Book picks similar to
Harmonica and Gig by R.J. Astruc


science-fiction
writers-of-color
giveaways
sci-fi

ARC Angel


Toby Neighbors - 2018
    Ravenous, insatiable, and completely merciless — in decades of space exploration and expansion, nothing like the Swarm has ever been encountered. They swept across the colony world of Cannis One, devouring every resource. Humans, working to build a new outpost on the small world hidden in the binary star system Sirius, were helpless to stop them. Even with the help of the Colonial Space Fleet, every effort to destroy the aliens has failed. Angela Murphy has spent the last decade training to make the National Gymnastics Team. She has the skill, the passion, and the dedication to be an olympic athlete, but she’s outgrown the preferred body shape of most gymnastic competitors. Still, she won’t give up on her dreams, not when there’s still a chance that she could find success. Staff Sergeant Jonathan Cashman leads a fire team of highly skilled Marines in the Colonial Space Fleet. Stationed on Mars, they are ready to face any threat at a moment’s notice. Yet inexplicable orders have them returning to Earth for a top secret assignment at the CSF Research & Development testing grounds. ARC - Assisted Rapid Combat is a breakthrough in military technology, making the extraordinary possible, and forging the ultimate weapon against the Swarm. But it will take the right kind of soldier to become a weapon and prove that the ARC suit can make a difference in the war for Earth’s colonies. Time is running out, and so are humanity’s options for survival. ARC Angel is the latest Military Space Opera from prolific author Toby Neighbors. Combining elements from gaming, strategy, and classic storytelling, ARC Angel is an absolutely riveting novel that will have you on the edge of your seat from the very first page. With his ability to build believable fantasy worlds and authentic characters you can’t help but love and cheer for, Toby Neighbors has created the ultimate Space Marine novel, a story full of Action & Adventure that will keep you turning pages. This book will be your next obsession.

Headspace


J.D. Edwin - 2021
    A deadly challenge. The fate of the world is on Astra’s shoulders.Twenty-five-year-old Astra Ching has never sought the spotlight. So when a mysterious black orb appears with a challenge for Earth and selects her to compete in its strange—and very public—game, she’s not pleased to find herself a sudden superstar.The rules are bewildering, and there are no second chances for losers. Yet while Astra fights to stay alive and save the world from imminent destruction, the people of Earth are more interested in tabloids and gossip, like whether or not she’s engaging in a scandalous love affair with a fellow contestant . . . or the mysterious alien known only as Eleven.In her struggle to survive, Astra forms tentative alliances with a handful of trustworthy friends. But as the global gossip seeps into the game and contestants are eliminated with each round, Astra’s celebrity threatens to become infamy and the line between friend and foe blurs.Will she emerge from the arena a hero, or just another headline?

Jurassic Island


Viktor Zarkov - 2015
    Things go to hell in a hurry once the team reaches the island and the massive megalodon that attacked their boats is only the beginning of their desperate fight for survival. Nothing could have prepared billionaire explorer Joseph Thornton and washed up archaeologist Christopher "Colt" McKinnon for the terrifying prehistoric creatures that wait for them on JURASSIC ISLAND!

End of The World


Nesly Clerge - 2016
    The Order of World Society governs the globe, the weather, the currency, and all facets of people’s lives. The Peace for All Agenda is anything but peaceful. Scientist Gayle Conyers’ life in this new societal structure is orderly, routine, focused, safe. Then it isn’t. A renowned scientist forces her to work on a secret project that goes against her ethics and the Order. A protester warns her about the Order’s web of deception and the approaching end of days. Gayle soon finds herself with a foot in two worlds: A scientific realm that intends to alter humanity for all time, and a spiritual one, where she’s enmeshed in stories of prophecy, destruction, and the Apocalypse. Gayle remains skeptical. Until the Event that stuns the world, one that causes her to face the realization that this may, indeed, be the beginning of the end.

Out Of The Shadows


Tessa Van Wade - 2021
    It is not a random attack, as she soon discovers. The stranger who rescues her tells her she’s part of a hidden race of people whose oppressive government is on the verge of a violent uprising. Against her will, she is drawn into a maze of deception and conspiracy, which defies everything she has ever known. As she attempts to separate fact from fiction, she becomes too entrenched to retreat. Her only hope is to discover the truth before it is too late. In this first installment of The Velieri Uprising, newfound novelist Tessa Van Wade, creates a deeply layered world of unforgettable characters in a fast-paced struggle for survival.

Brothers


Ben Bova - 1995
    Essef - When genetic research yields the hope of immortality, two brothers, both doctors, find themselves on opposite sides of the controversy, and they must bridge the gap that divides them on an issue that could mean nothing less than life or death for millions.

Life as an Independent Space Hauler


Jason Hill - 2021
    Everything was taken from him and he was pressed into military service as a fighter pilot. A few years later, Jace has gotten out of military service and worked on a corporate freighter. He has grown to love space and plans to never return to earth. Dissatisfied with the corporate life, Jace finds the necessary backing to go independent. Thus, he begins the life of an independent freight hauler. This story is inspired by Nathan Lowell's Golden Age of the Solar Clipper series, Firefly, and some anime.

Six Seconds (Adrian Tarn)


E.R. Mason - 2020
    Adrian Tarn and R.J. Smith are persuaded to escort two scientists to a landing there to investigate. What they find has unexpected consequences for Earth and every person on it. Join Adrian Tarn, R.J. Smith, and Danica Donoro as they fight to close Pandora's box before Earth becomes a new asteroid belt.

Storming Heaven (War of the Gods, #1)


Christopher G. Nuttall - 2012
    Now, the human race has spread through countless star systems, but remains hopelessly inferior to the Killers. The god-like aliens are systematically driving humanity to the verge of extinction.Desperate times need desperate measures and humanity launches a crazy plan, to board and seize a Killer starship, hoping to unlock their technology. But the Killer plan to rebuild the universe from scratch is well underway, leaving humanity at the verge of total extinction. If they fail, the Killers will be the only form of life remaining in the entire universe…

Agents of the Planetary Republic Books 1-10


Jaxon Reed - 2021
    Treaties are signed, trade is restored. But spies and diplomatic turmoil lead to a high-tech cold war of epic proportions. Ex Space Marine Gina Wilcox finds herself in a law enforcement career after the war, but life can be just as dangerous on the streets as the battlefield. Sleeper cells activate, assassinating government officials. Crime syndicates flourish. And a certain high-tech android has been stolen by the League, spirited off world for unknown purposes. Into this milieu a band of Marine outcasts join the fight. They spent more time in the brig than on the battlefield, yet racked up admirable wartime kill ratios. These renegades are quietly recruited by Republican Naval Intelligence to lead black ops against the League. Gina Wilcox will join their leader Commander Hamilton Wolf in a risky interstellar quest to retrieve an android who doesn’t even realize she’s not human. The fate of two civilizations hangs in the balance . . .

Star Bourne (Star Man #1)


I.G. Roberts - 2016
    When he wakes, he is in another place and, it seems, another time. Colin is a very long way from home, on the Ship FNS Destiny with no way to return. When he visits the devastated colony of Zafar, he becomes a changed man, a man with a new purpose in life. Pirates attacking planets and Star-Ships quickly show him the universe is not the friendly place he once thought it was. The idea that people who are as technologically advanced as these will be peaceful and benevolent is only partly true. These Aliens must still maintain a military to defend themselves against their enemies. After pirates attack the ship he is travelling on, the entire command structure is out of action, leaving only Colin to guide the repairs and help the crew steer the ship safely back to home port. Along the way he must rescue innocent civilians from the pirates and help the Federation of Sentient Peoples (FSP) to survive. He learns that the very actions he must take to save the ship and crew could also see him branded a pirate if he is successful. While the FSP is by no means a utopian society, its leaders are smart enough to know they are in trouble and who they should ask for help. Can Colin save the ship and her crew? If he does, will the Federation authorities put him in prison for doing so?

Mission: Destructor (The Transcended #7)


Anthony James - 2019
     The Creator is the most powerful entity in the known universe. Protected by the walls of its dark sphere, it constructs vast machines designed to wipe out entire species. So far, it has not encountered significant resistance. Times change. Captain Becky Keller and Commander Joe Nation are given their most dangerous mission yet. Sent into the depths of the dark sphere, they must do whatever it takes to wipe out this deadly alien entity. It’s never easy and the stakes have never been higher. Luckily, Keller and Nation have been given a few tools to help them out. A warship fitted with a quad-barrelled experimental cannon and a spy craft carrying a bomb should be enough to guarantee success. Surely. In the Creator’s realm there are no guarantees. What lies ahead will be the hardest road Keller and Nation have ever travelled. Mission: Destructor is a high-action science fiction adventure involving massive space battles, overwhelming odds and exciting technology. It concludes the Transcended series of books, picking up straight after book 6: Monolith.

Godzilla Returns


Marc Cerasini - 1996
    Brian soon becomes obsessed with discovering the truth of the Godzilla legend. From the gripping opening, when Godzilla destroys a Russian Typhoon-class submarine, to the action-packed final confrontation with a full fleet of Japanese Defense Force fighter aircraft, this action adventure-sci-fi thriller will keep old and new fans of the Big G glued to the page!

The Invasive


Michael Hodges - 2016
    Things no man has seen before haunt the woods. Strange animal species creep behind pine trees, some of them with flashing red tags that blink faster and faster. Giant birds mimic the sound of humans and lord over the sky. Leaf-shaped creatures attack anything that moves and flash vivid colors across their glistening backs. As Bishop and his companions scramble across the Montana wilderness, they find human remains and animal carcasses littering the woods. The small town of Elmore is empty, the windows broken and streaked with blood. Trout Bridge-their only way out-is blocked by abandoned cars, none that were inbound. With the strange animals species closing in, Bishop realizes his group must take a stand. He's got a plan, and maybe they've got one last shot before the invasive species spread to the rest of the U.S.

Flight of the Javelin: The Complete Series: A Space Opera Box Set


Rachel Aukes - 2021