Book picks similar to
Black Dawn: A Space Opera Adventure Series by K. Gorman
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Legionnaire
Jason Anspach - 2017
And most days I don’t know if the legionnaires are putting out the flames, or fanning them into an inferno. A hostile force ambushes Victory Company during a reconnaissance-in-force deep inside enemy territory. Stranded behind enemy lines, a sergeant must lead a band of survivors against merciless insurgents on a deadly alien world somewhere along the galaxy’s edge. With no room for error, the Republic’s elite fighting force must struggle to survive under siege while waiting on a rescue that might never come. When you think you’ve surrounded the Legion... you’ve just made your last mistake.
Linesman
S.K. Dunstall - 2015
No ship can traverse the void without them. Only linesmen can work with them. But only Ean Lambert hears their song. And everyone thinks he’s crazy…Most slum kids never go far, certainly not becoming a level-ten linesman like Ean. Even if he’s part of a small, and unethical, cartel, and the other linesmen disdain his self-taught methods, he’s certified and working.Then a mysterious alien ship is discovered at the edges of the galaxy. Each of the major galactic powers is desperate to be the first to uncover the ship’s secrets, but all they’ve learned is that it has the familiar lines of energy—and a defense system that, once triggered, annihilates everything in a 200 kilometer radius.The vessel threatens any linesman who dares to approach it, except Ean. His unique talents may be the key to understanding this alarming new force—and reconfiguring the relationship between humans and the ships that serve them, forever.
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.
Starshine: Aurora Rising Book One
G.S. Jennsen - 2014
Now two individuals from opposite ends of settled space are on a collision course with the darkest of those secrets, even as the world threatens to explode around them.The year is 2322. Humanity has expanded into the stars, inhabiting over 100 worlds across a third of the galaxy. Though thriving as never before, they have discovered neither alien life nor the key to utopia. Earth struggles to retain authority over far-flung planets and free-wheeling corporations while an uneasy armistice with a breakaway federation hangs by a thread as the former rebels rise in wealth and power.Alexis Solovy is Earth Alliance royalty, her father a fallen war hero and her mother an influential military leader. But she seeks only the freedom of space and has made a fortune by reading the patterns in the chaos to discover the hidden wonders of the stars.Nothing about her latest objective suggests the secret it conceals will turn her life— not to mention the entire galaxy—upside down. But a chance encounter with a mysterious spy leads to a discovery which will thrust Alex into the middle of a galactic power struggle and a sinister conspiracy, whether she likes it or not.When faced with its greatest challenge, will humanity rise to triumph, or fall to ruin?Aurora Rising is an epic tale of galaxy-spanning adventure, of the thrill of discovery and the unquenchable desire to reach ever farther into the unknown. It's a tale of humanity at its best and worst, of love and loss, of fear and heroism. It's the story of a woman who sought the stars and found more than anyone imagined possible.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Becky Chambers - 2014
While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe.
Seed
Matthew G. Dick - 2020
After a third failed mission on Mars, Nick returns to Earth heartbroken. But during the trip home he has an epiphany caused by a near-death experience on how to truly accomplish his dream. Nick launches a billionaire funded startup company that solves the interstellar travel problem. Transporting people in a spaceship without any people aboard. After Nick lands on his new, distant planet, he has to combat his greatest trials yet including raising children and goats while becoming a colony building survivalist. Fans of Andy Weir’s The Martian and Dennis E. Taylor’s We Are Legion (We Are Bob) will find familiar themes of innovative science fiction ideas with plenty of humor and pop-culture.
Honor Among Thieves
Rachel Caine - 2018
In her eyes, living inside a dome isn’t much better than a prison cell.Still, when Zara commits a crime that has her running scared, jail might be exactly where she’s headed. Instead Zara is recruited into the Honors, an elite team of humans selected by the Leviathan—a race of sentient alien ships—to explore the outer reaches of the universe as their passengers.Zara seizes the chance to flee Earth’s dangers, but when she meets Nadim, the alien ship she’s assigned, Zara starts to feel at home for the first time. But nothing could have prepared her for the dark, ominous truths that lurk behind the alluring glitter of starlight.
Gates of Cilicia
Michael G. Thomas - 2012
They have little in common, other than their love of wealth and adventure, and a bitter hatred for each other. Known simply as the Black Legion, they will blaze a trail of death and destruction that will be remembered for generations. For Xenophon, the Black Legion is an escape from the state that tried to kill him and his family. Exiled from his homeworld he joins the mercenaries, along with Glaucon, the rich playboy, Roxana, the veteran naval commander, and Tamara, the blue-haired castaway with a hidden past and a violent personality. Nothing will prepare them for the carnage awaiting them as they enter the borders of the Median Empire, the largest and most powerful entity in the known Galaxy, ruled with an iron fist by the tyrant, Emperor Artaxerxes and his legions of slave soldiers. The Black Legion boasts the best weapons, armour, and equipment known to humanity. As well as the most advanced warships ever constructed, from frigates and battleships to the four mighty Titans. These great floating fortresses house thousands of warriors inside their cavernous armoured hulls. These mercenaries are no heroes; they are exiles, thieves, opportunists, and criminals. Each looking to make their name in the greatest enterprise in living memory, a military operation deep into the heart of the Empire. Battle for Cilicia is the first book in the Star Legions series from Michael G. Thomas, the bestselling author of the Star Crusades series. Previously published as the Black Legion series.
New Moon
Ian McDonald - 2015
Maybe it will kill you when the per diem for your allotted food, water, and air runs out, just before you hit paydirt. Maybe it will kill you when you are trapped between the reigning corporations-the Five Dragons-in a foolish gamble against a futuristic feudal society. On the Moon, you must fight for every inch you want to gain. And that is just what Adriana Corta did. As the leader of the Moon's newest "dragon," Adriana has wrested control of the Moon's Helium-3 industry from the Mackenzie Metal corporation and fought to earn her family's new status. Now, in the twilight of her life, Adriana finds her corporation-Corta Helio-confronted by the many enemies she made during her meteoric rise. If the Corta family is to survive, Adriana's five children must defend their mother's empire from her many enemies... and each other.
Betrayal
Pippa DaCosta - 2015
Rated: R. Restricted. Contains space battles, killer AI, intergalactic ass-kicking. Read at own risk.She is programmed to kill.He’ll do anything to survive. Ex-con Captain Caleb Shepperd believes being good is overrated. All he wants is to smuggle illegal cargo through the nine systems and live a prosperous (likely short) life on the wrong side of the law.But there's a problem with that plan. The priceless synthetic stowaway on his ship is a distraction he doesn't need.Torn between selling her and tossing her out the airlock, Shepperd fails to realize the synth is a killer, and he's the one locked in her sights.In a world where only one thousand synthetics were built, synthetic number One Thousand and One should not exist. She is no ordinary synth. Memories locked inside her code could bring Shepperd—and the entire nine systems—to its knees.Captain Shepperd and the oppressive corporations are about to learn that you can't hide from the sins of your past, especially when that past has orders to kill.WARNING: 18+ only. Contains adult content, including sex, drug use, violence, and swearing.Older cover editions of this ASIN can be found here & here.
The Forever Life
Craig Robertson - 2016
To live forever, love must die. Major Jon Ryan is a cocky fighter pilot turned astronaut. He volunteers for the most ambitious, desperate mission ever conceived. The planet Jupiter, thrown off orbit, will destroy Earth in less than a century. Project Ark is humanity's only hope for survival. Jon will search alone to find a suitable location for human resettlement. To be able to do this, he must first have his consciousness transferred into an experimental android host. He understands the implications of his mission all too well: He will not age and by the time he returns home all the people he knew will be dead. His only companion on his fifty year voyage is his ship's irritable AI. Jon not only pushes the extremes of human technology, but the limits of his psychological strength. As time goes by, all communications with Earth gradually cease, leaving him in an eerie silence with more questions than answers. Will he save our species from extinction or be the sole survivor, lost forever in space?
Zenith
James David Victor - 2017
A missing crew. Only one marine can save them. Sergeant Andrea “Andy” Dolan leads a squad of fearless marines into the depths of space. After the Star Chaser receives a distress call from the star base Zenith, Andy’s squad is sent to investigate. When all heck breaks lose, there is only one person who can save the crew of the Zenith and her own squad. Zenith is the first book in the ESS Space Marines series. If you like fast paced space adventures with engaging, and quirky, characters, you will love Zenith. Buy Zenith and get started on your next space adventure!
Extracted
R.R. Haywood - 2017
But his good intentions turn catastrophic when an early test reveals something unexpected: the end of the world.A desperate plan is formed. Recruit three heroes, ordinary humans capable of extraordinary things, and change the future.Safa Patel is an elite police officer, on duty when Downing Street comes under terrorist attack. As armed men storm through the breach, she dispatches them all.'Mad' Harry Madden is a legend of the Second World War. Not only did he complete an impossible mission—to plant charges on a heavily defended submarine base—but he also escaped with his life.Ben Ryder is just an insurance investigator. But as a young man he witnessed a gang assaulting a woman and her child. He went to their rescue, and killed all five.Can these three heroes, extracted from their timelines at the point of death, save the world?
A Talent for War
Jack McDevitt - 1989
But now, one man believes Sim was a fraud, and Alex must follow the legend into the heart of the alien galaxy to confront a truth far stranger than any fiction.
Sky Hunter
Chris Reher - 2013
The difference between the well-ordered Union air fields and this dusty garrison is made painfully clear when she runs afoul a brutal commander of ground troops.Her assignment takes her from the midst of a bloody uprising to the elegant new space station where she hopes to train for her Hunter Class pilot grade. But not all runs according to protocol and she soon suspects that more than farming is being done up there. When she uncovers the treacherous and illicit schemes taking place, it seems that local riots are the least of their troubles.