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

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.

Cut off from everyone he knows with little money and no knowledge of the worlds beyond, Craze must find a way to forge a new life and make his father regret this day. First, he must survive.

Eight full-length novels of adventure, war, intrigue and survival in the far reaches of space.

The Backworlds by M. Pax

A man struggles to survive in the harsh world of humanity's outer settlements and prove his father wrong.

Ambassador 1: Seeing Red by Patty Jansen

To look an alien superior in the eye is a deadly offense. To accuse him of a political murder…

Alien Hunters by Daniel Arenson

A scruffy alien pest controller faces an alien threat the likes of which the universe has never seen.

Hard Duty by Mark E. Cooper

Hostile aliens nearly eradicated humanity. Will the next encounter finish the job?

Bypass Gemini by Joseph Lallo

A disgraced racer pilot gets mixed up with a mega-corporation. Now he has to stop them.

Sky Hunter by Chris Reher

Sent to a human outpost to investigate sabotage, a pilot finds more trouble than she bargained for.

The Galapagos Incident by Felix Savage

A genocidal AI attacks the solar system, and a Space Corps agent has one chance of saving a bunch of asteroid squatters she was sent to evict.

First Conquest by David VanDyke

To find a home and keep humanity safe from hostile aliens, Task Force Conquest must fight to seize a new star system.

 The Backworlds Books 1, 2, and 3: The Backworlds, Stopover at the Backworlds’ Edge, and Boomtown Craze.

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.

Nothing sane travels the starway. Today it brings disaster.

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.

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

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.

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

The Backworlds hang by a Quantum string, a thread about to snap. Annihilation is coming if Craze can’t stop it.

The genocidal alien he had trapped breaks free, destroying a ship belonging to the Backworlds’ oldest enemy, the Fo’wo’s. The murderous alien wants to overtake the galaxy. The Fo’wo’s want another war.

The Backworlds’ best chance to survive is to overcome a century of hate and forge an alliance with the Fo’wo’s. Because of his history with the alien, Craze is recruited to represent his people. Now he’s the most hated man in the galaxy.

The looming war will be a holocaust unless Craze can stop it, knowing salvation comes at a price.

The first shot of a new war echoes through the galaxy. Craze has high hopes for what the alliance with an old enemy, the Foreworlds, will do to defeat a worse enemy, the Quassers.

The test of a highly-advanced weapon, created by the efforts of the alliance, pushes tensions over the brink and kills thousands. To make it worse, the Foreworld ambassador is keeping secrets.

Conventional warfare against the Quassers isn’t working, and if the alliance ends, Craze has become the most hated man in the galaxy for no reason.

With nothing left to lose, Craze sets in motion one last chance for survival.

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

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?

The Gold Rush trickles to a fool’s quest and a string of stagecoach heists. In 1888, Earl Blacke decides to make a new start and become a better man. He escapes into the mountains, heading north. In the wilds of Oregon, a rift inside an ancient volcano opens and sends him into the future, into the present day. It also shaves forty years off his age, forty years to live over again and atone for what he’s done.

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.

Twisted Earths is a collection of tales from Untethered Realms, a group of speculative fiction authors. The stories are as varied and rich as the types of soil on this and other planets—sandy loam, clay, knotted with roots and vines, dreaded paths through unexplored planets, and in enchanted forests, lit by candlelight and two moons.

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.