Star Wars: Master of Evil
After Revenge of the Sith, a newly forged Darth Vader hunts for the secrets of life and death under the watchful eye of Emperor Palpatine. In the wake of Emperor Palpatine's rise to power, the true nature of his most sinister enforcer remains a mystery. Darth Vader is a dominant yet illusive figure: the shadow cast by a malignant Imperial regime, unknowable to even its top officials. But even as his humanity gives way to myth, Vader remains haunted by the promises of the dark side, seeking the ultimate power that his master has hinted at but withheld--the power to conquer death itself. On the volcanic world of Mustafar, Vader undertakes a dark ritual, bleeding a kyber crystal to forge his lightsaber. This act unleashes a power far greater than he anticipated, giving him a glimpse into the limitless potential of the Force. Vader is determined to follow this vision, even if it means defying his master's orders. Yet he finds the Emperor suspiciously supportive of his mission, even sending Vader to the Diso system to investigate rumors of a Force-wielding shaman able to raise the dead. At his side are a cadre of the Emperor's scarlet-robed Royal Guard, led by Colonel Halland Goth--a decorated soldier with a very personal interest in Vader's mission. Even as the Emperor's true motivations reveal themselves, Vader falls deeper into obsession. His journey takes him far across the galaxy, chasing rumors and phantoms. But no matter how far he travels, he cannot escape the shadows within his own soul. Haunted by the echoes of his past, Vader circles the true resolution to his quest: only once all weakness is purged can he become a master of evil.
The Dark Coil: Ascension
Continue the journey through the Dark Coil with this fantastic Warhammer 40,000 Omnibus from Black Library. Contents The Reverie (Novel) by Peter Fehervari The Crown of Thorns (Short story) by Peter Fehervari The Sins of My Brothers (Short story) by Peter Fehervari The Thirteenth Psalm (Short story) by Peter Fehervari Nightbleed (Short story) by Peter Fehervari Nightshift Nineteen (Short story) by Peter Fehervari Requiem Infernal (Novel) by Peter Fehervari Aria Arcana (Short story) by Peter Fehervari The Walker in Fire (Short story) by Peter Fehervari Nightfall (Short story) by Peter Fehervari On the surface, the galaxy's finest warriors ward against the dark forces that plague humanity, but emerging cracks are everywhere. Chaos festers within the sprawling web of the Dark Coil, and xenos threats grow ever stronger. In The Reverie, the Angels Resplendent reckon with an ancient sin that poisons their Chapter, and their story unfolds in crisis and conspiracy. When Astra Militarum survivors reach a sanctuary world in Requiem Infernal, the Adepta Sororitas must fight malign forces which stir in their wake. Delve into the darkness within Fehervari's short stories, where the Night Lords enact a bloody ritual, a hive world is beset with mysterious peril and a Salamanders Firedrake burns with righteous fury as part of a Deathwatch kill-team. A master of the horror at the heart of Warhammer 40,000, Peter Fehervari explores the deepest recesses of both the mind and the stars in this Dark Coil collection.
Razor's Edge: Star Wars Legends
When rebels clash with renegades, it's the Empire that may claim the final victory. Times are desperate for the Rebel Alliance. Harassment by the Empire and a shortage of vital supplies are hindering completion of a new secret base on the ice planet Hoth. So when Mid Rim merchants offer much-needed materials for sale, Princess Leia Organa and Han Solo lead an Alliance delegation to negotiate a deal. But when treachery forces the rebel ship to flee into territory controlled by pirates, Leia makes a shocking discovery: the fierce marauders come from Leia's homeworld of Alderaan, recently destroyed by the Death Star. These refugees have turned to pillaging and plundering to survive--and they are in debt to a pirate armada, which will gladly ransom the princess to the vengeful Empire . . . if they find out her true identity. Struggling with intense feelings of guilt, loyalty, and betrayal, Leia is determined to help her wayward kinspeople, even as Imperial forces are closing in on her own crippled ship. Trapped between lethal cutthroats and brutal oppressors, Leia and Han, along with Luke, Chewbacca, and a battle-ready crew, must defy death--or embrace it--to keep the rebellion alive. "[A] rollicking Star Wars adventure . . . a book that keeps you eagerly turning pages."--Roqoo Depot
Honor Among Thieves: Star Wars Legends
Nebula and Hugo Award nominees Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck--writing as James S. A. Corey--make their Star Wars debut in this brand-new epic adventure featuring Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia Organa. The action begins after the destruction of the Death Star in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. When the Empire threatens the galaxy's new hope, will Han, Luke, and Leia become its last chance? When the mission is to extract a high-level rebel spy from the very heart of the Empire, Leia Organa knows the best man for the job is Han Solo--something the princess and the smuggler can finally agree on. After all, for a guy who broke into an Imperial cell block and helped destroy the Death Star, the assignment sounds simple enough. But when Han locates the brash rebel agent, Scarlet Hark, she's determined to stay behind enemy lines. A pirate plans to sell a cache of stolen secrets that the Empire would destroy entire worlds to protect--including the planet where Leia is currently meeting with rebel sympathizers. Scarlet wants to track down the thief and steal the bounty herself, and Han has no choice but to go along if he's to keep everyone involved from getting themselves killed. From teeming city streets to a lethal jungle to a trap-filled alien temple, Han, Chewbacca, Leia, and their daring new comrade confront one ambush, double cross, and firestorm after another as they try to keep crucial intel out of Imperial hands. But even with the crack support of Luke Skywalker's x-wing squadron, the Alliance heroes may be hopelessly outgunned in their final battle for the highest of stakes: the power to liberate the galaxy from tyranny or ensure the Empire's reign of darkness forever. Praise for Honor Among Thieves "If you like Han Solo . . . you won't want to miss Honor Among Thieves. . . . A novel that flies by quicker than the Millennium Falcon on the Kessel Run."--Lightsaber Rattling "A fast-paced romp."--Big Shiny Robot "Honor Among Thieves felt very 'vintage.' . . . It nailed the classic Star Wars vibe in a way I haven't experienced in a long time."--Making Star Wars "One of the best Star Wars novels I've ever read."--Knights' Archive "Absolutely [captures] the magic of Star Wars and the era it's aiming for."--Jedi News (UK) "[The] most pleasurable 'Classic Trilogy' Star Wars reading in a long time . . . With masterful pacing and witty, descriptive dialogue, [Honor Among Thieves is] fun to read from start to finish. Adding a complexity of thought and action to a classic character like Han will satisfy those looking to indulge a deeper side."--TheForce.net "James S. A. Corey manages to tell a delightful tale filled with a fun plot, entertaining characters, and great descriptions that draw you in and bring the world to life. Fans of all sorts are sure to enjoy Empire and Rebellion: Honor Among Thieves."--EUCantina.net
Challenges
THE HOTTEST MILITARY SCIENCE FICTION SERIES OF ALL TIME CONTINUES WITH A COLLECTION OF TALES SET IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE STAR KINGDOM OF DAVID WEBER'S NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING HONORVERSE In Honor Harrington's day, the Star Kingdom of Manticore is the wealthiest star nation on a per capita basis in the entire galaxy. It is home to magnificent cities. Its planets' oceans and seas--and skies--are open to its people, yet they have maintained the beauty and the magnificence of their natural habitats. But that was not always true. Pioneers, especially interstellar pioneers, must be tough, smart, and self-reliant, and the people who built the Star Kingdom knew that. They prepared carefully for their enormous voyage, incorporated every measure they could think of, and even so, their new worlds did their best to kill them all. They very nearly succeeded, as the Plague Years pushed the human interlopers to the very brink of survival, forcing them to grow and change in ways they never could have anticipated. In the process, they became the people who could one day produce Honor Harrington, Elizabeth Winton, and the remarkable people willing to stand in the path of the People's Republic of Haven's insatiable advance . . . and then to ally with the Republic when both of them learned who their true enemy was. In many ways, that fortitude was the inevitable result of a star nation that learned early on that what truly matters is the way one faces the challenges the universe throws at one. These are the stories of people who learned that lesson, and met--and triumphed--over every challenge of their new homes. All original stories by: David Weber, Marisa Wolf, Jacob Holo, Dan Butler, Thomas Pope, and Jane Lindskold. Worlds of Honor anthologies: More Than Honor Worlds of Honor Changer of Worlds Service of the Sword In Fire Forged Beginnings What Price Victory?
Pluto
Hugo Award winner Ben Bova and Les Johnson complete Bova's Outer Planets series (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto), a Grand Tour of the human settled solar system, with a final encounter on Pluto. Major Larry Randall has been called to Pluto to retrieve Dr. Aaron Mikelson. Mikelson, no longer human after a horrific accident, is now melded to an AI. His enhanced senses have detected an alien artifact on Pluto's surface, and he's not leaving without it. Transferred to the research vessel studying Pluto, Randall and the other scientists are stumped as to the artifact's purpose and origin. Looking for similar signs of aliens they make their way to Pluto's moon, Charon, where, buried deep under its icy surface, something stirs--and wakes. Against a backdrop of unknown alien technology and potential interplanetary war, Mikelson's inhuman ego and obsession will risk humanity by calling something unknown to our solar system. The Outer Planets TrilogyUranusNeptunePluto
Moon of the Turning Leaves
"Waubgeshig Rice's stories are good medicine. Moon of the Turning Leaves is a restorative balm for my spirit." -- Angeline Boulley, New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper's DaughterIn this gripping stand-alone literary thriller set in the world of the award-winning post-apocalyptic novel Moon of the Crusted Snow, a scouting party led by Evan Whitesky ventures into unknown and dangerous territory to find a new home for their close-knit Northern Ontario Indigenous community more than a decade after a world-ending blackout.For the past twelve years, a community of Anishinaabe people have made the Northern Ontario bush their home in the wake of the power failure that brought about societal collapse. Since then they have survived and thrived the way their ancestors once did, but their natural food resources are dwindling, and the time has come to find a new home.Evan Whitesky volunteers to lead a mission south to explore the possibility of moving back to their original homeland, the "land where the birch trees grow by the big water" in the Great Lakes region. Accompanied by five others, including his daughter Nangohns, an expert archer, Evan begins a journey that will take him to where the Anishinaabe were once settled, near the devastated city of Gibson, a land now being reclaimed by nature.But it isn't just the wilderness that poses a threat: they encounter other survivors. Those who, like the Anishinaabe, live in harmony with the land, and those who use violence.
Creative Futures
Inspirational and thought-provoking collection of short stories imagining future crises and solutions, uniting the spheres of creative storytelling and real-life resilience building. We're going to change the world. Science Fiction writers spend their lives thinking about what will happen in the future. In this anthology, a select group bring imaginative thinking to the challenges the world will face in the next century. This anthology is a collection of works that draw inspiration from the Creative Futures Research Project, a partnership between Coventry University and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), the UK Ministry of Defence's science and technology organisation. The writers involved in the project created stories that imagined some of the future crises that we may have to resolve and the ramifications of our choices on the generations who come after us. Edited by author, lecturer and researcher Allen Stroud, who had a leading role in the research project, this anthology not only entertains and inspires, but also reminds us of the immense value of the imagination and creativity of science fiction writers in helping us plan for future crisis management and resilience. The full list of featured authors in this book is: Allen Stroud, Gavin Smith, Kieran Currie Rones, Stewart Hotston, Emma Newman, Stephen Oram, Tiffani Angus, Adrian Tchaikovesky, Adeola Eze, Gareth L. Powell, Stark Holborn, and Sophia McDougall.
Choices of One
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Timothy Zahn comes a brand-new Star Wars adventure, set in the time between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back and featuring the young Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia Organa, and the beloved Mara Jade. The fate of the Rebellion rests on Luke Skywalker's next move.But have the rebels entered a safe harbor or a death trap? Eight months after the Battle of Yavin, the Rebellion is in desperate need of a new base. So when Governor Ferrouz of Candoras Sector proposes an alliance, offering the Rebels sanctuary in return for protection against the alien warlord Nuso Esva, Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie are sent to evaluate the deal. Mara Jade, the Emperor's Hand, is also heading for Candoras, along with the five renegade stormtroopers known as the Hand of Judgment. Their mission: to punish Ferrouz's treason and smash the Rebels for good. But in this treacherous game of betrayals within betrayals, a wild card is waiting to be played. Don't miss the new novella by Timothy Zahn, "Crisis of Faith," featured in the 20th anniversary edition of Star Wars: Heir to the Empire
Usurpation
After her rollicking standalone Dual Memory, Sue Burke returns to her Semiosis series and the world of Pax in Usurpation, which combines the thrill of M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening with the eco-empowerment of VanderMeer's Dead Astronauts. Stevland, the dominant sentient lifeform of Pax, has clandestinely sent some of its progeny to Earth. To explore, to spread, to report back. Since their germination, Earth has been a powder keg. Human rebellion, robot uprisings, and global pandemics have created chaos, distrust, and deaths. As more and more conflicts break out across Earth, Stevland's children work in the background, in an attempt to control human behavior and perhaps, bring peace to the planet. Stevland took control of Pax. Earth shouldn't be too difficult... Other Books by Sue BurkeSemiosis SemiosisInterferenceUsurpation Immunity IndexDual Memory
Bears Discover Fire and Other Stories
From acclaimed master of science fiction, Terry Bisson, Bears Discover Fire and Other Stories brings together his Hugo Award-winning short story with eighteen other classics Bears Discover Fire is the first short story collection by Terry Bisson, author of such brilliant novels as Talking Man and Voyage to the Red Planet. It brings together nineteen of Bisson's finest works for the first time in one volume, among them the darkly comic title story, which garnered the field's highest honors, including the Hugo, Nebula, Theodore Sturgeon, and Locus awards.
Labyrinth
From the bestselling author of Lost in Time and Quantum Radio comes a new mind-bending thriller: a group of strangers with tinnitus begins seeing numbers - numbers they soon realize are a code that will change the world. Alan Norris has lost everything. Except for his daughter. And he's willing to do anything to protect her. The day of his wife's funeral, as he's walking to give the eulogy, the ringing in his ears starts. His tinnitus began when he was in the Marines, the day a roadside bomb went off. Usually, it's a low whine - a tea kettle that never quite boils. But as his prosthetic and his good leg sink into the soggy grass, the ringing changes. That afternoon, the ringing only he can hear sounds like three jagged rocks dropped in a tin can and shaken. When the rattling hits a crescendo, he sees a series of numbers: 12122518914208. He assumes it's a stress reaction. A hallucination. He's wrong about that. And several other things. The ringing and the numbers are a mystery, but the worst part is that when that unseen hand shakes the can, Alan begins to lose time. A few minutes at first. Then longer. Until one night, he wakes up next to a dead body. He could call the police. Or run. He doesn't do either. Because he doesn't know what happened to his daughter during the time he lost, leaving him no choice but to dig deeper. Alan soon discovers he's not the only one seeing the numbers. And that the sequence is key to a conspiracy with far-reaching consequences. For him and the entire world.
Maybe the Birds
A collection of 14 speculative and realist short stories exploring female lives and experiences. After the apocalypse destroys most life on Earth, a woman makes artificial bird voiceboxes to try and keep birdsong alive. A young female vampire uses her knowledge of mirrors to save her village from the creature who turned her. A woman haunted by her past feels that the robins she has always loved are no longer her friends. These fourteen stories, largely speculative in nature, consider what happens when the world is no longer as it used to be--whether it be the postapocalyptic future, the paleolithic past, or the dark north of the present. A. J. Ashworth's second collection features "Leather" from Best British Short Stories and explores themes of love and loss, family and foe, as well as moments of disconnection and connection with those closest to us. All are interested in what it means to be alive in very difficult times.
Orbital Bebop
A young black lesbian activist reclaims land from a greedy billionaire but struggles to hold peace against a rise of fear-based security culture and a toothache that seems whisper to her. An alien intelligence marvels at the human form, then horrifies at the ugly human condition underneath it. When two childhood friends reunite on different sides of a lunar corporate hierarchy, romance and possibly something more blooms. On Mars, a birthday party is ruined by an interstellar decree yet somehow saved by a tantric sexual experience. In Saturn's orbit a black lesbian scientist trains for interdimensional travel while yearning for a woman she's never met but half-remembers. On the cusp of the Year 3000 millennium a group of dirty clones find community and forgiveness, but at a cost. Orbital Bebop spans both the solar system and the human race in plotting out how societal ills on Earth travel with us while also offering the seeds for how humanity can redeem and heal itself.
