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

Conscript – Scott Bartlett

The Scourge are back And the Corps needs recruits.

Desperate to free his younger siblings from debt slavery, Po Abbato turns to crime. He’s caught, and offered a choice: spend 25 years in a digital prison while his body rots…

…or join the Marines.

War has returned to the solar system, sooner than anyone expected. Po must learn fast what it truly means to fight alongside others.

That is, if he’s going to make it.

Dark Dreams of Nilztiria (Tales of Nilztiria #2) – D. M. Ritzlin

Nilztiria! An ancient land where daring swordsmen and unscrupulous sorcerers alike strive against unfathomable monstrosities in their personal quests for glory. Its eon-spanning history is not even fully known to the most studious scholars.

In Necromancy in Nilztiria, thirteen legends of this fabled land were revealed. In this new collection, nine more tales can be found, detailing the exploits of infamous heroes such as the cursed warrior Vran the Chaos-Warped, the freewheeling barbarian Avok Kur Storn, and the enigmatic wizard Xaarxool the Necromancer.

“With a diverse assortment of tales spanning the length of traditional sword-and-sorcery both light-hearted and solemn, to the tales of horror and wonder more akin to the old weird tales or the Dying Earth series, Necromancy in Nilztiria is a great collection of new S&S that will delight any fans of the genre. It manages to stay true to the genre’s roots while doing some innovation of its own, avoiding slavish imitation. For 2020 this is nothing short of miraculous.” (Age of Dusk

Holy War (Abner Fortis, ISMC #10) – P. A. Piatt

“Activate the travelers.”

With those three words, The Master, leader of the Kuiper Knights, unleashed a horrific terror attack on the United Nations of Terra that united the entire planet against them.

Major Abner Fortis takes command of Second Battalion of the First Regiment of the newly reconstituted Second ISMC Division and joins the force deployed to the Free Sector to mete out punishment to the evildoers. Using out-of-the-box thinking and old-school Space Marine attitude, Fortis recruits his best friend, Gunnery Sergeant Petr Ystremski, to serve as First Sergeant and whips the battalion into fighting shape in short order.

But when tragedy strikes during the combat drop, the regimental battle plan is thrown into disarray and the Kuiper Knights—many of them former Space Marines—are able put up a stiff resistance. With another battalion under siege and the chain of command stunned into inaction, it falls on Fortis and Second Battalion to take decisive action to head off disaster. Outnumbered five to one, with their enemy dug deep into a seemingly impregnable position, can Fortis and the Space Marines prevail and deliver the justice they’ve come to dispense, or will the Space Marines suffer a catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Knights?

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

Chords of Fate (The Wayward Chronicles #1) – D. K. Holmberg

We were called the Wayward. It was a derogatory term for some, but it was one we embraced. Most of us truly were Wayward.

Leo Surinar is a wanderer, traveling with his mother in the Wayward caravan in the only life he’s ever known, finding their own peace while parts of the world descend into war. When a traveling minstrel joins the caravan, everything begins to change.

As Leo learns the power of song and begins to dream of a world beyond the caravan—one only the Academy can show him—he starts to think there might be more to the world than what he sees from the top of a wagon.

Until his mother’s illness forces him to make a difficult choice.

Leo soon learns about the world beyond the caravan, the power that can be imbued in song, and power even greater than the song. As he’s hunted by deadly guild assassins and runs from the fae, he must decide between returning to what he’s always known and the knowledge and magic of the Academy.

Ghost in the Veils (Ghost Armor #2) – Johnathan Moeller

When the truth is hidden, unveiling it can be deadly.

Caina faces a new enemy – the insidious serpent men and their mysterious Cult of Rhadamathar. Already they are working to incite war and spread chaos, both within and without the Empire.

So when the ruler of Istarinmul asks Caina to discover why the Cult tried to assassinate his pregnant wife, Caina has no choice but to agree.

But the serpent men have been working in the shadows for centuries…and they have prepared lethal traps for those who seek out their mysteries…

The Queen’s Fixer (Ashes of Entecea #1) – Casey Ezell

All Laethine wanted was to go home.

With the death of her beloved husband, the Jaerl of Antiroc, Laethine knew she had to take his place and be a good leader for her people. However, her husband had a secret, one that would thrust her into the cutthroat world of royal interplanetary politics and dark conspiracies.

Now she’s beset on all sides, and despite her grief, she must pick herself up and move forward with cold precision, even as her heart breaks with every step.

Victory seems impossible, but she cannot fail, for the fate of her entire planet hangs in the balance.

She must become the Queen’s Fixer.

Stars’ Call (Battleship Chronicles #1) – L. Eclaire

It’s time to return to the Fleet to fight for humanity once more, this time in a human body.

Ever since her creation, Light Seeker fought for humanity as a battleship, facing enemy forces that sought to carve out as much human space as they could get away with. She had taken part in hundreds of battles, seen millions die, served under four captains until she lost it all.

Stripped of weapons and with most of her memories restricted, Light Seeker retired into a human body, keeping her promise to a captain she almost lost.

Decades later, she’s back in the Fleet as a cadet and ready to join the fight.
Only this time, she has more than her crew to protect.

Ultimate Conclusions – a Kickstarter from Karl K. Gallagher

Hi, I’m Karl K Gallagher. I’m asking your support to help me put out a collection of my short stories.

I’m best known for my Torchship Trilogy, which is a hard SF adventure story about an undercover spy fighting a government which suppresses uncontrolled computers. The trilogy was a finalist for the Prometheus award for best libertarian science fiction novel.

There’s a few loose ends at the end of the story: what’s going to happen with the uploaded people? Will the humans win their war against the AIs? And how can they rebuild the planets devastated in the war?

I’ve written three new stories tackling those questions and giving a look at the characters we love from the trilogy, which I hope Torchship fans will enjoy

This Kickstarter will be available until 10 April, 2024

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

Enemy Below (Nocturnus #1) – Devon C. Ford

We aren’t alone. The enemies are already here… beneath our feet.

Beneath the surface, a war rages between the surviving demons still inhabiting the Earth and those few, the initiated, who fight to keep it buried deep where it belongs in the darkest shadows.

Troy Odell was doing what he did best, taking the fight to the enemies of the free world. No two missions were ever the same, but he never expected his world to turn so violently upside down. The only surviving member of his team of US Marine Raiders, he finds himself drawn into that secret battle.

Adapting to his new reality, Odell must find his place in that new world and come to terms with not only the truth about the world but where he fits in it.

Fighting enemies he though only existed in movies, Odell soon learns that his side of that secret war is vastly unprepared for what is to come.

First Contact: The Anatomy of Courage – Peter Cawdron

Dr. Christopher Walters has been assigned to a medical evac team serving on the front line of the war against the alien invaders known as the Novo.

As part of the Dog Food Squad, his role is to provide battlefield triage to wounded soldiers in no man’s land.

Life expectancy at the Front is so low no one uses their real names, and he teams up with Hawk, Mouse, Leech, Lavender and William Sunday to save those he can from the brutal reality of war. The Novos, though, are not what they seem.

Inconsistencies leave Doc questioning the war and wondering what the price will be for peace…

The Princess Scout (Scout #8) – Henry Vogel

Separated from their classmates during a drill, Scout Cadets Anne Villas and Christine Montide find themselves stranded on a previously uncharted world. By pure chance they’ve discovered a lost human colony that wants to stay lost, and the rulers of this planet will use all the power they have to keep it a secret.

Anne is not just any cadet, though. She’s “The Princess Scout” — the daughter of David Rice, the Scout Corps’ legendary hero, and Callan, indomitable heir to the throne of Mordan. With the might of a whole planet against them, can Anne and Chris find a way to not merely survive, but win?

The Princess Scout mashes up space opera excitement with the dangerous atmosphere of a Cold War thriller, resulting in the latest standalone hit novel in Henry Vogel’s best-selling Scout series. Read it today! 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.

Cirsova #18 / Spring 2024 – edited by P. Alexander

Eighteen stories of heroic adventure and daring suspense. Including:

“A Quick Laugh with Death” by William Drell – Investigating the medical blackmail of a xenofruit magnate leads Mickey Vance to the sweltering planet Verdus, where the locals are beautiful and criminals deadly!

“On the Eve of Xerkhet-Buul” by Howie K. Bentley – Thargg Tanuth seeks to avenge the death of his beloved Princess Lenoris! Betrayed on the eve of Xerkhet-Buul, Thargg finds that he too is to be hunted by her killer!

“The Superior Griefs (Part 1)” by Michael Tierney – Investigation into government disposal of abused children leads to the discovery of a primeval race of lizardmen stockpiling them for food in stasis chambers! What is their connection to the strange new threat that has emerged on the edge of space!?

…and more!

Die By the Sword Volume II – edited by D. M. Ritzlin

The clash of steel, the mysteries of magic, the adventures of a lifetime!

Die By the Sword Vol. II promises more daring fantasy and high-stakes adventure than ever before. From DMR Books and the finest fantasists of our time come TWELVE sensational tales, ready to swallow you whole into a world of sword-wielding heroes, exotic locales, strange creatures, and malefic magic spells!

Connwen flees into the Haunted Lands where he makes his stand against the Saxon invaders who killed his tribe and razed his village… Summoned by the Elders of Qwaarzm, Impyrryan Purple is sent to secure the necropolis at Xul-Kizaak. Little does he know that the threat is far more ominous than that of common grave robbers stealing mummies to sell to the circles of decadent nobility… A knight with no name and no memories of his distant past is sent on a mission to rescue a young woman accused of witchcraft from the Drudenhaus at Bamberg… Ulxedomus, Crown Prince of K’Zal, wanders a weird world with an alien entity trapped in his left eye socket, in search of the usurper to the throne of his kingdom—his own brother… A curse is placed upon the house of Conal MacCarthy in retribution for a terrible deed from the past. Will the MacCarthy family survive the onslaught of the supernatural swordsman set on them by sorcery?

Return to the ways of steel and sorcery once more, and DIE BY THE SWORD!

The Invisible Colony (The Forever World #2) – Ethan Rhodes

For Zane Lucas, the adventure is far from over.

With the Gral sent home, abandoning their posts around the colonies, Humans are once again in charge of their own fate.

Zane and Julia are determined to find the mysterious 44th colony. They devise a plan and set into action, while Lorna and Henry search the Forever World for evidence of the elusive alien race.

Carl is sent into enemy territory with only a shred of hope as his guiding light.

For both father and son, choice is synchronous with consequence, but how can you be sure you’ve made the right one?

No Retreat (The Last Hunter #13) – J. N. Chaney and Terry Mixon

When things are going to plan, check to see what you’re missing.

Admiral Jack Romanoff and his crew are trapped inside the Confederation proper and facing an unknown number of alien attack ships. They’d thought the Tardan military was defeated, but they’d been wrong. Now they were trapped in a fight they couldn’t lose.

When everything seems exactly as you’d hoped, figure out what you’ve missed.

Not only do they need to stop the Locusts, but they still have to defeat the Poseidon Group and overturn the coup they’d staged. They only have two battleships and a spy ship to make that happen. Their only advantage is that no one knows they’re there. They’ll have one chance to get things right, or humanity is screwed.

When everything goes to hell and your back is against the wall, fight. Read More