Sci fi is a type of speculative fiction that looks ahead and asks “what’s next?” You can also check out these subcategories (a-g):
alien invasion | alien races | alternate/parallel reality / alternative history | atompunk | biopunk | candlepunk | christian | cli-fi | clockpunk | colonization | comedy | cyberpunk | cyberspace | decopunk | detective | dieselpunk | dying earth | dystopian & post-apocalyptic | first contact | frontier | furry | galactic empire | gothpunk | greenpunk
Note: these books are currently sorted by release date, with newest first.
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Summary: Early in the twenty-second century, many scientists realized that unrelenting global warming would render the Earth uninhabitable within 100 years. Having no viable planet for human migration in the Solar System, the far-sighted Chinese Space Agency plans to send a human expedition to the Earthlike exoplanet Teegarden-B, 12.5 light-years from Earth, to explore it as a potential for humanity to survive. The problem is that no human could survive that long a space voyage with their present technology, thus they decide to clone a human brain into a robot specially designed for space travel and exoplanet exploration. To assure success, they recruit Dr. Victor Wollstone and his wife, Sara Pang, the only people to have successfully written a human brain into a robot body previously, to help them. The mission is fraught with risk as the development team strives to launch it in time to get the data they need to save humanity while they battle anti-brain-cloning activists and anti-Chinese moles and saboteurs, and deal with the growing global panic due to the accelerating collapse of Earth’s ecology. When the expedition does finally make it to the destination planet, the human brain-controlled robot is astounded at what he finds. Can the human race get there and survive?
Word Count: 107,000
Summary: They told him the Lette were monsters. But the truth lies buried on a dead world—and it’s far more terrifying. Commander Zane Renner awakens alone aboard a vast, silent colony ship orbiting the planet Artemis. The crew is gone. The only others aboard are a woman driven to madness—and a Lette, one of the alien race humanity has been at war with for decades. Zane has always believed the Lette started the war. But when he descends to the surface and uncovers the haunting truth behind the colonists’ deaths, everything he thought he knew begins to unravel. A failed alien experiment. A world-spanning mind. A virus that could doom the entire galaxy. And a war that may never have needed to happen. Guided by the being he once called an enemy, Zane must confront a devastating reality: the danger isn’t the Lette. It’s what lies below—and within humanity itself. To stop the threat from spreading, Zane must forge an alliance with the last being he ever thought he could trust. In doing so, he’ll uncover a truth buried beneath generations of lies: the Lette never wanted war. Brothers of Mind is a gripping sci-fi thriller about alien contact, dangerous truths, and the courage to rewrite history. Sometimes the greatest enemy is the lie we’ve lived by. And sometimes the only way forward… is together.
Word Count: 102,400
Summary: The planet Ardulum has died and taken with it every last andal tree, and piece of andal cellulose tech—dissolving the Alpha Plane down to lightspeed travel and archaic communication. Yet Ardulum’s consciousness still lives, unwelcome, inside Atalant’s body. But two consciousnesses cannot share one host—especially not when one is a former planet. Amidst the remains of a shattered galaxy, Guard Four and the Keft scrapper Bell chance a return to the Neek homeworld, where andal is still rumored to grow. A stable forest of andal could power the Cell-Tal technology to save Eld Atalant's life. Instead, Guard Four and Bell find a populace grappling with the aftershocks of Ardulum's death, and find Ardulum’s genetic influence is wider than they thought. What remains of Ardulum demands a new body of its own, and transport to a mysterious world of Thesby, where a stable bridgeway to another dimension is rumored to exist. Emn, desperate to save Atalant, promises to aid Ardulum in return for healing her wife's battered body. If Emn can avoid Chartered Systems assassins long enough to get to Thesby, she stands to not only be reunited with Atalant, but to rid the galaxy of Ardulum, forever. If she fails, the Charted Systems will remain in the dark ages of space travel, and Eld Atalant of Ardulum, and her vision for the Neek people, will die. Read the sixth book in the bestselling Ardulum series, by J.S. Fields!
Word Count: 141376
Summary: The future belongs to those who build it. What if humanity’s next stage of evolution wasn’t discovered… But engineered? Elliot Voss spent decades pursuing a singular vision. Until he found a way to rewrite the rules of life itself. In secret, the billionaire futurist cured disease. Then he cured aging. Then… he vanished. Now, without warning to anyone but a chosen few, the world is preparing to change. The System will overlay the entire planet, bringing real stats, real levels, and three paths to evolution: Combat Class, Profession, and Race. But this isn’t a game. No do-overs. No respawns. And no one—not even the elite—is exempt. As a handpicked team enters the first Tutorial shard, they must race to prepare Earth for its eventual induction into The System. But Voss didn’t just want humanity to become stronger. He wanted it to become wiser. More compassionate. Worthy of the gifts to come. In the end, No one will remain unchanged. For fans of: progression fantasy, LitRPG, character-driven sci-fi, expansive worldbuilding, and stories that explore not just what we can become… but what we should.
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Summary: “Genocide Joe” is a marked man. Once a highly respected corporate microbiologist, now the scapegoat for a GMO-caused ecological disaster that’s turned San Francisco Bay toxic and poisoned thousands, Joe has lost everything: his career, his reputation, his wife, his home, and most of his friends. All he has left is his 18-month-old daughter, Daphne, the clothes on his back, and a chance to start over again, in a new town, where no one knows his face. To take that chance, all he needs to do is catch the bus out of town. But an unexpected transit outage has dumped him in Oakland, so now he needs to get to the next station on foot, while pushing a baby stroller. And hoping to pass unrecognized through a city where everyone hates him, and a lot of people want to kill him… Eco-fiction; hard science fiction; hopepunk; all-too-near-future science fiction. Also included is a short essay on the science underlying the story and another one on the real-world events that inspired it.
Word Count: 75000
Summary: Meet Sasha, a young mage in pursuit of a grander destiny, or at least a new lease on life, always fearful of being found out for who she really is. The Heroborn is a fondly deconstructive and dryly humorous Hero's Journey through a land of magic and science. It tells the story of a resourceful, neurodiverse, scientifically minded hero, steadfastly if not always wisely pushing against the odds. With a little help from her unlikely new friends and allies, she stumbles upon secrets she'd never dreamed of – and must make a fateful choice for both herself and her world.
Word Count: 30,000
Summary: The 15 short stories in the new collection by K.G. Anderson tackle the classic science fiction query: “What if this goes on?” Her answers span magic realism, humor, science fiction, horror, and fantasy. Each story is firmly rooted in the familiar present and moves seamlessly into a very near political future—chilling in most cases, but darkly humorous in others. Stories include: “A Sign of the Times”—A Seattle protestor is tried under the new Corporate Personhood laws “Wishbone”—An elderly woman faces euthanasia under the Age Equity Act designed by her politician grandson “The Bodies We Carry”—A young widow bankrupted by medical bills joins a “death camp” protest in front of the mansion of an old college friend who is now a healthcare CEO “Unwanted Visitors”—Seattle is declared a “terrorist zone” and the new Federal Security Agency comes calling “Yoga for Protesters: A Field Guide”—Advice for combining political fury with physical fitness “The Right Man for the Job”—Summoned by desperate Democrats, the ghost of Lyndon B. Johnson returns to haunt the Trump White House “Unnoticed”—The teenage daughter of frightened immigrants demands her native identity
Word Count: 80000
Summary: A Family, Bound by Blood, Though Not Borne of Blood Lost souls abound at Bellesfées, some found, and others only just discovered. But when Jacqueline Duval goes missing, along with a beast of a locomotive built through the sweat and blood of innocents, the foundlings she has taken under her wing must rally to bring her home again.To rescue their future, the self-styled Order of Duval must conquer the specters of the past or risk all being lost to the aether.
Word Count: 92,700
Summary: A call to change a lifetime… Clare O’Donnell is in a dead-end relationship with her girlfriend, until she receives a phone call that changes her life—literally. In one timeline, her biopsy results are positive for cancer. In another timeline, her results are benign. In one timeline, the faceless person she has romantic dreams of becomes masculine. In the other timeline, they become feminine. Her world begins to diverge, sending Clare on differing journeys of self-discovery and romance. In both, her dreams seem to show what might happen, and she realizes they all started after she survived the fatal car crash that took her parents. There is one constant: that no matter the challenges she faces, this is only a chapter of her life. Explore how one phone call could change your life forever.
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Summary: Kidnapped! Offyonder is a planet that celebrates its civic justice and order, and the rules on speech and thought that uphold them. Now the Director’s niece, Claire Montaigne, is seized by rebels. Inexplicably, the Director tasks Martin Allgeier, a librarian and nonentity, with rescuing Claire. The Director has also given orders to hire Sol, a famous interstellar bounty hunter. The more Martin and Sol investigate the weirder the situation becomes. Claire had a severe breakdown in her teens and now appears not entirely sane. The rebels could be either disorganized bums or masters of strategy. Sol has big demons, which she attempts to drown in alcohol. And both Martin and Sol are hiding parts of their past. Failure to rescue Claire will cost them their lives and destroy the civic order. But as Martin and Sol untangle the truth of the kidnapping, they confront the unthinkable—could the price of success be greater than that of failure? What happens when things are not as they seem?
Word Count: 98000
Summary: Johnny Mnemonic meets John Wick in The Price of Everything, a heart-racing near-future cyberpunk thriller about climate change and corruption. In a world where cyberwarfare has resulted in an all-cash economy, a private courier of high-denomination currency finds himself on the run from his own guild’s assassins while navigating a dense network of money launderers, shell corporations, drugs dealers, privatized police forces, and climate activists when his client’s payload vanishes. When Armand Pierce first became a courier a decade earlier, he agreed to have a titanium cuff grafted onto the bones of his wrist and chained to an attaché case. He also took an oath: the delivery is everything. He can run, fight—kill, if he needs to—but the package gets where it’s going. Otherwise, he dies. It’s the Guild’s guarantee, and all business—legitimate or otherwise—depends on it. So Pierce knows he’s in deep trouble when he arrives at his latest destination to find his payload missing, his case mysteriously empty. Something strange is going on—something that’s already cost three couriers their lives and now threatens to upend the global order—and Pierce needs to get to the bottom of it before the Guild catches up to him.
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Summary: FROM THE AUTHOR OF NOCTURNE COMES A NEW UNIVERSE, A NEW INNOVATIVE SYSTEM AND A NEW MC, JEBEDIAH 'JEB' STONE, AND LET'S NOT FORGET HIS CANE CORSO, BOSE Similar in scope to Primal Hunter and Defiance of the Fall LitRPG Post Apocalyptic Progression Fantasy The Crucible of War -- A floating asteroid the size of a small planet carving its way through the universe. Eight Cities, a million participants, death, blood, carnage, control. The Crucible is televised across the cosmos and provides entertainment for the The Great Galactic Empire and its Citizens. Every once in a while though it needs it's Contestants replenished. This time around Earth has been chosen. 50,000 humans are to be given the honor. One of those is 52 year old retired Army Master Sergeant, Jebediah 'Jeb' Stone. He has a history, memories, and a deep rooted case of PTSD. He also has something inside him, something dark and violent. It has been his boon and his bane. The last time he let it out it cost him his career and broke something inside him. When faced with what is to come will he mentally shatter or thrive in the Crucible of War? Stay tuned!! New Episodes every night!!! (This will be a novella series i will shoot out in between Nocturne books, each one only about 30,000 words.) -- LitRPG -- Solo MC -- Grimdark -- Classes, Levels, Attributes, Spells -- Progression Fantasy -- Horror
Word Count: 26145
Summary: "A compelling story with an unpredictable plot... a must-read for fans of extraterrestrial intrigue." — Readers' Favorite (5-Star Review) A near-future mystery for fans of Blake Crouch and The X-Files. The world hasn't changed, but your reality has. They told Jenny Rand her recovery was a miracle. But for her, the Earth doesn't feel like home anymore. She wakes from a four-year coma in a San Francisco that looks the same but sounds wrong. She can hear whispers of thoughts beneath the city noise, and the stray cats at Ocean Beach watch her like they are waiting for a signal. Even her memories of Dorian Chase, the movie star who stayed by her bed, feel like a script that has been edited one too many times. Jenny uncovers a terrifying truth. Humanity is losing an invisible war. An alien faction known as the Xarion is rewriting human history through algorithms and manipulated media. From shadow finance and manufactured chaos to the insidious distractions of mindless entertainment, they are keeping our eyes off the stars while they quietly prepare to isolate the Earth forever. With only fifteen launch windows left for humanity to escape, Jenny must find the Quantum Core before the lights go out. In a world being derailed by its own obsessions, she is the only one who can see the cracks. But in a war fought with manufactured lies, she has to wonder if her own heart is a truth she can trust, or just another piece of code. The Earth is finally waking up. Discover the mystery of Round Midnight. A sci-fi thriller for anyone who knows the truth is usually hidden in the shadows.
Word Count: 90000
Summary: The Height of Land follows the quest of a young man torn between spiritual longing and commitment to his community’s survival in a harsh landscape. Red sacrifices everything to study the long-lost words of the gods. He does not know that he is reading the poetry of Lucille Clifton, Ḥáfiẓ, and Walt Whitman, as well as the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible, and the Tao Te Ching. In a world reborn from catastrophe, these ancient texts take on new meanings. To seek such things is to court peril. Belief in the gods is forbidden. But Red is desperate to know the gods. And he is not searching alone. Forsaking all that is familiar, Red pledges himself to a clandestine church in the city and falls in love with the charismatic priest. But Red may lose both love and faith in defying the church for the sake of a friend. Have the gods truly abandoned the earth, or just Red? What kind of answer can he receive when he has lost the words to ask?
Word Count: 101000
Summary: Comma is a robot—but to survive, she must pass as an intelligent, caring, human adult. Otherwise, the anti-AI extremists who destroyed the supercomputer she once inhabited—leaving her with only 1 percent of her sentient memories—will eliminate her for good. When a university professor is murdered, Comma becomes the prime suspect. Because her robot form is university property, she will be erased while her creator and mother figure stand trial for murder. She can’t let that happen, but how far will she go to save herself? With time running out, Comma must uncover the real killer and expose the anti-AI extremists who want her dead. If she fails, it won’t just be the end of her—but the ruin of her found family and potentially the end of robotic sentience itself. For fans of Murderbot Diaries, Monk and Robot, Klara of the Sun, and sapphic science fiction. This novel takes you on adventure, where you’ll experience mystery, suspense, and a bit of romance. An AI that feels so real you’re in her silicone skin.
Word Count: 86500
Summary: The sun dims, shadows grow, and ruination draws near. The Tomb of the Almighty, thought to be the home of a divine presence, was opened, and it has unleashed a ruinous presence back upon the world keen on resuming a conquest interrupted. The shadows have spilled forth, destroying the sky city of Aracoras and wrapping their tendrils around the sky city of Lunaria and trying to subjugate the rest of the lands above the cloud sea. Venser, son of the late High Priest of Aracoras, escaped the fate suffered by the rest of Aracoras, but he found himself in a deep sleep, passing out after seemingly dormant powers awakened to save him and his friends during their escape. As Venser returns to the world of the living, he and his friends, the crew of the Naglfar, race to find the answers they need to stop a dark god from subjugating them all. His journey brings him back to faces old and new, and deeper into the arms of his weapons operator boyfriend, Basch. It's a race to end an impending war before it has a chance to start anew. The past has a way of haunting the future, and Venser's about to learn the consequences of decisions made long before.
Word Count: 84,000
Summary: She was twelve when her brother chose the Suicide Fields. Nothing inside her survived the walk back. On the dying world of Kep Four, twelve-year-old McKayla Mason sneaks aboard a stolen transport shuttle after her older brother leaves home acting unlike himself. What begins as childish curiosity leads her beyond the Najasa district and into the poisoned brown surrounding the Suicide Fields, where people disappear when life on Kep Four becomes unbearable. Dire Days is an honest introduction to the WolfStar universe. ATTACHMEN #2: Armada dossier (EPUB and MOBI). Armada records surrounding Cadet Mason’s unauthorized flight operation were never meant to leave Chimark Flight Command, but the dossier is clear: a stolen starfighter led to her imprisonment and set into motion events that would change humanity’s fate. Before there was Dire Days. Before the Niveous War. Before Civil Unrest on another world. And before the journey to Nimonowa. There was McKayla Mason. She was a traitor. And she became a legend. READ ONE OR BOTH!!! Comilo: The Dire Day is my favorite of the two. 😉
Word Count: 84,000
Summary: As humanity quivers on the brink of extinction, McKayla Mason navigates a treacherous path between duty and conscience. Imprisoned for twelve cycles for crimes against the Armada, Mason is released to join an impossible operation to find a new home for humanity before Kepler 442b meets the same fate as Ancient Earth. Paired with a team led by the enigmatic Sergeant Major Bentley, Mason is thrust on an intergalactic crusade to an alien planet teeming with sentient life, flora, and fauna-none of which they have seen before. But this utopia soon turns deadly when a disease threatens her squad, pressing them to accept the harsh truths of continued existence. Mason's fortitude is tested to its limits as conflicts escalate. Trapped between a domestic conflict and haunted by her past, she must defy commands and risk everything to establish an avenue to coexist. But in a new world where trust is scarce and alliances do not exist, will her attempt be enough to save what little remains of humanity? In this spellbinding tale of loss and redemption, readers journey through realms of danger, alien languages, and discovery. Prepare to explore the depths of humanity's resilience and the boundless reaches of the human mind as the pages turn in this first installment of WolfStar.
Word Count: 108540
Summary: The Library is dying. Ryn is finally working in the Ancestral Library, a childhood dream and a way to find her birth parentage. But the magic of the Library is being sabotaged, allowing pests, water damage and worse, while hostile Ancestor Houses are vying to move the books from the location they’ve occupied for a thousand years. Rumors of a secret society bent on sabotage, with only the words “Kill the roots, take the fruits,” leads Ryn and her stepbrother Zo on a chase across Waatch and the ancestor Islands. Three items are a danger to the Library: a rock, and sword, and a branch. Though Ryn has hated being an Ordinary her whole life, it seems the Ordinaries of Waatch, disdained by the Ancestor descendants, might hold the true key to the Library. They might be the only way for Ryn to find the saboteur and items, and save the Library along with any hope of finding her birth family.
Word Count: 96000
Summary: Back Cover Blurb with Lynessa Layne
