Science Fiction War

Lusam grew up in the relative safety of the Elveen mountains with his grandmother. She taught him the basics of magic and discovered, quite by accident, that he possessed a unique skill never seen before: the ability to hide his magical aura from the mage-sight of others. Dark secrets surround Lusam's origins, and the dark agents of the Empire will stop at nothing to kill Lusam.

At long last, humanity has moved beyond Earth and begun seeding new worlds. Colonies extend across the solar system, from Luna to Mars to Saturn's satellite Titan. Even Jupiter's moon Europa has become home to a couple thousand brave souls willing to risk their lives adapting to its frozen and deadly landscape.

From the thrilling Ember War story arc, the epic sci-fi adventure continues with Ember War Pathfinders. Light the Way: When a mysterious gate is found on an ancient planet, the Pathfinders are called in to light the way into the mysterious dimension it holds. Lieutenant Karl Anderson leads his crack team on a mission to a mysterious world, and what awaits them is an alien menace beyond anything they’ve ever encountered before.... Belisarius: The greatest disaster in Pathfinder history. What happened to the crew of the starship Belisarius?

At the close of the 24th century, a series of revolutions has caused the galaxy to descend into chaos. With the Galactic Union’s army stretched thin, mercenary units have arisen for those who have the need - and the means - to hire them. Captained by former Detached Guerrilla Forces Colonel R. A. "Rags" Cutter, the Cutter Force Initiative is one of the best. A specialized team consisting of both aliens and humans, the Cutters offer services ranging from combat training and protection to extraction and assassination - as long as the target deserves it and their employer makes good on payday.

At a time when Humans were just starting to venture forth into the Galactic Union as mercenaries, Martin Quincy survived long enough to do something no one else had - he retired. There was only one problem: He got bored. After battling aliens for many years - killing aliens and getting paid - retirement didn’t suit him, and he decided to strap on the combat armor and go back to the stars. Along with his old friend Kal, Martin joined Cartwright’s Cavaliers, humanity’s best merc company. Life was exciting! But he got bored. Again.

After the arrival of the multiversal monopoly BuyMort, life got brutal. All systems were through BuyMort. All currency was through BuyMort. All sales were through BuyMort. You could resist, you could compete, but it didn’t really matter because in the end you used BuyMort—or you perished. BuyMort be praised. But not everyone’s happy with the new system. Some, even, want to see it destroyed. It’s quick. It’s convenient. And it will help people kill you and your family as readily as it will help them sell you knickknacks for a quick mortie.

The city of Kingspass burns and Calen Bryer’s world has been shaken to its core. With Valerys at his side, Calen must battle his demons and push forward. There are people who need him, people who need what he must become, and he will not let them stand alone. In Loria, Ella struggles to understand the ancient power that flows through her veins. The world is changing around her, and she is changing with it. Her journey has only just begun.

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.

With my clan threatened, I don’t have time for romance with a pesky Earth female. Until I meet Piper. She and her youngling son are part of our planet’s new settlement. Soon, I find myself helping her plan her home and talking about odd Earthling activities. What is a square dance, and must I do it? She’s soft and lush in all the right places, and I could pick her up and carry her around with one arm. And her son…I ache to show him how to tame a mighty winged trundier. Piper may say she doesn’t need love, but I'll do whatever it takes to win her heart.

The best of the year's science fiction and fantasy stories as selected by the multiple award-winning editor Jonathan Strahan. Distant worlds, time travel, epic adventure, unseen wonders, and much more! The best, most original and brightest science fiction and fantasy stories from around the globe from the past 12 months are brought together in one collection by multiple award winning editor Jonathan Strahan.

When a Republic spy goes missing on the Moons of Varl, the Jedi Council asks Obi-Wan and Anakin to infiltrate an underground podracing circuit run by a crime boss believed to be holding the spy prisoner. With Anakin posing as a hotshot racer and Obi-Wan as his attendant, tensions between the two threaten to run even higher than usual. But when Obi-Wan is forced to leave Varl, Anakin is on his own as he faces a series of increasingly treacherous races that will determine his fate—and that of the spy.

New research has uncovered deeply buried military secrets—both the Allied and Axis special operations during WWII included monsters. Did the Soviets use a dragon to win the Battle of Kursk? Did a vampire fight for the Canadians in Holland? Did the US drop the second atomic bomb on a kaiju? This collection takes real events from World War II and injects them with fantastical creatures that mirror the “unreality” of war itself. Each story—and two poems—feature mythical, mystical, and otherwise unexplainable beings that change the course of history.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

A collection of the year’s best science fiction and fantasy short fiction selected by New York Times bestselling author of the Silo series Hugh Howey and series editor John Joseph Adams. “These are dangerous stories. The kind that warp reality and threaten to change the world” warns...