Reddit mentions: The best suspense books

This is not exactly what you're looking for but may be close enough.

Jack McDevitt has a series of novels about 2 antiquities dealers in future. Typically they come across an unusual artifact or story. They then have to work out the truth in a similar fashion to the detective mysteries you mention.

They are called the Alex Benedict novels. They are an easy read but raise interesting questions IMHO. All but the first are told from the PoV of Chase Kolpath, Alex Benedict's pilot and partner.

I started with the third novel, Seeker, which won the Nebula award.

I've read them all and found them entertaining, though somewhat repetitive in some plot devices. You don't have to start at the beginning of the series.

FWIW Jack McDevitt has a second group of books called The Academy series. I've read a few of them and liked them but prefer the Alex Benedict novels.

Hope this helps. You might also ask for help in /r/printsf - a sub dedicated to written scifi.

Edit: I also thought of another story that contains an pretty good mystery. It's called Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future. It has a great ending.

My all-time favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird. I average reading it once a year since I was in 10th grade, so I've read it... probably 20-ish times by now.

The worst book I've ever read... that's tough, because I seem to be hitting a lot of crappy ones lately. I had a really hard time getting into A Song of Ice and Fire, but I don't think it was because it was BAD, it just wasn't my thing.

My favorite book as a kid was... I don't know, I can't pick just one, but Beverly Cleary was my favorite author. I still love her and re-read one of her books every once in a while today.

My favorite YA novel is also a tough choice because I read a lot of YA. I just read Everland by Wendy Spinale recently and really loved it. It's a steampunk twist on Peter Pan, set during WWII.

I'd say overall my favorite genres are YA and thriller.

My favorite authors are Dean Koontz, Lisa Scottoline and Stephen King.

My favorite series is definitely Harry Potter, with the Inkheart trilogy a close second!

Non-fiction... I definitely recommend Lisa Scottoline's memoirs that she writes with her daughter Francesca. They're hilarious!

I have this book on my Kindle list. I just read another book by this author recently and loved it!

Thanks for the contest!

hmmm... at first I thought you might be talking about The Deed of Paksenarrion but maybe not...

Anyway... strong females with swords and not too much magic... and horses...

Alanna - Song of the Lioness Quartet definitely fits the bill although this is more young adult. Also enjoyed the Immortal's Quartet by the same author. Again, young adult.

Kaylin - Chronicles of Elantra - no horses in sight but a strong female lead and the odd dragon instead.

Joanne Baldwin - she is a weathergirl.... well, a Weather Warden actually and if you want to know what it's like if you are responsible for keeping the weather on track check out: Ill Wind the first book in the series.

No swords and no magic but quite a lot of strong female characters... have you read the 'Dragonriders of Pern' books by Ann McCaffrey? I know they are classed as sci-fi, but how can you class Dragons and people who have yet to re-invent paper as sci-fi????? Ok, some of the books do contain elements thereof but mostly they are about Dragons and life in a medieval type low-tech society.

And completely off topic from a horses and swords point of view... for strong females, try Bitten werewolves, vampires, necromancers, demons... the lot. And Elena Michaels is the pretty tough female lead in the first book - she would be, being a werewolf! The whole series is in fact called 'Women of the Otherworld' so there are other females who are not 'normal'.

Well, that's as much as I have time for at the moment. Hope you'll find something that you'll enjoy :)

Based on your list, it seems you're a video gamer, too. Nice, so some of your fiction titles reflect that.

• Phantoms by Dean Koontz -- I'm guessing you like Silent Hill or Resident Evil type games. While this book by Koontz doesn't involve zombies, it is centered around a mysterious town. Suddenly everyone in a small American town has disappeared and it's up to a visiting sister and a sheriff to solve the mystery. The plot ramps up quickly and escalates (big time), and it's one of my favorite books. Lots of action, too, with great mix of horror (and a little sci-fi). While Dean Koontz has written some clunkers, early Dean Koontz really rocked.
  
  Kindlie link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001RWQVSK/
  
  
• Andromeda Strain by Micheal Crichton -- One of Crichton's earliest novels and it deals with a team of scientists trapped in a facility as they try to contain a viral outbreak that can destroy the world, but they are running out of time. It's a really thrilling read and was made into a great film, too. Your titles you posted often deals with pandemics or viral attacks so I figured you'd enjoy this.
  
  Kindlie link: https://www.amazon.com/Andromeda-Strain-Michael-Crichton-ebook/dp/B007UH4EPS/
  
  
• Sphere by Micheal Crichton -- Since you mentioned Dead Space series so here's some sci-fi horror. Another one of my favorites from Crichton. While it does deal with aliens and a spaceship, it's actually set on Earth, where instead of something buried in ice (like with The Thing), an alien ship is deep underwater. A team of scientists have to delve deep into the ocean and try to breach the alien ship known as the Sphere.
  
  Kindlie link: https://www.amazon.com/Sphere-Michael-Crichton-ebook/dp/B007UH4G9C/
  
  
• Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell -- this is the horror/sci-fi short story that the The Thing and it's remakes were based on. While written in 1938, it's still a great read (and available on Kindle). The author, Campbell, was a giant figure in the Golden Age of Science Fiction as he was also the editor of Astounding Fiction Magazine, the landmark magazine that ushered in Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Theodore Sturgeon, AE Van Vogt, Henry Kuttner and other legendary sci-fi writers.
  
  Kindlie link: https://www.amazon.com/Goes-There-RosettaBooks-into-Film-ebook/dp/B003XVYLGW
  
  
• Vault of the Beast by A.E. Van Vogt -- another sci-fi horror story from the Golden Age of Science Fiction, this one a short story (on Kindle for only $1.49). Van Vogt's stories are a huge influence on horror and sci-fi writers, influencing Stephen King, Koontz, John Carpenter and many others. I love this creepy tale that is a must for lovers of the The Thing. Here's the first line: "The creature crept. It whimpered from fear and pain, a thing, slobbering sound horrible to hear. Shapeless, formless thing yet changing shape and form with every jerky movement. It crept along the corridor of the space freighter [...]"
  
  Kindlie link: https://www.amazon.com/Vault-Beast-E-van-Vogt-ebook/dp/B001M0N0FO
  
  
• The Nightrunners by Joe R. Landsale or The Drive-In by Joe R. Lansdale -- since you like Evil Dead, Joe R. Lansdale is known for his mix of occasional humor and extreme horror. Like the Evil Dead films, he can get gory, but not at the sacrifice at making creative plots and great characters. Lansdale does also westerns, texas noir, crime novels, etc, which are all great, so he covers a ton of genres. Early Lansdale tended to do more horror, however, as you see from these two books. One of my favorite authors, and great if you want some hi-octane fun.
  
  Kindlie link Nightrunners: https://www.amazon.com/Nightrunners-Joe-R-Lansdale-ebook/dp/B00634UDHC
  
  Kindlie link The Drive-in (book 1 of 3): https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Joe-R-Lansdale-ebook/dp/B00H1L5D9E
  
  
• Natsuo Kirino horror novels (Real World / Out / Grotesque) -- Since you mentioned The Ring which was originally written by Japanese author Koji Suzuki, so maybe try some horror from other Japanese authors. Kirino's works are equally unsettling reads, so I'd recommend checking any of her titles out. You could also try Ryu Murakami, who writes some twisted stuff, like In Miso Soup or Coin Locker Babies.
  
  I also agree with others for their recommendations for Laird Barron, John Langan, Shirley Jackson, Dan Simmons, H.P. Lovecraft, Paul Tremblay, and of course Stephen King. For King, try the Dark Tower series as that's a mix of Western and horror, kind of like if Red Dead Redemption video game went into the horror territory but on an epic scale. Great series. Also check out The Stand which is epic post-apocalyptic tale. I quite liked The Shining as someone else has mentioned and I also liked Salem's Lot.
  
  Lastly, for a great (and free) short story that is a nice twist on The Thing, check out this story that has a similar premise, only it's from the alien's point of view. It was quite cool, and an interesting idea to see how things would look like from the alien's side.
  
  All the Painted Stars by Gwendolyn Clare -- available to read online here at Clarkesworld Magazine website
  
  
  

I'm bashing on with The Hammer, but due to work commitments haven't been able to commit as much time as I would like to it. I have a free evening tomorrow, so I think I'll spend a few hours writing.

Next there's the other ideas I've had. I have three introductions written for stories I'd like to expand upon, but have had to put to one side to focus on The Hammer.

Technically a Dragon and The Vampire Horse are also set to one side just now. I have a good narrative from one character's point of view sitting at just under 100k just now, which I'm happy with. But there's another character that is being problemmatic. There's so much I want to do with my wizardess character, but I don't know which way to go. I don't know if my magic system's limits have been clearly-enough defined, and I feel like by the end it's going to be like some kind of nuclear war of wizards - which might not be a bad idea at all, but it's not what I envisaged at the start.

Ugh, damn brain, won't make decisions!

EDIT: Ok, went away and had a think about it, I may have a plot that makes sense now. TECHNICALLY I'm supposed to be working, but screw it, I'm happy now that I've sorted my plot line :-P

Anyway, shameless plug time.

I now have my Shiny Seven badge (which is a thing I've just made up) for seven stories out there for sale. Here are the two latest, and probably greatest (although if you like them I would suggest checking out the rest as I'm very proud of them also):

The Werechicken

Licking Walls in the Dark

I released my first book three weeks ago today and have sold 124 copies between eBook, paperback and KU. Here's what I've done:

Goodreads: Did the standard goodreads ads plus am doing a 3 book giveaway every week. Have run two so far. This has resulted in 1 positive review and four sales, plus almost 400 people adding the book to their shelves (their friends see this).

Facebook: Ran a $10 a day ad for this month. As of this evening I'm up to 1200 likes and have gained 4 reviews and nine total sales through this channel.

Other marketing channels:

• Submitted to BookBub but have not heard back
  
  
• Submited to BookSends and was accepted
  
  
• Submitted to Kindle Daily Nation for both a Thriller of the Week and Novel of the day and was accepted. First ad runs on 11/21, the next on 12/5
  
  
• Submitted to the Fussy Librarian and was accepted for 11/22
  
  
• Submitted to ilovevampirebooks and have not heard back
  
  
• Submitted to Netgalley and was accepted. My book will be open to reviews for the next two months.
  
  I consider what I've done so far to be a success, and none of my big ads have hit. I'm hoping to see spikes on 11/21, 11/22 and 12/5 when all the ads run.
  
  My book for those curious. Not posting it to make sales, but so you can see the quality of the reviews and the description / cover. The cover is probably my best marketing as people seem to love it, and the blurb has drawn a few people in.

If you like audiobooks, these are all good! Oh, and they've got dope kindle versions too!

Dreadnought, by April Daniels

Sovereign, by April Daniels

Telling Lies Online, by Miranda MacLeod

And Playing the Role of Herself, by K.E. Lane

Annie On My Mind, by Nancy Garden

The Gravity Between Us, by Kristen Zimmer

Everything Leads to You, by Nina LaCour

Kiss The Girl (Soho Loft Book 1), by Melissa Brayden

Just Three Words (Soho Loft Book 2), by Melissa Brayden

Ready or Not (Soho Loft Book 3), by Melissa Brayden

The Princess Affair, by Nell Stark

Santa Olivia, by Jacqueline Carey

Saints Astray (Santa Olivia sequel), by Jacqueline Carey

Ask the Passangers, by A.S. King

The Miseducation of Cameron Post, by Emily M. Danforth

The Dark Wife, by Sarah Diemer

Protector of the Realm, by Gun Brooke

Zero Visibility, by Georgia Beers

Popcorn Love, by KL Hughes

How Sweet It Is, by Melissa Brayden

Her Name in the Sky, by Kelly Quindlen

Turn Back Time, by Radclyffe (btw, most Radclyffe books have audiobook versions)

The Color of Love, by Radclyffe

Trauma Alert, by Radclyffe

Above All, Honor, by Radclyffe

Taking Fire, by Radclyffe

Infinite Loop, Meghan O'Brien

The Brutal Truth, by Lee Winter

Miss Match, by Fiona Riley

Like Jazz, by Heather Blackmore

Shield of Justice, by Radclyffe

Casting Lacey, by Elle Spencer

Calendar Girl, by Georgia Beers

It Should Be a Crime, by Carsen Taite

Trigger, by Jessica Webb

Desire by Starlight, by Radclyffe

Rescued Heart (Puppy Love Book 1), by Georgia Beers

Run to You (Puppy Love Book 2), by Georgia Beers

Dare to Stay (Puppy Love Book 3), by Georgia Beers

Just Jorie, by Robin Alexander

Just Juliet, by Charlotte Reagan

At the Water's Edge, by Harper Bliss

<br />
What do you mean I listen to too many gay audiobooks?<br />
<br />
Assuming you enjoy reading WLW books as well, or want to discover audiobooks that I myself haven't yet sampled yet, you can search [this list](https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/29917.Best_F_F_Romance_Books?page=1) from goodreads!

Hi there, I hope you are well😀 I love the enthusiasm within this group and I am so pleased to be here. I am also proud to share my latest thriller/suspense called, "Torment." I would love it if you would consider it for reading. It's #free on #kindleunlimited. Thanks heaps 😀 Happy reading and have a great day 😀
https://www.amazon.com/Torment-Leanne-Wood-ebook/dp/B071HGL2TM

I finally finished and published my first full-length novel. It's a suspense/supernatural/horror story in the vein of Stephen King and Dean Koontz.

I got through it, pushed through the fear and self-doubt, using Trump's success against all odds as my motivation. I only think my fam here would understand--regular folk just wouldn't understand.

It is available as an ebook and as a paperback on Amazon, but I am especially proud of the audiobook. It's produced, narrated, and edited my me. Music plays a huge role in this story. With the audiobook, I was able to record and add the original songs that stemmed from writing this story.

I hope anyone who gets the audio version enjoys the uniqueness of it all...it's quite different from straight narration!

And if anyone here is interested in getting a FREE COPY from audible.com, just message me and I'll send you a code. I'll give them away until I run out, and I have quite a few, so don't be shy in asking!

Audible Version: http://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/Octobers-November-Audiobook/B01NBPHY7H

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Octobers-November-James-Loram-ebook/dp/B01N0RRUO5/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483395773&sr=1-1&keywords=james+loram

The Andromeda Strain e-book!

I started reading it over the summer, then someone accidentally spilled coffee on it and ruined it. :(

It's such a great book. I love Crichton.

The little things in life that make me happy are cute snapchat/text messages from my friends, nice mugs, tea, and good music. And TinyChat. :-)

Thanks for the contest ♥

on the right: John Ringo is a guilty obsession of mine, but will make any classic liberal's eyes roll hard enough to detach corneas Do not read that book if you can't handle liberal bashing. In a weak defense, his best books, the Alldenata series, Looking Glass series, and Troy series are such a blast to read. While there are a few snipes in them, a forgiving person on the left can really enjoy if they like military sci fi.

The Honorverse books make caricatures of socialism, and diplomacy oriented foreign policy.

While not being the worst offenders, Ark and Flood illustrate a similar style on the left. I tore through them, which would seem to tell me I enjoyed them, but when I was finished I could not look back and say they were good books. Objectively, they probably are.

Invasion was excrutiating. The protagonists are disgusting people. You get lots of mocking of religion for being so silly and irrational, yet the main character has lots of prophetic spiritualism through his enlightened use of hallucinogens. The author(s)' have such a laughably exaggerated idea of what "country people" are (anyone who doesn't live in a major city on the coast), you would think they had never even had a long layover anywhere in flyover country, much less actually spent any time outside NY or LA.

I am a voracious reader, and promptly forget authors and titles so I am having problems justifying my comments with other (better) examples.

It may be easier for me to pick out all of this stuff. I spent the first half of my adult life being very conservative. I like to think I was an intellectual conservative and reasonable, but definitely solidly Republican. Over the past 10 years I have transitioned to what most would consider the opposite extreme. I would roughly place my ideology (with exceptions) in a "Northern European center-left" which would have me very far left in the US.

It isn't when authors advocate an ideology that irritates me. It is when they seem to refuse to admit there are intelligent, reasonable people on the other side.

It's pretty light reading, but if you like the idea of an Indiana Jones style adventure in space (but with a bit more science), I would check out 'Seeker' by Jack McDevitt.

It's a pretty fun and engaging read.

Lnk: http://www.amazon.com/Seeker-Jack-McDevitt/dp/0441013759/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291709470&sr=8-1

Check out Shadow Unit. It reads like a television show and the authors behind it write it as if each story is an episode in a season. It's kind of like Criminal Minds meets The 4400. All of the stories are actually published for free on official website, but I recommend paying a few bucks for the ebooks as they are much easier to read. Highly recommended, but be aware that it gets considerably darker around Shadow Unit 3.

Also check out Event, which is the first novel featuring an organization very much like the SCP Foundation.

A final suggestion, The Atrocity Archives. It's the first in The Laundry series, which follows a British intelligence agency fighting with other intelligence groups over artifacts beyond mortal comprehension for the usual reasons. In addition to fighting a kind of supernatural cold war they also work to keep the public safe from, and in the dark about, things beyond their understanding.

StarRisk is good fun as long as you arn't looking for deep hidden meanings in your writing, because other than a few story twists it's fairly straightforward. That doesn't make it any less entertaining thou.

The Evergence series is a considerably more sophisticated read and you'll likely get some good milage out of the story on that one. Everything from ascended beings to cyborgs and super soldiers.

The two I was trying to remember are

Seeker: It's an exploration and discovery novel, so not particularly military in approach but interesting.

The Faded Sun Trilogy: This one is a retired military character that ends up in a fish out of water situation. It's admittedly very long and was a tougher read than I had anticipated when I picked it up but I enjoyed it even if I felt a bit burnt out at the end because there's so much going on and the pacing isn't that great since it's actually 3 books in one cover.

If you want to get absolutely insane milage out of a book series try the Otherland series. It's not a space opera but it's a heavy duty sci-fi regardless. For hard space sci-fi the Culture series is also really incredible and should probably be at the top of this list not the bottom.

Hi everyone. I just wanted to share the news about my latest book and let you know that it's free for the next couple days. I hope you check it out!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VX7VWDR

One mysterious farm...
Five slaves with no memories of the past...
A shocking discovery that none of them saw coming.


***


In the distant future, mankind is nearly extinct.
Those who remain work the farms.
But it's just a matter of time before humans are no longer needed...
The countdown to the end has begun.


***


Waking up on a farm that appears to be out of the early 1800's, Cole has no recollection of the past. He stands in line as the landowner and his two farmhands explain the rules of the farm along with the consequences of breaking those rules.


But for the sweet taste of freedom, questions will be asked and rules will have to be broken to find the truth, leaving Cole in the fight for his life as he seeks to fulfill the dying wish of an old man who longs to see mankind back on top of the food chain once again.


Will Cole find the answers to all of his questions and obtain the freedom that he so desperately wants?


Or will he die trying and rest in peace on the farm?


***


Packed full of mystery and suspense, The Farm is a page-turning, character driven thrill ride that you won't soon forget.


"With elements of Lost, Westworld, and many classic scifi tales, The Farm is a simmering piece about the grey area of power relationships. Recommended for those looking for a contemplative sci-fi mystery." - Paul C

Dr. Max Tegmark, cosmologist and physics professor at MIT

• Permutation City, by Greg Egan (Powells) (Amazon)
  
  Dr. Jane Goodall, Primatologist
  
  
• The Story of Doctor Dolittle, by Hugh Lofting (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• The Miracle of Life (not listed)
  
  Dr. Sean Carroll, Theoretical physicist at the California Institute of Technology
  
  
• Dragon's Egg, by Robert Forward (Powells) (Amazon)
  
  Dr. Temple Grandin, Animal scientist
  
  
• "I’m a Star trek fan..."
  
  Dr. Seth Shostak, Senior astronomer and director at the Center for SETI Research
  
  
• Golem XIV, by Stanislaw Lem (Powells) (Amazon)
  
  Dr. Chris Stringer, Anthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London
  
  
• Brazil, the movie (YouTube)
  
  Dr. Jack Horner, Paleontologist at Montana State University
  
  
• Jurassic Park, the movie) (IMDB)
  
  Dr. Adam Riess, astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University
  
  
• Contact, by Carl Sagan (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• The Fountains of Paradise, by Arthur C. Clarke (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• The Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• Foundation series, by Isaac Asimov (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• The Silo saga, by Hugh Howey (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• The Stand, by Stephen King (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• Watership Down, by Richard Adams (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham (Powells) (Amazon)
  
  Dr. Steven Strogatz, professor of mathematics at Cornell University
  
  
• The Andromeda Strain, by Michael Chriton (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• Colossus: The Forbin Project, the movie (IMDB)
  
• 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke (Powells) (Amazon)
  
  Dr. Ainissa Ramirez, materials scientist
  
  
• Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler (Powells) (Amazon)
  
  Dr. Mario Livio, astrophysicist at the Space Telescope Science Institute
  
  
• Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• 2001: A Space Odyssey, the movie (IMDB)
  
• Dr. Strangelove, the movie (IMDB)
  
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the movie (IMDB)
  
  Olympia LePoint, rocket scientist
  
  
• Gravity, 2013 (IMDB)
  
• Back to The Future, 1985 (IMDB)
  
  Dr. Danielle Lee, biologist
  
  
• Dune, 1984 (IMDB)
  
  Dr. Michael Shermer, historian of science
  
  
• The Day the Earth Stood Still, 1951 (IMDB)
  
  Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist
  
  
• The Day the Earth Stood Still, 1951 (IMDB)
  
• 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968 (IMDB)
  
• Planet of the Apes, 1968 (IMDB)
  
• The Terminator, 1984 (IMDB)
  
• The Quiet Earth, 1985 (IMDB)
  
• Contact, 1997 (IMDB)
  
• Deep Impact, 1998 (IMDB)
  
• The Matrix, 1999 (IMDB)
  
• The Island, 2005 (IMDB)
  
• Watchmen, 2009 (IMDB)
  

Chris Weatherman, the author, is a good guy too. I agree with /u/TheGreyWatcher that the first book in the series was the best but they're easy reads.

While less about the prepper's mindset or the journey you encounter in "Going Home," you may also enjoy Matthew Bracken's series, beginning with "Enemies, Foreign and Domestic" -
https://www.amazon.com/Enemies-Foreign-Domestic-Matthew-Bracken/dp/0972831010.

She's one of those authors who's always 10 years ahead of the curve and likes to skip between subgenres. She wrote a mythic urban fantasy that's now considered one of the seminal works of the genre (War for the Oaks), a weird western way before that got popular (Territory), a gender-neutral/androgynous protagonist decades before Ann Leckie (Bone Dance), etc. Not to mention a straight SF novel (Falcon), the aforementioned historical fantasy novel with Steven Brust, and she's one of the creators/writers of Shadow Unit, a group author project that's told in episodes like a TV show. Plus a bunch of other stuff, and absolutely all of it is excellent.

I'm late to the thread, but I wanted to recommend Prey by Michael Crichton. It's less involved than a Stephenson novel, but it's an enjoyable read. But if you've read Crichton and aren't a big fan you probably won't enjoy it as it's pretty formulaic with his other writings.

I've seen this before but it's still a fun read if you're familiar with Banks' Culture books. "Use of Weapons" and "Excession" are good places to start in the Culture universe.

Banks has a new book out, not in the Culture universe, that's quite good as well: The Algebraist.

Yeah, it's not like any other LN but once you start reading, you can't put it down. Also, you can also check out Genocidal Organ and Harmony. Even though they are not really a hard sci-fi like Qualia, they are both great read and have anime movie adaption.

Ok, so I did a little digging. I was able to find kindle editions on amazon for Saturn's Children and the Solar Sea.

Downbelow Station doesn't appear to be in kindle anywhere (suck)

If you are interested in trying out Andrew Crumey (I think he's brilliantly creative), almost all his works are up on kindle on amazon uk (only 1 is on kindle for amazon US - are you in the US?). No idea why (aside from the fact that he's a Scot and hasn't infiltrated the US much aside from diehards like me) or if that will block you from downloading. But here's a link if you want to give it a try.

I like you :) I read a lot of indie work, and while there is a little wading involved, between reviews and ratings (and previews) you can find the good stuff.

I'm self-published too, 4.5 star rating. Mind PMing me the name of your book (and could I pm you mine?) :)

EDIT: Hah, we've already met and own each others books. His is No such thing as Werewolves and I've written Larkspur: A Necromancer's Romance

I for one welcome our (hopefully) benevolent AI overlords.

There is a series of books I read that deal with the coming of age of an AI. The WWW series. It is interesting, if not a little poorly written.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find.


amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

I read Seeker which is part of the Alex Benedict Series in Spring 2011. Changed my life forever.
Read it apart of a science fiction English class and despite that I read it out of order from the series, it was fantastic.
The vision of the future portrayed in this novel is what I'd like our future to be.

Reminded me of the book Underground by David Macaulay. It has some really neat drawings of what city infrastructure would look like if we had X-ray vision.

Have you ever read the WWW Series? It asks and trys to answer these questions with a cool sci-fi AI twist. Gave me all the chills.


http://www.amazon.com/WWW-Trilogy-Robert-J-Sawyer/dp/044101853X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1409325998&sr=8-4&keywords=www

Try the Audiobook if you're into that, it's excellent, multiple readers, etc.

Also from SM Reine (author of The Descent): Preternatural Affairs, books 1-3 -- Tales of a top-secret government agency dedicated to fighting ghouls and demons.

I listened to this one last week during my commute: Black Amazon of Mars, by Leigh Brackett -- Well read, good sound -- enough to be heard above the clatter of the hunk of junk I call my car.

>It's a little below my level

Lol, sorry but that is super hipster sounding. =P

Awe, now you edited it. =P

It's a decent series, not amazing like the Enemies Trilogy. However the Divided we Fall series brings up a LOT of what you guys are talking about.

http://www.amazon.com/Enemies-Foreign-Domestic-Matthew-Bracken/dp/0972831010/ref=la_B00350B7EU_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453305557&sr=1-1

Nobody has mentioned Iain M. Banks yet, so how about

The Algebraist

Excession

Against a Dark Background

Another military sci-fi novel with several unique twists would be Vernor Vinge's:
A Fire Upon the Deep


Hard to beat Ender's Game, though. Old Man's War is really good; Armor is good but kinda depressing.

I can think of lots more, reply if you'd like more suggestions :-)

I love the Culture books by Banks, but I think The Algebraist is the best sf he's written to date. And to my mind, no dull parts anywhere, middle or otherwise. (Okay, to put a very fine point on it, I did think the "villain" was little more than a cartoon but the rest of the book is just about perfect).

Somewhat disappointed that this episode (or the comment episode) makes no mention of Project Itoh's award-nominated SF novel Genocidal Organ. That book is possibly another perspective on the same idea but without so much linguist hogwash as it deals with the ideas mentioned in MGSV but without the trapping of specially, say, English. I say another perspective because Project Itoh and Kojima/MGS is intrinsically linked
http://metalgear.wikia.com/wiki/Project_Itoh

It's not to knock books like Snow Crash and others that brought up the idea about the power of language in a SF/fantasy setting, but this one has a lot more to do with the geopolitical nature of language (especially one that resonates with Japanese readers, perhaps--Genocidal Organ is one of the best selling SF novels in Japan in the 00s), and I bet Kojima's read it...

The book is now available in English via Viz/Haikasoru
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008ZVNXYQ/

You will love anything by Jack McDevitt. Especially http://www.amazon.com/Seeker-Jack-McDevitt/dp/0441013759

Iain Banks wrote a nice fat novel where the galaxy's primary religion had the same idea.

I have read both, and count them among my favorite books. In the real world today governments already exercise control over us in ways that even Orwell could never have imagined. These novels, however are works of fiction that necessarily predict a dystopian future for dramatic effect.

Since we're recommending books now, I would suggest you read the works of Robert J. Sawyer specifically the Neanderthal Parallax trilogy, and the WWW trilogy to see how 100% surveillance society may not be a bad thing.

I too, like books. I think you'd like The Andromeda Strain. It's by the same author who wrote Jurassic Park.

>I imagine in the long term future, local space colonization will be a one-way, generational endeavor. Sort of like the indentured servants of the past or the student loans of the present.

There are actually a pair of books that deal with the plausible reality of space colonies in the immediate future (that is, the next thousand years or so). The presumption made is that entities would travel based on current technologies that we could at least conceive of, thus rockets, nuclear drives, and lasers. Travel between planets is, at the shortest, a months long endeavor that is nearly impossibly expensive to manage to the point that even the richest entities lop of arms and legs to reduce their delta-v cost. Going from the inner system to the outer system takes years even with the fastest propulsion methods (nuclear). Interstellar travel is an event that takes hundreds of years of work from a single star system to manage and is so monumentally expensive that the colony founded is so deep in debt that the only way to survive is to found still more colonies in the world's worst pyramid scheme.

Also, humans are extinct and robots are the ones doing all of this because, it turns out, trying to keep apes in cans alive anywhere but on earth during a very specific period of the planet's history is borderline impossible in the long term.

If you'd like to read about former sex robots learning just how shitty inter-planetary travel is, read Saturn's Children. That one will also work if you ever cared about spaceship on android, or hotel on android sexy times, too. If you'd like to learn about how stupidly expensive interstellar travel would be and the complex monetary systems necessary to keep such a system running, check out Neptune's Brood. That one is principally about accounting and FTL scams and even includes a pretty on the nose reference to Monty Python short.

• Lights Out by David Crawford
  
• Going Home by A. American (and the whole Survivalist series that follows)
  
• Patriots by James Wesley, Rawles
  
• Enemies Foreign and Domestic by Matthew Bracken
  
• The Postman by David Brin
  
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
  
• Breakers by Edward W. Robertson (and the rest of the series; good deals on Kindle bundles)
  
  

Hell Yes!

Unbuilding
City
Underground
Castle
Pyramid
Mill
Cathedral
Mosque

David Macaulay is the MAN. I loved these books when I was a kid love these books!

I rarely read, The last book I read was a couple weeks ago. Sat there for 4 hours while my GF got her hair done.

Prey by Michael Crichton

I only finished a little more than half, my gf told me the ending. I'd say its a nice read.

http://www.amazon.com/Prey-Michael-Crichton/dp/0066214122

I highly recommend this book (and the two that follow in the series):


https://www.amazon.com/Enemies-Foreign-Domestic-Matthew-Bracken/dp/0972831010

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MRM8394/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1RW2LKE7BT31L&coliid=I399H99I7NYGGO

IF that doesn't work, its the $4.99 Preternatural Affairs, Books 1-3: Witch Hunt, Silver Bullet, and Hotter Than Helltown [Kindle Edition].

My kindle is emptying faster than I can fill it!

Thanks for the contest! :-)

If you like this kinds of stuff, check out this book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0395340659/ref=wms_ohs_product

Oldie but goodie!

https://www.amazon.com/Underground-David-Macaulay/dp/0395340659

https://www.amazon.com/WWW-Trilogy-Robert-J-Sawyer/dp/044101853X

I spent the flight from London to the US reading Macauly's Underground.

Who knew sewers could be so fascinating?

oh man this is bringing back memories...

I forgot he also wrote (illustrated?) those books on castles and underground too

For a negative view of this future, trying reading Avogadro Corp.

For a positive view of this future, try reading WWW: Wake

Iain M Banks' has a book titled The Algebraist, there are aliens in it called Dwellers; each individual dweller lives for millions of years and the species has been around for 10 billion. Dwellers are...not what you'd expect from beings that old.

The WWW series by Robert J Sawyer. 3 books, I couldn't stop. It's amazing!

https://www.amazon.com/WWW-Trilogy-Robert-J-Sawyer/dp/044101853X

You remind me of the villain in The Algebraist...his name escapes me.

http://www.amazon.com/Enemies-Foreign-Domestic-Matthew-Bracken/dp/0972831010

And stop making up fly fishers look like crazy assholes.