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Kris Longknife book cover 1
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Kris Longknife
Series · 31
books · 2004-2020

Books in series

Mutineer book cover
#1

Mutineer

2004

Kris Longknife is a daughter of privilege, born to money and power. Her father is the Prime Minister of her home planet. Her mother the consummate politician's wife. She's been raised only to be beautiful and marry well. But the heritage of the military Longknifes courses through Kris' blood-and, against her parents' objections, she enlists in the marines.
Deserter book cover
#2

Deserter

2004

Kris Longknife had no choice about growing up rich and pampered. When she did have a choice, she joined the Marines. But now, a friend needs help halfway across the galaxy—and with a military heritage coursing through her blood, it's time for Kris Longknife to be a hero. BUCKLE UP. SHE'S BACK. When Kris Longknife's best friend vanishes, she boards the next ship to Turantic, the last place he was seen alive. But there's more to the rescue than meets the eye. Turantic is not only the moss twisted hellhole in the galaxy, but it's also under quarantine because of a deadly plague. And after a sudden, suspicious loss of communication with the outside world, Kris realizes the length some enemies will go to for a life-threatening bait-and-trap. But she is willing to go even further—and deeper into Turantic's secrets—to survive...
Defiant book cover
#3

Defiant

2005

Born into a family of wealth and political power. Kris Longknife turned her back on high society and followed a different family tradition by joining the Marines. But now she finds herself relieved of duty. She's gotten in the way of someone's agenda—to bring down her father, the Prime Minister of Wardhaven. Now, with the fleet off on a propaganda mission. Wardhaven is left vulnerable to enemy warships that establish orbit around the planet demanding surrender. With the remnants of the fleet ordered to stand down. Kris declares herself Commander-in-Chief and plans a desperate gambit to defend her world. Commandeering every spaceworthy vessel she can get her hands on and recruiting every able-bodied person willing to risk their life. Kris leads the most important mission of her career—and it may be her last...
Training Daze book cover
#3.5

Training Daze

2011

An exciting military Science Fiction novella set between Mike Shepherd’s third and fourth Kris Longknife novels. Kris Longknife dodges assassins, gains an unwelcome (though rather handsome) bodyguard, and puts together a training squad to travel from planet to planet, preparing crews for the newest, fastest, and deadliest fighting ship. And, of course, nothing goes as planned!
Resolute book cover
#4

Resolute

2006

Kris Longknife has been given her first independent command in the very remote system of Chance, an assignment that's as much exile as promotion. But Kris isn't on the job long when she captures pirates hiding the location of an uncharted and unpopulated planet of miraculous technology.
Audacious book cover
#5

Audacious

2007

You can't keep a good woman down—Kris Longknife returns. Once again Kris finds herself caught in the crosshairs of unknown enemies who want her dead. Factions, both legitimate and underground, vie for control of the planet New Eden. And someone is taking advantage of the chaos to unleash a personal vendetta against Kris.
Intrepid book cover
#6

Intrepid

2008

Kris Longknife has been assigned to The Wasp, the best warship beyond the Rim of Human Space. But while hunting for pirates, Kris stumbles upon something. It's a plan to kill one of the members of the aristocratic Peterwald family—and the would-be killers are setting her up as the assassin.
Undaunted book cover
#7

Undaunted

2009

Kris Longknife encounters some peaceful aliens who have come to warn humanity of an unidentifiable force that is roaming the galaxy, obliterating everything in its path-a path now leading directly toward the human worlds.
Redoubtable book cover
#8

Redoubtable

2010

Lieutenant Commander Kris Longknife has precise orders: seek out, engage, and destroy pirates, slavers, and drug lords operating beyond the rim of human space-without interfering in Peterwald family affairs. But when slavers kidnap a twelve-year-old girl, Kris' mission becomes personal. And if destroying the pirate compound flattens some Peterwald interests-well, to hell with politics.
Daring book cover
#9

Daring

2011

Lieutenant Commander Kris Longknife leads a reconnaissance mission of the vast uncharted regions of space. No one, least of all Kris, expects to find a hostile alien starship. Now, she must determine the extent of the alien threat-and whether to start an interstellar war...
Welcome Home / Go Away book cover
#9.5

Welcome Home / Go Away

2012

Kris Longknife is back home from her galactic adventures, but her entire Fleet of Discovery has been annihilated. Now, humanity finds itself at war with an alien race more monstrous than anyone could have possibly imagined. General Terrance “Trouble” Tordon, Kris’s great-grandfather, is given the task of calming the panicked politicians, some of whom blame Kris for the disaster and would like to eliminate the ever bothersome Commander Longknife. But as “Trouble” struggles to defend his Kris, the level of uncertainty among the civilians leads to more panic and a rush to judgment that makes him believe that he’s facing a fight he’s bound to lose…
Furious book cover
#10

Furious

2012

Having used unorthodox methods to save a world—and every sentient being on it—Lieutenant Commander Kris Longknife is wanted across the galaxy for crimes against humanity. For her own safety, she’s been assigned to a backwater planet where her Fast Patrol Squadron 127 enforces immigration control and smuggler interdiction. But Kris is a Longknife, and nothing can stop her from getting back to the center of things—not when all hell is breaking loose. Now she’s on the run, hunted by both military and civilian authorities—and since the civilian authorities happen to be her immediate family, Kris soon finds herself homeless, broke, and on trial for her life on an alien world…
Kris Longknife's Bloodhound book cover
#10.5

Kris Longknife's Bloodhound

2013

It’s dangerous to get too close to one of those damn Longknife. So Senior Chief Agent in Charge Foile volunteers to get too damn close to the whole family of Longknifes. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Kris Longknife feared the survival of the entire human race might hang on what her Grampa Al did next – but she couldn’t figure out what he was up to. After a career in the Wardhaven Bureau of Investigations, Foile was good at finding out what others wanted to keep hidden. Exactly why he found himself volunteering, he’d never know, but soon he was spending his annual leave digging into what the powerful Longknife family wanted hidden and up to his neck in trouble of every kind.
Defender book cover
#11

Defender

2013

Kris Longknife is back in the good graces of the brass—and to demonstrate that, they've promoted her to Admiral. Now her mission is to find the home base of the space pirates who are plaguing the fringes of the galaxy. But no mission is ever simple when your name is Longknife. And this time the complications range from the military to the personal, as Kris finds herself—reluctantly—having to make some command decisions about her future...
Tenacious book cover
#12

Tenacious

2014

There’s no rest for a Longknife—even if you’re a newlywed. Vice Admiral Kris Longknife’s honeymoon gets cancelled when she hears that the space raider’s home world may have been discovered. Finding where the raiders came from could be the key to saving humanity. If only uncovering their secrets was that easy… As Kris returns home, she ends up tangling with a mutinous crew determined to take off on their own. The dissident group leads Kris straight into a new mess—a system filled with strange, deadly enemies poised to wipe another sentient civilization out of existence. Kris and her squadron are ready to prevent total annihilation, but the mutineers have other plans…
Unrelenting book cover
#13

Unrelenting

2015

In the New York Times bestselling Kris Longknife novels, “fans of the Honor Harrington escapades will welcome the adventures of another strong female in outer space starring in a thrill-a-page military space opera” ( Alternative Worlds ). The aliens attacking the planetary system of Alwa are an enemy unlike any Admiral Kris Longknife has ever encountered before. She doesn’t know who they are, only that they worship a being known as the Enlightened One and are unafraid to sacrifice themselves against her fleet. But Kris faces more than just the fanatical behavior of an alien armada. A saboteur has infiltrated the military’s medical facility and unleashed an epidemic that has spread throughout the fleet without warning. Seventy-two career military women are down with something not even the aliens could do to them—including Admiral Kris Longknife…
Among the Kicking Birds book cover
#13.5

Among the Kicking Birds

2017

Princess Kris Longknife is Viceroy for the Royal US government to the aliens of Alwa. She commands a fleet and an industrial base, and the humans manning the ships and working the factories would like some vacation time. They'd also like a stake in the Alwa they are defending. So Kris finds herself approaching natives for land. Her Native American heritage balks at the thought of her trading a few beads for land. She will handle these negotiations herself. Of course, nothing ever goes down easy for a Longknife. She'll face beasties, angry natives and an assassin before she's done, but hey, she's a Longknife. That's what she does. This story was originally part of Kris Longknife - Unrelenting but these 7600 words had to be cut because the novel was too long. Now you can read the full story that was covered in one short paragraph in Unrelenting.
Bold book cover
#14

Bold

2016

Despite her role as a fleet Admiral and protector of a planetary system, Kris is still beholden to her great grandfather King Raymond’s commands. She has been personally selected for a mission that, should she succeed, will save millions of lives. The Peterwald Empire is in the midst of civil war. On one side is the tyrannical Empress, on the other is the last person Kris ever wants to see again—Grand Duchess Vicky Peterwald. Due to their shared history, the Emperor believes Kris can mediate between the factions and bring about peace. But before Kris even begins her mission, she survives two assassination attempts on her family home world. Someone doesn’t want her interfering in the Empire’s affairs. Kris immediately suspects Vicky or the Empress, only to learn that it could also be a traitor among her own people...
Ruth Longknife's First Christmas book cover
#14.1

Ruth Longknife's First Christmas

2016

Ruthie Longknife is seven-months-old and enjoying her very first Christmas in the arms of Kris Longknife. She's got a sparkling tree to taste, a lot of presents under the three, oh, and because she's a Longknife, uninvited guests for the Christmas goose. This is a short story of 6,800 words and says a lot about Longknife holiday family dynamics, including grumpy old Grampa Al. A must read for those of you who enjoy Kris' world.
Kris Longknife's Replacement book cover
#14.5

Kris Longknife's Replacement

Admiral Santiago on Alwa Station

2017

Kris Longknife has been ordered back to human space. Sandy Santiago is a woman with a whole lot of problems. She's ordered to replace Kris Longknife, but can any mere mortal fill the shoes of a Longknife . . . and Kris Longknife most of all. Follow Sandy as she's introduced to the mess on Canopus Station. Watch her as she meets cats (with nuclear weapons!) and birds and vicious alien raiders. Oh, and she has to share Alwa Station with Rita Nuu Longknife. Can it get any worse?
Kris Longknife's Bad Day book cover
#14.9

Kris Longknife's Bad Day

2017

You just knew when Kris asked for a desk job that she’d have days like you have at the office. Well, here’s one that will bring you up to date on the technical developments in the Royal US Navy, as well as silly bureaucratic goings on.
Emissary book cover
#15

Emissary

2017

Kris Longknife has discovered that this desk job is not at all what she expected. Being desk bound hasn't even decreased the number of assassination attempts! Then Kris gets home to find her two kids playing with an Iteeche. Ron has come back to human space with a request. Should Kris take it? Can she finally get some straight answers for her Grampa Ray, King Raymond to most? Does she risk taking the kids into a situation with a whole lot of unanswered questions? Oh, and what can go wrong? Kris know something will go wrong. Something always goes wrong.
Kris Longknife's Maid goes on Strike book cover
#15.5

Kris Longknife's Maid goes on Strike

2017

You knew it had to happen sooner or later. Abby goes on strike. Of course, it took a lot to drive her to that extreme. Just saying.
Kris Longknife's Relief book cover
#15.6

Kris Longknife's Relief

Grand Admiral Santiago on Alwa Station

2017

Sandy Santiago has problems coming out her ears. Granny Rita is out of control. The workers are out on strike. Worse, the murderous alien raiders are testing Alwa's defense perimeter. Once she has her house in order, Sandy is strongly thinking of getting her own good look at what appears to be the alien home world. Last time Kris Longknife visited the place, she threw some serious shade on the aliens. Dare Sandy return? Might the aliens be waiting for her? What could a serious, organized scientific look at this world tell Sandy? Assuming she survives the look!
Admiral book cover
#16

Admiral

2017

Admiral Kris Longknife should have known the job offer was too good. Really, she knew by now that what was too good to be true really, really isn't. Still, she jumped at the chance to be the first human emissary to the Iteeche Empire. Only when she got there, and met the Emperor, a teenage kid swamped by his throne, did Kris find out that there was a little civil war going on in the Iteeche Empire. The loyal forces were losing, and they needed the best fighting admiral they could get. So they got Kris Longknife. Now Kris is sweating out collecting a fighting force—that won't make her their first target. Now she's trying to figure out how to fight ships identical to hers, that outnumber her four to one or worse. Oh, and she's got to keep the merchant princes in her embassy from making a mess of everything. A whole lot of people are hoping this Longknife can pull a grizzly bear out of her hat. A whole lot of other Iteeche are hoping the bear takes off her arm.
Kris Longknife's Successor book cover
#16.5

Kris Longknife's Successor

Grand Admiral Santiago on Alwa Station

2018

This is the third book with Grand Admiral Sandy Santiago serving as Kris Longknife's Relief, then Replacement, and now Successor on Alwa. She has all the challenges a gal could ask for. Granny Rita is on the rampage, and the cats have gone on strike. Leaving the Colonials to deal with Granny Rita, Sandy heads off to work with the cats, only to discover she is not the only one who has a bone to pick with them - alien monsters have a vendetta as well! Sandy has to work to find a way of peace among the Alwans, feisty cats, and a new alien race.
Commanding book cover
#17

Commanding

2018

Grand Admiral, Her Royal Highness Kris Longknife is up to her ears in problems . . . again. While summoned to the Imperial Iteeche Court to be humanity’s Emissary, it turns out that what the Iteeche really want is a fighting admiral! You see, they’ve got this huge civil war going, and the Imperial side isn’t doing so well. Kris now has command of the entire Imperial Combined Fleet. Sort of. The Iteeche Empire has a ten-thousand-year long history. There is nothing that won’t say, “We’ve always done it that way,” pointing to a track record lasting for thousands of years. Even when Kris reminds them they’re losing, many have a hard time changing. Many Iteeche also wonder if letting a human win this war for them isn’t losing everything already. Kris managed to win a defensive battle with a scratch force. Now she’s thrown together a larger force and is ready to take the fight to the rebels. It’s full speed ahead with Kris Longknife: Commanding.
Indomitable book cover
#18

Indomitable

2019

Grand Admiral, Her Royal Highness Kris Longknife, commander of the Iteeche Imperial Combined Fleets has the enemy on the run. Literally. The last time she entered a rebel system, every disloyal ship picked up its skirts and ran. So why has she been ordered, as in requested and required, to make a formal report to the Emperor? Ron the Iteeche and his two young Iteeche Counselors have little to say on the subject except that some Iteeche think Kris is winning too much, too fast. What human combat commander has ever heard those words? Worse, when Kris returns to the capital, no one wants to sell her a ticket on the space elevator. Driving the streets is dangerous . . . not two roadside bombs but three detonate! Now she's got her embassy in sight and she can't get in! What kind of games are the clan lords playing? What threats are being hatched against the young Emperor? Even more pressing, how does Kris get back into her embassy and back to her kids? The Iteeche Empire claims it has a ten-thousand-year history and traditions for every possible situation. However, they've never run into Kris Longknife Indomitable.
Infinite Stars book cover
#18.5

Infinite Stars

Dark Frontiers

2019

The second volume of short science fiction anthology. 26 stories from series such as Confederation, The Lost Fleet, Waypoint Kangaroo, Ender, Dream Park, Wayfarers and the Polity. Authors are: Arthur C. Clarke, Jack Campbell, Becky Chambers, Robert Heinlein, George R.R. Martin, Susan R. Matthews, Orson Scott Card, James Blish, E.E. “Doc” Smith, Tanya Huff, Curtis C. Chen, Seanan McGuire, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, Larry Niven and Steven Barnes, Gardner Dozois, David Farland, Mike Shepherd, C.L. Moore, Neal Asher, Weston Ochse, Brenda Cooper, Alan Dean Foster, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Kevin J. Anderson, David Weber and C.J. Cherryh.
Stalwart book cover
#19

Stalwart

2019

The foolish Iteeche clans that hauled Grand Admiral Kris Longknife back to the Iteeche Capital and interrupted her campaign against the rebels, are dead. Very dead. Their clans are disgraced and their palaces in ruin. However, while Kris was handling that noise, the rebels took back one of the planets she had recently captured, Arteccia, and are planning to take more. Now it's time once more again for Kris to kick butts and take names. However, life is never easy for a Human in the Iteeche Empire. The Clan Chiefs expect Kris to retake what the rebels took from the loyalists because that is the Iteeche Way. That is a tune she will not dance to. So, the Clan Chiefs play their ace: Do what we want, or we won't give you command of our ships. To their consternation, Kris does not give in. She gives them a literal middle digit salute and invites every minor clan to join the fun and games of capturing planets and gaining plunder. Unfortunately, the rebels have used their time well and they have their own plans for Kris, plans that should leave her fleet in ruins and the young Iteeche on the throne dead. Unfortunately for them, their plans can't really hold back Grand Admiral, the Stalwart Kris Longknife.
Longknifes Defend the Legation book cover
#19.5

Longknifes Defend the Legation

2020

Grand Admiral Kris Longknife is rampaging across the stars, kicking butt and taking planets away from the Iteeche rebels. She asks her grandparents, Gramma and Grampa Trouble, to came out to spend time with her kids while she is gone. Meanwhile, back on the Iteeche Imperial Capitol planet, intrigue and power plays continue. Within fifty kilometers of the Imperial Palace are a dozen clan factions who dream of seizing the purple from the hand of the young Emperor. The Human Embassy once more comes under siege. This time, however, the entire Legation District, all thirty-six blocks and three million Iteeche must be protected. Meanwhile, the kids are left on their own. Sneaky parents should not be surprised to discover that their kids are just as sly as they are. Before too long, Little Ruth and Johnny, along with thirty of their Human and Iteeche friends, are in way over their heads. Can Little Ruth keep her friends alive long enough for Gramma Trouble to race to their rescue? Can Little Ruth, not yet eight, learn the hard lesson of being a Longknife? This action-packed adventure of just under 100,000 words is a great parallel story for Kris Longknife Stalwart that shows just what measures need to be taken to keep the home fires burning, because – Longknifes do what they have to do . . . no matter the cost.

Authors

Mike Shepherd
Mike Shepherd
Author · 40 books

A pseudonym used by Mike Moscoe. Mike was born in the Philadelphia Navy Yard Hospital—and left that town at the age of three days for reasons he does not presently recall. But they had to draft him to get him back there. He missed very little of the rest of the country. Growing up Navy, he lived about everywhere you could park an aircraft carrier. Mike was one of those college students who didn't have to worry about finding a job after graduation. In 1968, his Uncle Sam made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Two days into boot camp, the Army was wondering if they might not have been a bit hasty. Mike ended the day in the Intensive Care Unit of the local Army hospital. Despite most of Mike’s personal war stories being limited to "How I flunked boot camp," he can still write a rollicking good military SF yarns. Mike didn’t survive all that long as a cab driver (he got lost) or bartender (he made the drinks too strong) but he figured he could at least work for the Navy Department as a budget analyst. Until he spent the whole day trying to balance the barracks accounts for paint. Finally, about quitting time, a grinning senior analyst took him aside and let him in on the secret. They'd hidden the money for refitting a battleship in that little account. Slowly it dawned on Mike that there were a few things about the Navy that even a kid who grew up in it would never understand. Over the next twenty years, Mike branched out into other genres, including instruction memos, policies, performance standards and even a few labor contracts. All of those, you may notice, lack a certain something. Dialogue ... those things in quotes. In `87, Mike’s big break came. He landed on a two year special project to build a digital map showing where the trees, rivers, roads, Spotted Owls and other critters were in western Oregon. The list went on and on with no end in sight and two years became ten. Since there was no writing involved in his new day job, Mike had to do something to get the words out. He signed up for a writing class at Clark Community College and proudly turned in a story ... Star Wars shoots down the second coming of Christ. Two years later, Analog bought "Summer Hopes, Winter Dreams" for the March, 1991 issue. Four years later he sold his first novel. In the ten years since then, Mike’s turned in twelve novels and is researching the next three. Mike's love for Science Fiction started when he picked up "Rocket Ship Galileo" in the fifth grade, and then proceeded to read every book in the library with a rocket sticker on its spine. Mike digs for his stories among people and change. Through his interest in history, he has traces the transformations that make us what we are today. Science launches us forward into an ever changing universe. Once upon a time, the only changes in peoples lives came with the turning of the seasons and the growing wrinkles on their brows. Today, science drives most of the changes in our daily lives. Still, we can't avoid the pressure of our own awakening hormones or hardening arteries. Mike is happiest when his stories are speeding across thin ice, balanced on the edge of two sharp blades, one anciently human, the other as new as tomorrow's research. Trained in International Relations and history, salary administration and bargaining, theology and counseling, Mike is having a ball writing about Kris Longknife ... coming of age while the world her grand parents built threatens to crash down around her ears. These are books I think you’ll love ... and my granddaughter and grandsons too! Mike lives in Vancouver, Washington, with his wife Ellen, his mother-in-law and any visiting grandkids. He enjoys reading, writing, watching grand-children for story ideas and upgrading his computer—all are never ending.

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