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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Cirsova #18 / Spring 2024 – edited by P. Alexander

Eighteen stories of heroic adventure and daring suspense. Including:

“A Quick Laugh with Death” by William Drell – Investigating the medical blackmail of a xenofruit magnate leads Mickey Vance to the sweltering planet Verdus, where the locals are beautiful and criminals deadly!

“On the Eve of Xerkhet-Buul” by Howie K. Bentley – Thargg Tanuth seeks to avenge the death of his beloved Princess Lenoris! Betrayed on the eve of Xerkhet-Buul, Thargg finds that he too is to be hunted by her killer!

“The Superior Griefs (Part 1)” by Michael Tierney – Investigation into government disposal of abused children leads to the discovery of a primeval race of lizardmen stockpiling them for food in stasis chambers! What is their connection to the strange new threat that has emerged on the edge of space!?

…and more!

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Die By the Sword Volume II – edited by D. M. Ritzlin

The clash of steel, the mysteries of magic, the adventures of a lifetime!

Die By the Sword Vol. II promises more daring fantasy and high-stakes adventure than ever before. From DMR Books and the finest fantasists of our time come TWELVE sensational tales, ready to swallow you whole into a world of sword-wielding heroes, exotic locales, strange creatures, and malefic magic spells!

Connwen flees into the Haunted Lands where he makes his stand against the Saxon invaders who killed his tribe and razed his village… Summoned by the Elders of Qwaarzm, Impyrryan Purple is sent to secure the necropolis at Xul-Kizaak. Little does he know that the threat is far more ominous than that of common grave robbers stealing mummies to sell to the circles of decadent nobility… A knight with no name and no memories of his distant past is sent on a mission to rescue a young woman accused of witchcraft from the Drudenhaus at Bamberg… Ulxedomus, Crown Prince of K’Zal, wanders a weird world with an alien entity trapped in his left eye socket, in search of the usurper to the throne of his kingdom—his own brother… A curse is placed upon the house of Conal MacCarthy in retribution for a terrible deed from the past. Will the MacCarthy family survive the onslaught of the supernatural swordsman set on them by sorcery?

Return to the ways of steel and sorcery once more, and DIE BY THE SWORD!

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The Invisible Colony (The Forever World #2) – Ethan Rhodes

For Zane Lucas, the adventure is far from over.

With the Gral sent home, abandoning their posts around the colonies, Humans are once again in charge of their own fate.

Zane and Julia are determined to find the mysterious 44th colony. They devise a plan and set into action, while Lorna and Henry search the Forever World for evidence of the elusive alien race.

Carl is sent into enemy territory with only a shred of hope as his guiding light.

For both father and son, choice is synchronous with consequence, but how can you be sure you’ve made the right one?

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No Retreat (The Last Hunter #13) – J. N. Chaney and Terry Mixon

When things are going to plan, check to see what you’re missing.

Admiral Jack Romanoff and his crew are trapped inside the Confederation proper and facing an unknown number of alien attack ships. They’d thought the Tardan military was defeated, but they’d been wrong. Now they were trapped in a fight they couldn’t lose.

When everything seems exactly as you’d hoped, figure out what you’ve missed.

Not only do they need to stop the Locusts, but they still have to defeat the Poseidon Group and overturn the coup they’d staged. They only have two battleships and a spy ship to make that happen. Their only advantage is that no one knows they’re there. They’ll have one chance to get things right, or humanity is screwed.

When everything goes to hell and your back is against the wall, fight.

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A Power Unfolds (The Chain Breaker #15) – D. K. Holmberg

The Chain Breaker must find a way to unite power, or his realm will be destroyed.

The Forerunners have revealed their plans, and now Gavin and his team must find a way to stop them. Doing so involves coming to understand the powers of the world, including some that have been long forgotten.

Gavin has learned to fight with the team he’s constructed, but this might be a battle fought alone.

And not by Gavin.

How can the Chain Breaker learn to let go of everything that he has been to be what he must become?

If he can’t everything will be destroyed.

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Rogue Stars: Purgatory – Jaime Castle

A fight for survival at the edge of the galaxy.

In the depths of space, far from the watchful eyes of Lenzaaban government, lies Prison Station 12, or as it’s fearfully known, Purgatory. It’s here that Commander Predaxes, a hardened former Marine, faces his most daunting mission yet. With only a wormhole linking them to civilization, the isolation of PS12 is palpable; the danger, imminent.

Enter Samea Malik, the latest addition to PS12’s population and a man with a target on his back. As the son of the Minister of Justice, Malik is a pawn in a galactic game of chess where the stakes are life and death.

When an assault on the station forces the crew and inmates to flee, they find themselves crash-landing on Faebos—a world as deadly as it is beautiful. Abandoned mining colonies whisper secrets of the past, while the planet’s native creatures lurk in the shadows, ready to strike.

Stranded and surrounded by peril, survival hinges on the uneasy alliance between guards and prisoners. As Commander Predaxes and Malik navigate this alien landscape, they must confront not only the beasts of Faebos but the ghosts of their own pasts.

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SGT. THOR the Damned – Jason Anspach and Nick Cole

Hunted and on the run inside the fabled and dangerous City of Thieves, U.S. Army Ranger Sniper Sergeant Thor must pull the greatest fade of his career as powerful sorcerers and conniving eunuchs dispatch small armies of deadly mercenaries and vicious hired killers to track down and take what Thor has stolen fair and square.

Other dangers await the Ranger inside the wild and untamed alleys, temples, once-mighty fortresses, and degenerate palaces of the Ruin’s greatest and most ancient of cities. Intrigue, betrayal, and mystery abound in this taut tightwire run-for-your-life dash to deceive and best the enemies who have unwisely set themselves against the lethal Sergeant Thor.

In the City of Thieves, the game doesn’t stop after the bodies hit the floor. Assassins, bandits, warriors, wizards, monsters, and gods are all out to get Thor before a fabled treasure slips through their grasp and disappears forever.

In a fantastic city caught between its diabolical devils and the deep blue sea, legendary for its larceny, lies, and licentiousness, Sergeant Thor must be more cunning than the best the City of Thieves has to offer in order to survive and win.

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Wasteland Warlords #6 – James Hunter and eden Hudson

“They might have us outnumbered and outgunned, but they don’t know the wasteland like we do.”

Clay Jaeger and his family have faced down hordes of mobs, evil forces, and deadly Dungeon Lords since they came to the IZ, but this is the first time all of Civilization has been turned against them.

Framed for heinous crimes they didn’t commit, Clay, Alex, and Joe will have to fight back with every resource the wasteland has at its disposal. If that includes taking over a dungeon and turning it against their enemies, so be it.

This time, it’s not just the Jaegers’ lives on the line. This is bigger than them. The freedom of every wastelander and mob in the IZ is at stake.