Book picks similar to
The Fractured Prism by Brendan Noble


dystopian
give-it-a-shot
near-future
not-at-library

Eve (or: 'How to be a Zombie and not Murder Everyone')


Cesar Vitale
     Eve is an 18,000 word novella originally published as an ongoing story on Reddit's Writing Prompts forum by user /u/psycho_alpaca.

Tagged, You're It!


Jamie Lee Scott - 2013
    When there's a murder at the party, Mimi can't believe it's happening again. She's done with dead bodies, right?

The Acquisition (The Classified Series, #1)


Emily Mitchell - 2013
    If not, they are condemned to live in the Barren as a servant of the Assembly. All servants of the Assembly are sterilized on their eighteenth birthday to prevent their compromising genes from being reproduced. Upon her day of reckoning, Emma knows there is a chance of becoming Sterile because of something tragic in her past. She also believes the past is the past. When the decision is made, lives change forever.The life Emma tried so desperately to leave behind still haunts her, a life that is soon to be ripped apart by hate, jealousy, lies, and murder. If something doesn't change, it won't only be Emma's life hanging in the balance.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon / Rainwater


Reader's Digest Association - 2011
    1/2 of a Readers Digest Large Print Special Edition - the other novel is Rainwater by Sandra Brown

The Newman Resident


Charles Swift - 2014
    Dr. Newman is at the leading edge of creating the perfect educational environment for children, and all he requires is a hefty tuition—and your child at the age of six months.Christopher Carson is one of the “Newman Residents” who live at the Newman Home year-round. His parents, Richard and Carol, both Manhattan attorneys, may disagree about the specifics, but each wants what’s best for their son. For Richard, this means bringing Christopher, now six years old, home for one last summer vacation before the visits become brief and infrequent.Carol agrees with the staff: Christopher should stay at the school. And Christopher is confused, not sure where his real home is anymore. But Richard would like for their house to be Christopher’s home, at least for one summer.As Richard and Christopher spend more time together they become closer. Not long into Christopher’s visit, Richard begins to suspect that the Newman Home’s methods for developing their children into future leaders are too experimental, if not outright dangerous. His suspicions are confirmed when a secretive support group of Newman parents reaches out to him about their frightening experiences with the school.Richard’s investigations into the Newman Home quickly spiral out of control; he has underestimated the extent of the school’s power and connections—and Dr. Newman’s incessant drive to achieve a new level of success for the students. But what Dr. Newman underestimates may be even more powerful: one father’s determination to fight for his son against the odds.What follows in The Newman Resident is a whirlwind battle between a devoted father and an education system more terrifyingly powerful than he ever could have imagined. It’s a battle that forces him to confront how some will cross any line in order to create the “perfect” child.

Signs of Life: A Post-Apocalyptic Pandemic Survival Thriller (Signs of the Apocalypse Book 1)


L.L. Akers - 2021
    

Apocalyptic Highway: Breakdown (Patriot Uprising Book 1)


Morgan C. Thomas - 2016
    Now, back home in North Carolina, he's told his young daughter Ella he'd never leave her alone again after her mother died while he was serving the last tour. On a last second decision he reluctantly breaks that promise for a trip with old military friends. That's not the only problem, the lights are out because of terrorists, people are desperate, and he's a thousand miles from a little girl he vows to get home to, at any costs. Matt meets people along the way that help him, hinder him, and many want to kill him. Nothing has prepared him for what's in store, not even his days in Iraq. Will communities pull together or will they fall apart? Will people head for the hills or do they stand and fight? On his way home Matt detours to atone for a friends death. Is forgiveness in store in the middle of an apocalypse? The human spirit can break a thousand times but it will prevail if only one thing exists, HOPE! Meanwhile in other parts of the country a war weary Navy Corpsman only consumed with those he could not save is minutes from from taking his life when fate intervenes. A young woman in Florida is dealing with depression after losing her mom in Iraq and now fights for her reputation including her life against three rapist. The university ignored her pleas and the media blamed her. With the power out her struggles change drastically. In other parts of the US other men and women will do things that would have been uncharacteristic just days before. Paths will cross. Chance and fate will play a role. Circumstance will evolve. Do you go left or do you go right? What does life have in store for you? In Book One you will be introduced to just some of the characters that will play a role as Apocalyptic Highway progresses down the road of chance, circumstance, and fate. My intent is that when you read this book you cry, laugh, smile, stand and cheer, clap, question, and most of all it leaves you wanting more. SEMPER FIDELIS

Wage Slave Rebellion


Stephen W. Gee - 2014
    It's a world of danger and excitement, and Mazik Kil'Raeus is . . . a door-to-door salesman. Though a skilled spellcaster, Mazik couldn't get a good job out of college, and now he's stuck in a dead-end one he hates. Along with his friends, Gavi Ven'Kalil (waiter at a local bar) and Raedren Ian'Moro (apprentice healer . . . it's not as glamorous as it sounds), Mazik is not happy with the way his life is going. Frustrated with boring work, selfish bosses, and wasting their lives for meager pay, the three friends decide to do something crazy—they're going to become monster-slaying adventurers. Not that it will be easy. With a consortium of powerful guilds determined to keep people like them out, they'll have to wow everyone to make it. That's when they set their eyes on a difficult quest: stopping a group of kidnappers who have been terrorizing their city for months. But when the kidnappers turn out to be acolytes of a power-hungry god, the quest transforms into an explosive battle that rampages across the city. The three friends are in over their heads, and nobody expects them to come out on top. That's an adventure they relish. After all, it's better to risk uncertainty and death now, than to accept mediocrity and die without ever having lived. WAGE SLAVE REBELLION combines the fantasy adventure of The Hobbit with the pulse-pounding combat of a Marvel action movie. It's medieval sword & sorcery meets urban high fantasy, in a tale about refusing to accept limits and living life to its fullest, no matter what anyone else has to say. WHO SHOULDN'T READ THIS BOOK: Anyone who doesn't like stories with drinking, cussing, fighting, or killing likely won't enjoy this book. The main characters are adults, and they live in a dangerous world; they act accordingly. Anyone who prefers their books serious or grimdark may be disappointed. This book has adult themes and situations, but above all else it's intended to be fun. If that doesn't sound like something you would enjoy, this book may not be for you. WHO SHOULD READ WITH BOOK: Anyone looking for an action-packed, fun-filled fantasy adventure. If you enjoy friendly banter, thrilling heroics, and tons of explosions, this book is for you. If you like stories with a certain lightness of tone which eschew angst in favor of punching problems in the face, this book is definitely for you. And if you've ever loathed your job or dreamed about going on adventures with your best friends, this book was written with you in mind. Want behind-the-scenes info, sneak peeks, and to be the first to learn about sequel announcements? Sign up for the author’s email list at www.stephenwgee.com. You’ll get a free prequel short story when you sign up. NOW AVAILABLE: The exciting sequel to WAGE SLAVE REBELLION and the second book in the FIRESIGN series. Join Mazik, Gavi, and Raedren as they continue their adventures in FREELANCE HEROICS.

There Comes a Prophet


David Litwack - 2012
    But the vicars of the Temple of Light brought peace, ushering in an era of blessed simplicity. For ten centuries they have kept the madness at bay with “temple magic” and by eliminating forever the rush of progress that nearly caused the destruction of everything.A restless dreamer, Nathaniel has always lived in the tiny village of Little Pond, longing for something more but unwilling to challenge the unbending status quo. When his friend Thomas returns from the Temple after his “teaching”—the secret coming-of-age ritual that binds young men and women eternally to the Light—Nathaniel can barely recognize the broken and brooding young man the boy has become. And when the beautiful Orah is summoned as well, Nathaniel knows he must somehow save her. But in the prisons of Temple City he discovers a terrible secret that launches the three of them on a journey to find the forbidden keep, placing their lives in dire jeopardy. For a truth awaits them there that threatens the foundation of the Temple. But if they reveal that truth the words of the book of light might come to pass:“If there comes among you a prophet saying ‘Let us return to the darkness,’ you shall stone him, because he has sought to thrust you away from the light.”

A Stranger in the Citadel


Tobias S. Buckell - 2021
    Buckell.“You shall not suffer a librarian to live.”Growing up in Ninetha, Lilith has known this law all her life. The city’s every need is provided for by a god-machine called the cornucopia, which can produce food, clothing, anything in response to a thought. The gods provided this bounty on one condition: that humanity give up reading and writing. Then, a librarian, an actual seeker of forbidden written knowledge, walks through the gates of the citadel, his very presence unraveling the life Lilith has known. She learns her father, the Lord Musketeer himself, has been harboring a secret - one that turns Ninetha against Lilith’s family. Forced to flee, forced to throw in her lot with the librarian, Lilith uncovers even greater secrets - about the lie her life has been, and about the very nature of their world.

Pulse Point


Colleen Nelson - 2018
    In order to survive, people live in self-sustaining domed cities. The City that Kaia and her family live in is run by Overseers, guards that ensure all the Citizens follow the guidelines so the City can maintain its ‘Energy In = Energy Out’ policy. Citizens are only allowed to use the energy they create. Energy production is calculated and displayed on their pulse point, a transmitter embedded in a person’s finger. When a Citizen is no longer able to produce energy, they are Balanced, or killed.

The Loneliness of Distant Beings


Kate Ling - 2016
    And it is also totally impossible.'Even though she knows it's impossible, Seren longs to have the sunshine on her skin. It's something she feels she needs to stay sane. But when you're floating through space at thousands of kilometres an hour, sometimes you have to accept there are things you cannot change.Except that the arrival of Dom in her life changes everything in ways she can barely comprehend. For a while he becomes the Sun for her; and she can't help but stay in his orbit. Being with him flaunts every rule designed to keep their home in order, but to lose him would be like losing herself.In the end they must decide what is most important: loyalty to the only home they've ever known, or to each other?

Red Death


Jeff Altabef - 2016
    She’s sworn to keep Eden safe from the dangers lingering outside of Eden’s sturdy walls in the land of the Soulless—a medieval world filled with witches, warrior kingdoms, and magic.Outside Eden, the Red Death reigns over the world. Once infected, no one lives past their early twenties. Wilky, Aaliss’s rather odd younger brother, discovers a cure, but it comes at a cost. The High Priest falsely brands them as traitors, and Aaliss must do what she never expected—run.Forced to flee the only home they’ve ever known, Aaliss and Wilky plunge into the land of the Soulless. Captured in the wild new world, Aaliss strikes a deal with the surprisingly charming Prince Eamon—the cure for her freedom. Together they search for the ingredients to the cure in a desperate race against time to save the Prince’s brother’s life.Aaliss is eager to return home and seek revenge against the High Priest, but when her feelings for Prince Eamon tug her deeper into the world of the Soulless, she questions everything she once believed. Are the Soulless so bad? Will she and Wilky fall victim to the Red Death? Or... might Aaliss finally discover, against all odds, what her heart has yearned for all along?

Prodigy


Edward Mullen - 2013
    In the wake of World War III, which decimated most of the world’s population, the remaining survivors vowed to not continue to repeat the same mistakes of the past. Fortunately, they had something previous generations did not have – advanced technology.The year is 2117 and this once shattered civilization has become prosperous again. Innovative forms of technology have enabled them to abandon the old model and re-engineer a better way of living for all. Brain implants and genetic modifications have made an entire population educated, healthy, and kind.Despite the benefits of this technology, it has created some unforeseen side effects that threaten humankind’s existence. When technology proves to be inept at solving the world’s problem, a new hope emerges in the unlikeliest form – a young orphan girl.

The Bar Code 2-Book Set: The Bar Code Tattoo and The Bar Code Rebellion


Suzanne Weyn - 2008
    Includes The Bar Code Tattoo and The Bar Code Rebellion.