Book picks similar to
For I Have Touched The Sky (Tales Of Kirinyaga) by Mike Resnick
science-fiction
short-stories
sci-fi
relatos
The Pandora Sequence: The Jesus Incident, the Lazarus Effect, the Ascension Factor
Frank Herbert - 1988
The Jesus Incident-A sentient Ship with godlike powers (and aspirations) delivers the last survivors of humanity to a horrific, poisonous planet, Pandora-rife with deadly Nerve-Runners, Hooded Dashers, airborne jellyfish, and intelligent kelp. Chaplain/Psychiatrist Raja Lon Flattery is brought back out of hybernation to witness Ship's machinations as well as the schemes of human scientists manipulating the genetic structure of humanity. Book 1 in Herbert & Ransom's Pandora Sequence. The Lazarus Effect-In The Jesus Incident Herbert and Ransom introduced Ship, an artificial intelligence that believed it was God, abandoning its unworthy human cargo on the all-sea world of Pandora. Now centuries have passed. The descendants of humanity, split into Mermen and Islanders, must reunite ... because Pandora's original owner is returning to life! Book 2 in Herbert & Ransom's Pandora Sequence. The Ascension Factor-Pandora's humans have been recovering land from its raging seas at an accelerated pace since The Lazarus Effect. The great kelp of the seas, sentient but electronically manipulated by humans, buffers Pandora's wild currents to restore land and facilitate the booming sea trade. New settlements rise overnight, but children starve in their shadows. An orbiting assembly station is near completion of Project Voidship, which is the hope of many for finding a better world. Pandora is under the fist of an ambitious clone from hibernation called The Director, who rules with a sadistic security force led by the assassin Spider Nevi. Small resistance groups, like the one led by Twisp Queets and Ben Ozette, have had little effect on his absolute power. The Director controls the transportation of foodstuffs; uprisings are punished with starvation. The resistance fighters' main hope is Crista Galli, a woman believed by some to be the child of God. Crista pools her talents with Dwarf MacIntosh, Beatriz Tatoosh, and Rico LaPush to transcend the barriers between the different species and overthrow The Director and the sinister cabal with which he rules. Book 3 in Herbert & Ransom's Pandora Sequence.
Who Goes There?
John W. Campbell Jr. - 1938
Campbell classic about an antarctic research camp that discovers and thaws the ancient, frozen body of a crash-landed alien. The creature revives with terrifying results, shape-shifting to assume the exact form of animal and man, alike. Paranoia ensues as a band of frightened men work to discern friend from foe, and destroy the menace before it challenges all of humanity! The story, hailed as "one of the finest science fiction novellas ever written" by the SF Writers of America, is best known to fans as THE THING, as it was the basis of Howard Hawks' The Thing From Another World in 1951, and John Carpenter's The Thing in 1982. With a new Introduction by William F. Nolan, author of Logan's Run, and his never-before-published, suspenseful Screen Treatment written for Universal Studios in 1978, this is a must-have edition for scifi and horror fans!
The Old Equations
Jake Kerr - 2011
They knew it would be difficult, but they weren't prepared for the cruelty of the unknown. Coming to terms with new equations and ways of looking at the future is difficult enough, but can any relationship prevail when the only tie to the present starts to break down? "An astonishing debut." -- John Joseph Adams, host, Geeks Guide to the Galaxy This debut novelette by Jake Kerr is a modern classic of science fiction. Nominated for the Nebula Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and the StorySouth Million Writers Award, it immediately established Kerr as a modern force in science fiction's humanist tradition. "Heartwrenching." SF Revu
Last Pursuit
Piers Platt - 2014
But time is running short: the mark knows that he’s coming, and he’s not the only contractor on the job …
Herbert West—Reanimator
H.P. Lovecraft - 1922
P. Lovecraft. It was written between October 1921 and June 1922. It was first serialized in February through July 1922 in the amateur publication Home Brew. The story was the basis of the 1985 horror film Re-Animator and its sequels, in addition to numerous other adaptations in various media.The story is the first to mention Lovecraft's fictional Miskatonic University. It is also notable as one of the first depictions of zombies, as corpses arising, through scientific means, as animalistic, and uncontrollably violent creatures.
The Kid
N.C. Reed - 2014
With snow on the ground, no skills, and not much more than the clothes on their backs, the group is in dire straits, and probably won't last out the coming night. Until, out of the falling snow, a lone figure approaches. Over the next few days their silent benefactor will keep them safe, fed, and warm, while helping them acquire the know how to care for themselves. The thing is, he's just a kid. . . .
The Inheritance
Robin Hobb - 2011
"Robin Hobb" and "Megan Lindholm" are both pseudonyms used by California-born Margaret Ogden, who from 1983 to 1992, published exclusively as Lindholm. This generous, 400-page hardcover original brings together short stories and novellas penned under both authorial bylines. As Hobb herself notes, "their" writing and styles differ in significant ways. (P.S. This collection includes stories previously unpublished in the United States.)
The First Formic War (Earth Unaware, Earth Afire, Earth Awakens)
Orson Scott Card - 2017
A pulse-pounding tale of first contact gone horribly wrong.
Ender’s Game opens in the last desperate days of Earth’s war against the implacable insectoid aliens. We are told early on that the Battle School is training generals for the Third Formic War — the war that will end the war; will save the Earth; will finally defeat the Buggers. This is the story of the First Formic Wars, back when humans thought they were alone in the galaxy. Humanity was slowly making their way out from Earth to the planets and asteroids of the Solar System, exploring and mining and founding colonies. Then a ship’s telescopes pick up a fast-moving object coming in-system, it's hard to know what to make of it. It's massive and moving at a significant fraction of the speed of light.Earth Unaware — When mining ship El Cavador's telescopes pick up a fast-moving object coming in-system, it's hard to know what to make of it. It's massive and moving at a significant fraction of the speed of light. But the ship has other problems. Their systems are old and failing. Worrying about a distant object that might or might not be an alien ship seems…not important.Earth Afire — Victor Delgado beat the alien ship to Earth, but not soon enough to convince skeptical governments that there was a threat. That is, until space stations and ships and colonies went up in sudden flame. And when that happened, only Mazer Rackham and the Mobile Operations Police could organize in time to meet the threat. Earth Awakens — Politics slowed the response on Earth, and on Luna, corporate power struggles seemed more urgent than distant deaths. It's up to Mazer Rackham's squad in China, who have developed a method to destroy the alien landers one by one; and Lem Jukes and his crew on the Moon, who may have the key to destroying the Formic mother ship in orbit.
Books by Orson Scott Card
The Ender UniverseEnder Quintet#1 Ender’s Game#2 Ender in Exile#3 Speaker for the Dead#4 Xenodice#5 Children of the Mind Ender’s Shadow Quintet #1 Ender’s Shadow#2 Shadow of the Hegemon#3 Shadow Puppets#4 Shadow of the Giant#5 Shadows in Flight The Second Formic War (With Aaron Johnston) #1 The SwarmOther Books in the Ender UniverseChildren of the Fleet A War of Gifts (novella) First Meetings (novella)Other SeriesHomecomingThe MithermagesThe Tales of Alvin MakerAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Ark
Veronica Roth - 2019
Though most of Earth has already been evacuated, it’s Samantha’s job to catalog plant samples for the survivors’ unknowable journey beyond.Preparing to stay behind and watch the world end, she makes a final human connection.As certain doom hurtles nearer, the unexpected and beautiful potential for the future begins to flower.Veronica Roth’s Ark is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.
Elite: The Dark Wheel
Robert Holdstock - 1984
Written by well-known fantasy author Robert Holdstock it describes the quest of Alex Ryder, a newly-qualified pilot, to exact revenge for his father's death at the hands of a paid assassin. Along the way he is assisted by the enigmatic Rafe Zetter who links him up with a fugitive pilot who also wishes to eliminate the killer of Alex's father, but for her own reasons.All in all, a good story which, though spoiled by a few irritating character traits and a number of typographical errors, sets up the Elite universe in a cohesive manner.It also covers the combat and trading sides of Elite and the general nature of trading between different systems, buying what's cheap on one world and selling it wherever the demand is sufficient to keep the price high.Interestingly, the back of the BBC novella states that a sequel was planned for publication in 1985, but as far as I know this never came to fruition. Later editions of The Dark Wheel, included in the Sinclair Spectrum and Commodore 64 versions amongst others, sported new artwork
PePr, Inc.
Ann Christy - 2015
She also has Henry, and that's not working out quite like she expected.Perfect Partners, Incorporated - PePr, Inc. - promised her a match with perfect compatibility. A PePr is meant to complement their human, filling in all the gaps to create the ideal couple. They are meant to be something no human could ever hope to find in another human. It's just not turning out that way for Hazel.When Henry finally goes too far, Hazel finds that getting free of him might not be as easy as going back to PePr to void the contract.PePr, Inc. is a short story, the first in the Perfect Partners, Incorporated series
Queen Song
Victoria Aveyard - 2015
Queen Coriane, first wife of King Tiberias, keeps a secret diary—how else can she ensure that no one at the palace will use her thoughts against her? Coriane recounts her heady courtship with the crown prince, the birth of a new prince, Cal, and the potentially deadly challenges that lay ahead for her in royal life.
Glitches
Marissa Meyer - 2011
She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. In Glitches, a short prequel story to Cinder, we see the results of that illness play out, and the emotional toll that takes on Cinder. Something that may, or may not, be a glitch…
Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi
John Scalzi - 2016
A listing of alternate histories tells you all the various ways Hitler has died. A lawyer sues an interplanetary union for dangerous working conditions. And four artificial intelligences explain, in increasingly worrying detail, how they plan not to destroy humanity. Welcome to Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi.These four stories, along with 14 other pieces, have one thing in common: They're short, sharp, and to the point - science fiction in miniature, with none of the stories longer than 2,300 words. But in that short space exist entire universes, absurd situations, and the sort of futuristic humor that propelled Scalzi to a Hugo with his novel Redshirts. Not to mention yogurt taking over the world (as it would).Spanning the years from 1991 to 2016, this collection is a quarter century of Scalzi at his briefest and best and features four never-before-published stories exclusive to this collection: "Morning Announcements at the Lucas Interspecies School for Troubled Youth", "Your Smart Appliances Talk About You Behind Your Back", "Important Holidays on Gronghu", and "The AI Are Absolutely Positively Without a Doubt Not Here to End Humanity, Honest".John Scalzi is the New York Times best-selling author of Old Man's War, Lock In, and Redshirts, among others. His work has won the Hugo and Locus Awards and been nominated for the Nebula and Campbell Awards. He lives in Ohio and online. He enjoys pie.Full cast of narrators includes Oliver Wyman, Dina Pearlman, and Allyson Johnson.
The Archronology of Love
Caroline M. Yoachim - 2020
Saki Jones arrives at the colony planet New Mars to find that a mysterious plague has destroyed everyone who lived there—including her lifelove, M.J. To find out what happened, Saki must dig through layers of time, slowly revealing the past. The result is a bittersweet story of aliens and human exploration; mystery and memory; and, of course, love.