Fantasy Opera

Why we think it’s a great listen: It’s easy to say that when it comes to sci-fi you either love it or you hate it. But with Ender’s Game, it seems to be you either love it or you love it.... The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Enter Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, the result of decades of genetic experimentation.

Frank Herbert's Dune is one of the grandest epics in the annals of imaginative literature. Now Herbert's son, Brian, working with Kevin J. Anderson and using Frank Herbert's own notes, reveals a pivotal epoch in the history of the Dune universe: the Butlerian Jihad, the war that was fought ten thousand years before the events of Dune - the war in which humans wrested their freedom from "thinking machines."

Sylvas Vail is a big fish in a small pond, the most powerful mage on his planet. But when the doors to the cosmos come crashing open and all the untold wonders and terrors of the universe come pouring in, he is left with only two options: Ascend or die.

IN THE DEEP EXPANSE OF THE KNOWN ARC, AN ANCIENT COSMIC MYSTERY HAS AWAKENED. Jan January, bound in servitude to the Olid Ring Guild, finds himself aboard a freighter shuttling mysterious cargos to remote worlds.

A devastating connection holds the key to an entire world's future... Paralyzed by radical ideology and incessant conflict, Aydia stands on the verge of a general war. The planet's leaders now gather for one last, desperate attempt to avert the coming maelstrom. At this crucial moment, a glamorous diplomat seeks out the man whose stunning betrayal years ago nearly destroyed her. Cool and distant, Saira warns Rayson of impending treachery from his closest associates. If successful they would obliterate, for all time, everything in which they once believed. But can Rayson trust his long lost ...

With the Conclave on high alert and Twain on the move, Hank has to act fast. Things are looking dire, and Hank knows that he is going to need more support in the coming war. Joining the bounty hunter Council of Six would put him in a strong position to take on the resurging Cult. But doing that will be no easy task. Tracking down the biggest and baddest target in the universe will help his chances but it will also be their toughest job ever. And with Twain mobilizing, every second spent on the hunt is also one their enemy can use to strengthen his position.

The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender. Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it....

With the battle for Earth over, Zax and Kalare are forced to deal with the repercussions of its outcome. They enlist their closest allies to take back the Ship from enemies both new and old, and along the way, they discover a most unexpected source of help.

On a little-known planet, Archmage Varic Vallenar casts a grand spell to empower himself with the magical abilities of his alternate selves. The ritual works too well, granting Varic not only the magic but also the memories from six lives. Including their gruesome deaths. Now, Varic has power greater than any wizard in galactic history, but he knows that won’t be enough. The enemies he faced in those alternate lives were apocalyptic in scale. Terrors of technology and magic. Nothing that he, or anyone, can defeat.

A millennium into the future two advancements have altered the course of human history: the colonization of the galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain. Isaac Asimov's Robot novels chronicle the unlikely partnership between a New York City detective and a humanoid robot who must learn to work together. Like most people left behind on an over-populated Earth, New York City police detective Elijah Baley had little love for either the arrogant Spacers or their robotic companions.

Peacetime can be a rough adjustment for the battle-hardened Merry Band of Pirates.

Especially when aliens don’t get the memo that the shooting is over.

For generations, the solar system—Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt—was humanity's great frontier. Until now. The alien artifact working through its program under the clouds of Venus has appeared in Uranus's orbit, where it has built a massive gate that leads to a starless dark. Jim Holden and the crew of the Rocinante are part of a vast flotilla of scientific and military ships going out to examine the artifact. But behind the scenes, a complex plot is unfolding, with the destruction of Holden at its core.

Thirteen hundred gates have opened to solar systems around the galaxy. But as humanity builds its interstellar empire in the alien ruins, the mysteries and threats grow deeper. In the dead systems where gates lead to stranger things than alien planets, Elvi Okoye begins a desperate search to discover the nature of a genocide that happened before the first human beings existed and to find weapons to fight a war against forces at the edge of the imaginable. But the price of that knowledge may be higher than she can pay.

The Free Navy -- a violent group of Belters in black-market military ships -- has crippled the Earth and begun a campaign of piracy and violence among the outer planets. The colony ships heading for the thousand new worlds on the far side of the alien ring gates are easy prey, and no single navy remains strong enough to protect them.

Mercy Kincaid is a fugitive from her own family. Her dangerous telepathic gifts make her a target. So is anyone she gets close to. When her best friend is captured and tortured, Mercy's only hope is to reunite with the family that tried to murder her as a child. She trusts few among her blood relatives, but finds herself intrigued by an enigmatic and dangerous killer. Reaper has spent a lifetime watching his people die. He's vowed to kill anyone who jeopardizes their survival. Mercy's gifts are the biggest threat they've faced in 11 years.

The Galactics arrived with their Battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined a vast Empire that spanned the Milky Way. Our only worthwhile trade goods are our infamous mercenary legions, elite troops we sell to the highest alien bidder. In the third book in the series, James McGill is deployed on another alien world. His third interstellar tour is different in every way. Rather than meeting up with a primitive society, this time he’s headed to an advanced world.

On a return visit to Dal'no'nuuur to aid its inhabitants and get some upgrades, the crew of the Junkyard finds themselves ambushed by a Bastet intent on capturing them. Before meeting his 'unfortunate' end, Dax and Kane manage to extract a name from their assailant: Tussanu. Retreating to Tachyon, they discover Tussanu is an enigma wrapped in a mystery. This reclusive individual, whose race, age, and appearance remain unknown, invites his contractors to his home once a month to contribute to his extensive collection.

This classic science fiction masterwork by Isaac Asimov weaves stories about robots, humanity, and the deep questions of existence into a novel of shocking intelligence and heart.

Centuries after an asteroid smashes into a star ship, the inhabitants must learn to survive space without technology or perish. With the ship split in two and the citizens fragmented, disaster is imminent. Join princess Airomem and Horatius the historian in their adventures that range from fighting cannibals to preventing starvation to discovering long hidden secrets of the ship. Can they survive? Or will the thousand-year journey end in failure?

When Simon and Katherine Hawke stumble upon an alien shuttle that has landed on Earth, it will not only change the course of their lives but also the entire world. Taking the shuttle into orbit, they discover a much larger ship left adrift with no one on board. Commandeering it, they confirm that we're not alone in the universe and must prepare the human race for what is about to come.