Book picks similar to
The Blue Chair by Joyce Thompson


science-fiction
thinking-about-reading
wanted-sci-fi
women-s-classic-sff

Prediction: Big Data, big danger


Tony Batton - 2019
    Their hopes rest on a new quantum super computer, one capable of interpreting patterns in the oceans of intelligence data. There’s just the small challenge of building it. Gregory Jenson, CEO of ZAT Systems, is tasked by MI5 to create the computer, but ghosts in his past could thwart matters before he even begins. Young lawyer, Michael Adams, is given the task of helping Jenson, but he soon has problems of his own. And they’ll soon learn that a hidden player wants to use the new system for their own plans – someone incredibly well-informed, and prepared to go to any lengths to achieve their goals. And if they succeed, the recovery of the nuclear reactor will be the least of everyone’s problems.

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


Rachel Aukes - 2021
    

Saving Grindrod


Thomas A. Wright - 2016
    Daniel Westford needed a place where he could become invisible far away from his native Oregon and he found it in Grindrod amongst the farms, cattle and timber. For six years he stayed under the radar, working hard to build a life while keeping everyone at arm’s length, including his lover, Border Patrol officer Layla Stormcloud. It was one their weekends together, a clear night with a million stars and everything was right with the world. Crickets sang and a shooting star flew across the heavens. It’s just as well they only watched it and didn’t make a wish because this shooting star changed course and plummeted to the earth. The revelations awaiting them at the crash site will change everything. Heavily guarded secrets of both the man and the universe will be compromised and Daniel’s determination to keep his distance from everyone and everything in his life will be tested. He has the ability to save the town from destruction, but doing so will expose the secret he’s worked so hard to keep, and compromise a relationship that means much more to him than he is willing to admit.

Fast-Time at Aldmont High (The Time Flow Stories Book 1)


Laurence Dahners - 2022
    

ROCKS AND SHOALS (THE FIGHTING TOMCATS Book 5)


M.L. Maki - 2021
    

Timestream 1


Jude Hardin - 2019
    By a man from the future... October 2101 Rock Wahlman… Former Navy Master-At-Arms, Jack Reacher’s genetic duplicate—his actual clone, produced from a blood specimen that was drawn over a hundred years ago. Recently recruited by a secret government agency, Wahlman has been sent back in time to protect Reacher from a faction called Topple, a rogue group of time-traveling criminals determined to alter the past in an effort to make the future more profitable for themselves. You might say that Wahlman is extremely motivated. Because if Reacher is killed before the blood that was used to produce Wahlman is drawn, then it’s possible that Wahlman will cease to exist. He definitely has his work cut out for him. He knows he’s in Germany for a reason, but after being in a coma for three days, he can’t remember exactly what that reason is. In fact, he can’t even remember his own name. Before being recruited as Jack Reacher’s time-traveling bodyguard, Rock Wahlman got chased and shot at and beat some bad guys senseless in The Reacher Experiment series of thrillers. Pulse-pounding action from the first page to the last! The Reacher Experiment Series Dead Ringer Moving Target No Escape Kill Shot 357 Sunset Redline End Game Ricochet Gone

Excalibur's Quest (Swordships Odyssey)


Dietmar Arthur Wehr - 2018
    Humanity is now at their mercy, but not all Space Force warships have been defeated. Wolfe Koenig’s light cruiser, Excalibur, is on a mission to acquire technology that just might enable the ragged remnants of the Fleet to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat—if he can find an alien race with that technology, if he can convince them to trade for it and if the technology can be exploited fast enough. Excalibur’s Quest is the story of that mission and the challenges, both alien and human, that Koenig faces. This is the second book in the action-packed military SF Swordships Odyssey series. Genre categories: space fleet, military SF, space opera, galactic empire, alien invasion, first contact, space exploration.

EVA (Field Series Book 4)


Simon Winstanley - 2018
    The future lies where genetics, A.I. and time collide. You don’t want to miss the conclusion of the Field Series main arc! Complete your journey with one small step,The future has arrived. Now.

Runs in the Family


Kevin Ikenberry - 2014
    With little hope of leaving the outer rim of the Milky Way, Mairin agrees to participate in a classified experiment offering her genetic perfection and a chance to see the galaxy. Now, armed with her great-grandfather's military knowledge and combat-refined instincts, Mairin is tasked with leading inexperienced troops in a war against a shadowy enemy using hauntingly familiar tactics. But the first rule of the military is "hurry up and wait," and Mairin learns this firsthand. Without transport to the fight, Mairin spends the downtime on a lush paradise world, getting to know her new body, her imprint, and her heart. Mairin meets Tallenaara, a beautiful Styrahi architect whose mission and past will come to challenge them both. Faced with the most difficult choice of her young life, Mairin Shields can only watch as her world spins out of control.

The Alorian Wars: Volume I


Drew Avera - 2017
    But, as his ship decimates planet after planet, he finds his sympathies swinging toward their defeated enemies. Sergeant Anki Paro, a Luthian Marine, has been anxiously awaiting the call to deploy. As the last line of defense against the crushing Greshian forces, she hopes the time has finally come for her world to stand against tyranny. However, as her society prepares for imminent destruction, questions of misplaced loyalties lead Anki to wonder if the world she is trying to save has any real intentions of surviving. As Brendle's and Anki's worlds collide, they find themselves in an unlikely alliance to try to stop the full might of the Greshian Empire before there's nothing left to fight for. A stolen ship, a mission on the line, enemies at every turn... After four months in hiding, Brendle Quin can't delay his mission any longer. His ship, the Replicade, is held together with failing patches, and he needs to make repairs in a port. Unfortunately, the nearest world with proper facilities is situated deep in Greshian-owned enemy territory. The Greshian colony of Farax is a safe hold for piracy in the region, and none is more vile than Crase Tuin, a man known for trafficking people and weapons across the Alorian Galaxy. He has a reputation as the only pirate never to lose a ship--with the exception of the Replicade. When Crase finds the Replicade, he vows to claim the lives of those who stole her. But Brendle won't go down without a fight. Nothing has stopped the Greshian Empire's expanse, but all hope isn't lost... The illusion of peace shrouds a hidden darkness. Just as the crew of the Replicade are getting settled on a seemingly tranquil world, they encounter a young girl with special abilities--and she's being hunted by a secret, powerful organization that will stop at nothing to have her. When Anki and Brendle intervene to help the girl, they are caught in the organization's crosshairs. The crew must make a decision: give into the looming threat of the organization, or die fighting to protect her. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Commander Ilium Gyl has taken command of a Greshian scout ship. A breach in protocol raises questions of his loyalty to the Greshian Empire, leading to a power struggle as a rebellion sparks in a distant sector of the Alorian Galaxy. His ambitions may cripple the Greshian Fleet, or he might just be the empire's savior. The Alorian Wars is a space opera series, filled with political intrigue and shrouded in mystery, is sure to please fans of "The Expanse", "Dark Matter", "Firefly", and "Killjoys". Join the war today!

Resistance


Max Carver - 2017
    Rapid expansion into habitable worlds brings immense prosperity and a new age of exploration unlike any humanity has seen. WAR Conflicts over control of the colonial worlds spawn a massive, generation-long war among humans. Under a shaky armistice, humanity has just begun to crawl out of the shadows of destruction, but suspicion and bitter hostility run deep. INVASION On a rocky, desolate planet, a small band of gold prospectors find themselves making a discovery they never expected—valuable and powerful relics of the galaxy's deep past. The prospectors also discover a hostile alien species, ruthless beings who do not tolerate humans and wipe them out on sight. Humanity's first contact with intelligent aliens becomes a war for survival. The invasion has begun...but the beginning of the invasion is also the beginning of the resistance. "Resistance is a terrific space opera adventure. It combines mystery, heart-pounding action, and a good dose of humor. It's Aliens meets Tremors. I can't wait to read the sequel." -Daniel Arenson, USA Today bestselling author of the Earthrise series

The Cyclops Effect


CJ Williams - 2020
    But that’s what happens when medical technology goes awry. Doctors said they could train her brain to interpret digital signals from the camera in her artificial eye. The module even has wi-fi so they can monitor signal traffic across her optic nerve. What they didn’t anticipate was that her brain would figure out how to use the wi-fi connection both ways. Asha can now see the Internet. ASHA'S INTELLIGENCE IS NOT ARTIFICIAL As her digital brain develops, she creates an online AI by copying part of her mind to the cloud. The AI she calls Abbot becomes her right hand as she goes to work for the FBI tracking down international terrorists. Unfortunately, she is so effective, the government believes she may be a co-conspirator. When they refuse to pay her, she walks out. IT'S NOT JUST THE FBI WHO SUSPECT HER When Asha crosses paths with Chinese military hackers, she stops them by taking out Shanghai’s electrical grid. Now the communist government wants to know who did it and how. Things go downhill after Asha gives a copy of Abbot to her husband’s company. When the Chinese military steals a copy of it, they immediately recognize its military significance. Their top priority, however, is to take out the woman who came up with it in the first place. CHINA FLEXES ITS NEW CYBER WARFARE TOOL Using her own technology against her, the Chinese suddenly become a serious threat to the US. The FBI calls Asha back and ask one last favor: stop the Chinese attack. She agrees, but this time there are conditions. Either they pay upfront, or she will take care of the Asian threat in her own way, and knowing Asha, that could mean World War Three.

Galleon


C.J. Williams - 2018
    His only hope for survival is to partner with an alien Artificial Intelligence named Alyssa. She is the brain of the most improbable star ship Gus has ever seen, part ancient sailing ship, part incredible star-faring vessel. But there is a catch. Alyssa’s first priority is to finish an epic yacht race that started twenty-eight thousand years ago. THE WORLD IS CAPTURED BY THE ALIEN DRAMA Every day Gus sends a video love letter to his wife via the lifeboat’s one-way subspace signal where it is automatically posted on YouTube. Few people care until another lifeboat crashes with two young women aboard, both of them celebrities. Their fame turns Gus into a worldwide phenomenon; everyone watches the three castaways fight to carve a life from the tiny island life even though they have little hope of rescue. When disaster threatens, Gus and the girls have no choice but to resurrect the crippled galleon. Their impossible task is to sail Alyssa across an alien sea and then fly her across unimaginable galactic reaches. WHEN ALYSSA FINALLY AGREES TO HELP, SPACE PIRATES STRIKE On live television, the public watches helplessly when a ship of vicious murderers attack the three survivors. The world grieves when the now-famous exiles go silent. At least until Earth's Space Navy reports they are under attack by a ship that is beyond imagination.

The Belt: Complete Trilogy


Gerald M. Kilby - 2018
    The ship contains an experimental quantum device, lost while en route to a research colony on Europa. On Earth, powerful corporate forces are moving to resume unrestricted, inter-AI communications, their objective being to gain complete dominion over the colonized solar system. But the outer worlds are mobilizing to prevent them from achieving their objective, a fight back which is being led by Solomon, a sentient quantum intelligence (QI), also on Europa. However, once word of the crew’s discovery gets out, they soon realize that ownership of this technology could fundamentally change the balance of power within the solar system, and they now find themselves at the very nexus of a system-wide conflict. Their fight for survival plays out across the solar system, from the mining outposts of the asteroid belt to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and from the great Martian city of Jezero to the irradiated wastelands on Earth. This is an epic tale of humanity’s struggle for survival and meaning in a time when artificial intelligence has finally out-paced our own ability to control it. About The Belt: The story is set a century or so into the future where humanity has colonized most of the inner solar system. The asteroid belt (The Belt) is now a hive of mining activity and ships ply the trade routes to Earth and Mars. The technology depicted, for the most part, is what I consider to be technically plausible, although I do stretch it a little with quantum entanglement. That said, you won’t need a calculator or a slide-rule to enjoy the story.

Steel Walls and Dirt Drops


Alan Black - 2009
    She is a larger-than-life combat veteran and a bonafide war hero. She knows combat. She also knows that combat is one thing and that command is a warthog of a different and dubious color. Misha wonders if she has the necessary skills to turn this group of slackers, petty criminals and losers into an effective fighting unit in the short time she has left before being tossed out the back end of a spacecraft to fight in ground chewing warfare. APES are supposed to be an armored infantry fighting force. However, this unit’s last commander retired in the saddle leaving his unit to unravel and fend for themselves. Their assigned space forces transport captain is less than no help at all. The war with the Binders is heating up and there are secrets swirling around mixed with gossip about the last big battle against the aliens. Some secrets could mean life or death for the ground pounders who wear metal armor in dirt side warfare. Combat is on the horizon and even the veteran APES doubt they will be ready for what is coming. All Misha can do is crack a few heads, kick some backsides and see what happens. Her APES might live through the next battle if she is successful. If not…