Book picks similar to
Colours by Adrian J. Walker


science-fiction
sci-fi
fiction
dystopian

Ready Player One


Ernest Cline - 2011
    The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

Barren (Barren Trilogy #1)


G.P. Burdon - 2016
    However, they never reach it, instead crash landing on a barren and hostile planet that no human was ever meant to survive on. With no water, and no hope, they must find a way to keep the human race alive in the wastelands of Icarus. Mackenzie Miller leaves behind the only life she knows to join the Diviners in their search for water, wandering directly into the greatest dangers Icarus can offer. There’s more to worry about on Icarus than just dehydration. When Mackenzie learns what truly lurks in the deserts, dying of thirst is the least of her concerns.

Inside Out


Maria V. Snyder - 2010
    I'm a scrub. A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I've got one friend, do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels? The only neck at risk is my own…until I accidentally start a rebellion and become the go-to girl to lead a revolution.

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife


Meg Elison - 2014
    When she awoke, it was dead.In the wake of a fever that decimated the earth’s population—killing women and children and making childbirth deadly for the mother and infant—the midwife must pick her way through the bones of the world she once knew to find her place in this dangerous new one. Gone are the pillars of civilization. All that remains is power—and the strong who possess it.A few women like her survived, though they are scarce. Even fewer are safe from the clans of men, who, driven by fear, seek to control those remaining. To preserve her freedom, she dons men’s clothing, goes by false names, and avoids as many people as possible. But as the world continues to grapple with its terrible circumstances, she’ll discover a role greater than chasing a pale imitation of independence.After all, if humanity is to be reborn, someone must be its guide.

The Passage


Justin Cronin - 2010
    government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he's done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. Wolgast is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors, but for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—toward the time an place where she must finish what should never have begun.With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterly prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.

Pete, Popeye and Olive (Privateer Tales Shorts Book 2)


Jamie McFarlane - 2016
    When an opportunity to join the Mechanized Infantry presents itself, Pete is first in line. He knows that he's going to get shot at one way or another, but the idea of sitting in a warm and more importantly, dry mechanized suit appeals to him almost beyond reason. While still training in the jungle, Pete's squad is called out to intervene in a skirmish in a nearby village. Of course, the Marines haven't seen fit to certify his squad with ordnance. The fact that they'll be up against a platoon of squishies doesn't convince him that's it's any better of an idea and things turn quickly to crap when they discover the squishies are protected by grav-tanks. Pete, Popeye and Olive is a fast paced, short-story with plenty of action.

Omnicide


Jacqueline Druga - 2020
    Fax is the most reliable method of communication and the local newspaper is the main source of outside information.When a freak car accident occurs on the outside of town, no one thinks much of it. That is until deer are found sick and covered in an unusual growth, and they lose contact with the next town.Cut off and isolated from the rest of the world, Griffin is unaware of the threat growing outside the safety of their little town. One that could endanger their entire existence.

Fighting Iron


Jake Bible - 2016
    The lands are now controlled by despots, crooked cattle barons, energy hoarders, and anyone with enough might to keep the local folks under control.For Clay MacAulay, none of that matters as he roams the land in a war machine from a time gone by. He wants nothing to do with small desert towns or brutal dictators. He only has his sights set on a new life. Unfortunately for Clay, too many ruthless people want what he has. They want the war machine he pilots. They want the battle mech that shouldn’t exist anymore.They want his Fighting Iron. But they will have to pry Clay’s cold, dead body out of that pilot’s seat before they can take it from him. And he plans on fighting them every massive mech step of the way!A far-future mech western, Fighting Iron is a rip-roaring scifi adventure filled with six-shooters, plasma canons, rough and rowdy saloon brawls, showdowns, corrupt landowners, and fifty foot battle machines ready to crush everything in their path!

Under the Dome


Stephen King - 2009
    Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener’s hand is severed as “the dome” comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when—or if—it will go away.Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens—town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician’s assistant at the hospital, a selectwoman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing—even murder—to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn’t just short. It’s running out.source: stephenking.com

The Beam: Season Three


Sean Platt - 2015
    while at the same time something is happening within the Beam network: a thing coming alive, its power unchecked and out of control. Micah and Isaac Ryan, the brothers sitting at each political party’s head, have resorted to tooth-and-nail tactics to eke out as many votes as possible. The Beau Monde observes everything, sticking their fingers in the pie only to change the flavor to their personal tastes. Everyone else has one simple goal: surviving the battle. Kai struggles with a job bigger than she’s ever faced, against a foe she can’t hope to outwit. Dominic, his law enforcement job precarious after betraying the drug runners he once smuggled for, must keep his head down even as he pokes his nose into the game of higher politics. And Nicolai, the unwitting harbinger of the Beam itself, concocts his own plots to overthrow the arrogant Ryans once and for all. Yet all their efforts — great and small alike — will pale in comparison to the oncoming storm, the cataclysmic return of one of history’s greatest figures. Someone from the Beam’s very conception is about to appear anew, and with humanity interconnected like never before, their footsteps will rock the NAU like a meteor strike. Shift is finally here. But even those who think they control its sway are not prepared for what happens next.

We Are Not Prey


Taki Drake - 2016
    This science fiction adventure blends magic and technology with the adventures of Ruth, a normal human, pushed into extraordinary situations. Ruth’s transformation takes her from Earth to worlds and situations of which she never dreamed.

EMP Blackout Super Boxset


James Hunt - 2015
    The fields of medicine, engineering, agriculture and countless others have benefited from the applied science of high tech microprocessors and their data processing capabilities.   This technology helps power our homes, cars, laptops, and phones. It is involved in every aspect of our lives, but as powerful and complex as these systems are there is one device that can cripple everything and bring the world as we know it to a standstill: EMP. Mike Grant, a veteran welder for a Pittsburgh steel company, is at work when an EMP wrecks the entire country. With no transportation and no way to contact his loved ones, Mike has to combat the panic stricken city to find his father, reach his wife and children in the suburbs, and escape to their cabin in Ohio. This fast-paced, adrenaline filled thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat as we all find out what happens when the lights go out. The Pulse: September 21, 2020: America is worse off than it has ever been economically, but the worst is yet to come. On a seemingly normal Monday morning, a power outage occurs across the entire state of Georgia. A massive breakdown of vehicles and communications follows, sending towns and cities into chaos. The sweeping blackout is unlike anything ever seen, but that's not all. Without access to news, there is no information on the mysterious phenomenon. Rumors of a looming war spreads, creating further panic. Only one weapon could be capable of such stealth destruction: an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), and on that Monday, the nightmarish cold war scenario becomes a chilling reality. Meanwhile, a group of preppers band together amidst the chaos to seek safety at a rural bug-out house. But getting there won’t be easy in this exciting thriller of a dark future where society is on the brink, and no one is safe.

Post-Human Omnibus


David Simpson - 2014
    What will happen when humans can live forever? Or die with just a few keystrokes? How will our governments react as they lose control of their citizens' data? And how do you feel about uploading your mind into a computer so that you may live on after death?The Post-Human Omnibus is the perfect book for these times. It's an epic series of stories that explore all sides of humanity's future through science fiction, from both near-future dystopias to far-future utopias (and everything in between). Written by award winning author & TEDx speaker David Simpson, this collection explores many different genres from thrillers to romances to mysteries and much more.

Extensis Vitae


Gregory Mattix - 2013
    The people around him have cast aside fighting and warfare. They haven't needed them--until now.Reznik is charged with tracking down a band of ruthless killers and finding a kidnapped doctor. He finds himself honor-bound to do what is right for the people who brought him back from the dead. A peaceful people are depending on him to do what is right. Can he live up to their expectations, even when he finds out that his new body has an expiration date?Extensis Vitae is a gritty, post-apocalyptic science fiction adventure.

Oasis


Dima Zales - 2016
    It's meant to be a paradise, a place where we are all content. Vulgarity, violence, insanity, and other ills are but a distant memory, and even death no longer plagues us.I was once content too, but now I'm different. Now I hear a voice in my head, and she tells me things no imaginary friend should know. Her name is Phoe, and she is my delusion.Or is she?Note: This book contains some strong language. We felt it was important for the censorship theme of the novel. If such words offend you, you might not enjoy this book.