Fantasy Adventure

On humanity's first extra-solar mission, the exploration vessel Magellan, or, as she prefers, "Maggie", discovers an alien artifact. Deciding that finding advanced alien life is too important to ignore, Captain Allison Ridgeway chooses to return to Earth while ordering her crew to reverse engineer technology far beyond anything back home. Meanwhile, at mission control, the governments struggle to maintain the existence of aliens a secret while also combating bureaucracy, the military industrial complex, and everyone else who wants a piece of what could skyrocket humanity into a new technological age.

Ben and his friends have defeated a deadly threat to mankind and gained powerful allies along the way, but sometimes, the biggest danger is ourselves. In the final audiobook in the Benjamin Ashwood series, Ben will have to take the mantle of leadership to prevent a war that will devastate Alcott.

Keeping up-to-date with the most buzzworthy and cutting-edge science fiction requires sifting through countless magazines, e-zines, websites, blogs, original anthologies, single-author collections, and more - a task accomplishable by only the most determined and voracious readers. For everyone else, Night Shade Books is proud to introduce the latest volume of The Best Science Fiction of the Year, collecting the finest that the genre has to offer, from the biggest names in the field to the most exciting new writers.

One-Horn’s daughter is not like the others of her kind. Born of a human father, she lacks the horns so prized by her people and is scorned even by her own mother. Her only chance for escape is to capture one of the legendary flying horses and ride it to freedom. This strange, feral girl begins a dangerous journey of love, death, and betrayal that will earn her a new name: Rhiannon, the rider no one can catch.

Nobody likes an escort mission. Nobody. Unfortunately for Nora, she'll be stuck travelling with Jessica, an American gamer, and Christopher, a Filipino man with a mysterious past. Somehow, the former Jackals gang leader must keep the two Terrans alive while heading south for Enheduanna's new, insane mission. Nora will have no time to prepare, or even to stay in Soron to enjoy her unexpected celebrity status. Instead, she will need to leave for Tolstey after healing from injuries sustained in battle, wounded while protecting Soron.

Time is running out. An ally has all but fallen. Resources are running low. The time for attack has come... The Alliance must strike deep into the heart of the empire. This time, the Aurora will be going home, or going to her grave.

A wave of death is spreading through the Milky Way galaxy, an expanding sphere of lethal gamma radiation that erupted from the galaxy's core 28,000 years ago. Every world it touched was wiped clean of all life. But it's possible to protect a planet from gamma radiation. Now, guided by the ancient intelligent machines called the Predecessors, men and women from Earth seek out those precious, rare worlds that harbor intelligent species, determined to save them.

Women rule in Women's Country. Women live apart from men, sheltering the remains of civilization. They have cut themselves off with walls and by ordinance from marauding males. Waging war is all men are good for. Men are allowed to fight their barbaric battles among themselves, garrison against garrison. For the sake of his pride, each boy child ritualistically rejects his mother when he comes of age to be a warrior. But all the secrets of civilization are strictly the possession of women.

During a perfect spring evening on Nantucket, a violent storm erupts and a dome of crawling, colored fire blankets the island. When the howling winds subside and the night skies clear, the stars appear to have shifted. The mainland has become a wilderness of unbroken forest, where tools of bronze and stone litter the beaches, and primitive natives scatter in terror.

Phil Panfilov's tribulations seem to have run their course. He's quite prepared to quit the alien game installed in his brain. In fact, Phil looks forward to a normal existence: both he and his company are in excellent shape. Still, the timing seems to be badly wrong. Humanity's enemies are stronger than ever. Despite all his new abilities, Phil has never been so close to defeat. But there's too much at stake this time, his interface included. Without it, all his hopes for a better future will be thwarted. Phil can't afford that to happen. He has to face his enemies and defeat them....

In the extraordinary Worldwar tetralogy, set against the backdrop of World War II, Harry Turtledove, whom Publishers Weekly has called the "Hugo-winning master of alternate SF," wove an explosive saga of world powers locked in conflict against an enemy from the stars.

Though many perished in the dark times past, a precious few survivors escaped, fleeing certain doom to find a dazzling, dangerous land of wonder. Here wizards and witches inhabited forests spun from enchantment and towers of celestial beauty. But in this place of promised safety, the Black Warlock was rising from the ashes of defeat - with an insatiable lust to dominate the world.

Soren and his band are sent to the mysterious Northern Kingdoms to gather allies and learn the art of war in preparation for the coming cataclysmic battle against the sinister Pure Ones. Meanwhile, in the Southern Kingdoms, St. Aggie's has fallen to the Pure Ones, and they are using its resources to plan a final invasion of the Great Ga'Hoole Tree.

Max was murdered, but now he is mostly over it. Living on earth as a recent college graduate, he can still perfectly recall his past life on Albion, a sword and sorcery world. He'd been hailed as the "Hero of the World" after crawling his way up from poverty, eventually enjoying great fame and luxury. But on mana-starved Earth, he's just a guy.

A lazy and wussy ex-gamer, Phil becomes one of the few humans who receive a mysterious alien piece of wetware that allows them to see the world through an augmented-reality interface very similar to those used in an MMORPG game. Guided by its stats and messages, Phil begins to level up, gradually transforming himself and his life. He even opens his own business in order to help his friends and complete strangers who acquire a newfound respect for him, assisting him in his travails.

Coming to the aid of a wounded whale, Kit and Nita are plunged into deep wizardry. The whale is a wizard, and she enlists Kit and Nita in battle against the sinister Lone Power. Becoming whales themselves, Nita and Kit join in an ancient ritual performed by whales, dolphins, and a single fearsome shark. But which poses more of a danger: the Lone Power, or ed'Rashtekaresket, the enormous shark as old as the sea?

Axel Nal is out of luck and out of time. He has failed every single induction ceremony and it is his last chance to Exceed to a higher class. At his wit's end, he desperately tries one last time at Exceeding, putting all his chips on the table...except something was different this time. Time freezing, a mysterious voice, and a new Exceed Mark? Had lady luck finally given him a boon? Had he received a class the world had never seen before? One thing is for sure, he's changed. And now he has something called...the Gambler's System.

Poppy knew she was taking a risk following her beloved Ragweed to Bannock Hill, but a night of dancing with the handsome golden mouse was just too tempting. So when Ragweed is scooped up by the sinister owl, Mr. Ocax, who rules over Dimwood forest, she’s devastated. Her whole life she was warned of Mr. Ocax’s evil ways … how could she have been so foolish to put herself and Ragweed at risk?

Captain Nathan Scott must decide whether to stand and fight to the end, or live to fight another day - even if it means the end of his world.

Game developer Kirk Delgado is dealing with your typical tabletop group while testing a new module for his wildly popular game, Nestrana. Unbeknownst to Kirk (but knownst to us!), he’s about to wake up in Nestrana. There, he meets the lovely Elf Solana and a disembodied Narrator who tasks Kirk with leveling up and fighting the final dragon boss. In order to do this, Kirk and Solana must form a party. Unfortunately, they’ve been matched with the overly good, overly large, and very stupid Blues. With a party this bad, Kirk may never get back home.