Space Exploration Science Fiction

Brought to you by Penguin. The Union-Congregate war rages onward and the Union's premier fighter pilots, the Homo Eridanus, start encountering deadly resistance from strange pilots on the Congregate side. Among wreckage, they find that new Congregate pilots aren't human, but Homo quantus, with...

Nine hundred Vennans undertake a cultural exchange to Tradepoint, a space station where aliens from different worlds meet to do business. A young and gifted Speaker, Gredin, is translator and diplomat for the happy occasion. But a horrific vision shatters her first night’s sleep on Tradepoint. Venna, their homeworld, has been destroyed. Now, the safety of the only Vennans left in all of time and space, rests on Gredin’s young shoulders. Stunned and grieving, she navigates trade wars and political prejudice, bartering with other races. And the cost of failure is the unthinkable.

Commander Mariucci and his hand-picked research team know they will have to muster all of their expertise, creativity and teamwork to survive the very harshest of conditions in orbit around the king of planets. But when they intercept a peculiar radio transmission, they have to investigate. Nothing should work in these impossible conditions, so what is sending the signal...and why? With a degrading ship and crew at breaking point, there's every chance they will tear themselves apart before they ever find the answer to the ultimate question.

Damien Montgomery, Hand of the Mage-King of Mars, has dealt with pirates, conspiracies, terrorists, and space battles in the service of his King. A warrior-judge charged to maintain peace across the stars of the Protectorate, he is well overdue for a vacation. Most people's idea of a vacation isn't a murder investigation, but the Hands aren't most people. A quiet task on an isolated research base seems the perfect mission to Damien and his King alike—until the discoveries of that remote archeology site bring fire and death down on Damien and the scientists alike!

With Veteran pay comes veteran problems. And the Guild, more often than not, is the issue. He’s become an effective enforcer of the law, but unfortunately, crime is growing a lot more complicated. Someone is slaving artificial beings to ships, running contraband across the stars in a fatal practice that marries murder, theft, and kidnapping. Even as Mark’s crew grows, he discovers these crimes aren’t just horrific—they’re common. And he means to stop it.

Five years ago, a group of human researchers and their mercenary friends helped evacuate 26 cetaceans from Earth just ahead of their arrest. The world government didn't approve of their giving the cetaceans pinplants, and it wanted to euthanize the dolphins and orcas in their care. After finding a home on the distant ice-covered ocean world of Hoarfrost, the humans and cetaceans settled in. Less than a year later, they were attacked when the planet's previous owners, the aquatic Selroth, tried to regain possession of it.

SADEs Hector and Trixie discover the world where the colonists of the Terminus, the fifth colony ship, settled. Unfortunately, their Trident squadrons arrive at the worst possible time and catastrophe strikes. The powerful fleets of three races are fighting for possession of a beatific world, Cercia. The Trident squadrons are occupied by SADEs skilled in exploration, astronomy, and data research. They’re unprepared for the onslaught of deadly probes, fighters, and warships directed against them.

Attacks against Cercia appear never-ending, and each mercenary fleet escalates the planet’s danger. The conclave desperately feeds resources to the Malia system to aid its defense. In addition, Minimalist, Luther, and Morgoth double the number of EMP platforms above and below Cercia. With controllers embedded in the EMP platforms, Commander Nira Racine of Outpost Fourteen: Colony Five and the fleet’s SADEs possess the capability to target attacking ships and missiles. Cremsylon speaks to Orion, the SADE handling Metter drone production.

Astronaut Lee Rifkin's life is about to change. NASA has done the math. The space object named Cassandra 22007 is not behaving as expected. He will lead a team on a cutting-edge ship to get a closer look. But another group wants to get there first. Who is this shadow organization that seems to be one step ahead of them? Agent Jenna Haynes works to put together the pieces that will pull the veil off those who seem to have known about Cassandra's arrival since long before NASA spotted it. What is their goal?

The Sol Federation Marine Corps vessel S&R Black was sent to recover an ancient derelict from the farthest edge of the Sol system. What they found could spell the end of humanity. Days after escaping the derelict ship Mira and Pluto’s destruction, Black Company is pulled from stasis hours at Trident Station, only to discover the solar system has gone silent. Nearly empty on both ammunition and fuel reserves, taking refuge at the silent, apparently dead station is their only choice.

Ryo is one of the Thranx, a race of social arthropods. From his larval years to now, his life has been normal, though his love of learning and insatiable curiosity set him apart. He has settled into his work as an agriculture specialist and is premated to a lovely female. Yet Ryo still feels something is missing from his life, and when he heroically defends his colony from the Thranx's reptilian nemesis, Ryo gets a taste of excitement that's hard to forget.

Admiral Kira Demirci lost the coin toss with her second-in-command and was supposed to be taking a holiday. That meant waiting in the Redward System while Memorial Force’s new carrier Huntress was commissioned and turned over to the mercenary space fleet. But when a stranger arrives looking to hire Memorial Force to protect her homeworld, Kira finds money, boredom and altruism combining to bring her into action.

It’s time for the humans to strike back! Vile, ant-like aliens have already consumed the colonies of the Faustian Chain. Known as the Skaintz, these creatures destroy all living things and carry them back to their nests to be devoured. Now, they’ve begun to invade the stars of the Conclave. Captain Bill Gorman, a smuggler from the Fringe, is called upon by the Conclave rulers to scout the enemy. Fleets and armies are launched in a desperate attempt to annihilate the Skaintz before they consume humanity. Find out what happens next in Androids and Aliens.

Mars, 2316. The recently created Terraforming Committee arbitrates the dramatic development of Mars by powerful rival corporations. When a rogue asteroid crashes into a research center and kills its lone technician, the fragile balance between corporations is shattered. The World Government's investigation into the accident reveals a multitude of motives, while a corporation insider stumbles on a dark conspiracy.

A deserted R&D facility tempts the hungry new Guild, Leviathan, into sending a team to plunder its valuable research. The base was abandoned after a neighboring planet was devastated by an outbreak of Xenos-alien zombies—but that was a whole planet away. When the Guild ship is attacked by a quarantine patrol, both ships crash onto the deserted world. Only it isn't as deserted as they hope: a murderous new Xeno threat awakens, desperate to escape the planet. Can the crews cooperate to destroy this new foe? Will they be forced to sacrifice their ships and lives to protect the galaxy?

Shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award 2020! "A terrifying tour de force." --James Rollins "Readers will be riveted." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) Sally Jansen was NASA's leading astronaut, until a mission to Mars ended in disaster. Haunted by her failure, she lives in quiet...

What would you do if you materialised inside an alien starship? It’s 2049, and NASA-sponsored physicist Edward Virr is on the cusp of man’s greatest breakthrough – the ability to fold space and travel faster than light. He personally tests NASA’s futuristic prototype fold ship with a hand-picked crew. But as disaster strikes the first mission, Ed begins to suspect that he isn’t the only one developing the new technology. Discovering there’s a lot more at stake than first contact, Ed soon realises that Earth’s very survival depends on his ability to solve a crime of galactic proportions.

A new standalone sci-fi novel from Edward Ashton, author of Mickey7 (the inspiration for the major motion picture Mickey 17). “Barrie Kreinik, one of the best narrators around, succeeds in making distinct characters not just of Dalton and Neera, Breaker and some of the aliens, but even of the...

No one has ever ventured deeper into space than the astronauts of Shepherd-1. The aim of their mission: to witness the creation of the cosmos and to see who had a hand in it. The answer never reaches Earth. Shepherd-1 looks functional but abandoned. Former crew member Benjamin sets off and sends his consciousness to the spaceship. Although an enemy throws clubs between his legs, he finds the culprit. The fact that there appears to be no remedy whatsoever does not remain his only problem: The ship, which is about to be destroyed, suddenly receives radio signals from interstellar space.

"All good heroes are insane." Was that really a joke? Jonathon Hunter hasn't the time to ponder the labels people try to put on him. The war shifts from defensive to offensive. The stakes get higher, as the means to fight the aggressors finally become available. But has he risen too high? Or are the consequences of his own actions interfering with his judgement? As fast as you move, the past is faster and always catches up with you when you least expect it. This is not a game, and being a hero has its own price tag.