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sci fi h-r

Sci fi is a type of speculative fiction that looks ahead and asks “what’s next?” You can also check out these subcategories (h-r):

hard sci fi | hollow earth | hopepunk | human evolution | immortality | latinpunk | litrpg | lost worlds | military | mind uploads | multiverse | mutants | mythpunk | nanopunk | near future | nowpunk | piratepunk | pulp | robots/androids |romance

Note: these books are currently sorted by release date, with newest first.

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Summary: Terra is at war…again… …but the aggressively militant Severani have made two mistakes. Number One: They attacked the Federation, a planet never defeated…so far. In an audacious assault on Earth making Pearl Harbor look like a panty raid, the Federation’s navy is nearly obliterated. Within days, an emissary comes to Felida, asking for ah’en Singh Shipping’s darters to replace its nearly destroyed fleet. Sinbad’s answer? An emphatic “No,” plus a few unprintable epithets. Then, the Severani make Mistake Number Two. They invade Felida, and among the casualties is a certain Pride Chief’s beloved wife. The would-be conquerors are about to discover there’s nothing as dangerous as a Felidan who’s lost his mate…especially if his name is Sinbad sh’en Singh.

Stolen Son - TS Snow - Star Smuggler
An Unprivate War
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Word Count: 165000

Summary: What does a former assassin do when he’s not out there… well… assassinating? Saving his species from extinction, of course. At least, that’s what Leopold wants to do with every molecule in his body. But the task won’t be fast or easy, and he can’t do it alone. Enter Mastrodai—a mrrog prince who has absolutely no desire to rule, much to his father’s exasperation. He craves the ability to prove his worth as a mate and to somehow atone for his actions that led to Leopold’s torture at the hands of an enemy. Making humans official would be a good start. But politics rule no matter what the species, and Mastrodai has to maneuver carefully and risk what he has built to give his mate what he deserves. And when he realizes both he and Leopold have deeper feelings for Alex, one of Mastrodai’s human slave women, he knows his future is out among the stars with his humans, not planet-bound with his kin. Unfortunately, before they can set their plan into motion, Leopold receives a vision that sends him reeling and questioning everything he knows about himself. A vision he must investigate, back to where he began—Lex, the backwater planet where he spent his early years, and where he swore never to return. Reader Discretion advised: Includes violence throughout, PTSD, a scene of graphic torture, and the start of a consensual MMF relationship.

Legacy - M.D. Grimm - Saga of the Bold People
Legacy
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Word Count: 71387

Summary: Beware the Gray People Each Seeking, the magic that protects the town of Carra must be renewed, which means the children of the Exalted Family must go into hiding. Whether through disguise or bribe, through trusted friends or perfect hiding places, every child of the Priest family must avoid capture for the full day of The Seeking. When things go wrong with the renewal, it’s up to seventeen-year-old Dahlia, the middle child of the Priest family, and her girlfriend, Bisa, to escape Carra and find the magical beings responsible for the protection. They must learn who would require such a cruel game every year and if the protection of the Gray People is really worth such a price. What they will discover is far worse.

Seeking - Marlena Frank
The Seeking
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Word Count: 81500

Summary: We aren't a we without all of us. Chaos reigns in The Sleepless City and it’s really beginning to piss Detective Jonas Forge off. He’s separated from his soulmate, Blair Turner. A separation he fears might be permanent. Nothing is going right. It’s as if the universe is conspiring against him. A long closed off door buried deep within his psyche cracks open when a turn of events he never saw coming flips his world upside down. There’s a monster behind that door and he’s not sure where the monster leaves off and he begins. Hallucinations grip the town and everyone in it, threatening to tear the family in Boggs’s Castle to shreds. The only way forward is to bare all to each other. While Forge and Declan confront horrors from their shared past, they all learn a terrible truth about vampires—one not even imagined in their worst nightmare. Demons lurk around every corner, seeking to cause havoc. Unless the tenuous thread woven between Blair and Forge is strong enough to pull Forge to safety, those demons might just be his demise. Can they turn it all around and control a monster in order to defeat a demon? If you like imperfect heroes with tarnished pasts who don’t know how to quit, then you’ll love Shifting Chaos by Elizabeth Noble, the action-packed, emotional conclusion to The Sleepless City. Author's note: This book was originally published in 2015. It has been rewritten with new chapters and scenes and re-edited.

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Shifting Chaos - Elizabeth Noble - Sleepless City
Shifting Chaos SALE
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Word Count: Information not available

Summary: Yesterday’s Smuggler…Today’s Chairman of the Board. Thanks to Sinbad sh’en Singh, the planet Felida is a smuggling paradise, until the Federation spoils his fun by declaring his enterprise a legitimate business. With the tap of a computer key, the most wanted smuggler in the Galaxy becomes a Felidan businessman, attending board meetings instead of running blockades. Sin takes it all in stride until an old rival threatens his ships and crews. In the resulting confrontation, the former smuggler discovers he’s not as immortal as he thinks when his ship crashes and he doesn’t emerge unscathed. The Clan sh’en Singh must struggle to accept their Pride Chief’s disability while Andi and Sin face the most difficult challenge of their lives.

Quietus - TS Snow - Star Smugglers
Quietus
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Word Count: 75000

Summary: A storm is coming ... One year has passed since the unpopular second Diamond Purge began. When the trains in Bridges mysteriously stop running, tensions among the populace rise to the point that the other three Families decide something must be done. Private investigator Jacqueline Spadros gets an unusual request: mediate with Cesare Diamond so that Inventors from all Four Families may meet to find a solution to the crisis. But Jacqui has more pressing problems. Her best friend is dying, she has a missing-persons case that she can't seem to solve, and her teenage sister-in-law is out of control. When her lawyer blackmails her for the enormous amount she owes him, Jacqui does something no one would ever have expected.

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The Five of Diamonds - Patricia Loofbourrow - Red Dog Conspiracy
The Five of Diamonds: Part 6 of the Red Dog Conspiracy SALE
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Word Count: 13000

Summary: Poems written by Cyborgs in the future, melding sci-fi and poetry, human and machine. The Cyborg Anthology takes place in a future where there was a thriving world of Robots and Cyborgs living peacefully beside Humans, but a disaster destroyed all Robot and most Cyborg life. The book is organized like a typical anthology of literaturesplit into sections that include a biography of each poet and a sample of their poetry. It covers early Cyborg poetry, political, celebrity, and pop culture poets, and ends with the next generation of Cyborg poets. The narrative takes place in the time after a cataclysmic event, and the collection wrestles with this loss. Through the lives of the poets, the book chronicles the history of personhood for technological beings, their struggle for liberation, and demonstrates different ways a person can be Cyborg. The poems and biographies together tell the story of a complex and enthralling world-to-come, exploring topics that are important in the future, and also urgent right now. “With mordant wit and a playful satiric touch, these Cyborg poems showcase a dazzling range of poetic forms and ideas: imaginative and charmingly subversive. Move over Norton Anthology of Poetry, there’s a new force in town, and they are a delight.” —Renée Sarojini Saklikar, author of Listening to the Bees and Children of Air India “The premise of this collection alone is fabulous. The poems are potent and powerful. With echoes of Le Guin, Brunner and Monáe, Lindsay B-e’s debut is layered and smart, provocative, and deeply satisfying. I was moved and fascinated. Speculative poetry at its best.” —Hiromi Goto, author of Chorus of Mushrooms and Darkest Light

The Cyborg Anthology - Lindsay B-e
The Cyborg Anthology
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Word Count: 120,000

Summary: In Zero-Day Rising, the third book of the BetterWorld trilogy, Kiyoko resolves to free her sister and bring down President Rand and MediaCorp. However, MediaCorp unleashes its ultimate plan: direct mind control with cerebral implants. Can Kiyoko and Waylee’s team stop them? Can they penetrate MediaCorp’s networks and end the company’s grip over humanity? All while eluding the biggest manhunt in history, in a country where everyone and everything is under surveillance?

Zero-Day Rising - T.C. Weber
Zero-Day Rising
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Word Count: 103061

Summary: SISTER. ASSASSIN. VESSEL. Echo Rodrigal isn't just a survivor; she's a success. But in a land where the law is there are no laws, the terms of success rest on a knife's edge, and Echo's luck is about to change. The Vindicata are one of the top vengeance crews in the Ten Realms of Interra. Their oaths to only commit crimes of justice have earned them the respect of their peers. But the Vindicata are more than a crew, they're a family. And ever since they adopted Echo, she's cared about one thing: making her family proud. For years, that's meant becoming the continent's most feared assassin. But each kill wreaks havoc on her soul, no matter how justified. Echo's unraveling fast, complicated by the mysterious rift growing between her and her beloved sister. Miyala's keeping dangerous secrets, and Echo cannot find the key to unlock her sister's trust. When the Warlord orders the Vindicata to transport foreign dissidents to a new prison, they must put their personal issues aside to face an impossible choice: die for defying orders, or die for breaking their oaths to uphold justice. Between meddling gods returning to the continent, mercenaries around every corner, and an ancient prophecy that foretells the end of all worlds, the pressure on Echo is mounting fast. Can she make enough right moves to save her family? The fate of many worlds rests in Echo's next choice.

Vessel of Starfire - Allison Carr Waechter - Outlaws of Interra
Vessel of Starfire
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Word Count: 55000

Summary: In Unsafe Words, the first full-length collection of her edgy, award-winning short stories, Loren Rhoads punctures the boundaries between horror, dark fantasy, and science fiction in a maelstrom of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. Ghosts, succubi, naiads, vampires, the Wild Hunt, and the worst predator in the woods stalk these pages, alongside human monsters who follow their cravings past sanity or sense. Featuring an introduction by Lisa Morton and cover art by Lynne Hansen, these never-before-collected stories come from the magazines Cemetery Dance, Space & Time, City Slab, and Instant City, the Wily Writers podcast, and from the books Sins of the Sirens, Demon Lovers, The Haunted Mansion Project: Year Two, Tales for the Camp Fire, and more. One story, “With You By My Side It Should Be Fine,” is original to the collection.

Unsafe Words - Loren Rhoads
Unsafe Words
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Summary: Rudyard Albert Goldstein, inventor of the Biomic Network Algorithm, made piece with death once in the 22nd century, but an idiot doctor hijacked his mind, placing it in the care of Nessie, an impish AI guardian. Nessie preserved him from a civilization-ending asteroid strike so that he could help his descendants survive contact with an alien species 923,000 years, four months, and three days later. Then, he died again, merged with a worm-a-pede alien male who narrowly survived fulfilling his mating duties. They expired peacefully on a cliff top, pondering the nature of existence—and the promise of abominable liaisons.   Two deaths should be quite sufficient for any genius to endure.   Somehow, Nessie resurrected him from oblivion. His descendants needed him again. New hostile aliens roamed the Earth—along with an immortal, alien-human hybrid whose agenda was unclear. Was the healthy young body Nessie had prepared for him, along with the prospect of finally discovering “the meaning of it all” enough of a bribe to risk dying a third time?   Apparently so.   Readers of Raham’s A Singular Prophecy (Biostration, 2011), and A Once-Dead Genius in the Kennel of Master Morticue Ambergrand (Penstemon Publications, 2018) will reconnect with old friends (both human and alien). But even those new to the author’s quirky sense of humor will enjoy this third and final adventure that spans the breadth of time and space.

A Twice-Dead Genius Comporting With Misunderstood Abominations - R. Gary Raham
A Twice-Dead Genius Comporting With Misunderstood Abominations
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Word Count: 131000

Summary: As the epic trilogy hurtles toward its conclusion, the fight for the future isn’t over yet. It could lead to a new beginning, or it might spell the end for the last vestiges of humankind. The generation ship Forever has left Earth behind, but a piece of the old civilization lives on in the Inthworld—a virtual realm that retains memories of Earth's technological wonders and vices. A being named Lilith leads the uprising, and if she succeeds in setting its inhabitants free, they could destroy Forever. But during the generation ship's decades-long voyage, humanity has evolved. Liminals with the ability to connect with the world mind and the Inthworld provide a glimmer of hope. They'll have to face not only Lilith’s minions, but also the mistrust of their own kind and persecution from a new government as homotypicals continue to fear what they can't understand. The invasion must be stopped, the Inthworld must be healed, and the people of Forever must let go of their past and embrace what they’re meant to become.

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The Shoreless Sea - J. Scott Coatsworth
The Shoreless Sea SALE
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Summary: Family life won’t necessarily make a smuggler into a good little Law-Abider, especially when that smuggler has just discovered a loophole in Felida’s treaty with the Federation. With that leverage, Sinbad plans to return to his former occupation, and this time, he’s involving the entire planet in the venture. All the Pride Chiefs, even the emperor himself, are behind him one hundred per cent. In fact, two of the chiefs offer their daughters as Sin’s concubines to make certain they’re included. His wife Andi isn’t a bit happy. In fact, she’s downright furious. It’s going to take a great deal of sweet talk to make her accept either proposition. …and there’s also that smuggler who received Sin’s territories and won’t give them up without a fight… Overconfident as always, Sin believes he can handle it all.

A Matter of Pride - TS Snow - Star Smugglers
A Matter of Pride
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Word Count: 12000

Summary: Fifteen years ago, the Cyborg uprising fractured the Jovian Empire beyond repair when their freedom fighter leader detonated a devastating biological bomb on Callisto. Now, a chance encounter with a dying human while escaping the decrepit Io Station will force Veracity Veran to question everything believes in – if her human saviour doesn’t kill her first. A tale from the Jovian Empire.

Can You Ever Forgive Me - H.L.Moore
Can You Ever Forgive Me
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Word Count: 4000

Summary: Isolated on Mars, anyone could start going stir crazy… Katya should be on top of the world. She’s overcome a traumatic past and now she’s part of the first permanent settlement on Mars. So why do things feel so wrong? The colonists are confined to a small base on the surface of a hostile planet, so perhaps it’s only cabin fever. After all, she’s got great friends, an exciting career, and an ex-girlfriend who – she’s sure – would do anything to have her back… But with cracks appearing in the relationships between the crew and nothing but empty Martian desert beyond the safety of their domes, it’s far too easy for the mind to drift. And when it does, it can be difficult to tell what’s real, and what’s pure imagination… Past Imperfect is a short story set during Livid Skies, SI CLARKE’s second novel. It’s written for people who enjoy science fiction that challenges their preconceptions. This is a work of neurodiverse, culturally diverse, gender-bendy, socio-politico-economic, drunken-arguments-in-the-pub science fiction – not bang-bang-pew-pew science fiction. 

Past Imperfect - SI Clarke
Past Imperfect
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Word Count: 26000

Summary: Being an OIL (Onsite Inter-species Liaison) for the Interplanetary Multispecies Pact has never been an easy job. In fact it's a crap job when stuck on a backwater nowhere planet like Earth. But cobra Yervath Sissal Naganos manages. The demotion was swift and heavy-handed, but he'll climb back out of this hell eventually. Humans don't meet his social needs, so, yes, it's been lonely and he tells himself he likes the solitude. That is, until IMP sends him an irritating  new assistant he never asked for. Now his peace is well and truly disturbed and his paranoid diplomatic reflexes have reawakened. The worst part is the kid didn't have to be so cute.

A Message From the Home Office - Angel Martinez
A Message From The Home Office
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Summary: The Dissolution is here. It is both an end, and a beginning. "Science fantasy with fantastic queer rep" -J.S. Fields, Author of the Ardulum Series The Dissolution has begun. Sam is finally reunited with Enos and Inas, only to see his new home under siege by beings that dissolve reality at a single touch. Even as they battle their personal demons, the three apprentices must also fight to save their home. Enos lashes out at those she loves, plagued by voices she’s consumed, and Inas must risk his sanity to access ancient memories of the Nether. Sam must learn how he uniquely affects the Symphony, but there is little time to master what usually takes a lifetime. The Nether is leaderless and the Assembly is in chaos. The three apprentices must counter an invasion by aliens who rip the Symphony, and the very universe, apart. Ancient antagonists will resurface, a battle must be fought, and the secrets of the Nether and the universe will be laid bare in this final book of the Dissolution Cycle. If you like epic fantasy, space opera and music-based magic, you'll love William C. Tracy's Dissolution Cycle. Download Fall of the Imperium today and discover the diverse cultures, genders, and alien species of an epic science fantasy space opera! The Dissolution Cycle (Epic Space Opera, LGBT): Book 1: The Seeds of Dissolution Book 2: Facets of the Nether Book 3: Fall of the Imperium Book 4: Tales of the Dissolutionverse (Novella collection)

Fall of the Imperium - William C. Tracy - Dissolution Universe
Fall of the Imperium
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Word Count: 68000

Summary: When a vampire finds his soulmate, the bond is forever. It’s love at first sight. Or is it? Homicide Detective Jonas Forge has been a vampire for centuries. He’s fought wars, seen life go from the simple colonial days to the modern high-tech world. He’s evolved with the times, adapted to each new era, blended into each new life. The one constant is his best friend, mentor, and lover, Declan. Even though not fated to bond as soulmates, Forge and Declan are happy and settled in their life together. Until Forge’s real soulmate falls, literally, into his life. Forge isn’t thrilled with the guy, despite the pheromones attracting them to each other, and the feeling seems mutual. While trying to adjust to his clumsy soulmate and equally awkward feelings, Forge is also on the hunt for a serial-killer witnesses can’t identify who’s leaving a trail of bodies in its wake. Will the bond Forge is finally forming with his soulmate be destroyed when the hunter becomes the victim? If you like fated mates who aren’t perfect for each other, a paranormal killer who might not be caught and found families then you’ll love Elizabeth Noble’s Electric Candle.

Electric Candle - Elizabeth Noble - The Sleepless City
Electric Candle
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Word Count: Information not available

Summary: Wedding bells…or Death Knell? Sinbad may have traded in his smuggler’s leathers for farmer’s coveralls but “Happily Ever After” isn’t in the cards for him and his beloved Andrea. And Andi soon finds there’s a great deal she doesn’t know about her new husband…such as the young stranger who claims to be Sin’s son. While she’s recovering from that shock, Sin succumbs to the terminal illness he’s kept secret from everyone. Not to worry…there’s a surgeon who can save his life, but Jean-Clair DuPont is as unscrupulous as he is skilled. His fee? Andi, for the duration of her husband’s convalescence. The new Mrs. sh’en Singh doesn’t think twice. DuPont gets what he wants and Sin lives to fight another day…once he recovers. That had better happen soon, for Andi’s lover-by-force has taken her off-planet and directly into an attack by slavetraders. Now a candidate for the slave pits of Bel-Ammon, Andi finds herself face-to-face with enemies new and old.

A Course of Action - TS Snow - Star Smugglers
A Course of Action
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Word Count: 90000

Summary: A new generation of vampires embarks on a quest to save humanity. Opening a forgotten crypt during a military exercise, Dr. Jane Heckman is made a vampire and begins a journey to unlock the secret origins of her new kindred. Elsewhere, solitary vampire Marcella DuBois emerges from the shadows and uncovers a government plot to create vampire-like super soldiers. Daniel McKee, a vampire working as an astronomer, moves to a new town where he's adopted by a family, only to have government agents strip those he loves away from him. All three vampires discover the government is dabbling in technologies so advanced they'll tap into realms and dimensions they don't understand. To save humans and vampires alike, Jane, Marcella, and Daniel must seek out the legendary master vampire Desmond, Lord Draco and encourage him to resurrect his band of mercenaries, the Scarlet Order.

Vampires of the Secret Order - David Lee Summers
Vampires of the Scarlet Order
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