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The Nemesis Effect

The Nemesis Effect by Michael Shotter

SPSFC 2022

Tom Hallett was an ordinary man, living an ordinary if pleasant-enough life, his world, perfectly shaped and managed by the wonders of technology and the handful of elite "executives" who control it. Thus, the young man finds himself completely unprepared when a chance encounter and a twist of fate bring him face to face with the most terrifying event in human history. Can a simple archivist, a keeper of the records of other people's deeds, rise to the occasion or will he remain an ordinary citizen, powerless and subject to "The Nemesis Effect?"


Felan's Rescue

Felan's Rescue by Mark Raines

SPSFC 2022 SPSFC 2023

What if the video game Civilization was real? Bestlethrone is attacked and doomed to fall. Now Prince Felan must flee, leaving his family behind in a desperate attempt to save his father’s kingdom against known forces and the influence of the gods who may be moving against them. All his family built over centuries hangs in the balance, as Felan fights against invaders, betrayal and the 'gods' who are really humans, now a galaxy spanning civilization, interfering with Felan's species as a game. Unbeknownst to Felan his fate is intertwined with Sandra Ferrara, a 13-year-old girl growing up in the space colony located above his planet and retired General Dash Cricken, a veteran of the Galaxy Wars. Though Felan is oblivious to their existence, what they do could change Felan’s fate and the fate of everyone on his planet. Felan’s Rescue blends medieval fantasy into a sprawling space opera set immediately after years of intergalactic war, taking the reader to a galaxy spanning civilization, populated by alien races, trying to recover from the devastation of the last thousand years of war.


Entropy

Entropy by Dana Hayward

SPSFC 2022

DESTINATION MARS! The Lunar Republic is on the run… Life on Earth is dying from a mysterious cause, and President Kim bets her future on an obscure, young scientist whose theory can only be tested from outer space. The year is 2066, and the race is on against the Chinese to establish a viable lunar colony before the 100th anniversary of mankind’s first step on the Moon. Yet, the Moon is only the first step, the springboard for the permanent settlement of Mars. “Entropy” is set in the near future where technology has evolved to an astounding degree. Human nature, however, has not; this futuristic novel reads like an expose on our own times. “Entropy” is much more than a science fiction thriller; it is a running commentary on the times that we live. A dystopic, postapocalyptic, hard science depiction of epic space travel, colonization, and new beginnings for the human race: Entropy is a blockbuster, written by a new voice, waiting to be discovered.


The Sequence

The Sequence by Lucien Telford

SPSFC 2022 SPSFC 2023

"The Sequence" is a science fiction thriller that weaves together the stories of a world-leading genetic editor, a pilot/smuggler who hauls contraband for the mob in a ground effect stealth jet, and a pair of Hong Kong Police detectives investigating a series of genetically modified dead bodies they find in curious locations around the city, only during typhoons.


Skid Kids

Skid Kids by Michael Franz

SPSFC 2022

Out of the Wastelands for the first time, Zander has never been lonelier. As a mutant he's used to loss, but leaving his 14-year-old sister, Kensy, behind is an emptiness like no other. As he steps through the walls of Westport, her words are the only thing keeping him going: "Win your freedom. If not for yourself then do it for me."


The Ceph - Reborn

The Ceph - Reborn by Matthew Poehler

SPSFC 2022 SPSFC 2023

The Ceph Civilization seeded the galaxy's planets with life throughout history. Most of the results were good, some were exceptional. After a billion years of careful tending, one world's ecosystem grew to rival even that of Home. A blue-green jewel in the deeps of the galactic ocean. The Call went out "This world is ready." Two of the great World-Ships arrived from the Civilization sixty-five million years ago to deliver the Ceph to their new Colony. Tens of thousands disembarked to start the serious business of taming monsters and starting families. They were gone a thousand years when the asteroid struck. The surface of the planet was seared and shattered. Survivors of the Colony adapted to any safety the broken planet’s oceans would offer. They lost the ability to walk the land and breathe the air. Nothing sleeps forever. The Ceph on Earth are Reborn, and they have called for help.


The Last Nehisi

The Last Nehisi by Warwick Eden

SPSFC 2022

War. Corruption. A dying empire… And the only means of escape wiped out in genocide… For millennia, Ageronians have prospered beyond imagination, aided by the Nehisi, an ancient tribe with the ability to bridge worlds. But now the tides have turned. The Realm is dying. In the face of imminent destruction, Supreme Commander Draeger must find a way to save his people. As the prophecy of doom plays out, a chance encounter with a thief sparks the beginnings of a cat and mouse game, between commander and crook, in a world of political and moral dilemmas, corruption, and murder… …and the revelation that the fate of billions could depend on the actions of a single amoral thief. Combining the storytelling of Rothfuss with the richness of George RR Martin’s world building, this epic saga, cast against the sweeping setting of alien worlds and warring races, tells of adventure, intrigue, murder and romance across the generations. Read this unmissable immersive debut novel of the Red Realms series!


Deficiency

Deficiency by S. C. Eston

SPSFC 2022

How far would you go to keep your dreams alive? On the arid planet of Garadia floats Prominence City, an oasis of abundance and technological marvels. For Keidi and Artenz, life is good. Each day, they work hard to fulfill their role in sustaining Prominence. In return, they share an existence without worry or want, their every need attended to by the ruling corporations, their lives enhanced by a virtual reality accessible with a simple thought. But when a dear friend of Keidi goes suddenly missing, their idyllic existence begins to crumble. And when they start asking questions—the wrong questions, questions that reveal cracks in Prominence’s perfect image—the powerful corporations of Prominence take notice. Now, Keidi and Artenz must choose: do they stay in Prominence and risk the wrath of the corporations, or do they take their chances and run for the Lowlands, a bleak and mysterious place hidden beneath Prominence—if it even exists at all.


The Treasure of Lor-Rev

The Treasure of Lor-Rev by Bryan Asher

SPSFC 2022

One discovery has unimaginable consequences… While searching a deserted mountain range, an explorer locates a high-tech artifact he assumes is merely another interesting find. It’s only one piece in a greater puzzle leading towards a device of ultimate power, the Diffusor-Sphere. Suddenly, he’s thrown into a battle between an engineer who’s remade himself as a cybernetic demigod, and the one tasked with safeguarding humanity from him. The only way out is recovering the Sphere first, but will he reach it in time? The Treasure of Lor-Rev is another exciting adventure from Bryan Asher, set in the world of floating nations known as The Intercontinents.


Star Marque Rising

Star Marque Rising by Shami Stovall

SPSFC 2022

The future is governed through a genetic hierarchy—superhumans at the top, humans and defects at the bottom. Welcome to an all-new military science fiction novel from critically-acclaimed author Shami Stovall. Clevon Demarco, a genetically modified human, has a cocksure attitude and the combat skills to back it up. With his unparalleled skills, he makes his living as a ruthless gunrunner on a shady space station near the edges of the quadrant. Stronger, faster, and wittier than most sad sacks, no one even comes close to Demarco’s abilities—until he crosses paths with the captain of the notorious Star Marque, Endellion Voight. Captain Voight arrests Demarco and offers him a choice: go to a prison planet for his crimes, or join her starship, the Star Marque, working as mercenaries for the superhumans. But she didn't pick him at random. She has a plan to become a planet governor; a title no human has held since the superhumans won the war. It doesn’t matter the cost—assassinations, extortion, blackmail—she’s determined to claw her way to the top. All Captain Voight needs is Demarco’s help to carry out her machinations, and she’ll give him everything he’s ever wanted in return. A fast-paced space opera for those who enjoy Old Man’s War by John Scalzi, Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds, or anything by Robert A. Heinlein.


The First Run

The First Run by Eli Freysson

SPSFC 2022 SPSFC 2023

Gaylen finally has it made. If he can just survive the next few days. On his heels are the scum of the galaxy. In front of him is the wild frontier. And on board his ship is a mysterious cargo people will kill for. What’s the worst that could happen? He just might be on a collision course with the answer. He’ll have to rely on his untested crew, hard-earned wits, steady aim, and two clenched fists to survive.


Falling Dark

Falling Dark by Tom Lloyd

SPSFC 2022

It’s the find of a lifetime – an ancient alien spaceship hanging in a forgotten corner of space. For Song this could change everything. She’s got as many problems with her finances as she does in her marriage, but maybe at last her passion for wreck-diving will pay off. One piece of unknown tech could set her whole crew up for life. The ship conforms to nothing in their records and dwarfs the largest human vessels. Battle-scarred and old before humanity ever reached the stars, it’s a mausoleum of an unknown, long-dead species. And it’s just winked at her.


Falcon Fire

Falcon Fire by Erik A. Otto

SPSFC 2022 SPSFC 2023

On colonial Venus, people who are susceptible to lies have been denigrated and barred from the citizenry. Ancient dirigibles dock at the top of colossal towers to shunt people to and from underground cities. Armies of enclosed, beetle-shaped biocrawlers creep around the planet providing a coveted, yet deficient, natural environment. Colonists strive for an outdoor ecology to call their own, but terraforming is faltering. There is growing unrest, and at the heart of this rift is Hix, a member of the Venusian underclass. He has risen from the tenements to become a renowned film star, until he is accused of murder. Neeva is destined to be Keeper, an esteemed protector of First Colony Heritage. She is also an inspector assigned to Hix’s case... and the victim happens to be her sister. Hix and Neeva must find passage through the winds of change, or their people will be swept away forever.


Grey Enigmas

Grey Enigmas by Gareth Lewis

SPSFC 2022 SPSFC 2023

Alex is a detective in a world that considers them unnecessary. When everyone is a telepath, with their own inner policeman, crimes cannot escape notice. So a murder with no obvious culprit leaves the authorities at a loss. Woken from a virtual sentence, still unrepentantly anti-social, Alex is given the opportunity to finally investigate a mystery. One which puts him in danger, and leads to mysteries of a more personal nature. Exactly how long has he been asleep? And is this really the first mystery he's been awakened to investigate?


Transference

Transference by B.T. Keaton

SPSFC 2022

Barrabas Madzimure is banished to the desert planet Eridania for his many crimes. Slaves to the Church and to the will of its prophet Jovian, a charismatic figurehead who rules everything on Earth, Madzimure and his cohorts toil underground digging endlessly for the substance eridanium—the source of Jovian’s alien power. But Madzimure can no longer hide from his past. Facing execution he claims to have once been Thaniel Kilraven, transferred decades earlier into the body of Madzimure against his will. Under interrogation the stories of both men are brought to light, and the terrible fate of the lost Kilraven bloodline is revealed. Madzimure escapes, knowing the only way to salvage what’s left of the Kilraven name and confront his destiny—and Jovian—is by facing them head on. But the horrific truths he finds on Earth might be the undoing of all mankind. What if everything humanity believed about civilization was a lie? Will anything or anyone be left from the fallout?


Black Table

Black Table by Anttimatti Pennanen

SPSFC 2022

Jon and Gus, science fiction fans from Finland with a penchant for fist bumping and pop culture references, travel to the Portland Comic Con where tragedy strikes. Their hero, Dr Wells, suffers a heart attack. With his dying breath, the doctor exhorts Jon to “find the …” as he pushes a book into Jon’s hands. Following clues inscribed in the book, Jon and Gus discover an alien structure with a mysterious Black Table which they accidently activate, transporting them to an alien world. Jumping from world to world via the Black Table galactic transportation network, Jon and Gus embark on the adventure of a lifetime where they encounter monsters, alien tech, giant vessels made of water and make new friends. But those friends are facing an unstoppable and mindless enemy. An enemy that is destroying the galaxy, and Earth is next in its path. Can two fans from Finland save the day? Black Table is a rollicking yarn of two likeable, wise-cracking friends who like nothing better than pranking each other. That is, except when they are not doing something more serious, like saving the universe. JOIN THE FIGHT, JOIN THE BLACK TABLE NETWORK!


ALIEN EXIT

ALIEN EXIT by Geoff Nelder

SPSFC 2022

Alien Exit is driven by a female astronaut, a palaeolithic mongrel, Glastonbury chaos, steamy sex in space, a journalist and a mad general. All to overcome time-quakes created when aliens depart Earth. Hopes rely on a female space pilot who needs to invent a new way of communicating with the aliens after all conventional methods fail.


Star Nations

Star Nations by James Michael Minard

SPSFC 2022 SPSFC 2023

“Duty is heavier than a mountain. Death is lighter than the morning air. My loyalty belongs forever to the one I love.”
—Commander Leera en Tasrah. Five superior star nations struggled for dominance over their galaxy, unaware a more significant threat punctured the fabric of space and entered from a parallel universe. This new threat had a name: the Cepha. They conquered entire galaxies, consumed and exploited worlds, and enslaved sentient beings.
Humans, Kazarians, Zorlons, and the other minor star nations' only chance of survival against the Cepha was to forget their differences and stand together. But was that possible? How do you put aside three hundred years of hate and endless wars, which cost billions of lives? Where does loyalty belong? Is their honor in fighting alongside your enemy? What does duty require? STAR NATIONS is book one of the Loyalty And Honor Series.


Syn City: Reality Bytes

Syn City: Reality Bytes by Lewis Knight

SPSFC 2022

He's a mentally-enhanced hacker; she's a cyborg cop. They're supposed to work on opposite sides of the law ... until a common threat targets them both. Specter is a thief and hustler addicted to Elysia: a virtual reality world where limits don't exist, and he can have everything he desires. His illegal activities put him in the crosshairs of Cyber Corp, a lethal government agency specializing in hunting down the most wanted fugitives. Enigma is a Scyther: a former criminal forced to work for Cyber Corp after being enhanced as a super-soldier. A device implanted in her skull keeps her loyal, even when hunting down members of her old team. And now, she has a new assignment: tracking down and eliminating Specter.


The Left Hand of Dog

The Left Hand of Dog by Si Clarke

SPSFC 2022

Escaping intergalactic kidnappers has never been quite so ridiculous. When Lem and her faithful dog, Spock, retreat from the city for a few days of hiking in Algonquin Park, the last thing they expect is to be kidnapped by aliens. No, scratch that. The last thing they expect is to be kidnapped by a bunch of strangely adorable intergalactic bounty hunters aboard a ship called the Teapot. After Lem falls in with an unlikely group of allies – including a talking horse, a sarcastic robot, an overly anxious giant parrot, and a cloud of sentient glitter gas – the gang must devise a cunning plan to escape their captors and make it back home safely. But things won’t be as easy as they first seem. Lost in deep space and running out of fuel, this chaotic crew are faced with the daunting task of navigating an alien planet, breaking into a space station, and discovering the real reason they’re all there… Packed with preposterous scenarios, quirky characters, and oodles of humour, The Left Hand of Dog tackles complex subjects such as gender, the need to belong, and the importance of honest communication. Perfect for fans of Charlie Jane Anders’ Victories Greater than Death and The Long Way to a Small by Becky Chambers – especially ones who enjoy endless references to Red Dwarf, Star Trek, and Doctor Who. This book will show you that the universe is a very strange place indeed.


Dark Theory

Dark Theory by Wick Welker

SPSFC 2022 SPSFC 2023

A robot yearns to remember. A thief struggles to forget. A galaxy on the verge of collapse. On the fringe of a broken civilization, a robot awakens with no memories and only one directive: find his creator. But in the village of Korthe, Beetro finds only radioactive pestilence, famine, and Miree—a tormented thief with dreams of retiring after her final score. Meanwhile, the fiefdom is plunged further into chaos when a new warlord seizes control, recasting serfs as refugees and leaving derelict robot peasants in his wake. With a shared interest in survival, Beetro and Miree team up to pull off an impossible castle heist: steal a single flake of dark matter, the world’s most valuable and mysterious ore. But as they trek through the feudal wasteland in search of answers, they realize the true extent of the chaos surrounding them: the stars are disappearing from the sky and the entire galaxy is unraveling. As he uncovers his origin, Beetro discovers he may be the key to the salvation of the cosmos—or its destruction. Time, space, and loyalty become relative as he learns the real reason he was created. A mind-bending science fiction epic with the bones of a fantasy traveling quest, Dark Theory unfolds through a journey of betrayal, identity, and unlikely friendships in a world of darkness set at the edge of space and time.


Eleganta: A Novel of Fairykind

Eleganta: A Novel of Fairykind by Denny R. Swartzlander

Eleganta is book one of the Eleganta series. On a hidden isle in the seas near dark age England, a young fairy named Ethywyne Eleganta secretly gives birth to the first youngling in fourteen years. She and her child become the hunted prize of the wicked troll general Sunderin. Ethywyne must make the perilous journey across the Fairy Realms, to get her child to the Fairy Queen, the only one who can protect her from the shadow that seeks to destroy all of Fairykind. Her experience takes her from a humble life of gardening and craft-making to the center of an adventure that grows to involve fickle goblins, giant ogres, magic fairy dust, thieving pixies, an enchanted hedge maze, and even Vikings of the Norse lands who happen upon the isle in their plundering voyages.


Violetta: A Fae in the House of the Fairies

Violetta: A Fae in the House of the Fairies by Denny R. Swartzlander

Violetta continues the story from book one of the Eleganta series—Eleganta: A Novel of Fairykind. Ten years after the march of Sunderin and capture of Ethywyne Eleganta, the trolls continue to poison the Fairy Realms, and Violetta, Queen of the Faes, occupies the Fairy Castle. The surviving fairies live in hiding on the Isle of Naviila where they’ve sheltered Ethywyne’s daughter Lira, the only fairy youngling. When Violetta ensnares Lira with a promise to help find Ethywyne, the fairies are forced into a questionable alliance. As they struggle to unravel the tangled web of secrets motivating Violetta’s mysterious actions, the fairies must return to the Realms and embark on a perilous quest that will decide the fate of Fairykind. This second entry in the Eleganta trilogy is a tale of goblin pirates, hidden chambers, unpleasant men, magical beards, hairless wolves, fabulous feasts, impeccable fairy hospitality, a chilling game of hide and seek, a plethora of fairy dust, and so much more. It’s a story of trust and betrayal, of redemption and revenge. It’s the tale that must be told. Violetta is intended for readers aged 12 and up. With themes such as the eternal fight of the light against the dark, the power of a mother’s connection to her child, and the growth of courage through tribulation, Violetta reaches a wide range of readers. Anyone who treasures fantasy and imagination will enjoy this novel.


Traitor

Traitor by Krista D. Ball

SPSFC 2022

Seven years ago, Rebecca St. Martin took the coward’s path to save her skin. She has lived with that decision, eking out a life as an indentured servant on a space station far from home. Only now, fate has decided to give Rebecca another chance. A ghost from her past plans to execute a daring rescue from the prison bowels of the station Rebecca now works. Rebecca has to face the same decision she made all those years ago. Could she watch her friends be murdered? Or could she, just for once, be a hero?


The Cost of Survival

The Cost of Survival by J. L. Stowers

SPSFC 2022

Survival isn’t about who’s right; it’s about who’s left. Earth spirals into chaos.
World war ravages every border.
The human race teeters on the edge of extinction. Survival hinges on the success of one colony located in a decimated valley. Walt Marshall, government contractor, is no stranger to loss after the death of his wife and son.
Now he’ll honor them by doing whatever it takes to ensure the survival of humankind. Walt gets more than he bargained for when he uncovers a puzzling clue left behind by a mysterious woman. Destined to unveil the truth, he embarks down a dangerous path of espionage and treason. He quickly learns the dark truth about the past, and the future in this daring science fiction novel.


The Other

The Other by Marilyn Peake

SPSFC 2022 SPSFC 2023

Gold Award, Fantasy / Science Fiction category, eLit Book Awards. Fear can blind you to the truth. The news is ominous and terrifying. People are seeing UFOs and strange, alien-looking creatures with humanoid shapes, green skin and large black eyes. In places where this occurs, doctors report the spread of a mysterious virus that scrambles people’s thoughts and causes hallucinations. Many experts believe the virus came from the aliens. The pathogen has not yet been identified; there is no cure. Psychology professor Dr. Cora Frost has a different theory: the bizarre symptoms are nothing more than mass hysteria, not unlike the hysteria that caused people in our not too distant past to see witches flying through the sky, which justified hanging them or burning them at the stake. Intense stress within societies gives rise to scapegoats. Doing field research within the compound of a cult in Roswell, New Mexico that reveres the exact same kinds of aliens being reported on the news, her entire worldview is shaken and upended. In a shocking series of events, her past and future collide, forever changing her life.


Derelict

Derelict by Mark All

SPSFC 2022

Beyond the farthest reaches of explored space, survey ship Cerberus arrives at an unclaimed planet to find a deserted vessel already in orbit. When newly commissioned captain Janet Hollander leads a team to the derelict, they find an ancient alien artifact on board. As her own crew members begin to disappear, Hollander learns that neither the ghost ship nor the planet are as lifeless as they appear. She must survive long enough to find out what happened to the derelict—before she and her crew suffer the same fate.


Scribes' Descent

Scribes' Descent by Dylan West

SPSFC 2022

People worship technology on Planet Daishon. With inventions that prolong life and eradicate disease, it's little wonder. Death seems obsolete until an earthquake kills thousands, including Mallory's parents. They should have lived for a thousand years, not just fifty. Mallory scrambles for answers. Such a disaster shouldn't be possible. Quakes have never happened on this world before. Suspecting the top research center had triggered it, her best friend's father investigates. When he turns up missing, Mallory goes on site after him as a geology intern. She can't bear to lose anyone else. An old mine sits at the epicenter of the recent quake, and an unbreakable alien barrier seals it off. But a door hidden in its surface opens for Mallory when she translates its engravings. Once inside, she evades underground predators while cut off from the tech that's always protected her. Some graves run much deeper than six feet, and this place could be one of them. Within this self-contained world lie the remnants of a universal war, revealing that Daishoni folklore is more than superstition. To survive, Mallory must trust in something more than science and logic. She must follow the voice of one she can't see down to the very bottom. Something deadlier than a quake is trapped there, and it is trying to escape.


Revolution (The Sol Saga Book 1)

Revolution (The Sol Saga Book 1) by James Fox

SPSFC 2022 SPSFC 2023

War is good for business... And business is about to boom.
General Keith Brennan would rather face an army with his trusty rifle than attend another state dinner. When the President of the solar system is assassinated on Mars, Brennan is the obvious choice to investigate. If he comes up with the wrong answer, though, his career will be over. However, duty is never so simple. Brennan's career is the least of his worries when the investigation uncovers a trail of corruption and a conspiracy on a system-wide scale. With Earth and Mars on the brink of a shooting war and forces behind the scenes determined to push them over the edge, only Marine General Keith Brennan can stop the slaughter before it’s too late. Unless, of course, it already is…


Super-Borg Dies

Super-Borg Dies by Tac Anderson

SPSFC 2022

After being forced out of his last startup, Trent Daeshaun uses his technological prowess, and a good publicist, to become Super-Borg, Seattle's preeminent super. As rumors of homeless people being abducted coincide with an increase in violent attacks, Trent suspects that someone is weaponizing the homeless population and doing it with technology he created. With help from fellow tech entrepreneur Max Roman, a homeless girl from the camps, and several of Seattle's supers, Super-Borg must uncover who is behind the attacks and stop them. But the truth of who is behind the attacks and why, are far more complex than Trent imagined and stopping them will require great personal cost.


Fermi's Progress

Fermi's Progress by Chris Farnell

SPSFC 2022

“The Fermi is the Earth’s first and last faster-than-light-spaceship. The last, because it turns out its engine vaporises entire star systems in its wake. And nobody knows how to turn it off.” Four planets. Four adventures. Four apocalypses. A Dyson sphere, a philosophical zombie apocalypse, a giant airborne beehive and a galactic telesales scam. Each world brings new wonders, new dangers, and a planetary scale genocide. The Fermi crew must survive by what little wits they have as they bounce a trail of destruction across the galaxy. For the first time all four parts of Fermi’s Progress are together in one volume.


The Patmos Revelation

The Patmos Revelation by Carl Jamieson

SPSFC 2022

Arlo’s dream has become a nightmare. Discovering an alien signal from an exoplanet fulfils a promise to his dying father. But, inexplicably, a series of devastating events are unleashed.
Set in a dystopian 2049, The Patmos Revelation is a fast-paced science fiction thriller, packed with twists and turns. In Arlo’s world, reason and beliefs clash, reality and dreams blur, and evil awaits.


From the Grave of the Gods

From the Grave of the Gods by Alan K. Dell

SPSFC 2022 SPSFC 2023

Strange lights in the sky.
 A Red Planet.
 A catalyst to change the course of human history. Commander James Fowler is an astronaut and the first officer of the Magnum Opus, the largest spacecraft ever built, on the first crewed expedition to Mars. The mission: to investigate the mysterious extrasolar object that went down on the Red Planet five years ago. James is living the dream: he gets to go to space and be one of the first to set foot on another world, with his girlfriend, Angela, cheering him on at home. Maybe after the mission, when he's returned a hero, he'll find the perfect moment to finally propose. But his dreams shatter as the mission ends in disaster. Returning to a world reeling from the revelation of what they found out there, James works to piece his life back together and come to terms with what happened. But the mission left him changed, and now he must fight to protect everything he holds dear from those who seek advancement at any cost; a process that makes him question his identity, his place in the world, and what it means to be human.


The Secret of the Tzaritsa Moon

The Secret of the Tzaritsa Moon by C. Litka

SPSFC 2022

“I signed aboard the Tzaritsa Moon as her second engineer. I ended up a toaster repairman. I was very lucky.” – Rafe d’Mere. The Alantzia system is known for its many little worlds, moons, and rocks that are reputed to be more like the “lawless” drift worlds than the staid worlds of the Unity. Old spaceers convinced Rafe d’Mere that to fully appreciate the exotic romance of the Alantzian experience, he needed to ship out on one of the small planet traders which call on the eccentric little worlds. He did, signing aboard the Tzaritsa Moon, as her second engineer. On the passage to Fairwaine, Rafe’s swift response to a critical engine failure saved the Tzaritsa Moon. And his life. However, that failure was deliberate, part of a pirate prince’s plan to keep the Tzaritsa Moon from arriving in Fairwaine orbit. And when it did, the pirate prince was not happy. At best, Rafe might expect his memory of the incident to be erased. Erasing Rafe would, however, work just as well. In Rafe effort to get clear of the Tzaritsa Moon and get very lost on Fairwaine, he crossed orbits with a thief – a girl with a pretty face, who may, or may not, have been a covert agent of the Patrol. She was rather evasive on that point. But she was determined to discover why the pirate prince wanted the Tzaritsa Moon destroyed. And Rafe found that he couldn’t resist helping her. She had a pretty face. The Secret of the Tzaritsa Moon is a SF mystery adventure featuring Rafe d’Mere, ex-Patrol contraband suppression and repair tech, and Vaun Di Ai, Patrol Lieutenant JG, Intelligence Analyst 2, who had, somehow, escaped her desk job to be an acting covert agent. The story is set on the moon of Fairwaine, in one of its old fashioned, nonconforming societies. One that uses toasters to make toast.


Reap3r

Reap3r by Eliot Peper

SPSFC 2022

How far would you go to achieve your greatest ambition? Nothing is what it seems in this speculative thriller about a quantum computer scientist, virologist, podcaster, venture capitalist, and assassin coming together to untangle a twisted enigma that will change the course of future history. Everyone has something to hide, and every transgression is a portal to discovery. Taking you on a whirlwind journey from the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area to the distant shores of the Galápagos, Reap3r is a propulsive adventure that grapples with the price of progress and how technology shapes our lives and world.


Exin Ex Machina

Exin Ex Machina by G. S. Jennsen

SPSFC 2022

Cyberpunk and space opera collide in a thrilling new trilogy from the author of the acclaimed Aurora Rhapsody saga. When man and machine are one and the same, there are many crimes but only one sin: psyche-wipe. The secrets it has buried could lead to a civilization's salvation, or to its doom. The Asterion Dominion is at peace with its neighbors and itself. Its citizens enjoy great freedoms and all the luxuries their biosynthetic minds can imagine, design and create. But beneath the idyllic veneer, something is going wrong. People are going wrong, driven to commit inexplicable crimes without motive or purpose. And once imprisoned for those crimes, they simply vanish. Psyche-wiped and dumped in an alley 5 years ago, awakened into a culture where ancestral memories stretch back for millennia, Nika Tescarav's past is a blank canvas. But if whoever erased her did so in the hope of silencing her, they should have tried harder. Someone must speak for the lost. Someone must uncover how and why they became lost. Someone must find the lost. Nika is that someone. ASTERION NOIR
700,000 years ago, the Asterions fled persecution for their pro-synthetic beliefs. In the safe harbor of a distant galaxy, they have evolved into a true biosynthetic race and built a thriving society upon the pillars of personal autonomy, mutual respect and boundless innovation. Now that society is fracturing at the seams. Beneath lies built upon lies, the shocking truth as to why threatens the future of not merely the Asterions, but all life in the universe. Enter a world of technological wonders, exotic alien life, enthralling characters, captivating worlds—and a terrifying evil lurking in the void that will shatter it all.


Aztra's Mirror

Aztra's Mirror by Charles Freedom Long

SPSFC 2022

Beneath the surface of Trychnos and its twin, Saecula, lie a galaxy’s wealth of gemstones. The Trux have despoiled their world through mindless quarrying. The Saec rejected wealth and all modernity. They detest each other. To the point where their saints have abandoned them. With Trychnos on the verge of ecological collapse, the Trux plan to invade Saecula and repeat the mining calamity. Centuries of hate cannot simply be erased. But deep within the bowels of Trychnos, lies a magical mirror, made of one perfect diamond by the god Aztra herself. Whoever gazes into Aztra’s Mirror—if they survive the mirror’s gazing back into them—will have power beyond their wildest dreams. Power to bring about whatever change they desire. If they do not survive, they will pay a price beyond imagination. Neither Zakan nor his twin Javek ever wanted more than to live as simple acolytes in their pastoral village. But the God Aztra herself calls Zakan to the challenge of the Mirror. Despite Zakan’s recurring dream that he will die in this quest, driven by Aztra’s calling, aided by saints, sinners, sorcerers, and the dead of both planets, Zakan sets out to find Aztra’s Mirror and use its power to save both worlds. If he fails, both the simplistic Saec and avaricious Trux will die, and their planets with them. The mirror has its price. And it will be paid.


A Call to the Sky

A Call to the Sky by Marc DeGeorge

SPSFC 2022

In a world with no ground, only flight keeps you alive. Toume d’Nezuhmy only wanted to be a pilot, just like his mother. As the son of a chieftain, his clan had trained him to fly well, then sent him to bury his head in books. He would have stayed in them, if not for the high priestess of the Drahken clan. After making a stop on her Island to deliver parts, she offers him a curious mission. Take a mysterious package to the Manuke—the clan of scientists and engineers who will study it to find its secrets. There is no pay, but if he is successful, the high priestess will grant him her daughter’s hand in marriage. Ever since his mother went missing, Toume has struggled to gain his father’s approval. Could this be the chance he needs to show his father he is ready to be away from his books? This delivery is not as simple as it seems, however. Rival clans will kill him for the package, and even if he is successful, marriage is no guarantee of happiness. A serious choice lies before Toume. Should he choose wrong, he could wind up dead, or worse—a failed union between him and the Drahken heir would destroy the only alliance that protects his clan from destruction.


The Psychic's Memoirs

The Psychic's Memoirs by Ryan Hyatt

SPSFC 2022

Ted Kaza, a hot-tempered Los Angeles detective, and Lydia Jackson, his distracted partner, are assigned to find Alice Walker, an alleged teenage psychic whose capture might determine the outcome of a looming civil war and humanity’s relationship with a misleading alien force.


The Created

The Created by Michael McCloskey

SPSFC 2022

What do a stealthy synthetic plant, an eavesdropping sound curtain, and an invisible observer have in common? They are artificial agents working tirelessly in the crime-rife city of Red Calais for their ingenious Master. They wend their way through the cutthroats, cat burglars and con men of the greatest city of the core world called Idona, challenged by numerous obstacles. Yet it seems that their Master hardly notices the chaos his automated minions are creating...


The Veiled Edge of Contact

The Veiled Edge of Contact by James Brayken

SPSFC 2022

A lost tribe, a missing spouse, and an alien interception . . . Okon was comfortable. Then his wife did something inconsiderate: she disappeared. When Okon realizes she left behind a desperate message with instructions for finding her, he’s forced to enter the largest jungle in Africa to follow her trail. But the longer Okon searches for his wife, and the deeper he journeys into the jungle, the more tangled he becomes in an astonishing discovery and the lives of an unlikely group of outsiders. Okon’s comfortable home has never seemed so far away and danger never so close . . . or so strange. Fun, sometimes dark, and relentlessly original—you won’t read another science fiction book like this!


Echoes of Another Earth

Echoes of Another Earth by J Daniel Layfield

SPSFC 2022

A scientist in hiding. An admiral on the brink of treason. A man who has lived hundreds of versions of his life across the same number of dimensions. Three paths converge in one dimension. Their actions will affect them all. Josh hasn't really felt like himself since the first time he died. It's funny what you can get used to though. With his next jump into another Josh's life, he may finally get some answers, but does he want to hear them? Better question: can he trust the scientist being hunted by his past? Whatever Josh chooses, his actions will either aid in saving this dimension from destruction, or add it to a long list of ones destined to end.


The Unpleasantness at Baskerville Hall

The Unpleasantness at Baskerville Hall by Chris Dolley

SPSFC 2022

Wodehouse steampunk version of The Hound of the Baskervilles! “Jeeves and Wooster meet Holmes and Watson with a touch of steampunk in the hilarious first full-length Reeves and Worcester tale ... This laugh-out-loud parody works on several levels ... With razor-sharp wit and fast pacing that plays fair with the reader, this is an excellent genre mash-up that fires on all cylinders.” - Publishers Weekly An escaped cannibal, a family curse ... and Reginald Worcester turning up on the doorstep. Could things get any worse for the Baskerville-Smythe family? As the bodies pile up, only a detective with a rare brain – and Reggie’s is so rare it’s positively endangered – can even hope to solve the case. But... there is the small matter that most of the guests aren’t who they say they are, the main suspect has cloven feet, and a strange mist hangs over great Grimdark Mire. Luckily the young master has Reeves, his automaton valet, and Emmeline, his suffragette fiancée, on hand to assist. This stand alone novel is the fifth Reeves & Worcester Steampunk mystery


Blackthorne

Blackthorne by Clayton Snyder

SPSFC 2022 SPSFC 2024

Framed for a crime he didn’t commit. Haunted by the ghosts of his past. Incarcerated in the most notorious prison in the Freeholds. Fate has mauled Mattias Temple, a failed cadre necromancer, leaving him with little hope. Until a rogue military squad kidnaps the governor and threatens the city with a magical plague, giving him a shot to redeem a lifetime of mistakes and be the one thing he never thought possible: A hero. As the body count rises Mattias finds himself neck-deep in trouble and drowning in ghosts. Outnumbered and outgunned, he has one choice left: Cut a bloody swathe through his enemies or die trying.


Dangerous Thoughts

Dangerous Thoughts by James L. Steele

SPSFC 2022

Their planet was ripped apart from under their feet. When Deka and Kylac wake up, they discover Archeons are dead, and the portals have closed without warning, leaving hundreds of planets without links to other worlds. Rel’s destruction touched every planet in the contacted universe. Without the portals, entire civilizations hang in the balance, and Deka and Kylac are the only two who can make spacetime spheres. The raptor and the fox travel from world to world, repairing the damage the disaster caused, preventing civilization from collapsing. Floating islands drifting through the toxic atmosphere of a gas giant—offworlders are stranded there, just barely clinging to life. A planet of raised platforms made of growing rock that elevate the people above the flammable algae on the surface—everything is falling apart, and where are the people? A world of giant insects—researchers have gone missing, and they have been injected with mind-altering venom. A planet of salamanders and birdlike reptiles who relied on portals for food—facing starvation, the reptiles revert to hunting the salamanders. What could have destroyed an entire planet? What could have reached across the light years to kill so many Archeons at the same time? Did anyone else survive?


Skywatch

Skywatch by Steve Davala

SPSFC 2022

Always being connected to technology is nothing new for Daj, a young Maglan with dreams of flying. With constant access to vid streams, friends, legions of fans, and everything digital, there’s nothing else he needs. When he stumbles upon an anti-tech group, however, he begins to see the other side of a world controlled by technology.


Astral Fall

Astral Fall by Jessica Mae Stover

SPSFC 2022

A hundred-year interplanetary war receives little attention from the military’s greatest warriors. Until five of them devise a secret plan to end it. From Midwest Book Review:
"Without providing spoilers, suffice it to say that Astral Fall attempts to identify, address, and turn upside down reader preconceptions of [...] the nature of military sci-fi as a genre. And, it succeeds. Think the classic Ender's Game, but without any attempt to mimic Orson Scott Card's scenarios or success. Think a military battle structure holding the epic confrontations of Lord of the Rings, complete with its promise of multiple series books; yet with an attention to intricate detail that belays the (too-often) hasty series production. There is no artificial division of action felt in Astral Fall.


The Massive Planet: The Adventures Of Deep Contact

The Massive Planet: The Adventures Of Deep Contact by Jeff Walker

SPSFC 2022

Captain Christopher Riley and his brave crew of the Earth Core United spaceship, Deep Contact, set out for adventure beyond the solar system. Their mission is to traverse space and discover new worlds for colonization; They represent humanity seeking to expand, explore, and search for alien life in any form. Alone and in the uncharted wilderness of the cosmos, they try to survive and complete the mission on behalf of Earth Core United. Deep Contact almost collides with a massive planet appearing out of nowhere. A Jupiter-like world that popped right into its main flight path. The crew desperately try to figure out a way to break free of its gravity as it pulls them deeper inside. Even though the ship should have been crushed instantly the minute they came into its wake; It falls deeper into the atmosphere’s densely thick clouds, endangering them all to whatever doom awaits. Captain Riley and his crew must race to figure out how to escape this huge world before they crash into its core, but do they have time to solve this riddle? Or will this be their one and only mission of failure?


Starhelm Epsilon

Starhelm Epsilon by David Viergutz

SPSFC 2022

Royce used to be a talented mech Pilot, but now he’s a washed up and in hiding. Stuck combing slums and backwater planets, hopping from job to job, Royce makes it to a substation and is quickly caught up in a new conflict he wants no part of. His identity is revealed, along with the secret location of one of the few remaining Starhelms, the ultimate war machine. The mech of all mechs. To complicate things, he’s accompanied by a mysterious woman on her own quest with too many secrets. Secrets which attract the attention of all three factions vying for control of the galaxy. Now, Royce’s simple life of surviving has become a battleground, and he must recover his Starhelm before the factions do. For the things they will do with it will not lead to war, but the obliteration of the entire galaxy.


A Dream of Waking Life

A Dream of Waking Life by E. S. Fein

SPSFC 2022

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF YOUR EXISTENCE? HOW MUCH WOULD YOU SACRIFICE FOR LOVE? When Matthew Willish wakes up on a cold steel floor unsure of how he got there, he begins desperately searching for answers. What Matthew doesn't realize, however, is that this is only the beginning of a journey that will ultimately send him searching other worlds for the answer to numerous profound questions, the most pressing being: is he living in reality or in a dream? Or is he just an insane man who desperately needs help? A Dream of Waking Life is a philosophical and psychological thriller that tells the story of one man's journey through space, time, and mind to not only discover his true identity but also the love of his life—a woman who keeps slipping through his fingers and into another reality. A thought-provoking meditation on the thin line between what is real and what is not, A Dream of Waking Life will leave readers questioning how far they would go to understand the nature of their own existence and how much they would sacrifice for love.


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