Aurora Rising


Amie Kaufman - 2019
    Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch…A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasmA sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmatesA smart-ass techwiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulderAn alien warrior with anger management issuesA tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wonderingAnd Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy. They're not the heroes we deserve. They're just the ones we could find. Nobody panic.

Navigating the Stars


Maria V. Snyder - 2018
    And Lyra Daniels' parents are the archaeological Experts (yes with a capital E) on the Warriors and have dragged her to the various planets to study them despite the time dilation causing havoc with her social life. When one of the many Warrior planets goes silent, and looters attack her research base, Lyra becomes involved in discovering why the Warriors were placed on these planets. And, more importantly, by who.

Survivors


Toby Neighbors - 2021
    Once a proud member of the Fleet Marine Corps’ elite Terrestrial Advance Combat teams, the battle on colony planet Luyten C left him broken and scarred. But after a year of surgeries and physical therapy, he’s ready to complete his enlistment as Master of Arms on the exploration vessel Rihla. It should be a simple, stress free assignment - but things rarely work out as they should.For decades humanity’s efforts to spread across the galaxy have been hampered by the violent Orrkasi, an intelligent, space faring race of which little is known. But Staff Sergeant Vanhorn is no stranger to the Orrkasi. He’s a veteran with eight combat engagements, a harden warrior, a man who knows how to improvise, adapt, and overcome. But he’s facing challenges he never expected before. His body is crippled and scarred, the TAC Team brotherhood he once thrived in see him as a pariah, and he’s haunted by the horrors of combat. Just getting through his first cruise after returning to active duty won’t be easy.When the explorer ship Rihla reaches the Leonis system after almost a month in hyperspace, they find a habitable planet with a rich atmosphere, liquid water, and the ideal climate. It’s a perfect world for human colonization, but they aren’t the first to arrive and the Orrkasi have a surprise waiting for them.Survivors is an exciting military science fiction novel by master storyteller Toby Neighbors for fans of Starship Troopers, First Blood, Battle Los Angeles, and Heartbreak Ridge. With a cinematic feel, and characters you’ll love, Survivors is a smashing first book in a series that you’re sure to want more of.

Pacific Rim: The Official Movie Novelization


Alexander C. Irvine - 2013
    To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes-a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi)-who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind's last hope against the mounting apocalypse."I wanted to make not a war movie, but an adventure movie, with a huge, romantic sense of adventure, a sense of grandeur, and operatic battles..." - Guillermo Del Toro

1st to Fight


Rick Partlow - 2020
    I never thought I’d actually become one. As a sci-fi author with a hit TV show, I have a few ideas about what alien invaders are supposed to look like. In my stories, they’re technologically advanced monsters, with tentacles, and no faces. Turns out I was right about the technology. And about how angry they’d be. But the way they look…that’s more terrifying than even I could have imagined. They look exactly like us. Because they are us.

Empress of Forever


Max Gladstone - 2019
    On the eve of her greatest achievement, she's trying to outrun those who are trying to steal her success.In the chilly darkness of a Boston server farm, Viv sets her ultimate plan into motion. A terrifying instant later, Vivian Liao is catapulted through space and time to a far future where she confronts a destiny stranger and more deadly than she could ever imagine. The end of time is ruled by an ancient, powerful Empress who blesses or blasts entire planets with a single thought. Rebellion is literally impossible to consider--until Vivian arrives. Trapped between the Pride, a ravening horde of sentient machines, and a fanatical sect of warrior monks who call themselves the Mirrorfaith, Viv must rally a strange group of allies to confront the Empress and find a way back to the world and life she left behind.A magnificent work of vivid imagination and universe-spanning action, Empress of Forever is a feminist Guardians of the Galaxy crossed with Star Wars and spiced with the sensibility and spirit of Iain M. Banks and William Gibson.

Dark Space: The Complete Series (Books 1-6)


Jasper T. Scott - 2019
    SCOTTDark Space: The Complete Series, 6 books, over 600,000 copies sold, 15,000+ Reviews on Amazon, and 4.4/5 Stars average rating. For a limited time, enjoy over 2000 pages of this epic space opera for one low price. From book one... HUMANITY IS DEFEATEDTen years ago the Sythians invaded the galaxy with one goal: to wipe out the human race.THEY ARE HIDINGNow the survivors are hiding in the last human sector of the galaxy: Dark Space--once a place of exile for criminals, now the last refuge of mankind.THEY ARE ISOLATEDThe once galaxy-spanning Imperium of Star Systems is left guarding the gate which is the only way in or out of Dark Space--but not everyone is satisfied with their governance.AND THEY ARE KILLING EACH OTHERFreelancer and ex-convict Ethan Ortane is on the run. He owes crime lord Alec Brondi 10,000 sols, and his ship is badly damaged. When Brondi catches up with him, he makes an offer Ethan can't refuse. Ethan must infiltrate and sabotage the Valiant, the Imperial Star Systems Fleet carrier which stands guarding the entrance of Dark Space, and then his debt will be cleared. While Ethan is still undecided about what he will do, he realizes that the Imperium has been lying and putting all of Dark Space at risk. Now Brondi's plan is starting to look like a necessary evil, but before Ethan can act on it, he discovers that the real plan was much more sinister than what he was told, and he will be lucky to escape the Valiant alive. . . .Included in this box set...Dark Space I: Humanity is DefeatedDark Space II: The Invisible WarDark Space III: OriginDark Space IV: RevengeDark Space V: AvilonDark Space VI: Armageddon

Ash


Tom Abrahams - 2018
    But every book dunks them into a new, alternate apocalypse; a nuclear holocaust, an earthquake, a flood, a wildfire, a hurricane, a plague, and even zombies.Different heroes will emerge in each novel. Different characters will survive and perish. Your favorite character dies in one book? He or she will be back in the next. In the end you'll unwind the loose thread that connects every character and every stand-alone story.In Ash, Abrahams tells the story of four college friends, an ex-con, a lonely fry cook, and a secretive group of prepared civilians as they each battle to survive in southern California after a series of nuclear attacks. Theirs is a gray world covered in ash and nuclear fallout.Do they hunker down? Do they bug out? Do they find their salvation above ground or below?

Stealing Light


Gary Gibson - 2007
    Mankind has operated within their influence for two centuries, establishing a dozen human colony worlds scattered along Shoal trade routes. Dakota Merrick, while serving as a military pilot, has witnessed atrocities for which this alien race is responsible. Now piloting a civilian cargo ship, she is currently ferrying an exploration team to a star system containing a derelict starship. From its wreckage, her passengers hope to salvage a functioning FTL drive of mysteriously non-Shoal origin. But the Shoal are not yet ready to relinquish their monopoly over a technology they acquired through ancient genocide.

Daybreak


Cheree Alsop - 2015
    She had been thrown onto a rough path at a very early age, and she didn’t get along with others. That all changes when she is broken out of a cage by Devren, a young captain of the SS Kratos. He shows her that not all humans are heartless.He Was Different, And He Offered Her The Chance For AdventureWhen the Kratos is sent on a mission to rescue fallen surveyors from the Revolutionaries faction, Liora must decide whether she will follow her Damaclan instincts, or trust Devren’s dark eyes and captivating smile and embark on an adventure unlike anything she has ever experienced.

Hell's Rejects


M.R. Forbes - 2017
    Thousands are dead. A fleet is in ruins. The attackers are unknown. The orders are clear: Recover the ships. Bury the bastards who stole them. Lieutenant Abigail Cage never expected to find herself in Hell. As a Highly Specialized Operational Combatant, she was one of the most respected soldiers in the military. Now she's doing hard labor on the most miserable planet in the universe. Not for long. The Earth Republic is looking for the most dangerous individuals it can control. The best of the worst, and Abbey happens to be one of them. The deal is simple: Bring back the starships, earn your freedom. Try to run, you die. It's a suicide mission, but she has nothing to lose. The only problem? There's a new threat in the galaxy. One with a power unlike anything anyone has ever seen. One that's been waiting for this moment for a very, very, long time. And they want Abbey, too. Be careful what you wish for. They say Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. They have no idea.

Dark Run


Mike Brooks - 2015
    And nobody talks about their past.But when a face from Captain Ichabod Drift’s former life send them on a run to Old Earth, all the rules change.Trust will be broken, and blood will be spilled.

Fallen Dragon


Peter F. Hamilton - 2001
    But as the Skins invade bucolic Thallspring, Z-B's strategy is about to go awry, all because of: Sgt. Lawrence Newton, a dreamer whose twenty years as a Skin have destroyed his hopes and desires; Denise Ebourn, a school teacher and resistance leader whose guerrilla tactics rival those of Che Guevara and George Washington and Simon Roderick, the director who serves Z-B with a dedication that not even he himself can understand. Grimly determined to steal, or protect, a mysterious treasure, the three players engage in a private war that will explode into unimaginable quests for personal grace...or galactic domination

The Stars Now Unclaimed


Drew Williams - 2018
    Her mission: to recruit children with miraculous gifts in the hope that they might prevent the Pulse from once again sending countless worlds back to the dark ages.Hot on her trail is the Pax--a collection of fascist zealots who believe they are the rightful rulers of the galaxy and who remain untouched by the Pulse.Now Jane, a handful of comrades from her past, and a telekinetic girl called Esa must fight their way through a galaxy full of dangerous conflicts, remnants of ancient technology, and other hidden dangers.And that's just the beginning . . .

Armada


Ernest Cline - 2015
    Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies, and videogames he’s spent his life consuming. Dreaming that one day, some fantastic, world-altering event will shatter the monotony of his humdrum existence and whisk him off on some grand space-faring adventure. But hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues don’t get chosen to save the universe. And then he sees the flying saucer. Even stranger, the alien ship he’s staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada—in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders. No, Zack hasn’t lost his mind. As impossible as it seems, what he’s seeing is all too real. And his skills—as well as those of millions of gamers across the world—are going to be needed to save the earth from what’s about to befall it. It’s Zack’s chance, at last, to play the hero. But even through the terror and exhilaration, he can’t help thinking back to all those science-fiction stories he grew up with, and wondering: Doesn’t something about this scenario seem a little…familiar? At once gleefully embracing and brilliantly subverting science-fiction conventions as only Ernest Cline could, Armada is a rollicking, surprising thriller, a classic coming of age adventure, and an alien invasion tale like nothing you’ve ever read before—one whose every page is infused with the pop-culture savvy that has helped make Ready Player One a phenomenon.