Book picks similar to
Alastair (Ghosts of Ophidian) by Scott McElhaney
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Recon: The Complete Series
Rick Partlow - 2017
His mother has his life planned out, with a seat by her side, running the conglomerate. Tyler has other ideas. With the help of a great-grandfather who was a United States Marine when there used to be a United States, Tyler changes his face and his identity, becoming Randall Munroe and enlisting in the Fleet Marine Corps, qualifying for the point of the sword, Force Recon. Plunged into an interstellar war against the relentless Tahni Empire, Munroe is stranded alone on an occupied colony and forced to organize a civilian resistance to the enemy. The year of constant violence and death wears him down, yet sharpens him at the same time. After the war, Munroe once again takes up arms, this time against his will, when his uncle, Andre Damiani, the head of the Corporate Council, blackmails him into leading a special squad of trouble-shooters, eliminating threats to Council business among the criminal cabals in the Pirate Worlds. But the real enemy is still the Council, and Munroe vows to take the fight to them, no matter what the cost.
Bayonet Dawn
Scott Moon - 2016
Unbreakable destiny. Ultimate sacrifice. One man will do anything to save what matters most. Kevin Connelly embarks on a quest to honor the memory of his grandfather, a war hero in a neighborhood without heroes, and rescue his twin siblings from mysterious aliens. His older brother, now the head of their orphaned family has other plans, requiring him to flee a contract with a powerful crime lord. Military enlistment might be the answer to his prayers or the beginning of his destruction. Ace and Amanda-Margaret Connelly learn firsthand the secret of the Siren doom when they are captured by a race of giants opposing their Siren masters. Nothing is what it seems. The human race will soon learn rebels are treacherous allies. Gunnery Sergeant Robert Priest, PhD, is dedicated to the 343rd Marauders despite the horror of Brookhaven and the damage done to his closest friends. Duty doesn't get easier when the Connelly family complicates his mission of vengeance and redemption. Bayonet Dawn is military science fiction packed with camaraderie, action, and a family saga to be remembered. The book strives to realize the best elements of classics in the genre: Starship Troopers, Battlestar Galactica, and Dune.
Alien Abduction
Terry Compton - 2011
They were forced to work as slave laborers on the Bug's mother ship where they formed a unique partnership. Each partner has unique talents that complement the others. This creates a synergy where the partnership is stronger than the sum of its members. They form a friendship with another kidnapped being on the mother ship who teaches them to fly the ancient space ship the 'Galactic Antiquarian'. The Bugs found the 'Galactic Antiquarian' floating in space and have spent years trying to get it open to learn its secrets. The trio learns how to open parts of the ship and escape from the mother ship on the Galactic Antiquarian with a minimum of fuel, air, water and food. They must use their unique talents to unlock more of the secrets of the ancient space ship so they can restock these essential supplies while avoiding recapture by the Bugs and their allies. The Bugs want the ancient space ship back badly and are pulling no punches to get it back. Are the secrets of the ancient ship enough to help them to restock and avoid capture? How will the Alcantaran ghosts fit into the puzzle? Will the secrets or the ghosts help them find their three home planets somewhere in the midst of the trillion galaxies in the universe? Alien Abduction is the first book in the series "The Alcantarans".
The Army of Light
Stephen A. Fender - 2013
Then, one by one, subsequent border systems began to fall victim to the unknown attackers.The Kafaran had arrived.The fighting raged on for nearly five years. Tens of thousands of military personnel perished, and millions of innocent beings lost their homes… or their lives. Then, nearly as quickly as the war had started, the Kafaran’s inexplicably retreated to an unexplored region of space. Even with their once expansive foothold in the Milky Way now lying in ruins, it seemed to the once peaceful Unified Collaboration of Systems that victory was finally theirs.Now, with the Galactic War five years in the past, retired fighter pilot Shawn Kestrel wasn’t nearly as content in his peacetime life and he should have been. Not only was his fledgling cargo business steadily losing customers, his interstellar transport was fatally incapacitated, the victim of a now all too common pirate attack.Without warning, the prudish daughter of his former commanding officer appears, informing Shawn that William has mysteriously disappeared—apparently the victim of foul play. And, as if things weren’t difficult enough, a Unified Sector Command carrier quickly arrives to assert the UCS’s own self-guided interests into the disappearance.As Shawn endeavors to put all of the pieces together, one thing becomes terrifyingly clear: the Kafaran's are no longer idle.With the government suspiciously pressing down on him from one side, and the beautiful and enigmatic daughter driving him on from the other, Shawn Kestrel must search deep within himself to decide where his past and present loyalties lie before the universe once again erupts into all-out war.
Earth Space Service Space Marines Boxed Set 1-9
James David Victor - 2019
Hostile encounters. Just another day for the Earth Space Service Marines. The entire military sci-fi adventure from Amazon All-Star author James David Victor including the never-before-released final story! Sergeant Andrea “Andy” Dolan and her squad of Space Marines are trained to protect the ESS Alliance against all threats. When hostile aliens invade, they are the last line of defense. As conflicts intensify and unexplained abilities manifest in Andy, it becomes clear something big is on the horizon. Their only hope is the Space Marine who doesn’t even know who, exactly, she is. The Earth Space Service Space Marines Boxed Set contains the entire ESS Space Marines series. If you like fast paced space adventures with engaging, and quirky, characters, you will love Andy and the ESS Space Marines. Stories Included: Zenith Daikon Arkana Nebula Eclipse Lykos Stranded Furlough Planet Breaker Download the Earth Space Service Space Marines Boxed Set and get started on your next space adventure today! Always FREE on Kindle Unlimited
Ad Astra
Kevin O. McLaughlin - 2013
Second chances don’t come along every day, so when an old friend offered him one, he grabbed on with both hands. The next thing Dan knew, he was on the moon, piloting humanity's first starship while fighting his way through one peril after another. Little did Dan know that simple offer was anything but, and would lead him to the stars far beyond our own. The risks are great. But if life knocked you down, what would you gamble to have one more shot at your dreams? Excerpt: "Dan - ad astra!"
Dan heard the order. Ad astra. To the stars. It was a toast the two of them had shared back in college, when they first stepped onto the roads which would lead them into space. It had been John's idea to use the toast as a code word now.
Dan didn't even take a deep breath before executing the order. He'd practiced this with Majel enough times in the simulator - not the part about having a gunman in the bridge, but if that order was ever given, it would be a true crisis.
He checked the screen again. Visual range in only fifteen seconds. No time for anything else. He rapidly initiated the program, said a quick prayer, and pressed the Enter button on his keyboard.
Immediately, the ship began to shudder. This book is a heavily revised second edition of the original volume. The story length has been increased by about 60%, adding enormously more background to the characters and deepening of the personality of the world and crew. If you've already read the first edition, you won't need to read this version to catch up - but fans of the series are sure to enjoy this expanded and improved "Author's Preferred Edition"!
Sleep Writer
Keith Robinson - 2014
Madison is fifteen, pretty, and much weirder than she seems. Sometimes when she's sound asleep, she scrawls a message on a notepad by her pillow. She finds these cryptic words when she wakes the next morning – a time and a place. But for what? Liam and best friend Ant join her when she goes hunting around a cemetery late one night, and life is never the same again...So begins one freaky adventure after another involving all manner of aliens, monsters, and ghouls.SLEEP WRITER is the first in a brand new sci-fi/fantasy series by the author of ISLAND OF FOG.
Hull Damage
Timothy J. Meyer - 2012
Contending daily with the mechanical failures of their haggard spaceship and the best efforts of bounty hunters to collect the growing price on their heads, this crew of cutthroats, buccaneers and scofflaws use wits, weapons and wisecracks to make off with as much booty as they can, with the forces of law and order never more than one step behind.The only impediment between them and a quiet criminal career is their blowhard of a captain. Ace pilot, megalomaniac and complete moron, Captain Nemo leads his motley crew with bluster and bravado through planetary blockades, space station shootouts and rowdy barroom brawls, hell-bent on becoming the most fearsome dread pirate this galaxy’s ever seen. A bidding war between three of the galaxy’s least forgiving crime lords could very possibly be his worst idea to date, but when it comes to The Unconstant Lover and her captain, the line between brilliance and insanity might just have disappeared.
Splits
Chuck Grossart - 2015
The doors had opened, and something was coming through. Once the initial shock and confusion wore off, and those in charge realized what was happening, mankind seemed to coalesce like never before. National boundaries no longer mattered. Religion, race, color and creed seemed to pass away in a flash. Old enemies put their differences aside. The only thing that did matter was survival. As a species. Now, Kyle is on a mission to save what’s left of our world. Or die trying.
A Larger Universe
James L. Gillaspy - 2010
The kidnapping of Tommy (and his cat) begins an adventure among the stars, a coming of age story entangled with computers, faster-than-light travel, a dying civilization, and an ancient evil.On board the five-thousand-meter starship, he meets a crew of humans, descended from peasants, priests, and soldiers taken from Earth a thousand years before. He soon learns that all are slaves to the seldom-seen aliens inhabiting the upper third of the ship. His first months are spent in mindless work that he later learns is meant to domesticate his “feral” nature.Eventually, he is introduced to the reason for his kidnapping: Tommy is expected to replace the ancient and failing computers on the ship with computers taken from Earth, beginning with the long-dead missile controller, without which the ship is defenseless. After the new missile controller, with Tommy as its operator, successfully defends the ship against attack, his “benefactor,” one of the alien Nesu masters, directs him to replace the environmental and navigation computers. This work leads to revelations that the star drive is from still another alien group -- called the Guardians by the Nesu -- who, fifteen hundred years before, destroyed the Nesu home world and now block all scientific advancement in the local arm of the galaxy.Tommy’s determination to return to his family expands to include returning all the human slaves to Earth, using his control of the computers that now run the ship. With the help of a Nesu mathematician, will he also find a way to free the Nesu from their enthrallment by the Guardians and protect the Earth from the fate of the Nesu home world?
Forging Zero
Sara King - 2013
Now they own us.The Legend of ZERO: Forging Zero is the epic journey of 14-year-old Joe Dobbs in a post-apocalyptic universe following a massive galactic empire's invasion of Earth. The oldest of the children drafted from humanity’s devastated planet, Joe is impressed into service by the alien Congressional Ground Force—and becomes the unwitting centerpiece in a millennia-long alien struggle for independence. Once his training begins, one of the elusive and prophetic Trith appears to give Joe a spine chilling prophecy that the universe has been anticipating for millions of years: Joe will be the one to finally shatter the vast alien government known as Congress. And the Trith cannot lie.…But first Joe has to make it through bootcamp.
The Dragon and Her Boy
Nolan Crabgrass - 2014
After struggling with the death of her lifemate of over a century, Tara spends what the leaders of her clan considers an unreasonable amount of time in finding another. The clan needs offspring, they insist. While soaring over a meadow, Tara sees a dragon intruder attack a shepherd. Outraged, she intervenes and saves the young man from certain death. Breaking a two hundred year old pact between man and dragon forbidding any contact between the two, a powerful yet dangerous bond slowly grows between the dragon and her boy. This is a fun short story, at 5300 words. Stories two and three are already written. They continue the series and will be available shortly! I hope you enjoy them all.
This Corner of the Universe
Britt Ringel - 2013
Much to their surprise, Captain Garrett Heskan and his officers discover sabotaged navigation buoys and suspicious freighter activity that suggest a sinister presence in the system. Soon Anelace finds herself outnumbered and outgunned in a race against time to save the civilians operating Renard’s lone ore processing station from the threat that would drive the Republic from the valuable asteroid fields orbiting the Skathi star.
Scimitar's Glory (Swordships Odyssey)
Dietmar Arthur Wehr - 2018
7th Fleet discovers that one of those races is moving to attack. In a moment of panic, the commanding admiral orders the fleet to attempt a risky jump through hyperspace. They miss hitting their target star’s gravity well and end up deep in unexplored space with a shockingly long trip home and not nearly enough food to last that long. With war now raging in their home systems, the officers of 7th Fleet must find a way to put aside their egos, ambitions and fears in order to make it back, and they know that not all of them will. Scimitar’s Glory is the first book in a new, fast-paced, action-packed military SF series: Swordships Odyssey. The second book, Excalibur's Quest, is already available for pre-order. Excerpt: With a long, risky jump like this, Dejanus would have expected Corregidor’s astrogational AI to take at least ten minutes to aim the ship as precisely as possible to the distant star’s center. She was therefore surprised and somewhat alarmed when the flagship signaled to the rest of the fleet that they could start to match her trajectory after only half that time. “Goddammit, what’s the rush?” she said to Koenig who was the only other human on the Bridge. “There’s no possible way the Jab fleet can catch us before we jump, even if we take another hour to do it. Why not take a few extra minutes to get the most accurate trajectory possible?” When it became clear that Koenig had nothing to say, she continued. “Astro, I want you to check the flagship’s alignment with Alpha9 while we match vectors. Let me know if you think the flagship’s vector could be better.” That extra task delayed Excalibur’s alignment, and therefore she became the last ship in the fleet to signal her readiness for the jump. “Fleet Commander on Tac2, Commander,” said the com AI. Dejanus switched channels to her Command Pod. “Excalibur Actual speaking,” said Dejanus in the formal form of address that ship COs normally didn’t bother with. “What’s taking your Astro so long to get aligned, Commander?” Rostov didn’t bother to hide his annoyance. “Just double-checking the overall jump trajectory, Admiral.” Dejanus thought she heard Rostov swear under his breath, but it could have been her imagination. “You tell your Astro that if Excalibur isn’t aligned in the next two minutes, I’ll order him replaced and transferred to a cargo hauler. FC out!” The astro AI managed to get the ship aligned within the deadline to no one’s surprise. With all ships in the fleet now aligned perfectly with the flagship and jump velocity attained, the order was given to enter hyperspace. It was 131.3 hours later when both Koenig and Dejanus were on the Bridge again watching the jump chronometer countdown to the second when the ship should drop back down into normal space. Koenig watched the countdown clock hit zero and then start counting up again. After ten more seconds, Dejanus began shaking her head. She had a horrified expression on her face. “We’ve missed. That bastard has killed us all.” Genre categories: space fleet, military SF, space opera, galactic empire, alien invasion, first contact, space exploration.
North Reich
Robert Conroy - 2012
From Conroy's introduction: North Reich tells what might have happened if Hitler had not so foolishly declared war on the United States. FDR certainly understood that Germany was the greatest threat, but might have been helpless to do anything about it. War between the United States and Germany was still considered inevitable, but not in December of 1941. North Reich is the story of the war that was going to come sooner or later. However, in this instance, the fighting takes place not in Europe but in North America.