Book picks similar to
Empyrean by Nicole L. Bates


sci-fi
giveaways
scifi-and-space
sf-fantasy

The Icarus Hunt


Timothy Zahn - 1999
    They take a job on the odd-shaped ship Icarus. But the ragtag crew was found at taverns, the secret cargo sealed tight, the employer missing, and a saboteur is aboard. After a beautiful crew member helps uncover the nature of their cargo for Earth, Jordan suspects they are in a vast conspiracy set to change human history. Unfortunately, he's right.

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.

Sacremon


Michael Chatfield - 2016
    Two brothers make a choice that will change their lives forever.Mark and his brother Tyler survived the slums with a gun in their hand and a blade in their sleeve. The corporations mercenaries are always looking for trained killers.The EMF offers education, medical care, food whenever they want it, and real pay. They have a chance at a new life, one where they don’t have to worry about a rival gang killing them in the street.Those privileges come at a hefty cost. Peace doesn’t last and the EMF doesn’t care how many troopers die as long as their cost/benefit ratios make them look good at the next shareholding meeting. Maybe the slums weren’t so bad.

Touched by an Alien


Gini Koch - 2010
    When she stepped out of the Pueblo Caliente courthouse, all she was thinking about was the work she had to get caught up on. Then her attention was caught by a fight between a couple that looked like it was about to turn ugly. But ugly didn't even begin to cover it when the "man" suddenly transformed into a huge, winged monster right out of a grade Z science fiction movie and went on a deadly killing spree. In hindsight, Kitty realized she probably should have panicked and run screaming the way everyone around her was doing. Instead she sprinted into action to take down the alien. In the middle of all the screeching and the ensuing chaos, a hunk in an Armani suit suddenly appeared beside her, introduced himself as Jeff Martini with "the agency," and then insisted on leading her to a nearby limo to talk to his "boss." And that was how Kitty's new life among the aliens began...Touched by an Alien is the thrilling first installment of the Alien novels.

Sol Shall Rise


G.P. Hudson - 2014
     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?

The Retreat


Kelly St. Clare - 2016
    Humankind destroyed. And it’s old news. Romy’s life is simple—for a genetically enhanced space soldier; pick up space junk with her four friends, and stave off the invaders fixated on stealing Planet Earth. It isn’t much. But it’s temporary—only another 850 years to go, give or take. When her crew tangles with a gulp-worthy alien mothership, Romy’s return to Earth is brought forwards at hurtling pace. Strength comes from the unlikeliest of quarters. As does leadership. …As does betrayal.

Time Pebbles


Jerry Merritt - 2014
    Only Tekla cares enough to search for her over the years. As Ka Li survives fierce predators and scarce resources she leaves behind a series of signal cairns to help Tekla find her.Skipping forward 60,000 years, Helen Ryland, a mid-twentieth century archaeologist, unearths one of Ka Li's surviving signal cairns and realizes she has found trace of people who populated the Americas even before the Clovis culture. Helen's detective work tracking Ka Li's timeless signals across the Alaskan wilderness now intertwines with Ka Li's story. As Helen solves the puzzle of the signal cairns she finds universal fame and suffers devastating misfortune. In the end Helen discovers that science in isolation cannot answer all of her questions, for Tekla's devotion to Ka Li had not died even though six hundred centuries had passed.

Death Becomes Her / Queen Bitch / Love Lost / Bite This / Never Forsaken / Under My Heel / Kneel or Die


Michael Anderle - 2018
     He needs to find someone to take over. He finds Bethany Anne. Unknown, untested and untried she sets out to accomplish the impossible while forging a new future.  One that no one knew was in danger.And she does it with an attitude that will make you stand up and cheer!They say a dress can make a woman, but in this case, the dress is Death, and Death Becomes Her very well indeed. Queen Bitch The UnknownWorld is reeling from change.  Bethany Anne has started to make a difference in the first week of being 'awake'. Now, America has been losing good men since their teams don't have a Vampire to help them and Frank is hoping Bethany Anne can, and will, help.Further, the American Pack Council is having internal problems with their own "young and dumb" Were's who want to ignore Michael's strictures.  With no one seeing Michael, the fear of the 'Boogeyman' is starting to recede. Love Lost When one of Bethany Anne's loved one gets caught in the crossfire between her and the Forsaken, she goes rabid in rage. She doesn't believe in seeking peace and harmony, but rather revenge and mayhem.Continuing the story of Bethany Anne and TQB team, Love Lost picks up after Queen Bitch. She works to complete both her business and military team leads and we meet Stephen's daughter Gabrielle as plans are made to exact revenge South of the Border.You don't touch one of Bethany Anne's loved ones and get away with it, no matter how far away you live. Bite This You take out one annoying vampire in revenge, and now you have to clean up the mess? What a pain in the ... something.Bethany Anne and crew are back! They need to grab a ship, figure out who is trying to dig into her businesses, get their hands around the potential for creating an A.I. and the ongoing mess with Anton and South America.One of these days, she will get a break. Fortunately for us, it wasn't today. Never Forsaken Life is beyond dangerous when you are caught up in the ongoing war between Bethany Anne's group and the Forsaken. Both Vampires and Humans have been targeted, but if there is one thing that those who work with Bethany Anne learn, it is you are NEVER FORSAKEN. Under My Heel Europe is erupting is tension and violence.David is only adding to the conflagration by setting a trap, one that our team will trip to save those people still alive.

To the Stars and Back: Space Opera to Cyberpunk 5 Book Box Set


C.F. Barnes - 2015
    If you like fun, adventure, and interesting tech, you’ll be sure to love something within this collection. Comprising three full length novels, and two novellas, these stories will keep you entertained for many hours. Warning: Readers might not want to come back to the real world after adventuring through these stories. Hollow Space: Venture Forced to hyperjump during a brutal ambush, Sara Lorelle, navigator of the the last human colony ship, discovers they’ve jumped to somewhere that shouldn’t exist. Trapped inside a pocket universe known only as Hollow Space, where technology inexplicably fails, Sara and her crew have to face the lethal politics of their only destination: Haven—a decrepit space station, home to hostile aliens and rival factions that soon sees the Venture crew up to their necks in trouble. With their only hope placed in Tairon Cauder, a reckless scoundrel, they will battle impossible species, confront their fears, and uncover ancient and terrible secrets. In a place where those who shoot first live the longest, the Venture crew will have to push their limits if they are to save themselves and the human race from extinction. Hollow Space: Shadowkill Kina wants to be an assassin—to join the mysterious Wraiths and secure her future on the space station of Haven. A place where it’s kill or be killed and career options are limited. But Haven is not your granddad’s space station. It’s rotten to the core and every scumbag is out for one thing only: themselves. With just her two daggers for protection, Kina is thrown into the darkness to confront a pack of bounty hunters eager to end her ambitions—and life. Code Breakers: Alpha In a post-apocalyptic future, humanity survives within a single domed city run by a shadowy benefactor known only as The Family. Each week the death lottery claims more lives and Gerry Cardle, head of the lottery, inexplicably finds himself the next on the list. Something's wrong with the system. A deadly artificial intelligence has breached security. Gerry has just 7 days to live. Forced off the grid, Gerry has to do the unthinkable: willingly leave the city. What he finds in the abandoned lands will shatter his perception of what it means to be human. Everything he had been told before was a lie. Code Breakers: Beta The fanatical Red Widows sweep destruction across the abandoned lands. Their aggression threatens to destroy the city Gerry had risked his life to save. Petal, the woman Gerry has come to love is dying. The despotic cabal, The Family, demand he brings her to them, but she's missing, running from the Widows, searching for the truth of her origins before it's too late. When their paths cross, Petal and Gerry will hold the fate of humankind in their hands—if they can survive the malevolent digital entity that stalks them from the shadows. The Daedalus Code When agents Phaedra and Aegeus of New Crete's Intelligent Data Enforcement Agency are tasked to find five missing Artificial Intelligence students, their single lead takes them to a notorious hacker known as 'The Cretian.' With his help, they uncover a terrible truth: Ariadne, one of the students, is involved with a rogue AI program called The Daedalus Project. The AI is out of control, people are going missing, and a great swathe of the world’s data is being secured within its digital labyrinth.

The Magic Wakes


Charity Bradford - 2013
    Each time it ends abruptly with Talia’s death in the capital city Joharadin, a city that she has spent her life desperately avoiding. Talia keeps these dreams a secret, hoping they are nothing more than childish nightmares. But when she is unexpectedly transferred to Joharadin she is convinced that the conflict, and her own death, is at hand.As Talia’s nightmares occur with increasing frequency, they reveal the imminent invasion of a half-dragon, half-human race called Dragumon, bent on the annihilation of her world.In Sendek, magic is dead and science rules, forcing Talia to keep another secret, one that could cost her everything if it were known. Now, in order to save her planet, Talia must awaken the powers within her and rely at last on the magic that is her true inheritance.

Samantha's Talent


Darrell Bain - 2014
    The problem is that no one believes her. Her talent gets young Samantha in trouble time after time as she grows from a young girl into a teenager. After leading a runaway tiger back to the zoo, she becomes a celebrity. Some think she's a fake. Some worship her. Some hate her. And a rogue government agency wants to use her. Her talent can give the United States a huge jump over other nations, but first she has to stay alive, second she must solve a decades-old, other-worldly enigma and last she has to convince everyone she is truly capable of all the demands being made on her. A novel that adults, young adults and anyone else will find fascinating. Author's preferred edition.

Bandwidth


Eliot Peper - 2018
    But when a close brush with death reveals that the influence he wields makes him a target, impossible cracks appear in his perfect, richly appointed life.Like everyone else, Dag relies on his digital feed for everything—a feed that is as personal as it is pervasive, and may not be as private as it seems. As he struggles to make sense of the dark forces closing in on him, he discovers that activists are hijacking the feed to manipulate markets and governments. Going public would destroy everything he’s worked so hard to build, but it’s not just Dag’s life on the line—a shadow war is coming, one that will secure humanity’s future or doom the planet to climate catastrophe. Ultimately, Dag must decide the price he’s willing to pay to change the world.

The White Dragon: Genesis (White Dragon, #1)


Stefan Bolz - 2014
    This is Stefan Bolz at his best." [Amazon Reviewer] "It's one of those books that leave you desperate for more!" [Amazon Reviewer] "Highly, highly recommend this jewel of a book!" [Amazon Reviewer] "A fantastic story, wonderfully developed characters, and an ending that will leave you on edge and begging for Genesis Part 2" [Amazon Reviewer] "I loved this book's prose, characters and story line. Get this. Read it. Experience the awesome that is Stefan Bolz." [Amazon Reviewer The White Dragon: Genesis is the story of the very beginning of an apocalyptic event as seen through the eyes of an eighteen-year-old girl. Nothing could have prepared her for what is about to happen and she has to face some seriously tough stuff before the end. During the thirty-six hours of terror that turn Kasey Byrne's life upside down and strip her of everything dear to her, something inside her awakens. It is gift and curse alike for it can destroy her or turn her into the most powerful weapon against the evil that has reached the shores of our world.

Martian Plague


Brandon Ellis - 2019
    Maybe humans were lucky to leave Earth as cowards...or maybe they should have died trying to save it from the aliens. Because what's now arrived on this red rock may be worse than death. Aliens destroyed humanity and seized Earth. Now they have sent a terrible, unstoppable disease to the last human outposts on Mars. The doomsday clock is ticking and only criminal archaeologist Ozzy Mack can decipher the clues buried in the ancient Martian ruins...clues to the cure and the salvation of humankind. Unless it's already too late.

Connor's Gambit


Z. Gottlieb - 2017
    As Brad struggles to understand the conflict between the aliens, as well as his place in the universe, he learns one group threatens Earth's security and the other wants something entirely different. All Brad wants is to return home to his family, but not until he embarks on the greatest adventure of his life. The book takes the reader on a wild mental roller coaster ride, with surprises at every twist and turn.