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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Lance (Conscript #3) – Scott Bartlett

Planet Nibiru wants them dead. All of them.

Trapped by the destruction of their own satellites, the Marines on Nibiru suddenly find themselves without orbital or air superiority.

With help months away, Po and his brothers must quickly figure out how to stabilize and survive against an exploding alien insurgency.

Po learned young to rely on no one but himself. Now, he’s slowly realizing that nothing from bootcamp, or from his trials on Earth’s moon, could have prepared him for this.

If he can’t rip up some deep-rooted beliefs about his place in the universe, and fast, it may cost him his life.

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Shadow Contract (The Hunter #1) – David Beers

The galaxy’s deadliest man never planned to be a savior…

Meet Vesuvius: the galaxy’s most feared bounty hunter with a blood-soaked past.

His mission? Protect a kid.

But he’s not just any kid—Adam is the prophesied savior. Vesuvius’s contract mandates safe delivery to the religious sect that believes this, navigating a perilous universe where every faction seeks to exploit the boy.

There are enemies at each corner and a betrayal from within his own order.

Vesuvius must outwit foes. Ensure Adam’s survival. All while wrestling with a past that he thought he’d killed.

Stakes have never been higher.

If he fails in delivering Adam, the universe is sure to plunge into chaos. If he succeeds, perhaps he can find redemption.

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Shadow Wired – Gustavo Bondoni

He’s a man of a thousand names. They call him Brown. They call him Sked. But they never truly know who he is.

He is more than just a hacker. He is a man trained to infiltrate the most secure facilities on Earth and fight his way back out if necessary. And he is the best at what he does.

Sked works in the shadows, a few steps on the wrong side of legality, for whichever party can pay his fees, in a world where people are wired to the net and everything is under surveillance. When Akane, the love of his life goes missing, Sked tracks her from the dives of Bangkok to the mountains of Peru.

In the process he finds himself embroiled with a criminal group who vows to hunt him down and kill him, and even space might not be far enough to escape their clutches.

That is what life looks like as one of the Shadow Wired.

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When Wizards Follow Fools (Arcane Ascension #5) – Andrew Rowe

Corin Cadence has been summoned to meet with the Emerald Council, a political summit including the most powerful of all attuned and their closest political allies. His summons came with a dire warning — that war was coming to the nation of Valia. But while Valia is no stranger to warfare, the circumstances of this invasion are dire.

Valia’s visage, Tenjin, remains missing. Many of the nation’s leaders were slain during Mizuchi’s attack, and others killed or injured through Saffron’s machinations. With a critical power vacuum in Valia’s leadership, few can be trusted.

Surrounded by old enemies, tenuous allies, and strangers with their own agendas, Corin will need to leverage every skill he’s learned to help salvage his nation’s fate.

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Cantos of Arcadia: a Post Apocalyptic Science Fantasy – a Kickstarter campaign by the World Between the Woods Press

It promised salvation. It delivered only doom.

When Ansel Horowitz stumbles on a solution to Earth’s energy crisis, he’s ecstatic—at first.

But soon reality sets in: the solution didn’t come from Ansel’s own genius, or even from his AI partner. No, the solution to the world’s potential doom has come from a shadowy entity, origin unknown. And salvation comes with a condition: the entity wants a body of its own. It wants to live, even if it means hijacking someone else’s body to do it.

Ansel fights the entity, but humanity—overjoyed to have a solution to its greatest threat—doesn’t look twice. Soon, a golden age begins: poverty is obliterated, our energy debt wiped out. It’s a dream…

…that becomes a nightmare when the entity triggers a massive volcanic explosion: an extinction-level event that forces humanity to take refuge underground.

This Kickstarter campaign will close on September 26, 2024.

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The Hidden Emperor: An Ayla Rin Sci-Fi Graphic Novel – a Kickstarter campaign by Jon Del Arroz

Ayla Rin, Agent Of The Terran Imperium, returns to face a new sinister plot against the Imperium!

Something is amiss with the Emperor of Mankind. Ayla Rin discovers he’s been replaced by a clone who’s intentionally sabotaging the Imperium on behalf of the evil Scorpio Alliance! 

But worse, the Scorpio Alliance knows she knows. And that means blackmail. Ayla is forced to find a secret superweapon that could unleash devastation on the Imperium.

This Kickstarter campaign will close on September 16, 2024.

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Honeymoon from Hell – a Kickstarter campaign by Declan Finn

One is a heartless, blood-thirsty monster. The other is a vampire.

The Dragon Award nominated Love at First Bite series had everything Urban Fantasy could want.

• Epic battles with vampires, werewolves, and high explosives.
• Supernatural conspiracies
• Vatican ninjas
• Throwing Stars of David
• Vampire assassins
• SpecOps Minions and werewolves
• Garroting vampires with rosaries
• Weaponized sacramentals
• Vampires who go to confession
• And true love.

And now, it’s getting a sequel: Honeymoon from Hell. This is what happens after “happily ever after.”

Now with even MORE action.

This Kickstarter campaign will close on September 30, 2024.

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Lord of Fate: An Arkwright Cycle Dark Fantasy Novel – a Kickstarter campaign by Brian Niemeier

A holy warrior plagued by doubt … 

A cloistered mystic yoked with rulership … 

A fated prophet seeking the powers of life and death … 

Besieged by a ruthless prince and a cruel legion, the free port of Dailij seems doomed.

Trapped in the embattled city and lionized by its desperate people, imperial envoy Zebrin finds his faith tested by their newly elevated queen. Spies and traitors seek to topple the walls from within. The quest for the Burned Book stands on the brink of failure.

To survive, Zebrin must discover his place in the prophecies reshaping the world. But when solving an ancient riddle of tragic love means choosing between his honor and his soul, will Zebrin find strength enough to save the fallen savior? Or will evils not of the world reign over it?

The choice lies with the Lord of Fate.

This Kickstarter campaign will close on September 26, 2024.