Book picks similar to
Athenian Steel by P.K. Lentz
fantasy
alternate-history
historical-fiction
free-reads
The House by the River
Lena Manta - 2007
And so, before each girl leaves the small house on the riverside at the foot of Mount Olympus, Theodora makes sure they know they are always welcome to return.A devoted and resilient mother, Theodora has lived through World War II, through the Nazi occupation of Greece, and through her husband’s death, and now she endures the twenty-year-long silence of her daughters’ absence. Her children have their own lives—they’ve married, traveled the world, and courted romance, fame, and even tragedy. But as they become modern, independent women in pursuit of their dreams, Theodora knows they need her—and each other—more than ever. Have they grown so far apart that they’ve forgotten their childhood house in its tiny village, or will their broken hearts finally lead them home?
Ridiculous!
D.L. Carter - 2012
Funny. Sexy. Cross Dressing. Not your mother's Regency Romance.After the death of her miserly cousin, Anthony North, Millicent Boarder is determined her family should never be poor or vulnerable again. To protect them she conceals her cousin's death and assumes his identity. Now she must face the Ton and the world as Mr. North and accept the price she must pay for her family's safety -- she will never be loved.Which means, of course, at this point she will meet the perfect man.
The Peculiars
Maureen Doyle McQuerry - 2012
Scree is inhabited by Peculiars, people whose unusual characteristics make them unacceptable to modern society. Lena wonders if her father is the source of her own extraordinary characteristics and if she, too, is Peculiar. On the train she meets a young librarian, Jimson Quiggley, who is traveling to a town on the edge of Scree to work in the home and library of the inventor Mr. Beasley. The train is stopped by men being chased by the handsome young marshal Thomas Saltre. When Saltre learns who Lena’s father is, he convinces her to spy on Mr. Beasley and the strange folk who disappear into his home, Zephyr House. A daring escape in an aerocopter leads Lena into the wilds of Scree to confront her deepest fears.This dark and thrilling adventure, with an unforgettable heroine, will captivate fans of steampunk, fantasy, and romance.
Quintessence
David Walton - 2013
In Europe, the magic is thin, but at the edge of the world, where the stars reach down close to the Earth, wonders abound. This drives the bravest explorers to the alluring Western Ocean. Christopher Sinclair is an alchemist who cares only about one thing: quintessence, a substance he believes will grant magical powers and immortality. And he has a ship.
Revelations
Robert Storey - 2013
A cataclysmic act of God ... humanity’s last stand."In the near future Sarah Morgan, an English archaeologist, is in a race against time to prove the impossible: that an advanced human ancestor once populated the Earth. But there are those that will kill to protect this most ancient of secrets, and when Sarah finally gets the proof she craves it is cruelly wrenched from her grasp; but never one to lie down Sarah finds another path, a path that propels her into a quest that will span continents and change her life forever.Simultaneously the world prepares for the arrival of 2011 AG5, an asteroid that will impact off the South African coastline with the force akin to the strike that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years previous. Humanity has long been planning for this colossal event and many preparations have been made to counteract its after effects in order to preserve the ever fragile global economy and civilisation itself. As the world holds its collective breath, below the surface government-run clandestine subterranean facilities are gearing up for the challenges ahead. These facilities are run by the gifted and ever mercurial Professor Steiner who has overseen a global programme charged with the preservation of mankind, as the clock ticks down towards zero hour his schedule is on track; however everything might not turn out as smoothly as he’d hoped…Pulsating with heart pounding action, forbidden history, astonishing archaeological discoveries, hidden prophecies, conspiracy, intrigue, terror and more, the ANCIENT ORIGINS series has been tipped as the next big Hollywood movie franchise and will immerse you in a thrilling and terrifying world that might just be real
Island in the Sea of Time
S.M. Stirling - 1998
R. Martin, author of A Game of ThronesIt's spring on Nantucket and everything is perfectly normal, until a sudden storm blankets the entire island. When the weather clears, the island's inhabitants find that they are no longer in the late twentieth century...but have been transported instead to the Bronze Age! Now they must learn to survive with suspicious, warlike peoples they can barely understand and deal with impending disaster, in the shape of a would-be conqueror from their own time.
The Dig
Michael Siemsen - 2010
Mystified experts, confounded by the impossible timeline they receive from traditional dating methods, call upon a stubborn twenty-something with a unique talent. Matthew Turner's gift is also his curse: whenever he touches an object, his consciousness is flooded with the thoughts and feelings of those who touched it before him, be it last week or centuries ago. It's a talent that many covet, some fear, and almost no one understands. Despite being exploited as a child and tormented by the unpleasant experiences imprinted on him from the various items he's "read," Matt agrees to travel from New York to the forests of Kenya. There, threatened by unknown enemies, and helped by a beautiful but prickly ally who begins to understand his strange ability, his mind journeys back in geological time to make a discovery so shocking that it forces us to rewrite all human history.
Extracted
R.R. Haywood - 2017
But his good intentions turn catastrophic when an early test reveals something unexpected: the end of the world.A desperate plan is formed. Recruit three heroes, ordinary humans capable of extraordinary things, and change the future.Safa Patel is an elite police officer, on duty when Downing Street comes under terrorist attack. As armed men storm through the breach, she dispatches them all.'Mad' Harry Madden is a legend of the Second World War. Not only did he complete an impossible mission—to plant charges on a heavily defended submarine base—but he also escaped with his life.Ben Ryder is just an insurance investigator. But as a young man he witnessed a gang assaulting a woman and her child. He went to their rescue, and killed all five.Can these three heroes, extracted from their timelines at the point of death, save the world?
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.
Infinite
Brian Freeman - 2021
Dylan initially chalks it up to trauma, but that changes when he runs into a psychiatrist who claims he’s her patient. She says he has been undergoing a unique hypnotherapy treatment built on the idea that with every choice, he creates an infinite number of parallel universes.Now those parallel universes are unlocked—and Dylan’s doppelgänger has staked a claim to his world. Can Dylan use these alternate realities to get a second chance at the life that was stolen from him? Or will he lose himself…to himself?
The Star Agency
R.E. Weber - 2013
Still in mourning following the death of his beloved grandfather, isolated from many of his friends and bored out of his mind at school, Theo has sunk to a new low that neither his interfering auntie Annie nor his best friend and neighbour Jules can shake him out of.Then one morning, Theo unexpectedly receives a mysterious parcel containing a newspaper and a cryptic letter and sets out with Jules to unravel its mystery. Following a trail of clues, Theo is led on a startling voyage of discovery into deep space where he discovers that the Universe is stranger, more exciting and more dangerous than he can possibly imagine. Will he have the courage to leave behind everything he has ever known in pursuit of an exciting new life or will his darkest fears triumph, forever putting his dreams out of reach?Meanwhile, the mysterious Star Agency watches patiently from the shadows, preparing to make its move...The Star Agency is book 1 of The Star Agency Chronicles, an interstellar secret agent adventure aimed at readers aged 9 and above.
The Thought Readers
Dima Zales - 2014
Everyone thinks I’m a genius. Everyone is wrong. Sure, I finished Harvard at eighteen and now make crazy money at a hedge fund. But that’s not because I’m unusually smart or hard-working. It’s because I cheat. You see, I have a unique ability. I can go outside time into my own personal version of reality—the place I call “the Quiet”—where I can explore my surroundings while the rest of the world stands still. I thought I was the only one who could do this—until I met her. My name is Darren, and this is how I became entangled with all the Russians and learned that I’m a Reader.
Banded
Logan Byrne - 2014
On a citizen’s sixteenth birthday, a computer suggests a new zone for them based on their inherent benefit to society. When Kalenna Slater is sorted out of her home zone Quixotic and into Altruistic, she thinks things can’t get worse. Life looks dismal until she meets Gavin, a boy also just sorted into Altruistic who becomes the light needed on her cloudy days.During sorting she receives a device known as ‘The Band’. It’s a large watch-like device that never comes off, and it measures a citizen’s karma on a scale from one to one hundred. If a citizen does good, they gain points. If a citizen does bad, including breaking laws, they lose points. When your number reaches zero, the band acts as judge, jury, and executioner, and you are injected with toxins that kill you within minutes.After sorting, recruits are taken to a three month long mandatory school named HQ. It’s at HQ she meets new friends from different zones, and finally begins to feel at ease. Everything goes well until a rare trip home makes her discover that her father, who has been missing for a decade, may have taken part in a terrible program that stands to shake the fabric of society.