Book picks similar to
The Darwin Project (The Annihilation Series #1) by John Hindmarsh
sci-fi
science-fiction
technothriller
artificial-intelligence
Destiny Rising
M.D. Cooper - 2015
It is re-structured, re-edited, and contains over 100 pages of new content, including a new opening to the series.The Sol Space Federation has stood for a over thousand years, controlling every world within Sol's heliopause.Lieutenant Colonel Tanis Richards has given her life for the Terran Space Force time and time again. But now, deep within the hollowed out core of the Toro asteroid, the military has asked too much.Commander Joseph Evens has flown starfighters in the deep black for years, but when he is sent on a mission to blockade a federation member's capital world, he wonders what he has put his faith in.The Sol Space Federation has bound the worlds and habitats of the Sol System together since the end of the second Solar War, but that was long ago, and the old alliances, which were forged with the Phobos Accords, are now all but forgotten.Beyond Sol's heliopause, the Future Generation Terraformers create new worlds for humanity to spread to, and back home, the Generation Ship Service commissions great colony ships to reach those worlds.One such ship is the GSS Intrepid, and it is on this ship that Joseph and Tanis meet after deciding that they wish to leave humanity's home system and see what future there is amongst the stars.They may have picked the wrong ship. From eco-terrorists, to rival colony ships, to corporations and governments. No one wants the Intrepid to ever leave the Sol System. It will fall to Tanis and Joe to save the Intrepid and earn their place on its roster in their struggle to get outsystem.M. D. Cooper is a New York Times bestselling author who has envisioned a rich future for humanity, one where planet-sized megastructures house trillions of humans, but traveling between the stars still takes decades, or even centuries.
Whatever It Takes
Leif Sterling - 2014
A dangerous game. How far would you go to save your family? In 2114, there’s no such thing as a fair trial. Roland’s father has just been sentenced to death in a sham case controlled by the all-powerful Pinnacle Corporation. He only has one chance to find out the truth: enter Pinnacle’s death-defying Tech Games and do everything he can to survive. Roland must undergo a risky procedure to install the necessary extra-human tech enhancements. Success could mean a shot at a $100 million prize and the evidence he needs to clear his father’s name. If he fails, both of them will surely die… Whatever It Takes is the first episode in the Nano Contestant series of sci-fi serials. If you like futuristic technology, evocative new worlds, and action-packed sci-fi, then you’ll love Leif Sterling’s incredible series.
Klara and the Sun
Kazuo Ishiguro - 2021
She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.In Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro looks at our rapidly changing modern world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love?
WhiteSpace: Episode 1
Sean Platt - 2012
Hamilton Island seems like the perfect home.The Puget Sound bedroom community has it all — beautiful homes with white picket fences, a thriving tech sector, and one of the best school systems in the state.But not everything is as it seems.And on the morning of September 1, the veil is lifted in a school shooting that will shake the island to its core, and expose an evil dynasty and a dark conspiracy that threatens the future of our species.
Rammer (Great Science Fiction Stories)
Larry Niven - 1997
He is warm, breathing and healthy -- but empty.
Aunty Ida's Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only) (An Aunty Ida Comedy Invention Book 1)
Isa-Lee Wolf - 2011
But Ida – who insists you call her “Aunty Ida,” if you want to (no one ever seems to want to) – is there to help. That Margaret doesn’t want her help doesn’t dampen Ida’s delight in playing with her mind-altering toys and calling it therapy. Besides, the courtroom thing was only a big deal because of the cameras. OK, so it was Margaret’s courtroom, and yes, she was hearing the biggest case of her career, and yes, the LawTV commentators were all over it, but these things always get sensationalized. The restraining order her husband got against her was only temporary. So she’s suspended. It’s nothing she can’t fix. Sure, Margaret has no idea who this Ida person is, but if she can get her to sign a form, she’ll be back on the bench in no time. Unfortunately for Margaret, Aunty Ida knows exactly who Margaret is. And Margaret isn’t going anywhere. With relentless optimism, Ida dives into curing Margaret of her problems, one odd treatment at a time. But Margaret knows there’s nothing wrong with her. She was set up, and she’s determined to prove it.
Visions of Wool, A Silo Story
Hanna Elizabeth - 2013
She has visions. Visions of the world outside before it was forbidden, before they were buried underground, while the skies were still clear blue and animals beyond reckoning still roamed the earth. But her visions don't stop there. Grace is put to the test when she envisions an uprising in the Silo, and the death of the young man she loves.With the help of her visions and a mysterious book handed down through the centuries, she finds herself fighting against time, not only to save those she loves, but for the survival of future generations.
Gunwitch: Rebirth
Niall Teasdale - 2016
She wanted to keep her city safe form those who wanted to bring it down. She wanted to follow in her brother’s footsteps, fight the good fight, even if her father would have preferred that she stay home. And in many ways, Annette got wanted she wanted. But she had to be reborn as Louise, the Gunwitch, before it could happen.
Pandora's Brain
Calum Chace - 2014
If they are right, the consequence could be an intelligence explosion, in which the AI rapidly and enormously exceeds human cognitive ability. Pandora's Brain is a science and philosophy thriller by best-selling writer Calum Chace. It uses the issues raised by the coming machine intelligence explosion as a platform for a fast-paced and thought-provoking adventure story. Set in the very near future, it features Matt, a shy but engaging and resourceful student who discovers that his recently-deceased father was involved in research that could enable the construction of the world's first conscious machine. Matt's enquiries lead to him being kidnapped, as he is caught in the crossfire between two groups pursuing that goal - one led by a Russian billionaire, and another backed by the US military. Matt has to do more than simply survive: he has to harness these powerful forces to his own ends. At stake is his own life and those of his family and friends. A dramatic seaborne rescue operation, a series of brutal murders and other filmic action scenes follow. In the course of his adventures, Matt discovers that the potential upside of creating machine intelligence includes immortality, and godlike powers of understanding and being - but the potential downside is immediate extinction, or worse. As he is drawn deeper into his adventure, he becomes both the symbol and the victim of a global struggle over the approach to be taken towards this powerful new technology. A landmark decision at a meeting of the UN General Assembly forces Matt to make a fateful decision which sparks the story's final twist. Selected reviews for Pandora's Brain: “I love the concepts in this book!” Peter James, author of the best-selling Roy Grace series “Awesome! Count me as a fan.” Brad Feld, co-founder of the Foundry Group and Techstars “Pandora’s Brain is a captivating tale of developments in artificial intelligence that could, conceivably, be just around the corner. The imminent possibility of these breakthroughs cause characters in the book to re-evaluate many of their cherished beliefs, and will lead most readers to several “OMG” realisations about their own philosophies of life. Apple carts that are upended in the processes are unlikely ever to be righted again. Once the ideas have escaped from the pages of this Pandora’s box of a book, there’s no going back to a state of innocence. Mainly set in the present day, the plot unfolds in an environment that seems reassuringly familiar, but which is overshadowed by a combination of both menace and promise. Carefully crafted, and absorbing from its very start, the book held my rapt attention throughout a series of surprise twists, as various personalities react in different ways to a growing awareness of that menace and promise.” David Wood, Chairman of the London Futurist Group “Pandora’s Brain is a tour de force that neatly explains the key concepts behind the likely future of artificial intelligence in the context of a thriller novel. Ambitious and well executed, it will appeal to a broad range of readers. In the same way that Suarez’s Daemon and Naam’s Nexus leaped onto the scene, redefining what it meant to write about technology, Pandora’s Brain will do the same for artificial intelligence. Mind uploading? Check. Human equivalent AI? Check. Hard takeoff singularity? Check. Strap in, this is one heck of a ride.
Velocity Weapon
Megan E. O'Keefe - 2019
A high-flying sergeant, Sanda has the skills to take down any enemy combatant. Biran is a savvy politician who aims to use his new political position to prevent conflict from escalating to total destruction.However, on a routine maneuver, Sanda loses consciousness when her gunship is blown out of the sky. Instead of finding herself in friendly hands, she awakens 230 years later on a deserted enemy warship controlled by an AI who calls himself Bero. The war is lost. The star system is dead. Ada Prime and its rival Icarion have wiped each other from the universe.Now, separated by time and space, Sanda and Biran must fight to put things right.
IN SITU
David Samuel Frazier - 2013
When paleontologist Alexandra Moss ventures into the high deserts of Utah in search of a rare dinosaur fossil she gets more than she bargained for: she inadvertently discovers a highly intelligent species from the late Cretaceous that has been in hibernation since the great K-T asteroid disaster--and he is alive!
Trinity Unleashed
Rodney W. Hartman - 2017
When the Intergalactic Empire has a tough mission, they send in a wizard scout. When they have an impossible mission, they send in Wizard Scout Trinity Delgado. The planet Cavos is on the verge of civil war. Only an outmanned, outgunned force of Empire peacekeepers prevent an outbreak of bloodshed on a global scale. When the peacekeepers’ commander requests an armored regiment as reinforcements, the Imperial High Command sends him Wizard Scout Trinity instead. With only a fresh out of the university grad student and a half-crazy old pilot as allies, Trinity has to find the source of Cavos’s troubles before the Empire becomes part of a disaster far greater than a mere local civil war. Caught between the peacekeepers’ resentful commander and suspicious local government officials, Trinity and her battle computer, Jennifer, have their work cut out for them. Together they must weave their way through one mystery after another leaving a trail of bloody bodies along the way until they find the answer. That is, if they can remain alive long enough to find it.
Continuum
G.S. Jennsen - 2020
But space remains vast and untamed, and nothing has prepared us to face the dangers rising from the deep shadows of the void. Fourteen years after The Displacement flung humanity into a universe teeming with alien life, a tenuous alliance has taken root among humans, Anadens, and numerous other species. The wounds of war and revolution have begun to heal, peace and prosperity are within reach, and the architects of The Displacement, Alex Solovy and Caleb Marano, are enjoying an idyllic existence on the living planet of Akeso. But growing troubles fester beneath the surface of this alliance. An upstart species offers allegiance with one hand but readies weapons of mass destruction with the other, while the Anadens, leaderless and adrift for years, increasingly refuse to play by humanity’s rules. As tensions simmer, Nika Kirumase, leader of the Asterions—a splinter group of former Anadens thought aeons dead—arrives bearing a warning of a terrifying enemy advancing across the void. Known as the Rasu, the powerful race of shapeshifting metal has already killed tens of thousands of Asterions in its quest to control all of known space. Nika’s people have struck a blow against the Rasu, and now they race against time to prepare for the coming reprisal. An alliance with humanity stands to give them a fighting chance against their enemy. But for humanity, such an alliance may cost them everything, pushing the fragile peace they fought so hard to achieve to the breaking point and beyond. * In Amaranthe, where exotic alien life, AIs, wormholes, indestructible starships and the promise of immortality rule the day, no feat seems out of reach for humanity. But when the worlds of Aurora Rhapsody and Asterion Noir collide and the Rasu horde descends upon them both, more will be asked of heroes past and future. More will be given and more taken, and when the dust settles the very fabric of Amaranthe will be changed forever.
The Stone Man
Luke Smitherd - 2012
until the Stone Man begins to walk, heading silently through the wall of the nearest building, flattening it and killing several people inside as a result.As efforts by the local police - and soon, the government - to halt the Stone Man's inexorable progress prove futile, only three questions are on the watching world's lips:Where has it come from, where is it going, and what does it want?Andy is determined to be the first person to answer those questions; after all, he was there when it arrived. Surely the headaches and visions he's experiencing are proof of a mental connection to The Stone Man? Clearly his dreams of champagne and notoriety are all about to be fulfilled once he uncovers the truth ... and the scoop of a lifetime.In a pursuit that carries him the length of the country and the breadth of the Atlantic, Andy uncovers the jagged pieces of an increasingly terrifying puzzle. As the number of lives lost in the wake of the Stone Man reaches grim figures, the terrible results of Andy's blind determination force him to confront the savagery of human nature.When irresistible forces aren't met by immovable objects, how far is too far? Andy must discover the answer - and find out who he really is - in the shadow of the Stone Man.
Edge of the Future
Andria Stone - 2017
You’ve discovered the existence of a new enemy combatant, Captain. Since you saw him—he saw you.”• One hundred-fifty years after the last war, humanity has united in exploring space with colonies on Mars and the moon Luna. But the Europa Mission has just failed and 152 people died in space. Nobody knows why.• When military bioscientist Capt. Warren’s hidden research installation gets attacked, he joins forces with armored assault Sgt. Von Radach. They become entangled in a deadly fight to stop the theft of classified military secrets by a lethal female villain, whose devious plans to use enemy cyborgs posing as humans and altering unsuspecting military personnel’s neural implants to accept her commands have every chance of succeeding. Unless…Capt. Warren and Sgt. Von Radach get a chance to end her first.• Edge of the Future is an action-packed Science Fiction military thriller, with everything sci-fi fans love – starships, space colonies, cyborgs, secret military and medical technology and even a bad-ass villain.