Swords and Spaceships for November 3

Earth abandoned its interstellar colonists when deep-space travel altered their genes and made them into “Variants” who live in the space stations of the Outworlds. When a major waystation is destroyed in a puzzling suicide attack by a young man who was recieving messages from supposedly uninhabited space and playing a virtual reality game, an explorer and a game designer team up to unravel the mystery.

Prisoner Alpha is an enigma that Dr. Ryan, a military psychiatrist, cannot solve. She speaks a language no one understands, doodles strange pictures, and it’s impossible to tell if she’s a cunning spy who is very committed to her act or… something else. While he tries to unravel that mystery, an archaelogist in Egypt discovers an 18th Dynasty tomb filled with relics that couldn’t possibly have existed at its time. The archaeologist is kidnapped away to a hidden lab. And Alpha… disappears from Dr. Ryan’s ward, and he becomes the prime suspect in her escape.

The mill girls of Lowell have had enough with terrible working conditions dictated by the uncaring bosses and penny-pinching owners. But Lowell has seen strikes before—and seen strikes fold. This time, they have something to reinforce the picket line and make sure no one crosses and no one leaves: a little witchcraft.

In a civil war that has ground to a stalemate, both sides are willing to do anything and give everything to win. On one side is a King at the edge of madness; on the other, a set of allies searching for truths that will tear his forces apart. Two friends caught on opposite sides have their own chance to end the war before the most bitter end possible can be reached… but there are many who would like to stop them.

An overachiever named Prudence Daniels feels like she’s won the jackpot when she wakes up one morning with the magical ability to place instant karma on the lazy and rude residents of her town. It works like a charm on everyone… except her slacker lab partner, Quint, who despite his failure in the lab shows a lot more life working at a rescue center for sea animals. Prudence is in for unraveling the secrets of baby sea otters… and mixed romantic signals.