Here are 100 books that Extinction Code fans have personally recommended if you like
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I’ve always thought that the Venn diagram of Space Opera and Military Science Fiction should not be a circle. I thought there should be stories about people living in interstellar civilizations that didn’t involve massive wars across unimaginable distances, resulting in untold misery and suffering. So, I wrote some, starting with Quarter Share. Each of these books shows mostly normal people trying to get by in a galaxy far, far away.
Skylar Ramirez kicks off this twisty series by introducing the alcoholic Captain Brad Mendoza and his troubled executive officer. Along the way, a crooked path leads the reader deeper into a well-developed universe of money, politics, and betrayal.
Every character plays a role, but some play more than one. While these are technically military people, their mission isn’t supposed to involve flying missiles and drawn-out battles. Mostly, it’s about a bunch of troubled people finding their way back from the brink.
This one has more military than the first three, but it's still a great read.
Brad Mendoza is an idiot. He knows it, and so does everyone else in the star nation of Prometheus. A promising naval career down the drain just because he accidentally killed 504 civilians. So, it's time for him to give up and accept a dead-end command on Persephone, the worst starship in the fleet. Until he meets the beautiful and cunning Jessica Lin, his new executive officer, who harbors a terrible secret of her own. Now, with an enemy warship four times their size bearing down on them, Brad's in a race to save Jessica and his stupid ship.
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
I have loved science since I was young. I was obsessed with watching videos and reading books by scientists like Michio Kaku and Neil DeGrasse Tyson, where they explored concepts like time travel, black holes, and the quantum realm. In college, I majored in environmental studies, mostly because of my love for both natural science and policy. In addition to basic biology and ecology, I learned about what is hurting the Earth and the consequences of not acting fast. I contributed to a white paper on “Ecocide,” or deliberate destruction of the natural environment, by the Russians in Ukraine. I also contributed to the Journal of Science and Technology Law.
I love this book because it shows that, even in the face of existential demise, humans cannot set aside their differences so easily.
You’d think that, with a comet headed toward Earth causing certain destruction, interpersonal conflicts would take a backseat. But humans are still humans—we still always want to think we’re right, we still have pride, and we still have interests that, although similar to one another, are not exactly the same. It’s self-published, like my own.
1908... Siberia... A tiny comet rips through Earth's atmosphere and explodes above the Tunguska region of Siberia, instantly engulfing thousands of square acres of the mostly desolate region. The explosion is heard for hundreds of miles, the light of the comet seen halfway across the globe. Had the comet hit a few hours earlier in a more populated area, millions would have been killed...
A century later, another comet - this one hundreds of times bigger and more powerful - encounters a black hole in deep space and is pushed onto a new, deadly course leading straight to Earth...
I have loved science since I was young. I was obsessed with watching videos and reading books by scientists like Michio Kaku and Neil DeGrasse Tyson, where they explored concepts like time travel, black holes, and the quantum realm. In college, I majored in environmental studies, mostly because of my love for both natural science and policy. In addition to basic biology and ecology, I learned about what is hurting the Earth and the consequences of not acting fast. I contributed to a white paper on “Ecocide,” or deliberate destruction of the natural environment, by the Russians in Ukraine. I also contributed to the Journal of Science and Technology Law.
I love this book because it has a strong female lead character. These are rare in entertainment in general, and especially in sci-fi books, besides a few notable exceptions. It’s one of the reasons I decided to feature a woman as the protagonist in my book.
The novel also features a plot about humans living throughout space and how dangerous space might become when that happens. Like my own, it was self-published.
Murdered parents and a busted spaceship. That’s what pirates left to Meriel and the orphans from the Light Speed Merchant Princess. But pirates didn’t exist, and for the authorities, that defined her as crazy.
Ten years later, her past will not stay buried, and the most powerful interests in the galaxy aim to kill her for what she might remember. While searching for a mythical planet called Home, she trips alarms that protect the killers… … and the biggest secret in human history.
Meriel has only days to untangle the mysteries surrounding the Princess attack or face her own death.…
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…
I have loved science since I was young. I was obsessed with watching videos and reading books by scientists like Michio Kaku and Neil DeGrasse Tyson, where they explored concepts like time travel, black holes, and the quantum realm. In college, I majored in environmental studies, mostly because of my love for both natural science and policy. In addition to basic biology and ecology, I learned about what is hurting the Earth and the consequences of not acting fast. I contributed to a white paper on “Ecocide,” or deliberate destruction of the natural environment, by the Russians in Ukraine. I also contributed to the Journal of Science and Technology Law.
I love this book because not only is it a sci-fi novel, but it loops in a crime angle. Crime is my other favorite genre to read.
As a lawyer, I’ve always found ways to weave crime and the law into my novels. It also deals with humans living in other places than Earth, a concept I’ve always been interested in reading and writing about.
One thousand years after Earth was destroyed in an unprovoked attack, humanity has emerged victorious from a series of terrible wars to assure its place in the galaxy. But during celebrations on humanity's new homeworld, the legendary Captain Pantillo of the battle carrier Phoenix is court-martialed then killed, and his deputy, Lieutenant Commander Erik Debogande, the heir to humanity's most powerful industrial family, is framed for his murder. Assisted by Phoenix's marine commander Trace Thakur, Erik and Phoenix are forced to go on the run as they seek to unravel the conspiracy behind their captain's demise, pursued to the death…
At university, I studied Classical Studies, which leans heavily into archaeology. As I went on more site visits, I became much more aware of the worlds and lives which exist below our feet. Later, when working as a teacher in Poland, I had the chance to visit one of Europe’s deepest active coal mines. The experience surprised me in so many ways, not least the oppressive heat and the darkness—something you feel you can almost touch. From that moment onward—especially as a horror writer—I’ve found myself wondering about the nightmares lurking below our world, as well as above, and beyond.
Like with Tim Curran’s The Underdewlling, above, Eyes in the Dust leans into the cosmic with its approach to what’s below our feet.
A giant borehole has been dug in an unnamed, developing world country revealing an inexplicable anomaly. Our story, though, focuses on a single individual’s perspective. Cortland—the archetypal faceless manager—comes face to face with the nihilistic reality of what lurks miles beneath the soil, and the horror is almost too much to bear.
a DUNHAMS MANOR PRESS EXCLUSIVE from the author of THE SPECTACLE OF THE VOID. The world has moved on and left Cortland behind. His career as an academic has fizzled out, his fiancé is dead, and he remains haunted by the notion that it’s his fault. When a consulting firm contacts him with the opportunity of a lifetime—two months off the grid studying slime molds at the bottom of an ancient impact crater—he has no choice but to accept. He soon learns, however, that the crater holds dark secrets, that death itself is not an exit, but rather a welcoming…
My final high school year in Tasmania added a new topic, geology. I and my school friends knew little about it but signed up. In the first lesson, the teacher pointed at the adjacent sunlit river gorge saying “There is your laboratory.” We were hooked and most of us became professional geologists. I started off in museums where mineral, rock, and fossil collections were a font of knowledge and generated field collecting, research, and educational activities. This led to MSc and PhD degrees from universities at both ends of Australia. A base at the Australian Museum led to travel around Australia and visits to many overseas institutions and meetings.
Here, a seasoned geologist gathers several themes of his research interests, poses critical questions on apparent anomalies within them, and considers their resolution. He does this by giving free rein to informed lateral thinking on these topics. This produces an unusual book in the annals of geological writing, presenting thought-provoking and rewarding reading.
The thematic chapters are written in a fluent expression of the concepts involved, reinforced through a range of illustrative means. There are superb photographs of gems, minerals, and rocks as specimens and rockyexposures from many sources. Geological diagrams underpin explanations, superimposed maps highlight large-scale geological structures, and even images of paintings, historical scenes, postcards, and stamps reinforce particular points. The closing sections enter the realms of life on Earth, seen as coordinated biological and geological evolution.
How did the Earth get its gemstones? · How did the Earth get its oil and gas? · What happened to the Earth's moonlike impact craters? · Why did it take 80% of the Earth's history for complex animals to emerge? · Do Darwinian principles apply to absolutely all creatures?
The Duke's Christmas Redemption
by
Arietta Richmond,
A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.
Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…
I'm mainly known as an author of fiction for young readers, but animal awareness is an important part of my life and I decided to write about it. I’ve been vegetarian for many years, and vegan for the last four: I decided long ago that no animal was going to die so that I could eat it. From early childhood, I loved animal stories, and as I grew older it baffled me that we care for our pets while thinking of other creatures as food. I spend a lot of my time campaigning for animals – for better treatment of farm animals, against bloodsports like fox-hunting and shooting, and for better awareness of the natural world and how we must look after it.
Many people, including me, are describing this as a modern classic, a Black Beautyfor dogs, and for our age. When he’s cruelly dumped on a London street and left to fend for himself, Pup, a German Shepherd cross, teams up with other homeless dogs and learns survival skills, confronting many dangers. Through the various dogs in this group and their stories, Gill Lewis raises various issues about dog-owning and breeding: abandonment, puppy-farming, and the deliberate selective breeding of flat-faced dogs that leads to breathing problems. Pup even gets reluctantly involved in the horrors of organised dog-fighting. It’s practically guaranteed to keep you hooked.
Pup and his boy are inseparable. But both their worlds change forever when Pup is cruelly taken away and abandoned in Dead Dog Alley. With nowhere else to turn, Pup joins a pack of misfit Street Dogs, who help him learn to fight for survival on the streets. Pup holds on to the hope of one day being reunited with his boy. But as that hope shrinks with every passing day, Pup begins to wonder if their bond is irreversibly broken... A thrilling and heart-warming novel by award-winning author Gill Lewis, celebrating the unique bond between humans and animals, and…
I love thrillers that give you something to think about, keep you on the edge of your seat and take you to new places. And, although I also like Daniel Silva and Lee Child and Tess Gerritsen et al, I love to find new voices in the thriller genre, especially ones (like mine) that haven’t become household names. And I am especially drawn to thrillers with great prose and great characters. Try some of the books I recommended. You will not be sorry.
It’s possible that you have heard of Preston & Child—in fact, you should have. Their Agent Pendergast thriller series is incredible. And, although this is a stand-alone book that isn’t part of the Pendergast series, it has all the signature elements of the dynamic duo: great writing, fascinating science, and unforgettable characters.
Throw in just a hint of sci-fi and an exotic location into the mix, and you have the perfect thriller. And I bet you will love it.
In the desolate reaches of southernmost Chile, a remarkable discovery has been made. It is a massive meteorite whose very existence will change science-and perhaps even mankind. In great secrecy, an expedition sets out on a converted tanker, bound for the bottom of the world. But almost as soon as the recovery process begins, the mysteries and enigmas begin to mount. What appeared to be simply an engineering challenge quickly becomes a perilous undertaking, for the bizarre, implacable artifact may not be what it seems. And when a raging storm drives the tanker beyond the dangerous Antarctic latitude known as…
I’ve loved reading alternative visions of Britain since I read a Strontium Dog saga in ‘2000AD’ as a boy. What was science fiction then has become closer to reality now. The idea of one event, such as a meteor shower in Triffids or a virus in ‘Grass,’ causing havoc worldwide is gripping. I prefer the British stories because they are closer to home. Many of these were written close to the Second World War, and their authors describe deprivation in unflinching detail. Recent political events have turned my mind to how human actions can cause dystopian futures, as in Orwell’s 1984.
Like H.G. Wells, Wyndham is excellent at depicting normal people who are dealing with an unusual event in normal locations. This creates a level of reality that makes the circumstances more horrific. I could imagine myself in those places, with those people.
The Triffids have never translated well to the screen because the plants look awkward. This isn’t the case in the book. This is my favorite of all the Wyndham books because of their journeys and their descriptions of the landscape around them.
When Bill Masen wakes up in his hospital bed, he has reason to be grateful for the bandages that covered his eyes the night before. For he finds a population rendered blind and helpless by the spectacular meteor shower that filled the night sky, the evening before. But his relief is short-lived as he realises that a newly-blinded population is now at the mercy of the Triffids.
Once, the Triffids were farmed for their oil, their uncanny ability to move and their carnivorous habits well controlled by their human keepers. But now, with humans so vulnerable, they are a potent…
This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.
In these and other intimate conversations, the book…
I’ve been an elementary school teacher for 14 years. In that time, I’ve read a lot of children’s books. In my classroom, science is one of my students’ favorite subjects. Though they love fantasy and magic, they are inspired by the power of science. Each of the books I’ve recommended is part of my classroom library, is used in a read-aloud or as a mentor text in writing lessons. My students connect with the characters and experience the marvels of science along with them. These books are some of their favorites.
Betty Culley writes the most beautiful books. Down to Earth is about a boy named Henry who watches a meteor fall from the sky. It crashes onto the land owned by his family and causes some magical changes in his community. Some people fear it, others want to use the meteor for profit. As I read the book, I learned so much about meteors and nature, but also about love, family, and friendship.
Counting by 7s meets See You in the Cosmos in this heartwarming coming-of-age story perfect for the budding geologists and those fascinated by the mysteries of the universe.
Henry has always been fascinated by rocks. As a homeschooler, he pours through the R volume of the encyclopedia (to help him identify the rocks he finds). So, when a meteorite falls in his family's field, who better to investigate than this rock enthusiast--with his best friend, James, and his little sister, Birdie, in tow, of course.
But soon after the meteorite's arrival, the water in Henry's small Maine town starts drying…
