Book picks similar to
Trust a Few by E.M. Swift-Hook
sci-fi
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Trapped
Randolph Lalonde - 2016
Some time later, mankind is slowly regaining control, destroying artificial intelligences by any means but leaving a chaotic, lawless galaxy behind as a result. Aspen has found a new home with the crew of the Cool Angel, a mercenary ship, unaware that she will soon be back in the hands of her old masters and will have to fight for her freedom all over again. From the author of the best selling Spinward Fringe series, this new novella promises adventure, drama and space with swagger!
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
Prison Nation
Jenni Merritt - 2011
Millie 942B has spent her entire life locked away with her criminal parents and countless other inmates. She believes in the Nation, in its strict laws and harsh punishments. But when Millie is released on her eighteenth birthday, she finds things are nothing as she was taught. People vanish, never to be seen again. Lies cover every word. Trust is as fragile as ice.And then there is Reed. Born and raised outside the Prison walls, his dreams and thoughts cause Millie to doubt everything she has ever believed. What is truly worth fighting for? If she pushes too hard, she could lose her freedom. If she stays silent, she could lose herself. The clock is ticking, and Millie must find the truth before it is too late.
Mindspeak
Heather Sunseri - 2013
And letting Jack into her life of secrets is not only a threat to her very existence, but it just might break her heart wide open.
The Pawn in the Portal
Nick Cole - 2016
Ward, a tier-one operator turned mercenary, has just flung himself off the cargo deck of a doomed C-130. Now he’s out of the Drop Zone and evading the undead as a terrible new breed of hunter enters the Wyrd. But these new, faster predators might not be the only thing to fear in an apocalypse beset by zombies, nukes and killer A.I.’s. One of the last warriors of a collapsed government is planning on putting up some big numbers in this final, ultimate game of Survivor, until he finds a mysterious new companion... a stranger dressed in black.
Andromeda Rising
Jay Allan - 2019
An industrial hell. The foulest and most decrepit slum on Parsephon. A nest of human misery, where hope is word long forgotten, and the dead are carted away every day. It is the worst pit in the Confederation’s great industrial machine known as the Iron Belt. Among the millions born into misery, poverty, and despair under the dark and smoky haze that covers the planet, Andromeda Lafarge is unique. One lost soul among billions, she is tough, relentless, determined to get out, to escape, to blaze her own trail, and to make a name for herself across the stars. Andi will break the chains binding her to a life of destitution, leave the Gut and Parsephon behind forever, and plunge into the dark and deadly worlds of the lost empire, prospecting for imperial artifacts, the bits and pieces of old tech that can make her rich. She will find new friends—and enemies—on the frontier, and she will blaze a trail from the filthy, polluted Iron Belt world of her birth to the dead and haunted imperial planets of the Badlands. She will fight, endure hardships unimaginable, save comrades…and lose some, too. She will struggle to amass wealth, to do whatever is necessary to ensure she will never again be helpless, and she will bring back the technology of the ancients, scraps of mankind’s lost legacy, to do it. She will create a name for herself among the rough and tumble adventurers who ply the rogue trade in ancient tech. For some, she will become one to emulate, to follow. To others, her name will become the foulest of curses. She will make her way, blade and pistol in hand, from one dead and ancient world to another. She will become the scourge of the Badlands. The Andromeda Chronicles is a new series set in the Blood on the Stars universe. Book 1: Andromeda Rising Book 2: Wings of Pegasus Book 3: Into the Badlands The Blood on the Stars Series: Book 1 - Duel in the Dark Book 2 - Call to Arms Book 3 - Ruins of Empire Book 4 - Echoes of Glory Book 5 - Cauldron of Fire Book 6 - Dauntless Book 7 - The White Fleet Book 8 - Black Dawn Book 9 - Invasion Book 10 - Nightfall Book 11 - The Grand Alliance Book 12 - The Colossus (Coming) Book 13 – The Others (Coming) Book 14 – Enemy of My Enemy (Coming)
Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits: A Novel
Jason Pargin - 2021
A Winner of the 2016 Alex AwardsNightmarish villains with superhuman enhancements. An all-seeing social network that tracks your every move. Mysterious, smooth-talking power players who lurk behind the scenes. A young woman from the trailer park. And her very smelly cat. Together, they will decide the future of mankind.Get ready for a world in which anyone can have the powers of a god or the fame of a pop star, in which human achievement soars to new heights while its depravity plunges to the blackest depths. A world in which at least one cat smells like a seafood shop's dumpster on a hot summer day. This is the world in which Zoey Ashe finds herself, navigating a futuristic city in which one can find elements of the fantastic, nightmarish and ridiculous on any street corner. Her only trusted advisor is the aforementioned cat, but even in the future, cats cannot give advice. At least not any that you'd want to follow.Will Zoey figure it all out in time? Or maybe the better question is, will you? After all, the future is coming sooner than you think.
Life After War (Life After War, #1-3)
Angela White - 2010
It does not contain new material. It does include the free first chapter of book four, Adrian's Eagles. "This is Safe Haven Refugee Camp. Can anyone hear me? Hello? Is anyone out there?" "The End of the world has given us a harsh, merciless existence, where nature tries hard to push mankind to the very brink of extinction. Everything is against us, between us... “Untold miles of lawless, apocalyptic roads wait for our feet, and the Future, cold and dark, offers little comfort. Without CHANGE, there will be no peace. Only Survivors." "Set along the lines of The Stand and The Postman, this is a chilling vision of the collapse of all society in the year 2012 and the rebirth of a nation by those who survived. It’s so much more than just another fantasy series." -The Review Shop From dangerous trips into dark, apocalyptic cities, to patriotic rescues and furious revelations, Life After War is an action packed fantasy series where those left alive must come to terms with their mistakes in the old world, while fighting for a place in the new one. It’s the apocalyptic fantasy series that Stephen King fans have been searching for. This way, please… Summary in 20 words or less An action adventure quest, with a supernatural romance, and many other subplots, set during the aftermath of the apocalypse. So what’s really in this series? Here’s a short list: *The End of the World, right-up-close and full of apocalyptic horror. *A government conspiracy that caused the apocalypse. *An adventure into the wastelands to find family, supplies, and safety. *A supernatural romance with a dangerous secret about a child’s parentage and a love strong enough to survive the end of the world. *An invasion, ambushes, attacks from Nature and man - guns and magic. *A refugee camp with very different laws, picking up those who’ve survived. *A Hero you’ll love, even as you ponder the secrets that could lose him leadership. *A Witch, a Doctor, a government Storm Tracker, a TV Star, and three Marines struggling to keep their people alive and together as they prepare to defend themselves against Cesar’s Slavers. *A constant battle for survival that includes deadly trips into decaying American cities, insanity, relics of the past, and ghosts that stalk their every move. Life After War. Magic and Reality blended into a post-apocalyptic fantasy series that you won’t ever forget. The Survivors (book one) has been a bestseller on multiple retailers in fantasy series, dark fantasy, science fiction adventure, and romance series, with more than 150K downloads.
Ansible 15715
Stant Litore - 2014
We are all in danger, the most terrible danger; we are all going to die terrible deaths. If you can hear me, if anyone can hear me, remember these words. Please. Pass them on to your children, and to theirs. You are our one hope..." Ansible 15715, a short story, is a frantic broadcast from the mind of a woman lost in time, a researcher trying to forewarn the human species about an unexpected and terrifying threat. There is very little chance that anyone will hear her plea. Unless possibly you. "Litore's elegant prose seeps into the soul, stoking our fears of dark labyrinths and the loss of self, of having our direst warnings passed off as madness in a cruel and ignorant world. A chilling and masterful tale." - Allison M. Dickson, author of Strings
Greenshift
Heidi Ruby Miller - 2012
Greenshift is a tale set within the world of Ambasadora.Mari’s rare eye color makes her a pariah within Upper Caste society, which is why she prefers plants to people…except David, the former Armadan captain who shuttles scientists around on a refurbished pleasure cruiser.But someone else is interested in Mari and her distinctive look—an obsessed psychopath who tortures and murders women for pleasure.When the killer chooses Mari as his next victim, the soldier inside David comes alive, but it is Mari who must fight for her own life and prove she isn’t as fragile as the flowers she nurtures.
Stepping Up
Robert Culp - 2013
So begins the story of Sonia MacTaggert. An engineer by education with dreams of actually earning a living as one, she is stuck in a dead-end maintenance job servicing the engines of starships that put into port at Tammuz. When she finally lands an engineering position on the starship Night Searcher, she finds herself thrust into the unfamiliar world of interstellar exploration on a ship with a classified mission. Has her quest for a new life and career gotten Sonia more than she bargained for? The voyage of the Night Searcher tests not only the technical savvy of the fledgling engineer, but her character and leadership, as she's faced with challenges she could never have seen coming.
ARC
Devon C. Ford - 2018
Amir Weatherby has the world in his hands, quite literally. When his company discovers an asteroid on a direct collision course with Earth, they decide to keep the news quiet and find a way to survive the impending apocalypse themselves. Secret projects begin with the intent of preventing the world going the same way as the dinosaurs. Three top-secret sites are developed, each designed to hold a small pocket of the human race safe until after impact. It just so happens that one of these sites is in space. The former ISS is transformed intoa safe haven called the ARC, the Automated Resettlement and Repopulation Cryostation, where some of the world’s greatest scientific minds will sleep through the whole show. But events unfold in ways that couldn’t have been predicted, and when they arrive back on Earth there is a whole new disaster waiting for them.
We Are The Wolf
Toby Neighbors - 2017
With human colonies on 45 worlds and space stations in over a hundred different systems, serving with the elite Force Recon branch of the Extra Solar Defense Force is the most prestigious career anyone could hope for. Warfare is almost exclusively the domain of remotely operated drones, but when things go wrong, in space or on a colony world, the Off World Recon gets the call and they always come prepared. Dean is a young man with plenty of prospects ahead of him, but when he gets selected for the most coveted job in the world, he jumps at the chance. Little does he know the rigors of training to become an elite Force Recon specialist or the dangers waiting for him in off-world tours of duty that sometimes last for years on end, but it’s always been his dream to charge into the unknown with a band of brothers, facing any threat to humanity’s expansion across the galaxy and etching his name into the annals of history. The only question is does he have what it takes to stand between the threats of the galaxy and the rest of the human race? We Are the Wolf is the first book in an exciting new military space opera that will have you riveted from the very first page. Toby Neighbors reimagines what service in a militarized space force would look like and takes his readers on a roller coaster ride that introduces them to a whole new world of adventure. From training across the globe to missions in outer space, We Are the Wolf will capture your imagination and have you cheering for more.
The Interstellar Age: The Complete Trilogy
Valmore Daniels - 2014
There is no trace of their young son, Alex Manez, or of the asteroid itself. On the outer edge of the solar system, the first manned mission to Pluto, led by the youngest female astronaut in NASA history, has led to an historic discovery: there is a marker left there by an alien race for humankind to find. We are not alone! While studying the alien marker, it begins to react. Four hours later, the missing asteroid appears in a Plutonian orbit, along with young Alex Manez, who has developed some alarming side-effects from his exposure to the kinetic element they call Kinemet. From the depths of a criminal empire based on Luna, an expatriate seizes the opportunity to wrest control of outer space, and takes swift action. The secret to faster-than-light speed is up for grabs, and the race for interstellar space begins! Music of the Spheres The technology for interstellar flight exists through the power of Kinemet, but the key to unlocking its code lies in a thousand-year-old scroll left on Earth by an alien species. When the ancient manual is stolen before a full translation is completed, Alex, Michael and Justine scramble to recover it. Along the way, they stumble on an interplanetary conspiracy and uncover a secret that shatters their view of life and shakes the very foundations of our existence. Worlds Away For a thousand years the Kulsat Armada has ravaged the galaxy searching for the lost legacy of an extinct race of technologically advanced beings. They destroy anyone who gets in their way. Now they have turned their attention to Earth and are gathering their forces for an invasion. Justine, Michael and Alex each hold a key to stopping the enemy, but they are worlds away from each other, and they are running out of time...
City of the Falling Sky
Joseph Evans - 2011
But the worms aren’t the only thing that he finds. Staring at him through the darkness, with wide, innocent eyes, is something that makes Seckry’s heart almost stop.A girl.She’s shaking, petrified, and has no recollection of who she is or what she’s doing there.Floodlights bleach the area and Seckry has no choice but to grab a hold of the girl and escape with her.Suddenly the question of what Endrin were doing with a few worms becomes the last thing on Seckry’s mind. What were Endrin doing with a human?