Short Stories Opera

Earth is dying, and humanity is scrambling to set up colonies in other star systems. But the search process for habitable planets is not perfect, as the crew of the Ouroboros discover on arrival at their new home.

When young Tad Thatcher told his grandfather he wanted to command a starship like he did, his grandfather took him seriously. He taught his grandson everything he knew. Fast forward over two decades, and a young Space Fleet officer's dream becomes reality: he's made captain of a starship…just in time for the return of humanity's most terrible enemy, after 50 years of peace.

Carl Ramsey has a heist to run and the crew to pull it off. All he’s missing is a specialized computer and the tech to run it. But when an unrelated robbery loses him both, the prospects for a successful job look grim. Unfortunately the one who hired them won’t take excuses, and the owners of the computer come looking for their stolen gear. Caught between a local crime lord and thugs from a galaxy-spanning syndicate, Carl needs to come up with a plan that doesn’t get them all killed.

Following the success of their Locus Award-winning anthology

The New Space Opera, editors Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan up the ante with

The New Space Opera 2, in which more of the most beloved names in science fiction spin stunning tales of interstellar adventure and wonder.

My husband has been drugging me for two years. Two white pills every night and a kiss on my forehead. Good girl. My life is a foggy blur. Then I see a video showing me yelling at one of my kids' teachers. But I wasn't there. Was I? Then I skip a dose and the fog starts lifting. I find evidence that proves the woman in the video wasn't me. My husband is having an affair. With my twin sister, who I haven't spoken to in ten years...since the incident. But now she's pretending to be me, picking up my children, and wearing my clothes. And my husband? He's been stealing from the company my father...

Two centuries ago, the First Expansionary Fleet set off to the farthest reaches of the galaxy, hoping to explore, colonize, and conquer new worlds in the name of humanity. But when the fleet was violently and unexpectedly thrown off course, the colonists found themselves trapped in an unexplored region of the galaxy—and caught right in the middle of a bloody interstellar war. Now, after generations of relentless fighting, a tentative truce has finally ushered in an era of growth and prosperity.

Readers embark on an enlightening journey through the vast cosmos of Space-Opera storytelling in "How to Write a Short Space-Opera Story: A Comprehensive Guide to Crafting Compact Cosmic Epics." This comprehensive guidebook demystifies the process of writing riveting interstellar narratives in compact form, making it an invaluable resource for both new and experienced writers. The book serves as a reliable navigational aid in your storytelling voyage, from understanding the genre's essence to devising thrilling plots, crafting relatable characters, constructing fascinating alien worlds, and...

A short story set in the universe of James S. A. Corey's NYT best-selling Expanse series. Now a Prime Original series. This story will be available in the complete Expanse story collection, Memory’s Legion. HUGO AWARD WINNER FOR BEST SERIES The Expanse Leviathan Wakes Caliban's War Abaddon's...

My husband has been taking his ex-wife on luxury vacations for our entire marriage. Eight years of "fishing trips with the boys." Eight years of king suites, champagne, and oceanfront dinners at a resort he told me we couldn't afford, because he had to reinvest in the business — while I slept on a saggy mattress at his family's lake house and got told Barbados was "too expensive." He doesn't know I discovered his affair. He doesn't know I booked a room at the same resort. And he definitely doesn't think I remember the infidelity clause in the prenup he made me sign — the one that says ...

War looms on the horizon.... After the colonization of Mars and Europa, it took us fewer than five generations to reach beyond our solar system and colonize new planets capable of supporting human life. Power struggles have made a galactic war inevitable, and only an old mail runner, a space pirate, and their ragtag crews can prevent it.

🚀 Ten Tales. Infinite Futures. One Unforgettable Collection. Step into the strange, the sublime, and the spectacular with The Constellation of Alarion and Other Stories—a masterful sci-fi anthology from British Science Fiction Association nominee John Houlihan. Best known for his mythos-infused historical fantasy, Houlihan now turns his sharp eye and sharper pen to the stars, delivering ten dazzling stories that blend high-concept ideas with human grit and gallows humour. From labyrinthine treasure hunts in deep space to gladiatorial diplomacy and retired heroes haunted by their pasts,...

Follow a core group of characters known as the Trailblazers as they use alien technology and knowledge discovered in Antarctic ruins to obtain limited immortality and lead humanity out into the galaxy, encountering, befriending, and fighting hundreds of alien races, all the while desperately trying to prepare Earth for the unbeatable threat at the core of the Milky Way that is destined to return and reclaim their lost colony... and their former human slaves.

Follow a core group of characters known as the Trailblazers as they use alien technology and knowledge discovered in Antarctic ruins to obtain limited immortality and lead humanity out into the galaxy, encountering, befriending, and fighting hundreds of alien races, all the while desperately trying to prepare Earth for the unbeatable threat at the core of the Milky Way that is destined to return and reclaim their lost colony...and their former Human slaves.

This audiobook brings together 13 uproarious short stories and one novella, focused on Ciaphas Cain, Hero of the Imperium. His stories are celebrated as heroic propaganda pieces, but he’s simply trying to stay alive in a hostile galaxy.

In the wilds of a jungle planet, the Legion fights in brutal combat as Republic marines fly their SLICS from one tragedy to the next. H292, a repurposed warbot, shows the heart of a hero as he wades into the battle not to destroy—but to save.

The best-selling series, complete in a single volume. Star-spanning action and intrigue. A Nation at War: After aliens attack without warning and slaughter half the human race, a new country emerges. Using alien technology and desperate ingenuity, the reborn USA carves a place for itself in a violent universe, thanks to its deadly Navy and the dreaded Warp Marine Corps.

A novelette set in the hard-scrabble world of James S. A. Corey's NYT-bestselling Expanse series, The Butcher of Anderson Station deepens the story of Colonel Fred Johnson's past as seen on the fifth episode of Season 1 of The Expanse. Now a Prime Original series. HUGO AWARD WINNER FOR BEST...

Follow a core group of characters known as the Trailblazers as they use alien technology and knowledge discovered in Antarctic ruins to obtain limited immortality and lead Humanity out into the galaxy, encountering, befriending, and fighting hundreds of alien races, all the while desperately trying to prepare Earth for the unbeatable threat at the core of the Milky Way that is destined to return and reclaim their lost colony...and their former Human slaves.

Beyond the Aquila Rift: It's shorthand for the trip no one ever hopes to make by accident. The one that will screw up the rest of your life, the one that creates the ghosts you see haunting the shadows of company bars across the whole Bubble. Men and women ripped out of time, cut adrift from families and lovers by an accident of an alien technology we use but rarely comprehend.

When the elite fighter pilots of the Phantine XX arrive on the beleaguered world of Enothis, they know it is a desperate hour. The forces of Chaos are closing in, and their final push could well wipe out all human life on the planet. Thousands of refugees flee the dark armies, and the infamous Chaos fighter pilot Khrel Kas Obarkon is always hunting the skies for more prey....