Book picks similar to
...Before You Leap by Les Lynam


time-travel
young-adult
fiction
science-fiction

Ultraxenopia


M.A. Phipps - 2015
    Tortured by the enemy. Destined to destroy the world.Wynter Reeves lives by three rules: Don't stand out. Blend in. Remain invisible. In a world where individuality is dangerous, being forgettable keeps her alive. Until she begins showing signs of a rare disease, drawing the unwanted attention of the State's sinister research facility, the DSD. Apprehended against her will for testing, Wynter becomes the subject of the mysterious Dr. Richter, who is determined to make sense of her condition. However, Dr. Richter's intentions are less than noble, and after months of horrifying experimentation, Wynter jumps at the chance to escape her captors. But freedom isn't what she expected, and as her symptoms worsen, she must make a choice. One that will determine not only her future... But the fate of the world.

Time Warper: Fated


Peggy Martinez - 2015
    How hard can it be? All she has to do is: 1. Learn to use newly acquired warping skills to bend time to her will. 2. Take out a few rogue vampires. 3. Join an ancient secret society. 4. Figure out who is putting the time stream in jeopardy. 5. Find and maim whoever invented the corset. Sage never asked to be chosen by the Druid Priestess, Amerach, to become a Warper, and she never asked to have the future hanging on her shoulders or to warp a hundred years into the past. She certainly never asked to meet Dr. Aldwin Blake, who would make her question her desire to get back to her own time. But if she fails her mission, people will die, history will change, and the present she wishes to return to will be no more.

Revenger


Alastair Reynolds - 2016
    Planets have shattered and been remade. Amongst the ruins of alien civilizations, building our own from the rubble, humanity still thrives. And there are vast fortunes to be made, if you know where to find them.Captain Rackamore and his crew do. It's their business to find the tiny, enigmatic worlds which have been hidden away, booby-trapped, surrounded by layers of protection—and to crack them open for the ancient relics and barely-remembered technologies inside. But while they ply their risky trade with integrity, not everyone is so scrupulous. Adrana and Fura Ness are the newest members of Rackamore's crew, signed on to save their family from bankruptcy. Only Rackamore has enemies, and there might be more waiting for them in space than adventure and fortune: the fabled and feared Bosa Sennen in particular. Revenger is a science fiction adventure story set in the rubble of our solar system in the dark, distant future—a tale of space pirates, buried treasure, and phantom weapons, of unspeakable hazards and single-minded heroism and of vengeance...

Being a Witch, and Other Things I Didn't Ask for


Sara Pascoe - 2015
    But after leaving the boring village and foster home for the excitement of London, Raya finds out she’s a witch, with this annoying habit of time-travelling – by accident. And this sarcastic witch’s cat Oscar tags along for the ride. But why would she fling herself into the midst of the Essex Witch Trials in 1645 England? After being arrested by Matthew Hopkins, one of history’s most notorious witch hunters, her social worker and witch mentor Bryony goes back to try to save them from the gallows. But returning to present day London remains out of reach with Raya’s powers still out of control when they find themselves in 1645 Istanbul/Constantinople. There, life is more amazing than she ever dreamed. Can she stay? And at what cost?

Seer of Mars


Cindy Borgne - 2011
    His job is to use his ability to uncover secrets or hidden bases of other organizations so the Marcs can conquer them. Even though he’s been brought up to believe this is normal, he soon discovers the ugly reality of war. He hates the suffering and death caused by a vision he reported to the admiral. Ian feels responsible after finding a hidden base of a small organization that was only trying to survive.In order to redeem himself, Ian vows to never let anyone use his ability for death and destruction again. His goal is to escape and live in peace, but the leaders monitor him closely and defectors are known to mysteriously disappear. Despite his age, inexperience and few allies, he refuses to give up. He must outwit a cunning admiral and a powerhouse organization, or he will remain a pawn and forever separated from those he loves.Word Count: 94,000

Warpworld


Kristene Perron - 2012
    Cold, brilliant and desperate to prove himself as a Cultural Theorist, Seg breaks away from the recon squad sent to protect him, to scout out prime vita sources. But to find his prize he must face his biggest fear: water. Fiery and headstrong, Ama receives an ultimatum from her people's tyrannical overlords: betray her own kind or give up the boat she calls home, forever. When a wealthy traveler hires her as a guide, Ama thinks her prayers are answered - until a violent murder reveals Seg's true identity. On the run, over land and water, hunted by a ruthless and relentless tracker, and caught in the schemes of a political powerhouse, Seg and Ama will have to strike an uneasy truce to survive. The fate of two worlds is in their hands.

Falling


J. Bennett - 2000
    The stranger’s glowing hands were a big tipoff.When the stranger murders Maya’s boyfriend with a single touch and injects the college sophomore with a DNA-altering serum, Maya prays for a savior. Instead, she gets a double helping of knight-in-not-so-shining-armor when two young men claiming to be her half-brothers pull off a belated rescue. Now Maya is swiftly transforming into an “angel”, one of the scientifically enhanced, energy-sucking creatures her brothers have spent their whole lives trying to destroy. Maya’s senses sharpen, her body becomes strong and agile, and she develops the ability to visually see the emotions of those around her as colorful auras…beautiful auras…tempting auras. Struggling to control the murderous appetite that fuels her new abilities, this reluctant protagonist must find a way to accept her new condition and learn to trust her angel-hunting brothers as she joins them in their fight against the powerful and destructive creatures. On the up side, at least Maya’s eldest brother has stopped trying to kill her!FALLING takes all the foul-mouthed, attitude-driven humor of the BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD series and combines it with the action-packed, love/hate family dynamics of the CW show SUPERNATURAL. Get ready to fall hard for FALLING, the first novel in J Bennett’s new adult paranormal series, GIRL WITH BROKEN WINGS. Warning: This book contains violence, sexual content, and strong language.

Testing Zero


N.G. Simsion - 2016
    Simsion. Zero prefers to keep his life simple. Although he is easily one of the largest and cleverest boys in his year, he runs from any sign of confrontation. His best friend—his only friend—is nothing like him. Obsessed with the world outside of the city walls, Lefty is always pushing the boundaries set by society's Elite. It’s only a matter of time before they have gone too far and they’re forced to face the horrors of the "old world" on their own. Can they survive and learn to coexist with the dangerous Remnants of the old world? Are the Remnants of the old world even the worst of their problems, or do the Elite of their own society pose an even greater threat?

Yesterday's Thief


Al Macy - 2016
     Although he reads only the conscious thoughts of the people he interviews, it usually gives him enough of an edge to overcome his inexperience as a PI. But mind reading is hell on relationships. Trusting comes hard when you know what people are really thinking. The case of his life lands in his lap when a beautiful woman materializes during a televised baseball game. She floats in midair, then drops to the ground, comatose. Beckman is at her bedside when she wakes up. From the moment she opens her eyes, she has him under her spell. He vows to figure out where—or when—she came from, even if it kills him. The stakes increase when she disappears without a trace. Worse, she holds the key to a worldwide energy catastrophe. If Beckman can’t find her and unlock her secrets, economies will collapse, and the world will spiral down into chaos.

The Boy Who Fell from the Sky


Jule Owen - 2015
    Another flood has devastated London and it’s the eve of the First Space War. With the city locked down, sixteen-year-old Mathew Erlang is confined to his house with only his cat, his robot and his holographic dragons for company. Desperate for a distraction from the chaos around him, Mathew becomes fascinated by his peculiar and reclusive neighbour, August Lestrange. Mathew begins to investigate Mr. Lestrange, turning to the virtual world of the Nexus and Blackweb for answers. But as he digs deeper, Mathew realises that Mr. Lestrange doesn’t seem quite human. When Mathew accidentally finds himself trapped in Lestrange’s house, he opens a door and falls four hundred years into the future. Unwittingly, he starts to destabilise the course of human history. A 1984 for a new generation, The Boy Who Fell from the Sky delves into a future where climate change and technology have transformed the world. It is the first book in The House Next Door trilogy, a young adult dystopian science fiction action adventure.

The Flight of the Silvers


Daniel Price - 2014
    The sky looms frigid white. The electricity falters. Airplanes everywhere crash to the ground. But the Givens are saved by mysterious strangers, three fearsome and beautiful beings who force a plain silver bracelet onto each sister’s wrist. Within moments, the sky comes down in a crushing sheet of light and everything around them is gone.Shielded from the devastation by their silver adornments, the Givens suddenly find themselves elsewhere, a strange new Earth where restaurants move through the air like flying saucers and the fabric of time is manipulated by common household appliances.Soon Hannah and Amanda are joined by four other survivors from their world—a mordant cartoonist, a shy teenage girl, a brilliant young Australian, and a troubled ex-prodigy. Hunted by enemies they never knew they had and afflicted with temporal abilities they never wanted, the sisters and their companions begin a cross-country journey to find the one man who can save them—before time runs out.

Starcrasher


Rock Forsberg - 2017
    A deadly cosmic device. It's his time to save the universe.Tredd Bounty's life hasn't been the same since he was kicked out of the Navy. And bouncing between shady jobs and risky missions barely keeps a roof over his head. So when he picks up a rich gig to capture a deadly device that could tear the stars apart, he keeps his incredible power at the ready: the ability to stop time itself…With his eccentric team of misfits by his side, Tredd flies up against an old sweetheart, a vindictive former commander, and a shadowy force racing toward the same artefact. As they hunt for the extreme weapon, the captain uncovers a dangerous secret that could send them crashing into a fiery supernova. It's a good thing Tredd isn't the only one with hidden abilities.Can Tredd reach the device in time to save the galaxy?Starcrasher is the first book in the exhilarating Shades Space Opera series. If you like gritty heroes, alien encounters, and paranormal powers, then you'll love Rock Forsberg's action-packed novel.

The Second Ship


Richard Phillips - 2006
    Now, the American government is ready to share the Rho Project discoveries with the world. But as the world scrambles to adopt the alien technologies, three high schoolers make another shocking discovery: hidden inside a cave in the New Mexico wilderness lies another alien ship. As the friends explore the second ship, they begin to unravel a decades-long secret involving an extraterrestrial war, government cover-ups, and secret experimentation using alien technology on humans. A battle has begun, and the secrets of the second ship may be the key to humanity's last chance for survival.

Mammoth Trouble


D. Robert Pease - 2011
    a second time?Noah Zarc has a life most kids only dream of - traveling through time on an immense spaceship, seeing the wonders of the solar system, and experiencing the vast history of Earth... before everything on the planet was destroyed. His family's mission is to repopulate Earth with life retrieved from the past. Of course, nothing ever goes as planned.His mother and father vanish during an operation to Earth's ancient past, and together with his brother, sister, and an orphaned girl from the Ice Age, Noah sets out on a quest through space and time to rescue his parents and bring them back to the 31st century.Yet, as they soon discover, his parents' disappearance was no accident. The Zarc family is being systematically hunted by a dark foe who will stop at nothing to thwart the Zarc mission, even if that means destroying all life on Earth... again, including everything, and everyone, Noah holds dear.

A Shortcut in Time


Charles Dickinson - 2003
    Josh Winkler, a local artist and longtime resident, knows these irregular pathways well, but he is flabbergasted when a hasty dash down a familiar walk deposits him fifteen minutes in the past. At first, Josh is more intrigued than alarmed by this accidental time travel. Then a disoriented young woman appears, claiming to be from 1908....As his life, his family, his town, and even history itself begin to unravel, Josh gradually realizes that his only salvation may lie in a shortcut in time.Charles Dickinson has written a moving and unforgettable book about the way the past can affect the present, as well as, sometimes, the other way around.