The Castalia House Blog is pleased to spotlight exciting new projects in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.

Cirsova Publishing is excited to announce that it will be publishing Adrian Cole’s Dream Lords saga in a collected edition for its 50^th Anniversary.

The Dream Lords represented Adrian Cole’s debut in his long and incredibly prolific career in science fiction and fantasy. The Dream Lords was originally published in single volume format through Zebra Books, with A Plague of Nightmares and Lord of Nightmares appearing in 1975 and the finale, Bane of Nightmares, released in 1976.

This new edition collects all three Dream Lords novels in omnibus for the first time, revised and with new foreword to the series.

Cirsova Publishing has been publishing Adrian Cole’s new Dream Lords in its flagship magazine since 2016, and this anniversary omnibus will precede Dream Lords: Legacy, a first-ever collection of this new material.

The Dream Lords 50^th Anniversary Omnibus will be available through Kickstarter, launching 10/1/24, in both hardcover and paperback. [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cirsova/the-dream-lords-50th-anniversary-omnibus]

About the Author

Adrian Cole has had some thirty novels and numerous shorts published, including ebooks and audio books, for nearly fifty years, writing sf, fantasy and horror.  NICK NIGHTMARE INVESTIGATES won the prestigious British Fantasy Society Award for Best Collection (2015).

His fantasy quartet, THE OMARAN SAGA was well-received in both the UK and US. His most recent work, an alternative Romano/Celtic trilogy, WAR ON ROME, is currently being printed in the US.

About the Publisher

Cirsova Publishing began in 2016, launching its flagship quarterly fantasy magazine, which has published over 30 issues. They are also known for publishing Michael Tierney’s Wild Stars science fantasy saga, Mongoose and Meerkat and other works by Jim Breyfogle, and the strange fiction of Misha Burnett. Earlier in 2024, Cirsova Publishing released JD Cowan’s Star Wanderers and Jim Breyfogle’s A Bad Case of Dead.

Every week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.

Junkyard Mercenary (Junkyard Pirate #8) – Jaime McFarlane

In a galaxy on the brink, old soldiers never fade away—they just get tougher!

Vietnam vet Albert Jenkins, faces one of his most dangerous missions yet. When a high-ranking Galactic Empire diplomat named Cer vanishes while investigating a suspicious buildup of enemy forces on the neutral planet Gnarz-2, the stakes couldn’t be higher. AJ is tasked with tracking down Cer and uncovering the truth behind his mysterious disappearance.

As AJ and his crew follow the trail, they uncover a tangled web of deceit and conspiracy that stretches far beyond a simple disappearance. The planet of Gnarz-2, long considered neutral ground, harbors darker intentions. Their leaders are planning to invade a peaceful system—a move designed to test the Galactic Empire’s defenses and potentially ignite a war that could engulf countless worlds.

Time is running out. AJ must race against the clock, navigating treacherous political waters, and a planet full of hidden dangers. The stakes have never been higher as AJ and his team fight to uncover the truth, rescue Cer, and prevent a devastating conflict before it’s too late.

Rebel (Ascent to Empire #2) – David Weber and Richard Fox

The Five Hundred, the elite families who rule the Terran Federation, control its political power and its wealth, and they’ve grown steadily wealthier and more powerful, thanks to the war against the Terran League. War may be hard on the people who get caught in its path, but it’s very good for business, in the short term, and the Five Hundred own the shipyards that build the Navy’s ships. They own virtually all the industry that produces the weapons and matériel the war consumes so voraciously . . . and they’ve made damn sure someone else does the dying.

True, there are a few flies in the Five Hundred’s ointment.

There’s the growing hatred and resentment of the Fringe Worlds, whose children do eighty percent of the dying in the Five Hundred’s war. But the Five Hundred have made sure the Fringe knows what will happen to any system that goes ”out of compliance.”

And then there’s Terrence Murphy, a man of honor who loves the Federation, who springs from the Five Hundred, yet knows it for what it is and is determined to speak for its victims. But the five hundred have dispatched ample force to deal with him and his handful of lunatic followers.

Unfortunately, the Fringe has paid enough of its children’s lives, and it no longer cares what may happen if it dares to defy the Five Hundred.

Worst of all, the Five Hundred have fatally underestimated Terrence Murphy.

Roverpowered – Drew Hayes

A wizard’s first quest. An unlikely companion. Grand adventure awaits!

Wanda and Wumble are a small pair with vast ambitions. One an aspiring alchemist, and the other her faithful hound, the pair bond as wizard and familiar to begin their pursuit of magic.

As a newly made wizard without any training, resources, or even a home to return to, Wanda will have to forge her own way on a path where constant dangers lurk. Even the simple act of furthering her alchemy education swiftly becomes a harrowing ordeal.

Luckily for Wanda, Wumble is no ordinary hound.

Contained within her one-eyed companion is a power many factions of the world are actively hunting for. A seed with unfathomable potential waiting to sprout.

And anyone who trifles with Wumble’s wizard is in for a ruff time.

Wraith (The Convergence War #1) – M. R. Forbes

A retired captain. An experimental starship. A war like no other.

When the research starship Galileo vanishes without a trace, the powers-that-be are quick to bury the incident, eager to prevent escalating tensions that could lead to war. As a former POW, Soren refuses to give the ship up for lost.

His daughter is one of the missing.

Taking matters into his own hands, Soren starts pulling strings and calling in favors, determined to launch a clandestine mission to bring Galileo home. When an old friend offers him a ship for the operation, he expects a rusty relic headed for the scrapyard.

Instead, he’s given the Wraith—an unfinished, experimental starship with plenty of potential and just as many problems. A marvel of engineering…if his crew can keep her running.

They’d better.

Because Galileo’s disappearance is just the beginning. War is coming to the Federation from the most unlikely of places.

And Soren may be the only one who can stop it.

Read More

Every week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.

Lords of Dragon Keep (Dark Undermaster Saga #1) – C. T. Phillips

“Give me the incredibly short summary of what the hell is going on, please. The kind you could fit into a movie trailer.“

“You’re trapped in a video game world based on a hack dark fantasy author’s rip-off of better books.”

“Uh huh. Maybe you could be a bit more detailed.”

Aragorn “Aaron” Bartkowski was a programmer working at Epic DungeoneeringTM, the world’s largest fantasy video game company. Much to his surprise, he was selected to pick up the latest manuscript from reclusive author Larry C.C. Weis. Weis had been working on his newest book for over a decade and the good folk at Aaron’s company had dibs on adapting it. Unfortunately, Weis was also a wizard and sent Aaron to the world that inspired his books.

Aaron proceeded to find himself in a Slavic mythology themed world where he’s believed to be Weis’ main character, Garland of Nowhere. Equipped with the powers of a RPG protagonist, Aaron must accumulate experience and equipment while navigating a setting that seems worse off than Game of Thrones and Dark Souls put together.

Never Again (Blood and Armor #1) – Bill Fawcett

The best steel is forged by the hottest fires and under the greatest pressures. So too, have the Kurdish Peshmerga been shaped by thousands of years of warfare and oppression.

Now, for the first time in history, they have their own nation, and it’s a chance to live, grow, and develop as a unified people.

But they are surrounded by hostile dictatorships intent on the destruction of their young republic. Outnumbered and outgunned as armored columns swarm their borders, the Kurdish Republic’s only hope lies in a canceled DARPA project—an experimental, powered combat suit—and the business tycoon who refuses to allow the nascent nation to go under.

The only question is, will they be enough?

The Rebel’s Gate (The Queen’s Blade #7) – D. K. Holmberg

Fabrications come to the city; not all are pleased. The Queen’s Blade saga continues.

Protests mar Zaren’s return from Ardem. When the demonstrations grow violent, he suspects an outside influence driving the protests.

That’s not the only danger in the city. Other magic begins to spread, and in ways that Zaren struggles to track.

When power moves beneath the city, what he discovers ties the city to an ancient gate long thought destroyed.

Zaren must understand the key—or the city might be overrun by a danger even the Queen’s Blade can’t stop.

365 Infantry: The Ride for 2025 – a Kickstarter campaign by Jacob Calta

In the city of Haven, the only law that counts is the law of A.C.E.S., the all-powerful sentient computer network running her city into the ground. In the Wastelands, the only law is that of leather, lead, and chrome.

Fighting against the electric tyranny of a neon goddess are the many hounds enlisted in the 365th Infantry, a resistance force armed with hot rods, chopped bikes, and a belief in the American Dream. With allies across the desert and inside the city, these brave wolves face an all-day, everyday fight to rid the once-shining utopia and the desert’s sprawling settlements of its decadent, decaying overlord…

This Kickstarter campaign will close on September 4, 2024. Read More

Every week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.

Cyclones of Chaos (LAND&SEA #7) – Blaine L. Pardoe

The mysterious underwater aliens dubbed the Fish, continue their brutal war with humanity around the globe. ASHUR’s and Tridents; powerful armored Mecha suits, are holding the line, but the war escalates to new levels of carnage as the aliens are determined to press inland.

Adam Cain and Natalia Falto are back in the war, exploring new weapons and tactics to tip the scales into mankind’s advantage. Manhattan is a devastated warzone that a grizzled NYPD detective still fights to protect. A gifted ASHUR pilot’s luck runs out in the most heinous way imaginable while a Ukrainian war survivor takes the war to the alien’s doorstep.

Humankind struggles to grapple with the complexities of a new war. Old national rivalries still give the aliens the upper hand. Warriors like Colonel Ashton Slade learn that the aliens are nothing compared with the evil that fellow men possess. As the war rages around all of them, they learn that the hardest course to plot is through a cyclone of chaos.

Mongol Mayhem (Raging Spirits #4) – Thor Bernard

Under the eternal blue sky, things are about to change… Forever.

It’s been a year since the summer that pulled Johnny Kanai into a whirlwind of unimaginable events. But lately, his life has grown stale, and he longs for adventure. Fulfilling a childhood dream, he departs for Mongolia for some well-deserved time off.

However, as Johnny travels deeper into the Mongolian wilderness, hidden dangers and ancient secrets reveal themselves, facing him with challenges he’d never thought he would ever experience.

In Japan, gangster Seiji Tanaka has lost it all. Now, he wants it back. But can he simply take what he once considered his? Seiji hasn’t let his internal warrior die just yet, and revenge looks more tempting than ever.

The Primal Hunter #10 – Zogarth

It’s finally Nevermore time, as Jake and friends dive into the greatest mega-dungeon of the multiverse…

Having evolved to C-grade successfully, Jake is ready to enter the most well-known World Wonder in the entire multiverse to get some sweet levels under his belt. However, Nevermore is far more than just an immense dungeon to power up in.

It’s a competition where newly evolved C-grades compete on Leaderboards to prove themselves in front of the entire multiverse. Genuises from every universe and faction appear, all of them vying for the top spot and to prove themselves the very best, like no one ever was.

Faced with tough competition, Jake gleefully takes on the challenge. With four competent comrades at his side, they face floor after floor as he dives deeper and deeper into the depths of Nevermore, encountering new situations, horrible water levels, powerful monsters, Challenge Dungeons, and perhaps even the occasional labyrinth with an overly invested creator.

Salvage Race (Salvage Title: Coalition #21) – David Alan Jones

After escaping forced conscription in a solar civil war not their own, former slave Symeon Brashniev and his former owner, Princess Kavya Rurikid, want nothing more than to escape their adopted home, the Cooper Star System. Over the course of many hard-fought victories and devastating losses, the two have forged a bond of love neither of them ever expected, but one that makes their shared life whole. Unfortunately, the couple are privy to a burgeoning secret war that threatens to rip the Cooper System, and even the known galaxy, asunder.

Unbeknownst to the system at large, a mechanized army, known as the fabricants, has secretly usurped one of Cooper’s most powerful governments. For months, the fabricants have been systematically replacing unsuspecting citizens, government officials, and even military members, with replicants of their own design, thereby turning the tide of their solar war.

Knowing the truth, Symeon and Kavya must decide if they’re willing to risk their lives, and their newfound love, to stop the fabricant uprising, or if they will choose the easy path and run. Read More