For many, the dying part is hard. For some, the living part is harder. At 16 years of age, Mathius’ life is focused on scrounging bits of food in the midst of a five-way civil war on the planet Novalis III. Two government factions and three rebel factions are all hell-bent on killing one another, and the civilian population is caught in the middle. If Mathius doesn’t find food, he and his father, mother, and sister will go hungry for the day, a not-so-unusual occurrence.

Keel Hennity was one of the greatest gladiators in the universe, the victor of countless glorious battles. He was assigned to guard the most dangerous creatures on his home planet. Then he died, and his life truly began. When Keel's consciousness was downloaded into the robotic body of an Imperial Marine, he was tasked with protecting the emperor and controlling the incredibly dangerous creature that ended his first life. Can Keel unlock the secrets of Star Dragons and protect the galaxy from a dragon-human war that could end life as we know it?

Hertell Daggett has just discovered a time capsule. Only this one is full of people, and they've been living beneath his pet cemetery since 1963 due to some bad information they got about the end of the world. Hertell leads the duck-and-cover civilization into the glorious, mystifying, and often dismaying modern world. What could possibly go wrong?

On his way to his betrothal, young Lord Penric comes upon a riding accident with an elderly lady on the ground, her maidservant and guardsmen distraught. As he approaches to help, he discovers that the lady is a Temple divine, servant to the five gods of this world. Her avowed god is the Bastard, "master of all disasters out of season", and with her dying breath she bequeaths her mysterious powers to Penric.

Farin, the gravedigger’s son, lives in the medieval village of Heap. The 18-year-old is an outsider who is bullied and ostracized by the villagers. His father has succumbed to a life of drinking, and the young man has no option but to take over the job of gravedigger. But Farin’s life takes a dramatic twist when the village witch dies. As he prepares her for burial, he finds an amulet hanging around her neck, and he can’t resist trying it on.