The Galactic Empire disappeared a lifetime ago. Jake Stewart doesn't care, he needs to earn a living. He fled his station in the outer Belt, enrolled in the merchant academy, and snagged a scholarship. The future looks bright. But a crooked boss, some paperwork shenanigans, and a freeloading best friend put him in a bind. When he's accused of a murder he didn't commit he goes on the run from the Planetary Militia. There's only his wits and a suspiciously helpful pretty girl between him and jail. Can he trust her to prove his innocence? Or does she have another agenda?

In a single act of courage, the young American grunt saves an interstellar soldier from certain death at the hands of a vicious killer. Afterward, she promises to show him the stars. Mark will begin his new life far away from Earth—a life not so different from that of a humble soldier. Out among the asteroids, he learns of swords and honor, starships and empires. He learns what it means to be a Peacemaker. Along the way, he's joined by Perry, his combat AI companion who helps Mark learn how to survive—and earn a living—among the stars.

Kai Fletcher thought he could go straight, until he couldn’t. And when his last "last" job goes wrong, he finds himself stowed away in a starship belonging to an alien crime syndicate. Forced into servitude to pay the debt for passage off world, Kai bargains with the syndicate. All he has to do is help them rob the Vakness Empire, the most powerful alien empire in known space, and he gets to go home. Easy Peasy. Until it isn’t.

When Manchester Yards donates a new training vessel to the Merchant Officer Academy at Port Newmar, Alys Giggone recalls the Chernyakova. She wants Ishmael Wang and his crew to take a crew of cadets into the Deep Dark. They have to sort out the crews of two ships, figure out what lessons they need to teach, and who will get those lessons. Once they agree, the trouble starts.

Dirriken Friedel used his aristocratic connections to rescue his troops. He didn't plan on starting a war or killing them himself. Now he spends his days in jail, waiting for an assassin sent by his dead officers families to end his misery. When he's broken out by off-duty marines he has a chance to start over, if he's worthy. During his ramshackle escape he collects a broken-down trading ship, a bitter former army officer, a genetically altered religious fanatic, a runaway ingenue, a sham engineer, and a murderous femme fatale.

Get ready to experience two more origin stories in the Backyard Starship universe.

When the research starship Galileo vanishes without a trace, the powers-that-be are quick to bury the incident, eager to prevent escalating tensions that could lead to war. As a former POW, Soren refuses to give the ship up for lost. His daughter is one of the missing. Taking matters into his own hands, Soren starts pulling strings and calling in favors, determined to launch a clandestine mission to bring Galileo home. When an old friend offers him a ship for the operation, he expects a rusty relic headed for the scrapyard.

The scum hiding deep inside the Reach out along galaxy's edge thought they could kill her and not pay the price. For years these hardened killers have run roughshod over the lawless worlds where Republic justice is never as fast as the blaster in your hand and where double-crosses and death are a part of every deal. They thought this time would be no different. They were wrong. This time, the Guild sent the legendary bounty hunter Tyrus Rechs. As the infamous Rechs pursues the men who murdered his colleague, he's hell-bent on justice.

In this gripping new military science fiction novel, the universe teeters on the brink of invasion, and the Obsidian Union scrambles to assemble a formidable force of combat pilots. Enter Gordy Harmen, once a legendary Air Force pilot whose illustrious career came to an end due to physical limitations. Desperate and with nothing to lose, Gordy is approached with a tantalizing proposition.

When Ben Murdock receives a text message offering a fully operational starship for sale, he’s certain it has to be a joke. Already trapped in the worst day of his life and desperate for a way out, he decides to play along. Except there is no joke. The starship is real. And Ben’s life is going to change in ways he never dreamed possible. All he has to do is sign the contract. Joined by his streetwise best friend and a bizarre tenant with an unseverable lease, he’ll soon discover that the universe is more volatile, treacherous, and awesome than he ever imagined.