Space Opera Comedy

A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented - something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding. Once every cycle, the civilizations gather for the Metagalactic Grand Prix - part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past.

This dazzling anthology includes epic interstellar adventures, tales of space and wonder, from some of the brightest names in science fiction.

May’s humdrum life is flung into hyperdrive when she’s rescued from an alien abduction by Xan, an alien with a fondness for I Love Lucy who lives on the Audacity. But when Chaos incarnate decides to turn Earth into her personal sandbox, the Audacity and May’s new love of rocket racing are the only things that can stop her.

When petty criminal Cal Carver is locked in a cell with a deranged, semi-naked cannibal, he suspects his life has hit its lowest point. He is mistaken. Abducted by aliens and whisked across the galaxy, Cal is thrown into a team of misfits and criminals and sent on a top secret mission for the president of Space. And that's when everything starts to go very, very wrong....

The Haiksos War wages on. The galaxy is in a state of flux, and defeat seems inevitable. The Unity Alliance military forces scramble, Shining League militias run rampant, and a rogue Hardshell remnant unleashes nihilistic carnage across the stars. The Vuan'at remain an unknown in the equation. But Cullen Bright will not accept defeat. He has built an elite team of ex-marine operators that rivals the capability of conventional forces. The Haiksos are ruthless, and Cullen knows what he is up against, but he will not accept defeat.

Cullen Bright is the greatest athlete in human history. With over fifty victories in the Enhanced Pentathlon, no one can fight, shoot, or run like him—but it's not enough. Adrift and bored with wealth and fame, he finds his cause when an alien enemy launches a savage war of extermination against The Ten human star systems under Unity control. In a flash of anger, he enlists in the Unity Marines, determined to bring his limitless talent to a cause that is spiraling into chaos and madness. But Cullen will learn that being a Marine isn't a solo sport, and respect isn't given—it's earned.

They’re here. They’ve arrived. And they’re all eyes. The Voltarian scouting party - illegal aliens extraordinaire - on a top-secret expedition led by one Jettero Heller, Royal Officer of the Fleet. His mission: rescue the planet from pollution - and make it safe for the upcoming invasion. His problem: The planet may not want to be saved - and the invasion may just be a trick.

The Unity Marine Corps is fighting the most brutal war in human history—and they're losing. Facing an implacable enemy that will stop at nothing short of total conquest, an ugly truth comes to light in battle after battle. Without more Marines, humanity will lose the war. Cullen's plan to recruit civilians from his athletic academies, train them, equip them, and strike back at the enemy is greenlit by Unity Command.

CONTENTS: Introduction; I Just Make Them Up, See; Someday; The Feeling of Power; Living Space; Satisfaction Guaranteed; The Last Question; Jokester; The Immortal Bard; Spell My Name With an "S"; The Ugly Little...

Something is wrong with Unity Command, and Cullen can feel it in his bones. The tactical powerhouse that helped shift the momentum of the war is under immense pressure from the Unity Alliance to end the war with a resounding victory. Plans and operations feel panicked, reactionary, and fragmented. As he continues to carry the banner and march forward against the enemy, Cullen begins to question his superiors—and his future.

Cullen Bright no longer wears the uniform, but his capacity for violence is unchanged. The Unity Alliance has declared an end to the Hardshell War, but the true threat remains hidden in plain sight. The Haiksos continue to build their genetically modified armies, intent on consuming human systems to feed their hideous plans. With the Unity Marine Corps caught in a political stranglehold, who will stand in their way? Cullen Bright thinks he has the answer. Bright Applied Technologies.

Professor James Lowry is a man of science and reason. An ethnologist and university professor, he dismisses spirits, witches and demons as superstition. Then, on an ordinary spring evening, his hat disappears—and with it, four hours of his life. Where did he go? What did he do? And why can’t he remember? As Lowry searches for the missing hours, the quiet university town of Atworthy begins to feel strangely wrong.

2040, une planète habitable est découverte. La France décide d'envoyer dans l'espace une équipe constituée de scientifiques de pointe et... de chômeurs en fin de droits. Mais une idiote erreur de pilotage tue sur le coup les astronautes, laissant les novices aux manettes. Ah oui, et en plus ils ne vont plus dans la bonne direction. Mais ça, sur Terre, tout le monde s'en tape.

Young Kit Kellan has led a rough-and-tumble life - knocking around the Vega System in his youth as a tiger hunter, a brawler, and a bouncer in a bar. But his real fight is just beginning. Summarily expelled from the prestigious Terra University, he is taken into custody by an agent of the System Bureau of Investigation (SBI). Kit's crime: thinking too much and thinking too well. He’s not in custody for long, however. Snatched from captivity by the People’s Revolutionary Society, Kit sets out an epic adventure that will take him to the farthest reaches of the universe.

Elvie Nara was doing just fine in the year 2074. She had a great best friend, a dad she adored, and a bright future working on the Ares Project on Mars. But then she had to get involved with sweet, gorgeous, dumb-as-a-brick Cole - and now she's pregnant. Teen pregnancy is never easy - especially when extraterrestrials are involved....

Two years after the events of Alien Night on Union Station, Kelly faces new challenges as the EarthCent Ambassador. The growing acceptance of humans by their alien neighbors plus a measure of her own personal fame (or infamy) is resulting in too much work for an embassy with only two full-time staffers. Friends and family must wonder if the stress is finally getting to Kelly when she starts acting even more peculiar than usual.

Earth is rising in the House of Voltar.... And there’ll be hell to pay! That’s right. The invasion is on...and it’s coming soon to a galaxy near you. The action couldn’t be hotter, and the plot couldn’t be more diabolical. Earth is coming to Voltar - and the Voltarians won’t know what hit them. Murder, blackmail, drugs, psychoanalysis, PR firms, sex-crazed teenyboppers, riots in the streets, women in chains. These are the powerful secret weapons of war.

Ada Lamarr hat das Raumschiff-Wrack vielleicht als Erste erreicht, aber was hilft ihr das, wenn ihr kleines Plünderer-Schiff nun ein riesiges Loch in der Außenhülle hat? Der Sauerstoff ihres Raumanzugs geht nun rasch zur Neige. In letzter Minute wird sie von einem Schiff der Regierung gerettet – wenn auch eher widerwillig und mit wenig Begeisterung über den ungebetenen Gast. Doch das stört Ada nicht. Sie genießt das gute Essen, den Sauerstoff an Bord und die Aufmerksamkeit von Regierungsagent Rian White, der mit der Leitung der Mission betraut ist.

The Pan of Hamgee is not a natural knight in shining armor. Yet he has escaped from police custody in K’Barth, switched realities and foiled Lord Vernon’s attempt to kidnap Ruth, the Chosen One, from the Festival Hall. Pretty good, he thinks. However, Ruth thinks otherwise. Being pursued by Lord Vernon is bad enough. Now, thanks to The Pan, she’s on the run. They are both alive, of course, but with Lord Vernon on their tail neither of them can be sure how long for.

Clunk, a clapped-out robot, is convinced he's about to be junked. Instead, his penny-pinching boss is sending him off to be refurbished. Being old and wise, Clunk knows there's a catch, but at first it doesn't seem too bad. He just has to help a freelancer pick up some cargo. Unfortunately, Hal Spacejock - the freelancer - is obstinate, over-confident, and woefully under-skilled, and he's never going to let a lowly robot fly his precious ship. Is there any chance this pair of misfits can lift off, collect the cargo and deliver it in one piece?