Space Exploration Fiction

Lord Commander Grayson St. Clair has guided the Tellus Ad Astra to a part of the universe no human - and possibly no race known to man - has ever seen. Far from the worlds they know, the colony ship is on its own facing...something that seems to have no weakness. Something whose sole purpose seems to be devouring civilizations. With both time and space as enemies, St. Clair must figure out a way to explore this new corner of space, maintain military order on a mission that was supposed to be civilian, and - somehow - bring the Tellus Ad Astra back to the Milky Way.

An extraordinary astronomical discovery, an international conspiracy and a rush to the truth. When she discovers an exoplanet with an unstable orbit around the nearby star Tau Sagittarii, Uma knows something is not right. Is this an opportunity or a threat to humanity? In her struggle to uncover the truth behind her discovery, Uma meets Abdo, a clever robotics specialist presenting her with an alternative and unsettling interpretation of what she has detected. Together, Uma and Abdo unmask a conspiracy entangling the scientific community and corporations. Their lives are at stake, while a ...

Tanis Richards has spent half her life on the Intrepid, guiding the great colony ship, and its two million passengers, across hundreds of light-years. She has risked life, limb, and those dearest to her to get this far. Now she's within reach of her goal; the New Canaan System, and a normal, stable life. The kind she's only dreamed about. The only remaining hurdle is to strike a deal with the Transcend Alliance and trade the Intrepid's advanced technology for the star system. If only things were so easy.

Anywhere is better than at home… unless it’s an alien planet! Running from her abusive boyfriend, Lila doesn’t care about the interdimensional storm raging outside, the dragons that have been sighted on Earth, or the fact that people have gone missing in the storms. She grabs her dog, runs outside… and gets struck by a lightning that transports her to a world with giant, purple alien barbarians! Should she have stayed at home after all? When the aliens start courting her, she gets even more concerned. Men are all violent brutes. Except maybe these brutish alien barbarians are ...

Compelled by her dwindling bank account, Katie agrees to be a nanny for the niece of a Luxenian military commander. Little Ayla, orphaned and entrusted to her cold and demanding uncle, captures Katie’s heart instantly. Katie’s desire to help the child is made more difficult by Axur’s handsome features and heated looks. As a general in the Luxenian army, Axur cannot have a family or mate. It is strictly forbidden. Staying away from them isn’t working. He wants something he can’t have. He’s not looking for a family but the new nanny is strong, beautiful and making him become a ...

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?

When a running battle brings the Fafnir home to Earth, it ends with the death of a trusted friend—and a new focus on what comes next for Van and his crew. The Guild is rotten. It must be changed. It must be healed. But to do that, Van will have to marshal resources on a scale he's never considered, and that means calling in favors from friends. With the Schegith fleet in training, and the Conoku itching to get back into the fight, Van has a clear plan for what he has to do—which is the one thing he doesn't want to do.

Captain Tuplo must finally make the decision that has been haunting him since he learned the truth about his origins only a week ago. The fact that billions of lives may hang in the balance isn't making it any easier. Will Connor be able to face the demons of his past?

Keeping up-to-date with the most buzzworthy and cutting-edge science fiction requires sifting through countless magazines, e-zines, websites, blogs, original anthologies, single-author collections, and more - a task accomplishable by only the most determined and voracious readers. For everyone else, Night Shade Books is proud to introduce the latest volume of The Best Science Fiction of the Year, collecting the finest that the genre has to offer, from the biggest names in the field to the most exciting new writers.

Transported to another world with purple alien barbarians who don’t even speak English?! Strange storms have been raging all over the world for the past months. Some say the end of the world is coming, but for Ella, life goes on as always: stressing about work, her health problems, and now a broken car to top it all off. She tries to make her way home in the stormy weather when a lightning suddenly strikes her. She loses consciousness and when she wakes up, she finds herself in the middle of a TV production. Because giant purple aliens just can’t be real, right? Especially not when they...

The return of humanity's oldest enemy... An alien prophecy that predicts our species' downfall... And a captain who's the only thing standing in the way of his starship getting mothballed. Wait, what? Imagine Captain Keyes’ surprise when the fate of the galaxy turns out to depend on him, his decrepit ship, and his oddball crew.

Hiro blew them all away—literally—on his mercenary job clearing out a space pirate stronghold. Now, the military and a ton of smaller groups are all desperate to recruit him. Not only that, but a major biotech firm is salivating over his otherworldly DNA! All Hiro wants is to keep flying free with his beautiful companions, but how long can he dodge all the people who want to tie him down?

There are worse ways to make a living than traveling the worlds killing men. Especially if you're a woman with a grudge and a gift. Like me. I am part of the Zyrnx, but apart from them, as well. They believe in rescuing slaves. I believe in killing slave masters. I am not a savior of helpless victims - I am a killer of monsters. But as Taal says, sometimes I see a monster where a man stands. And the monster I have come to kill, he believes we are fated mates. Lifemates. Born for each other. I do not believe in such things. I believe in sex, fighting, and death - not love.

Calista is happy with her life of scientific research. She doesn't need love, she has her books, her friends, and her work. Things are fine until her ship is attacked by space pirates and crash lands on a desert planet with heat so intense she and her friends can't survive without help. Ladon is a Zmaj warrior resigned to a life alone, who only desires to protect his treasures. His hopes for a mate faded long ago, yet when he meets Calista something stirs. It takes only one look to know that she belongs to him.

Winner of the Literary Titan Gold Book Award and the PenCraft Seasonal Book Award for Best Book Spring 2025 One daring mission could be her salvation—or her end. In a galaxy where stability is a luxury few can afford, young Sev dreams of a home she can call her own. Roaming the cosmos with her distant father, they drift from one perilous job to the next, barely scraping by in a universe full of danger and adventure. But when their last big job on a treacherous planet doesn't go as planned, their lives are forever altered. Join Sev on a thrilling journey through danger and discovery as she...

For decades, the spacefaring species of known space have battled over the largest artifact - and grandest prize - in the galaxy: the all-but-limitless resources and technology of the Ringworld. Now, without warning, the Ringworld has vanished, leaving behind three rival war fleets. If the fallen civilization of the Ringworld can no longer be despoiled of its secrets, the puppeteers will be forced to surrender theirs - everyone knows that they are cowards. But the crises converging upon the trillion puppeteers of the Fleet of Worlds go far beyond even the onrushing armadas.

When I leave the colony for a day at the lively and exciting Frizian Outpost, I never expect my life to change forever. Again. I'm a former human slave, freed by the Zyrnx Warriors and given sanctuary on the colony as I await transport back to Earth. But when I see a wild and injured Madixx male, caged and tormented by his captors, all it takes is a single glance for me to know I won't rest until I free him. Should I believe this huge, wild man is capable of love, or should I ignore my heart and take what may be my last chance to return to my world?

Hella is a planet where everything is oversized. The trees are mile-high, the dinosaur herds are huge, and the weather is extreme - so extreme, the colonists have to migrate twice a year to escape the blistering heat of summer and the atmosphere-freezing cold of winter. Kyle is a neuro-atypical young man, emotionally challenged, but with an implant that gives him real-time access to the colony's computer network. When an overburdened starship arrives, he becomes the link between the established colonists and the refugees from a ravaged Earth.

From a New York Times best-selling and Hugo award-winning author comes a modern masterwork of science fiction, introducing a captain, his crew, and a detective as they unravel a horrifying solar system wide conspiracy that begins with a single missing girl. Humanity has colonized the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond - but the stars are still out of our reach. Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt.

Since fleeing the supernova chain reaction at the galactic core, the cowardly Puppeteers of the Fleet of Worlds have - just barely - survived one crisis after another: the rebellion of their human slaves, the relentless questing of the species of Known Space, the spectacular rise of the starfishlike Gw'oth, the onslaught of the genocidal Pak. Now fresh disaster looms, as though past crises have returned and converged. Who can possibly save the Fleet this time?