The Player of Games (Culture- 2)
The Culture -- a human/machine symbiotic society -- has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy. Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game. . . a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life -- and very possibly his death. The Culture Series Consider Phlebas The Player of Games Use of Weapons The State of the Art Excession Inversions Look to Windward Matter Surface Detail The Hydrogen Sonata
Halo: Edge of Dawn
An original novel set in the Halo universe--based on the New York Times bestselling video game series! 2560. After eliminating War Chief Escharum and sending the Banished leadership into chaos, the Master Chief continues the fight on Zeta Halo, accompanied by his new AI companion and their loyal pilot Fernando Esparza. As Spartan-117 searches for scattered allied forces, a young combat medic--tortured and imprisoned for months by the Banished and the enigmatic Harbinger--may hold the key to unlocking deeper mysteries within this ancient ringworld. But every step toward answers is haunted by the sinister and elusive blademaster Jega 'Rdomnai, who is hellbent on vengeance...
Hell's Last
Captain Minka Lesk returns and is tested as never before. As she leads her regiment in the Gallows Cluster, she must deal with a threat she's never seen - a jungle that wants to eat her troops alive! Cadia has fallen. Last to escape the hell that was the Thirteenth Black Crusade's destruction of their home world, the Cadian 101st are bloodied but unbroken as they fight to prove they deserve the legacy that was left to them. When a new threat surges through the Gallows Cluster, jeopardising the stability of the entire warfront, the 101st are thrown into the breach. As loyal fortresses fall on the world of Alia, Minka Lesk's company leads the mad gambit that is the last hope of turning the tide. But when the jungle itself is as deadly as any enemy, can Minka keep her troopers fighting as her regiment fractures around her?
This Brutal Moon
Bethany Jacobs returns with the thrilling conclusion to The Kindom Trilogy that began with the Philip K. Dick Award-winning These Burning Stars, the debut epic space opera trilogy about revenge, power, and the price of legacy. Violence has erupted across the Treble. The colony that Jun Ironway and Masar Hawks have fought to protect is now woefully compromised, and its people, unwilling to submit to tyranny once more, face a brutal fight for their lives and freedom. In the midst of upheaval and rebellion, new enemies arise at every corner, including a familiar player who won't let power slip through his fingers again. Not when he has every Kindom Hand under his heel. And whether he will be as bloody-minded as his predecessors remains to be seen. As the quiet ones launch their attack and all hope seems lost, Cleric Chono looks to unlikely allies to fight a final battle for peace. But one crucial question remains: where is Six? Praise for The Kindom Trilogy: ★ "An exciting start from a fresh talent, offering emotional and political complexity plus plenty of interplanetary action." - Kirkus (Starred Review) on These Burning Stars ★ "Plotted like a chess match, confident and surprising as Jacobs moves each piece thoughtfully across her board ... If Jacobs' second entry is anything like the first, we'll have so much more to discover across her universe in the years to come." - BookPage (Starred Review) on These Burning Stars "There's no shortage of twists, betrayals, and unexpected alliances in this intricate story of revenge and survival. This sets things up nicely for a grand finale in book three." -Publishers Weekly on On Vicious Worlds
Star Wars: The Mask of Fear (Reign of the Empire)
Before the Rebellion, the Empire reigns, in book one of a trilogy told through the eyes of Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and Saw Gerrera--for fans of Andor."The Mask of Fear is a perfect prequel for Andor."--ScreenRant "In order to ensure the security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire! For a safe and secure society!" With one speech and thunderous applause, Chancellor Palpatine brought the era of the Republic crashing down. In its place rose the Galactic Empire. Across the galaxy, people rejoiced and celebrated the end of war--and the promises of tomorrow. But that tomorrow was a lie. Instead, the galaxy became twisted by the cruelty and fear of the Emperor's rule. During that terrifying first year of tyranny, Mon Mothma, Saw Gerrera, and Bail Organa face the encroaching darkness. One day, they will be three architects of the Rebel Alliance. But first, each must find purpose and direction in a changing galaxy, while harboring their own secrets, fears, and hopes for a future that may never come unless they act.
Shadow Fall (Star Wars)
Alphabet Squadron's hunt for the deadliest TIE fighters in the galaxy continues in this Star Wars adventure! News of the New Republic's victory still reverberates through the galaxy. In its wake, the capital ships of the newly legitimized galactic government journey to the farthest stars, seeking out and crushing the remnants of imperial tyranny. But some old ghosts are harder to banish than others. And none are more dangerous than Shadow Wing. Yrica Quell's ragtag Alphabet Squadron still leads the search for Shadow Wing, but they're no closer to their goal--and the pressure to find their quarry before it's too late has begun to shake them apart. Determined to finish the fight once and for all, Quell works with New Republic Intelligence's contentious Caern Adan and the legendary General Hera Syndulla to prepare the riskiest gambit of her starfighting career--a trap for Shadow Wing that could finish the chase once and for all. But in the darkness, their enemy has evolved. Soran Keize, last of the Imperial aces, has stepped into the power vacuum at the head of Shadow Wing, reinvigorating the faltering unit in their hour of need. Once adrift in the aftershocks of the war, Keize has found meaning again, leading the lost soldiers of his unit through to safety. The only thing standing in his way? The most mismatched squadron in the New Republic Navy, led by his former mentee: the traitor Yrica Quell.
Victory's Price (Star Wars)
The aces of the New Republic have one final chance to defeat the darkness of Shadow Wing in this thrilling conclusion to the Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron trilogy! In the wake of Yrica Quell's shocking decision--and one of the fiercest battles of their lives--the remnants of Alphabet Squadron seek answers and closure across a galaxy whose old war scars are threatening to reopen. Soran Keize has returned to the tip of Shadow Wing's spear. Operation Cinder, the terrifying protocol of planetary extermination that began in the twilight of the Imperial era, burns throughout the galaxy. Shadow Wing is no longer wounded prey fleeing the hunters of the New Republic. With its leader, its strength has returned, and its Star Destroyers and TIE squadrons lurk in the darkness between stars, carrying out the fallen Emperor's final edict of destruction--as well as another, stranger mission, one Keize has championed not for the dying Empire, but for its loyal soldiers. Alphabet Squadron's ships are as ramshackle and damaged as their spirits, but they've always had one another. Now, as they face the might of Keize's reborn juggernaut, they aren't sure they even have that. How do you catch a shadow? How do you kill it? And when you're finally victorious, who pays the price?
Apostles of Mercy
THE INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER Apostles of Mercy is the new alternate history first contact novel from the instant New York Times, Wall Street Journal and LA Times bestselling Lindsay Ellis.First Contact has not been going well. The nations of Earth are rapidly militarizing against the arrival of the Superorganism, an alien civilization that promises to destroy humanity before it can develop into a real threat. The Superorganism has done it before-to their distant transient relatives-and they could easily do it again. But the alien Ampersand and his human interpreter Cora Sabino are done with trying to save humanity from both the Superorganism and itself; to them, this is a civilization that does not deserve to be saved. When a strange new form of communication between the two of them reveals to Cora how alien Ampersand truly is, she begins to question her blind devotion. But she soon learns of a danger that may force them to leave Earth before either of them are ready: a group of superorganism enemies that have been wreaking havoc on Earth for decades. Existence on the margins has made them desperate and bent on revenge against any of Ampersand's race whose path they cross. Before Cora and Ampersand can make their final escape, these hostile aliens stage an attack, and take that which is most dear to both of them. Ampersand's enemies will not consider any form of truce; the greatest threat to them is not from the Superorganism, but from an increasingly fearful and violent human civilization newly aware of their existence. Cora and Ampersand must go to extreme measures to take back what was stolen and prevent wholesale human extermination-but in doing so they may be no better than the civilizations they are trying to escape.
We Will Rise Again
From genre luminaries, esteemed organizers, and exciting new voices in fiction, an anthology of stories, essays, and interviews that offer transformative visions of the future, fantastical alternate worlds, and inspiration for the social justice movements of tomorrow. In this collection, editors Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz, and Malka Older champion realistic, progressive social change using the speculative stories of writers across the world. Exploring topics ranging from disability justice and environmental activism to community care and collective worldbuilding, these imaginative pieces from writers such as NK Jemisin, Charlie Jane Anders, Alejandro Heredia, Sam J. Miller, Nisi Shawl, and Sabrina Vourvoulias center solidarity, empathy, hope, joy, and creativity. Each story is grounded within a broader sociopolitical framework using essays and interviews from movement leaders, including adrienne maree brown and Walidah Imarisha, charting the future history of protest, revolutions, and resistance with the same zeal for accuracy that speculative writers normally bring to science and technology. Using the vehicle of ambitious storytelling, We Will Rise Again offers effective tools for organizing, an unflinching interrogation of the status quo, and a blueprint for prefiguring a different world.
