Book picks similar to
Deserted Cities of the Heart by Lewis Shiner
science-fiction
fiction
sci-fi
fantasy
Good News from Outer Space
John Kessel - 1989
Or was. The newsnet he works for has illegally revived him. But he finds himself examining the sensationalist stories he has been reporting on - for evidence that there are Aliens among us.Lucky Eberhart, George's wife, loses her job for her role in reviving him, and finds that there are worse things on Earth than she had dreamed of in her philosophies.The Reverend Jimmy-Don Gilray believes that the Day of Judgment will arrive on the stroke of midnight, December 31, 1999. But all bets are off if the Aliens are already here.Meanwhile, Carla Hazard, Sandy Ellison, and Martha Shummel are finding that this is their lucky day. Or is it all a sinister Alien game?And Judgment Day approaches...
The Byworlder
Poul Anderson - 1971
For three years it had been there, and still there were nothing but questions. What had lured the voyager from Sigma Dacron's to Earth? How did the creature plan to use its incredible power? And most important, why was it waiting...and for what?Then, in a blinding flash of insight, Skip Wayburn suddenly knew the answers... knew with dead certainty why the Sigman had come, who "he' was, and precisely what the Earthmen must do.But who would listen to the far-out ideas of a mere sigaroon? Skip didn't know. But someone had to listen—and fast.
Picoverse
Robert A. Metzger - 2002
In the early 21st century, scientists have found a way to create a brand new universe...one million-millionth the size of our own.
Celestis
Paul Park - 1993
As support from home wanes, the "improved" Aboriginals launch a rebellion against the colonists. Simon, a political functionary from Earth, and Katharine, the altered daughter of a successful native merchant, are taken hostage by the rebels.Simon falls in love with Katharine, but, cut off from a supply of the medication she needs to maintain her humanlike state, her suppressed alien nature begins to reemerge. As she discovers her true self, hidden vistas of expanded alien perception are revealed in a stunning exploration of the limits of humanity. "A Martian Chronicles for the nineties possessed of a haunting power".--Locus
What Entropy Means to Me
George Alec Effinger - 1972
Initially defending himself with a torch, the Doctor searched frantically for a new method of defense. The crimson mass is lunging forward using long, tentacle-like attachments: what is that thing? Slowly the subhuman blob comes in to focus, and Dore realizes . . . it's a colossal radish! This is a monster never before wrestled with; what are they going to do? After reading this vegetative tale, you won't look at your garden the same way again..
Plague of Demons
Keith Laumer - 1964
Cover Artist: Alan AldridgeWhen John Bravais was sent on a secret mission to observe a war in North Africa he found out more than it was safe for him to know - even after he had secretly been surgically transformed so that he was as strong as a Bolo tank, and nearly as tough: Wolf-like aliens, invisible to the ordinary eye, were harvesting the brains of the fallen fighters! Brevais might have become the Ultimate Warrior, but still he was only one man against A Plague of Demons.
Redshift Rendezvous
John E. Stith - 1990
The first sign of trouble is the apparent suicide of a passenger. When first officer Jason Kraft discovers that she was murdered, Kraft wants to know why. Before long, a desperate group of people tries to use the hyperspace craft for their evil purposes, and Kraft is the only person in their way. [A selection of the Science Fiction Book Club.]
The Void Captain's Tale
Norman Spinrad - 1982
Pilots are rare, and the ability to be a Pilot also entails physical wasting and a shortened life.But Pilots live only for the timeless moments of Transition, when their ships cross the emptiness of space in an instant. Now Void Pilot Dominique Alia Wu has begun to catch a glimpse of something more, something transcendent in that eternal moment . . . and she needs the cooperation of her Captain to achieve it permanently. Even at risk to the survival of the Ship.Norman Spinrad has been one of SF’s most adventurous writers since the 1960s, an internationally praised peer of such writers as Harlan Ellison, Michael Moorcock, and Samuel R. Delany. His stories of the Second Starfaring Age, The Void Captain’s Tale and the later novel Child of Fortune, form a single epic praised by the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction as “an eroticized vision of the Galaxy . . . an elated Wanderjahr among the sparkling worlds.”
The Road to Corlay
Richard Cowper - 1978
But on the Eve of the Fourth Millennium the sound of a magical pipe was heard, and the air was filled with songs of freedom and enlightenment. And on the Eve of the Fourth Millennium the Boy appeared, bringing the gift of sacrilege, a harbinger of the future, heralding the arrival of the White Bird of Dawning. It is the coming of a New Age. A glorious future bearing the presents of the past!
Assemblers of Infinity
Kevin J. Anderson - 1993
The crew of Moonbase Columbus make an amazing discovery on the far side of the Moon a massive alien structure is erecting itself, built up atom by atom by living machines, microscopically small, intelligent, and unstoppable, consuming everything they touch. The mysterious structure begins to expand and take shape, and its creators begin to multiply.Is this the first strike in an alien invasion from the stars? Or has human nanotechnology experimentation gone awry, triggering an unexpected infestation? As riots rage across a panicked Earth, scientists scramble to learn the truth before humanity is engulfed by the voracious machines.
Mars Crossing
Geoffrey A. Landis - 2000
But from the moment of their arrival on Mars, everything begins to go wrong. The fuel tanks that were to have supplied their return trip are found corroded and empty. Their supplies are running out and their life support systems are beginning to fail. And any rescue mission won't reach them for months, or even years-if at all.The crew's only hope for survival lies in a desperate plan: an agonizing trek halfway across the surface of Mars to a ship designed to carry only half their number. Torn by conflict and dissent, and troubled by secrets that endanger them all, they must embark on an ordeal that will test them to the limits of endurance.
The Masks of Time
Robert Silverberg - 1968
And for Leo Garfield things would never be the same. For he is an acknowledged expert in the time reversal properties of sub-atomic particles...and Vornan-19 claims to come from far in the future. Whether or not he is telling the truth, a nervous and edgy world accepts the charming and magnetically charismatic Vornan as some kind of messiah. Even Garfield and his fellow scientists fall under Vornan's spell. But, has he really traveled across time--or is he just a charlatan and a fraud? A compassionate and powerful novel worthy of comparison to Stranger in a Strange Land.
The Quiet Pools
Michael P. Kube-McDowell - 1990
A city-sized starship that will carry ten thousand men and women, chosen among Earth's billions, to a new life beyond our solar system. For those who are to go, the cost is their families, their loved ones, and the lives they have known. For those who are left behind, there is disappointment, despair, and anger. And for the Homeworld movement, led by the enigmatic Jeremiah, the Project is an abomination that must be stopped at any cost. The theft of Earth's best and brightest children? Or the ultimate destiny of the human race?
Metropolitan
Walter Jon Williams - 1995
It resonates within the human mind, giving power to heal and to kill. So when she finds an undiscovered, unlimited supply, she dares to meet with the powerful Metropolitan known as Constantine, a mysterious rebel with plans. Together they can use the plasm to rally forces to overthrow the government.
Nightside the Long Sun
Gene Wolfe - 1993
Wolfe's new work returns to the world of his acclaimed Book of the New Sun and will captivate readers hungry for the magic of the future.