Showing results by author "J. N. Chaney" in All Categories

Get ready to experience two more origin stories in the Backyard Starship universe.

The universe is hungry. For power. For money. For war. And—revenge. Stripping osmium from across the stars, thieves will stop at nothing to fuel the nightmarish industry of Stolen Persons, their souls locked away in chips made of the rarest metal known. Among these thieves is Helum Gauss, the visionary criminal whose empire spans a hundred worlds. But his massive corporation, BeneStar, lost—badly—to Van and the Guild, and Gauss won’t take no for an answer.

For Van and his crew, danger is no longer just among the stars. On earth, the Fafnir has drawn the attention of the most dangerous predator known to humanity—Bureaucrats. Between human enemies and alien allies, Van finds himself on the edge of a powerful change in his career. From the depths of his family history, an old enemy returns with plans for power at any cost. Just as his grandfather did fifty years earlier, Van will meet and challenge the threat of an ancient empire that spans deserts, stars, and time.

Ozzy escaped the Concord, but the path to Eritol is fraught with new dangers. Space travel is not for the faint of heart. When an encounter with Captain Voidclaw and his pirates of the Rising Dawn damages Stormy's ship, the crew is forced to dock at Dilennia, a haven for criminals, pirates, and cyberthieves.

Van's next mission has begun, and at the heart of it is the power to save lives. Meanwhile, a hungry galaxy looks to a brilliant young scientist for answers, making her the most wanted person in known space. After years of research, Adayluh Creel perfects a resource to feed sixteen races—or more—all with one golden plant capable of growing on the most hostile worlds. For her efforts, she wants nothing, but savage forces will seek to possess what she would give away for free, thus controlling the food source for billions of people.

Icrul never fit in. From her awkward body to her clever mind, so full of questions, she stood out in a city where conformity ruled—and tradition kept creative minds in check. Abandoned by her scheming mother, Icky and her Da face a cruel teacher, a decaying ship, and financial ruin. They also face... a grasping hand that will use the law to strip them of everything they worked for.

Not every visitor to or from Earth has good intentions, and the Peacemakers are faced with an uncomfortable reality. The Earth is about to meet aliens. Some of the aliens are bringing goods to trade. And among those items are weapons. When a secret cabal of humans who want to exploit the Earth is revealed, Van has to decide how and where to fight this threat. Along the way, he reveals a secret history that began in the Great War—and ends with mass chaos on his home planet.

There’s no such thing as peace on Amir…but as long as the uneasy truce between the Osay colonists and the last of the RUPAC station directors endures, one thing is certain: Brody is bored to death. While the eccentric, action-movie-worshipping battle android does his best to stay occupied, Reach and the colonists contemplate whether to help a mysterious faction inside the RUPAC stronghold. The enemy colonists desire liberty, but is Amir willing to go to war to bring it to them?

Lieutenant Magnus survives the harrowing rescue of his unit only to find himself charged with treason by the very military he’s pledged his allegiance to. Now, he must attempt to escort Piper to the Luma, homeward of Worru before dark forces discover her otherworldly abilities. But once there, Magnus finds himself confronting new enemies in the place he least expects to find them. Meanwhile, Awen uncovers a new plot that threatens to upend order throughout the galaxy. She and Magnus find their way to an alien world where they must work together to build a new team from the ruins....

Twain has made his move and the invasion has begun. As the Disciples invade many planets in several systems, Hank hopes that the united species will be able to hold out long enough for his counter-attack. The crew go on one last desperate quest to find Twain's location and discover a new way to fight back. But even if they survive, they will need all their friends and allies to bring the fight to Twain. Will Hank and the crew last long enough to stop Twain or will the Enemy AI finally take control of the universe once and for all?

From the halls of power in Washington to the vastness of space, the Guild moves closer to outright war as shifting alliances force everyone—including Van—to pick a side, take up arms, and fight. But there are ghosts out there in the black, and some of them carry secrets that Mark Tudor and Petyr Groshenko refused to reveal. In the expanse of his memory, Perry finds an ancient ship, and an even older war—and neither of those things have truly gone away.

For the first time ever, Van has to deliver the remains of fallen comrades. At the Starsmith, he's presented with an opportunity to change the face of the war, even as Torina and Van begin planning for the ultimate shift in their galaxy: Parenthood. But first, the crew must prepare for an unexpected gift—a new, unknown fleet of ships, uncrewed and hidden deep out in the black. There's just one problem. They have the ships, but they need pilots and a secret base to create their fleet. For that job, they'll need an ally of unparalleled strength. The Schegith Protectorate.

Will Kaufman is the only Void Navigator the New Federation has left. Missions for the Phaelon's crew are practically unending. When rumors of a mysterious and elusive marauding army ravaging colony worlds prove to be true, Will is given a new mission: stop the marauders at all costs, or else Earth might be next. But these foes have a Navigator of their own, and finding them proves next to impossible.

Ned discovers a hard truth about his past but will it also endanger the future of the universe? After reconnecting with an old acquaintance, Hank’s AI companion is on the hunt for more information and it just might bring them closer than ever to Twain. But the old Enemy AI has a few tricks up his sleeve. And while they pursue the villain, the crew also find themselves in the crosshairs. Having angered a shadowy sect, the hunters become the hunted.

During a routine arrest, Van discovers a stolen spacecraft, its importance far greater than it first appears. Fast, sleek, and beautiful, the ship is a cultural relic from Linulla’s people, and returning their property will set off a chain of events that reveals a new adversary. Rising in the ranks, Van’s confrontation with a pirate leader isn’t just a case of theft, but something far more sinister. And Van’s going to take this case personally. He and his crew will chase the Salt Thieves and their leader in a game that can only have one winner.

Jake Fox wrestles free of Sotalorian politics to return home and learn what really happened to Earth. The only people he trusts are rebels, outcasts, and a starship that should have been scrapped decades ago. The sentient weapon he captured from his defeated rival is a dangerous burden, and the viceroy seems to have turned against him. All is not well for the only Star Blade. He uses the last of his influence to secure pardons for his friends, which are quickly rescinded by the Emperor's political machine, forcing them to run.

With the threat of Twain defeated, something strange is happening at the edge of known space. Ships are disappearing without a trace, and Hank's concerns are being dismissed as paranoia. But when an entire colony vanishes overnight, he knows he has to act. The problem is, no one wants to hear about a new threat so soon after the last war. Working with his closest allies, Hank begins to uncover evidence of something far worse than Twain ever was. An alien force has been watching humanity for centuries, and now they're done just observing.

The revelations Mark Tudor unearthed on Tactus Ares were profound. The Piraxians fell victim to the aggressive, expansionist Eridani Federation. That same confederacy funded and facilitated the Lyrae. They made Stillness. And the Guild was complicit. How does one bring exposure to something the galaxy at large would rather forget? And how does an honorable man remove corruption when its gravity consumes all? A plan is hatched in secret.

Throughout the galaxy, the Corolla Wars are raging... and the enemies of the Genesian people have developed a terrifying new weapon. The Genesians are now fully engaged in the Deimer’s war against humanity. While they fight for their right to exist, and for their freedom, the Deimers continue on their quest to annihilate mankind. But humanity has no plans to simply allow the androids and their Genesian allies to exterminate them.

Dalton Thorne just wanted his cargo ship back. Maybe a bowl of noodles. Definitely some peace and quiet on humanity's newly liberated fragment of Earth. But when Little Earth's miraculous transformation starts turning deadly, he discovers that saving the world was the easy part. Now he has to survive in it. Which would be a lot easier if a faction of powerful beings known as Chi Hunters weren’t hell bent on hunting him down.