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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Lord of a Shattered Land – Howard Andrew Jones

The Dervan Empire has at last triumphed over Volanus, putting the great city to the torch, its treasures looted, temples defiled, and fields sown with salt. What little remains of Volanus is scattered across the empire, its wealth plundered and its survivors sold into slavery. It is an absolute victory for the Dervans in every way but one.

Hanuvar, last and greatest general of Volanus, still lives. He now travels the length of the Dervan Empire that conquered his homeland, driven by a singular purpose—to find what remains of his people who were carried into slavery across the empire, and free them from subjugation by any means necessary.

Against the might of a vast empire, he had only an aging sword arm, a lifetime of hard-won wisdom, and the greatest military mind in the world, set upon a single goal. No matter what the empire musters against him, no matter what man or monster stands in his way, from the empire’s festering capital to its furthest outposts, Hanuvar would find his people, every last one of them.

And he would set them free.

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No Easy Dead – Jake Bible

A deadly wasteland. An elite unit. Can they protect the Stronghold?

In the post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested wastes, there is one beacon of safety in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains: The Stronghold.

For decades, the inhabitants have fortified and defended the Stronghold from zombie hordes, building their society and culture on military precision.

And chosen from the best of the best is Denver Team Alpha. DTA is the elite strike force used to rescue survivors and refugees that have made it to the hellish wasteland of Denver below. But because of the unbelievable risks, and high mortality rate, DTA has come to stand for something else: Dead Team Alpha.

Now, DTA will be put to the test as something far worse than zombies comes at them out of the wasteland…

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Psi Wars 3: Imperium – Rick Partlow

They thought the war was over…the enemy had other ideas.

Two years after the end of the Psi War, Caleb Mitchell is Emperor in all but name, leading his armies on a crusade to cleanse the colony worlds and Earth itself of the last of the psionic madmen known as the Changed.

But the citizens of the Commonwealth weren’t the only ones devastated by the war; the criminal cartels in the Pirate Worlds are in chaos, their trade cut off, their resources running out.

A young warlord named Amos Dobrev rises up to unite the cartels into a union they call the Syndicate. He builds an army of psionic supermen and tries to carve out his own kingdom among the former Commonwealth colonies.

Dobrev says they are only doing what they have to do to survive. Mitchell considers Dobrev a threat who needs to be put down before he destroys everything that’s left.

And caught in the middle is Randall Munroe, Mitchell’s right-hand man, trying to decide whether the bigger threat is an outlaw Syndicate…or the power of Cal Mitchell’s Imperium.

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Runic Cultivator – Joshua Kern

Train together. Grow in power together. Get justice.

Erik once lived a simple life as an herb grower in a forest. But it was never meant to last. Now, he and his betrothed, Ainsley have been training tirelessly to get revenge on the men who murdered his mother.

They have come far since those young, early days.

Cultivation of the body, and the spirit, of the power within, and how to fight as a team. That is what their teacher has drilled into them day in and day out for the last few years.

It’s time for Erik and Ainsley to leave the safety of the forest and to begin their own journey, one that will take them across the realms on a path to justice.

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To Rule in Heaven (Uplink Squadron #9) – J. N. Chaney and Chris Kennedy

The Alliance has been broken!

Betrayed from within by a rogue Synthetic Intelligence, the alliance has been fractured and is on the run. The Sontags have retreated to defend their homeworld, the Kardonians have lost theirs, and a Legastian fleet advances on Earth, with little to stop it but a couple untested airwings. Meanwhile, two enemy cruisers continue to chase Lance Baker. Sent by the Legastian queen, they won’t stop until he’s been destroyed.

But hope—however small—remains. Baker has an idea for where he can get the help he needs, not only to get the cruisers off his tail, but to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. He’ll just have to go somewhere he’s been told to never return to, and get something that has previously been denied to him, in order to pull it off.

Time runs short, and the Legastians are massing in Kardonia for the final push. Can Jimenez give Baker the time he needs, or will Terra’s last forces be swept aside and the Earth lost?

The Uplink Squadron forces have been in bad spots before, though, and have figured out a way to turn the tables on their enemies. But this time, the light at the end of the tunnel just might be the oncoming train!

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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 21 August, 2023.