What if making first contact takes a dangerous or deadly turn?

The stories gracing the pages of Ripples in Space tackle this question. Fourteen talented authors each provide an answer through suspenseful, engrossing tales. Their stories will keep you turning the pages from start to finish and leave you thinking about what you’ve read long after the anthology is finished.

Today is the official release date for Ripples in Space — a new science fiction anthology from Samak Press. Fourteen stories detail first contact scenarios that are truly out of this world. From sinister aliens to rogue artificial intelligence, these first contact stories will take readers to unexpected destinations. There they will meet truly strange creatures who fit the definition of alien perfectly.

Featured authors for Ripples in Space include:

Jean Marie Bauhaus | Phillip Carter | David Castlewitz | Charles Chin | Sarah Connell | John Coon | Angelique Fawns | Katherine Kerestman | Winston Malone | Christopher W. McGuiness | K.L. Mill | Mike Morgan | Brian Reindel | Darren Todd

Here’s a quick glimpse at each story featured within the pages of Ripples in Space:

• Salvaging an orb from a derelict space vessel puts a couple at the mercy of a mysterious alien entity in Out of Silence by Jean Marie Bauhaus.
• Searching for her missing dog leads a woman on a trek into an isolated section of her sprawling ranch where time and reality are a disorienting mess in Tract 16 by Christopher W. McGuiness.
• Two alien merchants dealing in exotic animals find an uncharted solar system that offers access to countless new species in Jah’s Sanctuary by John Coon.
• An astronaut and her AI companion encounter a mysterious explorer on a distant world thought to be lifeless in Once We Peppered the Stars by Darren Todd.
• Faced with a virus that is degenerating their bodies, aliens seek assistance from a human cargo vessel in Bellwether from Sarah Connell.
• Five-sided aliens allow two human explorers to join their migration, an action that creates an unforeseen ripple effect for their entire species in Fear the Human by Mike Morgan.
• Her brother’s abduction by an unseen alien entity upends a young girl’s life in Not James by K.L. Mill.
• An aging exobiologist traveling on a return voyage from Neptune receives a crystal infused space rock that is no ordinary rock in Space Amoebas by David Castlewitz.
• A letter recounts the discovery of a planet-wide AI program with addictive properties in Adaptive Algorithm by Charles Chin.
• When a man’s teenage son undergoes a dramatic personality shift, it signals the presence of another being from beyond the stars in Foreign Exchange by Brian Reindel.
• Animals start randomly dropping from the sky, foreshadowing a mysterious apocalyptic event in Raining Cats and Dogs by Katherine Kerestman.
• An aspiring rodeo star retreats into training for a rodeo to help her cope when attacking spaceships appear in the sky in The Silver Buckle by Angelique Fawns.
• Two sisters explore mysterious and dangerous tunnels underneath a future London destroyed by a worldwide apocalyptic event in Gamma Day by Phillip Carter.
• A spaceship is drawn to investigate the cause behind an unusual distortion that’s emanating from a mysterious planet in Ascentia’s Downfall by Winston Malone.

Ripples in Space is available at all major booksellers worldwide in eBook and print editions.

eBook: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | Apple Books | Google Play

paperback: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books a Million | Bookshop.org |Ingram Spark

hardcover: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books a Million | Bookshop.org |Ingram Spark

You can also buy a copy direct from Samak Press through branded stores on Payhip and Bookshop.org.

If you purchase a print edition at Bookshop.org, you will save 7% off the list price.

Readers who purchase an eBook edition at our branded store on Payhip will save 25% off the list price with promo code SP25 at checkout. That promo code is also good for all other Samak Press titles available on Payhip.

Throughout September, you will receive 50% off the list price for the Ripples in Space eBook at Barnes and Noble if you use the promo code BNPSAMAK50 at checkout.

Samak Press welcomes reviews of this new science fiction anthology posted to bookseller websites, podcasts, and blogs. If you’re a podcaster, blogger or reviewer who’s interested in receiving an advanced reader copy in order to do a review, we’d love to hear from you. Please send us an email to samakpress@gmail.com and include “Ripples in Space ARC request” in your email subject line.