Space First Contact

Evan was desperate to hit the big time playing Star Commander, the world’s most popular real-time strategy game. While Evan works hard to get the pros to notice him, it's very different eyes that are captivated by Evan's progress. The Kirran Hegemony is at war. Outclassed at every step, the aliens turn to the most warlike race they know - humanity! Abducted from Earth, Evan finds himself fighting for his life, using his skills to command Hegemony forces in desperate battle. Now, helped by fellow humans, Evan must prove victory can be grasped from the jaws of impossible odds.

United States Diplomat Danielle Lowen was there when one of her fellow diplomats committed an unthinkable act that had consequences for the entire planet. Now she’s trying to figure out how it happened before it can happen again. Putting the puzzle pieces together could solve the mystery - or it could threaten her own life. "The Gentle Art of Cracking Heads" is a tale from John Scalzi's The Human Division, a series of self-contained but interrelated short stories set in the Old Man's War universe.

Assigned to a new warship with cutting-edge technology, Jack Samson returns to the Frontier, determined to cast off the question marks over his previous conduct. The Navy ventures ever farther beyond the Frontier, with fantastic new discoveries becoming a daily occurrence. As humanity reaches for these technological riches, it enters a deadly contest with a lethal adversary, the very survival of the human race being at stake.

Peacemakers. The Galactic Union’s most capable enforcers and resolute negotiators, their name alone elicits fear and awe among the Union’s citizenry. When necessary, the Peacemaker Guild deputizes citizens to carry out special missions of great difficulty and danger. The only person ever to land a Combat Assault System, Personal (CASPer) from high-altitude free fall without a parachute, Tara Mason’s career as a mercenary showed promise, but it crumbled under poor choices and even worse leadership

Taiki Sato had long been the genius behind the Winged Hussars’ success. He spent years innovating, discovering new technologies, and generally making a nuisance of himself. But when he took his first trip to 2nd Level Hyperspace, everything changed. He created an innovative pinplant design, which he had Nemo, the Hussar’s Wrogul physician, install. A short time later, he executed a perfectly planned escape, disappearing from New Warsaw.

Lieutenant Saru is a Kelpien, a member of a prey species born on a world overrun by monstrous predators...and a being who very intimately understands the nature of fear. Challenged on all sides, he is determined to surpass his origins and succeed as a Starfleet officer aboard the U.S.S. Shenzhou. But when Saru breaks protocol in order to prove himself to his crewmates, what begins as a vital rescue mission to save a vessel in distress soon escalates out of control. Forced into a command role he may not be ready for, Saru is caught between his duty and two conflicting agendas.

The Concord is in shambles after the return of the Statu, but under the guidance of the Zilph'i, trust is slowly being rebuilt. Thomas Baldwin remains confident in his team, the secrets of his ship and the Concord no longer a dire threat. While the Founders continue to appease the Concord members, the Border Wars are picking up steam, and Constantine is sent to the far reaches of space to the Zilph'i homeworld to request the Ugna's aid.

Two humans and a robot roam the universe in search of castaways. The Majestic Draght, a spaceship built by aliens and controlled by an AI, transports them from system to system at one-fifth the speed of light. But then the ship suddenly - and seemingly unstoppably - accelerates. Has the AI lost control of the propulsion system? Or is the AI pursuing its own plans? The Draght’s new course targets a planet that would not have been the destination of the human-alien crew for a long time: Earth.

When Todd’s critically damaged ship dropped out of hyperspace near the human colony world of Azure, he had no memory of his past. He didn’t know who he was, or even what he was, and the humans didn’t either. That didn’t stop the colonists of Azure - they took him in, anyway...even though they didn’t understand how he could do some of the things he could do. Todd and his descendants consider themselves human - eight-armed and water-breathing - but human, nonetheless. After 70 years living among humans, Todd’s descendants are going back out into the Union to make their mark.

In the Galactic Union, few Human corporations are as storied or as well-known as the Intergalactic Haulers. But the Haulers are no more — victims of Peepo and her minions at the start of the Omega War. Now, her followers seek to destroy the Intergalactic Haulers’ more secretive counterpart — Bull and his black ops rescue company. Yet, this is only one part of a larger story....

After the fight for Snowmass, Jackson Rains questions everything he thought he knew. As Force 25 regroups and prepares to rescue Snowman, Jackson steps away and returns to the trail of the elusive Kr’et’Socae. The disgraced Enforcer is not so easily found. Needing assistance, and to heal his wounded heart, Jackson turns to family.

They banned him from space. But someone has offered him a way back. Can he afford the price? Famed engineer and test pilot Jericho Fox has been grounded for reasons he'd rather put behind him. But a political leader from a rival party offers to send him back to space. Fox finds himself stuck between working for the enemy and doing what he loves again. Meanwhile, high above Earth on Astraea Station, decorated astrophysicist Dr. Evelyn Park is on the verge of a scientific breakthrough that could make history.

In an effort to improve relations with the Earth, the Colonial Union has invited a contingent of diplomats from that planet to observe Ambassador Abumwe negotiate a trade deal with an alien species. Then something very bad happens to one of the Earthings, and with that, the relationship between humanity’s two factions is on the cusp of disruption once more. It’s a race to find out what really happened, and who is to blame. "The Observers" is a tale from John Scalzi's The Human Division, a series of self-contained but interrelated short stories set in the Old Man's War universe.

Captain Kyle Torres, now back in command of the Ichi, hand-picks his crew for their most dangerous mission yet. They scour the galaxy, searching for the home world of the Va’alen, with the hope of destroying them once and for all. Their journey takes them to never-before-explored sectors of space, and the secrets they uncover lead to an alliance with an unexpected ally. Admiral Dassiova, recovered from his grievous wounds, fights to prove his worthiness as a leader, but the Va’alen have plans of their own.

The lines. The soul of every ship. It was once thought there were only 10, but that was before an alien vessel appeared at the edge of space - before Ean Lambert heard more lines singing. Ean's ways of communicating with lines is strange. But his abilities make him a valuable tool - or weapon - to command. Captain Selma Kari Wang has lost everything - her ship, her crew, her legs. But the New Alliance of Worlds is not done with her yet.

The universe isn’t always as it appears, something that Salchar and the Free Fleet know only too well. When the black’s own creatures come tearing out from children’s nightmares, the Free Fleet will be there. Some might call those that make up the Free Fleet insane, might call them lunatics. But in this universe, it’s good to have some lunatics on your side.

Contains books one and two of The Acheron series: The Acheron and The Prodigal. Sandi and Ash never set out to be heroes. She joined the Fleet to please her mother, the Admiral. He signed up to escape the grinding poverty of the Housing Blocks. And the unlikely friends envisioned boring, peacetime careers as shuttle pilots. The Tahni Imperium had other ideas.

Hudson Powell and Tory Bellona are the galaxy’s top Star Scavengers. Travelling to distant planets, they hunt for valuable artefacts inside the wrecks of giant alien starships that mysteriously lie crashed and broken on every portal world.

What should have been a routine survey mission became a disaster. To the Harakens' surprise, they discovered, not one but two alien species, which were constantly engaged in conflict. One species, the Dischnya, hid their nests underground, and each nest owed its allegiance to a queen. On the grassy plains, where the Dischnya lived, the resources were scarce, and the warriors competed fiercely.

War has come to the worlds of Humans. The rich planet of Tau-Rietzke, however, is far from Earth and the Mercenary Guild’s invasion, and its alien-registered mercenary companies are a safe haven for humans on the run. Organizations like the Midnight Sun Free Company. Having just completed another successful mission and taken possession of three Raknars, it was party time for Saisho Branco and the Midnight Sun personnel, and they were enjoying a little down time...until the war spilled over into their corner of the galaxy and two competing organizations showed up to steal the Raknars.