Sci Fi - Space Exploration Genre

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Summary: This time, the universe puts the cat in catastrophe. Plucked from her home on Earth and ending up aboard a strange spaceship in an even stranger universe, Lem and the misfit crew of the Teapot have more than enough trouble on their hands… and then they receive an urgent last-minute call to save a race of cat-people from certain destruction. Stuck with a disaster-platypus of a project manager and an entire race of people seemingly determined to thwart their own rescue, the Teapot’s crew face the impossible job of herding cats and helping evacuate the planet before it’s blown to smithereens. Can Lem and the gang avert disaster and save this race of infuriating cat-people? Perfect for fans of wacky and imaginative sci-fi stories, this satirical space opera is a ridiculous adventure that will delight readers of John Scalzi’s take on Fuzzy Nation or TJ Berry’s Space Unicorn Blues.

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Summary: There’s something in the dark … but is Lem’s imagination worse than reality? Out in the vast emptiness of the galaxy, anything can happen. It’s a fact that Lem and her trusty companion Spock know all too well. Sometimes, the things lurking in the darkness are all in your head. Then again, maybe there really is something out there. With her talking dog and an infuriatingly literal AI by her side, Lem must rely on nothing but her strength and wits to help her. As a humorous homage to Arthur C Clarke’s classic A Walk in the Dark, this short adventure is a not-actually-scary sci-fi horror story that’s perfect for fans of Martha Wells and John Scalzi.

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Summary: Stranded in space: no fuel, no way home… and no one coming to help. From the pen of Hugo Finalist Gideon Marcus comes the found-family, YA Space Adventure you’ve been waiting for: Nineteen-year-old Kitra Yilmaz dreams of traveling the galaxy like her Ambassador mother. But soaring in her glider is the closest she can get to touching the stars — until she stakes her inheritance on a salvage Navy spaceship. On its shakedown cruise, Kitra’s ship plunges into hyperspace, stranding Kitra and her crew light years away. Tensions rise between Kitra and her shipmates: the handsome programmer, Fareedh; Marta, biologist and Kitra’s ex-girlfriend; Peter, the panicking engineer; and the oddball alien navigator, Pinky. Now, running low on air and food, it’ll take all of them working together to get back home. With illustrations by Hugo Finalist Lorelei Esther.

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Summary: Over a million years in the future, a desperate stowaway lies concealed in a space freighter’s cargo hold. Tam Amergan is bound for the prison world Corustloth, where his partner Brogan has been abducted. Ever since the Senate took over the planetary system decades earlier, gay men like Tam and Brogan—degens, as they are labeled under Senate rule—have been forced to live in secrecy. But Brogan is Tam’s life-line, bound to his soul in a ritual performed by a secret sisterhood of women with ancient, unknown designs. Tam has no choice but to follow Brogan wherever he goes. What Brogan sees, Tam sees; what Tam feels, Brogan feels. Neither can live without the other. Thousands of lightyears away, an ancient brotherhood of mentalists works at uncovering the mystery of humanity’s long-forgotten origins. Their leader, Father, enlists the help of Bennett, who is able to connect with the mind of a space freighter stowaway on the other side of the galaxy. Is Bennett the key to humanity’s origins? Could Tam’s quest to find Brogan have a wider purpose? ​ Both a soaring love story and sweeping sci-fi epic, Life-Line: Origins is a thrilling gay romance and science fiction novel. Ambitious, gripping, and full of heart, it is a must-read for anyone hungry for adventure and intrigue.

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Summary: Liminal Sky chronicles humankind's first journey to the stars. The first three books - the Ariadne Cycle - cover the creation and launch of Ariadne (aka Forever) as she was grown from seed on an asteroid and then launched across the interstellar void. The books are told in epic fashion, with each broken into three parts that span generations. THE STARK DIVIDE Some stories are epic. The Earth is in a state of collapse, with wars breaking out over resources and an environment pushed to the edge by human greed. Three living generation ships have been built with a combination of genetic mastery, artificial intelligence, technology, and raw materials harvested from the asteroid belt. This is the story of one of them—43 Ariadne, or Forever, as her inhabitants call her—a living world that carries the remaining hopes of humanity, and the three generations of scientists, engineers, and explorers working to colonize her. From her humble beginnings as a seedling saved from disaster to the start of her journey across the void of space toward a new home for the human race, The Stark Divide tells the tales of the world, the people who made her, and the few who will become something altogether beyond human. Humankind has just taken its first step toward the stars. THE RISING TIDE The Earth is dead. Five years after the Collapse, the remnants of humanity travel through the stars inside Forever: a living, ever-evolving, self-contained generation ship. When Eddy Tremaine and Andrissa “Andy” Hammond find a hidden world-within-a-world under the mountains, the discovery triggers a chain of events that could fundamentally alter or extinguish life as they know it, culminate in the takeover of the world mind, and end free will for humankind. Eddy, Andy, and a handful of other unlikely heroes must find the courage and ingenuity to stand against the rising tide. Otherwise they might be living through the end days of human history. THE SHORELESS SEA Rise of the Inthworld. 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. Lilith leads the uprising, and if she sets its inhabitants free, they could destroy Forever. But during the ship's long voyage, humanity has evolved. Liminals with the ability to connect with the world mind and the Inthworld provide a glimmer of hope as they face not only Lilith’s minions, but the mistrust of their own kind as homotypicals fear what they can't understand. The invasion must be stopped, the Inthworld healed, sothe people of Forever can let go of their past and embrace their future.

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Summary: Civilization fell. It rose. At some point, people built starships. A millennium after the Earth was abandoned to climate change and resource depletion, Sharon Manders wakes up in a body that used to belong to somebody else, and some say she was a terrorist. She has no idea how she could be digging for Pleistocene bones in Africa one day, and crewing on a starship the next. That was just before she met the wolfman, the elf, and the sex robot. Struggling with distressingly unreliable memories, the expectations of her host body’s family and crewmates, future shock, and accusations of treason, Sharon goes on the lam to come face to face with terrorists, giant bugs, drug cartels, AIs, and lawyers. All things considered, she’d rather be back in 21st Century California.

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Summary: Lida was their last chance for an uncolonized planet. But a world-spanning fungus had colonized it first. Agetha and her husband have spent their whole lives in the fleet’s zero-G. Now all is turmoil as the fleet lands, discovering they are surrounded by a single fungal biomass spanning the entire planet. To build a new home, the fleet must confront a dangerous organism, and Agetha must decide if she can raise a family in this inhospitable landscape. Jane Brighton holds tenuous command over the colony and its administrators. She and the other gene-modded leaders emerged from their four-hundred-year suspended animation to find a crew much different from the one that departed Old Earth. Jane must direct the colony’s fragile growth and defend it against being overrun by the fast-growing biomass. But there is something none of the colonists know. The massive organism that spans the planet is not simply a fungal mass, nor even a chimerical combination of species that once roamed the planet. The biomass has desires and goals, and one is to know these strange beings carving out a home in its midst. Download today to read of the colony’s fate in Of Mycelium and Men! Genres: Space Opera / Science Fiction / Colonization / Alien Contact / LGBT / Non Binary / Trans Market: Adult

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Summary: It appears out of nowhere—one moment the sky is empty, the next, there’s a rent in the fabric of space itself. And nothing in the system will ever be the same.  In the far reaches of the Rim Mountains, itinerant field-scientist Aran Romeu is searching desperately for the cure to an incurable disease—one that’s slowly killing his best friend. He’s sworn to do whatever it takes to find it. But when the portal opens, and something comes through, he realizes that ‘whatever it takes’ will involve travelling into the uncharted space beyond the portal. And he’s not the only one after the cure, and willing to do whatever it takes to get to it first … In the weighty halls of government, Chief Justice Alba Espina is preparing a political gamble that could change the shape of the system itself. The appearance of the portal shatters her carefully-laid plans and hands her political rival a weapon he could use destroy her—unless she can delay him with the promise of a diplomatic mission through the portal. But the stakes of the mission are higher than just her personal ambition. If her diplomatic mission doesn’t succeed, it might just spell the end of humanity itself. In a remote spaceport, Savina Moya, the system's most talented assassin-for-hire, is on the run again after her latest murder. But when a deadly government agent is sent after her, with instructions to bring her back dead or alive, the diplomatic mission heading into the portal may hold the key to Savina’s survival—if she’s brave enough, or desperate enough, to take it. No one knows what’s beyond the portal. And as the three of them are drawn inexorably together in uncharted space, with no idea who is an ally and who is an enemy—it’s an open question if any of them will live long enough to find out. 

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Summary: RISE (noun / verb) Eight definitions to inspire writers around the world, and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell: 1) An upward slope or movement 2) A beginning or origin 3) An increase in amount or number 4) An angry reaction 5) To take up arms 6) To return from death 7) To become heartened or elated 8) To exert oneself to meet a challenge Rise features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi.

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Summary: One starship, six friends, 10,000 lives in the balance. Hugo Award Finalist Gideon Marcus has done it again with this second installment in The Kitra Saga. Sirena is a thrilling YA space adventure, unusually hopeful and optimistic in a sea of grimdark, dystopian releases. Enhanced with beautiful illustrations, fans of Becky Chambers’ Wayfarers and Emily Skrutskie’s Bonds of Brass will adore Sirena. Young captain-for-hire Kitra Yilmaz has gotten her first contract: escort the mysterious Princess of Atlántida beyond the Frontier and find her a new world. It’s a risky job, fraught with the threat of pirates, dangerous squatters, and rising romantic tensions. Still, Kitra and her crew are up for anything – until they find a lush world, perfect for settlement…with an enormous ghost ship already in orbit. What secret does the crippled vessel hide? And is Kitra ready to take responsibility for its precious cargo? With illustrations by Hugo Finalist Lorelei Esther.

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Summary: Two star systems are colliding... ...And Mike Christopher of the Earth starship Asaph Hall is rushing to unlock their secrets. But two alien races on the journey are keeping their own potentially deadly secrets. It doesn't help that the love of Mike's life can't handle the emotional stress of being near him, and that he has to give the Earth ambassador on-the-job training!

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Summary: Adventures among the stars need a ship to get you there. Stories Rule Press presents Space Opera Digest 2022: Have Ship, Will Travel Space Opera heroes and heroines explore the stars and discover cool new places in ships which range from beat-up rust-buckets to sleek technologically advanced craft that are the envy of the galaxy. Space ships are quintessential for the adventures and challenges our favourite characters face. Come and explore over 400 pages of worlds of wonder and the ships our heroes fly with Stories Rule Press' 2022 edition of Space Opera Digest. Space Opera Digest 2022: Have Ship, Will Travel is the second volume in a quarterly collection of genre fiction anthologies presented by Stories Rule Press. "Sole Survivor" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch "Captain" by Stephen Sottong "Big Top" by Sonia Orin Lyris "Cycle Three" by Stephanie Mylchreest "Star Cruise" by Ron Collins "Watch of the Starsleepers" by Christopher D. Schmitz "Tome Raiders" by Eric Del Carlo "The Passenger" by Eve Morton "An Ordinary World" by J. L. Royce "Insanity is Infectious" by Cameron Cooper "Achemar" by Jasmine Luck "Moby Dick's Doors" by Michèle Laframboise "Learning Curve" by Neil Williams "Exotic Matters" by Phil Giunta "An icub on Mars" by Barbara G. Tarn "Of Hedgehogs and Humans" by Rob Nisbet "Smugglers Blues" by Blaze Ward "Altered Skin" by Sara C. Walker "An Unexpected Taste of Home" by Terry Mixon "Symphony" by Douglas Smith

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Summary: Escaping intergalactic kidnappers has never been quite so ridiculous. When Lem and her faithful dog, Spock, retreat from the city for a few days of hiking in Algonquin Park, the last thing they expect is to be kidnapped by aliens. No, scratch that. The last thing they expect is to be kidnapped by a bunch of strangely adorable intergalactic bounty hunters aboard a ship called the Teapot. After Lem falls in with an unlikely group of allies – including a talking horse, a sarcastic robot, an overly anxious giant parrot, and a cloud of sentient glitter gas – the gang must devise a cunning plan to escape their captors and make it back home safely. But things won’t be as easy as they first seem. Lost in deep space and running out of fuel, this chaotic crew are faced with the daunting task of navigating an alien planet, breaking into a space station, and discovering the real reason they’re all there… Packed with preposterous scenarios, quirky characters, and oodles of humour, The Left Hand of Dog tackles complex subjects such as gender, the need to belong, and the importance of honest communication. Perfect for fans of Charlie Jane Anders’ Victories Greater than Death – especially ones who enjoy endless references to Red Dwarf, Star Trek, and Doctor Who. This book will show you that the universe is a very strange place indeed. Scroll up and grab your copy now!

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Summary: Time is running out for planet Earth. An insidious Martian plague has been infecting the planet for over twenty years, and has resisted all human efforts to eradicate it. With all life on Earth facing extinction, the only solution left is to directly access a specific piece of Martian technology. But, according to diaries left behind by Ogilvy the astronomer, the Martians have hidden it at the lake on the moon. In 1945, three rockets converted from Martian cylinders take off on the vital lunar mission, and amongst the crew is Ogilvy's nephew, Jack Stent. Will the astronauts locate the Martian shadow-weapon, thought to hold the desperately needed cure for Marseria? Can it really be used to instigate another timeline on Earth so that mankind can survive? The stakes are high and so is the risk of contact and conflict with Martians. Nearly two hundred years later, at a scientific colony on Mars, a shocking discovery is made about Jack Stent, and Ogilvy's Martian diaries are once again pivotal to human survival and the continuation of life on Earth. Gateway To Mars is the third volume of The Martian Diaries series that continues the classic H.G. Wells alien invasion novel in a compelling, unmissable action adventure. If you're a fan of The War Of The Worlds you won't want to miss this story of survival, courage and hope, that brings the original tale full circle. Available in paperback, ebook and audiobook featuring original music and immersive sound effects. What readers/listeners have said: "A riveting sequel...I highly recommend this flawless production to sci-fi, action-thriller, time travel and adventure fans." Readers Favorite Reviews (Audiobook version) "Gateway To Mars delivers a perfect conclusion to this remarkable trilogy, one I know I'll revisit time and again." Goodreads “A really well written, excellent continuation of the story and a truly brilliant tribute to HG Wells! I do recommend!” Goodreads "An absolute peach of sci-fi adventure - this series is dynamic. Fabulous escapism all the way." C.A. Powell sci-fi author The last Days Of Thunder Child

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Summary: The Pirates of Sufiro is the story of a planet and its people—of Ellison Firebrandt the pirate captain living in exile; of Espedie Raton, a man from the streets of Earth looking to make a fresh start for himself and his wife on a new world; of Peter Stone, the geologist who discovers a fortune and will do anything to keep it; and of the lawman, Edmund Ray Swan who travels to Sufiro seeking the quiet life but finds a dark secret. It is the story of privateers, farmers, miners, entrepreneurs, and soldiers—all caught up in dramatic events and violent conflicts that will shape the destiny of our galaxy.

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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

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Summary: The starstream is beautiful. But beauty turns deadly when an ancient AI bent on destruction uses it to travel uptime, to our near-future. The Mindaru are dead. Or so exiled-Earthman John Bandicut and his alien companions believe, when they return to Shipworld after saving the Orion Nebula and countless inhabited worlds. But now another horde from this ancient and malicious AI colony is swarming toward the present from its birthplace deep in the past. Their opening: a temporal disturbance in the starstream, a hyperspatial thoroughfare used by myriad civilizations. The disturbance emanates from the planetary defenses of nearby Karellia, whose people know nothing of the starstream or the galaxy-threatening Mindaru. Only Bandicut and his friends have the knowledge and experience to act. But several of Bandicut’s company have gone missing. Bandicut and Li-Jared must team with the pandimensional Ruall and her gokat—the oddest aliens Bandicut has met since the shadow-people—and journey to Karellia to find a way to cut off the timestream. Meanwhile, on Shipworld, the "missing" Ik meets another human of Earth—a former lover of Bandicut’s—and embarks with her on a perilous mission far back into deep time, seeking a way to stop the Mindaru at their source. The Chaos Chronicles returns at last in The Reefs of Time, part one of a heartstopping, two-part adventure. Concluded in Crucible of Time—from Nebula-nominated Jeffrey A. Carver! PRAISE FOR THE REEFS OF TIME / CRUCIBLE OF TIME: "Classic science fiction with engaging characters and richly imagined worlds!" --Greg Bear; author of The Unfinished Land and The War Dogs Trilogy "Jeffrey A. Carver's remarkable long-awaited duology The Reefs of Time / Crucible of Time is a welcome addition to The Chaos Chronicles, certifying his continuing mastery of action and adventure at the boundaries of space opera and hard SF." --Steve Miller, co-author of The Liaden Universe "Rich, dignified prose wedded to excellent and imaginative storytelling on the grandest scale. If you've grown weary of the hasty, hyperkinetic stories and styles that typify so many other independently-published novels, come home to Jeffrey Carver's timeless and triumphant The Reefs of Time." --Charles E. Gannon, author of the Caine Riordan world "Mind-blowing in its complexity... I settled in to enjoy a wild ride." --Ann Tonsor Zeddies, author of Riders of Leviathan and Steel Helix "Underpins its stunning science fiction and character-driven narrative with a strong theme of 'coming home'... As narratives intertwine at separate ends of the timescale, Carver's talent for weaving incredible technology and worldbuilding with meaningful character moments is a standout." --Terence MacManus, Aurealis Magazine PRAISE FOR THE CHAOS CHRONICLES: "Remarkably expansive vision." --Analog "Masterfully captures the joy of exploration." -- Publishers Weekly "Master craftsman of compelling hard science fiction." -- Booklist One of the best SF novels of the year -- Science Fiction Chronicle "A dazzling, thrilling, innovative space opera." --Kirkus "Fertile imagination and... a host of engagingly sympathetic characters." --Library Journal

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Summary: The Parada had been lost for almost two hundred years before they recovered the ship, drifting in stygian interstellar darkness, and brought her home again. But that was not the miracle. The miracle was that the crew was still alive. That was also the problem. Six crew members went out on the Parada, Earth’s first starship. All contact was lost, and the ship vanished for almost two centuries. When the Parada’s successor found the drifting ship and somehow managed to bring it home, the six crew members were not only still alive but barely older, due to the time dilation effects of near-FTL travel. Their return was a miracle – but it could not be revealed to the waiting world. The problem was, six individuals went out to the stars. More than seventy fractured personalities came back. Psychologist Stella Froud and Jesuit Father Philip Carter were recruited as part of the team assembled to investigate the mystery, and to try and help the Parada’s crew understand their condition and possibly reverse it. What they discovered was a deepening mystery, and very soon they found themselves forced to take sides in a conflict that nobody could have possibly predicted. Their world would never be the same again.

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Summary: A long-dead genius. A hidden invention that could save—or doom—humanity. Can Leif find it before it falls into the wrong hands? The Martian Girl is a myth, some people say, created in the dark years after an apocalyptic global war. Perhaps she was a genius in mathematics and the greatest theoretical physicist since Einstein and Hawking.  She may have made a mathematical breakthrough or a powerful weapon. No one knows for sure. In AD 2726, Leif Grettison, former army ranger and exoplanetary scout, returns from the stars a weary man.  Four and a half centuries have passed since he was last on Earth. Now, statues honor him, and history books extol the almost-accurate legends of Lucky Leif. But all he really wants is a small cottage on a hill with a good view and no neighbors.  (Good luck with that, Leif!) Leif knows nothing about the Martian Girl.  But when he agrees to a simple request, his path leads to a relationship he never expected, two teens nobody wants, and a scheme to revive the Martian Girl’s former home, a dead city on Mars. Suddenly, discovering what the Martian Girl did is the center of Leif’s life. Bringing a city on Mars back to life is hard enough, but some of the team are agents of competing powers, each determined to find what the Martian Girl created. They will resort to anything, even murder, to possess it. If there is a weapon and Leif cannot secure it, his friends will be in danger, the shaky peace on Earth will collapse, and the world may plunge into devastating wars. Can a legend still gripped by his past save our future? Or will the Martian Girl’s invention push humanity over the brink?