"Riveting and timely, a look at the research that is transforming our understanding of the cosmos in the quest to discover whether we are alone. For thousands of years, humans have wondered whether we're alone in the cosmos. Now, for the first time, we have the technology to investigate. But once you look for life elsewhere, you realize it is not so simple. How do you find it over cosmic distances? What actually is life? As founding director of Cornell...

Two decades after the devastating Elemental War, which nearly destroyed the cosmos, the new Confederation restored peace and profitable commerce among the peoples and worlds of the Spiral Arm. The ambitious, innovative Roamers went back to their traditional business of harvesting the vital stardrive fuel ekti from the clouds of gas giant planets, and the telepathic green priests of Theroc provided instantaneous galaxy-wide communication via their...

"Hail the conquering heroes! The tyrant Napoleon has been defeated with Arabella and the crew of the Diana leading the final charge. But, victory has come at a tremendous cost. Britain's savior, Lord Nelson, has not survived the final battle and the good people of the Diana must now return to London as both heroes and pallbearers. At last husband and wife, Arabella and Captain Singh seem to have earned the attention of great men, ones who have new...

"In a world devastated by a cataclysmic war between the wizards and mages, the Empress Ouriana has seized the throne . . . . Appointing twelve priests to perform her rites, she rules with a tight rein of evil sorcery. . . . Yet signs and portents appears, puzzling the seers, and a tale begins to grow. A rumor of a young girl, talented and hidden, who is destined to end Ouriana's tyrannous reign." --pub.

Scott Westerfeld, the acclaimed author of Fine Prey, Polymorph, and Evolution's Darling, follows The Risen Empire with the next thrilling space opera in Succession, the Killing of Worlds. Captain Laurent Zai of the Imperial frigate Lynx is a walking dead man. Unjustly held responsible for the death of the Child Empress, sister of the immortal Emperor, Zai has been sent to fight an unwinnable battle. The Lynx must stop a vastly superior Rix ship from...

It's been 20 years since the original crew of the Serenity was busy smuggling contraband, ferrying travelers, and having close calls with the Alliance and they've all gone their separate ways. Zoë Washburne and her daughter, Emma find themselves at the helm of the Serenity and they must cobble together a new crew of castaways and misfits to navigate this brand new 'Verse. But there is a world-shattering discovery beyond the Rim and together they...

Captain James T. Kirk and the Enterprise crew escort Spock's father, Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan, to a dilithium-rich planet called Akiron. They arrive to find this world under siege by creatures that some of the planet's denizens believe are demons. Sarek orders Kirk to abandon the mission, but the young captain won't turn his back on people in danger. After a harrowing encounter with the dark-energy "demons," Kirk's belief in a rational universe...

"The Jedi have always traveled the stars, defending peace and justice across the galaxy. But the galaxy is changing, and the Jedi Order along with it. More and more, the Order finds itself focused on the future of the Republic, secluded on Coruscant, where the twelve members of the Jedi Council weigh crises on a galactic scale. As yet another Jedi Outpost left over from the Republic's golden age is set to be decommissioned on the planet Kwenn, Qui-Gon...