted by the ruling “mechs”. Then suddenly, a strange cosmic entity – neither organic nor cybernetic or living matter – reaches out from a black hole to speak with Killeen.

On a privately financed orbital habitat above the planet Uranus, political idealism conflicts with pragmatic - and illegal - methods of financing. Add a scientist who has funding to launch a probe deep into Uranus‘ ocean depths to search for signs of life, and you have a three-way struggle for control. Humans can’t live on the gas giants, making instead a life in orbit. Kyle Umber, a religious idealist, has built Haven, a sanctuary above the distant planet Uranus.

A civilization-destroying omega cloud has switched direction, heading straight for a previously unexplored planetary system--and its alien society. And suddenly, a handful of brave humans must try to save an entire world--without revealing their existence.

Now the planet faces a brutal alien conquest. The Spirit of Destiny lies wrecked on the moon On Earth, the crew of the alien behemoth Lightbringer spread destruction across a planet racked by conflict. But Jack and his fellow survivors of the Europa mission, trapped in Earth's ramshackle little moon colony, haven't given up. Exposed to the constant threat of attack, they come up with a perilous plan to return to Earth and fight the aliens.

Bearing Earth's hopes for deliverance from the alien threat, Jack Kildare and his fellow astronauts successfully complete the long journey to Jupiter. But someone on board is trying to sabotage the mission. As they approach the mysterious alien spaceship orbiting Europa, the crew fractures into rival factions. Without warning, a long-range attack cripples the human ship. Now the broken crew is the least of Jack's worries. The alien spaceship isn't a wreck, after all. And whoever is on board wants the humans dead.

Reports of a strange, new habitable world have reached the 20 Planets of human civilization. When a team of scientists is assembled to investigate, exoethnologist Sara Callicot is recruited to keep an eye on an unstable crewmate. Thora was once a member of the interplanetary elite, but since her prophetic delusions helped mobilize a revolt on Orem, she's been banished to the farthest reaches of space to minimize the risk her very presence may pose.

Kelvoo is overcome with wonder at the arrival of the humans. With flawless memories and innate curiosity, Kelvoo’s community embraces the benevolent humans and their knowledge of the boundless universe beyond the cloud-covered sky. After the departure of the first contact mission, an unscrupulous human lands in Kelvoo’s village, inviting Kelvoo and eight others to join a “goodwill mission” to faraway worlds. Lured into a trap and enslaved by an outlaw gang, Kelvoo’s group is forced to participate in an interstellar crime spree, and subjected to the worst of human nature.

Two humans and a robot on their own in the Alpha Centauri system: Marchenko, Adam and Eve have found asylum on a planet inhabited by aliens. They could spend the rest of their lives here in peace. But apparently there are many more people who, like them, have been sent to alien systems without a return ticket and without being asked - castaways with uncertain fates who need their help. Their alien rescuers generously offer to take them on a search in one of their spaceships.

Los Angeles lies in ruins. While the city is sealed off to contain an unknown contamination, the survivors battle strange anomalies under the toxic dust cloud. Among the survivors are Lee and Branson. The astronaut must find a way out in order not to miss his flight to Cassandra, and the captain is faced with a terrible truth that he can no longer deny.

Humanity's future has been disrupted and shaped by the mysterious alien Jackaroo. We spread to the planets they gave us, and we discovered the ruins of a dozen previous civilisations. All previous clients of the Jackaroo, all dead. So far we have escaped that fate - but we have also escaped from the Jackaroos' planets and begun to explore the galaxy. The discovery of ancient spaceships and the unlocking of their mysteries has led to a new way of life. But humanity's failings and conflicts are always with us.

How did our long-lost ancestors affect our past? More importantly, how will they affect our future? Mark and Julie are brilliant scientists and Major Reagan has kept them and others alive to this point, but the most dangerous confrontations will not be with the Noridians, it will be with the Lower Houses of The Accord. Destiny is a thought-provoking journey that will cause you to inspect your basic values.

Three days have passed since the Xenos spaceship departed Earth, and Emissary Lee Ping moved to the virtual world of Planet Asbeth. But even as normalcy returns, a new threat emerges. Alien marauders have intercepted critical supplies required to complete the shield. From bestselling author D. Ward Cornell comes a tale of two worlds bound by a mutual adversary.

The aliens are here. And they want to help. The extraordinary new project from one of the country's most acclaimed and consistently brilliant SF novelists of the last 30 years. The Jackaroo have given humanity 15 worlds and the means to reach them. They're a chance to start over, but they're also littered with ruins and artifacts left by the Jackaroos' previous clients.

Finally reunited on an advanced, alternate Earth where the mighty Roman Empire never died, James, Hannah, and Wolf now stand at the precipice of an interdimensional war threatening to obliterate everything they've fought to protect. As the fabric of existence continues to unravel, unleashing anomalous storms and creating rifts large enough for unstoppable warships to traverse, the trio must find a way to repel a superior force bent on conquest.

The potential impact of runaway climate-change has long been grossly underestimated. The world is rapidly approaching an existential crisis—the Anthropogenic Extinction—the sixth annihilation of Earth-bound species since life first appeared 3.5 billion years ago. Assisted by teammates Eric Evans and Bella Moreno, and Thay Tuan, the team’s consigliere, Luc Ponti, now an astrophysicist at MIT, succeeds in creating a stabilized micro-wormhole, which is launched by NASA into high-Earth orbit and used as a means to contact intelligent life on exoplanets well within the “Goldilocks” zone.

A crime novel that's perfect for fans of Peter James or Peter Robinson. If you look him in the eye, you're dead. From the outside, Robert Naysmith is a successful businessman, handsome and charming. But for years he's been playing a deadly game. He doesn't choose his victims. Each is selected at random - the first person to make eye contact after he begins 'the game' will not have long to live. Their fate is sealed.

In the distant future, humanity is still alone among the stars. War ravages the superpowers of the planet in a seemingly never-ending conflict. Technological advancements to aid both sides of the war has pushed humans into the stars, in an effort for resources and colonization. The United Federation of Nations chose four planets for colonization, three were successful. During colonization, they discovered an ancient technology: the hyper-drive. Humanity had instant and unlimited access to its colonies, but the war continued to ravage.

Rick and his crew live on the edge of Earth Corps space, where the law is what you make it and the taxman doth fear to tread. While a war rages, he salvages its wreckage, profiteering from the misery of others. Despite his plan to sit it out from the sidelines and fill his pockets, Rick is drawn into a galactic conflict. When an alien armada is set to crash down upon Sol, he has to choose between cold hard cash or his conscience.

What would intelligent life—forms on another planet look like? Would they walk upright? Would they wear clothes? Or would they be hulking creatures on six legs that wallow in their own excrement? Upon first contact with the Utod—intelligent, pacifist beings who feel no pain—mankind instantly views these aliens as animals because of their unhygienic customs. This leads to the slaughter, capture, and dissection of the Utod. But when one explorer recognizes the intelligence behind their habits, he must reevaluate what it actually means to be "intelligent."

This boxed set contains 3 complete science-fiction novels. This is science-fiction at its best - future engineering, intrigue, first contact. It’s a space opera like none you’ve experienced before. The audiobooks will keep you listening late into the night, and you won't be able to stop....