Showing titles in Space Exploration

The war was finally over, or so Admiral Jon McCarthy thought. But the emergence of a new enemy—the mysterious Synthecs—leads to an uneasy alliance between humans and Korilians. McCarthy finds himself navigating a dangerous landscape both in space and in the halls of diplomacy to keep the coalition from falling apart before the real battle even begins.

Nine hundred Vennans undertake a cultural exchange to Tradepoint, a space station where aliens from different worlds meet to do business. A young and gifted Speaker, Gredin, is translator and diplomat for the happy occasion. But a horrific vision shatters her first night’s sleep on Tradepoint. Venna, their homeworld, has been destroyed. Now, the safety of the only Vennans left in all of time and space, rests on Gredin’s young shoulders. Stunned and grieving, she navigates trade wars and political prejudice, bartering with other races. And the cost of failure is the unthinkable.

Left to watch over a planet created by the alien structure known as the Web, the ships of the Noumenon convoy and the artificial intelligence I.C.C. have lain dormant for thousands of years. Now, though, creatures are stirring in the convoy’s halls. With seemingly miraculous speed, the planet is coming to life. Where have these beings come from? And why? To understand this new anomaly, I.C.C. reaches out to the descendants of its original crew. Together, they will embark on a stunning journey of discovery billions of years in the making. 

Earth is teeming with alien larvae. That reality has just crashed down on us like a ton of contaminated space rocks. Every time I close my eyes, I still see the huge spider-like monster rising up. I killed that one just in time, but we know that more could hatch at any moment. Even worse... we know that if any of them reach their final form, they'll be indestructible. Now, our only hope of saving Earth from this ticking time-bomb lies on the distant world of Eden. The problem? We have reason to think the natives engineered this stuff. If there was any other route forward, we'd be taking it.

When Gunnar McConnell inherits a treasure map after his uncle's death, he goes on the hunt of his life and can't believe what he finds. There isn't just gold on those mountains, but the secret of a lifetime—a starship that can take him to worlds unknown, and a universe full of life.

Kevin Stiles was told he would go through two months of intense astronaut training and then have his memories uploaded into a computer. After that, he would go home to his family and continue with his life. And long ago and impossibly far away, he assumes he did that. But this version of Kevin finds himself on a ship in deep space, a clone of himself with all his old memories, on a mission to propagate the human species. His old life no longer exists. In all likelihood, Earth no longer exists. Kevin must forge a life for himself and his female companion on a world where humans are the aliens.

Tornado Onwubiko is one of seven people on Earth paired with sentient ships to explore and research the cosmos for twenty million euros. A decade of solitary life for a lifetime of wealth. Five years into the ten-year mission of total isolation comes a consolation: a temporary meetup among fellow travelers. A lot can happen in a week. For Tornado, who left a normal life behind, a little company can be life-changing.

No one has ever ventured deeper into space than the four astronauts of Shepherd-1. The aim of their mission is to witness the creation of the cosmos. Using the sun as a lens, they are to align a flock of probes in such a way that the moment of the Big Bang becomes visible. For astronomer Christine, this is a dream come true. So she is bitterly disappointed when the first images are obscured by a kind of veil that prevents any insight. She works obsessively to find a solution, but when she finally succeeds in lifting the veil, she sees something that would have been better kept hidden...

From the Solar System itself, Imperator James Calvin Walkingstick prepares the remaining fleets of the Commonwealth for a desperate and brutal campaign to retake their borders and unify humanity one more. On the other side of the Commonwealth’s seceding star systems, Dictator Kaleb Periklos gathers his fleets to avenge their humiliation. To the mercenary Admirals of the Stellar League, it doesn’t matter whether the worlds they conquer still kneel to Terra.

Mary Robinette Kowal continues the grand sweep of alternate history begun in The Calculating Stars. The Fated Sky looks forward to 1961, when mankind is well established on the moon and looking forward to its next step: journeying to, and eventually colonizing, Mars. Of course the noted Lady Astronaut Elma York would like to go, but there’s a lot riding on whoever the International Aerospace Coalition decides to send on this historic - but potentially very dangerous - mission. Could Elma really leave behind her husband and the chance to start a family to spend several years traveling to Mars?

With their wild vacation behind them, Hiro and his crew finally reunite the count and his granddaughter. Then it’s time for him to get cozy with his new robotic maid! He takes her in for an upgrade, which makes her stronger and sexier than ever. When duty calls, will Hiro and his heavily armed android be able to take down a cybernetic soldier and put the noble feud to rest?

Ralph could be described as a rogue on a good day. A bad day involved a lot of cursing, calling him a pirate, or sometimes even having a shoot-out. It wasn't really his fault of course, or so he would have you believe. It was the fault of those who wanted to get in his way of making as much money as possible as a smuggler. His family had been gifted with a letter of marque for the Terran Confed, one that is inherited and has been passed down to him. Essentially, it gives him a lot of loopholes and ways through regulations to be a fantastic smuggler. Or as a legal pirate, a Privateer.

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.

Nel Koplin wanted a quiet Valentine’s Day: candy, TV, and a nap. She did not plan on being accidentally abducted by aliens. Now she’s stuck on a spaceship with a stoic alien captain, a glowing emotional-support blob, and no clear way home—at least not right away. Especially not after she’s unexpectedly introduced as Earth’s… representative. As interstellar politics unfold and Earth’s future quietly hangs in the balance, the longer she stays, the harder it becomes to tell if this was a mistake… or the best detour she’s ever taken.

Gestrandet auf dem Mars - Das Science Fiction Ereignis des Jahres! Bei einer Expedition auf dem Mars gerät der Astronaut Mark Watney in einen Sandsturm und wird bewusstlos. Als er aus seiner Ohnmacht erwacht, ist er allein. Auf dem Mars. Ohne Crew. Die spektakulärste Rettungsmission um das Überleben eines einzelnen Menschen beginnt.

Life has been found beneath the icy shell of the moon of a gas giant orbiting a red dwarf at a distance of 11 light-years from Earth. When the crew of the original exploration mission crashes on the alien moon, a rescue ship is launched. Arriving decades later, the crew of the Kelvin finds a colony of survivors living in the labyrinth of caves beneath the surface of the moon. When people start dying, they realize they need to unravel the secrets of this alien world and the mystery of the minotaur.

Captain Cirilo Webster is a loyal officer of the Santiago Corporation, the multistellar megacorporation that controlls all travel between the Seventy-Seven human colonies. Finally given command of his first interstellar freighter, he is determined to do well by both his crew and his employers—but nothing is ever that simple. His crew is used to Captains passing through on their way to better ships. The Company’s policies have made more enemies than he can count. Their mission is unusual and the client might be lying to him. And if all of that wasn’t enough?

It’s time for the humans to strike back! Vile, ant-like aliens have already consumed the colonies of the Faustian Chain. Known as the Skaintz, these creatures destroy all living things and carry them back to their nests to be devoured. Now, they’ve begun to invade the stars of the Conclave. Captain Bill Gorman, a smuggler from the Fringe, is called upon by the Conclave rulers to scout the enemy. Fleets and armies are launched in a desperate attempt to annihilate the Skaintz before they consume humanity. Find out what happens next in Androids and Aliens.

Two hundred thousand feet up, things go horribly wrong. An experimental low-orbit spaceplane breaks up on reentry, falling to earth over a trail hundreds of miles long. And in its wake is the beginning of the most important mission in the history of spaceflight.

Two years have passed since comet Anduru skimmed the clouds of Saturn on its way to Earth. Kath and Nolan are looking for answers, trying to find ways to protect Earth from the possibility of an invasive alien species overrunning the planet.