Space Opera Science Fiction

BioWare and LucasArts - creators of the hugely popular Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic® video game - have combined their storytelling talents and cutting-edge technology for an innovative new massively multiplayer online role-playing game that allows players to create their own personal Star Wars adventure 3,500 years before the rise of Darth Vader. Now number one New York Times best-selling author Sean Williams brings the world of the game to life in his latest novel, Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance.

Once a united Legion, the disparate splinters of the Emperor’s Children now eke out a violent, hedonistic existence between the stars, raiding and ravaging worlds to indulge their fathomless appetites. Xantine, proud leader of the Adored and a true son of Fulgrim, wants more than simply pillaging backwater worlds. He soon finds what he has been searching for – Serrine, a wealthy but cruel planet festering under misrule and inequality, cut off from the Imperium by warp storms. It is too tantalising a prize to ignore, and Xantine sets out to bring perfection to his new world.

The Troubles. A quaint name for a horrific period in the galaxy's history. A period whose atrocities were superseded only by the terror of the Savage Wars that had come before. Almost no corner of the galaxy was spared a taste of terrible war, cutthroat intrigue…and remorseless death. In the aftermath, this battered galaxy now longs for peace and stability. The Republic, now reformed, seeks to govern by the rule of law. But no matter how sincere the reform, how earnest and well-meaning the ruler, some worlds refuse to place their destiny in the hands of others. Ever again.

The Warmaster’s horde advances through the fire and ash of Terra's dying breaths, forcing the loyalists back to the Delphic Battlement—the very walls of the Sanctum Imperialis. Angron, Primarch of the World Eaters and Herald of Horus, has achieved immortality through annihilation—now he leads the armies of the damned in a wrathful tide, destroying all before them as the warp begins its poisonous corruption of Terra's very soil.

The Adeptus Astartes are humanity's champions, superhuman warriors armed with the finest weapons and clad in mighty armour. They defend the Imperium of Mankind from all its myriad foes - the alien, the heretic and the daemon. There are a thousand Chapters of Space Marines across the Imperium, each with its own traditions and ways of waging war, but all have one thing in common - their total dedication to eradicating their enemies in the name of the Emperor. This audio drama anthology contains seven stories of the Space Marines.

In his attempt to delay his appearance in Emperor's court, Crown Prince Georg triggers an alien invasion of his own star system. The whole of the Empire watches the live broadcast with bated breath as his fleet battles the awesome invaders. The Iseyeks - gigantic sentient praying mantises - are suitably impressed too, so they promptly remind the Crown Prince of his allied duties. The Sector Eight Fleet hurries to the Swarm's aid...but sadly disregards the insects' hive mentality.

In many ways, Nona is like other people. She lives with her family, has a job at her local school, and loves walks on the beach and meeting new dogs. But Nona's not like other people. Six months ago she woke up in a stranger's body, and she's afraid she might have to give it back. The whole city is falling to pieces. A monstrous blue sphere hangs on the horizon, ready to tear the planet apart. Blood of Eden forces have surrounded the last Cohort facility and wait for the Emperor Undying to come calling. Their leaders want Nona to be the weapon that will save them from the Nine Houses.

Fergus is back on Earth at last, trying to figure out how to live a normal life. However, it seems the universe has other plans for him. When his cousin sends him off to help out a friend, Fergus accidently stumbles across a piece of an ancient alien artifact that some very powerful people seem to think means the entire solar system is in danger. And since he’s the one who found it, they’re certain it’s also his problem to deal with.

Persephone Station, a seemingly backwater planet that has largely been ignored by the United Republic of Worlds, becomes the focus for the Serrao-Orlov Corporation as the planet has a few secrets the corporation wants to exploit. Rosie, owner of Monk's Bar, serves members of a rather exclusive criminal class and those who seek to employ them. Angel, ex-marine and head of a semi-organized band of beneficent criminals, wayward assassins, and washed-up mercenaries with a penchant for doing the honorable thing, is asked to perform a job for Rosie.

For months, Princess Lorraine Adamant has fled from star system to star system in a desperate attempt to evade the minions of her uncle, the man who murdered her entire family to seize power in the Star Kingdom of Adamant. Thanks to the crew of her ship and her loyal bodyguard, Vigo Jarret, Lorraine has finally reached her goal: the homeworld, Earth. There, she plans to lay her case before the United Worlds, the oldest and greatest of humanity’s nations.

What could possibly go wrong with accepting an invitation from an ally? As the war comes to an end, Jonathon Hunter sees the good and bad sides to being considered the hero, but which is which? All he wants to do is go home, but home isn't any closer than it was a month ago, and this time, he's going the long way around. A hero's work is never done, and with the stakes never being higher before, just how much paranoia is not enough?

Terminal Lance Lucky Lee Savage likes his life. Sure, doing PT hungover is a pain, but no one can dodge responsibility like he can - or sweet-talk the cooks into giving out double rations.

The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks or military action. The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought. The drone known as Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people.

Retired from his fighting days, John Perry is now village ombudsman for a human colony on distant Huckleberry. With his wife, former Special Forces warrior Jane Sagan, he farms several acres, adjudicates local disputes, and enjoys watching his adopted daughter grow up. That is, until his and Jane's past reaches out to bring them back into the game — as leaders of a new human colony, to be peopled by settlers from all the major human worlds, for a deep political purpose that will put Perry and Sagan back in the thick of interstellar politics, betrayal, and war.

TwiceFar station is at the edge of the known universe, and that’s just how Niko Larson, former admiral in the Grand Military of the Hive Mind, likes it. Retired and finally free of the continual war of conquest, Niko and the remnants of her former unit are content to spend the rest of their days working at the restaurant they built together, The Last Chance. But, some wars can’t ever be escaped, and unlike the Hive Mind, some enemies aren’t content to let old soldiers go.

A hundred years in the future, a war wages between the Five Dragons - five families that control the moon's leading industrial companies. Each clan does everything in their power to claw their way to the top of the food chain - marriages of convenience, corporate espionage, kidnapping, and mass assassinations. Through ingenious political manipulation and sheer force of will, Lucas Corta rises from the ashes of corporate defeat and seizes control of the moon. The only person who can stop him is a brilliant lunar lawyer: his sister, Ariel.

Sometimes it seems a Jedi’s work is never done, and Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker know this only too well. Despite the bond they share in the Force, the Jedi Master and his wife are still learning the ropes of being a couple after three years of marriage—and struggling to find time together between the constant demands of duty. But all that will change when they’re united on an unexpected mission: They must pool their exceptional skills to combat an insidious enemy and salvage a part of Jedi history. Whatever may await, the Skywalkers will not face it alone.

Humanity's expansion into the stars has led to awe-inspiring discoveries - and terrifying new threats. An insidious alien race is waging an interstellar war, enslaving any civilization they encounter to carry out their galactic rampage. Now they have set their sights on mankind.

My history is unknown. My present is violent. My future may be more dangerous still. I use my unique skillset in one of the Moon’s many watering holes. Here, miners can spend their hard-earned money to forget that they’re not among the wealthy elite in the paradise colony on Mars. When a known crime boss walks in, events will begin to unfold hinting at a dark past and an even murkier future.

Honor Harrington has been exiled to Basilisk station and given an antique ship to police the system. The vindictive superior who sent her there wants her to fail. But he made one mistake: he's made her mad....