Book picks similar to
Pavaria by Tom Merritt


sci-fi
science-fiction
audible
space-exploration

Null-A Continuum


John C. Wright - 2008
    E. van Vogt was one of the giants of the Golden Age of classic SF, the 1940s. Of his masterpieces, The World of Null-A is perhaps most influential. It was the first major trade SF hardcover ever, in 1949, and has been in print ever since. The careers of Philip K. Dick, Keith Laumer, Alfred Bester, Charles Harness, and Philip Jose Farmer were created or influenced by The World of Null-A. It is required reading for anyone who wishes to know the canon of SF classics.And so John C. Wright was inspired to write a sequel to the two novels of Null-A (the second was The Players of Null-A). To do this, he trained himself to write in the pulp style and manner of van Vogt. So return again to the Null-A future, in which the superhuman amnesiac with a double brain, Gilbert Gosseyn, must pit his wits once more against the remorseless galactic dictator Enro the Red and the mysterious shadow-being known as The Follower, while he is hurled headlong through unimaginable distances in space and in time and through alternate eternities to fend off the death, and complete the rebirth, of the Universe itself!

Star Nova Online: Book 0 - Closed Beta


Noah Barnett - 2019
    Together with hundreds of other test pilots, they hope to defend Earth from a destruction. The Roth—a lizard-like warrior race—has nearly wiped humanity from the face of the universe and are on the way to finish the job. The test pilots have just seven days to train and prepare themselves.

The Engines of God


Jack McDevitt - 1994
    Now, as faster-than-light drive opens the stars to exploration, humans are finding other relics of the race they call the Monument-Makers - each different, and each heartbreakingly beautiful. But except for a set of footprints on Jupiter's moon Iapetus, there is no trace of the enigmatic race that has left them behind. Then a team of scientists working on a dead world discover an ominous new image of the Monument-Makers. Somehow it all fits with other lost civilizations, and possibly with Earth's own future. And distant past. But Earth itself is on the brink of ecological disaster - there is no time to search for answers. Even to a question that may hold the key to survival for the entire human race...

Star Legions: The Ten Thousand Complete Series Box Set (Books 1 - 7)


Michael G. Thomas - 2017
    They have little in common, other than their love of wealth and adventure, and a bitter hatred for each other. Known simply as the Black Legion, they will blaze a trail of death and destruction that will be remembered for generations. This complete box set contains the full text of every Star Legions novel. That’s right, all seven books! Buy the box set today and read the entire series from start to finish: Battle for Cilicia For Xenophon, the Black Legion is an escape from the state that tried to kill him and his family. Exiled from his homeworld he joins the mercenaries, along with Glaucon, the rich playboy, Roxana, the veteran naval commander, and Tamara, the blue-haired castaway with a hidden past and a violent personality. Nothing will prepare them for the carnage awaiting them as they enter the borders of the Median Empire, the largest and most powerful entity in the known Galaxy, ruled with an iron fist by the tyrant, Emperor Artaxerxes and his legions of slave soldiers. Assault on Khorram Burning with rage from the combat losses at Cilicia, the Black Legion wants payment, and Lord Cyrus has a target that will satisfy even the most greedy of his warriors. It is a target so rich that he wonders if the mercenaries will even have enough ships to carry off the loot. Warlords of Cunaxa Xenophon and his comrades have proven their worth, and now the combined fleets of the Black Legion and their allies are poised to end the conflict. Both sides have mobilised every warrior and ship they can, for what will be a final apocalyptical battle between the Terrans and the Emperor himself. Last Stand With victory against the Emperor now impossible, the Legion finds itself lacking purpose and money. They came to the Empire with promises of glory and reward, but now they are trapped and surrounded on all sides by enemies. The massacre of the Legion’s officer corps leaves it vulnerable, and it falls to warriors like Xenophon to hold back their desire for revenge and to put them on a path home. Sea of Fire They must continue on to the Sea of Fire, the deadly border region between Hayastan and the Carduchian Wilderness, or face utter annihilation at the Emperor’s hands. Ancient stories tell of these dead sectors of space, vast ocean of emptiness, with few worlds or moons able to supply the fleet. The Eternal Fortress The long and bloody expedition has taken its toll on both the soldiers and the ships of the Legion. He is aware that a retreat into the Empire will mean a confrontation with the Emperor. A confrontation which they cannot win. There remains only one alternative. To run the gauntlet of the Eternal Fortress. Vengeance The Black Legion bursts out of the Median Empire laden with riches and leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake. As the exhausted men and women breathe a sigh of relief upon reaching the Free Colonies of Trebizond, they are stunned to find themselves in the middle of a war.

Hard Duty


Mark E. Cooper - 2012
    Two hundred years later, the Alliance is cautiously exploring beyond its borders again, but the survey corp is considered a mere gesture by some. General Burgton of the 501st Infantry Regiment believes a lack of expansion is leading the Alliance into stagnation. So when one small ship discovers a new alien race, it should be an easy decision to make contact, but what if the aliens are like the Merkiaari?Captain Jeff Colgan of the survey ship ASN Canada is at the tip of the spear. His ship made the discovery, his crew's lives are on the line, and his decisions will decide the outcome. Will the Alliance make new friends or will he be responsible for another sixteen billion deaths? When the aliens discover his ship and begin hunting him through their system, his mission changes from one of study to one of survival.

Seveneves: A Novel by Neal Stephenson | Summary & Analysis


Book*Sense - 2015
    Neal Stephenson’s science fiction thriller, depicts the end of the Earth through the destruction of the Moon by an unknown Agent and the attempts to preserve humanity through a multi-millennial gap between times when the surface of the planet will be inhabitable. The preservation efforts soon bog down in political entanglements, both from the doomed world and from within the populations who are meant to carry humanity through thousands of years in space to a planned return to Earth. When, at last, humanity makes to return to the surface of Earth, they find that other populations, not entirely friendly, await them, having endured their own privations across the millennia. Seveneves, by Neal Stephenson, is a substantial piece of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic science fiction. Well-written and compelling, it offers a convincing account of one of the many scenarios in which Earth might end – only to be reborn millennia later from seeds sown by the seven Eves of the novel’s title and others uncontrolled by them. It is an excellent piece of science fiction. This companion also includes the following: • Book Review • Story Setting Analysis • Story elements you may have missed as we decipher the novel • Details of Characters & Key Character Analysis • Summary of the text, with some analytical comments interspersed • Thought Provoking /or Discussion Questions for both Readers & Book Clubs • Discussion & Analysis of Themes, Symbols… • And Much More! This Analysis of Seveneves fills the gap, making you understand more while enhancing your reading experience.

Call of the Herald


Brian Rathbone - 2008
    Echoes of the ancients' power are distant memories, tattered and faded by the passage of eons, but that is about to change. A new dawn has arrived. Latent abilities, harbored in mankind's deepest fibers, wait to be unleashed. Ancient evils awaken, and old fears ignite the fires of war.

Altered Carbon


Richard K. Morgan - 2002
    The colonies are linked together by the occasional sublight colony ship voyages and hyperspatial data-casting. Human consciousness is digitally freighted between the stars and downloaded into bodies as a matter of course.But some things never change. So when ex-envoy, now-convict Takeshi Kovacs has his consciousness and skills downloaded into the body of a nicotine-addicted ex-thug and presented with a catch-22 offer, he really shouldn't be surprised. Contracted by a billionaire to discover who murdered his last body, Kovacs is drawn into a terrifying conspiracy that stretches across known space and to the very top of society.

Neptune Crossing


Jeffrey A. Carver - 1994
    Urged by the alien quarx now sharing his mind, he accepts an audacious mission—to steal a ship and hurtle across the solar system in a desperate bid for Earth's survival.

Intrepid


Nate Johnson - 2016
    What could be better. What was supposed to be a six month cruise of discovery had turned into a glorified baby sitting adventure for a bunch of civilians. Leave it to the Imperial Navy to ruin a good thing. Petty Officer Tanner just wanted to finish the patrol and get back to normal. That, and as far away from the enticing Miss Nora Johnson as possible. All that changed when the ISS Intrepid was threatened with destruction and he quickly became the only thing between these civilians and instant death. Crash landing on the strange new world. Petty Officer Eric Tanner must keep these civilians alive until they were rescued. Heaven knows. they weren't going to do it on their own.

The Fifth Column


J.N. Chaney - 2019
     The truth of what happened remains a mystery, and the government will stop at nothing to keep it buried. Together with the unit’s medic, Eva finds herself branded a terrorist and enemy of the State, hunted by two opposing governments. When the pair uncover a plot that could have ramifications for the whole galaxy, they know they have to act, but it will take all of their training, cunning and just a bit of luck to do what no one else has achieved. But what do you do when every secret begets another? And how far will you go to find the answers?

The Lost Gunboat Captain


J.D. Oppenheim - 2017
     Alone in the cold black with 36 hours of oxygen. Jolo Vargas, Federation Gunboat Captain, is trapped in a runaway escape pod zooming towards Federation space. But will he be dead before he gets there? He's in a tight spot. But he's a war hero, just the type of man who could work his way out of this jam. But there's just one little problem. He doesn't remember who he is. Will he find out his identity and his place in the universe, or will he run out of air on the edge of Fed space?

Iron Dogs (Fire and Rust #1)


Anthony James - 2019
     Humanity is within months of losing an interstellar war to a species of aliens known as Fangrin. Giving up isn’t an option. Victory doesn’t seem like an option either. When assault craft pilot Commander Jake Griffin is sent out with the Eternity carrier group to hunt down and destroy enemy facilities, he has no idea what’s coming to him. The planet Graxol-4 out in the middle of nowhere hides a critical enemy base with vital resources just waiting to be stolen. The only problem is, it’s guarded by a war fleet and surface troops, while the planet itself is toxic and gripped by constant storms. The coming fight will be relentless. It will test Griffin’s combat skills to the limit against a vastly superior foe. In a way, he’s got it easy – the troops on the ground will have to beat the Fangrin in the most challenging circumstances imaginable. That job falls to Lieutenant Tanner Conway, a man who just wants to go home to his family. Victory on Graxol-4 may not win the war, but it will buy time for humanity to regroup, toughen up and come back harder. However, a third - unknown - player has an interest in this game and their involvement will turn everything on its head. Iron Dogs is a sci-fi action adventure in which human bravery and technology come up against the might of an alien war machine in the harshest of environments.

The Lies of Locke Lamora


Scott Lynch - 2006
    But young Locke Lamora dodges death and slavery, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentleman Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld’s most feared ruler. But in the shadows lurks someone still more ambitious and deadly. Faced with a bloody coup that threatens to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the enemy at his own brutal game—or die trying.

Mother Ship


Scott Bartlett - 2019
     A ship for every city. An invasion force beyond our comprehension. Max Edwards has always felt like something was wrong with the world. Like something was…off. Like his entire life was a lie being told by the people around him. Then, it begins. From his friend’s acreage outside Oklahoma City, he witnesses a giant saucer descend from the sky to hover over the city. Countries all around the world report the same thing – mysterious vessels that refuse all attempts to communicate. As the world comes apart at the seams, Max realizes everything that’s ever happened to him was leading up to this. And as impossible as it seems, he may be the only one with the ability to save humanity. Mere survival won't be enough. Humanity stands to lose everything. To fight the invaders, Max must forget everything he thought he knew.