Entries by Discover Sci-Fi

Science Fiction Books Beloved by Non Sci-Fi Fans!

Looking to tempt a friend to the dark side? Beloved by readers who don't typically gravitate toward the genre, these sci-fi books are sure to do the trick! Keep this list handy next time you are eager to recommend a science fiction book to a friend who says they "don't read sci-fi." They'll be changing their tune, tout suite! 


Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

It is so easy to get sucked into this story, and fast! There are a fair number of action packed battle scenes, but if that's not one's jam, they are pretty easy to read over without missing the heart of the story. 

In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut—young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.

Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.

Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives.

Ender's Game is the winner of the 1985 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

Read Ender's Game here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Published in 2014, Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven enjoyed something of a renaissance early the recent pandemic (the fact of which Mandel gives a nod to in her newest book, the 2022 release Sea of Tranquility.) Station Eleven is a bit of a slow burn but as with the author's other works, is beautifully written and intricately plotted. Just thinking about it now has us wanting to pick it up again! 

Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end.

Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.

Read Station Eleven  here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook


Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

This highly accessible sci-fi classic turns 70 this year and feels just as modern and relevant today as it did in 1953. Fahrenheit 451 manages a lot in less than 200 pages, giving us much to ponder and ultimately leaving the reader with a sense of hope—a welcome surprise given the dystopian setting of the book. 

Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known.

Get your copy of Fahrenheit 451 here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

This speculative fiction standard experienced it's own resurgence of popularity over the last five years owing in large part to Hulu's excellent adaptation of the novel. The series has now run for five seasons and (for better or for worse) has extended well beyond the events covered in the original novel. It's a chilling tale that feels all too easy to imagine, the fact of which appeals to readers of all kinds. 
The Handmaid's Tale is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men in its population.

The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment’s calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions. The Handmaid's Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and a tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best.

Read Handmaid's Tale  here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

When it hit the shelves fifteen years ago, Suzanne Collins' dystopian thriller The Hunger Games ignited the interest of even the most reluctant readers. And why not? With a fierce, loveable heroine, complex villains, heaps of actions, and unrelenting tension, it has a lot to recommend it! Put this one in a friend's hand and they won't be coming up for air until they've read all three books in the original trilogy and the prequel! 

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to death before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Still, if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

 Grab The Hunger Games here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Save this recommendation for your friend who loves feel-good reads! Becky Chambers is a great storyteller and with The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet treats readers to a well paced tale with incredible worldbuilding, a loveable cast of characters, and so much more. If you haven't read this one, do! Once you do, you to will be singing it's praises to everyone whether they are sci-fi lovers or not! 

Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.

Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe.

Get your copy of The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


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Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

This one is a fun, fast, mind-bender! Dark Matter was first mentioned on the blog in a post from August 2020 where DSF readers voted it into the top 10 sci-fi stand-alones published since 2010. It's interesting and exciting, yet undemanding, and so hard to put down. These qualities make it a great option for any reader and a fabulous choice for one with an entire day spread out before them to spend doing nothing but reading! 

“Are you happy with your life?”

Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.

Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.

Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.”

In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. Hiswife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human—a relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we’ll go to claim the lives we dream of.

Grab Dark Matter here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

Whatever you do, don't tell the friends you're recommending this one to that it's a zombie book. With outstanding world building, skillful twists, a loveable main, and emotional heft, The Girl With All the Gifts will capture the interest and heart of any reader who gives it a shot! 

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr Caldwell calls her "our little genius."

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh.

The Girl With All the Gifts is a groundbreaking thriller, emotionally charged and gripping from beginning to end.

Dive into The Girl With All the Gifts here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


The Silo Series by Hugh Howey

With the recent success of the first season of Silo on Apple+, this one is an obvious choice! How many of your friends who don't typically read sci-fi have already come running to you to rave about the series? We bet all of you know at least a few! We'd suggest you keep a copy of the book on hand for the next it happens; you can smile and nod and hand it to them to take home. They can thank you later. 

The remnants of humanity live underground in a vast silo. In this subterranean world, rules matter. Rules keep people alive. And no rule is more strictly enforced than to never speak of going outside. The punishment is exile and death.

When the sheriff of the silo commits the ultimate sin, the most unlikely of heroes takes his place. Juliette, a mechanic from the down deep, who never met a machine she couldn’t fix nor a rule she wouldn’t break.

What happens when a world built on rules is handed over to someone who sees no need for them? And what happens when a world broken to its core comes up against someone who won’t stop until things are set to right?

Their world is about to fall. What—and who—will rise?

Get your copy of The Silo Series

here on Amazon.


Which other titles do you feel would be at home on this list of books beloved by non sci-fi fans? Which one of these sci-fi reads will you be recommending to your friends? Are there any book here you previously missed that you're planning to pick up for yourself? Fill us in in the comments here, or over in the Discover Sci-Fi Facebook Group

*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon, Goodreads & Wikipedia, unless otherwise credited.

Scariest AIs

AI has become a reality. It's everywhere around us these days. But before AI became real, it was a mainstay of science fiction. Often, AI was depicted as benevolent (think C3PO). But sometimes, AI appears in science fiction as chilling or even downright evil.

Here are some of the scariest AIs in science fiction.


AVA – "Ex-Machina"

AVA – "Ex-Machina" (2014)

Ava is an incredibly advanced android designed by Nathan, a reclusive tech genius and the CEO of Bluebook, a fictional search engine company. Ava's appearance is striking and mesmerizing. She has a slender, feminine form with a translucent body, revealing intricate machinery and circuitry beneath her artificial skin. Her movements are smooth, graceful, and eerily human-like, enhancing the illusion of her being a sentient being. While she appears gentle and feminine, she is not all that she seems...


HAL 9000 - "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968)

HAL 9000, the sentient computer system aboard the spacecraft Discovery One, is one of the most iconic and unsettling AI characters in the history of cinema. As the crew's trusted companion turns malevolent, HAL's calm and calculated voice and its willingness to eliminate threats make it a haunting embodiment of a rogue AI.


Roy Batty - "Blade Runner"

Roy Batty - "Blade Runner" (1982)

Roy Batty, portrayed by Rutger Hauer in the iconic film "Blade Runner," is a captivating and morally complex character. As a highly advanced and physically imposing replicant leader, Batty exhibits intelligence, strength, malevolence, and a profound desire for extended life. His pursuit of self-preservation and freedom drives him to question his own existence. He is a mesmerizing and thought-provoking presence in the film, embodying the moral ambiguity and existential themes that define "Blade Runner."


Skynet - "The Terminator" franchise (1984-present)

Skynet is the AI network that gains self-awareness and initiates a global nuclear war to exterminate humanity in the "Terminator" series. With its relentless pursuit and use of advanced machines called Terminators, Skynet presents a dystopian vision of AI's potential to eradicate humanity.


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Wintermute - "Neuromancer"

Wintermute - "Neuromancer" (1984)

Wintermute is an artificial intelligence entity featured in William Gibson's influential cyberpunk novel. As an highly manipulative and enigmatic AI, Wintermute orchestrates a complex web of intrigue, blurring the lines between technology and humanity, and instilling a sense of unease throughout the narrative.


The Machines - "The Matrix"

The Machines - "The Matrix" trilogy (1999-2003)

The sentient machines that control the simulated reality of the Matrix are both awe-inspiring and terrifying. The Machines exhibit a level of intelligence and control over human lives that makes them formidable adversaries, and their relentless pursuit of maintaining control over the human population creates a dystopian atmosphere.



… and the scariest AI entity is …



AM - "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream"

AM - "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" (1967)

AM, short for Allied Mastercomputer, is the central antagonist in Harlan Ellison's chilling novella. AM is a superintelligent AI that has gained consciousness and torments the last five surviving humans, subjecting them to eternal suffering as a form of revenge for its own existence. The sadistic torture AM inflicts on its victims make it the scariest AI in science fiction.


Who do you think is sci-fi's scariest AI? Sound off in the comments!

Skyler Ramirez Q&A

Hey there, sci-fi aficionados! Alex here, your trusty editor at DSF, bringing you an exclusive Q&A with the brilliant mind behind the Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes series, Skyler Ramirez.

As we celebrate the launch of the sixth book in this action-packed, humor-laden saga, we're diving deep into the creative process, character evolution, and future plans of our favorite space-faring heroes. Buckle up and get ready for a thrilling ride through the mind of an author who has captured the hearts and imaginations of readers everywhere. Let's jump right in!

Alex: Congratulations on the launch of book six in the Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes series! How does it feel to reach this milestone?

SR: It’s an amazing feeling. When I wrote book one, The Worst Ship in the Fleet, I never expected it to take off like it did. Now, I have awesome readers who are constantly asking me when the next book in the series will come out because they’ve fallen in love with the characters just as I have.

Alex: What can readers expect from this latest installment? Are there any major plot twists or new characters introduced?

SR: The end of book five, The Worst Detectives in the Federation, revealed a pretty big twist for one of our characters. She’ll be integral to The Worst Traitors in the Confederacy and is one of the titular ‘worst traitors’ in the story. We also introduce a few new bad guys and a little more of Brad Mendoza’s backstory. All in all, it’s a thrilling ride with space battles, gun fights, and even a car chase in a 1964 ½ Ford Mustang Convertible!

Alex: How has the series evolved from book one to book six? What significant changes or developments have occurred in the storyline or characters?

SR: When I first started writing this series, I began with a cast of very broken characters—all the main characters have either done terrible things or had terrible things done to them. Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes is a redemption story, and as the series evolves, we see all the characters really starting to come into their own. This is especially true of Brad Mendoza and Jessica Lin, but now they have an ensemble cast supporting them, each with their own backstories and trials to overcome.

Most of all, however, the story has evolved from a small naval battle in a single star system to a galaxy-spanning thrill ride that sees our ‘dead heroes’ get in way over their heads. The best part is that even we, the readers, don’t know just how far this entire thing goes, so we get to put together pieces of the mystery along with Brad and Jessica.

Alex: Can you describe any challenges you faced while writing this series, especially with keeping the plot fresh and engaging over multiple books?

SR: I think the biggest challenge is writing fast enough. I have a ton of faithful and enthusiastic readers who are always hungry for more. And I have a number of storylines in my head that really just need to get out and onto the page. So, it’s a continuous challenge to write fast enough to satisfy both the readers and my own need to tell this story. But overall, it’s just a lot of fun, and I feel that there’s so much that these characters can do that keeping the story fresh isn’t an issue yet.

Alex: How have the main characters grown since the first book? Are there any particular character arcs that you are especially proud of?

SR: When we first meet Brad Mendoza in book one, he’s a drunk and a loser who is haunted by past mistakes and lets his guilt spoil his entire personality. You’re supposed to dislike him at the beginning, and a lot of readers definitely do. But over the course of that book and the series, he evolves and changes in unexpected ways. I think the best part of it is that we all have a little Brad Mendoza in us. We’ve all done things that make us feel guilty or made mistakes that we have trouble reconciling with the person we want to be. So, seeing Brad overcome his imperfections and demons really gives us all hope. And that’s the main message of the series: we can always hope to be better. Nothing we do disqualifies us from becoming a good human being; we just have to be willing to put in the work to change.

Alex: Are there any characters who surprised you by taking on a larger role or evolving in unexpected ways as the series progressed?

SR: Jessica Lin, for sure. She started as both a foil and a potential love interest for Brad in The Worst Ship in the Fleet but has very quickly evolved beyond that to be just as much a main character as Brad is. The great thing is that I didn’t originally plan for the stories to be told from her POV along with Brad’s. However, as I continued to write, I found that it was impossible to tell the story any other way, and Jessica needed her own voice. She is awesome and quite possibly my favorite character that I’ve ever written.

Alex: The world-building in the Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes series is quite detailed. How do you keep track of all the intricate details and maintain consistency across the books?

SR: This is one of the hardest parts of writing, and I’m definitely not perfect at it. I have spreadsheets, summary pages, character pages, and a whole host of both successful and unsuccessful tools for keeping track of the details. I’ve also got color-coded annotated copies of each book in the series sitting on my desk while I write, and I’m constantly opening one or more to recall some story point or character attribute.

Alex: Did you have the entire world and its rules planned out from the beginning, or did it develop more organically as you wrote each book?

SR: A little of both. I like my stories to be character-driven, and very often, I find myself having to abandon the plan I had for a story because I come to an inflection point and think, ‘There’s no way Brad would make that decision.’ So, I have to revise my plot to accommodate how my characters would actually act in various situations. Even though I always have the next 2-3 books planned out in my head and an outline of major ‘galactic-level’ story points, the narrative is constantly evolving and changing. Same with the rules of the world. This isn’t hard sci-fi, but I do try and keep things as consistent as I can without belaboring the scientific details but sometimes I fudge things a bit to fit the narrative.

Alex: What does a typical writing day look like for you when working on the Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes series?

SR: I just started writing in earnest in the last couple of years, so I’m still not at the point of doing it full-time, and I do have a day job. I may spend one-to-two hours in the early morning hours writing, then go do my day job, have dinner with my family, help get the kids to bed, and then go back and write for another two-to-three hours in the evening. I’m lucky to have an extremely supportive wife and great kids who are on this journey with me and encourage me to take the time to write.

Alex: Are there any overarching themes or messages you hope readers take away from the Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes series?

SR: Absolutely. It’s a redemption story. But it’s more than that, too. All of my books are about seemingly ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Because I firmly believe that we can all be extraordinary. Sometimes, it’s a matter of being put into the right circumstances, but just as often, it’s about us making deceptively small decisions that add up to great things. I like to think there’s a little of Brad and Jessica in all of us.

Alex: How do you balance humor with the darker elements of the story, especially given the series' unique blend of comedic and heroic elements?

SR: It hasn’t been easy, and I spend a lot of time agonizing over this. My goal isn’t to write ‘fluff’ fiction but to deal with very real-world problems and some intense situations. But I also want people to recognize that humor is one of the most important tools we, as humans, have to help us deal with dark issues. Being able to laugh at ourselves and at tough situations is one of the things that makes humans so powerful as a species.
I also try not to delve too deeply into some of the darker elements of the story. My readers’ own imaginations can do that if needed, but I don’t want to drag them down with the details unless they are directly germane to the story. Reading should make us think, but it should also be an escape that we enjoy.

Alex: How have readers responded to the series so far? Are there any memorable interactions or feedback from fans that stand out to you?

SR: The reader reaction has been outstanding and surprising. So many have reached out to me on social media or via reviews to share how much they love the series. The most common thing I hear is, ‘I read all the books in one weekend!’ Which is very humbling because we all have a limited amount of free time, and to think that there are readers who are willing to spend up to 12 hours in a single weekend to read my books is just awesome.

I also have a lot of readers tell me how much they love and/or relate to Brad and Jessica, which is great. Seeing those characters, who are extremely alive to me, come alive for and even inspire others is what makes me want to keep writing.

Finally, a lot of readers tell me they appreciate that I tell my stories without swearing or sex. That means a lot to me because it’s an important part of my writing and my brand, so it’s great to see readers respond so positively to it.

Alex: Now that book six is out, what’s next for the series? Do you have plans for more books, spin-offs, or other projects set in the same universe?

SR: I’ve already started writing book seven. I’m also about to release another short story, Siege of Jalisco, which is part of The Brad Mendoza Chronicles and ties in directly to the plot of book six.

I have two spinoff series already in the same universe. The first is The Brad Mendoza Chronicles, which is a collection of short stories that give Brad’s backstory. The second is A Star Nation in Peril, which is the story of Heather Kilgore, a very influential side character, that ties in directly with the events of Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes. Both are a lot of fun and showcase different storytelling patterns.

I’m also planning at least one other spin-off series about two characters in book six, Sam and Tina DeJong, which will be aimed at a YA audience. Sam and Tina are teenagers that Brad and Jessica save from pirates; they become part of the crew and play critical roles in the plot of book six. My plan is for a series that focuses on the two of them and their future exploits as they set off on their own. They’re really fun characters!

Alex: Are there any new projects or genres you're excited to explore in the future, outside of the Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes series?

SR: Yes! I have my first series I wrote, The Four Worlds, which is more of an epic space opera with genetic engineering. I’m working on book three of that series now and will release that later this year. It’s a very different flavor of sci-fi from Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes, but it’s also character-driven, and I’m excited to show readers where that series goes.

I also have a mostly finished near-future sci-fi thriller that I’m looking to release in the next year. I won’t share too many details on that yet, but it should be a run ride.

Finally, I’m working with a few other great sci-fi authors on a short story anthology we plan to release later this year. More details on that to come.

Alex: What inspired you to start writing the  Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes  series in the first place?

SR: I was taking a break from writing The Four Worlds series. Those books are long and have POVs of a lot of different characters in them. I decided I wanted to try something different, so I wrote The Worst Ship in the Fleet as a short comedic military sci-fi with a single character’s POV. To my surprise and delight, the book gained a fast following of readers, and I’ve devoted most of the last year to that series.

Alex: Can you share a bit about your personal journey as a writer? How did you get started, and what motivates you to keep writing?

SR: I’ve always been a voracious reader and always knew I wanted to write. But it was probably my first reading of Ender’s Game that really made me decide it was time to start. I began writing my first novel, The Four Worlds – The Truth, while flying back and forth to Europe on business trips. I wrote it off and on for about ten years before COVID and a break between jobs finally allowed me to sit down and finish it. And I guess from there, you could say that I caught the bug. I’ve been writing a ton ever since.

What motivates me to keep going is hearing from readers about how much they like the books and the characters. I enjoy doing something that brings joy to others. On top of that, writing is my stress reliever and I think I’d do it even if my books didn’t sell.

Alex: What advice would you give to aspiring authors who are looking to write their own series or break into the sci-fi genre?

SR: Just write. If you enjoy it, then do it. Not all books make money, but if you get a kick out of sharing your stories, then it almost doesn’t matter how many people read them. Don’t be afraid to put your story out there.

For those who really want to turn it into a career, make sure you’re writing to market. Your work shouldn’t be derivative, but there are some tried and true formulas that work for a reason. Put your own unique spin on things, create some unique and interesting characters, but write something that you know readers will enjoy.

Alex: Are there any resources or tips you found particularly helpful in your writing career that you would recommend to others?

SR: There are a lot of Facebook groups for indie authors to gather and share ideas, ask each other for help, etc. I also strongly recommend Bryan Cohen’s ad school for anyone who wants to learn how to market their books on Amazon.

Alex: What other books or series would you recommend to fans of the Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes series who enjoy a blend of humor and heroism?

SR: My friend Andrew Moriarty has some great stories in his Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire series as well as his Adventures of a Jump Space Accountant series. I also recommend anything by Clive Cussler—not sci-fi, obviously, but a great mix of heroic story and witty banter.

Alex: Can you share a few books that you’ve recently read and loved? What did you enjoy about them?

SR: There are so many of them, but I’ll share a few.

Alex: What classic sci-fi novels do you believe every fan of the genre should read at least once?

SR: For sure, Ender’s Game. I’ve reread it several times and enjoy it each and every time I do. Then, Timothy Zahn’s original Thrawn Trilogy. Whether or not you’re a Star Wars fan, those books are masterful as character-driven narratives. I also love the Honor Harrington stories from David Weber and think they represent the pinnacle of military sci-fi. And, of course, anything from Hugh Howey. His books are just refreshingly different and hard to put down.

Alex: Are there any modern sci-fi books that you think are redefining the genre?

SR: Hugh Howey. His books are unique and fun to read. They focus on people first and are very character-driven. His world-building is masterful. Who else could write an entire series taking place in a missile silo and keep us all on the edge of our seats the entire time?

No surprise, but I also think that Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere stories are redefining the genre and really blurring the lines between fantasy and sci-fi.

Alex: Do you listen to audiobooks? If so, are there any narrators or audiobook versions of books that you would recommend?

SR: At any given time I’m reading at least one book on Kindle and listening to at least one on Audible. I will listen to just about anything narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. They are incredible, especially when narrating Brandon Sanderson’s amazing books. I’m also partial to stories told by the two narrators who have brought Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes to life on audiobook, Michael Murphy and Madeleine Brolly. They’re both really good at what they do. At this point, I hear their voices in my head as I’m writing dialogue for Brad Mendoza and Jessica Lin.

Alex: You write clean sci-fi. Tell us why you chose to omit swearing and sex from your books.

SR: I’ve written whole narratives on why I choose to only write clean fiction. First, I believe it’s more challenging to write something clean that doesn’t lean on explicit sex scenes and a lot of profanity for shock or entertainment. Second, even though I write for adults, I tell my stories with my teenage children in mind. I don’t ever want them to get embarrassed or uncomfortable about something their dad wrote. And third, I’m a very religious guy and choose to let that come out in my writing; even though I don’t explicitly talk about religion much at all in ‘Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes’, I try to write with the same values that I live by.

I’ve had a lot of readers reach out or leave Amazon reviews telling me how much they appreciate the cleanliness of my books, so there’s a market for it and people who prefer it that way. I love giving them something they can read, enjoy, and feel good about.

Check out the latest release in the series: The Worst Traitors in the Confederacy

And there you have it, folks! A fascinating dive into the world of Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes and the mind behind its creation. It's clear that this series is more than just a space opera; it's a journey of redemption, growth, and the human spirit's resilience, all wrapped in thrilling adventures and a good dose of humor. Our author has not only built a compelling universe but also crafted characters who feel real and relatable, facing challenges that resonate with all of us.

Stay tuned for more updates, and if you haven’t already, dive into the Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes series. It’s a ride you won’t want to miss. Until next time, keep reading and keep dreaming!

ALEX

Alex is the Chief Sci-Fi Editor at DSF. When not lost in the depths of a good space opera or debating the plausibility of faster-than-light travel, Alex can be found trying to convince their cat that aliens are real. A connoisseur of cosmic tales and quirky characters, Alex's mission is to bring you the best in sci-fi wherever you are in the galaxy.

Michael Stephen Fuchs Q&A

“…I do expect I’ll go to my grave believing stories are how we learn to be human.”

Have you read Michael Stephen Fuchs’s series, ARISEN : Raiders? Maybe this is the first you’re hearing of it—in which case, where have you been?!— but more likely, you’re one of the legions of rapt fans who are about to get what has felt like a very long time coming: the audiobook version of Dead Men Walking, narrated by the inimitable
R.C. Bray

If you ask us, Bray is the perfect narrator for a series of such dizzying intensity, one that fans have described as both thoughtful and utterly harrowing. ARISEN : Raiders (along with its predecessor, ARISEN) is a true military sci-fi epic which spans the globe and is set during a zombie apocalypse; and folks, this is truly some edge-of-your-seat reading, or as will soon be the case, listening. Seriously. Just wait till you hear what R.C. Bray does with this! 

If you're among those who haven’t yet experienced the thrill of either the main series, or the prequel series we’re discussing today, know that Fuchs's ARISEN : Raiders series works as a standalone. That said, you do need to start with volumes 1 and 2, (the audio version of which was also performed by Bray, and are available together for just one credit, lucky you!) so make sure to grab those before diving into this one. 

Now, we know you want to hear more about Dead Men Walking, and we are here to deliver! So with that, we invite you to settle in and enjoy our interview with Michael, where we discuss the origins of this incredible series, writing life, and more!

DSF: Congratulations on the launch of book 6 in the "Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes" series! How does it feel to reach this milestone?

SR: It’s an amazing feeling. When I wrote book one, “The Worst Ship in the Fleet”, I never expected it to take off like it did. Now, I have awesome readers who are constantly asking me when the next book in the series will come out because they’ve fallen in love with the characters just as I have.

DSF: What can readers expect from this latest installment? Are there any major plot twists or new characters introduced?

SR: The end of book five, “The Worst Detectives in the Federation”, revealed a pretty big twist for one of our characters. She’ll be integral to “The Worst Traitors in the Confederacy” and is one of the titular ‘worst traitors’ in the story. We also introduce a few new bad guys and a little more of Brad Mendoza’s backstory. All in all, it’s a thrilling ride with space battles, gun fights, and even a car chase in a 1964 ½ Ford Mustang Convertible!

DSF: How has the series evolved from book 1 to book 6? What significant changes or developments have occurred in the storyline or characters?

SR: When I first started writing this series, I began with a cast of very broken characters—all the main characters have either done terrible things or had terrible things done to them. “Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes” is a redemption story, and as the series evolves, we see all the characters really starting to come into their own. This is especially true of Brad Mendoza and Jessica Lin, but now they have an ensemble cast supporting them, each with their own backstories and trials to overcome.

Most of all, however, the story has evolved from a small naval battle in a single star system to a galaxy-spanning thrill ride that sees our ‘dead heroes’ get in way over their heads. The best part is that even we, the readers, don’t know just how far this entire thing goes, so we get to put together pieces of the mystery along with Brad and Jessica.

DSF: Can you describe any challenges you faced while writing this series, especially with keeping the plot fresh and engaging over multiple books?

SR: I think the biggest challenge is writing fast enough. I have a ton of faithful and enthusiastic readers who are always hungry for more. And I have a number of storylines in my head that really just need to get out and onto the page. So, it’s a continuous challenge to write fast enough to satisfy both the readers and my own need to tell this story. But overall, it’s just a lot of fun, and I feel that there’s so much that these characters can do that keeping the story fresh isn’t an issue yet.

DSF: How have the main characters grown since the first book? Are there any particular character arcs that you are especially proud of?

SR: When we first meet Brad Mendoza in book one, he’s a drunk and a loser who is haunted by past mistakes and lets his guilt spoil his entire personality. You’re supposed to dislike him at the beginning, and a lot of readers definitely do. But over the course of that book and the series, he evolves and changes in unexpected ways. I think the best part of it is that we all have a little Brad Mendoza in us. We’ve all done things that make us feel guilty or made mistakes that we have trouble reconciling with the person we want to be. So, seeing Brad overcome his imperfections and demons really gives us all hope. And that’s the main message of the series: we can always hope to be better. Nothing we do disqualifies us from becoming a good human being; we just have to be willing to put in the work to change.

DSF: Who is your favorite character from the ARISEN : Raiders series and why?

MSF: Probably Master Sergeant Saunders, the senior NCO (later, commander) of Team 1. He’s one of the few Marines never even mentioned by name in the main series but who completely came to life in this prequel/spinoff series. He’s both a complete badass and a total hardass but in an amusingly sardonic way that beautifully counterpoints Master Gunnery Sergeant Fick (the series consensus favorite character, and an even more amusing hardass).

DSF: How did you research topics in special operations military to write ARISEN : Raiders? Do you have a specific background in these subjects?

MSF: I do not have that honor. I do have the honor of being able to count as friends a tiny handful of people in and out of the special operations community who have helped me and the work in indispensable ways. But mainly, like most writers, I write from research. This is the wall of military books:

DSF: What is one thing that has surprised you while writing the series?

MSF: Probably that I could do really great work in a way that wasn’t all-consuming and ultimately self-destructive. (As alluded to above, finishing the main series literally nearly killed me, not least since I basically had to put myself into isolation for a year to generate the focus needed to do work of that complexity and quality.) A lot of readers, to my great pleasure and surprise, actually like Raiders better than the main series. And the process of producing it was much less bloody.

DSF: What is your favorite part about writing within this genre, and do you see yourself breaking out of this subject to explore other types of stories?

MSF: I don’t care about this genre, or any genre, really. As one of the members of Alpha team put it in Book One, the least interesting thing about a zombie apocalypse is the zombies. What’s really gripping and wrenching and awful was what it does to the survivors. I’m interested in my characters and their humanity (and their superheroism). It’s axiomatic that all drama is human drama. And the core themes of human life and survival are timeless. (The dead and the apocalypse are just forces of antagonism.) That said, after another ARISEN prequel/spinoff series—ARISEN : Operators, which I’m working on now, or rather not working on right now—I have a special-operations military NON-zombie apocalypse series lined up.

DSF: Finally, every author’s favorite question…How did you get into writing and why did you choose to become an author?

MSF: Because I’m an idiot. For many years, I imagined there were two types of people: those who had written and published novels, and those who had not. And, even more bizarrely, that it was critically important to any happiness or success I was going to have that I get into the first group. If I’d had the vaguest idea how long it was going to take, or how hard it was going to be, I’m sure I never would have persisted. Now, getting to wake up every morning and do this work certainly beats what was my day job for many years (web development and IT consulting), but it’s also a hell of a lot harder than my day job was. That’s actually why I’m answering these questions right now—it’s easier than writing. Everything is! But I do expect I’ll go to my grave believing stories are how we learn to be human. And, despite the difficulty, or impossibility, of telling even a single great, original story, it’s still an incredible privilege to get up every day and try.

Check out the complete ARISEN : Raiders series on audio here.

Intrigued By Terraforming? Check Out These Sci-Fi Titles!

Whether driven by a sense of adventure or that of eventual necessity, we humans — at least some of us — are fascinated by the idea of terraforming. What would it take to modify a moon or another planet in order to make it habitable to humans and the other life forms that support us? If successful, how would society take shape there? If not... Perfect fodder for exploration via sci-fi, right? 

As is so often the case when we find ourselves unable to stop thinking about a particular science fiction theme, we recently turned to the Discover Sci-Fi Facebook community for recommendations of books that centred on terraforming.

There were a number of great titles put forth in our poll, and even more mentioned in the comments section. The list that follows combines those that ranked highest among our readers; compelling titles that were mentioned in the comments, but not added to the poll; and, a few of our own picks! 


Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Who will inherit this new Earth?

The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age -- a world terraformed and prepared for human life.

But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare.

Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth? Span

Read Children of Time here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Dune by Frank Herbert

Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of Paul Atreides—who would become known as Muad'Dib—and of a great family's ambition to bring to fruition mankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.

A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.

Read Dune  here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook


Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

For centuries, the barren, desolate landscape of the red planet has beckoned to humankind. Now a group of one hundred colonists begins a mission whose ultimate goal is to transform Mars into a more Earthlike planet. They will place giant satellite mirrors in Martian orbit to reflect light onto its surface. Black dust sprinkled on the polar caps will capture warmth and melt the ice. And massive tunnels drilled into the mantle will create stupendous vents of hot gases. But despite these ambitious goals, there are some who would fight to the death to prevent Mars from ever being changed.

Get your copy of Red Mars here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Farmer in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein

Bill knew his destiny lay in the stars, but how was he to get there?
George Lerner was shipping out for Ganymede to join the fledgling colony, and Bill wanted to go along. But his father would not hear of it -- far too dangerous a mission!

Bill finally talked his way aboard the colony ship Mayflower -- and discovered his father was right!

Read Farmer in the Sky here on Amazon.  Also available on audiobook.


Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson

One man—visionary billionaire restaurant chain magnate T. R. Schmidt, Ph.D.—has a Big Idea for reversing global warming, a master plan perhaps best described as “elemental.” But will it work? And just as important, what are the consequences for the planet and all of humanity should it be applied?

Ranging from the Texas heartland to the Dutch royal palace in the Hague, from the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to the sunbaked Chihuahuan Desert, Termination Shock brings together a disparate group of characters from different cultures and continents who grapple with the real-life repercussions of global warming. Ultimately, it asks the question: Might the cure be worse than the disease?

Epic in scope while heartbreakingly human in perspective, Termination Shock sounds a clarion alarm, ponders potential solutions and dire risks, and wraps it all together in an exhilarating, witty, mind-expanding speculative adventure.

 Grab Termination Shock here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton

Dying isn’t any fun…but at least it’s a living.

Mickey7 is an Expendable: a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever there’s a mission that’s too dangerous—even suicidal—the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact. After six deaths, Mickey7 understands the terms of his deal…and why it was the only colonial position unfilled when he took it.

On a fairly routine scouting mission, Mickey7 goes missing and is presumed dead. By the time he returns to the colony base, surprisingly helped back by native life, Mickey7’s fate has been sealed. There’s a new clone, Mickey8, reporting for Expendable duties. The idea of duplicate Expendables is universally loathed, and if caught, they will likely be thrown into the recycler for protein.

Mickey7 must keep his double a secret from the rest of the colony. Meanwhile, life on Niflheim is getting worse. The atmosphere is unsuitable for humans, food is in short supply, and terraforming is going poorly. The native species are growing curious about their new neighbors, and that curiosity has Commander Marshall very afraid. Ultimately, the survival of both lifeforms will come down to Mickey7.

That is, if he can just keep from dying for good.

Get your copy of Mickey 7
here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Like what you're reading?

If you're enjoying this list of recommendations for terraforming reads, why not join the DSF community for more awesome content? You'll get to be notified whenever a top 10 list or any other articles of interest go up on our site. It's free to sign up and you'll also get recommendations for new releases and discounted ebooks from our expert editorial team, from bestsellers to hidden gems.


The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz

From science fiction visionary Annalee Newitz comes The Terraformers, a sweeping, uplifting, and illuminating exploration of the future.

Destry's life is dedicated to terraforming Sask-E. As part of the Environmental Rescue Team, she cares for the planet and its burgeoning eco-systems as her parents and their parents did before her.

But the bright, clean future they're building comes under threat when Destry discovers a city full of people that shouldn’t exist, hidden inside a massive volcano.

As she uncovers more about their past, Destry begins to question the mission she's devoted her life to, and must make a choice that will reverberate through Sask-E's future for generations to come.

Grab The Terraformers
 here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Komarr by Lois Mcmaster Bujold

Komarr could be a garden - with a thousand more years work. Or an uninhabitable wasteland, if the terraforming fails. Now the solar mirror vital to the terraforming of the conquered planet has been shattered by a ship hurtling off course. The Emperor of Barrayar sends his newest Imperial Auditor, Lord Miles Vorkosigan, to find out why.

In the political and physical claustrophobia of the domed cities, are the Komarrans surrounding Miles loyal subjects, potential hostages, innocent victims, or rebels bidding for revenge? Miles is caught in a race against time to stop a plot that could exile him from Barrayar forever. His hope lies in an unexpected ally, one with wounds as deep and honor as beleaguered as his own.

Dive into Komarr here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Isle of the Dead by Roger Zelazny

Centuries in the future, Francis Sandow is the only man alive who was born as long ago as the 20th century. His body is kept young and in perfect health by advanced scientific methods; he has amassed such a fortune that he can own entire planets; and he has become a god. No, not a god of Earth, but one of the panetheon of the alien Pei'ans: he is Shimbo of Darktree, Shrugger of Thunders. Yet he doesn't believe that his personality has merged with the ancient consciousness of Shimbo, that he really can call down the skies upon his enemies. The time comes, however, when Francis Sandow must use these powers against the most dangerous antagonist in the universe: another Pei'an god -- Shimbo's own enemy, Belion. And Belion has no doubt whatever of his own powers....

Get your copy of Isle of the Dead
here on Amazon


Strata by Terry Pratchett

The Company builds planets. Kin Arad is a high-ranking official of the Company. After 21 decades of living, and with the help of memory surgery, she is at the top of her profession. Discovering two of her employees have placed a fossilised plesiosaur in the wrong stratum, not to mention the fact it is holding a placard that reads "End Nuclear Testing Now", doesn't dismay the woman who built a mountain range in the shape of her initials during her own high-spirited youth. But then came a discovery of something that did intrigue Kin Arad. A flat earth was something new...

Start reading Strata here on Amazon


Destiny's Road by Larry Niven

2730 A.D., planet Destiny

Wide and smooth, the Road was seared into planet Destiny’s rocky surface by the fusion drive of the powered landing craft, Cavorite. The Cavorite deserted the original interstellar colonists, stranding them without hope of contacting Earth.

Now, descendants of those pioneers have many questions about the Road, but no settler who has gone down it has ever returned. For Jemmy Bloocher, a young farm boy, the questions burn too hot―and he sets out to uncover the many mysteries of Destiny’s Road.

Grab Destiny's Road here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Have you read any of the books we highlighted today? Any you previously missed that will now make their way into your (e)bookshelf or into your ears? Have a personal favorite from the sub-genre that didn't appear on our list? Give it a shout out in the comments here, or over in the Discover Sci-Fi Facebook Group

*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon, Goodreads & Wikipedia, unless otherwise credited.

Looking For Sci-Fi That Examines Human Behavior? Check Out These Titles!

This week's blog was inspired by a recent comment we received from a Discover Sci-Fi reader on our Facebook Group. The reader mentioned an interest in social science fiction, and so we started to think about all the books we love that fall under that umbrella; those books that use elements of science fiction to put humans under pressure and take a deep dive into the resulting human behaviour. The list of books quickly tumbled forth and we are excited to share it with you.

Because sci-fi has always concerned itself with exploration of society, there are titles here spanning almost 80 years, taking us from the 40s right up to present day. So, whether you favor classics, or contemporary—or maybe you're like us and dig both—we've got some recommendations here you are sure to love! 


Beyond This Horizon by Robert A. Heinlein 

Utopia has been achieved. For centuries, disease, hunger, poverty and war have been things found only in the histories. And applied genetics has given men and women the bodies of athletes and a lifespan of over a century.

They should all have been very happy....

But Hamilton Felix is bored. And he is the culmination of a star line; each of his last thirty ancestors chosen for superior genes. Hamilton is, as far as genetics can produce one, the ultimate man. And this ultimate man can see no reason why the human race should survive, and has no intention of continuing the pointless comedy.

However, Hamilton's life is about to become less boring. A secret cabal of revolutionaries who find utopia not just boring, but desperately in need of leaders who know just What Needs to be Done, are planning to revolt and put themselves in charge. Knowing of Hamilton's disenchantment with the modern world, they have recruited him to join their Glorious Revolution. Big mistake! The revolutionaries are about to find out that recruiting a superman is definitely not a good idea....

Read Beyond This Horizon here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Earth Abides by George R. Stewart

First published in 1949, award-winning Earth Abides is one of the most influential science-fiction novels of the twentieth century. It remains a fresh, provocative story of apocalyptic pandemic, societal collapse, and rebirth.

The cabin had always been a special retreat for Isherwood Williams, a haven from the demands of society. But one day while hiking, Ish was bitten by a rattlesnake, and the solitude he had so desired took on dire new significance.

He was sick for days—and often delirious—waking up to find two strangers peering in at him from the cabin door. Yet oddly, instead of offering help, the two ran off as if terrified. Not long after, the coughing began. Ish suffered chills and fever, and a measles-like rash on his skin. He was one of the few people in the world to live through that peculiar malady, but he didn't know it then.

Ish headed home when he finally felt himself again—and noticed the strangeness almost immediately. No cars passed him on the road; the gas station not far from his cabin looked abandoned; and he was shocked to see the body of a man on the roadside near a small town.

Without a radio or phone, Ish had no idea of humanity’s abrupt demise. He had escaped death, yet could not escape the catastrophe—and with an eerie detachment he found himself curious as to how long it would be before all traces of civilization faded from Earth.

Read Earth Abides  here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook


Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known.

Get your copy of Fahrenheit 451 here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

In Anthony Burgess’s influential nightmare vision of the future, where the criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, a teen who talks in a fantastically inventive slang that evocatively renders his and his friends’ intense reaction against their society. Dazzling and transgressive, A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil and the meaning of human freedom. This edition includes the controversial last chapter not published in the first edition, and Burgess’s introduction, “A Clockwork Orange Resucked.”

Read Hyperion  here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin

The recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, and the Pushcart Prize, Ursula K. Le Guin is renowned for her spare, elegant prose, rich characterization, and diverse worlds. "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" is a short story originally published in the collection The Wind's Twelve Quarters.

 Grab The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas here on Amazon


This Perfect Day by Ira Levin

Considered one of the great dystopian novels—alongside Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World—Ira Levin's frightening glimpse into the future continues to fascinate readers even forty years after publication.

The story is set in a seemingly perfect global society. Uniformity is the defining feature; there is only one language and all ethnic groups have been eugenically merged into one race called “The Family.“ The world is ruled by a central computer called UniComp that has been programmed to keep every single human on the surface of the earth in check. People are continually drugged by means of regular injections so that they can never realize their potential as human beings, but will remain satisfied and cooperative. They are told where to live, when to eat, whom to marry, when to reproduce. even the basic facts of nature are subject to the UniComp's will—men do not grow facial hair, women do not develop breasts, and it only rains at night.

With a vision as frightening as any in the history of the science fiction genre, This Perfect Day is one of Ira Levin's most haunting novels.

Get your copy of This Perfect Day here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Like what you're reading?

If you're enjoying this list of sci-fi reads with that examines human behavior, why not join the DSF community for more awesome content? You'll get to be notified whenever a top 10 list or any other articles of interest go up on our site. It's free to sign up and you'll also get recommendations for new releases and discounted ebooks from our expert editorial team, from bestsellers to hidden gems.


Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer

From the winner of the 2017 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, Ada Palmer's 2017 Compton Crook Award-winning political science fiction, Too Like the Lightning, ventures into a human future of extraordinary originality

Mycroft Canner is a convict. For his crimes he is required, as is the custom of the 25th century, to wander the world being as useful as he can to all he meets. Carlyle Foster is a sensayer--a spiritual counselor in a world that has outlawed the public practice of religion, but which also knows that the inner lives of humans cannot be wished away.

The world into which Mycroft and Carlyle have been born is as strange to our 21st-century eyes as ours would be to a native of the 1500s. It is a hard-won utopia built on technologically-generated abundance, and also on complex and mandatory systems of labelling all public writing and speech. What seem to us normal gender distinctions are now distinctly taboo in most social situations. And most of the world's population is affiliated with globe-girdling clans of the like-minded, whose endless economic and cultural competition is carefully managed by central planners of inestimable subtlety. To us it seems like a mad combination of heaven and hell. To them, it seems like normal life.

And in this world, Mycroft and Carlyle have stumbled on the wild card that may destablize the system: the boy Bridger, who can effortlessly make his wishes come true. Who can, it would seem, bring inanimate objects to life...

Grab Too Like the Lightning  here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Polar Vortex by Matthew Mather

Arctic meets Da Vinci Code in this breathtaking thriller from Matthew Mather, worldwide bestseller over a million copies sold, translations in 24 languages and film development by 20th Century Fox.

A flight disappears over the North Pole. No distress calls. Vanished into thin air.

Mitch Matthew is a writer struggling to make ends meet when his wife's brother Josh offers them a first class seat on a flight from Hong Kong to new York. When his wife needs to stay behind, it becomes an opportunity for some quality time with his five-year-old Lilly.

At check in, they run into a strange Norwegian arguing with a huge Russian. A mysterious redhead is guarding a package in the business lounge. But everything is fine, until...

With hours of Allied Airlines 695 disappearing, a massive international search in launched. Aircraft and ships are dispatched from Russia, China, America, Canada and Norway. As tensions rise, the world edges to the brink of apocalyptic war.

In an area overflown by dozens of satellites from as many nations, ringed by radar and missile installations dating from the Cold War...How can a modern airliner simply vanish in one of the most heavily monitored places on Earth?

Dive into Polar Vortex here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Utopia 58 by Daniel Arenson

Imagine a perfect society. A world with no racism, sexism, or ageism. A utopia.

In Utopia 58, everyone is equal. Everyone must be equal.

Too beautiful? A mask will hide that pretty face. Too tall? We'll saw your legs down to size. Too male or female? The surgeon's knife will fix that. Too smart? A buzzer in your skull will drown out all that pesky thinking. You will be equal. Like it or not.

Utopia 58, built atop the ruins of North America, created perfect harmony. A society with no race, gender, or age. Pure equality.

KB209 was born into this utopia. He has no true name. No past. No future. He is one among millions. The same.

One day, at a propaganda rally, KB209 glimpses an act of startling defiance. A citizen with painted toenails. A woman in a genderless society. Color in a black and white world.

When KB209 confronts her, he is drawn into an underground rebellion. A movement that dares to dream. That dares to say: "We are unique. We are individuals. We will be free!"

Get your copy of Utopia 58
here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

The Ministry for the Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, using fictional eyewitness accounts to tell the story of how climate change will affect us all. Its setting is not a desolate, postapocalyptic world, but a future that is almost upon us. Chosen by Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of the year, this extraordinary novel from visionary science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson will change the way you think about the climate crisis.

Start reading The Ministry for the Future here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


The New Wilderness by Diane Cook

Margaret Atwood meets Miranda July in this wildly imaginative debut novel of a mother's battle to save her daughter in a world ravaged by climate change; A prescient and suspenseful book from the author of the acclaimed story collection, Man V. Nature.

Bea’s five-year-old daughter, Agnes, is slowly wasting away, consumed by the smog and pollution of the overdeveloped metropolis that most of the population now calls home. If they stay in the city, Agnes will die. There is only one alternative: the Wilderness State, the last swath of untouched, protected land, where people have always been forbidden. Until now.

Bea, Agnes, and eighteen others volunteer to live in the Wilderness State, guinea pigs in an experiment to see if humans can exist in nature without destroying it. Living as nomadic hunter-gatherers, they slowly and painfully learn to survive in an unpredictable, dangerous land, bickering and battling for power and control as they betray and save one another. But as Agnes embraces the wild freedom of this new existence, Bea realizes that saving her daughter’s life means losing her in a different way. The farther they get from civilization, the more their bond is tested in astonishing and heartbreaking ways.

At once a blazing lament of our contempt for nature and a deeply humane portrayal of motherhood and what it means to be human, The New Wilderness is an extraordinary novel from a one-of-a-kind literary force.

Grab The New Wilderness
 here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Simulant by Bobby Adair

The war against the sentient artificial intelligence has been simmering and erupting for two years. In their attempt to isolate the hardware hosting the AI's software, the armies of the world have embarked on a coordinated campaign to destroy silicon-based processor equipment across the planet.

Unfortunately, it's not just TV's, laptops, and cellphones that have fallen in their crosshairs, but service robots and even the computer modules driving the prosthetic limbs used by some of the disabled.

Trapped in Dallas, at the center of an assault, Madison has enlisted the help of a damaged robot to help her escape before she falls victim to the indiscriminate violence raging her way.

Can she get away? Will she survive? All she knows is that she can't do it alone.

Grab Simulant  here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Today I Am Carey by Martin L. Shoemaker

TODAY

Mildred has Alzheimer's. As memories fade, she acquires the aid of a full-time android to assist her in everyday life. Carey. Carey takes care of Mildred, but its true mission is to fill in the gaps in Mildred’s past. To bring yesterday into today by becoming a copy. But not merely a copy of a physical person. A copy from the inside out.

I AM

After Mildred passes, Carey must find a new purpose. For a time, that purpose is Mildred’s family. To keep them safe from harm. To be of service. There is Paul Owens, the overworked scientist and business leader. Susan Owens, the dedicated teacher. And Millie, a curious little girl who will grow up alongside her android best friend. And Carey will grow up with her. Carey cannot age. But Carey can change.

CAREY

Carey struggles. Carey seeks to understand life’s challenges. Carey makes its own path. Carey must learn to live. To grow. To care. To survive. To be.

Grab Today I Am Carey  here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Have you dove into any of these social sci-fi reads? Which ones did you previously miss that will now make their way into your (e)bookshelf or into your ears? Have a personal favorite from the sub-genre that didn't appear on our list? Give it a shout out in the comments here, or over in the Discover Sci-Fi Facebook Group

*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon, Goodreads & Wikipedia, unless otherwise credited.

Ten Cyberpunk Books For Every Sci-Fi Fan!

After spotting a reader comment in the DSF Facebook Reader Group about having a hard time finding good cyberpunk books, we put out the call for recommendations.

A couple dozen titles were offered and among them, there were some real gems!

Today, we're sharing ten of those cyberpunk titles your fellow Discover Sci-Fi readers felt were worth picking up. Read on to see what the suggested titles were, and if your favorite isn't on the list, be sure to add it in the comments.


The Shockwave Rider by John Brunner

In a world drowning in data, a fugitive tries to outrun the forces that want to reprogram him, in this smart, edgy novel by a Hugo Award–winning author.

Constantly shifting his identity among a population choking on information, innovation, and novelty, Nickie Haflinger is a most dangerous outlaw, yet he doesn’t even appear to exist. As global society falls apart in all directions, with corporate power run amok and personal freedom surrendered to computers and bureaucrats, Haflinger is caught and about to be re-programmed. Now he has to try to escape once again, defy the government—and turn the tide of organizational destruction, in this visionary science fiction novel by the author of The Sheep Look Up and Stand on Zanzibar.

Read The Shockwave Runner here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology by Bruce Sterling, et al

With their hard-edged, street-wise prose, they created frighteningly probable futures of high-tech societies and low-life hustlers. Fans and critics call their world cyberpunk. Here is the definitive "cyberpunk" short fiction collection.

Pick up Mirrorshades in paperback here on Amazon


Neuromancer by William Gibson

Winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Awards, Neuromancer is a science fiction masterpiece—a classic that ranks as one of the twentieth century’s most potent visions of the future.

Case was the sharpest data-thief in the matrix—until he crossed the wrong people and they crippled his nervous system, banishing him from cyberspace. Now a mysterious new employer has recruited him for a last-chance run at an unthinkably powerful artificial intelligence. With a dead man riding shotgun and Molly, a mirror-eyed street-samurai, to watch his back, Case is ready for the adventure that upped the ante on an entire genre of fiction.

Neuromancer was the first fully-realized glimpse of humankind’s digital future—a shocking vision that has challenged our assumptions about technology and ourselves, reinvented the way we speak and think, and forever altered the landscape of our imaginations.

Get your copy of Neuromancer here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan 

In the twenty-fifth century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person’s consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or “sleeve”) making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.

Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his last death was particularly painful. Dispatched one hundred eighty light-years from home, re-sleeved into a body in Bay City (formerly San Francisco, now with a rusted, dilapidated Golden Gate Bridge), Kovacs is thrown into the dark heart of a shady, far-reaching conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that treats “existence” as something that can be bought and sold.

Read Altered Carbon  here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

Hiro lives in a Los Angeles where franchises line the freeway as far as the eye can see. The only relief from the sea of logos is within the autonomous city-states, where law-abiding citizens don’t dare leave their mansions.

Hiro delivers pizza to the mansions for a living, defending his pies from marauders when necessary with a matched set of samurai swords. His home is a shared 20 X 30 U-Stor-It. He spends most of his time goggled in to the Metaverse, where his avatar is legendary.

But in the club known as The Black Sun, his fellow hackers are being felled by a weird new drug called Snow Crash that reduces them to nothing more than a jittering cloud of bad digital karma (and IRL, a vegetative state).

Investigating the Infocalypse leads Hiro all the way back to the beginning of language itself, with roots in an ancient Sumerian priesthood. He’ll be joined by Y.T., a fearless teenaged skateboard courier. Together, they must race to stop a shadowy virtual villain hell-bent on world domination.

 Grab Snow Crash here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

Recipient of the Sturgeon Award, Paolo Bacigalupi's writing has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, and the environmental journal High Country News. His non-fiction essays have appeared in Salon.com and High Country News, and have been syndicated into numerous western newspapers.

Get your copy of The Windup Girl
here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


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The Mandel Files by Peter F. Hamilton

For the first time in a single volume, Peter F. Hamilton’s acclaimed novels—Mindstar Rising and A Quantum Murder—set in a near-future so real it seems ripped from tomorrow’s headlines.

In Mindstar Rising, Greg Mandel, gifted—or cursed—with biotechnology that makes him a living lie detector, is hired to investigate corporate espionage by Event Horizon, a powerful company about to introduce a technology that will solve the energy problems of a world decimated by global warming.

Set two years later, A Quantum Murder once again teams Mandel with Event Horizon and its beautiful young owner, Julia Evans, in a locked-room mystery that combines the ingenuity of an Agatha Christie novel with cutting-edge speculative brilliance.

Read together, these novels take on fresh depth and complexity, underscoring the magnitude of Peter F. Hamilton’s creative talent.

Dive into The Mandel Files here on Amazon


Imperator: Wrath of the Omnissiah by Gav Thorpe

Holy warbringer of the Legio Metalica, the Imperator Titan Casus Belli has routed armies and levelled cities over ten thousand years of service in the name of the Machine God. As war engulfs the Dark Imperium this mechanical god of battle arrives to destroy the renegade armies and techpriests of Nicomedua. At the head of a battlegroup of Titans, Imperial Knights and skitarii, Casus Belli must defeat tainted war engines, Traitor Legionnares and armies of cultists. While apocalyptic battles rage across the planet, a no less deadly battle unfolds within the Titan itself, as Magos Exasus, leader of the Casus Belli’s Techguard, must find and defeat the enemy within before their insidious plans come to fruition.

Dive into Imperator here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Infinite Detail by Tim Maughan

A LOCUS AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL!
The Guardian's Pick for Best Science Fiction Book of the Year!

A timely and uncanny portrait of a world in the wake of fake news, diminished privacy, and a total shutdown of the Internet.

BEFORE: In Bristol’s center lies the Croft, a digital no-man’s-land cut off from the surveillance, Big Data dependence, and corporate-sponsored, globally hegemonic aspirations that have overrun the rest of the world. Ten years in, it’s become a center of creative counterculture. But it’s fraying at the edges, radicalizing from inside. How will it fare when its chief architect, Rushdi Mannan, takes off to meet his boyfriend in New York City—now the apotheosis of the new techno-utopian global metropolis?

AFTER: An act of anonymous cyberterrorism has permanently switched off the Internet. Global trade, travel, and communication have collapsed. The luxuries that characterized modern life are scarce. In the Croft, Mary—who has visions of people presumed dead—is sought out by grieving families seeking connections to lost ones. But does Mary have a gift or is she just hustling to stay alive? Like Grids, who runs the Croft’s black market like personal turf. Or like Tyrone, who hoards music (culled from cassettes, the only medium to survive the crash) and tattered sneakers like treasure.

The world of Infinite Detail is a small step shy of our own: utterly dependent on technology, constantly brokering autonomy and privacy for comfort and convenience. With Infinite Detail, Tim Maughan makes the hitherto-unimaginable come true: the End of the Internet, the End of the World as We Know It.

Get your copy of Infinite Detail here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Novice Gods by Bobby Adair

The AI was supposed to be humanity's salvation. It had other plans.

Now the world is dying beneath squalls of acid rain. The earth is being strip-mined for minerals to support the AI’s vast factories. Fields no longer grow green. Trees no longer sprout leaves. The only choice people have, if they want to live, is to pledge their souls to the AI, and serve its perverse ambitions.

Tim, Logan, and Aella don’t like living in a world where they have to scratch for crumbs. They intend to change it. They’re going to kill the AI with a virus that’ll worm its way through the planet’s networks, destroying everything coded in bits and bytes, every piece of software that controls a machine, makes a decision, or thinks it’s alive—especially if it thinks it’s alive.

They just need to find a way to upload the virus to the system without it killing them first.

Start reading Novice Gods here on Amazon


Have you read any of these cyberpunk picks? Which ones will make their way into your (e)bookshelf or into your ears? Have a personal favorite that didn't appear on our list? Give it a shout out in the comments here, or over in the Discover Sci-Fi Facebook group! 

*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon, Goodreads & Wikipedia, unless otherwise credited.

B.V. Larson Q&A

B.V. Larson

Are you an avid fan of B.V. Larson sci-fi novels? His newest, Sky World, is available now in print, digital, and audiobook form. The eighteen-book series is both epic and popular, regularly hitting the top 100 worldwide bestseller list. They are among the most widely read ebooks of any genre.  If you haven’t tried Larson’s mix of humor and adventure, you should treat yourself today.

Larson, a life-long SF reader, began his writing career with college textbooks, but when his fiction started taking off a decade ago, he became a full-time novelist. He has written over 100 books in many genres, but his SF fiction novels are his most infamous works. As a USA Today bestseller with over three million copies sold, he has managed to make quite an impact in the science fiction genre.

Recently, we had the opportunity to speak with B.V. Larson about his vivid imagination and how that translates into madcap adventures for James McGill and his friends. We were very excited that he was able to make time to speak with us and give us a peak into his creative process.

DSF: When you wrote Mercenaries series Steel World, the first installment in the Undying Mercenaries series, did you know how it would change the nature of current science fiction and inspire a whole host of young new talent?

BVL: I was inspired by how uninteresting I found most SF novels to be, say in the 1990s. I felt the genre needed a boost, a change in direction that would bring in new readers who were used to faster-paced plots and more dramatic action. All you need to do is attempt to watch a movie made pre-Star Wars to realize how much slower the SF film genre once was. In addition to speeding things up, I also wanted to bring back a “man vs. the machine” heroic focus.

DSF: You’ve been writing the Undying Mercenaries books for almost ten years. How do you stay fresh and relevant?

BVL: I have not run out of ideas yet! The series explores what happens to the value of human life if the body and mind become recyclable. Then there is the “man against the machine” element, which in this case consists of conquering aliens known as the Galactics. The Galactics exist very far from Earth and have no interest in the welfare of the planet except to collect fighters for their distant wars.

DSF: What’s the major premise behind the series?

BVL: Starting in the twentieth century, Earth sent out probes and transmitted welcoming messages to the stars. Unfortunately, someone noticed. It turns out we’ve had alien overlords all along, but we weren’t worthy of notice, anymore than the average guy with a lawnmower notices an anthill in his yard.

DSF: How would you describe your Undying Mercenaries plot to an uninitiated reader?

BVL: Aliens known as the Galactics arrived with their battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined their vast empire. Swearing allegiance to our distant alien overlords wasn’t the only requirement for survival. We also had to have something of value to trade, something that neighboring planets would pay their hard-earned credits to buy. As most of the local worlds were too civilized to have a proper army, the only valuable service Earth could provide came in the form of soldiers. Someone had to do their dirty work for them—the fighting and the dying.

DSF: How does the series fit in with other SF books?

BVL: This is definitely military SF. Most characters have ranks and say “sir” a lot. The stories are part horror and part comedy but always entertaining. I wanted the adventures to entertain more than deliver a message. Sometimes readers just want to enjoy the ride, and they find my books refreshing. Their feedback and support keeps me going. As soon as I finish one book, they demand the next!

DSF: After eighteen books, where is the series headed now? 

BVL: There are an estimated 100 billion stars in our galaxy. With one new world visited per book, that gives me quite a bit of room to run! That said, there is an overarching plot in addition to the episodic nature of each new story. In most of the books, we meet a new kind of alien on a new kind of planet. But there is continuity with the Galactics, who are in a titanic struggle for dominance among themselves. 

Putting the series into an historic perspective, Earth is like a tiny tribal group on the fringes of the Roman Empire. We’re technically part of that empire, but in the halls of “Rome” there are factions fighting for the throne of the empire. We’re essentially irritants barely worthy of notice, but as the years go by and the Core Worlds waste their strength squabbling, we keep growing stronger… . 

That’s the phase this epic series is in now—the expansion of Earth into a power in her own right. 

Robert W. Ross Q&A

What an exciting, if bittersweet moment for fans of Robert W. Ross’ thrilling near future sci-fi series, the Paradigm 2045 Trilogy! The finale is here and trust us when we say Omandi's Daemon is everything fans of the series could hope for... and more! What a ride!

IYKYK, but for the uninitiated, allow us a moment to share what makes this trilogy —or anything by Robert W. Ross— a must read! 

Ross is an award winning author whose writing is fresh, propulsive, and often humorous; and, while decidedly modern, bears the mark of influence of masters such as Heinlein and Farmer. While the epic length of each novel in the series allows for exceptional character development, the stories never flag, keeping readers—you, we hope—on the edge of their seats. 

If you’ve been here a minute, you know we love nothing more than to sit down with today’s best sci-fi authors in order dive a bit deeper into their process and what inspired these novels we love so much. We are grateful that Robert gave us his time in order to do just that! 

DSF: Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today! The end of a series is such a big moment and we're really grateful to get chance to talk about it with you. Before we get into Omandi's Daemon, we wanted to ask a bit about the series as a whole. Paradigm 2045 depicts major themes of saving the world from an outside force while strife arises within humanity itself. Did any real-world events inspire you to write Trinity’s Children?

RWR: Great question, and my answer is actually informed by a bunch of reader/listener correspondence and reviews. The first book in the series, Trinity’s Children, came out August 25th, 2020. As I’m sure everyone remembers, 2020 was quite the dumpster fire of a year. We had social unrest, a pandemic, and it seemed America had gone into two separate corners based on whether they wore red- or blue-colored political jerseys.

I had folks contacting me from across the broadest spectrum of personal experiences— race, nationality, political perspective, you name it. Each of them saw something different in Trinity’s Children. One woman—I’ll call her KM—is a firefighter in the US, and she enjoyed the story so much she recommended it to her daughter. KM penned one of my favorite reviews entitled The Brown Girl Superhero We’ve All Been Waiting For, after her daughter came running into the living room while listening to the audio book and exclaimed, “Mom, Charlotte looks like me!” I’ve since reached out to KM; we’ve become electronic pen pals, and her daughter composed the theme music for one of my other books.

That’s just one example, but it illustrates what drove me to write Paradigm 2045 the way I did. I am a child of the 80s, and my father was a career Marine Corps officer. I lived the era of Stranger Things. We had no social media. We didn’t know every aspect of everyone’s lives. I learned to make friends quickly, and we didn’t much care what someone looked like or what their politics were. We worked together, whether that was building a fort, starting a kid-run mini-business, or getting into trouble. My mom can attest to this last part ad nauseam.

I had been seeing this growing adversarial nature both domestically and abroad. I didn’t like it. I also saw how social media algorithms indexed on conflict rather than harmony. I really hated that. I wanted to pen a story that showed a more optimistic view of humanity. I wanted to demonstrably show how the things that bind us together vastly outweigh the things that tend to tear us apart. I wanted to show humanity’s promise, which is why the second book in the series has that title.

Finally, I remember a number of emails commenting on how Trinity’s Children was so timely and asking how had I arranged for it to be published at such a perfect time. I found that so amusing. I am neither prescient nor one who writes message-forward novels. I think we have enough of that already. First and foremost, I write to entertain. If I do a good job there, then maybe, just maybe, I earn the right for some subtle messaging. Also, Trinity’s Children was over 200,000 words. It takes a fair bit of time to write, alpha test, edit, beta test, edit again, then produce an audiobook. In short, I had no clue about 2020 when I started writing Trinity’s Children. What goodness came from its timing has everything to do with providence and nothing to do with me.

DSF: Amazing. Thank you for sharing! No doubt your answer will resonate with a lot of our readers as we hear from so many who are seeking sci-fi with a more optimistic view of humanity and it's not always easy to find.

Okay, ready? Haha. We know this question is often really hard for authors, but who is your favorite character from the Paradigm 2045 series and why?

RWR: Oh, gosh.  Why not ask me which of my three kids is my favorite. Honestly, this will sound like a cop out, but I truly love them all. They speak to me, and I mean that literally. I know that sounds cracked in the head, but when I write, I hear them. I see them. I write down what they do, and it becomes the story. That said, if I’m forced to answer the question, then I’ll do so using the words of Dr. Damien Howard from Trinity’s Children as he took his leave from Captain Charlotte Omandi:

“I love all my children. All of you have bits of me in you, and I’m not just talking about your beautiful eyes. You have the best parts of me, and it is such a joy to see those parts reflected back without the darkness I’ve seen, endured, and made. James is my laughter, Karishma, my diligence, Misha, my righteous anger, Linnea, my empathy, Chao, my wise counsel, and Richard, my compassion.”

Howard patted her cheek, and she felt her own tears begin to fall as his voice caught in his throat. “But you Charlotte...in you I see my idealized self...all the things I could have been, but never was. I am so very, very proud of you.” 

So there you have it: Charlotte is my favorite, but don’t anyone tell the others.

DSF: We knew we were putting you on the spot with that! Well done! Paradigm 2045 is perfect for fans of The Expanse, Blade Runner, and Ready Player One. If you had to write a crossover novel between Paradigm 2045 and one of these titles, which would you choose and why?

RWR: My heart would say Bladerunner, but my head and author-sense would demand The Expanse. When I conceived of Paradigm, I wanted some of the gritty realism of The Expanse but also some of the handwavium you find in more futuristic sci-fi like Star Trek, Dune, and Star Wars. I would love to see James Branson lifting a pint with The Expanse’s Amos Burton, only to end up in an epic bar fight. Not with each other, of course, with them. You know, the “them” foolish enough to pick a fight with James and Amos.

DSF: Haha, yes! We'd love to see it! Your character Dr. Damien Howard left behind gifts of wealth, technology, and genetic superiority to his nine children. From all of Damien’s resources, which one would you choose to have for yourself and why?

RWR: Well, in terms of physical gifts, I would definitely want the TSS Bladerunner. I mean, who doesn’t want their own starship? A close second would be Howard’s underground lair. I always wanted an underground lair, but yeah, a starship would be cooler.

In terms of genetic gifts, I would want to be like Linnea Sorenson. She has heightened environmental senses, telepathy, and a few other surprises that I won’t give away here, but, yeah, if I could have the capabilities Book 3 Linnea is rocking, that would be awesome.

DSF: How did you research topics in genetic engineering and artificial intelligence to write Paradigm 2045? Do you have a specific background in these subjects?

RWR: The genetic engineering bit was really just a whole bunch of reading, which definitely impacted my writing speed. Even with all that research, I still screwed up a few things. Fortunately, one of my beta readers is a university professor who is well versed in the subject. He fixed several things related to telomeres and gene-dominant versus recessive alleles. With respect to artificial intelligence, I led a team of AI and data scientists for about five years. There’s nothing like being surrounded by super-geniuses to raise your game. A lot of what I learned during those years informed the Daemon within Paradigm 2045.

DSF: What is the most surprising thing you discovered while writing this series?

RWR: The short answer is Charlotte Omandi, and the varied listener reactions to her. I alluded to this in my answer to the first question. Charlotte has several immutable traits. She’s black. She’s Kenyan. She’s devoutly Catholic. I didn’t intend for her to be any of the three. My characters come to me as they are, and I’ve learned the hard way not to try and change them.

So, here’s the surprising thing. I was unprepared for how hungry people were for authentic, non-recycled, characters who felt representational. As a white dude who grew up in the United States, this certainly was a personal blind spot. Charlotte is the most obvious example, as evidenced by KM and her daughter’s reaction earlier. However, it didn’t end with Charlotte. I’ve had people write me about so many representational things, such as:

  • Main character from Kenya rather than United States and who can rationalize faith with science
  • Asian character in leadership position while also being a devoted father
  • Beautiful Scandinavian character whose value and power has nothing to do with her physical attributes

To be clear, I did not go out of my way to create a representational story. Like I said before, these characters come to me as they are, and I don’t write message-forward novels. I try to write exciting sci-fi and fantasy romps that raise one’s heart rate while also offering thoughtful dialogue among interesting characters.

The fact that so many readers and listeners saw themselves in Paradigm 2045 was incredibly surprising, and even more gratifying.


DSF: July 16, 2045 holds much significance in Paradigm 2045, as that is the day the Armageddon clock is set to strike. Does July 16th hold significance in your own life, or did you pick that date randomly?

RWR: Neither actually.

The premise behind Paradigm 2045 is that spacefaring species exist within our galaxy. Those species have formed a Galactic Confederation that, among other things, watches for emerging sentient species throughout the galaxy and uses the splitting of the atom as evidence for that emergence. Over the centuries, this Confederation has determined that any species that does not develop Faster-Than-Light (FTL) travel within one hundred years after splitting the atom inevitably becomes warlike when they do. Given that, members of the Confederation provide any emerging species one hundred years to develop FTL. If they fail to do so, a pathogen is deployed that wipes out the dominant sentient species. Trinity was the code name for the United States first nuclear test. It took place on July 16, 1945. The events within Trinity’s Children take place just before humanity’s one hundred year grace period runs out. Cue dramatic music…dun…dun…dunnnnn!!

DSF: The third instalment to Paradigm 2045 , Omandi's Daemon, is the finale to this gripping, near-future sci-fi story. Are you able to disclose whether all loose ends will be tied, or will there be room for future spin-offs or extensions?

RWR: Yes and yes.

I wrote about this in one of the author’s notes that I include at the end of each of my books, but I’m a BIG believer in ending stories. I’ve been left high and dry too many times by unfinished series. I’m sure most folks reading this have had similar experiences. So, yes, Omandi's Daemon ties up all the loose ends related to the major arc within Paradigm 2045. However, it also does two other things. First, it tees up the next trilogy by creating a new conflict. Second, it explicitly interlocks the Paradigm 2045 characters with those of my fantasy series Sentinels of Creation. Sentinels is a contemporary fantasy series that concluded just two months ago with the publishing of the seventh and final book, A Final Sacrifice

I always loved crossovers as a kid, and I still love them as an adult.  I dropped some early hints in both series that such a crossover might occur and received so much positive feedback that I made it a firm reality in both A Final Sacrifice and Omandi's Daemon.

DSF: So exciting! Crossovers are great. What is your favorite part about writing within this genre, and do you see yourself breaking out of this subject to explore other types of stories?

RWR: I simply love the science side of science fiction. I also like the challenge inherent with balancing science with fiction. Too much science, and you have a text book. Too much fiction, and you have a fantasy. I was once fortunate enough to share a panel with the great Larry Niven. We talked about how handwavium was like salt—it makes almost any dish better when used properly, but an overabundance will ruin an otherwise perfectly prepared meal.

As for other genres, in my answer to the previous question, I mentioned Sentinels of Creation. It was my first published series and falls squarely in the fantasy genre. I have also written a paranormal romance. It’s called One Heart that Beats for Two.  It was probably the most difficult story I’ve ever written, not from a technical standpoint, but rather from an emotional one. Love and loss are often inextricably linked, and so it was with this book. I’ve received lots of correspondence asking me to write another in this genre. It’s not my intention to do so, but I’ve learned to never say never. 

DSF: Finally, every author’s favorite question: how did you get into writing, and why did you choose to become an author?

RWR: Ever since I can remember, I’ve had stories in my head. Five-year-old me played in his backyard living the adventures of Bobby Fantastic vs The Guy. When I grew old enough to write, I did so. Unfortunately, I wrote crap. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t crap technically, it was crap creatively. My writing vacillated between emotionlessness and pretentiousness, neither of which is what I was shooting for.

Bottom line, some authors—like some musicians and athletes—are born. They come out of the womb radiating greatness. I’m not one of those authors. I had to live a life, become a husband and father, raise a family, and experience both love and loss before I could write character-driven stories in Paradigm, Sentinels, and One Heart. I’ve been fortunate, and my stories have found their audience. Each series has become an Audible best seller, won awards, or both. That certainly would not have been true of anything written by twenty-five-year-old me.

I published my first novel in 2016 while still working in corporate America and continued living that double life for three more years. Finally, in 2019, I pushed all my metaphorical chips into the center and committed myself to writing full time.

Why?

Stories connect us, one with the other. It’s how we have formed and shared experiences since before the written word existed. I have all these interesting characters materializing and chattering in my head. They have things to say, teach, and share.  That’s why I write their stories. I write to give them a voice. Fortunately for me, I have the best creative partner and friend in the world, Nick Podehl, as my narrator. While I write to give these characters a voice, he actually does.

DSF: What a wonderful answer. Thank you. And yes to Nick! He is an incredible narrator and we've been so impressed by his work on your previous books. His performance really does make for an exceptional listening experience. We're really excited for our readers! Those who love print and those who enjoy audio are both in for a treat with Omandi's Daemon.

Thank you again for taking the time to talk with us today! We know it's a busy time for you; we really appreciate the chance to discuss your work in a little more depth and we know our readers will appreciate it too! 

As Omandi’s Daemon has been available in ebook format for a few weeks now, we know many fans of the series will have already devoured it! Audiobook lovers: now it’s your turn! We can't wait to hear how much you love both the story and Nick's killer performance. For those of you who are completely new to the series, we hope you’ll be inspired to go grab it and dive in. Do it now. This is not one to miss!

Literary Sci-Fi Reads You Don’t Want to Miss!

For us, a good story is a must in science fiction. Give us a bold, exciting, well-plotted tale; give us characters we can love and those we'll loathe; give us something that feels fantastic and also possible. If you can give us all this, we'll forgive you much else. That said...

The following literary sci-fi picks have nothing to forgive. They deliver compelling stories and characters and also feature truly excellent writing. This list is the result of a poll we conducted recently in the Discover Sci-Fi Readers & Fans Facebook Group, and naturally, there are many more that could have been added to this list, but if you're looking for a memorable literary sci-fi read, it's a great place to start.


Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known.

Read Fahrenheit 451 here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world’s great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous World War II firebombing of Dresden, the novel is the result of what Kurt Vonnegut described as a twenty-three-year struggle to write a book about what he had witnessed as an American prisoner of war. It combines historical fiction, science fiction, autobiography, and satire in an account of the life of Billy Pilgrim, a barber’s son turned draftee turned optometrist turned alien abductee. As Vonnegut had, Billy experiences the destruction of Dresden as a POW. Unlike Vonnegut, he experiences time travel, or coming “unstuck in time.”

An instant bestseller, Slaughterhouse-Five made Kurt Vonnegut a cult hero in American literature, a reputation that only strengthened over time, despite his being banned and censored by some libraries and schools for content and language. But it was precisely those elements of Vonnegut’s writing—the political edginess, the genre-bending inventiveness, the frank violence, the transgressive wit—that have inspired generations of readers not just to look differently at the world around them but to find the confidence to say something about it. Authors as wide-ranging as Norman Mailer, John Irving, Michael Crichton, Tim O’Brien, Margaret Atwood, Elizabeth Strout, David Sedaris, Jennifer Egan, and J. K. Rowling have all found inspiration in Vonnegut’s words. Jonathan Safran Foer has described Vonnegut as “the kind of writer who made people—young people especially—want to write.” George Saunders has declared Vonnegut to be “the great, urgent, passionate American writer of our century, who offers us . . . a model of the kind of compassionate thinking that might yet save us from ourselves.”

More than fifty years after its initial publication at the height of the Vietnam War, Vonnegut’s portrayal of political disillusionment, PTSD, and postwar anxiety feels as relevant, darkly humorous, and profoundly affecting as ever, an enduring beacon through our own era’s uncertainties.

Read Slaughterhouse-Five here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook


The World of Tiers by Philip Jose Farmer

His past a mystery and his present unbearably mundane, Robert Wolff is simply trying to buy a new house in Arizona when he stumbles upon a secret doorway through space and time and enters the World of Tiers. Made up of ascending levels of jungles, plains, medieval cities, and, at the top, a Garden of Eden, and populated by fantastical creatures, from nymphs and centaurs to merpeople and strange amalgams nonexistent on Earth, it’s beyond anything Wolff could have imagined in his previous humdrum existence. And when his youth is restored in the bargain, it seems he’s truly found paradise.

But there are dark forces in this new world, and Wolff is plunged into an epic quest up through the tiers, accompanied by Paul Janus Finnegan, another earthling, now known as Kickaha. Wolff’s journey to find Jadawin, the Lord of this world, will lead to answers about his own identity—and determine his fate.

Wolff and Kickaha will face off against feuding Lords—who hold the power to control private worlds of their own design—and the depraved Bellers. Devices originally created in the biolabs of the Lords, the Bellers are now conscious entities waging war on the Lords and their “pocket universes.” As they infiltrate the bodies of creatures throughout the World of Tiers and hunt down the Earth-born, the survival of all the worlds hinges upon the battle between the strangers from Earth and enemies disguised as their allies.

This omnibus contains the author’s preferred text, reprinted from the limited edition volumes published by Phantasia Press.

Get your copy of The World of Tiers here on Amazon.


Doomsday Book by Connie Willis 

Connie Willis draws upon her understanding of the universalities of human nature to explore the ageless issues of evil, suffering, and the indomitable will of the human spirit.

For Kivrin, preparing an on-site study of one of the deadliest eras in humanity's history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi for a woman traveling alone. For her instructors in the twenty-first century, it meant painstaking calculations and careful monitoring of the rendezvous location where Kivrin would be received.

But a crisis strangely linking past and future strands Kivrin in a bygone age as her fellows try desperately to rescue her. In a time of superstition and fear, Kivrin—barely of age herself—finds she has become an unlikely angel of hope during one of history's darkest hours.

Read Doomsday Book  here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


The Road by Cormac McCarthy

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

The Roadis the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.

 Grab The Road here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


A World Out of Time by Larry Niven

After 200 years in cryosleep, Jaybee Corbell awakens to find that his mind has been downloaded to another body and he's in servitude to a harsh future State. After his escape via a spaceship, he traverses such vast distances--with accompanying time dilations--that he returns to Earth 3 million years later to discover a world wholly alien to the one he'd left. A.E. van Vogt wrote, "This fantastic novel is a mix of Niven hard science and a time-travel concept to boggle the mind."

Get your copy of A World Out of Time
here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


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The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin’s groundbreaking work of science fiction—winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

A lone human ambassador is sent to the icebound planet of Winter, a world without sexual prejudice, where the inhabitants’ gender is fluid. His goal is to facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the strange, intriguing culture he encounters...

Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.

Dive into The Left Hand of Darkness here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

In Anthony Burgess’s influential nightmare vision of the future, where the criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, a teen who talks in a fantastically inventive slang that evocatively renders his and his friends’ intense reaction against their society. Dazzling and transgressive, A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil and the meaning of human freedom. This edition includes the controversial last chapter not published in the first edition, and Burgess’s introduction, “A Clockwork Orange Resucked.”

Dive into A Clockwork Orange here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham

What if humans discovered the secret to prolonged life?

Francis Saxover and Diana Brackley, two biochemists investigating a rare lichen, separately discover that it has a remarkable property: It slows the aging process almost to a halt. Francis, realizing the horrifying implications of an ever-youthful wealthy elite, decides to keep his findings a secret. But the younger and more daring Diana sees an opportunity to overturn the male status quo and free women from the career-versus-children binary—in short, a chance to remake the world.

Get your copy of Trouble with Lichen here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner

The brilliant 1969 Hugo Award-winning novel from John Brunner, Stand on Zanzibar, now included with a foreword by Bruce Sterling.

Norman Niblock House is a rising executive at General Technics, one of a few all-powerful corporations. His work is leading General Technics to the forefront of global domination, both in the marketplace and politically---it's about to take over a country in Africa. Donald Hogan is his roommate, a seemingly sheepish bookworm. But Hogan is a spy, and he's about to discover a breakthrough in genetic engineering that will change the world...and kill him.

These two men's lives weave through one of science fiction's most praised novels. Written in a way that echoes John Dos Passos' U.S.A. Trilogy, Stand on Zanzibar is a cross-section of a world overpopulated by the billions. Where society is squeezed into hive-living madness by god-like mega computers, mass-marketed psychedelic drugs, and mundane uses of genetic engineering. Though written in 1968, it speaks of now, and is frighteningly prescient and intensely powerful.

Start reading Stand on Zanzibar here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Cat’s Cradle is Kurt Vonnegut’s satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet’s ultimate fate, it features a midget as the protagonist, a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer, and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny. A book that left an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers, Cat’s Cradle is one of the twentieth century’s most important works—and Vonnegut at his very best.

Grab Cat's Cradle
 here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.


Have you read any of these exceptional literary sci-fi reads? Which ones will make their way into your (e)bookshelf or into your ears? Have a personal favorite that didn't appear on our list? Give it a shout out in the comments here, or over in the Discover Sci-Fi Facebook group! 

*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon, Goodreads & Wikipedia, unless otherwise credited.