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

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Before Us (The Abyss #2) – Nathan Hystad

They came from below but were they also here Before Us?

Wyatt survived the initial destruction, but he’s lost someone important to him. While he fights to distract himself from harsh realities, he ventures for the rendezvous point, eager to reconnect with his past.

Blaze and his son, Luke, travel south, deeper into Mexico, in an effort to shut the remaining Rings off at the Nu-En facility. But Alan’s odd behavior and sordid past leave many questions unanswered.

Luna discovers just how strong she can be, and treks across the deadly country with her new friend. While reluctant to trust anyone, Luna finds she has no choice.

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BRASS, Inc. (The Phoenix Initiative #7) – William S. Frisbee

Rick Walker is a veteran, but he’s also the newest scout sniper with BRASS, Inc., the finest scout sniper company in the Mercenary Guild. They infiltrate undetected to identify and terminate targets, then exfiltrate after delivering surgical destruction. Assault troopers love to have them paving the way and clearing obstacles because BRASS gives them the edge.

When Ben’s Bravos took on the mission to rescue a scientist held in a jungle fortress, therefore, there was only one company to call to scout the objective—BRASS, Inc. Though newly assembled, Rick’s team was hired to provide the recon and firepower needed to ensure the Bravos could pull off their seemingly impossible mission.

To do that, though, Rick will have to show he has what it takes, even though everyone—including the woman he loves—expects him to fail. And when everything starts to go wrong, and it appears the Bravos have a traitor in their ranks, he finds himself the only one at the objective. And if he doesn’t succeed, everyone—including himself—is going to die.

Just another day as a scout sniper. BRASS (Balls) Included.

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Light Unto Another World #9 – Yakov Merkin

In wartime, where great powers are concerned, there are often dark secrets, buried just below the surface.

Uncovering those secrets is important, but it is often dangerous, in more than one way.

Especially when those secrets are directly related to your own past.

Fresh off just barely turning a devious enemy plot on its head, Uriel and his team are back in action.

However, almost immediately, a new wrinkle is thrown their way, when they discover a girl who was altered and turned into a shapeshifter, just like Setzell.

While Setzell is overjoyed to find someone else like her, the new arrival sets off a chain of events that will see Uriel and his team facing down their vilest foes yet, with the lives of people they care about on the line.

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Amaranth Angels – a Kickstarter campaign from Yakov Merkin

Saya Nishizawa was a starfighter pilot prodigy, flying alongside her big sister Kurenai in the Amaranth Angels performance squadron. where they conducted elaborate flying demonstrations and competed in mock battles–which they nearly always won.

Things were perfect, until tragedy struck, and Kurenai lost her life in a sudden accident. Scarred by this, Saya wanted nothing more than to run as far from a starfighter cockpit as possible. So she resigned from the squadron, and left Earth to start anew at a new school on a space station near the edge of the solar system.

However, fate has ways of forcing people back to their calling.

When the station comes under attack by an unknown alien force, Saya and her friends, caught completely unprepared, need to take flight in order to survive.  But when the smoke clears, the five of them are stranded far from home, and thrust into a far bigger fight than they could’ve ever imagined.

This crowdfunding campaign will remain open until 20 October, 2023.

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ANVIL: Iron Age Magazine Issue #2 – a crowdfunding campaign from IronAge Media

In this age of derivative and propagandistic mainstream media, creators across mediums and genres have begun pushing back. ANVIL celebrates and highlights those artists and authors drawing inspiration from the roots of comics and pulp. Heralding the rediscovery and refocus on quality over ideology which is already underway, and gaining momentum.

Published and organized by IronAge.Media, a site focused on connecting Iron Age creators with new fans, edited by Daniel P. Riley, of Whimsyland and supported by Jacob Calta of 365 Infantry as Designer. Issue #2 is upping the ante with more fiction and more comics than before, over one hundred pages of short fiction and comics will give you a taste of the best the indie sphere has to offer.

This crowdfunding campaign will remain open until 1 September, 2023.

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Saga of the Swordbreaker: Invincible Under Heaven – a crowdfunding campaign by Kit Sun Cheah

Previously on SAGA OF THE SWORDBREAKER, Li Ming entered the martial forest, filled with dreams of fighting evil and attaining immortality. He battled beasts and bandits, became ensnared in the schemes of the Five States and Ten Corporations, and discovered the dark undercurrents of the rivers and lakes. In the space of a year, all his delusions were stripped away, leaving him wondering what he should do with his life.

Now in the second half of the series, INVINCIBLE UNDER HEAVEN, Li Ming’s journey reaches its climax.

Follow Li Ming as he journeys to attain the apex of martial skill. Witness his rise through the ranks of martial cultivators. Fight beside him as he battles secret societies, powerful monsters, and devil cultivators.

And together, discover the true meaning of the ancient phrase ‘invincible under heaven’.

This crowdfunding campaign will remain open until 20 September, 2023.