Space Exploration Fiction

Season after season, the clans of the Brilliant Valley rely upon nature's dependable bounty. From their river's ceaseless flow, to the berry patch's delectable fruit, none among the valley's inhabitants could ever conceive of drought, or deprivation of any kind—until the night a colossal entity fell from the stars… The Shepherd of the Brilliant Valley - a new sci-fi short story from the bestselling author of The Dig and Exigency.

In a past age, humanity fled a dying Earth in massive ark ships. These searched the galaxy to find a new home. Then one fleet found Centauri, a dense cluster of stars teeming with habitable planets. Now, thousands of years later, Centauri’s settlers have evolved into advanced beings known as Celestials – and their great houses rule vast star systems. As they vie for supremacy, Earth’s ark ships continue to arrive, and humans must serve these repressive masters. But is there a better life beyond the empire?

A pristine planet near Alpha Centauri offers an escape for Earth’s elite from the damage they’ve done. But running from your problems never works. Even at light speed. Young Adam Proctor has dreamed of leaving the Earth too, it runs in the family. Searching for answers behind his mother’s death as an astronaut and his own place in space he charts a path to the prestigious Astronaut Academy run by the mysterious Arseo Chapman. Graduation earns Adam a ticket to Mars for a grueling training regimen in preparation for Arseo’s secret interplanetary mission. Once there, Adam meets his ...

A genocidal psychopath resurrects an ancient, powerful space fleet to dominate the Solar System. And the crew of the Sea Rover are humanity’s last hope... they just don’t know it yet. Captain Calin Aku and his crew specialize in smuggling across the new Martian colonies. It was a simple job with a paycheck, until they find themselves caught in the clandestine war of a secret advanced civilization hidden for a millennium. Can Calin and his crew transcend their roles as mere smugglers and outlaws to become true heroes? Corsair of Mars is the riveting second installment in a Solar System-...

After thousands of years searching, humans stand on the verge of first contact with an alien race. There are two human groups: the Qeng Ho, a culture of free traders, and the Emergents, a ruthless society based on the technological enslavement of minds. The group that opens trade with the aliens will reap unimaginable riches.

There are two things guaranteed on Kaivanto: rain and terror. Subaltern Zyst has just joined the Imperial Fleet. He expects adventure, glory and action. Instead, he’s assigned to the mining world of Kaivanto, where he can expect only rain, mud and terror. In a universe with faster than light travel, power armour and energy weapons, Subaltern Zyst has been assigned to the most archaic world in the Empire. A place nobody has ever heard of and where misery is par for the course, with a simple mandate: keep the ore flowing and keep the monsters outside the perimeter. A War Beneath the Clouds ...

The Indomitus Crusade has brought the Emperor's vengeance to thousands of star systems. The fleets and armies under the leadership of Roboute Guilliman fight for the survival of humanity against the forces of the Chaos Gods. But the traitors and heretics are not the only foe looking to destroy the rule of Terra. Xenos prey on human worlds in numbers not seen for millennia. Worst amongst them are the rampaging orks, whose migration conquests threaten to reverse the many gains of Fleet Primus.

A good Gajur gave his life. Will that sacrifice help bring the galaxy back to balance? Or topple known space into a war to end all wars? Armagost wasn't the only light snuffed prematurely. The attack destroyed an irreplaceable piece of Valint's life, as well. Now, Mark must toe the delicate line between lawman and friend, partner and lover. With those in power divided, the work has only begun. The galaxy no longer needs a maker of peace, but a lobbyist and negotiator. In order to deconstruct the entombed and corrupt system, Mark and the gang must stack the deck in their favor.

The continued adventures of Jake. Jake, along with his forever-increasing alien family. They run a busy family business that transports food and goods between alliance worlds, encountering various situations in the process. The human race would not have been considered ready for first contact if it were not for one overriding reason. The most deadly alien foe known to the alliance has its sights on Earth and is set on a path to invade, not to conquer but to annihilate all the planet’s human inhabitants. Earth’s primitive weapons will not save them; this is where Jake can help. Jake has ...

Tornado Onwubiko is one of seven people on Earth paired with sentient ships to explore and research the cosmos for twenty million euros. A decade of solitary life for a lifetime of wealth. Five years into the ten-year mission of total isolation comes a consolation: a temporary meetup among fellow travelers. A lot can happen in a week. For Tornado, who left a normal life behind, a little company can be life-changing.

Get ready to experience two more origin stories in the Backyard Starship universe.

When the Fafnir responds to a desperate distress call, their act of kindness is turned against them, making Van the most wanted man in the known universe. Targeted by a vicious, charismatic politician and his shadowy partner, Van and his friends are faced with a decision that carries long term consequences—deliver justice...or run and hide. The choice is easy. The Fafnir will attack, and criminals will pay regardless of the bounty chasing them across the stars.

On a cold spring night in 1952, a huge meteorite fell to earth and obliterated much of the East Coast of the US, including Washington, DC. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render the Earth inhospitable for humanity, as the last such meteorite did for the dinosaurs. This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated effort to colonize space and requires a much-larger share of humanity to take part in the process. Elma York’s drive to become the first lady astronaut is so strong that even the most dearly held conventions of society may not stand a chance against her.

From the halls of power in Washington to the vastness of space, the Guild moves closer to outright war as shifting alliances force everyone—including Van—to pick a side, take up arms, and fight. But there are ghosts out there in the black, and some of them carry secrets that Mark Tudor and Petyr Groshenko refused to reveal. In the expanse of his memory, Perry finds an ancient ship, and an even older war—and neither of those things have truly gone away.

The star cluster is awash with the blood of those whose lives have been spent by two men maneuvering fleets like pieces across a chessboard. Only one man can come out on top: Thatcher or Moll.

A spaceship has crashed on a deserted alien world. Only one unit is capable of responding: Imperial Rescue Technicians. On the surface, the rain is constant, nothing electrical works and unknown terrors lurk in the darkness. For the crew of the Vanuri, their survival depends on a few brave Rescue Techs who can get down to the surface and save them from the planet’s horrors before it’s too late.

A near future fiction space exploration story of strength, fortitude and growth of the first woman and next man to walk on the moon, inspired by the astronauts of the 21st century. Mike and Sue prepare to make history for NASA on the Moon ... but is it the history they expected? A geologist with a passion for space, Mike Trellis enjoys carefree life. As a US Navy test pilot and young mother, Sue Bright dreams of being the first woman on Mars. Mike and Sue are new trainee astronauts for NASA as it prepares to return to the Moon after 50 years. Do they have the right stuff that their ...

The strong races rule the galaxy, doing as they please. The weak are enslaved or driven from their homeworlds or simply exterminated by the ruling powers. The Solar Union's only hope of survival is to master GalTech and improve upon it before the Galactics realize the human race is no longer trapped on a primitive world, at the mercy of any spacefaring race who stumbles across it. But GalTech keeps its secrets close, and time is not on humanity's side.

It is the year 2044 on Earth. At the Farside observatory complex on the Moon, a startling astronomical discovery has been made. A survey for pulsars has found an x-ray source in a region of space where none has been detected before. Upon further investigation, they find that this x-ray source is just outside of the Solar System and is approaching at over 300 miles per second. The astronomers are paralyzed by what they have found knowing what its disastrous ramifications might be. A neutron star is approaching the Solar System. It appeared out of a small dense dust cloud that was shielding ...

Admiral Jack Romanoff and his people have located the system the Tardans are using as their command post for the invasion of the Confederation. Only they can't simply attack militarily because of the stellar terrain, so they need to improvise. When the stakes are high, leave no option unexplored. With direct action off the table, they must infiltrate the system and get the information they need to defeat the Tardans and their Locust minions.