Sci fi stories that involve individuals using and being affected by the use of do-it-youeself renewable resources, recycling and repurposing.. Return to general Sci Fi
Note: these books are currently sorted by release date, with newest first.
Word Count: 7150
Summary: In a four-gendered world where correct gender identity is law, Venk struggles with his inability to choose one sexual orientation over another. His body has matured, but he still shows the multi-colored crest of a juvenile, someone who has not yet presented proper orientation. With his family losing patience and others beginning to whisper, Venk must find a way to change his crest or be labeled an aberration. But the only choice he sees is a dishonest one.
Word Count: 102000
Summary: Dragons in space? A preposterous legend, dragons dueling with riggers. Nothing can live in the interdimensional Flux of interstellar space. But in the Flux, visions of the mind converge with reality, and visions can be perilous. When star pilot Jael defies an abusive ship's master and rigs "the mountain route to Lexis," dragons indeed appear in the night sky—and challenge her to duel to the death. Just one dragon, Highwing, offers her friendship. If she escapes, she would be wise never again to fly this route between the stars. But Jael has been caught up in an age-old struggle of good and evil, in unwitting fulfillment of an ancient prophecy of "One" from the outside who will shake the realm to its foundation. Fate has its ways, and when the currents of space once more bring her back to the dragon realm, she finds Highwing under sentence of death for the kindness he showed her. Only "the One" can intervene—and so Jael must, for the sake of one who risked his life to save hers. A genre-bending novel of the Star Rigger Universe, from the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity's End, and recipient of the Frank Herbert Lifetime Achievement Award for writing science fiction. Original print publication by Tor Books. Also available in the ebook Dragon Space: A Star Rigger Omnibus. REVIEW QUOTES: "Carver writes powerfully and clearly and has produced a book that is likely to find an audience among hard SF readers." —Booklist "An interesting and entertaining blend of genres." —Science Fiction Chronicle "Carver's prose effectively lends a spare yet evocative resonance to the draconian realm. Like a good stage performer, this story should leave its audience wanting more." —John Bunnell, Amazing Stories
Word Count: 105388
Summary: He went to the stars to start over. His troubles have just begun. Earth, 2072. Jann Argent has no memory of committing the murder that landed him in prison. So when he’s offered a chance at freedom, he accepts the price of exile to humanity’s first colony planet. But when the ship crash lands on the new world’s surface, he’s shocked to discover an indigenous population and a strange sense of familiarity. Stunned when he and several other shipmates develop mystical powers, Jann discovers previous colonists have all joined one of two rival native houses. And with a tyrant’s power play set to devastate the realm, he’s about to become the lynchpin in a magical war that could destroy him. Can Jann uncover his destiny in time to stop a terrifying plot? Gatekeeper is the first book in the genre-bending Berikatanyan Chronicles science fiction fantasy mashup. If you like gritty heroes, elemental magic, and journeys to other worlds, then you’ll love John Beresford’s towering tale. Buy Gatekeeper to fulfill an interstellar fate today!
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Summary: Tiernan Guaire was exiled from the Fae Realm a century and a half ago for his brother's murder. His soul torn in half, he lives by his vows - never to trust, never to love. And if he can only be whole by finding and loving the human with the other half of his soul? He's content to live broken and half-souled. Kevin Almstead's future, the career he's worked for as long as he can remember, has been taken away by a vote of the partners at his law firm. Chance brings him to Purgatory, the hottest all-male nightclub in Washington, D.C., to a meeting with a Fae, with long blond hair, ice-blue eyes, and a smile promising pleasures he's never dreamed of. But there's no such thing as chance. But Tiernan isn't the only one to find Kevin in Purgatory. The most ancient enemy of the Fae race sees in the handsome lawyer a way to destroy the world from which it, too, was exiled. And only the strength of a true SoulShare bond can keep it from what it seeks.
Word Count: 120130
Summary: Determined to kill his father for his crimes again humanity, Pelinas resolves to live until the Duke of Korval is dead. Beyond a burning desire for revenge, though, he has no solid plan to accomplish what seems impossible. Duke Per leads a massive army, controls frightening technology, and even commands the dead. But the Duke of Korval has eleven other sons, many carrying their own dark secrets. When Telluris Marat reveals strange and terrible facts about Pelinas's heritage and his birth, new possibilities unfold. He might attain all he desires—but will the cost be too high for him, for his friends, and for the entire continent?
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Summary: “Human civilization has collapsed. Rainey Vidic, MD is a genius, and she has Preston Hayes--her open hand, or hammering fist... ...Only the strongest and smartest will survive in The After. A gifted surgeon, her retired warrior lover, a former Marine, and a taciturn drone pilot fight for survival in a dangerous and pitiless world, while navigating human needs for love, family and community. When one of their own faces a lethal illness, Dr. Rainey Vidic's efforts are compromised by a savage horde of highly intelligent, relentlessly evil creatures that threaten the lives of the entire team. Desperate to save their teammate, the Team encounters an imperiled town of survivors that may hold the key to saving them all. . . or send humanity into extinction. With echoes of McCarthy's "The Road" and the thrill ride of "Jurassic Park," this three volume, four part series, "Love, Death, & The After," tests the limits of romance, loyalty, and community against a violent world hell-bent on devouring it all. This book, Love, Death, & The After: Darkness is the first of three: Book 2: Love, Death, & The After: Abandoned Spaces Book 3: Love, Death, & The After: Never Again”
Word Count: 17700
Summary: Following his principles will break two hearts. Forester Veld loses a piece of himself to mute baker Oren when they first meet, but Oren is vowed to Haram. When Haram is killed, Veld denies his heart to respect the mourning period. It’s the right thing to do. During Haram’s funeral, Oren proudly bares the brands that show the nature of their love; Haram owned him, heart and body. The elves pity Oren and think he’s broken. Veld has no intention of dishonouring Haram’s memory, but his death may not have been an accident. Only a forester can learn what the trees have seen. However, Oren’s independence is threatened, and if Veld does not offer what Oren needs, Oren may never be his to claim.
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Summary: Third of the Virian Chronicles When Darien returns to her home city after a sabbatical in the countryside, she soon realises that all is not well with her family and colleagues. Faced with mysterious threats while trying to investigate a charismatic criminal mastermind, she has to venture into dangerous areas of the city and rely on assistance from an unlikely assortment of vagrants and misfits. She also has to contend with her cantankerous mother and a needy lover who is not as supportive as he should be. Take a journey into the sleazy criminal underworld of Kashmir City, where Darien searches for truth and justice, as well as trying to find her true vocation in life.
Word Count: 105264
Summary: The Vista: Book One of The Wildblood – World War Last pushed humanity to the brink of extinction. In the space of ten hours, civilization was gone. Cut off from the chaos of a pandemic mutated by nuclear war, a group of survivors gathered in a secluded mountain valley. Those that lived through the winter founded The Vista. But this isn't about the survivors, it's about the first generation after. Twenty years later, children of The Vista have become guardians of their secluded valley. A dark secret, that a few of them are different, something of urban legend, draws them together to protect their home. Venturing out into the world will be more dangerous than anything they’ve faced. What they are might save them. It could destroy them. Their enemies know.
Word Count: 84000
Summary: When high school teacher Chris Franzia comes home on the last day of school, he finds two FBI agents waiting for him. A string of seemingly unrelated murders has left them baffled, and they can find only one commonality. All five victims shared a college class with Chris thirty years earlier... and now he may be next. Struggling with the sheer impossibility of the situation, Chris’s skepticism fades after a series of failed attempts on his life makes things deadly clear. Thus begins a harrowing cross-country race, forcing Chris to put together the pieces of his past while staying one step ahead of his mysterious assailants. Can he make the connection in time? And will the deadly picture of reconstructed memory be worth the price of knowing?
Word Count: 166000
Summary: Antuniet Chazillen lost everything the night her brother was executed. In exile, she swore that treason would not be the final chapter of the Chazillen legacy in Alpennia’s history. A long- hidden book of alchemical secrets provides the first hope of success, but her return to the capital is haunted by an enemy who wants those secrets for himself. Jeanne, Vicomtesse de Cherdillac is bored. The Rotenek season is flat, her latest lover has grown tediously jealous and her usual crowd of friends fails to amuse. When Antuniet turns up on her doorstep seeking patronage for her alchemy experiments, what begins as amusement turns to interest, then something deeper. But Antuniet’s work draws danger that threatens even the crown of Alpennia. The alchemy of precious gems throws two women into a crucible of adversity, but it is the alchemy of the human heart that transforms them both in this breathtaking follow-up to the widely acclaimed Daughter of Mystery.
Word Count: 77241
Summary: After a terrible magical accident at Berkeley created unpredictable holes between realities, all manner of non-human creatures started popping into our world. These displacements, called Random Anomalous Reality Events or RARE, have taken magic out of fiction and relocated it firmly in reality, resulting in a great deal of chaos and confusion. Displaced elf Valerian works with AURA, the Agency of Unnatural Resettlement and Assimilation, to intercept these beings as they appear in the human world, helping the peaceful ones and subduing the violent, malevolent ones. It’s good, satisfying work, and Val would be happy if he wasn’t so lonely. Quinten is a young mage just trying to get by, but New York isn’t the easiest city to make a living in. If his methods are sometimes morally dubious, his heart is still in the right place. Of course, for Quinn, the right place means firmly locked away, protected at all costs. Living by his wits and sometimes magically induced luck, he works as a ‘freelance magic user’, or unregistered mage and small-time con, according to the authorities. The last thing Quinn wants is to draw the cops’ attention, but when an Event happens right on top of him, he’s forced to turn to AURA for help. Valerian isn’t at all what he’d expected in an AURA cop, and he certainly wasn’t expecting to join forces with the sexy elf, a snarky drow and a bitter incubus, when certain individuals in power try to stop the RARE by any means necessary. Things are not all what they seem at AURA headquarters, and a greater evil lurks at the top than anyone could have imagined.
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Summary: Second of the Virian Chronicles Sheraleen never wanted to be a warrior, despite being born into one of the fierce Northern Virian clans. All she ever wanted was to become a sorceress. However she has to become both, as her world is invaded by the cruel Cyad Forces. Guided by visions and entities which turn out to be equally helpful and frustrating, she has to learn how to survive in hostile alien territory. Can she and her new friends help to defeat the enemy? Will she manage to return to her beloved homeland? Embark on a challenging journey which will leave everyone changed in ways they could never have imagined.
Word Count: 100000
Summary: Award-winning science fiction romance author Christie Meierz presents the newest of her bestselling Tales of Tolari Space. Laura Howard, Earth Fleet widow and exile from human space, found more than safety on Tolar: she captured the love of a Tolari ruler and became a powerful Tolari empath. But in the midst of ancient, bitter rivalries, a serious injury erases Laura's time in Parania--and, perhaps, loses her the love of her Paran, who yearns for the woman she once was. Armed only with the memories of her youth, and empathically bonded to a man she can no longer understand, she struggles to recover and find her place, and herself, before a hidden enemy forces the Paran to do what he had always considered unthinkable: risk his life, and with it Laura's, to fight for the leadership of the ruling caste. The Fall is the story of a world re-opened to the stars after millennia of isolation, and the hazards and opportunities that abound when one's feelings are known to everyone around you.
Word Count: 103900
Summary: Exiled and disinherited, Pelinas finds refuge with his father's enemies. But his mind holds dangerous secrets locked away, ones he fears he won't unravel before he does immeasurable harm. Starved and ill, Pelinas finds himself at the gates of Arhanna, the city of his father's enemies. He doesn't recall how he came there, though he remembers vividly his father disowning him. Luckily, the kind-hearted General Devar takes him in. Roya Intalva returns from the Academy up north to take her rightful place in the Ktar's forces only to find that her friend, Romenel, has taken on a new aide whom she does not trust and the troops are succumbing to a mysterious illness. Intrigue piles upon intrigue and when the walking dead kidnap Duke Semis, it falls to a group of green cadets, a prickly young Lieutenant and the haunted, guilt-ridden Pelinas to ride to the rescue.
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Summary: First of the Virian Chronicles This is the first of the Virian Chronicles, introducing the sorcerer Odo Babaloney, who features in some of the other novels in this series. Follow his life story from his childhood in an obscure sorcerers' enclave, through his formative years and into his adult life. Experience the joys and sorrows with him as he learns and grows. He was born with a secret gift, which he also considers a curse, and it could be dangerous for him if the wrong people discover his secret. Will he be able to avoid its discovery? Travel with Odo from Viria to Malvania, Sartoria and Varathusia as he embarks on a difficult mission to spread peace and unify the fragmented tribes and societies on these other worlds. Will he succeed in uniting the disparate peoples against a common enemy?
Word Count: 120000
Summary: War between the stars... It was started and fought by an AI. Few humans even knew there was a war at all. But now people are dying—and the AI wants it to stop. But a war is easier to start than to stop, and the computer can't alter its course without outside help. When the Gnostic Control System searches for co-conspirators, it chooses its friends carefully. Pali: a brooding public relations director. Ramo: a flamboyant senso-dancer, who prefers a musical jamdam to serious conversation. Sage: a systems designer for whom the AI rapture-field is realer than life. And three of the alien Ell: Harybdartt, who would rather die with dignity than betray his people; Lingrhetta, who tries to unravel the meaning of human dance and music, pain and love; and Moramaharta, the binder, who must persuade his fellow decision-makers to risk everything for the sake of a fragile bridge of understanding across the stars. A thought-provoking novel from the award-winning author of Eternity’s End and The Chaos Chronicles, and recipient of the Frank Herbert Lifetime Achievement Award for science fiction writing. REVIEWS: “The story is meaty and satisfying. I enjoyed this one greatly.” —Analog Science Fiction “An absorbing, suspenseful novel of first contact and interstellar war. It’s a complex book, requiring concentration from the reader, and is well worth the effort.”—Aboriginal SF “A lively dance of ideas—first contact, interstellar war, artificial intelligence, alien culture—and it moves at a rapid pace, from Earth through cyberspace to the Horsehead Nebula, and various points between. It’s well-worth the trip ticket.” —Roger Zelazny
Word Count: 49000
Summary: Thrust into the role of Prince of the Lycans, Tristan strives to find his footing in a life suddenly rife with secrets and lies—and danger. Betrayed by a Goddess meant to safeguard him, desperate to protect his consort and their growing tribe, he can only prepare for the worst and struggle to hope. And then the worst comes to kill them...
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Summary: The Indestructibles -- Solar, the Dancer, Straylight, Fury, and Entropy Emily -- saved the day more than a few times last year, and the world took notice. When Doc, their mentor, went missing, the five teenaged heroes did their best to make the world a better place, stumbling from adventure to adventure without an overall strategy. The general public seems to be cheering them on, but a shadowy government agency lurking in the background, wants to round them up and force them to play by their rules. And they aren't going to take no for an answer — even if it means making an example of the young heroes. Meanwhile, a bigger threat, an escaped experiment who spreads sickness wherever he goes, is working his way toward the City to meet the Indestructibles head on, blaming them for what he has become. With Doc Silence gone, Fury apparently missing, and the Dancer slipping away into her own silent brand of vigilantism, will Solar be able to hold her team together in the face of this looming threat? And who is the mysterious, neon-pink haired stranger who keeps appearing and then disappearing like an illusion on the Indestructibles' flying base? The Indestructibles have become a national sensation — but will they survive the fame? Tune into the sequel The Indestructibles: Breakout to find out for sure.
Word Count: 25000
Summary: Exiled to Earth for perhaps the worst failure in Irasolan history, General Teer must assimilate or die. Earth is too warm, too wet, too foreign, but he does the best he can even though human males are loud, childish louts whom he can't imitate successfully. When a grieving seaplane pilot strikes up a strange and uneasy friendship with him, he finds he may have been too quick to judge human males. They are strange to look at, but perhaps not as unbearable as he thought.
