James Alan Gardner Books in Order

Explorer Festina Ramos escorts an unstable admiral to Melaquin, a planet from which previous expeditions have never returned. Treated as expendable because of her appearance, she sets out to understand the danger and survive the assignment.

In isolated Tober Cove, residents change gender annually until choosing a permanent identity at twenty-one. Musician Fullin approaches that decision as disturbing secrets shake his faith in the village's beliefs and the traditions governing his life.

Faye Smallwood joins Demoth's Vigil, an organization overseeing government misconduct, after losing her physician father. Her first assignment brings android assassins and a conspiracy into her path, with Explorer Festina Ramos becoming an unexpected ally.

Edward York's genetically engineered brain has made him an unlikely Explorer. Accompanying his sister Samantha to a world unsettled by Mandasar civil war, he faces dangerous assignments, political upheaval, and the possibility of help from Festina Ramos.

Oar's nearly indestructible glass body conceals a mind growing weary on Melaquin, where others like her sleep. Before surrendering to hibernation, she must confront unknown enemies and uncover her people's history with help from Festina Ramos.

Five teachers' night out on Old Earth becomes complicated by a murdered student, an alien organism, and a missing boyfriend. Their unofficial investigation draws them toward the Spark Lords and a conspiracy reaching beyond an ordinary homicide.

Fourteen speculative stories move between ordinary experiences and cosmic mysteries. Gardner explores subjects as unlikely as peanut butter sandwiches and space drives, finding unsettling possibilities in everyday life alongside the stranger questions posed by distant worlds.

Explorer Youn Suu and her partner Tut investigate trouble on a Cashling homeworld, where sentient red moss presents a dangerous mystery. With Festina Ramos involved, Youn Suu's infection complicates efforts to understand the organism's intentions.

Courteous men, seemingly indestructible women, and fedora-wearing visitors from space come together in this comic science fiction story. Gardner brings the manners and atmosphere of a Damon Runyon tale into an encounter with the unexpected.

A scientific accident gives college student Kim Lam and three housemates superpowers, drawing them into conflict with supernatural Darklings. While learning their abilities and choosing costumes, the new heroes confront a mad genius's developing scheme.

Only days after gaining superpowers, Jools and her friends pursue a missing weapon connected to a mad genius. Joining a group modeled on Robin Hood's Merry Men leaves them uncertain about the weapon's purpose and their allies.