Book picks similar to
The Fata Morgana by Leo Frankowski


science-fiction
fantasy
sci-fi
1st-person

The Two-Space War


Dave Grossman - 2004
    And, as they charge headlong into the galaxy, humans discover other worlds that are already there.

Masks of the Outcasts


Andre Norton - 2004
    Two young men, Troy Horan and Nik Kolherne, hoped to escape.

Forge of the Elders


L. Neil Smith - 2000
    Reprint.

Minds, Machines & Evolution


James P. Hogan - 1988
    Hogan here gives his thousands of readers a generous serving of high-quality SF, along with a look behind the scenes. Read how a young girl raised by robots learned her true destiny. Travel in time to learn that inventors are always misunderstood, even Og, the caveman. Worried about the idea of cloning? Hogan will really have you worrying. And much more.

Exile- and Glory


Jerry Pournelle - 2008
    But the governments and power structures didn't yet control space, where bold new techniques could freely be applied and the vast resources of the solar system could be utilized by such courageous men and women as: • Aneas MacKenzie—he had believed in the man he had helped to reach the office of the presidency of the United States, and had tirelessly rooted out corruption wherever he found it, until the trail led straight back to the White House. After that, no place on Earth was safe for him. • Laurie Jo Hansen—she controlled a multi-national corporation more powerful than many governments. Unlike those governments, she wanted to see Earth’s problems solved and reaching the high frontier was the only way to do that. • Kevin Senecal—he had made the mistake of fighting back against a juvenile gang, and accidentally killing one of them while escaping. Both the gang and the law were after him, and on all of Earth there was no place to hide. • Ellen MacMillan—a young employee of the Hansen Corporation who fascinated Kevin, she was on a secret mission, and the biggest secret was her real name.   Two complete novels—High Justice and Exiles to Glory—in one volume by a New York Times best-selling author, telling of an Earth sinking into a morass of corruption, red tape, and failure of nerve, while a dedicated few dare to reach for the stars.

The Armageddon Crazy


Mick Farren - 1989
    This is the America of "The Armageddon Crazy." — It is an example of ultimate power corrupting ultimately a body considered uncorruptable: the church. See how far the religious fall."The Armageddon Crazy" is not an attack on Catholicism. It is an image of a parallel world where something MIGHT happen, if certain circumstances are followed through.

The Disinherited


Steve White - 1993
    With all its traditional enemies no longer threatening, it was becoming redundant. Then the aliens arrived, warning of others behind them, not so friendly and massing for attack.

The Reaches


David Drake - 2003
    Now mankind is reclaiming the galaxy, and a brave man or woman could become very wealthy. But there are wars springing up, with new tyrants seizing whole planets, while other planets are rebelling. And lurking in the dark spaces are pirates.

Transvergence


Charles Sheffield - 1999
    But a Zardalu horde has just awakened from suspended animation, ready and able to resume conquering and destroying. . . .

Hope Rearmed


S.M. Stirling - 2014
    A young hero overcomes implacable foes to lead a planet fallen into a dark age back to the high point of its lost technological civilization. Contains The Anvil and The Steel in the General series.  Series relaunched in The Heretic and continuing in The Savior.After the collapse of the galactic Web, civilizations crumbled and chaos reigned on thousands of planets. Only on planet Bellevue was there a difference. There, a Fleet Battle Computer named Center had survived from the old civilization. When it found Raj Whitehall, the man who could execute its plan for reviving human civilization, he and Center started Bellevue back on the road leading to the stars. Now Raj Whitehall has come close to reuniting the entire planet of Bellevue. Because of his victories and because of the way he won them, Raj is loved by the people—and his army would follow him to Hell. Even those closest to him, his band of sworn companions and his wickedly subtle but utterly loyal wife, hold him in awe. And that's the problem. For though Raj battles only in the name of his emperor and has proven his loyalty again and again, still the half-mad jealousy and fear of that emperor Clerett is about to give Raj no choice but to revolt or face death and the loss of all he has gained for freedom.About prequel omnibus volume, Hope Reborn:"The various battles and intrigues–all of them very clever and some of them very unexpected–make up the core of these extremely well-written and unabashedly fun books. And really, the action never stops. I highly recommend them to you as they’ve come out in a tasty trade format that’s very easy to hold and lug around (they are, in other words, backpackable)."—Amazing Stories About the Raj Whitehall series:“[T]old with knowledge of military tactics and hardware, and vividly described action. . .devotees of military SF should enjoy themselves.”—Publishers Weekly“[A] thoroughly engrossing military sf series. . .superb battle scenes, ingenious weaponry and tactics, homages to Kipling, and many other goodies. High fun.”—Booklist

Soldiers


John Dalmas - 2001
    An alien migration fleet -- 14,000 starships strong -- searches the stars for a new home, its homeworld forever lost. When they finally find planets that can support them, all they have to do is eradicate the pesky human natives, a task they assume is easily within their powers. But Earth's Commonwealth of Worlds isn't about to give up so easily -- even if it has to create and train something it hasn't had for centuries: soldiers!

Balshazzar's Serpent


Jack L. Chalker - 1999
    And when Karl Woodward's starship The Mountain found a lost colony, a stranded criminal mob struck, determined to seize his ship.

A Coming of Age


Timothy Zahn - 1984
    but the planet had a horrifying effect on their children. Babies born there developed frightening telekinetic powers at the age of five. No one could control them -- and as the changelings grew and became aware of their abilities they initiated a bloodbath of chaos and violence that nearly destroyed the planet.Two centuries after the Lost Generation, Tigrins have learned to cope with their strange planet and its effects. But a new threat is rising. In secret a medical researcher is experimenting with the TK ability. His guinea pigs are stolen children; his object, to extend their powers past adolescence and into adulthood. If he succeeds, Tigris faces disintegration.

Fortune's Favors


Sharon Lee - 2019
    His very presence can determine the fall of a card, the spin of a wheel, or whether the bread will rise or fall. In fact, Mar Tyn eys'Ornstahl isn't merely lucky. Mar Tyn is a Luck; a focal point for the elemental force of random event. While most people think that there is good luck and bad, Mar Tyn knows better. Luck is Luck; only the aftermath of Luck's presence can be found to be good or bad. Mar Tyn's Luck, for instance, has recently cost him his home, and his savings. He has only one thing left to gamble. And his life might not be enough. ALL NEW! NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED!

Digital Knight


Ryk E. Spoor - 2003
    The a body with two holes in its neck and no blood left turned up at his back door, and he found himself dealing with the kind of information that can get a man killed, or worse, much worse.Being chased by things out of myth and nightmare, Jason has only two weapons: his best friend, and his won quick wits.In a battle against darkness, the brightest weapon is the light of reason.