Space Science Fiction

Esmay Suiza wasn't a member of a great Navy family like the Serranos. She'd had to make her way on grit alone, which meant it wasn't likely she'd ever make admiral and "hoist her own flag." Well, that was fine with her: all Esmay wanted was a secure berth where she could be part of something greater than herself, and otherwise just live her life in peace.

Humanity’s conflict with the Raggers shows no sign of ending. Luckily, the Unity League is in possession of stolen intel that points to the location of three of the enemy’s critical manufacturing planets. A huge fleet is sent to lay waste to everything. Any hope that the Raggers would leave their primary facilities unguarded are soon dispelled when they find himself in the middle of a brutal engagement in the skies of a world in flames.

It was a time of peace, prosperity, and exploration. But when an unexpected attack cripples a scientific vessel, the SRES Argo, it appears that time has come to an end. Chief Medical Officer Tag Brewer is the ship's only survivor. He is alone in the far reaches of space. To survive, he must restore and protect the downed vessel from its unknown attackers on a planet as deadly as it is mysterious. He vows to do everything in his power to seek justice for his fallen crew.

Humanity has made peace with the Fangrin aliens and now it turns out the dogs were never the real threat. Now, the Raggers have come. An unprovoked Ragger incendiary attack on the human city of Satra kills millions. Not everyone dies. Lieutenant Tanner Conway and a few of his squad survive the flames, as does Captain Jake Griffin, his spaceship Star Burner brought down by enemy fire. The survivors want payback, but it’s hard to beat an alien attack fleet when you’re stuck in the middle of a burning city.

The Martian meets Gravity when Army Pilot Vaughn Singleton, Earth’s last man, rushes to Area 51 in search of a spaceplane after he discovers the last woman is stranded on the International Space Station and barely alive - thus beginning a race against time. The event that wiped life from the planet started at the supercollider. It created a rift in space-time. The astronaut stranded aboard the space station, Commander Angela Brown, is a theoretical physicist who used to work at the collider.

From the dawn of history onward, commanding the most powerful ship around has been a dream of admirals, sultans, emperors, kings, generalissimos, and sea captains everywhere. For what the intimidation factor alone doesn't achieve, a massive barrage from super-weapons probably will.

Randall Munroe's past won't stay dead. Born Tyler Callas, the pampered heir of a Corporate Council scion, he fled that life and adapted the new identity of Randall Munroe so he could join the Commonwealth Space Fleet Marine Corps' elite Force Recon unit in the war against the alien Tahni Imperium. But when he returned from the war, his old life found him. His mother, Corporate Council Executive Patrice Damiani, tracked him down and tried to return him to her web of control, even if she had to have his personality altered by drugs and psychological brainwashing to do it.

Whip-smart 13-year-old Julian Costello Proctor - better known as Jules - has an eidetic memory. For as long as he can remember, he has remembered everything. "My mind is always on," he explains. But when an unexpected death throws his life into turmoil, Jules begins to experience something strange. For the first time, there are holes in his memory. But that's not the strangest part. What's really weird isn't what he's forgotten; it's what he remembers. Memories of another life, not his own.

Forty thousand years ago, humanity fled a dying Earth. Traveling in massive arkships, these brave pioneers spread out across the galaxy to find a new home. After traveling thousands of light-years, one fleet of arkships arrived at Centauri, a dense cluster of stars with a vast array of potentially habitable planets. The survivors of Earth signaled to the remaining arkships that humanity had finally found its new home among the stars.

The elite crew of the pirate ship UNS Flying Dutchman had a simple mission: determining whether the Thuranin are sending another starship to Earth. Along the way, they became sidetracked by securing a future for the UNEF troops on the planet Paradise. When asked whether Earth was now safe, their ancient alien AI responded "Not so much"...now they have to deal with the consequences.

Jonathon Hunter is a long way from home and intent on getting back to track down his unknown adversary. But local problems intrude - an annoyance becomes a real threat. Trading one war for another wasn't in his game plan, but you do what has to be done to keep others alive. Jonathon isn't playing one of his computer games any more, and the save button only works by putting your life on the line. When the odds are stacked against you, there is only one thing left to do. Send in the Hero.

The Darkness War rages on, and a war weary Jonathon Hunter faces obstacles which only humans can create, while an enemy which keeps growing stronger, continues to force him to retreat. Saving humanity is the goal, but can Jon be excused for thinking some of it just doesn't want to be saved? Extraordinary events require extraordinary responses, but is Jon still up to the challenge? Humanity has its bolt hole in another galaxy, and Jon must stop the aliens arriving there before the Door closes, so the survivors will be safe. It's his job to ensure no alien enters Outback.

“The green warrior decided to close in and end the battle; just as he rushed me, a blinding light struck full in my eyes, so that I could not see Zad’s approach and could only leap blindly to one side to avoid his mighty blade...." Suddenly projected to Mars, John Carter finds himself the captive of the savage green men of Thark. With him is the lovely Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium. And between them and rescue lay a thousand miles of deadly enemies and unknown dangers.

It is the year 12,020 GE and Emperor Cleon I sits uneasily on the Imperial throne of Trantor. Here in the great multidomed capital of the Galactic Empire, 40 billion people have created a civilization of unimaginable technological and cultural complexity. Yet Cleon knows there are those who would see him fall - those whom he would destroy if only he could read the future.

Thousands of years ago, Earth’s terraforming program took to the stars. On the world they called Nod, scientists discovered alien life - but it was their mission to overwrite it with the memory of Earth. Then humanity’s great empire fell, and the program’s decisions were lost to time. Aeons later, humanity and its new spider allies detected fragmentary radio signals between the stars. They dispatched an exploration vessel, hoping to find cousins from old Earth. But those ancient terraformers woke something on Nod better left undisturbed. And it’s been waiting for them.

There’s something out there: A juggernaut of evil bearing down to crush the Republic - unless one lone Jedi, shunned and reviled, can stop it. Revan: Hero, traitor, conqueror, villain, savior. A Jedi who left Coruscant to defeat Mandalorians - and returned a disciple of the dark side, bent on destroying the Republic. The Jedi Council gave Revan his life back, but the price of redemption was high. His memories have been erased. All that’s left are nightmares - and deep, abiding fear.

After seven years of bitter war, the end has come at last for the conflict known infamously as the Horus Heresy. Terra now lies within the Warmaster’s sights, the Throneworld and the seat of his father’s rule. Horus’ desire is nothing less than the death of the Emperor of Mankind and the utter subjugation of the Imperium. He has become the ascendant vessel of Chaos and amassed a terrible army with which to enact his will and vengeance. But the way to the Throne will be hard as the primarch Rogal Dorn, the Praetorian and protector of Terra, marshals the defences.

United Nations Special Operations Command sent an elite expeditionary force of soldiers and pilots out on a simple recon mission, and somehow along the way they sparked an alien civil war. Now the not-at-all-merry band of pirates is in desperate trouble, again. Their stolen alien starship is falling apart, thousands of light years from home. The ancient alien AI they nicknamed Skippy is apparently dead, and even if they can by some miracle revive him, he might never be the same.

Ceasefires have one big downside: They eventually come to an end. And when they do, once again game nodes are set ablaze, and platoons of Dark Faction soldiers threaten our customary world with destruction. The enemy has grown stronger and more numerous. To make matters worse, they also got their hands on even deadlier weaponry. They have learned painful lessons from previous encounters and adjusted their tactics accordingly.

Collected in one volume is all three books in C. J. Cherryh's epic The Faded Sun trilogy: Kesrith, Shon'jir, and Kutath.