Book picks similar to
Tanis Richards: Shore Leave by M.D. Cooper
space-opera
science-fiction
sci-fi
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Grow Up (One Up Series Book 2)
Craig Anderson - 2019
Oh, and his upcoming exams. That was before he caught the attention of a planet of intergalactic trial-by-combat lawyers that use giant mechs to fight their legal battles. Now he has bigger things to worry about. Much, much bigger. The only advantage he has is his trusty games controller, but will it be enough to beat a Level 10 Behemoth? Josh isn’t the only one having a rough day. Gargle was your run-of-the-mill, body swapping, ethereal alien courier. Everything was going great, until he was dropped off on Earth and asked to blend in with a crowd of teenagers. Josh only has to save the world, Gargle has to survive puberty. If you love humour, sci-fi and GameLit then this is the book for you! Note that while this book shares the same universe as Level Up, it has its own cast of characters. Both books can be enjoyed standalone.
Platoon F: Pentalogy
John P. Logsdon - 2014
His only out is to undergo a complete physical makeover, get a rank and name change, and agree to take over a new platoon in the Segnal Space Marine Corps (SSMC). Mission 2: Angry Robots A group of antiquated robots have decided that they've had enough of being treated like second-class citizens. Working together, they take over the sewage plant on Segnal Prime and start pumping the sludge back up into the buildings. Mission 3: The SSMC Voyeur A space probe that was sent out 500 years ago has returned...sort of. It's actually a copy of the original model of The SSMC Voyeur, which begs the question: What happened to the original craft? The crew of The SSMC Reluctant is dispatched to learn about the originating planet that sent this cloned vehicle. And, if Rear Admiral Conster gets his way, they're also to blow the entire planet that it came from to smithereens. Mission 4: Earthlings After their last mission, the Segnal Space Marine Corps (SSMC) saw the value of the GONE Drive. The ability to move through space in a blink of an eye would be highly appealing to any military body, but specifically to Rear Admiral Parfait who has a bit of a thing for military bodies. Parfait sets a mission in place where The SSMC Reluctant must go to one of the planets that they briefly landed on during their last mission: Earth. Parfait sees the opportunity to...probe another society of human-like creatures and possibly build relations with them. Furthermore, and much to Captain Don Harr's chagrin, Parfait has put in for a title change to Senior Diplomat so that he can join the crew! Mission 5: Synthetic DNA After a close call in the year 2440 at the planet called "Earth," the crew of The SSMC Reluctant makes a quick escape back to their home of Segnal. However, Geezer didn't have time to set the clock on the GONE Drive to return them back to their own era, and things have changed greatly in the Segnal System over the past 500 years. The system is ruled by Synthetic Lifeforms now, and they find humans and standard robots an affront to their intellectual capacity. From their perspective, only Synthetic Lifeforms should be allowed to live.
A Girl from Nowhere
James Maxwell - 2020
No one knows it better than Taimin. Crippled, and with only his indomitable aunt to protect him, Taimin must learn to survive in a world scorched by two suns and frequented by raiders.But when Taimin discovers his homestead ransacked and his aunt killed, he sets off with one mission: to seek revenge against those who stole everything. With nowhere to call home, his hunt soon takes a turn when he meets a mystic, Selena, who convinces him to join her search for the fabled white city. Taimin and Selena both need refuge, and the white city is a place where Taimin may find someone to heal his childhood injury.As they avoid relentless danger, Taimin and Selena attempt to reach the one place that promises salvation. And they can only hope that the city is the haven they need it to be…
Void All The Way Down: The Sliding Void Omnibus
Stephen Hunt - 2014
DESCRIPTIONCaptain Lana Fiveworlds has a hell of a lot of problems.She's sliding void in an ageing seven-hundred-year-old space ship, scrabbling around the edges of civilised space trying to find a cargo lucrative enough to pay her bills without proving so risky that it'll kill her. She's got an alien religious freak for a navigator, an untrustworthy android for a first mate, a disgraced lizard for a trade negotiator and a deserter from the fleet acting as her chief engineer.And that was well before an ex-crewman turns up wanting Lana to rescue a barbarian prince from a long-failed colony world. Unfortunately for Lana, the problems she doesn't know about are even more dangerous. In fact, they just might be enough to destroy Lana's rickety but much-loved vessel, the Gravity Rose, and jettison her and her crew into the void without a spacesuit.But there's one thing you can never tell an independent space trader. That's the odds...
Voidhawk
Jason Halstead - 2009
It's wooden ships in space, read on and experience a multi-verse of new delights! Too young and naïve to care about the tensions between nations, Dexter Silverhawk considered himself the luckiest man alive when he found a derelict voidship hidden amongst some asteroids. Making it void-worthy and finding a crew to sail it seem like minor problems when he ends up in a Federation prison. Rotting in a communal cell, Dexter's luck shows a fickle side when a mysterious elven woman is thrust into into his life. Helping her fend off an assault Dexter quickly learns that her mind and her tongue are weapons against which he has little defense. Unable to resist, he hires her at the first opportunity. Surviving both politics, sorcery, and even ancient curses will force the growing crew of the Voidhawk to put aside their differences and work together. What remains for the young captain is the lessons of when to heed his mind, and when to heed his heart. Look for the continuing adventures of the Voidhawk: Book 1: Voidhawk Book 2: Voidhawk - The Elder Race Book 3: Voidhawk - Redemption Book 4: Voidhawk - The White Lady Book 5: Voidhawk - Lost Soul Book 6: Voidhawk - The City at the Edge of Forever Book 7: Voidhawk - Broken Shards
The Second Ship
Richard Phillips - 2006
Now, the American government is ready to share the Rho Project discoveries with the world. But as the world scrambles to adopt the alien technologies, three high schoolers make another shocking discovery: hidden inside a cave in the New Mexico wilderness lies another alien ship. As the friends explore the second ship, they begin to unravel a decades-long secret involving an extraterrestrial war, government cover-ups, and secret experimentation using alien technology on humans. A battle has begun, and the secrets of the second ship may be the key to humanity's last chance for survival.
Star Splinter
J.G. Cressey - 2015
But maybe it wasn’t such a bad turn of events. Court-martialed and dumped on a reject raft bound for Earth, Cal feels optimistic about a life where getting blown up, shot, or even eaten is altogether less of a concern. And, more importantly, a life where the only person he’s responsible for is himself.Unfortunately, fate doesn’t favour the mundane. Crash-landing on a lethal planet, and with technology failing all around him, Cal must take his fellow passengers under his wing in order to survive and unravel the reasons behind their situation.But the cause is far worse than any of them could have imagined, for theirs is a small part of a much larger crisis. Colonized space is under attack. Humanity is on the verge of chaos. And those who enjoy such anarchy are already beginning to thrive.Yet Cal and his new companions will discover that mankind isn’t the true threat, not by a long shot."This novel just blew me away. It was like a giant mash up of Star Trek, Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park." ladyaliteraturejunkieextraordinaire"Apart from being one of the best humorists around, this author is a very good science fiction writer." Amazon reviewerStar Splinter is an action-packed adventure, but at it's heart it's a story about survival and the true worth of friendship.
Tesla
Mark Lingane - 2013
The planet has slowly been getting hotter and water is becoming a rare resource. Out of the ruins of a civilization that has collapsed in on itself, have arisen a new breed of people - those with the power to control magnetism.Seb, a young orphan boy from a quiet rural town, is being hunted by strange part-machine, part-human people. His only hope is Melanie, an angry, dying teenage girl who is dragged into the adventure and sets out to deliver him to the Steam Academy, even if it’s just to stop him talking. Seb must confront an unknown past and fight against everything he believed in. And occasionally wash his hair.Aimed at a teen audience.*** From the Author ***When writing this, I wanted to produce something that would compete against the "console" generation, where plot is delivered by cut scenes. The question was how do you write for an Assassin's Creed fan? Something that a teenage boy could enjoy.My list became: Short, sharp, constantly evolving, ridiculous amounts of action where no one important ever seems to get hurt, and make fun of current pop culture, social media, adults and technology.And, of course, an easy way to explain quantum mechanics, and turn science into magic - or the other way around.This is an exploration of that challenge.
Star Watch
Mark Wayne McGinnis - 2015
could not put it down ..." Join the Star Watch crew on their first mission to the planet of Trom, where hostile Pharlom invaders have appropriated high altitude cloud-ports as prisoner of war camps. As a fierce battle in space ensues, fragmented warships fall into Trom’s atmosphere and head right for a populated cloud-port.From best-selling author Mark Wayne McGinnis comes the highly anticipated Scrapyard Ship spin-off series, Star Watch.The Craing War is now over … the enemy defeated. As planetary systems around the galaxy try to bring normalcy back to their existence, one thing becomes crystal clear … without the Craing around to keep everyone in line, space has become a far more dangerous place. With tens of thousands of warships idle, along with hundreds of thousands of Allied crew personnel sitting on their hands, it’s up to Admiral Perry Reynolds whether or not to send the combatants home, and mothball most of the ships. But as more and more requests for prompt Allied assistance come in from the farthest reaches of outer space (i.e. for minor incursions into sovereign territory; or others, more serious—including barbaric planetary invasions), Admiral Reynolds is compelled to introduce a new stellar over-watch program. With his own career winding down, one of his final directives will be in the formation of a special intergalactic marshaling service … Star Watch. The admiral has the perfect ship lined up for the task—the most advanced warship in the known galaxy: the mile-long Caldurian vessel—the Minian. Next … he needs to outfit the ship with a captain and crew he can trust to get this far-range venture initiated properly. Across the galaxy, young Boomer, daughter of Captain Jason Reynolds, begins her training in the ancient fighting methods of the Kahill Callan, and prepares to battle against Lord Vikor Shakrim—leader of the dreaded Sahhrain warriors.
Breaking Through
Josh Hayes - 2014
After a mysterious rift in the fabric of spacetime strands him on an alien world, John must join forces with some unlikely childhood heroes to have any chance of surviving and soon discovers that this strange new world isn’t that alien after all.Someone has been here before and found a way back to tell about it. There is hope, but this is not the fairy tale he knows and John will have to fight if he wants to get home.
Veiled Alliances
Kevin J. Anderson - 2004
Eleven exploratory ships carrying humans escaping a degenerating Earth are discovered by a more advanced space-faring civilization, the Ildaran Empire. The empire helps the refugees - by now the several-generations-later offspring of the original voyagers - settle suitable planets and sends diplomats with a few of them to Earth to establish trade and diplomatic relations.Meanwhile, both Terran and Ildaran authorities bring hidden agendas to their first-contact discussions, and asEarth attempts to become a player in this new arena, its ambassadors are thrust into a foreign world of alien life forms, backstabbing politics, bitter feuds, and a deadly struggle to become the supreme force in the universe.
Dawn Exodus
Kevin Partner - 2017
Now they’re back. Generational asteroid ship Dawn arrives at its target to find a brutal federation thriving in the embers of empire. Can the engineers and officers of Dawn survive this encounter? What happens when the Robot Empire returns to human space? Could you stand against them? If you like Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, you’ll enjoy Dawn Exodus, the first book in the Robot Empire series of science fiction adventures on a galactic scale. “reminiscent of some of my favorite old time SciFi authors. Asimov, Heinlein, Niven. I may have found a new favorite author.” - Mark “The influence of Asimov is quickly felt. An aging colony ship with an agricultural society, robots and a confused crew. The potential is here for inspired world building. I'm ready to read the next book.” - Belle
Conviction
Tammy Salyer - 2014
If Corps Tech Sergeant Aly Erikson wants to survive another day, she will have to give up everything: her identity, her rank, her attachment to her brothers-in-arms, and most of all, her guilt. After doing her duty as a member of a ground infantry squad tasked with “neutralizing” an insurrection by non-citizens on a mining planet, Erikson realizes that everything she thought the Corps stood for, thought she stood for, is crumbling away. Where is the honor, the justice, the spirit of law? When the enemies are nothing more than outclassed and outgunned dregs of the Algol System’s forgotten people, being part of their execution squad has put her as far from the ideals of justice as Erikson can imagine. Haunted by their ghosts, she struggles to maintain her military bearing until even that is suddenly ripped away in an act of terrorism that sends her, her brother, Tech Sergeant David Erikson, and another Corpsmember, Rebecca Soltznin, on the run on a hostile planet. Forced for the first time in ten years to blend in with a civilian population, the three are faced with a single choice: regroup with their brothers-in-arms or become deserters. For Aly, it’s easy; why go back to being a cog in the death machine the Corps is becoming? But for the other two, the price for making the wrong decision may be higher than they’re willing to pay. On the run, under attack from the scavengers who plague the system, and out of options, the three face conflict from every direction. If they can’t find a way to fight together, their chances for survival are less than zero. And for one of them, the best solution may come down to one simple act: betrayal. In this prequel to the popular Spectras Arise Trilogy, readers get an intimate look into the events that led Aly and David Erikson on their path from decorated and dedicated soldiers to black-market arms smugglers, and ultimately, to rebels against the Political and Capital Administration of the Advanced Worlds.
Terminus
Kevin Hardman - 2014
Served up as a scapegoat and drummed out of the military, he has since lived a life of seclusion with only an adopted alien as a companion. Now the Vacra have returned. As the only person to have ever faced them and survived, Maker is reinstated in the Corps and given the onerous task of finding this enemy on a world located at the edge of known space. Assisting him is an unlikely band of military rejects, including a blind sharpshooter, an unstable psychic, and a genetically-engineered killing machine who refuses to fight. Given that the Vacra have superior weapons and technology, Maker recognizes that his team is at a distinct disadvantage. But Marines are nothing if not resourceful, and Maker has an audacious plan that just may level the playing field – if it doesn’t get them all killed.
The Drift Wars
Brett James - 2013
He just didn't realize how many times they were going to ask.________________________________________________Peter Garvey was just a kid when the warships emerged from the Drift and devastated his homeworld. He enlisted immediately, leaving behind his small-town life to fight in distant space. Barely surviving basic training, he is thrust to the front line to battle the Riel, an army of creatures beyond his darkest nightmares.As the two races clash inside the vast uncharted Drift, Peter’s six month tour of duty grows into years. His friends die in combat, but Peter survives, inexplicably, until he discovers that he can’t be killed.