Space Exploration Fiction

Out among the stars, his cousin, Carter Yost, drags Van and his team into a criminal ring run by the High Doctor—a dangerous con artist with delusions of grandeur. Working from the abandoned world of Pathway, the High Doctor has created a cult, stealing a fortune from the fearful, sick, and scared. If there’s one thing Van hates, it’s a bully, and the High Doctor has his full attention. But in order to crush the criminal cult, Van needs bigger, better armor—and that comes with a price.

Awash with loss and surrounded by enemies, Van and his crew are faced with the same challenge Mark Tudor dealt with decades earlier. Does Van accept the crown and become a Master?

Contains books five and six of the Rise of the Ancient Gods series: Fury of the Ancient Gods and Fall of the Ancient Gods.

When Van gains rank as a Peacemaker, he becomes a bigger target for the criminals scattered among the stars. And he wouldn’t have it any other way. On a distant world under an alien sun, hunters and their companions—the Rovan—bond in a ritual as old as their civilization. But one of the hunters is missing, and Van, along with his growing crew, knows where to look. Climbing up into the rarified air of the super-rich, Van uncovers a new enemy: The Fade. And they are as cruel as the stars are many.

Nova is a lonely planet. It has been on its way to the Andromeda galaxy for ages. And yet, it is inhabited by people who have never known anything other than the caves beneath the surface that protect them from the vacuum and cosmic radiation. A surprising encounter changes everything. The planet gets visitors who seem to have their own agenda, and are so alien that communication seems futile. But they, too, have unexpected existential problems.

During a routine arrest, Van discovers a stolen spacecraft, its importance far greater than it first appears. Fast, sleek, and beautiful, the ship is a cultural relic from Linulla’s people, and returning their property will set off a chain of events that reveals a new adversary. Rising in the ranks, Van’s confrontation with a pirate leader isn’t just a case of theft, but something far more sinister. And Van’s going to take this case personally. He and his crew will chase the Salt Thieves and their leader in a game that can only have one winner.

They say you can’t go home again… …especially if you’re the governing mind for an interstellar military starship. It's official: Sergeant Henry Morgan has now spent more time as a starship than he spent dead. His mission is more than a century old, but in some ways, he feels like it's just begun. A desperate distress call from Earth has brought him back to his old cosmic stomping grounds, for your standard save-humanity-from-extinction-by-alien-constructs operation.

When Ben Murdock receives a text message offering a fully operational starship for sale, he’s certain it has to be a joke. Already trapped in the worst day of his life and desperate for a way out, he decides to play along. Except there is no joke. The starship is real. And Ben’s life is going to change in ways he never dreamed possible. All he has to do is sign the contract. Joined by his streetwise best friend and a bizarre tenant with an unseverable lease, he’ll soon discover that the universe is more volatile, treacherous, and awesome than he ever imagined.

U.S. Marine Tyson Gage has only one option left: to become a bounty hunter, then collect enough loot and upgrades to mount a rescue among the stars... Eight hundred years in the future. Joined by his dog and a beautiful woman who, despite their attraction, is on his last nerve, Gage must leave life on Earth behind for a universe of aliens, criminals, and hyperspace more deadly and awesome than he can imagine.

For the first time ever, Van has to deliver the remains of fallen comrades. At the Starsmith, he's presented with an opportunity to change the face of the war, even as Torina and Van begin planning for the ultimate shift in their galaxy: Parenthood. But first, the crew must prepare for an unexpected gift—a new, unknown fleet of ships, uncrewed and hidden deep out in the black. There's just one problem. They have the ships, but they need pilots and a secret base to create their fleet. For that job, they'll need an ally of unparalleled strength. The Schegith Protectorate.

Van is a veteran now, and the lessons are getting tougher. But so is he. When a ghost ship arrives in port, filled with the victims of a crime beyond imagination, Van and his crew will be drawn into a chase that goes beyond any star system the Peacemakers know.

A new ally providing aid... An old ally joining the fight... Their resources growing with each passing day... Their homeworld finally on the road to recovery... Things finally seem to be coming together for Captain Scott and the Alliance as he takes his forces on the offensive. However, the Jung may in turn give him more trouble than he bargained for.

Three years after humanity's Final Stand against the Korilian Empire, the Colonial Defense Forces have largely reclaimed the lost colonies. However, as the tide of war shifts against the Colonies again, Admiral Jon McCarthy and Lara Anderson discover a message from a long-dead prescient Nexus Ten amid the ruins of Darian 3. This startling discovery creates the potential to alter the course of the war with the Korilians, tilting the outcome toward humanity's favor.

On a cold spring night in 1952, a huge meteorite fell to earth and obliterated much of the East Coast of the US, including Washington, DC. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render the Earth inhospitable for humanity, as the last such meteorite did for the dinosaurs. This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated effort to colonize space and requires a much-larger share of humanity to take part in the process. Elma York’s drive to become the first lady astronaut is so strong that even the most dearly held conventions of society may not stand a chance against her.

Captain Malick and the crew of the Pioneer are on a mission of exploration to the farthest reaches of the solar system. As they near the uncharted planet Sworld, they receive an unexpected distress call. Compelled to investigate, Malick and the crew discover a derelict ship carrying a cargo of five aliens in stasis, along with instructions to bring them aboard.

Have you ever had a bad day? Sergeant Paul Mitchell had. It was the kind of bad day where nothing went right, everything that could go wrong went wrong, and everyone died. He knew that was always a possibility in the marines, but it really sucked when it happened to you: it wasn't your fault, and you still took the fall for everything. With his career dead and buried, he's forced to make it as a freelancer; a jack of all trades but a master of none. Just when he thought life couldn't get any worse a couple of stupid kids proved him wrong...again.

Van's next mission has begun, and at the heart of it is the power to save lives. Meanwhile, a hungry galaxy looks to a brilliant young scientist for answers, making her the most wanted person in known space. After years of research, Adayluh Creel perfects a resource to feed sixteen races—or more—all with one golden plant capable of growing on the most hostile worlds. For her efforts, she wants nothing, but savage forces will seek to possess what she would give away for free, thus controlling the food source for billions of people.

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2025 has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher...

Captain Brian Royce brings Hadad to his home planet, which shows obvious signs of battle. Did any of his family survive? Where are all the children; did the Zodarks take them? Admiral Miles Hunt finds himself appointed to a new position beyond his current skill set. He now has to become more than just a ship captain and fleet commander: he must become the Viceroy of the Milky Way Galaxy.

We didn't know what to expect when we jumped through the Leap Point. We certainly didn't anticipate finding that humans had been out here before. We thought we were the first to leave our star system, but we we're wrong. Maybe Hegemony was correct. Maybe we are just blundering our way from discovery to discovery, and it's only a matter of time before we encounter something in the vast darkness that takes a real bite out of us. It would certainly help if the government had our back.