Book picks similar to
Initiate by Joshua Anderle


sci-fi
science-fiction
litrpg
scifi

Sidequest: In Realms Ungoogled


Frank J. Fleming - 2018
    Learn to use this sword or perish.” Terrance doesn’t have time to go on a magical quest: he’s late for his job as a computer programmer. But when he gets to work, he suddenly notices things he hadn’t seen before. Like the fact that his boss is a demon with scaly skin, horns, and bloodstained fangs. Or that an “unnamed thing below” feasts on human victims in an arena filled with people absorbed in their cell phones. Set up on a blind date with a perky blonde named Shannon, Terrance finds that she is wearing a full suit of armor complete with a helmet and sword. “I’m a Sister of Torment,” she explains. “We’re a group of women who serve the Darkness.” Terrance can't help wondering how such a nice, attractive girl ended up beheading people with an ax. But their budding romance is complicated when Terrance is recruited by The Infinite, a shadowy group that is at war with the Sisters of Torment and their demonic overlords. Will Terrance join them? Or will he try to return to his old life and forget the evidence of his now-awakened senses? Faeries, elves, warriors, mermaids, and his dark-souled girlfriend will help him decide.

The Guns Above


Robyn Bennis - 2017
    Garnia’s Air Signal Corp stands out as the favored martial child of the King. But though it’s co-ed, women on-board are only allowed “auxiliary” crew positions and are banned from combat. In extenuating circumstances, Josette saves her airship in the heat of battle. She is rewarded with the Mistral, becoming Garnia’s first female captain.She wants the job – just not the political flak attached. On top of patrolling the front lines, she must also contend with a crew who doubts her expertise, a new airship that is an untested deathtrap, and the foppish aristocrat Lord Bernat – a gambler and shameless flirt with the military know-how of a thimble. He’s also been assigned to her ship to catalog her every moment of weakness and indecision. When the Vins make an unprecedented military move that could turn the tide of the war, can Josette deal with Bernat, rally her crew, and survive long enough to prove herself to the top brass?

Sub-Human


David Simpson - 2012
    Craig Emilson is sent to take out a powerful artificial intelligence. Unexpectedly, he becomes the greatest hope for humanity. He must choose between saving mankind or saving himself as he faces impossible odds and an army of super soldiers on a mission to destroy him. "Sub-Human" is the first book in a new series of page turners that will keep you guessing until the very end. A mix between action thriller and science fiction, this novel will have you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. First in a new series!

Leviathan


Scott Westerfeld - 2009
    His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.

The Dotari Salvation


Richard Fox - 2018
     They are trained to improvise, adapt, overcome and win every fight. A deadly disease threatens the Dotari, Earth’s allies, with extinction. The cure lies in deep space, and Lieutenant Hoffman and his team will join the starship Breitenfeld as it journeys into the void and makes a desperate attempt to save the dying race. Lurking in the abyss is a threat that’s waited with inhuman patience. Hoffman must lead his Marines through a gauntlet and evade a foe designed to hunt and kill them. The Dotari Salvation is an action-packed military science fiction adventure set in the best-selling Ember War universe.

Dark Run


Mike Brooks - 2015
    And nobody talks about their past.But when a face from Captain Ichabod Drift’s former life send them on a run to Old Earth, all the rules change.Trust will be broken, and blood will be spilled.

Cataclysm


James A. Hunter - 2016
    Collision, imminent. An international team of scientists is working around the clock to avert the cataclysm—few are optimistic. World governments are preparing for impact with deep earth bio-dome bunkers, but only a select few lottery winners will be saved. Jack Mitchel, a thirty-two-year-old EMT living in a tiny studio apartment on the West Coast, isn’t one of those winners. Still, there might be a way for him to survive Astraea: a slim chance, requiring a radical leap of faith. Through a connection at Osmark Technologies, Jack’s acquired a NexGenVR capsule and with it, a one-way ticket to the brand-new, ultra-immersive, fantasy-based VRMMORPG, Viridian Gate Online. Taking that leap of faith, though, means permanently trapping his mind in the game, killing his body in the process. Worse, one in six die during the transition, and even if Jack beats the odds, he’ll have to navigate a fantastical world that’s home to vicious monsters, domineering AIs, and cutthroat players. And when Jack stumbles upon a secret conspiracy to sell off virtual real estate to the ultrawealthy—transforming V.G.O. into a new feudal dark age—the deadly creatures inhabiting Viridian Gate’s expansive dungeons will be the least of his concerns. If Jack can’t game the system, he’s going to be trading in a quick death for a long, brutal one …

Space Force


Jeremy Robinson - 2018
    And while those writing the checks took things very seriously, the other military branches did not. As a result, Space Force was populated by undesirables: men and women who made too many mistakes, didn't follow the rules, or...slept with the wrong general's daughter. Three times. On camera. It was a mistake, okay?My name is Captain Ethan Stone, a decorated member of SEAL Team 6 turned Space Force 'recruit.' While the powers-that-be attempted to make Space Force an embarrassment, they also sent some of the very best minds, fighters, and pilots to the program, because sometimes the best of us decide to take a stand against those same powers. Yeah, yeah. Not me. Though I seem to recall I was standing when...Sorry. It's a distracting memory.Flash forward five years and between tenses. President West is in office. Power has shifted. And Space Force is defunded. With just a handful of us still living on base, we find ourselves being evicted. But before all of us can leave, aliens invade. Really ugly ones, too. Super nasty. I don't think I could describe them here without getting the book banned.Anywho, using their advanced technology, they seal off Space Force Command behind a shrinking force field and kick off a battle royale to the death. Human vs. alien. To the victors goes the Earth. While my boy Frank Taylor and I throw down inside the force field, my main squeeze, First Lieutenant Jennifer Hale, leads an international strike team into freekin' space. It's nuts. Crazy action. Super funny, too, in like a Deadpool way, if that's your thing.The only way to really know what went down is to snag a copy of this book and read it for yourself...before it's too late. Or wait for the movie. There is going to be a movie, right?Hale and I agreed to let 'bestselling'* author, Jeremy Robinson, tell our tales. He's not my favorite person in the world, but I think he captured our voices, and the reality of what happened, printing every word we spoke, no matter how offensive, blunt, disgusting, or violent it was. If you're upset by what you read in this book, first, lighten up, but then, blame me. Jeremy Robinson is a fragile flower. He's only to blame for hackneyed writing.*Bestselling is in quotes because the only bestseller status that matters is New York Times. Doesn't matter if it's not a true reflection of actual sales, popularity, or quality. Everyone knows that, Robinson.

Tech Mage


Chris Fox - 2017
    He’s conscripted into the Confederate Marines as a Tech Mage, given a spellrifle, then hurled into the war with the draconic Krox and their Void Wyrm masters. Desperate to escape, Aran struggles to master his abilities, while surviving the Krox onslaught. Fighting alongside him are a Major who will do anything to win, a Captain who will stop at nothing to see him dead, and a woman who’s past is as blank as his own. Caught between survival and loyalty Aran must choose. If he flees he will survive, but the Krox will win and the galaxy will burn. Stopping them requires a price Aran may be unable to pay: Learning to trust the very people who enslaved him.

Aurora: CV-01


Ryk Brown - 2011
    And this is only the beginning… "Aurora: CV-01" is 77,000 word novel, and is Episode 1 of The Frontiers Saga. Episode 2, "The Rings of Haven"is available now!

The Game


Terry Schott - 2012
    The best players are celebrities, adored and worshiped by countless fans. Zack is a superstar among players.His final play may change the world, forever...

The Gender Game


Bella Forrest - 2016
    A toxic river divides nineteen-year-old Violet Bates's world by gender. Women rule the East. Men rule the West. Welcome to the lands of Matrus and Patrus. Ever since the disappearance of her beloved younger brother, Violet's life has been consumed by an anger she struggles to control. Already a prisoner to her own nation, now she has been sentenced to death for her crimes. But one decision could save her life. To enter the kingdom of Patrus, where men rule and women submit. Everything about the patriarchy is dangerous for a rebellious girl like Violet. She cannot break the rules if she wishes to stay alive. But abiding by rules has never been Violet's strong suit.When she's thrust into more danger than she could have ever predicted, Violet is forced to sacrifice many things in the forbidden kingdom ... including forbidden love. In a world divided by gender, only the strongest survive...

Dauntless


Jack Campbell - 2006
    Now its fleet is crippled and stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is a man who's emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he has been heroically idealized, beyond belief...Captain John "Black Jack" Geary's legendary exploits are known to every schoolchild. Revered for his heroic "last stand" in the early days of the war, he was presumed dead. But a century later, Geary miraculously returns from survival hibernation and reluctantly takes command of the Alliance fleet as it faces annihilation by the Syndics.Appalled by the hero-worship around him, Geary is nevertheless a man who will do his duty. And he knows that bringing the stolen Syndic hypernet key safely home is the Alliance's one chance to win the war. But to do that, Geary will have to live up to the impossibly heroic "Black Jack" legend...

Contractor


Andrew Ball - 2014
    They have a special spark of soul; not quite enough to be naturally gifted in spellcraft, but greater than the average person, a tiny flame that can ignite incredible potential. They possess the ability to fight back against the Vorid; the ability to become a Contractor.Daniel Fitzgerald is one of those people, but when duty comes calling, he promptly slams the door in its face. He has no illusions of grandeur. He is not someone special. He wants to go to school and study law. And frankly, he doesn't really like people. He doesn't want anything to do with magic - he just wants to be left alone.But when the entire planet is a battlefield, there is no place to run.

Enchantress


James Maxwell - 2012
    But the elite Academy of Enchanters expects tuition fees and knowledge. Determined, Ella sells flowers and studies every book she can. Meanwhile her brother, Miro, dreams of becoming one of the world's finest swordsmen, wielding his nation’s powerful enchanted weapons in defense of his homeland.A dark force rises in the east, conquering all in its path, and Miro leaves for the front. When the void Miro left is filled by Killian, a charming stranger from another land, Ella finds herself in love. But Killian has a secret, and Ella’s actions will determine the fate of her brother, her homeland, and the world.This is the first book in the epic Evermen Saga.