In the far future, humanity settles the stars, bioengineering its descendants to survive in a harsh universe. This set contains the first 3 novels in the science fiction series, The Backworlds. A space opera adventure.

The Backworlds

After the war with the Foreworlders, Backworlders scatter across the remaining planets. Competition is fierce, and pickings are scant. Scant enough that Craze’s father decides to improve his fortunes by destroying his son. He tells his only boy their moon isn’t big enough for them both and gives Craze a ticket for the next transport leaving the space dock.

Stopover at the Backworlds’ Edge

Revenge is on Craze’s mind. He chews on it every day along with the relentless dust on Pardeep Station. He dreams of grander wealth, enough to make his father choke. That’s the dream consuming him when the interstellar portal opens, spitting out a ship that should no longer exist. A battleship spoiling for a fight. Yet the war with the Foreworlds ended two generations ago.

Boomtown Craze

Craze is only days away from the grand opening of his shiny new tavern. The starway opens, bringing in a loony Backworlder intent on mucking up his carefully laid plans. Gaunt and trembling, she claims her spaceship is possessed. She also has a connection to the underworld, threatens to end Craze’s prosperity before it begins.

In the far future, humanity settles the stars, bioengineering its descendants to survive in a harsh universe. This is the second book in the science fiction series, The Backworlds. A space opera adventure.

Revenge is on Craze’s mind. He chews on it every day along with the relentless dust on Pardeep Station. He dreams of grander wealth, enough to make his father choke.

That’s the dream consuming him when the interstellar portal opens, spitting out a ship that should no longer exist. A battleship spoiling for a fight. Yet the war with the Foreworlds ended two generations ago.

One wrong move and the shaky truce will end. So will Craze and his friends.

War is coming. A horde of merciless aliens poise just beyond the Edge. In a matter of weeks they will devour the worlds.

Racing ahead of the apocalypse, Craze returns to the Backworlds to warn them and plan a defense. Only he can’t go home. Banned from Pardeep Station, he must wage a more urgent battle. His moon is under siege, and his friends are dying.

Bad things come in threes, and the galaxy is no exception. An old enemy returns, attacking moons and defenseless globes, leaving a wake of destruction. Worse than that, they threaten to join forces with the alien horde.

Defeat seems inevitable. Craze may not be able to stop it. Yet home is worth the fight.

To realize his dream, to build Pardeep Station into a top world, a destination all Backworlders want to come to, Craze makes the best use of a weapon left behind by the Foreworlders. The dastardly technology helps him to forge advantageous trades, which improves his situation on the dusty moon.

Only days away from the grand opening of his shiny new tavern, the starway opens, bringing in a loony Backworlder intent on mucking up Craze’s carefully laid plans. Gaunt and trembling, she claims her spaceship is possessed. She also has a connection to the underworld that shakes loose the dark past of one of Craze’s closest friends. It all threatens to end his prosperity before it begins.

Meanwhile off world, Captain Talos works desperately to outwit the mercenary Jixes and lure them away from Pardeep Station’s budding prospects. With all the trading done on Pardeep’s behalf, the mind-control weapon Talos is using wears thin, and his next move may be his last.

Will it end in boom or dust?

Starting over is hard to do. In current day New York, Daelin Long’s dream job at a publishing house goes the way of the dinosaurs her sister chases. With no money and nowhere else to go, Daelin accepts the librarian position in her sister’s dinky town in the middle of Oregon. Nestled inside ancient volcanic peaks, the town of Settler holds onto many secrets. Residents roam the streets with weirdly fashioned devices, and odd lights pulse in the night skies. People whisper of a phantom outlaw and start dying, murdered and missing their heads. On top of it all, Daelin’s sister is missing, and Daelin doesn’t know who to trust.

Earl knows more than he’s saying. He shares a notorious history with the phantom, one he’ll see remains buried. Keeping Daelin’s sister’s secrets is his only chance at redemption, and the only way to keep this world safe.

This first book in the series is free.

M. Pax, author of the series, The Backworlds and The Rifters spins a tale called Patchworker 2.0. Specialists with digital interfaces are the only ones who can distinguish between biological energy and mechanical pulses, and "patch" AIs, which hold the world together. Patchworker Evalyn Shore meets up with an AI with deadly intent.

Cherie Reich, known for her epic fantasy series The Fate Challengesand The Foxwick Chronicles, presents Lady Death. Umbria, a beautiful and powerful swordsmith, is given an impossible task by her brother Leon when he asks, "You are the assassin. Are you scared to destroy Death when you are up to your elbows in it?"

Angela Brown is the author of the paranormal Shadow Jumpers andNEO Chronicles series. In her story, In The Know, Jacob, a loyal family man is struggling to stay out of debt when he's hired to report on big plans for a future Detroit. He's given a mysterious manila envelope with instructions to "open it alone" or pay the price. With switchback twists you won't see coming, a debt of a much steeper cost is what he just might end up paying for his involvement.

Catherine Stine, author of the futuristic thrillers, Fireseed One andRuby's Fire, offers The Day of The Flying Dogs, a sinister tale of brilliant, troubled NYC high-school student, Theo. He experiences a day at Coney Island that includes drugs, delusions, a lonely capybara, Nathan's hotdogs and a mind-bending lesson in our very twisted universe.

Christine Rains, known best for her paranormal series The Thirteenth Floor, gives us The Ole Saint, a story at once sweet, horrific and heartrending. Ezra longs to fit in and have boys stop calling him witch and freak, yet his unique supernatural skill sets him apart, and the last gift from The Ole Saint cinches the deal.

Graeme Ing, known for his young adult fantasy, Ocean of Dust presentsThe Malachite Mine, a gripping, scream-inducing ride. Whatever was Mary thinking when she accepted her husband's gift of a most terrifying twenty-first birthday celebration in an abandoned Russian mine?

River Fairchild, author of the Jewels of Chandra series, presents A Grand Purpose. Rosaya and her cousin, Drianna are soon to be married off, but Rosaya is unhappy with her assigned match. She's much more intoxicated by the older Firrandor, a wizard she hardly knows. When Rosaya is accused of killing an oracle boy, all bets are off, not only for her love, but her freedom.

Gwen Gardner, who pens the cozy paranormal mystery series, Indigo Eady, adds to her collection with Ghostly Guardian. Indigo and her rib-tickling ghost-busters must travel to a dangerous pirate-laden past in order to unearth a curmudgeonly eighteenth century spirit that is plaguing the Blind Badger Pub.

Misha Gerrick, whose War of Six Crowns series is forthcoming, gives us a story called Red Earth and White Light. Emily, a young ghost bride has long haunted a house. She longs to cross over into the afterlife, but she's trapped in memories of lilies and betrayal.

A junction erupts between the worlds in Settler, Oregon, a rift from which horrors attack our world. The Rifters defend us.

To trust unquestioningly is the first lesson Daelin Long must learn as the newest Initiate of the Rifters. Her first day is a disaster. She stands on a deserted street in a town smaller than a city district, courting killer rocks from another world with her ancestor from the Revolutionary War. Normal no longer exists.

While she struggles, Earl Blacke grapples with atoning for his past ill deeds, running far and fast from Settler, Oregon. The Shaman of the Desert promises him redemption, and an old mine puts the possibility of a gold strike in his grasp. His luck has changed for the better, but he can’t have both.

You're never a hero until you are.

The Rifters Box Set includes: The Rifters, The Initiate, and The Reader.

The Rifters: Daelin Long moves to Settler, Oregon, after being laid off from her job and robbed at gunpoint in New York City. County librarian isn’t her dream job, but she’s excited to reconnect with her younger sister. Only, her sister is missing and there’s a phantom stealing heads. The town is plain weird and gets worse when Daelin stumbles upon its deepest secrets.

The Initiate: Daelin Long joins the Rifters in hopes of finding her lost sister. Instead, she finds a swarm of killer bees like no other. These bees start off as pebbles and sting like fire. Her first lesson is to trust her fellow Rifters absolutely. Daelin does, but they can’t trust her. She has her sister’s secrets to keep.

The Reader: Daelin Long rises in the ranks of the Rifters. The rift closes for the season, and Daelin worries over her sister stuck on the other side. With the rift closed, the town should be quiet. Only, it’s not. Dead people are coming to life, and those who should be around are missing. Daelin and the Rifters must figure out how to fight a monster without the energy of the rift to power their weapons.

Wings of the Guiding Suns

Sita is born to be the emissary between dragonkind and a world on the verge of doom. If she saves the people about to become extinct, she will join her fellow dragons sailing on the solar strands. If she fails, her life will end the moment the dying world does. The choice is simple: leave and live. Yet, the people resist and time is running out.

Aftermath

Noret’s world is destroyed by an attack on the moon. It sends the city tumbling and kills thousands. Among the dead is her bonded, whom she cannot survive without. Her kind has never known violence, but an act of war must be answered. What will be her reply?

Patchworker 2.0: Humanity is forced to live in domed cities as foul as the Earth we destroyed. Artificial Intelligence holds the remains of society together, and a special team of patchworkers keep the AI functioning at peak performance. Patchworker Evalyn Shore leads the investigation of a homicidal AI. The AI is taking over minds and leaving patchworkers as sacks of bio matter ready for recycling. Can Evalyn create the patch to repair the AI? Or will it kill her first?

Corrosive: Which seeds will aid Bex in saving her world? On an Earth ruined by long-forgotten ancestors, Bex sets off to establish a new homestead with her ideal man. The fact he’s a robot and has to do everything she says is a dream. For a day. When she arrives at the plot of land, where she and her dreambot will nurture the precious seeds she’s been entrusted with, it’s already occupied. By a man. With radical ideas as corrosive as the air.

The Vagaries of Eloise Stanton: Lucy’s family disappeared when she was a child, lost in a world of mirror. At every turn, she is confronted by images of her family in mirrors and panes of glass. Her experiments to bring them home continue to fail… until tonight. On the verge of at last being reunited, Lucy meets the woman who stands as the barrier between the two realms and the real battle begins.

The Wallows: Ever wish for a new life? Evernee Weems wants to escape in this world in the worst way. Her daughter needs everything, the rent is being raised, Evernee’s job barely pays minimum wage, and she has little hope for better. Inside a puddle is a different reality, and she jumps in, happy to trade her problems for a life in which worries don’t exist. Will it turn out to be better?

Investigate new worlds and houses frequented by ghosts. Come across witches and wizards and an assassin tasked to kill Death.

Meet hot robots, hungry winds, and the goddess of chaos. Explore alien lands, purgatorial realms, and a shocking place where people bury the living with their dead.

Encounter paranormal detectives, imprisoned dragons, dark demons, cursed jewels, and handsome prophets. Search shifting worlds trapped in mirrors and a disturbing future where a president aims to rid the world of Otherkind.

Experience a haunted journey on a riverboat, water sprites borne of pennies, preternatural creatures, ancient serpents, and the Lady of the Lake who lurks in dark waters.

From USA Today bestselling and popular science fiction and fantasy authors comes Elements of Untethered Realms, a supernatural compilation of the anthologies Twisted Earths, Mayhem in the Air, Ghosts of Fire, and Spirits in the Water. These forty thrilling tales feature authors Angela Brown, Jeff Chapman, Cathrina Constantine, Julie Flanders, River Fairchild, Gwen Gardner, Misha/M. Gerrick, Meradeth Houston, Graeme Ing, Simon Kewin, M. Pax, Christine Rains, Cherie Reich, and Catherine Stine.

The Officer is an anthology of eleven science fiction short stories by writers from across the globe. It is part of the Newcomer series of scifi anthologies.

The stories are:-

Duty by Alasdair Shaw

Patchworker 2.0 by M Pax

Totaled by Benjamin Douglas

Lucky Star by A R Knight

There Comes a Time by J J Green

Red Fortitude by Eddie R Hicks

Pithos by Mark Gardner

A Step on the Path by Tom Germann

Rituals by Rick Partlow

First Generation by Adrien Walker

The Grape Thieves by Corrie Garrett