Showing results by author "Christopher Nuttall" in All Categories

The University of Heart’s Eye barely survived the conflict between magical and mundane students–a conflict fanned by an undercover sorcerer hiding in the last place anyone suspected, a conflict that came within moments of destroying the university or delivering the student body into inescapable servitude. But the fight for academic independence is far from over. Chaos is spreading across the Allied Lands and the university is being sucked into a vortex that may still destroy Emily’s dreams of a better future for the entire world.

For generations, the human race has feared an encounter with an alien race so advanced their technology might as well be magic. And yet, no such alien race has been encountered. Until now. During the Virus War, human explorers discovered proof of alien technology that was beyond human understanding, technology so strange it was impossible even to guess at its function. Now, in the aftermath of the war, HMS Endeavour embarks on a mission to the core of the alien civilization. And discovers a mystery older than the human race itself.

HMS Vanguard is the most powerful battleship ever to be commissioned by the Royal Navy, but she is not a happy ship. Her commanding officer is eccentric, rarely seen on the bridge; her former XO has deserted his post; and her first middy is resentful because he hasn't been promoted as he deserves.... But when a first contact mission goes badly wrong, HMS Vanguard and her crew are plunged into an interstellar war against a new and deadly alien threat.

Eight years ago, the Sorcerer Void saved Emily's life. To Emily, Void became, in so many ways, the father she'd never had. And yet Void kept a secret from her. To save the Allied Lands from themselves, to keep them from being destroyed by the necromancers or torn apart by their short-sighted rulers, he embarked on a plan to launch a coup and reunite the long-dead empire, a plan that can only end in total war or a permanent living death. He must be stopped. And now, all that stands between him and his goal is his adopted daughter, Emily herself.

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.

King Randor has been defeated. Queen Alassa has taken her throne. The Kingdom of Zangaria can look forward to a new age of peace and prosperity. But their victory came at a terrible price. A moment before his death, King Randor hit Emily with a powerful curse. She's lost her magic. She's losing her mind. She may soon lose her life. As rumors start to spread, as her enemies start to gather, Emily searches desperately for the key to unlock the curse before it is too late.

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 City of Shallot is on the verge of revolution. The Great Houses are mustering their forces, readying themselves for a shift in the balance of power. The poor have found a new leader and are - finally - demanding their rights. Shadowy figures and old ghosts are prowling the streets. It is only a matter of time before the unease and unrest explodes into violence, as the wealthy and powerful seek to secure themselves in a changing world. And dark forces are laying plans to take advantage of the chaos.

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.

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.

The alien virus has begun its offensive, punching through the human defences and sending advance elements to threaten Earth itself. HMS Invincible and her crew, having barely returned from their last mission, are thrown into a desperate mission to strengthen the inner line of defences before the virus can smash them too and destroy the human race. The stakes have never been so high. Defeat means the end of everything.

Starting a war with an enemy 100 times stronger is insane. It’s desperate. And it’s Earth’s only hope. A massive alien power looms over humanity, claiming Earth as its territory and humanity as its slaves. The Hegemony has already taken over one colony, yoking hundreds of thousands under their brutal rule. Every tactical exercise, every war game, and every simulation gives humanity zero chance in a defensive campaign.

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.

Six years ago, in the aftermath of the House War that nearly tore Shallot apart, Akin Rubén and Caitlyn Aguirre were betrothed in a bid to keep their rival families from returning to war. Now, with both of them on the brink of maturity, that marriage is starting to loom. The moment of choice, when they must decide to go through with the wedding or risk their families resuming their rivalry, is fast approaching.

Every magician who wants to be great goes through an apprenticeship...a period of training under a master who will hopefully raise them to mastery themselves. For Emily, the time has come to begin her long-awaited apprenticeship with Void. She must master her powers or risk being destroyed by them. But as Void introduces her to levels and layers of magic she never even knew existed, she finds herself fighting desperately to keep up, to defeat challenge after challenge, to prove her worth to study under him, and to survive a training course that has killed lesser magicians.

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.

Five years ago, the human race became independent, as the Alphan Empire conceded it could no longer sustain its grip on Earth and withdrew, casting an unprepared humanity adrift on an interstellar sea of troubles. Since then, humanity has struggled mightily to secure its position in a galaxy full of hungry predators, many of whom see Earth as nothing more than a prize to be won. Now, one of the galaxy’s superpowers has set its sights on Earth, launching a covert campaign to weaken and isolate the human race before it moves in for the kill.

A brutal uprising in the Kingdom of Alluvia has shaken the Allied Lands, and Emily finds herself accused of starting it. Desperate, all too aware the kingdom is on the verge of becoming a vortex of chaos, Emily travels to Alluvia in the hopes of calming both sides long enough to secure peace. However, she's unaware that the uprising is merely the first step in a plan to shatter the Allied Lands beyond repair.

On her last mission, HMS Invincible discovered an alien threat beyond human understanding. Defeat means the end of everything, the end of existence as nothing more than mindless host-bodies, the end of humanity and its alien allies alike. The stakes could not be higher. As a deeply divided humanity struggles to prepare a defense, with enemies inside and outside the human sphere just lurking to strike, Invincible is sent deep into alien space on what should have been a simple reconnaissance mission.

In the year 2420, war looms between the galaxy's two most powerful empires: the tyrannical Theocracy and the protectionist Commonwealth. Caught in the middle sits the occupied outpost system Cadiz, where young officer and aristocrat Katherine "Kat" Falcone finds herself prematurely promoted at the behest of her powerful father. Against her own wishes, Kat is sent to command the Commonwealth navy's newest warship, Lightning.