pop fifty:

The Hunger Games

By: Suzanne Collins

Scholastic Press

Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.

Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games)

By: Suzanne Collins

Scholastic Press

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

The Time Traveler's Wife

By: Audrey Niffenegger

Mariner Books

A dazzling novel in the most untraditional fashion, this is the remarkable story of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who travels involuntarily through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare's passionate love affair endures across a sea of time and captures the two lovers in an impossibly romantic trap, and it is Audrey Niffenegger's cinematic storytelling that makes the novel's unconventional chronology so vibrantly triumphant.

An enchanting debut and a spellbinding tale of fate and belief in the bonds of love, The Time Traveler's Wife is destined to captivate readers for years to come.

To Try Men's Souls: A Novel of George Washington and the Fight for American Freedom

By: Newt Gingrich, William R. Forstchen, Albert S. Hanser

Thomas Dunne Books

The Year of the Flood: A Novel

By: Margaret Atwood

Nan A. Talese

Book Description
The long-awaited new novel from Margaret Atwood. The Year of the Flood is a dystopic masterpiece and a testament to her visionary power.

The times and species have been changing at a rapid rate, and the social compact is wearing as thin as environmental stability. Adam One, the kindly leader of the God's Gardeners--a religion devoted to the melding of science and religion, as well as the preservation of all plant and animal life--has long predicted a natural disaster that will alter Earth as we know it. Now it has occurred, obliterating most human life. Two women have survived: Ren, a young trapeze dancer locked inside the high-end sex club Scales and Tails, and Toby, a God's Gardener barricaded inside a luxurious spa where many of the treatmen...

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

By: Max Brooks

Three Rivers Press

The end was near. Voices from the Zombie War The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped huma...

The Mysterious Benedict Society

By: Trenton Lee Stewart

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?"

When this peculiar ad appears in the newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious, mind-bending tests. (And you, dear reader, can test your wits right alongside them.) But in the end just four very special children will succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete. To accomplish it they will have to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.

As our heroes face physical and mental trials beyond their wildest imaginations, they have no choice but to turn to each other for support. But with their newfound friendship at stake, will they be able to p...

Sent (Missing)

By: Margaret Peterson Haddix

Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

"I think it's probably safe to say, given when you should have landed, that you're...um..."

"Tell me!"

"I think, right now, you're the king of England."

Thirteen-year-olds Jonah and Chip are reeling from the news that they're both missing children from history, kidnapped from their proper time period. Before they can fully absorb this revelation, a time purist named JB zaps Chip and another boy, Alex, back to the fifteenth century, where they supposedly belong. Determined not to lose their friends, Jonah and his sister, Katherine, grab Chip's arms just as he's being sent away. The result? Jonah and Katherine also end up in the fifteenth century, where they decidedly do not belong.

Chip's true identity is Edward V, king of England, and Alex is his younger brother, Richard,...

Leviathan

By: Scott Westerfeld

Simon Pulse

It is the cusp of World War I, and all the European powers are arming up. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet.

Aleksandar Ferdinand, prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battle-torn Stormwalker and a loyal crew of men.

Deryn Sharp is a commoner, a girl disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.

With the Great War brewing, Alek's and Deryn's paths cross in the most unex...

The Maze Runner (Maze Runner Trilogy (Hardback))

By: James Dashner

Delacorte Books for Young Readers

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But hes not alone. When the lifts doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Gladea large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers dont know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night theyve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent upthe first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark ...

Blue Moon: The Immortals

By: Alyson Noel

St. Martin's Griffin

Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel

By: Kurt Vonnegut

Dial Press Trade Paperback

Kurt Vonnegut's absurdist classic Slaughterhouse-Five introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes unstuck in time after he is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. In a plot-scrambling display of virtuosity, we follow Pilgrim simultaneously through all phases of his life, concentrating on his (and Vonnegut's) shattering experience as an American prisoner of war who witnesses the firebombing of Dresden.

Don't let the ease of reading fool you--Vonnegut's isn't a conventional, or simple, novel. He writes, "There are almost no characters in this story, and almost no dramatic confrontations, because most of the people in it are so sick, and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces. One of the main effects of war, after all, is that peo...

Max (Maximum Ride, Book 5)

By: James Patterson

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

James Patterson's bestselling Maximum Ride series is back, with Max and the gang as The Protectors. Someone--or something--is decimating ships and sea life off Hawaii's coast, and Max and her flock find themselves sucked into the Navy's top-secret investigation of the catastrophe. Their objective: Rescue Max's activist mom from a wicked subterranean enemy. The hitch: They must dive deep into dark waters, where gruesome evil dwells... and for high-flying Maximum Ride, could there be anything more terrifying than being trapped in the great abyss? Now in paperback, this soaring new adventure takes Maximum Ride and the Flock into terrifying new territory--fans, hold your breath!

The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride, Book 1)

By: James Patterson

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

In James Patterson's blockbuster series, fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride, better known as Max, knows what it's like to soar above the world. She and all the members of the "flock"--Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel--are just like ordinary kids--only they have wings and can fly. It may seem like a dream come true to some, but their lives can morph into a living nightmare at any time...like when Angel, the youngest member of the flock, is kidnapped and taken back to the "School" where she and the others were experimented on by a crew of wack jobs. Her friends brave a journey to blazing hot Death Valley, CA, to save Angel, but soon enough, they find themselves in yet another nightmare--this one involving fighting off the half-human, half-wolf "Erasers" in New York City. Whether in the tre...

One Second After

By: William R. Forstchen

Forge Books

Heroes: A Pop-up Storybook (Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

By: Rob Valois

Grosset & Dunlap

The adventure really springs to life in this amazing pop-up book that follows the story of all your favorite heroes throughout their adventures in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated television series. Includes 6 pop-up spreads and 3 smaller gatefold pop-ups, each featuring a different hero and adventure.

Anthem

By: Ayn Rand

BN Publishing

Liberating Atlantis

By: Harry Turtledove

Roc Hardcover

"The maven of alternate history"( San Diego Union- Tribune) continues his epic tale of Atlantis.

Frederick Radcliff is a descendant of the family that founded Atlantis's first settlement, and his grandfather Victor led the army against England to win the nation's independence. But he is also a black slave, unable to prove his lineage, and forced to labor on a cotton plantation in the southern region of the country.

Frederick feels the color of his skin shouldn't keep him from having the same freedoms his ancestors fought and died for. So he becomes the leader of a revolutionary army of slaves determined to free all of his brethren across Atlantis...

Victory Conditions (Vatta's War)

By: Elizabeth Moon

Del Rey

Elizabeth Moons thrilling Vattas War series, featuring the no-holds-barred space-faring heroine Kylara Vatta, has secured her reputation as a master of first-rate military science fiction. Now Commander Vatta is backlocked and loaded and ready to win the fight against the marauding forces of ruthless space pirate Gammis Turek.

For Ky, its not just about liberating the star systems subjugated by Turek and defending the rest of the galaxys freedom. Theres also a score to be settled and payback to be meted out for the obliteration of the Vatta Transport dynasty . . . and the slaughter of Kys family. But the enemy have their own escalation efforts under wayincluding the placement of covert agents among the allies with whom Ky and the surviving Vattas are collaborating in the war effo...

The Complete Chronicles of Conan

By: Robert E. Howard

Gollancz

Consider Phlebas

By: Iain M. Banks

Orbit

"Dazzlingly original." -- Daily Mail
"Gripping, touching and funny." -- TLS

The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender.

Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction.

Robot Zot!

By: Jon Scieszka

Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

From the minds of Scieszka and Shannon comes a tale of a quixotic robot determined to conquer the earth. The only problem is that the earth he lands on is a suburban kitchen and he is three inches tall. Robot Zot, the fearless and unstoppable warrior, leaves a trail of destruction as he encounters blenders, toasters, and televisions. But when he discovers the princess...a pink cell phone...his mission takes a new course. Robot Zot must learn how to be a hero - in the name of true love.

A Canticle for Leibowitz

By: Walter M. Miller Jr.

Eos

Walter M. Miller's acclaimed SF classic A Canticle for Leibowitz opens with the accidental excavation of a holy artifact: a creased, brittle memo scrawled by the hand of the blessed Saint Leibowitz, that reads: "Pound pastrami, can kraut, six bagels--bring home for Emma." To the Brothers of Saint Leibowitz, this sacred shopping list penned by an obscure, 20th-century engineer is a symbol of hope from the distant past, from before the Simplification, the fiery atomic holocaust that plunged the earth into darkness and ignorance. As 1984 cautioned against Stalinism, so 1959's A Canticle for Leibowitz warns of the threat and implications of nuclear annihilation. Following a cloister of monks in their Utah abbey over some six or seven hundred years, the funn...

The Left Hand of Darkness

By: Ursula K. Le Guin

Ace Trade

Genly Ai is an emissary from the human galaxy to Winter, a lost, stray world. His mission is to bring the planet back into the fold of an evolving galactic civilization, but to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own culture and prejudices and those that he encounters. On a planet where people are of no gender--or both--this is a broad gulf indeed. The inventiveness and delicacy with which Le Guin portrays her alien world are not only unusual and inspiring, they are fundamental to almost all decent science fiction that has been written since. In fact, reading Le Guin again may cause the eye to narrow somewhat disapprovingly at the younger generation: what new ground are they breaking that is not already explored here with greater skill and acumen? It cannot be said, how...

Preacher Vol. 2: Until the End of the World

By: Garth Ennis

Vertigo

In and of itself, the story of a man with one foot in Heaven and one foot in Hell is hardly original. But in the hands of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, the story of Jesse Custer becomes a blasphemous masterpiece seething with originality. Custer is a former Texas minister who was joined with a spiritual being called "Genesis." Now Custer is on a journey to find God, but not in the traditional enlightenment sense. I mean track Him down and give Him a piece of his mind. Along for the journey are his gun-friendly girlfriend and his Irish punk vampire buddy. Until the End of the World starts with a flashback to Jesse's childhood, when he watched his father get shot in the head. That kicks off "All in the Family," the first of two stories in this collection. The second story...

The Halo Graphic Novel

By: Lee Hammock, Jay Faerber, Tsutomu Nihei, Brett Lewis, Simon Bisley, Ed Lee, Moebius

Marvel Comics

Marvel and Bungie team up to create The Halo Graphic Novel HC based on the best-selling video game. The graphic novel brings the Halo universe to life for the first time in the sequential art medium in a 128-page, full color, high quality, jacketed, hardcover graphic novel. Stories include: "Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor" by Simon Bisley and Lee Hammock. When communications from a Covenant agricultural support ship are mysteriously terminated, an Elite Commander and his squad of Special Forces are sent to investigate. In "Armor Testing" by Ed Lee and Jay Faerber, the only way to test Spartan armor, is to send a Spartan. The question is what's really being tested? In Tsutomo Nihei's "Breaking Quarantine," the untold tale of Sergeant Johnson's escape from the clutches of the Flood me...

What Is A Wookiee?

By: Laura Buller

DK CHILDREN

What is a Wookiee? is packed with facts about the strange and wonderful creatures of Star Wars.

Dauntless (The Lost Fleet, Book 1)

By: Jack Campbell

Ace

The Alliance has been fighting the Syndic for a century-and losing badly. Now its fleet is crippled and stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is Captain John "Black Jack" Geary-a man who's emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he has been heroically idealized beyond belief. Now, he must live up to his own legend.

Transformers Animated: Robot Roll Call (I Can Read Book 2)

By: Jennifer Frantz

HarperCollins

Meet the new generation of robots in disguise! Optimus Prime and the Autobots have made some great new friends, but the Decepticons are up to their usual trouble. Join them all as they begin their adventures in a strange landEarth!

Green Lantern: Rage of the Red Lanterns

By: Geoff Johns

DC Comics

Superstar writer Geoff Johns (GREEN LANTERN: SINESTRO CORPS WAR, THE FLASH, ACTION COMICS, JSA)unleashes a spectrum of adventure in this tale, which sees an all-new, all-evil Red Lantern Corps let loose on the galaxy!

As a prelude to the highly anticipated 2009 GREEN LANTERN storyline "The Blackest Night," this collection sets up the events that Geoff Johns has been leading to since he relaunched the Green Lantern franchise in 2006!

Plagued by an age-old prophecy from a prison planet on the far side of the galaxy, Green Lantern Hal Jordan searches for answers about the fate of his Green Lantern Corps. But when a primal being named Atrocitus emerges from that hell planet, he leads a Red Lantern Corps against Jordan and his brethren in a campaign to spread rage across the co...

The Man in the High Castle

By: Philip K. Dick

Vintage

It's America in 1962--where slavery is legal and the few surviving Jews hide anxiously under assumed names; all because twenty years earlier America lost a war and is now occupied jointly by Nazi Germany and Japan.

Diving into the Wreck

By: Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Pyr

Boss loves to dive historical ships, derelict spacecraft found adrift in the blackness between the stars. Sometimes she salvages for money, but mostly she's an active historian. She wants to know about the past--to experience it firsthand. Once she's dived the ship, she'll either leave it for others to find or file a claim so that she can bring tourists to dive it as well. It's a good life for a tough loner, with more interest in artifacts than people.

Then one day, Boss finds the claim of a lifetime: an enormous spacecraft, incredibly old, and apparently Earth-made. It's impossible for something so old, built in the days before Faster Than Light travel, to have journeyed this far from Earth. It shouldn't be here. It can't be here. And yet, it is. Boss's curiosity is up...

The Indwelling: The Beast Takes Possession (Left Behind No. 7)

By: Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins

Tyndale House Publishers

Outline The Antichrist is dead... or is he? The city of Chicago lies in ruins, the safe house is blown, and the Global Community police are hot on the heels of the Tribulation Force. And who assassi

Warcraft: World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde (No. 4)

By: Christie Golden

Pocket Star

Though the young Warchief Thrall ended the demon curse that had plagued his people for generations, the orcs still wrestle with the sins of their bloody past. As the rampaging Horde, they waged a number of devastating wars against their perennial enemy -- the Alliance. Yet the rage and bloodlust that drove the orcs to destroy everything in their path nearly consumed them as well.

Long ago, on the idyllic world of Draenor, the noble orc clans lived in relative peace with their enigmatic neighbors, the draenei. But the nefarious agents of the Burning Legion had other plans for both of the unsuspecting races. The demon-lord Kil'jaeden set in motion a dark chain of events that would succeed not only in eradicating the draenei, but forging the orc clans into an single, unstoppable j...

Invisible Cities

By: Italo Calvino

Harvest Books

"Kublai Khan does not necessarily believe everything Marco Polo says when he describes the cities visited on his expeditions, but the emperor of the Tartars does continue listening to the young Venetian with greater attention and curiosity than he shows any other messenger or explorer of his." So begins Italo Calvino's compilation of fragmentary urban images. As Marco tells the khan about Armilla, which "has nothing that makes it seem a city, except the water pipes that rise vertically where the houses should be and spread out horizontally where the floors should be," the spider-web city of Octavia, and other marvelous burgs, it may be that he is creating them all out of his imagination, or perhaps he is recreating details of his native Venice over and over again, or perhaps ...

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation

By: Ray Bradbury

Hill and Wang

Book Description
"Monday burn Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner, burn em to ashes, then burn the ashes." For Guy Montag, a career fireman for whom kerosene is perfume, this is not just an official slogan. It is a mantra, a duty, a way of life in a tightly monitored world where thinking is dangerous and books are forbidden.

In 1953, Ray Bradbury envisioned one of the world's most unforgettable dystopian futures, and in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, the artist Tim Hamilton translates this frightening modern masterpiece into a gorgeously imagined graphic novel. As could only occur with Bradbury's full cooperation in this authorized adaptation, Hamilton has created a striking work of art that uniquely captures Montag's awakening to the evil of governm...

7th Son: Descent

By: J.C. Hutchins

St. Martin's Griffin

Exile (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 4)

By: Aaron Allston

LucasBooks

In the Stars Wars galaxy, evil is on the move as the Galactic Alliance and Jedi order battle forces seen and unseen, from rampant internal treachery to the nightmare of all-out war.

With each victory against the Corellian rebels, Jacen Solo becomes more admired, more powerful, and more certain of achieving galactic peace. But that peace may come with a price. Despite strained relationships caused by opposing sympathies in the war, Han and Leia Solo and Luke and Mara Skywalker remain united by one frightening suspicion: Someone insidious is manipulating this war, and if he or she isnt stopped, all efforts at reconciliation may be for naught. And as sinister visions lead Luke to believe that the source of the evil is none other than Lumiya, Dark Lady of the Sith, the greatest peril...

Dark Force Rising (Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, Book 2)

By: Timothy Zahn

Spectra

When Grand Admiral Thrawn takes command of what is left of the Imperial fleet and launches a massive campaign against the New Republic, Han and Lando Calrissian race to find proof of treason inside the highest Republic Council. Reprint.

Invincible (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 9)

By: Troy Denning

LucasBooks

No war can last forever. Now, in the long and punishing battle between the defiant champions of the New Jedi Order and the juggernaut that is the Galactic Alliance, the endgame is finally at hand. With so much lostand nothing less than the course of the future still at stakethere can be no turning back. No matter the consequences.

The rebel cause is losing ground under the twin blows of Admiral Gilad Pellaeons assassination and the death of Mara Jade Skywalker. At the same time, having gained the support of the Imperial Remnant and its ruthlessly efficient forces, the Galactic Alliance, with the extraordinary power and dark brilliance of newly ascendant Sith Lord Darth Caedus at its helm, may be unstoppable. Tormented and torn between the call of duty and the thirst for vengeance...

No Prisoners (Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

By: Karen Traviss

LucasBooks

The Clone Wars rage on. As insurgent Separatists fight furiously to wrest control of the galaxy from the Republic, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine cunningly manipulates both sides for his own sinister purposes.

Torrent Companys Captain Rex agrees to temporarily relieve Anakin Skywalker of Ahsoka, his ubiquitousand insatiably curiousPadawan, by bringing her along on a routine three-day shakedown cruise aboard Captain Gilad Pellaeons newly refitted assault ship. But the training run becomes an activeand dangerousrescue mission when Republic undercover agent Hallena Devis goes missing in the middle of a Separatist invasion.

Dispatched to a distant world to aid a local dictator facing a revolution, Hallena finds herself surrounded by angry freedom fighters and questioning the Re...

The War of the Worlds Plus Blood, Guts and Zombies

By: H.G. Wells, Eric S. Brown

Coscom Entertainment

The invasion begins . . . and the dead start to rise. There's panic in the streets of London as invaders from Mars wreak havoc on the living, slaying the populace with Heat-Rays and poisonous clouds of black smoke. Humanity struggles to survive against technology far beyond its own, meeting fear and death at every turn. But that's not the only struggle mankind must face. The dead are rising from their graves with an insatiable hunger for human flesh. Friends, neighbours and loved ones lost to the war of the worlds are now the enemy and the Earth is forever changed. It's kill or be killed, if you want to survive, otherwise you might become one of the walking dead yourself.

Day of the Dragon (WarCraft, Book 1) (No.1)

By: Richard A. Knaak, Richard Knaak

Pocket Books

In the mist-shrouded haze of the past, the world of Azeroth teemed with wondrous creatures of every kind. Mysterious Elves and hardy Dwarves walked among tribes of man in relative peace and harmony -- until the arrival of the demonic army known as Burning Legion shattered the world's tranquility forever. Now Orcs, Dragons, Goblins, and Trolls all vie for supremacy over the scattered, warring kingdoms -- part of a grand, malevolent scheme that will determine the fate of the world of

WarCraft

A terrifying upheaval among the highest ranks of the world's Wizards sends the maverick Mage, Rhonin, on a perilous journey into the Orc-controlled lands of Khaz Modan. What Rhonin uncovers is a vast, far-reaching conspiracy, darker than anything he ever imagined -- a threat ...

True Colors (Star Wars: Republic Commando, Book 3)

By: Karen Traviss

Del Rey

As the savage Clone Wars rage unchecked, the Republics deadliest warriors face the grim truth that the Separatists arent their only enemyor even their worst.

In the Grand Armys desperate fight to crush the Separatists, the secret special ops missions of its elite clone warriors have never been more critical . . . or more dangerous. A growing menace threatens Republic victory, and the members of Omega Squad make a shocking discovery that shakes their very loyalty.

As the lines continue to blur between friend and enemy, citizensfrom civilians and sergeants to Jedi and generalsfind themselves up against a new foe: the doubt in their own hearts and minds. The truth is a fragile, shifting illusionand only the approaching inferno will reveal both sides in their true colors.

The Flood (Halo #2)

By: William C. Dietz

Del Rey

The Human-Covenant War, a desperate struggle for humankinds very survival, has reached its boiling point on the mysterious, ring world called Halo. But the fierce Covenant warriors, the mightiest alien military force known, are not the only peril lying in wait.

As the fortress world of Reach and its brave defenders were bombarded to rubble, a single cruiser fled the carnage with the battles only human survivorsCaptain Keyes, his crew of a few hundred Marines, and the last remaining SPARTAN super-soldier, the Master Chief.

With the cruisers artificial intelligence, Cortana, concealed in his battle armor, the Master Chief crash lands on Halo in the midst of a massive Covenant occupation. Curiously, the alien soldiers appear to be searching for something hidden ...

First to Fight (Starfist, Book 1)

By: David Sherman, Dan Cragg

Del Rey

"Marines, we have just become a low-tech deep recon patrol . . ."

Stranded in a hellish alien desert, stripped of their strategic systems, quick reaction force, and supporting arms, and carrying only a day's water ration, Marine Staff Sergeant Charlie Bass and his seven-man team faced a grim future seventy-five light-years from home. The only thing between his Marines and safety was eighty-five miles of uncharted, waterless terrain and two thousand bloodthirsty savages with state-of-the-art weapons in their hands and murder on their minds.

But the enemy didn't reckon on the warrior cunning of Marines' Marine Charlie Bass and the courage of the few good men who would follow him anywhere--even to death. . .

"HARD TO PUT DOWN . . . Any book written by Cragg and Sherm...

Prentice Alvin (Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 3)

By: Orson Scott Card

Tor Fantasy

The Tales of Alvin Maker series continues in volume three, Prentice Alvin. Young Alvin returns to the town of his birth, and begins his apprenticeship with Makepeace Smith, committing seven years of his life in exchange for the skills and knowledge of a blacksmith. But Alvin must also learn to control and use his own talent, that of a Maker, else his destiny will be unfulfilled.

Dark Journey (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 10)

By: Elaine Cunningham

Del Rey

The New Jedi Order continues as Jaina Solo struggles with anger and despair after the Jedi Knights' harrowing adventure behind enemy lines.

Though the Jedi strike force completed its deadly mission into Yuuzhan Vong territory, the price of success was tragedy: not everyone made it out alive. In a daring getaway, hotshop pilot Jaina Solo stole an enemy ship, taking along her fellow survivors--and leaving behind a huge piece of her heart.

With the enemy in hot pursuit, Jaina is forced to seek haven in the unprotected, unfriendly Hapes Cluster, where the Jedi are held responsible for a past tragedy--and where the royal family has grim plans for their famous Jedi guest. Even more sinister are the intentions of the Yuuvhan Vong, desperate to capture Jaina for a hideous s...

Altered Carbon: A Takeshi Kovacs Novel (Takeshi Kovacs Novels)

By: Richard K. Morgan

Del Rey

In the twenty-fifth century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a persons consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or sleeve) making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.

Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his last death was particularly painful. Dispatched one hundred eighty light-years from home, re-sleeved into a body in Bay City (formerly San Francisco, now with a rusted, dilapidated Golden Gate Bridge), Kovacs is thrown into the dark heart of a shady, far-reachi...

DMZ Vol. 1: On the Ground

By: Brian Wood

Vertigo

In the near future, America's worst nightmare has come true. With military adventurism overseas bogging down the Army and National Guard, the U.S. government mistakenly neglects the very real threat of anti-establishment militias scattered across the 50 states. Like a sleeping giant, Middle America rises up and violently pushes its way to the shining seas, coming to a standstill at the line in the sand Manhattan. Or as the world now knows it, the DMZ.