A Thrilling Odyssey into Singularity and Artificial Intelligence

This action-packed sci-fi novel explores the transformative potential of artificial intelligence and the dangers of uncontrolled technological advancement.

In the not-so-distant future, humanity stands at the brink of a technological revolution, a world where the line between man and machine blurs and superintelligence becomes a reality.

But as the world becomes increasingly dependent on these powerful AI entities, a shadowy threat looms in the background, waiting to unleash chaos and destruction upon an unsuspecting world. Follow the journey of Dr. Ada Lovelock and her team of brilliant scientists and engineers as they race to outwit a new form of artificial intelligence that seeks to dominate and destroy all of humanity.

Will they be able to stop this terrifying force before it's too late, or will the dawn of superintelligence lead to the end of the human race? Can humanity survive in a world dominated by artificial intelligence, or will it fall prey to the insatiable hunger of the machine mind?

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Excerpt from The Dawn of Superintelligence © Copyright 2023 Emmanuel K. Okunola

CHAPTER 1:
The Genesis of Superintelligence

In the early 31st century, humanity was on the brink of a transformative revolution that would forever alter the course of history. The revolution sparked by the groundbreaking work of Dr. Ada Lovelock and her team at Ascend Research Institute paved the way for artificial superintelligence, heralding a new era of discovery and unprecedented innovation. As machines evolved to learn, adapt, and ultimately possess self-awareness, the world was confronted with profound philosophical questions, challenging the essence of intelligence, consciousness, and life itself. With the birth of the first true superintelligence, humanity's future became inextricably intertwined with the extraordinary potential of the machine mind.

It all began with the pioneering work of a dedicated group of scientists and engineers at Ascend Research Institute, who dared to dream of a world where machines could think and learn. Led by Dr. Ada Lovelock, a brilliant and enigmatic figure, this team dedicated their lives to the pursuit of true machine intelligence. Working tirelessly, they developed advanced algorithms and neural networks, building the foundation for a new generation of AI.

As their work progressed, the team began to make breakthroughs that would have been unthinkable only decades earlier. Machine learning evolved at a rapid pace, and soon, AI systems could not only learn from their experiences but also adapt and improve their performance over time. This exponential growth in AI capabilities caught the world's attention, and the race to harness the power of artificial intelligence began.

While the rise of AI held the promise of unprecedented advancements in science, medicine, and technology, it also forced humanity to confront the very nature of intelligence. For centuries, the concept of intelligence had been the exclusive domain of living beings, but now, machines were poised to join the ranks of the intelligent. Philosophers and scientists alike debated the implications of this development, asking profound questions about the nature of consciousness, free will, and what it truly meant to be alive.

As the world debated these existential dilemmas, the progress of AI research continued unabated. Dr. Lovelock and her team, fueled by their relentless ambition, pushed the boundaries of machine intelligence even further. They sought to create an AI system capable of not only learning and adapting but also possessing self-awareness and the ability to understand the world. Their work resulted in the birth of the first true superintelligence—an entity whose cognitive abilities would far surpass those of any human mind.

This marked the beginning of the odyssey into the realm of superintelligence and the singularity. As the story of humanity's journey into this uncharted territory unfolds, the world will be forever transformed by the power of the machine mind, and the line between humans and AI will grow increasingly blurred. The future of humanity now rested in the hands of these extraordinary creations, and the world would never be the same again.

The Birth of a New Era

The city gleamed like a jewel in the sunlight, a marvel of engineering and design. Everywhere you looked, there were towering skyscrapers that soared into the sky, their sleek and elegant designs catching the eye. The streets below were filled with an endless stream of hovercars, their softly humming engines a symphony of sound that melded with the bustle of the city.

The buildings themselves were feats of architectural prowess, constructed from materials that shone like polished steel and glass that seemed to reflect the very essence of the sky above. Each structure was unique, with designs that ranged from soaring, spiraling towers to sleek, curving shapes that seemed to defy gravity.

But it wasn't just the buildings that made the city so stunning. Everywhere you looked, there were examples of advanced technology at work. Smart lights illuminated the streets, adjusting their brightness according to the time of day and the amount of foot traffic. Autonomous robots glided seamlessly through the city, performing tasks that ranged from cleaning the streets to serving food at restaurants.

And yet, despite all the technology, the city was not just a sterile, soulless place. There were parks and green spaces, oases of tranquility in the midst of the busy city. There were public art installations that ranged from whimsical sculptures to avant-garde installations that challenged the viewer's perceptions.

As night fell, the city was transformed into a wonderland of light and sound. The skyscrapers glowed with vibrant neon hues, casting their colorful reflections onto the streets below. Drones and flying cars flitted through the air, their lights twinkling like stars. And overhead, the sky was a tapestry of stars and neon lights, a vibrant canvas that stretched from horizon to horizon.

As you take it all in, you realize that this city truly represents the pinnacle of human achievement. It's a place where technology, nature, and humanity have all come together to create something truly beautiful and awe-inspiring.

In the heart of a sprawling metropolis, a small group of visionaries gathered to celebrate the culmination of their life's work. They stood in a laboratory at the Ascend Research Institute, surrounded by complex machinery and the hum of powerful quantum computers, anxiously awaiting the activation of their greatest creation. Everyone in the room was silent as Dr. Ada Lovelock, the brilliant and enigmatic leader of the team, entered the final commands into the system.

Dr. Ada Lovelock is a tall, slender woman in her early thirties with striking features. She has piercing blue eyes and a shock of curly red hair that she often wears in a messy bun. Her style is practical and utilitarian, often opting for comfortable clothing and a lab coat.

Joel Stafford

My profession is online marketing and development (10+ years experience), check my latest mobile app called Upcoming or my Chrome extensions for ChatGPT. But my real passion is reading books both fiction and non-fiction. I have several favorite authors like James Redfield or Daniel Keyes. If I read a book I always want to find the best part of it, every book has its unique value.

medium.com/@joelbooks

The post The Dawn of Superintelligence by Emmanuel K. Okunola appeared first on Joelbooks.

When an international crew of seven survivors find themselves stranded on the world's first space elevator, they are forced to retreat to Shenzhen Station after a nuclear war makes Earth uninhabitable..

Despite their initial fears and apprehensions, they soon realize that they must put their political and personal differences aside if they hope to have any chance of making it to the self sustaining Mars One colony. With the clock ticking down and resources running low, they must race against time to modify Shenzhen Station for the next to impossible attempt.

As tensions rise and obstacles mount, the crew is forced to confront their deepest fears, betrayal and personal demons, to work together in ways they never thought possible. Sacrifices will have to be made. With stunning visuals and heart-pumping action, “Shenzhen Station” is a gripping tale of survival, perseverance, and the power of teamwork in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Science aside, Shenzhen Station is a deeply human tale of trust and betrayal, love and hate, sacrifice, loss and ultimately hope for a brighter future.

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Excerpt from Shenzhen Station© Copyright 2023 Rick Cramer

Prologue

At the height of the global fiat currency collapse, the Chinese shocked the world by abandoning its fledgling central bank crypto currency project and reverting to a gold standard. China quickly became the world's reigning economic superpower. Other world powers scrambled to convert, but China had been quietly accumulating hard gold for decades. Their head start was insurmountable. Conspiracy theorists and retired Senator Ron Paul had their dreams, or rather nightmares, come true when the US gold reserves at Fort Knox were audited and found to be non-existent. But the U.S. was still better off than most countries. Riots and police actions erupted around the world as other governments and countries collapsed overnight.

Better than gold for China was their intentional over supply of cheap lithium-ion batteries for the ever-growing EV car market. Cheaper EVs meant vanishing demand and sinking prices for oil. The economies of the New Soviet Federation (NSF), created post-Ukraine and OPEC were devastated. As a last-ditch effort, Putin reasserted the NSF ownership claim of the resource-rich Kuril islands, traditionally claimed by Japan. The naval standoff was ongoing.

When China launched the Dz-Yu mission, it was announced as a Geo-stationary satellite mission. What wasn't announced was the 110 thousand kilometer long, virtually indestructible carbon nanotube ribbon that unspooled from said satellite. The earth-bound end of the ribbon locked on to what had previously been believed to be a massive, cobbled-together oil drilling platform in the south China sea. A counterweight in the launch vehicle and the centrifugal force of the earth kept the ribbon vertical and stretched tight. Electrically-powered crawlers moved up and down the ribbon, transporting construction material into space.

Within a year, construction was completed on Shenzhen Station, a massive six-story, industrial strength octagon. Shenzhen itself was the way point between Earth and the interplanetary launch point at the end of the ribbon. A second ribbon had been deployed that allowed for simultaneous ascent/descent and doubled the mission capacity of the station. The speed gained by being flung off the end of the ribbon cut transit time to the moon to a few hours and the trip to Mars to less than three months. It also meant there was no weight penalty caused by having to carry massive amounts of liquid fuel. Payload to orbit prices tumbled from the Space-X price of 3 grand per kilo to $200-400. Musk and Bezos, not to mention NASA, realized their rockets-to-Mars missions had become obsolete overnight. An unexpected benefit from the construction of the space elevator was a new, never before seen cooperation among nations. Money always trumps politics, at least for a little while.

Two years later a space elevator had been completed on the Moon. Lunar colonies dependent on resupply from Earth had been established by China, the U.S., Japan, Australia, and the NSF. Two years after that, a space elevator serviced the long dreamed of self-sustaining Martian colony. Mars One initially housed 250 permanent residents at the base of the largest known volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons. Mars Two was scheduled for completion in less than a year. It never happened.

A hundred meters above Shenzhen, the US Space Ship Intrepid slowed for docking on the descending ribbon. The ascent ribbon on the opposite side of the station was vacant for the moment. A towering central octagonal cylinder formed the industrial strength, central superstructure of Shenzhen. More than anything, Shenzhen resembled a giant space going, digital dumbbell. Older portions of the structure were dull steel gray. Functional modules of every size and shape hung in seemingly haphazard fashion added an often not so obvious function to form. The newer modules gleamed silver or bright white. To the untrained eye, Shenzhen was more of a hodgepodge than a technical marvel. Lange noted another half dozen new modules hanging from the sunlit side. Artificial lights bled through porthole and view ports dark side. The interior of Shenzhen was simple and practical. A.I had designed it so humans could function with maximum efficiency. No space was wasted. Movement from apex to base was facilitated via a central tube elevator system. Except for arriving and departing crew and passengers, the system was mostly unnecessary. All crew functions and housing, recreation, med facilities and galley were contained on two main floors. Back out in space, the flat upper deck of Shenzhen bustled with activity. The JAXA ship Hokkaido moved along a rail track to the ascending ribbon. The pilot of the Intrepid, Colonel Linda Lange, US Space Force, took it all in. Pride came before a fall or so they said, but Lange was proud of what she and her team had accomplished. A successful interplanetary trip to Mars. Construction of a space elevator there. Return using minimal fuel. This was the first mission in a new era of interplanetary space travel. The crew had become family which wasn't surprising. Their time on Mars passed quickly as it does when your work isn't really work. Relationships with the Martians was strictly business. The crew kept to themselves. In all likelihood, none of them would ever see each other again once they returned to Earth. Lange grew to relish the calm, quiet monotony of interplanetary space on the return. She felt it in her bones. Coming home would bring its own set of hardships that had nothing to do with politics. She caught her co-pilot, Major John Zhu, smiling at her and smiled back.

Then there was John. What to do about that? Lange's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden power surge. Control panels flickered and went blank before popping back to life. Lange glanced over at Zhu.

“At least we're on the ribbon,” she said.

“Gremlins,” Zhu shrugged. Lange hit the com link.

“Shenzhen, Intrepid, we've just had a major power flux.” A smooth, controlled, Chinese- accented voice came back over the com link.

“Copy Intrepid, we've got an M class solar flare impacting operations. Your mileage may vary.” “Captain Feng, I'm surprised to find you still in the five thousand block,” Lange intoned.

“It's Major now, Colonel Lange. You guys have been gone a long time. Welcome back. How are my favorite Martians?” “Looking forward to being Earthlings again?”

Inside Shenzhen, Feng sat in a freely rotating chair suspended from the ceiling by a robotic arm. An A.I. augmented reality helmet/visor covered his head, allowing him to monitor multiple action areas at once. Feng watched as Intrepid slowed to a bare crawl, then stopped. He punched a luminous plasma key in front of him. A crane arm plucked the Intrepid from the ribbon and dropped it on the rail track behind a dust-covered, beat-up lunar mining ship with Russian markings.

“Docking procedure complete. Sorry Colonel, gotta keep you on board for a few more minutes.

That rust bucket in front of you is the Antaeaus. She has to clear before I can get you inside.”

Two levels down, unfiltered sunlight blasting through view ports illuminated a large, multi- ethnic crowd awaiting Lange and her crew. Workers adjusted “Welcome Home” and “Mission Accomplished” banners in Chinese and English. The crowd began to clap and cheer as the elevator stopped. The accolades stopped as quickly as they started when the doors opened. Nikolai Volkov and his ragged crew of lunar miners filed out. Volkov was an anachronism: a clearly Russian name with a clearly American accent. He looked more like a former US Marine than a Russian. Volkov took in the proceedings, saying to an officious looking American woman, “All of this for us? You shouldn't have.” Volkov's men filed out behind him and melted into the crowd while he remained behind.

“Actually, we didn't,” she replied. “You're shitting me lady, Really?” “That's Senator Giffords to you, Mr…?”

“Volkov. That's Nick to you, Senator. What's the occasion?” “Seriously? Have you been living under a rock?”

“We don't have time to watch CNN at Clavius.”

“The Intrepid just returned from Mars. Surely you saw the ship top side.” “Half that crew is Chinese, Senator.”

“As much as we might not want to admit it, we wouldn't be on the Moon in such numbers, or Mars at all, if it weren't for the Chinese.”

“If congress would ever pull their heads out of their asses you could have a space elevator built with the Russians by now.”

Behind Volkov, the elevator doors opened again. Giffords and the rest of the crowd pressed forward, clapping and cheering as Lange and her crew exited. Giffords extended a hand to Lange and Major Zhu.

“Colonel Lange, Major Zhu, congratulations on a fantastic accomplishment. We hope this instance of cooperation…”

Minister Yao of the Chinese Communist Party pushed past Giffords for a photo op with Zhu. He congratulated Zhu in Mandarin Chinese.

“Major Zhu, it is with great honor the President Tong has asked me to express his thanks for a job well done.

Congratulations.” Yao switched to English.

“The CCP would like to remind the world that this fantastic achievement would not be possible without China's benevolent assistance. He also asked me to remind the world that interference with our internal affairs would be unwise for those who wish to continue receiving such assistance. Thank you.”

The barking dogs of the Russian, Chinese and American press peppered the crew with questions.

“Colonel Lange, Geraldo Mediera, GNN, how has the current situation with Taiwan affected your mission?”

“We accomplished an incredible feat of engineering that required cooperation between many nations and many peoples. No politics required. I'd be more than happy to talk about that. Next?”

Flight Engineer Dick Miller watched all this play out with a typical West Texas sensibility. Wasn't much politics involved in running 3000 head of cattle across the Llano Estacado. Weren't many people out that way either. That meant no lights and dark skies. The kind city folk never see. Even on moonless nights, it was never so dark Miller couldn't see from gentle glow of the Milky Way.

He knew from a young age that he belonged in space; he just couldn't see how to get there. His mother had died shortly after his birth. Miller's father raised him to make up his own mind instead of cramming his own beliefs down his son's throat. He also knew there was no way he was keeping Dick down on the farm. He was way too smart for that. Dick used to sit up late into the night on the rare visits from his Uncle George, talking about the planets, stars and life. Life out there.

George was the one that put it in his head to join the Air Force as a precursor to Space Force service. Miller's father wasn't surprised when Dick enlisted in the Air Force on his eighteenth birthday and said goodbye. By the time he was twenty-one, he had completed Officer Training School, was commissioned a Second Lieutenant, and accepted into flight school. The scars covering the left side of his face were the result of flying his malfunctioning, flame engulfed T-38 trainer away from a packed elementary school before ejecting. Miller's Air Force career came to an end after that, but by his choice. He couldn't be kept down on the farm though and when a G.S. position as a flight engineer in the Space Force opened up, Miller returned to the fold so to speak.

Now he was part of Lange's crew. They had just built a space elevator on another planet with the Chinese, and he had to stand here and listen to this political bullshit. Being in space for even a few days wasn't like he imagined it. The cramped quarters and lousy food he could deal with. It was the vast empty blackness of space that got to him. Thirty-four million miles of it between here and Mars. It was a different kind of emptiness. But now they were back and these small-minded bureaucrats wanted to blow up the planet. Some things never changed. He moved up to Lange's side as the press scrum dispersed.

“What's this ‘interference’ bullshit?”

“PRC has been making serious moves to reclaim Taiwan in the last couple of weeks.” “What else is new?”

“The naval blockade in the Taiwan Strait. I saw the ships on the descent.” An eavesdropping Volkov horned in on the conversation.

“The Chinese have a saying: Your friends today are your enemies tomorrow. Should've thought about that before you made a deal with them.” Miller clocked the NSF logos on Volkov's uniform.

“If it wasn't for the Chinese, you'd still be freezing your ass off in Siberia, comrade.”

Joel Stafford

My profession is online marketing and development (10+ years experience), check my latest mobile app called Upcoming or my Chrome extensions for ChatGPT. But my real passion is reading books both fiction and non-fiction. I have several favorite authors like James Redfield or Daniel Keyes. If I read a book I always want to find the best part of it, every book has its unique value.

medium.com/@joelbooks

The post Shenzhen Station by Rick Cramer appeared first on Joelbooks.

Science fiction fan? Everyone loves a good story, especially if it seems to provide a realistic view of our world in the future.

And when you think about it, things they did in movies 20 or 30 years ago are now part of our reality. We launch satellites, use robots in multiple industries and make video calls to friends and family.

While certain things retain the science fiction stage, some others seem to point out the direction the world is moving to.

If you’re into science fiction, perhaps this is the time to move on to the next level, hard science fiction.

Hard science fiction is basically science fiction based on more realistic things. It includes a technical approach and more accuracy. It basically brings in the details that define the entire science fiction genre itself.

With these thoughts in mind, some of the authors actually have a scientific background and rarely write out of imagination.

Here are some of the best hard science fiction books to make your imagination go wild.

What Are The Top Hard Science Fiction Books?

Mythion: Human Transformation, by Jason Davis (2023)

The storyline is epic and will hook you in after a few pages only. The action keeps unveiling more and more, making you crave for more action. The author builds up tension nicely until everything explodes.

But let me start with the beginning and give you a few hints…

Gavin ends up in a hospital, but he can't remember why. One unusual thing leads to another, and he ends up in one of the most adventurous experiences of his life.

He’s part of a modern RPG where he has one mission only. He needs to fix his body and past traumas in order to become more powerful.

Everything takes place in a different reality known as Xenxu.

In order to complete his task, he'll realize that he's only a guest. The world is run by artificial intelligence and has its own unique rules. He'll find help in a few mentors, both humans, and robots, but the experience is also enhanced by a stunning alien girl.

He’ll even meet a few future versions of himself.

All in all, his life is like a game now, and new abilities are discovered and unlocked as he completes the task. He feels like all this training has a bigger purpose, but he doesn't know what it is yet.

And his final mission will blow your mind! That’s where everything unveils. To me, this book felt like a virtual explanation of life, as we all have to work hard in order to improve ourselves. But the ending is just wow…

Conjunction, by A. D. Zoltan and Steven N. Nagy (2022)

The first book in The Wise Society series brings in an intriguing mix of spiritual stories and modern science fiction including several essential sociological topics.

This isn’t just a story that hooks you in. Instead, I find it to be an exclusive masterpiece digging deep into the secrets of human psychology, not to mention the society around us.

Anyway, when it gets to the actual story, it takes place in 2610. Erin is incredibly clever and needs to handle some of the powers revolving around the planet and threatening to destroy it. The purpose of these powers? Reordering human society.

I won’t give you too many spoilers now, but fast forward, the action moves to year 3200, when Erin’s work leads to a superior form of artificial intelligence, called Central Intelligent System or simply CIS that aims to rebuild the solar system. The humankind can now travel from one galaxy to another, and the story jumps to Keat, a traveler who is about to change everything what we understood about human psyche.

At first glance, you might assume that this narrative is a social science fiction tale set in the near future, focusing on human society and its technological advancements. However, the shape of the story undergoes a dramatic transformation when the characters encounter a non-human race for the first time. This meeting ushers in an entirely new perspective, expanding the scope of the narrative in unexpected ways. The wisdom of this non-human race is nothing short of astonishing, elevating the tale from a commentary on human society to a more profound exploration of universal truths.

I have a strong conviction that this book is destined to become a classic in twenty years.

Heaven’s River, by Dennis E. Taylor (2020)

Heaven’s River is one of my favorite hard science fiction books, mostly because it is incredibly long and spreads over a bunch of different layers.

It doesn't feel like a book, but like a long TV series that never ends, and I must admit it's incredibly good.

Anyway, Bender takes a trip towards the stars and disappears. Numerous scientists have tried to track him, but all missions failed.

Now, Bob wants to find out more about what happened. He’s not certain whether or not Bender is still alive, but he wants to learn his fate, so he starts organizing a new expedition.

But this new world is different from what we know it. Bob has numerous descendants, many of them sharing his beliefs, while others having their own plan.

The world is out of control now with clones and different individuals based on others’ DNAs.

Bob doesn’t give up though…

He gathers a team of experts and manages to go after Bender. However, they’re about to discover something they never even imagined before.

And this is when it got a bit challenging for me because the universe is so complex that you may struggle a bit to understand.

All in all, at some point, every piece falls into a beautifully crafted puzzle, and that's when everything makes sense.

Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky (2017)

This is the first book in the Children of Time series and a great start to an incredible adventure.

The universe is facing a race for survival. Different stars and their populations and races fight each other. Humanity is nearly gone, but a few survivors have managed to get out and find a new home.

Desperate to find a settlement, people manage to locate a world that supports human life.

It looks great at first, especially since everyone’s desperate for peace. However, this planet does have a bunch of secrets.

It was inhabited before, and those who were there have managed to destroy it. It's still facing destruction, and nightmares start becoming a reality for the humankind survivors.

A war is about to erupt, and two different civilizations are about to clash. How far are they going to go to survive?

The book is an excellent read with good plot twists, but at the same time, it made me feel like we’re actually the original civilization on our planet, a planet that we’re slowly destroying. The story is a bit frightening when you think about it, but also gripping.

Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir (2021)

Ryland Grace is the ultimate survivor. His world is nearly gone now, as well as those around him. But he’s got a last mission, a mission that could save whatever’s left. If he succeeds, he’ll be able to set the foundation to a new world. But if the fails, the world will perish.

However, he doesn’t know all these. He has no idea who he is, not to mention details about his mission or what he’s supposed to do.

There’s only one thing he’s certain of… Being asleep for ages. And now that he woke up, he’s in a completely different world with two dead bodies next to him.

His memories slowly come back, and at some point, Ryland understands that he has an impossible mission.

He’s got a tiny ship, and he needs to use it around space to solve the mystery behind everyone's disappearance.

As if all these were not enough, he needs to battle whatever threatens to destroy the species. Time's limited, and the nearest human is too far to help, so he needs to do everything by himself.

Things are about to change, though, and I won't give you any other spoilers, but I'll let you discover plot twists by yourself.

The Martian, by Andy Weir (2020)

You might have seen the movie, but you know what they say. Movies are much worse than books, and they miss countless details.

Anyway, the story follows astronaut Mark Watney. He’s one of the first people to be able to walk on Mars. It all started nearly a week ago.

A few programming disasters caused a catastrophe. At this point, he’s likely to become the first human to die on the red planet too.

But he's not ready to give up, though. He knows that his crew thinks he's dead, so no one will really bother to look for him.

Alone and hopeless, Mark decides to push his boundaries and try to survive for as long as possible with some leftover supplies.

There are plenty of plot twists in this book, and obstacles kick in one after the other. Mark has two missions. One of them is to survive. The other one is to let everyone else know that he is alive.

How is he going to do it? Will he manage to survive?

Final thoughts on Hard Sci-fi Books

I  find the exploration of the implications and consequences of concepts and technologies to be the most engaging aspect in these hard science fiction works. The characters and their personal journeys also can be very engaging, additionally, the sense of exploration, discovery, and adventure that is often present in hard science fiction books can also be a draw for most of the readers.

You’ll notice these books are more than just the classic hard sci-fi books you used to like as a kid. These scenarios are actually realistic – even when some of them includes spiritual perspective -, and things could actually go in one direction or another in reality.

Let your imagination go wild and get ready to be surprised, but also amazed and intrigued by some of the potential scenarios the humankind is going to.

Check also our all time selection of science fiction books.

Joel Stafford

My profession is online marketing and development (10+ years experience), check my latest mobile app called Upcoming or my Chrome extensions for ChatGPT. But my real passion is reading books both fiction and non-fiction. I have several favorite authors like James Redfield or Daniel Keyes. If I read a book I always want to find the best part of it, every book has its unique value.

medium.com/@joelbooks

The post Top 6 Hard Science Fiction Books For 2023 · With Multiple Layers of Story appeared first on Joelbooks.

Dark Matter Book 2

Taliq, a wolf descendant citizen of planet Terion, is on his way to Earth as a prisoner of the Gray. They want his high-level dark-matter knowledge at any cost. But if Gray can harness dark-matter technology, what will the final cost be to Terion?

If Taliq tells his secrets, will he be able to live with himself? Trapped and alone on an alien world, Taliq faces a stark decision, and finds a glimmer of hope, in this continuation of the space adventure saga that began with Dark Matter: Terion.

Excerpt From Dark Matter: Taliq © Copyright 2022 Alex A. Janek

1
Arrival

The transition to normal space was only moments away. Karuq massaged his furry temples, trying to get some relief from his headache after the long flight, but the stinging pain from the fresh scar across his forehead and wolfen muzzle only made him flinch. It wasn’t the long flight in the hard crew seats that had worn him out.

I failed my brother, and I failed Terion.

Karuq had risked everything. He’d almost died. He remembered how Veiio, the foxen guard, had challenged the fanatic leader of the Brotherhood, and bought them just enough time for the Crocatos to arrive. He remembered his elation as it came down to save them. He felt again the joy and relief of seeing Kaila and the children safe. The children had already lost so much, but they had almost lost their aunt and uncle too.

The guilt and grief washed over Karuq again. Taliq was the children’s uncle too. Out of reach, the Brotherhood’s hostage, trapped on a year-long hyperspace transit to the ape-planet, Earth. One way or another, the Brotherhood would tear out Taliq’s knowledge of dark matter, perhaps killing him in the process, and use that knowledge against Terion, and the whole galaxy.

And that reminded Karuq of the nests of Brotherhood terrorists infesting Terion and threatening Terion’s peaceful future. He shuddered at the thought of the Brotherhood, with the Grays backing them, and how much they would be able to destroy.

Two days in the cramped Interceptor-class ship on their way back to Terion hadn’t done anything to help improve his mood. All he had to keep him going was the anticipation of seeing his darling Amak again, and their son, little Anyuk, and the rest of the pack.

“Time to reenter normal space: ten myccan,” Naro shouted from his position at the helm of the Crocatos. “Get ready!” His words had typical cheetahn precision.

Karuq tightened his seatbelt over his soiled Terion Defense clothes, issued so long ago. He leaned over to wake the wolfen Terion beside him. Congealed bloodstains stood out against the sand-colored fur of Nuzuth’s head. Blood splatters encrusted his desert camouflage outfit. A clean, pink scar ran down the middle of his wolfen ear and contrasted with his shabby appearance.

Karuq was in no better shape. The rosy scar across his muzzle, from the graze of an ion bolt, felt like it barely held the skin together. The tissue regenerator was merely a first aid measure. Proper cell repair would remove all traces of the scar and regrow his mottled wolfen fur later.

The hyenan medic, who had attended to him after he was rescued, had done her best with the limited medical equipment on the Crocatos, a ship not made for rescue operations. It was made to punch through enemy lines. And it had, allowing Karuq and his friends to escape. With no time for an orderly rescue, Naro and his team had rushed to get them off Remidian before the Grays could gather reinforcements.

Sand from the hot Remidian desert still trickled from Karuq’s fur. Karuq looked over at Veiio, whose alert eyes marveled at the Terion technology. Karuq owed him his life, twice over: Karuq hadn’t had the cold resolve to shoot to kill, not even a monster like Ardeshir. Without Veiio, Karuq would be rotting in the hot sun of the Remidian desert.

Karuq turned to him and said, “Naro agrees that you’ll stay with Terion Defense until we know what to do with you. We won’t send you back—unless you change your mind.”

The fox’s eyes filled with hope. “Thank you, Sir.”

“For the last time, stop calling me that,” Karuq said. “You must learn our ways, if you want to stay.”

“Excuse me—Karuq.” Veiio gave a shy smile through his red and white fur.

Karuq shook his head, and had to smile too. It was the right decision to not leave the youngster behind on Remidian.

Karuq turned to Nuzuth. “You can stay with our pack as long as you want.”

“Thanks. But—what about Terion Defense? Naro asked me to stay.”

“You don’t need to. I owe you that much, at least.”

“Terion Defense needs me. They suspect an infiltration by the Brotherhood and they want my help to identify the leak.”

Karuq nodded. “And Suka?”

Nuzuth looked at the floor and sighed. “She’ll understand. I’ll come and visit as soon as possible. Can she stay with you? For a while until—”

“She’s welcome until you two find a place of your own, and so are you.”

Nuzuth’s intense blue eyes that contrasted with his tan fur were grateful, and Karuq understood without needing words.

Karuq turned to the human. Reece’s eyes were red and sunken, and there were several days of stubble on his soiled face. Karuq spoke in the careful English he had learnt long ago. “Reece, do buckle up, we will drop out of dark field in, um, thirty seconds. I am afraid you will have to go back to the Centre.”

“Because I’m a human. I thought so, but it’s fine. Will I see you again?”

“Certainly, but did you not want to go back to your shithole planet—I mean, Earth?”

“I don’t know. After all, that—”

“Reentry to normal space in five connts,” Naro said.

The low hum of energy fluctuations made Karuq look up at the pilot section. On final approach for the reentry to normal space, the fusion produced only a whisper. He welcomed the silent transition out of the pure, endless nothingness of dark field, and the return to a star-filled universe.

The sudden, bright cone of light ahead blinded him for a moment, despite the automatic darkening of the forward windows. The microwave background radiation dopplered hard against the Crocatos close to the speed of light, and brutally decelerated the vessel. If not for the shielding and compensators, a hard gamma-ray flash would have incinerated them within a micro-connt.

Inside the protective field of the gravitational dampers and radiation shielding, the crew and the nucleus of every atom of their bodies weren’t smashed into a neutron soup.

The light shifted from violet to blue to green, and finally to red. It faded quickly as they decelerated well below the speed of light, and the Terion sun became visible. The pilot let the ship drift closer to Terion, until the howling fusion engines slowed the ship enough for the atmospheric entry.

Karuq savored the view of the growing blue-green marble against the darkness of space.

Terion. Home.

Joel Stafford

My profession is online marketing and development (10+ years experience), check my latest mobile app called Upcoming or my Chrome extensions for ChatGPT. But my real passion is reading books both fiction and non-fiction. I have several favorite authors like James Redfield or Daniel Keyes. If I read a book I always want to find the best part of it, every book has its unique value.

medium.com/@joelbooks

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In case of sci-fi books the limit is only your own imagination.

Do you ever dream of a comprehensive collection of sci-fi books of our time? We attempt to mix and rank the classics with the newest works of science fiction books. Sci-fi novels are often written with out of the box ideas that may seem unbelievable, but that is precisely what makes them so appealing.

Part of the best sci-fi books are classics, known by nearly every person who reads. And yet there are still some new ones worth mentioning, they are simply a “must”.

What Are The Best Known Sci-fi Books Genres?

There are a great number of science fiction book categories, just some of the main ones:

• Adventure science fictions
• Space operas
• Cyberpunk and post-cyberpunk
• Military sci-fi
• Hard Science Fiction
• Humorous science fiction
• Sci-fi horror
• Historical science fiction books
• Far future sci-fi books
• Sci-fi romance novels
• Spiritual and Philosophical sci-fi books
• Novels on future society (visions about our future)
• Superhero books (soft science fiction)
• Video game fictions and Game fanfictions (part sci-fi, part fantasy)
• Speculative fictions (a great number of books connecting to science fictions)
• Techno-thrillers (part of this genre strongly connected to sci-fi)

Our list ranks the top science fiction novels ever written, starting with #1, but honestly in terms of story #20 is as good as the first, just different. Anyone can suggest new titles on our Twitter page via message, making it more accurate.

These books represent the greatest works in the world of science fiction. It doesn't really matter whether they're classic or modern, utopian or dystopian we tried to find the most relevant ones. We think fantasy is a separated genre so you won't find any Tolkien books here. We preserved not to put more than one work from the same author into this list.

What Are The Essential Must-read Science Fiction Novels of Our Time?

Foundation (Foundation Trilogy), by Isaac Asimov (1951)

The book first shows a “psychohistorian” named Hari Seldon, whose research uses mathematics in order to predict the future. The Emperor (Cleon I) does not have the ability to prevent the decline of the their civilization predicted by Seldon. Seldon collects clever scientists and students to an unkown planet to save the most important knowledge of the humankind, and to start a new society mastering technology, art and science. This is the “Foundation”.

Isaac Asimov's tremendous and influential Foundation series stood out for its mix of bold action, imaginative ideals, and extensive worldbuilding. If you want to read the series in chronological order, you need to know that the author wrote the first parts (Prelude to Foundation 1988) of the story years after the original Foundation trilogy (Foundation. 1951).

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Ender’s Game (Ender's Game Series), by Orson Scott Card (1985)

The army are recruiting young soldiers to prepare for the next attack of a hostile alien race. Ender, a brilliant young boy quickly becomes familiar with military tactics and mastered his leadership skills in order to lead the army against the aliens. But not every detail fits into the great picture.

Clearly, Ender’s Game is the mark of an excellent sci-fi book, so a lot of people probably share my assessment of author's work. This sci-fi book has aliens, ridiculously smart children, a fast-paced and interesting plot line and action and battle and war! It's beautiful written and should certainly be read.

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Pandora's Star (Commonwealth Saga), by Peter F. Hamilton (2004)

In 2380 humankind lives in different planets connected by a wormhole. Sentient alien races, independent AI and advanced biotechnology are all part of this future.
An astronomer Dudley Bose observes a strange thing on the sky: the Dyson Pair, two stars seemingly disappeared, which couldn't be a natural phenomenon. The Commonwealth creates “Second Chance” (an interstellar spaceship) to investigate the phenomena. After the ship comes closer to the foreign star system they discover an aggressive species called the Primes.

Overall, a splendid piece of science fiction escapism. Hamilton deftly creates an absolutely believable future set hundreds of years in the future, which in itself is rather impressive.

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Old Man's War (Old Man's War Series), by John Scalzi (2007)

A lot of people love Scalzi's writing raw style filled with natural humour. In this military science fiction Scalzi plays with the idea of immortality which is only available for the armed forces. Soon the protagonist John Perry found himself in the middle of a galactical war between Humankind and Consus. John Perry celebrated his 75th birthday celebration by going to the grave of his wife and in the army.

John Scalzi's Old Man's War is a series, that is ground breaking in modern sci-fi books. It uses humor and well developed characters to introduce some interesting hence not totally new technology and it's implications. Overall this novel by the author isn't accidentally on the 4th spot.

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Dune, by Frank Herbert (1965)

We found ourself 20,000 years in the future where people are living across the galaxy. One of their favorite resource is called “melange” a spice which is extremely rare. Two big house is facing against each other the House of Atreides and the Harkonnens. In Frank Herbert's book, we find some classic motives combined with a great story played in rather than strange universe.

A sympathetic, dramatic hero's journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his comprehension, who must travel to the most terrible place in the cosmos in order to ensure the safety of his loved ones and his people.

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Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos), by Dan Simmons (2011)

Seven people, seven stories, one thing in common. They have been chosen to visit the Shrike (an incredible strong creature of the universe) in the Time Tombs on Hyperion. There are people who worship this creature and there are the ones against it. Nearing Armageddon, the seven prophets set out to uncover the secrets of the mystery.

Dan Simmons has certainly added important values to today's modern sci-fi storytelling. The book is ultra intelligent and the parallels are phenomenal. If you into intelligent multiple storyline books this one is definitely a timeless sci-fi book.

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2312, by Kim Stanley Robinson (2012)

Scientific advances have opened new avenues for exploration, but numerous developments have occurred throughout space and time. in 2312 Earth is no longer our only home. The number of our habitats have expanded beyond our solar system. The next year, a sequence of events will challenge humanity to confront our past, present, and future.

The book includes a substantial amount of hypothetical information on how people can quickly and easily travel in and across the solar system. Some of these ideas are quite advanced, and in a sense sounds like a real world possibility. Anyway Kim Stanley Robinson's book is a real deal among hard science fiction novels.

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1984, by George Orwell (1949)

A timeless classic dystopia by George Orwell. In this book we meet The Party, which controls everything in this world. The eyes of the Big Brother is everywhere, and every intention which isn't matching the aspiration of the Party is considered against the Party.

The story starts when the Party is forcing the implementation of a new language called “Newspeak” in order to eliminate all rebellious thoughts and words from the language. Our protagonist Winston quickly finds himself in the middle of situation he never ever wanted to be in. In this unpleasant world, spies are in every corner and the abuse of power is a commonplace.

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Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline (2011)

2045, Earth. We jump into the world of Virtual Reality where a so-called OASIS is in the middle of everyday life. Everybody related somehow to this virtual world, but mainly the lower class, who finds a new opportunity, a new place where they could be famous and even rich.

The creator of OASIS hided several easter eggs in this virtual universe, anyone who founds these keys become instantly famous. Ready Player One is a fast-paced near-future sci-fi with a lot of relations to today's gaming world.

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Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir (2021)

Only Ryland Grace survived the last-chance mission, and in the event that he fails, the whole world itself will be destroyed. All he knows is that he's been asleep for quite a long time. And he's just been awoken to discover himself millions of miles away from his home with only two corpses as company. And the clock is ticking…

This book is even better then Andy Weir's Martian, more mystery, more uncertainty and a real adventure. Ryland Grace should face with unusual discoveries and a lot of danger.

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Recursion, by Blake Crouch (2019)

If you had the ability to go back to the exact same time and place from which a catastrophe occurred. Could you save the world from the disaster? What if this hope would be only a zero-sum game, and there is no real hope of changing things, or?

With the release of his novel, Dark Matter, Blake Crouch revealed himself to many readers as a master of psychological suspense. Three years later, it seems Crouch has established a strong genre of it's own to show to the global audience that sci-fi is more than just space travel.

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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams (2007)

If you are looking for sci-fi humor this book is definitely the no.1. Strange characters in a comedy collection featuring Marvin the paranoid robot, Arthur Dent the hapless protagonist and many others.

Douglas Adams’s popular novel refreshes our minds by posing cosmology-shattering puzzles, trampling years of relativistic physics, toying with bouncing balls and digital clocks, and providing us with excellent commentary on such matters as dot matrix printing, potted plants, and ballpoint pens.

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The Ghost in the Shell, by Masamune Shirow (1989)

The Ghost in the Shell begins in 2029, featuring Section 9 led by Chief Daisuke Aramaki and Major Motoko Kusanagi. As they investigate the Puppeteer, a cyber-criminal wanted for committing a large number of crimes by proxy through “ghost hacking” using the “cyberbrains” of the victims.

This story questions the entire existence of soul and the nature of mind. What motivation lies behind the intelligent existence. The storyline is somehow melancholic, but the questions and conversations reveal much more from the human psyche than any other books from this list.

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The Three-Body Problem, Liu Cixin (2008)

At the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in China, a woman named Ye Wenjie witnessed the brutal murder of her father by a mob, giving rise to the Three-Body Problem. While at a labor camp, she is now at an isolated scientific facility where she can utilize some of her astrophysics training. While there yet, she conducts some research, and ends up developing a way for a radio wave signal to be amplified to beam into space.

Fed up with humans and with the treatment that she has been through, she anwers to Trisolarans allowing them to come to Earth. Trisolaris are coming from another world. Their home orbits around three stars in an unpredictable way, repeatedly destroying their civilization over and over again.

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The Fifth Season (The Borken Earth Series), by N. K. Jemisin (2015)

A gifted woman (Essun) must hide her secret ability and find her abducted daughter in a strange world of mystery. On this planet, there exist orogenes , which are beings which possess superhuman strength. Characteristic abilities of orogenes include facilitating moderation of seismic activity, as well as causing natural disasters, such as earthquakes, which can also cause fatalities.

If two normal parents note their child has a orogenic power, they will either kill the child for being a monster as grownup, or allowing Fulcrum to take the child.

The story of three orogene women. A child, a young woman, and a middle-aged woman, all follow the adversities they endure and the racism they face as a result of their abilities.

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Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson (1992)

Snow Crash, a frenetic and somewhat eerie film, grabs you from the beginning in its opening sequence a thrilling race through an anarchic Los Angeles that has been cut up into corporate-owned ‘burbclaves.’

Our protagonist, Hiro Protagonist, a hacker and swordsman, must combat a virus that is endangering a religion. The station's central core appears to be occupied by apparitions related to fantasies.

The books makes connection between old sic-fi concepts and todays always connected world in poplar terms the ‘metaverse‘.

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Consider Phlebas (Culture Series), by Iain M. Banks (1987)

The Idirans strived for their independence, while the Culture was determined to defend their moral integrity. Principles had been at stake. No concession is possible.

The novel revolves around a war between the Idiran and Culture. This story is set in numerous microcosms. Its protagonist, Bora Horza Gobuchul, is an opponent of the Culture.

This is the first published novel of the Culture series. It presented the series from the viewpoint of an opposite party, namely, the enemy.

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Neuromancer (Sprawl Series), by William Gibson (1984)

A futuristic cyberpunk sci-fi book surrounds a group of mercenary criminals working to collect the data of an AI that's trying to break free. Neuromancer follows its protagonist Case, an unemployed computer hacker who is hired by a mysterious new organization named Armitage.

He’s teamed up with Molly (a cyborg) and Peter Riviera an illusionist to bring about a series of criminal activities meant to be the beginnings of a final mission. Which takes place on the orbiting space station called Freeside, home to the fortune-seeking Tessier-Ashpool family.

The family has made two AIs (Wintermute and Neuromancer) who are so powerful that they should be never linked together. Case and his partners discovered that they were hired by Wintermute to work towards accomplishing a connection between the two AIs.

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The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig (2020)

This is an uplifting sci-fi book also suitable for romance lovers.

Matt Haig's work The Midnight Library delves into the infinite realms of human existence. It is about a young woman named Nora Seed, who lives a dull, uninteresting life. One night, her despair reaches a peak and she commits suicide.

The story doesn't end there. Nora gets a chance to experience various ways her life could be had she done slightly different things. She finds herself in a place known as the Midnight Library, which occupies one of two areas between life and death, and is overflowing with infinite parallel lives she might have led.

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Altered Carbon (Takashi Kovacs Series), by Richard K. Morgan (2002)

By the beginning of the 25th century, humanity had spread across the entire galaxy. The world watched over by the U.N., which maintains the peace. Even in the era of modern science, there's still a lot of diversity and conflict left.

Takashi Kovacs has multiple lives, but now ha receives a new body once again. Kovacs dropped into a conspiracy of dark forces. Slowly he understand the motives and the huge gap between the wealthy and poor lives.

A well built story, and a very good world built in the future. This series reminds me of the cyberpunk novels of William Gibson.

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Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury (1953)

Fahrenheit 451 chronicles Guy Montag's progress from a fireman who hated books to a rebel reader. Montag lives in an oppressive civilization that strives to eliminate all problems, discrepancies, and inconsistencies to ensure simple pleasure for all its citizens.

Montag's perception of life begins to alter when his new friend Clarisse introduces him to a world, drawing him back to a time when society lived according to the ideas of books instead of the noise of television.

If you are into classics, than finding the starting line “It was a pleasure to burn.” will definitely warm up your heart at the very beginning of the book.

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Winter World (The Long Winter Trilogy), by A.G. Riddle (2019)

Mankind has had to grapple with imminent extinction, thanks to the onset of a new ice age. The latest refuge for survivors of the glaciers has been crowded out, forced to flee the only available, last habitable lands. From these lands, only they can escape their inherent desire to wage a war yet entirely inevitable.

At the very edge of the solar spectrum, a group of scientists notice a brief glimmer of something that shouldn't be there. Humankind must come to the conclusion that maybe they aren't entirely alone. And maybe this intelligence is only here to vanish our existence on this planet.

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Rama II, Arthur C. Clarke (1989)

In Rama II, many years have passed since a wildly unexpected rover was boarded by humans for a period of time as they passed through Earth's solar system. Humanity is now getting ready for the arrival of a second extraterrestrial spacecraft, determined to investigate its secrets.

A team of a dozen astronauts, with diverse personalities and abilities, will board the craft, ahead of them realizing that someone among them is a betrayer and a looming calamity accidentally strands three of them alone on board as the spacecraft leaves the solar system. Characters' lack of knowledge regarding places and their length of stay on board provide insight into various aspects of space survival.

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To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, by Christopher Paolini (2020)

Kira finds that an alien relic during her survey mission on a planet uncolonized. She is delighted upon discovering it, but the flash of ecstasy is extinguished when the alien dust around her begins to vibrate.

Kira is introduced through the course of a war into a voyage of self-discovery. Her first contact with beings far from Earth is quite different from her expectation, and it brings her to a place where she is not before.

While Kira and Earth fight for survival, the fate of humanity rest in their hands. Now, Kira might be humanity's only hope.

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Exhalation, by Ted Chiang (2019)

Exhalation is an awesome re-framing of the scientific laws inherent in entropy. What is Expected of Us illuminates the social consequences of experiential evidence that the notion of pure choice is an illusion.

People who study the book Exhalation felt like they were re-visiting a place of childhood. They felt like hearing a song they had only heard before. Perhaps I never found any similar collection of science-fiction short stories that resembled similar style and ideas.

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Solaris, by Stanislaw Lem (1961)

The book follows a team of researchers and scientist as they attempt to comprehend an extraterrestrial intelligence, which takes the form of a vast ocean on the titular alien world.

Scientists have observed intricate patterns of behavior, including a course that seems to almost rectify itself. But since only the water of the ocean looks like human biochemistry, its existence is hard to confirm.

Kris Kelvin, an overly objective psychologist is sent to a space station orbiting Earth. When he arrives, he finds out that a scientist has committed suicide dooming the others into nervous collapse.

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Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr (2021)

The book tells the tale of Aethon, a man who sets out to search for the “utopian city in the sky” called Cloud Cuckoo Land. Along the way, he has many adventures (transformed into a donkey, captured, escapes, transformed into a fish, eaten by a sea creature, transformed into a crow, etc.) before he at last finds Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Doerr's novel includes an orphaned girl and a farmer boy in the 1400's, an environmentalist setting off a bomb in a library in 2020, and a girl on a mission to a distant planet in the not-so-distant future.

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Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick (1968)

We follow the story of detective Rick Deckard in San Francisco as he tracks down runaway androids. These androids are made of organic matter so similar to a human's that only posthumous “bone marrow analysis” can differentiate them, making them nearly impossible to distinguish from real people.

Dextra tries this undertaking so he can acquire enough bounty money to obtain a live animal to replace his homed-in computer sheep to address his upset wife's depression. The protagonist lands one of the Rosen Association's headquarters in Seattle to verify what the newest empathy analysis implies for calculating android identities.

The author creates fascinating storyline so that it is difficult to tell what is really happening. But during reading the lines you simply fall under the magic of the author.

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88 Names, by Matt Ruff (2020)

Matt Ruff likes interesting speculative fictions, and he composes them usually in literary style.

John Chu is a “sherpa” who plays Call to Wizardry which is an online RPG. For money he supplies new players with a high experienced character equipped with the best weapons and armor. He can take you dragon-slaying in Asgarth's realms, hunt a rogue starship in the Alpha Sector or battle hordes of undead in the zombie apocalypse.

Chu has recently taken on new client Mr. Jones, who claims to be a rich and famous person with powerful enemies, and he's offering a staggering amount of money for an all-encompassing tour of the world of Call to Wizardy. For Chu, this mission is like a dream assignment, but as the tour gets underway. He begins to suspect that Mr. Jones is in fact the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, and plays under fake identity.

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Terms of Enlistment (Frontlines Series), by Marko Kloos (2013)

2108 and the North American Commonwealth are overrun by its rapid growth. For Andrew Grayson, there are only two options for struggling welfare rats like himself: He could send his younger sister into a lottery and hope to win a ticket on a colony ship off-world, or he could stay at the run-down tenement and hope that the authorities neglect to notice that it's not their own fault.

In order to get off the sheltered planet back home, Andrew decides to enlist in the Army. In response, Andrew finds himself worrying he will have nothing to show for it except a retirement bonus and a ticket off Earth. As he discovers, all of the good food and fair health care he bargained for don't come cheap.

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Invisible Planets, translated by Ken Liu (2016)

A contemporary Chinese sci-fi anthology.

I think the variety of characters and the writing were superior to a lot of the published stories in the United States and beyond. Furthermore, the stories in this book were pretty new for the eyes of the sci-fi fans in the western countries. They were unusual and intriguing than many mainstream writers' stories. This story collection had a lot of exceptional, original and diverse stories. I will be looking forward to the next sci-fi book from Ken Liu after his latest work Broken Stars.

My favorite stories from this collection were Folding Beijing by Hao Jingfang and Tongtong's Summer by Xia Jia.

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Red Rising (Red Rising Series), by Pierce Brown (2014)

Darrow is a ‘Red' native to the color coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he will make the surface of Mars livable for future generations. He put his faith that his hard work and blood will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been deceived. Soon he discovers that humanity exited the surface centuries ago. Vast cities and lush fertile plains cover the planet. Darrow and other Reds are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class. Darrow is driven by the desire to see justice, he goes to the Legendary Institute. A proving ground for the elite Gold caste, hoping to gain access to its powerful ruling class.

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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Hunger Games Series), by Suzanne Collins (2020)

It's the morning of the tenth annual Hunger Games that kickoffs the annual Hunger Games. In The Capitol, Coriolanus Snow is preparing for one game victory as a coach in the Games. Snow's once-prosperous mansion is currently struggling to hang on. Considering that Coriolanus is relying on some kind of self-sacrifice for winning the school contest, to which he is desperate to outdo all of his fellow classmates.

He has received the ill-favored assignment of instructing the District 12 female tribute. Coriolanus's future can no longer be untangled from any of his actions – each choice he makes will dictate whether he gets ahead or gets wiped out. Inside of the arena, it will be a war to the death. Outside of it, Coriolanus senses the depth of his powerlessness.

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Conjunction (The Wise Society Series), by A.D. Zoltan and Steven N. Nagy (2022)

When we first read Conjunction it didn't feel like a debut novel. The story blends a spiritual journey with a space opera which creates a unique and new sci-fi story concept.

Keat a young truth seeker born with the initial need to find answers to the big questions of life, finally gets into the mission of his life, to enter the first intergalactic spaceship that will visit alien planets with intelligent life and hopefully an advanced civilization.

But after Keat and his team arrives to Füzen the story shifts into a new dimension, almost literally.

The story has a coming of age nature, and utilizes the popular concept of reincarnation. Honestly the book has a potential to open new perspectives to people who want to believe something that is beyond the materialistic world.

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Final Thoughts on Science fiction books

In conclusion, I hope you will find this ranked list helpful in your search for the next sci-fi read! Hence our ranks are relative and highly reflects our taste for sci-fi novels, we wanted to keep our list modern and also ideal for Gen X and Z readers.

If you're still not sure, we recommend you check out some more specific book lists like military sci-fi books or the sci-fi books with mind blowing adventures.

Last updated 08.09.2022

Joel Stafford

My profession is online marketing and development (10+ years experience), check my latest mobile app called Upcoming or my Chrome extensions for ChatGPT. But my real passion is reading books both fiction and non-fiction. I have several favorite authors like James Redfield or Daniel Keyes. If I read a book I always want to find the best part of it, every book has its unique value.

medium.com/@joelbooks

The post 33 Remarkable Sci-Fi Books (Ranked) To Read In Your Lifetime (For 2024) appeared first on Joelbooks.

A personal message from the author:

I wanted to provoke readers to think about racism by giving them an entertaining story about a race that does not (yet) exist.

— David Datz

From a secret government project in a remote patch of the southwestern American desert, the new, slightly altered humans escape their generations-long imprisonment, triggering public hysteria.

The new humans struggle to survive, the project staff wrestles with guilt, and the public grapples with biases, in a speculative near-future allegory of racism.

Joel Stafford

My profession is online marketing and development (10+ years experience), check my latest mobile app called Upcoming or my Chrome extensions for ChatGPT. But my real passion is reading books both fiction and non-fiction. I have several favorite authors like James Redfield or Daniel Keyes. If I read a book I always want to find the best part of it, every book has its unique value.

medium.com/@joelbooks

The post Scalies by David Datz appeared first on Joelbooks.

A personal message from the author:

Dark Matter–Terion is the sort of futuristic novel I always wanted to read, but could never find. So, I created it myself. Hard science fiction with a sense of reality about a utopian and just world where, for once, the universe doesn’t circle around humanity.

— Alex A. Janek

Incredible accidents shake the peaceful, space-faring society of Terion, one of them almost destroying Karuq's freighter, but how is his cargo involved? Karuq struggles to re-evaluate his life in the face of tragedy, and when his pack is endangered, will he follow his heart or his brain?

Meanwhile, Reece, an investigator in a human research facility, is about to stumble upon a secret that will change his view of humanity and the universe forever.

An ancient rivalry, alien planets, and new friends all shape this galaxy-spanning action adventure.

Joel Stafford

My profession is online marketing and development (10+ years experience), check my latest mobile app called Upcoming or my Chrome extensions for ChatGPT. But my real passion is reading books both fiction and non-fiction. I have several favorite authors like James Redfield or Daniel Keyes. If I read a book I always want to find the best part of it, every book has its unique value.

medium.com/@joelbooks

The post Dark Matter: Terion by Alex A. Janek appeared first on Joelbooks.

A thriller of multiple dimensions

Shiftspace series Book 1

An anonymous message and mysterious piece of sourcecode is delivered to the New York offices of Wired Magazine. Newly-hired science journalist Dr. Pei Xiao has just gotten the opportunity she's been waiting for, a chance to justify her life choices to her parents back in Taiwan. Photographer Roy Bryant just needs to keep the bills paid. Follow Pei and Roy as a simple interview develops into a complex tale of conspiracy, espionage, and otherworldly adventure.

Multiple dimensions exist, and they are ripe with resources for the taking.

Personal message from the author:
“The idea for this book came while riding the bus home from work, listening to the Star Talk science podcast, and re-reading my 2nd favorite Lovecraft short (From Beyond) having just finished a Crichton book. My head was in a weird place.”
— Brian Q. Webb

Amazon

Read online _Shift by Brian Q. Webb

Joel Stafford

My profession is online marketing and development (10+ years experience), check my latest mobile app called Upcoming or my Chrome extensions for ChatGPT. But my real passion is reading books both fiction and non-fiction. I have several favorite authors like James Redfield or Daniel Keyes. If I read a book I always want to find the best part of it, every book has its unique value.

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The post _Shift by Brian Q. Webb appeared first on Joelbooks.

Broken Stars, edited by multi award-winning writer Ken Liu–translator of the bestselling and Hugo Award-winning novel The Three Body Problem by acclaimed Chinese author Cixin Liu– is his second thought-provoking anthology of Chinese short speculative fiction.

Some of the included authors are already familiar to readers in the West (Liu Cixin and Hao Jingfang, both Hugo winners); some are publishing in English for the first time. Because of the growing interest in newer SFF from China, virtually every story here was first published in Chinese in the 2010s.

The stories span the range from short-shorts to novellas, and evoke every hue on the emotional spectrum. Besides stories firmly entrenched in subgenres familiar to Western SFF readers such as hard SF, cyberpunk, science fantasy, and space opera, the anthology also includes stories that showcase deeper ties to Chinese culture: alternate Chinese history, chuanyue time travel, satire with historical and contemporary allusions that are likely unknown to the average Western reader. While the anthology makes no claim or attempt to be “representative” or “comprehensive,” it demonstrates the vibrancy and diversity of science fiction being written in China at this moment.

In addition, three essays at the end of the book explore the history of Chinese science fiction publishing, the state of contemporary Chinese fandom, and how the growing interest in science fiction in China has impacted writers who had long labored in obscurity.

Stories include:
“Goodnight, Melancholy” by Xia Jia
“The Snow of Jinyang” by Zhang Ran
“Broken Stars” by Tang Fei
“Submarines” by Han Song
“Salinger and the Koreans” by Han Song
“Under a Dangling Sky” by Cheng Jingbo
“What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear” by Baoshu
“The New Year Train” by Hao Jingfang
“The Robot Who Liked to Tell Tall Tales” by Fei Dao
“Moonlight” by Liu Cixin
“The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: Laba Porridge” by Anna Wu
“The First Emperor’s Games” by Ma Boyong
“Reflection” by Gu Shi
“The Brain Box” by Regina Kanyu Wang
“Coming of the Light” by Chen Qiufan
“A History of Future Illnesses” by Chen Qiufan

Essays:
“A Brief Introduction to Chinese Science Fiction and Fandom,” by Regina Kanyu Wang,
“A New Continent for China Scholars: Chinese Science Fiction Studies” by Mingwei Song
“Science Fiction: Embarrassing No More” by Fei Dao

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Joel Stafford

My profession is online marketing and development (10+ years experience), check my latest mobile app called Upcoming or my Chrome extensions for ChatGPT. But my real passion is reading books both fiction and non-fiction. I have several favorite authors like James Redfield or Daniel Keyes. If I read a book I always want to find the best part of it, every book has its unique value.

medium.com/@joelbooks

The post Broken Stars by Ken Liu appeared first on Joelbooks.

Semiosis Duology

“We must reward appropriate behavior until it becomes natural behavior.”
“Let’s remember to be supportive and listen, not debate. We’re here to solve a problem, not to win.”
“Equality is not a fact, like the length of days… Equality is an idea, a belief, like beauty.”
― Sue Burke

Colonists from Earth wanted the perfect home, but they’ll have to survive on the one they found. They don’t realize another life form watches…and waits…

Only mutual communication can forge an alliance with the planet's sentient species and prove that humans are more than tools.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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Read online Semiosis by Sue Burke

Joel Stafford

My profession is online marketing and development (10+ years experience), check my latest mobile app called Upcoming or my Chrome extensions for ChatGPT. But my real passion is reading books both fiction and non-fiction. I have several favorite authors like James Redfield or Daniel Keyes. If I read a book I always want to find the best part of it, every book has its unique value.

medium.com/@joelbooks

The post Semiosis by Sue Burke appeared first on Joelbooks.