I’m an author, a reader, and a second generation sci-fi geek. For me, space caper novels are the ultimate escape. Both fun and intellectually stimulating, they allow readers to safely explore adventures beyond the constraints of law, morality, and our planet.
Artemis feels underrated compared to Weir’s other books, but has his signature style—hard sci-fi delivered as amusing and accessible first-person banter.
It speculates on what life might look like in the Moon’s first city through the perspective of a brilliant yet somewhat selfish and immature female protagonist, Jaz, which only makes her more interesting to follow. She pulls off a dangerous, scientifically plausible heist and uncovers a hidden secret.
I listened to the audiobook, and Rosario Dawson’s narration was incredible.
The bestselling author of The Martian returns with an irresistible new near-future thriller—a heist story set on the moon.
Jasmine Bashara never signed up to be a hero. She just wanted to get rich.
Not crazy, eccentric-billionaire rich, like many of the visitors to her hometown of Artemis, humanity’s first and only lunar colony. Just rich enough to move out of her coffin-sized apartment and eat something better than flavored algae. Rich enough to pay off a debt she’s owed for a long time.
So when a chance at a huge score finally comes her way, Jazz can’t…
Maya is a former art thief who is asked to do one last job: steal a valuable artefact to help save an alien species from extinction. But while doing so, she may also condemn humanity. What emerges is a story about a touching friendship between two characters from different species and a varied found family.
I enjoyed the world building with its fascinating planets, species, and cultures, and the exploration of themes of cultural appropriation and anticolonialsm.
Maya Hoshimoto was once the best art thief in the galaxy. For ten years, she returned stolen artifacts to alien civilisations - until a disastrous job forced her into hiding. Now she just wants to enjoy a quiet life as a graduate student of anthropology, but she's haunted by persistent and disturbing visions of the future.
Then an old friend comes to her with a job she can't refuse: find a powerful object that could save an alien species from extinction. Except no one has seen it in living memory, and they aren't the only ones hunting for it.
Misanthropic psychologist Dr. Grace Park is placed on the Deucalion, a survey ship headed to an icy planet in an unexplored galaxy. Her purpose is to observe the thirteen human crew members aboard the ship—all specialists in their own fields—as they assess the colonization potential of the planet, Eos. But…
If you enjoy Star Wars but wish it had more Han and more heists—this is for you.
Destroying the Death Star doesn’t rid Han Solo of his debt to Jabba the Hutt, so, in this book, he signs up to a dubious con job and finds himself deep over his head. I loved that in addition to fan favourites like Han and Lando, the heist crew features several new and interesting female characters.
The plot is full of twists and betrayals. And the tone balances Han’s trademark charm, cynicism, and optimism. The audiobook narration was great.
Ocean's Eleven meets Star Wars in this classic adventure set just after StarWars: Episode IV A New Hope. From #1 New York Times bestselling author Timothy Zahn, and starring Han Solo, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, and more favorites!
The Death Star has just been destroyed and Han Solo still needs the money to pay off the bounty on his head. Now the opportunity to make that money and then some has walked into his life in the form of the perfect heist. With nine like-minded scoundrels, he and Chewbacca just might be able to pull it off and live to tell…
A con man with a quantum intellect assembles a team of other bizarre post-humans—including AI and genetically engineered characters—to pull off a heist that could start a galactic-scale war or help these new species find meaning.
I love that the book incorporates pretty complex elements, like quantum mechanics, genetic engineering, and unique societies with plausible far-future world-building, yet the heist story at the heart of it is fun, accessible, and occasionally humorous.
Prisons are at bursting point. Criminals are released early and the guilty walk free from courts. The Justice system is in a state of collapse and no-one is safe.
i4Ni is created to solve the problem. i4Ni is a humanoid which, according to its 'creator' Jules Von Beck, will serve…
If you experience bouts of nostalgia for classic pulp sci-fi, you should read this.
While not all aspects of this 1950s book aged well, I love its style and its protagonist, “Slippery Jim” diGriz, for his ideological stance, which involves zero grand motives. He intentionally chooses the life of crime because he believes it’s public entertainment in an otherwise pristine system, but is ultimately out-conned and forced to catch other criminals for an organisation called Special Corps.
In the vastness of space, the crimes just get bigger and Slippery Jim diGriz, the Stainless Steel Rat, is the biggest criminal of them all. He can con humans, aliens and any number of robots time after time. Jim is so slippery that all the inter-galactic cops can do is make him one of their own.
A snarky, high-stakes space opera about a smarmy con man who teams up with a brilliant programmer to decode a stolen alien blueprint.
Both have their own agendas, but when the job goes awry, they’re forced to run, outwit gangs, pirates, alien governments, and stay one step ahead to survive. Along the way, they uncover a sinister secret behind the blueprint—one that could destroy humanity. In a galaxy full of betrayal, trust is a luxury they can’t afford.
Liam was orphaned at the age of two by a group of giant carnivorous insects called the chitin. Taken in by High Councilor Marcus and his wife, Lidia, Liam was raised with their older son, Randolf in New Olympia, the last remaining city on the planet Etrusci.
The future is uncertain, and the stakes are high. Climate change has wreaked havoc on the planet, and humanity is on the brink of extinction. The only hope lies in the Olympus Project, a plan to colonise the moon and build on the Artemis Base.
