Book picks similar to
Space Race by Nathan Hystad


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First Strike


Richard Turner - 2015
    Taken by surprise Earth's far-flung colonies are in danger. The only son of an admiral, Second Lieutenant Michael Sheridan finds himself thrust into a desperate conflict that he and the untried soldiers under his command are not ready for. Fighting the enemy and the elements on a cold, hostile world, Sheridan must rely upon Staff Sergeant Cole, a veteran Marine, to help lead his green soldiers into battle.Focusing on the people struggling to survive the onslaught, First Strike is a novel that propels the reader to the furthest limits of space. From the ground to the stars, First Strike looks at the conflict through the eyes of those caught up in it. Fighting a ruthless and determined enemy, Sheridan soon learns the brutal lessons of war and that his enemy may not be what it appears to be.

Vita Aeterna


Jay Allan Storey - 2018
    Appraisal is supposed to be a routine right of passage. But no scenario he's ever heard of has prepared Alex for his own experience - abducted, imprisoned, and subjected to brutal medical experiments in a high-tech lab.He escapes and goes on the run, a heartbeat ahead of a ruthless army led by the most powerful man in the world. When he finally pieces together the clues behind his kidnapping, they lead to a treacherous plot that only he can derail.But to succeed, he must penetrate the First Circle, the forbidden abode of the ruling class.

Shadows of Divinity


Luke R. Mitchell - 2018
     They branded me a terrorist. I'll show them terror... Enochia is compromised. The Sanctum. The Legion. The whole damn planet. And I know what you're thinking. A few days ago, I wouldn't have believed me either. Then I watched the High General of the Alpha-damned Legion sprout red eyes and tear my parents to bloody pieces. Now, I have some questions. And a High General to kill. Carlisle calls them the raknoth. Red-eyed demons from Alpha knows where. He says they're aliens. But then again, he also moves things with his freaking mind—a gift he swears lies dormant in me as well—so I'm starting to get a little unclear on what I can and can't believe anymore. I don't know what the raknoth want. I don't know how they've taken control of Enochia without anyone noticing. All I know is that they picked the wrong planet to screw with. My name is Haldin Rais, and I'm going to make them pay...

First Strike


Scott Moon - 2020
    It's a choice.The United Galactic Government is mired in a decade-long war for control of a key planet. Weakened by overextension and political intrigue, they could lose everything.When a child of privilege gives up everything to enlist and fight for what is right, he learns what it means to become part of a team. He encounters refugees, aliens he never expected to empathize with, and the loss of comrades. In the end he must develop the courage to stand up, not only to aliens and governments, but his own family.

Good Morning Vendemiatrix


H. Paul Honsinger - 2020
    In these labors, there is one friend that they can count on, day in and day out . . . he’s a constant companion in their headsets with the Smack and Crack, Sno Bro, and other music they love, as well offering a seemingly endless stream of friendship and encouragement: the morning DJ on Company Radio Channel D, Robin Whitlake. But, Robin is more than a warm human voice in the endless night, he is a man with a heroic, yet deadly and dangerous secret past that could condemn him to death at any time. Disfigured and aging rapidly, he must work harder and harder to project the youth and vitality that he brings to his broadcasts, all the while wondering when and if his past will catch up with him. On 14 January 2314, it did. A disaster in the mining colony brings the heroic and deadly elements of Robin’s past into sudden collision. Not only must he decide whether to subject himself to possible execution, Robin has to call upon all his professionalism as a broadcaster, the skills he spent decades honing in his former life, and the Morse code abilities of a red-headed, pig-tailed Space Scout named Elaine, in a desperate “Hail Mary” improvisation with thousands of innocent lives hanging in the balance. Good Morning Vendemiatrix is an 8800 word stand-alone novelette set in the “Man of War” universe. Fans of Honsinger’s other work will recognize the setting and be treated to a cameo appearance by a familiar character, while new readers will not find themselves “lost in space.” It is a humorous and exciting piece of shorter fiction written to be enjoyed by all Science Fiction readers.

Jump Gate Omega


Tom Shepherd - 2018
    “Specify, Dad. What do you want us to do?”His father glared at him. “Go to the Rim, sue those amphibious bastards for everything they’ve got, and get Jump Gate Omega on track again!”If the new Matthews Corporation Jump Gate fails to span 2.5 million light years to the Andromeda galaxy, the heavily invested star-faring civilization of the Milky Way will face economic ruin and brutal war.The Star Lawyers must run a gauntlet to the Rim, dodging pirates, politicians, prelates, and predatory star nations intent on seizing the new Gate to Andromeda.Without Jump Gate Omega, the Terran Commonwealth may not survive.

Birthright


Rick Partlow - 2011
    The war is long over and now he just wants to live a normal life as a constable on his homeworld of Canaan...but his life is torn apart when a Corporate Council mineral scout comes to him with a tale of discovering incredibly advanced alien technology from the fabled race known only as the Predecessors. Someone in the monolithic, power-hungry Corporate Council doesn't want that story to get out...and they'll kill anyone to stop it, including Caleb and his family.

Interstellar Wars - Pike Chronicles Box Set Books 1-5: Sol Shall Rise, Book 1 - Prevail, Book 2 - Ronin, Book 3 - Ghost Fleet, Book 4 - Interstellar War, Book 5


G.P. Hudson - 2018
    1,000+ pages of military science fiction action adventure. Book 1: Sol Shall Rise The Sol System was conquered and humans lived as slaves for 500 long years. Now, after years of brutal warfare, humanity has been liberated. Liberation, however, comes at a cost, and the Sol System has become nothing more than a puppet state for a vast galactic empire. For Jon Pike, a war hero who has lost everything, there is no substitute for freedom. He blames the aliens for humanity’s troubles, especially the one living inside him. But when he is sent on a top secret mission into unexplored regions of the galaxy he discovers that humanity’s troubles are just getting started. Can he find freedom for himself and humanity? Book 2: Prevail A battle weary Captain fighting for redemption. An impossible search for a scattered crew. Marines pushed beyond their limits. A heinous alien race bent on annihilation. When all is lost, a brave few dare to hope, and continue to fight for freedom. Do they struggle in vain? Or will they prevail? Book 3: Ronin A tenuous alliance. A brazen power play. A looming alien threat. A planet's future held in the balance. In a galaxy where danger waits at every turn, will former enemies be doomed by their past? Or can they fight together in the name of freedom? Book 4: Ghost Fleet A planet surrounded. A homeland in peril. A fleet outgunned. A prophecy to fulfill. With half the galaxy on the brink, can a fledgling alliance offer hope? Or is it doomed to perish in the pyres of war? Book 5: Interstellar War A homeland in ashes. A merciless ancient enemy. A vicious new foe. A galaxy convulsing with war. With humanity on the brink of annihilation, only one option remains, Interstellar War. Can Jon Pike achieve victory, and revenge, for himself and humanity? Find out in Interstellar War, Book 5 of The Pike Chronicles. As a matter of principle, all my books are DRM free. The Pike Chronicles is an epic space opera adventure with space fleet and space marine battles, galactic empires, and alien invasions. For fans of John Ringo, David Weber, Jon Scalzi, David Drake, Joe Haldeman, Vaughn Heppner, B.V. Lasrson, Jay Allan, M.R. Forbes, Ken Lozito, Isaac Hooke, Nick Webb, Richard Fox, Marko Kloos, Evan Currie, Robert A. Heinlen, Isaac Asimov, Orson Scott Card, and Ryk Brown.

War of the Spheres


B.V. Larson - 2019
    They crash into an incredibly advanced piece of technology: a massive force-field. Unknown beings have placed a barrier around our star and planets, enclosing us within. We’re locked inside a Great Sphere. Was this invisible obstacle built to imprison us—or to protect us? No one knows the truth, but it soon becomes clear the barrier has leaks. Aliens infiltrate and try to sabotage our efforts to escape our cage. A warship crewed by military people and scientists beta-test an engine designed to pass through the barrier. Chief Gray, a security officer from Control, is assigned to help. His mission is critical: Earth must escape her bonds at all costs, even if it means war with our hostile neighbors. War of the Spheres is a new novel by James Millington and B. V. Larson, a bestselling SF author with over three million copies sold.

The Human Chronicles Saga


T.R. Harris - 2012
    Would you start kicking some ass? Of course you would!This is the story of Human superiority in the galaxy, a gritty, realistic profile of a young Navy SEAL who doesn't like aliens very much -- and he makes them pay for disrupting his happy life back on Earth!

Better World


Autumn Kalquist - 2015
    Now they face extinction.For three hundred years, arks have carried the last remnants of humanity through dark space. The ships are old, failing, and every colonist must do their duty to ensure the fleet's survival.Maeve is a metalworker, toiling in the blistering sublevels of the London. She's lost friends and family to the hazardous work conditions and fears every job she's assigned could be her last. All she wants is a little control over her life, but the oppressive sublevel enforcers ensure that’s not an option.Now, after decades of traveling, the ships have finally reached their destination: Soren, a toxic planet that may have the resources they desperately need. But mining a planet comes at a price, and Maeve and the other workers will be expected to pay it with their lives.If a better world awaits, Maeve's sure to be dead long before the fleet finds it… unless she finds a way to control her destiny and change it.

Battleship Leviathan


Craig MartelleCraig Martelle - 2021
    A small team of humans fighting for all humanity.Built for a time when the races were just finding their way to the stars, finding that they could dominate others. The galactic conquests created the arms race and the ancients, the Progenitors had to protect their own. They built a ship to drive the others away.It worked. And it didn’t. The Progenitors abandoned the galaxy to the newcomers, leaving relics behind as monuments to their failure.Humanity spread to the stars and ran headlong into the established races. A new war begins, and no one conducts war better than humanity except for the Blaze Collective.The two go head-to-head while humanity frantically searches for something to give them an advantage. Ancient technology. The derelicts scattered across the galaxy. Gutted and useless.Except for one, hidden in plain sight, close to Earth. Major Declan Payne takes his team aboard to find that the ship is no derelict, and it needs him as much as humanity needs it.Battleship: Leviathan. A Doomsday Weapon whose only goal is peace.

Brothers in Exile


Joe Vasicek - 2014
     Deep in the Far Outworlds, a derelict space station holds the bones of a long-dead people—and a beautiful young woman locked in cryofreeze. When the star-wandering brothers Isaac and Aaron Deltana find the sleeping girl, they soon realize that they are her only hope for rescue. If they don't take her, then slavers certainly will. With no way to revive her, they set a course for the New Pleiades in hopes of finding someone who can help. But a storm is brewing over that region of space. After a series of brutal civil wars, the Gaian Empire has turned its sights outward. A frontier war is on the verge of breaking out, and the brothers are about to be caught in the middle of it. They both harbor a secret, though. Somewhere else in the Outworlds is another derelict station—one that they used to call home. That secret will either bind them together or draw them apart in SONS OF THE STARFARERS BOOK I: BROTHERS IN EXILE

Mission Zero


S.J. MacDonald - 2011
    After a PR disaster has activists and media storming the Admiralty gates, First Lord Dix Harangay sends Minnow out on a makework patrol. Inspector Mako Ireson goes with them to investigate what’s really going on. Mako has never been on a starship before. He can’t tell port from starboard, doesn’t know what the 0-G sign means at freefall hatchways, and may need to change his underwear after the launch.Nobody is expecting that the “mission zero” they've been sent on will turn into a real operation. When it does, the Minnow’s crew has to rise to the challenge and justify their skipper’s faith in them.This is the first mission of the legendary Fourth Fleet Irregulars, the unit you send for when you need a miracle.For Mako Ireson, it will be the adventure of a lifetime.

The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories


Allan KasterCraig DeLancey - 2017
    In “Vortex,” by Gregory Benford, astronauts find a once thriving microbial lifeform that carpets the caves of Mars dying off. A code monkey tracks down the vain creator of a pernicious software virus that people jack cerebrally in “RedKing,” by Craig DeLancey. In “Number Nine Moon,” by Alex Irvine, illicit scavengers on Mars are on a rescue mission to save themselves after one of their team members dies. A young girl’s thirst for vengeance becomes a struggle for survival when she is swallowed by a gigantic sea creature on an alien planet in “Of the Beast in the Belly,” by C.W. Johnson. In “The Seventh Gamer,” by Gwyneth Jones, a writer immerses herself into a MMORPG community to search for characters being played by real aliens from other worlds. A woman armed with a rifle stalks a herd of cloned wooly mammoths in British Columbia in “Chasing Ivory,” by Ted Kosmatka. In “Fieldwork,” by Shariann Lewitt, a volcanologist struggles with her research on Europa where both her mother and grandmother suffered dire consequences. A daughter pays homage to her mother with mega-engineering projects to deal with climate change over eons in “Seven Birthdays,” by Ken Liu. In “The Visitor from Taured,” by Ian R. MacLeod, a cosmologist in the near future is obsessed with proving his theory of multiverses. The citizens of a small town on a “Jackaroo” planet object to a corporation placing a radio telescope near local alien artifacts in “Something Happened Here, But We’re Not Quite Sure What It Was,” by Paul McAuley. And finally, in “Sixteen Questions for Kamala Chatterjee,” by Alastair Reynolds, a graduate student defends her dissertation on a solar anomaly that threatens humanity.