Exploration Adventure Fiction

It's sink or swim for Jack and Annie when Magic Tree House whisks them off to the middle of the ocean. And that's just the beginning....

Captain Tuplo must finally make the decision that has been haunting him since he learned the truth about his origins only a week ago. The fact that billions of lives may hang in the balance isn't making it any easier. Will Connor be able to face the demons of his past?

The comparative utopia of 23rd-century Earth is about to go dreadfully awry when a seemingly benign alien race is abruptly revealed to be one of the worst threats humanity has ever faced. Driven by an intense religious extremism, the Olyix are determined to bring everyone to their version of god as they see it. But they may have met their match in humanity, who are not about to go gently into that good night or spend the rest of their days cowering in hiding.

Keeping up-to-date with the most buzzworthy and cutting-edge science fiction requires sifting through countless magazines, e-zines, websites, blogs, original anthologies, single-author collections, and more - a task accomplishable by only the most determined and voracious readers. For everyone else, Night Shade Books is proud to introduce the latest volume of The Best Science Fiction of the Year, collecting the finest that the genre has to offer, from the biggest names in the field to the most exciting new writers.

Mars is supposed to be dead. Bizarre quakes are rumbling over the long-dormant tectonic plates of the planet, disrupting its trillion-dollar mining operations and driving scientists past the edges of theory and reason. However, when rocks shake off their ancient dust and begin to roll seemingly of their own volition carving canals as they converge to form a towering structure amid the ruddy terrain, Lt. Jain and her JSC team realize that their routine geological survey of a Martian cave system is anything but. The only clues they have stem from the emissions of a mysterious blue radiation, and a 300-year-old journal that is writing itself.

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest. Once, she was the Justice of Toren - a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy. Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.

An international prize of one billion has been offered to the first man to complete an interplanetary trip, and Dale Curtance, a millionaire adventurer, emerges as the British entrant. With a hand-picked crew, he blasted off from Salisbury Plain in the spaceship Gloria Mundi, destination—the planet Mars. Once free of Earth's atmosphere, they discover a stowaway—a woman. Her extraordinary story helps them prepare for the dangers they encounter on the Red Planet, and the fantastic world that exists there.

Smugglers. Thieves. Pirates. The Sea Rover's crew embodies these defining qualities. Immerse yourself in a Science Fiction Adventure box set written by author C.P. MacDonald. Witness Captain Calin Aku's evolution from the most wanted outlaw on the Moon to an unexpected if reluctant hero. Job by job, paycheck by paycheck, he keeps flying. However, with a new client comes a cascade of adventure, forging unusual alliances and unraveling amazing mysteries. These revelations don't just alter the lives of Calin and his crew but also reshape humanity's future. Join Calin Aku and his crew as they ...

Save the cure. Kill the crew. That was the dying order of the captain of the starship Elixr. The ship followed the order. Then it lost its mind. Two decades later, the last chance to save billions of souls rests with the dead starship's only occupants: a pair of boys raised by a deranged robot. When Elixr crashes on a barren world, they join forces with an impoverished girl living on the edge of society to search for answers. Who are they? Why have they survived? And what could Elixr possibly do to save a world on the precipice of collapse? The more they learn, the greater the stakes become...

Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade him in the war. And one of humanity's heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers. After Earth was destroyed, mankind created a fighting elite to save their species, enhanced humans such as Idris. In the silence of space they could communicate, mind-to-mind, with the enemy. Then their alien aggressors, the Architects, simply disappeared - and Idris and his kind became obsolete. Now, 50 years later, Idris and his crew have discovered something strange abandoned in space.

Decades after the last footprints were left on the Moon, the US was preparing to return to the Lunar surface in a new class of rockets, when the mission suddenly became much more urgent. It would have to be a rescue mission. Unbeknownst to the rest of the world China had sent its own Lunar expedition. A manned expedition. Until a distress call was received, no human outside of China even knew that the mission was manned - or that their ship had crash-landed and couldn't take off again.

Compelled by her dwindling bank account, Katie agrees to be a nanny for the niece of a Luxenian military commander. Little Ayla, orphaned and entrusted to her cold and demanding uncle, captures Katie’s heart instantly. Katie’s desire to help the child is made more difficult by Axur’s handsome features and heated looks. As a general in the Luxenian army, Axur cannot have a family or mate. It is strictly forbidden. Staying away from them isn’t working. He wants something he can’t have. He’s not looking for a family but the new nanny is strong, beautiful and making him become a ...

Ancient Mysteries, Deadly Secrets: Can Nicholas Foxe Crack the Code in Time?Nicholas Foxe is a brilliant yet restless cryptographer. He begins to question whether his thirst for adventure will ever be satisfied. Just when he resigns himself to a routine life, he’s drawn into an astonishing discovery deep within a hidden cavern. It is a futuristic artifact buried for millennia, its purpose shrouded in mystery. What secrets does it hold, and who else will stop at nothing to claim it? As Nicholas is thrust into a globe-spanning quest to decode the artifact. He discovers its implications ...

Retired from his fighting days, John Perry is now village ombudsman for a human colony on distant Huckleberry. With his wife, former Special Forces warrior Jane Sagan, he farms several acres, adjudicates local disputes, and enjoys watching his adopted daughter grow up. That is, until his and Jane's past reaches out to bring them back into the game — as leaders of a new human colony, to be peopled by settlers from all the major human worlds, for a deep political purpose that will put Perry and Sagan back in the thick of interstellar politics, betrayal, and war.

An entire sector in turmoil...neighbors who appear unconcerned...a favor asked of an old friend...sacrifices made for the good of humanity.... Before they can challenge the Dusahn and prevent them from expanding their empire further, the Karuzari must first gather much-needed resources. But doing so could be more difficult than anticipated.

Earth has been nothing but bad luck for Mia Ambrose. So when the opportunity arises for her to be a nanny on a different planet, she jumps on it. But she should’ve researched her new employer a bit more. When he turns out to be a strict, super hot and stuffy military commander, she wonders if her bad luck followed her. Tharon is the highest-ranking commander in the Tor’vian military. And he has no idea how to take care of his children, a set of eight-year-old twins. Help comes in the form of hiring a nanny from the planet Earth. Mia isn’t exactly what he expected in a nanny. She’s ...

Better follow the rules in our third of the universe……Because the Central Authority has a new tool. They can stun you to death. Captain Clarke and his genius Science Officer see what’s coming, and they have a plan to stop it. They’ve also got big problems. They’re on a hunted ship, one of only three that stand against the Central Authority. They’re being tracked, and their fuel is running low. Government spies are everywhere. And worst of all, the Overlords are on their tail, using new battleships, led by the evil Simone. You’ll love this new space opera, because the fight ...

In a single act of courage, the young American grunt saves an interstellar soldier from certain death at the hands of a vicious killer. Afterward, she promises to show him the stars. Mark will begin his new life far away from Earth—a life not so different from that of a humble soldier. Out among the asteroids, he learns of swords and honor, starships and empires. He learns what it means to be a Peacemaker. Along the way, he's joined by Perry, his combat AI companion who helps Mark learn how to survive—and earn a living—among the stars.

As the Project enters its final phase, air force majors Carson and Ourecky are dispatched on an urgent mission to intercept and investigate a massive orbiting object suspected of harboring nuclear weapons. Emotionally exhausted, with his marriage teetering on the brink, Ourecky reluctantly accepts the assignment; in return for his sacrifice, he is promised an opportunity to go to MIT to pursue the PhD he has long desired.

After taking a Peacemaker job to find missing fuel, Perry finds something far more sinister than simple theft - a voice, crying out in a forge of heat and flame, and the discovery reveals a series of acts so vicious that nothing short of revenge will suffice. Following leads across the stars, Van, Perry, and Torina discover the wealthy elite are doing more than just taking fuel.