Impact: Titan: Hard Science Fiction


Brandon Q. Morris - 2020
    Shortly before, a spaceship full of researchers and astronauts had found a new home on Saturn's moon, Titan, and survived by having their descendants genetically adapted to the hostile environment.The Titanians, as they call themselves, are proud of their cooperative and peaceful society, while unbeknownst to them, humanity is slowly recovering back on Earth. When a 20-mile-wide chunk of rock escapes the asteroid belt and appears to be on a collision course with Earth, the Titanians fear it must look as if they launched the deadly bombardment. Can they prevent the impact and thus avoid an otherwise inevitable war with the Earthlings?

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde & Other Tales; Kidnapped; Treasure Island


Robert Louis Stevenson - 2007
    Jekyll and Mr. HydeTreasure Island

Colony Mars: Complete Trilogy


Gerald M. Kilby - 2017
    Satellite imagery of the aftermath shows extensive damage to the facility. The fifty-four colonists who called it home are presumed dead. Three years later, a new mission sets down on the planet surface to investigate what remains of the derelict site. But, it’s not long before they realize the colony is not as lifeless as everyone thought. Someone is still alive -- hiding out somewhere. Yet, before they can find the elusive colonist a strange illness starts to affect the crew. Pressure now mounts on Biologist, Dr. Jann Malbec, to locate the source and find a way to fight it. However, as she investigates she begins to suspect a dark and deadly secret lurking within the colony. A secret that threatens not just the crew but the entire population of Earth. With limited resources and time running out, she must find some answers and find them fast. Because if she doesn't, none of them will be going home. Colony Two Mars: The only survivor of the ill-fated ISA mission is now stranded on Mars. Having been designated a bio-hazard by Earth, any hope of returning home is all but gone. She is alone, isolated, and abandoned. That is, until another human shows up in the main colony airlock. However, he's barely alive and soon dies without regaining consciousness. More disturbing though, a DNA test identifies him as a colonist who has already died, several years earlier — impossible as that may be. Nevertheless, there is only one place he could have come from, the mine on the far side of the Jezero crater — Colony Two. An outpost they had presumed was long dead. But if he survived, maybe there are others still alive? She now has no choice but to attempt the dangerous journey across the crater to investigate. Because if she doesn’t find some answers soon, her only future is to die alone on Mars. Colony Three Mars: Now that the truth of the genetic experiments on Mars has been revealed, new missions are on their way to gain control of this extraordinary technology. In the process, they seek to exploit and enslave the colonists—turning them into nothing more than lab rats. Worse, these newcomers are well armed, and prepared to go to war with each other to win control of the colony and its people. But Dr. Jann Malbec has a secret, one that she could use to spare the colony and save the colonists from this fate. However, by using it she will almost certainly doom Earth to a planet-wide pandemic of apocalyptic proportions. Yet she must choose. Earth or Mars—which is is going to be?

Retribution Required


C.R. Daems - 2018
    There smuggling, bribes, and a wild-west live-free-or-die attitude prevails and an eye-for-an-eye is the preferred method of retribution. For Zenaida, a child of the Rim, the death of her father requires retribution. But she must first learn how to survive while trying to track down her snow leopard's stolen litter and her father's killers. But unknown to her, her father's killers spared her for a reason—a secret that could mean her death if she discovers it.

Iron Edge


P.S. Power - 2016
     George Elder is a man torn between two worlds. In one, he’s a hard-working auto mechanic and wounded war veteran with a mysterious past. In the other he’s a young Weapons Master, just starting out in life. The problem is that he doesn’t know which is real. If either of them actually is. Regardless, if his home in either world is going to survive, George is going to have to become something that he’s never tried to be in either life. A hero.

The Lakebed


Tim Stone - 2018
    (Book Readers Appreciation Group) Medallion RecipientA murder, a sociopath, an earthquake. And another dimension.It’s 2021 in Hynek, Washington State. Police Chief Michelle Bardo is investigating a bizarre murder and spate of animal mutilations rocking the waters of her resort town. A hard-luck immigrant, Al Dragunov, is searching for answers about his tortured past in war-torn Ukraine. Their paths meet after an apocalyptic earthquake drains Lake Hynek, drawing them into the bowels of the dried lakebed. Underneath is a . . . structure. A simulacrum. A site of inexplicable, irrational experiments since time immemorial.One part police procedural, one part horror tale, and one part journey into high strangeness—time travel, UFOs, and the interdimensional hypothesis.From debut author Tim Stone, "The Lakebed"—a 2019 B.R.A.G. (Book Readers Appreciation Group) Medallion Recipient—is an unpredictable, thought-provoking, and fast-paced sci-fi thriller for fans of "The Twilight Zone" and "The X-Files."

In Every Clime and Place


Patrick LeClerc - 2014
    Always Faithful. The motto of the United States Marine Corps. Words to live by. On the ragged edges of civilization, Corporal Michael Collins has lived those words, taking on riots and evacuations, rebels and terrorists. Asteroid belt patrol is just another deployment. Ninety nine percent boredom, one percent terror. But soon the platoon of Marines find themselves entangled in the threads of a conspiracy of corporate greed, government corruption, piracy, and a band of war criminals. As the fire team leader struggles with tensions in the close knit unit, Collins and his fellow Marines find themselves outnumbered in a pitched battle to stop a corrupt land grab that seems right out of the Old West, but on a new, wider, more unforgiving frontier. And now he must confront the harsh demands of being “always faithful.” Semper Fi. Words to live by. Words to die by. Time to earn that combat pay, Marines. Welcome to the Suck. And remember, you volunteered for this. Patrick LeClerc has crafted a tense, military action adventure on the edge of civilization: Earth’s mining colonies in the asteroid belt. “In Every Clime and Place” combines the spirit of classic s/f of Heinlein’s “Starship Troopers” or David Drake’s “Hammer’s Slammers” with the isolated, small unit grunt’s eye view intimacy of George MacDonald Fraser’s “Quartered Safe Out Here.” "In Every Clime and Place” is a frontier land grab; a tale of government corruption and corporate piracy, and a near future Marine science fiction story, told with gritty authenticity, gallows humor and raw emotion, evoking the closeness and isolation of a small unit deployed to the distant edge of a bleak and dangerous frontier. BOOK REVIEW Set some 60 years in the future, this impressive, fast-paced novel is as much ‘Semper fi’ as it is sci-fi. The convincing story centers on the hard-hitting law and order role of the USMC in dealing with organized commercial pirates causing mayhem on planet Mars. The plot’s development is cleverly stage-managed by the author (a former US Marine) From the very first page, authenticity is the dominant hallmark of this exciting and very readable book. Don’t expect to read this novel a chapter at a time, last thing at night and then drop off to sleep. I found it impossible to put down. This book demanded and held my attention. The very believable characters live off the pages. They, their gritty Service dialogues and the battle scenes are all USMC through and through. Long before that iconic US Marine legend, Chesty Puller, was mentioned in the story, I was sold on this book’s authenticity and the author’s credibility. I thoroughly recommend it as an absorbing, exciting read. It has, too, the makings of a great film. -Mike Williams, Royal Marine, SBS, Author of The Tremayne Trilogy

Déjà Vu


Peter Cawdron - 2021
    As much as she tries to quell her nerves, she can't shake the feeling she's going to die. She feels as though she's never going to leave the Intrepid alive—and she's right.

Tear in Time


Christopher David Petersen - 2011
    RECOMMENDED READING ORDER:TEAR IN TIME (book 1): After a traumatic loss on the operating table, Dr.David Warner enters an elevator and descends into the American Civil War (1862). That one death changes the world forever.PRISONER IN TIME (book 2): Dr. Warner must travel back in time once again, this time to save a patient and his troubled brother.Tear in Time Synopsis:Dr. David Warner descends in a hospital elevator, and is transported in time to the Civil War, 1862.In order to survive, he must gain the trust of Dr. Jebadiah Morgan, an old Civil War surgeon, who is as skeptical of David as he is intrigued. Demonstrating advanced surgical skills in difficult primitive conditions, he wins Dr. Morgan's confidence and they soon become close friends.David's experience with such a brutal war is shocking and fearful. While in a desperate search to return home, David is thrust into the infamous Battle of Antietam. Overrun and greatly outnumbered, David reluctantly assumes command of his battalion and turns the tide of their capture.Having narrowly avoided death at Antietam, David is forced into command once more: the Battle of Gettysburg. Alongside General George Armstrong Custer, the two develop and execute an ingenious plan to change the outcome of the battle and ultimately, the war.As David nears the end of his journey, he is gravely wounded. With time running out, his survival depends on the future.For those interested in updates on book releases, please sign up for my news letter: ow.ly/gqFbo

Hegemony


Mark Kalina - 2012
    The Hegemony's vast warships dominate the skies over a hundred worlds, protecting its subjects and enforcing its will. The interceptor pilots of the Hegemonic Fleet are the cutting edge of the Hegemony's military might, the tip of the spear. In a split second, they can decide the outcome of a battle that can affect the fates of whole star systems. The life expectancy of an interceptor pilot is measured in minutes. It's debatable if they're still human. It's debatable if they're even alive to begin with. Alekzandra Neel has attained what she sought; a place among the stars, a chance to be an interceptor pilot of the Hegemonic Fleet. She doesn't expect it to be safe or easy. But as war clouds gather and billions look to the skies with nervous fear, she has no idea what the real cost could be.

Chewing Rocks


Alan Black - 2009
    Rock mining in space was all she knew. It was all she was good at doing. She was comfortable living alone as the captain of her mining ship the Sedona. Normally she managed with only infrequent trips to the planetoid Ceres for resupply. She didn’t want to have to make extra trips back to base because of equipment failure. She didn’t want to become a mining tutor for a group of newcomers from Earth. And she certainly didn’t want to get entangled in corporate conspiracies, piracy, kidnapping, murder and worst of all…politics.

Her Billionaire's Demands (The Institute: Shameful Arrangements Book 2)


Emily Tilton - 2021
    

A God in Chains


Matthew Hughes - 2019
    Martin Searching for his stolen past in the Dying Earth. He calls himself Farouche, after a character from legend, but his reality is that his memories and identity were stolen from him by a secret enemy.In a far-future world of wizards and walled cities, he finds himself trailing a wealthy merchant's caravan across a dusty plain. Possessed of a soldier's skills, he hires on with the merchant and begins to build a life. But his efforts to discover his past reveal a dark prospect: was he a participant in a notorious massacre of innocents?Will Farouche come to know the truth? Will he survive the journey across a lawless land to the remote city of Olliphract, ruled by half-mad thaumaturges? And when he finally lays bare the plot in which he has been ensnared, will it be too late?Matthew Hughes delivers another dark fantastical adventure set in a decadent Dying Earth, where men and half-men and even the gods themselves contend for earthly power and unearthly prizes.A God in Chains is a Dying Earth adventure of men, half-men, and gods and is the latest Matthew Hughes' Archonate series novel."Hughes's boldness is admirable" -- New York Review of Science Fiction About the Author: Matthew Hughes writes fantasy and space opera, often in a Jack Vance mode.  Booklist has called him Vance's "heir apparent."His short fiction has appeared in Asimov's, F&SF, Postscripts, Lightspeed, and Interzone, and invitation-only anthologies including Songs of the Dying Earth, Rogues, Old Mars, Old Venus, The Book of Swords, and The Book of Magic, all edited by George R. R. Martin and/or Gardner Dozois.He has won the Arthur Ellis Award, and has been shortlisted for the Philip K. Dick, Aurora, Nebula, Endeavour (twice), A.E. Van Vogt, and Derringer Awards.He spent more than thirty years as one of Canada's leading speechwriters for political leaders and corporate executives.  Since 2007, he has been traveling the world as an itinerant housesitter, has lived in twelve countries, and has no fixed address. Praise: "Hughes's boldness is admirable" - New York Review of Science Fiction "Hughes effortlessly renders fantastic worlds and beings believable" - Publishers Weekly "Heir apparent to Jack Vance" - Booklist "Criminally underrated" - George R.R. Martin ***

Another World


Samuel Best - 2020
    Surviving the trip to a nearby spiral arm of our own galaxy is a journey like no other.Merritt Alder is done with Earth. The planet is polluted and overpopulated, and its people are hungry.Earth’s first colony, Galena, is a pioneer world 10,000 light years away. It has clean air, unpolluted water, and continents of arable land.For Merritt, the journey is only the beginning. Obstacles arise every step of the way, forcing compromise and sacrifice. And not everyone on the ship is pure of heart.The bonds he forges on the journey will be the key to surviving on another world — a world anyone has yet to fully explore.A world with secrets of its own.Another World is a bold new entry in the realm of planet colonization and pioneer science fiction, an odyssey across our own galaxy to start a new life on Earth’s first colony.

Dalal ICSE Chemistry Series: Objective Workbook for Simplified ICSE Chemistry for Class-9


Viraf J. Dalal
    Viraf J. Dalal is an excellent book for every student of ICSE Chemisty.