Space Opera Exploration

Captain Axel Finn is bored out of his mind being a peacetime hero, so when a murdered scientist's final message reveals coordinates to a mythical planet, he and the Trash Squid crew jump at the chance for a new adventure. They've got a small window to reach it before it vanishes, and they're not the only ones racing to get there first.

(Books 1–8 in this eleven-book collection are also included in the Starships in the Abyss: Complete Eight-Book Box Set, presented there with different packaging and artwork. If you already own that collection, please note that only Books 9, 10, and 11 in this edition are additional titles.) The war for Earth is just the opening act. The Xortaag armada has never lost a war. Now their ships blot out Earth’s sky, and our last line of defense is four people who should absolutely not be in charge of saving the world: A movie-quoting pilot with a death wish. A stuntwoman who treats danger ...

A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented - something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding. Once every cycle, the civilizations gather for the Metagalactic Grand Prix - part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past.

There are great deserts in space. Matter is not spread evenly. On average it balances out in all directions, but some regions are not average. For every dense cluster of galaxies in one place, there is a tremendous void somewhere else. There are no galaxies within the voids, no stars, no planets, and no moons. Scientists have theorized that anyone at the center of such an empty space would see only darkness in every direction. Even the brightest objects, they say, would be too far distant to be visible to the naked eye. I got a chance to test that theory firsthand. I am the most distant ...

Save the cure. Kill the crew. That was the dying order of the captain of the starship Elixr. The ship followed the order. Then it lost its mind. Two decades later, the last chance to save billions of souls rests with the dead starship's only occupants: a pair of boys raised by a deranged robot. When Elixr crashes on a barren world, they join forces with an impoverished girl living on the edge of society to search for answers. Who are they? Why have they survived? And what could Elixr possibly do to save a world on the precipice of collapse? The more they learn, the greater the stakes become...

A galaxy-conquering alien armada… …has just knocked on Earth’s door, and it did not come bearing cookies. An unstoppable fleet is busy steamrolling its way across the cosmos, one planet at a time, and humanity is next on the menu. Standing between them and total universal doom is the least likely Avengers lineup ever assembled: a rule-breaking starfighter ace, a stuntwoman who treats gravity like a polite suggestion, a super-assassin with more ways to kill you than you have bones, and a wisecracking alien prankster who thinks reality is his personal toy box. Their job? Protecting not ...

ONE SHIP. ONE DISCOVERY. NO GOING BACK. Overseeing a mining operation in the middle of nowhere on a warship with more bark than bite, Captain Frank Olsen has a problem. A chance discovery has suddenly thrown his dig into the galactic spotlight and every power in the region, both friend and foe, is descending on Olsen's location. It's soon clear that what they've found isn't just a curiosity. It's something far more sinister. As Olsen struggles to hold the line, a new alien race appears and the balance of power in the galaxy begins to shift. With time running out and help light-years away, ...

This dazzling anthology includes epic interstellar adventures, tales of space and wonder, from some of the brightest names in science fiction.

Orphaned on a struggling colony world, Finn was barely scraping out a living when he stumbled upon a life-changing discovery—an intact alien spaceship. Ill-prepared, but forced to flee the local crime syndicate, he stakes his future on surviving the starways with the extraordinary living ship and a mysterious spidery creature. But freedom among the starways is far from easy in a sector that is expanding faster than it can be regulated. Finn’s perils only get worse when his past begins to catch up with him. Some journeys require bold decisions, some need stout friendship, but truly ...

Smugglers. Thieves. Pirates. The Sea Rover's crew embodies these defining qualities. Immerse yourself in a Science Fiction Adventure box set written by author C.P. MacDonald. Witness Captain Calin Aku's evolution from the most wanted outlaw on the Moon to an unexpected if reluctant hero. Job by job, paycheck by paycheck, he keeps flying. However, with a new client comes a cascade of adventure, forging unusual alliances and unraveling amazing mysteries. These revelations don't just alter the lives of Calin and his crew but also reshape humanity's future. Join Calin Aku and his crew as they ...

Captain Cirilo Webster brought his ship out of the chaos of an archaeological expedition gone wrong with his ship and the Santiago Corporation’s monopoly on faster than light travel intact.

The scum of the galaxy are using Earth as a nuclear winter death camp. It outrages pirate captain Kohia Jekyll’s sense of justice. No one deserves to die agonizingly of radiation poisoning, especially not on the planet humanity had to evacuate seven generations ago. So Kohia intends to close the prison camp down. She didn’t count on an infuriating shaman healer hitching a ride aboard her starship. Nairo Bloodstone isn’t going to Earth to be a hero. He learned the hard way that when you’re a healer, doing your best for people is never enough. One miracle leads them to demand another ...

Over 1,600+ pages of pulse-pounding action, heart-wrenching drama, and enough snark to fuel a starship. They said saving twelve million lives would make him a hero. They were wrong. Captain Xander Hawk sacrificed everything to rescue a doomed transport—his career, his freedom, and any chance of seeing his wife and daughter again. His reward? Life imprisonment in the galaxy's worst hellhole, where the only thing worse than the inmates is the food. But when a ragtag crew of misfits, con artists, and battle-scarred warriors break him out, Hawk discovers his sacrifice was just the beginning. ...

Lewis Drake has had a long week. He’s been forced to rethink his career goals. And herding promoted too early rookies was never part of his plans for the future. Now he’s the architect of where the Navy Mage Program goes from here. He’s got no idea what he’s doing, but then, no-one else has either. So all he can do is test things, and see what works. Or doesn’t. The trick is doing that without anyone getting killed. The Keerah War and the Ralnor Civil War are still raging. And while fighter pilots fight, how is the problem Lewis needs to solve. It all comes down to trust in the ...

Duty, love and war are a lethal mix. Val Standish is a farm girl on Nadolo Prime, and everyone knows there's only one way off that backwater planet: joining the Imperial Fleet. When an empire-spanning civil war breaks out, the peaceful life she knows is shattered. With war engulfing the Empire, Standish will do whatever it takes to survive, never knowing that her adventures will take her to the very heart of power, while exposing her to more danger than she’d ever imagine. Standish is a full-length standalone space opera novel in the Earth Saga series. Start here for thrilling space ...

Every time Dennis Blocks gets rid of a responsibility, something new comes along. This time he knows it’s coming. And while it still chose him, he’s going to see where this goes. Colonies need food, and food grown locally is cheaper for the colonists. But to grow food, you need farms, and building new farms takes time. So why not build a farm to use as a magical copy template? That’s the plan, but since when does any plan actually work out as expected? And will his normal life even allow him to be the Farmer Mage? The Hunter Imperium Universe Is best read in this order: The Spacemage ...

The Galactic Empire disappeared a lifetime ago. Jake Stewart doesn't care, he needs to earn a living. He fled his station in the outer Belt, enrolled in the merchant academy, and snagged a scholarship. The future looks bright. But a crooked boss, some paperwork shenanigans, and a freeloading best friend put him in a bind. When he's accused of a murder he didn't commit he goes on the run from the Planetary Militia. There's only his wits and a suspiciously helpful pretty girl between him and jail. Can he trust her to prove his innocence? Or does she have another agenda?

Battenburg has fallen. The Republic’s invasion fleet has crushed its defenders, and tens of thousands of blood-thirsty Regulators now swarm across the planet, ready to ravage its people. Everyone knows Newport is next—and if Newport falls, the secession dies with it. Admiral Caleb Hawthorne must rally the remnants of his shattered fleet and brace for the coming Battle of Newport. To save his homeworld, he must face his former friend in one final, bitter delaying action. But can he hold back the inevitable tide long enough? On Battenburg, Zach Hawthorne is trapped behind enemy lines. ...

Welcome to the Saloon Sector, Deputy! Thelma Bach graduated top of her class after four years at the Galactic Justice academy. But she’s a Rock Sector citizen. She was a fool to believe the core worlders would ever allow her to beat them at their own game. She’s been assigned to serve her seven years as a deputy in the Saloon Sector. The message for the Federation’s out-world citizens is clear: you’ll never be our equal, so don’t even try. The core worlders chose the wrong person to push around. Assigned to the despised frontier, Thelma will get her revenge even if she has to ...

A private investigator is hired to look into a mysterious, high-profile death aboard the starship Halcyon in this fresh new science fiction masterpiece from the "mastersinger of space opera" (The Times) and the creator of the beloved Revelation Space universe. Strap in for a gripping murder...