A ReadOrbit guide
For readers who enjoy closing a book with more questions than they opened it with, these stories put ideas under pressure.
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2021
by James G. Robertson
Death comes, and misery follows. As a man in his early twenties, Leon never genuinely contemplated what would happen after his death. Like those before him, he never understood the truth of our universe. After his sudden demise, the terrorizing reality of a mysterious dystopian a…
2018
by Benjamin Eldon Stevens, Brett M. Rogers
"Frankenstein and Its Classics is the first collection of scholarship dedicated to how Frankenstein and works inspired by it draw on ancient Greek and Roman literature, history, philosophy, and myth. Presenting twelve new essays intended for students, scholars, and other readers…
2014
by Frank Chadwick
"Original Trade Paperback. The exciting debut of a steampunk masterpiece from legendary game author and creator of the staple steampunk role playing game, Space: 1889. The stunning unveiling of a perfectly formed steampunk past, from an author who helped define the genre. London…
2014
by Eric Flint
"New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling alternate history series. Book #14 in the Ring of Fire series created by Eric Flint. Eddie Cantrell, now married to the king of Denmark's daughter, is sent by Admiral Simpson to the Caribbean to secure access to the most valuab…
2014
by Karen Burnham
"Greg Egan (1961- ) publishes works that challenge readers with rigorous, deeply-informed scientific speculation. He unapologetically delves into mathematics, physics, and other disciplines in his prose, putting him in the vanguard of the hard science fiction renaissance of the 1…
2012
by RJ Palmer
Bowen is an orphaned child in feudal England whose first appearance in this novel is having been bound hands and feet and whipped mercilessly by the monks in a monastery in an excess of bloodlust. He’s realistically of an indeterminate age but no more than about seven years old a…
2010
by Cory Doctorow
Young adult science fiction set in the present or near future. The characters are "gold farmers" extracting virtual resources from online games and selling them to richer players. Their exploitation leads them to unionize, which leads to violence and trickery. In the virtual futu…
2010
by Orson Scott Card
The book begins with Rigg, a boy that has the strange ability to see the path of any living being, no matter how long ago it existed. He spends his time hunting with his father in the mountains, trapping for valuable pelts. His father is his mentor, and so he has taught Rigg ever…
2010
by RJ Palmer
In 1969 a woman is admitted into the hospital in critical condition after having been the victim of a drunken driving accident. It was only after having undergone extensive testing including several x-rays to determine the nature and scope of her injuries that her pregnancy was d…
2008
by Neal Stephenson
Anathem, the latest invention by the New York Times bestselling author of Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle, is a magnificent creation: a work of great scope, intelligence, and imagination that ushers readers into a recognizable — yet strangely inverted — world.Fraa Erasmas is…
2005
by Albert Russo
General introduction to Albert Russo’s work by Martin Tucker: “Albert Russo’s art and life are all of a unique piece, and that piece is a plurality of cultures. Born in what was then the Belgian Congo and now is Congo/Zaire, he grew up in Central and Southern Africa and writes in…
2004
by Julie E. Czerneda
Herself a biologist, Julie E. Czerneda has earned a reputation in science fiction circles for her ability to create beautifully crafted, imaginative, yet believably realized alien races. In Survival, the first novel in her new series, Species Imperative, she draws upon this talen…
2004
by Neal Stephenson
Volume One of The Baroque Cycle (Not to be confused with [Quicksilver: The Baroque Cycle #1](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL18199543W/Quicksilver)) Quicksilver is a massive, exuberant and wildly ambitious historical novel that's also Neal Stephenson's eagerly awaited prequel to…
2004
by Stephen Baxter
When it comes to cutting-edge science fiction, Stephen Baxter is in a league of his own. His mastery of hard science, his fearlessly speculative imagination, and his ability to combine grand philosophical questions with tales of rousing adventure make him essential reading for an…
2003
by James Rollins
When an American deep-sea research team discovers something moving -- something alive -- inside an abandoned Russian ice station, two powerful nations scramble to hide the nightmarish truth, because once it is revealed, the future of all human life on Earth will be altered -- or…
2000
by Olaf Stapledon
One of the most succinct and accurate renderings of mankind's present state of mind and future progression. It documents the future of man from the start of WW2 and continues until the Sun engulfs the earth, and beyond. Considering this book was first published in 1931, it is rem…
1999
by Dale Maharidge
Sometime after 2050, America's entire population will shift to minority-majority status, but before this century's end, California will have a population that is less than half white. How the state - which has had a major impact on American race relations in the 1990s - chooses t…
1998
by William Shatner
For three full decades, on television and in film, actor William Shatner has portrayed one of the most thrilling heroes of science fiction: James Tiberius Kirk, captain of the starship Enterprise. Although Kirk was believed to have perished at the conclusion of Star Trek: Generat…
1998
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Dr. Abner Perry has invented a high-calibration digging machine affectionately called 'The Iron Mole'. While testing his invention with his financial backer and former student David Innes, the machine malfunctions and the pair end up burrowing deep into the earth to emerge in Pel…
1997
by William Shatner
For three full decades, on television and in film, actor William Shatner has portrayed one of the most dynamic heroes of science fiction: James Tiberius Kirk, captain of the Starship Enterprise. Although Kirk appeared to perish at the conclusion of Star Trek Generations, the big…
1997
by Robert A. Heinlein
Starship Troopers takes place in the midst of an interstellar war between the Terran Federation of Earth and the Arachnids (referred to as "The Bugs") of Klendathu. It is narrated as a series of flashbacks by Juan Rico, and is one of only a few Heinlein novels set out in this fas…
1996
by Paul J. McAuley
A review by Greg L. Johnson: The Invisible Country is McAuley's second short story collection. The stories, mostly hard SF that draw on McAuley's background in biology, are a good introduction to a writer who is both a first-rate story teller and stylist. The title story, a does-…
1993
by Isaac Asimov, Melisa C. Michaels, Randall Garrett, Vicki Ann Heydron, Garry R. Osgood, Jack C. Haldeman, Nancy Kress, John Varley, Linda I. Isaacs, Ted Reynolds, Kevin O'Donnell, Jr, Steve Perry, Barry B. Longyear, Sally A. Sellers, Brian W. Aldiss, Sharon N. Farber, Arthur C. Clarke, Larry Niven, Jo Clayton, Poul Anderson, Jack L. Chalker, E. Amalia Andujar, Sherwood Springer, Conway Conley, Gary D. McClellan, A. Bertram Chandler, Paula Smith, William John Watkins, Drew Mendelson, Alan Dean Foster, Steven Utley, Keith Minnion, Robert Lee Hawkins, Roger Zelazny, Michael A. Banks, George Wagner, Anne Lear, F. M. Busby, John M. Ford, Jesse F. Bone, F. Paul Wilson, James E. Gunn
Editorial: Escape to Reality? - essay by Isaac Asimov In the Country of the Blind, No One Can See - short story by Melisa Michaels Keepersmith - novelette by Randall Garrett and Vicki Ann Heydron Good Taste - novelette by Isaac Asimov To Sin Against Systems - novelette by Garry R…
1989
by Robert Anton Wilson
The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles is a series of three novels by Robert Anton Wilson written after his highly successful The Illuminatus! Trilogy and his 1981 Masks of the Illuminati. His co-author from the first trilogy, Robert Shea, was not involved in this series, providin…