Fantasy Adventure

Best-selling science fiction superstars Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle combine their talents with those of Steven Barnes in an extraordinary adventure of humankind’s first outpost in the farthest reaches of space. Light years from Earth, colonists land on a planet they name Avalon. It seems like a paradise—until native creatures savagely attack. It will take every bit of intelligence, courage, and military-style discipline to survive.

Jarl Beckström dreams of one day becoming a great warrior. Sadly, he had the misfortune of being lowborn-classless, unable to level up. He lives the mundane life of a poor mud-farmer, subjected to the whims of the infamous battleborn and the magical fireborn. But legend says that deeds of great courage can change a person's class. When the Clan Lord's son unexpectedly disappears, Jarl sees an opportunity to prove himself a hero and rise above the lowly station of his birth. He goes against the traditions of his people to seek his destiny...and possibly even his death.

Syl, an archmage who tirelessly fought the monsters spilling from the magical Gates and Towers, yearns for a life free from the chaos of battle. When he is assigned to an Aurian magic academy to guard an undercover princess, he is happy to be no more than an unremarkable class three student with dismal practical scores. Right up until people start trying to kill them both.

In the mysterious world of Harmony, there are places filled with unexplored marvels. But Rainshadow Island isn't about to give up its secrets.... In the alien catacombs of Rainshadow, there are creatures whose compelling songs lure the unwary to their death. That's why Rafe Coppersmith, hired to clear out the catacombs for exploration, needs a music talent. He knows the perfect one, but she probably doesn't want anything do with him....

Charles Forbin has dedicated the last 10 years of his life to the construction of his own supercomputer, Colossus, rejecting romantic and social endeavors in order to create the United States' very first Artificially Intelligent defense system. Colossus is a supercomputer capable of taking in and analyzing data rapidly, allowing it to make real time decisions about the nation's defense.

It wasn't the day the Gates appeared that changed Jynn's life; she'd only ever known an Earth where hordes of interdimensional monsters terrorized humanity. No, Jynn's life changed forever when she graduated from high school and tested positive as a Hunter: a breed of enhanced humans evolved to challenge the monsters who are ushering in Earth's apocalypse. The only problem is . . . she has the very lowest stats possible.

Robert A. Heinlein wrote The Number of the Beast, which was published in 1980. In the book Zeb, Deety, Hilda, and Jake are ambushed by the alien "Black Hats" and barely escape with their lives on a specially configured vehicle (the Gay Deceiver) which can travel along various planes of existence, allowing them to visit parallel universes. However, unknown to most fans, Heinlein had already written a "parallel" novel about the four characters and parallel universes in 1977.

From BSFA award-winning author Gareth L. Powell comes the first in a new epic sci-fi trilogy exploring the legacies of war. The sentient warship Trouble Dog was built for violence, yet following a brutal war, she is disgusted by her role in a genocide. Stripped of her weaponry and seeking to atone, she joins the House of Reclamation, an organization dedicated to rescuing ships in distress. When a civilian ship goes missing in a disputed system, Trouble Dog and her new crew of loners, captained by Sal Konstanz, are sent on a rescue mission.

Nature is dying. Perhaps before the world is turned into an industrious machine, nature itself can play one final trump card to save itself. Summoned to a new world, a mushroom-loving mycologist needs to grow up and grow stronger in order to accomplish the goal that brought them to this new place: to save nature from the system that the sentient races have created. Stats, levels, classes, and skills are all well and good, but when you're a Child of Poverty in the slums of City Nineteen, there's little you can do to change the world. Not unless you're willing to think outside the box!

In a world of grim darkness, evil stirs. In the service of the noble Dain family, young warrior Owen yearns for freedom and adventure. But when a deathbed confession unveils the hidden location of a long-lost weapon of immense power, Owen joins a perilous military expedition to the haunted fortress ruins of the vampire queen Serina, whose rebellion nearly shattered the kingdom half a century ago. Unbeknownst to the party, a traitor lurks among them, harboring another secret—the vampire queen Serina is not dead but trapped. And this betrayer plans to unleash her, reigniting another civil ...

Newly crowned as king, Keris has watched, powerless, as his forbidden relationship with Zarrah is revealed. But when Zarrah is imprisoned by the empress, Keris knows there is only one way to save her: to ally with the kingdom he nearly destroyed. Imprisoned on the dreaded Devil’s Island, Zarrah faces two choices: prove her loyalty to the empress who condemned her or die a traitor. Yet as she struggles to survive among violent prisoners, Zarrah uncovers a third path: a rebellion to overthrow tyranny entwined with a destiny she must fight to claim.

Livy Kowalski has no time for idiots. When you shapeshift into a honey badger, getting through life's irritants is a finely honed skill. Until she gets stuck housing her nutso cousin and dealing with her dad's untimely and unexplained demise. That's where Vic Barinov comes in-or his house does. Vic can't step outside without coming back to find Livy devouring his honey stash and getting the TV remote sticky. It gets his animal instincts all riled up. But he'll have to woo her at high speed: All hell is breaking loose, and Livy is leading the charge…

With Light and Shadow completing the Path of Ascension, three foreign Great Powers equal to the Empire in power have declared war. Thankfully they aren't alone but with only one ally in their corner their best hope is to fight for a close loss. That is unless they can produce another miracle Ascender in time to turn the tides of war.

Born on a forsaken desert planet, Cole Shaw has two options - perish from starvation and disease, or enlist in the New World Republic’s armed forces. He chooses the military. For the first time, he thinks he has a shot at a better life. But survival is not guaranteed. Leading an elite team of mech operators, he is deployed to a frozen planet called Ferrous where dangerous relics of a past war lurk beneath the ice and savage creatures prowl the barren wastelands. Scientists on Ferrous are chasing rumors of godlike technologies buried in the ruins of a long-extinct civilization.

Mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate, Curran, the Beast Lord, are struggling to solve a heartbreaking crisis. Unable to control their beasts, many of the Pack’s shape-shifting children fail to survive to adulthood. While there is a medicine that can help, the secret to its making is closely guarded by the European packs, and there’s little available in Atlanta. Kate can’t bear to watch innocents suffer, but the solution she and Curran have found threatens to be even more painful. The European shape-shifters who once outmaneuvered the Beast Lord have asked him to arbitrate a dispute - and they’ll pay him in medicine.

As an engineer on the arkship Pilgrim-9, bound for the Tau Ceti solar system, Morgan Hall thought his life would revolve around maintaining and repairing the ship and supporting the needs of the five thousand colonists aboard. But when he’s roused early from a 240-year stasis, he’s confronted with chaos. Along with his shipmates, Morgan is brought down to a planet teeming with peril. Forced to fight for their survival without any of their tech to hand, they must adapt quickly to overcome countless threats in a world where magic is as real as science.

Zach and Ryun had both reached the Infinite Realm. As the only two survivors of the old Earth, they are the strongest Rankers that had ever arrived in the Infinite Realm. Both dropped outside of the usual arrival zone and left to fend for themselves. Each had found a way to survive. Ryun is now a Sect Head, tasked with ruling territories and people. Accepting their service in return for his protection. But while he was the strongest being on Earth, he is nothing compared to the old monsters living in the Infinite Realm.

The magic that holds both the Upperworld and the Underworld together is crumbling—fast. And if someone doesn't fix it soon, everyone and everything will die. Maren uses her magic—her connection to the Underworld—to call up the elven shadow king, Kynan, to discuss a prophetic dream. Instead of having a helpful chat, Kynan drags her to the Underworld and demands that she mate with him to repair the magic of the realms.

A young royal from the far north, is sent south for a political marriage in an empire reminiscent of imperial China. Her brothers are dead, her armies and their war mammoths long defeated and caged behind their borders. Alone and sometimes reviled, she must choose her allies carefully. Rabbit, a handmaiden, sold by her parents to the palace for the lack of five baskets of dye, befriends the emperor's lonely new wife and gets more than she bargained for.

Tashué’s faith in the law is beginning to crack. Three years ago, he stood by when the Authority condemned Jason to the brutality of the Rift for non-compliance. When Tashué’s son refused to register as tainted, the laws had to be upheld. He’d never doubted his job as a Regulation Officer before, but three years of watching your son wither away can break down even the strongest convictions. Then a dead girl washed up on the bank of the Brightwash, tattooed and mutilated.