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

A Blade’s Rebirth (The Chain Breaker #13) – D. K. Holmberg

When a power greater than the Chain Breaker rips through his realm, Gavin must become more.

When a strange power breaks into Gavin’s world from the other realm, he must find a way to stop it—and the ones responsible for forcing open the dangerous vents of power that let terrifying creatures into his world. But too many openings are forming.

Gavin and his allies don’t have the numbers.

Worse, when the truth about these openings is revealed, Gavin fears a war unlike the world has seen in ages will return.

And he may be the only thing standing in the way—if he can control his changing power in time.

The Eldritch Underneath (The Splintered Five Saga Outworlder’s Blood #2) – WillPowah

In the heart of the wilderness, a ravenous hunger lurks…

After a narrow escape from Tumbling Rapids, Kay and his mentor, Eleniah, embark on an exhilarating journey into the unknown. Eleniah has grand designs for her new protégé and plans to mold him into a force of nature, capable of withstanding whatever the world can throw at him. And her chosen classroom? A monster-infested stretch of wilderness, where no one would be stupid—or crazy—enough to venture.

But when a motley crew of refugees and adventurers unexpectedly intrudes upon their solitude, Kay’s training takes an unforeseen twist. Leadership is suddenly thrust upon him and, like it or not, he now has an entire settlement to look after.

Juggling his new responsibilities while simultaneously advancing his Classes and Skills should be challenge enough, but unfortunately there’s a far more ominous threat lurking beneath the surface of their new home. Something hungry. Something vicious. Something bloodthirsty. And Key’s idyllic little hamlet looks like the perfect meal…

Gunpowder Geishas (Four Horsemen Universe: Phoenix Initiative #8) – Carolyn Kay

“Swift as hares, fierce as wolves!”

Born into the Scarlet Rabbit’s mercenary company, Sakura Ike learned the art of combat before she learned how to serve tea as a Geisha. For her, fighting in a CASPer mech suit is as natural as breathing.

The job was simple: get down to the planet Wh’ton, retrieve the box, come home, and get paid. Easy. But then tragedy struck, and the only family she had left was her aunt Katsume and a mother that never loved her.

There is no time to grieve; Sakura must find the answers before the trail goes cold, and she loses her chance at revenge. But she can’t do it alone. Together with her best friend Jeni, the shell-shocked Newsom, the mysterious Jung, and the alien warrior Taka, they must band together to hunt down the Rabbits’ betrayer. The good news is Katsume has built brand new cyber battlesuits for them. The bad news is a fledgling Yakuza crime family wants to take them out before they fulfill their ultimate mission.

Will the Gunpowder Geishas get the revenge they seek, or will they become yet another failed Phoenix Initiative merc company?

Perry Rhodan NEO #15 – Alexander Huiskes and Christian Montillon

The Tosoma has been dutifully repaired attempts to escape when Naats, in service of the Arkonide Empire, descend upon the Web, demanding the ship and its crew.

Meanwhile, Aescunnar makes an astonishing discovery while trying to recover Hetcher on Mars. Signs of an ancient civilization are found on the Red Planet. More startling still: they may not have left…

On Topsid, Manoli is now heading for the Wise Ones’ Stronghold, a mountain refuge for their most revered figures. But the climb will be far from easy—and will a human even be allowed into such a sacred place? Elsewhere, the despot obsesses over his unseemly “collection” of Arkonide captives.

Back on Earth, Bai Jun’s questions are about to be answered. Administrator Adams orders him to evacuate the entire city of Terrania as a precursor to a grand reveal. What are the secrets of the Stardust Tower—and the administrator’s plans for it?

Read More

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

Aegeon #7 – edited by Brendan Heard

Sharpen your thoughts, late stage fructose-cows, the barriers of your prison shall soon crumble before you, like an atomic crab shedding its black-glass shell. Peruse these very pages and feel the itchy tingling in your pineal gland, worming out of your brain at the promised visions dangled before it like a roast beef dinner before a tapeworm-carrier’s posterior.

Bring those hammers crashing down, in bracered arms, onto the walls of your corn-syrup abbatoir. Free your mind to wander the God-granted plains of imaginative Elysium, and allow Aegeon to be the kratom reverie that deposits you, naked and derailed, upon the windy plane of THE NEW WORLD.

Do not be afraid! Soon the factory will close.

HOLD YOUR WARHAMMERS HIGH!

Caravan of the Damned – Chuck Dixon

When Conan leads his desert raiders against a rich caravan from Khwarazm intended for the King of Zamora, they find themselves in possession of a beautiful and priceless treasure. But the House of Yildiz does not suffer losses gladly, and the elite guards of the King’s Own, merciless and mounted on camels, are quickly on the trail of the Cimmerian and the outlaws of the Zuagir. And the depths of the desert hold horrors beyond the imagination of any man.

Illustrated by Ademir Leal, CARAVAN OF THE DAMNED is the second volume in the Chuck Dixon’s Conan series, which is based on the public domain character of Robert E. Howard’s Conan.

The Mighty Sons of Hercules – edited by P. Alexander

Long ago, in ages past…

There were men who travelled the world, seeking adventure, fighting injustice, defending the weak and the helpless, looking to right wrongs wherever they are found:

These were the Mighty Sons of Hercules!

Cirsova Publishing invites you to join eight of the Mighty Sons of Hercules on their daring adventures!

You’ll be amazed by their impressive feats of superhuman strength. You’ll be dazzled by the exotic and dangerous beauties who would seek their downfall. You’ll cheer as they save the innocent from peril and mete out justice to dastardly villains.

Wherever righteousness must have a champion, there you will find the Mighty Sons of Hercules! Whenever there is need and no mortal man can suffice, a Mighty Son of Hercules shall appear! Read More

Comics (Razorfist) – If you think one has to choose between SJW superheroes… or the idiosyncratic art of Manga… Good news! You don’t. France has been quietly producing better comic books than American and Japan for decades.

Sword and Sorcery (Adventures Fantastic) – I have long felt a growing angst about the ongoing disputes of the definition of Sword & Sorcery – a definition that to me has grown far too convoluted and frankly cumbersome. Once, decades ago, I was of the restrictive mindset that S&S had to be a particular this or that, more in the mold of Conan than not. Yet even then, I did not recognize several prominent characters as truly S&S protagonists despite popular belief to the contrary. I felt right in my convictions yet also felt it somehow inconclusive, felt that something was absent, a missing link scratching at my thoughts for years. 

Hero of the Imperium (Warhammer Community) – “In all honesty, I thought the idea of a self-serving Commissar, playing against the archetype, was a one-joke concept, good for a single short story,” Sandy Mitchell told Warhammer Community. “Luckily the readers, and the editorial team at Inferno,* thought otherwise, and demanded to see more of him – which just goes to show how much more they knew than I did. If I’d realised just how popular Cain was going to become, I’d probably have been too intimidated to write a single word!

Gaming (Sean Malstrom) – “The problem with Final Fantasy XVI,” he says, “is that the game modeled itself after Western Civilization.”

I looked at him and asked, “But WHICH Western Civilization?”

At this, his jaw dropped and was speechless. He didn’t know how to respond.

“You mean there is more than one?”

“Yes.”

Science Fiction? (The Obelisk) – “… Martian Chronicles is not science fiction, it’s fantasy. It couldn’t happen, you see? That’s the reason it’s going to be around a long time—because it’s a Greek myth, and myths have staying power.”

Sword and Sorcery (DMR Books) – Vran the Chaos-Warped is a man who will never break an oath or drop a grudge. When he discovers the despicable wizard Foad Misjak has committed the most foul of crimes against the population of Nilztiria, he swears to slay the evildoer or die trying. Vran confronts Misjak, who learns how the cursed swordsman earned the name “Chaos-Warped” when he casts a spell which has drastically different effects than intended. As a result of the uncontrollable magic, the pair of nemeses are swept away from Nilztiria to another dimension: a far-flung primitive world of ice!

RPGs (Walker’s Retreat) – Let us pretend that, despite all the product on the shelves, there is nothing that you find to your liking. Yet you want to play such a game. Therefore you resolve to make your own.

Fine, let’s do this. Read More

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

Ganwold’s Child (The Sergey Chronicles #1) – D. T. Read

Darcie was taking her young child Tristan to rejoin her husband Lujan in the Enach system when nonhuman slavers attacked and captured their transport. Darcie escaped with Tristan in a lifepod and touched down on Ganwold, a primitive planet controlled by their long-time enemy. Unfortunately, due to a malfunction in the lightskip drive, they’d also accidentally jumped several years forward in time and can’t expect to be rescued, so Tristan grows to manhood hiding among the alien ganan.

But when Darcie contracts a lingering, life-threatening illness, Tristan and his gan “brother” Pulou set out on a quest to find the father Tristan never knew, and they are faced with technology they’ve never seen. Captured and turned over to the Sector General, Tristan is used as a bargaining chip in the ongoing war.

Now Admiral Lujan Sergey must figure out a way to counter the impending attack, while realizing he could lose the family he’s just learned is still alive.

The Last Good Man (Luke Preston Thrillers #1) – Nick Thacker

A deadly outbreak. A government conspiracy. Luke’s back in the game.

Luke Preston’s world shattered following the brutal loss of his wife in a police-led operation. Scarred by this personal tragedy, he shelved his detective badge permanently. Former soldier and ex-cop, Luke has since settled into the quiet rhythms of civilian life. But the emergence of a lethal contagion menacing American lives wrenches him from this tranquil existence.

When tragedy strikes a family at a secluded detention facility, bearing the hallmark symptoms of a baffling disease, the government rings Luke’s number. This insidious illness, marked by harrowing fatalities and eerie blood splotches beneath victims’ skin, is on the rise. With time as the enemy, Luke has to plunge into action, or the nation faces a full-blown epidemic.

Joining forces with the brilliant medical professor, Mia Mendez, Luke ventures to the borderlands. Their discoveries there are chilling: indications that this dread disease isn’t natural, but a weapon, masterminded with sinister intent against the very core of the state. Pitted against formidable adversaries, it’s up to Luke, with his resourcefulness and grit, to neutralize the shadowy group orchestrating this crisis. Retreat is off the table.

The Lost Relic (ENIGMA Files #1) – Joshua James

In the high-stakes world of ancient artifacts and clandestine organizations, a trio of unlikely misfits are drafted into a desperate race to prevent the assembly of a prehistoric relic capable of warping reality itself.

Rhett, the stoic ex-military leader haunted by his past; Dinah, the conflicted academic with a penchant for solving ancient puzzles; and Fabien, a dangerous man driven by a personal quest—all are bound together by a cause bigger than any of them.

Their journey takes them from the treacherous peaks of the Himalayas to the volatile heart of war-torn Ethiopia, and from the depths of the mysterious South American rainforest to the unexplored realms of spacetime.

But what they seek might be more powerful than they were led to believe, it’s origins more mysterious, and their enemies more numerous.

As they inch closer, the lines between heroism and reckless sacrifice blur. An ancient force waits in the shadows, threatening to unravel the fabric of existence.

How far will they go to save a world on the brink of ruin? Read More

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

The Blade Bearers (Blade and Bone #6) – D. K. Holmberg

As the drumbeats of war intensify, the Bearers must answer.

Finn and Morgan struggle to return to Verendal, finding only destruction in their wake. With none to unite the scattered people, it’s up to an executioner and his one time prisoner to save as many as they can before the war claims even more lives.

Honaaz needs a fleet to attack the Alainsith, but even that might not be enough. As the defenses begin to fail, only a desperate ploy will save them.

Kanar in the Bearer, but struggles with his song. And if he can’t find it, Jal will be lost to them.

War splinters alliances and forges new ones, but all have a part to play.

Dreamer’s Throne – Seth Ring

A broken body. A mysterious world. It’ll take all his Intelligence to survive.

After a close brush with death, Garrett realizes that he’s in a new world. And worse, he’s missing an arm and paralyzed from the waist down. A fact that doesn’t deter the brutal gang lord whose floor he’s crashing on from wanting to throw him out into the street.

The only thing standing between Garrett and a cold death at the mercy of the city’s scavengers are his own wits and a plucky young woman.

Armed with a System that gives him experience for exploring his new world, Garrett is determined to do whatever it takes to keep himself safe from the threats closing in all around him. Even if it means becoming a villain.

But the inn and city are far from what they seem.

Terrifying creatures lurk around every corner and there is no weapon that can stop them. A strange lucid Dream world hovers on the edge of Garrett’s consciousness, and it isn’t content to stay a dream. When it starts bleeding into the real world, Garrett realizes that the hostile gangs around him are the least of his worries…

The Eighth Continent – Rhett C. Bruno and Felix R. Savage

A lowly construction worker on the Moon is Earth’s only chance…

Nick Morrison’s dream was to reach for the stars, but he never imagined that his destiny would lead him to the desolate lunar surface. Recruited by a daring startup to construct a lunar launch system at the Moon’s icy south pole, Nick abandons his troubled Earthly life for a chance at something greater.

Little does he know that the company teeters on the brink of financial and legal collapse, stranding Nick and his team in the unforgiving lunar wilderness.

Isolated and unsupported from Earth, Nick’s team faces an uphill battle for survival. As if that weren’t enough, a ruthless contractor at another lunar base harbors grand designs for both the Moon and Earth, and Nick’s team stands squarely in their path.

Now, they must band together to thwart the impending conquest of two worlds. Read More