James L. Cambias

At the end of the Tenth Millennium Zee and his AI buddy Daslakh arrive on the icy moon Miranda, hoping to make a good impression on his girlfriend Adya's upper-class parents. Instead they discover that Adya's father is the target of a political conspiracy. While Adya tries to discover who is trying to to ruin the family fortunes and expel them from Miranda's exclusive ruling class, Daslakh and Zee go on the trail of a lost treasure in deep space. As they both dig deeper they run afoul of rival political factions, romantic complications, space mercenaries, octopus gangsters, and ruthless secret agents—and all the while dealing with interference from Adya's parents and party-going sister. Love, power, wealth, and honor collide in the floating cities and palaces inside Miranda.

Scarab Mission

Solana Sina is a scarab, salvaging wrecked and abandoned space habitats among the Billion Worlds of the Tenth Millennium. She and an oddball crew—a raven, a cyborg, and a dinosaur—board the derelict colony Safdaghar, hoping to score some loot before the colony gets catapulted into the outer reaches of the Solar System. But Solana and the scarabs come face-to-face with a gang of vicious pirates looking for slaves and treasure, and a mysterious stranger intent on preserving an explosive secret. Solana must overcome her own horrifying past to survive and escape before it’s too late. But there’s an even more dangerous threat lurking in the dark passages and ruined buildings of Safdaghar . . . About The Godel Operation: “With this freewheeling story of an ancient, cunning artificial intelligence and its naïve human companion, Cambias (The Initiate) mashes humor, mystery, and looming apocalypse into a roundly satisfying space epic. . . . With plenty of fun moments along the way, this raucous adventure through the solar system’s distant future will appeal to any fan of lighter science fiction.”—Publishers Weekly "Cambias makes his solar system feel very alive, with wildly different cultures on different planets and moons... It is far-future space opera that is astronomically contained, and written with a lightning bolt."—Warped Factor Praise for Arkad's World: “Far-flung adventure . . . Cambias offers up an entertaining coming-of-age novel filled with action and surprises. His aliens are suitably non-human in mannerisms, attitudes, and objectives, and his worldbuilding suggests a vast universe ready for further exploration. Readers . . . will find this hits the spot.”—Publishers Weekly “. . . a classic quest story, a well-paced series of encounters with different folk along the way, building momentum toward a final confrontation with Arkad’s past . . . [with] a delicious twist to the end.”—ALA Booklist “Cambias has achieved a feat of world-building: an expansive, believable setting with fascinating aliens, compelling mysteries, and a rich sense of history.”—Bookpage “Drop a teenage boy into a distant planet chock full of colorful aliens—with troubles all their own. Stir, flavor, apply heat. A tour de force in the field, and great, quick fun.”—Gregory Benford Praise for the work of James L. Cambias: “Beautifully written, with a story that captures the imagination the way SF should.”—Booklist, starred review “An engaging nail-biter that is exciting, fun and a satisfying read.”—The Qwillery “An impressive debut by a gifted writer.”—Publishers Weekly starred review “An exceptionally thoughtful, searching and intriguing debut.”—Kirkus starred review “James Cambias will be one of the century's major names in hard science fiction.”—Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award–winning author of Red Planet Blues “Fast-paced, pure quill hard science fiction. . . . Cambias delivers adroit plot pivots that keep the suspense coming.”—Gregory Benford, Nebula Award-winning author of Timescape

A droid and his boy, on a search for a legendary weapon. Daslakh is an AI with a problem. Its favorite human, a young man named Zee, is in love with a woman who never existed—and he will scour the Solar System to find her, and drag Daslakh along for the ride. But in the Tenth Millennium a billion worlds circle the Sun—everything from terraformed planets to artificial habitats, home to a quadrillion beings. Daslakh’s nicely settled life gets more complicated when Zee helps a woman named Adya escape a gang of crooks. This gets the pair caught up in the hunt for the Godel Trigger, a legendary weapon left over from an ancient war between humans and machines—which could spell the end of civilization. In their search, they face a criminal cat and her henchmen, a paranoid supermind with a giant laser, the greatest thief in history, and a woman who might actually be Zee's lost love. It’s up to Daslakh to save civilization, keep Zee’s love life on the right track—and make sure that nobody discovers the real secret of the Godel Trigger. About The Godel Operation: “With this freewheeling story of an ancient, cunning artificial intelligence and its naïve human companion, Cambias (The Initiate) mashes humor, mystery, and looming apocalypse into a roundly satisfying space epic. . . . With plenty of fun moments along the way, this raucous adventure through the solar system’s distant future will appeal to any fan of lighter science fiction.”—Publishers Weekly Praise for Arkad's World: “Far-flung adventure . . . Cambias offers up an entertaining coming-of-age novel filled with action and surprises. His aliens are suitably non-human in mannerisms, attitudes, and objectives, and his worldbuilding suggests a vast universe ready for further exploration. Readers . . . will find this hits the spot.”—Publishers Weekly “. . . a classic quest story, a well-paced series of encounters with different folk along the way, building momentum toward a final confrontation with Arkad’s past . . . [with] a delicious twist to the end.”—ALA Booklist “Cambias has achieved a feat of world-building: an expansive, believable setting with fascinating aliens, compelling mysteries, and a rich sense of history.”—Bookpage “Drop a teenage boy into a distant planet chock full of colorful aliens—with troubles all their own. Stir, flavor, apply heat. A tour de force in the field, and great, quick fun.”—Gregory Benford Praise for the work of James L. Cambias: “Beautifully written, with a story that captures the imagination the way SF should.”—Booklist, starred review “An engaging nail-biter that is exciting, fun and a satisfying read.”—The Qwillery “An impressive debut by a gifted writer.”—Publishers Weekly starred review “An exceptionally thoughtful, searching and intriguing debut.”—Kirkus starred review “James Cambias will be one of the century's major names in hard science fiction.”—Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award–winning author of Red Planet Blues “Fast-paced, pure quill hard science fiction. . . . Cambias delivers adroit plot pivots that keep the suspense coming.”—Gregory Benford, Nebula Award-winning author of Timescape

A DROID AND HIS BOY, ON A SEARCH FOR A LEGENDARY WEAPON Daslakh is an AI with a problem. Its favorite human, a young man named Zee, is in love with a woman who never existed — and he will scour the Solar System to find her. But in the Tenth Millennium a billion worlds circle the Sun—everything from terraformed planets to artificial habitats, home to a quadrillion beings. Daslakh's nicely settled life gets more complicated when Zee helps a woman named Adya escape a gang of crooks. This gets the pair caught up in the hunt for the Godel Trigger, a legendary weapon left over from an ancient war between humans and machines—which could spell the end of civilization. In their search, they face a criminal cat and her henchmen, a paranoid supermind with a giant laser, the greatest thief in history, and a woman who might actually be Zee's lost love. It's up to Daslakh to save civilization, keep Zee's love life on the right track—and make sure that nobody discovers the real secret of the Godel Trigger. Praise for Arkad's World: “Far-flung adventure . . . Cambias offers up an entertaining coming-of-age novel filled with action and surprises. His aliens are suitably non-human in mannerisms, attitudes, and objectives, and his worldbuilding suggests a vast universe ready for further exploration. Readers . . . will find this hits the spot.”—Publishers Weekly “. . . a classic quest story, a well-paced series of encounters with different folk along the way, building momentum toward a final confrontation with Arkad's past . . . [with] a delicious twist to the end.”—ALA Booklist “Cambias has achieved a feat of world-building: an expansive, believable setting with fascinating aliens, compelling mysteries, and a rich sense of history.”—Bookpage “Drop a teenage boy into a distant planet chock full of colorful aliens—with troubles all their own. Stir, flavor, apply heat. A tour de force in the field, and great, quick fun.”—Gregory Benford Praise for the work of James L. Cambias: “Beautifully written, with a story that captures the imagination the way SF should.”—Booklist, starred review “An engaging nail-biter that is exciting, fun and a satisfying read.”—The Qwillery '“An impressive debut by a gifted writer.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review “An exceptionally thoughtful, searching and intriguing debut.”—Kirkus, starred review “James Cambias will be one of the century's major names in hard science fiction.”—Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award–winning author of Red Planet Blues “Fast-paced, pure quill hard science fiction. . . . Cambias delivers adroit plot pivots that keep the suspense coming.”—Gregory Benford, Nebula Award-winning author of Timescape

THE SORCERERS WHO RULE THE WORLD ARE GOING DOWN! If people who can work magic are so powerful, why don't they rule the world? Well, as it happens, they do. One man wants to change that. The Apkallu are masters of magic. They rule the world from the shadows, using mind control and deadly monsters to eliminate any threat to their power. Sam Arquero lost his family to a demon sent by an Apkallu. He knew that nobody would believe the truth, but now an old man offers Sam the chance to find out who is responsible and bring down the Apkallu forever. Under a new identity, Sam must learn the secrets of magic, infiltrate the Apkallu, and walk a razor’s edge of daring as he attempts to destroy the Apkallu leaders and avoid the supernatural detectives on his trail. But Sam’s greatest challenge perhaps lies within—to avoid becoming like the hated Apkallu himself! Praise for Arkad's World: “Far-flung adventure . . . Cambias offers up an entertaining coming-of-age novel filled with action and surprises. His aliens are suitably non-human in mannerisms, attitudes, and objectives, and his worldbuilding suggests a vast universe ready for further exploration. Readers . . . will find this hits the spot.”—Publishers Weekly “. . . a classic quest story, a well-paced series of encounters with different folk along the way, building momentum toward a final confrontation with Arkad's past. . . [with] a delicious twist to the end.”—ALA Booklist "Cambias has achieved a feat of world-building: an expansive, believable setting with fascinating aliens, compelling mysteries, and a rich sense of history."—Bookpage "Drop a teenage boy into a distant planet chock full of colorful aliens—with troubles all their own. Stir, flavor, apply heat. A tour de force in the field, and great, quick fun."—Gregory Benford Praise for the work of James L. Cambias: "Beautifully written, with a story that captures the imagination the way SF should."—Booklist, starred review “An engaging nail-biter that is exciting, fun and a satisfying read.”—The Qwillery ''An impressive debut by a gifted writer.''—Publishers Weekly, starred review ''An exceptionally thoughtful, searching and intriguing debut.''—Kirkus, starred review "James Cambias will be one of the century's major names in hard science fiction.''—Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award–winning author of Red Planet Blues "Fast-paced, pure quill hard science fiction. . . . Cambias delivers adroit plot pivots that keep the suspense coming.''—Gregory Benford, Nebula Award-winning author of Timescape

It's their world. He's going to take it away from them. The Apkallu are masters of magic. Theirs is a secret tradition stretching back to the dawn of civilization. They rule the world from the shadows, using mind control and deadly monsters to eliminate any threat to their power. If they know your name, or have a trace of your blood, you can never defy them. Sam Arquero lost his family to a demon, and knew that nobody would believe the truth. An old man named Lucas offers him the chance to find out who is responsible, and bring down the Apkallu forever. All he has to do is join them . . . Under a new identity Sam learns the secrets of magic, infiltrates the Apkallu, and walks a razor's edge as he picks off their leaders while avoiding supernatural detectives on his trail. But Sam faces a greater threat: As he fights monsters, what is he becoming? Praise for Arkad's World: “Far-flung adventure . . . Cambias offers up an entertaining coming-of-age novel filled with action and surprises. His aliens are suitably non-human in mannerisms, attitudes, and objectives, and his worldbuilding suggests a vast universe ready for further exploration. Readers . . . will find this hits the spot.”—Publishers Weekly “. . . a classic quest story, a well-paced series of encounters with different folk along the way, building momentum toward a final confrontation with Arkad's past. . . [with] a delicious twist to the end.”—ALA Booklist "Cambias has achieved a feat of world-building: an expansive, believable setting with fascinating aliens, compelling mysteries, and a rich sense of history."—Bookpage "Drop a teenage boy into a distant planet chock full of colorful aliens—with troubles all their own. Stir, flavor, apply heat. A tour de force in the field, and great, quick fun."—Gregory Benford Praise for the work of James L. Cambias: "Beautifully written, with a story that captures the imagination the way SF should."—Booklist, starred review “An engaging nail-biter that is exciting, fun and a satisfying read.” —The Qwillery ''An impressive debut by a gifted writer.''—Publishers Weekly, starred review ''An exceptionally thoughtful, searching and intriguing debut.''—Kirkus, starred review "James Cambias will be one of the century's major names in hard science fiction.''—Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award–winning author of Red Planet Blues "Fast-paced, pure quill hard science fiction. . . . Cambias delivers adroit plot pivots that keep the suspense coming.''—Gregory Benford, Nebula Award-winning author of Timescape

Young Arkad is the only human on a distant world, on his own among beings from across the Galaxy. His struggle to survive on the lawless streets of an alien city is disrupted by the arrival of three humans: an eccentric historian named Jacob, a superhuman cyborg girl called Baichi, and a mysterious ex-spy known as Ree. They seek a priceless treasure which might free Earth from alien domination. Arkad risks everything to join them on an incredible quest halfway across the planet. With his help they cross the fantastic landscape, battling pirates, mercenaries, bizarre creatures, vicious bandits and the harsh environment. But the deadliest danger comes from treachery and betrayal within the group as dark secrets and hidden loyalties come to light. Praise for the work of James L. Cambias: "Beautifully written, with a story that captures the imagination the way SF should."—Booklist, Starred Review “An engaging nail-biter that is exciting, fun and a satisfying read.” —The Qwillery ''An impressive debut by a gifted writer.''—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review ''An exceptionally thoughtful, searching and intriguing debut.''—Kirkus, Starred Review "James Cambias will be one of the century's major names in hard science fiction.''—Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Red Planet Blues 'Fast-paced, pure quill hard science fiction.... Cambias delivers adroit plot pivots that keep the suspense coming.''—Gregory Benford, Nebula Award-winning author of Timescape