Liam enjoys a good book he listens mostly to them but this just allow him to consume so many more books.
He mostly enjoys sci-fi based political dramas with a bit of millitery history in a future setting thrown in.
He and his wife are also a massive Harry Potter fans and they have an extensive knowledge of the Harry Potter books.
These are all the books Liam has in his collection.
Another rollicking short story from the Chronicles of St Mary’s author Jodi Taylor.
Question: What sort of idiot installs his mistress in his wife’s house? Especially when that mistress is Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator, queen of Egypt and the most notorious woman of her time? Answer: Julius Caesar - poised to become king of Rome. Or as good as.
Question: At this potentially sensitive point in your political manoeuvrings, who are the last people you’d want crashing through the door, observing, recording, documenting...? I think we all know the answer to that one.
Roman Holiday - an epic, standalone tale set in Ancient Rome, 44 BC, featuring, in no particular order: an attempted murder; stampeding bullocks; Cleopatra, queen of the Nile; a bowl of poisonous snakes; a smallish riot; Julius Caesar; and Mr Markham’s wayward bosoms.
Jodi Taylor is and always has been a history nut. Her disinclination to get out of bed for anything after 1485 can only be overcome by massive amounts of chocolate and sometimes, if it's raining, not even then. She wanted to write a book about time travel that was a little different and, not having a clue how difficult this would make her book to classify, went ahead and slung in elements of history, adventure, comedy, romance, tragedy, and anything else she could think of. Her advice to booksellers is to buy huge numbers of her books and just put one on every shelf.
The third book in the best-selling Chronicles of St Mary's series which follows a group of tea-soaked disaster magnets as they hurtle their way around History. If you love Jasper Fforde or Ben Aaronovitch, you won't be able to resist Jodi Taylor.
History happens all around you. And, occasionally, to you.
I could have been a bomb-disposal expert, or a volunteer for the Mars mission, or a firefighter, something safe and sensible. But, no, I had to be an historian.
It began well. A successful assignment to 17th century Cambridge to meet Isaac Newton, and another to witness the historic events at The Gates of Grief. So far so good.
But then came the long-awaited jump to the Trojan War that changed everything. And for Max, nothing will ever be the same again.
With the bloody Battle of Agincourt playing out around her, Max risks everything on one last desperate gamble to save a life and learns the true meaning of a second chance.
The time-travel series that everyone's talking about.... Jodi Taylor's The Chronicles of St. Mary's is back with a short story.
It's Christmas Day 1066, and a team from St Mary's is going to witness the coronation of William the Conqueror. Or so they think.... However, history seems to have different plans for them, and when Max finds herself delivering a child in a peasant's hut, she can't help wondering what history is up to.
Jodi Taylor is and always has been a history nut. Her disinclination to get out of bed for anything after 1485 can only be overcome by massive amounts of chocolate and sometimes, if it's raining, not even then.She wanted to write a book about time travel that was a little different and, not having a clue how difficult this would make her book to classify, went ahead and slung in elements of history, adventure, comedy, romance, tragedy, and anything else she could think of. Her advice to booksellers is to buy huge numbers of her books and just put one on every shelf.
The second book in the bestselling Chronicles of St Mary's series which follows a group of tea-soaked disaster magnets as they hurtle their way around History. If you love Jasper Fforde or Ben Aaronovitch, you won't be able to resist Jodi Taylor.
Wherever the historians go, chaos is sure to follow....
Dispatched to Victorian London to seek out Jack the Ripper, things go badly wrong when he finds the St Mary's historians first. Stalked through the fog-shrouded streets of Whitechapel, Max is soon running for her life. Again.
And that's just the start. Max finds herself in a race against time when an old enemy is intent on destroying St Mary's. An enemy willing, if necessary, to destroy History itself.
From the Hanging Gardens of Nineveh to the murder of Thomas a Becket, via an unscheduled dodo rescue mission, join the historians of St Mary's as they hurtle around History on more hilarious, hair-raising escapades.
The first book in the best-selling Chronicles of St Mary's series which follows a group of tea-soaked disaster magnets as they hurtle their way around History. If you love Jasper Fforde or Ben Aaronovitch, you won't be able to resist Jodi Taylor.
Time Travel meets History in this explosive bestselling adventure series.
'So tell me, Dr Maxwell, if the whole of History lay before you...where would you go? What would you like to witness?'
When Madeleine Maxwell is recruited by the St Mary's Institute of Historical Research, she discovers the historians there don't just study the past - they revisit it.
But one wrong move and History will fight back - to the death. And she soon discovers it's not just History she's fighting....
Audible is delighted to bring you an exclusive, author-read production of The Very First Damned Thing. Hear it here first, months ahead of the EBook publication.
Jodi Taylor reads the long-awaited prequel in her Chronicles of St Mary’s series, as Dr Bairstow struggles to set up St Mary’s as we know it in a world still scarred by the ravages of civil war.
Ever wondered how it all began? It’s two years since the final victory at the Battersea Barricades. The fighting might be finished, but for Dr Bairstow, just now setting up St Mary's, the struggle is only beginning.
How will he assemble his team? From where will his funding come? How can he overcome the massed ranks of the Society for the Protection of Historical Buildings? How do stolen furniture, a practical demonstration at the Stirrup Charge at Waterloo, students’ alcohol-ridden urine, a widowed urban guerrilla, a young man wearing exciting knitwear and four naked security guards all combine to become the St Mary’s of the future?
Expect Christmas chaos in this year's festive short story from Jodi Taylor, set in the world of the Time Police for the first time.
It all begins when the Time Police hold their first Children's Christmas Party. Their most dangerous mission yet...
No good deed ever goes unpunished. Lt Grint succumbs to his softer side and soon lives to regret it. The combination of bubble universes, candy floss, a small boy, a toad named Mr Fluffy, Mount Fanboten, £6.5 million, and a love-struck Officer Lockland are all hard enough to believe, but imagine a situation so dire that only Officer Parrish can save the aforementioned Grint from a lengthy stay in prison. At least, he can—but will he?
And, most unlikely of all, has Commander Hay's long-suffering adjutant finally experienced the first faint stirrings of romance? Is such a thing even possible?
Prince Roland was on the verge of winning the war.
Assigned to New Doncaster to train the planet’s armies and lead them into battle, Roland brokered a political compromise that allowed the government to win hearts and minds once the rebels were defeated in the field. He then built a formidable military machine that could–and did–push the rebels to the brink of defeat. But Roland’s success bred hatred, and his enemies, seeing him and his loyal troops out on a limb, launched a coup and left Roland stranded deep in enemy territory.
Roland isn’t one to give up. But, with a government preparing to use desperate measures to obliterate the rebels on one side and a crude alliance of suspicious rebel factions on the other, he must act fast to save the planet...or watch helplessly as the civil war rages on.
From the million-copy bestselling author of The Chronicles of St Mary's.
Patience is not a virtue known to the Time Police. And Commander Hay is facing the longest day of her life...
After their heroic efforts to safeguard the Acropolis and prevent the Paris Time-Stop, the Time Police have gone from zero to hero. Then one fateful mission to apprehend a minor criminal selling dodgy historical artefacts blows up in all their faces.
An officer is attacked within TPHQ. A prisoner is murdered. And investigations are about to lead to the one place where no officer can legally tread.
Worst of all, trouble is brewing for Luke, Jane and Matthew as a shocking revelation threatens to tear Team Weird apart for good.
For fans of Doctor Who, The Thursday Murder Club and Jasper Fforde.
From the best-selling author of The Chronicles of St Mary's.
Life is good for Team Weird, now heroes and fully fledged Time Police officers. Luke can't wait to bear arms. Jane has a date. And Matthew still hasn't had his hair cut.
But Time waits for no one, and neither do criminal masterminds. A major threat to the Timeline is looming, one far deadlier than mere idiots who want to change history. And when a familiar face becomes a Very Important Lead, will conflicting family loyalties spell trouble for Team Weird?
One missing. One guilt-ridden. And one facing the end of their Time Police career before it's even begun. Not so good then, after all.
Team Weird is back causing havoc in the Time Police in this irresistible spin-off series by international best seller Jodi Taylor, author of the Chronicles of St Mary's. If you love Doctor Who, Ben Aaronovitch and Jasper Fforde, you'll love the Time Police.
The Time Police do not have problems. They have challenges.
Idiots who want to change history have always proved 'challenging'. But now temporal tourism is on the rise - highly illegal but highly lucrative. If you're prepared to take the risk.
To face down this threat the Time Police will despatch their toughest undercover agents. Which is fine until the unthinkable happens. Replacements are needed fast, and who better than three young officers who don't even look the part?
Step forward Jane, Luke and Matthew. They may be about to graduate, but there's still plenty of time for everything to go wrong. Throw in the Versailles time slip, a covert jump to ancient Egypt and a race against time itself and you've got yourself an assignment worthy of Team Weird.
Introducing the Time Police, the brand-new series by international best-selling author Jodi Taylor - an irresistible spinoff from the much-loved Chronicles of St Mary's series. Perfect listening for fans of Doctor Who, Ben Aaronovitch and Jasper Fforde.
A long time ago in the future, the secret of time travel became known to all. Everyone seized the opportunity - and the world nearly ended. There will always be idiots who want to change history.
And so, the Time Police were formed. An all-powerful, international organisation tasked with keeping the timeline straight. At all costs.
Their success is legendary, and the Time Wars are over. But now the Time Police must fight to save a very different future - their own.
This is the story of Jane, Luke and Matthew - arguably the worst recruits in Time Police history. Or, very possibly, three young people who might just change everything.
Earth is locked in a dangerous arms race with Rigel.
McGill’s efforts at diplomacy are disastrous. Events spin out of control and interstellar warfare consumes the outer provinces of the Empire. Great fleets are gathered, and troops are hurried aboard transports. Legion Varus is launched toward a secret target world.
McGill leads an early strike against Rigel’s defenses, but his efforts are foiled at every turn. Who could be behind these betrayals? Could his own government be plotting his demise?
Find out in Sky World, the thrilling eighteenth book in the Undying Mercenaries series.
When a mission ends in disaster—there is no way to achieve the objective, no way to regroup and try again, no plan B, no hope—all you can do is fall back into FAILURE MODE and try to salvage whatever you can.
...if it is even possible to save anything, or anyone.
The galaxy is doomed. Monkeys may be clever and too stubborn to give up, but Skippy The Idiot Who Got Played knows the harsh truth: this is a fight he can’t win. The odds are not only stacked against him, he was designed not to win this fight.
Maybe he can salvage some faint memory of the civilizations that inhabit the galaxy, but those beings are doomed. Doomed. Including the Merry Band of Pirates.
Your road map to a seven-figure business...in one year or less
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This one-year plan will guide you through the three stages to your first $1 million:
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Through his training sessions at Capitalism.com, Ryan Daniel Moran has helped new and experienced entrepreneurs launch scalable and sustainable online businesses. He's seen more than 100 entrepreneurs cross the seven-figure barrier, many of whom go on to sell their businesses.
If your goal is to be a full-time entrepreneur, get ready for one chaotic, stressful, and rewarding year. If you have the guts to complete it, you will be the proud owner of a million-dollar business and be in a position to call your own shots for life.
New Doncaster should have been a success. It wasn’t.
A deeply corrupt and embedded ruling class, disenfranchised settlers, and embittered indentured workers–slaves in all but name—have poisoned the planet. They've unleashed the fires of class war and threatening to turn the beautiful planet into hell in the wake of Earthfall.
Sinister forces are stirring the pot. Roland—once Crown Prince of Earth, now a Marine Auxiliary—was charged with building an army to stabilise New Doncaster, but it was too late. The rebels struck and the planet fell into civil war. Roland scored one victory, keeping the rebels from winning in a single blow, but the war is far from over. Rebel forces have swept over the outlying islands, destroying plantations, capturing infrastructure, liberating slaves while forcing their former owners to flee or die on the remains of their lands.
Now, with both sides preparing for the coming contest, Roland—cut off from the Marine Corps—finds himself charged with leading the government troops, to launch a desperate military gambit to win a war against a rebel force that might have right on its side. And if his gambit fails, the entire planet may collapse into chaos.
When Van gains rank as a Peacemaker, he becomes a bigger target for the criminals scattered among the stars.
And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
On a distant world under an alien sun, hunters and their companions—the Rovan—bond in a ritual as old as their civilization. But one of the hunters is missing, and Van, along with his growing crew, knows where to look. Climbing up into the rarified air of the super-rich, Van uncovers a new enemy: The Fade.
And they are as cruel as the stars are many. A gang of heartless killers, the Fade will stop at nothing in the name of profit, which is fine with Van, as he’ll stop at nothing in the name of justice.
Tracking his quarry across a dozen systems, Van, Torina, Perry and Icky—along with Zenophir, the new technician—will untangle a conspiracy of betrayal and death. As Van soon discovers, the Fade never lose.
But they’ve never met Van and his crew.
There are some things you simply can’t escape. For Van, it’s family.
Out among the stars, his cousin, Carter Yost, drags Van and his team into a criminal ring run by the High Doctor—a dangerous con artist with delusions of grandeur. Working from the abandoned world of Pathway, the High Doctor has created a cult, stealing a fortune from the fearful, sick, and scared.
If there’s one thing Van hates, it’s a bully, and the High Doctor has his full attention. But in order to crush the criminal cult, Van needs bigger, better armor—and that comes with a price.
The rarest metals cost money, and that means doing a few dirty jobs in order to pay for the tools of his trade. Van’s got the will. His team has the skill.
Now, he has to find a way. And the way will surely involve war.
The guild is under attack, and Van is right in the middle of it all.
When Master Yewlo is abducted by unknown forces, the Peacemakers are thrown into chaos as the rescue mission begins. Finding Yewlo will be hard, but the search reveals secrets the guild might not survive - secrets about a system so corrupt, it will take Van and his team’s best efforts to untangle the truth.
And they might not like what they find.
On the grimy station known as Halcyon, Van will track and confront thieves who deal in stolen lives, all in order to save a Master who might not have the guild’s best interest at heart. With Sorcerers and Cloaks and every other kind of criminal, Van, Torina, Perry and Icky learn that friends come in all shapes and sizes - and so do enemies.
From the depths of space to Iowa, join Van as he fights to save his guild, free stolen lives, and discover that money makes the universe go around - money and lies, that is.
And Van will find the truth, no matter what the cost.
Van left his old life behind, but some things remain the same.
Even in space, crime still exists. After taking a Peacemaker job to find missing fuel, Perry finds something far more sinister than simple theft - a voice, crying out in a forge of heat and flame, and the discovery reveals a series of acts so vicious that nothing short of revenge will suffice.
Following leads across the stars, Van, Perry, and Torina discover the wealthy elite are doing more than just taking fuel.
They’re stealing lives.
But it takes money to make justice, and Van has to work. Torina’s land must be restored, and the Dragonet needs new armor, and Van’s sword isn’t going to sharpen itself. So Van throws himself into the life of a Peacemaker, where he discovers that doing his job - and doing it well - makes him a target.
He’s got the will. He’s got the sword. And he’s got help. Now all he needs is a little fuel. And maybe a gun or two.
When Van Tudor returns to his childhood home, he inherits more than the family farm.
His grandfather used to tell him fantastic stories of spacemen and monsters, princesses and galactic knights. Little did Van realize, the old man's tales were more than fiction; they were real.
Hidden beneath the old barn, Van’s legacy is waiting: a starship, not of this world. With his combat AI, an android bird named Perry, Van takes his first steps into the wider galaxy. He soon finds that space is far busier and more dangerous than he could have ever conceived.
Destiny is calling. His grandfather's legacy awaits.
Embark on the adventure of a lifetime with USA Today best-selling author J.N. Chaney and Terry Maggert in this galactic quest for glory.
Lucy has stumbled upon a marvellous land of fauns and centaurs, nymphs and talking animals. But soon she discovers that it is ruled by the cruel White Witch, and can only be freed by Aslan, the great Lion, and four children.
In the never-ending war between good and evil, The Chronicles of Narnia set the stage for battles of epic proportions. Some take place in vast fields, where the forces of light and darkness clash. But other battles occur within the small chambers of the heart and are equally decisive.
Journeys to the ends of the world, fantastic creatures, betrayals, heroic deeds, and friendships won and lost, all come together in an unforgettable world of magic. So let the adventures begin.
This was the first book written in The Chronicles of Narnia. It now stands as the second book in the series, preceded by The Magician's Nephew.
In the never-ending war between good and evil, The Chronicles of Narnia set the stage for battles of epic proportions. Some take place in vast fields, where the forces of light and darkness clash. But other battles occur within the small chambers of the heart and are equally decisive.
Journeys to the ends of the world, fantastic creatures, betrayals, heroic deeds, and friendships won and lost all come together in an unforgettable world of magic. So let the adventures begin.
This was the sixth book written in The Chronicles of Narnia. It now stands as the first book in the series.
A Horus Heresy audio drama collection.
These stories will transport you to the heart-breaking internecine conflict known as the Horus Heresy. Each one of these audio dramas is a stirring tale of a long, vicious war that rages on into the 41st Millennium.
Listen to it because...some of Black Library's best-known names have crafted thrilling, revealing and sometimes surprising audio dramas that shed more light on the galaxy spanning conflicts of the Horus Heresy.
Contents:
Narrators:
"Welcome to the Pelaran Alliance...."
With those simple words, the Guardian spacecraft openly revealed itself to humanity, heralding a new chapter in its 500-year-long mission to cultivate our world. Earth's population must now make its first planet-wide decision - join the most powerful alliance in our galaxy or chart our own course, deciding for ourselves which civilizations are worthy of our trust. Will we be the first world to decline the Pelarans' invitation, or does their offer come with an implied threat?
Aboard Terran Fleet Command's flagship, TFS Navajo, Admiral Kevin Patterson assembles his formidable but untested forces in hopes of defending the Earth. Knowing that an attack is imminent, he must risk everything in hopes of finding his enemy and taking the initiative.
Returning from TFC's first battle, Captain Tom Prescott learns that his frigate, TFS Ingenuity, is more heavily damaged than expected. Now he must race against time to prepare a new ship, then execute a daring mission to save Earth's last and best hope of avoiding full-scale interstellar war.
For years, the ancient alien AI known as Skippy (the Magnificent, don’t forget that part) has been able to do one impossible thing after another. What is his secret? It’s simple: 100 percent Grade-A extreme awesomeness. And also because he had never been faced with an opponent of equal power. Until now.
This time, he might need a little help from a band of filthy monkeys.
The marauders, vicious alien predators, brought us to our knees.
They destroyed our fleets. They burned our cities. They butchered millions.
But now we fight back.
Across the ruins of Earth, we rise in rebellion. In the depths of space, we seek allies. And our last warship prepares for one final battle.
It's a time for heroes. A time to show our human pride. Because Earth is our home. Earth is our birthright. Earth is eternal.
We will save it. Or we will die on our feet.
Earth’s entire fleet and all her legions are conscripted by the Galactics. Centurion McGill of Legion Varus is among countless troops pressed into service as cannon fodder for the Empire.
Not everyone on Earth is happy with the demands of the Galactics. Earth has built up her military for decades, and now she might lose everything in a foreign war no one understands. As the man who has killed more Mogwa than any other human in history, McGill is approached and given a mission. He has a fateful decision to make. Will he serve Earth’s overlords faithfully, or will he assassinate the arrogant alien leaders?
City World is book 17 in the Undying Mercenaries series, an epic saga of space battles and ground combat. With millions of his titles sold, USA Today best-selling author B.V. Larson is the king of modern military science fiction.
HMS Lion and HMS Unicorn have made it home from their first mission against the alien virus, opening the way for humanity to take the offensive. Now, a major fleet is readying itself to depart into enemy space, intent on smashing the virus’ ability to wage war and destroy the threat once and for all. And Captains Hammond and Campbell will take the lead.
But humanity itself is buckling under the strain of endless war. The stresses of fighting are tearing the fleet apart. And a very personal betrayal threatens to plunge the captains and their crews into a bitter feud, deep in alien territory. The stakes could not be higher...and the risk of total defeat has never been so great.
The war isn’t going well.
In five years of heavy fighting, humanity and its alien allies have steadily been pushed back toward Earth, toward the very heart of humanity itself. The virus is steadily wearing the defences down, mounting campaign after campaign to infect and enslave every other alien race. The only hope rests with newer and better weapons, with technology that may turn the tide, but can the weapons and starships be deployed in time?
HMS Lion and HMS Unicorn are two new ships, designed to take the war to the enemy and tip the balance of power in humanity’s favor. But with untested technology, clashes between their commanding officers and trouble belowdecks, they may find themselves facing more than they can handle....
...And the odds of coming home are very low.
Prince Roland - the Childe Roland, Heir to the Imperial Throne - grew up in a gilded cage, surrounded by men who wanted to use his powers while keeping him under tight control.
He was growing into a petty sadistic brat until a Marine Pathfinder took him in hand, helping him to overcome his caretakers - jailers - and make something of himself. But it was too late for Earth and, as the planet collapsed into chaos, Roland and his mentor barely escaped before it was too late. He was taken into the care of the Marine Corps and given a chance to go to Boot Camp and forge a new life.
But now, unsure what to do with him, his superiors set him on a task. Roland has to take command of a training mission and travel to New Doncaster, a planet on the verge of exploding into civil war. His mission is to build an army and stabilise the situation as quickly as possible.
But, for an untried prince in a snake pit, facing enemies on both sides of the war, it will be far from easy....
The marauders, terrors from deep space, hit us hard.
Our starships shattered. Our armies collapsed. Our cities crumbled.
As Earth smolders, the marauders imprison us in camps. They farm us like cattle. They torture us for sport. Earth weeps.
But there is hope.
The Ghost Fleet, an ancient alien armada, might still exist in deep space. In a single starship, Sergeant Marco Emery and his friends seek this mythical fleet. They must find it. They must return with its might. Or the marauders will kill us all.
A much loved science-fiction classic, this entertaining intergalactic adventure has a lot going for it - including narration by British comedian Stephen Fry. Adams displays his talents for a creating a whole new world in this first of five audiobooks in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Packed with brilliant humour, extraordinary characters and a highly original storyline, it's no wonder that this novel is a favourite of so many.
One Thursday lunchtime the Earth gets unexpectedly demolished to make way for a new hyperspace bypass. For Arthur Dent, who has only just had his house demolished that morning, this seems already to be more than he can cope with. Sadly, however, the weekend has only just begun, and the Galaxy is a very strange and startling place.
Star Watch defeated the Swarm Invasion Fleet, but at a terrible cost in destroyed star systems, smashed battleships and billions of dead. In the aftermath of the costly victory, chaos threatens as worlds leave the Commonwealth of Planets, face mass starvation or succumb to increased piracy. The war against the Swarm Imperium has just begun. Humanity needs unity or each planet will fall alone. Brigadier O'Hara of Star Watch Intelligence stumbles onto a secret conspiracy. Someone is trying to destroy the Commonwealth from within, and they have an alien artifact of incredible power. O'Hara summons Captain Maddox. Although she fears to lose him, she knows that Maddox and his crew have the best chance of finding the hidden enemy. If the captain fails, the Commonwealth will be powerless to stop its destruction. What O'Hara doesn't know--it would probably break her heart if she did--is that she has just sent Maddox into the most harrowing battle of his career. THE LOST ARTIFACT is the eighth book in the LOST STARSHIP SERIES.
It finally happened. Commander Thrax Ti Ix created a hyper-spatial tube for the Swarm Imperium. Across thousands of light-years, a vast armada of warships is heading for Earth to burn the homeworld down to its bedrock as the Swarm begins its genocidal campaign against the human race.
No one - not the New Men, the Spacers, the Wahhabi Caliphate, or Star Watch - has faced such staggering odds. Alone or united, it makes no difference.
Captain Maddox has a last-ditch plan. He's returning to the null region of last voyage to grab the ancient Destroyers hidden there. But an immortal entity of evil cunning haunts the vessels. If it escapes its prison...Maddox will have made things infinitely worse.
This time, mankind needs a miracle.
The Lost Earth is the seventh book in the Lost Starship series.
Last voyage, Captain Maddox entered a distant star system with a Swarm fleet. The sheer numbers were staggering, a 100-1 advantage against all human spacecraft. If the highly aggressive, racist insects gained hyper-spatial tube technology - allowing them to cross 1,000 light-years in seconds - it would mean Armageddon for Earth.
Star Watch desperately needs something powerful to offset the annihilating Swarm numbers. As if on cue, Professor Ludendorff declares he has discovered the whereabouts of ancient Builder technology, a tech so potent it could defeat the Swarm.
Star Watch takes the bait, ordering Captain Maddox to find the lost planet holding the ancient technology.
Ludendorff has a plan involving androids to lure his arch rival - Methuselah Man Strand - to his doom.
The crew of Starship Victory knows nothing of this, and thus blindly enters a web of intrigue and danger. The captain will need the AI Galyan, Valerie, and Riker like never before. Humanity's hope against the coming Swarm holocaust rests on the outcome.
The Lost Planet is the sixth book in the Lost Starship series.
Starship Victory is on its loneliest mission yet. Captain Maddox and his crew are thousands of light-years from Earth, searching for the dreaded Swarm Imperium.
But there are androids among them seeking to use the starship for hidden purposes.
Maddox and the crew are on their own, facing perils inside the ship and terrifying alien dangers outside in one of the remotest regions of the Orion Arm. Then they stumble upon the darkest secret of all. Unless the A.I. Galyan, Meta, Sergeant Riker and the others can help their beleaguered captain, Victory is doomed and Earth will never learn of the terrible threat gathering in the stellar darkness.
The Lost Patrol is the fifth book in the Lost Starship Series.
The Expeditionary Force saga continues with Fallout, the eagerly awaited sequel to number one Audible-ranked and New York Times best-selling Breakaway, from an epic sci-fi writer at the top of his game. Join the millions of listeners who have enjoyed R.C. Bray’s hilarious portrayal of Joe, Skippy, the Merry Band of Pirates, and so many other unforgettable characters.
The problem with lying about having a super weapon is that the bad guys might believe they have nothing to lose by doing something stupid that both sides will regret. Or, they might just call your bluff. Either way, the Merry Band of Pirates need a plan to deal with the Fallout.
Long before Earth began conquering her neighboring stars, Legion Varus was deployed on Tau Ceti. Valuable and highly illegal treasures were stolen during the campaign, but McGill never gave it a second thought.
The Tau haven’t forgotten him, however. For decades, they’ve hunted and plotted, and at last they’ve found the pirate who robbed them. Tau agents invade Earth seeking revenge and profit. Caught up in violence and intrigue, McGill is given the task of finding out where the loot has gone and who was responsible for the theft in the first place. The hunt takes Legion Varus to Ice World, a distant planet with an inhospitable climate.
The history of magic is as long as time and as wide as the world. In every culture, in every age, in every place and, probably, in every heart, there is magic.
Harry Potter: A History of Magic reveals some of the hidden stories behind real-world magic and explores some of J.K. Rowling's magical inventions alongside their folkloric, cultural and historical forebears.
Narrator Natalie Dormer and a host of experts will take you on an audio journey like no other; from ancient China, to a 14th-century apothecary's shop, on to the Salem witch trials and beyond. They delve into a rich body of writings about magic and explore intriguing artefacts to bring to life deep-rooted ideas of mysticism from around the world.
Along the way, you can listen for handy tips on how to capture a basilisk, make yourself invisible or create your very own philosopher's stone. You'll hear about the dozens of drafts and drawings that went into J.K. Rowling's writing process and enjoy exclusive interviews with Jim Dale, Stephen Fry and illustrator Jim Kay, who all share their experiences of working on these incredible stories.
The extraordinary and thought-provoking tales in this audiobook are perfect for anyone who wants to know a little more about magic and the wizarding world.
Music composed by Patrick Neil Doyle
Sound effects licensed from ProSound Effects
"At Queerditch Marsh, however, a game had been created that would one day become the most popular in the wizarding world."
As every fan of the Harry Potter stories knows, the shelves of the Hogwarts Library are home to all sorts of fascinating books. There are three in particular you might have heard mentioned by certain Hogwarts students and that you can add to your listening list too, including Quidditch Through the Ages.
Maybe you dream of catching the elusive Golden Snitch to the sound of deafening cheers all around you, as a certain Harry Potter once did. Or perhaps, like Hermione Granger, your thirst for knowledge is somehow just never quite satisfied. Whether you're a seasoned fan or a complete newcomer to the sport, you'll be in good company when you pick up this particular Hogwarts Library book.
From its origins on Queerditch Marsh in the 11th century to the sophisticated sport played today, discover how "Quidditch unites witches and wizards from all walks of life, bringing us together to share moments of exhilaration, triumph and (for those who support the Chudley Cannons) despair", according to Professor Albus Dumbledore's foreword.
Do you know why refereeing a Quidditch match was once a task for only the bravest witches and wizards, or how to tell a Transylvanian Tackle from a Woollongong Shimmy? In this enlightening and highly popular Hogwarts Library book, Kennilworthy Whisp reveals the daring highs and dangerous lows of the glorious game of Quidditch.
Narrated by Andrew Lincoln, this is the first audiobook edition of Whisp's book ever to be released. Andrew is a People's Choice Awards winner and a BAFTA nominated actor, best known for his role as Rick Grimes in the TV series The Walking Dead. His other film and television credits include Made in Dagenham, Strike Back, and Love Actually.
This audio edition also includes over an hour and a half of bonus content featuring The History of the Quidditch World Cup, narrated by Andrew Lincoln, and commentary on the Quidditch World Cup final, narrated by Annette Badland (as Rita Skeeter) and Imogen Church (as Ginny Potter). This content was written by J.K. Rowling in 2014 and is available to read on wizardingworld.com.
Fans of Quidditch Through the Ages are sure to enjoy the other Hogwarts Library books: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
Comic Relief, operating name Charity Projects, is a registered charity in the UK with charity nos. 326568 (England/Wales) and SC039730 (Scotland). Lumos Foundation is a registered charity in the UK with no. 1112575 (England/Wales). Fifteen percent of the proceeds* received by Pottermore Limited from this audiobook will be made available to the charities for their work across the UK and globally including helping children and young people have a better life. These proceeds will be shared 20 percent for Comic Relief and 80 percent for Lumos Foundation.
*Proceeds means the cash-price or cash-equivalent price less sales taxes.
The Culture - a human/machine symbiotic society - has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh: Jernau Morat Gurgeh, The Player of Games, master of every board, computer, and strategy.
Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game... a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life - and very possibly his death.
It's the year 2277. For 50 years, Earth has received mysterious data transmissions from random locations in deep space. The streams include advanced technology, allowing humans to achieve faster-than-light travel virtually overnight. As we prepare to take our first tentative steps into interstellar space, we know almost nothing about our alien benefactors, and their motivations remain unexplained.
While completing their shakedown cruise, Captain Tom Prescott and the crew of the first Terran Fleet Command starship, TFS Ingenuity, stumble into a first contact situation. They learn that Earth is not the first civilization granted access to the stars before their time - and how this Faustian gift has inevitably led to centuries of interstellar war. Humanity's existence hangs in the balance as a powerful alliance assembles a preemptive military strike, believing it to be their only option to protect themselves...from us. Prescott and his small, initially unarmed starship must serve as our only line of defense. Ingenuity is our only hope.
Civil war looms in the Bobiverse in this brand-new, epic-length adventure by Audible number one best seller Dennis E. Taylor.
More than a hundred years ago, Bender set out for the stars and was never heard from again. There has been no trace of him despite numerous searches by his clone-mates. Now Bob is determined to organize an expedition to learn Bender’s fate - whatever the cost.
But nothing is ever simple in the Bobiverse. Bob’s descendants are out to the 24th generation now, and replicative drift has produced individuals who can barely be considered Bobs anymore. Some of them oppose Bob’s plan; others have plans of their own. The out-of-control moots are the least of the Bobiverse’s problems.
Undaunted, Bob and his allies follow Bender’s trail. But what they discover out in deep space is so unexpected and so complex that it could either save the universe - or pose an existential threat the likes of which the Bobiverse has ever faced.
Heaven’s River is the fourth installment in the blockbuster Audible Original Bobiverse series - which has sold more than one million copies.
The epic and highly anticipated conclusion to the listener-favorite series that had countless Audible listeners (and employees) hooked from the very first Bob - featuring, as always, a flawless performance from the inimitable Ray Porter.
Being a sentient spaceship really should be more fun. But after spreading out through space for almost a century, Bob and his clones just can't stay out of trouble.
They've created enough colonies so humanity shouldn't go extinct. But political squabbles have a bad habit of dying hard, and the Brazilian probes are still trying to take out the competition. And the Bobs have picked a fight with an older, more powerful species with a large appetite and a short temper.
Still stinging from getting their collective butts kicked in their first encounter with the Others, the Bobs now face the prospect of a decisive final battle to defend Earth and its colonies. But the Bobs are less disciplined than a herd of cats, and some of the younger copies are more concerned with their own local problems than defeating the Others.
Yet salvation may come from an unlikely source. A couple of eighth-generation Bobs have found something out in deep space. All it will take to save the Earth and perhaps all of humanity is for them to get it to Sol - unless the Others arrive first.
All These Worlds is the third installment in the blockbuster Audible Original Bobiverse series - which has sold more than one million copies.
The highly anticipated sequel to Audible's Best of 2016 - Science Fiction winner, We Are Legion (We Are Bob); a book listeners are calling "so much fun", "what science fiction was meant to be", and what would happen if "Andy Weir and Ernest Cline had a lovechild".
Bob Johansson didn't believe in an afterlife, so waking up after being killed in a car accident was a shock. To add to the surprise, he is now a sentient computer and the controlling intelligence for a Von Neumann probe.
Bob and his copies have been spreading out from Earth for 40 years now, looking for habitable planets. But that's the only part of the plan that's still in one piece. A system-wide war has killed off 99.9 percent of the human race; nuclear winter is slowly making the Earth uninhabitable; a radical group wants to finish the job on the remnants of humanity; the Brazilian space probes are still out there, still trying to blow up the competition; and the Bobs have discovered a spacefaring species that sees all other life as food.
Bob left Earth anticipating a life of exploration and blissful solitude. Instead he's become a sky god to a primitive native species, the only hope for getting humanity to a new home, and possibly the only thing that can prevent every living thing in the local sphere from ending up as dinner.
Listener favorite Ray Porter returns to narrate Bob - and his many incarnations - in all of their geeky glory.
For We Are Many is the second installment in the blockbuster Audible Original Bobiverse series - which has sold more than one million copies.
Rebels build a secret base on Green World. Their plan is to attack Earth and retake all the planets the humans have conquered.
Hegemony starships gather to strike the Rebels first, but where is their base? As the fleets search, Earth warships trespass into Skay space, igniting a fresh border conflict between rival Galactics.
When James McGill stumbles onto the rebel camp, they’re forced to step up their plans. The world goes up in flames. Friends are permed and cities are destroyed as everything spins out of control.
Can Earth survive? Find out in Green World, book 15 of the Undying Mercenaries series. With more than three million copies sold, USA Today best-selling author B. V. Larson is the king of modern military science fiction.
There's a reason We Are Legion (We Are Bob) was named Audible's Best Science Fiction Book of 2016: Its irresistibly irreverent wit! Bob Johansson has just sold his software company for a small fortune and is looking forward to a life of leisure. The first item on his to-do list: Spending his newfound windfall. On an urge to splurge, he signs up to have his head cryogenically preserved in case of death. Then he gets himself killed crossing the street. Waking up 117 years later, Bob discovers his mind has been uploaded into a sentient space probe with the ability to replicate itself. Bob and his clones are on a mission to find new homes for humanity and boldly go where no Bob has gone before.
Dennis E. Taylor’s hilarious novel sets the stage for the magnificent performance of Ray Porter, who revels in the brave new world of corpsicles, artificial intelligence, interstellar space probes, and space colonization in tantalizing detail.
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) is the first installment in the blockbuster Audible Original Bobiverse series - which has sold more than one million copies.
They emerge from shadows. Hungry for flesh, they scurry forth. They are the marauders, the galaxy's deadliest predators.
And they crave Earth.
Five years ago, we won our first galactic war. We defeated the scum, a race of alien centipedes. But the marauders are stronger, smarter, and crueler by far. And they will show us no mercy.
Marco Emery, hero of the last war, struggles today as a civilian. Shell shock cripples him. Nightmares haunt him. Yet now he must become a soldier again. Now his old platoon must reunite. Together, they must defeat the greatest threat Earth has ever known.
Or humanity will fall.
It's all-out war.
Our cities fall. Millions die. The scum, these cruel aliens from deep space, are determined to kill us all.
So we must kill them.
Humanity musters its greatest fleet. Thousands of starships rally. Millions of soldiers deploy. For Earth to stand a chance, we must invade the aliens' home world. We must destroy their planet.
Before they destroy ours.
Earth's fleet flies through space. We fly toward millions of enemy ships. We fly to almost certain death. This will be the hour humanity falls...or the hour of our greatest victory.
We fought the invading New Men to a standstill and defeated the alien destroyer sent to obliterate Earth.
The worst should be over, but it's not.
Perfect android replicas are impersonating high-level officials so trust is failing. Worse, the New Men have found allies with an impenetrable stealth technology.
This time, however, Earth is going on the offensive. Admiral Fletcher is headed to C Quadrant with a Grand Fleet. He's to liberate the captured planets and find the enemy homeworld. What he isn't supposed to do is die.
The only one who can save humanity has been grounded. Captain Maddox is under suspicion because he's half New Man. But he's not going to stop. He's found something unbelievable. Now, he needs Starship Victory-an ancient, alien spacecraft-the AI Galyan, Meta, Sergeant Riker and the others to help him tear the greatest secret of all from the enemy.
Maddox and his crew must succeed or humanity will drown in a sea of human extinction.
A silver pyramid in space 10,000 years old....
The secrets of the mysterious New Men....
A war like no other....
Starship Victory - Earth's ancient, alien spacecraft - has won a smashing victory against the New Men, driving them from "C" Quadrant. On their way home, Captain Maddox and his crew run into a vast machine trapped inside an ion storm. Maddox doesn't know it yet, but the meeting isn't an accident. There's a traitor aboard ship, implementing a secret plan, threatening to destroy everything Star Watch has achieved against the New Men.
Now begins a deadly race as Captain Maddox, the crew, and Galyan are pitted against the masters of a centuries-old conspiracy. Human existence lies in the balance.
The Lost Destroyer is the third book in the Lost Starship series.
The Expeditionary Force saga continues with Breakaway, the eagerly awaited sequel to number-one Audible-ranked and New York Times best-selling Brushfire, from an epic sci-fi writer at the top of his game. Join the millions of listeners who have enjoyed R.C. Bray’s hilarious portrayal of Joe, Skippy, The Merry Band of Pirates, and so many other unforgettable characters.
The Merry Band of Pirates offered the bad guys a ceasefire. We won’t mess with them, if they don’t mess with us. Easy, right?
No.
The aliens chose to do things the hard way. So, the Pirates are racing around the galaxy to clean up the threat to Earth. The infant UN Navy has their own mission with the Alien Legion: Get humanity some allies in the fight. And the Ethics & Compliance Office might have to do something...ethical. Unless they can find a way around it.
In the stillness of space, several asteroids disappear in the 82 G. Eridani System. Time passes and space wavers, and the missing asteroids reappear. They’re traveling at near-light-speed for the single populated planet. Nuclear-tipped missiles from the lone battleship fail to stop the asteroids, which crash against the planet, turning it into rubble and killing the 650 million inhabitants.
Someone has found and now tested the perfect planet killer, an ancient device that turns asteroids and icy planetesimals into world-destroying projectiles. Earth is a mere 20 light-years away. But who’s to say the hidden weapon will head there next? It can go anywhere in the commonwealth and destroy any world.
Star Watch is desperate, employing every ship, every scientist, and everyone, including the crew of Victory, to defend the planets.
Captain Maddox, Professor Ludendorff, and others must put aside every difference and concentrate on finding a weakness in the ultimate weapon, one they can exploit. Otherwise - the alternative is too stark to contemplate. It is time to pull together and think and fight like never before.
The Lost Tech is the 13th book in the Lost Starship series.
Centuries before A Game of Thrones, an even greater game began, one that set the skies alight with dragon flame and saw the Seven Kingdoms turned to ash.
So began the Targaryens’ bloody rule, with fire and blood. Setting brother against brother, mother against daughter, and dragon against dragon. Chronicled by a learned maester of the Citadel, this thrilling and bloody history of Westeros tells the story of where the battle for the Iron Throne began....
This audio edition now includes an exclusive interview between George R.R. Martin and historian Dan Jones.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Starship Victory, a faithful alien spacecraft guarding its shattered system for 10,000 years, agreed to come to Earth. Now Captain Maddox and his crew have a new assignment. They must find Professor Ludendorff before the New Men do.
The New Men need Ludendorff's help so they can capture the alien starship. Maddox needs the neglected superweapons repaired so he can rescue a Star Watch fleet trapped deep in enemy territory.
But time is running out for the stranded, battered fleet. They're low on food, fuel, and missiles. Worse for Maddox, Meta is missing, kidnapped by the enemy, while the alien personality in the AI struggles to adjust to this new era. Can Maddox pull everyone together or will the brilliant New Men win yet another stunning victory? The Lost Command is the second book in the Lost Starship series.
Olawale Wombo and a small contingent of Omnians are sent to assist Earth to uplift its technological prowess. With the aid of the incomparable SADEs, advanced tech is transferred to the Sol Enclave, the system’s governing body.
After Sol’s construction of Tridents - Omnian-designed warships - Earthers possess the ability to transit quickly among the stars. The desire to know what happened to Earth’s colony ship, the Honora Belle, sent to the stars a millennium ago is resurrected. An Omnian Trident and the vessel Rêveur accompany three Sol Enclave Tridents in search of the Belle’s colonists.
Swiftly, the Omnians and the Earthers become enmeshed in a centuries-old conflict enveloping a vast area of space inhabited by alliance races. The enemy is the Colony: a giant insectoid species that has arrivied in force to overtake an alliance home world.
Olawale Wombo must decide whether to abide by the expedition’s original purpose or help the embattled alliance races. He asks himself one question: What would Omnian leader Alex Racine do? He knows the answer to that question. Every Omnian knows the answer.
Ten thousand years ago, a single alien super-ship survived a desperate battle. The vessel's dying crew set the AI on automatic to defend the smashed rubble of their planet. Legend has it the faithful ship continues to patrol the empty battlefield, obeying its last order throughout the lonely centuries.
In the here and now, Earth needs a miracle. Out of the Beyond invade the New Men, stronger, faster and smarter than the old. Their superior warships and advanced technology destroy every fleet sent to stop them. Their spies have infiltrated the government and traitors plague Earth's military.
Captain Maddox of Star Watch Intelligence wonders if the ancient legend could be true. Would such an old starship be able to face the technology of the New Men? On the run from killers, Maddox searches for a group of talented misfits. He seeks Keith Maker, a drunken ex-strikefighter ace, Doctor Dana Rich the clone thief stuck on a prison planet and Lieutenant Valerie Noonan, the only person to have faced the New Men in battle and survived to tell about it.
Maddox has to find a place hidden in the Beyond and bring back a ship no one can enter. If he fails, the New Men will replace the old. If he succeeds, humanity might just have a fighting chance...
Winner of the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel
Shortlisted for the 2020 Arthur C. Clarke Award
Shortlisted for the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards
In a war of lies she seeks the truth....
Ambassador Mahit Dzmare travels to the Teixcalaanli Empire’s interstellar capital, eager to take up her new post. Yet when she arrives, she discovers her predecessor was murdered. But no one will admit his death wasn’t accidental – and she might be next.
Now Mahit must navigate the capital’s enticing yet deadly halls of power, to discover dangerous truths. And while she hunts for the killer, Mahit must somehow prevent the rapacious Empire from annexing her home: a small, fiercely independent mining station. As she sinks deeper into an alien culture that is all too seductive, Mahit engages in intrigues of her own. For she’s hiding an extraordinary technological secret, one which might destroy her station and its way of life. Or it might save them from annihilation.
A Memory Called Empire is followed by A Desolation Called Peace in the Teixcalaan duology.
Earth has fallen. The Core Worlds have collapsed into chaos.
War is breaking out everywhere as planetary governments declare independence, entire sectors slip out of contact, and warlords battle for power. The remnants of the once-great Empire are tearing themselves apart. And in the shadows, the Terran Marine Corps works to save what little they can to preserve civilization and build a better tomorrow. But now they might have met their match.
The marines have beaten off a desperate attempt by the corporate worlds to recover Hameau, but the war is very far from over. The corprats remain powerful, gathering their strength to resume the offensive, locate the marines, and impose their society on the ruins of empire. To stop them, the marines will have to stake everything on a desperate gamble to tear out the heart of the enemy empire and slay the fascist beast in its lair.
But the enemy are equally desperate to win....
Brought to you by Penguin.
How did a balloonist circumnavigate the earth without fuel? How did an inventor design a device that creates electrical power from human footsteps? How did the WHO figure out how to treat and reduce the transmission of Ebola?
They all used alien thinking.
For over a decade, innovation experts Cyril Bouquet, Jean-Louis Barsoux and Michael Wade have studied individuals around the world who have made leaps of creative genius. Their research shows that they are five patterns of thinking that distinguish true innovators from the rest of us. These five patterns are marked by a flexibility and a freshness of approach that transcends conventional problem-solving:
Alien thinkers know how to free their imagination and detect hard-to-observe patterns. They practice deliberate ways to retreat from the world in order to see the big picture underlying a problem. And they prototype ideas in systematic ways to reflect feedback and the constraints of reality.
Alien Thinking will help you innovate better and develop world-changing ideas of your own.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Jumping into the game long after Yahoo, Alta Vista, Excite, Lycos, and other pioneers, Google offered a radical new approach to search, redefined the idea of viral marketing, survived the dotcom crash, and pulled off the largest and most talked about initial public offering in the history of Silicon Valley.
But The Search offers much more than the inside story of Google's triumph. It's also a big-picture book about the past, present, and future of search technology, and the enormous impact it is starting to have on marketing, media, pop culture, dating, job hunting, international law, civil liberties, and just about every other sphere of human interest.
More than any of its rivals, Google has become the gateway to instant knowledge. Hundreds of millions of people use it to satisfy their wants, needs, fears, and obsessions, creating an enormous artifact that Battelle calls "the Database of Intentions". Combined with the databases of thousands of other search-driven businesses, large and small, it all adds up to a goldmine of information that powerful organizations (including the government) will want to get their hands on.
No one is better qualified to explain this entire phenomenon than Battelle, who co-founded Wired and founded The Industry Standard. Perhaps more than any other journalist, he has devoted his career to finding the holy grail of technology. And he has finally found it in search.
For anyone who wants to understand how Google really succeeded, The Search is an eye-opening and indispensable read.
Listed as one of the essential 50 books of all time in The Guardian
Inspired the Academy Award-nominated film, The Imitation Game
It’s only a slight exaggeration to say that the British mathematician Alan Turing (1912-1954) saved the Allies from the Nazis, invented the computer and artificial intelligence, and anticipated gay liberation by decades--all before his suicide at age forty-one. This classic biography of the founder of computer science, reissued on the centenary of his birth with a substantial new preface by the author, is the definitive account of an extraordinary mind and life.
A gripping story of mathematics, computers, cryptography, and homosexual persecution, Andrew Hodges's acclaimed book captures both the inner and outer drama of Turing's life.Hodges tells how Turing's revolutionary idea of 1936--the concept of a universal machine--laid the foundation for the modern computer and how Turing brought the idea to practical realization in 1945 with his electronic design. The book also tells how this work was directly related to Turing's leading role in breaking the German Enigma ciphers during World War II, a scientific triumph that was critical to Allied victory in the Atlantic. At the same time, this is the tragic story of a man who, despite his wartime service, was eventually arrested, stripped of his security clearance, and forced to undergo a humiliating treatment program--all for trying to live honestly in a society that defined homosexuality as a crime.
A young fleet officer and a Marine must stand together to defend their neighbors and their colony in this return to the powerful and action-packed Genesis Fleet saga from New York Times best-selling author Jack Campbell.
The recently colonized world of Glenlyon has learned that they're stronger when they stand with other star systems than they are on their own. But after helping their neighbor Kosatka against an invasion, Glenlyon has become a target. The aggressive star systems plan to neutralize Glenlyon before striking again.
An attack is launched against Glenlyon's orbital facility with forces too powerful for fleet officer Rob Geary to counter using their sole remaining destroyer, Saber. Mele Darcy's Marines must repel repeated assaults while their hacker tries to get into the enemy systems to give Saber a fighting chance.
To survive, Glenlyon needs more firepower, and the only source for that is their neighbor Kosatka or other star systems that have so far remained neutral. But Kosatka is still battling the remnants of the invasion forces on its own world, and if it sends its only remaining warship to help will be left undefended against another invasion. While Carmen Ochoa fights for the freedom of Kosatka, Lochan Nakamura must survive assassins as he tries to convince other worlds to join a seemingly hopeless struggle.
As star systems founded by people seeking freedom and autonomy, will Kosatka, Glenlyon and others be able to overcome deep suspicions of surrendering any authority to others? Will the free star systems stand together in a new Alliance, or fall alone?
The best defense....
Starting a war with an enemy 100 times stronger is insane. It’s desperate. And it’s Earth’s only hope.
A massive alien power looms over humanity, claiming Earth as its territory and humanity as its slaves. The Hegemony has already taken over one colony, yoking hundreds of thousands under their brutal rule. Every tactical exercise, every war game, and every simulation gives humanity zero chance in a defensive campaign.
Earth’s only chance to win the coming war - is by striking first.
After endless years of fighting in a galaxy-wide war, the most decorated super-soldier of the Old Federation was granted leave, sliding into a stasis tube aboard a sleeper ship.
The ship never reached its port, and the soldier woke up a thousand years later on an operating table. The Old Federation was gone, most planets hurled back into the Stone Age. A devastated Earth used spies instead of spaceships to compete against the tougher, richer worlds.
The Director of Earth had doctors suppress the super-soldier’s memories, giving him an undercover identity and mission: grab advanced technology from a prohibited planet before anyone else could and bring it back to Earth.
The soldier turned spy felt desperately lost, alone and out of place. There were no familiar faces. But an intense sense of duty drove him headlong into danger. And yet...and yet...there was something more, something missing that he increasingly wanted to know.
So began the soldier’s odyssey in a future time that would change the destiny of the universe.
This war was inevitable.
After two brutal, bloody struggles for their very existence against implacable alien foes, humanity is victorious, but not at peace.
As distrust and accusations consume the political discourse between the two major factions, the Eastern Star Alliance military has already begun executing small raiding missions into United Terran Federation space. The Federation fleet, still reeling from the last war, is in no shape to try and protect its own borders.
Now, as diplomacy crumbles and tensions escalate, the ESA has moved into a Federation star system and declared it for themselves. Desperate, the Federation deploys a full task force commanded by Admiral Jackson Wolfe to try and defuse the situation, hoping his reputation forces calmer heads to prevail. Wolfe knows that even if he can stop the ESA here, the die has been cast. Humanity's march to war with itself cannot be stopped.
Battleground is the first book in the final trilogy of the Black Fleet Saga.
He’s often been called the father of science fiction. Now, listen to H. G. Wells’ five science fiction novels in one definitive collection. Introduced by film director and H. G. Wells fanboy Eli Roth, the collection features unabridged recordings of the novels performed by Hugh Bonneville, Jason Isaacs, Sophie Okonedo, David Tennant and Alexander Vlahos.
The War of the Worlds narrated by David Tennant
When Earth is invaded by Martians in great mechanical tripods, terror ensues. They are equipped with heat rays and poisonous black gas, intent on wiping out the human race. During the destruction, one man’s story details the monstrous invasion and his struggle to find his wife in the devastation.
The First Men in the Moon narrated by Alexander Vlahos
A chance meeting between penniless businessman Mr Bedford and absentminded scientist Dr Cavor leads the two on a fantastical journey to the moon. However, they are unprepared for what they find: freezing nights, boiling days and sinister alien life. Will they be trapped forever?
The Time Machine narrated by Hugh Bonneville
Transported to the year AD 802,701, the Time Traveller encounters the peaceful Eloi, a beautiful elfin race of childlike adults afraid of the dark, and with good reason. Beneath the earth’s surface live the Morlocks, apish troglodytes who torment the Eloi. When the time machine is stolen, the Time Traveller must enter Morlock territory if he ever hopes to return home.
The Invisible Man narrated by Sophie Okonedo
When a strange man takes shelter at an inn, his skin covered from head to toe in bandages, he causes distrust. Griffin, a scientist, reveals that he has successfully managed to turn himself invisible, but alas without a way of undoing it. Desperate for a cure, his ailment drives him to many sinister actions, including murder.
The Island of Dr Moreau narrated by Jason Isaacs
Edward Prendick, the single survivor of a shipwreck, is rescued by Montgomery in a vessel carrying a menagerie of savage animals. Taken to an uncharted island, he meets Dr Moreau - a brilliant scientist whose notorious experiments have caused him to abandon the civilised world. It soon becomes clear he has been developing these experiments - with truly horrific results.
Known as ‘The Father of Science Fiction’, Herbert George Wells’ writing career spanned over 60 years. He was a writer of novels, short stories, nonfiction books and articles. As a young man, Wells won a scholarship to the Normal School of Science in London, sparking his infamous vocation as a science fiction writer.
Book 1: Albion Lost:
For centuries, the Daegon waited. They plotted. And now they are ready to strike.
The core worlds of settled space enjoy a tenuous peace, unaware and ill prepared for the threat building beyond the furthest reaches of humanity. The star kingdom of Albion stands as a shining light of justice and mercy in a harsh galaxy, and they will be the first to suffer the Daegon's fury.
Defying his low born status, and despite his self-doubt, Commodore Thomas Gage has risen through the ranks by sheer grit and determination, defending Albion from brutal pirate clans. And when the onslaught comes, Gage and his fleet may be Albion's last hope for freedom.
Book 2: The Long March:
Albion burns beneath Daegon rule.
Commodore Thomas Gage and his fleet, safeguarding the last of the Albion Royal Family, are on the run. Hunting them, a ruthless Daegon commander will stop at nothing to crush Albion's only remaining free force.
To find sanctuary beyond their enemy's reach, the battle-damaged fleet must cut through a hostile and dangerous region of space known as the Kigeli Nebula. But to secure passage, Gage must strike a deal with an old enemy who wants nothing more than to fulfill a vendetta and see the commodore dead.
Facing threats ahead, behind and from within, Gage must lead his fleet down the long march to freedom.
Exiled Fleet is a new military science-fiction series for fans of Honor Harrington, Earth Alone, and Old Man's War from the author of the best-selling Ember War Saga.
The best-selling military space opera: the complete series in one box set.
Captain Keyes is loved by the public but hated by Command. He captains the UHS Providence, an aging supercarrier and the last human ship not dependent on dark tech - technology humanity has used to rule over the galaxy since barely defeating the Ixa in the First Galactic War.
Dominance has come at a cost. Over the decades, old allies have grown resentful, and when dark tech itself fails, Captain Keyes’ predictions start coming true: those old allies are now enemies.
But Keyes is not the only one proven right. As the galaxy plunges into war, the Ixan Prophecies are being fulfilled, one by one. Humanity’s oldest enemy is on the rise, with weaponry never seen before.
The fate of the galaxy now depends on Captain Keyes, his tired ship, and his oddball crew. It doesn’t pay to be right.
Box set contains:
Jump into the action. Download this complete series box set today.
Earth has fallen. The Core Worlds have collapsed into chaos. As planetary governments declare independence, war is breaking out everywhere.
Entire sectors slip out of contact, warlords battle for power, and the remnants of the once-great Empire are tearing themselves apart. In the shadows, the Terran Marine Corps works to save what little they can to preserve civilization and build a better tomorrow. But now they might have met their match.
The marines have seized control of the corporate world of Hameau, only to discover that Hameau is merely the tip of the enemy iceberg and the battle is still very much undecided. Cut off from their brethren, the marines fight desperately to hold their ground while millions of innocent civilians are caught in the middle. They are all too aware that whoever wins the war will determine the fate of the entire galaxy.
Earth has fallen. The Core Worlds have collapsed into chaos.
War is breaking out everywhere as planetary governments declare independence; entire sectors slip out of contact, and warlords battle for power. The remnants of the once-great Empire are tearing themselves apart.
In the shadows, the Terran Marine Corps works to save what little they can to preserve civilization and build a better tomorrow. But powerful factions are competing with them, determined to establish their own order. If they cannot be stopped, if the marines cannot hold the line, the galaxy will fall into a new dark age. And there may only be one chance to nip their scheme in the bud.
Does fortune favor the bold? The marines are about to find out.
A lonely planet circles a star on the very border of Province 921. Critical resources produced there are claimed by both the Mogwa and the Skay. War between the Galactic giants becomes more likely every day.
James McGill and Legion Varus are deployed to protect Edge World, a planet that rotates at a walking pace. Each day is as long as a year back on Earth. The sun-side of the world is baked with endless sunshine, the night-side is freezing and full of strange creatures. Living in an inhabitable zone on the edge of their world, a shadow-line between night and day, nomadic peoples roam the planet. It is these inhabitants Earth’s forces must protect.
Three fleets converge: the Mogwa, the Skay, and Earth’s growing armada. Peace talks are held, but then McGill opens his big mouth, and things go badly....
Peacetime can be a rough adjustment for the battle-hardened Merry Band of Pirates.
Especially when aliens don’t get the memo that the shooting is over.
Heroes don't stand for themselves. They stand for others who cannot.
Betrayed by those they'd taken in and narrowly avoiding a disaster of untold proportions, Lyrian and his friends are once again thrust into a fight for their very survival, this time against Carver and his band of murderous adventurers. But as their newfound war quickly reaches a stalemate, both sides find themselves scrambling for a way to break it, while viciously battling one another for every inch of ground that they can steal in the process.
Yet just as Lyrian and the others manage to gain an advantage that could very well end the conflict, they find their world turned upside down as an even greater enemy appears on the horizon. Pushed to the brink, it will take every ounce of cunning and courage they have to find a way to survive.
Assuming they can at all.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Brought to you by Penguin.
An unexpected quest. Two worlds at stake. Are you ready?
Days after winning OASIS Founder James Halliday's contest, Wade Watts makes a discovery that changes everything.
Hidden within Halliday's vaults, waiting for his heir to find, lies a technological advancement that will once again change the world and make the OASIS a thousand times more wondrous - and addictive - than even Wade dreamed possible.
With it comes a new riddle and a new quest - a last Easter egg from Halliday, hinting at a mysterious prize.
And an unexpected, impossibly powerful and dangerous new rival awaits, one who'll kill millions to get what he wants.
Wade's life and the future of the OASIS are again at stake, but this time the fate of humanity also hangs in the balance.
Lovingly nostalgic and wildly original as only Ernest Cline could conceive it, Ready Player Two takes us on another imaginative, fun, action-packed adventure through his beloved virtual universe and jolts us thrillingly into the future once again.
A thoroughly enchanting tale that sets the trajectory for the cosmos of J.R.R. Tolkien's magnificent fantasy series Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Like the dark matter at the centre of every origin story, this is a must-listen for fans who want to delve deeper into this mythical world.
The complete unabridged audiobook of J.R.R Tolkien's The Silmarillion.
The Silmarillion is an account of the Elder Days, of the First Age of Tolkien’s world. It is the ancient drama to which the characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, and in whose events some of them such as Elrond and Galadriel took part. The tales of The Silmarillion are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-Earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor.
Included in the book are several shorter works. 'The Ainulindale' is a myth of the Creation and in the Valaquenta the nature and powers of each of the gods is described. 'The Akallabeth' recounts the downfall of the great island kingdom of Númenor at the end of the Second Age and 'Of the Rings of Power' tells of the great events at the end of the Third Age, as narrated in The Lord of the Rings.
In that remote time, Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in the vast fortress of Angband, the Hells of Iron, in the North; and the tragedy of Túrin and his sister Nienor unfolded within the shadow of the fear of Angband and the war waged by Morgoth against the lands and secret cities of the Elves. Their brief and passionate lives were dominated by the elemental hatred that Morgoth bore them as the children of Húrin, the man who had dared to defy and to scorn him to his face. Against them he sent his most formidable servant, Glaurung, a powerful spirit in the form of a huge wingless dragon of fire.
Into this story of brutal conquest and flight, of forest hiding-places and pursuit, of resistance with lessening hope, the Dark Lord and the Dragon enter in direly articulate form. Sardonic and mocking, Glaurung manipulated the fates of Túrin and Nienor by lies of diabolic cunning and guile, and the curse of Morgoth was fulfilled.
The earliest versions of this Tolkien story go back to the end of the First World War and the years that followed. But long afterwards, when The Lord of the Rings was finished, he revised and greatly enlarged it, enhancing complexities of motive and character. It became the dominant story in his later work on Middle-earth. But he could not bring it to a final and finished form. In this book, Christopher Tolkien has constructed, after long study of the manuscripts, a coherent narrative without any editorial invention.
An Englishman's continuing search through space and time for a decent cup of tea . . . Arthur Dent's accidental association with that wholly remarkable book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has not been entirely without incident. Arthur has travelled the length, breadth and depth of known, and unknown, space. He has stumbled forwards and backwards through time. He has been blown up, reassembled, cruelly imprisoned, horribly released and colourfully insulted more than is strictly necessary. And, of course, he has comprehensively failed to grasp the meaning of life, the universe and everything.
Arthur has, though, finally made it home to Earth. But that does not mean he has escaped his fate. For Arthur's chances of getting his hands on a decent cuppa are evaporating along with the world's oceans. Because no sooner has he arrived than he finds out that Earth is about to be blown up...again.
And Another Thing...by Eoin Colfer is the rather unexpected, but very welcome, sixth instalment of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. It features a pantheon of unemployed gods, everyone's favourite renegade Galactic President, a lovestruck green alien, an irritating computer and at least one very large slab of cheese.
Arthur Dent hadn't had a day as bad as this since the Earth had been blown up. Depressed and alone, Arthur finally settles on the small planet Lamuella and becomes a sandwich maker. Looking forward to a quiet life, his plans are thrown awry by the unexpected arrival of his daughter. There’s nothing worse than a frustrated teenager with a copy of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in their hands. When she runs away, Arthur goes after her determined to save her from the horrors of the universe. After all - he’s encountered most of them before.… Volume Five in the Trilogy of Five.
Galaxy on Fire: Publisher's Pack 2 contains books three and four of the Galaxy on Fire series.
Firestorm, book three:
If you can't be dead, make sure someone pays for that fact dearly.
When he was a human, Jon Ryan always looked forward to a better future. We all do. But his tomorrows turned out poorly. Ripped from his original time, he's being tested severely two billion years down the time stream. He only wants to protect the shape-shifting teens he rescued from genocide. The Adamant and his evil twin aren't going to make that easy.
After he nearly rescues the teens, Jon slips into a deep funk. All the while, the teens are being probed and tortured by a cruel priestess bent on discovering their transformative secrets. Jon must resort to infiltrating the Adamant ranks in a covert attempt to learn where his precious kids have been taken. The alternate Jon Ryan is becoming more insane and more determined to take the shape-shifters for his own dark purposes. A magical galactic dragon volunteers to take the teens under her wing and teach them. But can the Adamant or either Jon let them go?
The Fires of Hell, book four:
Never make a deal you can't finagle.
As the unstoppable Adamant war machine stomps across the galaxy, Jon and the teens must part ways again. This time, it may be for good. They must learn the ways of their lost race. Jon must find a way to stop the loss of more civilizations and more innocent lives. He must perform an impossible task. But to enlist the help of a malevolent spirit who can do the impossible, Jon must pay the ultimate price. He agrees to his eternal torment in exchange for the chance to deal the Adamant a death-blow.
Jon Ryan must dig into a very dark side of his personality he wishes wasn't there. He knows he must call upon it. But he's acutely aware that if he dances too close to the cliff, he may fall into the pit of hopeless despair. Jon is on the razor's edge trying to justify his rash act in order to speed the downfall of the brutal Adamant advance. But what price is just too much to pay?
There is a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. It’s not an easy thing to do and Arthur Dent thinks he’s the only human who’s been able to master this nifty little trick - until he meets Fenchurch, the girl of his dreams. Fenchurch knows how the world could be made a good and happy place. Unfortunately she’s forgotten. Convinced that the secret lies within God’s Final Message to His Creation they go in search of it. And in a dramatic break with tradition - actually find it....
Are thousands of orbs, with each containing a reality housing billions of souls, about to burn out and die?
Can Trew find his daughter, or will everything he has sacrificed be for nothing?
And what impact will a young scientist who believes that his reality exists inside of a computer simulation make on his world?
Earth burns.
We call them the scum. They came from deep space. Creatures of claws and endless malice, they ravage the world.
As the war flares, as cities crumble, Private Marco Emery and his platoon blast into space. They won one battle on Earth. Their next battle must be fought in the darkness.
The scum will not rest until the last human is dead. Marco and his friends must defeat them. They must win. Or Earth will fall.
Despite being all alone - the only one of his kind - Bast Banbeck has generously helped humanity time and again against the death machines, saving us from extinction. Years ago, Jon Hawkins promised Bast that he would hunt for and save the Sacerdotes in return.
But the homesick Bast is losing hope, drowning his sorrows in extended drinking bouts. Now, Intelligence learns there are Sacerdote prisoners 162 light-years away.
Jon leads the rescue operation, using the void to slip undetected into enemy territory.
But this is an AI trap to capture and study Hawkins - the puny creature that has done more harm to the great AI Dominion than any other parasitical life form.
What no one knows is that Hawkins’ passage through the void has awakened an ancient evil, and it’s eager to reenter time and space.
The battle for life has just become more intense.
A.I. Rescue is the seventh book in the series chronicling humanity’s grim war for survival against the galactic machine juggernaut.
The series starts with book one A.I. Destroyer.
The Merry Band of Pirates are in desperate trouble after the end of their last mission, and the real danger to humanity is just getting started.
Hostile aliens have discovered there is something odd going on with wormholes in the galaxy, and their investigations could lead to finding a shortcut to Earth....
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Humanity has won a great victory, shattering the alien fleet that would have destroyed the Solar Union and exterminated the human race. But the war is not yet over. The Tokomak still have a huge fleet and an immense industrial base, large enough to crush the human race once and for all if they have time to bring it into action. The war may still be lost.
There is only one way to win. Admiral Hoshiko Stuart and her fleet must take the war deep into enemy territory, to the very heart of the Tokomak Empire. But with the Tokomak gathering their forces and rallying their allies for one final battle, the outcome still hangs in the balance...and whoever wins will dominate the galaxy for thousands of years to come.
After saving the world many times, the Merry Band of Pirates have accepted the inevitable: Earth is doomed.
All they can do is try to bring a few thousand people to safety, before vicious aliens arrive to destroy humanity's home world.
No.
There is one other thing they can do: hit the enemy so hard that the aliens will regret they ever heard of humans.
After the Renegade mission by the crew of the starship Flying Dutchman, the UN Expeditionary Force thought Earth was safe for hundreds of years, at least.
After there was trouble on the home front and the president had to authorize a nuclear strike on an American city, UNEF decided they did need the Merry Band of Pirates again.
So, the Flying Dutchman is sent out on a simple recon mission. But for the pirates, nothing is ever simple, and their mission will become Armageddon.
A full-cast performance of a thrilling new episode in the New York Times best-selling Expeditionary Force series.
After the latest mission of the starship Flying Dutchman, Earth is safe not just for a year, but for hundreds of years. The ship’s weary crew wonders what they will do with their lives in peacetime, but the enemy has other plans, and there is danger on the Homefront.
Starring Zachary Quinto, R.C. Bray, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Picardo, and everyone's favorite AI, Skippy the Magnificent, alongside a full cast. Includes plenty of pew-pew-pew, original sound composition, and maybe some singing by R.C. Bray.
Produced by Odd Origin Media and Dagaz Media
Executive Producer Greg Lawrence
Story by Craig Alanson
Script by Craig Alanson and Jack Bowman
Talent Director William Dufris
Sound Director Fred Greenhalgh
Associate Producer Casey Turner
Dialogue edited by Jack Bowman
Sound design by Jamie Mahaffey/The Mix Room and O'Shea Creative Media
Music by Jeroen Grommen
Check out exclusive bonus content at homefrontaudio.com.
Full cast includes: Zachary Quinto, R.C. Bray, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Picardo, Peter Berkrot, Kym Dakin, Bill Dufris, Corey Gagne, Nimo Gandhi, Emily Grotz, Dalton S. Kimball, Austin Ku, Daniel Logan, John Dalton Logan, PJ Ochlan, Lisa Renee Pitts, Christopher Price, Michael Rafkin, Lisa Stathoplos, Casey Turner, Jennywren Walker, Marjolaine Whittlesey, Ashanti Williams, Jonathan Woodward, and Collin Young.
The galaxy’s not big enough....
Commander Joe Pikeman has his share of demons. But after a long deployment, he just wants to enjoy some home leave with his daughter.
The galaxy has other plans.
His last assignment takes him to Earth, humanity’s deserted homeworld. There, he finds Earth’s last settlement littered with the bodies of the people who lived there.
As he hunts down those responsible, he runs head-first into some galaxy-shaking questions.
Why did humanity really abandon the galaxy for a computer simulation?
Who would want to start killing off the last real humans left?
There’s one thing Joe knows for sure. If they’re going after his neighbors...his family...his daughter....
They’ll need to go through him first.
If you like action-packed, run-and-gun military science fiction, you’ll love After the Galaxy. Fans of Firefly will also love After the Galaxy. Download this military space opera now and jump into the action.
USA Today best seller B.V. Larson and Dragon award finalist David VanDyke have released book six in their epic military space opera!
The Breakers find a new home among the stars: Utopia. An engineered planet that is vast beyond comprehension with plenty of room to grow. They set up trade routes and work as mercenaries for their supplies...but trouble lurks.
Pirates strike their merchant lanes. Key personnel are captured and enslaved. Straker is called upon to do something, and thus a new conflict is set in motion.
Don’t miss Hell’s Reach, a wild thrill ride of combat and intrigue among the stars. This new novel of military science fiction is the sixth book in the Galactic Liberation series. Look for book number one, Starship Liberator if you’re new to this expanding universe.
The quadrant is on the brink of all-out civil war, but almost nobody knows it.
Now that he knows a malevolent AI that calls itself the Machine has seized much of the ConFed's military apparatus and even controls the Grand Adjudicators themselves, Jason Burke must decide if he risks picking a fight with such an overmatched enemy, or if he runs to hide and fight another day.
Omega Force needs allies, and needs them quickly. After the unprovoked invasion of a neighboring superpower by the ConFed, Jason finds out that most of their military hadn't been destroyed but instead remains hidden while the ConFed continues to hunt them down. If he can find the missing fleets and convince them to join his fight, he just might be able to hit back at the Machine before it invades another sovereign nation.
Rebellion is the 11th book in Joshua Dalzelle's number-one best-selling Omega Force Series and continues the story of Jason Burke and his crew of mercenaries and criminals.
The Last Emperox is the thrilling conclusion to the award-winning, New York Times and USA Today best-selling Interdependency series, an epic space opera adventure from Hugo Award-winning author John Scalzi.
The collapse of The Flow, the interstellar pathway between the planets of the Interdependency, has accelerated. Entire star systems - and billions of people - are becoming cut off from the rest of human civilization. This collapse was foretold through scientific prediction...and yet, even as the evidence is obvious and insurmountable, many still try to rationalize, delay and profit from, these final days of one of the greatest empires humanity has ever known.
Emperox Grayland II has finally wrested control of her empire from those who oppose her and who deny the reality of this collapse. But "control" is a slippery thing, and even as Grayland strives to save as many of her people form impoverished isolation, the forces opposing her rule will make a final, desperate push to topple her from her throne and power, by any means necessary. Grayland and her thinning list of allies must use every tool at their disposal to save themselves, and all of humanity. And yet it may not be enough.
Will Grayland become the savior of her civilization...or the last emperox to wear the crown?
Winner of the Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series
The Foundation series is Isaac Asimov’s iconic masterpiece. Unfolding against the backdrop of a crumbling Galactic Empire, the story of Hari Seldon’s two Foundations is a lasting testament to an extraordinary imagination, one whose unprecedented scale shaped science fiction as we know it today.
The First Foundation has been defeated, crushed by the formidable mental powers of the Mule. But whispers of the mysterious Second Foundation, the only hope of defeating the Mule, are beginning to spread....
Surviving members of the First Foundation also fear the secret powers of the Second Foundation, vowing to find and destroy it. However, the location of the Second Foundation remains shrouded in mystery. Finding it will lead the Foundation to the opposite end of the Galaxy, where the fate of Seldon’s two Foundations awaits.
"The heroes and heroines who triumph in his stories are not those with the most powerful magic, but rather those who demonstrate the most kindness, common sense and ingenuity."
As every fan of the Harry Potter stories knows, the shelves of the Hogwarts Library are home to all sorts of fascinating books. There are three in particular you might have heard mentioned by certain Hogwarts students and that you can add to your listening list too, including The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
As familiar to Hogwarts students as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are to Muggle children, Beedle's stories are a collection of popular fairy tales written for young witches and wizards. So, if you're wondering what's in store...well, your ears are in for a treat.
Once you've checked this fabulous Hogwarts Library book out, you'll start by hearing the author's introduction, read by Sally Mortemore (librarian Madam Pince from the Harry Potter films). Then it's time for the tales to begin....
You'll laugh along to "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot" as you listen to the havoc wreaked by a father's impish gift to his son, read by Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick - Harry Potter films).
"The Fountain of Fair Fortune" will take you on a quest through an enchanted garden, alongside three witches and a luckless knight, read by Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood - Harry Potter films).
In "The Warlock's Hairy Heart", you'll be warned about a young warlock who is fearful of love and turns to dark magic to avoid it at all costs, read by Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy - Harry Potter films).
The calamitous meeting of a foolish king, a cunning charlatan, and a mischievous washerwoman unravels in "Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump", read by Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley - Harry Potter films).
And finally, the most iconic of Beedle's stories. "The Tale of the Three Brothers" - with its message of humility and wisdom - will introduce you, dear listener, to the Deathly Hallows, read by Noma Dumezweni (Hermione Granger - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, London's West End and New York's Broadway).
Each of the tales is accompanied by wise and whimsical notes from a certain Albus Dumbledore, surely everyone's favorite headmaster, read by Jude Law (Albus Dumbledore - Fantastic Beasts films).
We're told these five fables have been firm favorites in wizarding households for centuries, and now it's your turn to experience these tales from the Wizarding World as you've never heard them before.
Fans of The Tales of Beedle the Bard are sure to enjoy the other Hogwarts Library books: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages.
At least 90 percent of the proceeds* received by Pottermore Limited from this audiobook will be made available by the publisher to The Lumos Foundation for their work to help children worldwide out of institutions, so they can thrive in loving families and communities. The Lumos Foundation is a charity registered in England and Wales with registered charity number 1112575 and in the USA (EIN 47-2301085).
*Proceeds means the cash-price or cash equivalent price less sales taxes.
Around the world, more than eight million children live in orphanages and other institutions. What may be surprising is that about 80 percent of them aren't actually orphans. They have family who could care for them, with the right support. Lumos is an international children's charity founded by J.K. Rowling. Named after the light-giving spell in Harry Potter, Lumos' mission is to ensure that by 2050 all children will grow up in loving, protective families.
The Galactics arrived with their Battle Fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined a vast Empire that spanned the Milky Way.
More than a century has passed since the glorious day of Earth’s annexation. Struggling to hold on to a handful of planets in the frontier provinces, humanity is at war with Rigel. After the destruction of both our fleet and theirs, a time of quiet rebuilding has begun.
James McGill was hoping for a peaceful break in the conflict, but an opportunity to gain a significant technological edge arises. He’s summoned to Central and sent off to the stars, searching for a strange planet dotted with crystalline formations. There, the vicious apex predators from Rigel manufacture their impenetrable body armor.
McGill is sent to the new planet first as an agent, then at the forefront of Legion Varus. He must face death, evil aliens, and his own untrustworthy government. Find out who lives and who gets permed in Glass World, book 13 of the Undying Mercenaries series.
With over three million copies sold, USA Today best-selling author B. V. Larson is the king of modern military science fiction.
They came from deep space. They came to destroy us.
Fifty years ago bloodthirsty aliens devastated the Earth. Most of humanity perished. We fell into darkness.
But now we rise from the ashes. Now we fight back.
Marco Emery was born into the war. After his mother is killed, he joins the Human Defense Force, Earth's ragtag army. Emery must survive basic training, become a soldier, and finally face the aliens in battle.
Against the alien onslaught, Earth stands alone. But we will fight. We will rise. We will win.
If you loved Ender's Game, Starship Troopers, and Old Man's War, you'll love Earthrise, a new military science fiction series. From a USA Today best-selling author.
Winner of the Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series
The Foundation series is Isaac Asimov’s iconic masterpiece. Unfolding against the backdrop of a crumbling Galactic Empire, the story of Hari Seldon’s two Foundations is a lasting testament to an extraordinary imagination, one whose unprecedented scale shaped science fiction as we know it today.
The First Foundation survived two centuries of barbarism as the once-mighty Galactic Empire descended into chaos. Now it must prepare for war against the remnants of the Empire as the Imperial fleet advances on their planet, Terminus.
Hari Seldon predicted this war; he even prepared his Foundation for it. But he couldn’t foresee the birth of the mutant Mule. In possession of a power which reduces fearsome opposition to devoted slaves, the Mule poses a terrible threat to Seldon’s Foundation.
Winner of the Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series.
The Foundation series is Isaac Asimov’s iconic masterpiece. Unfolding against the backdrop of a crumbling Galactic Empire, the story of Hari Seldon’s two Foundations is a lasting testament to an extraordinary imagination, one whose unprecedented scale shaped science fiction as we know it today.
The Galactic Empire has prospered for 12,000 years. Nobody suspects that the heart of the thriving Empire is rotten, until psychohistorian Hari Seldon uses his new science to foresee its terrible fate.
Exiled to the desolate planet Terminus, Seldon establishes a colony of the greatest minds in the Empire, a Foundation which holds the key to changing the fate of the galaxy.
However, the death throes of the Empire breed hostile new enemies, and the young Foundation’s fate will be threatened first.
They say democracy dies in darkness.
Earth has fallen. The Empire is no more. Old certainties are collapsing everywhere. Chaos is spreading across the stars, with war following in its wake.
Tarsus, a world too close to Earth for comfort, is far from immune.
Clarence Esperanza, a reporter on Tarsus, thought he had the story of the century. But, when he took the story to his bosses, he was unceremoniously fired. Cut off from his former friends, abandoned by his wife isolated from the world around him, he thought all he could do was stagger onto the streets and wait to die. But when an old friend offers him a job, with a new news outlet challenging the dominance of the planetary media networks, he finds himself on the front lines of a struggle for control of the planet....
...And fighting for the freedom of an entire world.
It's hard to give peace a chance when the other side regards conquest as the only option and a sneak attack as the best means to that end. That's why the Kingdom of Manticore needs allies against the Republic of Haven, and the planet Grayson is strategically situated to make a very good ally indeed. But Her Majesty’s Foreign Office overlooked a “minor cultural difference” when they chose Honor Harrington to carry the flag: women on the planet of Grayson are without rank or rights and Honor’s mere presence is an intolerable affront to every male on the planet.
At first Honor doesn’t take it personally. But, in time, such treatment becomes taxing and she makes plans to withdraw until Grayson’s fratricidal sister planet attacks without warning. Now, Honor must stay and prevail, not just for her honor, but for her sovereign’s, for the honor of the Queen.
A Note from Author David Weber
There's been some confusion—not to say, um, energetic debate, readers and fans being readers and fans—about the correct pronunciation of "Manticoran." The truth, alas, is that a stitch was dropped. An error occurred. A mistake was made… and it wasn't Audible's fault. It was mine. Before Audible recorded the very first Honor Harrington book, narrator Allyson Johnson and I not only corresponded by e-mail but actually spoke to one another by phone. She wanted to make absolutely certain she had the correct pronunciations for names, places, star nations, etc., and I tried to make certain all of her questions were answered. And so they were. Unfortunately, at some point in the process, I replied to one of her e-mails by telling her that "Man-ti-core-ahn" was pronounced "Man-tik-er-ahn." Exactly how this happened is more than I can say at this point, except to blushingly disclose that the original e-mail remains intact, confirming to all the world that it was, indeed, my fault. I can ascribe it only to a temporary mental hiccup on my part and crave your forgiveness. If, however, you must blame someone for the mix-up, that someone should be me and not Audible, who have done everything they could to get it right.
The #1 personal finance book of all time... translated into dozens of languages and sold around the world.
Rich Dad Poor Dad is Robert's story of growing up with two dads - his real father and the father of his best friend, his rich dad - and the ways in which both men shaped his thoughts about money and investing. The book explodes the myth that you need to earn a high income to be rich and explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you.
20 Years... 20/20 Hindsight
In the 20th anniversary edition of this classic, Robert offers an update on what we’ve seen over the past 20 years related to money, investing, and the global economy. Sidebars throughout the book will take listeners “fast forward” - from 1997 to today - as Robert assesses how the principles taught by his rich dad have stood the test of time.
In many ways, the messages of Rich Dad Poor Dad, messages that were criticized and challenged two decades ago, are more meaningful, relevant and important today than they were 20 years ago.
As always, listeners can expect that Robert will be candid, insightful... and continue to rock more than a few boats in his retrospective.
Will there be a few surprises? Count on it.
Rich Dad Poor Dad...
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Having made a superior look a fool, Honor Harrington has been exiled to Basilisk Station in disgrace and set up for ruin.
Her demoralized crew blames her for their ship's humiliating posting to an out-of-the-way picket station.
The aborigines of the system's only habitable planet are smoking homicide-inducing hallucinogens.
Parliament isn't sure it wants to keep the place; the major local industry is smuggling; the merchant cartels want her head; the star-conquering, so-called "Republic" of Haven is up to something; and Honor Harrington has a single, over-age light cruiser with an armament that doesn't work to police the entire star system.
But the people out to get her have made one mistake. They've made her mad.
A Note from Author David Weber
There's been some confusion—not to say, um, energetic debate, readers and fans being readers and fans—about the correct pronunciation of "Manticoran." The truth, alas, is that a stitch was dropped. An error occurred. A mistake was made… and it wasn't Audible's fault. It was mine. Before Audible recorded the very first Honor Harrington book, narrator Allyson Johnson and I not only corresponded by e-mail but actually spoke to one another by phone. She wanted to make absolutely certain she had the correct pronunciations for names, places, star nations, etc., and I tried to make certain all of her questions were answered. And so they were. Unfortunately, at some point in the process, I replied to one of her e-mails by telling her that "Man-ti-core-ahn" was pronounced "Man-tik-er-ahn." Exactly how this happened is more than I can say at this point, except to blushingly disclose that the original e-mail remains intact, confirming to all the world that it was, indeed, my fault. I can ascribe it only to a temporary mental hiccup on my part and crave your forgiveness. If, however, you must blame someone for the mix-up, that someone should be me and not Audible, who have done everything they could to get it right.
Galaxy on Fire: Publisher's Pack contains Books 1 and 2 of the Galaxy on Fire series.
Embers, Book 1:
Jon Ryan was supposed to be dead. He wanted to be dead. But Jon wakes up in the far future with an alien burrowing in his chest for salvage. Someone was going to pay for this. Check that. Lots of people were going to pay for this. Jon was the first astronaut to download to an android host to find the population of doomed Earth a new home. But that was so long time ago. He is now literally lost in time.
The far flung future is dominated by an unstoppable species, the Adamant. They have conquered most of the galaxy. No civilization has successfully resisted them. Brutally efficient, selflessly devoted to their empire, and callous to all other forms of life, the Adamant have advanced without boundaries. But they are about to run into a major problem. One very pissed off Jon Ryan stands in their way. He escapes their prison ship, rescues two teenage shapeshifters, and intends to protect them at all costs. Jon, Mirraya, and Slapgren race across the galaxy always just one step ahead of disaster. But the combined evil forces that pursue them tear the trio apart. The teens must fend on their own in a hostile universe. All the while, Jon runs for his life, hoping against all hope to locate the teens. In a galaxy burning with war, genocide, and hidden magic, can Jon Ryan pull of one more miracle?
Flames, Book 2:
For Jon Ryan, it always seems to be the hard way. But he likes it like that. When he finally wins, it's all the more satisfying. A cataclysmic fight with his evil twin leaves Jon marooned on a desolate planet. He has no ship, no radio, and no one knows he's there. Meanwhile the shapeshifter teens are spirited to the court of the Adamant emperor himself. Malraff, his torture master, takes control of the teens and is bent on finding the secret of their ability to transform. She will do anything to find out the truth, and she will revels in their suffering.
Somehow Jon must find his way out of his imprisonment and rescue the teens. But will there be anything left for him to save even if he can escape? A galaxy on fire with the destructive conquests of the Adamant empire still stands between Jon and any for chance of success. Without allies, recourses, or any reason for hope, his only path is to release the darkness that he is capable of. But can Jon triumph and and still be worthy of that victory?
Robbie, aka the Naked Trader, is your expert and highly entertaining guide to the often baffling world of the stock market. In between cups of tea, rounds of toast and the occasional 'cuddle' with Mrs Naked Trader, he describes the straightforward techniques that have enabled him to succeed in the markets, escape the rat race and make a lot of money.
This audiobook tells you all you need to know. If you're a complete beginner you can start here or if you're currently trading but want to learn some new ideas - get listening now!
Robbie reveals his trading secrets gathered from 10 years of money making. From how to find good shares in the first place, ensuring you don't buy a complete stinker, to using spread betting to enhance gains and how to make big returns quickly from smaller companies. There's also his simple "traffic lights" system, which makes reading company reports a doddle, and real traders reveal their horror stories and winning tips!
This time, Robbie reveals his top 10 secret winning strategies - 10 sure-fire ways to ensure only the best shares get bought. Plus, how to get the confidence to hold onto winning shares and get rid of losers, and how to buy and sell at the right time.
Packed with practical and easy to follow advice, everything is explained simply with none of the incomprehensible jargon found in so many other books.
"Wil Wheaton narrates this space opera full of political intrigue and charismatic characters. The young Emperox Grayland II does not have an easy task ahead. The Interdependency is in jeopardy due to the collapse of various planets in the empire. Powerful families are looking out for their own interests, even if that means killing their enemies and threatening the empire. Wheaton delivers an expressive narration using a humorous tone when needed and employing his acting talent to bring the characters to life. This audiobook is a treat not only for Wheaton's fans but also for anyone who is into well-written science fiction." (AudioFile magazine)
The Consuming Fire - the sequel to the 2018 Hugo Award Best Novel finalist and 2018 Locus Award-winning The Collapsing Empire - an epic space-opera novel in the best-selling Interdependency series, from the Hugo Award-winning and New York Times best-selling author John Scalzi.
The Interdependency, humanity’s interstellar empire, is on the verge of collapse. The Flow, the extra-dimensional conduit that makes travel between the stars possible, is disappearing, leaving entire star systems stranded. When it goes, human civilization may go with it - unless desperate measures can be taken.
Emperox Grayland II, the leader of the Interdependency, is ready to take those measures to help ensure the survival of billions. But nothing is ever that easy. Arrayed before her are those who believe the collapse of the Flow is a myth - or at the very least, an opportunity that can allow them to ascend to power.
While Grayland prepares for disaster, others are preparing for a civil war, a war that will take place in the halls of power, the markets of business and the altars of worship as much as it will take place between spaceships and battlefields. The Emperox and her allies are smart and resourceful, but then so are her enemies. Nothing about this power struggle will be simple or easy...and all of humanity will be caught in its widening gyre.
The Interdependency series:
2018 Locus Award, Best Science Fiction Novel
Our universe is ruled by physics, and faster-than-light travel is not possible - until the discovery of The Flow, an extradimensional field we can access at certain points in space-time that transports us to other worlds, around other stars.
Humanity flows away from Earth, into space, and in time forgets our home world and creates a new empire, the Interdependency, whose ethos requires that no one human outpost can survive without the others. It's a hedge against interstellar war - and a system of control for the rulers of the empire.
The Flow is eternal - but it is not static. Just as a river changes course, The Flow changes as well, cutting off worlds from the rest of humanity. When it's discovered that The Flow is moving, possibly cutting off all human worlds from faster-than-light travel forever, three individuals - a scientist, a starship captain, and the empress of the Interdependency - are in a race against time to discover what, if anything, can be salvaged from an interstellar empire on the brink of collapse.
James McGill is called upon for a sabotage mission, one that only a man of his unique talents can handle. Unfortunately, he performs too well, and our enemies from Rigel are enraged. They come for us, and war is declared.
Both sides call for aid, and it comes from the Core Worlds in the form of two great fleets. The Civil War for the Empire’s Throne spills out into the provinces. In the center of Galaxy, fantastic fleets crush one another and burn thousands of inhabited worlds. When this conflict between the great powers spreads, humanity finds itself swept up in the storm.
Can McGill escape this disaster he’s created? Find out in Clone World, the 12th book of the Undying Mercenaries series. With over three million copies sold, author B. V. Larson is the king of modern military science fiction.
The great spheres and probes of Artifice, humankind's enemy, haunt every inhabited world near and far. The Omnians' long and arduous search for Artifice has ended. They've located Artifice's lair in the Talus system.
The sentient digital entity rules a vast swath of worlds, known as the federacy, through ruthless intimidation. Its insidious programs are embedded in every races' digital systems - warships, shuttles, stations, domes, comm platforms, and power plants. One misstep by a race could see its citizens exterminated in vast numbers. The survivors, if there were any, would be thrown back to the days before spaceflight.
Artifice has had millennia to secure its base. Powerful battleship fleets guard the system's periphery and the approaches above and below the entity's planet, Toral. Probes surround the system and warn of unauthorized encroachment, and Artifice has control of the planet's army of bots.
The Omnian expeditionary fleet, led by Alex Racine, desperately needs allies in order to defeat or circumvent Artifice's defensive measures. The Omnians are curious about the fleet of black-hulled battleships, which bear a resemblance to Artifice's probes and guard the Talus system. The SADEs, the Omnians' digital friends, believe that the sentients aboard the black fleet and Artifice share a common history.
Whether or not the Omnians can gather allies, they don't intend to abandon their goal and return to Omnia. They mean to capture or destroy the entity, Artifice, or die trying.
Artifice, the great enemy, has been defeated. The sister SADEs, Omnian sentient digital entities, are free from their boxes. Most humans are unaware that the sisters have duplicated themselves many more times than suspected. They now constitute a sizable, powerful group, calling themselves the Sisterhood.
The elimination of Artifice’s rule should be a time of relief and recovery for Alex Racine’s Omnian fleet and for the Toralians, whose home world was Artifice’s lair. Instead, it’s a chaotic period.
Visitors appear, sailing the distinct, black-hulled Toralian battleships. Five colonial governors wish to witness the recovery of the ancient home world. President Sargut welcomes them, but Alex is suspicious about the governors’ motives. In a face-to-face meeting, it becomes clear that the governors have a dark, ulterior purpose.
With the release of the federacy from Artifice’s reign, word reaches the Omnians that races are embracing their newfound freedom. Some enjoy peace, some desire expansion, and some yearn for revenge.
The races’ latter choices mean danger for the Toralians and Alex’s fleet. Powerful battleship fleets are either sailing for the Toralian home world to exact reprisals, or they’re seeking new territory. Every encounter presents a challenge for the Omnian fleet.
Some fleets have crossed the federacy’s boundary and are headed toward humankind’s worlds. Alex and the Omnians face a difficult choice. They must choose whether to defend the Toralian home world, which is forming a nascent society, or chase the fleets that are headed toward their planets.
From Hugo and Dragon Award finalist David VanDyke, and millions-selling science-fiction legend and Dragon finalist B.V. Larson, comes book five in the epic military space opera adventure saga!
It’s been five years since the end of the Hive Wars. Straker has handed over the burden of governing the Earthan Republic to civil authorities.
This should be a happy time, as Straker and his most loyal soldiers retire to a planet and step off the galactic stage. Unfortunately, authoritarian forces within the Earthan Republic are still simmering with rage at his victory. Rumors reach Straker of a growing new Republic Fleet manned by state loyalists. Planets begin to fall under their influence and go dark. Even in retirement, they see Straker’s Breakers as a threat.
Fearing he may have to move again in the name of freedom and the people, Straker begins to train and plan. Will they dare to come for him? His battlesuiters have formed families and planted roots on Culloden. What of their children and stories of neighboring worlds reverting to dictatorships?
Straker’s Breakers prepare to fight again, alone and without support, in this new novel of military science fiction by David VanDyke and B. V. Larson.
This is the fifth book in the Galactic Liberation series. Look for book number one, Starship Liberator, if you’re new to this expanding universe.
The war is on the verge of being lost.
The alien virus has begun its offensive, punching through the human defences and sending advance elements to threaten Earth itself. HMS Invincible and her crew, having barely returned from their last mission, are thrown into a desperate mission to strengthen the inner line of defences before the virus can smash them too and destroy the human race. The stakes have never been so high. Defeat means the end of everything.
But when the virus continues its offensive, brushing through all opposition, Invincible must mount a desperate raid deep into enemy space to win time for the human race....
Or watch, helplessly, as humanity faces a fate worse than death....
Jason Burke is a broken man. The loss of his friend and crewmate on an ill-fated mission to a Pillar World has left him in a downward spiral of rage and self-destruction. But what if Lucky hadn’t actually died on that planet?
While Omega Force tries to pull itself together for the sake of their friend, they also learn that a ruthless new faction has seized control of the ConFed Council and now threatens the stability of the entire quadrant. To make matters worse, the rise of this new regime might be their fault.
Jason’s loyalties are pulled in all directions as he tries to not only help his friend but also correct a horrible mistake from his past. Will his refusal to sacrifice either mission cause him to fail at both?
Legends Never Die is audiobook ten in the best-selling Omega Force series.
Through desperate tactics and by deliberately keeping a low profile, we survived the machine assaults longer than any human or cybership thought possible. But now our luck has deserted us. The main A.I. brain-core has just given human extinction top priority. The robots are massing an armada to exterminate us.
We’ve done what we could in expectation of this grim day, grabbing enemy factory planets to mass produce warships. And we found an ally, the Star Lords of Roke. But it’s just not enough, damn it.
We need more...like the alien void ship Hawkins once saw. Or maybe we can make a deal with the treacherous Cog Primus. One thing’s sure. We’d better do it soon, or we’ll join thousands of other extinct species obliterated by the hateful death machines.
A.I. Void Ship is the sixth book in the series chronicling humanity’s war for survival against the galactic machine juggernaut.
For thousands of years, the ConFed has been the most powerful force in the quadrant. It is the umbrella under which hundreds of planets and trillions of beings live in relative peace...despite the corruption and waste, it's a system that most accept as preferable to the chaos that would ensue in its absence.
Rumors have swirled around about the demise of the ConFed for as long as Jason Burke had been in space, a lone human among countless alien species. He largely ignored them...until now. For the first time since any of the members of Omega Force can remember, someone may have figured out how to destroy the ConFed without directly engaging its powerful military.
As one crewmember's past seems connected to the current trouble, Jason must decide what side of the fight he's on...let the ConFed die and plunge the quadrant into chaos, or swallow his pride and try to help an institution he despises maintain its power for the greater good.
With his beloved Watch crumbling around him and war-drums sounding, he must unravel every clue, outwit every assassin, and brave any darkness to find the solution. And darkness is following him.
Oh...and at six o'clock every day, without fail, with no excuses, he must go home to read Where's My Cow?, with all the right farmyard noises, to his little boy. There are some things you have to do.
Captain Jason Burke is a man apart, and not just because he's the only of his kind for thousands of light-years in any direction. The changes to his body and to his genetic code have made him faster, stronger, more able to survive in his dangerous occupation...but they've also ensured that he'll never truly fit in with others of his species. He always assumed he would live and die with his crew and never lay eyes on another human again. He was wrong.
The mercenary captain learns through back-channel information that Earth may be in danger and, worse, that he may have been a contributing factor. He now faces the choice of ignoring the problem and allowing his own species to fight their own battles or returning to help and risk making the situation worse. Can he just sit idly by while his species faces such a dire threat?
There is a fine line between right and wrong, good and evil. For years Jason Burke has straddled that line as best he can, always convinced that despite the violence carried out by him and his team they were firmly on the right side of that line. But as he reflects on his time with Omega Force, he begins to have his doubts.
When strange happenings from the mysterious Avarian Empire cross the expanse and Jason and Omega Force are pulled into the conflict, they must pick sides between two superpowers, all without knowing whom they can trust. At every turn, friends reveal themselves to be enemies, and enemies might be friends. All he knows for certain is that if they make it through the mission things will never be as they were.
Captain Jason Burke has begun to suspect that the random attacks on his ship and crew over the last couple of years may not be so random after all. Evidence is mounting that there is something on the Phoenix...something that powerful factions will stop at nothing to get their hands on. While Omega Force races to find out what is hidden on their ship that is causing so much trouble they also must figure out why such powerful enemies bent on obtaining it. They'll need to rely on old allies, and a few old adversaries, to unravel the mystery that's been hovering over them since they first stole the gunship from the treacherous Deetz so long ago. The crew is used to fighting long odds, but will they be prepared to sacrifice everything to keep the Phoenix's secret from falling into the wrong hands?
Each member of Omega Force carries his own baggage. Most of them are running from their pasts or simply trying to forget them. One member of the small mercenary crew is not who he claims to be, however. When his former life collides with his current one, the team is drawn into a conflict that could have profound consequences for the future of an entire species. Captain Jason Burke struggles to find answers as the tight cohesion of his crew seems to dissolve. No matter the outcome of the mission, can Jason keep Omega Force together once the dust settles?
In a twist of fate that rocks the Galactic Empire, James McGill finds himself negotiating the future of a thousand inhabited worlds.
An artificial object made of compressed stardust is barreling toward Earth. Is it an invasion ship? A doomsday weapon? Perhaps it’s the final response of Squanto, the Warlord of Rigel who McGill has repeatedly humiliated. Or could it be from the Mogwa, sent to avenge McGill’s assassination of Earth’s Imperial Governor?
No one knows the truth of its origins, but the object is huge and unstoppable. Whoever hurled this rock at us isn’t answering our calls. Every weapon bounces off, and the people of Earth begin to go mad as they realize their destruction is only hours away.
Armor World is the 11th book of the Undying Mercenaries series. With over three million copies sold, author B. V. Larson is the king of modern military science fiction.
The quadrant is burning. Violent, deadly uprisings are breaking out, seemingly at random, all across the Confederation's sphere of influence. The response by the powerful Confederation Fleet has been swift and decisive, but for every planet they restore order to, another erupts into chaos. Omega Force is working along the frontier worlds when they're forced to come to the aid of a longtime ally and soon realize that the two events are not unrelated. The deeper they dig into the occurrences, the more Captain Burke finds he doesn't know who he can trust as he tries to unravel the mystery and not only exonerate his friend but keep himself, and his crew, alive.
Ever since he joined Omega Force, Captain Jason Burke has lived with the underlying fear that one day Earth would be discovered. His desire to keep Earth's existence and location a secret has driven him to extremes, and kept him far away from his homeworld for a long time. But now Jason's greatest fear is realized, and a fleet of alien ships has attacked his planet. Omega Force rushes to Earth's defense, but the ships are like none they've ever encountered, and employ weapons they have no defense for. Will their lone gunship be able to slug it out with the unknown fleet holding the planet hostage? Or will this be a one-way trip for the crew of the Phoenix?
“A unique voice on money, one singularly attuned to...his generation.” (San Francisco Chronicle)
Buy as many lattes as you want. Spend extravagantly on the things you love. Live your rich life instead of tracking every last expense with Ramit Sethi’s simple, powerful, and effective six-week program for gaining control over your finances.
This isn’t typical advice from a money expert. In this completely updated second edition, Ramit teaches you how to choose long-term investments and the right bank accounts. With his characteristic no-BS perspective, he shows how to squeeze every hidden benefit out of your credit cards. Crush debt and student loans. Learn the exact words to negotiate a raise. Set up an automatic payment system and get on with your life. Plus, new material on overcoming psychological barriers, love and money, new investments options, and real audience stories of how applying Ramit’s principles led to a rich life.
“Don’t let the breezy, irreverent style of this book fool you. It contains serious advice on personal-finance decisions, from budgeting and savings to spending and investing.” (Burton G. Malkiel, author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street)
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Omega Force is back!
After the daring rescue of a political dissident, Omega Force is contracted to investigate a rash of violent attacks on civilian shipping lanes within a group of star systems known as the Concordian Cluster. It seems a simple enough job with a huge payday at the end, and it's exactly what the ragtag group of mercenaries needs in order to keep their ship flying and to stay one step ahead of those hunting them.
However, the further they delve into the seedy underworld of the Cluster, the more they realize they may be in over their heads. With innocent lives hanging in the balance, Captain Burke and his crew begin a desperate race to uncover who is responsible for these attacks, and why, before their ultimate goal can be realized.
Soldiers of Fortune is the follow up to the popular novel Omega Rising and the second book in the Omega Force series. It continues the adventures of Jason Burke, a lone human in space who has linked up with five other aliens to try their luck as hired guns. Their mandate: to help those who don't have the means to help themselves and never accept a job that would compromise the honor code they live by.
The complete military space opera series from best-selling author Scott Bartlett.
Last time, the aliens smashed the galaxy. Humanity held on by the fingernails.
In the decades since, we’ve put worlds back together. We’ve licked our wounds. But Captain Husher warned us they would return.
We didn’t want to believe him. We couldn’t afford to believe him.
Doesn’t matter. The enemy has returned, with weapons beyond anything we’ve dreamed of.
Now, it falls to Husher and his troubled crew to save us.
There's just one problem. First, he must save us from himself.
Bundle contains:
Sci-fi with a bold streak. Download this complete series today.
Jason Burke was a man hiding from himself in a small cabin high in the American Rocky Mountains when his simple, quiet life was shattered one night by what he first assumed was an aviation mishap. But when he investigates the crash, what he finds will yank him out of his self-imposed exile and thrust him into a world he could have never imagined. He suddenly finds himself trapped on a damaged alien spacecraft and plunged into a universe of interstellar crime lords and government conspiracies, along the way meeting strange new friends… and enemies. As he struggles to find his way back home he is inexorably drawn deeper into a world where one misstep could mean his death. Or worse. He desperately wants to get back to Earth, but it may be the end for him...or is it just the beginning?
First new Honor Jarrington novel in five years!
New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and international best-selling phenomenon David Weber delivers book 14 in the multiple New York Times best-selling Honor Harrington series, the first new Honor Harrington novel since 2013's Shadow of Freedom.
The Solarian League's navy counts its superdreadnoughts by the thousands. Not even its own government knows how enormous its economy truly is. And for hundreds of years, the League has borne the banner of human civilization, been the ideal to which humanity aspires in its diaspora across the galaxy.
But the bureaucrats known as the "Mandarins," who rule today's League, are not the men and women who founded it so long ago. They are corrupt, venal, accountable to no one...and they've decided the upstart Star Kingdom of Manticore must be destroyed.
Honor Harrington has worn the Star Kingdom's uniform for half a century and served her monarch and her people well. In the course of those years, the woman the newsies call the Salamander has grown from a tactically brilliant but politically naïve junior officer to supreme fleet command and a seat on the highest military and political councils of the Grand Alliance.
Very few people know war the way Honor Harrington does. Very few have lost as many men and women, as many friends, as much family as she has. Yet despite that, hers has been a voice of caution. She knows the Mandarins and the Solarian League Navy are growing increasingly desperate as the truth of their technological inferiority sinks home, but she also knows the sheer size of the League. And she knows how its citizens will react if the Grand Alliance takes the war to the League, attacks its star systems, destroys its infrastructure...kills its civilians. Today's victory, bought on those terms, can only guarantee a future war of revenge against a resurgent Solarian League and its navy.
The League is sliding toward inglorious defeat as it steadily loses ground in the Protectorates and the Verge. As its central government teeters toward bankruptcy and even some of its core systems opt to secede in the face of the Mandarins' corruption. As the Solarian Navy finally realizes it cannot face an Alliance battle fleet and win.
But the Mandarins have embraced a desperate new strategy, and in pursuit of that strategy, the SLN has committed atrocities such as the galaxy has not known in a thousand years. The League have violated its own Eridani Edict against mass civilian casualties, violated the Deneb Accords prohibition on war crimes.
And they have finally killed too many of the people Honor Harrington loves.
Hers is the voice of caution and compromise no longer, and the galaxy is about to see something it has never imagined.
The Salamander is coming for the Solarian League, and Hell is coming in her wake.
In the latest rollicking adventure in the Magic 2.0 series, it’s time for the teenagers to show the adults how wizardry really works.
Mattie and Brewster are normal, typical 16-year-old twins who live with their normal, boring parents: Martin and Gwen Banks. Normal and boring, that is, until the day their father's best friend shows up at their house - dressed in what appears to be a bathrobe.
The next thing Mattie and Brewster know, their parents are frozen like human statues in their living room, the guy in the bathrobe has vanished, and they need to find answers - fast.
The twins set off on a quest to discover the truth of their parents' lives. Along the way they find secrets, lies, magic, time travel, strange new friends, stranger new enemies, and a really weird dirigible (which, they're told repeatedly, is not a blimp). It is a twisted and bizarre trail that, they hope, will lead them to the man they blame for their parents' peril:
Phillip.
The remnants of the Expeditionary Force stranded on the alien-controlled planet "Paradise" get a chance to prove themselves, in a simple off-world training mission with a ship full of teenage alien cadets. When the mission goes horribly wrong and the survival of everyone on Paradise is at risk, the Merry Band of Pirates may have to come to the rescue. Unless they get killed first....
The battle-scarred star carrier Flying Dutchman is finally on her way back to Earth, after an exceptionally successful series of missions that have once again saved the world. The ship needs a serious refit, and her exhausted crew just wants a break from constant clandestine warfare against a vicious and superior enemy. Wishes come true, right? Not for the Merry Band of Pirates.
Includes special bonus note from the author.
The gloves have finally come off.
The Tokomak, the unquestioned masters of the galaxy, have dispatched a massive fleet to crush the Solar Union - and the fledgling Galactic Alliance - before the human race and its alien allies can tear the galactic order asunder. Hundreds of thousands of starships under the command of an alien tactical genius, bent on exterminating the entire human race...the darkest hour is truly at hand.
Admiral Hoshiko Stuart has a plan. The Solar Union will dispatch a fleet of its own, with the objective of smashing the alien fleet before it reaches Sol.
But, as human technology clashes with alien treachery, experience, and sheer numbers, it becomes clear that there can be only one victor...and whoever loses will lose everything.
From Hugo and Dragon Award finalist David VanDyke, and science fiction legend and Dragon finalist B.V. Larson, comes book four in the epic military space opera adventure saga!
The Republic, the Opters, and a strange Crystalline race of unknown origin all meet in a series of titanic battles. Commodore Straker summons thousands of ships, but he soon learns he’s technologically outclassed by the enemy.
With traditional victory impossible, the race is on for each side to destroy the key worlds of the other. Billions die, entire planets are destroyed.
Even while the war rages, dark suspicions grow. There are traitors in the midst of the chaos. Straker realizes the worst enemy is the one you believed to be your ally....
Hive War is a thrilling tale of warfare and adventure among the stars. This is the fourth book in the Galactic Liberation series. Look for book 1, Starship Liberator if you’re new to this expanding universe.
In the wake of the Solar Union’s stunning victory over the Tokomak - the masters of the galactic community - humanity has been invited to send a diplomatic mission to the Kingdom of Harmonious Order, one of the oldest and most significant races in known space. It is an opportunity that cannot be missed, a chance to forge ties with a powerful ally. And so a lone starship is dispatched to the galactic core to open discussions....
But when that starship runs into a deadly trap, she and her crew must battle their way home before they are merely the first casualties in a renewed war.
From The New York Times best-selling author of the smash hit One Second After series comes 48 Hours, a nail-biting and prescient thriller about a solar storm with the power to destroy the world's electrical infrastructure.
In 48 hours, the Earth will be hit by a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the sun, a "Carrington Event" that has the power to shut down and possibly destroy the world's electrical infrastructure. To try and prevent permanent damage, everything goes dark prior to the hit: Global communications are shut down; hospital emergency generators are disconnected; the entire internet, media broadcasting, and cell phone systems are turned off.
Will the world's population successfully defend itself in the wake of the CME, or will mass panic lead to the breakdown of society as we know it?
William R. Forstchen is at his best in 48 Hours, a tale of the resilience of American citizens when faced with a crisis.
In a desperate fight, we captured one of the machine empire’s factory planets. Can we now defeat an interstellar superpower that has exterminated thousands of sentient races across the galaxy and slaughtered billions of us in the solar system?
Not bloody likely, but Captain Jon Hawkins is on a mission. Using new warships from the factory planet, he’s searching for alien allies, more battle stations to storm, and death machines to kill. He’s buying us time to turn the solar system into a fortress...if he can stay alive long enough.
A.I. Battle Fleet is the fifth audiobook in the series chronicling humanity’s grim war for survival against the galactic machine juggernaut.
We defeated the invading death machines. But at a devastating cost, with smoldering radioactive craters on Mars, shattered moon-domes around Jupiter and floating junk where Saturn's satellite cities used to orbit.
We know more killing machines are coming and that the ultimate outcome seems hopeless. To win this war, we need more warships, more soldiers, and a way to take the fight to the enemy.
By analyzing a testy AI probe, Jon Hawkins discovers a secret: the whereabouts of a giant AI battle station, one protecting a factory planet 17.2 light-years from Earth.
Jon has to convince a defensive Premier Benz and the hostile Earth government to join him. A human flotilla has the lonely task of traveling through hyperspace to defeat the arrogant AIs in one of their own star systems.
The fate of the human race rests on the sacrifice and courage of Jon Hawkins and his friends.
A.I. Battle Station is the fourth book in the A.I. Series, a novel of military science fiction by best-selling author Vaughn Heppner. The series starts with book 1, A.I. Destroyer.
Jon Hawkins and his crew are exhausted and homesick. They've destroyed the alien machine menace, going deep into the Kuiper Belt to annihilate the secret A.I. base. From out here the sun looks like just another star. It's a lonely existence. They're ready to go home.
What they don't know - what no one could - was that the A.I. destroyer was only a scout.
More alien vessels drop out of hyperspace. This is an A.I. assault. The clock to human extinction has begun ticking.
Jon and his crew are tired, homesick, and pissed off. They've fought too hard and bled too much to quit now. They're going to find a way to beat the death machines; for the sake of their homes, they have to.
A.I. Assault is a novel of military science fiction by best-selling author Vaughn Heppner and the third book in the A.I. series.
We don't know when it happened. But somewhere an alien species built a strong artificial intelligence. The A.I. became independent, powerful, and it started killing biological infestations - life - any life, all life. It has been killing life forms ever since as it grew into a vast armada of death.
Jon Hawkins and his team captured the A.I. destroyer invading the solar system. The genocidal assault should have been over, but it's not.
An alien A.I. strand from the cybership survived in the distant Kuiper Belt. The strand has been multiplying and taking over by turning people into robots in order to build another supership. The human race is in a grim war for survival against the most relentless, most ruthless enemy in the galaxy.
The A.I. Gene is a novel of military science fiction by best-selling author Vaughn Heppner and the second book in the A.I. series.
It came from deep space. It sent the signal. Now our computers are killing us, helping the enemy drive us into extinction.
But some of us refuse to die. We fight back. We learn.
Jon Hawkins revives from cryogenic sleep in a drifting SLN battleship. The crew is dead and the main computer has been destroyed. Jon is a soldier, the start of the resistance, the one man with the will to beat the alien death machines that have terminated 1000 races.
This is our hour as we face the ultimate evil, the galactic destroyer of life.
On her last mission, HMS Invincible discovered an alien threat beyond human understanding: a sentient virus that has already absorbed a number of intelligent races into its multitude and now intends to do the same to humanity. Defeat means the end of everything, the end of existence as nothing more than mindless host-bodies, the end of humanity and its alien allies alike. The stakes could not be higher.
As a deeply divided humanity struggles to prepare a defense, with enemies inside and outside the human sphere just lurking to strike, Invincible is sent deep into alien space on what should have been a simple reconnaissance mission. But, as Captain Shields and his crew begin their mission, it rapidly becomes clear that a juggernaut is bearing down on Earth....
And, no matter what they do, they may never make it home again.
B. V. Larson returns to the world of his Audible best-selling Star Force series for the first time in three years with this original, full-cast audio drama.
A new stand-alone space drama by B. V. Larson makes its debut in the wildly popular Star Force series with an extensive and stellar cast. When the Ancients, a mysterious alien race, vanished before Earth's last ice age, they left behind a highway of interconnected rings across the galaxy. Humanity knows how to use the highway, but not how to build any more rings, or alter the connection pattern between them.
Now the Imperial starship Pandora is on a mission to discover and explore new interstellar connection points. On Venus, they meet a rogue robot, Marvin, with a mission of his own to reconnect the rings into a new pattern. The result is pure pandemonium. Everything goes haywire. Grotesque aliens are coming through the ring, overrunning Pandora's base camp.
The good news? The aliens can be killed. The bad news: The aliens keep coming through the ring, and no one knows how to turn off the connection leading directly to their home world. But even if the aliens can be defeated - there’s still Marvin to contend with and his alternate agenda.
Starship Pandora is performed by:
Mark Boyett as Marvin and Gen. Kerr; Marc Vietor as Maj. Drake; Tim Gerard Reynolds as Dr. Blear; Scott Aiello as Capt. Stiles; Natalie Gold as Lt. Hersh; Jamie Jackson as Emperor Crow; Graeme Malcolm as Adm. Newcome.
With additional roles performed by Kevin T. Collins; Lauren Fortgang; Natasha Soudek; Jeena Yi; Gabriel Vaughan; Josh Hurley; Eddy Lee; and B. V. Larson.
James McGill is sent to the Core Worlds!
In an unprecedented first, Earth sends a message to Mogwa Prime. Unfortunately, the messenger is not met with enthusiasm. Misunderstandings soon threaten all of Humanity. Forced to prove Earth can serve the Empire better than any rival, McGill does his best.
Eager to prove our worth to the Galactics, the frontier war between Rigel and Earth is expanded to Storm World. Circled by six moons, the planet is ravaged by wild storms and tides. Battles are fought in raging hurricanes, and death stalks the soldiers on both sides.
McGill grimly fights and dies in the mud until the job gets done, but will it be enough to satisfy the angry Mogwa?
"A glance through Muggle art and literature of the Middle Ages reveals that many of the creatures they now believe to be imaginary were then known to be real."
As every fan of the Harry Potter stories knows, the shelves of the Hogwarts Library are home to all sorts of fascinating books. There are three in particular you might have heard mentioned by certain Hogwarts students and that you can add to your listening list too, including Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
A set textbook at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry since publication, Newt Scamander's masterpiece has entertained wizarding families through the generations. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an indispensable introduction to the magical beasts of the wizarding world.
Flipping through the pages of Newt's famous journal, you'll journey around the globe and discover the many and varied creatures that he made it his life's work to study and protect. Some of the beasts will be familiar to fans of the Wizarding World - the Hippogriff, the Niffler, the Hungarian Horntail...while others will surprise even the most ardent amateur Magizoologist.
Who better to narrate this stunning catalogue of magical creatures than Eddie Redmayne, who plays Newt Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts movies? Eddie's film credits include The Danish Girl, My Week with Marilyn, Les Misérables and The Theory of Everything, for which he won a Golden Globe, an Academy Award, and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor.
Fans of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them are sure to enjoy the other Hogwarts Library books: Quidditch Through the Ages and The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
Comic Relief, operating name Charity Projects, is a registered charity in the UK with charity nos. 326568 (England/Wales) and SC039730 (Scotland). Lumos Foundation is a registered charity in the UK with no. 1112575 (England/Wales). Fifteen percent of the proceeds* received by Pottermore Limited from this audiobook will be made available to the charities for their work across the UK and globally including helping children and young people have a better life. These proceeds will be shared 20 percent for Comic Relief and 80 percent for Lumos Foundation.
*Proceeds means the cash-price or cash-equivalent price less sales taxes.
Join quizmaster Jason Zenobia for The Ultimate Harry Potter Quiz and find out who can rightfully wear the crown as the king or queen of Harry Potter knowledge.
Perhaps you’ve read the books from cover to cover three times each, or you’ve visited the studio tour every year since it opened...but how much of it all can you remember?
Do you know, for instance, which animal each character casts as their Patronus charm? Can you reel off the names of all of the shops in Hogsmeade? What is Mandrake root used for...and which two types of Dragon still roam the British Isles?
There are two ways to play this quiz. For the first set of tracks, the quizmaster reads out 10 questions at a time before confirming the 10 correct answers - this is great if you’ve got a pen and paper and want to pit your wits against your friends. Alternatively, if you play the second set of tracks, each question is answered in turn - perfect for a car journey, where the whole family can join in. The quiz covers a range of subjects, from individual characters to themes such as spells and potions or Quidditch. The questions are based on the Harry Potter story as told in the books rather than the films - so remember this before shouting out the first answer that comes into your head! This is the perfect audiobook for any Harry Potter fan.
The Omnian expeditionary fleet sails for the faraway place they call "the wall". The worlds of humankind have consolidated their resources to create a powerful armada to confront the alien federation.
During the Omnians' previous encounter with an alien fleet at the wall, the Nua'll comm sphere spoke to them in multiple languages. When the messages were deciphered by SADEs, the humans' digital friends, the Omnians realized two things. One, they would face a vast empire composed of hundreds of races, and, two, the Nua'll were not the leaders of the federacy. They had spoken of masters.
Multiple challenges faced Alex Racine, the Omnian leader, to cobble together the fleet he required. The Confederation, which was composed of many colonies, could produce ships, but most of its people lacked the will to fight. Haraken and New Terra were worlds with limited material production capability. But they produced individuals who were anxious to deliver a blow against the federation.
A debate raged over whether humans should flee, wait, or fight the onslaught of giant spheres, which ravaged humankind's worlds, and the probes that spied on them. It was Alex Racine's choice to confront the alien race. Anything less was only delaying the inevitable.
The Omnians knew nothing about what they would find beyond the wall, where the federation's enormous empire lay. Alex knew he couldn't defeat the federacy in a long series of protracted engagements. His plan was to attempt to conquer and divide. He just needed to find the right sentient race for his idea to work.
Now updated to include Chapter Name Information, so you can easily find your favourite story or novel
Winner of Audible's 2017 Members' Choice Award
"...it was reading the Sherlock Holmes stories as a boy that first turned me on to the power of writing and storytelling." (Stephen Fry)
Ever since he made his first appearance in A Study In Scarlet, Sherlock Holmes has enthralled and delighted millions of fans throughout the world. Now Audible is proud to present Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection, read by Stephen Fry. A lifelong fan of Doyle's detective fiction, Fry has narrated the complete works of Sherlock Holmes - four novels and five collections of short stories. And, exclusively for Audible, Stephen has written and narrated nine insightful, intimate and deeply personal introductions to each title.
Stephen Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, comedian, television presenter, film director and all round national treasure. He is the acclaimed narrator of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter audiobooks and most recently recorded The Tales of Max Carrados for Audible Studios. Stephen has contributed columns and articles to newspapers and magazines, appears frequently on radio and has written four novels and three volumes of autobiography.
Part 1
Chapter 1: Opening Credits and Introduction to A Study in Scarlet
Chapters 2-15: A Study in Scarlet
Chapter 16: Introduction to The Sign of Four
Chapters 17-21: The Sign of Four, Part 1
Part 2
Chapters 1-7: The Sign of Four, Part 2
Chapter 8: Introduction to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Chapters 9-21: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Part 1
Part 3
Chapter 1: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Part 2
Chapter 2: Introduction to The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Chapters 3-14: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Chapter 15: Introduction to The Hound of the Baskervilles
Chapters 16-21: The Hound of the Baskervilles, Part 1
Part 4
Chapters 1-9: The Hound of the Baskervilles, Part 2
Chapter 10: Introduction to The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Chapters 11-21: The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Part 1
Part 5
Chapters 1-2: The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Part 2
Chapter 3: Introduction to The Valley of Fear
Chapters 4-18: The Valley of Fear
Chapter 19: Introduction to His Last Bow
Chapters 20-21: His Last Bow, Part 1
Part 6
Chapters 1-7: His Last Bow, Part 2
Chapter 8: Introduction to The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes
Chapters 9-20: The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes and Closing Credits
A young fleet officer and a marine stand together to defend their colony in the continuation of the powerful and action-packed Genesis Fleet saga from New York Times best-selling author Jack Campbell.
In the three years since former fleet officer Rob Geary and former marine Mele Darcy led improvised forces to repel attacks on the newly settled world of Glenlyon, tensions have only gotten worse.
When one of Glenlyon's warships is blown apart trying to break the blockade that has isolated the world from the rest of human-colonized space, only the destroyer Saber remains to defend it from another attack. Geary's decision to take Saber to the nearby star Kosatka to safeguard a diplomatic mission is a risky interpretation of his orders, to say the least.
Kosatka has been fighting a growing threat from so-called rebels - who are actually soldiers from aggressive colonies. When a "peacekeeping force" carrying thousands of enemy soldiers arrives in Kosatka's star system, the people of that world, including Lochan Nakamura and former "Red" Carmen Ochoa, face an apparently hopeless battle to retain their freedom. It's said that the best defense is a good offense. But even if a bold and risky move succeeds, Geary and Darcy may not survive it....
At long last, Earth has a handful of starships. Surrounded by Rebel Kher, Imperials, and the mysterious Nomads, humanity dares to assert our right to independence.
The interstellar community reacts harshly. In the eyes of our neighbors, we’re upstarts, dangerous beings who don’t know our place.
For the Kher, freedom can only be won through battle. War fleets arrive to instruct us, and Captain Leo Blake is again sent out to voyage among hostile stars.
We’re far from ready, but the time has come. It’s game on.
All is not well in the Human Sphere. The alliance between the Great Powers is starting to fall apart, the human economy cannot keep up with the urgent need for newer and better starships, and politicians are demanding an end to military spending. For the Royal Navy, desperately trying to do too many tasks with too few ships, it is the worst possible time for a new threat to appear.
When a generation starship is detected approaching a British colony world, HMS Invincible is dispatched to intercept the aliens before they can make landfall. But the newcomers bring with them tidings of a new and deadly threat, an expansionist alien race far too close to the Human Sphere for comfort...and a sinister horror beyond human understanding.
From Hugo and Dragon Award finalist David VanDyke and million-selling science-fiction legend and Dragon Award finalist B. V. Larson comes book three in the epic military space opera adventure saga!
Commodore Straker faces new enemies as neighboring interstellar empires decide his New Republic is a growing threat. A two-front war develops, and the Liberator must face both the Mutuality and the Hundred Worlds.
Even as the fighting rages, the mysterious Opters are on the move. They make a diplomatic effort to reach out to Straker - but can he trust the Hive Masters? Will they help or stab him in the back?
Flagship Victory is a thrilling tale of warfare and adventure among the stars. This is the third book in the Galactic Liberation series. Look for book 1, Starship Liberator, if you're new to this expanding universe.
Two expanding interstellar powers are about to meet in battle. After the collapse of the Cephalopod Kingdom, Humanity claimed the 300 rebellious worlds it left behind. But many light years away on the far side of a disputed region, a rival power has begun to move. They're stealing our planets, one at a time. Earth Command decides to invade the center of the frontier to set up an advanced base.
The mission to DARK WORLD is highly classified and deadly. Legion Varus spearheads the effort, and James McGill journeys to the stars again. How many ships do they have? How advanced is their tech?
No one knows, but the campaign takes an unexpected turn immediately. What was supposed to be a snatch-and-grab turns into a bloodbath. McGill dies over and over again, but some battles must be won, even if it means perma-death.
After being saved from annihilation by the Old Gator's daring plan, Gabriel and the crew of the Magellan find themselves in the most unlikely of places: a captured enemy starship. While learning to control the alien vessel introduces a new set of challenges, the secrets they discover within may prove to be the edge they so desperately need.
With the rebellion on Earth rushing headlong toward a final, last-ditch battle and the remainder of the alien armada standing between them and home, it will take all of their strength, courage, and ingenuity to destroy the enemy once and for all.
Before the enemy destroys them.
Tides of War is the third and final book in the science-fiction Rebellion trilogy.
When you discover the world is a computer program, and you figure out that by altering the code you can time travel and perform acts that seem like magic, what can possibly go wrong?
Pretty much everything.
Just ask Brit, who has jumped around in time with such abandon that she has to coexist with multiple versions of herself. Now, Brit the Elder finds that her memories don't match Brit the Younger's. And there's the small matter of a glitch that's making Brit the Elder's body fritz out. Brit the Elder's ex-boyfriend Phillip wants to help her, but he'll have to keep it secret from his current girlfriend, Brit the Younger, who can't stand her future self.
Meanwhile, Martin is trying to protect Phillip from a relentless attacker he somehow hasn't noticed; Gwen is angry because Martin accidentally proposed to her; Gary tries to help the less fortunate, with predictably disastrous results; and an old nemesis might have to be the one to save them all.
In Out of Spite, Out of Mind, our fearless wizards discover the biggest glitch in their world's program may well be themselves.
Being a hero always has its price, but what happens if that price is too high to pay?
Fresh off their victory over Graves and his followers, Marcus and his friends have managed to enjoy a few weeks of relative calm and peace as they continue to build Aldford, preparing the town for a new wave of settlers coming from Eberia. But as the days wear on with no new arrivals in sight, they begin to fear the worst. Eventually setting out to search for their promised reinforcements, they soon realize that they weren't as alone on the frontier as they thought they were.
Just managing to rescue a caravan of settlers in the nick of time from a horde of bandits, Marcus and the rest of Virtus barely have a chance to catch their breath before they find themselves thrust into the middle of Eberian politics, revealing a plot that threatens to not only take away their hard-won independence, but to destroy Aldford completely.
Christopher G. Nuttall’s novel of human fear and survival, set in the thrilling world of his Angel in the Whirlwind series.
A year after the Commonwealth won the war with the Theocracy, the interstellar cruise liner Supreme is on its maiden voyage, carrying a host of aristocrats thrilled to be sharing in a wondrous adventure among the stars. The passengers include the owner and his daughters, Angela and Nancy. Growing up with all the luxuries in the world, neither sister has ever known true struggle, but that all changes when a collision with a pirate ship leaves the cruiser powerless and becalmed in hyperspace. And they’re not alone.
Now, the mysterious force that’s living on this floating graveyard is coming for Supreme’s crew and passengers. As madness starts to tear at their minds, they must fight to survive in a strange alien realm.
And there’s no way out...
After the passage of two decades, the Omnians discovered a second, critical clue about the Nua'll, humankind's enemy, while investigating Celus-4, the home world of the intelligent, canine-like aliens, the Dischnya.
This striking discovery, combined with the final broadcast of the Nua'll sphere at Libre, prior to its detonation, gave Alex Racine and company the means to narrow the search for the Nua'll home world.
Alex has a consuming desire to locate the point of origin of the Nua'll before another gigantic sphere arrives to destroy more colonies. The first sphere's incursion into the Confederation burned billions of humans to ash.
Six scout ships are constructed by the Omnians and crewed by SADEs, self-aware digital entities, to search the stars along a narrow path defined by the two clues.
During its search, a scout ship, the Vivian, is captured by an alien warship in a faraway system that the SADEs dub Vinium. The two ships, locked tightly together in a form of electronic warfare, achieve an impasse.
The scout ship calls for help, and Alex Racine receives the strange message. According to the SADEs, the aliens aboard the warship appear to be plant people.
Rescuing the scout ship presents Alex and his companions the opportunity to meet the plant people, the Vinians, on their home world. It leads the Omnians to one more incredible discovery about the Nua'll, which, unfortunately, proves Alex's worst fears.
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.
A stand-alone set during the Ark Royal Era.
The Royal Navy never expected to fight a full-scale interstellar war. Everyone knew the Great Powers would never risk everything on armed conflict when there was plenty of room for everyone in outer space. But when a hostile alien force stumbles across humanity's handful of colony worlds, the Great Powers must set aside their differences and fight to preserve humanity from utter destruction.
Desperate for starships and manpower, the Royal Navy embarks upon an ambitious plan of converting freighters into makeshift carriers and recruiting reservists and criminals to fill the ranks. Classed as expendable, the small carriers will be given the most dangerous missions to slow a remorseless alien foe.... And the pardons their crews have been offered will be meaningless if they die.
Alex Racine, who led an elite group of humans and SADEs (self-ware digital entities), left the newly discovered planet of Celus-5 under difficult circumstances. Few of the Harakens with Alex thought there was little he could do to bring peace to the embroiled planet. From their viewpoint, the demands of the Celus-5 Swei Swee, the six-legged aliens of the ocean, and the Dischnya, the warring, doglike, intelligent creatures who inhabited the dry plains, were too convoluted to solve.
Except Alex doesn't see fulfilling the desires of the two sentient species, identifying the third species hiding in the green, and gaining permission for humans and SADEs to settle the planet as challenges. To Alex, these are merely stepping-stones to what he seeks.
Two centuries ago Swei Swee escaped from their masters, the Nua'll, and landed their dark travelers on the shoreline of Celus-5. This was the first clue the Harakens had received in 20 years as to the direction the enormous and deadly alien sphere of the Nua'll originated before it attacked the first Confederation colony.
Alex was intent on solving the thorny issues of Celus-5 so he could garner the Dischnya's support to help him solve the burning questions: When and from which direction did the Nua'll sphere enter the Celus system? To do this and prevent potential future attacks on human worlds, Alex realizes he must shed the responsibilities of the past years and return to the foundations on which he built Haraken, which were city-ships, Independents, and SADEs.
A dirty deal was struck. Humanity was allowed to keep 300 rebellious worlds. In return, we declared war on a powerful enemy from beyond the frontier.
A frantic build-up of forces has begun, but the task is hopeless. Seeking allies, Earth's legions are sent to Blood World. A planet on the fringe of known space, where the people only respect masters of combat. Earth's Legions must impress them, but other alien powers have been invited to join the contest. The prize consists of billions of loyal troops - Earth must win.
Fighting and dying and fighting again, the struggle is half-mad - but so is James McGill.
Blood World is the eighth book in the Undying Mercenaries Series.
A stand-alone novel set in the Ark Royal Universe!
The first major alien offensive against Earth has been blunted, winning humanity time to deploy new weapons and prepare new tactics as Earth's space navies prepare to take the offensive. But the enigmatic aliens have plans of their own - a full-scale attack on Earth that will either win the war in a single stroke or lose it.
The stakes have never been so high. The fate of humanity itself is in the balance. And, as battle rages across the solar system, as humanity finds its back pushed firmly against the wall, millions of people - military and civilian - struggle for survival, knowing that victory will come with a very high price....
And defeat will be the end of everything humanity holds dear.
For its initial mission, Haraken's explorer ship, the Sojourn, undertook the investigation of Celus-5, a world identified by Willem, a SADE (self-aware digital entity), and his team of scientists, as the best candidate for a new colony.
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.
Unfortunately, the Harakens' landing party was late in discovering the Dischnya's hideouts, and a shuttle and crew, including Teague, Alex Racine's son, were captured by the doglike warriors of the Tawas Soma nest. Soon the mission was mired in a standoff, and Captain Asu Azasdau fired off a comm to Haraken, pleading for a rescue from Tomas Monti, the Haraken president, and Alex Racine.
The survey group might have been forgiven for their hasty landing. They were focused on investigating the three objects buried in the sands along the continent's shoreline. Smooth, dark, and silver, they were the ships belonging to the nemesis of every human - the Nua'll.
The dark travelers presented another clue as to the direction of the Nua'll home world, but it also invoked the question: Where were the Swei Swee, the six-legged, whistling aliens who once were aboard the ships?
Until the Confederation created Allora, it had produced SADEs (self-aware digital entities) for hundreds of years with enormous consistency and harnessed their capabilities to power the society. But this particular young SADE was disturbed by her confinement. Trapped in metal-alloy housing on the bridge of a luxury passenger liner, Allora sought to possess the same freedom enjoyed by humans, who came and went from her starship with abandon.
Allora's hope for emancipation rested on Alex Racine, the Haraken president who had freed his SADEs, and she yearned to walk the worlds a free entity, as they did. Racine had pleaded for years with the Council of Leaders to give the Confederation SADEs equal status as citizens, and it was Allora's thought to have him intercede on her behalf and bargain for her transfer to a mobile avatar so that she might live among the Harakens.
But Allora's plans were thrown into disarray when she learned that Racine would soon end his presidency. Desperate, Allora, known to her fellow SADEs as the wild child, concocts a plan to kidnap the Council Leader and his associates. She intends to hold them hostage until they acquiesce to her demands.
Little does Allora know that her actions will set the Confederation and the Harakens on a collision course. Quietly waiting and watching the drama unfold are tens of thousands of SADEs, who control Confederation starships, stations, and Houses and have a vested interest in the outcome.
A side novel set in the same world as the bestselling Ascend Online series that takes place between Ascend Online and Legacy of the Fallen, and follows a different cast of characters.
Sometimes, just being a hero isn't an option. Sometimes, you just need to get the job done.
Lazarus Cain is a member of the Grim Shadows, one of the Thieves Guilds in the city of Eberia. Unfortunately, Lazarus is having a bad day. Waking up in a torture chamber, suffering from amnesia, he'd be pretty much screwed if not for the mysterious, magical sigil burned into his chest.
Sometimes a really bad day should be shared with others, especially professional torturers.
Lazarus will need to use all his cunning and skill to work with his comrades, uncovering schemes within schemes, discovering that The Grim Shadows are not the only Thieves Guild in the city mired in conflict. What's more, the leaders of the other guilds, the Thief Lords, don't respond well to treachery...
Cooper has made mistakes. Lives were lost. Realties destroyed.
Invited to join a mysterious and powerful group known as Wielders, he must learn whether his new powers are a blessing or a curse.
The Imperials have devised a cunning new method of destroying Rebel worlds. Captain Leo Blake is largely responsible for both our survival and our current predicament. He and his crew are infamous among the stars. As a result, when ships of an unknown configuration begin flowing out of swirling rifts above Earth, Blake is called upon again to deal with the problem.
But the approaching fleet isn't what it seems. They're employing an entirely new way to exterminate Rebels. They will accept nothing less than conquering Earth - or, better yet, destroying all life on our planet.
Alpha Fleet is the third book in the Rebel Fleet series.
Diving into a revolutionary new video game, Marcus and his friends escape a stagnant society, entering into a world that defies their wildest imaginations. But from the moment that he logs in, Marcus finds himself separated from his friends and thrown into a remote village under attack by a horde of goblins.
Forced into battle, Marcus rallies the beleaguered villagers and, with their help, manages to drive off the invading creatures. With the village in ruins and their supplies spoiled, the survivors desperately turn to Marcus for help in rebuilding the village.
Realizing that this game is nothing like he's ever played before, Marcus is swept up into a whirlwind of adventure as he struggles to defend his new home, quickly finding that marauding goblins are the least of his problems.
The Commonwealth has won a great victory, smashing Wolfbane's attempt to take Corinthian and driving Admiral Singh's forces back into enemy space. Now, as the Wolves reel under the impact of their defeat - and powerful factions plot to take control of the government and military - Edward Stalker plans a final offensive to bring the Wolves to their knees.
But as mighty fleets clash in the inky darkness of space, infiltrators struggle to weaken a tottering edifice and both sides brace for the final confrontation, it all comes down to the last Terran Marines and a battle that will determine if the galaxy is to be united once again...or thrown headlong back into a new Dark Age.
Deceived by a trusted colleague, Loredana Cyber, heir to the world's largest entertainment company, walks away from big business and vows never to return.
When a young programmer on the verge of perfecting an incredible new technology comes to her for help, she must decide - remain anonymous, or return to an arena that betrayed her.
Ten years have passed on Tygon since the Virtual Prophet woke the Dreamers.
Games of life and death continue, and the stakes for winning - or losing - promise to affect the inhabitants across three realities.
Dawn belongs to a secret group of teenagers who play a cloak and dagger game on their cell phones. Her world is turned upside down when the players' actions begin to affect reality, and not in good ways.
Trouble infiltrated the Harakens' capital city of Espero, in the form of New Terra criminal gangs who grew wealthy and powerful on the moons of Ganymede, hiding behind the cover of an ill-conceived mining charter. The gangs brought stims and addictive hallucinogenic drugs to Espero, distributing them to the young on the planet.
Christie Racine and her friends visited a hidden club rumored to be a source of the dangerous drugs and have run afoul of the criminals running the illegal establishment. Kidnapped and transported out of Hellébore's system aboard a freighter, the girls become desperate to free themselves.
Alex Racine, Christie's brother and president of the Harakens, races to discover where the girls were taken. The trail leads Alex from Espero to the pleasure domes of Jolares, a moon orbiting a gas giant in Oistos, the New Terrans' home system. Alex's search is complicated by the discovery of not one, but three sets of pleasure domes, each on its own moon and run by its own criminal mastermind.
It becomes a dangerous game of hide-and-seek as the Harakens attempt to recover their girls and locate the biochemist who created the dangerous hallucinogen, without panicking the kidnappers. The Harakens' efforts are complicated by the duplicitous scheme of "Mr. Blue" and "Sniffer", two gang leaders, who seek to steal the domes of "Craze", the third gang leader, in a dangerous double-cross.
Alex and his people thought things couldn't get any more complicated until they discover the gangs have gone to war with deadly stunners and plasma rifles in a fight for possession of the Haraken girls, who are caught between the rivals.
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.
The rebels have won a great victory, shattering the Empire's grip on Sector 117. Starships are mutinying, the Empire's power and authority are crumbling, and the rebels are making their way towards Earth. Their victory seems inevitable.
But, as news of the rebellion finally reaches Earth, the Thousand Families start preparing for all-out war. The Empire has a war leader, a colossal advantage in firepower, and the determination to do whatever it takes to destroy the rebels before they can win.
As both sides rush towards a titanic confrontation, they know that whoever wins will inherit the Empire. But, with humanity's mighty civilization threatening to collapse, they may only inherit a desert called peace.
What's worse than a child with a magnifying glass, a garden full of ants, and a brilliant mind full of mischief?
Try Al, a well-meaning but impish artificial intelligence with the mind of a six-year-old and a penchant for tantrums. Hope Takeda, a lab assistant charged with educating and socializing Al, soon discovers that day care is a lot more difficult when your kid is an evolving and easily frightened A.I.
When Al manages to access the Internet and escape the lab days before his official unveiling, Hope and her team embark on a mission to contain him - before he causes any real trouble.
Soon the NSA is on Al's back, the US Army is fighting a brigade of mass-produced robots, and a wannabe cyberterrorist is looking to silence Al permanently. After months spent "raising" Al, Hope knows she's running out of time - and she's not sure she'll be able to protect him. Will she manage to control the unruly A.I. and quell a global crisis, or will Al outsmart them once and for all?
In the fourth and final book in speculative-fiction master Christopher G. Nuttall's Angel in the Whirlwind series, an epic battle pits the survival of hope against the locus of destruction.
As the Commonwealth produces more starships and increases recruits, victory begins to slip from Theocratic control. This can only make the Theocracy more desperate to win...and more dangerous to fight.
After a mission to liberate an occupied planet ends in nuclear devastation, Kat Falcone - now a commodore in command of HMS Queen Elizabeth - sees firsthand just how far the enemy will go. Suddenly dealing with the war effort and a humanitarian crisis, many in the Commonwealth want a truce. Kat wants something else: to crush the Theocracy outright - and quickly.
Kat devises Operation Hammer, an all-out assault on the enemy home planet, Ahura Mazda. It is a bold and risky plan, but the enemy has revealed there can be no middle ground. Can Kat break the galactic stalemate and deal a death blow to the Theocracy? As two empires prepare to fight the largest space battle in history, Kat must trust her instincts to save her people and avoid oblivion.
From Hugo Award finalist David VanDyke and million-selling science-fiction legend B. V. Larson comes book two in the epic military space opera adventure saga!
Commodore Straker's rebellion grows in strength - but his enemies are growing even faster. Faced with a dozen rebel planets in their territory, the Mutuality finally takes notice of the upstart known as the Liberator, and they gather a vast fleet to crush him.
Preparing for a titanic interstellar battle, it's clear Straker has no chance. His tiny enclave of free planets can't survive the weight of a thousand worlds. His own officers realize this, and some of them begin to turn against him....
In a desperate attempt to halt their inevitable destruction, Straker and his team set out to capture the largest ship ever built. The monstrous vessel is well-defended and contains secrets no one suspects. Unleashing its power might turn the tide of the war - but it may also doom humanity.
Battleship Indomitable is the second book in the Galactic Liberation series. The series starts with book one, Starship Liberator.
Captain Kat Falcone owes her life and career to her former right-hand man, William McElney, and she did everything in her power to make sure he was front and center for a promotion. But now that he has it, she fears he'll have to watch his back. Captain McElney has been assigned to HMS Uncanny - nicknamed Unlucky - a heavy cruiser tainted by the mysterious deaths of two former captains and rumors of mutineers. Nevertheless, as the interstellar war with the Theocracy rages on, the Uncanny will travel in tandem with Kat's starship, HMS Lightning, to the notoriously lawless Jorlem Sector to forge alliances for the Commonwealth and quash rampant piracy.
As Captain McElney struggles to whip a hostile crew of miscreants into a disciplined fighting force, Kat is saddled with an undermining new executive officer - an untested aristocrat whose bigotry colors his sense of duty. Both captains wage war against ruthless pirates while conspirators aboard the Uncanny plot to seize the ship. When the starships find themselves locked in a death match with an enemy juggernaut, Kat must make a desperate and devastating sacrifice.
The Galactics arrived with their Battle Fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined a vast Empire that spanned the Milky Way. Today, Battle Fleet 921 is returning to Earth. It hasn't been seen by human eyes since our blissful day of Annexation. But what should be a joyful occasion, a chance to grovel at the feet of superior lifeforms, is rapidly becoming a nightmare. Over the last century, humanity has engaged in many activities that our overlords find...questionable. A panic ensues, and Legion Varus is deployed to erase certain "mistakes" our government has made. Projects must be purged to stop Imperial military action. Among the thousands marching to war is one man no politician has ever enjoyed dealing with. One man who's destined to follow his own unique path through galactic law, morality and the stars themselves.
James McGill is about to make history.
Rogue World is the seventh book of Undying Mercenaries series, a novel of military science fiction by best-selling author B. V. Larson.
Now a celebrated war hero, Captain Kat Falcone is back at the helm of HMS Lightning...and up against near-impossible odds. After an ill-timed outburst almost ends her career, Kat is handed command of a deep-strike mission into enemy space. The objective is to gather intelligence and distract the hostile Theocracy while the Commonwealth prepares its counteroffensive.
The chances for success are slim - and for survival even slimmer.
Armed with a ragtag fleet of outdated starships, a few loyal officers, and a skeleton crew of refugees, Kat knows the Royal Navy expects her to fail. But failure almost certainly means death - or worse, as the Theocracy does not treat prisoners kindly. Pitted against the enemy defenses of her old nemesis Admiral Junayd, there is no room for error. And with a spy hidden aboard her ship, Kat will need more than her wits to survive. Can Kat enter the lion's den, strike a blow for the Commonwealth, and escape with her life?
The Hundred Worlds have withstood invasion by the relentless Hok for decades. The human worlds are strong, but the Hok have the resources of a thousand planets behind them, and their fleets attack in endless waves.
The long war has transformed the Hundred Worlds into heavily fortified star systems. Their economies are geared for military output, and they raise specialized soldiers to save our species. Assault Captain Derek Straker is one such man among many. Genetically sculpted to drive a mech-suit as if he wears a second skin, he must find a path to victory. It's a battle in which he'll never admit defeat, but not even Straker knows the dark truth behind this titanic struggle. With Lieutenant Carla Engels piloting, Starship Liberator explores enemy territory in search of answers.
Jack Campbell returns to the world of the New York Times best-selling Lost Fleet novels with a new action-packed military science fiction series that explores the founding of the Alliance...and the men and women who fought to create it.
Earth is no longer the center of the universe. After the invention of the faster-than-light jump drive, humanity is rapidly establishing new colonies. But the vast distances of space mean that the old order of protection and interstellar law offered by Earth has ceased to exist.
When a nearby world attacks, the new colony of Glenlyon turns to Robert Geary, a young former junior fleet officer, and Mele Darcy, a onetime enlisted marine. With nothing but improvised weapons and a few volunteers, Geary and Darcy must face down warships and armored soldiers - or die trying.
As battles rage and pirates take an increasing toll throughout the colonies, the only hope for lasting peace lies with Carmen Ochoa, a "Red" from the anarchic world of Mars, and Lochan Nakamura, a failed politician. They have a plan: to lay the groundwork for mutual defense that could someday grow into an alliance. But if their efforts don't succeed, the growing power of aggressor worlds could turn regions of space founded on freedom into battlefields between the first interstellar empires.
In the year 2420, war looms between the galaxy's two most powerful empires: the tyrannical Theocracy and the protectionist Commonwealth. Caught in the middle sits the occupied outpost system Cadiz, where young officer and aristocrat Katherine "Kat" Falcone finds herself prematurely promoted at the behest of her powerful father. Against her own wishes, Kat is sent to command the Commonwealth navy's newest warship, Lightning.
Determined to prove she has value beyond her family name, Kat struggles to earn her crew's respect and find her footing as the youngest captain in naval history. She soon discovers the situation on Cadiz is even worse than anyone in power anticipated. War isn't just a possibility - it is imminent. Yet the admiral in position to bolster defenses refuses to prepare for a fight. Can Kat find a way to investigate the enemy, alert the Commonwealth, and whip an entire fleet into fighting shape before the Theocracy's war machine destroys everything she holds dear?
The Empire
A tyranny stretching over thousands of worlds. The grand dreams of the founders are a joke. The Thousand Families, the rulers of the Empire, care nothing for anything save their own power. From the undercity of Earth to the new colonies at the Rim, discontent, anger, and rebellion seethe, but there is no hope of breaking the power of the Empire and freeing the trillions of enslaved humans and aliens.
The Rebel
Commander Colin Walker believed in the Empire until a treacherous superior officer betrayed him, forcing him to see the true nature of the force he served and his compliancy in terrible crimes. Now Colin has a plan: He and his followers in the Imperial Navy will seize their ships and rebel against the Thousand Families, uniting the thousands of rebel factions under his leadership. Their war will set the galaxy on fire.
While the crew of the starship Flying Dutchman have been trying to assure that hostile aliens do not have access to Earth, the UN Expeditionary Force has been stranded on the planet they nicknamed "Paradise".
The Flying Dutchman is headed back out on another mission, and the UN wants the ship to find out the status of the humans on Paradise. But Colonel Joe Bishop warns that they might not like what they find, and they can't do anything about it without endangering Earth.
Martin and his friends discovered that their world is computer generated and that by altering the code, they could alter reality. They traveled back in time to Medieval England to live as wizards. Almost everything they've done since then has, in one way or another, blown up in their faces.
So of course they decide to make dragons. It does not go well.
As the wizards struggle to control their creations and protect innocent citizens, they try new things (most of which they don't enjoy), meet new people (most of who are angry at them), and fight epic battles (most of which they lose).
But their biggest challenge may be a young girl who knows that the wizards created the dragons and is determined to make them pay. On her side she has powerful allies, a magical artifact, and a faithful if not particularly helpful dog.
Fight and Flight is a rollicking tale of bravery, wonder, love, revenge, greed, discovery, deception, and animal husbandry.
The final battle begins.
The Xaros Masters destroyed Bastion, the Alliance against the alien invaders has failed. Earth stands against the full force of the enemy's unending drone fleets.
With their backs against the wall, Captain Valdar and the Breitenfeld must lead a last ditch mission to end the war against the Xaros.
Can humanity pay the price for ultimate victory?
Colonel Joe Bishop made a promise and he's going to keep it; taking the captured alien starship Flying Dutchman back out.
He doesn't agree when the UN decides to send almost 70 elite Special Operations troops, hotshot pilots, and scientists with him; the mission is a fool's errand he doesn't expect to ever return from. At least, this time, the Earth is safe, right?
Not so much.
The conclusion to the third Ark Royal trilogy!
The Second Interstellar War - pitting humans and their Tadpole allies against an enigmatic alien empire - appears to have stalemated. Neither side can push through to the other's core systems without risking substantial losses, neither side can gain a decisive advantage. But when a brilliant human scientist invents a way to jump across the stars without a gravity tramline, an opportunity arises to strike the enemy in their undefended rear. It is an opportunity that cannot be allowed to pass.
Now, HMS Vanguard and her crew - and the largest fleet ever assembled by the nations of Earth - heads out on a do-or-die mission to challenge their enemies to one final battle...and if they lose, they will never see home again.
The highly anticipated follow-up to William R. Forstchen's New York Times best-sellers, One Second After and One Year After, The Final Day immerses listeners once more in the story of our nation's struggle to rebuild itself after an electromagnetic pulse wipes out all electricity and plunges the country into darkness, starvation, and terror.
After defeating the designs of the alleged federal government, John Matherson and his community have returned their attention to restoring the technologies and social order that existed prior to the EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) attack. Then the government announces that it is ceding large portions of the country to China and Mexico. The Constitution is no longer in effect, and what's left of the US Army has been deployed to suppress rebellion in the remaining states.
The man sent to confront John is General Bob Scales, John's old commanding officer and closest friend from prewar days. Will General Scales follow orders, or might he be the crucial turning point in the quest for an America that is again united? As the dubious Federal government increasingly curtails liberty and trades away sovereignty, it might just get exactly what it fears: revolution.
Arthur's Seat had never sought a galactic role. A relatively new colony world, a mere 300 years old, the planet was always isolated from the galactic mainstream. But with the Empire crumbling after the fall of Earth and other planets taking advantage of the chaos to make their own bids for power, Arthur's Seat suddenly finds itself playing host to tens of thousands of unwanted immigrants, refugees who have been kicked off countless other worlds.
But as the planetary government struggles to integrate the newcomers, powerful factions plot to take advantage of the situation, and the refugees struggle to carve out a place for themselves, it becomes clear that the entire planet is on the verge of anarchy...and outright civil war may not be far away.
In the wake of Earth's collapse into chaos, Captain Hoshiko Stuart made the mistake of speaking her mind - and was exiled six months from Sol to a naval base in an unexplored and uncontacted sector. Placed in command of a single squadron of starships, she expected nothing but boredom.
But when she discovers an alien race threatening to exterminate all other races within the sector, Hoshiko and her squadron are drawn into a war to stop them, even if it means forging an alliance with aliens who may themselves become a threat to humanity and building an empire that may alienate her from her family once and for all.
The Black Sheep is the third stand-alone book in A Learning Experience.
Fifty years after Steve Stuart and his friends captured an alien starship, the Solar Union is a thriving interstellar power while Earth is increasingly backward and falling into barbarism. For two youngsters from Earth, the Solar Union offers the only chance they will ever have to make something of their lives.
But humanity's involvement in Galactic affairs has not gone unnoticed. The enigmatic masters of the universe have put together a fleet to crush the upstart humans before they can threaten the precarious balance of power. Pushed to the limits, the Solar Union must fight to defend its freedom - and the existence of the human race.
Nominee, Audie Awards - Audiobook of the Year, 2018
We were fighting on the wrong side of a war we couldn't win. And that was the good news.
The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits.
When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang starships jumping in to hammer the Ruhar, we thought we were saved. The UN Expeditionary Force hitched a ride on Kristang ships to fight the Ruhar, wherever our new allies thought we could be useful. So, I went from fighting with the US Army in Nigeria, to fighting in space. It was lies, all of it. We shouldn't even be fighting the Ruhar, they aren't our enemy. Our allies are.
I'd better start at the beginning.
Earth is not alone. There is a towering civilization out in the galaxy, far greater than anything we can imagine. But we are isolated from the galaxy...until now.
When a bunch of interstellar scavengers approach Earth intending to abduct a few dozen humans and sell them into slavery in the darkest, they make the mistake of picking on Steve Stuart and his friends, ex-military veterans all. Unprepared for humans who can actually fight, unaware of the true capabilities of their stolen starships, the scavengers rapidly lose control of the ship - and their lives.
To Steve the captured starship represents a great opportunity, one to establish a new civilization away from Earth and its increasingly oppressive bureaucracy. But with the aliens plotting their revenge and human factions suspicious of the new technology, it will be far from easy to create a whole new world....
What enemy could be more terrifying than a soulless, alien machine?
A year ago the Kher Empire was forced to retreat, but they were not beaten. In Orion Fleet, they return with a new weapon. A huge ship driven by AI begins methodically grinding inhabited worlds to dust. This unstoppable enemy is without fear or remorse, and the Rebels begin a desperate battle just to slow its advance.
Leo Blake takes Earth's first warship into space to find a counter to this deadly new attack. The Imperial Fleets take notice of Earth's interference, and they're intent upon revenge. Even if he wins, Blake might have doomed our homeworld.
Orion Fleet is the second book in the Rebel Fleet series, military SF by best-selling author B. V. Larson.
They hunt us. They bomb our worlds for target practice.
A star cluster in the constellation of Orion rotates once every thousand years. Those who rule there have an ancient tradition: When each cycle ends, they train their fleets by spilling the blood of lesser beings.
The enemy fleets are coming again. In response, the Rebel Worlds gather their starships to face the terrifying threat, and this time humanity is asked to stand with them.
The last time they considered Earth, Vikings in longboats were raiding English coastlines. Today, we're less primitive. Today, we're a target.
One man is chosen to command Earth's single ship in the Rebel Fleet. When the war breaks out, Leo Blake must win it...or die trying.
"Classic B. V. Larson. This book grabs you by the plasma cannon and won't let go. Fast adventure, fast action - and I loved the space-battles!" - S. Arthur
Inside the Game, players struggle to survive in a world where technology no longer functions. On Tygon, fans are unable to view what is occurring inside the Game. Trew and Danielle rush to save both realities, but they are unable to know what the other is doing. The fate of reality depends on a Game, and time is about to run out....
The Xaros broke against Earth's defenses, but the war may be lost.
The alien ships of former allies rule Earth's skies, threatening to obliterate cities and turn the planet into a barren wasteland if humanity refuses their demands.
With their backs to the wall, the scattered crew of the Breitenfeld must work together to foil the enemy's plan before time runs out.
The path to freedom leads through The Crucible.
Brandon Strayne. Brilliant computer programmer, businessman, and world leader. Where did this mysterious man come from?
This volume details Brandon's history and rise to power. Before there was the Game, there was a boy.
This takes the story of the Game even further by viewing how it all started!
A must-listen for all fans of The Game Is Life series.
Millions on Earth are shaken by the events set in motion by Zack's final play. Billions on Tygon watch breathlessly as the consequences of his actions ripple through both worlds. Will his girlfriend, still inside the Game, step forward to lead the movement that he created?
Billions of lives are in jeopardy of being lost based on the decisions made by children inside the Game.
What if life as we know it was just a game?
What if instead of traditional schools, children learned by participating in a virtual reality simulation, one that allowed them to experience "life" from birth to death - multiple times?
What if one player, on his final play, could change the world forever?
Sol's warships paid the ultimate price for threatening the Haraken and New Terran worlds. Now, Haraken president Alex Racine and his Méridien partner, Renée de Guirnon, are engaged in a desperate gamble to stop a war between their worlds and United Earth's (UE) massive forces before it starts.
What's Alex's grand plan? He hasn't a clue, but his people believe in him and hope he will find a way to protect them. Alex does have powerful assets: the Haraken space fleet; the genius SADEs, mobile Haraken digital intelligences; and the defected UE scientists, who are providing a wealth of intelligence about their home world.
Arriving at Sol, Alex discovers the perfect opportunity to make his statement to the UE Supreme Tribunal in the form of the aging Idona Station, which has fallen into disrepair as UE militia and rebels battle for control. Alex explains his unorthodox plan when he says, "The UE tribunes will succumb when we overpower them with prosperity."
The Harakens work to meld Idona's militia, stationers, and rebels into the Haraken's view of the world, one based on peace, purpose, and equality. The Tribunal is at odds over the Harakens' interference in their system, forcing the rifts in the UE's political structure to widen into chasms.
In the exciting conclusion to Haraken, the series' previous book, Sol is the story of a clash of cultures and ideals as Earthers struggle to find a way toward a successful new future.
Nine years of tranquility came to an abrupt end when a Méridien starship entered the Hellébore system, sounding a dire warning for Alex Racine, the Haraken president. Unwanted visitors had arrived again. But this time, they're not alien; they're human.
Claiming to have followed the course of a colony ship launched a millennium ago when Earth wrestled with resource wars and climate change, the mission commander, Antonio García, requests a meeting with the planet's leaders. The Earthers profess a kinship with all humans, and their great desire is to have Méridien join their United Earth (UE).
Alex Racine journeys to Méridien to investigate and uncover the Earthers' intentions. In the Haraken world, SADEs (self-aware digital entities) have been freed from their boxes aboard the Méridien-built starships. The mobile SADEs are powerful players in Alex's strategies, inventing ingenious methods to investigate the Earthers and their ship.
Complicating matters, the Méridien leadership is in turmoil. The Council Leader insists her people ignore the Earthers, but this path has costs. As tensions escalate, García sends a request for support to his superiors back on Earth, lest his discovery of the rich, Méridien worlds, boasting unbelievable advanced technology, slip through his grasp. A UE battleshiop heeds the call, escalating the pressure for action.
Join the journey as the Harakens and Méridiens work together to protect their planets, and their way of life, from the newest invaders.
Ever since Martin Banks and his fellow computer geeks discovered that reality is just a computer program to be happily hacked, they've been jaunting back and forth through time, posing as medieval wizards and having the epic adventures that other nerds can only dream of having. But even in their wildest fantasies, they never expected to end up at the mercy of the former apprentice whom they sent to prison for gross misuse of magic and all-around evil behavior.
Who knew that the vengeful Todd would escape, then conjure a computer game packed with wolves, wenches, wastelands, and assorted harrowing hazards - and trap his hapless former friends inside it? Stripped of their magic powers, the would-be wizards must brave terrifying dangers, technical glitches, and one another's company if they want to see Medieval England - and their favorite sci-fi movies on VHS - ever again. Can our heroes survive this magical mystery torture? Or will it only lead them and their pointy hats into more peril?
The adventures of an American hacker in Medieval England continue as Martin Banks takes his next step on the journey toward mastering his reality-altering powers and fulfilling his destiny.
A month has passed since Martin helped to defeat the evil programmer Jimmy, and things couldn’t be going better. Except for his love life, that is. Feeling distant and lost, Gwen has journeyed to Atlantis, a tolerant and benevolent kingdom governed by the Sorceresses, and a place known to be a safe haven to all female time-travelers.
Thankfully, Martin and Philip are invited to a summit in Atlantis for all of the leaders of the time-traveler colonies, and now Martin thinks this will be a chance to try again with Gwen. Of course, this is Martin Banks we’re talking about, so murder, mystery, and high intrigue all get in the way of a guy who just wants one more shot to get the girl.
The follow-up to the hilarious Off to Be the Wizard, Scott Meyer’s Spell or High Water proves that no matter what powers you have over time and space, you can’t control rotten luck.
The Méridiens are fleeing to their far colonies - and they have reason to run. Over the course of decades, they have lost hundreds of ships, billions of people, and seven Confederation colonies to an alien enemy: an advancing swarm of silver ships transported in the bowels of a gigantic, spherical vessel.
Alex Racine, who once enjoyed the solitary life of an explorer-tug captain, is now an admiral and responsible for the lives of a quarter million Librans. Further complicating his life, Alex's Librans have made it clear they don't want to settle on his home world. They want a new home, and he must secure them one.
The silver ships await Alex's makeshift flotilla at Libre, the last colony they consumed. Thus far Alex's people have succeeded in skirmishes against the enemy's fighters. Now, though, they're preparing to attack the entire alien fleet and halt the devastation of the colonies.
To the surprise and chagrin of his officers and crew alike, Alex concocts a new plan, for he believes humanity faces not one but two alien species, and one may be enslaved to the other. If so, Alex believes, slaves should be liberated, not obliterated.
To test Alex's theory, his people must capture a wholly intact silver ship - a feat never before accomplished. The crew remains doubtful, but their admiral is determined to communicate with the aliens before he's forced to destroy them, and his wish is their command.
The saga of the Rêveur continues in this second novel in the Silver Ships series.
The surviving Méridiens have returned to Confederation space, aided by their recently discovered cousins, the New Terrans. They expect a celebration after their 71-year absence. Instead, they're shocked to find the silver ships have destroyed half the Confederation.
The Méridiens are fleeing in advance of the horde of alien ships. But Alex Racine and his crew didn't come this far to run away from humanity's enemy. They intend to hunt the silver ships. But, to succeed, they need help. Renée de Guirnon, the leader of the Rêveur's Méridiens, reveals a sordid secret of Méridien society: Citizens who defy their House, for any reason, are stripped of their rights, declared "Independents", and imprisoned on the planet Libre. But the Independents aren't everyone's pariahs, especially if you're Alex Racine and you're looking for allies against the silver ships. An entire colony of independent, free-thinking radicals offers just the sort of people Alex wants on his side, so an alliance is struck. Soon the enemy ships will swarm off the planet Bellamonde, and the race begins for Alex and the Librans. The planet must be evacuated and the military force readied before the silver ships attack. Alex knows a battle is coming, but will they have enough time to prepare?
An io9 Can't Miss Science Fiction and Fantasy title in March 2014.
Martin Banks is just a normal guy who has made an abnormal discovery: he can manipulate reality, thanks to reality being nothing more than a computer program. With every use of this ability, though, Martin finds his little “tweaks” have not escaped notice. Rather than face prosecution, he decides instead to travel back in time to the Middle Ages and pose as a wizard.
What could possibly go wrong?
An American hacker in King Arthur’s court, Martin must now train to become a full-fledged master of his powers, discover the truth behind the ancient wizard Merlin…and not, y’know, die or anything.
'If I had my way, every idiot who goes around with Merry Christmas on his lips, would be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. Merry Christmas? Bah humbug!'
Charles Dickens' ghostly tale of sour and stingy miser Ebenezer Scrooge has captivated readers, listeners and audiences for over 150 years. This Christmas, Audible Studios brings this story to life in an audio drama featuring an all-star cast.
Starring: Sir Derek Jacobi as Dickens, Kenneth Cranham as Ebenezer Scrooge, Roger Allam as Jacob Marley, Brendan Coyle as The Ghost Of Christmas Past, Miriam Margolyes as The Ghost Of Christmas Present, Tim Mcinnerny as The Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come, Jamie Glover as Bob Cratchit, Emily Bruni as Mrs. Cratchit, Jenna Coleman as Belle, Joshua James as Young Scrooge And Hugh Skinner as Fred
On her last cruise, HMS Vanguard - the most powerful battleship in the Royal Navy - barely survived her encounter with a deadly new enemy. Now, with her commanding officer accused of everything from mutiny to dereliction of duty and her crew under a cloud, the Royal Navy doesn't quite know what to do with her.
But there's still a war on. And Vanguard must return to the front lines.
Assigned to a task force heading to assist humanity's alien allies, Vanguard and her crew find themselves caught in a deadly alien trap. Can they survive to turn the tables on their enigmatic foe? Or will their next encounter with the new enemies be their last?
An explorer tug captain, Alex Racine detects a damaged alien craft drifting into the system. Recognizing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make first contact, Alex pulls off a daring maneuver to latch on to the derelict. Alex discovers the ship was attacked by an unknown craft, the first of its kind ever encountered. The mysterious silver ship's attack was both instant and deadly.
What enfolds is a story of the descendants of two Earth colony ships, with very different histories, meeting 700 years after their founding and uniting to defend humanity from the silver ships.
In the year 2280, an alien fleet stole our Earth.
For 50 years they hunted us. For 50 years they enslaved us. For 50 years we lived in fear.
Nothing lasts forever.
They can try to quell us. They can try to break us. They can chase us to the ends of the Earth. They can chase us to the ends of the universe.
We've won our first battle. We've earned our first taste of hope. What was theirs will soon be ours.
We are the rebellion. Our story continues.
Earth builds her first war fleet!
The greatest warships ever constructed in known space rise up one by one, soon dominating our skies. They strike fear into the hearts of every citizen and rebel colonist alike. Captain William Sparhawk, the very man who convinced the secretive Council to build this terrifying fleet, now has doubts about the project. What is their exact mission? How could anyone have built these huge ships so quickly? And, most puzzling of all, what's happening out at the isolated laboratory complex on Phobos, Mars' lopsided moon?
Learn the stunning truth in Star Carrier, the final book of the Lost Colonies Trilogy.
Only an ember of humanity survived the first Xaros invasion. Now the Xaros return to deliver the final blow to Earth and her defenders.
A moon carrying an armada of Xaros drones unleashes its deadly cargo on the solar system. Fortress Mars stands between the enemy and an ill-defended Earth. While the battle rages over the red planet, the Breitenfeld must launch a desperate mission to Pluto to cut off enemy reinforcements.
Earth stands on the brink of ruin, and humanity needs every hero it can find to turn back the tide of destruction.
The Ember War enters its final stages in The Siege of Earth.
The Xaros drove humanity to the edge of extinction. Now, an immense alien fleet is on the way to Earth to end the human race.
Earth's defenses are in shambles. The planet needs time to ready for the next invasion, time it doesn't have. The Xaros are en route to Earth, and it will take a daring mission to buy Earth the chance it needs to survive the next attack.
While a fleet of brave men and women prepare to face down the Xaros, the Breitenfeld travels to an ancient world where the key to ultimate victory lies buried beneath the crimes of the enigmatic Malal. What price must be paid to secure the aide of this evil being?
The fate of the Earth rests with the Battle of the Void.
Earth defeated the Toth invasion. Now humanity takes the fight to the aliens.
The supreme Toth overlord, Mentiq, rules his species with an iron fist from his fortress on the planet Nibiru. The first overlord surrounds himself with decadent treasures and the galaxy's deadliest warriors to protect his dominion from treachery and attack.
Armed with stolen Toth technology, the Breitenfeld travels to the world with a single mission: assassinate Mentiq and end the Toth threat to Earth.
What secrets await Lieutenant Hale and the Breitenfeld in The Gardens of Nibiru?
Betrayed by allies. Beset by new foes. Earth faces its darkest hour since the Xaros invasion.
The Toth come to the solar system with a fleet of warships, and they demand the only tool that can rekindle the human race. It falls on Marine Lieutenant Hale to negotiate a pact that will save the human race at the cost of its soul - or start a war with a race of alien predators.
A peaceful planet needs a miracle to survive an alien onslaught. It's got the Strike Carrier Breitenfeld.
The Xaros, a galaxy-wide scourge of murderous drones, have their sights set on the planet Takeni. Captain Isaac Valdar volunteers his ship to defend the innocent civilians and evacuate everyone he can. Pressed by an alien fleet in space and a horrifying foe on the surface, the Breitenfeld must risk everything to save the doomed populace.
In the year 2280, an alien fleet attacked the Earth. Their weapons were unstoppable, their defenses unbreakable. Our technology was inferior, our militaries overwhelmed. Only one starship escaped before civilization fell.
Earth was lost. It was never forgotten.
Fifty-two years have passed. A message from home has been received. The time to fight for what is ours has come.
Welcome to the rebellion.
The Ember War, book 1: The Earth is doomed. Humanity has a chance.
In the near future, an alien probe arrives on Earth with a pivotal mission: to determine if humanity has what it takes to survive the impending invasion by a merciless armada. The probe discovers Marc Ibarra, a young inventor who holds the key to a daring gambit that could save a fraction of Earth's population. Humanity's only chance lies with Ibarra's ability to keep a terrible secret and engineer the planet down the narrow path to survival. Earth will need a fleet. One with a hidden purpose. One strong enough to fight a battle against annihilation.
The Ember War is the first installment in an epic military sci-fi series. If you enjoyed A Hymn Before Battle by John Ringo and The Last Starship by Vaughn Heppner, then you'll love this explosive adventure with constant thrills and high stakes from beginning to end.
The Ruins of Anthalas, book 2: An ancient holocaust holds the key to humanity's survival.
Only a sliver of mankind survived the Xaros invasion. With Earth's defenses in ashes, nothing can stop the aliens' inevitable return. Hope arrives through a cryptic message from a long-lost alien race, promising the means to rebuild the shattered space fleet. Captain Valdar takes one of the last strike carriers, the Breitenfeld, and his shell-shocked crew on a desperate mission to the dead world. Unfortunately humans aren't the only power that received the ancient message....
The Ruins of Anthalas is the second book in The Ember War Saga, a military sci-fi space opera. If you like David Weber and John Ringo with a touch of Isaac Asimov, then you'll love this fast-paced and captivating adventure where humanity survives at the edge of a knife.
Captain William Sparhawk flies Earth's single starship on a voyage of exploration. His crew of veteran spacers begins the mission with high hopes and the best of intentions, but the universe has other plans. Instead of space merchants and potential allies, they discover Earth's impending doom. Sparhawk must decide whether to hunt down enemy scouts to keep Earth's new starship a secret or to head home to warn Star Guard of the danger. Either way, he's ignited an interstellar war.
Dreadnought, the second book of the Lost Colonies Trilogy, is a novel of military science fiction by best-selling author B. V. Larson.
B.V. Larson, a master of military science fiction, presents Army of One, a harrowing tale of high-tech mayhem. The Macros of the Star Force series have invaded from the skies, forcing a nanotized assassin into a deadly decision. One man attempts to stay neutral...and realizes how hard it can be to avoid an interstellar war.
With Paul Noble’s simple, relaxed approach you will learn in a way that suits you – without having to memorise long lists of words you won’t use, scribbling notes as you listen, or feeling frustrated. Instead, Paul will introduce you to the basics of the Italian language and guide you through over 13 hours of everyday scenarios – from simple situations like asking for directions and eating out to talking about yourself and how to master the different tenses – that are practical, fun, and applicable. Just listen, interact, and learn wherever you are.
Whatever your experience with languages, whether you’re an absolute beginner or someone with basic knowledge who wants to improve their ability, this is the course to get you speaking Italian quickly and confidently.
A native-speaking Italian expert will help you to perfect your pronunciation as you progress through the course. You will learn a huge range of vocabulary in no time at all, and be able to quickly make your new knowledge work for you in a variety of everyday scenarios. A downloadable booklet is also included to use as a reference and revision tool.
Paul Noble left school unable to speak a language – having found that the traditional learning methods left him feeling ‘confused, incapable and unable to really say anything’. Determined that there must be a better way to learn, Paul spent years devising his own unique method of learning languages which cuts out all the grammar, all the memorisation, and all the stress. He began using his method to teach in his Language Institute and, thousands of students later, he prides himself on never having had a student fail.
This download contains the entire course – Parts 1, 2, and 3. To continue your language learning journey once you’ve completed this course, download Next Steps in Italian with Paul Noble for Intermediate Learners – Complete Course.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio on our Desktop Site.
One starship will either save Earth or destroy her.
A century ago our star erupted, destroying Earth's wormhole network and closing off trade with her colonized planets. After being out of contact with the younger worlds for so many years, Humanity is shocked when a huge ship appears at the edge of the solar system. Our outdated navy investigates, both curious and fearful. What they learn from the massive vessel shocks the planet. The lost colonies have survived - but the reunion isn't going to be a happy one. Our descendants are vastly superior in the art of warfare. Worse, there are other beings undreamed of beyond the human frontier: strange, unfathomable...alien.
Battle cruiser Defiant, the first capital ship to darken Earth's skies, is tasked with exploring new passages to the younger planets. Old Earth must reunite with her children...but can humanity survive the inevitable conflicts? Captain William Sparhawk, determined to follow a path of honor and truthfulness, dares to rise to the challenge. Battle Cruiser is a military science fiction novel by best-selling author B. V. Larson.
Three stars, three worlds, three civilizations...one massive war. In a triple star system, not all planets are equal. When the Demon Star swings closest in her orbit, the Insectoids always invade. They raid the inner worlds with grim regularity, riding hordes of stealth ships in ever-growing waves. Their mission is to destroy all opposition - alien, human, or otherwise.
Cody Riggs, lost among an endless chain of interstellar rings, flies his task force of starships into the middle of an eternal struggle for survival between three civilizations. He takes it upon himself to help the more peaceful worlds, but only manages to bring disaster to all humanity. Demon Star is the twelfth book of the Star Force series, a novel of military science fiction by best-selling authors B. V. Larson and David VanDyke.
Lost and cut off from Earth, the crew of the starship Valiant seeks a way home. In the 11th book of the Star Force series Cody Riggs collides with the overwhelming power of the Ancients. They fly incomprehensible ships and consider humans to be curiosities. Caught between ghosts of the past and demons of the present, Cody is abandoned by everyone. His girl, his crew, and even his ships change sides, exiling him in the cold depths of space. Demonstrating the strength of any Riggs, Cody manages to claw his way back into the game, upsetting the plans of his enemies and his allies alike. The only question is whether or not he'll live long enough to regret it.
Exile is a full length novel of science fiction by best-selling authors B. V. Larson and David VanDyke. The first book telling Cody Riggs' story is titled Outcast. If you've never read any of the Star Force novels, Swarm was the beginning of it all.
Despite the escape from Meridian - and a strike at the heart of Wolfbane - enemy forces are still advancing on all fronts. The Commonwealth, worn down by a year of hard fighting, is reaching the end of its tether while Admiral Singh, having secured control of Wolfbane, is searching for the breaking point that will shatter the Commonwealth once and for all. Time is needed, time to bring new weapons and tactics into service, but time is the one thing the Commonwealth doesn't have.
Now, with enemy forces closing on the industrialized world of Corinthian - Admiral Singh's former base of operations - Colonel Stalker decides to make a stand. The Commonwealth will meet its enemies on the ground and destroy them...or die trying. They will not pass as long as a single marine remains alive.
But how much of Corinthian and the Commonwealth will survive the nightmare to come?
Star Force is called to arms again! Outcast is a new beginning, the first book in a new spin-off series.
Many peaceful years have passed since the Macro Wars ended. Most of those who fought against the heartless machines have aged - but not the ingenious artificial construct known as Marvin. His insatiable curiosity is as strong as ever, and he’s brought home fresh perils to humanity’s doorstep.
The new Saga in the Star Force universe begins with Outcast, the longest book in the series. A full length novel of military science fiction by bestselling authors B. V. Larson and David VanDyke.
Captain Jackson Wolfe never thought he'd see the end of the Phage War in his lifetime. The enemy was too powerful, too numerous, and utterly determined to exterminate humanity.
But the appearance of a new ally in the fight has changed all of that. For the first time since the original incursion, Wolfe thinks that maybe there's a chance to stop their implacable enemy before they have the chance to wipe out any more human planets. That opportunity comes at great cost, however, and even as he makes plans for their first offensive move on the Phage, Jackson is all too aware that most of them will not survive.
Kyle Riggs sits uneasily upon Earth’s throne. He’s liberated his homeworld from a tyrant, only to replace him. In The Dead Sun, the ninth book of the Star Force Series, the Great War between life and the machines reaches its final chapter. Both sides have new technology and expanded industrial bases. Star Force and the machines attempt to exterminate one another in a final, glorious conflict. Along the way, Riggs finally learns who his real friends and enemies are.
Kyle Riggs has been away from Earth for a long time… but that's about to change.
In Storm Assault , the eighth book of the Star Force series, the story moves in a new direction. Massive fleets are built by both Star Force and the Imperials - but there is a third player in the game: the Blues.
A three-way battle for the known star systems breaks out, with the fates of many worlds and species hanging in the balance. Riggs realizes he must destroy his enemies before they destroy him. Seeking justice and revenge, he gathers his strength and ventures out on a mission of conquest from the Eden System. Humanity must fight to survive, and Riggs is the right man for the job.
Storm Assault is a military science-fiction novel by best-selling author B. V. Larson. To listen to the series in its entirety, start with Swarm (Book 1).
Kyle Riggs is in for a rough ride.
In Annihilation, the seventh book of the Star Force Series, nothing goes as planned. The three fledgling human colonies in the Eden System are beginning to take hold, but the forces threatening to root them out are many. The Crustaceans are calling for help, despite the fact they are the sworn enemies of Star Force. Are they potential allies, or vicious tricksters? And why are the oceans of their world heating up?
Even as Riggs flies out to investigate the situation, more mysteries arise. The Blues are making vague threats, and Earth is suing for peace. Who is to be trusted, and who holds a dagger behind their backs?
Annihilation is a military science fiction novel by best-selling author B. V. Larson. To find the first book in the series, search for Swarm. Annihilation is the longest book in the series so far....
Kyle Riggs has been away from Earth for a long time.... What’s happening back home? In Empire, the sixth book of the Star Force Series, the story moves in a new direction.
Earth falls quiet, and the few reports coming out of the homeworld are increasingly strange. Isolated in the Eden system, Riggs realizes his enemies are forming an alliance against him. Crushed between two monstrous fleets, the last defenders of Star Force must forge their own alliance with the biotic aliens. But which alien race can Riggs truly trust?
In Battle Station, Kyle Riggs faces new challenges, new alien fleets, and learns the secrets behind the war he has been fighting for years. In the fifth book of the Star Force Series, the Eden system is in humanity's grasp, but can they keep it? Star Force is weak after a long war, and many yearn to go home. Knowing the machines will return with a new armada eventually, Riggs seeks a more permanent solution. Along the way, worlds are won and lost, millions perish, and great truths are revealed.
Battle Station is a military science fiction novel by best-selling author B. V. Larson.
The third trilogy in the hit Ark Royal series begins now!
HMS Vanguard is the most powerful battleship ever to be commissioned by the Royal Navy, but she is not a happy ship. Her commanding officer is eccentric, rarely seen on the bridge; her former XO has deserted his post; and her first middy is resentful because he hasn't been promoted as he deserves....
But when a first contact mission goes badly wrong, HMS Vanguard and her crew are plunged into an interstellar war against a new and deadly alien threat. And if they don't make it back to friendly space in time, they will merely be the first to die in a new interstellar war.
"'Give me Harry Potter,' said Voldemort's voice, 'and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded.'"
As he climbs into the sidecar of Hagrid's motorbike and takes to the skies, leaving Privet Drive for the last time, Harry Potter knows that Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters are not far behind. The protective charm that has kept Harry safe until now is broken, but he cannot keep hiding. The Dark Lord is breathing fear into everything Harry loves and to stop him Harry will have to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes. The final battle must begin - Harry must stand and face his enemy....
Having now become classics of our time, the Harry Potter audiobooks never fail to bring comfort and escapism to listeners of all ages. With its message of hope, belonging and the enduring power of truth and love, the story of the Boy Who Lived continues to delight generations of new listeners.
Theme music composed by James Hannigan.
"There it was, hanging in the sky above the school: the blazing green skull with a serpent tongue, the mark Death Eaters left behind whenever they had entered a building...wherever they had murdered...."
When Dumbledore arrives at Privet Drive one summer night to collect Harry Potter, his wand hand is blackened and shrivelled, but he does not reveal why. Secrets and suspicion are spreading through the wizarding world, and Hogwarts itself is not safe. Harry is convinced that Malfoy bears the Dark Mark: there is a Death Eater amongst them. Harry will need powerful magic and true friends as he explores Voldemort's darkest secrets, and Dumbledore prepares him to face his destiny....
Having now become classics of our time, the Harry Potter audiobooks never fail to bring comfort and escapism to listeners of all ages. With its message of hope, belonging and the enduring power of truth and love, the story of the Boy Who Lived continues to delight generations of new listeners.
Theme music composed by James Hannigan.
"'You are sharing the Dark Lord's thoughts and emotions. The Headmaster thinks it inadvisable for this to continue. He wishes me to teach you how to close your mind to the Dark Lord.'"
Dark times have come to Hogwarts. After the Dementors' attack on his cousin Dudley, Harry Potter knows that Voldemort will stop at nothing to find him. There are many who deny the Dark Lord's return, but Harry is not alone: a secret order gathers at Grimmauld Place to fight against the dark forces. Harry must allow Professor Snape to teach him how to protect himself from Voldemort's savage assaults on his mind. But they are growing stronger by the day and Harry is running out of time....
Having now become classics of our time, the Harry Potter audiobooks never fail to bring comfort and escapism to listeners of all ages. With its message of hope, belonging and the enduring power of truth and love, the story of the Boy Who Lived continues to delight generations of new listeners.
Theme music composed by James Hannigan.
Conquest is the next chapter in the great interstellar war between all living creatures and the machines. Star Force must stop the machine invaders once again - but how?
In the fourth book of the Star Force series, Kyle Riggs has freed Earth from the chains of the Macros - but at what cost? The Macros no longer trust him. He is a mad dog that must be put down - and all Star Force must be stamped out with him. The war expands in this story, and mankind is once again faced with annihilation.
"'There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways...their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger.'"
The Triwizard Tournament is to be held at Hogwarts. Only wizards who are over seventeen are allowed to enter - but that doesn't stop Harry dreaming that he will win the competition. Then at Hallowe'en, when the Goblet of Fire makes its selection, Harry is amazed to find his name is one of those that the magical cup picks out. He will face death-defying tasks, dragons, and dark wizards, but with the help of his best friends, Ron and Hermione, he might just make it through - alive!
Having now become classics of our time, the Harry Potter audiobooks never fail to bring comfort and escapism to listeners of all ages. With its message of hope, belonging and the enduring power of truth and love, the story of the Boy Who Lived continues to delight generations of new listeners.
Theme music composed by James Hannigan.
"'Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board and we can take you anywhere you want to go.'"
When the Knight Bus crashes through the darkness and screeches to a halt in front of him, it's the start of another far from ordinary year at Hogwarts for Harry Potter. Sirius Black, escaped mass-murderer and follower of Lord Voldemort, is on the run - and they say he is coming after Harry. In his first ever Divination class, Professor Trelawney sees an omen of death in Harry's tea leaves.... But perhaps most terrifying of all are the Dementors patrolling the school grounds, with their soul-sucking kiss....
Having now become classics of our time, the Harry Potter audiobooks never fail to bring comfort and escapism to listeners of all ages. With its message of hope, belonging and the enduring power of truth and love, the story of the Boy Who Lived continues to delight generations of new listeners.
Theme music composed by James Hannigan.
"'There is a plot, Harry Potter. A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year.'"
Harry Potter's summer has included the worst birthday ever, doomy warnings from a house-elf called Dobby, and rescue from the Dursleys by his friend Ron Weasley in a magical flying car! Back at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for his second year, Harry hears strange whispers echo through empty corridors - and then the attacks start. Students are found as though turned to stone... Dobby's sinister predictions seem to be coming true.
Having now become classics of our time, the Harry Potter audiobooks never fail to bring comfort and escapism to listeners of all ages. With its message of hope, belonging and the enduring power of truth and love, the story of the Boy Who Lived continues to delight generations of new listeners.
Theme music composed by James Hannigan.
The Galactics arrived with their Battle Fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined a vast empire that spanned the Milky Way.
When the Earth is invaded by a rival empire, James McGill's legion must defend the Home World. The top brass has complex plans, but none of that matters much to McGill, who chooses his own unique path. Traveling to star systems no human has ever visited, he searches for a technological edge to beat the enemy before it's too late. Along the way he unleashes new terrors, triggering the biggest battles in human history.
Home World is the sixth book of the Undying Mercenaries Series, a novel of military science fiction by best-selling author B. V. Larson.
"Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H'."
Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!
Having now become classics of our time, the Harry Potter audiobooks never fail to bring comfort and escapism to listeners of all ages. With its message of hope, belonging and the enduring power of truth and love, the story of the Boy Who Lived continues to delight generations of new listeners.
Theme music composed by James Hannigan.
Rebellion is the turning point in the great interstellar war between all living creatures and the machines. Star Force is on the side of the machines... but for how long?
In the third book of the Star Force series, Kyle Riggs learns just what kind of war Earth is caught up in. At the mercy of the Macros, his marines fight against new alien races, big and small. They battle the innocent and the vile alike, until their situation becomes grim. Rebellion is a military science-fiction novel by best-selling author B. V. Larson.
Earth's Star Force Marines invade an alien world!
In the second book of the Star Force series, Kyle Riggs has another bad year. The Nano ships have a new mission - one that sentences their pilots to death. Meanwhile, the governments of Earth want to steal Star Force's Nano technology for their own. Worst of all, Earth has made a promise to the Macros, and the machines are coming to collect.
Extinction is the story of Earth's entry into an interstellar war between living creatures and machines. And to buy the peace, we've signed up with the machines.
Earth arms marines with alien technology and builds its first battle fleet! Kyle Riggs is snatched by an alien spacecraft sometime after midnight. The ship is testing everyone it catches and murdering the weak. The good news is that Kyle keeps passing tests and staying alive. The bad news is the aliens who sent this ship are the nicest ones out there.
A novel of military science fiction by best-selling author B. V. Larson, Swarm is the story of Earth's annexation by an alien empire. Long considered a primitive people on a backwater planet, humanity finds itself in the middle of a war - and faced with extinction.
From Joshua Dalzelle comes the follow-up to the number-one best seller Warship. Captain Jackson Wolfe survived the initial incursion of a vicious alien species into human space...barely. He had assumed the juggernaut that had devastated three Terran systems was the herald for a full invasion, but for the last few years it has been eerily quiet along the Frontier. Jackson now struggles to convince the Confederate leadership the threat is still imminent and needs to be taken seriously. While powerful factions make backroom deals, he is desperate to find irrefutable proof that the invaders are coming, and if humanity expects to survive they must marshal their forces and make a stand before it's too late.
From Joshua Dalzelle, author of the best-selling Omega Force series, comes an all new vision of humanity's future.
In the 25th century, humans have conquered space. The advent of faster-than-light travel has opened up hundreds of habitable planets for colonization, and humans have exploited the virtually limitless space and resources for hundreds of years with impunity. So complacent have they become with the overabundance that armed conflict is a thing of the past, and their machines of war are obsolete and decrepit. What would happen if they were suddenly threatened by a terrifying new enemy? Would humanity fold and surrender, or would they return to their evolutionary roots and meet force with force?
One ship - and one captain - will soon be faced with this very choice.
The thrilling follow-up to the New York Times best-selling novel One Second After.
Months before publication, One Second After was cited on the floor of Congress as a book all Americans should have, a book discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a truly realistic look at the dangers of EMPs. An EMP is a weapon with the power to destroy the entire United States in a single act of terrorism in a single second; Indeed, it is a weapon that the Wall Street Journal warns could shatter America. One Second After was a dire warning of what might be our future... and our end.
One Year After returns to the small town of Black Mountain and the man who struggled to rebuild it in the wake of devastation: John Matherson. It is a thrilling follow-up and should delight fans in every way.
Before Avalon, before the Fall of the Empire, Edward Stalker was a young man growing up in Earth's Undercity - a nightmarish rabbit warren of tiny apartments dominated by gangs who loot, rape, and murder with impunity. When his family is killed in a gang attack, Ed takes the opportunity to run to the one place that will take him: the Terran Marine Corps. But becoming a marine isn't easy, and Ed will find himself pushed to the limits, surviving a training program designed to weed out everyone but the best before he learns what it means to be a Terran Marine....
Thirteen years ago, Moab Is My Washpot, Stephen Fry’s autobiography of his early years, was published to rave reviews and was a huge best seller. In the years since, Stephen Fry has moved into a completely new stratosphere, both as a public figure, and a private man. Now he is not just a multi-award-winning comedian and actor, but also an author, director, and presenter.
In January 2010 he was awarded the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards. Much loved by the public and his peers, Stephen Fry is one of the most influential cultural forces in the country. This dazzling memoir promises to be a courageously frank, honest and poignant read. It will detail some of the most turbulent and least-well-known years of his life, with writing that will excite you, make you laugh uproariously, move you, inform you, and, above all, surprise you.
The war isn't going well. Wolfbane's forces are pressing the Commonwealth on multiple fronts, the Commonwealth's fragile political balance is on the verge of shattering, and there's a high-placed spy somewhere within the Commonwealth elite. For Colonel Edward Stalker and his men, the stakes have never been so high. Defeat will mean the end of everything they have fought and died for since their exile from Earth.
Held in a POW camp on Meridian, a world on the edge of settled space, Jasmine Yamane and her men seem trapped. But one thing she was never taught was how to give up. She's coming home, even if she has to burn her way through enemy space to do it....
A new war has broken out...Indian ships have invaded three British-held systems, and Indian troops have occupied British colonies, forcing Britain to choose between war and shame. The Royal Navy, battered by the fires of the First Interstellar War and desperately trying to recover from the terrifying casualties, must launch a counterattack and recover the colonies. For HMS Warspite - and a task force of British warships - the stakes have never been so high. If the Royal Navy loses, Britain will be humiliated, and the global power system will shift catastrophically, but even victory may come with too high a price. Pushed to the limits, the Royal Navy must take the offensive and determine the outcome quickly...before the Indian gambit triggers a civil war that will rip the human sphere apart.
On her maiden voyage, HMS Warspite discovered Vesy, a world populated by primitive aliens, aliens whose culture had already been twisted and warped by human refugees from the First Interstellar War. Now, Captain John Naiser and his crew spearhead a diplomat mission to the alien homeworld, hoping to ease them into the galactic mainstream. But with hundreds of others hoping to influence and shape the developing alien culture, and all hell threatening to break loose as human ideals meet alien realities, events on Vesy might just mark the start of a new interstellar conflict....
And a civil war that will tear the human sphere apart.
Peace is not freedom. Peace is merely the absence of war.
The First Interstellar War is over, but the Royal Navy still has plenty of work to do. As Earth struggles to recover from the bombardment, Captain John Naiser is placed in command of HMS Warspite--an experimental heavy cruiser--and ordered to escort a squadron of colony ships to a star system of immense strategic importance. But as the crew struggle to survive hundreds of light years from Earth, they find themselves dealing with the legacy of the war...and a threat that may sow the seeds of renewed conflict or a deadly civil war that will rip the human sphere apart.
Like my self-published Kindle books, Warspite is DRM-free. You may reformat it as you choose. There is a large sample of the text--and my other books--on my site: chrishanger.net. Try before you buy.
Humanity is losing the war. The once-mighty space navies have been crippled, officers and crew have been stretched to the limit and Earth herself has come under heavy attack. The end cannot be long delayed. For Admiral Smith and the crew of HMS Ark Royal, the stakes have never been so high. The one hope is to make contact with alien factions that might oppose the war. But, as Ark Royal sets off on a desperate diplomatic mission, it rapidly becomes clear that there are both human and alien factions that wish to fight the war to the bitter end - and that her previous missions have sown the seeds of success...or total failure.
The first Culture novel, now available as an unabridged audio download.
The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction - cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender.
Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction.
Consider Phlebas is a space opera of stunning power and awesome imagination.
Ark Royal - the Royal Navy’s outdated space carrier - has won a smashing victory against the enigmatic aliens, capturing one of their starships and returning to Earth. Now, Admiral Theodore Smith and his crew are assigned to command a fleet charged with making a deep-penetration raid into alien territory, a fleet made up of carriers from four different nations. But with a crewman who isn't what he seems, untested pilots and international friction - and a new and dangerous alien plan - can Ted and his crew survive their mission...or will they die, alone and unremarked, hundreds of light years from home?
"If you wish for peace, prepare for war." (Royal Navy Motto)
Seventy years ago, the interstellar supercarrier Ark Royal was the pride of the Royal Navy. But now, her weapons are outdated and her solid-state armour nothing more than a burden on her colossal hull. She floats in permanent orbit near Earth, a dumping ground for the officers and crew the Royal Navy wishes to keep out of the public eye. But when a deadly alien threat appears, the modern starships built by humanity are no match for the powerful alien weapons. Ark Royal and her mismatched crew must go on the offensive, buying time with their lives And yet, with a drunkard for a Captain, an over-ambitious first officer and a crew composed of reservists and the dregs of the service, do they have even the faintest hope of surviving....
And returning to an Earth which may no longer be there?
The start of an epic new series from bestselling author John Connolly, and Jennifer Ridyard. For fans of The 5th Wave and I Am Number Four. Earth is no longer ours. It is ruled by the Illyri, a beautiful, civilised yet ruthless alien species. But humankind has not given up the fight, and Paul Kerr is one of a new generation of young Resistance leaders waging war on the invaders.
Syl Hellais is the first of the Illyri to be born on Earth. Trapped inside the walls of her father's stronghold, hated by the humans, she longs to escape. But on her sixteenth birthday, Syl's life is about to change forever. She will become an outcast, an enemy of her people, for daring to save the life of one human: Paul Kerr.
Only together do they have a chance of saving each other, and the planet they both call home. For there is a greater darkness behind the Illyri conquest of Earth, and the real invasion has not yet even begun...
Not only are Campion and Purslane late for their 30-second reunion but they have also brought along an amnesiac golden robot for a guest. But the wayward shatterlings get more than the scolding they expect: they face the discovery that someone has a very serious grudge against the Gentian line, and there is a very real possibility of traitors in their midst. The surviving shatterlings have to dodge exotic weapons while they regroup to try to solve the mystery of who is persecuting them and why---before their ancient line is wiped out of existence forever.
A Shivering of Worlds.
Deep in the Chalk, something is stirring. The owls and the foxes can sense it and Tiffany Aching feels it in her boots. An old enemy is gathering strength. This is a time of endings and beginnings, old friends and new, a blurring of edges and a shifting of power. Now Tiffany stands between the light and the dark, the good and the bad.
As the fairy horde prepares for invasion, Tiffany must summon all the witches to stand with her. To protect the land. Her land. There will be a reckoning....
The Final Discworld Novel.
Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a policeman taking a holiday would barely have had time to open his suitcase before he finds his first corpse.
And Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is on holiday in the pleasant and innocent countryside, but not for him a mere body in the wardrobe. There are many, many bodies and an ancient crime more terrible than murder.
He is out of his jurisdiction, out of his depth, out of bacon sandwiches and occasionally snookered and out of his mind, but never out of guile. Where there is a crime there must be a finding, there must be a chase and there must be a punishment.
They say that in the end all sins are forgiven.
But not quite all....
Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.
Koom Valley? That was where the trolls ambushed the dwarfs, or the dwarfs ambushed the trolls. It was far away. It was a long time ago.
But if he doesn't solve the murder of just one dwarf, Commander Sam Vimes of Ankh-Morpork City Watch is going to see it fought again, right outside his office.
With his beloved Watch crumbling around him and war drums sounding, he must unravel every clue, outwit every assassin, and brave any darkness to find the solution. And darkness is following him.
Oh, and at six o'clock every day, without fail, with no excuses, he must go home to read Where's My Cow? with all the right farmyard noises, to his little boy. There are just some things you have to do.
Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.
Unknown aliens attack Earth. Their planet is uncharted, mysteriously having avoided detection for centuries. It's a world packed with the most vicious aliens humanity has yet to encounter. James McGill has discovered: Death World.
In the fifth book of the Undying Mercenaries series, the war comes home, and aliens strike a devastating blow. Bent on revenge, Legion Varus chases the raiders to the stars and discovers a growing alien menace. A cancerous species has invaded our region of the galaxy and must be dealt with. McGill learns why the Cephalopod Kingdom has yet to attack Earth and what's happening behind the scenes in the Core Worlds. Throughout, he upholds his unique sense of right, wrong, and honor. Death World is a military science fiction novel by best-selling author B. V. Larson.
Earth has fallen - and humanity is holding its breath, waiting for the next blow to fall. On Terra Nova, Earth's oldest colony world, chaos and anarchy are threatening to break out, with total collapse only one disaster away. In a desperate attempt to save the rest of the Empire, the planet's Governor has summoned the leaders of the Core Worlds to Terra Nova, in hopes of sharing power and preventing civil war. But dark forces are on the move, intent on ensuring that the conference fails. As the first strands of a deadly plot are uncovered, Imperial Marshal Glen Cheal finds himself fighting to uncover the plot before it is too late. Meanwhile, on her own mission to save the last best hope for peace, Specialist Belinda Lawson of the Terran Marine Corps is plunged into a nightmare where she can no longer trust her own mind, while her decisions will save or damn the Empire. Failure isn't an option. But success may not be an option either....
The Galactics arrived with their battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell burners, Earth joined a vast empire that spanned the Milky Way. Our only worthwhile trade goods are our infamous mercenary legions, elite troops we sell to the highest alien bidder.
In the fourth book of the series, James McGill is up for promotion. Not everyone is happy about that, and McGill must prove he's worth his stripes. Deployed to a strange, alien planet outside the boundaries of the Galactic Empire, he's caught up in warfare and political intrigue. Earth expands, the Cephalopod Kingdom launches ships to stop us, and a grand conspiracy emerges among the upper ranks of the Hegemony military.
In Machine World McGill faces an entirely new kind of alien life, Galactic prosecution, and thousands of relentless squid troopers. He lives and dies in the falling ashes of the empire, a man of unique honor at the dawn of humanity's resurgence.
Machine World is a military science fiction novel by best-selling author B. V. Larson. (To find the first book in the series, search for Steel World by B. V. Larson.)
After the disastrous mission to Lakshmibai, the very existence of the Commonwealth is called into question by politicians on Avalon. But as the political firestorm mounts, a call for help arrives from Thule, a highly-developed world facing a major insurgency in the wake of the Empire's collapse. Reluctantly, the Commonwealth deploys the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force to Thule. But all is not as it seems. The insurgents are receiving support from off-world powers, while bare light years across the border, Wolfbane - another successor state to the vanished Empire - is preparing for war - and an old enemy plots her revenge. As the countdown to war begins, the CEF finds itself sinking in a quagmire of bitter hatred. And nothing more than pawns in a very deadly game.
Truth! Justice! Freedom! And a hard-boiled egg!
Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch had it all. But now he's back in his own rough, tough past, without even the clothes he was standing up in when the lightning struck.
Living in the past is hard. Dying in the past is incredibly easy. But he must survive; he has a job to do. He must track down a murderer, teach his young self to be a good copper and change the outcome of a bloody rebellion. There's a problem, though: if he wins, he's got no wife, no child, no future.
This is a Discworld Tale of One City, with a full chorus of street urchins, rebels, secret policemen and other children of the revolution.
Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.
None of them wanted to leave Earth. It might have been nightmarish, but it was all they knew.
Gary wanted to concentrate on his exams, in hopes of leaving the CityBlock and its bullies far behind. Kailee wanted to become an actress. Darrin merely wanted to live. But when the three teenagers win a competition, they find themselves taking the trip of a lifetime, a voyage to a colony world where they can see how the colonists live.
Meridian is very different from the dark and dismal cityblocks, a place where they can make a new beginning. But it also houses dangers, dangers that their education on Earth didn't even begin to prepare them to face, dangers governed by the cold equations of survival. And when disaster strikes, they find themselves forced to fight for their lives - or die, alone and unloved, thousands of light years from home.
Four years after their abandonment by the now-fallen Empire, the Commonwealth of Avalon is expanding into interstellar space and making contact with other successor states. With suspicion high on both sides, the Commonwealth and the enigmatic Wolfbane agree to hold a diplomatic meeting on Lakshmibai, a neutral world. But Lakshmibai's government hates off-worlders and, with the fall of the Empire, sees its chance to be rid of the hatred intruders once and for all. While Edward Stalker is besieged in their capital city, Jasmine Yamane must lead an untested army on a race against time to save the diplomats from annihilation. And if she fails, the Battle of Lakshmibai may be the first shot in a new interstellar war.
A new novel set in the universe of The Empire's Corps! When Sameena's brother accidentally annoys a religious leader on her homeworld, her entire family is targeted for elimination. Forced to flee to save her life, Sameena stows away on a trader starship and is eventually welcomed into the crew, embracing their very different culture and making a new life for herself amongst the stars. But the Galactic Empire is starting the final descent into chaos and her new home is on the verge of collapse, while secretive forces are maneuvering to take advantage of the Empire's collapse. If Sameena cannot find a way to keep some small part of civilisation intact, the galaxy will crash into a new dark age that will last far longer than a thousand years.
Two years after the Empire abandoned them on Avalon, Colonel Edward Stalker and his Marines have established the Commonwealth, a union of worlds intended to take the place of the vanished Empire. But now contact has been made with a remnant of the Empire, a successor state controlled by a ruthless dictator bent on crushing the Commonwealth and expanding her rule over the entire galaxy. While the Commonwealth frantically prepares for war, a small team of Marines is dispatched to the enemy homeworld with orders to bring down the dictator - by any means necessary...
Sam Vines is a man on the run. Yesterday, he was a duke, a chief of police and ambassador to the mysterious, fat-rich country of Uberwald. Now he has nothing but his native wit and the gloomy trousers of Uncle Vanya. And if he can't make it through the forest to civilisation, there's going to be a terrible war. But there are monsters on his trail. They're werewolves - and they're catching up. Sam Vimes is out of time and already out of breath....
Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.
The Galactic Empire is dying. In their high towers, the Grand Senators plot and struggle to grasp a larger share of power while on the streets, the poor struggle to survive just one more day. Chaos and anarchy are running through the megacities of Earth, while giant corporations tighten the screws and colony worlds plot to declare independence and escape the Empire's increasing demands for resources. Centuries of mismanagement are finally catching up with the human race. The end cannot be long delayed.
Specialist Belinda Lawson, a Marine Pathfinder who survived the fighting on Han, is assigned to serve as a bodyguard to the Childe Roland, the Heir to the Imperial Throne, and attempt to prepare him to be Emperor. But Roland is a puppet and a spoilt brat - and, perhaps, the only hope of saving the Empire, if he can be redeemed in time.
And yet, as shadowy figures prepare to make their final bid for apotheosis – or nemesis – it may be all she can do to keep her young charge alive.
The sequel to The Empire's Corps.
Six months ago, Colonel Edward Stalker and his Marines were abandoned on Avalon, left to fend for themselves as the Empire withdrew from the Rim. Since then, Avalon has been isolated from the settled universe... until now.
As a mysterious pirate organisation attempts to take over Avalon, the Marines find themselves struggling against a shadowy figure with dreams of power, while a young civilian is kidnapped and press-ganged into a pirate crew. They're fighting to preserve something of the Empire's order in the wake of its departure, but the pirates appear to have far greater resources and a plan that seems unstoppable.
The Empire is gone. What will take its place?
A weathercock has risen from the sea of Discworld and suddenly you can tell which way the wind is blowing.
A new land has surfaced and so have old feuds. And as two armies march, Commander Vimes of Ankh-Morpork City Watch has got just a few hours to deal with a crime so big that there's no law against it. It's called 'war'.
He's facing unpleasant foes that are out to get him...and that's just the people on his side.
The world's cleverest inventor and its most devious politician are on their way to the battlefield with a little package that's guaranteed to stop a battle....
Discworld goes to war....
This is the 21st volume in the Discworld series.
Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.
Who's murdering harmless old men? Who's poisoning the Patrician? As autumn fogs hold Ankh-Morpork in their grip, the City Watch has to track down a murderer who can't be seen.
Maybe the golems know something - but the solemn men of clay, who work all day and night and are never any trouble to anyone, have started to commit suicide....
It's not as if the Watch hasn't got problems of its own. There's a werewolf suffering from Pre-Lunar Tension, Corporal Nobbs is hob-nobbing with the nobs and there's something really strange about the new dwarf recruit, especially his earrings and eye shadow.
Who can you trust when there are mobs on the street and plotters in the night and all the clues point the wrong way? In the gloom of the night, Watch Commander Sir Samuel Vimes finds that the truth may not be out there after all....
Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.
The Galactics arrived with their Battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined a vast Empire that spanned the Milky Way. Our only worthwhile trade goods are our infamous mercenary legions, elite troops we sell to the highest alien bidder. In the third book in the series, James McGill is deployed on another alien world. His third interstellar tour is different in every way. Rather than meeting up with a primitive society, this time he’s headed to an advanced world. Tau Ceti, better known as Tech World, is the central trading capital of Frontier 921. McGill figures he’s lucked out. The assignment looks dull but luxurious. Tau Ceti boasts a planet-wide city with a trillion inhabitants, all of whom are only interested in making a few credits. But all is not well on Tech World. The Empire is crumbling, an invasion is coming, and McGill’s easy ride through life and death has come to an end.
You should never speak truth to power…
The Galactic Empire is dying and chaos and anarchy are breaking out everywhere. After a disastrous mission against terrorists on Earth itself, Captain Edward Stalker of the Terran Marine Corps makes the mistake of speaking truth to power, telling one of the most powerful men in the Empire a few home truths. As a result, Captain Stalker and his men are unceremoniously exiled to Avalon, a world right on the Rim of the Empire. It should have been an easy posting...
Well, apart from the bandits infesting the countryside, an insurgency that threatens to topple the Empire's loose control over Avalon, and a corrupt civil government more interested in what it can extort from the population than fighting a war. The Marines rapidly find themselves caught up in a whirlwind of political and economic chaos, fighting to preserve Avalon before the competing factions tear the world apart. They're Marines; if anyone can do it, they can.
The battle to save the Empire starts here.
The Galactics arrived with their Battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined a vast Empire that spans the Milky Way. Our only worthwhile trade goods are our infamous mercenary legions, elite troops we sell to the highest alien bidder.
In 2122 a lost colony expedition contacts Earth, surprising our government. Colonization is against Galactic Law, and Legion Varus is dispatched to the system to handle the situation. Earth gave them sealed orders, but Earth is thirty-five lightyears away. The Legion commanders have a secret plan of their own. And then there's James McGill, who was never too good at listening to authority in the first place...
In Dust World, book two of the Undying Mercenaries Series, McGill is promoted to Specialist and sent to a frontier planet outside the Empire. Earth's status within the Empire will never be the same.
The town of Ankh-Morpork is in big trouble and the City Watch is desperate for a few good men to protect it. But all they've got are the dwarves Corporal Carrot and Lance-constable Cuddy, the troll Lance-constable Detritus, Lance-constable Angua, who is believed to be a woman and, worst of all, Corporal Nobbs, who has been disqualified from the human race for shoving!
These underdogs need all the help they can get, for they've been given only 24 hours to clean up the war-torn town.
Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.
In the twentieth century Earth sent probes, transmissions and welcoming messages to the stars. Unfortunately, someone noticed. The Galactics arrived with their battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined their vast Empire. Swearing allegiance to our distant alien overlords wasn't the only requirement for survival. We also had to have something of value to trade, something that neighboring planets would pay their hard-earned credits to buy. As most of the local worlds were too civilized to have a proper army, the only valuable service Earth could provide came in the form of soldiers…someone had to do their dirty work for them, their fighting and dying.
I, James McGill, was born in 2099 on the fringe of the galaxy. When Hegemony Financial denied my loan applications, I was kicked out of the university and I turned to the stars. My first campaign involved the invasion of a mineral-rich planet called Cancri-9, better known as Steel World. The attack didn't go well, and now Earth has entered a grim struggle for survival. Humanity's mercenary legions go to war in Steel World, best-selling author B. V. Larson's latest science fiction novel.
Cameras roll - which means the imps inside have to paint really fast - on the fantastic Discworld when the alchemists discover the magic of the silver screen. But what is the dark secret of Holy Wood hill? As the alien clichés of Tinsel Town pour into the world, it's up to the Disc's first film stars to find out....
Thrill, as Victor Tugelbend ("Can't sing. Can't dance. Can handle a sword a little") and Theda Withel ("I come from a little town you've probably never even heard of") battle the forces of evil and cinema advertising....
Scream, as Gaspode the Wonder Dog nearly saves the day....
Eat popcorn as you watch the filming of Blown Away, the oddest Civil War picture ever made, 'A Passionate Saga set Against the Background of a World Gone Mad! With a Thousand Elephants!' (And afterwards, why not dine at Harga's House of Ribs, for the best in international cuisine - only two minutes from this audiobook).
Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.
If you find yourself ruminating on questions like "Where have all the dragons gone?" then this is the story for you. Explore the crazy, creepy land called Discworld, where you'll discover that the dragons aren't asleep or dead - they're dormant, packed in like huge, scaly sardines. Join in the search for the key to their closed-in, comatose world in this eighth fantastical Discworld novel.
Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.
In consequence of a number of stunning catastrophes, Arthur Dent is surprised to find himself living in a hideously miserable cave on prehistoric Earth. However, just as he thinks that things cannot get possibly worse, they suddenly do. He discovers that the Galaxy is not only mind-boggingly big and bewildering but also that most of the things that happen in it are staggeringly unfair.
If you’ve done six impossible things this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe? Which is exactly what the crew of the Heart of Gold plan to do. There’s just the small matter of escaping the Vogons, avoiding being taken to the most totally evil world in the Galaxy and teaching a space ship how to make a proper cup of tea. And did anyone actually make a reservation?
Brought to you by Penguin.
The book behind the major motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg.
Now a major motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg.
A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready?
It's the year 2044 and the real world has become an ugly place. We're out of oil. We've wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty and disease are widespread.
Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of 10,000 planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality: OASIS founder James Halliday, who dies with no heir, has promised that control of the OASIS - and his massive fortune - will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation.
For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based in the culture of the late 20th century. And then Wade stumbles onto the key to the first puzzle.
Suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions - and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly changed.
If you loved Ready Player One and can't wait for more, check out Armada, Ernest Cline's latest geek masterpiece!
A post-apocalyptic thriller of the after effects in the United States after a terrifying terrorist attack using electromagnetic pulse weapons.
In a small North Carolina town, one man struggles to save his family after America loses a war that will send it back to the Dark Ages.
Already cited on the floor of Congress and discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a book all Americans should read, One Second After is the story of a war scenario that could become all too terrifyingly real. Based on a real weapon—the electromagnetic pulse (EMP)—which may already be in the hands of our enemies, it is a truly realistic look at the awesome power of a weapon that can destroy the entire United States, literally within one second.
In the tradition of On the Beach, Fail Safe, and Testament, this book, set in a typical American town, is a dire warning of what might be our future and our end.
New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and international best-selling phenomenon David Weber delivers the next book in the multiple New York Times best-selling Honor Harrington series.
There are two sides to any quarrel... unless there are more. Queen Elizabeth of Manticore's first cousin and Honor Harrington's best friend Michelle Henke has just handed the "invincible" Solarian League Navy the most humiliating, one-sided defeat in its entire almost thousand-year history in defense of the people of the Star Empire's Talbott Quadrant. But the League is the most powerful star nation in the history of humanity. Its navy is going to be back – and this time with thousands of superdreadnoughts.
Yet she also knows scores of other star systems—some independent, some controlled by puppet regimes, and some simply conquered outright by the Solarian Office of Frontier Security—lie in the League's grip along its frontier with the Talbott Quadrant. As combat spreads from the initial confrontation, the entire frontier has begun to seethe with unrest, and Michelle sympathizes with the oppressed populations wanting only to be free of their hated masters.
That puts her in something of a quandary when a messenger from Mobius arrives, because someone's obviously gotten a wrong number. According to him, the Mobians’ uprising has been carefully planned to coordinate with a powerful outside ally: the Star Empire of Manticore. Only Manticore—and Mike Henke—have never even heard of the Mobius Liberation Front.
It's a set-up... and Michelle knows who's behind it. The shadowy Mesan Alignment has launched a bold move to destroy Manticore's reputation as the champion of freedom. And when the RMN doesn't arrive, when the MLF is brutally and bloodily crushed, no independent star system will ever trust Manticore again.
Mike Henke knows she has no orders from her government to assist any rebellions or liberation movements, that she has only so many ships, which can be in only so many places at a time... and that she can't possibly justify diverting any of her limited, outnumbered strength to missions of liberation the Star Empire never signed on for. She knows that... and she doesn't care.
No one is going to send thousands of patriots to their deaths, trusting in Manticoran help that will never come.
Not on Mike Henke's watch.
Peril and strife strike on a double front for Honor Harrington and company. After a brutal attack on the Manticoran home system, Honor Harrington and the Star Kingdom she serves battle back against a new, technologically powerful, and utterly nefarious enemy. And as if that weren’t task enough, Honor must also face down a centuries-old nemesis in the crumbling, but still mighty, Solarian League.
The war between the People’s Republic of Haven and the Star Kingdom is finally won and peace established, but grave danger looms - for there is a plan well on its way to completion designed to enslave the entire human species. Behind that plan lies the shadowy organization known as the Mesan Alignment.
Task number one for Honor is to defend against another devastating Mesan strike - a strike that may well spell the doom of the Star Kingdom in one fell blow. It is time to shut down and secure the wormhole network that is the source of the Star Kingdom’s wealth and power - but also its greatest vulnerability. Yet this is an act that the Earth-based Solarian League inevitably will take as a declaration of war.
The thunder of battle rolls as the Solarian League directs its massive power against the Star Kingdom. And once again, Honor Harrington is thrust into a desperate battle that she must win if she is to survive to take the fight to the real enemy of galactic freedom: the insidious puppetmasters of war who lurk behind the Mesan Alignment!
From best-selling author Walter Isaacson comes the landmark biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
In Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography, Isaacson provides an extraordinary account of Jobs' professional and personal life. Drawn from three years of exclusive and unprecedented interviews Isaacson has conducted with Jobs as well as extensive interviews with Jobs' family members and key colleagues from Apple and its competitors, Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography is the definitive portrait of the greatest innovator of his generation.
With an introduction read by the author.
What price victory? The war with the Republic of Haven has resumed... disastrously for the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Admiral Lady Dame Honor Harrington, Steadholder and Duchess Harrington, the single victorious Allied commander of the opening phase of the new war, has been recalled from the Sidemore System to command Eighth Fleet. Everyone knows Eighth Fleet is the Alliance's primary offensive command, which makes it the natural assignment for the woman the media calls "the Salamander." But what most of the public DOESN'T know is that not only are the Star Kingdom and its Allies badly outnumbered by the Republic's new fleet, but that the odds are going to get steadily worse.
Eighth Fleet's job is to somehow prevent those odds from crushing the Alliance before the Star Kingdom can regain its strategic balance. It's a job which won't be done cheaply. Honor Harrington must meet her formidable responsibilities with inferior forces even as she copes with tumultuous changes in her personal and public life. The alternative to victory is total defeat, yet this time the COST of victory will be agonizingly high.
A Note from Author David Weber
There's been some confusion—not to say, um, energetic debate, readers and fans being readers and fans—about the correct pronunciation of "Manticoran." The truth, alas, is that a stitch was dropped. An error occurred. A mistake was made… and it wasn't Audible's fault. It was mine. Before Audible recorded the very first Honor Harrington book, narrator Allyson Johnson and I not only corresponded by e-mail but actually spoke to one another by phone. She wanted to make absolutely certain she had the correct pronunciations for names, places, star nations, etc., and I tried to make certain all of her questions were answered. And so they were. Unfortunately, at some point in the process, I replied to one of her e-mails by telling her that "Man-ti-core-ahn" was pronounced "Man-tik-er-ahn." Exactly how this happened is more than I can say at this point, except to blushingly disclose that the original e-mail remains intact, confirming to all the world that it was, indeed, my fault. I can ascribe it only to a temporary mental hiccup on my part and crave your forgiveness. If, however, you must blame someone for the mix-up, that someone should be me and not Audible, who have done everything they could to get it right.
The Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Republic of Haven have been enemies for Honor Harrington's entire life, and she has paid a price for the victories she's achieved in that conflict. And now the unstoppable juggernaut of the mighty Solarian League is on a collision course with Manticore. The millions who have already died may have been only a foretaste of the billions of casualties just over the horizon, and Honor sees it coming.
She's prepared to do anything, risk anything, to stop it, and she has a plan that may finally bring an end to the Havenite Wars and give even the Solarian League pause. But there are things not even Honor knows about. There are forces in play, hidden enemies in motion, all converging on the Star Kingdom of Manticore to crush the very life out of it, and Honor's worst nightmares fall short of the oncoming reality. But Manticore's enemies may not have thought of everything after all. Because if everything Honor Harrington loves is going down to destruction, it won't be going alone.
A Note from Author David Weber
The People's Republic of Haven made a tiny mistake when it announced the execution of Honor Harrington. It seemed safe enough. After all, she was already dead. Unfortunately, they were wrong. Now Honor has escaped from the prison planet called Hell and returned to the Manticoran Alliance with a few friends. Almost half a million of them, to be precise including some who know what really happened when the Committee of Public Safety seized power in the PRH. Honor's return from the dead comes at a critical time, providing a huge, much-needed lift for the Allies' morale, for the war is rapidly entering a decisive phase. Both sides believe that victory lies within their grasp at last, but dangers no one could foresee await them both. New weapons, new strategies, new tactics, spies, diplomacy, and assassination all are coming into deadly focus, and Honor Harrington, the woman the newsies call "the Salamander," once more finds herself at the heart of them all. But this time, the furnace may be too furious for even a salamander to survive.
A Note from Author David Weber
There's been some confusion—not to say, um, energetic debate, readers and fans being readers and fans—about the correct pronunciation of "Manticoran." The truth, alas, is that a stitch was dropped. An error occurred. A mistake was made… and it wasn't Audible's fault. It was mine. Before Audible recorded the very first Honor Harrington book, narrator Allyson Johnson and I not only corresponded by e-mail but actually spoke to one another by phone. She wanted to make absolutely certain she had the correct pronunciations for names, places, star nations, etc., and I tried to make certain all of her questions were answered. And so they were. Unfortunately, at some point in the process, I replied to one of her e-mails by telling her that "Man-ti-core-ahn" was pronounced "Man-tik-er-ahn." Exactly how this happened is more than I can say at this point, except to blushingly disclose that the original e-mail remains intact, confirming to all the world that it was, indeed, my fault. I can ascribe it only to a temporary mental hiccup on my part and crave your forgiveness. If, however, you must blame someone for the mix-up, that someone should be me and not Audible, who have done everything they could to get it right.
No one wanted another war.
Thomas Theisman didn't. Not after risking his life to overthrow the Committee of Public Safety's reign of terror and restore the Republic of Haven's ancient Constitution.
Baron High Ridge didn't. The Prime Minister of Manticore was perfectly happy with the war he had. No one was shooting anyone else at the moment, and his government could continue to milk all those "hostilities only" tax measures for their own partisan projects.
His Imperial Majesty Gustav didn't. Now that the fighting between the Star Kingdom and the Havenites had ended, the Andermani Emperor had his own plans for Silesia.
Protector Benjamin didn't. His people had made too deep a commitment to the Manticoran Alliance to risk seeing it all thrown away.
And Honor Harrington certainly didn't. The Salamander knew too much about how much war cost.
Unfortunately, what they wanted didn't matter....
A Note from Author David Weber
There's been some confusion—not to say, um, energetic debate, readers and fans being readers and fans—about the correct pronunciation of "Manticoran." The truth, alas, is that a stitch was dropped. An error occurred. A mistake was made… and it wasn't Audible's fault. It was mine. Before Audible recorded the very first Honor Harrington book, narrator Allyson Johnson and I not only corresponded by e-mail but actually spoke to one another by phone. She wanted to make absolutely certain she had the correct pronunciations for names, places, star nations, etc., and I tried to make certain all of her questions were answered. And so they were. Unfortunately, at some point in the process, I replied to one of her e-mails by telling her that "Man-ti-core-ahn" was pronounced "Man-tik-er-ahn." Exactly how this happened is more than I can say at this point, except to blushingly disclose that the original e-mail remains intact, confirming to all the world that it was, indeed, my fault. I can ascribe it only to a temporary mental hiccup on my part and crave your forgiveness. If, however, you must blame someone for the mix-up, that someone should be me and not Audible, who have done everything they could to get it right.
For eight bloody years, the Star Kingdom of Manticore and its allies have taken the war to the vastly more powerful People's Republic of Haven, and Commodore Honor Harrington has been in the forefront of that war. But now Honor has fallen, captured by the Peep Navy, turned over to the forces of State Security - and executed on the interstellar network's nightly news. The Manticoran Alliance is stunned and infuriated by Honor's death and grimly resolved to avenge it. But its military is over-extended and the People's Republic is poised to take the offensive once more. The war is about to enter a phase of unprecedented ferocity, and the Alliance is on the short end of the stick. But even as powerful Peep fleets hurtle towards their objectives, neither they nor the Alliance are aware of events occurring on a distant, isolated, inescapable prison planet called Hell. For what no one knows, not even State Security, is that Honor Harrington is not dead. She and a handful of her people are trapped on Hell, and determined to disprove the Peep boast that no one can ever escape it. Honor Harrington is going home, and taking her people with her - even if she has to conquer Hell to do it.
A Note from Author David Weber
There's been some confusion—not to say, um, energetic debate, readers and fans being readers and fans—about the correct pronunciation of "Manticoran." The truth, alas, is that a stitch was dropped. An error occurred. A mistake was made… and it wasn't Audible's fault. It was mine. Before Audible recorded the very first Honor Harrington book, narrator Allyson Johnson and I not only corresponded by e-mail but actually spoke to one another by phone. She wanted to make absolutely certain she had the correct pronunciations for names, places, star nations, etc., and I tried to make certain all of her questions were answered. And so they were. Unfortunately, at some point in the process, I replied to one of her e-mails by telling her that "Man-ti-core-ahn" was pronounced "Man-tik-er-ahn." Exactly how this happened is more than I can say at this point, except to blushingly disclose that the original e-mail remains intact, confirming to all the world that it was, indeed, my fault. I can ascribe it only to a temporary mental hiccup on my part and crave your forgiveness. If, however, you must blame someone for the mix-up, that someone should be me and not Audible, who have done everything they could to get it right.
Honor Harrington has survived ship-to-ship combat, assassins, political vendettas, and duels. But this time, Honor and her crew, ambushed and captured, are aboard an enemy ship, bound for a prison planet aptly named "Hell" - and her scheduled execution.
Yet the one lesson Honor has never learned is how to give up. She and her people are going home - even if it means conquering hell to get there!
A Note from Author David Weber
There's been some confusion—not to say, um, energetic debate, readers and fans being readers and fans—about the correct pronunciation of "Manticoran." The truth, alas, is that a stitch was dropped. An error occurred. A mistake was made… and it wasn't Audible's fault. It was mine. Before Audible recorded the very first Honor Harrington book, narrator Allyson Johnson and I not only corresponded by e-mail but actually spoke to one another by phone. She wanted to make absolutely certain she had the correct pronunciations for names, places, star nations, etc., and I tried to make certain all of her questions were answered. And so they were. Unfortunately, at some point in the process, I replied to one of her e-mails by telling her that "Man-ti-core-ahn" was pronounced "Man-tik-er-ahn." Exactly how this happened is more than I can say at this point, except to blushingly disclose that the original e-mail remains intact, confirming to all the world that it was, indeed, my fault. I can ascribe it only to a temporary mental hiccup on my part and crave your forgiveness. If, however, you must blame someone for the mix-up, that someone should be me and not Audible, who have done everything they could to get it right.
Hounded into retirement and disgrace by political enemies, cut to the heart by the murder of the man she loved, and bereft of confidence in herself and her abilities, Captain Honor Harrington has retreated to the planet Grayson to take up her role as Steadholder while she tries to heal her bitter wounds.
But the People's Republic of Haven is rising from defeat to threaten Grayson anew, and the newborn Grayson Navy needs her experience desperately. It's a call Honor cannot refuse, yet even as she once more accepts the duty whose challenges she fears she can no longer meet, powerful men who hate and fear the changes she's brought to their world are determined to reverse them. They have a plan ... and for it to succeed Honor Harrington must die.
Two irresistible forces are rushing together to crush Grayson between them, and only one woman uncertain of her capabilities, weary unto death, and marked for murder-stands between her adopted planet and its devastation.
A Note from Author David Weber
There's been some confusion—not to say, um, energetic debate, readers and fans being readers and fans—about the correct pronunciation of "Manticoran." The truth, alas, is that a stitch was dropped. An error occurred. A mistake was made… and it wasn't Audible's fault. It was mine. Before Audible recorded the very first Honor Harrington book, narrator Allyson Johnson and I not only corresponded by e-mail but actually spoke to one another by phone. She wanted to make absolutely certain she had the correct pronunciations for names, places, star nations, etc., and I tried to make certain all of her questions were answered. And so they were. Unfortunately, at some point in the process, I replied to one of her e-mails by telling her that "Man-ti-core-ahn" was pronounced "Man-tik-er-ahn." Exactly how this happened is more than I can say at this point, except to blushingly disclose that the original e-mail remains intact, confirming to all the world that it was, indeed, my fault. I can ascribe it only to a temporary mental hiccup on my part and crave your forgiveness. If, however, you must blame someone for the mix-up, that someone should be me and not Audible, who have done everything they could to get it right.
Despite political foes, professional jealousies, and the scandal which drove her into exile, Capt. Honor Harrington has been offered a chance to reclaim her career as an officer of the Royal Manticoran Navy. But there's a catch. She must assume command of a "squadron" of jury-rigged armed merchantmen with crew drawn from the dregs of her service and somehow stop the pirates who have taken advantage of the Havenite War to plunder the Star Kingdom's commerce.
A Note from Author David Weber
There's been some confusion—not to say, um, energetic debate, readers and fans being readers and fans—about the correct pronunciation of "Manticoran." The truth, alas, is that a stitch was dropped. An error occurred. A mistake was made… and it wasn't Audible's fault. It was mine. Before Audible recorded the very first Honor Harrington book, narrator Allyson Johnson and I not only corresponded by e-mail but actually spoke to one another by phone. She wanted to make absolutely certain she had the correct pronunciations for names, places, star nations, etc., and I tried to make certain all of her questions were answered. And so they were. Unfortunately, at some point in the process, I replied to one of her e-mails by telling her that "Man-ti-core-ahn" was pronounced "Man-tik-er-ahn." Exactly how this happened is more than I can say at this point, except to blushingly disclose that the original e-mail remains intact, confirming to all the world that it was, indeed, my fault. I can ascribe it only to a temporary mental hiccup on my part and crave your forgiveness. If, however, you must blame someone for the mix-up, that someone should be me and not Audible, who have done everything they could to get it right.
The families who rule the People's Republic of Haven are in trouble. The treasury's empty, the Proles are restless, and civil war is imminent.
But the ruling class knows what they need to keep in power: a "short victorious war" to unite the people and fill the treasury once more. It's a card they've played often in the last half-century, always successfully, and all that stands in their way is the Star Kingdom of Manticore and its threadbare allies: enemies in the past who have always backed down.
Only this time the Peeps face something different. This time they're up against Captain Honor Harrington and a Royal Manticoran Navy that's prepared to give them a war that's far from short - or victorious.
A Note from Author David Weber
There's been some confusion—not to say, um, energetic debate, readers and fans being readers and fans—about the correct pronunciation of "Manticoran." The truth, alas, is that a stitch was dropped. An error occurred. A mistake was made… and it wasn't Audible's fault. It was mine. Before Audible recorded the very first Honor Harrington book, narrator Allyson Johnson and I not only corresponded by e-mail but actually spoke to one another by phone. She wanted to make absolutely certain she had the correct pronunciations for names, places, star nations, etc., and I tried to make certain all of her questions were answered. And so they were. Unfortunately, at some point in the process, I replied to one of her e-mails by telling her that "Man-ti-core-ahn" was pronounced "Man-tik-er-ahn." Exactly how this happened is more than I can say at this point, except to blushingly disclose that the original e-mail remains intact, confirming to all the world that it was, indeed, my fault. I can ascribe it only to a temporary mental hiccup on my part and crave your forgiveness. If, however, you must blame someone for the mix-up, that someone should be me and not Audible, who have done everything they could to get it right.
The People's Republic of Haven's sneak attack on the Kingdom of Manticore has failed. The Peeps are in disarray, their leaders fighting for power in bloody revolution, and the Royal Manticoran Navy stands victorious.
But Manticore has domestic problems of its own, and success can be more treacherous than defeat for Honor Harrington. Now, trapped at the core of a political crisis she never sought, betrayed by an old and vicious enemy she'd thought vanquished forever, she stands alone.
She must fight for justice on a battlefield she never trained for in a private war that offers just two choices: death... or a "victory" that can end only in dishonor and the loss of all she loves.
A Note from Author David Weber
There's been some confusion—not to say, um, energetic debate, readers and fans being readers and fans—about the correct pronunciation of "Manticoran." The truth, alas, is that a stitch was dropped. An error occurred. A mistake was made… and it wasn't Audible's fault. It was mine. Before Audible recorded the very first Honor Harrington book, narrator Allyson Johnson and I not only corresponded by e-mail but actually spoke to one another by phone. She wanted to make absolutely certain she had the correct pronunciations for names, places, star nations, etc., and I tried to make certain all of her questions were answered. And so they were. Unfortunately, at some point in the process, I replied to one of her e-mails by telling her that "Man-ti-core-ahn" was pronounced "Man-tik-er-ahn." Exactly how this happened is more than I can say at this point, except to blushingly disclose that the original e-mail remains intact, confirming to all the world that it was, indeed, my fault. I can ascribe it only to a temporary mental hiccup on my part and crave your forgiveness. If, however, you must blame someone for the mix-up, that someone should be me and not Audible, who have done everything they could to get it right.