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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Combat Frame XSeed Illustrated Tech Guide II – Brian Neimeier 

Space is a graveyard

Meet the advanced war machines fighting for the fate of Earth!

Get the official specs on every Ynzu War era CF, plus fighters, ships, and more!

Learn the stories behind the mechs and pilots of the post-future!

See your favorite combat frames illustrated in gorgeous full color!

Access top secret weapon intel you won’t find anywhere else!

Put the secrets of every UCP, Ynzu, and PAX mech right at your fingertips.

Read the tech guide now!

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Gemini Outsider (Gemini Man #3) – J. D. Cowan and Thomas Plutarch

Set in the world of Heroes Unleashed, and as relayed by Thomas Plutarch, this is the story of the Gemini Man! Join Matthew White and Jason Vermilion as they are given ancient artifacts that thrust them into the world of heroes. Now they must traverse unfamiliar worlds, fight uncompromising villains, and face magic of the like no one has yet seen before. This is the story of Castor and Pollux, the two warriors who would become the Gemini Man!

Matthew and Jason have finally escaped the forces on their tail. But all is not what it seems in the quaint town of Riverview. Hidden monsters and psycho killers emerge from the shadows to drag them back into the void. A madman closes in! But can they even fight back without their powers?

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Guardians of the Twilight Lands (Books of Unexpected Enlightenment #6) – L. Jagi Lamplighter

An old enemy returns!

With the Heer of Dunderberg dead, Rachel Griffin is determined to save her beloved Roanoke Academy before time runs out, but to do this, a new covenant must be forged with the island’s fairies. On top of this, an old enemy has escaped and might reappear any moment

Rachel has learned not to wish on stars, but what should she do when she yearns for help? She is troubled by other questions, too: Where do the dead go? What became of her beloved late grandfather? Most annoying of all, with such a wonderful boyfriend, how can she be in love with two boys?

As her fourteenth birthday approaches, the answer to these questions awaits her, along with wonders such as she has never seen.

But there are terrible things ahead, too.

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Hear, O Earth! (A Prayer for Earthrise #1) – Daniel Arenson

They came from beyond.

From beyond the galaxy. From beyond human understanding. They came with one mission.

To kill us all.

Some call them aliens. Others call them gods. Their tentacles grip worlds. Their malice destroys civilizations. They’ve crushed a million planets.

And now they crave Earth.

Marco and Addy, veterans of the Alien Wars, are retired. They fought for many years. They saved Earth many times. Now they’re raising their children in a peaceful forest. They’ve earned this peace.

But Earth needs them. More than ever.

Because a war is coming. A war unlike any before. A war that can devour our very galaxy.

The enemy is almost here.

From the shadows of despair, heroes will rise. Heroes will sound the cry of our world, the prayer of our people. “Hear, O Earth! We will live!”

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Silent Order: Pulse Hand – Jonathan Moeller

The weapon that will destroy the galaxy is ready to fire.

Jack March has finally discovered the way to the Pulse, the superweapon the ruthless Final Consciousness plans to use on the world of Calaskar.

But the Final Consciousness has been deceived by the Great Elder Ones.

If the Pulse is fired, it will shred the walls between the universes, and the Great Elder Ones will be freed to destroy all life at last.

And only Jack March and his crew stand between the Pulse and ultimate destruction…

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The Wild Adventures of Sherlock Holmes #3 – Will Murray

London’s greatest consulting detective faces a new set of challenges that test his mettle as never before!

A clever human chameleon known as Giles Greengold emerges from the political underbelly of Britain’s shadowy halls of power to confront Sherlock Holmes in a series of rapier engagements, each duel of which is more thrilling than the one before.

Then, when he discovers a man who is clearly not from this world, Holmes faces the astounding possibility that the Martians who had failed in their previous invasion of England, have returned to renew their thwarted plans for conquest.

During World War I, Sherlock Holmes comes out of retirement for a secret mission to America, where enlists the greatest safecracker who ever lived, Jimmie Dale, alias the Grey Seal, in a risky plan to subvert Germany’s war effort.

Finally, near the end of his life, Dr. Watson introduces Sherlock Holmes to the one man who may be able to prolong it. Dr. Herbert West—Reanimator!

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Amaranth Angels – a Kickstarter campaign from Yakov Merkin

Saya Nishizawa was a starfighter pilot prodigy, flying alongside her big sister Kurenai in the Amaranth Angels performance squadron. where they conducted elaborate flying demonstrations and competed in mock battles–which they nearly always won.

Things were perfect, until tragedy struck, and Kurenai lost her life in a sudden accident. Scarred by this, Saya wanted nothing more than to run as far from a starfighter cockpit as possible. So she resigned from the squadron, and left Earth to start anew at a new school on a space station near the edge of the solar system.

However, fate has ways of forcing people back to their calling.

When the station comes under attack by an unknown alien force, Saya and her friends, caught completely unprepared, need to take flight in order to survive.  But when the smoke clears, the five of them are stranded far from home, and thrust into a far bigger fight than they could’ve ever imagined.

This crowdfunding campaign will remain open until 20 October, 2023.

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Saga of the Swordbreaker: Invincible Under Heaven – a crowdfunding campaign by Kit Sun Cheah

Previously on SAGA OF THE SWORDBREAKER, Li Ming entered the martial forest, filled with dreams of fighting evil and attaining immortality. He battled beasts and bandits, became ensnared in the schemes of the Five States and Ten Corporations, and discovered the dark undercurrents of the rivers and lakes. In the space of a year, all his delusions were stripped away, leaving him wondering what he should do with his life.

Now in the second half of the series, INVINCIBLE UNDER HEAVEN, Li Ming’s journey reaches its climax.

Follow Li Ming as he journeys to attain the apex of martial skill. Witness his rise through the ranks of martial cultivators. Fight beside him as he battles secret societies, powerful monsters, and devil cultivators.

And together, discover the true meaning of the ancient phrase ‘invincible under heaven’.

This crowdfunding campaign will remain open until 20 September, 2023.