Book picks similar to
The War Of The Worlds by Jeff Wayne


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AntiBio


Jake Bible - 2014
    They have failed. All that's left are the Strains- bacteria so strong they have brought the world to its knees. But humanity has fought on, carving out pockets of civilization in a wasteland known as the Sicklands, creating the super high-tech Clean Nation cities. And from the cities GenSOF has been born- Genetic Special Forces Operations. An elite military branch of the government that enlists men and women with specific genetic anomalies that allow them to be hosts to bacteria that even the Strains cannot defeat. Under the watchful eye of Control, GenSOF protects the Clean Nation cities from the ever encroaching Strains and the diseased inhabitants of the Sicklands. But now Control has other plans for GenSOF, and possibly the Clean Nation cities themselves, and it is up to the operators of GenSOF Zebra Squad, and their cloned Canine Units known as bug hounds, to find out what those plans are. Or die trying.

Rocannon's World


Ursula K. Le Guin - 1966
    Earth scientist Rocannon is on that world, and he sees his friends murdered and his spaceship destroyed. Marooned among alien peoples, he leads the battle to free this new world - and finds that legends grow around him even as he fights.

The Playground


Ray Bradbury - 1953
    The playground, like childhood itself, is a nightmare of torment and vulnerability; Charles fears his sensitive son will be destroyed there just as he almost was so many years ago.Underhill's sister Carol, who has moved in to help raise the young boy after his mother passed away, feels differently. The playground, she believes, is preparation for life, Jim will survive the experience, she feels, and he will be the better for it and more equipped to deal with the rigor and obligation of adult existence.Underhill is caught between his own fear and his sister's invocation of reason and feels paralyzed. A mysterious boy calls out to him from the playground, and seems to know all too well why Underhill is there and what the source of his agony really is. A mysterious Manager also lurks to whom the strange boy directs Underhill. An agreement can be made perhaps this is what the boy tells Underhill. Perhaps Jim can be spared the playground, but of course, a substitute must be found.

It's a Good Life


Jerome Bixby - 1953
    It's a party all the townspeople will remember...always!Voted as one of the greatest stories by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, the story was also adapted into a classic Twilight Zone episode.

Solaris


Stanisław Lem - 1961
    Others examining the planet, Kelvin learns, are plagued with their own repressed and newly corporeal memories. The Solaris ocean may be a massive brain that creates these incarnate memories, though its purpose in doing so is unknown, forcing the scientists to shift the focus of their quest and wonder if they can truly understand the universe without first understanding what lies within their hearts.

Last Contact (Titan Chronicles #3)


Samuel Best - 2021
    The crew’s daring plan might be the only way to save humanity.Meanwhile, a research station in orbit around Venus could hold the key to survival. The scientists on board have been studying an alien creature that may be connected to Earth’s imminent demise—if only they could make contact…The events of Mission One and Deep Black culminate in this thrilling conclusion to the Titan Chronicles.

The Midwich Cuckoos


John Wyndham - 1957
    A day later the object is gone and everyone awakens unharmed—except that all the women in the village are discovered to be pregnant.

A Journey To The Center Of The Earth


Raymond James - 1997
    And if Saknussemm was right, then every theory about the molten core of the earth is wrong. Prof. Otto Lidenbrock has to learn the truth. So Lidenbrock, his nephew Axel, and the Icelandic hunter Hans climb down the cone of an arctic volcano and into...

Earth Blood


James Axler - 1993
    Mass starvation wipes out millions almost overnight. Society collapses, and those who survive must contend with renegade groups striving for naked power. A new currency comes into existence -- precious food, and the force of arms that helps get it at any cost.Returning from a deep space mission, the crew of the Aquila crash lands in the Nevada desert and finds that the world they knew no longer exists. Ten months ago they had friends, wives and children. Now they set out on an uncertain odyssey to find the survivors, an odyssey that uncovers a secret trail left by a man called General Zelig. But in this ravaged new world, no one knows who is friend or foe... and their quest will test the limits of endurance and the will to live.

The War of the Worlds: Aftermath


Tony Wright - 2010
    Now, a few months on, the Martian invaders are dead, slain by the earthly bacteria against which they had no defence.Then, as England begins to rebuild, terrorist outrages begin to rock society. A new adventure begins, as a daring plan is put into place to discover the source of these disruptions.

The Night Land: A Story Retold


James Stoddard - 1912
    Penned in 1912, The Night Land is considered by many to be a work of genius, but one written in a difficult, archaic style that readers often find impenetrable. As a labor of love, James Stoddard has rewritten Hodgson's book to bring it to a wider audience. The story opens in the 19th century, but quickly moves to the far future, where the sun has gone out, leaving the world in a darkness broken only by strange lights and mysterious fires. Over the ages, monsters and evil forces have descended to the earth, compelling the surviving humans to take refuge in a great pyramid of imperishable metal built in a miles-deep chasm. The monsters surround the pyramid in a perpetual siege lasting for eons, waiting for the moment when its defenses must fail.But one man, born out of his time, must leave the pyramid to seek his long-lost love though all the perils of the Night Land.

The End of Eternity


Isaac Asimov - 1955
    But when Harlan meets and falls for a non-Eternal woman, he seeks to use the awesome powers and techniques of the Eternals to twist time for his own purposes, so that he and his love can survive together.

I Am Legend


Richard Matheson - 1954
    but he is not alone. Every other man, woman and child on the planet has become a vampire, and they are hungry for Neville's blood.By day he is the hunter, stalking the undead through the ruins of civilisation. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn.How long can one man survive like this?

The Sheep Look Up


John Brunner - 1972
    In this nightmare society, air pollution is so bad that gas masks are commonplace. Infant mortality is up, and everyone seems to suffer from some form of ailment.

Star Maker


Olaf Stapledon - 1937
    The book describes a history of life in the universe, dwarfing in scale Stapledon's previous book, Last and First Men (1930), a history of the human species over two billion years. Star Maker tackles philosophical themes such as the essence of life, of birth, decay and death, and the relationship between creation and creator. A pervading theme is that of progressive unity within and between different civilizations. Some of the elements and themes briefly discussed prefigure later fiction concerning genetic engineering and alien life forms. Arthur C. Clarke considered Star Maker to be one of the finest works of science fiction ever written.