Book picks similar to
Perchance To Dream by Peter Lukes


science-fiction
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The Emerald Enigma


Paul Regnier - 2015
    Broke, with an unreliable star freighter and a bounty on his head, Glint is desperate enough to try anything. Even set out on a quest to find a fabled good luck charm, the Emerald Enigma. Now for a crew. A passive aggressive ship computer, a peaceable alien warrior, and time-traveling teen from the past aren’t what he had in mind. But they’ll have to do. The Emerald Enigma won’t wait forever and neither will the bounty hunter tracking him.

The Chronicles of Engella Rhys


Paul Ian Cross - 2018
    The first few chapters are available as 'The Chronicles of Engella Rhys (Preview).' Would you sacrifice your future to save your past? Engella Rhys is alone, adrift and on the run. Pursued by a secret agency, known only as the Hunters, she must stay ahead to stay alive. As she travels through space-time using dangerously experimental technology, she only has one wish: to be reunited with her lost parents. After a close shave with a Hunter on the streets of New Shanghai, Engella escapes to find herself on a deserted beach. When she meets a kind stranger, who offers her food and shelter, Engella feels safe and protected for the first time in years. But who is this woman? And why did their paths cross at the most convenient of times? Engella soon discovers their lives are intertwined in more ways than she could ever imagine.

The After Days


Amy Ginsburg - 2019
    No lie. This is seriously good. It’s fresh, entertaining, and thought-provoking.” –Kathryn Johnson, author and writing teacher Middle-aged suburbanites Rachel and Zach team with their friends to battle not only the predators and scavengers who lurk around every corner but also empty pantries, boredom, despair … and sometimes each other.  How far are they willing to go to survive the Big Blackout? “I was drawn in immediately and swept away by the story. A real page-turner” –Pamela Gates, literary festival organizer This gripping dystopian twist on contemporary fiction about a woman who must find within herself the strength and ingenuity to endure a world suddenly without electricity is both terrifyingly real and astonishingly tender.Perfect for book clubs, The After Days explores the ethical quandaries and logistical problems of ordinary suburbanites – people whose most recent problems were dodgy Wi-Fi and cranky bosses – in their struggle to survive in the increasingly treacherous suburbs of Washington, DC.

The Ghosts of Watt O'Hugh


Steven S. Drachman - 2011
    When O'Hugh returns to New York as the star of a Wild West show, he thinks his ship has come in. But that's before he wakes up in a Wyoming penitentiary facing a murder charge, a corrupt Wall Street banker turned outlaw and a 2000-year-old Chinese mystery that could change the world forever. All he really wants is to woo Lucy Billings again, the woman he loved and lost in a gilded New York City before the War ....

Corrupts Absolutely?: Dark Metahuman Fiction


Lincoln CrislerEdward M. Erdelac - 2012
    Are they heroes? Are they villains? Sometimes they're both. Often at the same time. Corrupts Absolutely? collects twenty tales from veteran authors and newcomers, each with a unique perspective on what it might really be like to be superhuman in today's day and age. In the center of such a roiling mass of uncertainty and excitement lies one important truth: the fight against good or evil is never as important as the fight for or against oneself. CONTENTSRetribution – Tim MarquitzHollywood Villainy – Weston OchseMental Man – William Todd RoseThe Real Church – Jeremy HeplerOzymandias Revisited – A.S. FoxEnlightened by Sin – Jason M. TuckerBedtime Story – Peter ClinesThe Origin of Slashy – Jeff StrandConviction – Edward M. ErdelacThreshold – Kris AshtonOily – A.D. SpencerHero – Joe McKinneyPride – Wayne LigonG-Child – Malon EdwardsPast Imperfect: A Scorpion Story – Warren StockholmIllusion – Karina L. FabianSabre – Anthony LaffanCrooked – Lee MatherFixed – Trisha J. WooldridgeAcquainted with the Night – Cat RamboGone Rogue – Wayne HelgeMax and Rose – Andrew Bourelle Cover art by Malcolm McClinton. Design by Shawn T. King. PRAISE“The editor has done a fine job of assembling a batch of stories filled with attitude and badassery.”—Superheronovels.Com “Lincoln Crisler has taken pains to choose this myriad collection of stories exploring the theme of Metahumans acting out inhumanely and there are quite a few zingers to this collection. This is a collection very much in the vein of Masked by Lou Anders; however, with a tenebrious and twisted bent to it.”—Fantasy Book Critic "Corrupts Absolutely? is a great anthology with a concept that never gets old. Each of the stories is incredibly unique, even the ones that deal with a similar power or theme. I had a great time with this and I didn't dislike a single story. That's hard to do. Highly Recommended!"—Only the Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy “Lincoln Crisler’s compilation is commendable for showing a range of variations on its theme. The contributors address the motif from different aspects and genres. Aficionados of horror will find several tales to whet their genre appetite.”—Hellnotes “…the large majority of the stories establish intriguing conditions, insert equally intriguing characters, add appropriately devastating consequences to either action or inaction, and let the chips—or bodies—fall where they may. Recommended.”—Michael Collings “Really got me to thinking about who really is a 'Hero' and a 'Villain' and where is the line drawn.”—Melsworld “…The perfect collection for horror fans with a taste for superhero prose or lovers of hero tales who enjoy a bit of corruption with a horror flavor.”—Dreadful Tales

Land of Nod, The Artifact


Gary Hoover - 2010
    But when he finds a portal in his father’s office, he must overcome his fears in an attempt to find him.The portal takes him to another dimension – one populated by fantastic and dangerous creatures and also an advanced society of humans.As Jeff looks for clues regarding what may have happened to his father, he is accused by some of being a spy while thought by others to be a prophesized figure . . . who may be the key to victory in a developing war.

The Moon and Beyond


John E. Siers - 2012
    So smart, in fact, that they've figured out how gravity works. More importantly, they've figured out how to make it work as a propulsion system. Of course, they are going to tell the world about it. Eventually. But first, they have a few things to do, like build a fleet of gravity-powered spacecraft and establish a permanent settlement on the Moon... assuming they can keep the U.S. government from figuring out what they are doing, shutting them down, and putting them all under arrest. Welcome to the Lunar Free State...

Trinity


Domenico Italo Composto-Hart - 2011
    Constantly bullied by Aiko, he eventually takes refuge with the village priest in the Kadek Temple where he studies medicinal and culinary arts, calligraphy, and ultimately, the art of Ki sword. Under the tutelage of the priest he comes to know the grim truth about his father, and is prepared to face the horrific assault of the armies of the Atlantean Empire upon his humble world.And this is just the beginning . . .

Metrophage


Richard Kadrey - 1988
    This is Jonny's world. He's a street-wise hustler, a black-market dealer in drugs that heal the body and cool the mind. All he cares about is his own survival. Until a strange plague turns L.A. into a city of death--and Jonny is forced to put everything on the line to find the cure. If it can be found on earth...

Starship Alchemon


Christopher Hinz - 2019
    Now Captain Ericho Solorzano and the survivors must fight for their lives against a shrewd enemy that not only can attack them physically, emotionally and intellectually, but which seeks control of their sentient ship as a prelude to a murderous assault on the human species.

Necropolis


Tim Waggoner - 2004
     Centuries ago, when Earth's Darkfolk -- vampires, werewolves, witches and other creatures -- were threatened by humanity, they departed our planet's dimension and journeyed to a shadowy realm, where they built the great city of Necropolis. Matthew Adrion is an Earth cop who came through a portal to Necropolis on a case, died, and was resurrected as a zombie. Unable to return home, he works as a private investigator on the very mean streets of this shadowy, dark city.

The Thing Itself


Adam Roberts - 2015
    Two men while away the days in an Antarctic research station. Tensions between them build as they argue over a love-letter one of them has received. One is practical and open. The other surly, superior and obsessed with reading one book - by the philosopher Kant. As a storm brews and they lose contact with the outside world they debate Kant, reality and the emptiness of the universe. The come to hate each other, and they learn that they are not alone.

The 13


M.M. Perry - 2017
    If only her ship can make it there.Naomi has finally figured out how to permanently fix a deadly malfunction in the Magellan's engines. A sister ship is willing to give her the part she needs to get safely to their new home. But everything goes awry when the sister ship goes dark without warning.Mike is an obedient soldier. He's done his duty and kept the civilians safe on the Magellan. He thought he was the perfect soldier. Then he met Naomi and his world came crashing down.Mike and Naomi will travel to the Tereshkova together to learn what catastrophe has befallen their sister ship. What they find out in their journey together chills them to the bone. If he can't save the civilians left on the Tereshkova, Mike doesn't know how he'll keep Naomi from falling to a similar demise.

Escape from Oz


Piers Platt - 2017
    But when the government bans professional fighting, his life spirals out of control. Convicted of murder, he's sentenced to life in prison. But all of the felons he's ever known have disappeared from Earth, never to return. He's about to find out firsthand what happened to them. He'll have to stay alive amongst Earth’s most ruthless felons if he wants to survive … and become the first man to escape from Oz.

Erased


Jordan Marshall - 2011
    They programmed her to forget everything. She was supposed to be the perfect patsy, until something went wrong… When Sara wakes up on the roof of a Union Square department store with a sniper rifle in her arms and the body of a political activist in the street below, she can’t even remember how she got there. A mysterious stranger calls and instructs her to turn herself in. He warns that her life has been erased and she’ll never see her family again if she doesn’t cooperate. Sara is terrified, and in a desperate attempt to sort out her past and prove her innocence, she goes on the run. Sara quickly finds herself one of America’s most wanted criminals. The police and the FBI are convinced she’s a known terrorist. The black ops team that framed her is out to kill her before she can expose them. Her only hope lies in rookie FBI agent Brandy Jackson. Unfortunately, Brandy and her partner have every reason to believe Sara is the real killer and they’re being pressured from above to close the case as quickly as possible. As the evidence mounts, Sara even begins to question her own memories. What if she’s not the dedicated mother and hardworking attorney she thinks she is? What if she really is the killer?