"Is Leif really lucky? Stranded in orbit, viewing a destroyed civilization on Earth through the screens of a starship almost out of fuel and food, he doesn’t feel that way.
It wasn’t supposed to be like that.
As the starship Dauntless returns from a successful mission to the planet called Heaven, Earth holds no attractions for Exoplanetary Scout Leif Grettison. He wants only to complete the mission and leave for another star, along with ace pilot Yang Yong. In fact, he would be happy spending the rest of his life flying the starways with her.
But they and the rest of the ship’s skeleton crew awaken from hibernation to find Earth’s solar system dark and silent—no signals, no responses to their transmissions. When they make orbit, the magnitude of the disaster becomes clear: An apocalyptic war has killed billions and destroyed every last source of power and tech that 22nd-Century humans relied on to survive.
Getting down to Earth is only the beginning of Leif’s problems. Those few who survived the apocalypse are still divided, fighting over what’s left. The disastrous re-entry to Earth leaves him with no resources or allies. He lands in the middle of a makeshift family that needs him more than he’s comfortable with and hears stories—even nursery rhymes—that speak of a lucky starman. For once, he’s the only person with tech—but if he’s caught using it, they might kill him.
Can a man back from the stars end the warfare on Earth, or will he make it worse? Can he save a family that might become his? Is he everyone’s lucky starman?"
"Nothing is new under another sun. Not even murder.
This mission should be simple. Exoplanetary scout Leif Grettison and ace pilot Yang Yong are off to deliver a load of supplies and reinforcing settlers to a recently colonized planet. It’s as routine as a starflight can be.
Famous last words.
Something is wrong with the colonists. They are astonishingly ill-suited for the task of settling a new world. The planet, too, is a poor place to plant a town for humans. Even if everything goes right, the colony might not survive.
Then one of the colonists is found dead. Murder is a possibility. Not long after, another one dies—and this time, it’s definitely murder. In a world with only two hundred people, there’s at least one killer.
Meanwhile, the colony’s new leader has a plan—but Leif has doubts. Will this man save the settlement, or use his power to become a dictator? Leif and Yong’s mission is clear: they must leave the colony in shape to survive.
Leif is a retired soldier, not a detective, and when it comes to investigating a crime, he doesn’t have a clue. Literally.
Still, it falls to him to follow the evidence and find the killer. He also needs to deal with the leader and the leader’s plan. If Leif fails, the only mystery may be how long it will take for everyone to die."
"Once upon a time, it was a tough world for a young princess. What happens to the world when the princess decides to get even?
Aeryn Stonebreaker is the princess of Shadows, second in line to the throne of the Light, Shadows, and Dark. The singsong her nursemaids give her is “Gimlé is wide and bleak, Aeryn is small and weak”.
It’s a hard life on Gimlé, a strange world with a red sun that does not move in the sky. Generations before, Aeryn’s warrior-king ancestor, Arthur the Hammer, unified the land and established a detailed code of governance and behavior. But, while Aeryn is a child, obedience to Arthur’s code is fraying, and the kingdom is ripped apart by rebellion and war. She grows up amid the ebb and flow of fighting and the losses it caused.
What is the fate of a young girl in a patriarchal world where a princess is nothing more than a token on the game boards of powerful men? However, this is a princess who stops playing by the rules and picks up her own weapons. What happens then?"
"Where is the hero who will save the people of a distant world from a brutal dictator and stop the flow of a deadly drug to Earth?
Saoirse Kenneally is nobody's idea of a hero. An alcoholic and an addict, she has been disowned by her family. None of the rehabs she has been in will take her back. And she just woke up in jail. Again.
All Saoirse wants is to stay out of prison. Her one chance: commit to a two-year term of off-planet service. Her first hurdle is making it through training because Saoirse has a way of finding trouble even when she is trying to behave. Then she is posted to Saturn's moon, Titan, where every move she makes leads her into a web of corruption, interstellar drug smuggling, and violence. It is a path that leads to another star and a world engulfed in power politics. Saoirse never planned on being in combat, but real life has a way of interfering with her plans. If she cannot overcome the obstacles she faces, the consequence will be an interstellar disaster."
"A college party lands freshman Hal Christianson in an America that could have been: no smartphones, no cars, no flush toilets. What he finds is a squabbling bunch of states, the consequence of the colonies having grown up on their own after European civilization collapsed from plague in the 1670s, and they are poised on the brink of war.
For a socially awkward young man, who takes refuge in online games, this is a bad situation. All he wants is to go home, but he has no knowledge or experience that is useful. He has only one skill of value in a world where the rifle is a new invention - he is a competitive fencer.
Fencing may not be enough with the perils he faces. There are stories about people who appear, magically, as if from nowhere. They are caught and killed. The land Hal finds himself in is about to be consumed by revolution and war. As if the situation were not bad enough, for the first time in his life, Hal has fallen in love.
Can Hal grow up fast enough to survive in this world? Is there really a way home for him? If one exists, will he take it?
'A rousing what-if look at a decidedly different America persuasively stuck in a historical past.' - Kirkus Reviews"
"In the year 2069, humanity’s last chance for peace is the first ever interstellar mission. A multi-national crew of the most talented scientists and pilots has been chosen based on their expertise and skill. The final spot aboard the craft is assigned as a prize in a global “BerthRight” lottery, and Leif Grettison is the “everyman volunteer” who won.
However, Leif isn’t really an “everyman.” He’s a helicopter paramedic, a lab tech and a former army ranger who fought in The Troubles – a decade plus war that brought the world to the brink of apocalypse. He’s the perfect brawn to the brains aboard the ship and quickly finds himself playing the role of security and handyman as the crew begins to fragment and divide by country, just as they had during the war.
Little is known about the world circling the distant star that is the target for the voyage and the journey will take almost fourteen years, Earth-time, each way. To deal with the unexpected, the crew has the finest equipment and the planners believe they have thought of everything.
When you believe you have thought of everything, the universe has a way of showing that you haven’t. What do you do when it goes wrong, when you can’t call for help, and when adventure leads to deaths?
'. . . memorable jeopardy-in-space situations requiring steady nerves and knowhow . . .' - Kirkus Reviews"
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