This week’s science fiction new releases feature power-armored holy crusaders, a special ops soldier left out in the cold, and scientists meddling with nature to create a race of alien supersoldiers.

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Extinction Inferno (Extinction Cycle: Dark Age #2) – Nicholas Sansbury Smith and Anthony J. Melchiorri

The government said the Variants were dying off…
That the beasts would be extinct in a matter of years…
That the Allied States had returned to prosperity and freedom…

The government was dead wrong. Deep under the cities, the Variants weren’t just hiding, they were breeding. While the human survivors of the Extinction Cycle built outposts and brought back industries, the monsters were building something of their own. Working with human collaborators, they constructed a vast underground organic network to control this new army and launch a blitzkrieg assault across the Allied States. After tunneling under the walls, the beasts managed to overwhelm even the most fortified outposts. Many of them fell within days, forcing the military to abandon bases and retreat.

But not everyone is on the run. Team Ghost hunts a monster behind enemy lines that could change the tide of war. On the USS George Johnson, Doctor Kate Lovato and her team of scientists seek to understand and tap into the Variant network while oil tycoon S.M. Fischer and his engineers come up with a plan to help buy time for the remaining outposts. And, at Outpost Portland, Captain Reed Beckham and Master Sergeant Parker Horn investigate a frightening conspiracy involving the human collaborators.

As the Variant armies surge across the Allied States, those working to stop them realize even desperate measures may not be enough to prevent the total annihilation of their country.

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Gideon Ira: Knight of the Blood Cross (Deus Vult Wastelanders #1) – Adam Lane Smith

Demons and Necromancers haunt a burnt and blasted future in the ruins of what was once America.

A holy crusader sworn to slaughter the dark cults of Ba’al the Ever-Hungry must rescue a band of innocent children with his blade and blood-soaked gauntlets, or die trying.

All of Hell thirsts for his blood, but a man of God will never be broken. This holy crusader’s vengeance will be brutal.

The first book in a new heavy metal Christian pulp series.

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Lost Mission (Oblivion #1) – Joshua James and Daniel Young

A mission of peace hides a terrible secret.

Two decades of bitter war between Earth and her furthest colonies is finally at an end. Captain Lee Saito’s massive new starship is sent to seal the uneasy truce.

But a series of terrorist attacks on Earth and the mysterious acts of a strange cult threaten to derail the fragile peace.

When the mission goes awry, Saito must try to salvage what he can in deep space while his estranged son must navigate a conspiracy back on Earth that could implicate the highest levels of government.

But conspiracies go both ways and no one is as innocent as they might seem.

As it all spirals out of control, the future of humanity hangs in the balance.

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The Lost Swarm (The Lost Starship #11) – Vaughn Heppner

Star Watch stands guard over the Commonwealth, having defeated New Men, massed Swarm fleets and android attackers. The victories have cost lost ships, slain crews and smashed star systems. The accumulated damage means that Star Watch now strains to keep order as political instability, increased space piracy and rebellions stretch the stellar organization to the limit.

Humanity desperately needs peace so Star Watch can rebuild and regroup.

Unfortunately, Lord Drakos is searching the Beyond for a splinter Swarm colony world. The New Man believes he is a Napoleon of the stars. But he needs a fleet to prove it. Intelligence thinks Drakos hopes to make a pact with Thrax Ti Ix, assembling a fleet of renegade New Men and hybrid Swarm creatures, a fleet that will attack humanity.

Plan A has Captain Maddox capturing Drakos before he can find Thrax. Plan B means Star Watch will have to risk sending a fleet into the Beyond.

For Maddox this is also a voyage of discovery, as he learns the identities of his mother and father.

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Omega Force: Rebellion (Omega Force #11) – Joshua Dalzelle

The quadrant is on the brink of all-out civil war, but almost nobody knows it.

Now that he knows a malevolent AI that calls itself the Machine has seized much of the ConFed’s military apparatus and even controls the Grand Adjudicators themselves, Jason Burke must decide if he risks picking a fight with such an overmatched enemy, or if he runs to hide and fight another day.

Omega Force needs allies, and needs them quickly. After the unprovoked invasion of a neighboring superpower by the ConFed, Jason finds out that most of their military hadn’t been destroyed but instead remains hidden while the ConFed continues to hunt them down. If he can find the missing fleets and convince them to join his fight, he just might be able to hit back at the Machine before it invades another sovereign nation.

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One Man’s War – Steven Saville

There’s no good way to prepare yourself to die…

Guerro runs a kill team. They’re good. Better than good. Or they were, until they walked into an ambush that wiped his team out and left Guerro for dead.

All the evidence suggests they were betrayed, but by who, and why?

Determined to avenge his team and settle old scores, Guerro embarks upon a one man war, knowing that whoever put the kill order out on his people is still out there, watching for him to show his face so they can end him.

A relentless science fiction thriller in the vein of Bladerunner, Altered Carbon, and Titanborn.

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Sanctified (Saga of the Nano Templar) – Jon Del Arroz

Her new mysterious powers…

…could mean her people’s salvation.

With the world of Konsin II under Elorian control, Drin and Anais look to the stars for their next mission.

But the church moves slowly in its deliberations. Each moment wasted is another in which her people might die—or worse.

Anais has to grapple with the Elorian nanites living inside her, and what it means to have faith. Drin must once again leave his people to pursue a noble quest to liberate a people.

A shrewd Sekaran warlord and his legion stands in the way of liberty for Anais’ people. Can she inspire enough confidence in her people to spur them to rebellion?

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Wrath of the Reaper (The Last Reaper) – J. N. Chaney and Scott Moon

It’s all on the line now.

When Halek Cain and his allies search for a new home, the exodus fleet faces their ancient enemies right when a captured scientist unleashes deadly experiments.

Alon scout ships are drawing the exodus fleet into a trap.

Two disparate civilizations must work together to move a massive, broken down fleet into a new system while dealing with external threats and an internal crisis. Doctor Ayers has attempted to revive an alien race through DNA splicing, but instead of resurrecting the past, he’s created unstoppable creatures of extraordinary power.

The last Reaper and his allies have no choice but to fight against this new enemy, protect the exodus fleet, and find a new home for thousands of displaced survivors.

The only thing that matters now is winning the right to stay alive.