Epic Space Opera

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 ...

Haven was colonized by humans who fled from Earth centuries earlier to avoid a conflict. They built an advanced, thriving civilization on Haven and began construction of modern cities around the planet. Life was good and a far departure from the former lives they lived on Earth. However, ninety years after the planet was colonized, an extremely aggressive civilization known as the Vrang attacked the planet destroying all the cities and carrying off ninety percent of the population enslaving them. All that remained of the once beautiful cities were blackened ruins towering above what was ...

In a world covered in water, secrets abound—from corrupt rich nobles to secret organizations with deadly motives. The Nereus Underwater Championship Races promised Adam Rossu fame and a ticket off this aquatic world. Yet, in the complex TriadVerse, life is never that straightforward. Framed for a crime by a powerful Noble and hunted by Knights, Adam dives into an underworld of pirates, smugglers, and refugees. Enter Stephana, a captivating woman with diverse talents on a quest to find her missing clan members. Together, they embark on an underwater adventure to rescue her people from ...

This is the fifth in the series Bio of a Space Tyrant, featuring the stages in the life of Hope Hubris, the tyrant of Jupiter, and his beloved sister, Spirit. Child of flame and terror, born and bred to violence, Hope Hubris had ruled the solar system's most powerful empire with a fierce, uncompromising passion. His was a white-hot flame of justice that scarred friend and foe alike. Yet now he left Jupiter as an exile, his autocratic rule overthrown by the one person he could not oppose.

The Ganog have arrived. Their fleets are endless. Their will implacable. They cannot use magic, but that isn't stopping them from wiping out mages. Behind them lurks a worse foe, the Gorthians, those holding the Ganog's leash. They have devoured countless galaxies, harvesting them over and over to create more monstrosities.

When Earth was allowed into the Imperium, Jack Rhodes thought his problems were over and that he could finally return to the peaceful life he had always wanted. Unfortunately, the galaxy has other ideas. When Jack learns that Imperium warlords plan to take control of Earth and its resource wealth, he decides to take the fight to the enemy. The best defense, after all, is a good offense. And who better to help strike at the heart of the enemy than Jack's Black Company friends? Can Jack Rhodes help Earth remain a free world, or are humanity's days numbered? Find out in Earth Gambit, Book 2 of...

In Conquest Born is the monumental science fiction epic that received unprecedented acclaim - and launched C.S. Friedman's phenomenal career. A sweeping story of two interstellar civilizations locked in endless war, it was nominated for the John W. Campbell Award.

After the events of Hellhole Awakening, the people of Hellhole and the shadow-Xayans scramble to rally against the threat from the still-living rogue Xayans. Back on Sonjeera, the Monarchy is in an uproar after their surprising defeat and the breakaway of the Deep Zone planets. The dowager Queen decides to go to Hellhole on a diplomatic mission, hoping to keep her power. But after touring Hellhole, Queen Michella is shaken, and begins to realize that she can never have the old Monarchy back.

A desperate leader. An old and fearsome enemy unleashed. A new galactic war approaches. Riccard Brams, the ruler of the Dominion, seeks lasting peace with the Commonwealth but is under attack by enemies unknown. The powerful Edo, who possess mystical powers from the ‘High’ beings of the Astral plane, agree to help Brams. They are plunged into a conflict that threatens not just the Dominion, but the entire galaxy. Raichel Ison, along with a hand-picked team of Edo, travel to the Dominion. Little do they know that Brams is using them as bait to lure out his enemy. Other enemies lurk in ...

After forty years, S.P. Somtow has produced a fifth novel in the Chronicles of the High Inquest, one of the most lauded galactic empire epics of the 1980s. Critically acclaimed yet never previously in print as a complete set, the series has passionate adherents — and they have finally persuaded the author to enrich the universe with more novels. Homeworld of the Heart is the first of a trilogy within a trilogy. The songs of Sajit were known and loved through the million worlds of the Dispersal of Man. He was the favorite of Elloran, most powerful, most compassionate of the godlike ...

Ariock Dovanack never asked to be a hero, let alone a demigod. But when a prophecy deemed him "The One," he dutifully amassed thousands of messianic followers in the sun-starved civilization beneath the Torth Empire's capital. Now, destined to lead the cave-dwelling Alashani people into the light of other worlds, he and a small army must first annihilate the formidable telepaths who guard the city's spaceport. By Ariock's side is Thomas Hill. A Torth/human hybrid, Thomas may be physically vulnerable, but he's also a telepathic supergenius.

In the darkness of space, sometimes you can only rely upon yourself. After a controversial mission, Rescue Tech Vinaci Hauk is awarded the prestigious assignment to the Imperial yacht’s support vessel, placing him in proximity to the most senior leaders in the empire. Unbeknownst to Hauk and the Empire, nefarious forces are conspiring to destabilize peace in the galaxy, creating a disaster where Hauk must push himself beyond his limits to save the day. The Rescue: Mandate Shattered is part of an anthology series focused on the adventures of Imperial Rescue Technicians in the treacherous ...

Life in the Harper Hall is busy for best friends Kindan, Nonala, and Kelsa. As the only female apprentices, Nonala and Kelsa are the butt of jokes and easy targets for the bully Vaxoram and his cronies. But when Kindan springs to Kelsa's defense, he winds up in a fight for his life against the older, bigger Vaxoram - a fight that will lead to a surprising friendship. Then fate intervenes in the form of a virulent plague as fast-spreading as it is deadly.

Too young and naive to care about the tensions between nations, Dexter Silverhawk considered himself the luckiest man alive when he found a derelict voidship hidden amongst some asteroids. Making it void-worthy and finding a crew to sail it seem like minor problems when he ends up in a Federation prison. Rotting in a communal cell, his luck shows a fickle side when a mysterious elven woman is thrust into into his life. Helping her fend off an assault Dexter quickly learns that her mind and her tongue are weapons against which he has little defense.

Vesta Colony has a problem: Aliens are snatching men until they disappear for good. Humanity's defensive forces are stretched too thin to help a distant outpost, and so, the desperate founders, as well as their investors, are given the bad option of recruiting the worst while bribing the rest.

There's no such thing as a nice clean war. If fighting a war which might never end wasn't enough, now the Imperium has a new enemy. But now promoted to be a genuine squadron leader, Bud finds himself leading more than his squadron. Just how complicated can war get? Is the enemy of your enemy really your enemy? Or can their enemy become your friend while you're still at war with each other? Even in the middle of a brand new war, Bud finds people who think they know better about what he should be doing.

Set in the wake of a galaxywide war and the destruction of a human empire, The Dangerous Type follows the awakening of one of the galaxy's most dangerous assassins and her quest for vengeance. Entombed for 20 years, Raena has been found and released. Thallian has been on the lam for the last 15 years. He's a wanted war criminal whose entire family has been hunted down and murdered for their role in the galaxywide genocide of the Templars.

Thorn is back. He's lost one civilization, and is still trying to fix two others. But fixing something when you don't know how it broke is never as simple as you'd think. The future is threatened by his own past, and to fix everything, he thinks he has to undo what he's already done. But what if what you did cannot be undone, and the future has more riding on it than anyone knows? Yesterday's Spacemage was the cause. Today's Spacemage was the effect. But can tomorrow's Spacemage save everyone?

Behind the Throne begins K. B. Wagers's action-packed science fiction adventure, with a heroine as rebellious as Han Solo, as savvy as Leia, and as skilled as Rey. Hail Bristol has made a name for herself as one of the most fearsome gunrunners in the galaxy. But she can't escape her past forever: Twenty years ago, she was a runaway princess of the Indranan Empire. Now, her mother's people have finally come to bring her home.

What if the galaxy’s deadliest weapon isn’t a blade or a beam, but the note your heart chooses to sing? Sixteen-year-old Jameus Aldren has never left the monastery-station of D’cairn. The night his father battles illness, rival ground forces from Orsina and Thaya land on the hidden moon of Oratorio—each convinced an ancient relic called the Uninstrument can win their war. Into the chaos strides the ex-monk–turned–warlord Malkeos, intent on forging the relic into a symphony of domination. With only a flame-etched token, his father’s notebook, and unlikely allies—renegade ...