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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Ghost Signal (Rift Warrior #2) – B. V. Larson

Acheron Colony was supposed to be humanity’s greatest windfall. Using long-range sensors, the planet tested out as a super-earth—but the reality is frightening. Instead of finding a green world bursting with life, the colonists find a dead rock covered in ash. Something has dismantled every organic molecule on Acheron—and no one knows how or why.

When a mysterious signal that defies explanation begins to pulse from an alien ruin, the colonists panic. Something ancient was here long before them, and the signal, like a heartbeat, won’t let them forget it.

Alien-built guardians arise, marching on the unsuspecting humans. Fearful they will be erased just like the last civilization, the colonists call to Earth for help. Special forces operative Dane Tanner of XCU responds to their pleas. Dispatched to Acheron with time running out, Tanner and the colonists must decode the Ghost Signal to either shut down the murderous guardians or harness their power.

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A Grift Too Far (Rex Nihilo #6) – Robert Kroese

Join the galaxy’s most notorious con man, Rex Nihilo, and his ever-loyal, ever-exasperated robot sidekick, Sasha, in their craziest adventure yet! Marooned on a planet whose inhabitants have modeled their civilization on World War II movies, Rex and Sasha have only one hope of escape: unearth a secret cache of weapons that’s been hidden somewhere on the planet.

The war is make-believe, but Rex and Sasha’s predicament is all-too-real, and to get off Yurp the duo find that they have no choice but to beat the Yurpians at their own game. With Rex’s cunning schemes and Sasha’s dry wit, they’re prepared to turn the tide of history—over and over again.

Can Rex and Sasha pull off the ultimate grift and escape Yurp? Or will they become permanent fixtures in the planet’s never-ending wartime farce?

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Phantom Whispers #1 – edited by Ian Nol

Spaceships, tanks fighting pig men, shapeshifting forest monsters, inter-dimensional cartoon characters, and psychic ghosts abound. Heed the whisper in your ear, step out into the void, and enjoy you’re journey into the zany, bizarre, disturbing, and otherworldly.

Phantom Whispers is a short story anthology magazine made by independent writers in the pulp tradition of old fantasy, sci-fi, and horror fanzines. We’re proud to announce our first volume, featuring stories by Ian Nol, JD Sauvage, Robert Garron, Hermann Morr, and Rawle Nyanzi, with wonderful hand-drawn art by the talented Scribbles n’ Bits.

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Searing Skies, Stolen Flames (Dragon’s Dawn #2) – Dan Michaelson and D. K. Holmberg

Saving his home means mastering his power. 

Having saved the village from the Korthal attack, Laric Mason faces a new reality where there are now expectations of him. As he trains with the mage Talia, he discovers that the lessons he learned from his grandmother prepared him for advanced magic in a way his school never did.

But his grandmother hid other secrets, and Laric is not the only one after them.

With a rogue mage posing an ongoing threat, he and his friends must train to use the power he never wanted, but it’s a power that might now be necessary.

Threats of dragon attacks force them to work faster than would be safe. Daelon is not done with his village, nor is he done with vengeance—and he blames Laric for his defeat.

Stopping him requires Laric to find a potential he never imagined and from a source he never thought possible.

To stop a mage, he might need a dragon.

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Caza’s Arkadi and the Lost Titan – a Kickstarter campaign from Humanoids

It’s Year 10,000 of the Still era, and Earth has stopped moving. Half of the world is plunged into frigid Night, the other is scorched in Day. Nestled in the heart of this everlasting night is Dis, the last fabled domed-city, ruled by artificial intelligence. There live the Chosen, the last biologically pure humans, who are completely reliant for their survival on cyborgs known as Titans.

In Twilight, the thin strip of habitable zone at the edge of Day and Night, survives the rest of humanity. In the small village of Accaia, a wandering warrior meets a sorceress and fathers a child, Arkadi.

Eighteen years later, Arkadi reaches the Age of Purification. As is tradition, he must survive a series of grueling challenges aimed at weeding out the weak. In the past 12 cycles, only seven children reached adulthood…

It is during these trials that Arkadi will rebel against the established order and discover his true power and set forth on a quest.

This Kickstarter campaign will be open through 27 June, 2024.

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The Other Fellow – a Kickstarter campaign from William Hastings

THE WORLD’S GREATEST SPY IS DEAD.

. . . BUT SOMEONE’S GOT TO FINISH HIS MISSION.

A homeless drifter stumbles upon secret agent Eton Smythe, mortally wounded on the streets of London. Seeking redemption for past sins, the drifter makes the suicidal choice to assume his spy’s identity and finish his mission. Eton Smythe’s arch rival is threatening to unleash a weapon that will change the course of the Cold War and the clock is ticking. But can this man, a killer, a mercenary, and a criminal, truly fill the shoes of the world’s greatest spy?

This Kickstarter campaign will be open through 2 July, 2024.