Joel Shepherd Joel Shepherd i(A53634 works by)
Born: Established: 1974 Adelaide, South Australia, ;
Gender: Male
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Works By

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1 y separately published work icon Rando Splicer Joel Shepherd , Australia : Joel Shepherd , 2019 19591145 2019 single work novel science fiction 'Separated from her ship, Major Trace Thakur is stranded on the reeh-occupied world of Rando. The native corbi have suffered beneath reeh tyranny for 800 years, and many have given up hope. But Trace needs the data stored in the reeh's genetic technology and command center - the Rando Splicer - if she's to learn how to save humanity from impending disaster, and is planning an assault against overwhelming odds. She'll need help from the UFS Phoenix, though, which is caught in a ritual medieval battle to change the croma leadership that sees her crew embarking on a perilous journey across a warring desert continent. Should they fail, humanity could be just one of many species to die.'
1 y separately published work icon Croma Venture Joel Shepherd , Australia : Joel Shepherd , 2018 19591040 2018 single work novel science fiction

'Upon the ancient drysine moon/city of Defiance, the UFS Phoenix is being rebuilt, but her crew cannot do so in peace. Parren factions jostle for control of not only Defiance, but of the drysine data-core that Phoenix won at such an awful price. But the parren do not lay sole claim to that ancient knowledge, and within the bowels of the machine-city, something long-dead is awakening.While aliens battle, Captain Debogande struggles to decide his next step. Human emissaries beckon him home, while a terrible new threat drives him toward the far edge of Spiral space. There live the croma, locked in a titanic struggle against the reeh, a species more terrifying than any yet faced by humanity. And holding perhaps the key to humanity's salvation are a small force of freedom fighters, waging a hopeless battle against impossible odds, having waited a thousand years for just such a saviour as the UFS Phoenix...'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

1 y separately published work icon Defiance Joel Shepherd , Australia : Joel Shepherd , 2017 19590979 2017 single work novel science fiction

'The UFS Phoenix is hunting for the long-lost drysine data-core. Within it lie the secrets to saving humanity from the resurgent deepynine machine-race. To recover it, Captain Erik Debogande must work together with the man who holds his sister hostage - the power-hungry parren leader Aristan. Aristan has sworn he will return Lisbeth Debogande once Phoenix grants him equal access to its prize. But now from the direction of hostile space comes word of a dark force hunting humans and parren alike, determined at all costs that the store of the lost Drysine Empire's knowledge should be possessed by neither...'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

1 y separately published work icon Kantovan Vault Joel Shepherd , Australia : Joel Shepherd , 2017 19590885 2017 single work novel science fiction

'The UFS Phoenix is on a mission to find a lost data-core that may contain the secret to defeating the alo-deepynine alliance. But the means to find the data-core is hidden deep in tavalai space, in a highest-security vault where the tavalai's manipulative State Department keep all their most treacherous secrets. To recover it, Phoenix must pull off the most daring heist the Spiral has ever seen. But Phoenix will need help -- in the form of a rebellious faction of the tavalai Fleet; a fanatical parren mystic who lusts mostly for power; a cynical old tavalai marine who's spent much of his life fighting humans; and a super-intelligent AI queen who will sacrifice anything to rescue her race from extinction. None of them can be trusted, and neither Captain Erik Debogande nor Major Trace Thakur are experienced in this kind of work. But each must gather their ingenuity and courage, and learn as they go, as the scale of the threat confronting humanity looms larger, and the clock is ticking...'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

1 y separately published work icon Drysine Legacy Joel Shepherd , Australia : Joel Shepherd , 2016 19590824 2016 single work novel science fiction

'The legendary battle-carrier UFS Phoenix is on the run in Outer Neutral Space. Lieutenant Commander Erik Debogande and Major Trace Thakur are determined to use neutral territory to broker a peace between humanity's warring factions, away from Fleet's strong arm. But as machinations in Fleet Command send a legendary warrior from Trace's past on a sworn path to kill her, there arises in the territory of an insectoid foe an ancient enemy from the nightmares of Spiral history, bent on Phoenix's destruction....'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

1 y separately published work icon Renegade Joel Shepherd , Australia : Joel Shepherd , 2015 9305274 2015 single work novel science fiction

'One thousand years after Earth was destroyed in an unprovoked attack, humanity has emerged victorious from a series of terrible wars to assure its place in the galaxy. But during celebrations on humanity’s new Homeworld, the legendary Captain Pantillo of the battle carrier Phoenix is court-martialed then killed, and his deputy, Lieutenant Commander Erik Debogande, the heir to humanity’s most powerful industrial family, is framed with his murder. Assisted by Phoenix’s marine commander Trace Thakur, Erik and Phoenix are forced to go on the run, as they seek to unravel the conspiracy behind their Captain’s demise, pursued to the death by their own Fleet. What they discover, about the truth behind the wars and the nature of humanity’s ancient alien allies, will shake the sentient galaxy to its core.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 y separately published work icon The Spiral Wars Joel Shepherd , 2015- 9305254 2015 series - author novel
1 y separately published work icon Originator Joel Shepherd , Amherst : Pyr , 2015 12032458 2015 single work novel science fiction

'A quarter of a million people die in the destruction of the moon Cresta. The League civil war is accelerating out of control, but projections indicate that as their technologically induced sociological dysfunction continues, all of humanity may face a similar fate. In the aftermath of Cresta's destruction, Sandy Kresnov discovers the alien Talee operative Cai in Tanusha, there to learn just how far the technologically-induced insanity has gone. The Talee have seen this before, and they are terrified of anything threatening a recurrence.

'Meanwhile, Sandy's old nemesis Renaldo Takewashi, the self-proclaimed "father" of synthetic intelligence, comes to the Federation seeking asylum. Talewashi may even have a cure--previously unknown Talee technology implanted into a human child subject--Sandy's little boy, Kiril. But it is exactly this technology that the Talee fear, and they will exterminate anyone caught using it. Now, Sandy must fight to save her family from a terrible new threat, but doing so may plunge humanity into another destructive war between humans, or worse, against the massively-advanced Talee.

'And what final secret are the Talee protecting about the origins of synthetic humans like Sandy that could either liberate Sandy's fellow synthetics from bondage or spell disaster for all humanity?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 y separately published work icon Operation Shield Joel Shepherd , Amherst : Pyr , 2014 12032392 2014 single work novel science fiction

'In 23 Years on Fire, Cassandra discovered that the technology that created her has been misused in her former home and now threatens all humanity with catastrophe. Returning home to Callay, she finds that Federation member worlds, exhausted by the previous thirty-year-war against the League, are unwilling to risk the confrontation that a solution may require. Some of these forces will go to any lengths to avoid a new conflict, including taking a sledgehammer to the Federation Constitution and threatening the removal by force of Cassandra's own branch of the Federal Security Agency.

'More frighteningly for Sandy, she has brought back to Callay three young children, whom she met on the mean streets of Droze, discovering maternal feelings she had not known she possessed. Can she reconcile her duty as a soldier, including what she must do as a tactician, with the dangers that those decisions will place upon her family--the one thing that has come to mean more to her than any cause she now believes in?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 y separately published work icon 23 Years on Fire Joel Shepherd , Amherst : Pyr , 2013 12032337 2013 single work novel science fiction

'Cassandra Kresnov--a highly advanced hunter-killer android--returns to face down a rogue government's plot to eliminate free will. Commander Cassandra Kresnov has her hands full. She must lead an assault against the Federation world of Pyeongwha, where a terrible sociological phenomenon has unleashed hell against the civilian population. Then she faces the threat from a portion of League space known as New Torah, in which a ruthless regime of surviving corporations are building new synthetic soldiers but taking the technology in alarming directions. On the Torahn world of Pantala, Sandy encounters betrayal, crisis, and conspiracy on a scale previously unimaginable. Most challenging of all, she also meets three young street kids who stir emotions in her she didn't think she was capable of. Can the Federation's most lethal killer afford unexpected sentiment? What will be the cost if she is forced to choose between them and her mission, not only to her cause, but to her soul?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

2 y separately published work icon Haven Joel Shepherd , Sydney : Hachette Australia , 2010 10173059 2010 single work novel fantasy

The Army of the Regent Arosh advances on the forces loyal to Saalshen, homeland of the serrin people, as the serrin's friends are in full retreat. Their only hope is to reach the city of Jahnd, as 'Trial of Blood and Steel' reaches its dramatic conclusion.

Source: Publisher's Blurb

2 y separately published work icon Tracato Joel Shepherd , Sydney : Orbit Australia , 2009 Z1679813 2009 single work novel fantasy 'In this third title in Joel Shepherd's gripping quartet, we are reunited with the fearless heroine Sasha, Errollyn and the other familiar characters from Sasha and Petrodor. The net is really closing in now, with the whole of Rhodia at war and the serrin - the beautiful and dangerous people from beyond the Bacosh - fighting for survival. The revolutionary politics of Tracato, and the clandestine attempts by the feudalists to hold onto power, are gripping and full of intrigue. The characters who were developing in the previous title blossom into their roles here, sharing the arena with Sasha, giving this novel an extra dimension that readers will love. - Publisher's blurb'
1 y separately published work icon Petrodor Joel Shepherd , Sydney : Orbit Australia , 2008 Z1528055 2008 single work novel fantasy 'Book 2 in the quartet, A Trial of Blood and Steel, picking up the story of the brave and independent heroine, Sasha, now living in the port city of Petrodor. Away from the hills of her Lenayin homeland, Sasha is making a new life in the dark alleys and wealthy houses of Petrodor. An influential trading centre, Petrodor holds the key to preventing the coming war between Lenayin and the mighty Bacosh. Together with her old mentor Kessligh, Sasha attempts to navigate the political intrigues of the port city and find a way to stop the war. It is the serrin, the beautiful but dangerous people from beyond the Bacosh, who will be the pivotal point in this struggle. How much can Sasha trust her old serrin friend Errollyn? And how much can she trust herself?' (Publisher's blurb)
1 1 y separately published work icon A Trial of Blood and Steel Joel Shepherd , 2007 2007- Z1528047 2007 series - author novel fantasy
1 1 y separately published work icon Sasha Joel Shepherd , Sydney : Hachette Livre Australia , 2007 Z1397622 2007 single work novel fantasy 'Sasha turns her back on her regal heritage, forsakes the life she could have as the princess in a rich kingdom, and trains instead to be a powerful warrior, fighting for the good of the people her father commands. Sasha is a princess, the like of which the highland country of Lenayin has never seen before. Spurning her royal heritage to be raised by the great warrior, Kessligh, her exquisite swordplay astonishes all who witness it. But Sasha is still young, untested in battle and often led by her rash temper. In the complex world of Lenayin loyalties, her defiant wilfulness is attracting the wrong kind of attention. Lenayin is a land almost divided by its two faiths: the Verenthane of the ruling classes and the pagan Goeren-yai, amongst whom Sasha now lives. The Goeren-yai worship swordplay and honour and begin to see Sasha as the great spirit - the Synnich - who will unite them. But Sasha is still searching for what she believes and must choose her side carefully. When the Udalyn people - the symbol of Goeren-yai pride and courage - are attacked, Sasha will face her moment of testing. How will she act? Is she ready to lead? Can she be the saviour they need her to be?' (Publisher's blurb)
1 y separately published work icon Killswitch Joel Shepherd , Pymble : Voyager , 2004 Z1122122 2004 single work novel science fiction

'As an enemy fleet prepares for attack, the Callayan Defense Force looks to its leaders Major Vanessa Rice and android Commander Cassandra (Sandy) Kresnov, but soon Sandy's lover, Special Agent Ari Ruben, discovers a plot to kill the android, forcing her to go underground to stay alive.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

2 1 y separately published work icon Breakaway Joel Shepherd , Pymble : Voyager , 2003 Z1028233 2003 single work novel science fiction

'Cassandra Kresnov is a highly advanced hunter-killer android. She has escaped the League and fled to Callay, a member of the Federation. At its heart is the enigma of Cassandra: Is she more human than human, or is she totally untrustworthy?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 Cassandra Kresnov Joel Shepherd , 2001- series - author novel science fiction
2 y separately published work icon Crossover Joel Shepherd , Pymble : Voyager , 2001 Z817800 2001 single work novel science fiction

'A young woman is on the run, and on her own. She needs to find work and a place to live... she needs to feel like an ordinary human being. But she is no ordinary human being - and when she saves the life of Katia Neiland, President of Tanusha, the secret services discover just how special, just how lethal, she is. Who can she trust? Vanessa Rice, special forces, who wants to be her friend? The President? The Judiciary? Whoever it is she's better decide soon. Those she left behind want her back. The League's Dark Star is a ruthless organisation, and some people in the Federation wouldn't mind handing her over - or causing war... Will she ever find safety? Can she ever stop running?'

— Back cover

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