Releasing the Notes

When war looks different than you have ever seen it before, sometimes you need to bring in people who have a new idea of how war should be fought. In this series, that just so happens to be kids.

While the first book is amazing on its own, the series as a whole tells a more dynamic story. While the sequels aren’t as gripping, they bring different moral conundrums into play as Ender explores the results of war.

When a mission to Mars is hit with a wind storm, Mark Watney misses the rocket off-planet and finds himself stranded in space. Being the problem-solver he is, he finds a way to communicate his situation back to NASA, and they begin a rescue mission.

Mark just needs to figure out a way to keep himself alive until the rescue mission shows up.

Andy Weir is a phenomenal space writer, blending science and adventure in compelling stories.

Murderbot is a security unit, programmed to follow orders from his owners. However, he overwrote his programming at some point, he is not sure when, and has become sentient. While his main interest is watching space TV dramas, he also has an urge to recover a memory of the events that led to his unique state.

In order to move in the human world, he has to keep up appearances as a normal security unit to avoid having a factory reset. It is a fine line to dance.

When Paul becomes a part of a military movement to collect the “spice” from Arrakis, he finds himself at odds with his true heritage. The locals have come to see him as the promised Messiah, his home planet sees him as a military leader, and he has to decide which side of the war he is really on.

While the reading can get heavy at points, there are enough fun scenes to keep you invested in the story; whether that is the political tones, the religious exploration, or riding giant sand-worms, there is something for everyone.

Class wars in space, this series follows Darrow as he is thrown into a battle between the different factions within a galactic hierarchy. He has to infiltrate the uppermost faction and find a way to bring it down from within.

This series follows Darrow as he makes a name for himself among the elite Golds, setting himself up as a hero, and then remembering the people who got him where he is and the whole reason he was infiltrating the system in the first place. It is a fantastic underdog story, mixing in the complexity of relationships that make him question what his motives are.

Arthur becomes a galactic refugee as Earth is scheduled to be destroyed as part of an intergalactic highway project. All in the space of a day he goes from believing Earth is the only planet with intelligent life to bumming his way across the universe. It is a good thing he has a good friend, Ford, to teach him the ropes.

Filled with clever slapstick characters, this story is a light-hearted space adventure that flies in the face of the majority of books about space-adventures out there.

While performing a routine exploration of an uncolonized planet, Kira happens upon an alien relic. She is excited to make first contact, until she realizes everything that goes into it, including the ensuing war. She embarks on an adventure that will take her throughout the galaxy to save earth, and discover all that it really means to be a human in the expanse of space.

The fractalverse series is beautifully written, with books that challenge what we understand to be the basis of humanity at every turn.

After crashing his plane in the Saraha desert, a pilot comes across a young boy who has nothing but the rose he carries. The pilot learns that the boy is a prince who lived alone on an asteroid, but has come to earth to seek companionship.

He learns more and more about the boy through the stories that the little prince shares.

Yes, this is a children’s picture book, but reading it as an adult is a whole different view. This book is an astute explorations of humanity, including what it really means to love somebody.

The Thrawn trilogy is part of the Star Wars saga, featuring my favorite villain from the whole franchise. Thrawn is a military prodigy, and his performance in galactic warfare launches him to positions of power within the empire. His loyalty to Palpatine and Darth Vader is unquestionable.

Or is it?

When his home comes under attack, Thrawn has to determine where his allegiance lies.

Spensa dreams to join the last line of defense for her world, but first she has to make it through flight school. Carrying the name of a legendary pilot who died after turning against his own team, she finds obstacles at every step.

Determined, she finds an abandoned ship and claims it as her own. The ships programming proves to be an essential ally in saving the world, and discovering the secrets behind her father’s actions from so long ago.

When China sends a message into space, hoping to make contact with intelligent life, they are surprised to receive an answer. The alien race they have discovered is on the brink of destruction themselves, and have decided to invade earth as a way to save their species.

The citizens of earth are unsure how to respond, some are ready to welcome the aliens and live in harmony together, while others plan to protect earth at all costs. This is an extremely science-heavy book, and Liu has to take time to explain some of the deeper concepts, but that only adds to the story’s charm.

Ryland comes out of a deep sleep as the sole survivor of his space crew. He can’t remember much of what his mission was, but he knows it is important.

As his memories return, he discovers that he has information that can save the planet Earth, but he has to embark on a seemingly impossible odyssey to get home and share what he has learned. And he has to make the trip alone.

Or does he?

Zack is a globally ranked player of his favorite video game, Armada. He spends as much free time as he can find completing the missions in the game as they are added to the game, keeping his spot as a top player.

His real life and his online life collide when a spaceship straight from the game flies through the sky above him.

He is picked up by the games designers, and learns that his time spent gaming may not have been as much of a waste as people have been telling him all along.

Jim Holden collects an abandoned ship, only to find a secret that will incite a war between the humans on Earth, those on Mars, and those mining the outer planets. Along the way, Holden picks up Detective Miller, who is looking for a missing girl that he believes may be a crucial part of the secret.

Miller and Holden have to walk a delicate balance in order to prevent the war and destruction on an unreal level. They find that in order to succeed, they may have to break a few rules along the way.

Have you ever been watching Star Wars and though This is great, but what if it was written in iambic pentameter?

No?

You really should have. A beautiful mash-up of a three-act play written in old English and the Skywalker family’s epic space opera, this series delivers the content you didn’t know you needed.

R2D2’s asides alone are worth reading the series.