June Roundup of Scifi Books
Hmmm. How to name an alien race? After something on Earth they resemble? By how the name they call themselves sounds in English? But as an author you're making it up. So you can at least make it pronounceable. Or should you?
And here are the books you want...
The skelkrins. Predators from deep space. Creatures of claws, fangs, and unending malice. They swarm across the galaxy, slaying all in their path. Planets burn in their wake. And now they're heading to Earth.
Raphael "Riff" Starfire commands the Alien Hunters, a group of scruffy mercenaries. Galactic pest controllers, they mostly handle small critters--aliens that clog up your engine pipes, gnaw on your hull, or burrow through your silos.
Riff and his crew have never faced anything like the skelkrins before. As these cosmic killers invade our solar system, will Riff be the one hunting aliens . . . or will aliens hunt him?
Ace fighter pilot Anastasia Seivers is offered a secret assignment: to join a squadron taking the fight to Concorde's true enemies. But this squadron isn't part of the regular Concorde military, it is attached to the Legion Libertus, the independent force responsible for saving thousands of lives after the nuclear attack. After initial hope that her new commanders will be different, Seivers starts to suspect that they too are prejudiced against her.
Determined to remove the chip from Seivers' shoulder, Prefect Olivia Johnson, commander of the Legion, takes her on as pilot for a special mission.
Out in the darkness of space, something is targeting the Greatships.
With their vast cargo holds and a crew that could fill a city, the Greatships are the lifeblood of human occupied space, transporting an unimaginable volume - and value - of goods from City, the greatest human orbital, all the way to Tradepoint at the other, to trade for xenoglas with an unknowable alien species.
It has always been Marca Nbaro's dream to achieve the near-impossible: escape her upbringing and venture into space.
All it took, to make her way onto the crew of the Greatship Athens was thousands of hours in simulators, dedication, and pawning or selling every scrap of her old life in order to forge a new one. But though she's made her way onboard with faked papers, leaving her old life - and scandals - behind isn't so easy.
She may have just combined all the dangers of her former life, with all the perils of the new...
Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade his mind in the war. And one of humanity’s heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers.
Eighty years ago, Earth was destroyed by an alien enemy. Many escaped, but millions more died. So mankind created enhanced humans such as Idris - who could communicate mind-to-mind with our aggressors. Then these ‘Architects’ simply disappeared and Idris and his kind became obsolete.
Now, Idris and his crew have something strange, abandoned in space. It’s clearly the work of the Architects – but are they really returning? And if so, why? Hunted by gangsters, cults and governments, Idris and his crew race across the galaxy as they search for answers. For they now possess something of incalculable value, and many would kill to obtain it.
Alisia is normal, as far as humans go. She’s a young historian recovering from heartbreak, intent only onsettling down and living peacefully. But the gods have different intentions. Alisia and her sister wake up on analien ship. The merciless Admiral Brutus of the Vudar empire has mistaken the pair for members of the rivalSem’Pari race and plans on using them as spies, controlling them with neural implants. However, Alisiaquickly realizes Brutus’s team unknowingly implanted the wrong AI chip in her head.
Alisia names this AI companion Eric, and it’s almost too easy for her to connect with—to love—thisexhilarating new voice with whom she shares her body. But even when it becomes apparent that almost no oneaboard the Vudar ship is who they claim to be, Alisia chooses to trust Eric. Only he—it—can help her harnessher new superpower-like abilities, which are her best hope to escape back to Earth... and survive.
War never promised an easy tomorrow.
Lt. Colonel Arthur Hanson suffers from imposter syndrome. While grateful for promotion to second-in-command of the CSV Margaret Thatcher, he’s still a nerdy engineer at heart. The CDF’s presence in the Orion Spur is to project strength and maintain peace among the former League-held settlements. Confronting minor skirmishes is a cakewalk compared to open war.
But freedom demands a price.
Without warning, coordinated terrorist strikes across the Spur leave the fleet limping on life support. The Margaret Thatcher herself narrowly escapes destruction — at an unspeakable cost.
With the fleet decimated and backup stalled behind political power plays, Colonel Hanson is forced into shoes he feels ill-qualified to fill. But as ranking officer, survivors look to him to lead the charge against terrorists who wantonly rape and murder with no regard for the innocent.
Now Arthur must steel his spine and rise to the challenge of his namesake ship.
Because the Iron Lady does not turn from the fight.
Geary believed in the Alliance. Even when he uncovered overwhelming evidence that the highest echelons of the government and fleet command were involved in secret programs and prison camps, he believed it was worth saving. And that his duty was to see that justice was served even though some factions feared that revealing the truth would cause the Alliance to crumble.
But after narrowly surviving an assassination attempt when he brings evidence of the misdeeds to the capital star system, Geary realizes that some have decided the easiest way to make the Alliance’s problems disappear is to get rid of him. He finds himself ordered to undertake a perilous new assignment outside the reaches of human-occupied space while the Senate clashes over the evidence.
Geary’s warships must escort a diplomatic and scientific mission across the dangerous, disintegrating remnants of the Syndicate Worlds empire. But even if he can make it to Midway Star System, the gateway to alien-controlled space, Geary will face former Syndic officials who have rebelled and regard the Alliance with deep suspicion. And that will be the easy part...
Corvus Centauri rises from the ashes of betrayal and loss to carve his destiny among the stars. Once a child of noble blood, now a battle-hardened warrior raised among corsairs, Corvus must navigate a galaxy rife with treachery, ambition, and the haunting echoes of his past.
As he pieces together the mysteries behind his family’s fall, Corvus discovers long-buried secrets that could tip the balance of power in Frontier Space.
But to reclaim his birthright, Corvus must wield more than a blaster or a plasma sword — he must become a wise and cunning leader like his father, one that knows not only how to fight, but who to fight, and when not to.
In another galaxy far from Earth, an evil Empire controls 3/4ths of the star systems and yearns for more. Those regions not under their control have either traded obedience for their sovereignty, are too wild to tame, or too dangerous for Imperial troops to tread upon.
The main thorn in the Emperor's side is the Frontier, which occupies a third of the lawless and barbaric Outer Rim. Countless starship commanders and fleets have been sent to pacify and annex it into the Empire. All have failed.
The meager colonies established in the region are beset by constant wars and disasters. So the Emperor decides to change strategy. If an Imperial commander cannot give him what he desires, then perhaps an enemy can.
Aatroxiss, one of the few surviving members of the Keeno Order that the Empire has hunted to near annihilation, is captured and brought before the Emperor himself. But before Aatroxiss can wield the Kalla and kill him in his own throne room, the Emperor makes him an offer he cannot refuse.
The Frontier, given to Aatroxiss under the guise of him serving the Empire. He can do whatever he wishes with the region, so long as he brings order to it. Conflicted by wanting to kill the Emperor and avenge the deaths of the other Keenos, he wisely hesitates as he sees the opportunity in this. For over 200 years the Rebellion has failed to free a single world from the Empire. But if he agrees to become the Emperor's Grand Admiral in charge of the Frontier, he could free hundreds of worlds, if not thousands, from Imperial tyranny in fact, if not in name.
The Emperor knows it too, and in his gloating way has cornered Aatroxiss. Will he choose vengeance or rescuing others?
A Keeno can make only one choice, and as predicted, he strikes a deal with the Emperor for the sake of the billions of people in the Frontier. Thus Grand Admiral Aatroxiss is born, and upon his shoulders all of the Frontier's problems are about to be heaped while the Emperor continues his tyranny of the rest of the civilized galaxy...
In 1944, a secret Nazi experiment split the universe in two. In our universe, we won. Hitler died. Freedom prevailed. But in a parallel universe, the Nazis discovered the atom bomb first... and conquered the world. The light of freedom perished, and the Nazi shadow spread across Earth, the solar system, and the stars.
In 2207, a portal opens between our two universes. One universe of freedom. One of tyranny. And through this portal flies the Weltraumwaffe, the space fleet of the Third Reich.
James King was enjoying his retirement. He once commanded the Freedom Fleet, an armada of starships tasked with defending Earth. In his fifty years of service, Admiral King fought many battles. But he never faced anything like this.
He is old. Tired. Battle-worn. But he must don the uniform again. He must lead the Freedom Fleet once more. Or the shadows of our past will swallow us all.
WWII rages again. This time in space. The Freedom Fleet will face off against the Weltraumwaffe. Freedom or tyranny—only one can win.
The Praxis, the empire of now extinct Shaa, has again fallen into civil war, with desperate and outnumbered humans battling several alien species for survival. Leading the human forces are star-crossed lovers Gareth Martinez and Caroline Sula, who must find a way to overcome their own thorny personal history to defeat the aliens and assure humanity’s survival.
But even if the human fleet is victorious, the divisions fracturing the empire may be too wide to repair, as battles between politicians, the military, and fanatics who want to kill every alien threaten to further tear the empire apart. While Martinez and Sula believe they have the talent and tactics to defeat an overwhelming enemy, what will prevent their fellow humans from destroying themselves?
And here are the books you want...
The skelkrins. Predators from deep space. Creatures of claws, fangs, and unending malice. They swarm across the galaxy, slaying all in their path. Planets burn in their wake. And now they're heading to Earth.
Raphael "Riff" Starfire commands the Alien Hunters, a group of scruffy mercenaries. Galactic pest controllers, they mostly handle small critters--aliens that clog up your engine pipes, gnaw on your hull, or burrow through your silos.
Riff and his crew have never faced anything like the skelkrins before. As these cosmic killers invade our solar system, will Riff be the one hunting aliens . . . or will aliens hunt him?
Ace fighter pilot Anastasia Seivers is offered a secret assignment: to join a squadron taking the fight to Concorde's true enemies. But this squadron isn't part of the regular Concorde military, it is attached to the Legion Libertus, the independent force responsible for saving thousands of lives after the nuclear attack. After initial hope that her new commanders will be different, Seivers starts to suspect that they too are prejudiced against her.
Determined to remove the chip from Seivers' shoulder, Prefect Olivia Johnson, commander of the Legion, takes her on as pilot for a special mission.
Out in the darkness of space, something is targeting the Greatships.
With their vast cargo holds and a crew that could fill a city, the Greatships are the lifeblood of human occupied space, transporting an unimaginable volume - and value - of goods from City, the greatest human orbital, all the way to Tradepoint at the other, to trade for xenoglas with an unknowable alien species.
It has always been Marca Nbaro's dream to achieve the near-impossible: escape her upbringing and venture into space.
All it took, to make her way onto the crew of the Greatship Athens was thousands of hours in simulators, dedication, and pawning or selling every scrap of her old life in order to forge a new one. But though she's made her way onboard with faked papers, leaving her old life - and scandals - behind isn't so easy.
She may have just combined all the dangers of her former life, with all the perils of the new...
Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade his mind in the war. And one of humanity’s heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers.
Eighty years ago, Earth was destroyed by an alien enemy. Many escaped, but millions more died. So mankind created enhanced humans such as Idris - who could communicate mind-to-mind with our aggressors. Then these ‘Architects’ simply disappeared and Idris and his kind became obsolete.
Now, Idris and his crew have something strange, abandoned in space. It’s clearly the work of the Architects – but are they really returning? And if so, why? Hunted by gangsters, cults and governments, Idris and his crew race across the galaxy as they search for answers. For they now possess something of incalculable value, and many would kill to obtain it.
Alisia is normal, as far as humans go. She’s a young historian recovering from heartbreak, intent only onsettling down and living peacefully. But the gods have different intentions. Alisia and her sister wake up on analien ship. The merciless Admiral Brutus of the Vudar empire has mistaken the pair for members of the rivalSem’Pari race and plans on using them as spies, controlling them with neural implants. However, Alisiaquickly realizes Brutus’s team unknowingly implanted the wrong AI chip in her head.
Alisia names this AI companion Eric, and it’s almost too easy for her to connect with—to love—thisexhilarating new voice with whom she shares her body. But even when it becomes apparent that almost no oneaboard the Vudar ship is who they claim to be, Alisia chooses to trust Eric. Only he—it—can help her harnessher new superpower-like abilities, which are her best hope to escape back to Earth... and survive.
War never promised an easy tomorrow.
Lt. Colonel Arthur Hanson suffers from imposter syndrome. While grateful for promotion to second-in-command of the CSV Margaret Thatcher, he’s still a nerdy engineer at heart. The CDF’s presence in the Orion Spur is to project strength and maintain peace among the former League-held settlements. Confronting minor skirmishes is a cakewalk compared to open war.
But freedom demands a price.
Without warning, coordinated terrorist strikes across the Spur leave the fleet limping on life support. The Margaret Thatcher herself narrowly escapes destruction — at an unspeakable cost.
With the fleet decimated and backup stalled behind political power plays, Colonel Hanson is forced into shoes he feels ill-qualified to fill. But as ranking officer, survivors look to him to lead the charge against terrorists who wantonly rape and murder with no regard for the innocent.
Now Arthur must steel his spine and rise to the challenge of his namesake ship.
Because the Iron Lady does not turn from the fight.
Geary believed in the Alliance. Even when he uncovered overwhelming evidence that the highest echelons of the government and fleet command were involved in secret programs and prison camps, he believed it was worth saving. And that his duty was to see that justice was served even though some factions feared that revealing the truth would cause the Alliance to crumble.
But after narrowly surviving an assassination attempt when he brings evidence of the misdeeds to the capital star system, Geary realizes that some have decided the easiest way to make the Alliance’s problems disappear is to get rid of him. He finds himself ordered to undertake a perilous new assignment outside the reaches of human-occupied space while the Senate clashes over the evidence.
Geary’s warships must escort a diplomatic and scientific mission across the dangerous, disintegrating remnants of the Syndicate Worlds empire. But even if he can make it to Midway Star System, the gateway to alien-controlled space, Geary will face former Syndic officials who have rebelled and regard the Alliance with deep suspicion. And that will be the easy part...
Corvus Centauri rises from the ashes of betrayal and loss to carve his destiny among the stars. Once a child of noble blood, now a battle-hardened warrior raised among corsairs, Corvus must navigate a galaxy rife with treachery, ambition, and the haunting echoes of his past.
As he pieces together the mysteries behind his family’s fall, Corvus discovers long-buried secrets that could tip the balance of power in Frontier Space.
But to reclaim his birthright, Corvus must wield more than a blaster or a plasma sword — he must become a wise and cunning leader like his father, one that knows not only how to fight, but who to fight, and when not to.
In another galaxy far from Earth, an evil Empire controls 3/4ths of the star systems and yearns for more. Those regions not under their control have either traded obedience for their sovereignty, are too wild to tame, or too dangerous for Imperial troops to tread upon.
The main thorn in the Emperor's side is the Frontier, which occupies a third of the lawless and barbaric Outer Rim. Countless starship commanders and fleets have been sent to pacify and annex it into the Empire. All have failed.
The meager colonies established in the region are beset by constant wars and disasters. So the Emperor decides to change strategy. If an Imperial commander cannot give him what he desires, then perhaps an enemy can.
Aatroxiss, one of the few surviving members of the Keeno Order that the Empire has hunted to near annihilation, is captured and brought before the Emperor himself. But before Aatroxiss can wield the Kalla and kill him in his own throne room, the Emperor makes him an offer he cannot refuse.
The Frontier, given to Aatroxiss under the guise of him serving the Empire. He can do whatever he wishes with the region, so long as he brings order to it. Conflicted by wanting to kill the Emperor and avenge the deaths of the other Keenos, he wisely hesitates as he sees the opportunity in this. For over 200 years the Rebellion has failed to free a single world from the Empire. But if he agrees to become the Emperor's Grand Admiral in charge of the Frontier, he could free hundreds of worlds, if not thousands, from Imperial tyranny in fact, if not in name.
The Emperor knows it too, and in his gloating way has cornered Aatroxiss. Will he choose vengeance or rescuing others?
A Keeno can make only one choice, and as predicted, he strikes a deal with the Emperor for the sake of the billions of people in the Frontier. Thus Grand Admiral Aatroxiss is born, and upon his shoulders all of the Frontier's problems are about to be heaped while the Emperor continues his tyranny of the rest of the civilized galaxy...
In 1944, a secret Nazi experiment split the universe in two. In our universe, we won. Hitler died. Freedom prevailed. But in a parallel universe, the Nazis discovered the atom bomb first... and conquered the world. The light of freedom perished, and the Nazi shadow spread across Earth, the solar system, and the stars.
In 2207, a portal opens between our two universes. One universe of freedom. One of tyranny. And through this portal flies the Weltraumwaffe, the space fleet of the Third Reich.
James King was enjoying his retirement. He once commanded the Freedom Fleet, an armada of starships tasked with defending Earth. In his fifty years of service, Admiral King fought many battles. But he never faced anything like this.
He is old. Tired. Battle-worn. But he must don the uniform again. He must lead the Freedom Fleet once more. Or the shadows of our past will swallow us all.
WWII rages again. This time in space. The Freedom Fleet will face off against the Weltraumwaffe. Freedom or tyranny—only one can win.
The Praxis, the empire of now extinct Shaa, has again fallen into civil war, with desperate and outnumbered humans battling several alien species for survival. Leading the human forces are star-crossed lovers Gareth Martinez and Caroline Sula, who must find a way to overcome their own thorny personal history to defeat the aliens and assure humanity’s survival.
But even if the human fleet is victorious, the divisions fracturing the empire may be too wide to repair, as battles between politicians, the military, and fanatics who want to kill every alien threaten to further tear the empire apart. While Martinez and Sula believe they have the talent and tactics to defeat an overwhelming enemy, what will prevent their fellow humans from destroying themselves?
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