Book picks similar to
East of Laughter by R.A. Lafferty


on-the-shelf
mm-sf
sci-fi
science-fiction

Their Darkest Hour


Christopher G. Nuttall - 2014
    Swiftly, the aliens take control of Britain’s cities and force the remainder of the British military to go on the run. With the government destroyed, the population must choose between fighting and collaborating with the alien overlords. This is truly Britain’s darkest hour. Caught up in these events are a handful of ordinary people, struggling to survive. The Prime Minister, forced into hiding, and an unscrupulous politician looking to find fame and power by serving the aliens. Soldiers fighting an insurgency and senior officers trying desperately to find the key to driving the aliens away from Earth; police officers faced with a choice between collaboration or watching the aliens brutalise the civilian population. And ordinary citizens, trying to survive a world turned upside down. But resistance seems futile and the aliens appear unstoppable – and the entire population is caught in the middle. As the alien grip tightens, the last best hope for freedom lies with those who will never surrender...and are prepared to pay any price for the liberation of Earth.

The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde


Norman Spinrad - 1970
    There's not a bad story in the lot." --Bud Webster

Planet Hell (Alien Legacy Book 1)


Joshua James - 2019
    Hope is worse. Five years after their world was decimated by powerful aliens that killed their parents, two brothers are returning to get answers. One wants justice. One just wants to survive. But nothing on Planet Hell is what it seems. The brothers soon stumble upon a plot to interact with the aliens that could change everything. But they aren't the only people trying to understand the aliens--and most are willing to do anything to keep the powerful secrets for themselves. Shifting alliances, hidden agendas, and ruthless killers interact against a backdrop of invincible aliens willing and able to kill anything, and anyone, on a whim. Gritty and fast-paced, Planet Hell is a high-octane military sci-fi with a devastating mystery at its heart.

Aurora Resonant: The Complete Collection


G.S. Jennsen - 2018
    The true universe is unfathomably vast, teeming with life and untold wonders. And it is enslaved.Created by ancient aliens in a daring gambit to understand the nature of the enemy, humanity is now asked to be the savior of a universe not their own. If they are to succeed, they must rise above not only their fractious past but the sins of their genetic ancestors to boldly embrace a future they never dared imagine possible.*RELATIVITY"I'd tell you to be careful, but we wouldn't be here if you'd ever taken that advice. No reason to start now, right?"For millennia the Anadens have ruled the known universe. They believe they've crafted the perfect empire, ordered and impervious to challenge. They believe the fight has been crushed out of the species they subjugate. They are wrong.It's a suicide mission, without a doubt. Alex Solovy and Caleb Marano must steal crucial intelligence from the Anadens' central military headquarters. To succeed, they'll need to navigate a strange universe ruled by a cabal of powerful immortals, populated by aliens they've never met and fueled by technology they've never seen. They're going to need a little help--the kind of help only a suicidally defiant anarchist on the run from more than just personal demons can provide.*RUBICON"We are you--the you that you could have been."The Anaden Directorate has ruled Amaranthe for millennia, subjugating species and galaxies in a neverending quest for control and order. For as many millennia, the anarchs have rebelled, defiantly claiming their own freedom yet without hope of winning it for everyone. Now, an alliance with humans offers a tantalizing chance to at last defeat their immortal masters. But can they trust an ally who looks suspiciously like the enemy?Humanity is the genetic recreation of the Anadens, but genetics aren't everything. Humans like to make their own destiny, and they have overcome great challenges to achieve unprecedented peace and prosperity. But have their trials prepared them for the enemy they now face?"The battle for the heart and soul of Amaranthe will be joined, and we must be unafraid."Amidst the chaos of an escalating war, Caleb's bond with the mysterious diati grows ever more powerful, even as Alex's forays into the hidden dimensions of the universe lead them to unfathomable places. But when the anarchs are pushed to the breaking point and the AEGIS fleet is dealt a devastating blow, Miriam Solovy must find a way to defeat a foe wielding superior technology, firepower and numbers, or else more than one civilization will be lost.*REQUIEMThe end of the world began with a library query...how will it conclude?What began as a chance discovery of an anomalous signal is now a multiverse war between humanity and its genetic ancestors over who controls the levers of life and death. Over who decides what life is and whether it will be allowed to exist. For the ruling Anaden Directorate, victory means immortality. For humanity, defeat means extinction.

Jizzle


John Wyndham - 1954
    This collection includes the following stories:"Jizzle""Esmerelda""Heaven Scent""Look Natural, Please""Reservation Deferred""Affair of the Heart"

Rogue


David Ryker - 2019
    The best of the best. And now he's gone Rogue... His entire life, all James 'Red' Maddox has known is war. He was born on a dust rock called Genesis-526, conscripted into the Federation military with thousands of other recruits, and somehow stumbled into the Mech Corps. It was a moment that changed his life. Mech Corps pilots are the best of the best. They sit in the cockpit of iron beasts that tower into the sky, fighting alongside men and women who have been bred for their task since birth. Perfect reaction times. An almost inhuman level of concentration. The courage to throw themselves into the fight day after day, year after year, knowing that their mechs are sent into the crucible of the fight, into the heart of danger—and expected not just to survive, but to win... But Red is getting real tired of putting down rebellions on colony planets he's never heard of. Of pulverizing alien planets before he ever even learns their name. Of losing friends, lovers, and brothers in the service of an empire that doesn't care whether he lives or dies. Every man has his breaking point. And Red just found his...

The Super Olympian: Bloodhound (Shapechanger Tales)


Laer Carroll - 2012
    And she has strange powers. What can feed her challenge-addiction now? Fighting crime? There is plenty of it.

The E. E. "Doc" Smith MEGAPACK ™: 25 Tales from the "Spicy" Pulps


E.E. "Doc" Smith - 2015
    E. "Doc" Smith MEGAPACK™ collects 11 works by Smith, including entries in the Lensman, Skylark, Subspace, and Lord Tedric series -- in all, more than 1,700 pages of galaxy-spanning adventure! Included are:TRIPLANETARYFIRST LENSMANTHE VORTEX BLASTERTHE GALAXY PRIMESMASTERS OF SPACETHE SKYLARK OF SPACESKYLARK THREESPACEHOUNDS OF IPCSUBSPACE SURVIVORSTEDRICLORD TEDRICIf you enjoy this ebook, don't forget to search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see more of the 250+ volumes in this series, covering adventure, historical fiction, mysteries, westerns, ghost stories, science fiction -- and much, much more!

Arrival (The Tyr Trilogy, #1)


Richard Fox - 2021
    He left the violence behind for a life of science, raising a family far from the bloodshed of the Corporation. With his wife, Sarah, and son, Michael, he studied the alien Tyr for years, hidden among their complex societies. Their mission should have ended with the arrival of a replacement team. Instead, the Clays’ corporate overlords choose a death sentence: an invasion fleet to conquer the Tyr.This first contact will destroy the Tyr, and only Daniel Clay and his family can help fight back against the drug-fueled conscripts and military might of the invaders. The Clays must help the Tyr from the shadows or be killed by the Tyr who fear them...or by the Corporation they’ve betrayed.But the Clays aren’t the only hidden power.If you like Avatar or V, you’ll love The Tyr Trilogy, a series that combines the wonder, excitement, and drama of top-notch sci-fi.

The Time of the Hawklords


Michael Moorcock - 1976
    Buried there from time immemorial by a long-dead race of aliens, it had at last been triggered into action . . .For among the ruins of London, surrounded by the survivors of the recent holocaust, Hawkwind rock, their music catalysing the attacking Death Raythe only potential saviours of the human race otherwise doomed to extermination in an apocalyptic battle between the forces of good and evil . . .

The Alorian Wars: Volume I


Drew Avera - 2017
    But, as his ship decimates planet after planet, he finds his sympathies swinging toward their defeated enemies. Sergeant Anki Paro, a Luthian Marine, has been anxiously awaiting the call to deploy. As the last line of defense against the crushing Greshian forces, she hopes the time has finally come for her world to stand against tyranny. However, as her society prepares for imminent destruction, questions of misplaced loyalties lead Anki to wonder if the world she is trying to save has any real intentions of surviving. As Brendle's and Anki's worlds collide, they find themselves in an unlikely alliance to try to stop the full might of the Greshian Empire before there's nothing left to fight for. A stolen ship, a mission on the line, enemies at every turn... After four months in hiding, Brendle Quin can't delay his mission any longer. His ship, the Replicade, is held together with failing patches, and he needs to make repairs in a port. Unfortunately, the nearest world with proper facilities is situated deep in Greshian-owned enemy territory. The Greshian colony of Farax is a safe hold for piracy in the region, and none is more vile than Crase Tuin, a man known for trafficking people and weapons across the Alorian Galaxy. He has a reputation as the only pirate never to lose a ship--with the exception of the Replicade. When Crase finds the Replicade, he vows to claim the lives of those who stole her. But Brendle won't go down without a fight. Nothing has stopped the Greshian Empire's expanse, but all hope isn't lost... The illusion of peace shrouds a hidden darkness. Just as the crew of the Replicade are getting settled on a seemingly tranquil world, they encounter a young girl with special abilities--and she's being hunted by a secret, powerful organization that will stop at nothing to have her. When Anki and Brendle intervene to help the girl, they are caught in the organization's crosshairs. The crew must make a decision: give into the looming threat of the organization, or die fighting to protect her. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Commander Ilium Gyl has taken command of a Greshian scout ship. A breach in protocol raises questions of his loyalty to the Greshian Empire, leading to a power struggle as a rebellion sparks in a distant sector of the Alorian Galaxy. His ambitions may cripple the Greshian Fleet, or he might just be the empire's savior. The Alorian Wars is a space opera series, filled with political intrigue and shrouded in mystery, is sure to please fans of "The Expanse", "Dark Matter", "Firefly", and "Killjoys". Join the war today!

Lt. Reilly and the Phantom Raptor


Matthew O. Duncan - 2021
    

ARC Angel


Toby Neighbors - 2018
    Ravenous, insatiable, and completely merciless — in decades of space exploration and expansion, nothing like the Swarm has ever been encountered. They swept across the colony world of Cannis One, devouring every resource. Humans, working to build a new outpost on the small world hidden in the binary star system Sirius, were helpless to stop them. Even with the help of the Colonial Space Fleet, every effort to destroy the aliens has failed. Angela Murphy has spent the last decade training to make the National Gymnastics Team. She has the skill, the passion, and the dedication to be an olympic athlete, but she’s outgrown the preferred body shape of most gymnastic competitors. Still, she won’t give up on her dreams, not when there’s still a chance that she could find success. Staff Sergeant Jonathan Cashman leads a fire team of highly skilled Marines in the Colonial Space Fleet. Stationed on Mars, they are ready to face any threat at a moment’s notice. Yet inexplicable orders have them returning to Earth for a top secret assignment at the CSF Research & Development testing grounds. ARC - Assisted Rapid Combat is a breakthrough in military technology, making the extraordinary possible, and forging the ultimate weapon against the Swarm. But it will take the right kind of soldier to become a weapon and prove that the ARC suit can make a difference in the war for Earth’s colonies. Time is running out, and so are humanity’s options for survival. ARC Angel is the latest Military Space Opera from prolific author Toby Neighbors. Combining elements from gaming, strategy, and classic storytelling, ARC Angel is an absolutely riveting novel that will have you on the edge of your seat from the very first page. With his ability to build believable fantasy worlds and authentic characters you can’t help but love and cheer for, Toby Neighbors has created the ultimate Space Marine novel, a story full of Action & Adventure that will keep you turning pages. This book will be your next obsession.

The Word Is War


Richard Tongue - 2019
    Across the myriad colonies of humanity, rebel forces are rising, clamoring for freedom from the increasingly repressive government of Earth, launching raids on the Confederation Fleet as they prepare for the conflict to come. On the frontier, however, a darker force is emerging, an ancient threat long forgotten, returning to once more threaten eternal, endless tyranny, silent ships massing in the cold depths of space, ready to strike. All that stands between victory and defeat is the Scout Cruiser Xenophon, destined for the scrapyard but recalled to the flag and placed under the command of a renegade officer, Commander Jack Winter, and given a mission that will either save humanity…or seal its fate.

The Survivors (Box Set of Books 7-12) (The Survivors Collection Book 2)


Nathan Hystad - 2020