Showing results by author "Christopher G. Nuttall" in All Categories

Adam of Beneficence wanted to be a magician, and even undertook a magical apprenticeship, but there isn’t a single spark of magic in his entire body. In desperation, his master arranged for him to study at Heart’s Eye University, a former school of magic that has become a university, a place where magicians and mundanes can work to combine their talents and forge the future together. But all is not well at Heart’s Eye. The magical and mundane apprentices resent and fear each other, and outside, powerful forces are gathering to snuff out the future before it can take shape.

House Rubén and House Aguirre had been rivals for centuries even before the discovery of the Zero Talent and a plot to take control of Shallot plunged them—and the entire city—into war. In a desperate attempt to end the fighting, Akin of House Rubén was betrothed to the only known Zero, Caitlyn of House Aguirre. Since then, the two houses have been locked in an uneasy alliance, painfully aware that they will hang separately if they do not hang together. But, as the marriage starts to loom over the city, Akin Rubén discovers a deadly secret.

The Commonwealth has fractured, its interstellar order breaking down into civil war. On one side is Hadrian, the outlaw king of Tyre, driven from his homeworld and forced into a fragile alliance with the colony worlds; on the other sits a parliament determined to restrain him at all costs. The time for talk is over. The matter can be settled only by war. Loyal to the king, Admiral Kat Falcone leads her fleets into battle, joined by allies with motives of their own. But her friend and former comrade Commodore William McElney has chosen to join the Houses of Parliament.

Prince Roland - the Childe Roland, Heir to the Imperial Throne - grew up in a gilded cage, surrounded by men who wanted to use his powers while keeping him under tight control. He was growing into a petty sadistic brat until a Marine Pathfinder took him in hand, helping him to overcome his caretakers - jailers - and make something of himself. But it was too late for Earth and, as the planet collapsed into chaos, Roland and his mentor barely escaped before it was too late. He was taken into the care of the Marine Corps and given a chance to go to Boot Camp and forge a new life.

As the Commonwealth produces more starships and increases recruits, victory begins to slip from Theocratic control. This can only make the Theocracy more desperate to win...and more dangerous to fight. After a mission to liberate an occupied planet ends in nuclear devastation, Kat Falcone - now a commodore in command of HMS Queen Elizabeth - sees firsthand just how far the enemy will go.

On her last cruise, HMS Vanguard - the most powerful battleship in the Royal Navy - barely survived her encounter with a deadly new enemy. Now, with her commanding officer accused of everything from mutiny to dereliction of duty and her crew under a cloud, the Royal Navy doesn't quite know what to do with her. But there's still a war on. And Vanguard must return to the front lines. Assigned to a task force heading to assist humanity's alien allies, Vanguard and her crew find themselves caught in a deadly alien trap.

The Second Interstellar War - pitting humans and their Tadpole allies against an enigmatic alien empire - appears to have stalemated. Neither side can push through to the other's core systems without risking substantial losses, neither side can gain a decisive advantage. But when a brilliant human scientist invents a way to jump across the stars without a gravity tramline, an opportunity arises to strike the enemy in their undefended rear. It is an opportunity that cannot be allowed to pass.

In the wake of Earth's collapse into chaos, Captain Hoshiko Stuart made the mistake of speaking her mind - and was exiled six months from Sol to a naval base in an unexplored and uncontacted sector. Placed in command of a single squadron of starships, she expected nothing but boredom. But when she discovers an alien race threatening to exterminate all other races within the sector, Hoshiko and her squadron are drawn into a war to stop them.

Despite the escape from Meridian - and a strike at the heart of Wolfbane - enemy forces are still advancing on all fronts. The Commonwealth, worn down by a year of hard fighting, is reaching the end of its tether while Admiral Singh, having secured control of Wolfbane, is searching for the breaking point that will shatter the Commonwealth once and for all. Time is needed, time to bring new weapons and tactics into service, but time is the one thing the Commonwealth doesn't have.

Frieda is one of Emily’s closest friends, a young girl she saved from Mountaintop and brought back to Whitehall. But Frieda found herself the victim of a deadly soul-destroying plot - and the true target may well be Emily herself. Now, after Emily saved Frieda from a magician who was slowly driving her mad, Frieda stands accused of attempted murder - and worse. She must now stand trial for her crimes. Worse, Fulvia - Matriarch of House Ashworth - has returned. Humiliated by Emily years ago, Fulvia burns for revenge - and the chance to regain her lost power.

Captain Kat Falcone owes her life and career to her former right-hand man, William McElney, and she did everything in her power to make sure he was front and center for a promotion. But now that he has it, she fears he'll have to watch his back. Captain McElney has been assigned to HMS Uncanny - nicknamed Unlucky - a heavy cruiser tainted by the mysterious deaths of two former captains and rumors of mutineers.

The war isn’t going well. In five years of heavy fighting, humanity and its alien allies have steadily been pushed back toward Earth, toward the very heart of humanity itself. The virus is steadily wearing the defences down, mounting campaign after campaign to infect and enslave every other alien race. The only hope rests with newer and better weapons, with technology that may turn the tide, but can the weapons and starships be deployed in time?

Kirkhaven Hall has been home to Isabella Rubén ever since she was sent into exile for treason. It has always been a strange place; isolated, wrapped in dark clouds and ancient magics. No one really knows what’s hidden there, from eerie ghosts and warlocks to secrets House Rubén not only has kept from the rest of the world, but has itself forgotten. They thought those secrets would remain buried for eternity. But now, as Isabella and her fiancé return from their holiday in Shallot, those secrets are starting to slip into the light.

When they found themselves trapped on Earth, Richard, Brains, and Helen befriended Janet and Steve, a brother and sister growing up in a poverty-stricken estate, and taught them the basics of magic before discovering that sinister forces were slowly moving against them. Now, Richard and Brains have taken Janet back to Mystic Albion to study magic, while Helen and Steve remain behind to track down the rogue magicians and stop them before it is too late.

In the aftermath of the struggle, long-held grudges are boiling over and conflicts are breaking out. The monarchs want to settle border disputes, the aristocrats want to impose their will on monarchs and peasants alike, the commoners want freedom and justice, and the magical communities want to rule all or else separate themselves from the mundanes. And most of this chaos is being orchestrated by Emily’s mentor, the sorcerer Void. He believes the only path to salvation for the Allied Lands is to make himself the undisputed ruler of the world.

A deeply corrupt and embedded ruling class, disenfranchised settlers, and embittered indentured workers–slaves in all but name—have poisoned the planet. They've unleashed the fires of class war and threatening to turn the beautiful planet into hell in the wake of Earthfall. Sinister forces are stirring the pot. Roland—once Crown Prince of Earth, now a Marine Auxiliary—was charged with building an army to stabilise New Doncaster, but it was too late. The rebels struck and the planet fell into civil war.

Isabella Rubén is a traitor - at 12 years old. Disgraced, abandoned by her friends and shunned by her family, Isabella is sent into exile with scant hope of returning to her former home. Her destination, Kirkhaven Hall; a stone mansion miles from civilization, inhabited only by a pair of older exiles. As she tries to settle into Kirkhaven Hall and a life far from the one she enjoyed before her fall from grace, she discovers that the hall has secrets. Intruders on the grounds, ghostly shadows moving at night, and a plot that may destroy everything she once held dear.

Arthur's Seat had never sought a galactic role. A relatively new colony world, a mere 300 years old, the planet was always isolated from the galactic mainstream. But with the Empire crumbling after the fall of Earth and other planets taking advantage of the chaos to make their own bids for power, Arthur's Seat suddenly finds itself playing host to tens of thousands of unwanted immigrants, refugees who have been kicked off countless other worlds.

The alliance between the Great Powers is starting to fall apart, the human economy cannot keep up with the urgent need for newer and better starships, and politicians are demanding an end to military spending. When a generation starship is detected approaching a British colony world, HMS Invincible is dispatched to intercept the aliens before they can make landfall. But the newcomers bring with them tidings of a new and deadly threat, an expansionist alien race far too close to the Human Sphere for comfort...and a sinister horror beyond human understanding.

Five months after the House War, the city of Shallot is on edge. The Great Houses plot and plan against one another, while the magicians rebuild and the common folk fear another outburst of fighting. And one young nobleman has a plan. Rebecca is a half-caste shopgirl in an apothecary, dreaming of an apprenticeship that will allow her to rise out of poverty and finally make a name for herself in a city that has no use for her kind.