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.

• Forsaken Mercenary by Jonathan Yanez: a great example of imperfect people rising to the challenge of heroism.
• The Adventures of a Xeno-Archaeologist series by Jenny Schwartz: a gripping story of reluctant heroes.
• The Carbon Chronicles series from Chloe Garner: an action-packed misfit crew story.
• I’ve also started reading Sunken Spaceship by Anthony J. Melchiorri and, Night Owls by Stephen Gay and am enjoying both.

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!

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

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.

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 

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.

Like what you're reading?

If you're enjoying this list of cyberpunk 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 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.

Fantasy is probably the first genre that comes to mind when people think of books with incredible world building, but science fiction lends itself well to this too, and as such is a great choice for readers looking for immersive, fully-realized worlds.

This week's blog features sci-fi titles that give the world building of fantasy a run for its money, and whether you're looking for series or standalones, classic or modern, we've got you! 

Ringworld by Larry Niven

Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel, RINGWORLD remains a favorite among science fiction readers.

Louis Wu, accompanied by a young woman with genes for luck, and a captured kzin – a warlike species resembling 8-foot-tall cats -- are taken on a space ship run by a brilliant 2-headed alien called Nessus. Their destination is the Ringworld, an artificially constructed ring with high walls that hold 3 million times the area of Earth. Its origins are shrouded in mystery.

Read Ringworld here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold

When Cordelia Naismith and her survey crew are attacked by a renegade group from Barrayar, she is taken prisoner by Aral Vorkosigan, commander of the Barrayan ship that has been taken over by an ambitious and ruthless crew member. Aral and Cordelia survive countless mishaps while their mutual admiration and even stronger feelings emerge. A science fiction romance by a Hugo and Nebula Award winning master. Bujold's SHARDS OF HONOR is the first book in her SF universe to feature the Vorkosigan clan, followed by the Hugo award-winning BARRAYAR. The Nebula award-winning FALLING FREE precedes it by internal chronology in the same future history.

Read Shards of Honor  here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook

The Culture Series by Iain M. Banks

The first book in Iain M. Banks's seminal science fiction series, The Culture. Consider Phlebas introduces readers to the utopian conglomeration of human and alien races that explores the nature of war, morality, and the limitless bounds of mankind's imagination.

The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender.

Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction.

Get your copy of Consider Phlebas here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons 

Read Hyperion  here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Zones of Thought Series by Vernor Vinge

Thousands of years in the future, humanity is no longer alone in a universe where a mind's potential is determined by its location in space, from superintelligent entities in the Transcend, to the limited minds of the Unthinking Depths, where only simple creatures, and technology, can function. Nobody knows what strange force partitioned space into these "regions of thought," but when the warring Straumli realm use an ancient Transcendent artifact as a weapon, they unwittingly unleash an awesome power that destroys thousands of worlds and enslaves all natural and artificial intelligence.

Fleeing this galactic threat, Ravna crash lands on a strange world with a ship-hold full of cryogenically frozen children, the only survivors from a destroyed space-lab. They are taken captive by the Tines, an alien race with a harsh medieval culture, and used as pawns in a ruthless power struggle.

 Grab A Fire Upon the Deep here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson

Decades into our future, a stone’s throw from the ancient city of Shanghai, a brilliant nanotechnologist named John Percival Hackworth has just broken the rigorous moral code of his tribe, the powerful neo-Victorians. He's made an illicit copy of a state-of-the-art interactive device called A Young Ladys Illustrated Primer  Commissioned by an eccentric duke for his grandchild, stolen for Hackworth's own daughter, the Primer’s purpose is to educate and raise a girl capable of thinking for herself. It performs its function superbly. Unfortunately for Hackworth, his smuggled copy has fallen into the wrong hands.

Young Nell and her brother Harv are thetes—members of the poor, tribeless class.  Neglected by their mother, Harv looks after Nell.  When he and his gang waylay a certain neo-Victorian—John Percival Hackworth—in the seamy streets of their neighborhood, Harv brings Nell something special: the Primer.

Following the discovery of his crime, Hackworth begins an odyssey of his own. Expelled from the neo-Victorian paradise, squeezed by agents of Protocol Enforcement on one side and a Mandarin underworld crime lord on the other, he searches for an elusive figure known as the Alchemist.  His quest and Nell’s will ultimately lead them to another seeker whose fate is bound up with the Primer—a woman who holds the key to a vast, subversive information network that is destined to decode and reprogram the future of humanity.

Get your copy of The Diamond Age here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

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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.

Dive into The Windup Girl here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton

A century from now, thanks to a technology allowing instantaneous travel across light-years, humanity has solved its energy shortages, cleaned up the environment, and created far-flung colony worlds. The keys to this empire belong to the powerful North family—composed of successive generations of clones. Yet these clones are not identical. For one thing, genetic errors have crept in with each generation. For another, the original three clone “brothers” have gone their separate ways, and the branches of the family are now friendly rivals more than allies.
 
Or maybe not so friendly. At least that’s what the murder of a North clone in the English city of Newcastle suggests to Detective Sidney Hurst. Sid is a solid investigator who’d like nothing better than to hand off this hot potato of a case. The way he figures it, whether he solves the crime or not, he’ll make enough enemies to ruin his career.
 
Yet Sid’s case is about to take an unexpected turn: because the circumstances of the murder bear an uncanny resemblance to a killing that took place years ago on the planet St. Libra, where a North clone and his entire household were slaughtered in cold blood. The convicted slayer, Angela Tramelo, has always claimed her innocence. And now it seems she may have been right. Because only the St. Libra killer could have committed the Newcastle crime.
 
Problem is, Angela also claims that the murderer was an alien monster.
 
Now Sid must navigate through a Byzantine minefield of competing interests within the police department and the world’s political and economic elite . . . all the while hunting down a brutal killer poised to strike again. And on St. Libra, Angela, newly released from prison, joins a mission to hunt down the elusive alien, only to learn that the line between hunter and hunted is a thin one.

Dive into Great North Road here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

The Broken Earth Series by N.K. Jemisin

This is the way the world ends. . .for the last time.

It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world's sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun. It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter. It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester.

This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.

Read the first book in the critically acclaimed, three-time Hugo award-winning trilogy by NYT bestselling author N. K. Jemisin.

Get your copy of The Fifth Season here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Central Station by Lavie Tidhar

A worldwide diaspora has left a quarter of a million people at the foot of a space station. Cultures collide in real life and virtual reality. The city is literally a weed, its growth left unchecked. Life is cheap, and data is cheaper.

When Boris Chong returns to Tel Aviv from Mars, much has changed. Boris’s ex-lover is raising a strangely familiar child who can tap into the datastream of a mind with the touch of a finger. His cousin is infatuated with a robotnik—a damaged cyborg soldier who might as well be begging for parts. His father is terminally-ill with a multigenerational mind-plague. And a hunted data-vampire has followed Boris to where she is forbidden to return.

Rising above them is Central Station, the interplanetary hub between all things: the constantly shifting Tel Aviv; a powerful virtual arena, and the space colonies where humanity has gone to escape the ravages of poverty and war. Everything is connected by the Others, powerful alien entities who, through the Conversation—a shifting, flowing stream of consciousness—are just the beginning of irrevocable change.

At Central Station, humans and machines continue to adapt, thrive...and even evolve.

Start reading Central Station here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Terra Ignota Series 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.

Five Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Here for the first time is the complete suite of five linked stories from Ursula K. Le Guin’s acclaimed Hainish series, which tells the history of the Ekumen, the galactic confederation of human colonies founded by the planet Hain. First published as Four Ways to Forgiveness, and now joined by a fifth story, Five Ways to Forgiveness focuses on the twin planets Werel and Yeowe—two worlds whose peoples, long known as “owners” and “assets,” together face an uncertain future after civil war and revolution.

In “Betrayals” a retired science teacher must make peace with her new neighbor, a disgraced revolutionary leader. In “Forgiveness Day,” a female official from the Ekumen arrives to survey the situation on Werel and struggles against its rigidly patriarchal culture. Embedded within “A Man of the People,” which describes the coming of age of Havzhiva, an Ekumen ambassador to Yeowe, is Le Guin’s most sustained description of the Ur-planet Hain. “A Woman’s Liberation” is the remarkable narrative of Rakam, born an asset on Werel, who must twice escape from slavery to freedom. Joined to them is “Old Music and the Slave Women,” in which the charismatic Hainish embassy worker, who appears in two of the four original stories, returns for a tale of his own. Of this capstone tale Le Guin has written, “the character called Old Music began to tell me a fifth tale about the latter days of the civil war . . . I’m glad to see it joined to the others at last.”

Grab Five Ways to Forgiveness  here on Amazon.

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 read any of these exceptionally immersive sci-fi reads? Which ones will make their way into your (e)bookshelf or into your ears? Have a personal favorite sci-fi book with incredible world building 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.