January New Releases
Baby, there's books outside!
Christmas has come! Now we are within the famous 12 Days of Christmas, which end on January 6th. Do you want a way to celebrate those days, and/or to give an extra gift or two during this Christmas season? Then we here at Upstream have you covered!
This is a list of books which came out during December or that are scheduled to come out next month. If you seek, you may find one to your taste or that can become another present for a loved on. Let’s take a look, readers!
Level Two: A Science Fiction LitRPG Novel (Galactic Merc Book 2) by Chris Kennedy
Releasing: January 9
I just wanted to tell my neighbor to shut up.
Hi, I’m Jack Taylor, a romance author from Earth—though you probably haven’t heard of my planet yet. It’s not part of the Galactic Consortium, and that’s a good thing for the shady alien races lurking in the shadows, ready to snatch up anyone they can.
When I was abducted by the Grays during a camping trip, I found myself thrust into a mercenary life I never asked for. Now I’m a Level 2 merc with one goal: to reclaim my home and protect my loved ones. I might accidentally save the galaxy, but that’s not really my focus.
It looks like I might be able to pilot mechs, and with that power, I could turn the tide against the forces exploiting Earth. But as I train with my squad, I’ve uncovered a conspiracy that could shake the galaxy to its core. The Phantom Legion is on the hunt for humans like me, and their sinister plans may be more dangerous than I ever imagined.
Join me on a wild ride through combat training, unexpected alliances, and a race against time, as I strive to prove that even a romance writer can become a hero—assuming I can survive that long.
Big Trouble, Little Earth 3 by J.N. Chaney and Jason Anspach
Released: December 14
Freedom isn’t free—and being humanity’s savior doesn’t come with an instruction manual.
Dalton Thorne never asked to be the chosen one. He was just a cargo hauler trying to make a living. Now he’s stuck saving humanity whether he likes it or not.
Little Earth is finally free from the Consortium’s iron grip, but the celebration is short-lived. A mysterious and powerful faction called the Chi Hunters has swept in to fill the void, and they’ve got grand designs for the galaxy—with Dalton as their unwilling pawn.
When a long-hidden fragment of Earth is discovered, Dalton and the crew of the Iron Horse are dispatched on a mission to unite it with Little Earth. It’s the perfect opportunity to slip free from the Chi Hunters’ control... and probably land himself in even deeper trouble.
Because when has anything ever gone smoothly for Dalton Thorne?
From the far reaches of space to desperate human refugee camps to reality-warping alternate dimensions, Dalton, Kota, Guardian, and the gang are back for another pulse-pounding adventure. The stakes have never been higher, the dangers never stranger, and the odds of survival? Well, let’s just say they’ve been better.
Somewhere in all this chaos, there’s got to be a plan. Right?
For the Eternal Glory of Rome by Tom Kratman
Releasing: January 6
GIVE ME BACK MY LEGIONS!
In September of the year 9 A.D. three Roman legions are trapped in the Teutoburg Forest by tens of thousands of rebelling Germanic tribesmen under the Romano-German renegade, Arminius. In an attempt to save what can be saved, an alien starship transports one of those legions, Legio XIIX, to safety. But the aliens are rushed by events and transport the XIIXth not just in space, but through time as well.
Dropped four centuries into their future, under the leadership of their first spear centurion, Marcus Caelius and the young but promising junior tribune, Gaius Pompeius, Legio XIIX must fight to survive almost from the first moments of arrival. Moreover, they must march and fight across a continent to find their way home.
Because home, the Roman Empire, needs them—their discipline, their tactics, their indomitable fortitude—more desperately than it has ever needed anything . . . because New Years Eve, 406 A.D. is coming, and with it, a horde of barbarians are going to cross the frozen Rhine and, unless stopped cold, destroy the Empire.
Blood Diamonds: The Beast of Magnolia Manor (Boons and Banes Book 1) by TC Ross
Released: December 26
Every year, hunters ride into the cursed woods of Magnolia Manor chasing fortune.
Most never ride out. September Zamfir isn’t after treasure.
He’s running from a past that hunts him harder than any monster, and walking straight into the one legend no blade has ever ended. But the beast is no mindless killer.
Behind silver fur and porcupine spines is Verity: a young woman chained to an ancient curse, guarding the only family she has left. When Sept offers the one thing no hunter ever has—help—she has to decide whether to trust the young man who sees through her claws… or condemn them both to the darkness that made her.
A dark, atmospheric tale of cursed bloodlines, impossible choices, and the thin line between monster and savior. For readers who crave beauty and terror in equal measure.
Accidental Astronaut by J.N. Chaney and Rick Partlow
Released: December 9
The world needed a hero. Instead, they got Jack.
Dr. Erik Manheim needed a warrior. A Navy SEAL. Someone who could help him confront the threat he uncovered in ancient ruins—evidence that a rogue planet brings devastation every time it passes Earth.
Instead, he got Jack Schafer, hung-over bush pilot in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Now Jack is swept into a mission he was never meant to survive—one that stretches from Alaskan wilderness to the stars beyond. Humanity’s future hangs in the balance… and its best hope may be a reluctant pilot who wasn’t supposed to be here at all.
Accidental Astronaut is a gripping, fast-paced blend of survival thriller and epic science fiction—perfect for fans of Andy Weir, Michael Crichton, and James Rollins.
Far Futures: Book Four
Released: December 23
Titan. The largest moon of the planet Saturn and second in size only to Jupiter’s Ganymede. Titan is bigger, in fact, than the planet Mercury. With an atmosphere, ice, and stable bodies of liquid, some have said it may be more viable for colonization than Mars. But is it? How would humanity adjust to long-term effects of a gravitational pull less than Earth’s own moon? What would be the socio-economic impacts of such a colony? What about the political dynamics? The military implications? The scientific potentials?
Will it be the romanticized experience popularized in film and fandom, with state-of-the-art equipment; clean, orderly habitats; and meaningful experimentation? Self-sufficient systems? Supportive efforts and mutual cooperation for the common good?
In Far Futures Book Four, science fiction authors from around the world suggest how unlikely that is. They write of the distant future. Tales of grit and ammonia, methane rain, hard-boiled private eyes, murder, deception, social breakdown, and disastrous first contacts. Stories that stretch the imagination and test the limits of human endurance.
Stories by Zachary Taylor Branch, G.C. Byrne, Stephen W. Chappell, Isabel McKeough, James Palmer, Diana Parrilla, James Pyles, and Katrina Schroeder, with a poem by Mark Hendrickson. Edited by Robert J. Mendenhall.
The Friend of the Family by Dean Koontz
Releasing: January 20
The human “oddities” in the Museum of the Strange are less wondrous than the gawking rubes had been promised. But Alida is something else. The real thing. Traveling Depression-era America from carnival midways to speakeasies, Alida is resigned to an exploited and lonely life on the road as the museum’s golden ticket. Until she’s rescued by two compassionate strangers.
Franklin and Loretta Fairchild see in Alida a gifted and uncannily well-read girl in need of a loving touch and a family. With the openhearted couple and their three precociously imaginative children, Alida finds it. Yet despite everyone’s overwhelming generosity and acceptance, Alida knows she is still a very different kind of girl. Her dreams bear that out. They’re vivid, unsettling, and threatening. Alida fears that they’re also warnings. And that it’s the Fairchilds who may need rescue from a bad, bad world.
Alida will do anything to help those she now holds nearest and dearest. Empowered with a purpose to vanquish evil, she will not fail her family.
I’m the Beautiful But Evil Space Princess Who Rules A Galactic Empire But Really Wants To Leave People Ruthlessly Alone: Volume 2 by Nathan C. Brindle
Released: December 18
Princess Regnant Alice and her companions, after a trip to Prince Daniel's world Xeros, and a visit to Lost Terra and a meeting with Michael, the mysterious, ancient human, have been directed by Michael to travel to Mahoukai -- a world of magical beings who will be able to properly train and guide Prince Daniel's sister Alouette in the use of her inborn magical powers.
But a nagging question continues to bug both Alice and her father, Roger; what is really going on, back on Capital? Is a revolution brewing? Is the Lord Chancellor, Rupert, somehow involved, and at what level? Eventually they must bid a reluctant farewell to the Mahoukaian Great Mages of Antiquity, and end Alice's six month absence from her Throne.
And what they find on Capital is far, far beyond anything they might have imagined from 50,000 light years away.
The second volume of the BBESP light novel!
To Tread Obsidian Shores (The Bronze Legion Book 1) by Jason Cordova and Melissa Olthoff
Releasing: January 6
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A WARRIOR?
The Protectorate of Mars Foreign Legion: A path to citizenship. A fresh start. Defending the Protectorate of Mars against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
HOPE
With itchy feet and a vagabond soul, all Blue ever wanted was to join the Survey Corps and explore the universe. But when she failed the entry exam, becoming a dropship pilot for the Legion was her last chance at achieving that dream. It was only supposed to be a stepping stone . . .
DUTY
All he ever wanted was a home. But when Tavi is driven from his world by murderous revolutionaries, he only has one chance to escape: the Legion. Searching for a new life, he soon discovers something even better—a family.
The Weird Map in Mr. Glimm’s Skull by Malory
Released: December 26
In a dusty school boiler room, 12-year-old inventor Felix Jones tunes his homemade radio and unleashes a whisper from the shadows: his own name. What starts as a creepy glitch explodes into a heart-pounding adventure when Felix uncovers a hidden Russian hatch, a vanishing caretaker with a scarred past, and a buried Cold War bunker teeming with psychic experiments and deadly drones. Accompanied by his loyal friend William, Felix races against shadowy spies and an ancient entity called “Mother” that’s hungry for freedom. Secrets shatter, memories twist, and the fate of their sleepy village hangs by a wire in this pulse-racing tale of bravery, betrayal, and buried horrors. Perfect for fans of Stranger Things and Rick Riordan—will Felix crack the code or become the next victim?
Call of Wings by Dan Michaelson and D.K. Holmburg
Releasing: January 27
The summons was supposed to bring justice. Instead, it awakens something far older.
Called to testify at the Baron’s trial, Callen Nasinth enters the capital expecting politics and danger—but not the pulse of ancient power beneath its streets. Noble factions hunt for the Baron’s lost research. Whispers spread of transformed aristocrats hiding in plain sight. And someone has left a message only the Nightshade would understand.
As Nora’s visions warn of blood on marble floors and the drift thrums with something waking below the city, Callen must navigate treacherous alliances, buried corruption, and the ghosts of the man he used to be.
Because the capital isn’t just watching him.
It remembers him. And it wants him back.
Kiss Me, February: A Yearly, Texas Romance (The Yearly, Texas Romance Series Book 4) by Bokerah Brumley
Releasing: January 6
February Scott is determined to find a way to make a living as a social media influencer, and it’s brought her to Yearly, Texas. Now her continual mishaps keep landing her on the wrong side of the attractive small-town deputy. As the sparks fly, her followers skyrocket, but soon, February is in over her head.
Farmer Bill’s feisty, new farm intern, leads Officer Mark Jones on a grand chase (maybe even an actual car chase through Yearly). However, to Mark’s surprise, February is the one who catches him.
A speeding ticket is the least of their worries on the highway to love.
Continue the romantic adventures in Yearly, Texas...
Street Snacks by Holly Chism
Releasing: December 31
Don’t leave your empties lying in the streets, guys, jeez...
Meg Turner had a quiet six months (after the end of the monster incursion). That was because her borders were closed, but her six months of peace were up when her borders came down. While, yes, bringing her borders down allowed for a lot of postponed good things, it also allowed for an ill-considered challenge for her territory and a couple of murderers to waltz across her borders.
Oh, and an abandoned fledgling that had awakened to the night, buried in a dumpster. One that the Justices would have seen culled with most of the fledglings in the Kansas City nest. Thank goodness she’d sent Radu to rescue the ones that could recover from being brought over by cannibalistic monsters, and nobody official had paid attention to how many they’d rescued.
Between hiding an extra fledgling from the new Justice, Richmond recovering from a nasty case of PTSD, a vampire hiding his feeding on the homeless as animal attacks, and another feeding on her young vampires, Meg has her hands full.
And she’d really like to close her borders again, to avoid having to deal with all of this nonsense, please and thank you.
Pilgrim Tales: An anthology of fiction by the Catholic Writers Guild
Released: December 9
A pilgrimage is often thought of as a journey towards God. It can take many forms, as this collection of short stories from the Catholic Writer’s Guild shows. Here we have pilgrims journeying through frozen mountains, through life, through outer space, through grief, through dinosaur-infested crags, through history, through love, and even through purgatory. Containing fifteen brand new short stories from fifteen Catholic authors, this anthology showcases work from established, award-winning novelists, alongside work from relatively unknown authors, displaying the breadth of talent within the Guild today.
Who says Catholic literature is dead?
Archangel: Rebirth by Rick Partlow
Releasing: January 13
The men who ruled the galaxy are dead.
What comes next may be worse.
Captain Brent Parthet and the Archangels shattered the Consortium’s grip on humanity, killing the architects of a corrupt system that fueled war, exploitation, and genocide. The victory was real—but it left a vacuum no one is prepared for.
With the Consortium leaderless and intelligence agencies in disarray, factions across human space scramble for power. Old enemies maneuver in the shadows, new tyrants rise overnight, and the truth Parthet exposed threatens to tear civilization apart. Chaos is spreading faster than any fleet can contain it.
To stop the next catastrophe, the Archangels must move before the galaxy collapses in on itself. Hidden biolabs, secret communications hubs, and the dark science behind the Archangel program itself hold the key to preventing history from repeating—but every answer comes with a cost.
Trust is fragile. Allies are unreliable. And Parthet is forced to decide how far he’s willing to go to keep humanity from destroying itself all over again.
Death Comes to the Science Fair by Frances DeChantal
Released: December 15
Laurel floats disconnected from her new teaching position at a Catholic school. Homeschooled herself, she questions whether she can fit in. When she rescues children from a car crash the school staff leap to help her. And gossip about it.
An unexpected mentor, her first grade students, and a handsome firefighter all conspire to break through the wall she’s built against the school. She learns to delight in everything from her students to the Christmas pageant.
As mysterious incidents start to proliferate Laurel struggles for answers. A sudden death brings everything to a head. Can Laurel work out the mystery of who is damaging the school and why, before the body count starts to rise?
If you like young heroines steadfastly working to get things right, you’ll love this cozy voyage of schoolhouse mystery and self-discovery. Pick up a copy today to join Laurel in her new life.
Christmas In Time: A Collection of Short Stories by Sarah Hoyt
Released: December 14
Christmas In Time: Six Stories of Time Travel and Second Chances
Time is not an Ocean. But then again it is.
From award-winning author Sarah A. Hoyt come six tales of time travel, parallel worlds, and the furthest reaches of space—all bound together by Christmas miracles and the choices that define us.
Meet Time Corps agents who risk madness to prevent reality from splintering. Follow a mathematician pulled into a parallel universe where his twin captains starships between worlds. Watch as mysterious children arrive from impossible futures, and discover Victorian lighthouses that serve as anchors in the storm of time itself. Journey from blood-soaked space stations to asteroid colonies at the edge of the known universe.
This collection includes “What Child Is This,” a prequel to Hoyt’s acclaimed novel No Man’s Land, revealing how a child’s accidental time-slip can save a man’s life and create the bonds of family love.
Maker Magic (Tales of Simple Magic #2) by Lawrence Dahners
Releasing: January 9
Imagine a horse-powered world where magic is used for mending, making, and healing.
Magical ability is rare, but Ky Vaux—a peasant boy from a poor family—can not only mend and make, but is extremely powerful and hopes to fulfill his dream of working as a healer.
Ky’s gift of magic is now supporting Ky, his mother, his sister, and even his cousins.
But for Ky, taking care of his family isn’t enough. He wants to help others, the poor children of the city and those who're being tortured by a sadistic noble …
Fields & Energy: Book 1: Fundamentals & Origins of Electromagnetism by Hans G. Schantz
Released: December 5
What if the most fundamental force in nature were misunderstood—and its true nature forgotten?
In this groundbreaking first volume of the Fields & Energy series, theoretical physicist and inventor Hans G. Schantz takes readers on a journey to rediscover the forgotten foundations of electromagnetism. With clarity and precision, Schantz reveals how 19th-century scientists developed a deep and intuitive understanding of electromagnetic phenomena, only for much of that insight to be sidelined in modern physics education.
Why did this shift happen? What was lost along the way? And how might restoring this classical perspective help us make sense of today’s most puzzling questions in physics?
Drawing on his unique background as a physicist turned engineer, entrepreneur, and science fiction writer, Schantz blends rigorous science with engaging storytelling. He shows how a clearer conception of energy, fields, and their interaction can unify the practical and theoretical sides of physics and point the way to a more complete understanding of the quantum world.
This is the essential starting point for anyone seeking to understand the true nature of electromagnetism, and why reclaiming its origins might just reshape the future of science.
Dragon’s Teeth (Hunter Healer King Book 3) by Mel Dunay
Released: December 26
The name's Chloe Fortebat, and I don’t understand this place at all.
Maxim and I are engaged, but there's a problem: his late mother may be too closely related to my mother. We need answers about her past, but she abandoned me as a child, and we don't know where she is now. Meanwhile, a candidate for Emperor was attacked by a vicious beast, and Maxim's friend the Prime Minister is pushing him forward as a replacement. I think Maxim would be good at it, but right now, we have bigger problems. We have to find my mother, and stop the monster stalking this city. But neither the monster nor my mother may be what we expected.
My name is Dr. Maxim os Storm, and I hunt the beasts that haunt the night.
I want to marry Chloe more than anything, but first we must find her mother, who vanished years ago under suspicious circumstances. As we investigate, the questions multiply. What creature killed one man and mauled another near the Beast Garden? What is the meaning of the signet ring marked with a face that is half woman, half dragon? Why does the Prime Minister want to thrust the Imperial Crown onto my head? But Chloe's courage never wavers, no matter what ancient horrors await us. We will find the answers we seek, and face the darkness together.
Return to Alder Grove by Celia Hayes
Released: December 24
Love in all the wrong places – Caro Robertson was a professional researcher, employee and occasional on-air reporter for a national public radio outlet; the perfect job, the perfect condo, the perfect fiancée. She had the college education, the job, the social position, the perfect life … and then in one fell swoop, everything went sour. Wrong. Disastrously wrong. In the space of a single week, she lost her beloved pet, the perfect fiancée and then her job. What was left for her, but to return to Alder Grove, the little town in Texas where she lived as a child and try to rebuild that life and a new career?
Mark Bascomb – owner of a small fabrication business, small-town handyman, veteran and high-school drop-out; everything in life that Caro Robertson wasn’t. Could they find common ground with each other, a common interest, even love, when they are so different?
Find out when the sparks fly in Alder Grove, in this short romance novel by the author of the Chronicles of Luna City, and the Adelsverein Trilogy.
Homestead Crafter: A Litrpg Crafting Slice of Life by S.D. McKittrick
Releasing: January 2
I never expected to get a crafting class, nor did I expect to get expelled from my family because of it. But I won't let stop me from growing stronger and proving to my father that despite only being able to craft that I'm worth less.
Setting out for the Wilds, the untamed lands of the world, I promised myself that I would become a settler and flourish in the danger and fight for survival. It may sound hard, but as a Master of Crafts, I have all the professions and tools I need to build myself a homestead and survive against all odds. Not only that, but it seems I have a certain way of drawing the sapient denizens of the forest to me.
All that's left is building my house, growing my gardens, and experimenting with every crafting profession I can.
The Ring and the Shadows (Cade Gowan and the Round Table Book 1) by Russell A. Wells
Released: December 22
Cade Gowan is a normal fourteen year-old boy, if normal means having an ancestor who was part of King Arthur's court.
Forced to live with his impoverished uncle after the death of his parents over ten years ago, Cade doesn’t see how life can improve—until he is visited by a strange man on horseback. This man is a messenger from the Camelot Academy for Knighthood and Ladyship, a training ground for children descended from the Knights of the Round Table themselves.
Suddenly, Cade is thrust into a world of swords, jousting, and monsters, all while trying to unravel the mysteries of his past. He still has to attend class and do homework just like any other kid, but with the help of some newfound friends, he finally feels like he belongs somewhere.
However, not all is as it seems. After arriving on campus, Cade begins to be haunted by strange dreams—dreams that seemingly link his past to a deadly future. Dark forces are at work, and one question looms over his head:
Can Cade solve the mystery of the Ring and the Shadows before it’s too late?
Wizard-Assassin (Half-Elven Thief Book 5) by Jonathan Moeller
Released: December 17
When assassins go to war, thieves scramble to survive.
Rivah Half-Elven is a master thief of the Court of the Masked King, the thieves' guild of the city of Tar-Carmatheion.
But the city has other guilds that operate in the shadows, and one of them is the Petitioners' Guild, a brotherhood of deadly assassins.
When the Petitioners go to war with their ancient foes, Rivah and the entire Court find themselves caught between two powerful enemies.
And unless Rivah pulls off a dangerous theft, she will be the first to die in the shadow war...
Courts (Magic Eater Book 4) by Sean Oswald
Releasing: January 5
One set of enemies has been dealt with, and Tad has made his way to a new town with a new shop. He's made some great friends and found a happiness he didn't know existed.
If only life were that simple. His heritage is pushing into his life and choices will have to be made. That and those who want a piece of him have become even more powerful.
Will he ever find the quiet life he wanted so much? Although, perhaps the bigger question is whether that's still the life he wants?
Twelve Months (Dresden Files Book 18) by Jim Butcher
Releasing: January 20
Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, has always managed to save the day—but, in this powerful entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files, can he save himself?
One year. 365 days. Twelve months.
Harry Dresden has been through a lot, and so has his city. After Harry and his allies narrowly managed to save Chicago from being razed to the ground, everything is different—and it’s not just the current lack of electricity.
In the battle, Harry lost people he cared about. And that’s the kind of loss that takes a toll. Harry being Harry, he’s doing his level best to help the city and his friends recover and rebuild. But it’s a heavy load, and he needs time.
But time is one thing Harry doesn’t have. Ghouls are prowling Chicago and taking out innocent civilians. Harry’s brother is dying, and Harry doesn’t know how to help him. And last but certainly not least, the Winter Queen of the Fae has allied with the White Court of vampires—and Harry’s been betrothed to the seductive, deadly vampire Lara Raith to seal the deal.
It’s been a tough year. More than ever, the city needs Harry Dresden the wizard—but after loss and grief, is there enough left of Harry Dresden the man to rise to the challenge?
Whew! Well, there you have it, readers! All the goodies that came out during December and more to look forward to this January. Know of any we missed? Drop us a line so we can promote them next time!
Until then, it is back to the hiatus for us here at Upstream. See you when the eggnog wears off!
Lots of choices with a large variety of stories. Someone for everyone.
Thanks for sharing.
THANK YOU! I appreciate it!