Classic Space Opera

One Operator. One Kid. One Mission. They said it would be a simple job: collect the daughter of a high-profile dignitary and return her to the capital. But Val Standish knows that no mission survives first contact. Alone, without support, Standish finds herself up against multiple adversaries, with only her wits and skills to keep her cargo and herself alive.

Most days, Sarya doesn't feel like the most terrifying creature in the galaxy. Most days, she's got other things on her mind. Like hiding her identity among the hundreds of alien species roaming the corridors of Watertower Station. Or making sure her adoptive mother doesn't casually eviscerate one of their neighbors. Again. And most days, she can almost accept that she'll never know the truth - that she'll never know why humanity was deemed too dangerous to exist.

He awoke in a tiny, lightless cell, groping for memory...memory that had been erased. Hope Hubris, Jupiter governor, progressive populist, warrior hero, and presidential candidate...a "mem-washed" tool of the enemy. And if his captors' plan worked, Hope would destroy his own political career, leaving the fate of his planet in the hands of its corrupt presidential incumbent - Tocsin. But Hope Hubris had a destiny to fulfill.

“His multicultural viewpoint may yet give us the best SF novel of all time” — AnalogFor twenty thousand years, the godlike Inquestors have held sway over the one million worlds of the Dispersal of Man. S.P. Somtow’s limitless imagination has created a universe of breathtaking majesty, amazing beauty, and shattering cruelty. In games of makrugh played in elegant floating palaces, planets are destroyed or saved to preserve the balance of the galaxy. Exotic languages and customs, servocorpses, tachyon bubbles, childsolders with implanted laser-irises, people bins that hold populations ...

A virus. A planet in danger. A race against time. When a deadly virus appears on a highly advanced world, questions will be asked. Where did it come from, is it a threat, and is there a cure? When a government official gets infected, the Alliance’s premier special forces team will be sent out to investigate. Val Standish and the Prime Team must deal with not only the virus, but local bureaucrats as they try and unravel the mystery before things spiral out of control.

A retrospective collection of S.P, Somtow’s science fiction stories, from Sunsteps which first appeared in Unearth magazine in 1977 to An Alien Heresy from 2007, this book covers thirty years of the wide-ranging author-composer’s career, including numerous award-nominated stories. From comedic zombie protest marches to alien roller coaster cults, from ambiguous utopias to enjoyable dystopias, from a mediaeval inquisitor confronting an alien to an alien inquestor confronting a planet, these are bizarre and wondrous tales, both serious and satiric. With illustrations from the sketches of ...

Deathworld: a planet that has evolved to kill all humans. Jason dinAlt, a so-so psionic gambler, is made an offer he can’t refuse - go to Deathworld and tame it. So begins Harry Harrison’s classic science-fiction tale of alien adventure; and Jason discovers that the reason behind Deathworld’s aggression is as shocking as the violence on the surface.

“The green warrior decided to close in and end the battle; just as he rushed me, a blinding light struck full in my eyes, so that I could not see Zad’s approach and could only leap blindly to one side to avoid his mighty blade...." Suddenly projected to Mars, John Carter finds himself the captive of the savage green men of Thark. With him is the lovely Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium. And between them and rescue lay a thousand miles of deadly enemies and unknown dangers.

Arrogant warlords just killed one of his crew and destroyed his ship. He unleashes a torrent of human fed anger the likes of which they have never seen before. And, what is this Prophecy thing about humans, anyway. . . and why does he have to be involved? An addictive, heart-stopping, military science fiction and space opera thriller you just can’t put down, so, warn your family and friends you’ll be in another universe for a while… Grab your copy right now, put on your battle armor and web into your ship-couch as you join Captain Derek Hamilton and his warrior crew on the wild ride ...

The Inquestor Series was a classic science fiction series of the 1980s — and has now been reincarnated for the 21st century, with more adventures, more spectacle, and more extras. Tachyon bubbles, people bins and galactic empires — and profound family conflicts — Greek tragedy writ large. Light on the Sound, the book that started it all, begins with one lonely planet and three lost souls, and ends with galactic revolution. For twenty thousand years, the godlike Inquestors have held sway over the one million worlds of the Dispersal of Man. S.P. Somtow’s limitless ...

An advanced combat droid on the loose. Only one team to turn to. Standish and her team are long overdue for some R&R, but when a spaceship carrying enough droids to defend an entire planet vanishes, her team is brought into the fold and sent to investigate. With the fate of a whole planet hanging in the balance, the Prime team is deployed in search of the missing freighter and its deadly cargo, unsure of what caused its disappearance but aware that they could be up against a machine more lethal than any they’ve faced before.

The stories you’ve dreamed of; the people you crave to meet; or would love to be. The aliens who’d make you shiver, or laugh. The huge risks of guiding your spacecraft here, or there. The adventures you’d have if only you had the nerve… Or the utter romance of doing that… The humour of orbital disasters and alien conflicts; the perils of ill-advised time-interference; the sheer romance of null-gravity love; the terrors of a leaky hull; the fear of a bullying boss when you’re a thousand light years beyond.; the choices you face in the big, black Vac. Mostly a laugh or a satisfied...

The First Foundation survived two centuries of barbarism as the once-mighty Galactic Empire descended into chaos. Now it must prepare for war against the remnants of the Empire as the Imperial fleet advances on their planet, Terminus. Hari Seldon predicted this war; he even prepared his Foundation for it. But he couldn’t foresee the birth of the mutant Mule. In possession of a power which reduces fearsome opposition to devoted slaves, the Mule poses a terrible threat to Seldon’s Foundation.

Mankind has conquered space and moved toward the starry heart of the galaxy. Earth is a planet of no importance, riddled with radioactivity by long-forgotten wars. When assassins target his rooms and news arrives that, many light-years away, his father has been murdered, student Biron Farrill flees for his life. Stunned, grief-stricken, and outraged, Biron is determined to uncover the reasons behind his father's death, and finds himself entangled in a web of deep-space rebellion, espionage, and political intrigue.

Sophie, a young woman burdened by oaths and family ties, finds herself caught in the crossfire of a brutal interplanetary war. When her brother, a renowned general, defies their king over a captured noblewoman, Sophie must navigate a treacherous path between loyalty and rebellion. As the conflict escalates, Sophie's unique bond with the Jupiter Coalition, an enigmatic peacekeeping force, becomes her only hope for survival. But with hidden agendas and betrayals at every turn, she must forge her own destiny amidst the chaos of war. In a world where technology reigns supreme and honor is a ...

The stars are afire with rebellion against the tyranny of Earth. Jan Kulozik, rebel in exile, returns home as a prisoner on a ship bearing a cargo of death. But Kulozik escapes his captors and ignites the flames of revolt across half a world. With the aid of Dvora, a lovely but lethal comrade-in-arms, Jan races toward a rendezvous with destiny and a reckoning with a treacherous double agent who holds the fate of the human race in his hands.

In the vast, domed cities of Earth, artificial intelligence is strictly controlled; in the distant Outer Worlds, colonists and robots live side by side. A Spacer ambassador is found dead and detective Elijah Baley is assigned to find the killer. But with relations between the two cultures in the balance, the Spacers insist that he work with a partner of their choosing – a robot partner, R. Daneel Olivaw. Baley has never seen a robot like Daneel before – and soon, though the Three Laws of Robotics should render the crime impossible, Baley’s partner becomes his prime suspect.

Short Sci-Fi stories from the Lighter Side of yesterday and all your tomorrows; alternative todays; and all those maybe times in between. From orbits and vectors the other side of the spiral arm, to the smoking field at the back of the Yew Tree pub. From Boudicca's helping hand, to the secret behind Toothsavers; Why did the mountain have to move to Mohr? Have the Potens got this Planetary Takeover quite right? It's Absolutely Disgusting, isn't it? the way these immigrants seem to hate everyone on the planet? You only Have One Vote - How important can that be? You turn your back for five ...

Like nothing you’ve read this year. Layered in story and intrigue and brimming with character.In a galaxy at the edge of imagination. Six diverse characters share a strange dream: a figure composed only of shadow holding a pulsing red sun in its palm. Ruled by six masked councilmembers, the Northrite corporation exploits the powers of Elemiscists—those with magical abilities—and keep them as indentured servants. When a nearby sun turns bloodred and begins pulsing, people flee their homes and the millennia-old government crumbles. Together, a military recruit, a sheltered woman, a ...

The Keiko is a ship of smugglers, soldiers of fortune and adventurers, travelling Earth's colony planets, searching for the next job. And nobody talks about their past. But when a face from Captain Ichabod Drift's former life sends them on a run to Old Earth, all the rules change. Trust will be broken, and blood will be spilled.