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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Emergence (Terra Incognita #1) – Luke Messa

During a routine territory skirmish with the Hypirions, an alien race hostile toward humans, a mysterious third party attacks. With no other options, Commander Shawn Pace and his human soldiers suspend their conflict with the Hypirions and unite against the new threat.

As a prime witness and survivor, Pace is tasked with discovering the source of this menacing intrusion and helping to bring it to an end. Leading a unique squad, including a few genetically altered humans he’d rather omit from his team, Pace delves deep into the heart of an enigmatic galaxy far larger and more horrifying than he could have ever conceived.

As each new dreadful discovery only leads to more questions, Pace begins to recognize a malevolent reality looming on the galactic horizon.

Can Pace and his team unravel the truth and stop this force before it spreads out of control?

Or has the emergence of this new threat already condemned the galaxy?

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Fallen Earth (First Colony #15) – Ken Lozito

Years after the first interstellar colony ship departed from Earth, a contagion known as the Vemus spread across all mammalian life on the planet, giving rise to monstrosities that nearly wiped out all humanity.

Hundreds of years later, the interstellar colonists sent an expeditionary force back to Earth to help the survivors. Among the refugees were a cadre of human survivors who had adapted to resist the Vemus by becoming a hybrid of both.

Old war machines quarantined the Earth, preventing refugees from returning. Lieutenant Ethan Gates nearly died to save the colonial fleet sent to destroy the blockade. He survived by becoming a hybrid, and now they aren’t sure he could be trusted.

After months of being sidelined, Ethan finally returns to active duty, and makes an unexpected discovery…evidence hinting at the origins of the Vemus.

When detractors hinder unification efforts, causing treacherous divides among Earth’s refugees, a much larger threat looms in the shadows.

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Galaxy Undone (Forgotten Galaxy #4) – M. R. Forbes

Captured and sentenced to spend the rest of his life mining asteroids, Caleb’s odds of stopping the Legion and finding his way home appear slim. After being transferred to the most dangerous and deadly assignment in the Belt, there’s a good chance his punishment may be completed sooner than he imagined.

But with the fate of the galaxy at stake, he isn’t about to let a little thing like incarceration keep him from his goals. Where one fight ends, another begins…

…and Caleb will never, ever back down until the mission is complete.

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Half-Elven Thief – Johnathan Moeller

There is honor among thieves…but only to a point.

Rivah Half-Elven is a master thief of the Court of the Masked King, the ruling thieves guild of the imperial city of Tar-Carmatheion. Yet her debts hang over her head like a sword that might fall at any moment.

So when a guildmaster of the Court orders her to take a job from a mysterious client, Rivah has no choice but to accept.

But the client wants her to steal the spell book of a fearsome and powerful wizard.

And when you steal from a wizard, death might be the happiest outcome…and it will take all of Rivah’s wits, skills, and courage to survive.

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Tempered in Steel (The Constant War #1) – J . E. Mac

Char didn’t expect to be humanity’s last hope. But what hero ever does?

Char is a mech-jockey, piloting a new mecha prototype designed to fight off an alien invasion of Sindarhe spawn, a race of space squids that worship an even larger Old God bent on having its way with Earth.

It wouldn’t be so complicated if humans could actually fight from Earth, but they’ve had run-ins with previous Doomsday events—the previous one stranding them in Earth’s orbit. The planet is strictly off limits.

This battle will be fought toe-to-tentacle. Armored mecha versus slimy squiddie.

Unfortunately, Char’s new prototype has a small, slight (did I mention small?) glitch.

The engineer who made the prototype, after convincing Char he is most certainly not a mad scientist, assures her that the glitch is a feature. Not a bug. And with it, she can be Earth’s salvation.

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Thicker than Water (Four Horsemen Universe: The Phoenix Initiative #10) – Michael Morton

College graduate Danny Prescott is looking forward to rejoining the family’s mercenary unit, Prescott Defense Services, as a full-fledged member. He’s ready to prove himself and follow in the footsteps of his parents.

When he gets home, though, things don’t seem right. His father, Jack, is less involved in the unit’s affairs, and nobody wants to talk about what’s wrong. A strike contract for the Merchant Guild seems like just the ticket to get PDS fired up, but Jack Prescott won’t bid on it. Danny decides that action is needed to save his family’s legacy, so he takes the contract and leads a ragtag team out to fulfill it.

But when an old enemy enters the fray and kidnaps Jack, can Danny and his team complete the contract and rescue his father?

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Unintended Cultivator – Eric Dontigney

He never intended to be a cultivator. The heavens have another plan…

Sen never dreamed of ascension. Such were the aspirations of the rich young nobles, not orphans like him, scraping together a meager living on the streets of Orchard’s Reach.

However, when destiny takes an unexpected turn, Sen finds himself thrust into the role of a cultivator’s disciple. Chosen over the nobles who once looked down on him, he is adopted into a makeshift family of three ancient cultivators, each with a lifetime of knowledge and insights. These old monsters will teach Sen everything they can, from the art of the jian and spear to the mysteries of arcane alchemy.

Yet, on the path to defying the heavens, Sen will have to make difficult choices. He needs to decide what kind of person he wants to be, and what mark he wants to leave on the world. Because when his training ends, he will have the power to shake the world. He will also have formidable enemies who will do anything to put him back in his place…