Book picks similar to
Discovery by Nate Johnson


science-fiction
ebook
sci-fi
space-opera

Watcher's Web


Patty Jansen - 2011
    She casts webs of power, reading the feelings of living beings and telling them what to do. Nobody knows what causes it, least of all her. Her name is Jessica, but most people call her ‘freak’.One fateful day, her ‘web’ connects with a stranger, and stray power causes the plane in which she’s travelling to crash in an alien world. An accident? The more she discovers about the world in which she has landed, the more she doubts it.She is a survivor from an ancient race that once travelled the stars. Her ancestors were powerful and dangerous, and it seems at least two people want her: the man who invades her mind, and the man who’s desperate to help her get back home. But Jessica grew up an Earth girl, and isn’t having any of this. She’ll pander to no one, thank you very much, even if her stubbornness enrages the tyrant race who hold the world in their grip.

Condition Black (A novella)


Tom Barber - 2013
    Everyone around him is dead. He has no idea where he is, or who shot him and his squad down.He soon discovers he’s on one of the moons orbiting Mars, not far from the main colony and his transport back to Earth. Two members of a mining team stationed on the moon come out to investigate. They take Miller back to their base where he manages to send out a call for help.He has ninety minutes to wait for rescue.But those ninety minutes are going to feel like a lifetime.Miller quickly realises that something in the station is wrong.There seems to be more to this place than meets the eye.Strange and unsettling events suggest things are not quite as they appear.As the minutes until his rescue tick by and he begins to finally figure out what is going on, Miller is forced to confront echoes from his past as well as his deepest fears in a situation that is becoming more terrifying by the second.And he soon learns that some nightmares don’t stop when you wake up.

Invincible


David Bruns - 2016
    Commander Halsey wants it back. For decades they were among us, silently infiltrating the power structures of society. Now the Swarm stands on Earth’s doorstep. As humanity launches a desperate counter-attack, the alien victory seems inevitable. For Halsey, this is personal. While the Fleet executes their battle plan, she leads a do-or-die suicide strike at the heart of the alien force: her own INVINCIBLE, turned into a weapon against mankind. With a few marines, a pirate ship, and an ex-lover by her side, Halsey fights to take back her command and save the human race--or die trying. She is a proud warrior. She is humanity’s last hope. She is INVINCIBLE.

The E. E. 'Doc' Smith Omnibus


E.E. "Doc" Smith - 2007
    Then the enemies are forced to become allies when everyone becomes lost in an unfamiliar region of the galaxy and must fight their way back through primative planets and against alien fleets. As always with Smith, romance and action are equally mixed. The Seaton is forced back into action to stop a menace that threatens every civilized planet in the galaxy, but to do it he must create the greatest starship ever conceived. Finally read Triplanetary, the story that helped launch the Lensmen series. A brainy man and heroic woman fight against ruthless space pirates for life and love.

Vertical City


George S. Mahaffey Jr. - 2015
    Abandoning the streets to millions of hungry infected, the survivors seal off the structure at the 10th floor and string wires between it and other buildings to avoid being eaten alive by the hordes rampaging below. But dwindling supplies force those still alive to take greater risks as they struggle to survive hundreds of feet off the ground.

Anywhere But Here


Jason D. Morrow - 2014
    But what she finds is a place wrought with mystery, shady dealings, and more instability than she anticipates. The Starborn Ascension takes place 57 years before The Starborn Uprising, and can be read independently.

Qualify


Vera Nazarian - 2014
    You die, or you Qualify. The year is 2047. An extinction-level asteroid is hurtling toward Earth, and the descendents of ancient Atlantis have returned from the stars in their silver ships to offer humanity help.But there’s a catch.They can only take a tiny percent of the Earth’s population back to the colony planet Atlantis. And in order to be chosen, you must be a teen, you must be bright, talented, and athletic, and you must Qualify.Sixteen-year-old Gwenevere Lark is determined not only to Qualify but to rescue her entire family.Because there’s a loophole.If you are good enough to Qualify, you are eligible to compete in the brutal games of the Atlantis Grail, which grants all winners the laurels, high tech luxuries, and full privileges of Atlantis Citizenship. And if you are in the Top Ten, then all your wildest wishes are granted… Such as curing your mother’s cancer.There is only one problem.Gwen Lark is known as a klutz and a nerd. While she’s a hotshot in classics, history, science, and languages, the closest she’s come to sports is a backyard pool and a skateboard.This time she is in over her head, and in for a fight of her life, against impossible odds and world-class competition—including Logan Sangre, the most amazing guy in her class, the one she’s been crushing on, and who doesn’t seem to know she exists.Because every other teen on Earth has the same idea. You Qualify or you die. * * *EXCERPT!Now you can read Chapter One in its entirety (click here)!* * *

The Krone Experiment


J. Craig Wheeler - 1986
    Damage to a Russian aircraft carrier leads to a breakdown in the detente with the United States. Star wars erupt as the two countries invoke space-based weapons in a deadly face off in orbit. Robert Issacs, Deputy Director of Scientific Intelligence for the CIA, and his top aide, Dr. Patricia Danielson, connect the carrier damage with a mysterious seismic signal. Thwarted by internal CIA politics, they put their careers at risk to engage in an unauthorized consultation with Jason, the secret group of physicists who consult for the government. Astrophysicist Alex Runyan advances a fantastic theory that triggers a race for the truth before the conflict with Russia can spin out of control. The quest leads to the New Mexico laboratory of Paul Krone. The true danger dwarfs that posed by the international crisis. Bonus links to historical background material are provided at the end of the book. The Krone saga continues in the sequel, Krone Ascending, also available for Kindle.

Wulf


Set Sytes - 2016
    He must understand and survive the perils of a savage new world, a world of purple skies over canyons and prairie, where everyone and everything – be they outlaws and mountain men, or monstrous creatures of the dark, seem to want him dead.And if that wasn’t problem enough, a man with green eyes is hunting him, a man from another dimension who will stop at nothing to put the universe right.The Fifth Place is about the universe under mysterious control, and the group of antiheroic misfits determined to survive it and be free no matter what comes. Ideal for fans of Stephen King's The Dark Tower books, Garth Ennis’s Preacher comics, Joe Abercrombie, and the Farscape TV series, The Fifth Place is for those who want a pull-no-punches adult series merging western, sci-fi, gritty fantasy, dystopian, adventure and horror genres, with a diverse, irreverent and tragically flawed cast of characters to root for against all odds.

The Complete Independence Day Omnibus


Stephen Molstad - 2016
    All satellite communications are interrupted, as fear grips the cities of the world. When the skies return to normal, it becomes clear that a force of incredible magnitude has arrived on Earth. Its mission: to eliminate all human life on the planet.SILENT ZONECREATED BY DEAN DEVLIN & ROLAND EMMERICH NOVEL BY STEPHEN MOLSTADIn the official prequel to Independence Day, Dr Brackish Okun, head scientist of Area 51, begins to suspect that a massive government cover-up has successfully buried all evidence of alien visitation throughout the years—a cover-up in which Okun is now an unwilling participant.WAR IN THE DESERTCREATED BY DEAN DEVLIN & ROLAND EMMERICHNOVEL BY STEPHEN MOLSTADIt is the fourth of July. Reeling from the enemy onslaught, a few surviving military pilots gather in the Saudi Arabian desert. Two of the best fliers discover that their recent “victory” was an illusion—part of a secret ambush that will open the planet to unimaginable horror, unless several Middle Eastern nations can overcome long-standing hatreds and unite against the aliens in the fiercest hand-to-hand combat of the war.

Westerly Gales


E.C. Williams - 2011
    The Kerguelenians, as they begin to think of themselves, manage to survive, grow, and colonize other islands in the Southern and Indian Oceans -- until they are attacked by a mysterious seafaring group they call "the pirates". Who are the pirates, why are they hostile to the Kerguelinians -- and, most importantly, how can the peaceful islanders defend themselves against a force apparently determined to eradicate them? Kerguelenian master mariner Sam Bowditch takes on the enormous task of building a Navy from scratch to preserve the fledgling maritime civilization from utter destruction. First volume of a planned series.

Vita Aeterna


Jay Allan Storey - 2018
    Appraisal is supposed to be a routine right of passage. But no scenario he's ever heard of has prepared Alex for his own experience - abducted, imprisoned, and subjected to brutal medical experiments in a high-tech lab.He escapes and goes on the run, a heartbeat ahead of a ruthless army led by the most powerful man in the world. When he finally pieces together the clues behind his kidnapping, they lead to a treacherous plot that only he can derail.But to succeed, he must penetrate the First Circle, the forbidden abode of the ruling class.

Escape


David Ryker - 2019
    Her people have fled. And Mitch Ayers is having a real bad day. Fifty years ago, our home was dying. We identified worlds that might be able to support human life. We built Ark Ships: huge colonization vessels carrying thousands of crew. And we set out, not knowing if we could make it to the other side of the blackness, or whether there would be anything there if we did. Mitch wasn't supposed to have to care about any of this. He was supposed to be happily dreaming in stasis for another twenty years. That's until he wakes up on the Ark Ship Nansen, three light years off course, staring right up at the barrel of a gun. All around him, he hears the screams of the dying. Terrorists are wiping out the Nansen's crew while they sleep, and he's the only one who can do a damn thing about it. But ain't that always the way. Mitch knows the Nansen's crew might be the only humans left in the universe. The problem is, he quickly learns that humans aren't alone in the stars. Aliens aren't just out there, they're everywhere. And the first one he meets tries to sink its teeth into his neck... Mitch is a long way from home, and it's not just the aliens he's up against. It's the traitors within his own crew. Now humanity's fate rests on his shoulders. So he'll have to think fast...

The Last Gunfighter Of Space


Ty Patterson - 2017
    IT FINDS A THIEF 5050 AD. Earth as we know it has been decimated. It is a radioactive wasteland. The few millions who survived, fled to Calara, a planet in the Icarus Galaxy, where they have established civilization. But, life on Calara hasn't turned out the way they wanted it. AI rule over them. Which wasn't the way humans saw how their lives turning out when they arrived on the new planet. They brought their ways and technology. They tried to colonize the other planets and stars in the galaxy. As humans have tended to do. Then, AI took over. But now, the humans are rebelling. Remember history? They need someone to rally around. To lead them. To show them the way. Enter Cade Stryker. Let's not glorify him. He is a thief. He sails Andy, short for Andromeda, his ship, in the farthest reaches of space. Trading with anyone, anywhere. Well, he calls it trade. Everyone else calls it smuggling. He thinks he is like Wyatt Earp. Because where he flies, is indeed like the Wild West. No rules. No borders. There's the small matter that Earp was a lawman. And Cade is a... let's not harp on that. So, Cade. He isn't in the hero business. No, sir. Cade is too smart for that. Because heroes have a short shelf life. And need to have noble intentions. Cade and noble don't go together. Nope. The fate of humans definitely Does Not lie in the hands of Cade Stryker. No way. Check out Ty Patterson's USA Today Bestselling Warriors Series The Warrior The Reluctant Warrior The Warrior Code The Warrior's Debt Boxset 1, Books 1-4 Flay Behind You Hunting You Zero Boxset 2, Books 5-8 Death Club Trigger Break Scorched Earth RUN!

Gregor's Run: The Universe is too Small to Hide


Saxon Andrew - 2016
    He’s forced to scrub booster tubes on commercial starships to make enough coins to feed his alcohol addiction in his dirty day-to-day existence. The future looks dark and is getting darker. To make matters worse, he discovers that two very powerful forces are attempting to capture him and he has no clue why. One of them is the Venzel Dragons, who are recognized as the most deadly warriors in the known universe. The other is a secretive organization simply known as the Movement. Gregor just can’t figure out why they’re after him and remaining free is quickly disappearing as an option. He has no choice but to run and try to determine why he is being pursued across the known universe. He has no memory of his childhood or where he was born and before he can make sense of everything, he would need to go back to Earth and find out who he really is. What he finds changes his world completely and learning that his adopted father was assassinated makes him resolve to make the killers pay for their actions. But what could a filthy, alcoholic bum do against the two most powerful forces in the known universe? The answer lies on the forest world of Bellingham and according to the Cartian Database, no one has gone to that planet in more than six hundred years and lived. Gregor’s Run will keep you guessing at all the twists and turns as Gregor struggles to find himself in a universe gone insane. Excerpt: Gregor’s Run Gregor looked around the gathering, “Some of ye give it a go.” A warrior standing next to Gregor shook his head, “I think it’s clear that swords will not go through that thing.” Gregor said loudly, “All of ye agree that swords are useless against this force field.” The warriors all looked at each other and nodded. “Now if that piece of wood inside the force field was holding a blaster and ye were close enough to strike the force field, ye would die. All of ye see that.” Again the warriors looked at each other and were forced to agree with Gregor. Gregor turned and said, “Now, I want the archers to move back ten yards and fire at that piece of wood like it’s an enemy coming to harm ye families. I want ye to move back in case the arrows you shoot bounce off towards ye.” Several male warriors and ten females moved back ten yards and formed a line. Ellie was one of the archers and she lifted her bow and pulled an arrow out of her quiver. The arrow flew toward the target at a speed that was difficult to see but, when it bounced off the force field, everyone saw it penetrate the canoe twenty yards further up the beach. Everyone immediately moved back another ten yards. The archers didn’t give up as easily as the swordsmen. They fired arrow after arrow at the target and arrows were ricocheting in all directions. Finally, all of them stopped firing except for Ellie. Gregor saw the anger on her face and she started screaming as each arrow failed to penetrate the force field. Gregor sighed and saw her frustration getting the better of her. She jumped and slammed her elbows down to her sides as she stamped both feet into the sand. She screamed at the top of her voice and ran toward the force field. Gregor yelled, “NO, ELLIE! STOP!!” Ellie arrived at the force field, jerked the last arrow out of her quiver, and screamed as she threw it at the wooden target. The arrow went through the force field and stuck in the center of the target. Gregor’s mouth fell open as he heard the computer say over the link, “What the hell just happened here!”