Book picks similar to
The Ghost Sister by Liz Williams
science-fiction
fantasy
scifi
sf
The Skylark of Space
E.E. "Doc" Smith - 1928
Richard Seaton acquires rights to his discovery from the government and commercializes it with the aid of his friend, millionaire inventor Martin Crane. When a former colleague tries to steal the invention, not only the future of Dr. Seaton and his allies, but ultimately the entire world hangs in the balance!The first of the great "space opera" science fiction novels, The Skylark of Space remains a thrilling tale more than 80 years after its creation."With the exception of the works of H. G. Wells, possibly those of Jules Verne -- and almost no other writer -- it has inspired more imitators and done more to change the nature of all the science fiction written after it than almost any other single work." -- Frederik Pohl
Hammered
Elizabeth Bear - 2004
Once she was somebody’s enemy. Now the former Canadian special forces warrior lives on the hellish streets of Hartford, Connecticut, in the year 2062. Racked with pain, hiding from the government she served, running with a crime lord so she can save a life or two, Jenny is a month shy of fifty, and her artificially reconstructed body has started to unravel. But she is far from forgotten. A government scientist needs the perfect subject for a high-stakes project and has Jenny in his sights. Suddenly Jenny Casey is a pawn in a furious battle, waged in the corridors of the Internet, on the streets of battered cities, and in the complex wirings of her half-man-made nervous system. And she needs to gain control of the game before a brave new future spins completely out of control.
Day of the Vipers
James Swallow - 2008
Now that fifty-year tale of warring ideologies, terrorism, greed, secret intelligence, moral compromises, and embattled faiths is at last given its due in the three-book saga of Star Trek's Lost Era... A seemingly benign visitation to the bountiful world of Bajor from the resource-poor Cardassian Union is viewed with cautious optimism by some, trepidation by others, and a calculating gleam by unscrupulous opportunists. What begins as a gesture of compassion soon becomes something very different. Seen through the eyes of participants on both sides -- including those of a young officer named Skrain Dukat -- the personal, political, and religious tensions between the Bajorans and the Cardassians quickly spiral out of control, irrevocably shaping the futures of both worlds in an emotionally charged and unforgettable tale of treachery, tragedy, and hope.
The Kindly Ones
Melissa Scott - 1987
Its first colonists were castaways from a crash landing, clinging to survival through the institution of strict socio-political controls. Over the generations life grew somewhat easier, but the code of honor remained. Misdeeds, and errors, were paid for with blood.At one time all miscreants were executed. Now, a social death is imposed. Every Oreseian city has a colony of "ghosts": ostracized citizens who must survive, somehow, without help from the living.But galactic civilization is spreading - and Orestes is in its path. The old ways are under scrutiny. And though the Oresteian aristocracy will fight for the status quo, they have not reckoned on the power of a thousands ghosts...
Crossfire
Nancy Kress - 2003
But as this diverse group of thousands comes to terms with their new lives on a new world, they make a startling discovery: primitive humanoid aliens. There are only a few isolated villages, and the evidence seems to indicate they aren't native to the planet--despite the aliens living in thatched huts and possessing only primitive tools. When a handful of human colonists finally learn the truth, they will face the toughest decision of their lives, a decision that could determine not just the fate of their new home, but the fate of all humanity.
Scissors Cut Paper Wrap Stone
Ian McDonald - 1994
As an undergraduate, he and some classmates developed the ultimate in high-concept visual art: computerized images capable of bypassing rational thought and controlling the mind of the perceiver, whether for good or ill. When the reigning intelligence agency gets wind of Ethan's handiwork, he is forced into its service via the most potent of the images being tattooed on the palms of his hands. Now on a spiritual pilgrimage through twenty-first-century Japan, a guilt-ridden Ethan grapples with the responsibility his power implies and determines to use it for the greatest good by ridding the country of its ubiquitous crime syndicate. A past winner of sf's Campbell Award for best new writer, McDonald now ranks among the genre's leading stylists. In this brief but surprisingly satisfying tale, the full range of his versatile talent is on display as he merges Zen philosophy with cyberspace performance art in a high-tech contemplation of good and evil. A rare combination of suspenseful storytelling and thought-provoking ideas.
The Mandel Files, Volume 1: Mindstar Rising & A Quantum Murder
Peter F. Hamilton - 2011
Hamilton’s acclaimed novels—Mindstar Rising and A Quantum Murder—set in a near-future so real it seems ripped from tomorrow’s headlines In Mindstar Rising, Greg Mandel, gifted—or cursed—with biotechnology that makes him a living lie detector, is hired to investigate corporate espionage by Event Horizon, a powerful company about to introduce a technology that will solve the energy problems of a world decimated by global warming.Set two years later, A Quantum Murder once again teams Mandel with Event Horizon and its beautiful young owner, Julia Evans, in a locked-room mystery that combines the ingenuity of an Agatha Christie novel with cutting-edge speculative brilliance.Read together, these novels take on fresh depth and complexity, underscoring the magnitude of Peter F. Hamilton’s creative talent.
The Unincorporated Man
Dani Kollin - 2009
This reborn civilization is one in which every individual is incorporated at birth, and spends many years trying to attain control over his or her own life by getting a majority of his or her own shares. Life extension has made life very long indeed.Now the incredible has happened: a billionaire businessman from our time, frozen in secret in the early twenty-first century, is discovered and resurrected, given health and a vigorous younger body. Justin Cord is the only unincorporated man in the world, a true stranger in this strange land. Justin survived because he is tough and smart. He cannot accept only part ownership of himself, even if that places him in conflict with a civilization that extends outside the solar system to the Oort Cloud. People will be arguing about this novel and this world for decades.
A Dead God Dancing
Ann Maxwell - 1979
Now it was a chill, arid wasteland, with its remaining inhabitants clustered on a great ice mountain. And in a few, short solar cycles its sun would blaze into a deadly super-nova.
Postsingular
Rudy Rucker - 2007
A maladjusted computer industry billionaire and a somewhat crazy US President initiate a radical transformation of the world through sentient nanotechnology; sort of the equivalent of biological artificial intelligence. At first they succeed, but their plans are reversed by Chu, an autistic boy. The next time it isn't so easy to stop them.
Most of the story takes place in a world after a heretofore unimaginable transformation, where all the things look the same but all the people are different (they're able to read each others' minds, for starters). Travel to and from other nearby worlds in the quantum universe is possible, so now our world is visited by giant humanoids from another quantum universe, and some of them mean to tidy up the mess we've made. Or maybe just run things.
Idlewild
Nick Sagan - 2003
It is the late twenty-first century and a deadly virus has seeped into human kind's genetic make-up. In only a few generations this plague will have wiped us off the face of the planet, but we're not going down without a fight. Teams of scientists, geneticists and programmers race to find a cure, but time is not on our side and our only hope lies in one last, desperate gamble...Eighteen years later and ten individuals are about to come of age. One of them, a young man, is suddenly startled awake. He has no memory. His surroundings mean nothing to him. All he knows for certain is that someone is trying to kill him. Unsure who he can trust, he is reacquainted with his companions, all of whom are being trained at a special establishment run by the elusive Maestro. As he tries to uncover the identity of his would-be killer, it becomes clear that more - so much more - than just his life is at stake...Smart, stylish, terrifying and thrilling in equal measure, Idlewild fuses the fierce imagination of The Matrix with the chilling social vision of Minority Report, and introduces a singular new literary voice.
All My Sins Remembered
Joe Haldeman - 1977
The only problem is that the Confederacion needs him as one of its twelve Prime Operators for its secret service, the TBII. The TBII wants him as a spy, thief & assassin. It's not, of course, a problem for the Confederacion, which simply uses immersion therapy & hypnotic personality overlay for Otto's training, then sends him out in deep cover, encased in plastiflesh, on a variety of dangerous missions on a number of bizarre worlds. But for him, it's a different matter: what he has to witness & what he's forced to do take a terrible toll. Always he returns to his original self--his conscience stabbed by the memory of all those he'd killed in the service of interstellar harmony.
A Woman of the Iron People
Eleanor Arnason - 1991
But the factions on the mother ship hovering above the planet may create an unintended chaos for both the life on the planet and the humans exploring it. As the anger increases on the ship, the ground crew becomes more and more affected by the conflict and begins to rely on their instincts to keep the project moving forward. Unexpected danger plagues the mission as Lixia is determined to expand her knowledge.
Strings
Dave Duncan - 1990
So the scientists of 4-I were happy to promise her a place in the next offworld colonization team if she agreed to assess the potential of the latest worlds they had discovered. Then she met Cedric, the grandson of 4-I's brilliant and tyrannical director, and for the first time ever she began to doubt her uncanny intuition.Cedric dreamed of becoming a scout and exploring other worlds. When he met the lovely Alya he was more determined than ever to leave Earth -- with her. His grandmother, though, needed him as a pawn in her Machiavellian plot to cover up a murder and protect 4-I itself from being destroyed.She had no intention of letting him go. But the director underestimated her grandson -- and the woman whose destiny seemed linked with his . . .
Unplugged
Donna Freitas - 2016
Years ago, Skylar Cruz’s family sent her to the App World for a chance at a better life.Now Skye is a nobody, a virtual sixteen-year-old girl without any glamorous effects or expensive downloads to make her stand out in the App World. Yet none of that matters to Skye. All she wants is a chance to unplug and see her mother and sister again.But when the borders between worlds suddenly close, Skye loses that chance. Desperate to reach her family, Skye risks everything to get back to the physical world. Once she arrives, however, she discovers a much larger, darker reality than the one she remembers.