Book picks similar to
Scorpion’s Fury by C.H. Gideon
science-fiction
sci-fi
military
story-bundle
Renegade Redhead
F.E. Arliss - 2017
Her off-the-charts military testing gets her placed on an experimental ship bound for the outer reaches of known space. Once in the void, her willingness to question authority, uninhibited behavior, love of ancient ‘rock and roll’ music, and absolute sense of right and wrong, put her in disfavor with the ship’s crew. After rescuing an enormous alien war-dog, then blowing an alien slaver camp sky-high with her own brand of energy magic, Sasha is considered a freak of nature and disavowed. Set adrift in space, she collects a family of like-wise disenfranchised, yet talented, aliens and sets out to command her own future, ship, company, and planet. Nothing will stop this renegade redhead once she’s on a roll. For lovers of science fiction, science fiction and fantasy, chick lit, romance science fiction, romance action and adventure, space opera, womens fiction and anyone who admires a good woman doing what she wants.
The Eden Plague
David VanDyke - 2012
Who is the man he kills, the woman he shoots, and what is the Eden Plague? Fleeing the shadowy Company, Daniel turns to fellow soldiers. He fights back, seeks the woman, and wants answers. A secret threatens world stability and a conspiracy could change everything.
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.
Scythian Dawn
P.K. Lentz - 2018
Empires are dust. Only nomadic cultures thrive. One barbarian war band will fight back. A new Dawn will rise.Born to Scythian royalty, Arixa rejected palace life at age nineteen to recruit her own war band, the Dawn, and ride the steppe in defense of the capital. When a fateful encounter leaves her with knowledge that an alien ship is en route to devastate all the cities of Earth, she sets out not only to save her homeland but also to do the unthinkable.She will strike a blow against the enemies of humanity. At any cost.Scythian Dawn is the launching point of a 'Barbarian Space Opera' which sees tattooed, ax-wielding riders of the steppe wage high-tech rebellion against a galactic empire. Expect adventure, betrayal, starship duels, alien locales, jumps to hyperspace and iron war-picks punching holes in space armor. Get aboard now!
Book 2: Warp Nomads (Dec 2018)
Book 3: The Moon of Sorrows (Feb 2019)
Books 4-9: 2019-2020
Q & A with the authorWhat kind of story is Scythian Dawn?I knew I wanted to write a space-based Humans vs. Aliens series. But to be honest, I find the character types in that genre a bit boring: the hotshot space pilots, veteran troopers, elite special agents, maverick admirals, top-of-the-class cadets, brilliant scientists, etc. I wanted the story to be about someone other than those. And then I wondered, well, why should hostile aliens only bother Earth after we're technologically advanced?In my Dawniverse, aliens begin targeting Earth in the early days of civilization, making sure humans never learn to build steam engines, much less rockets. They're stuck in a perpetual Iron Age.So Scythian Dawn takes place in the past?Not exactly. It's an alternate timeline where the major ancient civilizations that we know, like Rome, Babylon, China, Persia and Egypt, were wiped out by aliens before they could rise to power. Nomadic cultures filled the vacuum.What's a Scythian?The Scythians were a nomadic tribal people who lived on the Eurasian steppe in ancient times. They didn't build cities or leave written records, so what we know about them mainly comes from outside sources like Greeks. The picture we get is of heavily tattooed, human-sacrificing, marijuana-using (yup!) savages on horseback who likely invented the idea of drinking from enemy skulls. Think of Mongols and you'll have an idea.The Scythians were probably the basis for the myths of Amazons. Around 40% of Scythian warrior burial mounds (kurgans) excavated have been found to belong to females, who would have fought alongside males in battle. That's why it made perfect sense to have the main character of Scythian Dawn be female.Who will enjoy Scythian Dawn?I think it's for anyone who likes space adventure about an epic struggle against impossible odds. Its focus is on a fast-moving plot but it also features characters who are relatable and human, not just drones who exist to push the plot forward. Book 1 takes place mostly on the ground and centers on Arixa undertaking this huge challenge of becoming Earth's defender, but it still has a large share of sci-fi ideas & tech.
Sassinak
Anne McCaffrey - 1990
That made her just the right age: old enough to be used, young enough to be broken. Or so the slavers thought. But Sassy turned out to be a little different from your typical slave girl. Maybe it was her unusual physical strength. Maybe it was her friendship with the captured Fleet crewman. Maybe it was her spirit. Whatever it was, it wouldn't let her resign herself to the life of a slave. She bided her time, watched for her moment. Finally it came, and she escaped.But that was only the beginning for Sassinak. Now she's a Fleet Captain with a pirate-chasing ship of her own, and only one regret in her life: not enough pirates.
Armstrong Station
D.M. Pruden - 2020
Upon learning the woman was kidnapped and forced into slavery by an interplanetary crime cartel, Mel makes it her mission to secure the woman's freedom and return her to her home on Earth.Working against Mel's efforts, a corrupt inspector of Luna's notorious Morality Police also searches for the victim so he can eliminate anyone who can implicate him in her kidnapping.Working against the clock, Mel must find a way to keep the girl away from those who would do her harm, and protect her own skin at the same time. If she fails, her crew mates aboard Requiem may well pay with their lives.Armstrong Station is the first in a series of prequel books that chronicle Melanie Destin's life before the events in the Mars Ascendant series.
The Void War
D.J. Holmes - 2015
So began the First Interstellar Expansion Era, catapulting humanity into a deadly race for the limited resources of navigable space. Now tensions between the human nations are threatening to boil over into open hostility. Into this maelstrom steps the exiled Commander James Somerville of the Royal Space Navy. Banished from London to the survey ship HMS Drake he is about to make a discovery that may change his fortunes and throw Britain into a deadly war with its closest rival. The Void War is a military science fiction novel and first book by new author D. J. Holmes
No Middle Ground
Caleb Wachter - 2014
With twenty years of military service under his belt, it was time to settle down on a colony somewhere and start the next phase of his life. But without warning, the Empire of Man withdrew its support of the Confederated Spineward Sectors, taking the vast majority of high-value military assets - including capable officers - with it. The would-be retiring Lieutenant Commander was improbably given a field commission of Captain, and tasked with a simple 'wave the flag' operation by his even more improbable commanding officer, Admiral Jason Montagne. So Captain Middleton set out to patrol the adjacent Sectors, and carry out his orders to the best of his ability. But, as is so often the case, one thing leads to another and Middleton finds himself and his ancient warship, the Pride of Prometheus, caught in quandary after quandary as the shadows of a Sector-wide conspiracy loom wherever they turn. The further down the rabbit hole he goes, the less he likes what he finds and his simple patrol mission soon turns into something much, much larger. With a crew of rookies and society's unwanted - including a pair of teenagers from a world very different from his own - Captain Middleton will discover one simple, incontrovertible truth: In life, there is no middle ground.
Veil Rising
Brandon Ellis - 2013
Transported to a world of slavery for alien masters. Mind-wiped, so every hellish day in the mines feels like just another job shift.This has been going on for millennia. And one day, archaeologist Ali Johnson decodes an ancient Sumerian tablet that unveils the truth. Those secrets set her on a trail of clues that lead to the right place at the absolute wrong time.The plan to keep humanity at heel relies on periodic purges, and the countdown to genocide is ticking. Ali may be the spark that ignites galactic rebellion.But before she can save mankind, she must remember who she is, what she’s lost, and why one terrible figure continues to haunt her dreams.Hang on for the explosive series kick-off that thrills like Indiana Jones and twists like Total Recall. If you’re ready for the sci-fi adventure of the year, join Ali and grab Brandon Ellis’s Mesopotamian Pew-Pew now.
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 Cruel Stars
John Birmingham - 2019
Fashioning themselves as the one true “Human Republic,” the Sturm cut a bloody swath across the stars, killing billions before finally being defeated and driven into the far reaches of Dark Space. Centuries of peace bred complacency. Everyone believed the Sturm had died out in the Dark. They were wrong.The enemy has returned and, with a brutal and decisive attack, knocks out almost all of humanity’s defenses. Now on the brink of annihilation, humankind’s only hope is a few brave souls who survived the initial attack: Commander Lucinda Hardy, thrust into uncertain command of the Royal Armadalen Navy’s only surviving warship. Booker3, a soldier of Earth, sentenced to die for treason, whose time on death row is cut short when the Sturm attack his prison compound. Princess Alessia, a young royal of the Montanblanc Corporation, forced to flee when her home planet is overrun and her entire family executed. Sephina L’trel, the leader of an outlaw band who must call on all of her criminal skills to resist the invasion. And, finally, Admiral Frazer McLennan, the infamous hero of the first war with the Sturm hundreds of years ago, who hopes to rout his old foes once and for all—or die trying.These five flawed, reluctant heroes must band together to prevail against a relentless enemy and near-impossible odds. For if they fail, the future itself is doomed.
The Black Heart of the Station
Jay Allan Storey - 2017
Josh's frequent rule-breaking exploits are focused on a single question - how did we get here, and where are we going?But Josh goes too far when he steals a space-suit and travels to the surface to explore.As punishment, the governing Council forcibly enrolls him as a novice monk at Saint Carmine's, the Station's resident monastery. At first desperate to escape, Josh is drawn into the monastery's ancient texts.Deciphering an encrypted journal hidden for centuries, Josh learns that a computer complex believed critically damaged in an ancient asteroid strike holds the answers he's been seeking, and is all that stands between the Station and certain destruction.When the deranged head of the Council is determined to obliterate the complex and doom them all, Josh leads a desperate battle to stop him.But can Josh and his tiny band of followers prevail in time to avert catastrophe?
The First Universe in Flames Trilogy
Christian Kallias - 2017
Evil has followed me to Earth. I shall Protect this World until my Dying Breath.When the Obsidian Empire obliterates the Star Alliance with the help of the Zarlacks, an old evil race long thought extinct, the universe is set ablaze. The last survivors are forced to make a blind jump beyond the outer reach of the charted universe, to a world teeming with life: Earth. The fleet's arrival inadvertently alerts their enemies to the presence of sentient life in that part of space, resulting in a swift and devastating invasion of the blue marble.Under the guidance of the Olympian goddess of Love, Aphroditis, Lieutenant Chase Athanatos learns of his origins and must race against time in a daring attempt to save Earth, their Last Sanctuary.With Earth now thrown at the center of the conflict, the newly formed Earth Alliance struggles to keep the enemy at bay. Desperately outnumbered, Chase and his friends must wage one battle after another while seeking new allies to survive.When it becomes clear that his Fury powers are awakening, Chase must face his inner demons and learn to control them or he could very well destroy the universe he has sworn to protect. Can his Fury heritage and unwavering determination hold the key to change the course of everyone's destiny?The Trilogy edition contains the first 3 books of the Universe in Flames saga: Earth - Last Sanctuary, Fury to the Stars and Destination Oblivion in one eBook. This version contains the latest edits and proofreads from the series with a new cover.
Death's Head
David Gunn - 2007
David Gunn is loaded–and he shoots to kill.At the top of the galactic pecking order is the United Free, a civilization of awe-inspiring technological prowess so far in advance of other space-faring powers as to seem untouchable gods. Most of the known universe has fallen under their inscrutable sway. The rest is squabbled over by two empires: one ruled with an iron fist by OctoV, a tyrant who appears to his followers as a teenage boy but is in reality something very different, the other administered by the Uplifted, bizarre machinelike intelligences, and their no-longer-quite-human servants, cyborgs known as the Enlightened.Sven Tveskoeg, an ex-sergeant demoted for insubordination and sentenced to death, is a vicious killer with a stubborn streak of loyalty. Sven possesses a fierce if untutored intelligence and a genetic makeup that is 98.2 percent human and 1.8 percent . . . something else. Perhaps that “something else” explains how quickly he heals from even the worst injuries or how he can communicate telepathically with the ferox, fearsome alien savages whose natural fighting abilities regularly outperform the advanced technology of their human enemies. Perhaps it is these unique abilities that bring Sven to the attention of OctoV.Drafted into the Death’s Head, the elite enforcers of OctoV’s imperial will, Sven is given a new lease on life. Armed with a SIG diabolo–an intelligent gun–and an illegal symbiont called a kyp, Sven is sent to a faraway planet, the latest battleground between the Uplifted and OctoV. There he finds himself in the midst of a military disaster, one that will take all his courage–and all his firepower–to survive. But an even deadlier struggle is taking place, a struggle that will draw the attention of the United Free. Sven knows he is a pawn, and pawns have a bad habit of being sacrificed.But Sven is nobody’s sacrifice. And even a pawn can checkmate a king.From the Hardcover edition.
First Contact
Michael R. Hicks - 2009
But Aurora is disabled by gigantic alien warships and boarded by blue-skin females with fangs and claws. The warriors slaughter the crew in ritual one-on-one combat. The sole survivor is returned to Earth. This Messenger bears a real-time globe device that counts down to an impending attack. That is the way of the Kreelan Empire. For centuries before man have they waged war, seeking a prophesied savior. Soon to be extinct, the ancient species wages their last war, hoping for redemption of sins long past.