Book picks similar to
The Man Who Had Everything by Simon R. Green


science-fiction
sci-fi
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audiobooks

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.

Anticopernicus


Adam Roberts - 2011
    4-chapters in total; only available for e-purchase.First contact: despite our cosmic littleness, the aliens have come to visit. But they have parked their interstellar craft on the outskirts of the solar system, and despite friendly interaction (their English if fluent and idiomatic) they will come no closer. So an Earth ship, the "Leibniz", crewed by the best and the brightest, begins the slow haul towards the Oort cloud, in the hopes that meeting these alien creatures will answer the most profound questions humanity can ask. “Anticopernicus” is not their story, though. It is the story of Ange Mlinko, an ordinary individual working the Earth-Mars trade routes, largely uninterested in the arrival of alien intelligences. And because the focus is on her, it remains to be seen whether this short novel can answer the following questions: why have the aliens come? Why won't they come any closer than the furthest edges of the solar system? What does this have to do with the nature of the mysterious ‘dark energy’ pervading the cosmos? What about the celebrated Fermi Paradox? And most pressingly: could Copernicus have been wrong all along?

Our Martyred Lady


Gav ThorpeCarla Mendonca - 2019
    Fell times have come again to the Imperium and a War of Faith appears inevitable. Standing in the way of catastrophe is Celestine, the Living Saint and one of the greatest heroes of the age. Only she can reunite the warring factions of the Ecclesiarchy and prevent a second Reign of Blood. Together with the Inquisitor Greyfax, Celestine and her allies must hunt across the shrineworlds of the Imperium and beyond to root out the evil behind the schism and burn it out with righteous, cleansing flame.

Velvet Dogma


Weston Ochse - 2011
    Called Personal Ocular Devices, or PODS, the interface fits over the eye feeding information directly along the optic nerve into the brain, allowing minds and computers to become one. But not for Rebecca Mines who has been held in solitary confinement for the last 20 years. Arrested under the 2002 Patriot Act as a cyber-terrorist for unleashing a program called Velvet Dogma, her parole restricts access to all computers and all but the simplest of machines. Although the government is still fearful that she'll resume her previous profession, Rebecca wants nothing more than to find a place to exist in peace. She has a life to live, and twenty years of personal stagnation from which to recover. But she discovers that things have changed dramatically since she’s been in prison. Not only is organ theft sanctioned, but all of her organs have already been levied to the highest bidder. No sooner does she promise the judge that she’ll be a law-abiding citizen, then she finds herself on the run from not only Chinese Black Hearts, eager to confiscate her organs, but the authorities who realize that they’ve let her out too soon.Praise for Weston Ochse“Weston Ochse is one of the best authors of our generation.” - Brian Keene, Author of Ghoul and The Rising “Weston Ochse is a mercurial writer, one of those depressingly talented people who are good at whatever they turn their hand to”-Conrad Williams, August Derleth and International Horror Guild Award Winner“Weston Ochse is perhaps the fiercest and most direct of the latest generation of dark fiction writers.” Rocky Wood , author of Stephen King: A Literary Companion.“Weston Ochse is to horror what Bradbury is to science fiction -- an artist whose craft, stories and voice are so distinct and mesmerizing that you can't help but be enthralled.” - Dani Kollin, Prometheus Award-winning author of The Unincorporated Man“Brilliantly rendered. What was so impressive about the piece was that I did not doubt the incredible heroism of the protagonist... nor his motivation. - Andrew Vachss on “Family Man”“Ochse succeeds in creating a complex plot that casts a brutal overwhelming spell.”- International Thriller Award winner Tom Piccirilli on Scarecrow Gods

Aurora Renegades: The Complete Collection


G.S. Jennsen - 2016
    A new world rises--one of unshackled AIs, indestructible starships, ethereal quantum spaces & potent new weapons--& the race is on to determine who will control its future.When faced with its greatest challenge, will humanity rise to triumph or fall to ruin?*SIDESPACEHumanity is saved. But its troubles are just beginning.To achieve their extraordinary triumph over the Metigen armada, humanity put aside its myriad of conflicts & united against a common foe intent on annihilating civilization. In victory, unparalleled peace & prosperity are theirs for the taking--if they can keep hold of them.When the secrets behind the Metigens' defeat escape the shadows, the people who won the war find their lives in danger. Facing anti-synthetic terrorists who want them dead, power-hungry politicians who want them chained, & a rapidly dwindling number of people they can trust, the Prevos--individuals & AIs sharing a single body--must take their fate into their own hands.51 Portals. 51 Universes.Intent on learning the purpose behind the Metigens' elaborate multiverse network, Alex Solovy, Caleb Marano & Valkyrie embark on a gripping journey through the network's portals, each one leading to a universe not their own. In a mosaic of spaces inhabited by fantastical aliens & worlds both beautiful & deadly, they will be forced to question everything they thought they knew, including the nature of life itself.*DISSONANCEKnow this: you need not be afraid. They own the fear. They fear us because they believe we are powerful, and they are correct to do so.The technology behind Project Noetica is on the loose. Prevos are spreading across the galaxy. Now two opposing but inexorably related forces threaten to plunge the galaxy into chaos. The Order of the True Sentients believes Prevos are monsters who endanger humanity,& it intends to destroy them by any means necessary. Underworld despot Olivia Montegreu, now a radically enhanced Prevo, is its doomsday warnings made flesh.As society splinters from within & the Earth Alliance falls to reactionaries, a formidable new player emerges on the galactic stage, one not afraid to do whatever it takes to protect all sentient life--human, Artificial and Prevo.The Metigen surged forward to engulf her in light. I see you, Alexis Solovy.Killers & saviors. Deceivers & protectors. Destroyers & creators. Could the Metigens truly be all these things? The search for answers leads Alex and Caleb to the most shocking revelation of all--the true face of the enemy.*ABYSMIn the quest to be the masters of their own fate, will humanity rise to become liberators or follow the path of their ancestors into darkness?Alex Solovy & Caleb Marano risked everything to learn the hidden purpose behind the Metigens' multiverse portal network, but nothing prepared them for the answer. Humans are a genetic recreation of the Anaden, the dictators & overlords of the master universe. Aurora is a recreation of their origins created by the Metigens in a desperate gambit to understand their enemy & find a way to defeat them.Aurora's future hangs in the balance as the Earth Alliance goes to war with itself over the right of synthetics and Prevos--human/AI hybrids--to exist. Terrorists sow chaos in a wave of bombings and assassinations. The next evolution of the human species will not be so easily defeated, but they must move quickly to win the day, because the true enemy is closing in faster than anyone realizes.

Overdraft: The Orion Offensive


John Jackson Miller - 2013
    And when it comes to protecting that business, Chief Bridget Yang and Surge Team Sigma—her squad of heavily armed space marines—are up to the task. Unfortunately, Jamie Sturm is one problem they can’t just vaporize.When Jamie’s financial schemes bankrupt their expedition, Bridget and her crew refuse to let the rogue stock trader walk away. To save their jobs, the soldiers drag him out from behind his desk—and onto a seemingly hopeless mission to the frontier, seeking to open the most dangerous parts of the Orion Arm to trade. But in turning over every alien rock looking for profit, the hapless trader and his reluctant protectors uncover something that endangers humanity itself....

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency


James Goss - 2016
    In Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Dirk finds himself on the trail of a gruesome murderer who is somehow involved with the works of Coleridge, quantum physics, and the enigmatic study of the Cambridge Professor of Chronology. Ultimately, the stakes of the case are far greater than a single murder, but go to the fate of life on Earth. Confused? Don't be - everything is connected.

First Life (The River Saga Book One)


Nathan Hystad - 2022
    Extraterrestrial alliances. Unpredictable enemies.Colton Beck has six months to live. He works for the Angor near Los Angeles, aware that any day could be his last.The Angor arrived 20 years ago, resolved to help mankind survive, but not everyone believes their motives are honorable.When the Angor offer humanity a colony world, Colton is determined to see another planet before his final breath. He’s been diagnosed with Xeno, a rare disorder that surfaced with the Angor’s arrival, but he won’t let this stop him.With the help of his old friend Indie Hart, now the single most powerful human on Earth, he joins the Expedition to Dicore. They access the River, an alien technology that allows nearly instantaneous travel between worlds, and their universe is quickly expanded. What they find on Dicore is far from idyllic, and Colton struggles to navigate their new existence while coping with his impending death.First Life is a gripping science fiction adventure tale from the best-selling author of The Event, Lost Contact, and Final Days.

Through Darkness and Stars


Steve Karmazenuk - 2011
    BOOK TWO OF THE OMNIVERSEAn ancient Ship completing a millions-year old mission has taken Human passengers and crew on an historic voyage to the heart of an ancient cosmic dynasty.But despite their extensive training, no one aboard the Shipflight is prepared for what they find as they search for the Great Races of the lost League of Worlds.When catastrophe forces Shipflight onward, unable to return to Earth, they set out to discover what happened to those who passed through the cosmos before them.What awaits them beyond the world that Mankind has always called home is a growing madness aboard the Ship and a lost enemy, stalking them as they travel through darkness and stars...

Maverick


J.A. Cipriano - 2017
    Badass, honorable, and able to go toe to toe with the best whiskey drinker this side of Tennessee, but when NASA comes to recruit her for a daring space rescue, she'll find herself among a motley crew of the supernatural world. Their goal is simple, keep the evil lord Zug of space planet Maverick from acquiring the Gideon cube and using its immense power to rain down destruction on earth. Sounds easy right? Well, it would be if not for the niggling thirty-six hour timeline that started yesterday...

Centuries


A.A. Attanasio - 1997
    Genetic manipulation and artificial intelligence shape an astounding destiny for our species. With these wondrous changes come unexpected new truths of heart and mind that challenge the very definition of human—and that threaten not only our existence but the universe itself as our surprising powers—both miraculous and monstrous—evolve through the centuries.

The Ender Wiggin Saga (Ender's Saga, #1-3)


Orson Scott Card - 1993
    In Ender's Game, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin begins his life as the result of genetic experimentation created for the sole purpose of saving the earth from an alien race seeking to destroy all humankind.After three thousand years have passed, Ender Wiggin continues his destiny to win humanity's war. In part two of The Ender Wiggin Saga, Speaker for the Dead, Ender becomes known as Ender Xenocide: the man who killed an entire race of thinking, feeling beings -- the only other sapient race found in the galaxy, until Lusitania was discovered. Wiggin finds himself having to unravel the secrets of the Pequeninos and face the specter of war against an alien race once again, threatening the lives of sapient beings.The third episode of The Ender Wiggin Saga is Xenocide. The Starways Congress declares war on Descolada (a deadly virus that thrives on the three sapient races co-existing on the planet Lusitania) and sends a fleet to destroy Lusitania. Mysteriously, the fleet disappears, and only a young girl, who is one of the godspoken humans gifted with enhanced intelligence, can unlock the mystery.Now included for the first time is the fourth installment, Card's Children of the Mind. Lusitania is threatened by a fleet carrying planet-destroying weapons that were used by Ender thousands of years in the past, and Ender's oldest friend, Jane, a computer intelligence that evolved with him for over 3,000 years, has her power threatened by the Starways Congress. Ender's siblings, Peter and Valentine, created by Enderon his first trip Outside, have come to join in the battle to save Lusitania and Jane.The Ender Wiggin Saga unleashes a millenium-long epic tale of loyalty, conflict, and deadly games -- a science-fiction buff's treasure.

The Last Remembrancer


John French - 2011
    That prisoner has a tale to tell, of heroes and monsters, of honour and treachery, of life and death. He has stood at the side of the Warmaster himself, and he has a message for the Imperial Fists primarch. But can he be trusted? And can he be allowed to live? Rogal Dorn must decide the fate of the last remembrancer.A short story from the Age of Darkness anthology.

Into the Unknown


Jasper T. Scott - 2019
    He scored a deal for a suite aboard the Starlit Dream to the exotic world of Aquaria in the Kepler star system. He surprises his wife, Aria, with the trip for her 40th birthday, and the Price family gets ready for the trip of a lifetime. Soon after the voyage starts, they learn that they’ve somehow jumped to the wrong star system. Liam consults the ship’s computer to determine their location, but he can't access the navigational data. The captain claims that there’s nothing to worry about, but Liam wonders: if there’s nothing to worry about, why restrict access to the ship’s nav data? He fears that pirates may have detoured them to rob and ransom the wealthy passengers. Before they can learn more, the ship plunges into darkness, and suddenly the cruise of a lifetime turns into a trip to hell. As the crisis unfolds, Liam and his family are thrust into the middle of a deadly conspiracy and a desperate struggle for survival.

Strange Company


Nick Cole - 2021
    Best to steer clear of the freaks in Voodoo, kid.”Surrounded and outgunned, a group of private military contractors known as “Strange Company” find themselves on a remote planet at the edge of known space, and on the losing end of a bad contract. Orbital D-beam strikes, dropships bristling with auto-guns, missiles, and troops - even Monarch space marines in state-of-the-art advanced battle rattle - will try to prevent the company from reaching the exfil LZ and getting off-world.For Strange, that means it’s time to hang tough and get it on with as much hyper-kinetic violence as they can muster to get clear of the whole mess. And what the Strange can’t get done by violent assault and crazy firefights, they’ll get done by the freaks of Voodoo Platoon - operators who have been changed by the Dark Labs into powerful and unnervingly unnatural asymmetrical weapons.This is the Strange Company. Because in the Strange, it’s always really Strange. Join them - and get ready for full auto combat at the furthest limits of human exploration.