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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Forged in War (Gustav’s Greatswords #1) – Michael G. Thomas and Nick S. Thomas

A mercenary captain and his legendary swordsmen battle an unstoppable enemy!

Gustav von Altenburg and his elite mercenaries, the Greatswords, are called to defend a town in the shadow of the Harz Mountains. But upon arrival they find the town ravaged by disease and fear, with neighboring villages crumbling under relentless bandit raids launched from a nearby ruined castle.

But a greater threat looms. A ruthless army of Landsknecht mercenaries is sweeping through the region, looting and burning everything in their path—and now they march toward the town. Gustav must rally every man able to bear arms and prepare for a battle that will decide the town’s survival. With everything on the line, the Greatswords face their deadliest foe yet.

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Salvage Harbinger (The Invasion #2) – Kevin Steverson, Nick Steverson, and Jason Corsova 

The Invasion Looms!

For Captain Michaelangelo “Miggy” Morrison and the crew of the Cabrillo, life had been getting better—mostly. Credit was flowing in, enough to keep their ship fueled and berthing space reserved, and things were starting to look up.

But a new enemy lurks in the shadows, one which could shatter the entire Milky Way galaxy.

The Seekers were coming, and Pakrewan lay directly in their path. Miggy and the rest of his crew are all that stands between the destruction of Pakrewan and the survival of the place they all call home. The denizens of Pakrewan were a tough people, but could they stand up to the flood that was coming?

Fortunately for Pakrewan, they have an ace up their sleeve—the Cabrillo.

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Silence and Starsong Fall 2024 – edited by Joseph Knowles

Silence and Starsong Magazine contains stories in a variety of genres from science fiction and horror to fantasy and action/adventure. There are authors you already know and love as well as promising newcomers. All share a common goal: to inspire wonder and awe through stories of high strangeness.

Stories include:

A tiny submersible carries three scientists into the icy, unexplored waters of the Antarctic. What will they uncover?

To Tony, the mall was a home away from home. What will he do when a mysterious danger threatens it?

On the frontier of an imagined history, lancers will fight against a rising barbarian horde and taste death itself to keep the torch of civilization lit.

Cutter discovered more than just copper on his latest expedition across the Martian landscape, but can he return to safety and protect his special find?

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The Spider: The Hangman from Hell (The Wild Adventures of The Spider #4) – Will Murray

When Richard Wentworth discovers a foreign plot to assassinate James Christopher, alias Operator 5, he is rebuffed by the young Intelligence agent and ordered to stay out of official business.

Vowing to track this enemy killer as The Spider, Wentworth encounters more than he bargained for in the person of a hulking brute who calls himself the Hangman, and who wields unique weapons of unimaginable cruelty.

Can these two heroes who fight on opposite sides of the law learn to join forces and stave off a planned invasion of the United States of America? Or will Manhattan succumb to a horrific new weapon of warfare?

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Sword & Scandal – edited by J. Manfred Weichsel 

Forget damsels in distress. Barbarian warriors demand damsels in no dress!

“Sword & Scandal” is a play on the popular Italian sword and sandal genre of epic films. These will be stories with traditional historical and mythological settings from heroic fantasy, but with more gratuitous nudity, sex, and gore than what you usually see published. They will be subversive without becoming grimdark and will retain the sense of fun you would want from a pulp adventure, and the sense of wonder you would want from a weird tale.

Stories include:

A knight and a lady from warring kingdoms have an erotic encounter in feudal Vietnam.

A sadistic inquisitor accuses a female Harpastum player of witchcraft… and sapphism.

A sellsword gets himself into an awkward situation after being hired to abduct a woman from a harem.

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Tsunami of Turmoil (LAND&SEA Book 8) – Blaine L. Pardoe

Tidal waves have devastated America’s west coast as the alien Fish strike back to a US nuclear attack. The war effort is thrown off balance as the military and supporting militia try to draw new lines of battle against the invaders.

The Extraterrestrial Task Force (ETF) has created a new biological weapon that they hope will stem mankind’s losses. Their best asset, Ashton Slade, is caught in a Washington power play and soon finds himself with a target on his back. Compounding matters, other spies have infiltrated the organization.

While Cain and Falto fight on in what is left of Seattle, a young ASHUR pilot, Bianca Cordova, comes to terms with the mistakes of her past. A determined NYPD detective struggles as Manhattan is ground into rubble. Survivors of a space mission struggle to stay alive and a tank crew in North Carolina face their deadliest threat ever.

Humanity is fighting to hold onto its coasts, buying time to mobilize to fight the alien onslaught. ASHURs are proving to be just enough to stem the invasion, but for how long?

Meanwhile, mankind faces the chaos of the Tsunami of Turmoil…