Annotation:Lededje finds herself in the middle of the dangerous machinations of the all-powerful Culture who turned its attention to solving the problem of death itself by creating a virtual afterlife. (Culture Universe #9)

Annotation:Intergalactic assassin Bet Yeager finds herself behind enemy lines and on the losing side of a war. Somehow she must stay alive and hide her true identity while making it to friendlier areas of space. (Alliance/Union series, Company Wars #4)

Annotation:Army officer Oscar Britton finds himself on the wrong side of the U.S. government after he manifests a rare and forbidden magic skill that threatens to forever change the status quo. (Shadow Ops #1)

Annotation:A seemingly endless swarm of metal-devouring insects has permanently altered the societal structure of the U.S. Streetwise orphan Kimble finds himself at the center of this new world order after he joins a middle-aged woman’s dojo.

Annotation:A man caught in the act of kidnapping two girls literally vanishes in front of the terrified parents’ eyes. Meanwhile, 50 years in the future, the last survivors on Earth struggle to keep the human race alive.

Annotation:Graduate student Samuil Petrovitch becomes embroiled in a dangerous conspiracy involving the Russian mafia, yakuza and gun-toting nuns after he saves a young woman from a kidnapping attempt in the London Metrozone. (Petrovitch Trilogy #1)

Annotation:On a trading outpost planet so ancient Earth is only a legend, Simsa makes a living selling souvenirs to space travelers who stop at her planet.

Annotation:After the U.S. is devastated by ecological disaster, refugee Brad Sheridan flees North America for work at a Mount Vesuvius theme park in Italy, but he soon becomes embroiled in a multifarious terrorist plot with far reaching implications.

Annotation:Hard-boiled crime fiction set in deep space about a ragtag group of wreck-divers who salvage spaceship wrecks. Things turn sinister, however, when they discover remnants of stealth technology, which has been outlawed for centuries. (Diving Universe #3)

Annotation:No one seems to notice that low-ranking science officers aboard the Intrepid starship always disappear on away missions. The meta-fictional claws come out when new recruits investigate the truth behind the Redshirts’ run of bad luck.

Annotation:An ancient Earth with an aging Sun on the precipice of extinguishing provides the setting for these stories by various authors. Vance’s highly stylized approach to this world favors wit, chicanery and lyrical embellishments over swordplay and epic battles.

Annotation:A young couple separated by space and time, the victims of a war across light-years and the effects of time dilation, are newly reunited when an ill-fated Caribbean cruise puts them once again in danger.