In the Shadow of Humanity by N. John Williams
Editor's Choice
Editor's Choice
What if A.I. had a soul? Could it find redemption?
In a near-future where entire worlds spring from thought, minds struggle to define reality—and claim it. Human colonization of the Metaverse brings us face-to-face with a new class of artificial being, made in our image and yet utterly unknown.
What is a person? Our answer will reshape the universe. The answer will also reshape a family.
Two brothers stand on opposite sides of the deepest possible divide: Jon is alive, and Nat is dead but not gone. As each sets out to build his own future, their unraveling relationship becomes the battleground for the fate of the Metaverse—and of humanity itself.
In the Shadow of Humanity explores what it truly means to be human, challenging our assumptions about family, love, justice, death, faith, and the nature of reality. This stimulating and intimate debut novel from N. John Williams brings together the epic scale of Asimov and the spiritual intensity of Dostoevsky, with a seriousness and style heralded as “reminiscent of the old days” of science fiction.
Editor's Choice
Editor's Choice
What if A.I. had a soul? Could it find redemption?
In a near-future where entire worlds spring from thought, minds struggle to define reality—and claim it. Human colonization of the Metaverse brings us face-to-face with a new class of artificial being, made in our image and yet utterly unknown.
What is a person? Our answer will reshape the universe. The answer will also reshape a family.
Two brothers stand on opposite sides of the deepest possible divide: Jon is alive, and Nat is dead but not gone. As each sets out to build his own future, their unraveling relationship becomes the battleground for the fate of the Metaverse—and of humanity itself.
In the Shadow of Humanity explores what it truly means to be human, challenging our assumptions about family, love, justice, death, faith, and the nature of reality. This stimulating and intimate debut novel from N. John Williams brings together the epic scale of Asimov and the spiritual intensity of Dostoevsky, with a seriousness and style heralded as “reminiscent of the old days” of science fiction.
Apprentice to the Gods by DT Read
Editor's Choice
Book 4 in the Seventh Shaman Series
WhenThe Resistance Pact’s attack on the Supremacy’s “ally” world, Jassem, has succeeded in taking the Jax out of the fight—for now—and as the newly appointed commander of the 15th’s 1st Fighter Squadron, Ku makes preparing his pilots for the inevitable next battle his top priority.
With its defensive forces scattered to protect its allies, though, the Resistance Pact’s homeworld of Solienne has been left open to attack, and the Supremacy swoops in to capture it. Solienne’s deployed units—including the 15th on Tobe—are left to fend for themselves.
When Ku is injured in the fierce fighting there, he learns his piloting career with the Soli Aerospace Forces is over, and he’s forced to settle on a career with the Qaletaqa, his people’s revered special operations force. But before he can start there, he has a much more demanding task—he must become Wanikiya, the long-awaited Preserver of His People.
Editor's Choice
Book 4 in the Seventh Shaman Series
WhenThe Resistance Pact’s attack on the Supremacy’s “ally” world, Jassem, has succeeded in taking the Jax out of the fight—for now—and as the newly appointed commander of the 15th’s 1st Fighter Squadron, Ku makes preparing his pilots for the inevitable next battle his top priority.
With its defensive forces scattered to protect its allies, though, the Resistance Pact’s homeworld of Solienne has been left open to attack, and the Supremacy swoops in to capture it. Solienne’s deployed units—including the 15th on Tobe—are left to fend for themselves.
When Ku is injured in the fierce fighting there, he learns his piloting career with the Soli Aerospace Forces is over, and he’s forced to settle on a career with the Qaletaqa, his people’s revered special operations force. But before he can start there, he has a much more demanding task—he must become Wanikiya, the long-awaited Preserver of His People.
The Summoner by Randy Massey
Editor's Choice
When Raven’s family is taken captive by the hordes of the evil lord N’atax, her only desire is to rescue them before they reach the dreaded castle Axtalia. But, as she pursues them through the lands of Arth, aided by her friend Le-thon, she realizes that her true destiny could be far more than she had ever imagined. All the peoples of Arth have waited ages for the fulfillment of the Great Prophecy. Is she the one?
N'atax has released his horrible army of Boar-riders and Evils, flooding the land with destruction and despair. Their only purpose is to bring back captives for torture and death. His intent is to rid the lands of Arth once and for all of the Royal Families, thus putting an end to this foolish belief of the warrior that is to come and destroy him!
Editor's Choice
When Raven’s family is taken captive by the hordes of the evil lord N’atax, her only desire is to rescue them before they reach the dreaded castle Axtalia. But, as she pursues them through the lands of Arth, aided by her friend Le-thon, she realizes that her true destiny could be far more than she had ever imagined. All the peoples of Arth have waited ages for the fulfillment of the Great Prophecy. Is she the one?
N'atax has released his horrible army of Boar-riders and Evils, flooding the land with destruction and despair. Their only purpose is to bring back captives for torture and death. His intent is to rid the lands of Arth once and for all of the Royal Families, thus putting an end to this foolish belief of the warrior that is to come and destroy him!
The Raven Moonstone by VJ Garske
Editor's Choice
He had a wonderful childhood until he didn’t.
After losing his parents in a freak accident, Noah struggles with his emotions. He copes by believing life is easier if he doesn’t think about certain things. But, when the eccentric librarian hands him an ancient text, accidental magic gets Noah into trouble with consequences impossible to ignore. Not to mention the spiders and goats!
Questions bubble to the surface regarding his parents’ death, and he vows to discover the truth.
Was it nefarious magic or corporate greed?
Everyone in town has a secret, but the biggest secret is the one his parents took to their grave.
A fast-paced, heartwarming, humorous, Americana coming-of-age adventure where nothing is what it seems in the quirky town of Sweetwater. An enchanting, hometown fantastical adventure of warring wizards and witches for the entire family.
Editor's Choice
He had a wonderful childhood until he didn’t.
After losing his parents in a freak accident, Noah struggles with his emotions. He copes by believing life is easier if he doesn’t think about certain things. But, when the eccentric librarian hands him an ancient text, accidental magic gets Noah into trouble with consequences impossible to ignore. Not to mention the spiders and goats!
Questions bubble to the surface regarding his parents’ death, and he vows to discover the truth.
Was it nefarious magic or corporate greed?
Everyone in town has a secret, but the biggest secret is the one his parents took to their grave.
A fast-paced, heartwarming, humorous, Americana coming-of-age adventure where nothing is what it seems in the quirky town of Sweetwater. An enchanting, hometown fantastical adventure of warring wizards and witches for the entire family.
Before the Storms by Rob Perrier
Book 2 in the Habitable Worlds Series
Getting over the Chatham Hive disaster has proven impossible for Lucan Poole. A year ofter the events of Above the Storms, the delicate balance of Nicci and Lucas' life is thrown into chaos when old friends call for aid - placing everything at risk.
Mysterious groups prying into every aspect of their lives, assassination attmempts, and technology beyond imagination are juxtaposed against the 500-year-old mystery that changed Theresa Mallek from dutiful ships's captain to revolutionary legend.
[See the Stars & Staffs Review of the previous book in the series]
Book 2 in the Habitable Worlds Series
Getting over the Chatham Hive disaster has proven impossible for Lucan Poole. A year ofter the events of Above the Storms, the delicate balance of Nicci and Lucas' life is thrown into chaos when old friends call for aid - placing everything at risk.
Mysterious groups prying into every aspect of their lives, assassination attmempts, and technology beyond imagination are juxtaposed against the 500-year-old mystery that changed Theresa Mallek from dutiful ships's captain to revolutionary legend.
[See the Stars & Staffs Review of the previous book in the series]
Above the Storms by Rob Perrier
Five hundred years after humanity’s split, the Former government sends a ship of scientists and explorers to map the galaxy. Their top-secret mission is interrupted by calls for help from a distant colony. For pursuing the unsanctioned rescue, Fleet Officer Lucas Poole and the crew of the science vessel Stanford are branded fugitives by their own government.
With no reason given for their hunted status, they are confined to prison or forced into a desperate search across distant worlds for evidence. Their last remaining option is to rally their few allies while overcoming the growing tension among themselves. Will they find the answers to unravel the mysteries buried in humanity’s past? [See the Stars & Staffs Review of this title.]
Five hundred years after humanity’s split, the Former government sends a ship of scientists and explorers to map the galaxy. Their top-secret mission is interrupted by calls for help from a distant colony. For pursuing the unsanctioned rescue, Fleet Officer Lucas Poole and the crew of the science vessel Stanford are branded fugitives by their own government.
With no reason given for their hunted status, they are confined to prison or forced into a desperate search across distant worlds for evidence. Their last remaining option is to rally their few allies while overcoming the growing tension among themselves. Will they find the answers to unravel the mysteries buried in humanity’s past? [See the Stars & Staffs Review of this title.]
Degranon: 20th Anniversary Edition by Duane Simolke
On the planet Valchondria, no illness exists, gay marriage is legal, and everyone is a person of color. However, a group called "the Maintainers" carefully monitors everyone's speech, actions, and weight. The Maintainers also force so-called "colorsighted" people to hide their ability to see in color.
The Iroquois scientist Taldra sees her twin gay sons as the hope for Valchondria's future, but one of them becomes entangled in the cult of Degranon, and the other becomes stranded on the other side of a doorway through time.
Can they find their way home and help Taldra save their world?
[See the Stars & Staffs review of this title]
On the planet Valchondria, no illness exists, gay marriage is legal, and everyone is a person of color. However, a group called "the Maintainers" carefully monitors everyone's speech, actions, and weight. The Maintainers also force so-called "colorsighted" people to hide their ability to see in color.
The Iroquois scientist Taldra sees her twin gay sons as the hope for Valchondria's future, but one of them becomes entangled in the cult of Degranon, and the other becomes stranded on the other side of a doorway through time.
Can they find their way home and help Taldra save their world?
[See the Stars & Staffs review of this title]
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The Forgotten Sky by R.M. Schultz
Editor's Choice Run by six masked councilmembers, the Northrite exploit the powers of Elemiscists—those with magical abilities—and keep them as indentured servants. When a nearby sun turns bloodred and begins pulsing, people flee their homes, and the millennia-old government is plunged into chaos. Six diverse individuals from across the galaxy become entwined in a struggle for survival and to overthrow the Northrite corporation. These six share a strange dream: a figure composed only of shadow, holding the pulsing red sun in its palm. Jaycken is an audacious and sarcastic young military recruit who dreams of harnessing Elemiscist powers, and Rynn is a sheltered but perceptive young woman who flees her home planet in search of her missing mother. Nyranna is a cunning Elemiscist slave, seeking to free her people from oppression, and Seeva, an operative and activist, tracks down a branch of the Northrite corporation that funds poachers and decimates endangered creatures for profit. Elion is a morbid bounty hunter, and Cirx is a medieval knight who seeks revenge for the death of his people. |
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The Emperor's Guard by Kevin Hopson
The Emperor’s Guard collects the first story arc of The Emperor’s Guard Series, which consists of The Resurrected, Hunting Glory, and Traitor’s Mark. When readers reach the final installment of the book (Traitor’s Mark), Asgall, Commander of the Emperor’s Guard, has faced everything from coups to curses. But when the newest member of the Guard, a woman named Caitlyn, learns that someone in Southwallow is looking to obtain a rare and extremely dangerous item on the black market, Asgall finds himself in the biggest battle yet. That’s because this item possesses the power to take down the Emperor, the city of Southwallow, and maybe even the entire continent. |
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Collected Fantasy: Volume 1 by Tom Howard
An inspired collection of fantasy short stories from author, Tom Howard. Tales include Nightchild, Little Magic, When the Bough Breaks, and more.
Tom is a fantasy and science fiction short story writer who lives in Little Rock, Arkansas. His muses (or amuses) are his children, his friends, and the Central Arkansas Speculative Fiction Writers' Group.
An inspired collection of fantasy short stories from author, Tom Howard. Tales include Nightchild, Little Magic, When the Bough Breaks, and more.
Tom is a fantasy and science fiction short story writer who lives in Little Rock, Arkansas. His muses (or amuses) are his children, his friends, and the Central Arkansas Speculative Fiction Writers' Group.
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Siljeea Magic by Judith Pratt
Most people see nothing but trees and grass in the woodlands lining superhighways. But Andrea sees small people, who call themselves the Bokaaj. She is the 13-year-old hero of Siljeea Magic, a fantasy novel that pits affluent 21st Century culture against a world of spells, wisdom, and power struggles. Erau, who is close to her age and about four feet tall (with seven toes) teaches Andrea to hunt, scramble up trees, and sense the approach of angry Bokaaj elders who wish her dead. Despite this, she must save the Bokaaj, and their shaman the Siljeea, from the bulldozers of development. But it’s hard to be a hero while going to school, caring for your younger brother, and trying not to worry your over-protective parents. Andrea is tossed into a series of adventures that wreck her grades, mess up her health, and almost tear her family apart. |
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Fortune's Fool by Angela Boord
Editors' Choice The first novel in the Eterean Empire Saga. A secret affair. A disfiguring punishment. A burning need for revenge. Kyrra d’Aliente has a bad reputation and an arm made of metal. Cast out of the safe and luxurious world of silk to which she was born, played as a pawn in a game of feuding Houses, Kyrra navigates a dangerous world of mercenaries, spies, and smugglers while disguising herself as a man. War destroyed her family and the man she loved. Vengeance is within her grasp. But is she willing to pay its price? |
The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley
Editors' Choice
On the eve of a recurring catastrophic event known to extinguish nations and reshape continents, a troubled orphan evades death and slavery to uncover her own bloody past . . . while a world goes to war with itself.
In the frozen kingdom of Saiduan, invaders from another realm are decimating whole cities, leaving behind nothing but ash and ruin. At the heart of this war lie the pacifistic Dhai people, once enslaved by the Saiduan and now courted by their former masters to provide aid against the encroaching enemy.
As the dark star of the cataclysm rises, an illegitimate ruler is tasked with holding together a country fractured by civil war; a precocious young fighter is asked to betray his family to save his skin; and a half-Dhai general must choose between the eradication of her father's people or loyalty to her alien Empress.
Stretching from desolate tundra to steamy, semi-tropical climes seething with sentient plant life, this is an epic tale of blood mages and mercenaries, emperors and priestly assassins, who must unite to save a world on the brink of ruin.
Editors' Choice
On the eve of a recurring catastrophic event known to extinguish nations and reshape continents, a troubled orphan evades death and slavery to uncover her own bloody past . . . while a world goes to war with itself.
In the frozen kingdom of Saiduan, invaders from another realm are decimating whole cities, leaving behind nothing but ash and ruin. At the heart of this war lie the pacifistic Dhai people, once enslaved by the Saiduan and now courted by their former masters to provide aid against the encroaching enemy.
As the dark star of the cataclysm rises, an illegitimate ruler is tasked with holding together a country fractured by civil war; a precocious young fighter is asked to betray his family to save his skin; and a half-Dhai general must choose between the eradication of her father's people or loyalty to her alien Empress.
Stretching from desolate tundra to steamy, semi-tropical climes seething with sentient plant life, this is an epic tale of blood mages and mercenaries, emperors and priestly assassins, who must unite to save a world on the brink of ruin.
Plum Rains by Andromeda Romano-Lax
Editors' Choice
2029: In Japan, a historically mono-cultural nation, childbirth rates are at an all-time low and the elderly are living increasingly longer lives. This population crisis has precipitated the mass immigration of foreign medical workers from all over Asia, as well as the development of finely tuned artificial intelligence to step in where humans fall short.
In Tokyo, Angelica Navarro, a Filipina nurse who has been in Japan for the last five years, works as caretaker for Sayoko Itou, a moody, secretive woman about to turn 100 years old. The old woman has been hiding secrets for almost a century—and she’s too old to want to keep them anymore.
What she reveals is a hundred-year saga of forbidden love, hidden identities, and the horrific legacy of WWII and Japanese colonialism—a confession that will tear apart her own life and Angelica’s. Is the helper robot the worst thing that could have happened to the two women—or is it forcing the changes they both desperately needed?
Editors' Choice
2029: In Japan, a historically mono-cultural nation, childbirth rates are at an all-time low and the elderly are living increasingly longer lives. This population crisis has precipitated the mass immigration of foreign medical workers from all over Asia, as well as the development of finely tuned artificial intelligence to step in where humans fall short.
In Tokyo, Angelica Navarro, a Filipina nurse who has been in Japan for the last five years, works as caretaker for Sayoko Itou, a moody, secretive woman about to turn 100 years old. The old woman has been hiding secrets for almost a century—and she’s too old to want to keep them anymore.
What she reveals is a hundred-year saga of forbidden love, hidden identities, and the horrific legacy of WWII and Japanese colonialism—a confession that will tear apart her own life and Angelica’s. Is the helper robot the worst thing that could have happened to the two women—or is it forcing the changes they both desperately needed?
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Through Death's Door: A Short Story Collection by Natalie Rix, Lozzie Counsell, et al.
Since humankind began, the certainty of death has made us ponder on the uncertainty of the unknown—the afterlife, spirituality, reincarnation and religion—all in an effort to explore and try to explain our reason for existing, living and dying. Within this anthology, we have twenty-six diverse stories from authors exploring the concept of death in all its intricacies, possibilities and sensitivities. We invite you to take a walk Through Death’s Door where you can explore haunted places, meet with murderers, and even revisit the legend that was David Bowie himself. |
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The Thief Who Went To War by Michael McClung
Editors' Choice
Book 5 of the Amra Thetys Series (Aug 2019) - After barely surviving the attentions of the Knife That Parts the Night, Amra and Holgren are determined to end the threat posed by the remaining sentient, powerful Blades of the Eightfold Goddess. They are willing to risk everything to win their secret war, but can they succeed when their adversaries are cunning, powerful beyond measure, and utterly ruthless?
And even if they can, what will it cost them?
The Thief Who Went To War by Michael McClung
Editors' Choice
Book 5 of the Amra Thetys Series (Aug 2019) - After barely surviving the attentions of the Knife That Parts the Night, Amra and Holgren are determined to end the threat posed by the remaining sentient, powerful Blades of the Eightfold Goddess. They are willing to risk everything to win their secret war, but can they succeed when their adversaries are cunning, powerful beyond measure, and utterly ruthless?
And even if they can, what will it cost them?
Defying Destiny by Andrew Rowe
Editors' Choice
Book 3 of The War of Broken Mirrors (Sep 2019) It’s been almost a year since the Trials of Unyielding Steel.
When Lydia gets a lead on the whereabouts of Jonathan Sterling, she concludes her training with a legendary immortal sorcerer and puts a plan in motion for his capture.
Near Selyr, Taelien reunites with an old friend — Wrynn Jaden, the legendary Witch of a Thousand Shadows — and meets with Jonan to make a deal.
Jonan, of course, has other concerns. His master, the legendary Lady of Thieves herself, has given him a new assignment — one that hints at world-shaping events, if he can survive the mission. He’ll partner with Velas, but she has her own problems to deal with, including a revelation that will test where her loyalties truly lie.
The Well at the World's End by William Morris
Editors' Choice
Something of a forgotten founder of Fantasy. This is the book sighted by Tolkien and Lewis as inspirational for their love of the genre. The language and style may be different by today's standards, but worthwhile for every fan of epic fantasy.
Morris massages medieval tales into the journey of young Prince Ralph, the son of Peter, King of the Upmeads, as he explores the world, falls in love, and saves the kingdom.
The Well at the World's End by William Morris
Editors' Choice
Something of a forgotten founder of Fantasy. This is the book sighted by Tolkien and Lewis as inspirational for their love of the genre. The language and style may be different by today's standards, but worthwhile for every fan of epic fantasy.
Morris massages medieval tales into the journey of young Prince Ralph, the son of Peter, King of the Upmeads, as he explores the world, falls in love, and saves the kingdom.
