Here are 100 books that Resistor fans have personally recommended if you like Resistor. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Resurrection Road

Tyffany Hackett Author Of Daylight's Curse

From my list on indie works you might not have heard of.

Why am I passionate about this?

The theme of this list is so important to me as an independently published author. Ever since I was about 14 years old I knew I wanted to tell stories, and my way, so even then I was looking into indie publishing. The idea of offering my books up to the traditional publishing chopping block, to be edited and mulled into what’s most marketable, scared me so much! I didn’t want to tell my stories another person’s way. So here we are, and I’m giving you guys a list of indie recommendations whose authors feel very much the same way. We just want to tell our stories. And have control over how that’s done. ;)

Tyffany's book list on indie works you might not have heard of

Tyffany Hackett Why Tyffany loves this book

So this book. Post the ending of Supernatural, I was of course deep in my Supernatural feelings and this book absolutely filled that road trip, paranormal adventure vibe the SPN television series had given me for so many years. Naturally, it helps that two of the main characters are also fan casted after Reylo. ;) But this book is the perfect mesh of adventuring, paranormal creatures, and a delicious rivals-to-lovers slow-burn romance that even after the second book I can’t get enough of.

By Hannah Marae ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Resurrection Road as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For as long as she can remember, Eden has been on the run.
The open road is the only freedom she’s ever known, the only life she’s ever had. But when the road ends in a backwater town, a mysterious phone call sends her on a new journey.

Lazarus is no stranger to ghosts.
Shades and spirits are his constant companions, it’s the living that set him on edge. The decision to help a troubled mage will find him taking on more than he bargained for.

Becoming a hunter was never part of Zeke’s plan.
He finds himself stepping into…


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Book cover of The High House

The High House by James Stoddard,

The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.

The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.

Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…

Book cover of Ilahara: The Last Myrassar

Tyffany Hackett Author Of Daylight's Curse

From my list on indie works you might not have heard of.

Why am I passionate about this?

The theme of this list is so important to me as an independently published author. Ever since I was about 14 years old I knew I wanted to tell stories, and my way, so even then I was looking into indie publishing. The idea of offering my books up to the traditional publishing chopping block, to be edited and mulled into what’s most marketable, scared me so much! I didn’t want to tell my stories another person’s way. So here we are, and I’m giving you guys a list of indie recommendations whose authors feel very much the same way. We just want to tell our stories. And have control over how that’s done. ;)

Tyffany's book list on indie works you might not have heard of

Tyffany Hackett Why Tyffany loves this book

Ilahara is actually written by a sister duo that share a pen name, but you could never tell by the intricate way they’ve woven their styles together. Tolkien is one of my favorite authors, so I love a deep fantasy, and Ilahara gives that with some heavy Game of Thrones flavor. They’ve got dragons, magic, platonic soul bonding, and layers of political intrigue that somehow manage to never feel dense or overbearing. I am utterly dying for the sequel, and you will too!

By C.M. Karys ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ilahara as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Princess Asharaya Myrassar lost everything on the night of the Coup of Fire when the usurper queen, Aerella Argarys, slaughtered the royal family and claimed the throne of the fae kingdom of Ilahara. After seeking refuge on the human continent and leaving her magical past behind, Asharaya takes on a new identity: Shara, an assassin blessed with dark powers.

Prince Derron Argarys owes his royal title to his mother’s coup, and although he has all the status and power one could wish for, he cannot escape the memories of the brutal death of the former prince he once called friend.…


Book cover of Of Divine Blood

Tyffany Hackett Author Of Daylight's Curse

From my list on indie works you might not have heard of.

Why am I passionate about this?

The theme of this list is so important to me as an independently published author. Ever since I was about 14 years old I knew I wanted to tell stories, and my way, so even then I was looking into indie publishing. The idea of offering my books up to the traditional publishing chopping block, to be edited and mulled into what’s most marketable, scared me so much! I didn’t want to tell my stories another person’s way. So here we are, and I’m giving you guys a list of indie recommendations whose authors feel very much the same way. We just want to tell our stories. And have control over how that’s done. ;)

Tyffany's book list on indie works you might not have heard of

Tyffany Hackett Why Tyffany loves this book

If you like your fantasy a little darker, with more longing than spice (but still a little spice too ;) ) then this might be the book for you. Of Divine Blood features a main character who embraces her femininity and emotions and eventually manages to turn them into a fiery rage that leads her to take revenge on her abusers. It’s pretty glorious. And Corvina’s love interest is pretty amazing too; empowering without being dominating, and he’s the perfect mix of sweet and protective. Check the trigger warnings, then give her a read!

By Brionna Paige McClendon ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Of Divine Blood as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Child of their Blood.
Blessed by their magic.

The Divine Gods may have been Corvina's patrons but she would tear them down from their thrones and ascend to claim their places - to claim her place - both in this world and the heavens above. For none would own her body again.

All her life she spent caged like an animal. The shackles the Elder Priest cast over her held her prisoner to the chantry. She had once been devoted to her lessons, to harnessing each of the seven magics the Divine had bestowed upon her. She had once loved…


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Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Book cover of Of Heart and Stone

Tyffany Hackett Author Of Daylight's Curse

From my list on indie works you might not have heard of.

Why am I passionate about this?

The theme of this list is so important to me as an independently published author. Ever since I was about 14 years old I knew I wanted to tell stories, and my way, so even then I was looking into indie publishing. The idea of offering my books up to the traditional publishing chopping block, to be edited and mulled into what’s most marketable, scared me so much! I didn’t want to tell my stories another person’s way. So here we are, and I’m giving you guys a list of indie recommendations whose authors feel very much the same way. We just want to tell our stories. And have control over how that’s done. ;)

Tyffany's book list on indie works you might not have heard of

Tyffany Hackett Why Tyffany loves this book

Jesikah Sundin is one of my absolute favorite indie authors. Not only are her pages rich with easter eggs and factual knowledge, she weaves them together in a magical way that makes her stories utterly impossible to put down. Of Heart and Stone is technically the second book in the Ealdspell Cycle, but as they’re standalones, you can read them out of order just fine. And this Snow White retelling is so worth the read. Not only does she intermingle a world of technology and magic, she does it so seamlessly it feels completely natural. Add in that she writes delightful slow-burn romance, and add in the feminist vibes that make her stories deeper still, and truly, you’ll inhale the whole series.

By Jesikah Sundin ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Of Heart and Stone as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Previously published as EIRWEN

She has a heart of stone.
A heart he is fated by the faeries to break.

Eirwen Blackvein grew up in a dwarven mining camp at the edge of the map. A perfect place to hide an elven princess destined to destroy a queen and save a kingdom at war, as foretold in a seer’s magic mirror. Except, Eirwen doesn’t know she is the lost princess. Only that she was found as a newborn with her heart carved out. And why she now possesses a heart of stone in her chest.

A heart made from the…


Book cover of Early Adopters: Rogue Elements

Tanweer Dar Author Of The Demon

From my list on indie cyberpunk to get your circuits going.

Why am I passionate about this?

Between Blade Runner and The Terminator, I was hooked on Cyberpunk. Throw in some Ghost in the Shell and Black Mirror, and the obsession was complete. With the rise of Synthwave as a musical genre and as a retro-futuristic aesthetic, I had both the soundtrack and the visual cues to which I could write Cyberpunk. I also feel strongly about our increasing reliance on technology and the blurring lines between biology and technology. This is something I explore in my writing.

Tanweer's book list on indie cyberpunk to get your circuits going

Tanweer Dar Why Tanweer loves this book

This book is a thrilling, action-packed ride through a merciless world ruled by nefarious corporations and filled with deadly, genetically enhanced super-humans. As well as Cyberpunk aficionados, Early Adopters will also appeal to fans of comics as well as lovers of action and espionage. No Mary-Sues here, though. Morally grey, gritty, and grueling!

By D.T. Wilby ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Early Adopters as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

They thought they were going to save the world...

Maybe someday.

First they need to save themselves.

Praise For Early Adopters: Rogue Elements - Amazon Reviews

"A thumping good read."

"This is my favourite Superhero Universe now."

"Everything I wanted from The Watchmen movie and didn't get."

Over a decade ago now, a group of misfits underwent genetic editing under the auspices of scientific research. They thought they could make a difference. They thought they were going to be superheroes, but MiliTech turned them into their own living, breathing weapons.

Outside of their honeymoon period, they are disavowed and relentlessly…


Book cover of Hardwired

Seth W. James Author Of Ethos of Cain

From my list on cyberpunk that launched and defined the subgenre.

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up in the ‘80s, I discovered cyberpunk just when the subgenre acquired its name and was instantly hooked. While its style and action were certainly engaging, it was cyberpunk’s message about the surveillance state, corporate power, fascism, and corruption, which contrasted so violently from mainstream science fiction, that kept me turning pages. 40 years later, after writing novels for 25 years, completing 12 books, I’m still fascinated by what cyberpunk can do. In an age where Humanity is mortally threatened by climate change and inequality, we need cyberpunk now more than ever, with its action and adventure and a little something for us to think about, too.

Seth's book list on cyberpunk that launched and defined the subgenre

Seth W. James Why Seth loves this book

For the last book on our list, we look at Hardwired, by Walter John Williams because, in my humble opinion, it marks the completion of cyberpunk’s subgenre formation. 

Published in 1986, Hardwired follows a protagonist named Cowboy as he connects his brain to various machines through a hardwire and fights the evil orbital corporations that own the world.  Awesome. It stands out to me in the history of golden-age cyberpunk novels in that it calls upon elements from previous cyberpunk works more-so than its predecessors, solidifying the subgenre’s obligations. 

To say it another way, Hardwired alludes to earlier cyberpunk works to effectively place the story within the reader’s literary experience. And that presupposed cyberpunk experience demarcates the subgenre, a clarion signal that the subgenre was here to stay.”

By Walter Jon Williams ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Hardwired as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The criminal and resistance undergrounds of a high-tech future earth merge to wage war against the corporate Orbitals who rule the planet from their sterile space platforms


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Book cover of Trusting Her Duke

Trusting Her Duke by Arietta Richmond,

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…

Book cover of Streetlethal: Book 1 of the Aubry Knight Series

Seth W. James Author Of Ethos of Cain

From my list on cyberpunk that launched and defined the subgenre.

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up in the ‘80s, I discovered cyberpunk just when the subgenre acquired its name and was instantly hooked. While its style and action were certainly engaging, it was cyberpunk’s message about the surveillance state, corporate power, fascism, and corruption, which contrasted so violently from mainstream science fiction, that kept me turning pages. 40 years later, after writing novels for 25 years, completing 12 books, I’m still fascinated by what cyberpunk can do. In an age where Humanity is mortally threatened by climate change and inequality, we need cyberpunk now more than ever, with its action and adventure and a little something for us to think about, too.

Seth's book list on cyberpunk that launched and defined the subgenre

Seth W. James Why Seth loves this book

So often overlooked by cyberpunk aficionados, Streetlethal is the first of the Aubrey Knight novels by Steven Barnes.

Published in 1983, Streetlethal is a story of betrayal, corruption, criminal syndicate politics, and the dichotomy between the obscenely wealthy and the outcast poor. The gritty look at power from below—as Aubrey is set up, almost shanked in prison, and then on the run in the city’s literal underworld—is the novel’s major draw, but the most interesting part, looking back, is that both it and City include psychic elements. 

Hard as it is to believe now, in the ‘80s, psychic powers were considered science. Really. Even mainstream TV shows like Magnum PI and Miami Vice regularly employed psychic powers as plot movers. Bizarre, but true.

By Steven Barnes ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Streetlethal as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Los Angeles is a teeming metropolis with a rotten core: Deep Maze, where the Thai-VI ghouls—the disease-spreading Spiders—roam. Here the all-powerful Ortegas rule over their empire of drugs, prostitution and black-market human organs “donated” by their helpless victims.All Aubry Knight, the former weightless boxing champion, wants is to be left alone. But you’re either with the Ortegas or against them, so they made his life a hell. First they tried to control his mind, then they tried to reduce him to “spare parts.”


Book cover of Agency

P.W. Singer and August Cole Author Of Burn-In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution

From my list on best novels for a post-pandemic world.

Why are we passionate about this?

Peter Warren Singer is a strategist at New America, a Professor of Practice at Arizona State University, and a Principal at Useful Fiction LLC. No author, living or dead, has more books on the professional US military readings lists. August Cole is an author exploring the future of conflict through fiction and other forms of “FICINT” [Fictional Intelligence] storytelling. His talks, short stories, and workshops have taken him from speaking at the Nobel Institute in Oslo to presenting on future warfare at SXSW Interactive to lecturing at West Point.


P.W.'s book list on best novels for a post-pandemic world

P.W. Singer and August Cole Why P.W. loves this book

William Gibson’s latest novel Agency is as prophetic as his establishment of cyberspace and cyberpunk culture in the 80s and 90s. His latest novel chronicles reality-busting skirmishes among gangsterish multi-generational families based in a glitzy post-apocalyptic 22nd century London. In this future, nano-machines conjure luxuries from nothing while sky-high scrubbers struggle to restore a ravaged atmosphere after the jackpot, a global environmental catastrophe. Agency tells a heist-type story about the emergence of Eunice, a sentient AI born in our stub out of American special operations research. Leading a cross-dimensional band of techies, publicists, hipsters, and hackers, ace software designer Verity fights to introduce Eunice to her world in order to save it. Yet Gibson is telling us about today's ecological and technological forces. He writes of pre-jackpot life in our era: “‘Did we ever come to terms with the sheer cluelessness of it?’

By William Gibson ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Agency as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“ONE OF THE MOST VISIONARY, ORIGINAL, AND QUIETLY INFLUENTIAL WRITERS CURRENTLY WORKING”* returns with a sharply imagined follow-up to the New York Times bestselling The Peripheral.
 
William Gibson has trained his eye on the future for decades, ever since coining the term “cyberspace” and then popularizing it in his classic speculative novel Neuromancer in the early 1980s. Cory Doctorow raved that The Peripheral is “spectacular, a piece of trenchant, far-future speculation that features all the eyeball kicks of Neuromancer.” Now Gibson is back with Agency—a science fiction thriller heavily influenced by our most current…


Book cover of Axiomatic: Short Stories of Science Fiction

Mario Barbatti Author Of One Billion Faces: Short Stories

From my list on where reality dissolves into strangeness and wonder.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was ten. Every Sunday morning, I sat in front of the TV with a notepad to take notes while watching Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. As a teen, I devoured every of Kafka’s books. The wonder of science and the strangeness of our existence have co-habited within me since then. Today, I’m a professional physicist and theoretical chemist. But I’m also a fiction writer. My fiction allows me to spill my science background into topics that wouldn’t be welcome in technical writing. For instance, wondering how life could re-emerge in the far future after all stars burned.

Mario's book list on where reality dissolves into strangeness and wonder

Mario Barbatti Why Mario loves this book

Your older self writes a diary and sends it back in time to you. It reveals that between two pathways, you will take a right. You arrive at that crossroads, and no matter how willing you are to defy your unveiled fate, you can’t avoid choosing right again. I often find this type of super-deterministic scenario in science fiction, invariably raising philosophical questions about free will. Nevertheless, Egan is the only author to offer a satisfactory psychological solution to why the protagonist can’t change their fate. And this is just the first of the short stories in this collection. Axiomatic is hard SciFi stretching scientific concepts into their ethical and human limits.

By Greg Egan ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Axiomatic as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Wonderful, mind-expanding stuff, and well written too."-The Guardian

Axiomatic is a wonderful collection of eighteen short stories by Hugo Award-winning author Greg Egan. The stories in this collection have appeared in such science fiction magazines as Interzone and Asimov's between 1989 and 1992.

From junkies who drink at the time-stream to love affairs in time-reversed galaxies; from gene-altered dolphins that converse only in limericks to the program that allows you to design your own child; from the brain implants called axiomatics to the strange attractors that spin off new religions; from bioengineering to the new physics; and from cyberpunk to…


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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

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…

Book cover of The Complete Strange Tales From the City of Dust: Omnibus

Tanweer Dar Author Of The Demon

From my list on indie cyberpunk to get your circuits going.

Why am I passionate about this?

Between Blade Runner and The Terminator, I was hooked on Cyberpunk. Throw in some Ghost in the Shell and Black Mirror, and the obsession was complete. With the rise of Synthwave as a musical genre and as a retro-futuristic aesthetic, I had both the soundtrack and the visual cues to which I could write Cyberpunk. I also feel strongly about our increasing reliance on technology and the blurring lines between biology and technology. This is something I explore in my writing.

Tanweer's book list on indie cyberpunk to get your circuits going

Tanweer Dar Why Tanweer loves this book

Vaz Anzai collects all five episodes from his Strange Tales from The City Of Dust series in this absolutely breathtaking omnibus that also includes bonus short stories, author notes, and exclusive artwork. With great, and varied, characters, fascinating technology, and gritty Cyberpunk settings, Dust: Omnibus is essential reading for all fans of the genre.

By Vaz Anzai ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Complete Strange Tales From the City of Dust as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Strange Tales From The City Of Dust is the ultimate Omnibus for the complete Dust storyline.
5 episodic adventures along with 3 short stories and detailed author notes, commissioned artwork, and more!

CLOCKWORK DEUS: Episode 1
Alice, a "Tinkerer" for the Wonderlust brothel has discovered a Prostibot that has become self-aware. Together, they will uncover the secret behind a shadowy organization in Dust's abandoned zone, The Blooming Fields.

THE DARKEST PART: Episode 2
Laila, a mysterious Saudi Arabian woman, has escaped an event known as "The Opaque", a consuming void that destroyed her former city. Now in Dust, she must…


Book cover of Resurrection Road
Book cover of Ilahara: The Last Myrassar
Book cover of Of Divine Blood

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