Book picks similar to
Rogue Starship by David Alastair Hayden


sci-fi
science-fiction
aliens
artificial-inteligences

To Honor You Call Us


H. Paul Honsinger - 2012
    In 2315, the wily Max Robichaux is given command of the USS Cumberland, a destroyer with state-of-the-art capabilities but a combat record so bad, she’s known as the “Cumberland Gap.”Capt. Robichaux’s first mission: to take his warship to the Free Corridor, where the Krag have secretly been buying strategic materials, and to seize or destroy any ships carrying enemy cargo. Far from the fleet and under enforced radio silence, Max relies only on his determination and guile…and the support and friendship of his chief medical officer, the brilliant Dr. Sahin.Because even as he deals with the ship’s onboard problems and the stress of carrying out her risky assignment, Max and the doctor discover that the Cumberland and her misfit crew are all that stands in the way of a deadly Krag attack that threatens to end the war—and humanity—once and for all.A far-future story in the tradition of “ships of wood, men of iron” novels, To Honor You Call Us and the Man of War series combines the adventure of exploration, the excitement of war, and the dangers of the unknown through the eyes of a ship and her crew.

The Lost Starship


Vaughn Heppner - 2014
    The vessel's dying crew set the AI on automatic to defend the smashed rubble of their planet. Legend has it the faithful ship continues to patrol the empty battlefield, obeying its last order throughout the lonely centuries. In the here and now, Earth needs a miracle. Out of the Beyond invade the New Men, stronger, faster and smarter than the old. Their superior warships and advanced technology destroy every fleet sent to stop them. Their spies have infiltrated the government and traitors plague Earth’s military. Captain Maddox of Star Watch Intelligence wonders if the ancient legend could be true. Would such an old starship be able to face the technology of the New Men? On the run from killers, Maddox searches for a group of talented misfits. He seeks Keith Maker, a drunken ex-strikefighter ace, Doctor Dana Rich the clone thief stuck on a prison planet and Lieutenant Valerie Noonan, the only person to have faced the New Men in battle and survived to tell about it. Maddox has to find a place hidden in the Beyond and bring back a ship no one can enter. If he fails, the New Men will replace the old. If he succeeds, humanity might just have a fighting chance…

Discovery of the Saiph


P.P. Corcoran - 2014
    There is but one conclusion... that mankind overcomes it's alien foes... isn't there? The Terran Republic draws the lines of conflict - it must protect Earth ..... and it's allies Dr Jeff Moore, the unassuming squat, brown haired theoretical physicist, unlocks the Galaxy with his unintentional invention of the Gravity Drive whilst carrying out research on the Vega Star Probe, intended to provide Earth with colonies outside its own Solar System. Ancient Alien Civilisation This remarkable development leads to the construction of the new Vanguard Survey starship.The Terran Defence Force (TDF) Marco Polo is Captained by David Catney, he leads interstellar exploration outside Earths Solar System and leads humans to the ultimate Discovery of an ancient, dead, civilisation. Alien technology is submerged deep within an extinct planet and it leads to the shocking discovery... man is not alone. The Drake Equation may be... finally... unequivocally?... Proven? Military Space Fleet As the military space fleet of the Terran Republic, explores newly discovered planets in space, mandated by politicians, aided by alien technology, the Captains find both friends... and an enemy... an enemy they must repel The Politicians and the military are obligated to work together towards their objective. To hold the line. Defend the earth. No matter the cost

A Faded Star


Michael Freeport - 2016
    The crew of their newest flagship, the Rampart encounters an alien scout who is being chased by a dangerous foe. The encounter shakes the beliefs held by the people of Lashmere. With the aid of the mysteries of the origin tablet, they discover the true origins of their colony. These may be the last humans in the universe. Can they survive against their ancient enemy? Their only choice is to embrace an unknown past and fight with everything they have.

Dropship


Jonathan Yanez - 2019
    They’ll try and kill him. Daniel Hunt is the deadliest mercenary in the galaxy if he can just remember. Five years before he woke up with nothing more than his name. Now his present is on a violent collision with his past and the future of the galaxy. The Earth is dead. Humanity has taken to the moon and Mars to have a chance. On what’s left of Earth primal gangs war for dominance. A rebel force will discover a weapon of unimaginable strength, the wealthy in the galaxy will do anything to possess. As Daniel unravels the origin of his past he’ll realize he’s not the same weapon he once was. But does redemption exist for someone like him? For fans of Jason Bourne and the Weapon X program, this one’s for you. Grab your hand cannon and start reading now!

Warship


Joshua Dalzelle - 2015
    The advent of faster-than-light travel has opened up hundreds of habitable planets for colonization, and humans have exploited the virtually limitless space and resources for hundreds of years with impunity. So complacent have they become with the overabundance that armed conflict is a thing of the past, and their machines of war are obsolete and decrepit. What would happen if they were suddenly threatened by a terrifying new enemy? Would humanity fold and surrender, or would they return to their evolutionary roots and meet force with force? One ship—and one captain—will soon be faced with this very choice. Against incredible odds, Jackson Wolfe is determined to save humanity–and in the process, might end up saving himself.

Tarnished Knight


Jack Campbell - 2012
    In the Midway Star System, leaders must decide whether to remain loyal to the old order or fight for something new. Betrayed by his government, CEO Artur Drakon launches a battle for control of Midway. He is assisted by an ally he’s unsure he can trust, CEO Gwen Iceni. While she controls the mobile fleet, she has no choice but to rely on "General" Drakon’s ground forces to keep the peace planet-side. If their coup is to succeed, Drakon and Iceni must put their differences aside to defend Midway against the alien threat of the enigma race -- and to ferret out saboteurs determined to re-establish Syndic rule…

The Last Watch


J.S. Dewes - 2021
    The Last Watch, where a handful of soldiers stand between humanity and annihilation.The Divide.It’s the edge of the universe.Now it’s collapsing—and taking everyone and everything with it.The only ones who can stop it are the Sentinels—the recruits, exiles, and court-martialed dregs of the military.At the Divide, Adequin Rake, commanding the Argus, has no resources, no comms—nothing, except for the soldiers that no one wanted.They're humanity's only chance.

Titans


Edward W. Robertson - 2011
    And with good reason: he's been alive for three thousand years, keeping his existence a secret since before the days of Athens.But a stranger named Baxter has a better use for Rob's vast expertise. Baxter's looking to found a mining company in the Asteroid Belt. In exchange for Rob's help, he'll try to unravel the mystery of Rob's origin.As they're getting their outfit off the ground, they come under covert attack by HemiCo, a powerful Mars-based corporation. And Rob learns Baxter has a secret of his own--he's not human. He's a highly illegal AI.Developed by HemiCo in the wilds of Mars, the first AI escaped decades ago. They've been fighting a shadow war against their creators ever since. Dragged to Mars, Rob is thrown into the center of the fight--and becomes the unlikely leader of a revolution that will change the course of human history in the stars._________NOTE: A previous version of this book was published as The Roar of the Spheres.

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 Ember War


Richard Fox - 2015
    Humanity has a chance. In the near future, an alien probe arrives on Earth with a pivotal mission—help humanity survive an impending invasion by an alien armada so massive it can blot out the stars, or leave the human race to certain extinction. Despite overwhelming odds, the probe recruits a young inventor named Marc Ibarra to plan a daring gambit. To weather the coming storm, Ibarra must build a space fleet strong enough to face an implacable foe in a battle against annihilation.

The Abyss Beyond Dreams


Peter F. Hamilton - 2014
    Nigel Sheldon, one of the founders of the Commonwealth, receives a visit from the Raiel—self-appointed guardians of the Void, the enigmatic construct at the core of the galaxy that threatens the existence of all that lives. The Raiel convince Nigel to participate in a desperate scheme to infiltrate the Void.Once inside, Nigel discovers that humans are not the only life-forms to have been sucked into the Void, where the laws of physics are subtly different and mental powers indistinguishable from magic are commonplace. The humans trapped there are afflicted by an alien species of biological mimics—the Fallers—that are intelligent but merciless killers.Yet these same aliens may hold the key to destroying the threat of the Void forever—if Nigel can uncover their secrets. As the Fallers’ relentless attacks continue, and the fragile human society splinters into civil war, Nigel must uncover the secrets of the Fallers—before he is killed by the very people he has come to save.

Skyship Thrive


Ginger Booth - 2019
    A moon full of settlers who cannot thrive. Mahina's terraformers built a high-tech urban paradise. Then Earth flooded the colony with desperate refugees, cop Sass Collier among them. The settlers who arrived with Sass died decades ago. Outside the citadel, their descendants die weak and young.Sass fought a rebellion against the city once. She won concessions to give the settlers a chance at health. She paid with 20 years in prison.Now she’s out, a reformed character. She assembles an oddball crew doing odd jobs. She intends to mind her own business – how to make a profit on the skyship Thrive.But her fellow settlers are still failing.While her business model careens toward circus acts, Sass dares to defy the city again, to solve Mahina’s failure to thrive.Pick up Skyship Thrive because you love upbeat character-driven SF with fun technology. Suggested for fans of Firefly or Nathan Lowell’s Solar Clipper books.

Scrapyard Ship


Mark Wayne McGinnis - 2013
    Worse yet, he’s relegated to his grandfather’s old house and rambling scrapyard. To complicate things, the women in his life are pulling from every direction. But It’s through a bizarre turn of events that Jason is led to a dried up subterranean aquifer hundreds of feet below ground. Here he discovers an advanced alien spacecraft, one that will propel his life in a new direction. The adventure begins… and with it new troubles for Jason: The Craing, an unstoppable interstellar threat, is headed right for Earth. A desperate situation goes from bad to worse as the Alliance crumbles.Fortunately, Jason’s unorthodox and impetuous nature seems to work in his favor as he moves up to the captain’s chair. First order of business is to reconnect with his SEAL team compatriots and face this enemy head on. What's at stake? The very survival of the human race.This is a full-length 70,000-word novel, first in the science fiction adventure series for Scrapyard Ship.

Order of the Centurion


Jason Anspach - 2018
    When such an individual displays exceptional valor in action against an enemy force, and uncommon loyalty and devotion to the Legion and its legionnaires, refusing to abandon post, mission, or brothers, even unto death, the Legion dutifully recognizes such courage with this award.” Tired of sitting out the war on Psydon in a mobile office hab, Legion Lieutenant Washam agrees to undertake a covert and unsanctioned mission with a band of Republic Recon Marines. Inserted deep behind enemy lines, the strike force uncovers a surprise key to ending a bitter war. Now they must navigate a hostile jungle teeming with murderous alien rebels, pushing themselves to the limits of their abilities, to get this vital intel to Legion Command--if they can survive that long. THE ORDER OF THE CENTURION is an all-new series of stand-alone military science fiction thrillers set in the GALAXY'S EDGE universe, ranging from the Savage Wars to the arrival of the Black Fleet. Each book features the legendary heroes of the Legion who forgot nothing in their earning of the Legion's highest honor.