Book picks similar to
Citizen X by Thomas DePrima


science-fiction
sci-fi
space-opera
scifi

Omega Rising


Joshua Dalzelle - 2013
    But when he investigates the crash, what he finds will yank him out of his self-imposed exile and thrust him into a world he could have never imagined.He suddenly finds himself trapped on a damaged alien spacecraft and plunged into a universe of interstellar crime lords and government conspiracies, along the way meeting strange new friends… and enemies. As he struggles to find his way back home he is inexorably drawn deeper into a world where one misstep could mean his death. Or worse. He desperately wants to get back to Earth, but it may be the end for him. … or is it just the beginning?

Decisively Engaged


C.J. Carella - 2015
     A NATION AT WAR: The United Stars of America. Born in the conflagration of unprovoked alien attack, the newest entrant to galactic politics took the few crumbs of hypertech gifted to it and ran with them, soon expanding over dozens of star systems and establishing a wide trade network, protected by its powerful Navy and the dreaded Warp Marines. A FIGHT TO THE DEATH: A single Marine platoon, tasked with protecting an embassy on a hostile alien planet. An embassy – and the human enclave around it – that soon finds itself surrounded by armed mobs. Can the Marines and a ragtag band of civilian and Navy personnel survive long enough to be rescued?

Price of Admiralty


Richard Tongue - 2013
    When he makes an unexpected discovery, the stakes just keep on rising; with enemies on space and ground, can Marshall save his ship – and a world?

Admiral's Lady: Ashes for Ashes, Blood for Blood


Luke Sky Wachter - 2014
    For reference its about twice the size of the previous Admiral's Lady book. Product Description: While Jason was getting back and gearing up for his Revenge, Akantha wasn't just sitting quietly in the corner or out waving the flag on a PR tour. She was gearing up for some revenge of her own. Determined to punish those who planted the knife in the MSP and just as or even more importantly her own people's back, this is one Hold-Mistress who isn't about to let the events that took place at Omicron Station pass. As far as she's concerned her Protector was far too lenient, a mistake she's not about to repeat. You see she has a name for her pain and it is King James, the very man who sent the traitors that took their ship and killed their people. There will be ashes, there will be blood and while victory may not be possible one thing is certain... whether she goes home carrying her shield or carried upon it, they will suffer as she has suffered. Or her name is not Akantha of Messene!

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.

Starship Eternal


M.R. Forbes - 2015
    A dire warning from futures past... A desperate search for salvation… Captain Mitchell “Ares” Williams is a Space Marine and the hero of the Battle for Liberty, whose Shot Heard ‘Round the Universe saved the planet from a nearly unstoppable war machine. He’s handsome, charismatic, and the perfect poster boy to help the military drive enlistment. Pulled from the war and thrown into the spotlight, he’s as efficient at charming the media as he was at shooting down enemy starfighters. After an assassination attempt leaves Mitchell critically wounded, he begins to suffer from strange hallucinations that carry a chilling and oddly familiar warning: They are coming. Find the Goliath or humankind will be destroyed. Convinced that the visions are a side-effect of his injuries, he tries to ignore them, only to learn that he may not be as crazy as he thinks. The enemy is real and closer than he imagined, and they’ll do whatever it takes to prevent him from rediscovering the centuries lost starship. Narrowly escaping capture, out of time and out of air, Mitchell lands at the mercy of the Riggers - a ragtag crew of former commandos who patrol the lawless outer reaches of the galaxy. Guided by a captain with a reputation for cold-blooded murder, they’re dangerous, immoral, and possibly insane. They may also be humanity’s last hope for survival in a war that has raged beyond eternity.

Sten


Chris Bunch - 1982
    The factory planet is ugly, harsh, and company-run for centuries. Sten meets a stranger who is his ticket off - and back.

The Silver Ships


S.H. Jucha - 2015
    Recognizing a once in a lifetime opportunity to make first contact, Alex pulls off a daring maneuver to latch on to the derelict.Alex discovers the ship was attacked by an unknown craft, the first of its kind ever encountered. The mysterious silver ship's attack was both instant and deadly.What enfolds is a story of the descendants of two Earth colony ships, with very different histories, meeting 700 years after their founding and uniting to defend humanity from the silver ships.

Deadly Nightshade


H. Paul Honsinger - 2015
    Somehow, before that date, Max became an expert on battle tactics, the psychology of command and leadership, the customs and fighting techniques of the mysterious and powerful Vaaach race, and how to devise innovative strategies to defeat superior enemy forces, bringing his ship and his men home when the odds are against him. Deadly Nightshade tells a small but crucial part of that story, shedding light on how Max became the creative, innovative, deadly warrior readers have come to know in the “Man of War” Trilogy. In June 2304, the 16 year old green Ensign Max Robichaux is given a small but fast and stealthy ship to penetrate enemy space, observe a mock attack on a new kind of enemy battle station, and return with reams of information on the station, enemy weapons, enemy tactics, and other valuable intelligence. Max finds that his vessel’s capabilities as well as his own courage and tenacity are tested when a Vaaach ship intervenes in the Krag exercise and takes Max away from his task . . . and from any hope of rescue. It seems that the Vaaach have their own uses for the young ensign and his nearly invisible craft. Max must fight his way past a superior force of alien fighters to come to the aid of a race being victimized in one of the most horrific ways imaginable. Once there, he must call upon every ounce of courage and the deepest parts of his humanity to save millions of lives through making what may prove to be the ultimate sacrifice. Deadly Nightshade is a novella-length (approximately 37,000 words) tale of adventure, courage, tenacity, and sacrifice. It packs everything Honsinger’s readers expect—realistically staged space combat, deep character development, believable aliens, and the thrill of being on a warship in deep space—into a compact package. Fans of Honsinger’s other books will gain interesting insight into the events that helped make Max Robichaux the officer we meet in the “Man of War” books. It is also an easily accessible entre to the series for new readers. A follow up novella, "The Hunters of Vermin," is expected in January 2017.

Forging Zero


Sara King - 2013
    Now they own us.The Legend of ZERO: Forging Zero is the epic journey of 14-year-old Joe Dobbs in a post-apocalyptic universe following a massive galactic empire's invasion of Earth. The oldest of the children drafted from humanity’s devastated planet, Joe is impressed into service by the alien Congressional Ground Force—and becomes the unwitting centerpiece in a millennia-long alien struggle for independence. Once his training begins, one of the elusive and prophetic Trith appears to give Joe a spine chilling prophecy that the universe has been anticipating for millions of years: Joe will be the one to finally shatter the vast alien government known as Congress. And the Trith cannot lie.…But first Joe has to make it through bootcamp.

Kris Longknife's Replacement: Admiral Santiago on Alwa Station


Mike Shepherd - 2017
    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?

Star Corps


Ian Douglas - 2003
    But a research mission to the planet Ishtar has made a terrifying -- and fatal -- discovery: the Ahanu, ancestors of the former masters, live on, far from the reach of Earth -- born weapons and technology ... and tens of thousands of captive human souls still bow to their iron will. Now Earth's Interstellar Marine Expeditionary Unit must undertake a rescue operation as improbable as it is essential to humankind's future, embarking on a ten-year voyage to a hostile world to face an entrenched enemy driven by dreams of past glory and intent once more on domination. For those who, for countless generations, have known nothing but toil and subjugation must be granted, at all costs, the precious gift entitled to all of their star-traveling kind: freedom!

Poor Man's Fight


Elliott Kay - 2013
    Congratulations! You have graduated high school. Your financial obligation is 67,879 credits. Please visit our loan officer as you exit."Tanner Malone never bought into military myths of honor and glory. He never wanted to wear a uniform or medals. Yet when family upheaval brings his otherwise stellar performance in school to a disastrous end, Tanner's plans for university lie in ruins. Facing homelessness and a mountain of debt, Tanner enlists in his home planet's tiny navy.It’s a hell of a time to sign up. Vicious pirates stalk the space lanes, claiming to fight an oppressive economic system even as they shed innocent blood. Civil war looms beyond the borders of Tanner’s home star system of Archangel. Corporate security fleets are nowhere to be found when trouble arises.In response, Archangel begins ambitious military expansion. Basic training becomes six months of daily bare knuckle brawls, demanding cross-training and constant stress. Brutal as it is, Tanner will need the preparation. The pirates grow more audacious with every attack. As if that’s not enough, Tanner is assigned to a small ship whose disgruntled crew has no patience for cerebral new recruits, and they’re on the front lines of all of Archangel’s woes.Tanner soon learns there is only one way to deal with his bullying comrades, their ruthless foes and the unforgiving void of space, and that’s to get up close and personal.

Terms of Enlistment


Marko Kloos - 2013
    For welfare rats like Andrew Grayson, there are only two ways out of the crime-ridden and filthy welfare tenements, where you're restricted to two thousand calories of badly flavored soy every day:You can hope to win the lottery and draw a ticket on a colony ship settling off-world, or you can join the service.With the colony lottery a pipe dream, Andrew chooses to enlist in the armed forces for a shot at real food, a retirement bonus, and maybe a ticket off Earth. But as he starts a career of supposed privilege, he soon learns that the good food and decent health care come at a steep price…and that the settled galaxy holds far greater dangers than military bureaucrats or the gangs that rule the slums.

Dauntless


Jack Campbell - 2006
    Now its fleet is crippled and stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is a man who's emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he has been heroically idealized, beyond belief...Captain John "Black Jack" Geary's legendary exploits are known to every schoolchild. Revered for his heroic "last stand" in the early days of the war, he was presumed dead. But a century later, Geary miraculously returns from survival hibernation and reluctantly takes command of the Alliance fleet as it faces annihilation by the Syndics.Appalled by the hero-worship around him, Geary is nevertheless a man who will do his duty. And he knows that bringing the stolen Syndic hypernet key safely home is the Alliance's one chance to win the war. But to do that, Geary will have to live up to the impossibly heroic "Black Jack" legend...