John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army. The bulk of humanity's resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force which doesn't want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living to the frontlines of war, light-years from home.

How do you tell your part in the biggest tale in history? I ask because it's what I have to do. I'm Zoe Boutin Perry: A colonist stranded on a deadly pioneer world. Holy icon to a race of aliens. A player (and a pawn) in a interstellar chess match to save humanity, or to see it fall. Witness to history. Friend. Daughter. Human. Seventeen years old. Everyone on Earth knows the tale I am part of. But you don't know my tale: How I did what I did - how...

Xhinna, the first female Weyrleader, and her group of young dragonriders struggle to rebuild the decimated dragon population and protect the world from a deadly alien spore by collecting dragon eggs and protecting baby dragons from predators and saboteurs.

Querry Gen, a member Survival Colony Nine, of one of the last human survivor groups following international war, is targeted by the monstrous Skaldi, although Querry has no memory of why.

Jack Holloway, prospecting on Zara XXIII for ZaraCorp, finds an immensely valuable stream of sunstone. But when he forwards footage of the planet's catlike, native "fuzzies" to a biologist friend --who believes the "fuzzies" are sentient--hired company thugs, murder, and arson soon follow to protect ZaraCorp's mining interests.

"When a number of scientists are mysteriously killed on an insignificant scientific outpost on the planet of Loria and no alarm is raised, Commander Rickets of the Galactic Space Arm (GSA) is angered that no one can explain why. Rickets orders Lieutenant Amanda Bostick along with two armed Guardians, Sergeant Hamoud and Corporal Nasim, to investigate.All three have faced setbacks in their careers and time is against them: the GSA is demanding answers...