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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The Conduit’s Key (Essence Wielder #4) – Dan Michaelson and D. K. Holmberg

As Dax explores his new connection to essence, a new threat emerges.

Dax is challenged by his new connection to essence. Not only does it change his focus in his classes, but he has to find a new fighting style in the arena.

Unfortunately his essence use draws attention from those with a dangerous power.

Dax and his friends need to master the connections he’s formed before this power changes him—or is changed by the others. If he fails, a deadly danger may destroy the empire from within. But how can he succeed when everything he’s learned in the Academy about essence fails him?

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Forward Command (Galaxy Bridge #1) – Daniel Gibbs and Steve Rzasa

An all-new galaxy. A terrifying new enemy.

Exploration of Sextans B is underway via the first stable trans-galactic wormhole in recorded history. Colonel Mateo Larra takes command of Joint Base Sagittarius Arch, the visionary new space station housing diplomats, merchants, and military personnel eager to make their mark.

But with every opportunity comes opposition.

Pirates harass travelers throughout the newly charted system. Smugglers, hauling valuable contraband, slip under the CDF’s nose. Even the League of Sol continues spy games as if the war never ended. Colonel Larra barely steps aboard the Arch before facing the most daunting challenges of his storied career.

Ships vanish without a trace. The mysteries deepen when one reappears like a ghost, pristine as the day she left the shipyard—without her crew. But when the League ambassador is kidnapped, his bodyguards murdered in cold blood, Colonel Larra encounters an unimaginable horror on their doorstep.

And this time, it’s a fight the Coalition can’t win.

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The Last Storm: The Shadows – Sam Sisavath

When the storm of the century hits Houston, it’s perfect timing for a heist.

Hurricane Matthew is a force to be reckoned with. It has been forecasted to drown the city of Houston in an unrelenting torrent of rain. In the days before its arrival, the city was evacuated, leaving behind only a skeleton police force and civilians unable to flee its destructive path.

It’s the perfect time and the perfect place for the perfect crime.

Richter has it all figured out. A professional with years of experience, he leads a group of similar professionals that have seen and done it all. The plan goes down without a hitch, just as Richter envisioned. It’s everything else that goes off the rails.

Forced to seek refuge in an abandoned apartment building to wait out the storm, Richter crosses paths with a police officer and her partner. They think they’re each other’s worst enemies, but they’re wrong. Very wrong. There is a creature of endless hunger waiting in the shadows, and it’s ready to feed.

Good guys? Bad guys? None of it matters tonight.

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Retaliation (The Sol Saga #2) – James Fox

The fight for freedom comes at a heavy price.

After learning too late that he was supposed to take the fall for a political assassination and massacre, disgraced ex-general Keith Brennan finds himself given a slim chance at redemption.

The puppet-masters are being flushed from the shadows. Revolutionaries clash against the full might of the UNIC Protectorate across the planet.

If Edward McAaron has his way, the battles won’t stop with just Mars. War has come to the system at a level never before seen in human history. Lines have been drawn in the red sands. Whose side are you on?

Retaliation is the second book in The Sol Saga trilogy, a dark and gritty sci-fi drama with relentless action and subterfuge that will leave you breathless and hungry for more!

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Rise of a Tank (Getting Hard #1) – G. D. Temple

None will stand in the way of his quest to become an invincible tank.

Herald Stone always made a tank in every RPG he played. To be unkillable by anyone, be they players or monsters—that was his first Goal, a simple boy’s dream. However, the turbulent realities of life put an end to his gaming days.

Years passed, and Herald Stone, now a successful businessman, his gaming days almost forgotten, was presented with the opportunity to redeem himself… to fulfill his first Goal. Childish? Trivial? Others might think so.

But Herald Stone always fulfilled his Goals—every single one.

Immortality beckoned in the world of Mother Core, and this time Herald Stone would answer. Choosing a long-forgotten race, hidden away in an unknown region, his journey begins.

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A Thousand Li: the Fourth Stage – Tao Wong

Change is the only constant

Returning to the Verdant Green Waters sect over a decade after his exile, Wu Ying finds his position and place within the Sect in flux. Strong enough to be an Elder but not having achieved his rank via the normal methods, he has jealous and worried rivals to contend with. It is reminiscent of his own past, but now, he’s an Elder and able to enact transformation in a broader sense.

Wu Ying must find his own place in the sect or leave it once and for all. The cultivation wounds he received in the south trouble him, and it will require time and resources – resources the Sect is able to provide – for him to stabilize his footing before he continues his climb to ascension. As with all things, immortality is never easy to grasp.