Book picks similar to
Brilliant by Rick Lakin


sci-fi
science-fiction
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First Admiral


William J. Benning - 2012
    And, in a desperate attempt to protect the secret of the potentially dangerous Trion technology - the ability to manipulate the fundamental particle of the universe - their leader sends one last covert mission to Earth. The mission goes horribly wrong, leaving Billy Caudwell; an overweight, acne-scarred 14 year old, with the Mind Profile of a military genius, a huge battle fleet and a mission to unite the intelligent species of the universe in a Universal Alliance. With people to rescue, space fleets to battle and villains to defeat, Billy has to overcome his own inhibitions, insecurities and a vicious bully before he can start saving the universe. Welcome, dear readers, to the exciting universe of First Admiral.

Beyond Kuiper: The Galactic Star Alliance


Matthew Medney - 2020
    There is no question on sentience. The galaxy is alive, filled with life, the only issue, us humans aren’t invited. The Galactic Star Alliance awaits your exploration. We acknowledge the vastness of time, the cyclical nature of civilization; and the obscurity of our own history. When we began debating “why hasn’t sentient life has been found in our galaxy?” All those years back, we were among the era of exoplanets. Every week it seemed NASA would announce a new outpouring of worlds, all vastly beyond reach, but each recalculating the likelihood of potential Earths. But to us, the numbers seemed staggering, compelling, surely there are others. So if our galaxy is full of sentient life, we thought of a simple, logical reason why no one has said hello: no one wants to. Stepping back and casting an objective eye on ourselves, it seems painfully obvious that humans lack a fundamental respect for their planet and each other. They possess extremely short memories and long grudges, and the idea of giving them the motivation or tools to hasten their expansion seems downright foolhardy. That being said, who are these judges?From that simple notion birthed a million questions; How is faster than light possible? Could you have cohesive interstellar civilizations without it? How could you even govern a coalition of not different countries, but of species? Each question only created another, and each answer built our world piece by piece until it spanned thousands of answers and millions of lightyears. As for the title, from where would our judges watch us?- Matthew is the CEO of Heavy Metal Entertainment that encompasses Heavy Metal Magazine & all other media ventures. As well, Matthew has been an Adjunct Professor at NYU, teaching classes on IP Creation and Digital marketing strategy and John is an aerospace engineer for Lockheed Martin who performs mechanical design for NASA deep space missions. with 3 satellites using his designs currently orbiting our planet.All science in the book is accurate and the theoretical science is backed up by science theory. No assertions in these works is fanatical.

Galactic Forge


Alex Guerra - 2018
    He moves to investigate and to help any survivors, but the closer he gets the less control he has of his movements. An unknown force urges him to open the door of the mysterious craft, discovering the secret that lies within: a dead, alien pilot and a peculiar, otherworldly crystal. If that wasn’t enough, the crystal feels like it is alive. That’s when he hears a single word inside his mind: Run. An enemy vessel approaches overhead in pursuit of the downed ship, leaving Arthur little time to make his escape. Guided by this strange voice, Art is propelled through a hidden portal, arriving somewhere unknown On the other side of the galaxy, without a means of returning home, he has no choice but to move forward and help the crystal accomplish its mission: upgrade the ancient derelict ship, recruit new allies, and help the Galactic Conglomerate fight the Vael Empire. It may be destiny that’s called him, but it’s the choices he makes that will forge his future. Warning: This book contains profanity and violence. Read at your own risk.

Star Nova Online: Book 0 - Closed Beta


Noah Barnett - 2019
    Together with hundreds of other test pilots, they hope to defend Earth from a destruction. The Roth—a lizard-like warrior race—has nearly wiped humanity from the face of the universe and are on the way to finish the job. The test pilots have just seven days to train and prepare themselves.

A Question of Faith


Glynn Stewart - 2020
    Tiny by the standards of the behemoth Commonwealth born of Terra, they remain unchallenged in their own sectors—but their fleets watch the border between them with careful eyes.When the Boudicca System’s only battleship is ambushed and destroyed by forces unknown, their leader calls for help from the Federation and Imperium alike. Admiral Darius Moonblood of the Castle Federation takes a fleet to Boudicca to answer that call, believing he is walking into an Imperial trap.It will fall to Admiral Moonblood to either start the war Castle and Coraline have feared for years or find a different answer to the conflict looming in Boudicca.

Redemption


Jamie Sawyer - 2015
    The crew of the Edison suddenly find themselves fighting for their lives - and amongst the chaos, Taniya will discover that she's not the only member of the crew with a secret . . .

The Zanari Inheritance (Children of Zanar, #1)


Niall Teasdale - 2017
    The colony where she had grown up, her family, was gone, dead under circumstances the authorities seemed keen to hide. To find the truth, Kaya must team up with a mercenary and a rag-tag group of smugglers. And the truth is something which will change her life forever.

Pirates of the Milky Way, Books 1-10


Jaxon Reed - 2020
    Competing forms of galactic government fight to the death. AIs strategize, teleporting star fleets and space-based weapons systems across vast distances in an epic interstellar conflict. Outgunned and desperate for more ships, the Republic turns to privateers, recruiting law-skirting companies from the fabled planet of Lute and offering huge rewards for their service. One man, Captain Christopher Raleigh, flies the Ultima Mule with a crew of brilliant misfits. Together, they set out to teach the League a lesson or two, and collect multiple bounties along the way . . . Fans of The Expanse and Firefly, your next series is here! This epic space opera is finally available in one volume! With 60+ five-star ratings and over a quarter million online views while running as a serial, Pirates of the Milky Way has entertained thousands and can now be easily binged. Download all ten books, the complete series, for one low price today! Two-time Kindle Scout winner, veteran science fiction and fantasy author Jaxon Reed presents a magnum opus, featuring ten full length, rip-roaring, action-packed space opera novels. Fist fights, gun battles, intergalactic warfare . . . it’s all here, along with touching love stories and wicked bad guys. See who wins, who loses, who dies and who changes sides in this epic tale of adventure set in deep space!

Acadia


James L. Erwin - 2013
    She’d loved the thrill of staring off the ship’s stern, watching the Sun slowly shrink, peering as closely at the white-hot thrusters as she could before Virgil shut off her visor. She’d loved looking forward at Acadia’s magnetic scoop, trying to catch some glimpse of the invisible cone that was funneling the vacuum’s stray atoms into its antimatter furnace. In those days, she’d even grinned at the dizzying challenge of spacewalking on a rotating cylinder. But that was five years ago . . .Acadia — the latest work of fiction from critically acclaimed author, James Erwin (Rome, Sweet Rome) takes to the far reaches of space to weave a tale of intrigue and suspense among the stars.

Halo: Silentium: Book Three of the Forerunner Saga


Greg Bear - 2019
    Chaos rules the final days of the Forerunner empire. The Flood—a horrifying, shape-changing, and unstoppable parasite—has arrived in force, aided by unexpected allies, and internal strife has desperately weakened Forerunner defenses. Facing the imminent collapse of their civilization, the Forerunners known as the Ur-Didact and the Librarian reveal what they know about the relationship between the long-vanished race of the Precursors and the Flood. While the Precursors created many technological species, including those of the Forerunners and humanity itself, the roots of the Flood may be found in an act of enormous barbarity, carried out beyond our galaxy ten million years before. Because of that savagery, a greater evil looms. Only the Ur-Didact and the Librarian—husband and wife pushed into desperate conflict—hold the keys to a solution. As they face the consequences of a mythic tragedy, one of them must now commit the greatest atrocity of all time—a shocking act designed to prevent an insane abomination from dominating the entire galaxy…

Pursue the Past: Samair in Argos: Book 1


Michael Kotcher - 2014
    Dropped in the void and left for dead, lost in survival sleep for centuries, she awakes to find her world has changed and hitches a ride on a decrepit freighter. Tamara and the crew work together to fix the dying ship, try to fight off pirates with a Republic Naval warship captain ruthlessly pursuing them, all while trying to turn a profit. The Argos Cluster is a dangerous place, but some of the worst threats are those left behind.

Lineage


P.S. Power - 2015
    There's nothing to lose now, and everything to gain, because things like this are far too incredible to miss out on. The world has been in turmoil for over ten years. Ancient beings from a time before memory nearly destroyed everything in an attempt to remove the regular people from the planet, simply to bring in their own golden age. They were defeated by the young of their own kind. Immortals that sacrificed nearly everything they had, to protect the innocent. Dareg Canton was one of those they saved. A mere child when the world was thrown into chaos, left alone by a killer storm that took the only parent he ever knew. To make his way he moved to the capital of Noram, a place of relative prosperity... and hope. Once there he finds that reality isn't what he was told, and that his entire future is about to be set into motion by the very people that once protected the entire world. Because the Young Ancients are returning from their exile in space, and like it or not, the job of getting ready to greet them is being dumped on him. The lowest of the low. It's a chance to gain everything, if he can work it right. If not, then he stands to lose more than he ever would have thought possible.