Science Fiction War

William Mandella is a soldier in Earth's elite brigade. As the war against the Taurans sends him from galaxy to galaxy, he learns to use protective body shells and sophisticated weapons. He adapts to the cultures and terrains of distant outposts. But with each month in space, years are passing on Earth. Where will he call home when (and if) the Forever War ends?

With The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 3, award-winning editor Neil Clarke provides a year-in-review and 27 of the best stories published by both new and established authors in 2017.

Shining Smith and her crew have obtained the weapons they need to rescue one of their own from the grips of their mortal enemy, Clarisse Warhammer. But to mount an assault on her fortified bunker, they have to cobble together an army of fighters. That could be the biggest battle of them all. Shining will need to step back into the biker world she left behind to broker an uneasy peace, then lead rival factions into a certain death trap.

The Emperor's vision of mankind ascendant lies in tatters. The Great Crusade is naught but a fading memory. The dream of Unity is no more. But with Horus's rebellion spreading to every corner of the Imperium and war engulfing new worlds and systems almost daily, there are some who now ask: were the signs there to be seen all along?

First published by H. G. Wells in 1898, The War of the Worlds is the granddaddy of all alien invasion stories. The novel begins ominously, as the lone voice of a narrator intones, "No one would have believed in the last years of the 19th century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's."

In the midst of war, love might be the deadliest weapon of all. For ten long years, Angels and Demons have waged a brutal war, with one man standing between the Demons and total annihilation: Rokath, the cruel and merciless general feared for his power to raise the dead. A prophecy whispers of a woman with eyes of devious burgundy who will shift the balance of power, but Rokath has plans of his own. After a deadly plague wipes out millions of Demons across the realm, Rokath issues an unforgiving command—every family must send one male to the front or face being put to the sword.

In the wake of a crushing defeat, Tisaanah and Maxatarius have been ripped apart. Tisaanah is desperate to rescue Max from his imprisonment, even as her people's fight for freedom grows more treacherous. But within the walls of Ilyzath, Max's mind is a shadow of what it once was . . . leaving his past a mystery and his future at the mercy of Ara's new, ruthless queen. Meanwhile, in the Fey lands, Aefe has been dragged back into this world by a king who vows to destroy civilizations in her name. But even as her past returns to claim her, her former self is a stranger.

You'd think being isekai'd to a new existence would be fun, especially when you find out you're the lord of a new kingdom. Except this kingdom is at war, and the stakes are the fate of humanity. Now, Matt’s going to have to figure out how to rule a Magic Kingdom at War, with magical elemental creatures, buildings that form out of the very fabric of reality and Heroes at his command against a never-ending horde of monsters. Not the reincarnation that he expected, but it's still better than working in an office cubicle.

1983. The US nuclear submarine USS Roanoke embarks on a classified spy mission into Soviet waters. Their goal: to find evidence of a new, faster, and deadlier Soviet submarine that could tip the balance of the Cold War. But the Roanoke crew isn't alone. Something is on board with them. Something cunning and malevolent. Trapped in enemy territory and hunted by Soviet submarines, tensions escalate and crew members turn on each other. When the lights go out and horror fills the corridors, it will take everything the crew has to survive the menace.

Performed by the voice of The Witcher audiobooks, the incomparable Peter Kenny, the Kingdom War series weaves a tale of magic, mystery, intrigue, and hope as the courageous few fight for their world's survival.

Fleeing a life of abuse, Sheri climbs aboard a mail-order-mate spaceship bound for a distant station but never arrives.... Fate intervenes, and her trip takes a quick, deadly turn when she crashes on the planet Atera. She's surrounded by endless sand dunes, dangerous creatures, and alien beings that remind her of Earth lizards. But one particular lizard hardly leaves her thoughts - a sexy, two-legged, muscular male bent on protecting and caring for her at all costs.

Tisaanah bargained away her own freedom to save those she left behind in slavery. Now, bound by her blood pact, she must fight the Orders' war—and Max is determined to protect her at all costs. But when a betrayal tears apart Ara, Max and Tisaanah are pushed into an even bloodier conflict. Tisaanah must gamble with Reshaye's power to claim an impossible victory. And Max, forced into leadership, must confront everything he hoped to forget: his past, and his own mysterious magic. All the while, darker forces loom—far darker, even, than the Orders' secrets.

Isabelle could hardly wait until she graduated from high school. The plan was to run away from her unhappy home and start a new life, but she ended up a slave to a monster. Warlord Lufar spent over 20 years looking for the right female, and he finally found her in the most unexpected of places - in his dreams. His "Female of the Mist", as he had named her, met him every night in his dreams and begged him to help her. His heart told him that she was the one he had been searching for and he knew she was in danger.

Cass Saélihn isn't some defenseless damsel sitting on her ass and waiting for her hot, alpha males to rescue her. She won't accept the fate of being in another cage. Even though the torque on her neck binds her, rendering her powerless. She won't allow Ares and Apollo to sever her mating bond to her beloved mates, no matter how they seduce, threaten, or torture her.

His academy razed to the ground, Arik barely survives a deathly fall out of a cliffside window and a vicious attack by winged wolves. Imprisoned by slave traders, battered and bruised, Arik decides to fight back or die trying. He escapes and joins forces with an irritable water spirit, one who can guide him through new lands. Together, they head to the realm of the enemy in search of answers and revenge. But Arik will need more than a powerful companion to stop the advance of the nefarious Crimson Realm.

From BSFA award-winning author Gareth L. Powell comes the first in a new epic sci-fi trilogy exploring the legacies of war. The sentient warship Trouble Dog was built for violence, yet following a brutal war, she is disgusted by her role in a genocide. Stripped of her weaponry and seeking to atone, she joins the House of Reclamation, an organization dedicated to rescuing ships in distress. When a civilian ship goes missing in a disputed system, Trouble Dog and her new crew of loners, captained by Sal Konstanz, are sent on a rescue mission.

The final and most personal work from Pulitzer Prize - winning author and historian Will Durant - discovered 32 years after his death - is a message of insight for everyone who has sought meaning in life or the council of a wise friend in navigating life's journey. From 1968 to 1978, Will Durant made four public allusions to the existence of Fallen Leaves. One, in 1975, hinted at its contents: "a not very serious book that answers the questions of what I think about government, life, death, and God."

On a mountainside at the edge of the Kaigenese Empire live the most powerful warriors in the world, superhumans capable of raising the sea and wielding blades of ice. For hundreds of years, the fighters of the Kusanagi Peninsula have held the Empire's enemies at bay, earning their frozen spit of land the name "The Sword of Kaigen". Born into Kusanagi's legendary Matsuda family, f14-year-old Mamoru has always known his purpose: To master his family's fighting techniques and defend his homeland.

The monstrous Carryx empire was built by subjugation and war. Thousands of species are bound to their Sovran’s command in an endless, blood-soaked test: be useful in the eternal conflict or be slaughtered. Dafyd Alkhor, highest among their human captives, is feared and despised by the very people he champions. Ruthless in carving out his niche in the eternal war machine of the empire, he will reshape human nature itself as a tool for their alien masters’ use. But Dafyd’s loyalty is not what it seems.

For a decade, peace has reigned in interstellar space. A tripartite agreement between the Colonial Union, the Earth, and the alien Conclave has kept the forces of war at bay, even when some would have preferred to return to the fighting and struggle of former times. For now, more sensible heads have prevailed – and have even championed unity. But now, there is a new force that threatens the hard-maintained peace: The Consu, the most advanced intelligent species humans have ever met, are on the cusp of a species-defining civil war.